Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

It was again one of those days to look at the freezer and see what is in there. I found precooked New Zealand Green Mussels  and Razor Clams. My fridge needed to get rid of  1 stalk of lemon grass, chopped 1/2 of a celery root chopped 1/2 bag of small carrots 1 cup of regular celery, chopped 1 medium onion coarsely chopped 1 lbs of baby bell mushrooms chopped 1 bag of razor clams (frozen from the freezer) 1 bag of New Zealand Green Mussels precooked (frozen from the freezer) 2 quarts of water a little veggie oil Spices: 1 black cardamon 4 lemon kefir leafs 6 tsp Knorr Tomato bullion 1 Star Annis 1 pinch of ground cloves 1 pinch of cinnamon 1/2 tsp of turmeric 1 tsp of ground Allspice 1 pinch of Thyme 6  tsp of Knorr Tomato Bullion Heat up some vegie oil,  heat it over medium heat and add the lemon grass, celery root and regular, carrots, and onions. cook for about 5 minutes. The onions should be translucent now. Add the water and all the spices. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and

The inspiration came from I am a homesteader . I tried the balsamic honey dressing. May be I had the wrong honey or the wrong balsamic. I didn't like at all. I came up with the following: 5 cups of water melon pieces 1/2 cucumber sliced 1 cup of chopped fresh mango handful of fresh chopped mint 1 cup of grape tomatoes cut in half (any other tomato will work as well) 2 small finger thick slices of feta, cut into little pieces 1 red bell pepper cut into bite size pieces 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil (use a good one) 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar (use a good one) juice of 1 fresh lime salt and pepper  In a big bowl mix all of this, salt and pepper to taste, cover with plastic wrap and set into the fridge for an hour or 2.  This can be a side salad or a full meal with a slice of fresh bread with butter. -Mahlzeit-  

It is Sunday. Today's menu is supposed to throw a couple of corn ears and some beef loin onto the smoker. I wake up and hear it raining. After hanging out in bed for another hour watching TV and a fresh coffee the rain still hadn't stopped. The weather forecast keeps talking rain all day. Well, time for a backup plan.  I keep a 4" thick piece of beef loin, the rest gets cut up for steaks and another 4" piece and stuck into the freezer for some other day. I read somewhere it is good to take the beef out of the fridge, season it and let it sit on the counter top for a couple of hours. They really used the word "couple" this can mean 1h, 2h or there about. So I opted to season the beef from all sides, just with salt and pepper and let it sit on the counter top for about 1hour.   Preparation work: take 2 tsp of butter at room temperature, smash 1 clove of garlic  and mix with it with the butter line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  After 1h start cooking 3 me

I am supposed to be on the beach. There is a tropical storm running through my vacation destination and I ended up cancelling everything. Second best solution:  I bring the beach and seafood to my home.   We need (picture): 3 medium potatoes 1 medium onion 1 pack of Eckrich Smoked Turkey Sausage 2 ears of fresh corn 2 clove of garlic 1/2 cup fat free half/half  1 bag of Mahogany Clams snow crab legs (see that you can get thick legged ones, everything else is lots of work and no reward)   Not in picture: 2 tsp margarine 1 cup of white wine fresh or frozen shrimps (as many as you want or none) juice of one lemon 6 cups of water  2 tsp of tomato paste   Spice mix: 4 tsp Old Bay seasoning 2 tsp of Sweet and Smoky salt less spice mix (optional) 1/2 tsp of Tumeric 1/2 tsp of Curry 1 tsp ground Allspice  2 bay leafs Preparation work: In a large bowl add the clams, water and ice, so the water remains cold. The clams should discard the sand they still carry. It depends how clean you want them.

It is almost weekend and that means smoking time. I went to BJ's, got myself a beef tenderloin and a few other things. The weekend can come. I trimmed the loin a bit, cut 5 steaks from it, and the rest went into larger chunks, so I can either smoke them or put them in the slow cooker. Potatoes: just cook them to your liking Sauteed Mushrooms: 1.5 cups of sliced mushroom (this time I used 50/50 white and baby bell mushrooms) 1/2 medium onion finely chopped 1 medium clove of garlic  pressed through the garlic presser 1 tsp of margarine 2 tbsp of sour creme salt, pepper   Melt the margarine in a frying pan, add the onions and let them get translucent. Add the mushroom and over medium low heat, start sauteing them. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the mushrooms are cooked down and there is liquid in the pan, add the garlic and the source creme. Over low heat saute until the liquid is almost gone and turn off the heat. Steak: Cook it to your liking In a frying pan melt 1 tsp of margar

Time for another chuck roast. For the marinade we need: olive oil 1 small sprig of rosemary (cut the needles into smaller pieces) 5 cloves of garlic (pressed through a garlic press) thyme  fresh ground mixed pepper 2 bay leaves  1/2 tsp salt garlic & herb dried spice mix Mix all of this in a bowl and let it sit at room temperature for 1h. After 1h coat the chuck roast generously with the spice mix in a glas bowl, Cover and store it in the fridge over night.  The next morning remove the meat from the fridge and let it sit for 15 min on the counter top. Start the smoker in the mean time. I use hickory pellets. Smoke until the inner temperature is 180F.  Remove the meat from the smoker and let sit for 15 min.  Serve with potatoes and a side salad.  -Mahlzeit-

 I still have a lot of meat in the freezer. Time to use some. I defrosted 2 burgers and 2 thick cut pork chops bone-in over night in the freezer. All of them get covered in Montreal Seasoning. Smoking temperature is 180F for 2.5 hours for the burger and 3.5 hours for the pork chops over hickory wood pellets.     Serve the burgers with your choice of toppings. For me that is usually deconstructed... The chops stay on a little longer. -Mahlzeit-      

This weekend it was time to smoke chicken.  We need 1 organic chicken cut into 2 halfs 2 tbsp. brown sugar 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp smoked paprika 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp of onion flakes 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp of Billy Bub's Texas Dry Rubb 1 tsp of oregano (dried) Mix all of this very good and spread it liberally over the chicken. Put the chicken in a bowl, cover and marinate over night in the fridge. The next day, preheat the smoker to 220F. Fill an aluminum bowl with water, cover it and stick holes in it. This is to have some humidity so the skin does not get rubbery. All of this goes onto the smoker for 4h or until the inner temperature is 170F on hickory pellets.  The last 2 hours I ended up basting it with sugar free BBQ sauce. -Mahlzeit-

In my new cookbook "Talk About Good" is a recipe on page 205 for a shrimp curry.  This is my inspiration 2 tsp of margarine 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 large onion chopped 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes 1 clove of garlic 1 cup water 1 tsp of chicken bullion powder 2 tbsp. curry powder 1 tsp ground cumin juice of 1 lemon 5 shrimps per person (can be precooked and frozen) 1/2 cup of half and half In a pot melt the margarine, add the onion and let them get translucent. Then add the tomatoes, garlic, water, chicken bullion powder, curry powder, cumin. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer. Stir occasionally. After 30 minutes add the lemon juice , the frozen shrimps and the half and half. Turn the heat up to medium and cook for 5 minutes. That defrosts the shrimps.  Serve over rice. -Mahlzeit-