Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

I ordered 2 bones prime rib roast from a butcher  in a grocery store. Lucky me. With all the power outages, they were still handing out orders, but anything else needing cooling was off limits on Friday. One could watch the thermometer how temperature dropped. I still had to go on Saturday and get the remaining items from my shopping list. (Note to self, don't procrastinate).   So this is going to be rather lengthy. The original recipe and the menu idea is coming from Recipetineats . Of course I ended up changing a few things, as I had some other things in mind and some of the things I didn't have. I actually did turned on my alarm clock for 7:30am to get the rib roast out of the fridge. This is not a time I want to be waken up when I am in vacation. Eventually I got up at 10am.   1. Step: make garlic butter 8 oz of unsalted butter (=226g, I wanted to have more, so I can use it for the garlic mash and spinach and what ever is left over goes nicely with some home made bread 3/4

I was at a Whole Foods market on Saturday. Aside from some meat I also picked up a  pack of different mushroom and some baby Portobello.     The dumplings  8 oz of stale white bread, rolls or slices, cut into small pieces about the size of your thumb nail 2 eggs 2/3 cup of milk 1 onion finely chopped hand full of parsley chopped 2 tbsp butter Salt and pepper a bit of nutmeg breadcrumbs (no Panko) Put the bread into a bowl. In a frying pan, melt the butter,  add the onion and when it starts to get translucent add the parsley. When it is all translucent, turn off the heat. Heat up the milk, check the temperatur with the finger. It should not burn you finger, but be nice and comfy warm. Add the onions and the milk to the bread and mix it. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes. In the mean time bring a big pot with water and salt to a boil.  After 15 minutes, beat the eggs and add them to the bread mix and mix it in. If it is to soft, add some bread crumbs. If it is to dry, just add a little milk

The plan for this weekend was to make Ravoli with a Ricotta Spinach filling. Neither one actually materialized. I made fresh pasta and wanted to use my new engraved rolling pins to put texture on the outside. This did not work out at all. The pasta is just to thin to take any shapes from the rolling pin. Ok, this will become Fettucini and a tomato spinach sauce with cheese.  I like to  flavor my noodles. Aside from the usual ingredients, they always get some spice added, that I think could work with what I want. Noodles (feeds 2 people and is my base recipe) 1/2 cup of sifted All Purpose Flow 1 Egg 1/2 tsp of salt 1 tbsp milk To get the flavor I added 1/4 tsp of ground smoked Chipotle pepper. One can add more depending on how spicy things should get. I found a small jar of tomato basil sauce in my pantry. I took half of the fresh spinach, rinsed and chopped and into a frying pan the sauce and the spinach went. This got heated up over a slow heat and cooked for about 5 minutes.  To cook

It has been years since it had potato salad. There are so many recipes on the internet. This is mine. I use Yukon Gold potatoes. Per person count 2 medium potatoes. Cook them unpeeled until tender but not falling appart. Drain them and let them cool down and into the fridge they go. The dressing (for 6 potatoes): 1/3 cup of mayo 2 tbsp of white vinegar 1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped onion 1 tbsp Dijon mustard salt and pepper   hand full of fresh or frozen parsley chopped Optional some chopped hard boiled eggs or pickles.   In a bowl, mix all the dressing components. This bowl gets a cover and ends up in the fridge as well. The next morning slice the potatoes into about 5mm thick slices, add the dressing, mix and back into the fridge. 1.5h before meal time remove it from the fridge and let it come up to room temperature. Serve with eggs or sausage and a side salad. I heat up Eckrich Turkey Sausages in water for this. The taste is close to what I know as a Wiener. -Mahlzeit-      

After so much meat, I thought it is time for a little less meaty meal. There were still frozen shrimp in the freezer. The fridge had some mushrooms that needed a purpose. Oh yeah, some lemon grass is there as well. Here we go: 8 cups of water 6 tsp of Knorr Tomato bullion 2 hand full of frozen or fresh cilantro 3 cups of different kind of mushrooms cut into bite size pieces (I used shiitake and oyster mushrooms) 12 defrosted shrimp, raw and cleaned and de-veined 2 swirls of Asian noodles (store bought, they are usually pre-cooked, check the instructions) half a dried lemon 1/2 tsp of margarine I picked up a bag of dried lemons from an Indian grocery store. They are not even 1" in diameter. I asked the store owner how they use it and he said, I should grind it and use it in soups. It adds some nice freshness to the dish. In a big bowl, add the water and the Knorr Tomato  bullion. Heat up and bring slowly to a boil. When it starts to simmer add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes o

A friend does a lot of fishing in the Golf. He always posts those great pictures from Red Snapper. It was time I got myself a one. The Asian grocery store has a lot of fish to pick from. I had them scale and gut the fish. I did read myself through a lot of recipe and this is what I came up with. I will bake this baby on a bed of veggies. Stuffing 1 small onion chopped 1/2 cup of chopped celery 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen parsley 1 smashed clove of garlic 1/2 tsp of sweet ground paprika 1/2 tsp of ground Allspice 1/4 tsp of dried thyme salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp of margarine In a frying pan melt the margarine, add the onions and the celery. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the rest. Cook for another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it cool down. Preheat the oven to 450F. Line a sheet tray with heavy duty aluminum foil. Add some olive oil to it and the veggies. I decided to go with poblano and yellow pepper, onions and celery. Coat all of them with a bit of oil.  Slice the

This is based on a recipe I found in a soup book. When I was shopping for the ingredients, I ended up changing it. The rotisserie chicken was so pale in the store, that I was not sure it was even cooked properly. No need to spend money on it, when there are alternatives. We need 1 tbsp of margarine 1 medium onion chopped 2 cans of red kidney beans rinsed 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes (or 2 cans of either kind) 2 cans of tomato sauce 1 cup of cooked shredded chicken (see note) 1 tsp of cumin 1 tsp of sweet ground paprika 1/2 tsp of all spice 1/4 tsp dried thyme a splash of dried Turmeric 1 cup of water 1/2 tsp of chicken bullion   I thought I would need the tomato paste from the picture, but it turned out to be thick enough, there was no need for it. In a larger pot, melt the margarine add the onions and let them get translucent. Then add all the remaining ingredients. Bring them to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer for 30 minutes.. Just before it is don

It is fall now and time to do some fall recipes. I decided to make a butternut squash potato soup. I need 1 lbs of cubed butternut squash 1 large sweet potato 2 medium yellow potatos Cook all of them the until tender.  Cook 4 cups of chicken or veggie soup. I was lazy and just used pre-made chicken bullion dissolved in boiling water.  In one of the pots used to cook potatoes, add all the other potatos and the butternut squash and bland with a handmixer until the desired consistency is reached. Add 1/2 cup of  heavy creme. Spice with nutmeg, salt and pepper,  dried coriander, curry and tumeric. Garnish with fresh basil or coriander a slice of garlic bread. -Mahlzeit-          

This weekend is cook weekend. I found a soup cookbook and I am going to cook from it a bit.   2 lbs boston butt cut into bite size pieces 2 lbs of neef stew beef 1/2 stick of margarine small can of tomato paste 1 medium onion coarsely chopped 2 cloves of garlic chopped 2 bay leafes 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1 tsb ground all spice salt and pepper to taste 5 cups of water 4 tsp Knorr Tomato bullion 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes     In a Dutch Oven, melt the margarine. Add all the meat and sear it. Add half of the tomato paste (1 generous tbsp) and stir. Sear a bit more. Add all the remaining ingredients. Bring them to a boil, turn the heat down to simmer and cook till the meat is tender. Serve with potatoes or couscous or noodles or potato dumplings. -Mahlzeit-  

I bought a soup book some time ago. There are so many good recipes in there. I decided for a lentil potato soup, but then, I was missing some things and this came out of it.   3 slices of back cut into small bites 2 tbsp margarine 1 medium onion coarsely chopped 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into small chunks 2 cans of diced tomatoes 1 can of tomato sauce 1 can of red kidney beans rinsed 1 pack of Eckrige Turkey sausage sliced 1 cup of Famous Dave's spicy pickles  chopped 8 tbsp Famous Dave's pickling liquid 2 tbsp chili powder  1/2 tsp tumeric 1/4 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp curry powder 1 tsp of cumin 4 cups of water 2 tsp Knorr Tomato Buillon In a stock pot melt the margarine. Add the bacon and render it and let it get a little bit crisp. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until they get translucent. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Then turn the temperature down and simmer until the potatoes are done. Optional add some buttermilk, cook for 2 more m

I had picked up some thick boneless pork chops. I liked the idea of using corn flakes as a breading component. Now the result I can hardly call Schnitzel, although the method is almost the same.   Lets start with the easy thing, the sauce. In a bowl mix 2 heaping tbsp of plain yogurt 4 tbsp of buttermild 1 smashed clove of garlic salt, pepper, a bit of ground sweet paprika If the sauce is to liquidy, add some yogurt. Otherwise add some buttermilk.   The pork chops: My chops were about 2 fingers thick. Pound them out until they are about 1 finger thick. If there is rim of fat, cut it a few times. The skin there restricts the meat and it starts to bubble up rather then staying flat. On a plate crack an egg and mix it up. On a second plate, add smashed corn flakes.  Salt and pepper the chops from both sides.  In a frying pan heat up some oil. When the oil is hot, dip the chops with both sides in the egg wash and then into the corn flakes. Fry them from both sides until golden brown. Depen

I got the idea based on something I saw on the food channel. The lady used cornflex as a breading. She also did not fry but baked the  chicken thighs.   A pack of boneless and skin less chicken chicken thighs is best for this. In a bowl mix 3 heaping table spoons of green jogurt 1/4 cup of butter milk 1 tsp of sweet paprika 2 tsp of Old Bay seasoning a bit of salt and pepper   Preheat the oven to 450F.   Line a baking tray with parchment paper and put a cooling rack to it. Add 4 cups of cornflakes into a zip lock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Empty them onto a deep plate. The assembly line looks like this. Salt and pepper lightly the chicken thighs, dip them in the yogurt mixture, dip them into the crushed corn flex. Put them onto the cooling rack onto the tray. Repeat until all are done. As you can see, I didn't add the cooling rack onto the tray. As a result there was not really a crust at the bottom side of the chicken. Oh well, live and learn. It didn't have any im

The original recipe is posted here . There are some differences between between what is used in the steps vs the list of ingredients required. This is my version. It turned out really good.  As this is a German recipe, I recommend to get a scale that understands metric and has at least 1 digit behind the comma. For the cake: 4 eggs 1 pinch of salt 180g sugar (6.35 oz) 75g all purpose flower (2.64oz) (Hershey's cocoa 100% cocoa unsweetened) 75g corn starch (2.64oz) 25g cocoa (0.88oz) 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract 5 tbsp cold water  3 tsp baking powder For the cherry filling: 1 glas of cherries  OR 2 cups of fresh cherries and 1.2 cups of water (some sugar) juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tbsp of corn starch 2 tbsp of cherry vodka (optional) The cherry filling can be cooked a day ahead and stored in the fridge. If the cherries are from a glas, add the cherries with the liquid, the lemon juice the vodka to a pot and bring to a boil. Then add the corn starch, let it get thick, turn off the heat and

I have a big container of plain yogurt in the fridge. Let's make some Tzatziki out of it.   In a big bowl, mix 3/4 cup of plain yogurt 1/3 cup buttermilk handful of chopped fresh dill 1/2 tsp of garlic powder salt pepper 1/3 cup of cucumber cut into very small pieces handful of onion cut very finely Set into the fridge for about 2 hours, so all the flavors can mingle. I decided this goes really well with a steak and some fries and a cucumber salad. -Mahlzeit-

It was time for another version of Soljanka.   2 tsp of margarine  1 medium onion chopped 1 pack of Bologna, cut into smaller chunks (this can be sliced Bologna) 20 slices of salami, sliced into smaller pieces 1/4 cup of fat salted hog back cut into smaller slices 1/2 cup of pickles 1/2 cup of pickle juice 2 cans of tomato sauce 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground allspice 1/2 tsp thyme 1 tsp sweet paprika 1 medium onion chopped 2 cups of tomato juice In a bigger pot melt the margarine, add the onion and let them get translucent. Add the Bologna and the salami. Cook for about  8 minutes, stir occasionally. Then add all the remaining items, bring to a boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes. To bring it to taste, add some half 'n half and/or pickle juice, salt or pepper. Serve with a splash of fresh lemon juice, a spoon of source cream and a slice of toast. -Mahlzeit-    

Something I came up with when sitting in a waiting room. My fridge had some mushrooms and tofu. I always have onions at home. In my freezer there were several bags of frozen veggies. A soup sounded good.  The quantities really don't matter here except the ratio of water to better then bouillon beef flavor. Tofu Cut the tofu into bite size pieces. I like extra firm tofu, so I can fry it without breaking apart. In a frying pan, melt some margarine. Add the tofu and season with Old Bay seasoning to your liking. Let it get a bit cross on the outside. I like my soup with vermicelli rice noodles.They can be cooked in parallel Soup In a soup pot, melt 2 tsbp of margarine, add 1 chopped onion, cook until the onions get translucent. Add the chopped mushrooms and get them half way cooked. Add 4 cups of water and 4 tsp of better then bouillon beef flavor. I decided the other veggies were frozen artichokes. Add them into the soup pot as well. Cover and bring to a boil, turn down the heat and s

There was a bag of precooked craw fish in my freezer. A scan over the internet got me an idea. Creamy craw fish and home made pasta. I decided to flavor the pasta with tumeric. I like tumeric.   Pasta: 1/2 cup of sifted all purpose flower 1 tsp of turmeric 1 egg 1/2 tsp salt 1 tbsp milk Mix the turmeric into the flower.  In a small bowl mix the egg, salt and milk. Then put the egg mixture into the flower. If at the end it is still sticky, sift some more flower over it and mix. This should not be sticky anymore. Knead for  5 more minutes, form a ball, wrap it in plastic and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Run it through the pasta maker. Let it dry for 2-2.5h. When it gets closer to dinner time. Put the frozen craw fish into a big stock pot, add water not barely covering the craw fish. Add 3 tsp of Old Bay seasoning. Bring the pot to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. By then it should be all defrosted. Turn the heat off and drain. Peal the tails from the craw fish

I tried twice to make Ree Drummond's Burned Cheese Cake . This time it really worked out.  Home run. I did 2 changes. I added a couple of dashes of lemon extract I used my kitchen machine. The hand mixer was not up to the blocks of creme cheese. I didn't want to burn out the engine. That hand mixer is really only good to make whip cream, which I don't eat...lol... The batter should be really stiff.   I did my own berry sauce.  I had 1 peach, cut into quarters and into slices 2 cups of fresh grapes 2 cups of frozen blue berries Add all of this into a sauce pot, add 1/3 cup of water. 4 tbsp of sugar, juice of half a lemon. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. In a small bowl add 1tsp of cornstarch, 1 tbsp of water, mix it and make sure there are no lumps. Add  them to the berries and cook for a few more minutes until it thicken. Then turn off the heat.   Wait for all to cool down. -Mahlzeit-        

This is an easy and fast fruit salat.  I had the following things real ripe: 1/2 melon left over 1 peach 1 mango 2 tomatos 1/4 onion  Cut everything up and put it in a bowl. Make sure to capture the juices, that escape during cutting. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Add the juice of a lime. Mix everything up. Let it stand in the fridge for 1h. -Mahlzeit-        

This is a dish that needs a lot of time to wait until things are ready. The recipe comes from  here . I didn't have any leeks. So this all works without them just fine. I decided that I let it sit in the fridge for 1 week. Turn the meat over once a day if it is not fully covered. It looks ugly when it comes out. The red wine does give it dark color. Do not discard the marinade. Add 3 tbsp of margarine into a Dutch Oven and melt it.  Sear the meat from all sides.      When done add the marinade back in the Dutch Oven and bring it to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for about 2.5 to 3 hours. Mine needed about 2h 45 min. Strain the sauce into a pot, bring to a boil and thicken it. The rest can be discarded now. Serve with noodles or potatoes and red cabbage. -Mahlzeit-

White Asparagus is very popular in Germany. It is very had to get here. White Asparagus is good for about 2 max 3 days, then all the crunch is gone. When it can be bend, it is good for the compost. Confession, I cheated here with the sauce. I used a package and followed the instructions there. Now cook potatoes to your liking. Peal the asparagus with a potato peeler. Cut off the bottom ends. In a pott add some water and salt, and lay the asparagus down flat. Layer are not a good idea. Bring the water to a boil, turn the heat down to simmer and cook until tender. I use a knife to check.Generally it takes about 15-20 minutes. Serve with potatoes and sauce Hollandaise. -Mahlzeit-  

I had a small pack of ground beef in the fridge. Time for a BBQ. Feta burger sounds like a good idea. 1 lbs of ground beef salt and pepper to taste a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce 1 egg,  2 slices of feta, chopped into small chunks   Mix everything except the feta in a bowl and season to taste. At the end add the feta chunks, mix and form patties. Keep the feta pieces in the inside of the patties. I got a fresh french baguette, so some garlic bread is a good add-on. Cut a piece from the baguette, and then cut the piece in half. Add some butter and a few slices of fresh garlic. Wrap it in aluminum foil and put it onto the BBQ. A few minutes later add the patties. Cook them to your liking. A few minutes before it is done, unwrap the garlic bread and let it on the grill with the butter side down. Serve with the condiments you like. For me it this are a few spicy pickles, some sriracha mayo, half a slice of the BBQ bacon from yesterday and a the same side salad from yesterday. If sala

Time to put some more mileage on my smoker and grill today. Baby back ribs with smoked/baked potato and a side salad. Aside from what is shown, I added some salt and pepper on the meat side only. Then a liberal sprinkle of the sweet and smoky spice mix (does not contain salt). The woodoo sauce is for basting. I smoked 4 hours3 should at 210F and 3 hours at 250F. After 1 hour remove the bacon slices. Those slices are way better then anything one can buy at the store.  Baste about once an hour with the woodoo sauce. 3 hours into the smoking process I washed 2 russet potatoes, put them into Aluminum foil and added it to the smoker. 1 hour before the smoking is done, the potatoes were transferred into an oven at 450F to finish the cooking process for 1 hours. The spice combination makes a nice sweet taste with a good kick at the end. The side salad 1.5 cups of ripe water melons 1/2 onion finely chopped 2 tomatoes chopped into small bites 5 babybell mushrooms cut in half and then cut int