Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

It is Christmas and I didn't want to go for the standard potato salad and wieners on Christmas Eve and the duck on Christmas day. I decided on a beef and pork stew. I just posted a few days ago on my Hungarian  version of a beef stew. This is a bit different. I was planning to use some peppers here  as well, but then forgot to take them out of the fridge and then of course forgot about it. I don't plan cooking upfront. I go by what comes to mind. Ok, that requires me to write down what I used, so I can write here. This time I go with: Not on the picture: salt and pepper 2 tsp of tomato paste 3 tbsp of salsa 1/2 cup of red wine 1 tsp of smoked paprika 1 tsp of ground paprika 1 tsp of ground Allspice 1/2 tsp of thyme 2 tsp of margarine 4 cups of water In a pot, melt the margarine and add the onions over medium heat. Let them get translucent. Add the meat (I actually counted the pieces. it was 12 pieces each. I just didn't want to have so much left over.) When the meat is sear

It is Christmas. I now have a full fridge and can cook something different every day.  I start with fish. Red Snapper with a German cucumber salad and toasted brioche buns I bought the snapper fully dressed. The descaling was already done.  For the spices 1 tsp of ground paprika 1/2 tsp of salt 1/2 tsp of pepper 1 tsp of cajon spice mix (more if you like it spicy) 1/4 tsp mustard powder 2-3 tbsp of olive oil Mix all the spices including the oil in a little bowl. Preheat the oven to 450F. This snapper was about 1 lbs. Wash and pad dry the snapper. Then cut about 3 times on each side. Generously apply the spice mix everywhere. Push some into the cuts. Don't forget the cavity.  Put the snapper on a baking sheet with an rost. Add 1 cup of water to the baking sheet to prevent drippings from burning. Bake on convection for about 20 minutes. Cooking time very much depends on the size and the thickness of the fish.  Mine went a little to far. Oh well. It was still tasty. -Mahlzeit-

On Facebook, I read a couple of food groups. This is a good source for inspiration.  Growing up we had a lot of Hungarian dishes, or what we thought to be Hungarian food. This is my version of a Hungarian Gulasch. We need Not on the picture: 2 bay leaves 1/2 tsp of thyme 1/2 tsp of ground allspice 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp of margarine 2 cloves of garlic 4 cups of water It pays to prep everything up-front. Cut and clean the peppers. Bell peppers work just as fine. Coarsely chop the onions Pad dry the meat and cut it into bite size chunks. Coarsely chop the garlic In a big put heat up the oil and the margarine, Add the onion and let them get translucent. Add the meat. and sear it. Add 1.5 tbsp of the tomato mark. Keep cooking for another 4-5 minutes. Keep paying attention so things don't start to burn. Add 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika, 2 tsp of paprika, 3 tbsp of salsa, 2.5 tbsp of bullion paste. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring all to a boil then turn the heat down and let it simme

This is one of my favorite refreshing salads in the winter.  For all the fruits, it pays to use fresh and ripe fruits. 1 big handful mixed spring greens 3/4 cup of chopped pinapples 3/4 cup of  chopped water melon 1 pomegranade 1/4 of an onion finely chopped 2 tomatoes 5 fresh basil leaves finely cut  The dressing is easy 5 tbsp maple sirup juice of 1 fresh lime salt and pepper Cut everything up and mix in a bowl. I should sit for about 1 hour so the flavors can all mingle. With a slice of bread and butter it makes a meal by itself. It is also a great addition to any other full meal. -Mahlzeit-

I am trying to use some of the things from my freezer. There was a lamb roast. I defrosted it over night. As seasoning for the meat, I just used salt and pepper. In a pot I added some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and let it get hot. Add the meat and brown it from all sides. While it is searing, Cut one large onion into medium chunks. When the meat is seared remove it from the pot and set aside. Add the onions. After they became translucent add the meat back in together with 1 cup of water 1.5 tsp of ground Allspice 1/2 tsp of dried Thyme 3 Bayleaves Cover the pot and turn down the temperature. Simmer until you have your desired inner temperature. With the cooking process some of the nice color goes away. So I decided to do some more  searing. Heat up a pan without any fat and sear it again from all sides. Serve with sides of your choice. -Mahlzeit-  

A few weeks back I talked about a duck I bought that was pretty much just fat on my FB feed. They did send me a replacement duck and some extra. It was time to do the duck breast. What can I tell. It looked so nice: The left side was below on the right size. The different color from the skin comes from the red meat sitting on top of it. But cleaning? Why was that not properly cleaned?  And I didn't even pull everything out. And here again fat, fat, fat. I trimmed as much as I could, then salt and pepper onto the meat side and just salt onto the skin side. 2 pans were heated up without fat. Put down the breast, skin side down and let the fat render. I used 2 different pans, as I wanted to do 2 different recipes. Let the skin get crusty over medium high heat. Then I turned the breast around, turned down the heat. I then covered the pans. This will take the crips out, but at the end I am going to crisp it up again. 2 of the duck breasts got basted with Voodoo Sauce from Lucky 32 South

Last night I went to Walmart. I wanted to get some tomatoes and cucumbers. It turned out a different kind of shopping. The tomatoes and cucumbers did not look good. I ended shopping for other things. There was a nice piece chuck roast in the meat section. Now that is going to go on the smoker tomorrow. I have not used the smoker much this year. The spice rub: 3 tbsp light brown sugar 1 tsp of ground Allspice 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp ground chipotle 1 tsp onion powder 1.5 tsp fine sea salt 1/2 tsp of black pepper Rub the meat all over. Also cover the sides.  Any left over can go into a little glass container and be used for the next steak. While in the kitchen I was watch the Pioneer Woman make bacon wrapped steak. Wait, I got bacon last night as well, I am going to put a few pieces of bacon on smoker. They taste so much better then coming out of the store. The smoker goes on 220F. I left the bacon on for about 1 hour. The meat was smoked until the inner temperature was 131F. The meat

It is time to get rid of some of the things in my freezer. This weekends plans: 2 ground beef patties and 1 lamb shank steak. Aside from the ingredients I need 2 small baking forms and some margarine. In a blender I added 2 large ground beef patties (80/20) 1/2 of a small onion, don't bother cutting 1 tsp of ground Allspice 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika 1/2 tsp of dried thyme 1/2 tsp of black ground pepper 3/4 tsp of kosher salt 1/2 tsp of ground cumin 1/4 cup of crushed ice Blend until all is really fine mashed. In the picture I added a stick of margarine next to it (a bit is already missing, but the dimensions can be guessed). Blend until it is really smooth. I don't want to see any texture anymore. The blender did a good job. This time I didn't use any curing salt. Next time I think I will do that again. Heat the oven to 450F. Now my counter top oven can do 450F. The second thermometer I have in there takes 100F off. I am not sure which one is right.  The baking forms need t

I while ago I complained to a company that was raising and selling ducks, that their duck basically was 50% fat. I got from them as make-up a new duck, 2 duck breasts, 2 duck legs confit and 2 duck legs. On Friday I started to defrost the 2 duck legs in the fridge. Saturday night they were defrosted. So this is the process inspired by the French duck confit process. Pad dry the duck legs, slightly salt the skin side and put them meat side down in a glas container. They should all lay flat, not stacks. Add 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, and some juniper berries (about 5 per leg). Cover with cling wrap and into the fridge over night. From that duck disaster a few weeks back, I still had plenty of duck fat left. Preheat the oven to 300F.  Remove the duck legs from the bowl and clean it from the spices. Don't reuse the cold bowl for roasting. Chances are it will shadder. Salt the legs from all sides, add some more fresh thyme, rosemary and juniper berries

I wanted to get some real rolls. Crunchy and still having a decent consistency the next day. Not like the soft things one can get here at groceries store, that one can press down to the size of a table tennis ball and when it is released, one does not see anything of the shape it was just in. The original recipe is from  this website  . This way to much food for me. OK, I cut everything in half. 500g all purpose flower 200 ml warm water (the finger should still be comfy to stick in) 100 ml milk 1 tsp of dry active yeast 10g salt 1 tsp sugar Sounds easy. For what ever reason I used the 400ml water from the original recipe. I made up for it by using 3/4 of  a cup of additional flower. In the bowl of my stand mixer I mix the flower and the salt. In a pot I heat the water and milk. I use a glas measuring cup for a lot of things. Glas does not react with things. Add the yeast and sugar with 1/4th of the warm liquid, stir to dissolve the sugar and yeast. Let it stand for 5 minutes to let the

I was at my favorite Asian store again. I had to get some rabbit.  1 went into the freezer and one was defrosted. After that duck disaster I also got a myself a duck.  The good thing in this store is, they are frozen, but the plastic is see through. So if all is white (they have those as well) it is the fatty version. If there is some shine through with red = one can see the meat. The plan:  Rabbit à  la Mama Potato dumplings à la Cornelia's Mama short cut red cabbage from a jar Rabbit Defrost the rabbit and pad dry. Cut into 5 pieces, season with salt and pepper and coat with yellow mustard. Cut 2 slices of bacon into stripes and render them in a Dutch Oven. Add the pieces of rabbit and let them get some color. Deglace with 1/2 cup of white wine. Then add 2 cups of water. Cover and let it simmer over slow heat. Check on the liquid level. Add some water in case it is needed. Preheat the oven to 375F. After like 40 minutes uncover and put it into the oven. Again check on the liquid.

I had some prepared meat left over from the stuffed peppers I made. Add 1tsp of margarine to a frying pan and let it melt. Form the left over meat into patties. Cook them to your liking. When done set them aside. I had left over cooked potatoes in my fridge. Cut them to slices and let them get golden brown in the pan. Another easy side is a can of sweet peas. I don't want to dirty another cooking vessel. They go into the frying pan as well. This looks done. -Mahlzeit-  

I got some ground beef. Oops it was a day over the "best before date". It looked all good, did not smell. Summary: I can use it. (I have yet to see a case, where a meat knows about the best before date and goes bad at midnight, when it rolls over...lol...)... In a bowl I mix the package of ground beed (about 1 lbs) salt, pepper 3 tsp of capers (optional) 1 tbsp of chopped onions 1 egg 1 tbsp of bread crumps (optional) To prep the peppers, cut off the top and clean the seeds. I still use the pepper around the stem, cut into small slices. Fill the peppers with the meat mixture. In a pot, melt 2 tbsp of margarine, add 1/2 small cut onion and let them get translucent. Add the stuffed peppers with the top side down, so the meat can brown. Pay attention, this should not burn. Turn them on a side, add 1 cup of water, add thyme, ground Allspice and a Bayleaf. On low heat simmer for 1h. Add water as needed. There was left over tomato sauce and half a jar of medium salsa left in the fr

I still had a pork loin in my fridge. I didn't want make it into one of the standard recipes. Somewhere on the internet was pork loing with orange and garlic. Ok, I can do something with that. 1 pork tenderloin cut into 2 pieces fresh squeezed orange juice of 2 oranges 5 oz of white wine (use something you would drink with a weekday dinner) Cajun seasoning l large onion coarsly chopped 1/8 tsp of thyme 1/8 tsp of tropical pepper 1 large or 2 medium cloves of garlic minced 2 bay leafs Olive oil Pad dry the pork tender loings. Season it from the outside generously with Cajun seasoning. In a dutch oven, heat up the olive oil and sear the meat from all sides. Remove pork from the pot and set aside. Add the onion and the garlic. Let them get translucent. Deglaze with the white wine and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pork back and all the spices and the orange juice. It should be enough liquid for simmering for 40 minutes. If not, add the juice of  one more orange. After the 40 min

Yes, the  focus is on the Crème Fraîche. I know how to make quark. But really sometimes, I wish I have Crème Fraîche. And it is so easy. The base recipe is off the internet. Buttermilk and heavy creme. The more sites one reads, the more ratios one can get. The numbers of day in the fridge also range from a couple of days to 2 weeks. Ok, here is what I did 2 cups of heavy cream 1/4 cup of butter milk All in a glas container (ceramic works as well, but not metal or plastic). I covered it with the respective cover, but did not press it down, so air could come in. I did let it stand for 24h on the stove. (I did not use the stove during this time at all). After 24h use a fork to mix things up and press the cover down and off to the fridge it went. The process was completed 3 days ago. Since then, here is the steak. As a steak sauce or for the potatoes, I just added a little salt and pepper. The red sauce in the little jar is store bought Famous Dave's Sweet and Spicy Sauce.  I don't

It is Independence Day. Time to get the grill out again. Instead of a steak, I decided it is hamburger time.  1 lbs of beef 93/7 ground beef 2 tbsp of capers 1/2 onion finely chopped 4 tbsp of ketchup (Sir Kensingtons or another good one, I don't like Heinz) 2 tbsp ground bread (don't use panko) 1 egg salt and pepper to taste Mix all of this together in a bowl and from patties. I tend to make them rather thin. Preheat the Grill to 350F. Add the patties. This are plenty of patties. I will be eating burgers for the rest of the week. Well, I may freeze a few. 30 min before starting the burgers on the grill, I added a corn on the bbq. I may not get all the grill marks, bit it is going to be sweet and juicy. 90 minutes before starting dinner preps, I took 2 potatoes wrapped them in Alufolie and through them into the countertop oven. My dinner plate: Of course this deserves a nice cold Wernersgruener. -Mahlzeit-