Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

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 ...

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...