Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

Growing up in East Germany, Hungarian food was always popular. And there was a picture of Kesselgulasch. It must be like 40 years, that I had it last. Ok, 20 recipes later (some of them claim orignal and are very different) here is my version. Note it takes time to simmer. Part 1: 1 large onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic chopped 1 cup of a dark full body red wine (optional) 8 cups of beef broth 6 oz tomato paste 2 cans of diced fire roasted tomatoes 3 tbsp of diced pimento peppers 2 lbs of beef stew meat (a piece of chuck roast will do as well, just cut it to bite size pieces) 2 slices of bacon chopped 3 tbsp ghee Spices 1 tbsp smoked paprika powder 1 tbsp of sweet paprika powder 4 bay leaves 2 tsp ground all spice 1 tsp ground cumin Part 2: 6 medium potatoes 3 bell peppers, color does not matter I used my big Dutch Oven (DO) for this. The cooking process ended up in 2 parts, as life's plan were different from what I had in mind. The cooking needed to go into a 2 day process. In t...

I love lentils. It is time to have  another variation. We need 2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces (leave out for a vegetarian version) 1 cup of brown lentils, washed and picked through 1 cup of brussel sprouts, cleaned and cut in half 1/2 cup of Celery 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into equal size slices 1 medium onion chopped 2 tbsp of olive oil (use 3 tbsp if no bacon is used) 1 cup of mushrooms sliced 1 pack of Wieners (leave out for the vegetarian version 1 cup of cooked potatoes (left overs from yesterday is just fine) 5 cups of water 4 tsp of Knorr Tomato bullion 1.5 tsp of ground all spice 3/4 tsp of dried thyme 4 bay leaves I get my lentils at Indian grocery stores. They usually cook in 30 minutes without soaking. In a Dutch Oven, render the fat and add the olive oil. Add the onions, carrots and Celery, cook for about 5 minutes. Add the Brussel sprouts, lentils, water, Tomato bullion and the spices. Cover and bring it to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it s...

I found an old cookbook from Burda - "Koestlich kochen fuer alle Tage" and decided I will cook myself through it, well, not everything but most of it. Today is day 1. Page 80 is veggie stew with meatballs. The meatballs are made from a mix of ground beef and brats. Of course I don't have that handy. But in my freezer there were still meatballs from some weeks ago. It also calls for a bag of frozen stew veggie mix, that I don't have... We need 1 generous tsp margarine 1 medium onion chopped 1 cup of chopped celery 2 large carrots cleaned and diced 1 tetra pack of low sodium chicken stock 1 can of sweet corn (most of the fluid drained) 1 can of green beans (most of the fluid drained) 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 can of mushrooms (most of the fluid drained) 1 can of sweet green peas (most of the fluid drained) 1/4 tsp of allspice 1/4 tsp of thyme 1 tsp of ground cumin 1/4 tsp of tumeric 3 tsp of Knorr beef bullion 6 already cooked meatballs Take a big...

My cabbage stew always has a few base items, that need to be there. 1/2 head of chopped green cabbage 1 medium onion chopped 1 pack Eckerich Skinless Turkey Smoked Sausage Here we go with the rest oil 1 can of diced tomatoes 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes 1 can of green beans 1 cup of tomato juice 1 clove 1/2 tsp allspice 3 tsp ground cumin salt, pepper, a bit of thyme, some red pepper flakes (optional) 1 cup of celery chopped 3 slices of salted pork back fat diced. 3 cups of water 3 tsp Maggie Tomato bullion granulate In a pot add the oil, pork back fat pieces, the onions and the celery. Let is all melt down a bit and the onions get translucent. Cut the sausage into slices and add them. Stir every now and then and let it cook for about 5 minutes.   Then add all the remaining ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat so it simmers. Cook for about 30 minutes. Check the cabbage, it takes the longest. When it has a bite you like, turn the ...