Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

There are many versions of Soljanka on the internet. This is my version. We need 1 large onion (chopped) 2 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes 1/2 bottle of tomato juice 1  cup of chopped up pickles (famous Dave's spicy chips) 4 cups of water 2 tsp of tomato bullion from Knorr 1 pack of Eckrich Turkey sausage, sliced in half over the full length and then cut into 5mm pieces 1/2 tsp of Allspice 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika The picture also shows tomato paste. I ended up not needing it. In a dutch oven, heat up some  oil, add the chopped onions, let them get translucent. Then add the sausage and let it get some color. Now add all the remaining things, bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat down and simmer for about 1h. Stir occasionally. Serve with a slice of lemon and some sour cream. -Mahlzeit-

A lot of people in Germany have potato salad with wiener and some side salad for Christmas Eve. Time to go main stream German and not have a duck or a goose. Christmas Eve is potato salad with wiener and a side salad. We need 6 medium yellow yukons (like the size of your palm) 3 hard boiled eggs, 1/2 cup of low fat sour creme 1/4 chopped onions salt, pepper, mustard,  little ground red pepper, mayo, a little bit of liquid of pickles (2tbsp). Cook the unpeeled potatoes until they are soft, drain and let them cool down. Put the eggs into cold water, bring them to a boil and turn off the heat. Remove XL eggs after 10 min and X after 8 minutes. Let them cool down. I usually cook them the day before and keep them over night in the fridge. Wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil, so they don't dry out. When all is cold, peel the potatoes and the eggs. Slice potatoes into bite size pieces about 5mm thick, Slice the eggs with an egg slicer turn the egg 90 degrees and cut again. Put ...

After a lot of stress it was time to get some comfort food. At the same time, my fridge needed some cleaning out. So I decided to call it noodles and the kitchen sink. It contains 2 slices of bacon, thinly sliced into 5mm stripes 1 large onion chopped 2 links of Eckrich Turkey sausage chopped 1 can of stewed tomatoes 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes 1 cup of mushrooms sliced 1 can of corn (drained) 1/4 tsp of smoked paprika 1/8 tsp of Korean hot pepper a hand full of chopped cilantro 5 leaves of finely chopped basil In a big skillet with a high rim, render the bacon, add the onions and the chopped sausage. Let all of it get some color, but don't burn it. Add all the remaining ingredients except the cilantro and the basil. Turn the heat to medium, cover and let it simmer. Stir occasionally. After 15 min, add the basil and stir, cover again, turn the heat down to medium low. After another 5 minutes add the cilantro, cover, and let cook for 2 more minutes. Serve with ...

I just came up with that name. Don't get me wrong. I found that to be very tasty, but it has a lot of fat. More then I want in my diet. In any wevent, here we go. 2 x 1" slices about 5" long of pork belly Marinate that for 24h in 1/4 cup soy sauce 4 slices of ginger 1 large crushed garlic clove 2 tsp of hoisin  sauce 1 dash of hot asian pepper powder Cut them into 1.5" pieces. After 24h (give or take 3-4 hours) In a dutch oven, add 1tbsp of veggie oil and sear the pork belly from all sides including the skin side. Then add 2 cups of water and cook for 1 hour  at 350F for 1h in an oven. Remove the belly from the pot, add a rack right above the pot, put the pieces back onto the rack, but try to place them over the dutch oven to catch the drippings. But the oven to broil for 5-10 min for each side. I used Mondamin to thicken the the sauce a bit. Aside from this serve with potatoes and a side salad. -Mahlzeit- The Thai Spice Pork Belly ...

Yesterday I was at my favorite Asian Grocery store again. I worked my way through their spice isle. I have no idea what I am looking at most of the time.  On jar caught my attention. It looked like one of the very hot spices that I usually get at a Thai restaurant. So I picked one up. I also got chicken hearts. In my fridge there are still chicken thighs (no bones, no skin). This should make a good chicken noodle soup Britta's Thai style. 4 bone and skinless chicken thighs 2 packs of chicken hearts 8 cups of water 8 tsp of Knorr chicken bullion 3 carrots peeled and cut 1.5 cups of chopped celery 3 kaffir lime leaves 3 inches lemon grass, chopped into 1/4 inch chunks All of this goes into a pressure cooker. Use the chicken/meat program + 3 minutes In the mean time cook any pasta you like according to the package instructions. When the pressure cooker is done, make sure to release the pressure before opening. Serve in a bowl with cilantro or parsley as garnish and th...

It is hard to come by good bread. So I am going to work myself through recipes. Ursula M. posted the following on Facebook. I just halfed everything, I didn't want that many broetchen. We need: 3/4 cup of hand warm water 2 cups unbleached King Arthur bread flower. 3/4 tsp salt 1 tsb dry yeast 1/4 tsp sugar I used the dough hook on my kitchen machine. Add the salt, sugar and yeast to the water and stir until it is dissolved. Turn on the kitchen machine and start on very low speed. Slowly add the water with the dissolved salt, yeast and sugar. When the dough comes together keep the machine on low for another 2-3 minutes. Then turn it off. On a flowered surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes. I formed a roll, then put on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 45 min. Preheat the oven to 500F. Cut the dough into 1" slices, and cut a slice over the full length. Drip your finger in a little bit of milk and smear it on the top of the broetc...

It was time to cook something real German without putting my spin on it. Buletten (German Hamburgers) got the vote. I actually went shopping for some of the things I needed. Ketchup is not a staple in my pantry. We need 1 lbs of 90/10 ground beef 1 tbsp breadcrumbs 2 tsp ketchup 2 dashes of Worcestershire (use the real thing from Lea & Perrins, and not some store brand, you will taste the difference) 1 egg 1/2 medium onion finely chopped salt, pepper Mix all of the ingredients and form patties. I form my patties in the middle a little with a little bid of a mold. It will fill in while cooking. In a frying pan add some oil, and heat it up. I tend to cook over a little less then medium heat, so the meat has time to cook and develop color on the outside. Cooking time depends on the thickness. Mine are usually a around 1cm thick (1/3") So per side I cook them 5 minutes for medium well. For the peas I was lazy this time and just heated up a can. oops. Tomato salad: C...