Mahlzeit - Food without Borders

I didn't have a chance to go shopping after work yesterday. I need an easy bread, that works around my work schedule. This one does the trick. The recipe is from the internet, but I cut all in half. 225g bread flour, (all purpose will work as well) 3/4 cup of warm water 1 tsp of rapid dry yeast 1 tsp of kosher salt In a bowl mix the salt, dry yest and flour. Add the water and mix it with a fork or a wooden spoon until there are no flour pockets left. The dough will still be sticky. Cover the bowl air tight. I use cling wrap for this.  All this takes about 5 minutes. Set aside in a warm spot. My warmest spot is my computer room. The warmest spot in the computer room is on a running laptop. The work day can start. About 2.5h later I pre-heat the stove  to 450F with a Dutch Oven including the cover inside. After another 30 minutes it is lunch time. The dough has doubled. I just got myself a silicon baking matt. This makes a lot of things easier and I don't need to mess up the cou...

I bought a box of Tilapia filets this weekend. Time to try some recipes. As a first version, this is what I came up with: 2 Tilapia filets salt and pepper ground paprica juice of half of a lemon zest of 1/2 lemon 2 tsbp butter 1 tbsp olive oil Wash and pad dry the filets. Salt and pepper from both sides. Spingle some ground paprica on both sides. Heat up the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the the butter. When it is almost melted add the filets. Turn down the heat to low and cover. After about 5 minutes turn the filets over, add the lemon juice and sprinkle the zest over it. Cover and cook till done about another 5 minutes. Cooking time really depends how thick the filets are. As a side can be rice, potatoes and a veggie or salad. -Mahlzeit-

I came across pork belly at Aldi's. It was a small portion. Many things can be done with pork belly. The original though was to do pork belly with beans soup. When I started to read recipe's they all sounded very involved and I didn't feel like spending hours on things. So I  decided to forgot all about the beans.  This is what I came up with: 1 lbs pork belly cut into bite size pieces 1 cup of celery chopped 1 medium onion coarsly chopped 3/4 cup of white wine or champagne (Aldi has some great one to awesome prices) 4 tbsp of Famous Dave's Sweet and Zesty BBQ sauce 2 cups of beef broth  1 parsnip peeled and cut into bite size pieces 2 tbsp of veggie oil. 1.5tsp of smoked paprika 2 tsp of ground allspice  Salt and pepper to taste In a Dutch Oven heat the oil. Add the celery, parsnip and onion and cook for about 5 minutes. The onions should start to get translucent. Remove all from the DO onto a plate. Add the pork belly and let it get color from all sides. Takes abou...

The recipe was posted from Sascha Inden on Facebook. She references  Axel Schmitt as the author of the recipe. It sounds all pretty easy. When I read the recipe, I was not sure it will all work out as such. 300g flower (all purpose) 4g yeast 6g salt 200g water It states to all just mix in a bowl, so the flower is all wet. Not more then 20 seconds.... I would think one would dissolve the in the water and one uses warm water. But ok. Cover the bowl air tight and put it in the fridge for 14-20 hours. This morning, when I check, the dough still had the size from yesterday.  The instructions say, to leave it on the counter top for 15 min, while the oven pre-heats to 250C. Add some water into a separate bowl, to generate steam.. Sprinkle some flower on the counter top. Cut the dough in half and fold it over a couple of times. Then bake for 15 minutes.  That is where I left he instructions. I did flower a surface and did fold it over for a couple of times. And then I decided to ...

There are some veggies left over in my fridge, that need a purpose.   Missing on the picture: 3 bay leaves 1.5 tsp ground all spice 1 cup lentils cleaned and rinsed 1/2 cup of bite size chunks of celery 1/2 cup of bite size chunks of carrots.  10 cups of water 8 tsp of Knorr Tomato Bouilon Peal the potatoes, cut the cauliflower and the broccoli into bite size pieces. Clean the onion and coarsely chop it. Slice the sausage.  In a big pot melt 1 tbsp of margarine. Add the sausage and let it get some color. Add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add all the remaining ingredients. Bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 30-40 minutes. It depends on how long the lentils need. For longer cooking times, it may be better, just to add the spices, water and the lentils and let this simmer for about 15 minutes and then add the rest. -Mahlzeit-

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. -Ma...