What are you cooking today?

thanks for the kohlrabi info. Maybe the ones I bought weren't very fresh; they didn't have greens. This time, I bought them with greens (which I cooked, spinach style, and they were good!), and tonight I guess I need to give the root portion another go...

Here's a whole bucket of kohlrabi recipes to practice your German with, mlovett. :-)

Thanks westvan. Hopefully I am going to start German classes next month at the VHS...

Bubble and Squeak with baked beans - yummy!

I find your definition of "recipe" intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

woof.

Have you never had Bubble and Squeak? - it always depends upon what you find lurking in the fridge - and since I haven´t looked yet, I can´t give you the exact recipe - though if you are really interested I could PM it to you later on, okay?

(was the bit about baked beans specific enough for you, or should I mention that I will pop them into a saucepan and heat them up whilst stirring all the time...?)

I discovered some rose hips on a bush near where I usually swim (near the Weißensee), so I picked some. Originally, I was going to make tea out of them, but I found an easy recipe for Rose Hip Candy on the web. It turned out great, although it took a long time to get the hips clean.

Worth a try if you have rose hips growing nearby. They're sweet and wee bit sour with a hint of citrus; somewhat similar to cranberries.

Seriously, no, really, that totally is not what 'bubble and squeak' is. It just isn't. Atall. Whatsoever. The all-inclusive, fridge-forraging recipe that you are referring to is more commonly known as "stoned student mishmash".

Unfortunately, DR, I haven´t been stoned in about a decade, so I´m afraid we´ll have to stick to calling my version of it "bubble and squeak" for the time being ;-)

I'm not cooking--I am trying to can a pile of quince-apple sauce I made yesterday. I am using "Einweckglaesser" --the glass canning jars you see here in Germany. I am used to American canning jars, plus I haven't done this for a positively scary number of decades.. I made a trial attempt with one jar yesterday, but it did not seal..we'll see what happens today! Anyone have experience with these? Mine have tops with a curved edege and while cooling, the top is held down with a curious and uncooperative bail. Well, Uebung macht der Meister!

The fruit season is in full gear and we are two of probably quite a few people dragging around suitcases full of windfalls on the public transportation.

I made the puerco pilbil from once apon a time in mexico it was great.

Friday night. For alot of English people, that means a Chinese or Indian takeaway. My first taste of "chinese" food was probably 30 or so years ago, when my mum would get a prawn curry and rice from the local Chop Suey House, and I loved having a little taste, and a couple of prawn crackers. I'd secretly stay awake on fridays until the smell of grease ridden paper bags full of chinese takeaway would waft up the stairs, signalling that I should sneak down and see what I could have a nibble on.

I guess the English friday takeaway phenom was probably all about fridays being payday for many people, or perhaps because it was the end of the week, and cooking is a pain in the arse. Whatever it is, I still yearn for chinese takeaway food on friday, but living where I do, that just ain't an option. Atall.

As luck would have it though, I can cook. Tonight, amongst other things, we shall be having that fantastic staple dish of every chinese menu up and down Blighty, crispy duck with pancakes. It'll also be super cheap, because the duck is coming from...yep, Aldi. I've mentioned it before here, when I was writing some crap about DIY chinese takeaway stuff.

So, Aldi do this frozen half crispy duck. It's precooked,but really is not too bgad atall, and the skin does indeed get super crispy, especially if we help it along a bit.
Some of the other ingredients cannot be bought in German supermarkets. Not even Karstadt. You simply have to get them from an asian store, but they are at least things that will keep for ages.

1 jar Hoisin Sauce - Asian supermarket
Some pancakes for duck - Asian supermarkets sell these frozen. They're great, and normally super cheap of course.
1 cucumber - Aldi
Spring Onions - Aldi
1 Aldi KnusperEnte
Sesame oil.

First off, get some pancakes out to defrost, they don't take long atall.
Next, veg prep. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, then cut in into quarters along its lenght. Run a blade along the flesh to remove the seeds and watery crap, then cut the cucumber flesh into sticks. You know what you are aiming for, those 4 or 5 cm long sticks of cucumber that syou always get with crispy duck. Cut the spring onions into the same sort of lengths, but also shredd them along their lengths.

Get your oven heated, and whack in the duck. It comes i a foil tray, so you don't even need to wash an oven tray afterwards. Good eh? Cook it for I dunno, 30 minutes or so, then remove from the oven, and carfeully, using a BLUNT kitchen knife, remove the skin. What will happen is that most of the ski8n will come away nicely, but might be a bit tricker on the thigh. You'll also get a thick layer of fatty muck from parts of the duck. TRy and get the skin off in one piece. Keep the duck meat warm.

Now, put the skin, fatty side up, on a board, and run a knife against it, scraping all the fatty muck off. You want to be left with a fatty-muck free bit of duckskin. Chuck this in a hot frying pan, no oil, and push it down flat with a bit of kitchen roll. You are trying to render any remaining fat out of it, and get it all really super crispy. ONce you have done that, let it cool, and then chop it finely - it kinda disentegrates under the knife, and you ebnd up with a pile of duck flavoured goodness that looks a little like toasted breadcrumbs.

Shred the duck meat (it has already been boned) with two forks. You are going for a texture that looks a bit like a can of tuna thats been forked out of the can. Toss a little sesame oil through the shredded duck meat- Keep this meat warm.

The pancakes shoukld be steamed. I do this in a shit cheap chinese bamboo steamer that sits on a pan of boiling water. First, put a circle fo greaseproof paper in the botton of the steamer, then pile your pancakes on top. Takes only 2 minutes or so to steam them through.

Now you can serve it all up. I tend to water down Hoisin sauce a little, as it is too gloopy, but you don't need to. Serve the shredded duck, vegetables and crunchy duckskin stuff with the pancakes. To fodder, take a pancake in one hand, put a line of hoisin down the middle, then add some duck, a couple of sticks of cucumber, some shredded spring onion, and top with some of the crunchy duckskin stuff, then roll up.

Serve with...erm, I dunno really. Whatever. I like to print off a few chinese takeaway menus off the net, and let the missus choose whatever she fancies, then cook it. Chacun sait gout as they say in Bromford.

Whoa, that sounds good. I'd love to try it but I know I would just screw it up.

Holy shit I want some crispy duck with pancakes...

Was just wondering if someone could tell me what beef chuck is. Is that mince (Hackfleisch) or steak?
Thanks from a Brit. who loves the sound of Sarabyrd's meatloaf

mclovett mentioned somewhere above - Roter Sauser, Italian early red wine (Traubenmost)

Is this wine anything like Federweisser? Is it commonly available? And is it seasonal or drinkable all year long? I'm interested!

It's hackfleisch. Meatloaf is great comfort food when the weather is turning cold - I might make some this weekend myself.

Thank you and glad I could give you one less meal plan to worry about

Yes, in that it gives you an epic headache and rotten guts and will knock you out in a heartbeat with no warning if you have too much. Too much being the difference between ... this much and ... this much.


Available most places you can get Federweißer. Seasonal, yes (early autumn). Drinkable all year long, no. Thank goodness.´

Lovely stuff, seriously.

bah, crusoe is a lightweight. "Early wine" and onion tart served together is a nice German fall tradition.

Mince pies - and most have been eaten!

Red Lentil Dal over rice

1 large chopped onion
4 cups water
1.5 cups dry red lentils
1 cup chopped tomato (or 1 can)

Spices to taste:

garlic
ginger
cumin
coriander
turmeric
paprika
garam masala
chilli pepper
salt

fresh cilantro

Sautee onion in a sauce pan until starting to brown
Add spices to taste
Add water and Lentils
Bring to a boil
Reduce heat and cover
Simmer until lentils are done (15-20 minutes)

Top with chopped cilantro and serve over rice

I also added a few things to my rice to make it more exciting:

raisins
cinamon sticks (remove before serving)
cumin seeds
cardamom

The only thing wrong with the dish described above was that I was only allowed two portions and not three

That's two meal plans. Or have you never had a meatloaf sandwich?

[quote name='penelope pitstop' date='Oct 24 2008, 11:58 am' post='1437778']
Was just wondering if someone could tell me what beef chuck is. Is that mince (Hackfleisch) or steak?
Thanks from a Brit. who loves the sound of Sarabyrd's meatloaf
[/quote

Chuck beef are cuts that lend them selves to braisng\stewing rather than frying,so back in the old days chuck beef was "chucked away" i was told.

they also used to in posh places cook say a fillet steak between two pieces of rump and throw these away,to expensive now to do this and a waste.

Far from it. It's all about quantity. The stuff goes down like mother's milk.
I'll give you beginner's mistake, though.

An enormous batch of Yorkshire Puddings - to go with roast beef.

New England Clam Chowder.

Pan-fried octopus and squid with plenty of olive oil and garlic.

Peppy New Joe’s Special
300g mincemeat (pure beef)
2 medium onions
1 chilli
1 yellow pepper
50g fresh spinach
1 egg
50g Basmati rice
Olive oil
Thyme, marjoram, oregano, curcuma, paprika

Cook the rice in weak salt-water

Remove the skin from the pepper (heat the oven to 250°C, switch on the grill, cut the pepper in quarters and leave them in the oven, skin side up, for app. 8 minutes, hold each piece under cold running water for a few seconds – voilà, off comes the skin!) and chop them coarsely
Chop the chilli finely
Dice the onion, glaze in olive oil, add mincemeat, chilli and peppers
Let this all simmer, stirring frequently
Wash the spinach, chop in strips, add to the mincemeat mixture
Season to taste
Simmer until the spinach has wilted
Beat in the egg

Serve with the rice

Not yet but this week I will have

just made some good old mac and cheese! The wife was very happy with the results. The recipe was basicly the same as that in the Joy of Cooking, so nothing fancy, but simple goodness.

Started making a bechamel (4 tbs butter, 4 tbs flour, 2 cups milk) I then melted ~2-3 cups of chedder, which I got the cheese monger to grate for me yesterday, into the bechamel. I added some spices, bit of nutmeg, fresh paresly, salt, pepper and I probably should have added a bit of paprika, but I didn't for some reason. I then poured this over maccaroni noodles (~3 cups dried mac noodles cooked for seven minutes and drained) in a casserole dish. Mix it well together and let sit while the oven preheats and you make the top crusty bit.

To make the top crusty bit I took the crumbs of three pieces of toast stile bread (not toasted) into a frying pan with a couple of spoonfulls of butter a shallot and pan fry until the bread starts to brown. Add some nice spices I used sage. Put this on top of the mac and cheese evenly and cover with more grated chedder cheese. wack this in the oven for a bit over half an hour and enjoy.

I made bhajis with this recipe yesterday and noticed a couple of points missing in the instructions.

- There is no measure of water named, just enough to make "a thick batter". This means thicker than pancake batter but still flowing off the spoon in blobs when you lift it out of the batter (wonderful German word describes it: zähflüssig). I held the bowl under the faucet, letting the water flow in a slow trickle, stirring all the time. Err on the side of caution, the batter has to absorb all the liquid as you're stirring. Check before you add more water.

- I used German baking powder, about 1/3 of a Backin sachet. Be generous in this aspect.

- The recipe doesn't tell you when to stir in the garlic/ginger paste. I added it as the last ingredient to the thick batter just before whacking in the onions.

I don't have a deep fat fryer so I fried the bhajis in a deep pot with a heavy duty bottom. I used a large spoon (soupspoon/tablespoon) to portion the batter-onion mix, the result was a bit larger than a golf ball so keep your portions on the small side. The bhajis are so cute, once the bottom part is fried enough they rise and bob along the surface of the oil so you can turn them over and finish frying them. They were more blond than nicely browned, I couldn't get the fat (I used sunflower oil) hot enough. But they were very tasty, the onion bits tender with just a bit of crunchiness left.

Not sure I'd go with that. You don't want a constant flow of water, more adding a bit here and there as you go, because the rate at which it accepts more liquid is not constant.

Yep, I'm a pedantic arse. Sadly for you lot though, I'm normally totally right. Fucking annoying isn't it.

I abbreviated a bit. Acutally, I let the water trickle in while stirring until the batter became almost ball-shaped and gradually added more, holding the bowl under the faucet and removing it again while the batter absorbed the liquid when stirred. Whatever, it worked. I'd say I used about 200 to 300 ml of water.

Crispy roast duck, knodel, red cabbage and other veg. It was good.

Beef and green pepper risotto with tomato salad.

You start with

and end up with (see next post)

I just tossed some quinoa, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, sauteed shallots, salt, dried thyme, and a vegetable stock cube into my slow cooker. I hope to have something near edible come tomorrow morning.

My Christmas puddings are now steaming. One month late, but hoping no-one will notice. Another thing to tick off the list.

Using up leftovers before I leave for the holidays.

Poached eggs, oven chips, smoked salmon and experimental hollandaise that I froze and wondered if it froze well. We shall see later tonight...

Macaroni and cheese. Not from a box.

one slice of bread
3/4 thin slices of cheese
2 spoons of stir in dolmio sauce
1 clove of garlic, some onion, a few baby tomatoes

bread - spread sauce, put garlic on top, sprinkle tomatoe, onion and garlic, under grill 'til browning

quick, tasty, easy, mmm

Well, it's for tomorrow for a Kita Advent fest... but does this look good to folks? I'd make Glühwein, but alcohol is verboten.

warm cider

Ingredients:
1 large orange
12 whole cloves
1 medium-size lemon
1 gallon apple cider*
6 3-inch-long cinnamon sticks

Directions:
1. Cut two 1/2-inch-thick slices from center of orange. Stick cloves into skin around each orange slice. Cut remaining orange into thin slices for garnish. Remove a 1-inch-wide continuous strip of peel from lemon(refrigerate peeled lemon for use another day).

2. In 5-quart saucepot over high heat, heat orange slices with cloves, lemon peel, apple cider, and cinnamon sticks to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes.

3. Pour hot cider into large heat-safe punch bowl(about 5 quarts). Place remaining orange slices in cider for garnish.
Serves 16.

*I bought "Naturtrüb, thanks to an old post by eurovol.

The kind lady at Famila also suggested I add some applesauce (Apfelmus) to "thicken" it. I dunno... But anyway she spent like 10-15 minutes with me taking me all over the store, VERY impressive customer service!

Way too yummy chili - ate the whole batch

Ground Beef
tons of spices
-cumin
-paprika
-garlic
-coriander
-Chili pepper
chili beans
hot salsa
tomato paste
Cheddar cheese
sour cream

it varies every time I make it, but that's how I made it tonight.

Doesn´t cider have alcohol in it? Sounds lovely though!

American apple cider is generally alcohol frei.