Asparagus salad

Ah, time for Asparagus.
Green Asparagus, roasted on the grill or the white one in a hollandaise sauce with ham or as a salad or even in a Risotto or a soup. Asparagus is great.

This salad is just plain refreshing.


1 pound green or white Asparagus, cut in 1 inch pieces

1 tsp. salt
1 tbs. vinegar
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tbs. mayonnaise
4 tbs. parsley, chopped
1/4 cup whipping cream

2 tomatoes, chopped
2 slices pineapple, cut in chunks
1 cup chicken, cooked and chopped or 1/2 cup of ham, cut in strips

Cook the Asparagus in saltwater for about 5 minutes. You still want them crunchy, not mushy.
Drain in a colander and set aside to cool.

With the salt, vinegar,sugar, mayonnaise, whipping cream and parsley make a dressing.
Combine the cooled Asparagus, dressing, tomatoes, pineapple and chicken/ ham and toss lightly to coat everything with the dressing.

Naan bread

Naan bread is the perfect accompaniment for Indian food, or just like that. Yumm!

Naan bread

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar

3 tbs. milk
1 egg, beater
 2 tsp. garlic, minced

2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and let it sit until it's frothy.
Mix the liquid ingredients ( milk, egg and garlic ) together and set aside.
Mix the flour and the salt together and also set aside.

When the yeast is foaming, combine all of the ingredients and knead, adding flour if necessary until the dough is not sticky anymore. Cover and let rest until double in size. ( 30-40 minutes.)
After the dough has risen, punch it down and knead some more. Pinch off about 8 balls and flatten then on a floured surface, with your hand. Let them rise again for about 30 minutes and fry them in a low to medium hot frying pan or on a grill, brushing the uncooked side with the melted butter ( about 3 -4 minutes on each side.)
Oh so good!

Italian Dressing Mix

As promised, here is the Italian dressing Dry Mix.

Italian Dressing Mix:

1 tbs. garlic salt
1 tbs. onion powder
1 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. oregano
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. celery salt
2 tbs. salt

Mix all spices together and store in an airtight container.

  For a salad dressing:

1/4 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tbs. water
2 tbs. dry mix


Happy mixing!

Fiesta Dip

Here is a refreshing dip you are going to like. So easy, so fast, just great for summer.

Fiesta Dip

about 1 cup of cilantro, chopped
1 can of tomato chunks, partially drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium cucumber, seeded and cut in chunks
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 pkg. Italian dressing ( I have a recipe for a dry mix Italian dressing. I make sure I post it next time)


Mix all the ingredients together and let the flavors blend for at least an hour before serving.
 Serve with tortilla chips.

Note: You can reduce the amount of cilantro in this recipe, if cilantro isn't your thing.

Hamburger Buns

I have not found a good hamburger bun here in Germany. Most of them fall apart as soon as you put your Burger on it. 
So, homemade it will be. This recipe is perfect, they don't fall apart and are still soft enough just like a bun should be.

Hamburger Buns:

1 cup water
2 tbs. canola oil
3 cups flour
1 tbs. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 tsp. active yeast ( I used 1/2 cube of fresh bakers yeast)

Preheat the oven to 350 F ( 175 C )
Mix together the yeast, water, and the sugar. Let that mixture sit until it is frothy.
Add the flour, salt, and the oil and knead until the dough is glossy.
Place the dough in a bowl and cover and let it rise until double. ( about 1 hour )
When the dough is done rising, punch it down and knead for another 2 to 3 minutes. Then divide the dough in 8 equal parts and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. ( roll the dough parts in your hands until they form a ball and then flatten them to resemble buns.) Cover them again and let them rise for another
30 to 45 minutes. Bake the rolls in the preheated oven until the tops are golden brown, about 12 minutes.
Cool the buns on a rack before slicing them.

Dressing

Here in Germany, I definitely miss Ranch; and for the Taco salad, Catalina dressing.
Both are nowhere to be found in the stores. When we went to Subway at one point in time, we wanted to have a Sandwich with Ranch dressing, the guy told us they are not allowed to sell it in Germany. WAIT WHAT, WHY???
 I do not understand that at all.

Well fine then, I'll make my own!!!!
So, I started experimenting with recipes and it actually worked.

Here are a couple of my favorite homemade dressing recipes.

 

Catalina dressing:

 1 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 dash paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. mustard
grated onion to taste or onion powder
1/2 cup vinegar
2/3 cup ketchup
1 cup olive oil

Whisk all ingredients together.

Ranch dressing:

 3 scallions
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 tbs. lemon juice
1 1/2 tbs. mustard
1 tbs. olive oil
2 gloves garlic
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Blend in a food processor until it makes a smooth mixture.
Add:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk

Stir well and place in the refrigerator about 1 hour until flavors blend together. 

Keep in mind, no additives, so the dressing's does not last as long as the store bought one.

Hope you like it.

Taco salad

Taco salad:

1 pound ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 medium onions, chopped
2-3 tomatoes, cut in chunks
1 lettuce
1 can chili beans, optional
black olives, optional
Frito's or tortilla chips
Catalina dressing
grated cheese


Brown the meat in a skillet, add the onions and the seasoning according to the package directions.
Arrange lettuce, tomatoes, chili beans, and black olives in a salad bowl. Top with meat and cheese. Serve the chips on the side so they don't get soggy and drizzle with Catalina dressing.

Homemade cheese spread

This spread is excellent on a crusty bread or just as a dip.


Homemade cheese spread:

1 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
3/4 cup whipping cream, whipped
herbs, chopped ( chives, parsley, dill, basil or whatever herb you like )
3/4 tsp. salt
pepper
1 glove garlic, minced

Beat the cream cheese and sour cream together until creamy. Mix in the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper. Fold in the whipping cream and put the mix in a sieve over a bowl. Let it sit covered with plastic wrap in the fridge over night. The next day you can discard the liquid what drained off the mix and store the cheese in a container with a lid.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cupcakes with Vanilla bean Frosting

Decorated with little Marzipan carrots, this is perfect for the upcoming holiday.

Carrot Cupcakes with Vanilla bean Frosting:

1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamon
1 cup shredded carrot ( about 1 large one )
1 cup crushed pineapple drained
1 cup coconut flakes
about 1 cup currants or raisins
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1/4 cup coconut oil ( I used canola oil )
1/4 cup unsalted butter ( room temperature )
2 eggs
1 cup flour

In a large bowl combine everything except, flour, eggs, oil, and butter.
Add the oil and the butter and stir.
Now add the eggs, one at a time.
Add the flour in two batches and stir.
Divide evenly between 12 Muffin cups.
Heat oven to 350 F and bake for about for 25 minutes.

While they are cooling, you can prepare the frosting.

Vanilla bean Frosting:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter ( room temperature )
1 tbs. milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped out ( save the rest of the bean for homemade vanilla sugar )

Beat all the ingredients together to a creamy consistency and pipe on the cooled cupcakes.
Decorate with little Marzipan carrots or whatever your heart desires.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Butter - cream

Everyone deserves a treat!

 

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Butter - cream:

1 1/2 cup milk
1 pkg. pudding to cook
If you use a German Pudding package, you use:
300 ml Milch
1 päckchen Vanille Pudding
75g Zucker

Cook the pudding according to the directions on the back and let it cool.


1cup sour cherries plus 12 to decorate the cupcakes ( 150 g Sauerkirschen + 12 für die deco)
1/3  plus 2/3 cup butter, room temperature ( 250 g weiche Butter )
1/2 cup sugar (100 g Zucker )
2 tsp. vanilla sugar or about 1 tsp vanilla aroma ( 1 pk. Vanilla Zucker )
1 pinch of salt ( 1 prise Salz )
3 eggs ( 3 Eier )
1 cup flour (150 g Mehl )
2 tsp. baking powder (1 teel. Backpulver )
1 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder ( 1 Eß. Kakaupulver )
muffin liners ( Papierförmchen )

Preheat the oven to 350 F ( 175 C )
Line Muffin tins and set aside.
Beat together 2/3 cup butter, sugar, vanilla sugar ( vanilla aroma ) and salt, until creamy. Add the eggs one by one and mix well. Mix together flour and baking powder and add slowly to the butter mix, beat continuously until the batter is creamy.
Fill half of the batter into the muffin cups and divide the cherries evenly over the light batter.
Take the other half of the batter and stir in the cocoa powder. Now, divide the chocolate batter evenly between the muffin cups on top of the cherries and light batter.
Bake for about 20 minutes. Let them cool on a wire rack.

While the cupcake are cooling, take the rest of the butter ( 1/3 cup) and beat it to a creamy consistency adding the cool, thick pudding.
With a large star tip, pipe on the cooled cupcake and decorate with a cherry. Makes 12 Cupcakes.

What a treat!

summer pasta salad

We had great weather all last week and it's just the beginning of April, so I had to get the BBQ ready.
I love to BBQ, however since I am doing all the cooking I like to choose sides I can prepare ahead of time, when it's time to get to the grill, everything is ready and only small things here and there distract me from the actual grilling, that means I can sit down and enjoy, flip the items on the grill and not frantically run in and out to get the sides ready and at the same time making sure my meat does not burn.

I marinated some chicken breast in olive oil and spices for about 3-4 hours.
I also made some herb butter, by just letting my favorite butter get to room temperature and mixing fresh herbs and garlic and salt and pepper into it. Then we had fresh baguette bread with it.
And of course the pasta salad.You can use really any shape you like, I prefer Penne, Rotini or Fettuccini.

summer past salad:

Pasta, cooked ( I usually use 1 pound)
fresh tomatoes, chopped  ( 2-4, depending on the size or even roughly a hand full of cherry tomatoes, quartered)
fresh basil, chopped ( 1/4 cup chopped)
glove of garlic, chopped (1-2 gloves)
olive oil ( drizzled over the top, don't over do it, you don't want your noodles greasy )
salt and pepper to taste


The amount of tomatoes, basil and garlic really depends on how much you like on the salad. I use whats in the brackets for 4 people.
Toss all ingredient together making sure that the tomatoes are evenly distributed.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Quesadillas

Got to have those quick fix recipes on hand, for all those times when you get home late from work or time is short. Quesadilla's is one of them.

Quesadilla's

flour tortillas
salsa
corn
beans ( kidney, black beans or even chick peas will do), drained
tomatoes cut in small pieces
shredded cheese
if you like meat, cooked chicken, beef or ground beef can be added
oil for the pan

Heat the oil in a pan over low to medium heat and place one tortilla in. Sprinkle with corn, salsa, kidney beans, tomatoes, meat and cheese. Cover with another tortilla and fry until browned, turn over ( which can be tricky, you got to be fast with flipping it over or you can let it glide on a plate and flip the whole pan over to get it on the other side..) and let the other side brown and the cheese melt. Cut them in quarters and serve with Guacamole, sour cream and more salsa.

Gnocchi with sage butter

 I apologize for not posting anything. I have been renovating and that has taken all of my time and energy. Needless to say, you got to eat something and it feels like I have not been cooking in ages.
 
This is perfect for times when it need to be quick and easy. I used the Gnocchi from the refrigerated section, they take only two minutes once the water is boiling and the sage butter is absolutely great.

Prepare the Gnocchi according to package directions. (easy, right!)

For the sage butter, all you need is butter and fresh sage leaves.

Melt the butter in a pan and add the sage leaves. Let that simmer on medium heat until the leaves become crispy and the butter is slightly browned.
Serve the butter with the sage leaves over the Gnocchi and sprinkle with a bit of salt, if desired.

The amounts of everything depends on the people you want to feed. I used two packs ( 800g) of Gnocchi for 3 people ( keep in mind, Gnocchi are filling) and about 1/3 cup of butter with about 15 sage leaves.

Serve with fresh, crunchy french bread.
Perfect, fast, great!
Sorry, no pictures ( could not find my camera in my renovating mess).


 

Panini's

I really like Panera bread. Here in Germany I definitely miss it.
So, I have to recreate one of my favorite sandwiches. Tomato - Mozzarella Panini.

I like to use Ciabatta bread but you can use any bread you like.
You can either use one of those panini grills or you can just use a heavy pan to press down on the bread. Either way it works.

 Tomato - Mozzarella Panini

1 Ciabatta bread
Pesto
Tomatoes
fresh Mozzarella
sun dried tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the bread in half and spread pesto on the bottom half. Slice up the tomatoes and cover the entire bread. Season with salt and pepper. Drain and cut the Mozzarella in slices and lay on top of the tomatoes. Chop the sun dried tomatoes ans sprinkle on the Mozzarella. Place the top of the ciabatta bread on the sandwich and heat some butter in a frying pan and start frying the bread on medium heat, pressing down on it, as it's frying. You want the cheese to melt and the outside to be just golden brown and crunchy. 

I like to serve it with chips, pickles and olives. In winter it goes good with a cup of soup and in the summer I like to pair it with a Greek salad.

Rouladen

Love those Rouladen. This is a bit more time consuming but it is well worth it.
I like to make Rouladen with sweet and sour apple cabbage and Semmelknödel.


For the Rouladen, have your butcher cut top round beef in about 1/4 inch thick slices.
You want a good size thin piece of beef, so you can roll it up with a filling. 1 Roulade is one portion.

Rouladen:

4 ( for 4 people ) slices of beef about 1/4 inch thick
1 onion, in slices
1 good size pickle, cut in quarters
8 strips bacon (raw)
mustard, salt, pepper, paprika

Wash and dry the beef and lay it out flat. Season it with salt, pepper and paprika on one side, flip and do the same on the other side. Now spread the mustard on the meat and lay the bacon pieces on top, making sure they don't lap over the sides. Take 1/4 of the onions and one quarter of the pickle and place it on one side of the meat.Now roll it up jelly roll style, securing it with a toothpick.
Brown them in a pan and add water to cook through. About 1-1 1/2 hours.
Season the gravy with more salt and pepper and thicken it with flour. ( see Sauerbraten for thickening gravy )

Semmelknödel

Stuffing, Semmelknödel, bread-pudding, Paninis anything with bread must be good.
If you are bread lovers like we are, you must try this recipe.
I like to fix Semmelknödel when I make Rouladen, a Roast  or even Sauerbraten, in short anything with nice brown gravy.

Semmelknödel:

about 7 rolls or the equivalent of french bread, cut up in small pieces
2/3 cups milk, warm
2 eggs
1 onion, chopped
2 1/2 tbs. parsley, dry ( if you have fresh parsley, use about a half a bundle and chop it fine)
1/2 tsp. marjoram, dry
3-4 tbs. butter
a pinch of nutmeg
salt
pepper

Pour the warm milk over the cut up rolls and let them sit for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt the butter and saute the onions and the marjoram then let it all cool off. Knead the eggs and nutmeg into the soaked rolls. Stir in the cooled off onion mix and let it rest again for about 10 minutes. Knead through with the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Form 7-8 dumplings with wet hands and cook them in simmering salted water for about 20 minutes. ( Do not let the water boil!!) Make sure the pot you use is big enough for the dumplings to swim.

Granatsplitter

Granatsplitter is translated into grenade splinter. Maybe the pastry is called that, because it's made with "splinters or pieces" of cake combined with other ingredients, and turned into something delicious.

I forgot all about Granatsplitter, we had them as kids and they were fantastic, or so I thought.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, when I made this marble-cake, it just would not budge out of the pan. I ended up cutting all around the top to get it out. Very frustrating!
The cake still tasted great and did not look too bad, (one could still recognize that it as a marble cake), but now I had all those cake pieces what I had to cut off the edges of my cake. First I thought a dessert with layers of cake and pudding, but in my frustration I remembered the Granatsplitter.
So, that weekend we had not only marble cake, but I also tried myself on a Granatsplitter. I ended up using the cake pieces, I also had to cut off the ends to have enough crumbs for my trial.
The pastry turned out great. If you have left over pound cake, marble cake or something similar, you should try it.
I will definitely make them again and next time hopefully without having to butcher a marble cake.
It was only half of the recipe and it made about 6 of them. I used a German pudding package, and the whole package called for 500 ml of milk, however I used only about 3/4 of the suggested amount.

Granatsplitter:

750 ml. milk           ( 375 ml.)
2 pkg. chocolate pudding, not instant  ( 1 pkg )
2 tsp. sugar    (1 tsp.)
300 g cake rests, coarse crumbs   ( 150g )
dash of rum
round cookies ( I used Butterkekse I know they are square, but it was the only cookie I had at hand. Remember, this was not planned at all. )
Chocolate to cover the Granatsplitter


Cook the pudding with the sugar according to the package directions ( with only 3/4 of the suggested milk ). Let it cool a bit and mix in the cake crumbs and the rum. Mound the " dough "on the cookies and let them rest for a while to set. Then cover the mounds in chocolate. Let the chocolate harden and enjoy.

  

Leek salad

Everyone should eat salad, it's so healthy in so many way's.
There are so many different types and kinds of salad, you could try a different one each day and still have recipes left over for the following years.
Of course one always goes back to the same recipes that the family likes. Here is one, we have always liked and it's super fast and easy.

Leek salad:

1/2 leek, washed and sliced
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of kidney beans, drained
cheese, cubed ( optional )

dressing:
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. vinegar
salt, pepper, to taste
1 tsp. mustard
about 1 tsp. sugar

Put all the ingredients in a salad bowl, mix the dressing together and pour over the salad.

Quick and easy, enjoy!!!!

Super salad

Sometimes it just has to be salad.
With that said, I will just give you the recipe and you judge for your self.

Super salad:

1 pkg. Ramen noodles ( without the seasoning )
peanuts, optional
4 tbs. butter

1 bunch broccoli, chopped
1 head romaine lettuce
4 green onions, sliced

1 cup sweet and sour sauce

dressing:

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
3 tbs. soy sauce
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper



Melt the butter in a pan and break the Ramen noodles ( peanuts ) into small pieces. Brown them in the butter and drain on a paper towel.

Tear and wash the romaine lettuce, add the broccoli and the green onions and set aside.

For the dressing, mix all dressing ingredients well.

When you get ready to serve, add the sweet and sour sauce, the dressing and the browned noodles
 ( peanuts ) to the greens. Enjoy!

Crocker - Pulled pork

This recipe came about with a BBQ and so many left overs. I just put all the barbecued pork, in the crock-pot and let it cook until it all fell apart. Everyone loved it. The flavor was great.
The next time I fixed pulled pork, I got me a regular raw pork roast ( no BBQ, that time :( ), cut it in pieces and cooked it in my crock-pot for about 8 hours. Yummy!

Pulled pork:

about 1 pound of pork
2 - 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 cup of onions, chopped
1/2 cup green peppers, chopped
2 gloves garlic, minced
4 tbs. vinegar
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
3 tsp. mustard
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. paprika
hot sauce to taste

Cut up the pork and mix all the ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on high for about 4 hours, then turn it down to medium and cook for another 4 hours. The pork must be soft enough to pull apart and to shred with a fork. I serve it on Hamburger buns with pickles.

Anna Baby

Anna Baby is great for breakfast, served with buttered apples. Super easy and fast to make. All you need is a cast iron pan, which you can transfer from the stove top to the oven.
You can eat it with buttered apples or any kind of fruit on the side. 

Anna Baby

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature

4 tbs. butter
powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Stir together the flour, milk, sugar, and the eggs with a wire whisk.
Melt the butter in the cast iron skillet, making sure all the sides are coated.
Pour the mix in the pan and cook for about one minute, NO stirring!
Transfer the pan in the oven and bake for about 12 - 15 minutes.
Give it a dusting of powdered sugar and serve immediately.
The pancake will loose it's puff, as soon as it will get out of the oven.
 

Pretzel

Weiss-wurst and Pretzel, a Bavarian tradition. I'm not Bavarian, but I do like pretzels.
Here is my favorite recipe for soft pretzel.
I like to eat them with just plain butter or sometimes with honey - mustard.

We also tried this pretzel dip:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. cider vinegar

Mix all the ingredients together.

soft Pretzel

1 pkg. dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tbs. sugar
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt

1 large egg, beaten
coarse salt
1 tbs. butter, melted

Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in the warm water. Let it sit until it foams. Mix the flour and salt together and add it to the yeast. Knead until the dough is nice and soft and not sticky.
Let it rise until double in size.
Punch it down and divide in 5 parts. Take each part and roll it on the counter until every roll is about
as thick as a finger, now form it into a pretzel shape. Really, it can be any shape you like.
Brush the pretzels with egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake in a 425 F oven for about 8 - 10 minutes, take them out, brush them with the melted butter and sprinkle more salt, then bake them again until they are golden.

smothered burritos

Years ago, when I lived in Texas, a friend gave me this real easy recipe for smothered burritos.
Even today I still like to make this dish. Now, I like to top it with cheese and homemade salsa. I also like to serve Guacamole on the side.

smothered burritos

1 pound ground beef ( not drained )
2 tbs. flour
1-2 jalapenos ( this depends on how hot you like your food)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can of water
garlic salt, salt and pepper

in addition you will need
flour tortillas
gated cheese
re-fried beans
and any topping you would like on your burritos

Brown the ground beef in a pan. Once the meat is brown, add jalapenos and the flour and stir well. Let it cook for about one minute and then add the tomato sauce and the water. ( use the tomato sauce can also for the water.) Cook it until the sauce is thick then add the spices.

Now you can fill your tortillas with this mix and some re-fried beans, top it off with more beefy sauce and cheese.
Easy, right?

Golden Honey Granola

I have not met a person yet, who did not like this Granola. When I made it for the first time, it was gone faster then what it took to make, and that was quick.
 We like to eat it just in milk or as a yogurt topping. Easy to make and easy to variate. If you prefer to add pecans, walnuts or almonds, it works well. I like to use dried cranberries and raisins. Apricots or maybe chopped up dates can also be substituted.
I have never tried this, but if you like chocolate, I can imagine you can add mini chocolate chips when it's all cooled.

Golden Honey Granola:

3 cups cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4  tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey

In a large bowl, toss all ingredients, except butter and honey.

Melt butter and honey together in a small saucepan. Pour the butter, honey mixture over the oat mixture and toss well until everything is coated.
Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until oats are golden brown. Stirring occasionally.
Cool completely on baking pan before storing in an airtight container. 

Grandma's Streusel Applecake

Nothing like a sweet treat on the weekend, after a full week of hard work.
I love the smell of baked apples and vanilla.
Real vanilla bean is just awesome! I have not bought vanilla extract in years, instead I have been using vanilla sugar or vanilla bean instead. Vanilla sugar is super easy to make, instead of discarding the scraped out beans, I cover them in sugar and store it in a glass jar. The sugar will take the aroma from the vanilla bean. Stir or shake once a week. Try this in your cake recipes or even in your coffee.Yumm!

Grandma's Streusel Apple cake:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs. vanilla sugar
2 eggs
about 1 tsp. lemon juice
1 pinch salt
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
4 tbs. milk
2 tsp. baking powder

4 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and cut in slices

streusel:
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbs. vanilla sugar
about 6 tbs. butter, cold

 Cream together the sugar, vanilla sugar and the softened butter. Add the eggs, one at the time, stirring until they are all worked in. Add the lemon juice. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder.
Add this and also the milk to the egg, butter mixture and stir until it's a smooth dough.
Grease a Spring form pan and pour the dough in, smoothing it out with the back of a wet spoon.

Place the apples on top of the dough, leaving a small rim on the outside with no apples.( the dough will rise and make a nice crust ).

For the streusel, mix together the flour, sugar and vanilla sugar. Dot with the cold butter and work  it in, either with a fork or use your hands, to make streusel.

Top the apples with the streusel and bake in a 375 - 400 F preheated oven for about 45 minutes. 

Dust with powdered sugar when cooled.

Flat Bread

This flat bread is one of the easiest breads to make. Once it's risen, it just takes about 20 minutes in the oven. It should be called fast bread. If you invest in a little time for the dough to rise you get a really nice, soft bread. If you look on the store bought bread, there is an array of ingredients nobody can even pronounce. Bread should only have flour, yeast, salt, sugar and water in it. Of course you can mix in, or top it with all kinds of great things like nuts, sesame seeds oats, dried fruits or even cheese. There is no limit to your imagination when it comes to what you want to mix in your bread.

I dare you to try this one. Delicious!

Flat Bread:

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 2/3 cups warm water
sesame seeds for topping
1-2 tbs. olive oil 

Dissolve the yeast  and sugar in the warm water. when the yeast begins to foam, you know it's active and you can add the flour and the salt. ( If the yeast does not foam after a while, the yeast is not active and your bread will not rise.)
Knead until you have a soft but not sticky dough. I keep the flour at hand, that way I can add a little at the time in case the dough is sticky.
Cover and let it rise until double in size.
Once the dough has risen, you can punch it down and divide in two parts.

Take a parchment lined ( you can also just grease the sheet ) baking sheet and form two flat, round breads. Brush them with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
Now you can let then rest again until they are again double in size.

Preheat your oven to 440F ( 220C )  Bake for about 10 minutes, flip on the other side and bake for another 10 minutes or until its nice and golden brown in color.

Green bean, hamburger casserole

It's rainy, it's cold and it is the perfect day for a one dish meal, a casserole. I like this recipe a lot because you can modify it in so many ways.

Green bean, hamburger casserole:

 1 lbs. hamburger
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of condensed tomato soup ( you can substitute 2 tbs. tomato paste and 1/4 cup water)

2 1/2 cups cooked and drained green beans ( you can substitute 1-2 cans of green beans)

5 medium potatoes
1/2 cup warm milk
butter
salt, pepper and nutmeg

french fried onions for topping

Brown the meat and onions. Season it to taste with salt and pepper. Add the tomato soup and stir well.
Add the beans. Pour this mix into a casserole dish.

Cook the potatoes until soft. Drain. Mash them with milk, butter and spices. ( you can also use instant potatoes, if you like) Spoon in mounts over the meat mix.

Bake in 350 F ( 175 C) oven for about 30 minutes
Sprinkle the french fried onions on top and bake for 5 minutes longer or until onions are crisp.

One dish goodness!

Banana Nut Bread

When I buy bananas, I can be sure that a few always are left with brown spots and that means banana bread. My family will not eat speckled bananas. Yes I know, I like them a little green myself. Lets face it, to make a sweet bread everyone likes, out of brown bananas is better then trowing them out.
You could also fry them in butter and drizzle them with honey and that would make for a fine dessert, maybe with whipped cream or ice cream. Today, however, it's time for banana nut bread.

Banana Nut Bread:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup shortening, melted
2 eggs
2 tbs. milk
1 cup ripe mashed bananas
1/4 cup chopped nuts ( optional)

Mix all the ingredients together, with a wooden spoon. Grease a loaf pan and pour the dough into the pan.
Bake at 350 F oven for about 60 - 65 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Take out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!

Waffles

Waffles are not just for breakfast. Sure, you can eat the classic version with maple syrup and butter, or like me, I prefer peanut butter. But have you ever tried them with ham and cheese?
 Many people enjoy them with fruit and a dollop of cream.
I think Waffle recipes are worth exploring.
Years ago, I went to Georgia and for dinner I had a grilled Waffle Sandwich with ham and cheese.
They served a fruity sauce with it and it was sprinkled with powdered sugar.
I had totally forgotten about that, I think I will try to recreate that in the near future.
In the meantime, I made Waffles for our afternoon coffee break.

 Here is my favorite recipe for,

 Waffles:

 2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tbs. baking powder
3 tbs. sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1tsp. vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients, except the egg white, together until smooth. Beat the egg white until it forms peaks and fold them under the waffle mix. Bake in a waffle iron until they are nice and golden.

I topped these with cherry's and  vanilla whipped cream.  I hope you like them!

Oh, the possibility's!

Pumpkin cannelloni

Here is the perfect recipe for all the pumpkin lovers out there.
I think pumpkin is still a bit underrated. There are so many great things you can do with pumpkins, besides using it as a Halloween decoration.
Pickled pumpkin, pumpkin bread, ravioli filled with pumpkin and pumpkin soup, just to name a few. 
I think one of my favorite dishes to make is pumpkin cannelloni.
It's a vegetarian dish, it surely hit the spot.

Pumpkin cannelloni:

filling:
2 cups pureed pumpkin
1/4 cup toasted pine-nuts
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
 salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste
 
sauce:
3 cups tomato sauce
1 tbs. sugar
oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste

grated cheese
about 18 cannelloni shells, uncooked


Mix pumpkin, ricotta cheese, egg and Parmesan cheese. Chop half of the toasted pine-nuts coarsely, and fold them into the pumpkin mix. Season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. Set it aside and prepare the sauce.

Heat the tomato sauce and season it with oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Add sugar to take the bitterness out of the tomato sauce.

Pour half of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Now it's time to fill the cannelloni shells. I usually take a zip lock bag or a cake decorating bag, fill it and then cut off one corner and squeeze the filling into the shells. Arrange them side by side on the sauce in your baking dish. When all the shells are filled, pour the other half of the tomato sauce on top. Sprinkle with remaining pine nuts and top with grated cheese.

Bake at 375- 400 F for about 30 minutes or until cannelloni shells are tender.
If the cheese gets too dark, cover the dish with some tin foil.

cake

I personally like cheesecake.
 Last week I felt like experimenting with that. Here is what I came up with. A "no bake sour cream/ cream cheesecake" with gelatin and a crumb crust.
My family loved it, I hope you will, too.

No bake sour cream cheesecake:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs ( here in Germany, I use " Butterkekse")
1 tbs. sugar
1/2 cup butter melted

Mix crumbs, sugar and melted butter together and press in a Spring form pan. Set it aside.

Cream:
1 cup of heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 pkg. powdered gelatin

1 cup sour cream
1 cup cream cheese
1 can mandarin oranges, drained


Place milk, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Take it of the heat and add the gelatin, stir until it is dissolved. Let it cool off, just a bit.

Mix together sour cream and cream cheese, then add the gelatin mix. Beat the whipping cream and fold it under the rest of the cream. Now you can add the drained mandarin oranges.
Pour the finished cream mix on the prepared crumb crust and let it set in the fridge for about 2 hours.

 

Focaccia bread

This is an easy recipe that fits with a variety of meals. Sometimes we eat the Focaccia bread just by it self, depending on with what you top it with.
Today we made Pasta and Pesto and I thought fit perfect with that.

Focaccia Bread:

2/3 cup warm water ( remember, warm not scalding )
1 pkg. dry active yeast
1/2 tsp. honey
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbs. olive oil ( 2 tbs. for the dough and 2 tbs. for the top.)
 Toppings:
Anything you like
(coarse salt, onions, olives, caraway, sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, fennel seeds and so on......)

Dissolve the yeast in warm water with honey and wait for it to activate ( bubble ), that way you are sure the yeast is still fresh. Then add the flour, salt and 2 tbs. of the olive oil. Knead well, if the dough is sticky, add a little flour and knead until it is nice and soft. Place in an oiled bowl and let it rise until double in size.
After the dough has risen, punch it down and pull it into a rectangle and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Push little dimples in your bread with your fingers. Drizzle the remaining 2 tbs. of olive oil on your bread. Now you can top it with whatever you like.
I used coarse salt and onions.
Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes or until the bread has a nice golden color.

cilantro

A friend called me one day and told me;
"I don't know what happened to the parsley I just bought. It went bad overnight and I had to toss it in the trash! How can parsley taste and smell that way, it still looked great?"

When I heard about, how it had smelled and tasted, I could not help but smile.
She had bought cilantro, it looks like parsley but the taste is totally different.
Grocery stores like to place all the herbs together and especially parsley and cilantro.
Now, cilantro does not please every one's taste buds, but it is widely used in Mexican dishes.
I can not imagine a Salsa without it. I like the taste and the smell.
One lady at the little fruits and vegetable store where I buy it, always tells me, " cilantro tastes like soap". So, in other words, you either like the taste or you hate the taste.
Cilantro has a faint lemony smell to it. It always reminds me of fresh water, I don't know why, but it does. I hope you like this recipe.

 Cucumber cilantro salad:

1 cucumber ( if the seeds are too big, you can take them out, I prefer to buy the European ones,
                      smaller seeds)         
1/4 cup sugar
1 glove garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup onions, chopped ( you can use red, green or the regular yellow ones, I like the red or green
                                           ones for color)
about 3 tbs. cilantro, chopped ( I use more)
Peanuts optional

Peel, slice and if needed, seed a cucumber and set aside. Chop the onions and cilantro and add to the cucumber.
Place sugar, salt, pepper and minced garlic in a separate non metal bowl and with the back of a wooden spoon mash them together. Add vinegar and water and stir until sugar dissolves.
Now you can add the dressing to the cucumber, onion and cilantro and mix well. Top the salad with peanuts, if you like. It tastes great without the nuts.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Sauerbraten

Today I made a Sauerbraten. Not the traditional, per say, but wanted to make one like Grandma used to make. The traditional ones are marinated in vinegar and are too "sour" for my taste. It's not every one's piece of cake, if you know what I mean.
You have to of plan ahead for this one, because the beef needs to marinate for about 3 days.
I marinated mine in buttermilk and used spices and onions for flavor.  It ended up being mildly sour with a beautiful hint of the different spices like cloves and juniper berries. The meat was so very tender, it really melted in your mouth, even though it was a super lean cut.
Here is what I used:

Sauerbraten:

1 1/2 lbs.  lean beef roast
enough buttermilk to cover the meat
about 6 juniper berries
about 3 bay leaves
about 5 whole gloves
1 small onion cut in slices

Put the meat in a container and pour the buttermilk over it until it's covered. Then add the spices and onions. Let it marinate for about 3 day's in the fridge. Easy enough, right?
When you are ready to make your Sauerbraten, take the meat out, but don't wipe of the excess buttermilk, just make sure all the spices and onions are not stuck to the meat. Don't yet discard the marinate, you want all those spices.
 Heat your oil and brown the meat from all sides. When the meat is nicely brown, take the spices and onions from your marinate and add them. Add water until it's about 1/3 of the height of the meat. Let it simmer, for roughly 2 hours. Discard the marinate.

After the meat has simmered roughly for 2 hours, take it out of the juice that it simmered in, and wrap it in tinfoil. Strain the juice, removing all of the spices and berries. This will now become a lovely gravy. Put the juices back in the pan and thicken it with flour.

When thickening the sauce, try this easy trick to make sure you don't end up with lumps!
I take a small glass jar with lid and fill it half way with cold water. ( cold water is important because you don't want lumps)  I add about two tbs. of flour and then I put the lid back on and shake it until it's all mixed.( It's also important to put in the water first, if you put the flour first, the flour likes to get stuck in the bottom corners and that will make a lumpy gravy.)

Add the flour mix from above to your gravy in progress until you reach the consistency of gravy you want. Don't forget to stir constantly to prevent lumps! Let it come to a boil and then simmer the gravy for about 10 minutes to get the flour taste out. Add salt and pepper to taste, I also added a little sugar.
Place the meat back in the gravy and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
And it's ready to serve!

I served it with a cucumber, cilantro salad and just plain potatoes boiled in saltwater. 
Yummm!

  

Time to bake

Today I wanted to attempt a braided yeast bread. I have never tried to make one before and today is as good as any day to try.

It was very simple to make and it turned out great. It is definitely going in my "favorite recipe book". I know it was a success when two hours after it came out of the oven, it has already halfway disappeared.  Buying a bread machine was really never an option for me, because there is nothing like kneading bread dough until it's nice and glossy. When I lived in the states I used to make bread at least once a week. Here in Germany bread is in abundance, and the varieties are amazing. However, there is nothing like the smell of fresh bread coming out of the oven.

Braided yeast bread:

3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm milk ( not too hot, yeast does not like scalding liquids.)
Years ago, I made a recipe from an old cookbook and they talked about blood warm liquid with yeast. I found that that is definitely a good description of how warm it should be.
4 tbs. sugar
1/2 cube of fresh yeast or 1 pkg. dry yeast
6 tbs. butter, room temperature
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 tbs. lemon zest
2-3 drops of almond aroma

1 egg, beaten
2 tbs. coarse sugar or almond slices


 Dissolve the yeast in warm milk with sugar. Meanwhile, mix the flour and the salt. Add the rest of the ingredients; butter, egg, lemon zest, and almond aroma. Knead until dough is soft, but not sticky. If the dough is too wet and sticky, add a little flour, just a bit at a time. Let it rest in a covered bowl until it has doubled.
It takes about 2 hours.
Then you need to punch down the dough and knead some more. Divide in three equal parts. roll it out on a floured surface. The rolls need to be about the size of a Quarter in diameter.
You can start now to braid the three rolls, tucking the ends under. Place the finished braid on a Parchment lined baking sheet and cover up to let it rise again, until doubled.
When the bread has doubled in size, brush it with the beaten egg and sprinkle it with the coarse sugar or the almond slices, or maybe both. 
Bake in a 400 F  preheated oven for about 20 minutes, turn down the heat to 360 F and bake for another 25 minutes. The total baking time is 45 minutes. If the bread gets too dark, just cover it with tinfoil to prevent it from burning.

 

Holy Guacamole

Avocado is my all time favorite fruit to work with. I love guacamole, especially when served with Mexican food. In fact, I love it so much that when I want a quick dip, guacamole to the rescue.
We usually have tortilla chips at home, that way it's easy to grate some cheese on top and throw it in the oven to melt the cheese. For a super fast fix, just use a microwave. Served with guacamole, it's just plain good.
Here is what I use. Enjoy!

Guacamole:

1 ripe avocado
a dash of lemon or lime juice
about 2 tbs. diced tomato
about 2 tbs. chopped onion
salt
pepper

Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed. Then peel it, it works well when you use a spoon to scoop out the fruit. Discard the seed and peel. Mash up your avocado with a fork then add a little dash of lemon or lime juice, add the onions and the tomato, stir. Season the mix with salt and pepper, to taste, and presto, guacamole.
 ( If you want to grow a nice plant out of the seed, you just have to place the seed heavy side down in a flower pot with some soil and cover it with a plastic bag. Keep it moist. It will take a long time before the seed breaks open and a new plant grows. Don't give up!)

New year, new recipes!

Hi there,

First things first, I LOVE to cook and bake.

Since the new year just started, I have, like everyone else, a few New Years resolutions. One of them is to try out at least 2 new recipes a week. I will share them with you and if you would like, you can follow my progress.

When I lived in the US, I could not find some of the traditional German ingredients, so I had to improvise. However now that I'm back in Germany, I have the same problem with my American recipes. Either I can't find the ingredients or they are outrageously expensive.
Let face it, who wants to buy overpriced groceries?
In fact, some of my recipes I had to modify just stayed modified, because I like them that way.
Having lived all over and meeting people from different walks of life, I absolutely love new recipes, especially international ones.


I hope you will enjoy!


Keep in mind that some recipes are in grams and others are in cups ( one cup is about 250 ml )!

Today I made Ricotta-nockerl ( little spinach ricotta dumplings ) with Sage butter.
I served it with Rib-eye Steaks and fresh Herb butter.
For Vegetarians the little dumplings can be a meal by itself.

Ricotta-nockerl with sage butter

1 pkg. (450g) frozen, chopped spinach
1 bundle fresh parsley, finely chopped
250g Ricotta cheese
2 eggs
100 g freshly grated Pecorino cheese or  Parmesan cheese
100g flour
salt, black pepper, grated nutmeg

2 tbs. butter
1 tbs. olive oil
a couple of fresh Sage leaves


1. Thaw spinach and let it drip off in a colander. The spinach will still be very wet, you will have to
    use your hands to press out all the excess liquid. Set aside.

2. Wash your parsley and chop finely.

3. Combine ricotta, eggs, and grated cheese. Mix with spinach, parsley, and flour. The dough
   should be soft, but not runny. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

4. Heat a big pot of water. Use 2 tablespoons to form little dumplings
   from the dough and place on a floured surface. The flour will keep the dumplings  from sticking.

5. When you are done forming the dumplings, you can let them glide into the boiling water. Turn
     the heat down to a simmer. They need about 10 min., when they are done they will swim on top.

6. Heat butter and oil and fry the sage leaves lightly.

7. Take the dumplings out with a slotted spoon and serve with sage butter and grated
     cheese like Pecorino or Parmesan.