Kas-Pressknödel (panfried cheese dumplings), are an Alpine hiker’s delight. They are often served with a potato salad, cucumber salad, or sauerkraut to juice them up a bit. These “cheesy dumplings” are delicious either way. I have this recipe from my sister Kathi. If she cooks it, I guarantee, it’s quick-and-easy.
You need:
1 day-old French bread loaf
3 eggs
ca. 1 cup milk
ca. 200 g savory, diced mountain cheese (Gruyere, for example)
1 large onion, diced
2 bundles fresh parsley, chopped
salt, pepper, garlic, maybe a chopped jalapeño, season to taste
The hardest part of this procedure: slicing up the French bread ca. 5 mm thick, since no “Knödel-Brot” slicers exist in America. Then pour the warmed milk over the bread chips and let it soak in.
After 30 minutes add all the other ingredients and mix up the paste by hand. You should be able to form palm-size balls to fry in your heated pan. Or you can drop portion-sized piles into the hot oil with a spoon. Cook them on moderate or low heat to a crispy nice color on both sides.
These Sparkly Thumbprint cookies are delightful on any occasion, not only Christmas. They have been adapted from a traditional German recipe, “Husarenkrapferl.”
Dough:
250 g flour
1 flat tsp baking powder
100 g sugar (or less)
vanilla flavor (sugar or liquid)
dash of salt
3 egg yolks
150 g butter
Decoration:
1 egg white (as left over from above)
sugar sprinkles
raspberry jelly
Pile the dry ingredients on your work surface (flat counter, or we use a large wooden board), make an indentation for the eggs in the middle, chop the butter in pieces and arrange the flakes around the pile. Mix the egg with the dry stuff and gradually knead all the ingredients together into a cohesive, smooth ball of dough.
Production:
Divide the dough in 4 parts, and roll each one into a 1-inch-thick sausage. Then cut the sausages into 1-inch-long pieces. Voila! Then roll each piece into little balls.
Decorating:
Dip each ball first into the egg white, then into the sprinkles, and set them on a baking sheet. With the end of a cooking spoon, make an indentation into the sparkly balls. Then fill each hole with a dab of raspberry jelly.
Baking:
Bake the Sparkly Thumbprints at 325 F for about 25 minutes. They should be golden brown. (If you were overly generous with the butter, as we were, they may turn out a little flat.)
Bohemian Strawberry Torte (recipe by Edda Buchner) is a delicious and not too sweet treat. The egg white topping would normally have been higher, but I had only three eggs left (12 inch form).
Strawberries are available all the time. The season stretches from Chile to Vancouver and covers the whole year. They have become a staple at the store. This season, traditionally May through July, has no end.
To tell you the truth, the self-picked ones are the best. I used to scavenge for strawberries at the farm fields near my mother’s house in Germany. This summer, we indulged in farm fresh berries from the fields around Ottawa. A heavenly taste!
Strangely enough, our Indian family didn’t share the same passion for strawberries. Why? When they were living in New Delhi, the strawberries were imported from Kashmir. There they were picked “green,” so to say. How sour and expensive they were!
But imagine what these Indians have been missing! (like I have missed all the mango and lychee stuff, duh) I skipped through the forest as a child, picking the fragrant pearls of wild candy berries. Sometimes enough to make a torte with them
Nothing beats ripe strawberries and fresh whipped dream. Strawberry shortcake is simply delicious. What else can you do with strawberries? Mush them up in a smoothie, put them on cereal, stir them into yogurt, cut some into your salad—if you have too many, cook marmalade or syrup.
Here is a recipe, Bohemian Strawberry Torte. My friend Edda Buchner brought my attention to. I baked this many years ago and rediscovered it. It is really quick and easy. You can whip this cake out in 30 minutes before company is coming.
Shortbread Base:
2 egg yolks
6 oz. flour (whole wheat or white)
2 oz. cornstarch
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla essence (or rum flavor)
Topping/Filling:
4 egg whites, beat
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla sugar
16 oz. strawberries
Separate the egg white from the yolk; don’t let the least bit of yolk get into the whites, else the snow won’t stiffen up. (yeah, two egg yolks will be left over)
Put all the dry ingredients for the crust in a large bowl, make an indentation in the middle, drop the egg yolks in there and stir them lightly in there. Add small butter pieces and knead this into a smooth shortbread ball. (Refrigerate for 30 minutes, if too sticky.)
Roll or press the dough into a 9- (or 12-) inch spring form or pie shell. Build a little “retainer wall” (ring) around the pie. Pierce the shell with a fork (to avoid bulging). Bake shell at 180 F approximately for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Whisk the egg whites, with sugar and vanilla sugar, insanely stiff. So stiff that you could easily cut it in cubes.
Fill the egg white into the toasty shell, drop the cleaned strawberries into the white “linens,” and bake this at 450 F for a couple of minutes until the peaks of egg white turn a golden color.
You never know what side benefits you will have from volunteer work. As long as I have been involved with the Phoenix adult literacy program Unlimited Potential, I have enjoyed the fiestas for their Thanksgiving or End-of-Year celebrations. You know what, my mouth waters just by thinking of the smorgasbord of enchiladas, pollo con mole, or a savory rice casserole. Of course, I couldn’t cook all of these delicious things. One of the participants, however, luckily shared her easy recipe for shrimp cocktail with me.
Ingredients:
1 pound (16 oz.) frozen, cooked shrimp
2 cups of tomato ketchup
1 small onion (or 1/2), diced
1 jalapeño, diced or grated
3 small limes (juice)
1–2 cloves garlic
5 sprigs cilantro, chopped
Defrost/thaw the frozen shrimp; wash them in a colander; let them drip dry for a bit.
Dice the onion, grate the jalapeño and garlic, and mix this with the tomato ketchup in a bowl. Add the lime juice and chopped cilantro. Stir in the shrimp. Done!
Serve the shrimp cocktail in decorative bowls/glasses with crackers on the side.
You can make this any time. Don’t wait until New Years Eve! It’s too good to be saved for last minute.
Green mush is delightful. The longer we are living in the Southwest, the more we adopt the food styles of this spicy region. Although not all flavors of Southwestern cooking are intuitively delicious–for example the pungent aromas of corn tortillas or cilantro–we loved guacamole from the start. It consists of mushed up avocados and a few other things. And avocados are good for you.
Ingredients:
3 avocados
1 (or 1/2) clove garlic, grated
1/2 jalapeño pepper, grated
1/2 lime (juice)
5 sprigs cilantro, chopped
1 small tomato, diced
salt to liking
Halve the ripe avocados. They should have a creamy consistency. If you bought hard ones, leave them to ripen at room temperature. You will develop the right eye and touch to determine the avocados’ ripeness.
Scoop out the avocados with a spoon into a mixing bowl; mush the pieces, but leave some chunky pieces for diversity. Then add the other ingredients, salt to liking, and stir it all well together. Serve the guacamole in a pretty bowl and have tortilla chips ready.
TIP: I use the MICROPLANE grater/zester for just about any grindwork. My jalapeños may be frozen, and that works too.
In Germany we have many names for “meat balls”. You can order the same savory cutlets in different places as Buletten, Frikadellen, or Fleischpflanzerl. The spice may vary, but these delectable treats are all cooked in a similar way. Here is my swift and easy procedure for spicy turkey cutlets. Preparation time, 15 minutes; cooking time: 30 minutes.
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound of chuck (turkey, pork, beef)
1 medium-size onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
10 sprigs cilantro or parsley
1 egg
3 slices sandwich bread, soaked
1/2 teaspoon oregano
bread crumbs as needed
salt, pepper
COOK IT
In a large non-stick skillet roast the diced onion until translucent or slightly brown, along with the diced jalapeño.
Put your meat in a bowl; add the soaked bread (soak it in a bowl, or under running water, then squeeze the water out as well as possible); add the egg, salt, pepper, and spices; also add the cooked onion and jalapeño; finally add the finely chopped cilantro/parsley and the grated/chopped garlic.
Mix up the dough with your hands; add breadcrumbs as needed, if the dough is too sticky. It will be sticky to some degree, just as long as you are able to form tomato-sized balls in your cupped hands. Fry the cutlets in some oil on medium low heat for 15 minutes on each side.
If you want to be fancy, make a good sauce: After the spicy turkey cutlets are cooked, deglaze the pan with a good shot of tequila, wine, broth, or cream. Now, let’s play: Add a cup of water, seasonings, spices, herbs, heavy cream in good measure. Thicken your sauce with 1 teaspoonful corn starch dissolved in water.
(I am sorry that I can’t be more specific, but I make my sauce differently every time.)
Serve the cutlets as finger food at a party with chutney, mustard or any condiment. Make a dinner out of them by adding mashed potatoes (or rice) and a mixed salad. Just perfect with a German potato salad.
Enjoy! These spicy turkey cutlets will be gone in no time.
If you want to make enchiladas, you need to have a sauce. Don’t cook this green enchilada casserole when you are in a rush. Make the sauce ahead of time. This recipe is enough to feed eight people. But you can also prepare individual portions in the microwave.
Green Enchilada Sauce:
2 pounds tomatillos (or more), peel, wash, & cube
2-4 jalapeños, diced
1 or 2 green bell peppers, diced
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
juice from 1 lime
10 sprigs cilantro
salt, 2 TBS oil, 1 cup water
Chop onion finely, sauté (2 TBS oil) in sauce pot until glazed. Add jalapeños and bell peppers, keep stirring (10 min). Add the tomatillos and keep cooking on medium heat, until the vegetables turn mushy (ca. 15 min). Then add shredded garlic, lime juice and chopped cilantro. Cook until well blended (ca. 5 min). Add 1 cup water, let this bubble up one more time. Then blend this mixture (careful hot!) into a sauce with your blender or food processor. The sauce freezes well for later use.
Make the enchiladas:
Fry the flour tortillas 1 min each side in oil. Create your stack of 12 tortillas.
For the filling:
Chicken or any meat (left overs), roasted vegetables, cooked shrimp, potato fries
Shredded Mexican or Colby cheese
Seasoning or sauce
Roll the enchiladas: Use ca. 2 TBS filling and cheese, and roll up each enchilada, put them all neatly in a casserole. An 9×12 inch form can hold 8-12 enchiladas. Pour the green sauce over the enchiladas, sprinkle generously with cheese and bake this 45 minutes in the oven at medium heat. Serve with rice and black beans.
For individual portions: Roll up your (2) enchiladas on a dinner plate, pour sauce over them, sprinkle with cheese, and cook in the microwave for 1 minute.
Robert Earl Keen, Merry Christmas from the families
Everybody is doing it: the season for baking. I don’t like to cut corners, but I also want to be fast. And I am saying it like it is: cookies are bad for you. Don’t give me no Crisco either. So let’s make the best of a “bad” thing. The results will be delicious.
Let’s make two batches of cookies in one go: Santa’s Thumbprints and Macaroons. They originated from traditional German recipes, but I had to Americanize them by necessity. Split your eggs: the yolks into the butter cookies, the egg whites into the macaroons.
INGREDIENTS (best guesses; use your own judgment):
THUMBRPINTS
MACAROONS
3 egg yolks, 1 egg white
2 egg whites
250 g (1 3/4 cups) white flour
1 tsp baking powder
ca. 1 1/2 cups hazelnut flour (or pecan, walnut, almond)
100 g (3/4 cups) sugar
100 g (3/4 cups sugar)
1 packet (1 Tbsp) vanilla sugar & 1 pinch salt
zest of 1/2 lemon (lime)
150 g (1 1/3 stick) butter
ca. 30 whole nuts for decorating
red jelly (marmalade) for filling & sprinkle sugar
Dr. Oetger baking wafers (optional)
PREPARATION:
For the Thumbprints (350F):
Put the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt) in a large mixing bowl; make an indentation (dale) for the eggs in the middle.
Separate the eggs: all 3 yolks go into your dale; 1 egg white in a small dessert bowl (fridge); 2 egg whites into a mixing bowl (fridge).
Cut up the butter (room temperature) in small slices/flakes and drop them around the margin of your egg yolk pond. Mix up the egg yolks with a fork; once semi-blended, knead the (short bread) dough together consistently and smoothly. Wrap that “butterball” in aluminum foil and set in fridge for ca. 1 hour.
For the Macaroons (200F):
Whip up the egg whites with sugar into a stiff mass, add lemon zest, and gently fold in the nuts meal. Use judgment about the stiffness; the mass should not flow but hold together as little “piles.”
With two teaspoons, set little piles of dough on a baking sheet (nonstick alu foil!), decorate each with a nut.
Bake the cookies at low heat (200F) for ca. 20 minutes. Tip slightly on their peaks to see if they are firm to touch. If needed give them another 5 or so minutes.
Back to the Thumbprints:
On a baking surface (board), cut the butterball into four equal sections; roll these out with both hands into 1-inch thick “sausages”; cut these sausages into 1-inch pieces.
Roll the pieces of dough into balls and set them aside on your work surface.
Dip each little ball in egg white, then in sprinkles, set them on the baking sheet.
With a cooking spoon, make small indentations on every ball, fill (with a dessert or baby spoon) the jelly into the holes. Done!
Bake the cookies at 350F for ca. 25 minutes. Watch them. They might be done when their fringes turn golden brown.
Santa will bring you two bags of gifts for these, no matter how naughty you have been!
It’s Feasting Time again, and don’t we all love pie! Now this lazy cook/baker won’t be telling you anything new about pecan pie and pumpkin pie, only this: You can whip them out in no time from the package recipe and bake them in tandem.
Here you go, two-at-a-time Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie: Have your ingredients handy! Your 9-inch deep pie shells are in the freezer already. Preheat your oven at 400 F.
Step 1: Put the pecan halves in one of you your pie shells; mix up the liquid ingredients in a bowl with a hand mixer, and pour that batter over the pecans. Rinse the bowl.
Step 2: For the pumpkin pie, cream the eggs in your mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients. Whip that up. Pour the batter into the other frozen pie shell.
Step 3: Put the pies on a baking sheet and bake them at 400 F for 15 minutes. Then lower the heat and bake the pies for another 45-60 minutes.
I like to “overbake” the pies because the pecans turn out so much crunchier, caramelized like cinnamon roasted nuts at the fair. I like my pecan pie to have a “praline” flavor, but not darkened too much.
The pumpkin pie, at this baking style, will also get a crunchy crust and turn a more solid, custardy texture. This is for people like me who don’t like their pies “mushy.” Now crown your delectable efforts with a puff of whipped cream. That’s a holiday!
Here is another one from my “Don’t Sweat the Cooking” series. Let’s call this chicken-rice skillet my “small paella.” Far from cooking up mollusks, snails and rabbit thighs in clam juice with expensive saffron, I found my own home-cooked recipe. It is made with ingredients that I mostly keep in the freezer or pantry. My mini-paella is quick to prepare and tastes great. Try it out sometime. Cooking time: ca. 45 minutes.
Main Ingredients:
4–6 chicken thighs (legs), skin on
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cup rice
2 cups water
Spices for rub: as you like it.
Use salt, pepper, oregano, garlic, basil, rosemary for a Mediterranean flavor.
OR: chile, a dash of coriander, with garlic, salt and pepper, and cilantro.
OR: barbecue or other spice mix of your choice
Other Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion
(1 jalapeño, finely diced)
1 cup small frozen vegetables
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup cashews or almonds (optional)
For oriental flavor:
1 inch ginger, finely cut 1 clove of garlic
1 Tbs sesame oil
3 Tbs soy sauce
8 stalks cilantro
PROCEDURE:
Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet/pan on low-medium heat. Rub the chicken pieces with your favorite spices. Brown the chicken on both sides (ca. 5-7 minutes each side) to a nice color.
In the meantime, dice the onion (jalapeño, bell pepper) into small cubes.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside on a plate.
Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook until glazed, ca. 5 minutes. (Add the nuts at this stage. OR add the diced ginger for the Oriental twist)
(Deglaze the onion/peppers with a shot of tequila, brandy, or wine, if you like.)
Add the washed rice to the pan; roast and stir for 5 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water, frozen vegetables, (raisins/craisins, cilantro) and let this “soup” come to a boil.
Put the chicken pieces back into the pan, cover the pan with a lid, and let this simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
DONE!
Serve the chicken-rice skillet with a nice side salad and garlic toast. Bon apetit!
A Most Wonderful and Healthy “Orange” Celebration!
Orange is a really good color. At first I didn’t like it because it seemed too shiny and “unreal,” almost artificial. Of course, then the Longhorns’ burnt orange of my UT Austin, Texas, Alma mater made me biased. Recently, I have come to see the influence of orange on many TV ads as well as in print. Orange is a strong color, it stands out. By now you can tell that I also like oranges (our little clementines just ready for harvest), pumpkins, carrots, butternut squash, mangoes etc. Orange is healthy.
OK, you hear, do the squash and pumpkins for Thanksgiving! When else would you cook them? Take your time. Do the work. Wait until it is baked. Set the table nice. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving is not a “fast food” feast. I like Thanksgiving because it is an intercultural celebration, not a political holiday, you don’t have to go to church, and its all about the food. Who does not love to eat! Thanksgiving is perhaps the only day in the year when all of America truly cooks. If you went shopping today, you saw the crazy carnival at the grocery store. As if the world ended tomorrow!
We complain about the labors of cooking the meal, but we should cook like this more often. Why? America does not appreciate food enough. That’s why a large segment of the population suffers from obesity. Am I making sense? We often stuff our mouths without gratitude or MINDFULNESS (I don’t want to go into the psychology). Thanksgiving makes all of us more “down-to-earth” about nutrition and family collaborations. If you have tried to process butternut squash, you know what I mean. Or have you made Chinese dumplings or ravioli together? We should cook like the Amish more often. It seems they do have Thanksgiving every day.
OK, maybe it will be enough if we reduce our fast food impulses.
I cracked the butternut! As I have told you earlier, I am a slow learner. But hope is not totally lost, it seems. Remember, when I complained over the preparation of the tough-to-peel butternut squash? I thought it would be easiest to buy those cubes at the grocery store before ending up in the hospital for cutting off a finger.
Bing! A bulb recently went off at the kitchen tools section. I found the most wonderful, handy tool for the job. Butternut, no problem!
The Best Turkey Left-Over Recipe
This spicy and savory recipe is perhaps the only one that I could remember from a television show. I would call it “Mexican Turkey Shuffle”
You will need:
turkey leftovers, cut into small strips
1 Tbs. olive oil
1-2 jalapeños, diced
1 onion, diced
1-2 shots tequila
1 cup of heavy sweet cream
10 sprigs cilantro, diced
salt & pepper to taste
optional: cranberries, mushrooms, peas & corn
Heat the olive oil in a large pan, sizzle onions and jalapeños for about 5 minutes, then add the turkey pieces. Keep stirring until turkey gets a little crusty and onions light brown. Glaze that off with the tequila and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the sweet cream, cilantro, salt & pepper, and heat all the way through. Serve this stir fry over basmati rice. Bon appetite!
I am a really slow learner at times. It’s like, “yeah, the ketchup is standing on its head. Why didn’t they think of this sooner?” Now here comes another great revelation: I am making my own salad box. Duh! Stores had figured this out much sooner. But do you know what’s in store? No. When you make your own salad box, you are living much safer.
One salad a day keeps the doctor away. And if you want to lose a little weight, take my advice: Substitute water for all drinks, eat one batch of salad a day—and keep your other meals reasonable. You will see. The weight will drop, not fast but permanently.
There is only one salad on my mind, the original one. “Thou shalt not have other salads besides me.” I am talking about the green stuff, not the chicken salad, not the tuna salad, not even the potato salad. My salad spells green, such as in “L E T T U C E all have salad.” Like I said, have one every day. The green stuff is so easy and tasty. Make it an essential part of your dinner. Or the main course?
Salad, It’s all About What’s In It
Salad, why bother? Not a salad fan? Too messy to mess with? I thought so, too, for a long time in my adult life. Then I developed a taste for the green crunch, and now I don’t want to miss it any more. My salad never gets left over at dinner or at a party. My kids will sometimes fight about it. And salads are so easy. Especially when you have your box ready.
Prep your lettuce and other ingredients right after shopping and store them in a tightly closing plastic treasure box in the fridge. I found that, with a tight-fitting lid, the moisture will keep my greens fresh and crunchy for about a week. So I am always prepared. I just grab a few leaves, tear them up bite size, and put the dressing on. Salad must be torn, not cut, because cuts cause brown edges. Now it is just as easy to have a colorful burger or sandwich. Youu know what, my salad box has become such a strong habit, I don’t even need to think about it any more.
The Main Ingredients: Greens
There are so many kinds of greens. With plain green leaf lettuce I get the most for my money and taste. Red leaf lettuce, Boston lettuce, romaine, homegrown greens, take your pick. Iceberg is the crunchiest and lasts the longest time, but it has the least taste. You find it a lot in salad bars. Spinach (with nuts, almonds, goat cheese) is very tasty in a salad. Bok choy and Belgian endive deliver a crunchy, cabbagy note. Some greens come in other colors, such as the radicchio in red. Radicchio has a slightly bitter taste, which can be an enchanting tributary to the main flow of flavors. It seems to harmonize very well with mandarin oranges and walnuts. And then there are greens that have a highly decorative value, but which I don’t favor in my fine salad, such as kale perhaps.
Your Handy-Dandy Salad Box
A rectangular plastic container with a tight-fitting lid has become a permanent installation in my refrigerator. Pick a size that fits the layout of your fridge and keep it in a handy location. When you wash the greens in your sink—I like to wash them under running water over a colander in two go-rounds—tear off the wilted or damaged leaves and sections. Remove, twist off, the core of the lettuce head. This way the leaves come apart. Place the washed leaves in a semi-orderly fashion in the box so that you have room for a few other ingredients.
I love little red radishes. They provide a tasty crunch and seem to help digestion quite well. Tear off the radish greens and wash radishes well under running water. If you still have room in the box, wash a couple of tomatoes, a cucumber, and a bundle of green onions. Do not peel the cucumber yet and do not cut the tomato. Add a bunch of cilantro (if you like).
So when it’s dinner time, cut and tear a few things from the salad box, spruce it up with crunchies, and add the dressing.
NOTE: Vinegar and oil can make or break your salad experience. Use a good, cold-pressed olive oil and, by all means, balsamic vinegar.
The Basic Salad (4 persons)
1 head/bowl of lettuce, torn
4-6 radishes, sliced
1-2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped
3-4 green onions, chopped
5 stalks of cilantro
1 tsp. salt (or less)
3(4) tablespoons of olive oil
3(4) tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (Ortalli)
nuts (pecan, walnut, almond)
craisins
a half apple cut in thin slices
Wash and cut ingredients, put them all in a bowl, and toss them lightly with your dressing. Ready to eat!
Jazz up your salad. Here is my favorite combo:
1 ripe avocado
1 small can of mandarin oranges
1 handful craisins
1 handful pecans
1 can of artichoke hearts
small green Spanish olives
There are so many other salad boosters. The main idea about the salad experience is the exploration. It is amazing what surprising taste experiences you will have. So good that your kids will beg for more.
Here is your homework: Write an essay about “What All Can You Put in a Salad?”
ANSWER: Pretty much everything. So what’s in your salad?
Pasta rule the world. As the story goes, Marco Polo “discovered” the frilly, shapely, or stringy noodles in China and brought them to Europe in the 15th century. This is still a good story, yet the idea of making dough-to-boil from durum semolina seemed to have existed in Italy since the 13th century. Regardless, Chinese or Italian, pasta rule my cooking world too.
Fettucine by Edda
Everybody cooks pasta once in a while. But very few people make their own. Count me into that group. I just don’t have the time to hang fettucine up to dry like my friend Edda (picture on right). A store-bought packet of Barilla (insert your favorite brand here) would do it for me. Good for you, if you grow your own tomatoes to cook a fresh sauce. I don’t have the luxury to be so purist yummy. But if you, like me, get real happy with quick-and-easy recipes, here are three of my main staples from the pasta season.
Pasta Bolognese (1 lb meat, 1 lb pasta) for 6 Persons
Fry in a saucepot on medium heat in 2 Tbs. olive oil:
½ large (or 1 medium) onion, diced, for 7 minutes to glaze; then add
1 jalapeño pepper, diced, cook together a bit more; add and brown
1 pound of lean chuck (turkey, chicken, pork, beef, or 2 cans of tuna), while stirring regularly; add
Bolognese
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 tsp. salt (or to liking)
½ tsp. oregano (go easy, rather less)
1 tsp. basil
After meat-spice mix is browned (ca. 15 min) add
1 jar of marinara pasta sauce (24 oz./680 g)
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz./426 g)
cup of frozen veggies (optional)
and let this slowly bubble for 15 min, stir frequently. In the meantime set a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Follow package directions for cooking pasta.
Finishing up the sauce in 5 minutes:
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. fresh grated pepper
2 Tbs. capers (or chopped olives)
1 swig of fresh sweet cream (optional)
½ cup of red wine (optional)
Here come the flavor makers:
Chop up EITHER fresh parsley OR cilantro OR rosemary to add to your sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Parsley will give you a rather northern European flavor, cilantro a Mexican/Oriental reminiscence, and rosemary the totally Italian/Mediterranean experience.
Serve the steaming sauce over the hot pasta (spaghetti, fettucine, fusilli, penne etc.) and sprinkle Romano or Parmesan cheese on it. Bon appetite!
WAIT: We are not done. You made enough sauce for 2 meals. Fill half of the sauce into an airtight plastic container and freeze that portion for later use. Because next week we will be making . . .
Hit-the-Spot Lasagna for a Party of Eight
Lasagna must not be complicated at all. The great advantage: it is baking independently while you are free to entertain your guests with appetizers and stories. I adapted a recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook for non-boil pasta. At first I had trouble with the pasta getting cooked all the way through. But I have learned a little trick. Preparation time 20 min; baking time 1 hour.
Here is what you do:
Grease a 9 x 12 inch glass/ceramic casserole with olive oil; pour ½ of a 15 oz. can tomato sauce in the form and distribute evenly across the bottom. Heat up the oven to 350F.
Ingredients:
1 pound of your homemade Bolognese sauce
1 can of tomato sauce (15 oz.)
1 packet of no-boil pasta for lasagna
1 container ricotta cheese (15 oz./425 g) mixed with
1 egg (& chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, optional)
3 cups of shredded cheese (mozzarella, Colby, cheddar etc.)
LAYERING: Put a layer of non-boil pasta over the tomato sauce at the bottom of casserole. Spread a layer of the ricotta/egg mixture (ca. half of amount) over the pasta. Then cover the ricotta with half of the Bolognese sauce, top it off with a layer of cheese.
REPEAT: lasagna sheets, ricotta mix, Bolognese sauce, shredded cheese
TOP OFF: Finish with a layer of pasta sheets, “paint” that with the remaining ½ can of tomato sauce, sprinkle cheese over it. Finally, carefully pour a cup of water around the edges of casserole to raise liquid to about half height. Casserole should be evenly filled close to the brim.
BAKING: Bake the lasagna covered with aluminum foil for 30 min, remove foil and bake for another 30 min. Take it out and let it rest for 15 min. Serve with a fresh mixed salad.
Bon appetite!
Carbonara Noodles for Any Day
Spaghetti Carbonara, a toss up of pasta with egg/cream mixture, apparently happens when you mix scalding hot pasta with the raw egg, which in itself “cooks” the eggs done. But I have never been so fancy. I will start with any kind of boiled noodles and roast them straight out in a skillet. (I have pasta left over from the Bolognese 2 days ago.)
What you need:
¼ stick of butter
½ onion, finely chopped
cooked pasta noodles, enough for a large skillet (ca. 4-5 cups)
2–3 eggs, whisked with
½ cup of sweet cream
1 cup of frozen veggie mix (optional)
1 cup of shredded cheese
2 stalks green onions, chopped
5 sprigs cilantro (optional)
salt & pepper to liking
Sautee the chopped onion in a large skillet until glazed, add the pasta and (optional) frozen vegetables to be heated through, pour the egg mix on, continue to shuffle, add herbs, cheese, salt & pepper, keep shuffling until egg is set. Serve immediately with a nice mixed salad.
No time for baking? Try these Lemony Cupcakes here. My kids can make them in a jiffy from scratch. (Yeah, right, IMAGINE, they are under the icing. We had the color stuff left over from a cake class and got into rainbow color “play.” Move over, cake boss!)
This cupcake recipe (forget the icing) has only 7 common ingredients—which you already have in your pantry or fridge. It is no secret: these lemony cupcakes taste delicious for the generous “splurge” of butter. So don’t overdo the eating. They are a special treat.
By the way: Never mind the “royal” icing on our creations (photos). We went a little crazy. For a healthier outcome, just dust your cupcakes with a little powder sugar—although there is obviously no limit to “creative” decorating.
INGREDIENTS:
200 g butter (1 ¾ sticks)
200 g sugar
4 eggs
1/2 lemon’s grated peel
2 lemons’ juice (or 1 only, but add a squirt of milk)
200 g flour
1 tsp. baking powder
a “shot” of milk, if needed
PREPARATION:
Cut up the butter, warm it slightly so that you can beat it easily with a whisk or electric mixer.
Add in the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, whisk until you get a creamy, fair batter.
Slowly whisk in the flour and baking powder to a creamy consistency. Add milk, as necessary. Dough should “rip” from the spoon and pile up gently in the paper cups.
Fill the paper lined cupcake pan equally with 2 spoons full of batter. This makes about 20 cupcakes.
Bake the cupcakes at 350F for 30 minutes, let cool for 1 hour, then decorate to your heart’s content.
NOTE: The recipe for “Zitronenküchlein” is from the book “Kinder-Geburtstagstorten”. In Germany even kids know about “good eats.”
HAVE FUN AT IT! CREATE SOME EDIBLE ART. OCCASIONALLY . . .
Aloo gobi, cauliflower with potatoes, is one of the most popular Indian dishes. Yet there are a gazillion variations of it. You can’t go wrong with aloo gobi. Just about everyone likes it. Even moviemaker Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) had a try at it. See the link at the bottom of the story.
My aloo gobi version is not yet Indian housewife approved. It is based on my sister-in-law’s excellent coaching and my very own desperate knack for convenience and “saving” dishes. I like to cook “all in one pot” and still be creative. Add mustard seed and hot chilies, you’ll get a southern flavor; spice it up with cumin and garam masala, definitely a northern note. Whatever you do, don’t add much water!
NOTE: My aloo gobi is a stir-fry-style recipe for a large wok or skillet. Be prepared and start about 60 minutes before mealtime. Here we go:
WASH & CUT VEGETABLES:
½ cauliflower, cut small rosettes/pieces
3 medium potatoes, small cubes (1 cm-1 inch)
3 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, diced small
1 inch ginger, grated or chopped small
3 cloves garlic, grated
SEAR THE SPICES: heat
2 Tbs. vegetable or olive oil in large wok on high, don’t burn; add
2 Tbs. channa dal (= lentils) to fry for 3 minutes (optional for “bite” and texture)
1 tsp. mustard seed to crackle and
1 tsp. cumin (jeera) to crackle
3 dried hot chili peppers to sauté
NOTE: You could start off with the traditional onion/chili/ginger paste as a base. Adding freshly chopped Serrano peppers or red pepper flakes in the middle of the process works just as well. I prefer to use small ginger pieces as “bursts of flavor”.
Cauliflower, potatoes, chili
Onions, turmeric, garlic
Tomatoes & salt
STIR-FRY PHASE: Lower heat to medium and add
• cauliflower pieces (longest to cook) and sauté 10-15 minutes
• potato pieces, sauté for another 10 minutes
• onions and ginger for 5 minutes
• garlic paste (2 min)
• 1 tsp. (½ tsp.) turmeric (haldi); stir until evenly distributed (3 min)
• tomatoes, stir until they start getting mushy (5 min)
• ½ tsp. garam masala (optional), stir-fry for 1 minute
• 1 tsp. salt to liking
• ¼ cup water (or none)
FINISHING PHASE:
Put the lid on the skillet/wok and let the aloo gobi simmer (ca. 15 min) so that the cauliflower is cooked but firm to the bite. Shuffle it once in a while. Taste for texture towards the end.
Let this cool off for 5 minutes and transfer to serving dish. Garnish your aloo gobi with chopped cilantro. Add a sprinkle of lemon. Bon appetite!
It was one of those days when I had no desire whatsoever to slave behind the stove. Don’t misunderstand me wrong, I like to cook and be creative. But I was running out of time and energy (whisper, whisper, yes, cooking can also be a chore). So I winged the dinner and put the roast and side dishes to cook in one go.
WHAT YOU NEED:
lean marinated pork loin
heat-hardy vegetables (onions, carrots, bell peppers etc.)
one potato for each guest
PROCEDURE:
Set the oven to broil temperature
Wash & chop the vegetables, put them in a disposable oiled pan together with the marinated roast. (Or season the roast with salt, pepper, & other spices yourself.)
Wash & wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil.
Put all the ingredients in the oven, broil the roast 10 min top and bottom, then reduce temperature to 380 F to cook for another 60 minutes.
Add ca. 1 cup of liquid after broiling and during roasting in small batches (broth, water, beer etc.) and baste the roast with a brush occasionally.
10 min before serving, thicken the sauce with 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (mix starch with a little water) and add more seasonings to taste (cream, soy sauce, chili paste etc.), let the sauce cook and reabsorb the flavor.
Rosemary spuds is simply the best potato recipe. Just be aware to back up one hour from serving time, put a tray of these into the oven and forget about them until dinner. The recipe is for 2 pounds of spring potatoes.
Wash, brush, and quarter the small potatoes. Put them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle juice from
1 large lemon over potatoes, add
2 cloves of grated garlic,
2 twigs of rosemary, snip it with scissors
2 or more tablespoons of olive oil
salt & pepper to liking
and mix the seasonings thoroughly in. Bake the Rosemary Potatoes at about 400 F for 50 minutes or more. I like to get the skins a little toasty and crunchy. These potatoes are a true delight for all ages.
Never mind, potatoes are not fast. And yet they come at different speeds. What slows them down is mostly their peel. Who wants to mess with that? Read below the results of my speed tests. investigation. For additional helpful information about potatoes, go to GOODNESS UNEARTHED.
Oooh, these little potatoes are really fast
“Potato salad, a piece of cake,” my mom recently said—emphatically. Yeah, right! It’s a 90-minute procedure. Of course, while I am boiling the golden Russets, there might be a 40-minute window to write a blog. But potato salad requires a good amount of foresight. Still, potatoes are my favorite vegetable.
Let’s look at the average potato speeds, four medium-sized specimens at a time, from start to finish.
BAKED POTAOES: 65 min
Wash the potatoes, wrap them in aluminum foil, bake them.
Handling: 5 min; Cooking: 60 min
STEAMED POTATOES: 64 min
Like baked, only naked (no foil), 1 minute less handling
FRENCH FRIES: 21 min
Wash/scrub, peel, cut into sticks, deep fry in oil
Handling: 16 min; Cooking: 5 min
HASH BROWNS: 35 min
Wash, peel, cut into small cubes/sticks, fry in low oil
Handling: 14 min; Cooking: 15-20 min
SALT POTATOES: 30 min
Wash, peel, cut into 1-inch pieces (or wedges), cook in salt water.
Handling: 15 min; Cooking: 15 min
MASHED POTATOES: 33 min
About the same as salt potatoes; add 3 min for mashing and mixing
POTATO SOUP: 35 min
About the same as salt potatoes; add 5 min for mashing & additional ingredients
ROSEMARY/SPRING POTATOES: 40 min
Wash/scrub, cut wedges, season and toss in oil/lemon, bake
Handling: 10 min; Cooking: 30 min
POTATO SALAD: 93 min
Wash, steam, peel, slice, add ingredients, mix
Handling: 18 min; Cooking: 60 min; Cool off: 15 min
Among all the options, the rosemary potatoes are my most flavorful favorite. Potato salad is for special holidays, but in such a case, we always make a lot.
One friend of mine cooks potato salad like salt potatoes. She cooks small pieces of potato for ca. 15 minutes. Then she tosses out the water and adds vinegar and oil etc. This would be a method worth trying.
NOW, the buck does not stop here! You could make potato croquettes, Kartoffelpuffer or nests, Zwurler, Schneiderl, Grösti, scalloped potatoes, “tiki” (Indian fried and stuffed cutlets) or finally even potato dumplings. I haven’t tried making most of these, because I figured they’d flunk my minimum speed requirement. Still waiting for the day to write a potato a speeding ticket.
So, what is your fastest potato? Send me a recipe or suggestion to the comment box. Perhaps we can get some of these potatoes up to speed.
Do I ever stick to a recipe? Hardly. But the Assam Nariyal Dal from the Dhaba Cooking School, is so awesome that I would not change a thing. These lentils are a sheer delight of aromas for body and soul. The recipe was created by TAZ (Taz). Try it soon.
COOKING ADVICE: Have all ingredients handy and prepared. This dal cooks fairly quickly. Don’t burn your spices while you are scrambling to cut tomatoes.
—-STEP 1—-
2 cups red (Masoor Dal) lentils, picked & rinsed; set them to boil in 7 cups of water; reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes
Tomato paste
—-STEP 2: DWARKA—-Sauté (flavor-roast) next ingredients in pan on medium heat and little oil for 7-10 minutes; add this to the lentils
1/2 onion, diced, fry until glazed
1/2 inch ginger, grated into paste
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-3 whole, dried chilis
2 Tbs. sambhar masala (~ 3min)
2-4 Tbs. tomato paste (~ 3 min)
—-STEP 3—-Add the following ingredients to the lentils to complete the flavor
1 can unsweetened coconut milk (15 oz.)
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 lemon, juice & zest
1 Indian bay leaf (tej patta)
2 cinnamon sticks (2 inches long)
3 star anise pods
kosher salt & black pepper to taste
FINISHING: Cook the dal for another ~30 min or until lentils are soft. Adjust seasonings and remove the spice “drifters.” Serve hot with idli (rice cakes) or a rice dish. The aromas of Assam Dal are invigorating and inspiring. Your gourmet nose will enjoy the process too.
I like to eat (good) cookies, but I am not likely to bake them unless it’s “the Season.” It’s best to make this an artistic, Picasso, free-for-all endeavor. Have at it! And eat the cookies at your own risk (calories and colors).
Decorating cookies “free-style” is fun and creative
INGREDIENTS:
500 g flour (ca. 3.5 cups)
250 g sugar (1 cup)
250 g butter (2 sticks)
2 eggs
vanilla aroma & lemon zest
juice from 1/2 lemon
MAKE A SHORTBREAD DOUGH: Use an oversize bowl, pour the dry ingredients in, make a valley in the middle for the eggs, drop the butter pieces around the margin, mix the eggs up with a fork in the valley, then knead the dough thoroughly. It should feel like fairly stiff “play dough”. Cool that off in the fridge for an hour.
Then roll out the dough and cut out cookies. Bake them for 10 min at 350 F. Collect them in a flat dish.
FOR DECORATING: Make sugar icing. Use 2 Tbsp. meringue powder (or 1 egg white in the old country) with ca. 2 cups of confectioners sugar and ca. 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (or water). Get a feel for the icing consistency. It should cover real well and not be runny. You can thin out the icing with a few drops of water or add more sugar if it’s too liquid.
SPRINKLE with various sprinkles shapes and decorate with small candies. Paint them with neon colored gel icing (in small tubes) or cookie icing.
After 30 minutes add all the other ingredients and mix up the paste by hand. You should be able to form palm-size balls to fry in your heated pan. Or you can drop portion-sized piles into the hot oil with a spoon. Cook them on moderate or low heat to a crispy nice color on both sides.
Wash, brush, and quarter the small potatoes. Put them in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle juice from
for 7-10 minutes; add this to the lentils
