Garlicky Shrimp Brochettes & Potato Salad In Dijon Mayonnaise

May19

.
.
Early evening dinner before going to sleep and back to another happy work week. (Do I have to mention I was NOT the lucky winner of the $ 6oo.000.000 ?)
I wonder, if I would have won, would I go to work tomorrow…………
Anyway, back to reality and a great meal. I used a shameful amount of roasted garlic puree to season the shrimps and I hope nobody wants a kiss before tomorrow
>

Garlicky Shrimp Brochettes & Potato Salad In Dijon Mayonnaise

: Garlicky Shrimp Brochettes & Potato Salad In Dijon Mayonnaise

>
Simmer un-peeled potatoes until done. Remove from water, let cool. Peel, slice into thin rounds. Mix with kosher salt, cayenne pepper, a bit of vinegar, mayonnaise, chopped cilantro, sliced scallions and dijon mustard.

Season the shrimp with sea salt, chili flakes and roasted garlic puree. Saute in butter until almost done. Squeeze one lime over brochettes, turn once and remove from pan.
To serve, spoon some of the lime butter over the shrimps and accompany with potato salad.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
>
>
>
>

About these ads

Chicken In Saffran Broth, Vegetables & Cream Biscuits

May12

>
>
Sunday dinner was simple today. I did not feel like spending too much time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning up, so it was a simple stew with biscuits. Nevertheless, it tasted and looked wonderful and the chicken was especially well received by Bella
>
>

Chicken In Saffran Broth, Vegetables & Cream Biscuits

.
>

: Chicken In Saffran Broth, Vegetagles & Cream Biscuits

>

Ingredient’s :

Chicken drumsticks,
Corn on the cob, shucked, cut into pieces
Cauliflower, rosettes, blanched
Potatoes, peeled, diced
Shiitake mushrooms, stem removed, quartered
Leeks, sliced
Onions, diced
Chilis, select for your favorite heat level
Garlic, paste
Ginger, grated
Cilantro, chopped
Saffran threads,
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Chicken stock,

Method :

Simmer chicken, garlic, and ginger in lightly seasoned stock for 10 minutes. Add corn and simmer for another 15 minutes, Add all other vegetables and potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add saffran and let steep for another 20 minutes. Return to heat until hot. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with cream biscuits on the side.
.
Cream Biscuit Recipe Click Here
>

Bon Appetit ! La vie est bien !

>
>
>
>
>

Jamaican Black Bean Soup & Flour Dumpling’s ( A “Light” Saturday Lunch )

May4

“

“
When I encountered Jamaican dumplings for the first time in the early seventies, I would never have imagined that I will ever like them, having been raised with southern german-style dumplings, which are very light and airy (if done correctly).
So when I saw these tough little dumplings, (resembling in shape Schwaebische Bubespitzle), I was skeptical, to say the least. But, while living in Jamaica in the eighties, I have come to love these Jamaican dumplings, but again – in order to be appreciated, they must be properly prepared, simmering for a long time in a flavorful stock, stew or soup .
“>
Irie, Mon
>

Jamaican Black Bean Soup & Dumplings

“

: Jamaican Black Bean Soup & Dumplings

“
Ingredients :

Stock of your preference, veal, chicken, beef, pork, vegetable
Black beans, soaked overnight
Onions, diced
Celery, diced
Bacon, diced (substitute with salt pork if preferred)
Garlic, paste
Spicy sausage, pork, veal or beef
Assorted chilis, select according to your preferred heat level
Tomatoes, diced
Cumin,
Kosher salt,
Black pepper, freshly ground
Cilantro, coarsely chopped
Goose fat, rendered (use your favorite fat, canola oil, olive oil, butter, duck fat, goose fat, etc)

Method :

Saute bacon in fat until rendered, add onions, garlic, celery, chilis and sausage and saute until fragrant, add tomatoes, stock and beans. Season lightly with cumin, salt and pepper and simmer until the beans are “waxy”. Adjust seasoning if necessary. To serve, place soup into serving bowl, top with dumplings and sprinkle generously with cilantro .

Dumplings :

Mix flour, water and salt into a smooth dough, roll small pieces into finger shaped noodles and simmer in stock until cooked through. ( Usually like o cook them straight in the soup, but for a nicer presentation I cooked them separate this time for better pictures

Bon Appetit ! Irie !

“
“
“
“

Braised Oxtail & Potato Dumplings “Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknödel”

May2

>
>
Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknödel / Braised Ox Tail & Potato Dumplings
>
I remember with nostalgia when you could get oxtail from your butcher for a buck and a half a pound. Those were the day’s. Obviously long gone, but not forgotten. Nowadays it’s gonna cost an average of $ 5.00 a pound. Considering a nice portion to be about 2.5 pounds, you might only want to prepare this for a dinner party with the best of friends
Anyway, since I only cook for Bella and myself nowadays, cost was not a concern. Time however is of the essence. You want to cook your oxtails REAL slow, so they get very tender without falling apart. This batch took about 3.5 hours to cook. Was it worth the trouble ? You bet your foot it was. Especially when you also prepare these great potato dumplings to soak up every last bit of the knock-out sauce you get by simmering the meat and vegetables for all that time.
>
Guten Appetit ! Das Leben ist Schön !
>
>

Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknoedel

: Geschmorter Ochsenschwanz & Kartoffelknoedel

: Braised Ox Tail & Potato Dumplings

<
Ingredients :

Oxtail, cut into single links
Bell peppers, medium diced
Onions, medium diced
Tomatoes, canned, diced
Garlic, paste
Peanut oil,
Kosher salt,
Cayenne pepper,
Hungarian paprika,
Veal stock, or substitute
Red wine,
Dark beer,

Method :

Saute oxtails in hot oil until nicely browned on all sides. Remove from pot, set aside. Saute onions and peppers until caramelized. Now it is time to saute the paprika for a minute. Then add salt and pepper.Make sure you dont over season at this point. Remember, the stock will reduce a great deal when simmering for long period of time. Add wine and beer to deglaze the pan. Return ox tail to pot, cover with veal juice (substitute with chicken stock, vegetable stock or even water if nothing else is available. Simmer until oxtail is tender. Remove oxtail with a slotted spoon into a clean pot. Adjust seasoning of sauce if necessary. Strain sauce through a fine mesh sieve over oxtail. Make sure you press all the vegetables through the sieve. This will thicken your sauce and give it more body and flavor.
Serve with your favorite pasta or dumplings.

Potato Dumpling Recipe

>
>
>
>

Rum Laced Iced Berry Soup

Apr28

<
>

What a gorgeous sunday afternoon by the lake. Perfect temperature outside, a good book to read (WHISKEY BEACH, by Nora Roberts), great rock in the background (Big 105.9) and this wonderful concoction of berries, yoghurt and rum, topped with a bit of whipped cream.
Ahhhhhhh

>
Life is Good ! Cheers !

Rum Laced Iced Berry Soup

>
>
>
>

Best Fish Taco

Apr16

Well, at least for me they were the best in a very long line of disappointing restaurant and food truck fish tacos.
Most of the time, if you want to have the really good stuff, you’ve got to prepare it yourself
The secret here is the fish batter. You don’t want to have to prep something complicated or difficult for such a simple meal. So here I give you my ”secret” easy and quick batter recipe:
.
A/P flour, crushed ice, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, granulated garlic, chilled sparkling water (I use syfo lemon-lime, the only bottled water for me).
Mix all ingredients lightly, don’t worry about a few lumps, they fry out in the hot oil and become crispy. See the prep pic to get an idea about the texture. Then dip the fish into the batter and fry at 375F until crispy and fish just done. Remove to absorbent paper. Build your tacos with your favorit ingredients / condiments.
Voila ! Best fish taco :-)
.
Viva Mexico ! Viva Los Tacos ! Viva La Vida !
>

Best Fish Taco

: Best Fish Taco

>
>
>
>

Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

Apr2

>
Paprikash is the national dish of Hungary. Which means that it has been prepared and eaten for many decades, by millions of people, in many restaurants and homes, in many different regions, with an infinite number of variations. So folks, relax, don’t call my house and say that this is not a real paprikash, because………….
Anyway, here is a version I prepared last week and, I might add, a pretty good and pretty pretty version. >

Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

: Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

Ingredients :

Chicken, your favorite parts, I prefer legs
Sweet hungarian paprika,
Chilis, finely chopped, some left whole for garnish (optional)
Tomatoes, finely chopped
Garlic, paste
Onions, finely diced
Kosher salt,
AP flour,
Chicken stock,
Sour cream,

Method :

Saute chicken in fat until golden brown. Remove. Saute onions and garlic until fragrant. Add paprika, chopped chilis and flour and saute for a short time. (Careful, paprika burns easily !) Add tomatoes, stock, whole chili’s and salt. Return chicken to pot, cover and braise slowly until chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 162F. (Carry over heat will take it to a safe 165F). Remove chicken. At this point you have the option of straining the sauce or not. You also have the option of whisking in the sour cream or not. If you don’t whisk in the sour cream at this point, add a generous dollop when serving (See picture). Adjust seasoning if necessary. To serve, add chicken to serving dish, cover with sauce and whole chili’s. Serve with Spaetzle.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good ! >>
>
>
>
>

> > >

Schwäbische Spätzle Mit Schmelze (Swabian Noodles)

Apr1

.
.
” Swabian spaeztle with browned bread crumbs “.

One of the most common,simple, quick, delicious, economical and (in my biased eyes), one of the most beautiful dishes coming out of South Germany (Swabia).
When I grew up, this was one of the more boring dishes for me and my brother Wilhelm to grace our dinner table, because it showed up with regularity a few times a week. Even today, spaetzle are one of the stables of south german cooking. But, alas, I have moved away from my homeland many decades ago, so now spaetzle have become a treat, truly enjoyed whenever possible.
Spaetzle are hard to come by even in German restaurants around here. This is probably due to the fact that more cooks in american German restaurants go by the name of Pepe instead of Fritz and have never seen real spaeztle, so what you mostly get are “Knoepfle”, not “Spaetzle”.
Knoepfle means little bottons, so they are a small spherical pasta, while spaetzle derives from “little spitz”, which means little penis. (Many folks believe spaetzle derives from the word spatz, which means sparrow and would makes no sense at all. Also, many Americans let their spaetzle or knoepfle brown while sauteeing, which is an absolute no no in Swabia!
So there you have it. One of the easiest and fastest pastas to make is actually difficult to come by (at least any good ones). Go figure
But, there is hope ! Following is the recipe for original swabian spaetzle. Please note that there is no milk or water added, just AP flour, eggs and salt. In times past, when eggs where not as easily available and as affordable as now, folks have had to stretch the eggs by adding milk or even water. Today that is not necessary anymore, so just stick to flour, eggs, and salt. With a little practice, it will take you less then 10 minutes to make about six portions.
Mix flour, salt, and eggs and beat the dough until it is elastic and forms large air bubbles. To shape the spaetzle, either use a “Spaetzle Brett” (spaeztle board) and a straight spatula, or, much easier, invest $ 20 and buy a “Spaetzle Press” online. If you are not so sure how to proceed with the dough and the shaping of the spaetzle, go online and check out one of the numerous good instructional videos ( But be aware, there is also a lot of crap online, so choose wisely ).

Fill the spaetzle press 3/4 with dough and press into boiling, salted water. After a minute or so the spaetzle will float at the surface. Remove to a bowl with cold water. Drain. To serve, saute in butter until hot, without allowing the spaetzle to brown. Top with “Schmelze”.

For the schmelze, melt butter and saute bread crumbs until golden.
(I like to use brown butter and add chives to my schmelze).

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
>

Schwäbische Spätzle Mit Scmelze

: Schwäbische Spätzle Mit Schmelze

>
>
>
>

Bucatini, Bologna, Tomato, Asiago & Egg ” Midnight Snack In Simpleland ”

Mar30

.
.
Yesterday I had a very long workday without lunch or dinner. I finally came home at 9.00pm (I left the house at 5.00am, after two hours of walking Bella, breakfast, checking e-mail, etc) .
First thing’s first, so I poured myself a glass of merlot and sat down to relax a few minutes before I wanted to move on to do what needs to be done. However, I woke up three hours later at around midnight, because Bella brutally stubbed me with her nose, demanding to finally be taken on her walk. When we got back it was past 1.00am and I was famished. I wanted to have something quick, uncomplicated, substantial and tasty, but not too heavy or fatty. A quick inspection of the fridge and cup board revealed, amongst other goodies:
Bucatini, salted butter, bologna, aged asiago, greek yoghurt, eggs, tomatoes and scallions.
Usually and traditionally, one would saute the bologna and tomatoes in fat before adding the other ingredients.
But I wanted to have a different, “fresher” taste. So, here is how it went:
I cooked the pasta, drained it (reserved some of the cooking water). I chopped the tomatoes, sliced the scallions, grated the asiago, whisked the eggs with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Then I mixed all the ingredients over low heat including a bit of the cooking water and cooked it until the eggs set. The result was a revelation of how the addition or absence of one single cooking step (sauteing) can completely alter the taste and texture of a dish. This version is actually my new favorite when it comes to pasta with bologna. The freshness of the bologna (must be of very good quality) and the slight acidity of the yogurt and raw tomatoes make it a new, much appreciated dish in my arsenal of pasta dishes.
.
Bon Appetit ! Long Live The Midnight Snack !
..
.
More Bucatini On ChefsOpinion 1