cooking

How To Turn Radiators Into A Delicious Dish…….

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“Radiatore with Salame and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Garlic-Confit Cream”
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Pasta, garlic, cream and other “stuff” 🙂 – always quick and easy to prepare, yet very rewarding with big flavors and a lovely texture.
This is the kind of food I prepare when I “don’t feel like cooking”. After all, the whole preparation takes only a few minutes and is easy enough to be handled by a novice in the kitchen, all one needs is a few good ingredients and a passion for food, the rest will fall into place all by itself 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Radiatore with Salame and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Garlic-Confit Cream

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: saute garlic in olive oil until just starting to change color

: add salame julienne and onion julienne, saute until onions are translucent

: add julienned sun-dried tomatoes and heavy cream, season with kosher salt and fresh-grated black pepper

: simmer until cream starts to thicken, remove from heat, add grated parmesan, check / adjust seasoning

: add fresh cooked radiatori with a bit of the cooking water, mix well

: plate on serving dish, sprinkle with freshly shredded parmesan

: Radiatore with Salame and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Garlic-Confit Cream

: Radiatore with Salame and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Garlic-Confit Cream

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Easy Does It # 28 – Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding

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So I am walking down the “forbidden” cake-isle at Publix, heroically ignoring every sweet temptation that beckons, almost reaching the end of the line and – BANG – there it was, the most delicious looking banana-walnut cake loaf you can imagine. Now, from my ( past 🙂 ) experiences with the Publix bakery department, their baked goods are pretty good, at least at the location I am shopping close to my home. I have been a huge fan of banana – walnut cake (and banana bread) ever since I had my first taste in the Caribbean many years ago. Sadly, I have not encountered many good versions over the years, with most of them being too sweet, too heavy, too dry and /or lacking strong banana taste or all of the above. Not so the one I got at Publix. Like so many of their baked goods, it was absolutely delicious. Very light, bursting with banana flavor and chock-full of walnuts, all for a very reasonable price.
(NO – I am not being endorsed by Publix, although maybe I should be 🙂 )
As soon as I got home, I dug into the first loaf, almost ate the whole thing and was a very happy camper (Probably shaved a day off of my life right there 😦 )
So the next day I had one more loaf and a bit from the first one. I decided to improve on a perfect thing and prepare “Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding”.
Originally, bread pudding (or cake pudding) was prepared to utilize stale bread or cake and revitalize it with the additional moisture from the egg/milk custard. Nowadays, people are usually less frugal. However, bread pudding and cake pudding have proven to be a popular dessert in countless variations, made with any kind of savory bread or sweet baked goods, from cake to doughnuts to cinnamon rolls and so forth, and with a great assortment of different custards and different nuts, fruits, dried fruits etc. There are fantastic versions out there, impeccably prepared and a pure delight to eat. Unfortunately, as with many other such simple concoctions, a vast sea of less than stellar bread puddings and cake puddings can and will be found, ruining the reputation of this wonderful dish. Too often, it is dry, tasteless and overly sweet and the bread or cake used would have seen a more honorable end to itself by being tossed straight into the garbage.
Not so the baby you see below. It was very light, very moist, with a superb thin, crisp, caramelized crust on the bottom, not too sweet and with the added goodness of vanilla and Greek-yogurt.
All in all, definitely the very best cake pudding I have ever tasted.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
The usual practice of whisking the milk and eggs together before soaking the bread or cake results in a more firm (dry?) version, which is more suitable for a commercial application where one lets the pudding cool down a bit before cutting it into perfect shapes.
My way of soaking the cake in the milk first, then adding the eggs and mixing it all carefully to avoid the cake pieces to break up results in a much more moist cake, encased in a light custard, which together form a marvel of perfectly textured pudding ; There – I said it – perfect 🙂
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P.P.S.
Because of the moist and almost creamy texture of the pudding, I decided not to turn the raspberries into a sauce as I originally had intended, which turned out to be a wise decision.
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Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: banana-walnut cake

: brush a ovenproof dish generously with butter

: whisk 3 cups of milk, 1 cup of greek yogurt, 1 tblsp sugar and a dash of organic vanilla extract

: cut the cake into large pieces, soak in the milk

: whisk 3 small eggs with a dash of organic vanilla extract and 1 tblsp of sugar or honey

: when most of the milk is absorbed by the cake, mix the rest of the milk with the eggs, carefull not to break-up the cake

: fill into ovenproof dish, top with butterflakes and sprinkle with sugar

: bake until custard has just set and bottom has lightly caramelized

: sprinkle with fresh raspberries and confectioners sugar

: Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding

: Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding

: Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding

: Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding

: Banana-Walnut-Cake Pudding

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Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

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Image: Property of Panoramio

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Click here for a short Video of Hotel Wiedenfelsen
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It seems about time that I dedicate a dish and name it for the place which started it all for me, the wonderful, elegant and classy “Hotel Wiedenfelsen” in the Black Forrest in Germany.
Before and during the time I was lucky to be am apprentice in this gem of a hotel, the tourist industry in Germany was dominated by hotels like this.
Medium in size, family-owned hotels and restaurants which were the pride of families which, in many cases, had operated these hotels and restaurants for generations. Sadly, because of changing demands, the industry took a sharp turn during the 70’s and many of these wonderful places became obsolete in a fast changing landscape of mostly chain-operated hotels. Only the strongest and the luckiest survived, while the rest gave way to cookie-cutter operations without charm and soul, or they just ceased to exist (including Hotel Wiedenfelsen). It has since seen various attempts to re-invent itself under different ownership, but has never managed to come even near it’s former glory).
Things were of course very different during the hotels heydays, the time during which I had the fortune to be accepted for a three-year apprenticeship under the tight and competent leadership of the Executive Chef (and son in law of the then-owners) Karl Mueller. Karl was a generous and warm person, taking care of us apprentices as if we were family. He was also extremely professional, strict and a severe applier of high culinary standards.
Although ours was a relatively small hotel (about 70 rooms, two restaurants and one banquet space), the standards with which our hotel operated were very high and impeccable indeed.
It was mostly because of these high standards of the whole family who owned and operated “Hotel Wiedenfelsen” that I have become the person I am and the chef I was for nearly five decades. Admittedly, it took an iron hand, a (seemingly at the time) short leash and not a few “fresh ones” to shape me (and a bunch of other apprentices) into the professional I became, but, looking back today, I am grateful to the Mehr family and the Mueller family to have never given up on me and guided me into the right professional and personal direction.
All of this (and more) went through my head yesterday while I was cooking this dish which was the first lamb dish Chef Mueller taught me so many years ago………..
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Thanks Karl, Uschi, Herr und Frau Mehr. God Bless ! 🙂
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Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: remove excess fat from a de-boned lamb leg

: cut into cubes, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: saute lamb in olive oil until browned

: add sliced onions and garlic paste

: add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and same amount (volume) of water (or red wine if you prefer)

: season with finely chopped fresh rosemary, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, a dash of ground cumin and a dash of dried or fresh oregano

: simmer slowly until lamb is tender but NOT falling apart

: add cooked chickpeas and small raw carrots

: simmer until carrots are tender

: add diced bell peppers, simmer two more minutes

: add grape tomatoes, remove from heat, check / adjust seasoning

: Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

: Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

: Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

: serve stew over pasta, rice, mashed potato or cous cous

: Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

: Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

: Lamb Stew “Wiedenfelsen”

: Bella – first bite as usual 🙂

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Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina

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Quote from Ciao Italia :
“Anything alla fiorentina, meaning Florentine style, usually signifies that spinach is in the dish”.
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If you wonder why I put this quote at the beginning of this post, the answer is simple:
“Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina” is traditionally (originally?) prepared by stuffing a chicken breast with a mixture of chopped blanched spinach and grated cheese, then sauteed in fat or baked in the oven.
While this can be a very enjoyable variation, I have seen many other ones, some even just grilled, served with or without any spinach. This was actually in Florence some years back, when Maria and I visited a fancy restaurant off the beaten track and I ordered a “Bistecca Alla Fiorentina” for myself (beef-heaven on earth) and Maria ordered the “Pollo Alla Fiorentina”, which was presented as a simple grilled chicken breast served on a bed of spinach.
As for the reason I prepare my version the way I do is simply because I feel it is a far more tasty and juicy version of the widely touted as original version of “Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina”.
Coating the chicken allows the breast to stay very most while you can cook the meat to just being done, while if you stuff the breast and then cook it, by the time the stuffing is heated to a safe temperature, the breast will be much too dry.
So, as usual, while I don’t claim that my version is the “Original”, I strongly believe that it is the improved version of a venerable, classic dish 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
(Controversial, sometimes) 😦 🙂
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Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: butterfly skinless chicken breast in half

: score the surface to allow more coating to adhere to the meat

: mix equal parts of raw chopped spinach, grated parmesan cheese and whole eggs, season with kosher salt, garlic paste and cayenne pepper

: dust the breasts with flour, then dip into spinach/egg mixture, saute in olive oil

: almost done…………

: meanwhile, saute freshly cooked penne in garlic-oil, add chopped tomatoes, grated parmesan, sriracha, kosher salt and maggi seasoning (optional), mix well

: plate the pasta, sprinkle with grated cheese

: top with chicken, sprinkle with more cheese and basil leaves

: Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina

: Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina

: Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina (notice how juicy the chicken breast is)

: Bella eats Petti Di Pollo Alla Fiorentina 🙂

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Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

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For most of my life I detested the very idea of pulled pork. My professional training as a cook had taught me that if something falls apart, it is overcooked and therefore non grata. In addition, the pulled pork I was introduced to during my early years in the USA was almost always smoked for many hours, then completely inundated in (most of the time crappy) “bbq sauce”.
The whole thing seemed to me to have the texture and taste of some lousy half-smoked cigars mashed-up and mixed with ketchup and vinegar, more often than not served on a limp, tasteless burger bun. As a result, for many years I stayed away from pulled pork.
This changed when I got to travel in Latin America and in Latin American-circles, where pulled pork took on a very different dimension, one which I was finally able to wholeheartedly embrace. Usually braised in the oven for hours, with lots of cilantro, lime, garlic, various citrus juices and sometimes the addition of onions and/or chilies, the pork tastes lively and fresh, not at all heavy or greasy or overly sweet. Usually, it is served with white rice and yucca or a simple salad and most of the time with some kind of spicy, vinegar based condiment.
Below find my own take on pulled pork, as I imagine I would serve it at my imaginary, popular nightspot in a Havana of long-gone times, with hot girls dancing to the Rumba, Mojitos flowing freely and eating, drinking, dancing, making love and enjoying life being the only thing on everybody’s mind……………..
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: whole porkbutt, shank removed

: cut pork butt in half, reserve one half for another recipe, score skin of porkbutt in a criss-cross pattern

: orange, lime, kosher salt, chili flakes, garlic paste

: mix the juices from the fruit, 2 tblsp salt, 1 tsp chili flakes, 2 tblsp garlic paste with 2 pints of water, pour into pan with porkbutt, lightly cover with alu-foil, cook at 350F for 4 hours or until pork falls apart when lightly squeezed

: meanwhile, make sauce by blending with a beurre-mixer or in food processor : lime juice, garlic paste, cayenne pepper, cilantro, kosher salt and olive oil

: almost……..

: cilantro, garlic and lime sauce

: season fresh spinach leaves and thinly sliced radish with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: sour dough bread (use your own choice of bread)

: cut in half, remove some of the soft part (don’t throw away, this is great to dunk into the pork juices)

: after 4 hours at 350F….

: put pork into a bowl, remove chicharones (crispy skin), reserve chicharones

: chicharones

: remove bone from meat, give bone to Bella 🙂

: shredd the pork with 2 forks or tongs

: add the pork juices from the pan to the meat (make it VERY moist without drowning it)

: put some spinach on the bottom half of the bread

: top with meat, thinly sliced red onions, radish and more spinach leaves

: pile it on………

: douse with cilantro, garlic and lime sauce

: cover with top-half of bread, slice in half or quarters

: Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

: Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

: Pulled Pork “Havana Loco”

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Chicken-Noodle Soup With Spicy Sausage And Napa Cabbage

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So now that summer is finally over (at least according to the calendar), soups will be on the menu more often to warm our frozen bones (or we could turn the A/C from 72F to 78F ?) 🙂
Anyway, I myself never need an excuse to prepare myself a pot of soup, especially any variation of chicken-noodle soup, which I eat as often as twice a week. Following is today’s version :
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Chicken-Noodle Soup With Spicy Sausage And Napa Cabbage

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: saute diced chicken in garlic oil until lightly browned

: add diced spicy Italian sausage and chicken stock, season with grated ginger, kosher salt and cayenne pepper, simmer until sausage and chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes

: meanwhile, saute finely sliced onions with garlic paste in olive oil until onions are caramelized, reserve

: add shredded carrots to the soup, simmer one minute, remove from heat

: add sliced napa cabbage, finely sliced peppers and chopped cilantro, check / adjust seasoning

: plate freshly cooked casarecce pasta to soup plate, sprinkle with chopped cilantro

: top with the soup, top with the caramelized onions, sprinkle with more cilantro

: Chicken-Noodle Soup With Spicy Sausage And Napa Cabbage

: Chicken-Noodle Soup With Spicy Sausage And Napa Cabbage

: Chicken-Noodle Soup With Spicy Sausage And Napa Cabbage

: Chicken-Noodle Soup With Spicy Sausage And Napa Cabbage

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Meat And Potatoes

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Many a person declares them self to be a “Meat and Potato Person“, meaning no fancy concoction, just the basics without a fuss.
After looking at these pictures, most of us will probably concur, at least some of the time 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Umph !

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Meat And Potatoes

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: simmer potatoes in saltwater until tender but still firm, drain

: peel potatoes

: put potatoes through a ricer

: bring cream, butter and garlic paste to a simmer

: remove from heat, add potatoes, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper, mix well

: put potato puree on serving plate

: meantime, season steak of your choice with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, cook to the doneness you prefer, remove steak, set aside to rest in a warm place

: in same pan, add mushrooms, saute until lightly browned

: add tomatoes ans scallions, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper, saute until heated

: top potato puree with the sauteed veggies

: arrange sliced steak on top of veggies and puree

: Meat And Potatoes

: Meat And Potatoes

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Salade Lyonnaise

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Here we have another classic that shows and proofs why the classics don’t die: They are simply the best !
When all the pretty (and sometimes not so pretty) newfangled high flyers have simply faded away because of lack of substance, practicality and being too heavy on looks and too light on taste and texture, out come the classics again to remind us why they were our favorites in the first place : Taste, texture and simple, appetizing presentation, free from superficial nonsense. What better dish to proof my point than with this wonderful salad which will be equally good as appetizer, side dish, snack or even main course (See below )
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P.S.
Usually the poached egg is served liquid in the center, but, while I love eggs prepared this way, for my salad I prefer them a bit more waxy (depending on the size of the egg, add about 1 to 1,5 minutes to the cooking time of soft-poached egg)
P.P.S.
Although smoked bacon is widely used, I prefer the taste and texture of fresh bacon for this dish. If you choose to use smoked bacon, you can forgo the step of simmering the bacon before sauteing.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Salade Lyonnaise

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: fresh bacon

: cut bacon into lardons

: simmer bacon in salted water until tender

: drain bacon

: saute bacon until crisp

: drain bacon, reserve fat for other use (pommes lyonnaise)

: saute croutons in garlic oil, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: saute until golden, set aside

: poach eggs to your preferred doneness

: marinade frisée (endive) with a simple vinaigrette

: arrange salad on serving dish

: top salad with croutons

: top with bacon lardons

: top with poached eggs

: Salade Lyonnaise

: Salade Lyonnaise

: Salade Lyonnaise

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Schwäbischer Zwiebelrostbraten Mit Bratkartoffeln

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There are two way’s of preparing the onions for a traditional Schwäbischer Zwiebelrostbraten : Dusted with flour, then deep-fried until crisp (click here to see that version), or sautéed in the pan without the flour. While both versions are excellent, the one with the flour-dusted onions is usually prepared when larger quantities are required (the onions keep well when kept in a sealed container and are ready when needed). On the other hand, when preparing at home one usually sautés the onions in order to be more efficient. So as a rule of thumb, when I cook for guests, I fry my onions; when I just cook for myself (and Bella), I usually sauté the onions. Decisions, decisions :-). When I was preparing the potatoes I pondered about the fact how we are always looking for more complicated, prettier and more exclusive food, while something as simple as these Bratkartoffeln can be wonderfully beautiful and delicious in their simplicity.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Schwäbischer Zwiebelrostbraten Mit Bratkartoffeln

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: simmer potatoes until done, drain

: peel potatoes, cut into thick slices

: saute potatoes in duckfat, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: trim strip steak of all outer fat and silver skin

: butterfly steak twice

: cover with plastic film, pound until evenly ca 1/3 inch thick

: season with dijon mustard, kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: dust both sides in a/p flour

: saute in clarified butter until medium, remove to absorbent paper

: in same pan, saute finely sliced onions, seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper, until crisp and golden

: remove to absorbent paper

: Bratkartoffeln

: top with rostbraten

: napé steak and potatoes with red-wine sauce

: top with onions

: Schwäbischer Zwiebelrostbraten Mit Bratkartoffeln

: Schwäbischer Zwiebelrostbraten Mit Bratkartoffeln

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Breakfast Of Champions # 48 – Egg-Quesadilla With Boursin

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While the some of the most traditional condiments to quesadillas are being served again and again for a reason (best fit), I would like to introduce a new, a bit unusual condiment which will be knocking your breakfast quesadilla out of the ball park – Herb & Garlic Boursin. It gives the dish such additional debt and flavor that it has become my standard addition to breakfast quesadillas (I still stick with the traditional condiments for non-breakfast quesadillas ) 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Link to more Quesadillas on ChefsOpinion
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