cooking

Pork Soup With Pork & Leek Dumplings, Baby Bok Choy And Scallions

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This will be my last meal in 2014. It fit’s the occasion of a New Years Eve Diner well for me, since I adore pork dumplings in soup and it is the perfect dish to devour while watching TV . Bella and I are spending the evening  watching movies and every hour on the hour the fireworks from around the world. It started of with Sidney a couple of hours ago, which, as usual, had one of the most spectacular displays. Later when the clock strikes midnight here in Florida, we’ll go outside and watch the fireworks at  the nearby airport live from our backyard. Not as glamorous as the one in Sidney, but………..
After that we will enjoy a night cup of hot chocolate and doughnut holes with caramelized pineapple and banana.
Boy, how things have changed for me from just a few years back :-).
Nowadays, I leave the wild partying to the kid’s and the kid’s at heart. Strangely enough, I don’t miss the partying a bit. (Yet?)
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Happy New Year !   God Bless !

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Pork Soup With Pork & Leek Dumplings, Baby Bok Choy And Scallions

Pork Soup With Pork & Leek Dumplings, Baby Bok Choy And Scallions

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Preparation :
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To read instructions, hover over picture
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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Roast Fresh Ham With Caraway Jus (Gebratene Schweinekeule Mit Kümmelsoße)

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Like  last year, this year again I celebrated Christmas eve with my dear friends Dieter and Chacha, who were gracious enough to invite me to their family celebration. As usual, the food was out of this world. This years star of the dinner was a wonderful, tasty and succulent  standing rib roast  with all the trimmings and for dessert we all enjoyed Dieters traditional, perfect  soufflé.
After everybody ate, there was one leftover soufflé, which I bravely volunteered to put out of it’s lonely misery.
(All this great food plus two soufflé’s  on one evening – no wonder my belly looks so muscular). 😦
Earlier, just before I left my home to go to dinner, my  friend Curtis showed up with Christmas gifts. Among the goodies was a fresh ham of generous size, about enough to feed 7 people with a healthy appetite. In other words, enough for Bella and I to pig-out for two days 🙂 So, before I took off to Chacha’s and Dieter’s dinner, I scored the skin of the ham, salted it very generously with kosher salt and put it in the fridge to be cooked the next day. (This helps to draw the moisture from the skin and gives you a superior crackling). The next day, Thursday, I cooked the ham by starting it off at 420F for 20 minutes, then turning down the temperature to 325F for 4 hours and finishing the last twenty minutes at 420F again to crisp up the cracklings.
On this occasion I have forgone more traditional sidings such as vegetables, beans, rice, pasta or potatoes in favor of a simple guacamole, seeded rye bread, the pork jus, the onions which cooked together with the ham, grey poupon mustard and horseradish.
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Bon Appetit !   Life Is Good !
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Click here for  Guacamole Recipe
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P.S.
I will post a follow-up on the dishes I prepared with the leftovers.
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P.P.S.
I believe it is time to live a bit more “light” for at least the next few months, so starting January, I will change my food  (and therefore my post’s) to a bit of a lighter fare 5 days a week, while the weekend will feature the same type of food as usual, just smaller portions – and, sad to say, a drastic cutback on sweets.
Look for   ” Hans’ Lighter Comfort Food “  in upcoming post’s. See you there 🙂

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Roast Fresh Ham

Roast Fresh Ham

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Roast Fresh Ham

Roast Fresh Ham

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Preparation :
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To read instructions, hover over picture
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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Breakfast Of Champions # 45 – Pan Perdu (Arme Ritter) (French Toast)

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If  there is one dish made of stale bread that is served just about anywhere in the world it is Pan Perdu, also known as:
Germany (arme ritter), England (poor knights of windsor), USA and Kanada (french toast), France (pain perdu), Russia (grenki), Spain (torrijas), Finnland (köyhät ritarit), Hungary (bundás kenyér), Turkey (ekmek balığı) Holland (wentelteefje), Austria(pavesen), Portugal (rabanadas). This is but a small part of a large number of countries which serve pan perdu in one form or another.
The most basic form of preparation is stale bread or cake soaked in a mixture of milk, egg and sugar, then sauteed. From there on, many variations exist, with a few or many other ingredients added -white wine, honey, brandy, cinnamon, fruits, cream cheese, maple syrup and countless other variations, even savory ones. My own version this morning was pretty basic, I did however use chocolate pound cake instead of bread and dusted the sauteed pan perdu with castor sugar and cinnamon. You can imagine the improvement.  The hot, very sweet pineapple also added to the enjoyment of this oh so simple leftover dish. Truly a champion of a breakfast, worthy to be served to a champion 🙂

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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !

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Breakfast Of Champions # 45 - Pan Perdu (Arme Ritter)

Breakfast Of Champions # 45 – Pan Perdu (Arme Ritter)

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Breakfast Of Champions # 45 - Pan Perdu (Arme Ritter)

Breakfast Of Champions # 45 – Pan Perdu (Arme Ritter)

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Preparation :
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To read instructions, hover over picture
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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Sauteed Cod Filet & Honey-Glazed Carrots

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Cod  used to be the cheapest fish you can buy – but look at it now : 4 pieces for $ 38.00 at the fishmonger ! 😦
But once in a while I have to splurge a bit and this cod just fit the bill 🙂
Tomorrow we’ll have dry bread again……
Not really, but I really wish basic food items would be priced a bit more affordable. Shops get fancier all the time, advertising cost’s millions and all these costs have to be covered by the food we consume.
But then again, we are blessed to have this abundance available to us, unlike many (most?) folks in the world who consider them self lucky just to fill their belly every (some) day with whatever scraps they can find.
So with that in mind, on to last nights feast –

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Bon Appetit !   Live is Good (For some of us at least, blessed as we are)

P.S.
if you wonder what happened to the other 3 pieces of fish – Bella had one and I had three 🙂
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Sauteed Cod Filet & Honey-Glazed Carrots

Sautéed Cod Filet & Honey-Glazed Carrots

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Sauteed Cod Filet & Honey-Glazed Carrots

Sautéed Cod Filet & Honey-Glazed Carrots

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Sauteed Cod Filet & Honey-Glazed Carrots

Sautéed Cod Filet & Honey-Glazed Carrots

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Preparation :
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To read instructions, hover over picture
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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Shrimp-Loaded Twice Baked Potato & Cucumber/Tomato Salad In Chili/Lime Vinaigrette

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Versatile  is an understatement when describing this dish.
Tasty, great, satisfying,  lecker  , delicious and wonderful on the other hand are highly accurate.
Because of the large amount of shrimps added to the potatoes, there is fair amount of stuffing left over. You can shape this into patties (2 ounces for hors d’oeuvres, 4 oz for appetizers, 6 oz for main course) and freeze them between oiled plastic film (airtight) for at least one month, then just saute them in butter until heated through and golden.  Or, you could forgo the whole stuffed potato thing and transform all of it into patties :-).
Either way, I am sure whether you are a novice in the kitchen or a seasoned veteran, you will love and appreciate this simple yet sophisticated dish.
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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Shrimp-Loaded Twice Baked Potato & CucumberTomato Salad In Lime Vinaigrette

Shrimp-Loaded Twice Baked Potato & Cucumber/Tomato Salad In Chili/Lime Vinaigrette

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 Baked Potato Patty & Cucumber/Tomato Salad In Lime Vinaigrette With Aji Amarillo Sauce

Baked Potato/Shrimp Patty & Cucumber/Tomato Salad In Chili/Lime Vinaigrette With Aji Amarillo Sauce

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Shrimp-Loaded Twice Baked Potato & CucumberTomato Salad In Lime Vinaigrette

Shrimp-Loaded Twice Baked Potato & Cucumber/Tomato Salad In Chili/Lime Vinaigrette

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Preparation :
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To enlarge pictures, click on pictures
To read instructions, hover over pictures
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No Cook Octopus Salad

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Please  forgive me for the slight misnomer of this dish, “No-Cook Octopus Salad”.
Of course, the potatoes have been pre-cooked and so has the octopus.
But since I had leftover potatoes  from yesterday and the  octopus came out of a can (Vigo Brand, which is one of my favorite canned seafood brands), all I had to do today for this quick and tasty dinner is to mix the cubed potatoes and drained octopus with sliced romaine, diced onions and a garlic/lime vinaigrette (lime juice, olive oil, garlic paste,cayenne pepper and kosher salt).
Voilà, minimum time and effort for maximum taste and satisfaction 🙂
With the salad I had a freshly baked warm french bread and a glass of iced peach tea.
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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Octopus Salad

No Cook Octopus Salad

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Octopus Salad

No Cook Octopus Salad

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Preparation :
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To enlarge pictures, click on pictures
To read instructions, hover over pictures
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Epic Shrimp Fry

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This is probably the best/funniest food video of all time 🙂
Enjoy !  Life is Good !
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Wat
ch an Off-the-Rails, Totally Bonkers Shrimp Frying Video from Japan

The women in this video have a Rube Goldberg-style device that fries prawns by catapulting them through walls of flour, oil, and fire.

It’s one minute of maximum weirdness, and you might want to watch it more than once to catch all the nuances of this stunt.

Turkey Season Is Over – Let The Steak Season Begin

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Turkey  anybody ? Thank you, me neither 🙂
So now that things are finally back to normal (for a short while anyway, Xmas is looming around the corner, ready to attack), I had this wonderful dinner yesterday. The only sour note was that I had no duck fat in my larder to fry the potatoes, so I had to use olive oil. Same crispness and really good taste, but not as divine as when cooked in duck fat. (Got a tub on my way home from work today) 🙂
So, without further ado, I give you :

“Broiled Flank Steak ,  Porcini In Cream And Pommes Frites
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good !
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Preparation :
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German Chocolate Pancake & Caramel Sauce With Peaches And Bananas

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Sometimes  you come to a crossroad and have to make a fundamental decision from which there is no return –
” Should I eat this pancake or not ”  ?!!!
Because I am a diabetic, this dish probably cost me one week of my life. But then again – I used to smoke, drink and do a whole lot of other ungodly stuff and I am still around.
Who would have thought that eating a pancake could be so wickedly dangerous……….. 🙂
Anyway, I am happy to report that the risk was well worth it. I actually had two of these babies and feel no regret’s. I won’t have another one for a long time to come (probably), but I’ll decide when I am at that crossroad again 🙂
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Bon Appetit !   Life is Good ! 

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German Chocolate Pancake & Fruit Caramel Sauce

German Chocolate Pancake & Fruit Caramel Sauce

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German Chocolate Pancake & Fruit Caramel Sauce

German Chocolate Pancake & Fruit Caramel Sauce

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Preparation :
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Caramel Sauce With Peaches And Bananas:
Click on images to enlarge
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Chocolate Pancake:
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Korv Med Potatis Mos (Swedish Sausage & Potato Puree)

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One  of the most satisfying meals I had in my entire life I had in 1973 at around 3.00 am in Gothenborg,  Sweden.
It was certainly not the fanciest or the most beautiful meal, but it was the first food I had in three days and I was starving…….. It was also the first time I ever saw sausage and mashed potatoes served at a roadside kiosk (everywhere else it was sausage and fries) The combination of sausage, mashed potatoes, ketchup and mustard on that cold winter night, together with the satisfaction of a hot meal after nearly starving and the even greater satisfaction of impending hot sex made for a truly exceptional and, as you can see, unforgettable meal 🙂
My friend Heinz and I had finished a short summer season in Torekov, Sweden. After that, we went to Gothenborg, being sure to be able to secure a job working for “Swedish American Line“, which at the time was one of the most famous and luxurious cruise lines in existence. After a few wild weeks enjoying Gothenborgs nightlive, we finally applied for a job at their office.
The HR manager, Helge Swenson, took one look at us and then laughed us out of his office. (Sweden being one of the most conservative countries at the time, I did not look suitable with my shoulder length hair, high platform shoes, skin tight pants and mirrored hippy t-shirt)
So Heinz and I left his office a bit worried, since we had no money left and a hotel bill of considerable heft. (There was money for beer and smoke, but not for food). As we walked down the hallway toward’s the elevator, a very beautiful, sexy brunette passed us. I made some remarks to Heinz in German of the adventures I’d like to have with her. After a few seconds and steps had passed, she turned around and said in perfect German: “Do be careful, you never know who speaks your language in a foreign land”. Turned out she was a manager at the HR office. We started talking and I gave her the address of our hotel. Heinz made fun of me, being sure a hot woman like that would not bother to call a penny-less punk. But low and behold, when we got back to the hotel late that night, there were at least ten messages. I called her back the same night at 2.00 am and invited her out. She said yes and I said wonderful, just one problem: I have no money and if I go out, so does my friend. Well, she agreed, and that’s how Heinz and I finally got food in our belly that night – Korv med Mos.
Needless to say, I held on to that great gal for a while. She got jobs for both Heinz and I on the  MS Gripsholm, and so started a long career on cruise ships for me. Unfortunately the stint on the MS Gripsholm lasted only about one month for Heinz, after which he became very ill. He never recovered and was never able to work again. Myself, I lasted about six months before I broke my spine and was unable to work for about a year. After surgery in Germany, I spend most of the year at Bitte’s house in Sweden, a beautiful house on a lake in the woods near Gothenborg, which she shared with her even more beautiful female friend. Great house, fireplaces all over, sauna, right on the lake. These were the wild 70’s, so we all shared a lot more than the roof we lived under. Life certainly was good 🙂
I slowly recovered while she was still working at the HR office of Swedish American Line. She eventually got jobs for both of us at  Royal Viking Line, where we soon split up and went our own ways…………
Nevertheless, that first Korv med Mos that night was one of the best meals I ever had 🙂
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Smaklig måltid !   Livet är bra !
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Korv Med Mos - Original Version (Image Property: Peter Linquist)

Korv Med Mos – Original Version                    (Image Property: Peter Linquist)

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Korv Med Mos - My Version

Korv Med Mos – My Version

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Preparation :
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Cook diced potatoes in saltwater until tender, drain, mash

cook diced potatoes in saltwater until tender, drain, mash

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add garlic paste, horseradish, heavy cream, kosher salt, cayenne pepper and lots of butter, wisk

add garlic paste, horseradish, heavy cream, kosher salt, cayenne pepper and lots of butter, mix well

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saute onions and sausage, remove sausage when done

saute onions and sausage in garlic oil, remove sausage when done

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add soy sauce, garlic paste, cayenne pepper and a bit of chicken stock to caramelized onions

add soy sauce, garlic paste, cayenne pepper and a bit of chicken stock to caramelized onions

 

add peppers and cabbage

add peppers and cabbage

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saute until heated through but vegetables are still crispy

saute until vegetables are heated through but still crisp

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plate mashed potatoes, make indention in the center

plate mashed potatoes, make indention in the center

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fill indention with vegetables, top with sausage, drizzle liquid from vegetables over sausage

fill indention with vegetables, top with sausage, drizzle liquid from vegetables over sausage

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Korv Med Mos

Korv Med Mos

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Korv Med Mos

Korv Med Mos

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final inspection.....

final inspection…..

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