Grab Bag

Carlo’s Veal & Leek Soup

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Soup……….
(Excerpt from “FoodTimeline”)
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Food historians tell us the history of soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. The act of combining various ingredients in a large pot to create a nutritious, filling, easily digested, simple to make/serve food was inevitable. This made it the perfect choice for both sedentary and travelling cultures, rich and poor, healthy people and invalids. Soup (and stews, pottages, porridges, gruels, etc.) evolved according to local ingredients and tastes. New England chowder, Spanish gazpacho, Russian borscht, Italian minestrone, French onion, Chinese won ton and Campbell’s tomato…are all variations on the same theme.
Soups were easily digested and were prescribed for invalids since ancient times. The modern restaurant industry is said to be based on soup. Restoratifs (wheron the word “restaurant” comes) were the first items served in public restaurants in 18th century Paris. Broth [Pot-au-feu], bouillion, and consomme entered here. Classic French cuisine generated many of the soups we……read more about Soup here
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Many years ago when Maria and I visited one of my friends in Germany, Carlo (better known in Germany’s food community as “Kräuter-Carlo” aus Trebenow), served us this great soup which has stayed in my repertoire for home cooked comfort food ever since. It is so tasty and the texture so pleasant that every time I prepare a large pot full in order to be able to re-heat it in batches in the next few days, I usually end up finishing most of the whole pot right then and there :-).
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Carlo’s Veal & Leek Soup

Carlo’s Pork & Leek Soup

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Preparation :
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: saute onions and garlic paste in butter

: add ground veal, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: saute until all meat is crumbled

: add finely sliced leek

: saute another minute

: add a small amount of a/p flour

: add chicken/or vegetable stock, simmer for twenty minutes, add small pre-cooked potatoes, simmer another ten minutes

: add heavy cream and grated nutmeg, check / adjust seasoning

: to serve, sprinkle with grated asiago cheese and Italian parsley

: Carlo’s Veal & Leek Soup

: Carlo’s Veal & Leek Soup

: Carlo’s Veal & Leek Soup

: Carlo’s Veal & Leek Soup

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Rösti With Mushrooms In Cream

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Life is all about the crispy bits………….. 🙂
Most folks would probably agree with this statement, especially when we’re talking food, and of course especially when we are talking fried, baked or sautéed potatoes. And, in my own, humble opinion, of all the great potato dishes, the undisputed king is “Rösti”. Crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside, it is a most versatile dish which can be enjoyed as a main course with just a fried egg on top and a green side salad, or as a side dish for such dishes as Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, Gulasch or Creamed Mushrooms, as shown below.
There are Rösti which are enhanced with such mixed-in goodies as cheese, herbs, grated onions, bacon and so forth. Yet for me, at least in the case of Rösti, simple is best, so I prefer the basic version – grated potatoes, seasoned with kosher salt and cayenne pepper and sautéed in duck fat – voilà . There is also the divide between advocates of using raw shredded potatoes versus the Rösti enthusiasts who insist on parboiled potatoes. While both versions have the potential to be wonderful, I myself prefer the parboiled potato version, which has a less starchy taste.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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More on Rösti
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Rösti With Creamy Mushrooms

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Preparation :
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: Simmer potatoes until HALF- way cooked, drain, let cool, preferably overnight

: grate potatoes coarsely

: season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper, saute in duck fat (substitute with clarified butter if duck fat is not available)

: shape into patty

: cook until crispy on one side, turn, cook on other side until crispy

: done…….

: Rösti

: button mushrooms

: saute diced onions and garlic paste until fragrant

: add mushrooms, saute until starting to lightly brown

: add heavy cream, kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: simmer until reduced and creamy, add sliced scallions

: Creamy Mushroom

: Rösti With Creamy Mushrooms

: Rösti With Creamy Mushrooms

: Rösti With Creamy Mushrooms

: Rösti With Creamy Mushrooms

: Rösti With Creamy Mushrooms

: Baby Arugula & Vine-Ripened Tomatoes

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Choucroute Garnie (Kleine Schlachtplatte)

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Today’s late lunch / early dinner has send me way back to my day’s of gluttony. I will have to live on apples for the next few days to make up for today’s culinary excess, but it was well worth it 🙂
After a few days of eating mostly fruits and vegetables, my cravings for some hearty soul food got the best of me and I gave in to my innermost desires of preparing and enjoying a beautiful “Choucroute Garnie”, also known in some parts of Swabia as “Kleine Schlachtplatte”.
(A “Kleine Schlachtplatte” consists of sauerkraut, boiled pig such as belly, loin, or knuckles, sausage such as blood pudding, fresh liverwurst or knackwurst and bread or potatoes – as opposed to a real “Schlachtplatte”, which is eaten only on the day of butchering and processing a Hog and usually consists of sauerkraut, boiled pigs head or belly, fresh liverwurst and fresh blood pudding. Obviously, I had to make do with a “Kleine Schlachtplatte” today, which nevertheless was divine and deeply satisfying.
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Bon Appetit ! Live is Good ! (And sometimes fattening) 😦 🙂
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More on Choucroute Garnie
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More on Schlachtplatte
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Choucroute Garnie (Kleine Schlachtplatte)

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Preparation :
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: select a good quality sauerkraut for this dish

: cover fresh ham hocks with salted water, bring to a boil

: turn down to a simmer, cook until tender but NOT falling apart

: meanwhile, saute onions in bacon fat, when onions are translucent, add sauerkraut

: add stock from the ham hocks, season with cayenne pepper, garlic paste and a dash of sugar

: simmer sauerkraut until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes

: add a bit of corn starch slurry to bind the juices

: check / adjust the seasoning

: add smoked pork chops, blood sausages (morcilla) and the knuckles, cover and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauerkraut does not burn at the bottom

: meanwhile, saute small cooked potatoes in bacon fat with caraway seeds, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper

: Choucroute Garnie (Kleine Schlachtplatte)

: Choucroute Garnie (Kleine Schlachtplatte)

: Choucroute Garnie (Kleine Schlachtplatte)

: Choucroute Garnie (Kleine Schlachtplatte)

: Choucroute Garnie (Kleine Schlachtplatte)

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Shannons “Spinach & Fruit Smoothie”

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When I started to watch my nutrition some time ago, one of the first thing I tried were healthy smoothies. Usually bright green and healthy looking, with all kind of supposedly healthy ingredients, I had tried many of them in many different places. One thing they all had in common – they smelled and tasted awful 😦
So when I met Shannon the other day, I was naturally pessimistic, especially since she was selling a blender for a considerable sum of money which made me even more suspicious of the quality and taste of the free smoothie’s she handed out. I am not an expert on kitchen blenders and their prices and I think you usually get what you pay for, so I will leave the verdict for the actual blender to the experts of such equipment. I am however an expert on food-taste and -texture and can therefore wholeheartedly attest to the exceptionally great taste, color and smell of the featured smoothie. It is a recipe which will be a welcome addition to my “Hans’ Lighter, Healthier Comfort Food” meal plan.

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Cheers ! Life is Good !
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Link to “Hans’ Lighter, Healthier Comfort Food”
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Spinach & Fruit Smoothie

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Preparation :
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: raw spinach, mango, banana, lime (with peel), pineapple (including core)

: put all ingredients in blender

: add ice and water

: blend at high speed until smooth

: Spinach & Fruit Smoothie

: Spinach & Fruit Smoothie

: Shannon Hewlett with my very own “Spinach & Fruit Smoothie”

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Hungarian Beef Goulash

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Today I combined breakfast, lunch and dinner all into one fabulous meal.
(I did however have a few fruits throughout the day).
Goulash is one of the dishes which were a staple in the South of Germany when I grew up and it was enjoyed in most homes and simple and even fine restaurants frequently. Goulash is quite different from other beef stews. There is now flour to thicken the sauce as in most other stews (the collagen in the beef will take care of that) and there are much more onions and sweet paprika to give the goulash its characteristic taste and color. Goulash is usually reddish in color and it’s heat level can be high, depending on the amount of hot chili or chili powder added (if any). To obtain the original flavor of good goulash, season with equal parts of finely chopped lemon peel, thyme and caraway seeds.
I usually prefer my goulash to be accompanied by Knödel (dumplings) or Spätzle, but frankly, today this was too much effort for me and I substituted the Knödel or Spätzle with pasta 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life Is Good !
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All about Goulash
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All about Knödel
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More ChefsOpinion on Spätzle
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Hungarian Beef Goulash

Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine In Vinaigrette

Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine Salad In Vinaigrette

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Preparation :
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: diced beef brisket

: saute diced onions in olive oil (covered and simmered slowly until onions are broken down and very soft)

: add beef, cover again, saute until liquid is evaporated and meet starts to brown

: add garlic paste and water

: add paprika and chopped tomatoes

: add salt and cayenne pepper

: cover and simmer slowly until meat is tender but NOT falling apart, about 1.5 – 2 hours

: almost…..

: when meat is tender, check / adjust seasoning

: while the meat simmers, cook, drain and strain the pasta, add a bit of butter, keep warm, start the schmelze

: to make the schmelze for the pasta, melt butter, add bread crumbs, season with salt and pepper

: saute until crumbs are browned

: Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine In Vinaigrette

: Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine In Vinaigrette

: Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine In Vinaigrette

: Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine In Vinaigrette

: Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine In Vinaigrette

: Hungarian Beef Goulash With Pasta And Schmelze, Romaine In Vinaigrette

: Romaine In Vinaigrette

: Pasta With Schmelze

: Hungarian Beef Goulash

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Summer Feast Salad

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Today the temperature was hovering around 100F and the humidity was almost unbearable.
So what, you say; You have A/C, you say….
Well, we do, but Bella and I spend half a day at the Topeekeegee Yugnee Park, which is just a few miles up the road from our house. It was very relaxing and beautiful, but oh so hot.
So when we got home, a light meal was in order and what better than a salad and a pool of iced tea to cool a scorched body down 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
I usually don’t use much fruit in my salads, but the firm, slightly tart nectarines perfectly complimented the cheese, salad and nuts.
P.P.S.
Instead of croutons I used tarallini (Small Taralli , (sometimes marketed as “Italian Love Knots”)

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Summer Feast Salad

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Preparation :
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: dress arugula and thinly sliced vine-ripened tomatoes with apple cider vinaigrette

: top with gorgonzola, avocado and nectarines

: sprinkle with toasted cashew nuts

: top with tarallini and fresh basil

: Summer Feast Salad

: Summer Feast Salad

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Dwaeji Bulgogi & Tteokbokki (Korean Spicy Marinated Pork & Spicy Korean Rice Cake Stew)

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I often wonder why there are not more Korean restaurants around here, given the wide variety of Korean foods which should appeal to most westerners, especially the grilled dishes such as Galbi, Bulgogi and Dak Galbi. Also much liked by me are a number of pasta dishes, most of all Chap Chae, Bibim-naengmyeon and of course Tteokbokki, which appears below. A tougher sale for the uninitiated diner might be the omnipresent Kimchi, which is no doubt an acquired taste (but then, once acquired……. 🙂
So , as is so often the case when a craving for special food comes knocking, I had to start my own fires to cook the food I was longing for 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Dwaeji Bulgogi

Tteokbokki

Dwaeji Bulgogi, Tteokbokki And Kimchi

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Preparation :
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: 1,5 lbs fresh bacon, thinly sliced and 1,5 lbs pork loin, thinly sliced

: fresh bacon, porkloin, onion, scallion

: marinade overnight with 3 tablespoons Korean red chili pepper paste (gochujang) 1 tablespoon Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru) 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice wine (or mirin)2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon garlic paste, 1 tablespoon grated ginger

: soak sliced ricecake for 15 minutes in cold water, drain

: cook rice cakes in lightly salted water until done, about 15 minutes, drain, rinse

: saute finely sliced onions, garlic paste, gochujang and grated ginger in peanut oil, add soy sauce, a bit of sugar, a dash of rice vinegar, sesame oil and water

: simmer for one minute, add rice cakes, simmer for another minute, check / adjust seasoning

: grill marinated meat on very high heat

: when most of the meat is done, grill the vegetables

: done grilling……..

: Dwaeji Bulgogi, Tteokbokki And Kimchi

: Dwaeji Bulgogi, Tteokbokki And Kimchi

: Dwaeji Bulgogi

: Tteokbokki

: Kimchi

: Bella dining on Dwaeji Bulgogi

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Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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The question might be, was this a salad or was it a sandwich? I am not so sure, probably it was both, rolled into one blissful lunch. One thing however I am sure of – it was absolutely delicious.
While devouring it I was reminded of the old custom of soaking up the salad dressing with a good, hearty bread. Most folks don’t do this anymore because it’s not very elegant or cool.
However, it is a great custom if you put enjoying good food first and appearances second 🙂
Just make sure that you cut your bread into thick slices and toast it so it will stand up to the moisture of the salad. And if you are not a great fan of octopus, replace it with shrimp or even chicken and you will be just as happy as I was with the octopus version.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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Preparation :
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: Toast THICK CUT sour dough bread

: cut octopus into bite size pieces

: add tomatoes, onions, scallions, cucumbers, garlic paste, raspberry vinegar, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and a spritz of maggi seasoning

: plate bread on serving dish

: top with lettuce

: top with octopus salad

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

: Open Faced Octopus Salad Sandwich

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Pied De Cochon

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ANYTHING sounds better in french ?! 🙂
I used to call my wife “Mon Petit Chou”, which sounds perfectly sweet and romantic in french. Translated, it’s “My Little Cabbage” :-(. Not as sweet and romantic, no doubt.
Same with my dinner today : “Pied De Cochon – which translates into “Pig’s Trotters”, one of my all time favorite second cuts.
Pigs trotters are very versatile, they are great fried, steamed, braised, and pickled.
The following dish was created today in my kitchen and, I must say, it was absolutely delicious (and pretty to look at, to boost).
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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More “Pig’s Goodies” on ChefsOpinion
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Wiki on Pigs Trotters
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More about Pigs Trotters
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Pied De Cochon

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Preparation :
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: poach pigs feet in salted water, drain, rinse, cover with salted water, simmer until very tender but NOT falling apart (about two hours)

: meanwhile, blanch baby bok choy

: shock in ice water

: drain

: after 1 1/2 hours, add kosher salt, chili paste, garlic paste, grated ginger, sliced onions to the soup

: after 2 hours, add fresh shiitake mushrooms

: also add blanched, rinsed sliced rice cakes and blanched, sliced lotus roots

: simmer slowly until pigs feed are done,, check / adjust seasoning

: add bok choy and chili paste (optional) to serving plate

: add pigs feet, rice cake and lotus roots

: ladle soup over all ingredients

: Pied De Cochon

: Pied De Cochon

: Pied De Cochon

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Jamaican Jerk Chicken

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While there are a million and one jerk chicken recipes out there, the basic seasoning is usually brown sugar or molasses, all spice, garlic, cinnamon, scotch bonnets (as much as you can handle), ginger, thyme, nutmeg and salt. Most folks I know also add soy sauce and scallions (I do).
Then, if you have a wood burning grill, grill very slowly, covered until the chicken is charred on the outside and juicy on the inside. Since I don’t presently have a proper grill, I started my jerk chicken in a cast iron grill pan and after a light char developed, covered it and finished cooking it in the oven. The result was a very tasty, very juicy, close to perfection jerk chicken 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is good !
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P.S.
As I was cooking this inside the house, I used all dry herbs and spices.
However, for a more authentic experience, if cooking outside on a wood grill, you want to use fresh spices and herbs, minced and mixed with the soy sauce to a paste and rubbed into the chicken and its cuts. Cooking this on a covered grill will develop the flavorful smoky taste associated with authentic jerk chicken.
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