Beans, Pears and Bacon

Just a quick post because me and my husband are currently busy getting everything ready for moving across the world. Between painting, packing and bureaucracy stuff there is almost no time and motivation to cook. Therefore we mainly eat pizza and asian food these days.

This Northern German speciality I made a couple of days ago. It's a quick meal or a nice side dish.
Just cut off the ends of about 500g of beans cut them in 3-4cm sized pieces and boil them in salted water for about 12 minutes. You can add some dried savory, as well, for more flavor.

In the meantime fry bacon cubes (approx. 200-250g) in a big pan. Once they are nicely browned and crispy, take one or two pears, remove the cores and cut the pears in cubes as well. Add them to the bacon. Spice with salt pepper and a dash of brown sugar, maple syrup or honey. If you like you can douse with a bit of whisky or brandy.

Throw in the beans, mix everything and serve.

I know it's not the original recipe for Pears, beans and bacon. It's just a quick alternative.
But it tastes great!

Grünkohl - German Style Green Kale with sausages and ham steak

If you think this is going to be light and healthy and vegan-friendly, you better leave this page now.

German style green kale is one of THE grandma generation dishes, that, served as a main dish usually contains quite a bit of (goose) fat and meat, bacon and sausages. You can also find it as a side dish with goose. It's rich, heavy and savoury - a perfect meal for cold days or after a long day of physical work outside. In North-West Germany it is served with a special kind of sausage, called "Pinkel", which contains grit, groats, oats and minced meat and is hard to get in the other parts of Germany. I'm not that attached to this kind of sausage and think you can just leave it out or make a mixture of grits and minced meat (pork) yourself and add a little bit of that mix to the cale. I faked a whole "Pinkel"-sausage, cause I couldn't get it anywhere here in Berlin but wanted to do it right. But it wasn't that great...so not worth the whole effort. The other sausage that are quite hard to get if you don't live in or around Germany is "Mettwurst". It's like a soft salami, smoked and strongly flavoured.

In North America and Australia you may be able to find it in German or Polish grocery stores.

The grey thing in the back is my home-made pinkel sausage. Again, not worth the whole effort. Therefore just ignore it.

What you need:

1-1.5 kg green cale (frozen)

50g goose fat

3/4l meat broth, highly concentrated 

(if you use these cubes or powder, take the double amount of what is usually required for this amount of water )

450g onions chopped

approx. 100g minced meat (pork)

50g grits

a dash of allspice

salt, pepper, sugar

sugar

white vinegar

500g smoked bacon

4 ham steaks

4 Mettwürste

1-4 tbsp oat flakes

In large sauce pan heat up the goose fat. Add chopped onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add minced meat and a dash of all spice and mix everything. Cook until the meat is well-done and crumbles.

Now add the frozen green cale. Heat up the meat broth and pour over green cale. Close the lid and let everything simmer at low heat so that the cale can defrost. Stir in the grits. Add the bacon (as a whole!) and two of the Mettwürste. Before adding prick the sausages with a fork several times, to make sure they won't burst. Let everything simmer at low heat for about two hours.

Remove the bacon and sausages and set aside.

Now season the cale with salt, pepper, sugar, mustard and a bit of vinegar, if necessary.

Let it sit at a cool place (fridge, balcony...) overnight.

The next day, heat up the cale again. It should be kind creamy and viscid. If it is too liquid, just slowly mix in some of the oat flakes until the cale reaches the right density. Cut the sausages and bacon that went into the cale the day before into bite-sized cubes and add them back to the cale and bring everything to a boil. Make sure to stir every once in a while to avoid the cale from burning on the bottom of the sauce pan. 

Meanwhile in a second saucepan heat up some water. 

Add the other sausages, as well as the ham steaks and let simmer for around 8-10 minutes.

Serve the green cale the ham steaks, sausages and potatoes.

PS: 

The minced meat, grit, all spice and some of the onions that I added to the cale sort of replaced the "Pinkel" sausage here.

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Soup

Last Monday, on Halloween, was the first time ever I got to carve a pumpkin.

Halloween is not a big thing in Germany really, and pumpkins for a long time were one of these forgotten vegetables, until a few years ago. Thanks to globalization Halloween is slowly establishing itself more and more as a new kid's event over here, and pumpkin dishes successfully fought their way back into the hearts of German food lovers.

This one here is a very simple and easy to make pumpkin soup that tastes delicious.

You'll need:

500g pumpkin cubes (I use hokkaido pumpkin, cause you can cook it with the skin)

250g carrots roughly, chopped

1 medium-sized onion, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp butter

juice of one orange

100ml heavy cream

1.5 l water

2 tsp vegetable stock

salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg

roasted sunflower seeds, pumpkin oil and cream for garnish

Directions

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add pumpkin carrots and onion and sauté for a few minutes while stirring. Add the vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil. Have everything boil for about ten minutes, or until the carrots and pumpkin are soft.

With a hand blender mix everything until smooth. Mix in the orange juice (careful, you might not need all the juice) and heavy cream. Season to taste with salt, pepper, a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Sprinkle pumpkinseed oil, a bit of cream and roasted sunflower seeds over it.

Serve!

PS: 

I decided to serve the soup with bacon-wrapped cod rolls. Therefore cut the cod into slices and season to taste with pepper and a tiny bit of salt (the bacon is already pretty salty). Place the cod slice on a slice of bacon and roll it all up with the bacon being on the outside. Pin the fish-bacon package with a toothpick so it won't fall apart, when frying. Fry the rolls in a pan from each side on high heat for 2-3 minutes.

Turn the stove down to medium/low heat, cover the pan with a lid and let the rolls cook for another 3-5 minutes to make sure the fish inside is properly cooked.

Serve on top of the pumpkin soup. It's delicious!

PPS: 

You can also add a little parsley for garnish. I just didn't have any...

This was us with our pumpkin on our tiny spontaneous halloween party

I think I did a pretty good job on my first carved pumpkin ever...

We even captured something weird with my camera. There was nothing there, I swear. But it felt strangely cold right next to me.... 

spooky isn't it?

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Pasta with mushroom-whisky sauce ON FIRE!

The mushroom season is in full bloom, 

and I still haven't posted our favorite mushroom recipe of all time, yet. 

But this is about to change... 

NOW!

Forest in Schorfheide/Barnim near Berlin - photo by Beau Lark

Wil and I came up with the idea to this recipe cause we wanted to do something different than just mushroom risotto. So we decided to make pasta with a delicious self-created mushroom sauce you cannot go wrong with. The top-components for cooking mushrooms are definitely rosemary, onions, pepper and (smoked wooly pig-)bacon, and guess what: you can find all of these in this wonderful dish! Plus cream, whisky (WHISKY!) and balsamico-date essence. 

Me and the Steinpilz (Porcini) - photo by Beau Lark

Our harvest: Chanterelles, Porcini, Slippery Jack and Bay Boletes

We picked the mushrooms ourselves (I even found a pretty neat looking porcini!), and took tomatoes and rosemary from our little vegetable garden. The wooly pig bacon was from a small local market and the balsamico-date essence was a gift my best friend Kirsten gave to me a while ago.

Cooking at Anna and Beau's - photo by Beau Lark

What you need for a maximum of 4 people:

500g pasta (fussili, penne...)

400-500g mushrooms (about 2 cups, or a small basket, e.g. chanterelles and/or porcinis)

200g-250g bacon cubes/bits (for example from happy wooly pigs...the smokier the better!)

200g cream

3-4 twigs of rosemary, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

(a handful cherry tomatos, halved)

3-4cl whisky (same as with the bacon: the smokier the better e.g. a nice Bourbon)

1 Tbsp balsamico-date essence

4 Tbsp parmesan, freshly grated 

Ceaning and cutting the mushrooms - photo by Beau Lark

Clean the mushrooms by brushing them gently to remove the dirt. Do not wash them! Otherwise they'll lose their aroma. If too big cut the mushrooms into slices or smaller pieces. 

Wil cutting wooly pig bacon - photo by Beau Lark

Fry the bacon in a pan until crisp, remove from pan and set aside. 

Sautee the onions and garlic in the remaining bacon fat until translucent and golden. 

 Add the bacon, mushrooms sautee all-together for a minute or two on medium heat. 

Right before the fire action - photo by Beau Lark

Turn up to maxium heat, add the whisky and carefully 

with a lighter or long match set the whisky on fire. 

Flambé until the fire goes off (after about a minute or so). 

Rosemary and tomatoes - photo by Beau Lark

Add cherry tomatoes and rosemary, let the sauce simmer for another two minutes. 

Add the cream and the balsamico-date essence. 

Let it reduce for a few minutes. 

In the meantime cook the  pasta in boiling water with salt until al dente 

(9-12 minutes, depending on what the packaging says). 

Season the sauce with pepper and salt, if required 

(careful, the bacon and parmesan are already salty).

Dish up the pasta and pour the mushroom whisky cream sauce over it. 

Sprinkle with parmesan. 

Serve!

Ready!

PS:

• If you don not have balsamico-date essence, you can use a  plain balsamico essence or balsamico vinegar mixed with maple syrup, honey or brown sugar, instead. 
• This sauce is also good with a nice piece of meat (deer or beef). 
• I tried to write down the measurements as exact as possible, which isn't that easy, cause you can pretty much vary everything. Add more or less rosemary, garlic or balsamico-date essence, use more pasta, less mushrooms...whatever you want. It is really hard to ruin this one! 

Bon apetit.

Special thanks to Beau Lark for taking all these wonderful pictures I didn't take...

EAT MORE FISH! - Creamy Cod Chowder

A couple of days ago Wil surprised me and made a delicious Cod Chowder.

It was delicious!

It was light and hearty at the same time.

He found the recipe in a book about soups that he brought from Canada.

It's called 300 sensational soups and every recipe Wil tried out of this book so far turned out pretty damn good, and it's pretty easy and done relatively quick.

In case anyone is surprised by my perfect English, it's because I just copied the recipe from the book...

What you need

6 slices bacon, minced

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme

750g / 1.5lbs yellow- or white-fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice

1.25l / 5cups fish stock

1.25kg / 2.5lbs  boneless skinless cod fillets

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

375 ml / 1.5cups whipping cream (35%)

50ml / 1/4cup minced fresh chives

In a large pot, sauté bacon over medium heat until browned and crispy, about 5 min. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

Add butter to the pot and heat until melted. Add onions and thyme; sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add potatoes and stock. If necessary, add enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add cod, salt and pepper; simmer until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork and potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, gently transfer fish t a large plate. Using a fork, flake fish apart and set aside.

Stir cream into the pot and reheat over medium heat until steaming, stirring often. Do not let boil. Taste and udjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. Return fish to the pot.

Ladle into heated bowls and garnish with reserved bacon and chives.

Serve!

Variation: Halibut or Tilapia would also work beautifully in this soup.

 PS: Wil used bacon that we bought from a local market right next to where we live. There is a stand that carries pork products from an old breed of pigs called Wooly Pigs, named after their hairy 'fleece', that is similar to that of a sheep. 

They are pretty cute AND delicious!

Before...(picture: Geoff Robinson, Source telegraph.co.uk)

...and after (source: www.christandl.ch/stefanmathis.html)

Quiche aux champignons

I made this quiche the other day and it turned out pretty well.

It was a bit more work than I expected because you have to fry each ingredient before finally baking the whole quiche...

But it was worth the effort. 

Again I found this recipe in another France-themed issue of "Lust auf Genuß"- magazine. 

There they served it as four small tartelettes. 

Instead of four small tartelettes I made one big quiche because I only have one big baking pan.

I also changed a few other things, like using rosemary instead of parsley because it adds much more flavour and goes well with mushrooms, and instead of two shallots I chopped an onion because I didn't have any shallots at home...

Here's what you need:

200g frozen ready-made pastry (ca 4 sheets)

500g mushrooms (champignons, portobellos)

1 onion

100g smoked bacon

1 Tbsp ground/finely chopped fresh rosemary (ca 4-5 twigs)

2 Tbsp butter and some butter for greasing the pan.

3 eggs

200g cream

50g-75g Gruyere

Salt, Pepper 

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Defrost the ready-made pastry sheets.

Clean the mushrooms and cut into thin slices (do not wash them! Just gently brush off the dirt).

Dice the onion into fine little cubes.

Dice the bacon into cubes.

Melt butter in a pan, add the mushrooms and fry them at medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Remove the mushrooms and set them aside.

Now fry the bacon cubes in the same pan.

Remove the bacon and set it aside, as well.

Sauté the onion cubes in the bacon-mushroom fat.

In a bowl shortly whisk the eggs.

Mix in the cream and the finely chopped rosemary.

Carefully season with salt and pepper (bacon and gruyere already add salt to it!).

Take the defrosted pastry plates and knead them all together to one big piece of dough.

On a floured working top roll out the dough by using a rolling pin.

Make sure the dough is bigger than the baking pan. 

Place the dough in the pan and press the longer edges onto the border of the cake pan.

The pastry border should be approx. 3-4cm high.

Pierce the dough repeatedly with a fork.

Now one after another place the mushrooms, onion cubes, bacon cubes and the cheese on the pastry bottom of the pan and spread everything evenly.

Pour the egg cream on top of it.

Bake for approx. 40 minutes.

Let it cool down for a bit.

Served best with a salad and a glass of white wine.

PS: While typing this blog post a young obviously flight inexperienced pigeon landed in our chive&dill bed... So ugly and somehow cute at the same time. Also funny and disgusting at the same time.

Pork ribs and the very best barbecue sauce of the universe!

Today was the first real warm day of spring in Berlin. 

Me and Wil bought plants and seeds and prepared our balcony for spring and summer. 

Tomatos, basil, chive, thyme, radish and even soybeans...we've been busy planting and cannot wait for everything to sprout! Hopefully this year we will be luckier with our ras-, black- and strawberries as well.

Anyway, first warm day also means 

FIRST POTENTIAL BARBECUE DAY!

Therefore we cleaned our hibachi, got the coal ready, bought 2 kilos of pork ribs and I dug out my:

VERY BEST AND MOST FAVORITE 

(not existing) recipe for 

BARBECUE SAUCE (!) 

which is simply made by mixing ketchup, worcester sauce, maple syrup, orange juice, soy sauce, vinegar, beer, hot sauce, smoked and fried bacon bits, chopped onion, salt and pepper, and some brown sugar.

Just start with the ketchup and slowly add all the other ingredients until the taste makes sense and it's not too sour, not too salty and not too sweet, but still thick enough to stick on the meat.
You can add some starch dissolved in water to the boiling barbecue sauce to thicken it.
No, you don't necessarily have to boil it. I just did it in order to reduce and thicken the sauce...

I marinated the meat in the barbecue sauce for at least 1 hour (4 hours are better, overnight is perfect) then cooked it in our gas oven at its lowest (150 degrees celsius) for about 90 minutes  or until the meat almost comes off the bones.
In between I drizzled some of the barbecue sauce over the meat.
After that we threw it on the barbecue.

Don't panic if the meat turns black. 

That's just the burning sugar in the sauce.

It's definitely not healthy but it tastes sooo incredibly good!

Me and my partner Wil  both came to the conclusion that burned barbecue sauce is one of the best tasting things in the world.

Seriously.

We served the ribs with more  (reduced) barbecue sauce, drank cold beer and ate until we felt slightly nauseous.

Guess that's the price you
have to pay for good hearty food...