Monday, January 13, 2025

Sour Pork Kidneys

                       Sour Pork Kidneys

This is a dish from my area in Germany. I have had those since I was a kid and my daughter ate and loved them even before Pizza and Fries. I know, I know. Its weird. But she always had a special taste. Anyway, the hardest Part is to find Pork Kidneys. You might be most lucky in an Asian store. For the 2 of us with no left overs, you need at least 3 to 4 Kidneys. 


This is what you need:

- 3-4 Pork Kidneys

- 1 Onion, finely chopped

- 250 ml Water

- Brown Gravy or Sosse zum Braten

- 1 TBSP Sour cream

- 1-2 TBSP Lemon Juice


This is how you do it:

After finding some, the hardest and longest part is cleaning those Kidneys. Its the easiest when they are still slightly frozen. Filet them and carefully remove the white and pinkish part inside. I try to cut the "lid" so its free of all the inside and its all on the bottom half. From there just lift it up and cut underneath to remove the white. Its a bit tricky. When you done cleaning, just cut them in mouth size pieces. So it really doesn't matter when you mess up a bit while cleaning. They are getting cut anyway. I wash them a bit after they are cut to remove excessive blood. If you do it slightly frozen, it usually doesn't bleed as much hence less mess. Dry them with paper towels as good as you can and then roll them in Flour.

In a big pot, heat up some oil. When hot, add the floured Kidneys and fry them until they are grey'ish in color. That doesn't take long. Then add the finely chopped union and let it sit until its almost translucent.  The Onion will draw some water so you can clean the bottom of your pan from the Rue you created with the Flour/Oil mixture. You may add the water now and stir everything well so you can clean the rest of the pan bottom and incorporate it into the water.  Now its time for the brown gravy, some salt and pepper to taste, Sour cream and Lemon juice and your Kidney dish is done. 

We love Rice with it but you can also have mashed Potatoes. 

Guten Appetit 

Nutella Mug Cake

                        Nutella Mug Cake



Easy, fast, yummy


This is what you need for a big mug:

- 3/4 cup of Nutella

- 2 large Eggs

- 1/4 cup self raising flour or Flour with a bit Baking powder

- a piece of frozen Nutella in the middle for "Lava Cake"


This is how you do it:

Mix the Eggs with the nutella in a big mug. Add the flour and mix well. You may add now a piece of frozen Nutella in the middle to get that Lava cake experience, but its not necessary. 

Around about 2 Min in the microwave (you might have to add another 30 sec) and its done. But be careful: its hot.


Guten Appetit




Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

                Homemade Teriyaki Sauce 


My daughter is a picky eater as you all already know. She doesn't like any Teriyaki sauce. Just like with the Marinara, or how we call it, Tomato Sauce, once I found something, I keep it. And since this blog is dedicated to her and a cookbook from her mom, that's why I am adding this. 


This is what you need:

- 1 cup water

- 1/4 cup Soy sauce (or a bit more until it tastes right)

- 5 TSP packed brown Sugar

- 1 TBSP Honey (or a bit more)

- 1/2 TSP ground Ginger

- 1/4 TSP garlic Powder

- 2 TBSP Cornstarch


This is how you do it:

Put all ingredients in a pot, stir the cornstarch thoroughly. Then heat it up, stirring occasionally until its thickened. Use as desired. 


Its really that simple

Guten Appetit

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Philippine BBQ Chicken

                  Philippine BBQ Chicken 




We love Asian foods. We love it. So, you can use for this the regular Pork but we used chicken thighs and breast. This is not my recipe but since we like it and this blog is first and foremost for my picky eater Teenager, I am writing this down so she can always cook like I did and how she liked it. So she doesn't has to search the Internet lol. 


This is what you need:

For the Marinade:

- 2 1/2 lbs Chicken Breast - Thighs

- 1/2 cup Banana Ketchup (Amazon ordered or in any good asian store)

- 3/4 cup Lemon-lime Soda (such as 7-up)

- 1/2 cup Soy Sauce 

- 4 finely chopped cloves of Garlic 

- 2 TBSP Brown Sugar

- 1 TSP freshly ground black pepper

- 1 medium Lemon, juiced


For the Basting Sauce:

- 3 TBSP Banana Ketchup

- 3 TBSP Soy Sauce

- 1 TBSP brown Sugar

- 1 TBSP Vegetable Oil

- 1 TSP Fish Sauce 


This is how you do it:

Cut Chicken in mouth size pieces. Add all the ingredients from the marinade and whisk until combined. Marinade the chicken in there for a minimum of 4 hrs. in the fridge. The longer the better.

Whisk all ingredients for the basting sauce. 

When about to cook, take the chicken out of the fridge. Place them on skewers, with the thin side into the skewer so the bigger side can sit on the table grill or outdoor grill. If you don't want to put them on a skewer, you can. I did with the rest of the chicken which didn't fit on the skewers no more. I also pan fried them which I actually liked better. It's up to you. Both worked fine. Baste the chicken with the basting sauce though. No matter if you have skewers on the grill or without skewers in the pan. The brown sugar will caramelize nicely. 

Serve with whatever side you desire. You can do Lo Mein with it (see my recipe for that) or Philippine Pankit (which is basically Lo Mein with Rice noodles) or with fried Rice (same recipe as Lo Mein, just with rice.)


Guten Appetit

 

Sunday, September 8, 2024

Spaghetti Eis (Ice cream)

                   Spaghetti Eis (Ice cream)



This is a stable in German Gelaterias. We really like this one and its so simple. It needs some preparations though. It's called this way because of the way it looks. Nothing more. It's not a thing in Italy though, only Germany.


This is what you need:

- A package of fresh strawberries

- either Strawberry marmalade or Syrup to sweeten

- Vanilla Ice cream

- white chocolate, grated (to make it look like Parmigiano)


You will also need a "spaetzle Press" with bigger holes. Ikea has some or probably on amazon. 


This is how you do it:

Put all plates you are planning on using in the freezer for at least 30 min or longer. Otherwise your ice cream will melt immediately. 

In a blender, add all the fresh strawberries and puree them to a sauce. Now add Strawberry marmalade or syrup or both until it tastes really strawberry-ish and sweet. Put it in a container and store in the fridge. You will probably not need all of it.


When the plates are nice and cold, get the Vanilla Ice cream and the press. Press the Ice cream through it to get the Spaghetti look. Try to arrange it nicely in a big pile like you would with the spaghetti. It will take some practice and I haven't really mastered it yet so be patient with yourself. You might want to practice it first some day else before you want to "show off". Once the Ice cream is on the plate, put it back in the freezer. Give it some time to set again (or you can prepare it ahead of time and leave it in the freezer until you need it) Now you just drizzle some Strawberry sauce over it and garnish it with the grated white Chocolate. It will definitely impress your guests. 


Guten Appetit 


Pesto a la Genovese

                                        Pesto a la Genovese



Pesto a la Genovese is a classic in Italy. You may know it as green Pesto or just Pesto (but there are other Pesto's out there too) You can use the traditional ingredients but you can also play with Spinach instead of Basil or walnuts instead of Pine nuts. It's also very yummy.


This is what you need:

- a very, very generous amount of Basil (at least 3 hands full, the more the better)

- around 40 gr. of grated Parmigiano 

- 2 gloves of Garlic (or more if you have more then that)

- 1/2 a bag or 2 TBSP of Pine nuts

- Salt

- Olive Oil (a good one)


This is how you do it:

In a frying pan, add the Pine nuts without anything else and carefully pan sear it until they are golden brown and smell. Be careful. That goes pretty fast. Now add all dry ingredients (but the salt) into a good blender and mix it as fine as you can. Now gradually add Olive oil until it forms a nice paste and sits like pudding on your spoon. You don't want it to flow like water but you don't want a paste either. Add salt to taste.








You can put the Pesto on literally everything. If you are using it for Pasta, always, ALWAYS keep some Pasta water in a separate measuring cup and add gradually to your Pasta-Pesto mix. Starch water and the Olive Oil will create this creamy sauce we all love so much. Otherwise it will be just to dry. 


Guten Appetit or Buon Appetito 

Homemade French Fries

                 Homemade French Fries




This is what you need:

- Idaho Potatoes (or whatever "frying potatoes) I count 2 per person if big, 3-4 if small

- Lots of Oil

- big pan or a deep fryer if you have. I like a Wok for the frying


This is how you do it:

Peel the potatoes and wash them quick from dust. Horizontally cut slices of around 1/2 inch thick and then cut them in the middle to make "wedges". Leave the cut potatoes in a bowl of Water for at least 30 min to help release some of the starch (which makes them creamy but not crunchy) 

After the 30 min remove the potatoes and let them dry well. In the meantime, heat up the oil in the Wok or the deep fryer until bubbles form when you hold in a wooden spoon. Now carefully add the Potato wedges to the hot oil. You might have to adjust the heat but usually you don't. Fry them until they are nice and golden and crispy, don't stir them to often though. They will soften first and then tend to break when you stir them before they get crispy. In the wok in will take at least 30 min until they are nice and golden so plan ahead. I am not sure how long it will take in the deep fryer but probably around the same time. I personally don't like the deep fryer because you add more oil then needed (you will toss after, what a waste) and its hard to clean. 

BTW, i usually add the cold oil back into the bottle (if empty) or another empty plastic bottle and toss it in regular trash. I do not flush it down the drain. I hope that is environmentally better .


Now enjoy your homemade fries.


Guten Appetit