Coffee ice cream

                                    Coffee Ice Cream

I like creamy ice creams. Gelato, if that is the more common word. I like to experiment with
freezing things. This recipe here is def. a keeper. Easy to make. You just need to have patience 
til its frozen solid.

That's what you need:

- 1/2 cup cold black coffee

- 1  12oz can of sweetened condense milk

- 1 TBSP of Baillys Irish Cream (or whatever Brand you like)

- 2 cups of Heavy Whipping cream (yes, I use a lot Heavy whip in my cooking lol)


That's how you do it:

Combine in a bowl the coffee, the Irish cream and the condense milk. 

In a separate bowl (one you can froze with), whip the 2 cups of heavy whipping cream til
it stiff peaks. 

Now add the coffee mixture to the cream and mix it just quick together. Cover it and freeze
at least 3 hrs.. 

Enjoy

Guten Appetit

grilled Mahi Mahi with Polenta

                        Grilled Mahi Mahi with Polenta

Mahi Mahi is my husbands favorite fish. We love it too. Actually every salt water fish. We also
like Mackerel a lot. We are living close to the Atlantic ocean at the Space Coast of Central Florida.
We have the Luxury to get here fresh fish all year around. Along with sea food. We are really 
into those things. 
But now let me talk a bit about Polenta. Polenta isn't really common in Germany and in the States.
Italians, Romanians and hispanics, though, cook Polenta quiet often. In Romania it's called
Mamaliga. Polenta is ground corn, but not corn flour. It's not that fine. You can still see the corns.
So therefor, look for Polenta at hispanic stores. Sometimes I find it at Big Lots too. Polenta is 
basically flavor less. You can flavor it with whatever you want. You can cook it bold with just
water and salt or you can use broths. Add herbs, garlic, cheese or wine to flavor it to your taste.
You can even just layer it with cheese and bake it in the oven and eat it as a main course. 
Ok, so now I will let you know how I made my Mahi Mahi and the Polenta.


What you need for the Fish:

- 1 TSP Salt

- 1 TSP Garlic Powder

- 1 TSP dry Rosemary


What you need for the Polenta:

- 500 ml (2 cups) chicken broth

- 400 ml ( 1 3/4 cup) Heavy whipping cream

- 300 gr of Polenta

- 1 clove Garlic, minced

- 2 fresh stems of Thyme

- pinch of Salt

- 50 gr (good hand full) of grind Parmigiano Reggiano 

That's how you do it:

Mix the Herbs in a bowl and apply it on the fish. My husband cooked it on the charcoal grill for
just a couple of min.. That fish doesn't take long to get done. 

For the Polenta, bring the broth and the heavy cream to a boil. While you get it to a simmer, add
the minced garlic, the pinch of salt and remove the leaves from the Thyme stems (just slide your fingers along the stem and they come right off). Once that is boiling, reduce the heat, add the Polenta and start whisking with the whisker. Constantly stir it. Once its getting to thick for the whisker, use a wooden spoon. Constantly stir til you have a creamy consistence and then remove from heat. Thats done very quick usually. 1-2 min.. Now you add the cheese and combine it well. 

I like to present the Polenta neatly. I have that little metal rings where I put the Polenta in so its
a nice center piece on the plate. But you can also just spread it out to like an inch thickness and
use a cookie cutter to shape it like you want. For christmas its neat with a star shape or a tree shape.
Polenta is getting hard once its cooling down so you might want to work fast. 

I like to have Lemon on my fish so I always have fresh sliced Lemons on hand.

Now all you need to do is enjoying it. It is very flavorful but not overpowering. It's working
really good together. Kinda working like a Team. It's good for itself but amazing together.
This time I also had Sauce Hollondaise with the fish. I just followed the package and added
a splash of white wine to it. We had in salt water cooked Broccoli as a side.

Guten Appetit

Rabbit wrapped in Bacon

                               Rabbit wrapped in Bacon

Rabbit is one of our families favorite dish. We love wild meat (like deer or Boar too, but its very
hard to get that here in the states. Even though in Germany no one is hunting but the gov. Hunter,
we have Deer farms and we can buy the meat in a regular grocery store. Even Aldi ;-) )
I find my Rabbit at hispanic stores. Rabbit meat is very lean and flavorful. 

For this dish, and for most wild meat dishes, you should have Juniper Berries in the house. Amazon
is selling them. So be prepared if you want to cook this.

What you need:

- Rabbit, washed and dried

- 4 Juniper berries, crushed ( I use the Coffee Bean crusher)

- 1 TSP Marjoram

- 1 TSP salt

- 1 TSP Pepper

- 1/2 TSP Nutmeg

- 1 TBSP Oil

- enough slices of Bacon to cover the Rabbit

- 1 cup (250 ml) red wine

- 2 TBSP fresh Lemon juice

- 125 ml heavy whipping cream

- 2 TBSP Mustard

Thats how you do it:

First wash the Rabbit and tab it dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl, mix the Oil and the herbs
to a paste. Season the Rabbit with it from both sides. 

In the mean time use a bit oven resistant stainless steel pan and fry the slices of bacon gently in it. You want the bacon fat to stay in the pan and the bacon slightly browned. 

Then Remove the Bacon.

Fry the Rabbit in the Bacon fat from both sides slightly brown.

Remove the Rabbit and put in the red wine with the lemon juice to release the flavors from the bottom of the pan. You can use a whisker with that. Wrap the bacon around the Rabbit and return it back in the pan with the wine.

Now cover it with Aluminium Foil and put it in the 400 degrees Fahrenheit preheated oven for 30 min..

In the meantime you can measure your 125 ml heavy whipping cream and add the 2 TBSP mustard and mix it well. 

In the meantime I also start side dishes. I love blue cabbage with those kind of dishes and today I had potato dumblings with it. You can buy those sometimes at the store and just add water to the 
instant powder. Also Tater Tots go good with this dish.

After the 30 min, remove the pan from the oven and add the heavy whip/mustard mix to the sauce and stir well. Return the pan this time UNCOVERED for an additional 30 min in the oven.

After the last 30 min, turn the oven off, strain the sauce through a strainer and return the Rabbit in the turned off oven to let it rest for 10 min.. 

Now check your sauce. Do you like it like this? Does it need more salt? Is it to strong, then just add
some more Heavy whip to it. You want it thicker, mix water with Cornstarch and add as much as
you want/need to get the creamy consistence you prefer. 

Now just serve the Rabbit with the sauce and the sides of your choice and enjoy. 1 Rabbit is usually
just about enough to fill me, my husband and my 8 year old. If your family is bitter, you might want another Rabbit ;-) 

Guten Appetit

Jaegerschnitzel (Schnitzel with Mushrooms)

                                       Jaegerschnitzel (with Mushrooms)

Schnitzel is also a dish you can eat differently every time. From the classic pork Schnitzel
to the Wiener Veal Schnitzel, Jaegerschnitzel (Mushroom Schnitzel), Zigeuner Schnitzel
(Gypsy style Schnitzel) to as simple as a sandwich (with Mayo, Onions, Tomatoes and Lettuce).

Here I am explaining how to make the Jaegersauce for the Schnitzel. In all variations, the
Schnitzel (the meat) is always done the same way. For this, go down to my Schnitzel recipe.
You can use that Mushroom sauce recipe also for the savory Crepe / Pfannkuchen. 

Thats what you need:

- 500 gr Mushrooms (2 boxes)

- 2 slices Bacon, diced

- 1 Onion, diced

- 125 ml ( 1/2 cup) Veggie Broth

- 125 ml (1/2 cup) Heavy whip

- 1/2 TBSP Thyme

- Parsley

- Milk

- Salt , Pepper

Fry the mushrooms in a stainless steal pan. Remove and set aside. Now add the Bacon and Onion.
Fry til the onion is softened. Now add the Mushrooms back to it and add the Veggie broth and 
Heavy whip. Let it simmer for like 15 min or until the liquid has reduced. Then add milk til you 
have a creamy sauce. Salt, Pepper to taste and add the Thyme and Parsley.

Guten Appetit

Zigeuner Schnitzel (Schnitzel Gypsy Style)

                                            Schnitzel Gypsy Style 

Schnitzel is also a dish you can eat differently every time. From the classic pork Schnitzel
to the Wiener Veal Schnitzel, Jaegerschnitzel (Mushroom Schnitzel), Zigeuner Schnitzel
(Gypsy style Schnitzel) to as simple as a sandwich (with Mayo, Onions, Tomatoes and Lettuce).

Here I am explaining how to make the Gypsy style sauce for the Schnitzel. In all variations, the
Schnitzel (the meat) is always done the same way. For this, go down to my Schnitzel recipe.

This is what you need:

- 2 Onions, cut in stripes

- 2-3 Bell peppers, all colors, cut in stripes

-  ca. 1/2 cup White Wine

-  ca. 1/2 cup Veggie Broth

- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

- couple of slices Bacon, diced

- Salt, Pepper

That's how its made:

Fry the Onions and the Bell Peppers and the Bacon in a big non stick pan til their softened. Then add
the Tomato paste and stir well. Let it fry for a min or 2. Now add the white wine and the Broth. 
If the sauce is to thick, add a bit more broth. Salt and Pepper to taste. 

Guten Appetit

My version of Thai Curry

                                  Thai Curry

This recipe I have from my mom. Well, it was never a recipe but a whats-in-the-fridge-and-add-

curry dish..... LoL. I thought it was super delish and therefor I cooked it after it. So if you don't

have all the ingredients, just look in your fridge and substitute. 

Thats what you need:

- 1 box of thin sliced pork loins, diced

- 2 onions, diced

- 3 Carrots, diced

- 1 Bell pepper, diced

- 1 clove Garlic, finely chopped

- 1 Tomato, peeled (or use a peeled tomato from a can)

- 1 Banana

- Salt, pepper

- Curry

- Paprika

- ground Ginger

- Caraway seeds

- Brown Gravy

- Soy sauce

Thats how you do it:

Fry the meat in a big pan from all sides nicely brown. Then Remove it from the pan and set aside.

Add all the vegetables but not the Tomato and let them steam up til their nice soft. Watch your heat. You might have to reduce to medium heat.

 Now add all the spices, Soy sauce and stir well. Add the amount of Water what is asked on the Brown Gravy and add the Gravy to it. Stir and try. When I cook, I always try my food. That's the fun of it right? I am bad with measuring. I guess you have figured that already by now. Therefor, I try it and adjust.

 Well, you think the sauce tastes good, add the meat with its juice. Now add the diced tomato and the Banana. If you thought I was crazy to add a Banana in there, you will now figure, that's exactly what that dish needed. Now its perfect.

The Tomato gives it a bit of a freshness and lightness. You can add another Tomato if you like. 

We eat Rice with it.

Guten Appetit 

cold (or warm) fresh Tomato Sauce and 2 ideas of dishes with it

                                        Fresh Tomato sauce

I just recently developed a nice new and quick Tomato Sauce. If you have, like us, a lot of
Tomatoes in your backyard, that's an idea what you can do with them. 

I tried the sauce cold and warm already. In two different dishes. We had it with filled 
chicken breast and with Steak. After you blended it, just pour it in a pot and let it heat up
for a little bit. That's it.

Thats what you need:

- Tomatoes

- 2-3 cloves of Garlic

- good handful fresh Basil

- 1/2 onion

- good extra virgin olive oil

- pinch of salt and pepper


Thats how you make it:

Put all the ingredients in a Blender and blend it well. Don't add to much Olive oil. Just maybe 
1 - 2 Tablespoons. It's not Pesto ;-). That's it. Easy right?

For the Filled chicken breast I butterflied a breast and pounded it nice thin (use clear foil to not
damage the meat though). salt, pepper and add the cream cheese over it. You can also add some
green onions on it. Now roll it up. In the meantime pre-fry the bacon. Save the bacon fat though.
Wrap the chickens with the bacon and secure them with sticks. Now add the bacon fat in a oven dish 
(Dutch oven) and add the chicken. Put it in the preheated oven at 350 degrees for like 30 min.. 
For 5 min turn on just the broiler to make the bacon nice and crispy. 

For the steak I just salted and peppered the sirloin steak and fried it in veggie oil from each side.
Then I added butter, Garlic and Rosemary and poured it over the steak. I love the 5 min rice but
there I added to the salt a bit Oregano and Rosemary as well. Then I poured the hot Tomato Sauce
on the plate, placed the other things on top and poured a bit of the butter/steak juice over the steak
itself as well. Hmmmm that was so good.

Guten Appetit

Bechamel Sauce aka Alfredo

                            Bechamel Sauce aka Alfredo

Let's talk about Bechamel Sauce. I am not sure when and how it turned to be called 
Alfredo in the united States. Maybe Mr. Alfredo made the Bechamel for the first time with Pasta
and named it after himself? The truth is though, that Bechamel is used in a lot more dishes then
just as Alfredo Sauce. It is multi talented. In fact, that is the base of every Mac'n Cheese. Yes,
Bechamel or Alfredo IS Mac'n Cheese. Here try to add Goat cheese and some Worcestershire sauce.
It's giving your traditional Mac'n Cheese an extra tang.

The basic Bechamel Sauce is just butter, Flour, milk, salt and Nutmeg. After that you can use it
for soooooooo many things. It is the white layer of the Lasagna (actually. Not Ricotta). Added
with any kind of cheese you want you use it for the famous Mac'n Cheese. With cheese added,
its the base of every vegetable casserole. From Potatoes over Pasta, over filled Manicotti......

Have you ever tried to mix Marinara (Tomato sauce or Pomodoro) and Bechamel for a pasta
dish? I just recently did. Just fry half an onion, add a splash of heavy whip, add 1 soup ladle 
of Bechamel and a few table spoons of your favorite Marinara (or Pesto Rosso, even better).
Add 2 pinches of salt, DONE. It is soooo good.

I use the Bechamel and add cream cheese, Pancetta slices and pre-cooked Broccoli over Pasta.  
Trust me, its worth a try. 

As you see, there are soooo many ideas with Bechamel sauce. Here are some pictures again
of how you make it. I mentioned it at the Lasagna before.

Thats how it looks like when its done. 

Guten Appetit

German Pfannkuchen or Crepe

                                        Crepe

The Crepe has many names but is in most languages pronounced like we germans do it:
Pfannkuchen. In english its basically translated one on one: Pancake. But since the american
Pancake is different then the same named dish Pfannkuchen, you know it here as Crepe. 
But comparing to the authentic Crepe or Pfannkuchen, americans add sugar to the dough
and just know it as a dessert. But in the real one we actually add just a bit of salt. Therefor
the Crepe is many sided. And man, how we love it with a good mushroom cream sauce or in soup.


Yes, you heard it right. SOUP. we call it Flaedlesuppe. Because it looks like strings in the soup.
Its basically just clear beef broth you pour in your plate, roll up 1 Crepe, cut them into thin 
slices and add it the the hot soup. No need to extra warming it. Try it. You will  love it.

Ok, got side tracked lol. Here we go.

What you need:

- 2 Eggs

- 1 pinch of salt

- 250 ml (1 cup) milk

- 1 TBSP melted butter

- 100 gr (4-5 Tablespoons) Flour


Thats how you make it:

Put the milk in a bowl, add the eggs and the salt and the melted butter and stir it well. Then 
add the Flour and make sure everything is well incorporated and there are no lumps. The 
dough is pretty liquid. Let it sit for a couple of min so the Butter can do its magic. 

Heat up a non stick pan with a little bit of Veggie Oil. Now add one soup ladle full of the dough 
into the pan and move the pan til the bottom is covered in the dough. It should be nice and thin.
Reduce the heat to medium. The surface usually starts to get solid and thats the moment when 
you turn the Crepe around. It should be nicely tanned. The other side is a lot quicker. Maybe 
half a min and its done. One Crepe usually takes around about 2 min.. Remove it from the pan
and set it aside. Before you pour in the next soup ladle full of dough, mix the dough again. 
The starch settles to the ground after a while. So every time you pour in more dough in the pan, 
stir it. 

Now, you can eat them however you want. Sweet, savory, in soup....... that's totally up to you.
My daughter loves it with Nutella and Bananas. Its also good with sugar/cinnamon and apple
sauce. Or with Strawberries and whipping cream. There is no limit to your phantasy. 

Guten Appetit

Schinkennudeln (ham noodles) with german Cucumber Salad

                        Schinkennudeln (Ham Noodles)

This is a family recipe. We are doing this recipe for decades already. I had it first time at my
Oma's house (Grandma). I don't know from where she had that recipe though. Unfortunately I  
can't ask her no more. But we love it so much that it is on my daughters favorite list in the top 3.

What you need:

- 1 lbs of egg noodles

- same amount of cooked ham (no honey please)

- 2-3 eggs

- 3 big table spoons of sour cream (around half a normal size box)

- salt, pepper and, if you have AROMAT. (you can order it at Amazon or get it at an international
  Grocery store. Also called Fondor from different Brand)


Thats how you do it:

Cook the noodles like always. Drain them in a colander. Cut the Ham in half inch pieces. Don't 
have to be perfect. I like them the same size as the noodles. Fry them in the same noodle pot 
a little bit til they start to get brown. Now add the noodles and let it sit for a min or 2.
In the meantime scramble the eggs, add the sour cream and the salt, pepper and Aromat til it 
tastes good and combine well. 
Pour the scrambled eggs over the noodles with the ham and stir well. Now let the egg cook
thoroughly. That takes a couple of min.. DOOONNEE. Easy right? And fast.

To this we make our german yogurt Cucumber Salad usually. We like to stir it with the noodles
on one plate. Mixing those two things makes it especially flavorful. 

Thats what you need:

- 1 seedless cucumber (the long thin ones)

- the other half of the sour cream from your Schinkennudeln

- Fresh Lemon juice

- Water

- Mustard (if you can't get german mustard, use Dijon mustard. It DOES make a difference)

- Salt Pepper, Aromat and Dill weed

- diced onion (optional)

Thats how you do it:

Slice the Cucumber with a slicer nice thin. (But not so thin that they rip). Dice half of an onion.
Add 1-2 Teespoons of Mustard and about 3 Tablespoons of Lemon juice. Pour in the rest of your
Sour cream. Salt, Pepper and Aromat to taste. Add around a small palm of your hand of the Dill
weed. Now Add enough water that its getting nice and creamy. Combine everything. Taste it
if you need to adjust. It should be a creamy sauce with a little tang of Lemon juice but not sour.

Now, enjoy and 
Guten Appetit