Spaghetti Frutti di Mare Ina Garten

               Spaghetti Frutti di Mare

Everyone in Italy knows a Pasta dish with Seafood. I really really love Seafood. So I searched and searched for a good recipe. I found one from Ina Garten. She really makes some nice italian
food. Easy and simple.


This is what you need:

- Seafood of your choice. Mussels, Scallops, Shrimps, Calamari 

- 1/2 cup Olive Oil

- 4 Gloves Garlic, minced

- 2 TSP Oregano

- 1/2 TSP red Pepper Flakes

- 3-5 peeled and deseeded Tomatoes 

- 1/2 cup of seafood water

- 1/4 cup Lemon juice

- Zest of 1 Lemon

- 1/3 cup Limoncello (optional)

- 1 TBSP Salt

- 1 TSP Pepper


This is how you do it:

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 TBSP Fish seasoning, 1 TBSP salt to it. Cook the Shrimps for 2-3 min., take them out in a strainer.

Toss the water but keep 2 Cups of it. Add 1 1/2 cups white wine to it. Boil the Scallops and Calamari for 2-3 min.. Take them out and put them to the Shrimps. Now boil the Mussels in the same water until their open. Take the Mussels out, toss the water but keep 1/2 cup of the Seafood water. 

In a pan, warm up the olive oil and the 4 minced gloves of Garlic for like 1 min.. Add the Rest and simmer it of medium Temperature for around 5 min.. 

Pour over the Seafood BUT the Mussels.

Cook Pasta like Package says. 

Serve the Seafood with the Pasta.

Bon Appetito 

Beef Rouladen

                         Beef Rouladen

So, I tried different recipes for the sauce for a good while. My daughter just never liked it. The
same with the Rouladen, what are cooked in this sauce. But today, I got her. And I got her good.
She licked her plate before she got seconds. Thats a huge success for my picky eater. She usually
just like the instant pack you can buy in Germany. But I can't get it here nor do I want to use it.
So, I basically through together 2 recipes and then added some more for my taste. And, there it is. The perfect Rouladen Sauce for my daughter. Since I started to write this blog here for her to look 
at when I am gone (or when I am just not around), I definitely need to write this down.
Just a big advantage for you guys whom follow me lol. Btw, it was really, really good.

For y'all whom don't know what Beef Rouladen is. Its a thin sliced beef steak, you pound even 
thinner and then fill it with mustard, bacon, onions and pickles. I also like to add those roasted red bell peppers from the glass. Then rolled up and cooked until its basically falling apart. 


This is what you need for the meat:

- thin sliced beef round steak, extra pound really thin (as you can get without making holes)

- Mustard, Salt and Pepper

- Onions, sliced

- Pickles, thin sliced

- Roasted red peppers from the glass, sliced

- Bacon



This is what you need for the sauce:

- 2 Stacks Celery, course diced

- 2 small or 1 big yellow onion

- 2 Carrots, course diced with skin

- 1 big TSP Tomato Paste

- 125 ml Port wine (or any red wine)

- 250 ml Beef Broth

- 250 ml water

- 2 Bay Leaves

- Corn starch for slurry

- 1 TSP Brown Gravy

- Salt to taste (after everything is done. Don't add to cooking process) 


This is how you do it:

After pounding the beef steaks, season them with salt and pepper. Just on one side. Then add a good layer of mustard. I use german mustard, but you can use Dijon if you can't find german. Then add 1-2 slices of Bacon. Diagonally, lay down some onions, pickles and the bell peppers. Now roll it up, trying to fold the sides into the middle while rolling to secure the stuff inside. Now close it with a metal stick and set aside. Repeat with the others. My daughter just liked it with the bacon and no other stuff. Yes, she IS a picky eater.

Dice the carrots, celery and onion. Put Ghee or butter in a big stainless steal pan and heat up. Roll the Beef Rouladen in some Flour. Now pan fry them on each side for a couple of min until they nice and brown and seared. Remove them from the pan.

 Add a little bit more butter and the vegetables and let them pan fry for a couple of min.. You want to get a little color on them for the roasty flavor. When they are done, add a good TSP of Tomato paste and stir for 1 min.. Then add the Port Wine and stir well and let simmer until you don't smell no alcohol no more. Then add the beef Rouladen back into the pan, the 2 bay leaves and fill it up with the water and the beef broth. The Rouladen should be slightly covered. Bring back to a simmer and let it cook on low, covered for 90 min..

When the 90 min are over, remove the meat and strain the vegetables through a strainer. Try to 
remove the fat us good as you can. You can put it in the freezer for an hrs or until the fat on top is hardend and easy to remove. I didn't have time for that today so I just used a ladle. Make a slurry with corn starch and cold water and add to the sauce. 1 TSP of Brown Gravy and bring it back to a simmer. Should be a nice creamy consistency. Now add as much salt as needed for the taste.

I served today Potato dumblings and blue Cabbage with it. But you can also serve it with mashed potatoes or just in saltwater cooked Potatoes and vegetables. 


Guten Appetit

Hungarian Gulasch

                      Hungarian Gulasch

This recipe is one of those instant product recipes I tried to cook from scratch. I found it on a german page, but since I checked the ingredient list, I added some herbs and I changed some ingredients. I think now its pretty close to the instant product, because my picky eater approved it. 


This is what you need:

- 1 lbs beef stew meat

- 1 lbs pork stew meat

- 1 Bell pepper, preferable red, cubed

- 1 Onion, minced

- 1 glove Garlic, minced

- 1 TSP sweet hungarian Paprika 

- 1 TSP Paprika hot or smoked Paprika

- 1 TBSP Flour

- 1 TBSP Tomato Paste

- 400 ml Beef broth

-100 ml red wine (the one you would drink)

- 100 ml water

- salt, Pepper

- 1 TSP Marjoram

- 1 TSP ground Rosemary 

- 1 TSP ground Caraway 

- 1 Bay Leave, ground



This is how you do it:

In a large skillet or pot, pan fry the meat (if necessary in batches) from all sides until they nice brown. Remove from Pan. Add a bit oil or Ghee and on low heat, cook the onions until their soft. Then add the Garlic and the Bell Pepper and cook it for another 5 min or until they have soft brown color. Now add the meat back into it and the Flour and Tomato paste and cook it for a min.. Now add the Broth, Water and Wine and the herbs, cover it and let it simmer for around 90 min. or until the meat is nice and soft. If necessary you can add more herbs and salt at the end. Also, if its to runny, just make a slurry. It's not suppose to be super thick.  

Traditionally we serve wide egg noddles with it. But you may also serve it with mashed potatoes, rice or just plain with a bread roll. 

Guten Appetit

Kaese Sahne Torte (cheese whipping cream Torte)

                     Kaese Sahne Torte

A very popular Torte in Germany. Especially, because you can add whatever fruit you like. 
From Pineapple over Strawberry to Mandarins...... Easy and quick to make, but a huge
impress factor. 


This is what you need:

for the Cake:

- 3 eggs

- 2 TBSP lukewarm water

- 100 gr Flour

- 100 gr Cornstarch

- 150 gr Sugar

- 3 TSP Backing powder


for the Filling:

- 500 gr Greek Yogurt

- 500 ml heavy whipping cream

- 1 - 2 boxes of granulated Gelatine

- Lemon extract (or juice of 1 Lemon)

- 125 gr Sugar



This is how you do it:

Separete the Eggs. With 1 TSP of Sugar, whip the egg whites till stiff peaks. (Turn the bowl over. If it doesn't fall on you, you are good lol) 
Beat the egg yolks along with the warm water and rest of sugar until its foamy, almost pale in color and doubled in volume. Sift the flour, corn starch and baking powder over the egg yolk mixture and carefully fold it into to get a smooth but airy dough. The same with the egg whites. Fold it now carefully into the dough to not destroy the air bubbles. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake the cake for  20 min in a round form. Line the form on the bottom with parchment Paper. Do not fatten the ring of the baking sheet. The dough will "slip" on the side of the pan and won't rise as good as it could.

After the baking time, let the cake cool completely before you continue. I usually bake the cake the night before so I continue in the morning. 

In a seperate bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks. Halfway through the process, add the sugar, the  Gelatine and the Lemon juice/extract. When the cream is stiff, add the greek yogurt to it and mix well. 

Take the cake out of the form and cut it in half. You can use a sewing string for that to get it nice and
even. Put the bottom part on a nice cake server and add the ring around it again. Now fold the Filling mixture over the bottom cake. You can add fruits within the cream or you can slice them and lay them
nicely on the bottom cake first before adding the filling. That is up to you. When the Filling is on, you put the top cake part back on. Now cool it for at least 2 hrs in the fridge to give the Gelatine time to harden. 

Before you serve, remove the ring and put powder sugar on the top. You can also decorate with some more of the fruits you chosen or with some whipping cream.

Guten Appetit

stuffed Zucchini

                          stuffed Zucchini

 Stuffed Zucchini  are a nice change every once in a while. Easy to prepare and then
just put in the oven. No-sweat-dinner. I like those dinners.

This is what you need:

- 2 Zucchini, cut in half

- 1 small onion, diced

-  1/2 lbs ground meat 

- 1 1/2 TBSP Tomato 

- Paprika, salt and Pepper, marjoram 

For the sauce you need:

- 1/2 can Tomato Paste

- 1 cup Broth

- 1 TBSP Flour

- 1 TBSP Butter

- Salt and Pepper

This is how you do it:

Cut the Zucchini in half and steam it for 3 min., remove with a spoon some of the flesh inside after it cooled down a bit. Place the halves it in a Casserole. Cut the Zucchini flesh and the onion and saute it in a pan with some olive oil. Now add the meat and cook it until its brown and season it with Paprika, salt and Pepper and marjoram. Spoon the filling into the Zucchini and top it with some cheese. In a 350 degree oven, bake it for 15 min.. You can also make the meat raw with some egg and breadcrumbs and add it to the zucchini. 

In the meantime, you can make the Sauce. Melt the Butter in a pot and add the flour. Cook it for like 1 min.. Then add the Tomato Paste and the broth and stir well to combine. Once it starts bubbling up, it gets thicker. If it's to thick for you, add more broth. Season with salt and Pepper and serve it with the Zucchini or stuffed Bell peppers (thats where I also have the sauce recipe in) 

You can serve it with rice, mashed potatoes or pasta. 

Guten Appetit

Lamp chops

                             Lamb chops

I found another recipe for Lamb chops. I had a Lamb rack and didn't really know what to do with
it. 

So I cut it into pieces and had some nice Lamb chops. This time I made them on my electric grill.
You might just use a big frying pan. After making this I was like: wow. I love you. LoL.


This is what you need:

- Lamb rack to cut into slices or Lamb chops

- Salt and Pepper

- 1 stack of fresh Rosemary

- 2 Garlic gloves, smashed

- Butter or Ghee 


This is how you do it:

Heat the electric grill or the pan nice and hot. Salt and Pepper the meat from all sides. 
Melt the Butter and add the Rosemary stack and the garlic and let the butter infuse it a bit.
Watch out that you don't burn it. Move it around a lot.

Now place the meat in and sear it from all sides for around 2 min on each side. (I do the same with 
my Beef Steaks btw. amazing) 

I like to serve the drippings as a little sauce and the Garlic with it. My husband isn't to crazy about 
it. Good, more for me ha ha ha. 

Guten Appetit 

Pho - 30 min soup for the quick appetite

                                  Pho

This viatnamese soup is very popular, and, good. But not everyone has a good viatnamese
Restaurant around the corner. Or, the 10 hrs to cook the broth.
I found in one of those thousand recipes a really good and fast one. To satisfy your appetite.
The other ingredients like the Thai Basil, however, is another story. I used regular Basil what is
not the same, but out of desperation. I just couldn't get in my sleepy little town some Thai Basil.

The other ingredients are thin sliced beef (what cooks in the hot broth as soon as it touches
the plate). Soy beans, green onions, Pepperoni (whom likes), rice noodles and lime. Here I am just going to write the recipe for the Broth. The rest is not really something you can do home style.
Just buy it lol.


This is what you need:

- 1 TBSP black peppercorn

- 1 TBSP Coriander seed

- 4 Star anise

- 4 x 2-3 inches spring onion

- 2 inch piece fresh and sliced Ginger

- 4 Cups hot water

- 8 Cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you are vegetarian)

- 1/4 cup Fish sauce


This is how you do it:

In a hot large soup pot put in the black peppercorn, Coriander Seed and the star anise and cook it for 2 min.. Then add the sliced Ginger and green onion and cook it for another 2 min. (no oil, no nothing).

Now add the 4 cups hot water and the 8 cups chicken broth and simmer covered for 5 min.. Remove all the solids with a colander and add the Fish sauce. Simmer covered for another 3 min..

Done. 

Told ya, it was quick and easy. And tastes almost as good as from a Restaurant. 

Guten Appetit