Tagliatelle with Salmon and shallots
Tagliatelle con scalogno e salmone
This dish is a from the Tuscany area in Italy. It's very sophisticated yet easy and fast to make.
If you like smoked Salmon, you will love this dish.
This is what you need:
- 350 gr Tagliatelle
- 2 Shallots
- 100 g smoked Salmon
- 30 gr Butter
- 1 TBSP Cognac
- 200 ml Heavy Cream
- 1 TBSP Tomato Paste
- Salt and Pepper
This is how you make it:
Cook the Tagliatelle like Package says. I used green ones for the look but you can use the regular ones.
Peel the Shallots and cut them into thin slices. Cut the Salmon into stripes.
Heat the Butter in a pan and caramelize the Onions on medium heat until soft. Add the Cognac and let it reduce for a minute. Now add the heavy cream and the Tomato Paste and stir good. Season with Salt and Pepper and let simmer for 2 minutes. At the end, add the smoked Salmon.
When the Pasta is done, add it straight to the sauce and mix it. Serve
Guten Appetit
Chicken Cacciatore
This is a recipe I saw on one of the shows of Giada de Laurentis. I made it and we absolutely
love it. I hope she forgives me when I am basically just reposting her recipe. But since yall are
following me so nicely, it might help her getting the recognition for this beautiful dish.
This is what you need:
- 4 chicken thighs (or drums)
- 2 chicken breasts with skin and backbone (optional)
- salt, pepper
- Flour for dredging
- Olive Oil
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes with juice
- 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 3 TBSP capers
- 1 1/2 TSP dried Oregano
Fresh Basil for garnish
This is how you do it:
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken in the flour for a light coat.
Add Olive Oil to a large sauce pan and turn the heat to medium. Fry the chicken for 5 min on each side or until slightly brown. Remove to a plate. Fry in several batches if necessary.
Now add some more oil and saute the onions and the bell pepper for 5 min.. Then add the Garlic and saute for another minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the wine and let it reduce by half, around 3 minutes. Now add the Tomatoes, Broth, Capers and Oregano. Add back the chicken and cover it from both sides with the sauce. Bring it back to a simmer and continue simmering on medium heat for around 20- 30 min..
Remove the chicken and let the sauce simmer for a moment until its nice and creamy. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, garnish with fresh Basil and serve.
In Italy, they usually do not eat Pasta with meat. So since this is a secondi , they serve Bread with it to dip the sauce with.
Guten Appetit
Glaze for Fruit Cakes
Tortenguss
For all of you, whom make strawberry cakes and all other Fruit cakes or Torte what needs
a clear Glaze and you don't have the Package of "Tortenguss" on you: This is for you.
I googled it and it's actually pretty easy.
This is what you need:
- 1 TBSP corn Starch
- 1 -2 TBSP Sugar
- 250 ml Water
This is how you do it:
Cornstarch and sugar mixed up with a bit water to a slurpy. Cook the rest of the water. When
hot, add the slurpy to the water. Cook for 1 min.. Let cool for 1 min before pouring it over the
cake.
You can also use fruit juice instead of water, just don't add sugar then (or less). For a red glaze,
use red fruit juice.
Guten Appetit
Germknoedel with Vanilla Sauce
This is an Austrian/South German dish. In Rest Germany they call it Dampfnudel. Usually
the Dampfnudel is without filling though while the Germknoedel has a Plum marmelade
filling.
This is something I usually ate while in Austria. Especially after half day of skiing, at the
Halfway Restaurant on the mountain. It is really not a Dessert because it is to much and
rich to be a Dessert. You can really eat that as a sweet Lunch or Dinner. Its not really
overly sweet though. Just try it and you will see.
This is what you need:
For the Dumpling:
- 2 Cups of Flour
- 1 1/2 TBSP Sugar
- 1/2 TSP Salt
- Zest of 1/2 Lemon
- 1 TSP Dry active yeast
- 1 TSP Sugar
- 1/2 cup warm Milk
- 1 Egg
- 2 TSP Vanilla Sugar and 1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract (or 2 TSP Vanilla Extract)
- 2 TBSP melted Butter
For the Vanilla sauce:
- 2 Eggs
- 1 TBSP Cornstarch
- 2 TSP Vanilla Extract
- 2 TBSP Sugar
- 3/4 cup of Heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/4 cup milk
This is how you do it:
Put the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. The yeast in the warm milk with the TSP sugar should be mixed together and set until it foams.
Now add the foaming yeast with the melted butter and the Egg to the mixing bowl and kneed it for like 5 min on low speed (or with the hands) until a dough forms. Cover and let it rise for 1 hrs at a warm place.
In the meantime, you can make the Vanilla Sauce. In a saucepan add the 2 Eggs and the Sugar and whisk it until its nice and smooth. Now add the Vanilla extract and the Cornstarch and mix it well. Now add the heavy whipping cream and the milk and mix it well.
On medium heat, set the Sauce to cook, constantly stirring for like 6 min or until it sets. Its getting
really nice and creamy. Put aside.
Mix around 4 TSP of Plum Marmalade with a bit of Rum Flavor. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix Poppy Seeds with a bit powdered Sugar. Set aside.
After the 1 hrs the dough should have doubled in size. If not, let it sit a bit longer. Take it out on a floured surface and make a nice little ball. Divide that bowl into 4. Form the 4 Balls into shape and flatten it. Add 1 TSP of the Plum Marmalade. Close it thorough and form it back to a ball. Slightly cover with Flour so they don't stick. Cover it and let rise another 30 min..
In a big bowl, add 1 inch (2,5 cm) of hot water. Put the Dumplings on a oiled steamer insert. Cover and steam it for 15-17 min..
Take them out, pour the Vanilla Sauce over it and garnish it with the Poppy Seeds and serve.
Guten Appetit
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
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
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
