August 29, 2010

Tiramisu

Tiramisu from Italy!
My version isn't the original recipe, but I claim that it tastes as good! And especially, if you're in the US, you might not want raw eggs right now... Ingredients:
  • 1 lb Mascarpone
  • 13 tbsp Eggnog with Alkohol
  • 3 tbsp Powdered sugar
  • 1 lb Ladyfingers
  • 2 cups cold Espresso
  • 1 tbsp Cocoa powder

Method:
Mix macarpone, eggnog and powdered sugar. Dip ladyfingers one by one into cold espresso and layer them into a nice container. Top with the mascarpone mixture and repeat 2-3 times, finishing with mascarpone.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Top with cocoa powder just before serving.
Buon Appetito!

Posted by marco at 5:28 PM in Category Recipes

August 22, 2010

German Cabbage Cake - Krautkuchen

Recipe from my mom, typical in the Swabia region around Stuttgart, Germany.
Dough - mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 45min.
  • 250 g - 1/2 lb flour
  • 120 g - 1/4 lb butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 75 ml - 1/3 cup water
For the filling:
  • 1 kg - 2 lbs (white) cabbage, finely grated
  • 2 tsp oil OR 1/2 lb diced bacon
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 300 g - 0.6 lb sour creme
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Caraway, salt, pepper to taste
  • butter to grease the form
Saute cabbage with the flour in oil or the rendered bacon for 20min. Preheat oven to 200C - 400F. Mix sour creme with the eggs and the extra yolk with the still warm cabbage mixture. Add spices to taste. Roll out the dough and put it into an 11" spring form, forming a nice crust all around. Add the filling and bake for ca. 45min. Enjoy!

Posted by marco at 12:02 PM in Category Recipes

January 25, 2009

Spicy Slowcooker Goulash

I was very happy with how my slowcooker Gulasch (German spelling) turned out today. Since my wife didn't want beef, I cooked it quite spicy and shared it with our neighbor ;)

Ingredients:
  • 1-2 lbs beef (London broil), cubed
  • 1 Onion, finely copped
  • 1-x cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 stalks of Celery, chopped
  • 2 medium Carrots, chopped
  • 1 can of diced Tomatoes
  • 1/2 can of Tomato Paste
  • 2 Cups of Beef Broth
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp Marjoram
  • 1-x dried Chili, without stems (add all things spicy, like hot-sauce and chili powder as much as you can take)
  • 1 tbsp Paprika
  • Salt & Pepper

Brown Onions, Garlic, Carrots and Celery in some Oil for 5min. Add Beef and brown. Add a little red wine, if you want or just the broth and cook loose the brown bits. Mix the contents of the pan and everything else together in the slowcooker.
Cook on low for 8 hrs. If the sauce is not thick enough at the end, cook it on high for a while.
Serve with Sour Creme and Semmelknödel :)

Posted by marco at 8:58 PM in Category Recipes

August 9, 2008

Toddler mischief

Today we rearranged oour living room a bit and I was surprised to hear my subwoofer make a strange rattling sound, when I moved it. The first thing I found inside was the plastic chicken. Turning the subwoofer upside down didn't work very well and I couldn't even get my hand in there.

Finally I realized that toddlers are not only good at making a mess - Tim's tiny hands were able to reach inside and get all the plastic toys back:

  • A chicken
  • A carton of milk
  • A car
  • A monkey
  • An ear of corn
  • A carrot
  • A banana
  • A cookie
  • An orange
  • A pear
  • Two lemons

Posted by marco at 8:46 PM in Category Life

April 20, 2008

Bretzel vs Pretzel - The deluxe recipe

This is the hard way of baking original German (Swabian) Bretzels. For the easy way, check out the Pretzel post at TheFreshLoaf. And by the way, I do think that going the extra mile of creating the Pâte fermentée and using real lye (Food grade Sodium Hydroxide - NaOH, which I bought from AAA Chemicals) is totally worth the effort.

I got the recipe from a German site called Chili und Chiabatta. This is my English version, slightly simplified:

A day ahead, create the Pâte fermentée (fermented dough):

  • 144g White Flour
  • 94g Water
  • 2.8g Salt
  • 1 pinch of Dry Yeast
Kneed everything together, cover and let rise for 12-16h at about 70F.

Now create the real dough:

  • 578g White Flour
  • 340g Water
  • 12g Salt
  • 14g Fresh Yeast (I used 2.5 tsp Dry Yeasy)
  • 36g soft Butter
  • 7g Baking Malt (I used 1 tbsp Cane Sugar)
  • 240g Pâte fermentée (all the above)
Mix everything together, except the Pâte fermentée, for 3min in the FoodPro. Now add the Pâte fermentée in chunks and continue to kneed for 5min. Let rise for 1h (in a slightly greased bowl, covered with cling wrap at 21C), fold the dough and let rise for another hour.

Make about 15 portions (85g each) and roll them out to about 60cm long 'worms' with a thick middle section. Lay into the typical Bretzel shape.
Cover with cloth and let rise for 30-45min. Now cool in the fridge for 30min - the Bretzels are a lot easier to handle afterward.

Now the fun part - The lye:

  • 1250g cold Water
  • 50g NaOH
Warning: Wear protective goggles and gloves and only use glass or stainless steel - especially aluminum does not withstand this solution (check your baking pan)!
(Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 230C) Slowly stir the NaOH into the cold water until fully dissolved. Using a large skimmer dunk each Bretzel into the solution for 5s. Top with coarse salt and using a sharp knife, make an incision at the belly of the Bretzel.

Update: Because those Bretzels taste the best right after baking, I did try to freeze a couple of them at this point in the process and the result was encouraging - Give it a try, if you don't think you will eat all of them right away :)

On a well greased baking pan (No Al!) bake the Bretzels for 14-16min at 230C.


Bretzels taste best when still warm - try them with a Bavarian Cheese spread called, aka Obatzda!

Posted by marco at 7:57 PM in Category Recipes