Boulettes sauce Piquillos

You can call it Meatballs in roasted canned red pepper sauce. It is a recipe from the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine, in the South West of France.

My BFF was on holiday in Alsace and she knows very well that I love cooking magazines. This "Petit Plats" is only found at Leclerc supermarkets, where I have not one near me.

The sauce piquillos is a very intense sauce. Roasted red peppers from the area are canned. I used a Turkish variety that comes close to it. Added to the peppers is soy sauce, rice vinegar and cornstarch. Then blended.

For the meatballs red onions are chopped and then sauteed in a little oil until soft. Transfered from the pan to a bowl to cool down.

Then the meatballs are made. Add ground beef to the cold onions, egg, breadcrumbs, fresh grated ginger and seasoning.

They go in a little oil in the pan where the onions were and are browned up to 7 min depending on size. Then get some of the fat out of the pan with kitchen paper and add the sauce. It needs to cover the meatballs and cook through so that the starch can bind the sauce.

Serve them over rice or with Baguette.

Ingredients:

500 g ground beef

2 red onions

1 tsp grated ginger

50 g breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 tsp dried chives, meatloaf seasoning, pepper, salt

1 tbsp oil

Sauce:

400 g/350 g jar of roasted red peppers

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

15 g cornstarch

Udon with Gochugaru and Peanutbutter

I was looking for something fast and spicy. This dish is done in 10 min if you have an induction hob or an electric kettle to boil water.

I used dried Udon. I prefare them to the thick white ones that are sold vacum packed.

Two green onions and a lot of garlic were the base of the sauce. Sauteed for 3 min in a little oil. A bit dark soy to glaze the pan. 

The sauce is made in a small bowl, then added to the pan. If it thickens too much, just add more water.

Drain the cooked Udon and wash them under cold water. Get them in the pan and stir the sauce through. Finish with sesame seeds and the green tops of the onions.

Ingredients:

100 g dried Udon noodles

1/2 tbsp Gochugaru

1 1/2 tsp Gochujang

3 tsp chunky peanut butter

1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 tsp rice syrup

5 tbsp water

3 tbsp Mirin

2 spring onions

4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp oil 

Sesame seeds

Schnitzel with Camembert and Cranberry Sauce

After 8 laps around the Green Hell in rain and very oily conditions I was looking for a quick meal.

The Eifelrast from last time was on my way directly to my AirB&B. I just took a stop there.

The small menu listed a variety of Schnitzel.  Choose either pork or chicken and different toppings.

I went French style. Camembert soft and a bit stinky goes very well on top of pork. The cheese was smothered in Cranberry sauce.

I choose the very good French fries to go with it.

 

Paprika Rice with Mozzarella

A bundle of red long peppers came back with me from the Eifel. Driving and unloading the car made me hungry.

I wanted an oven dish with these peppers and feta, but discovered that the last block of feta was already history.

Then I went for a stovetop rice dish. The base was easy, a bit of onion, garlic and leek in olive oil, then paprika paste ( the Turkish one) and the chopped peppers.

I've bought some thin slices of smoked speck where I've got the peppers and decided to not vegetarian. It was cut up and followed the peppers.

To keep on the same path, I used chicken stock instead of veg stock paste and put the washed rice in.

Smoked paparika, Piment d'Espelette, salt, pepper and 6 tiny homegrown chilis  later I brought it up to a boil and covered it, reduced the heat to low and waited until the rice had absorbed all the stock.

A whole bag of grated mozzarella and fresh dill were stirred in and I let it sit 5 min.

Ingredients:

3 long red peppers

1 thick spring onion

10 cm leek

2 tbsp olive oil

110 g Speck smoked

11/2 rice cooker cups longgrain rice

4 rice cooker cups chicken stock

175 g grated mozzarella

1/2 bunch of dill

6 mini chilis, smoked paprika, Piment d'Espelette, salt  pepper

Chanterelle topped Schnitzel

It is Chanterelle mushroom season and I finally got some. What goes best with any kinds of mushrooms here: Schnitzel.

I've got lucky and the chanterelles were very good quality. Not much to clean and nearly zero waste.

They were added to a pan with green onion and garlic in some oil. These mushrooms need at least 10 minutes to get cooked. Seasoned only with salt and pepper and some twigs of thyme.

A good gluck of Noilly Prat and some double cream to finish them.

In the meantime the schnitzel went under a meat cleaver and thinned out. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Then the usual panneing street with flour, egg and breadcrumbs gave the pork its cover.

In neutral oil cooked from both sides until done and the beaten egg went in too.

The mushrooms came to the side and that was one tasty dish. 

Ingredients:

200 g Chanterelle mushrooms

1 green onion

2 garlic cloves

4 tbsp oil

320 g schnitzel (2)

1 egg

5 tbsp flour

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Salt, pepper, thyme

Frangipane and Peach filled Puff Pasty

I haven't made the classic French pastry filling yet. I always feared that it tasted like Marzipan, the almond paste.

I hate Marzipan!

But an open bag of ground almonds was sitting in my baking ingredient box and needed to go. A punnet of peaches was on the counter and a roll of puff pastry in the fridge.

I looked at recipes and frangipane cream came up. I decided to give it a go.

Frangipane:

100 g very soft unsalted butter

100 g sugar

100 g ground almonds (prefer the ones that are skinless, but the other are more rustic)

10 g cornstarch

2 eggs

With a wooden spoon beat sugar and butter together until creamy, add the other ingredients and make a soft paste.

1 roll rectangular puff pastry

4 peaches or nectarines

Spread the frangipane along the middle and set slices of fruit on top. Cut the sides of the dough in strips and fold it over.

Preheat the oven to 200 C fan and bake for 25 to 30 min.

Burger at Eifelrast am Nürburgring

I am South of the Nuerburgring in Kelberg an AirB&B.

Looking for new locations to eat is on my to do list too. This one is beside a large gas station and the times I went by, I did not think much of it.

But talk to the people who live here and you get recommodations. Then I checked reviews and got there.

The menu is small, mostly burgers, schnitzel and salads. All freshly made and very good quality.

I decided on the Kel-Burger (for Kelberg). Bacon and Cheese with salad mix and very good French fries.

Usually I rarely finish the fries because too salty or too fatty or just low quality. This time I did finish the large portion of it.

I will come back for sure.