Thuringa Rostbraetl

This is a special of the Eastern parts of Germany. It is pork steak with sauteed onions. 

The restaurant served mostly regional dishes ans most of them were meaty and seasonal. They have a short menu with meat free dishes. The restaurant is part of the Hotel Bürgerhof in Wüstenbrand. That is a part of Hohenstein- Ernstthal, just a fouple of minutes away from the Sachsenring circuit.

The pork is heavly seasoned with Thuringa mustard and then panfried. A lot of onions are caramelized and sit on top if the pork.

The rostbraetl is served with German fried potatoes with lots of speck. It is a very hearty dish and comforting. Something for autum and winter.

Filipino Chicken Tocino with Garlic fried Rice

I wanted something sweet spicy and garlicky.

I bought boneless chicken thighs and ripped the skin off. Instead of throwing it in the trash it went in a small pan. With medium high heat I rendered the fat out to cook with later.

Leftover cold rice was not in the fridge, but I planned ahead and cooked the rice early to cool it down completely. 

The chicken marinated 2 hours in the fridge.

Recipe for 2:

400 g boneless chicken thighs

1 1/4 rice cooker cups jasmine rice

Leaves from a red beet

8 garlic cloves

Rendered chicken fat

Marinate:

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

4 tbsp pineapple juice

2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp black Chinese vinegar

3 tbsp ketchup

Pepper and salt

1 tbsp potato starch

Start the rice first by heating up half of the chicken fat in a wide pan and adding the chopped not pressed garlic. Saute that on medium heat and don't burn the garlic. Add the rice and stir until it is done. Season with salt and pepper.

While the garlic sautees, heat up the other half of the chicken fat in a second pan and get the thighs in. Medium high heat only. Turn them every 3 min.

Chop the leaves of the beets roughly and when the chicken is nearly done, toss them in the pan to wilt down.

Put the rice in a little cup to form it for the plate, set the chicken around it with the greens.

Blood Sausage Sauce with shop bought Tortellini

 I bought a package of fresh pasta filled with Tomato, Cheese and Chili as a go to when I came home from my 4 days trip to the Nuerburgring. It is always good to have something like that as first choice when you are tired after a long drive or long weekend.

But that was not the case this time and the fresh pasta stayed in the fridge. Yesterday at the butcher I bought 2 thin smoked blood sausages. I cut one in small slices and sauteed them with a couple of onions and garlic in a pan. 

A dash of alcohol and a little pasta water for a bit of sauce and 3 types of fresh herbs from my balcony: oregano, majoram, cellerie greens.

The cooked tortellini went in the pan and were stirred through and served. A fast and tasty lunch, if you like blood sausage.

Ingredients:

80 g smoked small blood sausage

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp oil

1 red onion

2 shallots

2 garlic cloves

2 stalks oregano, majoram and cellerie green

Pepper

40 ml Noilly Prat

Clafoutis with mixed Fruits

The fruits are topped with sweetened Condensed Milk and a pancake like batter.

It is a good recipe to get rid of a bunch of fruits sitting around. But feel free just to use apples or pears.

The apples and pears don't need to be peeled, just wash them and take the core out. Cut in small pieces. Store them in a bowl with water and the juice of one lemon. That prevents discoloration.

Butter a rectangular baking dish and sprinkle some breadcrumbs on the butter. Drain the fruits well and put them evenly in the dish.

Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour on top. Do not mix it in.

Prepare the batter by beating sugar and eggs together, adding the flour and the other ingredients and make a pancake like consistency. Let it rest 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven 180 C.

Pour the batter over the fruits and place the dish in the oven for 40 minutes.

After baking let it cool down to roomtemperature, then serve. You can try to get the upside out of the dish.

Ingredients:

3 apples, 2 pears, 1 banana, 75 g raspberries

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 lemon

3 eggs

150 g sugar

200 g sifted flour

250 ml milk

120 ml oil

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Pickled Eggs or Sol Eier

There are hundreds of recipes for eggs stored in a jar. Many years ago often found in Bars on the counter.

Some are still in their shell others are peeled. This recipe is adapted from a good friends grandmother. I still remember her jar she had in the last century.

I was at the Nuerburgring again and bought 10 eggs for the long weekend. But things changed and I haven't used one. At home were more eggs.

In the jar the hard boiled eggs have to sit in the pickling liquid at least 3 days in the fridge. But eat them the next 10 days and they are good.

Ingredients:

9 eggs

1,2 l water

200 ml white vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp salt

1 yellow onion with peel

1 garlic clove

3 bay leaves

1 stalk dill

8 juniper berries

1 tsp carraway

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

White pepper

1 pinch quarte epice

Cook the eggs 10 min and place them in cold water. Crack the shell all around but it has to stay with the egg. Put them in a large jar.

In a pot get all other ingredients in, bring it to a boil and cook for 5 min. Let it cool down a little then get all the stuff in the jar and fill the liquid in. 

Cool it down and then put it in the fridge.

Zucchini Risotto with Cream Cheese and Dip

I made a zucchini dip and the biggest part of my vegetable was left over.

The risotto was planned as a cheesy one, but the piece of zucchini was still sitting on my cutting board, so I decided to put it in the risotto in the end for texture.

This time I did not use the Thermomix, it was still in use for the dip. I did it the traditional way in a pot. A lot more work.

Recipe for 3:

190 g carneroli rice

150 ml apple cider

2 green onions

2 garlic cloves

30 + 50 g butter

600 ml veg stock

Pepper

50 g cream cheese

25 g grana padano

80 g zucchini cubed

Melt 30 g butter and toss in onion and garlic. After 3 min add the rice and coat it completely in the butter. Pour in the apple cider and let it cook down.

Prepare a pot with hot water and veg stock paste and in 3 or 4 batches add it to the rice. Stir every 5 minutes and get the heat down.

When the rice only has 3 more min, add zucchini, cream cheese and butter and stir well. Check the seasoning. Add the grana padano last.

Grilled Zucchini Dip

Or Courgette Dip.

Some call it pesto because they like to eat it with pasta. But I will use it in different ways.

My main dish today will be some kind of risotto. I have not started it yet, but the grilled zucchini comes first.

If you can put it on an outdoor BBQ grill it will be much faster. I used my Le Creuset cast iron grill pan. It is so heavy that I need 2 hands to handle it. 

It takes some time until the 0,5 cm slices of zucchini caught some grill lines. I chucked a large green onion in bigger chunks in the pan too. A bit of avocado oil sprayed helped a bit.

In a small pan without any fat I dryroasted peeled almonds. Keep an eye on them, they will turn dark from one second to the next.

I filled my Thermomix with all other ingredients and added the hot veggies.  The blend kept a coarse consistency.

I added some of it to a zucchini risotto later.

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini/courgette

4 garlic cloves

8 sorrel leaves

A bunch fresh basil

50 ml olive oil

Salt and pepper

35 g Grana Padano