Turkey Strips with Potato Dumplings

The dumplings are an October Fest special. I had to try them. To have some sauce for my dumplings, I decided to do a turkey breast and red peppers in a cream sauce.

For the last couple of years more and more companies hop on the October Fest wagon. Food and drinks receive a white and blue branding that sugests Bavaria and therefor the October Fest. Even Fall festivies are called ....October Fest now. I just saw the huge signs here in the city. It was called Herbstmesse or Fall Festival for as long as I can remember.

The local discounter chain has a huge isle with "specials" in white and blue. Looking closer you will discover very often the regular brands, just with a swankier packageing. And now with a higher price!

Recipe:

400 g turkey breast strips

2 tbsp Chicken seasoning

2 red onions, 2 green onions, 4 garlic cloves

2 tbsp oil

2 red bell peppers

2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp sweet paprika, salt, pepper, Bruschetta seasoning

200 g double cream

150 ml veg stock

4 potato dumplings

Season the turkey strips and heat up the oil. Brown the meat and add all the veggies. Give them 3 min together, then add tomato paste.

The dumplings need 25.min to simmer, start them now.

Stir in well and now stock and cream and all the seasoning. Cook for 12 minutes. Serve with the dumplings.

Pork Knuckle and Bulgur Stew

The cooking possibilities in a holiday apartment are a bit simple. The ceran cook top is something to get used to after nearly cooking 20 years with induction.

It was a very cold morning on the Eifel and I decided only to drive down to Adenau and go for some groceries there. I wanted to use up some ingredients from my fridge.

Soup or Stew? Lets see what the endresult will be.

At the butcher I saw ready cooked small pork knuckles. That makes any kind of soup a lot easier to cook. 

Ingredients:

1 small cooked pork knuckle

2/3 cup  bulgur with roasted pasta

2 red long pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

2 green onions

1 small can Leipziger Allerlei (peas, carrot, kohlrabi, asparagus)

500 ml chicken stock

Herbes de Provence, pepper, 1 tbsp tomato paste

Parsley

Creme fraiche

Pull the meat off the bone and cut it in cubes. Chop peppers and onions and open and drain the can.

Heat up water in the kettle for the chicken stock cube and dissolve it. 

In a pot, heat up oil, toss in the chopped veggies and give them 3 minutes. Next let the bulgur mix get some coating with the oil. Add tomato paste and seasoning. Pour in the chicken stock, add the meat and cook for 15 min until the bulgour is soft. The drained veggies from the can following. Check the seasoning for taste and finish with parsley.

On the plate put a dollop of creme fraiche and freshly ground pepper on top.

Sausage Meat and Spaghetti

A long day of track driving makes me hungry. But I want to eat something home cooked.

I stopped at a Butcher shop on the way back and bought a German favourite: Mett 

That is very fresh grounded pork that is seasoned. Normally eaten here on bread or breadrolls for breakfast, topped with raw onions.

But cooking it like any other ground pork is good too. It is often not so finely ground and the texture is a bit different.

I used some green onions, red long peppers as veggies and added creme fraiche and some velveeta cheese as the sauce. Pasta water to bring everything together.

No fuss to cook, but a decent meal.

Ingredients:

160 g Mett or pork sausage meat

2 green onions, 1 long red pepper, parsley

1 tbsp olive oil

100 g spaghetti

3 tbsp creme fraiche, 2 tbsp velveeta cheese

Salt, pepper, herbes de Provence

Monreal Stop in an old Café

It stopped raining in the morning. A good time to see more of the Eifel region. 

I did a trip to Monreal, famous for its historic village and the huge castle ruin on top of the hill. In a very old house, I stopped for Carrot Cake and a hot chocolate.

The inside of the house was opened up, only the wooden beams remained. For a Thursday morning it was nearly fully occupied.

The carrot cake was served warm and absolutely fresh. It came out of the oven just a couple of minutes ago.

That is the best way to enjoy it.

Naan in spicy Tomato juice with Mozzarella

This is just a way to eat 3 day old Naan from an Indian Restaurant. Prepare it to be comfort food.

 

I was eating out Monday evening when I came back from the Trackday on the Nuerburgring. The restaurant is on the ground floor of the Hotel I was staying for 2 nights.

It was actually an Italian Pizzeria, but the whole operation was done by an Indian family. 

With my Paneer with Tomatoes and Peas a basket of breadrolls arrived. Not only a huge bowl of Basmati that was enough for 2 or 3 people.

I had some spicy tomato juice brought with me from home. I tasted it, but it was too peppery to drink. I used 300 ml to soak the ripped apart bread with it. 150 ml went in a bowl with 2 tbsp creme fraiche and 2 eggs and were stirred well.

Adding some red long pepper and green onion to the soaked bread for some veggie crunch was a good idea. That went in an oiled loaftin and the sauce on top.

A tub of mini mozzarella as the final layer and baked in the oven at 200 C for 35 min.

Paneer in creamy Tomato and Pea Stew - vegetarian

Who would have thought that a Hotel in the tiny tiwn of Nürburg serves Italian food Pizzeria style and Indian food.

Well the reason for Indian food comes clear, when you meet the owners and the staff of the restaurant, there are all from India. 

The menu has a lot more Italian Pizza and Pasta dishes. The last 2 pages only show Indian ones. I went for one of the two vegetarian Paneer dishes. I love Paneer and sometimes make it myself, because this type of cheese is rarely available at a supermarket. 

I asked the waiter if they make the Paneer in house and the answer was yes.

A lot of yellow and white Basmati rice came with the dish and even a basket of breadrolls.

The dish was not too spicy and the cheese went well in the tomato and pea sauce with lits of onions. I loved it and I took the leftover breadrolls with me.

Eating at the Devil's Diner

I am at the Nuerburgring Nordschleife driving on a Track Day. 

Lots of tracktime makes hungry and the very early start with no breakfast options at the hotel so early let me in the famous Trackside Restaurant Devil's Diner. The Green Hell named racetrack suits this.

Until 11 AM they serve the famous pancakes. This is the first time I've tried them. Well, the pancakes are pretty doughy and stick to the roof of my mouth. Maple syrup and butter helped. As did the cappucchino.

After a very fast and exciting passenger ride in an open Dalara Stradale, I needed some more food as a very late lunch.

I had a burger with fries.

Wild Boar and Venison BBQ

I am at the Evening meeting  from the Trackday organizer at a beautiful old farmhouse in Barweiler at the Nuerburgring: Agnesenhof

 

They are well known for seasonal hunted meat. Tonight the BBQ had many different kinds of sausages, steaks and loins of different animals from the Eifel region. 

A couple of salads and sauces were offered too.

We sat outside in the yard and the 3 fires were burning at the entrance.

The dessert was served in some Mason Jars and was Creme Bavarois with a fruit couli in the middle.

 

Chicken Pho with Leftovers

Tomorrow I leave for the Green Hell at the Nuerburgring. I have to get the fresh stuff out of my fridge.

Yesterday with my cabbage salad I had some chicken legs with Soy Kalamansi Glaze. I had two pieces and left one for today.

My plant behind the house offered a small aubergine and I had a bell pepper and some green onions in the veggie drawer of my fridge.

Flat rice noodles are enough in a huge package. I just had to take some of them out.

Pho seasoning, check! Chicken stock and veg stock, check!

I cut the aubergine legthwise and put some salt on it. After 10 minutes, I washed it off and dried the aubergine. Cut in bite size chunks it went in a small pan with some sunflower oil to brown a bit. A little salt helped.

The rice noodles only need 8 minutes to soak in a bowl with some hot water.

I had a boiled egg over from breakfast and peeled it to go in the soup too.

I cooked the seasoned stock and cut the meat off the chicken leg. It went in the stock too. Short before serving I tossed the veggies in.

The noodles went cold in a soup bowl and the hot soup went over them. Some sesame seeds as finishing touch and two stalks of Vietnamese coriander, just the leaves.

Keto open face Sandwich

Avocado Egg Cheese Flatbread. 

It is easy to eat it either with a sweet topping or a savoury one. The flatbread works both ways.

I choose two savoury ones and one sweet one.

I prepared a Bruschetta paste with hot water and olive oil as a base for two of the flatbreads. Honey infused goatcheese cream came on top of it.

I have a jar of spiced plums and used them on top of the cheese. Some tiny tomatoes, basil and balsamic cream on the other.

The third one was my sweet one. Apricot jam and chopped pistacchios.

Sooo goood!

Cabbage Salad Mom's style

I had just the root part of the head of cabbage left. Not enough for a raw cole slaw, but enough for 1 portion cooked cabbage salad.

I remembered when my Mom had the harder part of cabbage left, she did not trow it away. She chopped it in small bits and pieces and cooked it with caraway seeds until tender.

An easy dressing was all that was added to the cabbage. The familiy loved it, because it was not raw but pleasant to eat. And the cabbage was nearly completely eaten. 

Cut as much as you can off from the lower part of the cabbage. Just leave the really wooden part out. Take the large knife and run it through the cut off pieces until they are small. Wash them and get a pot with salted water going.

When the water boils, toss in 1 tsp caraway seeds and the washed cabbage. Cook it until tender about 6 to 10 min. 

The last minutes I dropped 2 roughly chopped green onions in too. That takes the bite out of them. Drain and run under cold water.

Dressing:

3 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

Dash of agave syrup

Ground pepper, fleur de Sel, dried Majoram

Let it sit in the marinate for 30 min before serving.

Avocado Egg Cheese Keto Bread

This identifies as a bread!

I had some single ingredients that had no direct connection to a recipe. Why not try them together?

I used the three words as key words for my search and this keto flatbread showed up. What's not to like? 

I put all three ingredients in a small food processor, seasoned it with pepper and smoked salt and spread it out on baking paper. Some sesame seeds on top, and the baking started.

160 C fan and 25 to 30 min until the flatbreads have a nice color. Cool them down and put delicious stuff on top.

Swiss Chard, Italian Salami and Mushroom Quiche

The Swiss Chard in several pots on the balcony and beside my tomato plants behind the house was growing like crazy.

Since I am off to the Nuerburgring for week starting this weekend, some of the greens had to go. My last harvest went to a neighbor. But what to do with this one now?

Luckily yesterday at the hair saloon I saw a photo in a magazine with a Swiss Chard and thought: Why not? But a bit of protein other than the Royal cream and cheese on top was needed. 

Bacon? No! Salami? Oh Yes! I bought Italian wide fennel salami.

And a punnet of white button mushrooms.

Recipe for a 26 cm Quiche dish:

1 round fresh shortcrust pastry

100 g Swiss Chard

400 g white mushrooms

2 spring onions

1 tbsp oil

125 g Italian fennel salami

200 g Skyr

2 eggs

50 g Cheddar cheese

Pepper, salt, nutmeg, Italian bruschetta seasoning

Preheat the oven 170 C fan.

Put the dough in a sprayed quiche or tart dish and press it in. Take a fork and prick the bottom. Place some baking paper on it and use ceramic baking balls or beans or rice to weight it down. 

Bake for 12 min, then take it out.

During that time, seperate the stems from the leaves of the chard. Cut them in 1 inch pieces. Put them with a little water in a microwave dish with a lid and cook them at 800 watts for 5 min.

Roughly chop the leaves and add them to the stems with a little water and just microwave them 2 min more.

Chop green onions and clean the mushrooms anf slice them. Put all of it in a pan with a little oil and sautee them, salt them, until the mushrooms are soft. Cool them down.

Mix Skyr with eggs and all the seasoning in a bowl or in the Skyr package. Grate some cheddar.

Now layer the quiche with salami first. Add mushrooms, then more salami. Put the Swiss Chard on top. And pour the sauce over all. Last comes the cheese

Bake for 35 min, take it out and let it sit 15 min, then serve.