For the Love of Food

Yesterday I shared my Naturally Ella-inspired roasted spaghetti al pomodoro with you, and today I am going to share with you my favorite take on her recipe!

Originally, I had planned on making her exact recipe – in tostada form, but when I went to start cooking, I realized that my guys had eaten all the tortillas as a snack the day before (the baby starts to wiggle with excitement when he sees a tortilla!). So, I went to emergency plan B and made some rice instead, and decided to turn the meal into a taco salad.

And, wow, we were so blown away by the easy and delicious flavors of this recipe that we have made it 4 times in the last 2 weeks! It just amazes me that something as simple as roasting a tomato – as opposed to frying, grilling, or simply eating raw – can not only the change the flavor of that ingredient, but really transform an entire dish and take it to a whole new level.

This is definitely worth making for friends at dinner parties! Oh, and it re-heats very well in the microwave the next day – so this would make a great left-overs lunch for work! Continue Reading »

The other day while I was perusing Foodgawker, I came across a fantastic post on an English Breakfast. Now, the closest thing I’ve ever eaten to an English breakfast is an Irish breakfast. And, while they’re not the same, they have some similarities and are both quite tasty.

On the weekends we really like to enjoy a big breakfast, but, to be honest, an English breakfast is just too big for breakfast. However, it does make a great brunch, even better lunch, or dinner. I prefer to enjoy it for lunch since that’s our big meal of the day and we’re going to get up and move around after it. And, as in the case with all meals, with a large meal like this is is prudent to practice moderation to avoid any indigestion. And, a nice green tea after the fact wouldn’t hurt either.

I would change a few things for in this meal to make it a bit more flavorful. I would toss the tomatoes and mushrooms with olive oil and roast them in the oven on a baking sheet (at 220°C) for 30 minutes. This would have brought out the sweet flavors of the tomatoes a bit more. I would have also thrown in an onion or two with it as well. Next time I will also go with a low-sodium bacon that I can get at my local butcher instead of the traditional salt-packed bacon from the grocery store – there is plenty of salt in the bratwurst – no need to add more. Oh, and since we can’t get decent baked beans around here; I beefed them up with about 2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce.

So, if you’re looking for something to make for the family tomorrow, this is really quick, easy, and has something for everyone!

Continue Reading »

All that talk of making beer yesterday made me hungry! And, nothing like some delicious southern food to satisfy our hunger – I tend to miss being home in the summer and this really hits the spot.

My husband put this wonderful meal together for us last week.  He found the hush puppies recipe here – we tweaked it a bit.  I did the cocktail sauce.  And, I am no lover of cocktail sauce, but I blew myself away with this sauce that I put together for my boys so much so that I ended up consuming half of it myself!

After the jump, you’ll find all three recipes: Continue Reading »

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been quite busy in my garden the last few months, but it hasn’t always been weed-pulling, raking, and watering.

We have had some fun grilling every once in a while the last few months. This specific time we made ribs and grilled vegetable pockets. And, let me “warn” you – the pockets look boring and drab, but they explode with delicious flavor – and they are soooo easy to make!

For the ribs, I made one of my previous recipes and steamed them the night before – this is how they become nice and soft. The recipe calls for just seasoning it with salt and pepper, but next time I will use my dry rub to give it more flavor.

May recipes after the jump: Continue Reading »

I have been absent – on and off – for quite a while now. I think it may be a year since I’ve been “neglecting” my blog.

We have had a rough ride with life over the past year, but I have not let it stop me from cooking or from photographing my dishes.

I think it’s time to start rolling them out. Now, I can’t make any promises – I have a 3.5 and an almost 1 year old at home – things can get hectic and some evenings I just collapse from exhaustion. But, my goal and wish is to share it all with you.

While living in my in-between-homes apartment (see the yellow plastic plates I had to eat off of for over 3 months), I came across a fantastic blog: Budget Bites. Now, I love meals that keep me from spending lots of money. And, I love them even more when they are recipes of traditionally expensive dishes in restaurants.

To make this recipe even better, it saves me the hassle of rolling – to the disappointment of my 3.5 year old son who loves sushi rolled.

I did change up her recipe slightly to fit our family’s needs. I wanted a dressing that even our little one could enjoy and came up with an avocado dressing that went great with this dish.

So, here’s my version: Continue Reading »

Have you noticed anything different here…or rather the same? Yes, this is the same bowl from the last post.

As many of you have read in previous posts, I have been in the middle of a move since February because the renovation company working on our apartment (Pravexx GmbH) is “a bit” behind schedule. Not to get anyone’s hopes up (including my own), but it actually looks like we could be moving in sometime in the next 2 weeks….I actually have flooring in the kitchen and if all goes well the new parquet will be delivered today and the walls painted tomorrow. And, my brand new kitchen is being delivered on Monday!!!

So, what does that all have to do with these awesome light turquoise bowls from Ikea (IKEA 365+)? Well, since ALL my things have been packed away in storage since February and I had been eating off of the same 4 plastic yellow pick nick plates and using tuperware as a cereal bowl (our temporary situation was only supposed to last a few weeks…not 4 months!!) I decided, on a recent trip to Ikea, to pick up some decent bowls. So, I walked out of Ikea with a big smile and 4 really pretty bowls. And, since they’re currently the only 4 bowls I have, they are going to pop-up in a lot of my food photography until we finally move and get the kitchen all squared-away.

On to the food…

I really enjoy bulgar. For some reason I don’t like couscous as much, but they are very similar. I buy instant bulgar which is ground up and only needs some boiling water poured over it and waiting about 3 minutes before you can consume it. It makes for a great, quick, and healthy meal – oh, and it’s pretty cheap here in Germany.

The one “down-side” to this bulgar salad is that it’s so good you will need a HUGE bowl to make enough for your family if you want to feed it to them for more than one meal (I only cook once a day for two meals).

My recipe is partially inspired by this bulgar salad recipe on Kayln’s Kitchen and partially by the great tips I received from my local Turkish grocer. Both recommended that I use fresh mint leave..and believe me I would love to..but I am still breast feeding, and nothing will dry up your breast milk like eating mint! Continue Reading »

Souvlaki is one of my favorite summer time meals. And, and although the weather is so cool here right now you’d think it was Fall, it’s still nice to pretend that it’s sunny outside! But, honestly, souvlaki is great any time of the year, and although most recipes require you to grill your meat, I cook my in a griddle pan (without the grill ridges).

So, what goes well with souvlaki?? Zatziki – zattiki – zatziki, rice, and cabbage salad. You can vary the vegetables beyond cabbage salad if it’s not winter, but it’s quite delicious.

Please don’t be scared of the long resting hours – these recipes are all really worth making and well worth the wait. Continue Reading »

I have been trying to make fish once a week now.

Prior to making Adobong fish I somehow had stuck in my mind that fish was only meant to be served after a deep broil or frying – to kill the flavor, of course – and then be doused in lemon or lime juice to further suppress and flavor. I am always surprised when I retry a food that was never ever ever a favorite of mine growing up and it actually ends up turning out so delicious that it becomes a weekly staple.  Now, every Tuesday is fish day.  You should just see the look of excitement in my 3-year-old’s face when I tell him we’re eating fish.  Before this recipe I always would wish I could have such pure enthusiasm for eating fish, but now, we’re on the same boat.  There’s no turning back – it seems there is a whole world of fish recipes out there left to be explored.

This is a really great recipe that I adapted from The Cook Mobile. It is really tangy and goes well with my aunt’s mango salsa. If you don’t have something sweet (such as the salsa) to offset the tanginess of the fish it will be very over powering.  I didn’t have any access to swordfish, so I used a white fish from France that I could pick-up at my local Turkish market.

I hope this recipe changes your view, like it did mine.  And, I would also love links to your favorite fish recipes!  I need something new to try out for next week’s menu! Continue Reading »

About a year ago our friends from Hempe Kommunikations Deisgns invited us over for a delicious traditional Franconian meal of pork roast and potato dumplings.  I’m not sure whose idea it originally was, but our friends ended up taking step-by-step photos of the process and giving me the recipe.  It was not only a fantastically delicious meal, but it seemed simple enough for me to reproduce.

So, after some practice, I thought it would be great to use my opportunity to through another Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 event and show my friends how well I have learned their recipe myself.  And, since it’s the right time of year, I decided it was time to break out the wooden Spekulatius boards and make some spiced cookies.

I was so excited when I pulled the pork roast out of the oven and saw the look on my friend’s face..and hear the words that came out of her mouth: look at the crust, I don’t think we’ve ever had a crust like that on any of our roasts!

And, as many cooks, what do I like more than cooking and eating my own creations?? : when people love my food.

The roast was a huge hit – crunchy, juicy, perfectly flavored – same with all the side dishes.  The cookies..well, they were ok, nothing to talk over…a shame.  But, we will keep trying until we get the perfect recipe.  After the fact I was doing some things and came to the realization that I used all local products to produce this delicious meal – wines and beers as well.

Ok, bellow I will leave you with 3 great recipes (pork roast, potato dumplings, and spekulatius cookies) all with step-by-step pictures which makes this a long post.

Between all the delicious Franconian wine, beers, delicious food, and conversation I never ended up taking any pictures of my guests enjoying the meal!  Continue Reading »

The other day I was perusing one of my favorite blogs (Steamy Kitchen) and I found Jaden’s post on the Pioneer Woman’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken. I have a weakness for fried chicken.

If you can make a good fried chicken, you can win over my foodie heart.
And, if you can make perfectly crispy homemade fries…well…I will just been sitting next to you with a big smile and greasy fingers.

But, since I’m the cook around here, I am the one in charge of satisfying my cravings. So, I got to it.

You will find that the secret to a crispy crust is not a soggy wet batter, but rather a crumbly dry one. I recommend checking out the Jaden’s post with step-by-step images.

And the fries, well, it’s easier than you think to produce perfectly crisp fries at home. It’s a trick a friend of mine taught me. It’s all about the double frying. Which, is basically what you do when you buy the pre-cut frozen fries from the grocery store. Continue Reading »