I love the sunny days of summer. The warm air, the garden parties, and the simple meals.

A sandwich is the epitome of a simple meal, and this one is loaded with very complex flavors.

Prior to the creation of this meal, I had been very shy with using – or better said, not using – my chipotle chili powder. Now that I have taken a leap of faith and experimented, I am inspired everywhere I go with new ways to use it. One of my favorite ways it in guacamole. It will take an guacamole recipe and add the wow factor to it. And, because of the cool nature of guacamole, the chipotle chili powder doesn’t come over spicy at all, but rather adds delicious smoky undertones…which enhances any meal that you wish you could bbq, but can’t.

The chicken breast also has chipotle chili powder liberally sprinkled on it. Traditionally, I use Tone’s Garlic & Herb that I brought back from the US with me, and this time around I complemented it with the chipotle chili powder.

Serve your sandwich with a side of chips and some homemade lemonade, and you can pretend (or not) that you are basking in the warm summer son of a few months ago.

Sandwich
Ingredients:
Muli-Grain Baguette, sliced
Smoky Guacamole (see recipe bellow)
Cream Cheese
Tomato slices
Chipotle Chicken Breasts, sliced (see recipe bellow)
Lettuce Leaves

Directions:
Spread smoky guacamole on one slice of baguette, and cream cheese on the other. Layer on the sliced chicken breast, lettuce, and tomato, and then close your sandwich.

Enjoy!

Smoky Guacamole
Ingredients:
2 Avocados, pitted
juice of 1 Lime
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 – 1 teaspoon* Chipotle Chili Powder

Directions:
Place the contents of both avocados along with the lime juice in a food processor and puré. Stir in the salt and chipotle chili powder, and adjust as needed.  Sprinkle on some cracked Pepper for added flavor.

*adjust to desired smokiness

Chipotle Chicken Breasts
Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
Salt
2 teaspoons Tone’s Garlic & Herb Seasoning per breast
1 teaspoon Chipotle Chili Powder per breast
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil per breast

Directions:
Preheat eat a griddle on medium-high heat.

Flatten out any thicker areas of the chicken breast with a meat hammer for more even cooking.

Grind (or shake) salt liberally on one side of each chicken breast. Then, sprinkle on half of the garlic & herb seasoning and the chipotle chili powder. Pour half of the olive oil on, and rub the dry seasonings in so that it’s pasty. Flip over each breast, and repeat.

Cook on a hot griddle for 5+ minutes on each side (depending on meat thickness), or until cooked through. Remove from heat, and let site, covered, for 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve warm, and enjoy!

I have been craving spicy food for the past few weeks like crazy. What I wouldn’t give for some really Jamaican jerk chicken that leaves your mouth burning with happiness. But, I don’t have any plans to travel to the Caribbean right now, so when I was paired with Denise from Eat Laugh Love for this month’s Taste&Create, I was excited to see her recipe for Jalapeño Poppers!

Now, I have eaten quite a few jalapeño poppers over the past few years, but I have never eaten any filled with refried beans. I was really surprised how easy these were to make. I never could quite figure out how they could easily be de-seeded, but the trick is in the few minutes you microwave them to soften them! Oh, and if you leave a few too many seeds inside it will be very spicy.

I love making taco salads, so I thought this would be a nice change to my typical taco salad toppings. I also made a fabulous roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa that my brother-in-law taught me – but more about that next week.

Jalapeño Poppers
Ingredients:
12 Jalapeños (I had to use another smaller chili since jalapeños were not available to me)
1 Cup Cheesy Refried Beans (see recipe bellow)
1/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Corn Meal
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
Cooking Spray

Directions:
*Use Gloves to prevent terrible burning*

Preheat oven to 232°C (450°F).

Using a knife, make a slit along the side of eat jalapeño. Place all of the jalapeños on a plate and microwave for 3-5 minutes, or until soft. I did it 1 minute at a time.

In the mean time, make the cheesy refried bean filling – see recipe bellow. Place 1 cup of the filling in a piping bag or sandwich bag. Set aside.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, open slightly with your gloved hands and scrape the seeds and membrane out with a small sharp knife.

Cut the tip off of one corner of the plastic bag with the squeeze enough of the filling into the pepper so that it fills, but can still be closed without it goo-ing out.

Take out 3 salad bowls or deep plates and place the flour on one, the corn meal and salt on the second and mix, and the third the eggs whisked.

Take one filled jalapeño and roll it in the flour. Then, dip it in the egg, and roll it in the corn flour. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Enjoy.

Cheesy Homemade Refried Beans
Ingredients:
800 grams Pinto Beans, drained
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 teaspoon spicy Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
1/8 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/8 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Green Onion, sliced
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese (I used Goat cheese)

Directions:

Place the pinto beans in a sauce pan and puree with a wand mixer. Drop in the butter and mix until melted over medium heat. Mix in all other ingredients and cool until hot and the cheese has melted.

Makes 4 servings for taco salad – or about 2 cups.

Taco Salad
Ingredients:
4 Cups Cooked Rice
4 large leaves Ice Berg Lettuce, shredded
1 1/2 Cups Cheesy Refried Beans (see recipe above)
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Jalapeño Poppers (see recipe above)
Sour Cream
Salsa

Directions/Assembly:

Place 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of shredded Lettuce on each plate. Top with a bit less than 1/2 a cup of cheesy refried beans. Sprinkly on 1/4 cup of cheddar. Crown the taco salad with a jalapeño popper or two, sour cream, and salsa.

Makes 4 salads.

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!

Ingredients:
600 grams Cherry Tomatoes, halved
2 Onions, diced
1 Jalapeño, seeds removed, minced
1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
4 Tomatillos, chopped
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
400 grams cooked Kidney Beans (or your favorite bean), drained
1 Cup hard Goat Cheese (or your favorite cheese)
2 Cups cooked Rice (recipe here)
1/2 an Avocado, chopped
2 Cups Lettuce, chopped
2 Tomatoes, diced
Guacamole (recipe here)
Sour Cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 218°C (425°F).

On a baking sheet, combine the cherry tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, bell pepper, tomatillos, and olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from baking sheet from oven and pour the drained beans on top of the vegetables and mix. Sprinkle with the garlic powder and then all the cheese – return to oven. Bake another 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

Top your cooked rice off with a few spoon fulls of the bean and vegetable mixture, then layer on the rest of your toppings: avocado, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and sour cream. Enjoy!

Makes 4 servings.

So, once you have made a delicious bowl of vegan refried black beans you need a way to use them. Tostadas are a great way to use refried beans in general and they’re quick and easy once the beans are made up.

All you need is a bit of oil for frying, some corn tortillas, and your favorite toppings like pico de gallo and guacamole.

Just fry the tortillas for a few seconds on each side, remove from the oil and drip dry. Then, top with refried black beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream.

Enjoy any time of the year!

As I hinted at in the last post, my father-in-law visits cooking classes at his local Williams-Sonoma that they offer for free on Sundays to anyone who wishes to attend.

While were were visiting, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit a class with him in north Austin.

I found the set-up quite nice. They had a large angled mirror on the ceiling so that we could see what they were cooking. We were able to taste-test everything and it was quite tasty. I was, however, disappointed that they were using mainly ingredients that you could only buy in their stores – like their roasted version of Ro-Tel for $12!!!

My father-in-law mentioned that they have different cooks for the different classes, and that this lady is the one who plugs their products. Other cooks cook from scratch and give tips as to where the correct ingredients can be found at other locations around town.

So, what did we eat while we were there??

Hot dogs topped with a very very spicy pickle relish (also only found at Williams-Sonoma). The relish really made me sweat from the heat, but it was delicious.

Hamburger sliders made with a spice mixture (also only found at Williams-Sonoma). The hamburgers tasted ok – I have definitely made better ones before – but I was quite impressed by their table-top electric grill. I would like one of those babies for home. It seemed to really work well and better than the grill pan that I have at home.

Rotisserie chicken with different bbq sauces (also only found at Williams-Sonoma). I found the rotisserie that they used for it nice, but impractical since it can’t double as a toaster over or something else that I would use more often. The bbq sauces were just not to my personal taste – I’ll just lease it at that.

Queso dip with Williams-Sonoma $12 version of roasted Ro-Tel served over tortilla chips. It was ok, but there is no way that I would mix a $12 bottle of tomato concoction with a chunk of Velveeta.

So, what are my thoughts on the overall event?

If I lived in the US, I would definitely go to more of these. I think it’s a great place to get ideas and fun to cook with others. However, I don’t think I will ever walk out with a $12 bottle of roasted Williams-Sonoma Ro-Tel…

A while back I came across a recipe on Use Real Butter for some good-looking fish tacos. Now, I’m not a big fan of fried fish – or fried anything for that matter (too messy), but my mom never minds frying something for us. So, when I was visiting her on our trip to the US, we took the opportunity to make this together.

I can’t remember where I got the recipe for the white sauce that we used, or if i just made it up as I thought it should taste, but if you do a Google search for “fish taco white sauce recipe“, you’ll have plenty of recipes to choose from.

My mom ended up frying more fish than we could eat in tacos that day, so she froze the leftovers and said that they defrosted very nicely and remained crispy if you cooked them in the toaster oven. So, if you like to have fried fish, but don’t like to fry all the time, it would be a good idea to make a large batch of these and freeze them for later use.

1 Lb. Orange Roughy Fillets (original recipe called for red snapper)
1 Cup Four
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Beer (we used Dos Equis)
Oil for deep frying
Corn Tortillas
White Sauce (see Google search to find a recipe)
Shredded Lettuce
any other desired topping like: Avocado slices, cilantro, cabbage, shredded carrots, etc

Directions:
Heat the oil in a frying pan until it reaches 177°C (350°F).

Wash and pat-dry fish fillets. Slice into 1-inch thick strips. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine thoroughly. Then, pour in the beer and mix with a spoon until smooth and no longer lumpy.

Dip a piece of fish into the batter so that it is thoroughly coated and place in the frying pan. Repeat with a few more strips of batter-coated fish, but make sure not to crowd the pan. Fry until pieces are golden in color (about 4 minutes).

Remove the fish to a cooling wrack that has something (like a cookie sheet) bellow it to catch the oil that will drip off the strips.

Serve on tortillas with your choice of toppings.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Serve with beer or a margarita to help cut the grease!

Or, try one of these great cocktails from For the Love of Food:

Aqua Pearl recipe

Samoan Beach recipe

Desperados recipe

Margarita recipe

At the end of last month I participated in Foodbuzz’s 24,24,24 event. Among many other dishes, we grilled a whole suckling pig. Having some meat left over, I was sent home with some leftovers. So, I took the opportunity to make some bbq pulled pork that my husband had been begging me to make for a while.

I didn’t follow a recipe, I just put in the ingredients that I felt would be right. Luckily, I measured everything out and wrote it all down so that I could share with you.

I also made a less traditional addition to the pulled pork by adding a can of some Heinz Baked Beans in tomato sauce that we had bought to try. They added some nice substance to the meat and next time I will double the amount of beans in the recipe. And, next time I will also just use navy beans instead of baked beans in tomato sauce. I found that the baked beans sauce didn’t add (or take away) from the recipe. So, since baked beans are more expensive than plain old navy beans, I will go with the cheaper alternative.

I served these over homemade buttermilk biscuits and with steamed corn. However, because bbq pulled pork is gooey and messy we ate it with a fork a nice and cut the biscuit into it as well. It was absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:
60 grams Palm Sugar, crushed (can substitute with light brown sugar)
2 Cups warm Water
240 grams of homemake Ketchup (recipe here)
1/4 Cup Molasses (can substitute with Malt Syrup)
2 Tablespoons Liquid Smoke
270 grams Pulled Pork (pre-cooked)
415 grams Heinz Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – I recommend doubling this (can substitute with Navy Beans, liquid drained)

Directions:
In a medium-sized pot over high heat dissolve the palm sugar in the warm water. Add the ketchup, molasses, and liquid smoke and mix well. Add the pulled pork and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Add the beans, mix, and continue to cook until the beans are heated through. Add more liquid smoke to taste if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Goes well over homemade buttermilk biscuits or in cheddar cheese quesadillas (a little goes a long way! You will only need about 1-2 tablespoons per quesadilla) topped with sour cream.

Right before our trip to the US we canned a whole bunch of tomatoes from our garden (a post about that will follow eventually). We had a few ingredients left over that we needed to preserve since everyone else we knew was also going on vacation at the same time.

We decided to make a sort of pico de gallo. Now that it has a had a few weeks to set and soak in the flavors, we opened a jar to have with some breakfast tacos.

It was lacking in flavor. The lemon juice flavor was gone and it needs much more salt to taste. Everything also should have been diced instead of chopped. What can I say…after a whole day of canning, we were lazy.

What I did end up making was a great pre-salsa. This would be the great foundations of a salsa. I would pulse this in the food processor a few times. Then, just add some more tomato, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and some seasonings.

So, I think this is what we used:

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo Roma Tomatoes
1 large Yellow Onion, chopped
2 Jalapeño, seeded and chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped Cilantro
1/2 teaspoon Salt per Quart Jar
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice per Quart Jar

Directions:
Peel tomatoes. To peel: bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and have a bowl of ice water ready and set aside. Cut a small X at the tip (bottom) of each tomato. Place a few tomatoes at a time in the boiling water for a few seconds, or until the peel at the X point starts to loosen. Quickly remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon, place in ice water, and, with your hands, slip off the peel of the tomato by lightly squeezing it off. Discard tomato peels.

Roughly chop tomatoes, onion, jalapeños, and cilantro to desired size – you can always make them smaller in a food processor before adding to another recipe.

To can:

Bring water to a boil in a large canning pot.

Ladle the sauce into pre-cleaned jars for canning, leaving 1/2 an inch of air at the top. On top of the sauce in each can add 1/2 teaspoon of salt per each quart jar and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice per quart jar – do not mix, just leave it on top.

Wipe down the edges of the jars thoroughly and then seal with a lid.

Carefully place the jars in the boiling water (use a protective glove that can stand the heat or use canning tongs) and make the the cans are completely covered with water over the lids. Boil for 15 minutes.

Remove jars from boiling water, wipe down, and set someplace room temperature where they will not need to be moved for 24 hours. Once 24 hours have elapsed, you can move them to where ever you’d like to storage them.

The other day I came across a really really good-looking recipe for “San Marzano “Quick” Salsa” on Bucky’s Barbecue and Bread blog. And, just by looking at the photos, I knew it would not only be a fantastic salsa, but the salsa that I have been trying to reproduce for the past 5 years.

I changed-up the recipe a bit to fit the ingredients that are available to me here in Germany. This salsa is not only really easy to make, but tastes just like my favorite Chili’s salsa that are served with Chili’s “BOTTOMLESS TOSTADA CHIPS™”. Most of the people who tried this salsa last weekend were surprised that I had not used fresh, but rather, canned tomatoes.

Ingredients:
800 grams canned Whole Roma Tomatoes, juice drained*
1/2 small Red Onion, halved
1/2 small White Onion, halved
1 green Turkish Chili, roughly chopped
1 Cup fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped (including stems)
*update* 1/4 of a Green Bell Pepper, quartered
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
juice of 2 Limes
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Pepper (rough grind)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until all pieces are very small. Serve with tortilla chips.

*Only use the whole tomato pieces and reserve the left-over tomato sauce for another recipe.  The 800 grams is the weight including tomato sauce.  The weight of the tomatoes should be around 488 grams.

Makes 2 cups.

Well, I am quite pleased to say that our potluck was a huge success.  Not only did we had over 30 people show up for dinner, but we had many people show-up in the morning to help with our garden Spring Cleaning event.  And, after many hours of hard work in the garden and in front of the grill, we were all ready to sit down and share a nice large meal together.

The buffet was full and everything was picked away to the last piece!  The chocolate-coated fruit was a huge hit with the children and it was gone within minutes!

The whole event was such a great success and made all our gardeners so happy that they asked what we had to do to have another event like this.  I got so many compliments on organizing the event and thanks to our “sponsor” – Foodbuzz – for making this possible.  So…we are thinking and hopefully next month we will come-up with something new and exciting for Foodbuzz 24,24,24 again.

See recipes bellow:

Roasted Suckling Pig for 30 (recipe from Nermin – Bosnian)

Ingredients:
1 whole 20-25 kg Suckling Pig
~10-15 Tablespoons Salt

10-20 kg high quality Wood Charcoal (if it’s cold outside you need more, if it’s warm outside you need less)
Lighter fluid

Directions:
The evening before roasting:

Remove all organs, if any left in, from the pig and reserve for another occasion (or feed them to your dog). Rub in inside of the pig with about 2 handfuls of salt before adding the spit.

To add the spit start in the rear opening, push through the body, and come out through the mouth. Secure the pig to the spit on each side and in the center (interior). With a spark knife, cut a hole in each thigh and under arm and fill with salt – rub in with your finger. Rub another 4 handfuls of salt on the inside of the pig and then hang the spit in a safe, cool, and insect-free location. Our best option was to close it in the grill over night because it is still very cold outside nights.

The day of the roasting:

Set up your spit with it’s motor work. Place a pile of good charcoal under each end of the pig – make the pile under the thighs slightly larger than the one under the underarms. Keep the charcoal away from the center of the pig because it is very thin and will cook more quickly than the thighs and underarms. Pour lighter fluid over each pile of charcoal and set on fire. Turn the motor of the spit on so that the pig is rotating constantly. Close the barbecue doors and open to check every 15 minutes. Once the skin of the pig starts to lightly bubble, poke the skin with a knife to release the juices and scratch of the juice that runs down the pig until juice is no longer running out of the holes.

Continue to roast for a total of 5-6 hours – checking every 15 minutes to make sure that the charcoal is still warm and that the pig is not burning in any location. It should be a nice dark golden red when done.

Remove the pig on the spit from the barbecue and lean against something stable while it cools for about 10 minutes. Someone needs to sit in front of it and shoe the flies away. Once the initial cooling is done, wrap with a blanket so that it’s completely covered and tie closed. Let cool for another 2 hour (roasted suckling pig tastes best at room temperature and not hot). Remove from spit and cut into manageable chunks.

Serve with bread and salad. Makes enough for about 30 adults.

Montenegrin Goulash for 15 (recipe from Sdravgo – Montenegrin)

Ingredients:
2,5 kg Onions, pured
8 oz. Vegetable Oil
~6 Liters Water
4 Tablespoons + to taste Salt
1 kg Carrots, pured
3 kg Bell Peppers (mixture of red, green, and yellow), pured
5 kg Beef (knuckle), cut into 2″ cubes
4 teaspoons dry Parsley
4 teaspoons dry Celery Leaves
4 teaspoons dry Basil
4 teaspoons dry Rosemary
4 teaspoons spicy Paprika
4 teaspoons Garlic Powder
4-5 Bay Leaves
4 teaspoons Pepper
4 teaspoons Vegeta
300 Tomato Sauce
1,5 kg Potatoes, peeled and diced

Directions:

In a food processor, pure, separately, onions, carrots, and bell peppers – keep in separate plates – so that the raw vegetables are as small as possible.

Add the onions with 1/2C oil in a huge pot over medium heat and stir constantly. Add 2 tablespoons of salt and continue to stir constantly. After about 15 minutes, once the onions are soft, add the carrots and mix well. Add about 1 cup of water and stir constantly until the carrots are soft. Then, add the bell peppers, mix, add about 2 cups of water, and continue to stir constantly until the bell pepper have softened.

Rinse the beef in water, cut into 2″ cubed and place in a large bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoons of Salt and add meat to vegetable mixture and mix in. Continue to stir constantly…for 1 hour.

After 1 hour of stirring add about 5 liters of water and the parsley, celery leaves, basil, and rosemary. Continue to stir constantly for another hour.

After 1 hour add all other spices, tomato sauce, and salt to taste – mix well. Stir constantly for another 30 minutes, taste and regulate spices to your liking. Add potatoes and continue to stir constantly for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and starting to fall apart.

Serve immediately or remove from heat and let sit and reheat for about 5 minutes before serving. Serve with bread.

Makes about 15 main dish servings.

Herb Butter (recipe from Ingrid – German)

Ingredients:
250 grams Butter, softened
Salz, to taste
a few drop of fresh Lemon Juice
a handful of Herbs, such as: Wild Garlic, Chives, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Tarragon, Burnet, Sorrel, Bishop’s Weed, Pilewort, Chickweed, and other herbs that have fresh small leaves on them – minced

Directions:
Mix the butter and the minced herbs together. Add salt and a few drops of lemon juice to taste. Press the mixture around with a fork until well combined.

Place the mixture in a serving container and let harden in the refrigerator.

Goes well on bread, or melted over hot grilled vegetables or grilled meat.

Makes about 1 cup.

Peperonata (recipe from Frida – Italian)

Ingredients:
6 large Bell Peppers (red, yellow, green, orange), seeded and chopped
4 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
250 grams Onion, chopped
2 – 3 cloves Garlic, cut into thin sclices
2 Bay Leaves
500 grams canned Whole Tomatoes, quartered
Salt, to taste
freshly ground Pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a large pot heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers, mix, cover and let cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper, mix and let simmer, uncovered, until the liquid has almost completely condensed.

Remove the bay leaves and add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or cold. It goes well as a side dish to grilled meat or as an appetizer.

Makes about 5 cups.

Buckwheat Crepe Rolls (recipe from Sabine – German)

Ingredients:
5 Buckwheat Crepes
1 small package of Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tablespoons Chervil, diced
12 thin strips of Lox

Directions:
Coat each crepe on one side with cream cheese and sprinkle with chervil. Layer with strips of lox and roll tightly. Slice into thin strips. Serve cold – they start to unroll in the warm weather.

Perfect Texan Salsa (recipe from me – USA)

Ingredients:
800 grams canned Whole Roma Tomatoes, juice drained
1 small Red Onion, quartered
1 green Turkish Chili
1 Cup fresh Cilantro, roughly chopped (including stems)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
juice of 2 Limes
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Pepper (rough grind)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until all pieces are very small. Serve with tortilla chips.

Makes 2 cups.

Caesar Salad (recipe from me – USA)

Ingredients:
Dressing:
4 cloves Garlic, chopped
4 slices Anchovy, diced
2 teaspoons Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tablespoon Dry White Wine
1 teaspoon Whole Grain Mustard
1 teaspoon Mustard
Juice for 3/4 medium Lemon
1 Egg Yolk
1 Cup Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Parmesan Cheese

Salad:
1 head Romain Lettuce, washed, dried, and chopped
the greens of 5 Green Onions, sliced
4 slices cooked Bacon, crumbled

Directions:
Dressing:
With a mortar and pestle crush the garlic, anchovy, salt, and pepper into a fine paste. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce and wine. Whisk in the mustards, lemon juice, egg yolk, mayonnaise, and Parmesan until the well combined and the color of the mixture has lightened to a light yellow.

Makes 1.5 cups.

Salad:
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Toss on dressing a few tablespoons at a time until desired amount has been reached. Serve immediately.

Serves 10.

Chocolate Covered Fruit (recipe from Elke – French)

Ingredients:
an assortment of fresh fruit: Strawberry, Pineapple, Banana, etc
a bar of Chocolate

Directions:
Melt chocolate, stick fruit with toothpicks, dip in chocolate, set on a serving tray and let cool.

Apple Strudel – (recipe from Andreas – German)

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 Egg
1/8 Liter warm Water
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
350 grams Flour
1 pinch Salt

Filling:
2 Kg Apples, peeled and diced
Raisins
choped Nuts
Cinnamon
Sugar
melted Butter
Bread Crumbs
Powder Sugar

Directions:
Whisk the egg, warm water, and oil together in a bowl and mix/kneed with the flour and salt. Kneed until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers, about 15-20 minutes. Then, form into a ball and let rest for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 180°C (356°F).

Roll out the dough (the dough recipe is enough to make 2 strudels) until it’s “so thin that you can read a newspaper through it” (as his mother would say). Lay the finished dough onto a kitchen towel, brush on melted butter, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and chopped nuts. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking pan. With the help of the kitchen towel, roll the strudel into a roll and place on the baking pan. Brush the strudel with melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar and eat.

Dishes brought to the meal without recipes:

Salad – Vietnames

Obatzter – German

Sausage wraps – ??

Greek Salad