Duvel

I use pretty much ChefSteps recipe, but I prefer rosemary as the herb and omit the Activa RM (works pretty well without) ...

My type of pie 😍

I woke up this morning with my belly unmistakably & unexplainably requesting „Grünkohl“! No specific reason, it is not even cold enough for eating it. And yet, after three hours of carefully boiling chopped up kale into submission with copious amounts of cured pork products, here we are ...

I am not sure about a turkey breast roll, but turkey leg roll (first SV, then deep fried) is a truly remarkable item: easy to prep, forgiving in the making and very satisfying to eat.

My family rebelled against another night of Pho, as the house allegedly is still perfumed with a faint star anise/fennel scent ... so I made chicken braised with mushrooms and chestnuts (and added star anise, that’ll show them). Not much to look at, but very, very tasty. Served with stir-fried sugar snap peas & garlic and some dumplings (commercial product) with sesame/black vinegar/soy dip ...

That looks mighty tasty ... but what makes it “forbidden” ?

My apologies, but I had to smile reading this. Growing up in rural Germany, Pumpernickel was on the table more often than not. And I loathe it. So much. And while I admire you going through the process of replicating something inedible, it seems that the shortcut at least didn’t taste as bad as the original 😜 YMMV, of course ...

Pho Bo, as my first steps into pressure cooking continue ... half short rib, half oxtail. Added some black cardamom to the usual suspects coriander, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and fennel. Very good - the little one practically inhaled it. Next batch tomorrow ...

“Gyros & movie night“ instead of the usual pizza-fueled variety - no complaints (neither about food nor my movie choice “Totoro”) Nicely stacked ... And crisped w/ „veggie part“ Pita bread in the making Brushed with oil and grilled Assembly process, easy as child‘s play And a little reward for the cook !

There used to be a Chinese takeaway in my hometown called “Alte Linde” (“Old linden tree”), because it occupied the half-timbered house a German restaurant of that name occupied before. We always joked that “Al Te Lin De” was probably Cantonese and gave some warning on the food quality (Which wasn’t good, even for a 16 year old from a rural German town). It did not last long, despite the name ...

Before inevitable succumbing to @Franci’s purchase suggestions, this week I acquired a pressure cooker from the source of all evil (and cheap household appliances). The Amazon Basic pressure cooker does exactly what is needs to do - no frills, no extras - but thanks to Prime day about 25% off. Never having owned a pressure cooker before, I decided to make stock first. Pho Ga specifically. It worked out nicely. Stock was full bodied and delicately flavored after one hour cooking time. The used meat made a great filler in addition to the minced pork in my Vietnamese spring rolls ... all good !

Must ... resist. Aaaaaargh ! I know it will end up in my shopping basket tonight, latest after the Saturday night liquid mood enhancer 😜

That looks pretty good, too ... Would you mind sharing your recipe ?

Easy peasy “chinesy” ... SV duck breast with hoisin & five spice, cucumber & scallions, bag juices reduced with honey, tomato & eggs and fried string beans with black beans. Steamed bread (commercial product), to make little duck baos ...

I know a place 😉

Aaaaargh... I need to find cheap plane tickets to Israel. That looks so good !

There are, actually ... And I am in the quite fortunate situation that I can get pretty much whatever I want either in or around my house (which explains my healthy physique). Today I was just feeling like junk food (which does agree with my gastrointestinal system), and I am happy to return to the more refined tastes tomorrow 😉

Sometimes it just has to be ... especially after rough, completely disappointing day where you can’t drag yourself to finish prepping the sous vide duck breast with five spice that you dropped into the waterbath just some hours ago ... So - without any further apologies or remorse - a McRib. Yep. I have spoken!

Strong flour refers to the variety used for bread making, so high protein flour. The German type 550 I use qualifies as that. Using strong flour is a scone seems counterintuitive to me, as you want a crumbly texture, and not a well developed one. I‘d assume mixing would then be very short and baking follows quickly after (hence the baking powder ?) ...

Thanks, @heidih! The dough is a straightforward yeast dough: 500 g strong flour 310 g warm milk 8 g salt 10 g sugar 20 g molten butter Instant yeast

We spend the afternoon hiking in the vineyards around my town. I prepared some Zwiebelkuchen and carried a few bottles of the local wine (Weissburgunder Kabinett) to accompany it. The kids enjoyed fresh smoked sausages ... After some extensive exercise we came home to duck legs (SV, then broiled), red & green cabbage and Knödel. A hearty red from Rioja to go with the meat ... Plenty of Schnapps followed, and I lost track of counting, taking pictures and worrying about Corona ... 😉

I had the fermented bean curd one twice while living in Hong Kong and need to admit that from all the ines I sampled, this one actually was the most palatable ...

Not with that attitude 😜

@Kim Shook: that’s just my standard pizza dough, rolled out a bit thinner, brushed liberally with olive oil and cooked on the griddle pan ...

This weekend’s project: Gyros (as correctly predicted by @Kim Shook 😉). This is the Greek variety, made from pork, not the US version, made from ground beef/lamb. That‘s next weeks project ... Pork neck, sliced thinly, and marinated with plenty of garlic, onion, spices, oil and vinegar. Nicely skewered and ready to slowly rotate to perfection ... Unfortunatey, 10 min in, the gas bottle ran out if propane 😪. Sunday - no shops open for gas bottles ... Disaster. But(t) ... the skewer just fit into my oven. Of course no rotation, and only limited option with hot air circulation to crisp up the meat after internal temperature reached 69 oC - well, beggars can’t be choosers ! Gyros actually turned out fine - not perfect, but taste was pretty great, some extra crisp parts, some tender ones, and all plenty juicy. Served Greek style with Meze, cabbage salad & homemade pita, brushed with olive oil and grilled ... Very, very good ! στην υγειά μας