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[jak stat]

It's Friday, so I had some friends over and we made enough food for several days. Here are some dishes that GAF may find palatable.

Roasted brussel sprouts. Coat brussel sprouts with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 400F until the outside are nice and crispy. Don't overcook and make the insides mushy.

Pasta and peas with sage butter

Melt the butter and then add the sage leaves.

Heat until the leaves are crispy at medium heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add frozen peas and some water.

Al dente fettucine is supposed to be added. I put in some other whole wheat pasta instead. The recipe from the NY Times called for topping the mix with butter and parmesan cheese and baking it. I just add the parmesan cheese without baking it.

Prosciutto-wrapped mushrooms
Uh just wrap the mushrooms and bake.

 

[jak stat]

gobo is great isn't it? I found some gobo senbe (rice crackers) the other day. sooo good.

If you like gobo, then you would probably the tofu burger that I make. You shred gobo with nira onions and mix it up with crumbled tofu. Make it into patties and fry it. The recipe I took it from called for a quite tasty ketchup/wine sauce on top of it. The gobo adds a great earthy flavor to it.

What's the texture of the gobo like in senbei? I don't think I've seen that kind in the US. One of my old vegetarian schoolmates used have deep fried gobo. So bad for you but so tasty. <drool> I don't like peeling all that skin and then slicing it up, so I usually just buy the frozen ones.

That tofu burger sounds good, but there's no nira around where I live right now. Fried tofu is my favorite bad "health" food. It soaks up whatever sauce I'm using that time.

What is sawtooth?

It's Eryngium foetidum. It has a bit of a citrusy flavor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium_foetidum

 

[tnw]

jak stat those brussel sprouts look great!

I've always wanted to try this hashed brussel sprout recipe, but alas when I can actually find them here, they're too expensive to make it worth it.

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/11/state-of-sprout.html

What's the texture of the gobo like in senbei? I don't think I've seen that kind in the US. One of my old vegetarian schoolmates used have deep fried gobo. So bad for you but so tasty. <drool> I don't like peeling all that skin and then slicing it up, so I usually just buy the frozen ones.

The texture isn't that different, but it certainly has that great gobo taste in it. They fried sembe, which aren't my favorite; I prefer baked sembe more.

And yes deep fried gobo (gobo age) is so good, I always get that over french fries if it's avaliable.

They often wrap asparagus with ham here. I've never tried it, but you might want to try it.

 

[PhoenixDark]

I'm planning on cooking some boneless, skinless chicken breasts this week. I looked for some recipes but didn't find many that gave great directions on how to cook them. Basically what's a good recipe for cooking them in a skillet, and one for cooking them in the oven?

I'm not looking for anything too fancy lol

 

[jak stat]

I'm planning on cooking some boneless, skinless chicken breasts this week. I looked for some recipes but didn't find many that gave great directions on how to cook them. Basically what's a good recipe for cooking them in a skillet, and one for cooking them in the oven?

I'm not looking for anything too fancy lol

OnkelC had a tarragon chicken recipe--I made it and was quite satisfied. As for baking, it sounds like a casserole kind of thing might work. Chicken en papillote will look nice and be pretty easy to make.

Here's one that seems to work
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_34250,00.html?rsrc=search

jak stat those brussel sprouts look great!

I've always wanted to try this hashed brussel sprout recipe, but alas when I can actually find them here, they're too expensive to make it worth it.

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/1...of-sprout.html

Sheesh yet another food blog to add to the reader and another recipe to try.
They often wrap asparagus with ham here. I've never tried it, but you might want to try it.[/quote]

They often wrap asparagus with ham here. I've never tried it, but you might want to try it.

Yeah some robata izakaya restaurants make it around here. Heck they wrap everything in bacon/pork fat. The charcoal really makes it.

 

[OnkelC]

I'm planning on cooking some boneless, skinless chicken breasts this week. I looked for some recipes but didn't find many that gave great directions on how to cook them. Basically what's a good recipe for cooking them in a skillet, and one for cooking them in the oven?

I'm not looking for anything too fancy lol

Hi PD,
cooking/frying/roasting boneless chicken breasts is really easy to do. I would marinate them in a mix of salt, pepper, some paprika, oil (olive or neutral, your choice) and chopped garlic (1 clove per 4 breasts) for about an hour before frying. Heat a skillet to 3/4 max heat and fry them for about three minutes per side in a good amount of oil. The marinade will make a nice sauce if you sex it up a bit with creme fraiche and some wine or broth and add it to the skillet before serving.

 

[haunts]

Can you make spanish rice in a rice cooker?

 

[tnw]

Hey guys.

I've been back to stir frying a bit lately. I few years ago, I noticed that it's best to put in a fewer number of items. Normally I would put 5 or 6 things in stir fry, but I've cut it down to 2. I've really noticed a difference in how I enjoy it. Instead of just food to shovel in my mouth, I really enjoy what I'm eating, Some of favorite pairings are japanese eggplant with komatsuna (a slightly bitter spinach like leafy green that stands up to heat unlike spinach) or some nice grilled firm tofu (yakidofu). Mushrooms like maitake that aren't super absorbbant like button or shiitake mushrooms pair nicely with the super absorbant eggplant. I usually just use a little sesame oil with some pressed garlic. At the end I flash in a little soy sauce. I used to be obsessed with ponzu (a citrus sauce that is less salty than soy sauce) and kochejyan (korean hot pepper paste), but I find that the headiness of a good soy sauce goes quite nicely with a minimalist stir fry if used in small enough quantities. All of the flavors of each ingredient really stands on its own.

Anyway, I've got a question for everyone. I bought these cute little radishes at the grocery store today, and I want to do something fun with them (sorry for the crappy cell phone picture)

Any suggestions? I was thinking of making a nice salad with them, using them whole with another vegetable proportionately sized (I actually bought some yamaimo to use with it). A bunch of other incomplete thoughts like wanting to use black pepper, goat cheese in it. They just seem like they would make such a nice presentation. I was perusing through epicurious.com and didn't really see what I was looking for...

 

[OnkelC]

hi tnw, radish is great for a salad base. I would not use them as whole, though, because they got a rather sharp/hot/too intensive taste to them. Better slice them. The leaves, well-rinsed and cut to stripes, can also be added to the salad. The goat cheese idea/black pepper is good, you could try a basic vinaigrette with some cubed onions in it.

haunts, welcome to the thread. Sorry no one has answered yet, but I don't own a rice cooker myself. My guess would be that it is not suited for preparing spanish rice in it, though.

I'll bake a red hot riding hood cake today, stay tuned and share your stuff please.

 

[tnw]

well I got excited and made a salad out of those radishes. They were a lot more mild, more like a daikon radish with a little of that western rasish kick.

So I angle julienned them, choppong up the leaves as well. I julliened some yamaimo.

For the dressing, I used some orange juice and added some thyme to it. Added a bit of olive oil. I was intending to keep the goat cheese crumbled, but I think the acid from the orange juice made into a nice smooth creamy dressing. The orange juice was just short of adding enough acidity, and the goat cheese finished it off and also rounding out the flavor as well. It is quite a tasty little salad!

I always make the generic school cafeteria soy sauce/sesame oil/balasamic vinegar vinegrette, so I think this new goat orange dressing will be a part of my line up

 

[JRPereira]

Baked a strawberry cake (not shortcake) for my dad's birthday recently. Took a lot of time to prep, but came out well. It's 3 layers of yellow cake with two layers of strawberry jam (about 1.5 of those 9" pans worth of cake).

I hardly ever ice or letter cakes, so it's a little scraggly looking. Also, I straightened out the first D in "Dad" before serving so it didn't look so much like a B.

The icing is a mix of whipped topping and royal (aka almost entirely sugar) icing. It came out nice and light while retaining a somewhat sugary taste that offsets the tartness of the strawberries.

 

[jak stat]

So I angle julienned them, choppong up the leaves as well. I julliened some yamaimo.

For the dressing, I used some orange juice and added some thyme to it. Added a bit of olive oil. I was intending to keep the goat cheese crumbled, but I think the acid from the orange juice made into a nice smooth creamy dressing. The orange juice was just short of adding enough acidity, and the goat cheese finished it off and also rounding out the flavor as well. It is quite a tasty little salad!

I always make the generic school cafeteria soy sauce/sesame oil/balasamic vinegar vinegrette, so I think this new goat orange dressing will be a part of my line up

Hmm, using goat cheese to make a creamy dressing rather than as a topping is a nice idea. How did the jullienned yamaimo work in with the salad? I've had it only with cold udon(grated), and I don't know how well the slimy texture works with salad.

 

[OnkelC]

JR, that is one nice cake, congratulations!
Mine did not turn out so fine, will post some pics tomorrow.

 

[jak stat]

JR, that is one nice cake, congratulations!
Mine did not turn out so fine, will post some pics tomorrow.

Onkel, I saw the cake and I thought it was yours. Was wondering what happened to the cake.

 

[tnw]

Hmm, using goat cheese to make a creamy dressing rather than as a topping is a nice idea. How did the jullienned yamaimo work in with the salad? I've had it only with cold udon(grated), and I don't know how well the slimy texture works with salad.

Yeah, yamaimo is typically grated into tororo goo, but they've been selling the matchstick stuff here for the last couple of years in salads and stuff, which is where I got the idea (7-11 had this great mekabu and matchstick yamaimo salad with wasabi soy sauce. really really tasty). It's pretty much only the surface that is neba neba, it doesn't stay that way, especially once it was in the dressing. Yamaimo has a great....uuuuh crunch (hagotae is the word I'm thinking in japanese), and really goes great in salads I think. I didn't really grow to appreciate tororo until recently.

 

[OnkelC]

Onkel, I saw the cake and I thought it was yours. Was wondering what happened to the cake.

Well,

let's put it this way, it was experimental and it did not turn out as I thought.
since the cake is topped with a cherry jelly cover, i thought naming it "Red hot ridin' hood cake", after the old Tex Avery Cartoon:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8039477657790445932

The ingredients were the usual bag of goodies, plus cherries and a jelly icing:

First, I made a dough from flour, margarine, eggs, sugar and baking powder:

Half of the dough was spread in a spring form, the other half was enriched with two tablespoons of Nutella and added on top:

Now drain the cherries and add them on top (keep ze juice):

Off in the oven with it (30 minutes at 180 degrees celsius):

First OOPSy: dough rose too much

Let it cool down for 60-90 minutes minimum.

As the dough got too high, I had to make a second ring from baking paper around the cake to keep the toppings in place:

prepare the topping from curd, whipped cream and vanilla sugar, then spread it on the cake and let it chill for 1-2 hours:

When the cake is chilled, prepare the jelly glaze:

OOOPSy No.2: phonecalls while making the jelly should be avoided, as it cools down really fast and can't be spread evenly

Well, one could call it the "Mikhail Gorbatchev of jelly toppings"

Let it rest chilled over night.
Next morning (aka today):

But the cake is really tasty if you don't mind the looks:

Enjoy!

 

[Jacobi]

Whoa, a nutella cake Looks VERY tasty.

 

[tetsuoxb]

First time posting in this thread. Hopefully you will all enjoy the dish.

Lemon-Dijon-Wasabi Crusted Pork Tenderloin

(Note: I have gotten comfortable enough that I don't exactly measure. I measure to taste.)

Preparing the crust -

Mix half a jar (approx. 2-3 tablespoons) of dijon mustard with half a tube (1-1.5 tablespoons) of wasabi. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and mix. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Next, take a trimmed strip of pork tenderloin and massage it with extra virgin olive oil. I usually do this dish on busy nights since the prep time is very low. If you have more time, you can consider marinating it in Worcestershire sauce based marinade. Note the mixed crust waiting in the background.

In a smoking hot pan, sear the pork for 1-2 minutes per side, until you get a slightly golden color. Do not oversear or you will risk two crusts and a lack of adhesion on the wasabi-dijon.

In a pyrex dish, place the seared meat and spread the crust over the meat. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to the bottom of the dish and then fill the rest with mushrooms.

If you prefer a loose crust as opposed to a crispy one, you can cover the pork with lemon slices. I have tried both ways and they are both incredibly tasty.

Place in a 190 degree Celsius oven. Cook for 30 minutes and check the meat. If it is not cooked to your liking, check again every 3-5 minutes until you achieve desired results. I cannot stress enough that you cannot overcook pork tenderloin and expect to enjoy it. DO NOT OVERCOOK THE MEAT.

The juice at the bottom of the pan (pork juices, run off of wasabi-dijon, remaining lemon juice) make a great topping to drizzle over the mushrooms and meat.

This evening we enjoyed our dish with a cheap cab sav and a tuna sashimi-avocado salad dressed with wasabi.

You can play up a lemon-pepper taste by added fresh black pepper corns into the mix. You can also substitute fresh horseradish for the wasabi. Finally, if you have time, you can dress the meat with a standard port wine reduction sauce that matches the strong lemon and wasabi flavors well.

Enjoy!

 

[ChryZ]

Lemon-Dijon-Wasabi Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Very nice, thanks!

 

[OnkelC]

Awesome dish indeed, thank you for sharing tetsuoxb!
The idea of using Wasabi as a crust is intriguing, will definitely try that out. I am looking forward to seeing more of your skills!

Some salad from Saturday:

keep'em coming!

 

[tnw]

dijon doesn't usually have whole mustard seed in it like that does it? Real dijon is quite similar to japanese karashi, and has such a powerful wasabi like kick it would almost seem like overload to mix those pungent ingredients together, although with a german style mustard with seeds like you've pictured it would seem to work.

I'm pretty sure that the tube wasabi is mostly horserdish anyway. Real wasabi is prohibitively expensive even in japan. There's an udon resturant where they give you your own small root of wasabi to great into your food, and they even have little baggies for you to bring it home withyou.

the leaves of the wasabi plant are also tasty, they have the similar wasabi zing but it's much more subtle.

 

[tetsuoxb]

I'm pretty sure that the tube wasabi is mostly horserdish anyway. Real wasabi is prohibitively expensive even in japan. There's an udon resturant where they give you your own small root of wasabi to great into your food, and they even have little baggies for you to bring it home withyou.

It is quite expensive, and you are right about tube wasabi, hence why they are interchangeable in my recipe.

I'd love to try with freshly ground wasabi, but I'd reserve it for beef tenderloin instead of pork and I'd make the full port wine sauce.

Maybe I should take a trek to costco for a strip of beef tenderloin. Only like 16000 yen here!

dijon doesn't usually have whole mustard seed in it like that does it?

You found me out! They didn't have the brand of dijon mustard I usually use, so I substituted a seeded french mustard. I still prefer using dijon, as when mixed with the wasabi it creates a smooth crust; however, the mustard seeds were nice for a change.

 

[OnkelC]

since tetsuoxb corrected himself, let me just add that mustard from coarsely ground seeds is called "rotisseur".

 

[tnw]

Thanks Onkel, Rotisseur is probably my favorite mustard. I wish they would use it as standard mustard in the us instad of the yucky yellow mustard.

Here's a beautiful wasabi farm. It's where they filmed the waterwheel village section in Kurosawa's film 'dreams'

 

[jak stat]

First time posting in this thread. Hopefully you will all enjoy the dish.

Lemon-Dijon-Wasabi Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Enjoy!

This looks mighty good.

edit: the wasabi discussion reminds me of an article I read a long time ago about getting the price of wasabi down. Apparently wasabi isn't very easy to grow; iirc the article mentioned something about needing cold running water and gravel. There hadn't been that many advances in growing technique. An American farm was able to cultivate wasabi under more controlled conditions (ie doesn't need a stream). Since the price of the product is so high, they have a ton of security to make sure the methods don't get out.

 

[OnkelC]

Late night bump and a plead for help:

Fellow Poster Jacobi is hard at work with the latest issue of "Food for Thoughts" (check first post in here for the first issue) and needs some capable artists for the layout and illustrations. Check out his thread and do what you can, please!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150169

 

[Flynn]

I've been lurking here quite a while without contributing. Today that ends.

Arroz Con Pollo

This is from my family recipe. I may not look it, but I'm half Cuban. This is the way my dad cooks his arroz con pollo. He'd hate it if he heard it, but since he's been living in Puerto Rico for the last 15 years, there may be a little of the island's influence in this incarnation of the dish.

Ingredients:

2 lg. cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. salt
1 (4lb) chicken cut up
2 tsp oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 med green bell pepper seeded and chopped
1 med red pepper seeded and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 heaping tbsp of ground cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 c. tomato sauce
1 c. wine
2 c. rice
2 c. chicken stock
1/3 cup pitted, coarsely chopped green olives
pimiento

(the cilantro from my black beans recipe snuck into this picture, he doesn't belong)

If you've got a really great pot you can prepare this entire dish in it, but mine kinda sucks so I use a pan, then transfer everything into the pot for the rice cooking.

Fry the chicken in the bottom of a large pot or a pan with the olive oil. The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked -- just seared so that you get a bit of the fat in the pan and some browning on the chicken.

Crush all the spices and the garlic in a mortar.

Toss your spice mixture in the pot/pan for a sec, then add your onions to start making your sofrito. When the onions are glassy add the green and pepper and cook it up a little too.

Pour in the lime juice, chicken stock, wine and tomato juice, mix and simmer.

If you're using the frying pan transfer the sofrito (sauce) to the pot, add your chicken and cook for 30 minutes. Add your bay leaf and don't forget to remove it later. You don't want to eat one of these things.

Finally, cook the rice.

I find it easier to remove the chicken and boil the rice in the sofrito, though experts can get the rice to come out right while leaving the chicken in.

Anyway, pour your two cups of rice into the pot, bring the sofrito rice mixture to a boil, then turn the temperature to a little below medium and allow it to cook for 10 minutes.

At this point my rice usually isn't finished yet, so I add the chicken back in and simmer the mixture until the rice is perfect (usually another 10 or 20 minutes).

Serve with frijoles negros or plantains (not pictured, I will post recipes soon).

 

[OnkelC]

Looks good, thank you for sharing!
I'd like to see the side dishes, too!

 

[Flynn]

Thanks, Onckel.

I'm preparing my frijoles negros pictures now. My recipe is a little different from the one previously posted -- I prepare them in a pressure cooker.

Also: I just tried heavy liquid's gyudon recipe. I've always wanted to make it since eating at Yoshinoya about a half-dozen times when I visited Japan.

Anyway, the recipe came out great and my wife liked it, so I'll be adding the dish to our menu.

I finally found a really good Asian market here in Minneapolis. If they're cool with it I'll take pictures.

A question for heavy liquid: What cut of meat do you use for the beef bowl? And how do you cut it? With or against the grain?

 

[tnw]

Thanks, Onckel.

I'm preparing my frijoles negros pictures now. My recipe is a little different from the one previously posted -- I prepare them in a pressure cooker.

Also: I just tried heavy liquid's gyudon recipe. I've always wanted to make it since eating at Yoshinoya about a half-dozen times when I visited Japan.

Anyway, the recipe came out great and my wife liked it, so I'll be adding the dish to our menu.

I finally found a really good Asian market here in Minneapolis. If they're cool with it I'll take pictures.

A question for heavy liquid: What cut of meat do you use for the beef bowl? And how do you cut it? With or against the grain?

Asian Market in Mpls, eh? If it's not the one on eat street I would be very interested in knowing where it is, and pictures either way would be snort of nostalgia anyway. Pictures please!

 

[OnkelC]

We had some pork with Estragon tonight, enjoy:

 

[smirkrevenge]

haven't posted in awhile, since my desire to cook has been sufficiently drained by "real life."

sigh.

but i got back to the kitchen tonight, with a variation on a simple favorite: grilled cheese.

top: cave aged gruyere w/ tomato on rustic italian bread, a drizzle of white truffle oil
bottom: sharp cheddar w/ tomato on rustic italian bread, some sauteed minced garlic

i challenge you to make a better grilled cheese sandwich. it was...f*cking tasty.

 

[tnw]

Onkel, it's like a bukkake smiley!!!


Quality grilled cheese is really really tasty. If cheese wasn't so expensive here, and bread not huge cubes of white flour and water, i would probably make it more often.

 

[OnkelC]

Welcome back smirkrevenge, and thanks for sharing! Looks tasty indeed.

We had some coldcuts yesterday (due to summer-like temperatures):

 

[rollingstart]

I forgot how hungry I get reading this thread, once I move into my new place that has a good and working kitchen, I can finally cook good meals.

 

[smirkrevenge]

made a roast chicken tonight, courtesy of a thomas keller recipe.

the recipe was so simple, i've begun to realize that to make truly great meals, simple is better and fresh ingredients make all the difference.

1 chicken
some thyme
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
small red potatoes

rinse the chicken off and dry it thoroughly. truss it. liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper, including the cavity. put some thyme in the cavity, but your favorite herbs will work great too. preheat oven to 450, and when it's ready, place in there for an hour. i might leave it in for longer next time. let sit for 15 minutes, then serve.

juicy, crispy skin - it's really the perfect roast chicken. so easy as well! and if you line the oven pan with the potatoes, they develop a nice, crunchy shell due to the chicken fat collecting in the pan.

 

[tnw]

I bought a benriner pro yesterday. so excited to use it! perfectly sliced/julliened anything

I'll probably make a daikon salad. I had one the other day that had grilled leeks (naganegi) and girlled abura-age tofu in it. Going to try using o-fu instead of abura age because it's what I have on hand.

 

[tnw]

I 'made' gyoza for dinner tonight. Haven't 'made' them in quite awhile actually.

Made meaning I bought premade gyoza and just cooked them. Where I lived several years ago, they had 100% vegetarian gyoza, but since then I've never been able to find them. The always say 'filled with lots of vegetable gyoza!', and the second ingredient after cabbage will be pork. Well, these had pork fat listed at the end of the ingredient list, so I compromised. A good example of how it's difficult to be vegetarian here sometimes.

I do make Gyoza sometimes, but it is quite a commitment, and more enjoyable when you do it with a couple of people.

I usually pan fry them first in a little sesame oil until the bottoms brown, and then steam them a little bit in a mixture of ponzu, sri cha thai hot sauce (or korean kochujan (sp?)) and a little bit of water.

Tasty!

 

[OnkelC]

Looking good, tnw!
I'll make something similar tonight, (bought) fresh Tortellini with sage butter.

All you Newbies, what's on your tables?

 

[Jacobi]

I had some chicken wings for barbecue yesterday, well I tried, but they were of really bad quality (only bones and the meat was like gum no matter how burnt the skin was), so I had to go back the good old sausage again.

edit : tnw , is that your photo ? if so, then it looks really professional

 

[ChryZ]

Nice cooking, guys! Keep it up and have fun.

Also: I just tried heavy liquid's gyudon recipe. I've always wanted to make it since eating at Yoshinoya about a half-dozen times when I visited Japan.

Anyway, the recipe came out great and my wife liked it, so I'll be adding the dish to our menu.

A question for heavy liquid: What cut of meat do you use for the beef bowl? And how do you cut it? With or against the grain?

That gyudon pictorial was actually from me. Anyways, I'm glad you two liked it. Any cut will do, just increase the braising time until the meat is done to your liking. Slice the meat as thinly as possible and against the grain.

 

[tnw]

Onkel, I bought some schnikenbrot at the grocery store yesterday.

http://www.rudolphs.net/schinkenbrot.htm

very good bread! toasts great, and just the right density. Some german breads can be a bit too dense for making sandwiches and things.

did you know baumkuchen are really popular in japan? there's a place near my office called Jucheim Die Meister (my swiss friend laughs at the name all the time, I guess it sounds unnatural?)

http://www.juchheim.co.jp/die-meister/marubiru/breadanddeli/index.html

My favorite one is the schwarzbrod. Very dense, but very good for serving cheeses on. yum!

 

[OnkelC]

Heh, german bread and bakery is actually one of the few things that left an impression outside of our borders, at least cuisine-related :lol

The bakery store would translate into "Juchenheim The Masters", which sounds a bit preposterous, but for the average Japanese reader, it should read well

The mixed wheat-rye-sourdough variants of bread like the Schinkenbrot are the backbone of breads here, very versatile and good with hearty toppings as well as Marmalades, jams and Nutella. They are used for dishes over the whole day.

Most common way of serving is open-faced with a spread, cheese or cold cut of choice, but best sandwich to make from a Schinkenbrot type of bread is a simple slice of smoked ham and some butter, maybe topped with a pickle and the closed. It's too dense for salad or sliced eggs, as you already mentioned.

A buttered Schinkenbrot with smoked ham and a sunny side up on top is, by its' name of "strammer max", a famous snack or light dinner over here and can be found on the menu in most bars:

Schwarzbrot on the other hand is mostly eaten for breakfast to have a good start for the day. Also a good base for cannapees and the like.

Side note: Bakers need a special training and have to undergo an exam to being allowed to make Baumkuchen. Real good bakeries have a separate room with a open-fire place only for preparation of Baumkuchen. Now I'm hungry.

 

[OnkelC]

So, let's cook.

Thanks to the global climate change, our sage is already in full bloom:

So I made a real simple, fast but nonetheless tasty dish tonight: Tortellini with sage butter.
All you need is a handful of fresh sage leaves:

some Tortellini, butter, salt and pepper. I sexed the dish with some additional shredded gouda.

This is, like Aglio e Olio, one of the basic pasta preparations and perfect for you to check out new pasta. Preparation is not worth mentioning, just cook the pasta. When they are nearly done, melt some butter in a large skillet and fry the sage leaves in it for a few moments with some salt and pepper:

The butter should get a bit brown in the process, resulting in a so called "Beurre Noisette", adding to the taste of the dish.

Drain and add the pasta, swivel them in the skillet and add some cheese if desired -

DONE!

Enjoy and share yours.

 

[Jacobi]

Onkel, I bought some schnikenbrot at the grocery store yesterday.

http://www.rudolphs.net/schinkenbrot.htm

very good bread! toasts great, and just the right density. Some german breads can be a bit too dense for making sandwiches and things.

did you know baumkuchen are really popular in japan? there's a place near my office called Jucheim Die Meister (my swiss friend laughs at the name all the time, I guess it sounds unnatural?)

http://www.juchheim.co.jp/die-meister/marubiru/breadanddeli/index.html

My favorite one is the schwarzbrod. Very dense, but very good for serving cheeses on. yum!

It's really funny how you get to know German bread - in Japan :lol
Really interesting post though

 

[johnsenclan]

Seared Salmon with Cilantro-Cucumber Salsa, brussel sprouts on the side. Sorry, didn't take photos along the way.

Half a cucumber - cut lengthwise then sliced
Cherry tomatoes - quartered
1 quarter onion - diced
lime juice
a tablespoon of honey
a teaspoon red pepper flakes.
salmon fillet
kosher or sea salt
black pepper
fresh cilantro

Toss the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, lime juice, honey and red pepper flakes together and set aside. Lightly sprinkle the salt and pepper on both sides of the salmon. Heat a non-stick pan with canola oil to medium heat. Cook the salmon on each side for 4 minutes or so. Add the salsa to the side and garnish it with fresh cilantro.

Nothing special with the brussel sprouts, just boiled 'em for a few minutes because the fish didn't look big enough to fill me up.

OnkelC, I'm jealous. That sage looks great. We just planted our sage and cilantro yesterday.

 

[Flynn]

Nice cooking, guys! Keep it up and have fun.

That gyudon pictorial was actually from me. Anyways, I'm glad you two liked it. Any cut will do, just increase the braising time until the meat is done to your liking. Slice the meat as thinly as possible and against the grain.

Oops. Sorry.

Thanks for the great recipe.

I used a random steak cut, which I found to be a little fatty -- there was quite a bit of foam by the time the dish was ready to serve. I'll go for something leaner next time, I think.

 

[OnkelC]

johnsenclan, welcome to GAF and thanks for sharing! that looks real good, but brussels sprouts with salmon? doesn't that overpower the fish, taste-wise?
Show more of your stuff please!

 

[BirdFlu]

Hey guys! Just want to say I love this thread even though I never cook. But last night I came across ChryZ's chili recipe and I think I'm going to attempt it tonight. Just a few questions though:

1. What kind of flavor/texture does the beer add to the recipe? I've rarely eaten foods prepared with alcohol, especially beer, and am curious as to what it's purpose is in a chili.

2. Can anyone describe the coriander and cumin flavor to me? I've probably eaten these herbs before but for the life of me I can't think of where. The descriptions I've run into on the internet haven't helped much.

3. I don't have a broiler, so is there anyway I could blister and peel the chili skins off using say an oven or a skillet?

4. And finally is this an easy meal to make? My dad and me are absolute chili freaks but nobody around me can make a good bowl. So we've been forced to choke down Wendy's chili in some sort of sad attempt to enjoy the chili-experience

Any help would be appreciated and I will definitely post a follow-up, although I have no digicam, so I can't exactly make a great post like you guys

 

[OnkelC]

Hey guys! Just want to say I love this thread even though I never cook. But last night I came across ChryZ's chili recipe and I think I'm going to attempt it tonight. Just a few questions though:

1. What kind of flavor/texture does the beer add to the recipe? I've rarely eaten foods prepared with alcohol, especially beer, and am curious as to what it's purpose is in a chili.

2. Can anyone describe the coriander and cumin flavor to me? I've probably eaten these herbs before but for the life of me I can't think of where. The descriptions I've run into on the internet haven't helped much.

3. I don't have a broiler, so is there anyway I could blister and peel the chili skins off using say an oven or a skillet?

4. And finally is this an easy meal to make? My dad and me are absolute chili freaks but nobody around me can make a good bowl. So we've been forced to choke down Wendy's chili in some sort of sad attempt to enjoy the chili-experience

Any help would be appreciated and I will definitely post a follow-up, although I have no digicam, so I can't exactly make a great post like you guys

hi,
when cooking with beer,wine or spirits, the alcohol evaporates and only the tastes remain in the dish. In the case of beer, a slight bitter and malty flavor will remain, complementing the other chili ingredients.

cilantro tastes a bit soapy, while cumin can be described as a sweeter caraway variant.

I would consider chili an easy to make dish, as the most important ingredient is time. let it simmer on low heat for a few hours with occasional stirring and you are done.

No idea about the chili peeling, sorry. If you have a gas stove at hand, you could try to roast it over the open flame. Alternatively, you could buy a gas torch as they are sold in hardware stores.

Keep us posted of your outcomes, please.