Moussaka

As a child one of the dishes my mother would make was moussaka, and ever since Glen and I have been living together it’s a dish I have been meaning to replicate and not managed to get round to, then a few months ago my friend mentioned it and I felt it was high time I gave it try. So I did and this is the recipe I used, not quite how I remember it. I guess with all my books though I am bound to have a slightly different recipe I can try, in the meantime this one wasn’t too bad!

Moussaka

2 large aubergines (eggplants) cut into 5mm slices

Salt and black pepper

5tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

450g minced lamb

100ml red wine

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1tsp sugar

100ml lamb stock

2tsp dried oregano

450g potatoes cut into 5mm slices

4tbsp parmesan cheese

4tbsp fresh breadcrumbs 

For the topping

200g Greek yogurt

3 large eggs

1tbsp corn flour

115g curd cheese

60g feta cheese, crumbled

1. Sprinkle the aubergines (eggplant) with salt and set to one side for about 30 minutes, and then rinse under running cold water, drain and pat dry. Salting the aubergine (eggplant) helps to reduce the bitterness and because you are sweating them reduces the water content, thereby making cooking time slightly shorter, I have also read that the aubergines absorb less oil once they have been sweated during the cooking process.
2. Heat 2 tbsp. of oil in a skillet and fry the onion until soft, increase the heat a little and cook the minced lamb until it has browned, being careful to break up any clumps as you go.
3. Add the wine and allow to boil for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes, sugar, stock and 1tsp of oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper simmer for about 30 minutes, liquid should have reduced by half and thickened.
4. While the meat mixture is simmering, brush the aubergines with a little oil and grill in batches, until soft and golden on both sides (I found it easier to use my George Foreman Grill as it did both sides at the same time, and I love that griddled look) and cook the potatoes in boiling water until just tender, be careful not to overcook the potatoes you want them to hold their shape. 
5. In a jug whisk the yogurt, eggs and corn flour together until smooth and then add the curd and feta.
6. Preheat your oven to 180˚C/350˚F. In a rectangular oven proof dish layer the moussaka, aubergine, meat and then the potatoes, try and overlap the potatoes slightly. You could if you preferred make your moussaka in four individual dishes, so each person receives, their own little dish.
7. Spread the topping so it cover the potatoes and then sprinkle over the parmesan and breadcrumbs bake until golden brown and bubbling, this should take about 45 minutes.

 

 

Sauteed Potatoes with blood sausage

This is the next one on my German recipe challenge, I liked it but although I enjoyed it, I found the texture of the blutwurst a little too stodgy for my liking; more accurately would be to say it turns to mush. It still tasted nice, so it wasn’t all a loss I suppose – in hind sight maybe I misunderstood the recipe and cooked the blutwurst too long or too much stirring perhaps. I’ll have to check that again! I am pretty certain that the mistake if there was one, was mine and not the recipe. This was the last German recipe I tried; the others that I did out of the folders were an Indonesian style soup, and a fish wrap. My German magazines have recipes from all over the world and over the years I have built up quite a nice little collection, one that I really should use more often.

Sautéed Potatoes with Blood Sausage

800g New potatoes, cooked in their skin (from the day before)

2 red onions

400g blutwurst/black pudding

2tbsp butter/1tbsp oil

1 tsp coriander seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

1 punnet of watercress

1.       Cut the potatoes into thick slices, the onions into thin slices and the blood sausage into 1cm slices.

2.       Put the butter and the oil into a large skillet and heat. Now add the potatoes, onion and coriander and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then. Put the sausage in the pan and cook for another five minutes, until the potatoes are crispy, carefully turn the sausages so they don’t fall apart too much.

3.       Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the watercress

Chicken and Chorizo with potatoes

I am in two minds about this one, for two reasons, the first being I am not a fan of meat on the bone, at all. I’ll go there every now and again, but of all the meats on the bone, chicken is my least favourite, I don’t like pork chops either, I can just about manage lamb. I’ll eat anything though as long it is boneless. So chicken thighs.. Ewwww! The second is the chorizo, I love chorizo, but I've had issues cooking it, I have a theory about this though, there are two different types of chorizo, the raw one which needs cooking and the one which is smoked and can be eaten as is, I think… When I cooked this we were still in Germany and I think I may have used the chorizo that didn’t need cooking, because it came out of the oven, black and rock hard which was not at all nice. However the flavour did infuse all the other ingredients so I did get the flavours right even though we couldn’t eat the sausage! Now we are back in England I should be able to buy the correct stuff and try again. The thing that I did love about this recipe is that it is a one pot dish, you just bung everything in the roasting pan and bake – the most hassle is the removal from the oven to baste it, once half way through the cooking time.

Chicken and Chorizo with Potatoes

1tbsp olive oil

6 Chicken thighs bone in, with skin

375g Chorizo

500g new potatoes, halved

1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1tsp dried oregano

Zest of half an orange

1.       Preheat your oven to 220˚C/430˚F. Put the oil into the bottom of a roasting tin, rub the skin into the oil and then place them skin side up into the tin.

2.       Place the sausage and the potatoes into the tin and then scatter the onion and oregano into the tin and grate the orange over the top.

3.       Bake for about 30 minutes then take the tin out of the oven baste the chicken and potatoes with the juices and then return to the oven for another 30 minutes.

     

 

Sautéed Potatoes with Tomato and Bacon

Most of the time I follow a recipe, as I've said before I alter them slightly to suit our tastes, but sometimes I get the urge to just throw stuff together. The problem is I tend to think of everything in portion size, my portion and Glen's portion and I forget to write down exactly what I have done - how much of what and as for why? I have no idea. This next recipe was one of the few occasions I knew exactly what I did. Two potatoes - one each, four rashers of bacon (slices) - two each, three tomatoes - one and a half each, dash of hot sauce - mostly because hot sauce was my new thing at the time, 1 tsp minced garlic - Americans have it definitly right when it comes to grocery shopping, you can buy massive jars of minced garlic, and none of that rubbish in vinegar that you get in England, nope this stuff is preserved in like a brine type stuff. One teaspoon of savoury - the sprinkle lid was broken so I stuck in a teaspoon, three tablespoons of red onion. I keep saying I'm not very creative, that my artistic vision is circumscribed by my own negativity, when in truth if I was really that uncreative I wouldn't be able to cook at all, neither would I be able to put pen to paper. I find that if I break things down into pieces, rather than looking at things as a whole, it makes things easier for me to find, the inspiration I need, to develope my idea into the final product whether that's a meal or one of my pieces of writing.

Sautéed Potatoes with Tomato and Bacon

2 potatoes, chopped into bite sized pieces

4 rashers of bacon, diced

3 tomatoes, diced

dash hot pepper sauce

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 tsp savoury

3 tbsp red onions, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1. Par boil the potatoes, meanwhile gently fry the bacon and red onion, when the potatoes are done pat dry and add to the bacon along with the remaining ingredients, fry until the potatoes are lightly browned.

I like this for it's simplicity, great for lunches, or light suppers!

CHOWDER.......... One of our favourites

A cornucopia, of flavours and textures make this spectacular dish – I love the way the potatoes come together perfectly with the sweetness of the onion and the salty bacon to compliment the shrimp and salmon. Topped off with the cream, it makes a delightful, soupy dish – Serve with garlic bread and jobs done!

Salmon and Shrimp Chowder

2 lbs potatoes
1 large onion
1.5 litres Chicken broth
300g Salmon cut into 1" pieces
200g Cooked Shrimp
250g Cooked diced bacon
470ml whole milk
240ml single cream
1 tbsp butter
½ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste

1. In a large pot, combine the potatoes, onion and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15minutes or until tender.

2. Add the salmon and bacon, cook over a medium heat until fish flakes easily with a fork.

3. Reduce heat; stir in the milk, cream, shrimp, butter, salt and pepper; heat through, (DO NOT BOIL) thicken if desired. Serve with garlic bread.

Stuffed tatties

These stuffed potatoes are great, I’m not sure what exactly inspired me to make these, but they are filling and can be used in two ways, serve in large baked potatoes as a whole meal, or smaller ones as a side dish. Either way these are great and easy to make.
Bacon Twice Baked, Stuffed Potatoes

4 small potatoes
4 carrots, chopped
½ leek, sliced
5 rashers (slices) of bacon, diced
1 spring onion (scallion) whites and greens
2 cloves, finely diced garlic
2 egg yolks
½ cup cottage cheese
¼ cup milk
1 tsp Italian herbs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 ½ tbsp butter, melted
Shredded mozzarella for sprinkling

1. Wash the potatoes and bake at 190˚C (375˚F) for an hour or until cooked through. In the meantime boil the carrots and leek for about 15 minutes or until soft, dry fry the bacon and when almost crisp add the garlic and the scallions, for about another minute and then allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl mix together the egg yolks, cottage cheese, milk, butter and seasonings, mash the carrots and leeks, then add to the cottage cheese mixture with the cooled bacon.
3. Cut the potatoes in ½ and carefully scoop out the middle and mash with a fork, then add to the cottage cheese mixture and give it a good stir, spoon the mixture back into the potato skins. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and return to the oven, bake until the cheese has melted.

A alternative spin on potato salad

We love salads, and I was looking for a “jazzy” potato salad. Something a little less “German,” don’t get me wrong, I love German food but for years my cooking was very German influenced. After all I have lived in Germany most of my 33 years, 25 if we want to be totally pedantic about it. So of course it’s going to have a lot of German influences in it. I was trying to get away from that though and start something new.

I found this “Warm Potato And Bacon Blue Cheese Salad,” in one of my cookbooks and if I’m honest it is just a jazzed up variation of a German Potato Salad.

 Warm Potato Salad With Bacon And Blue Cheese

500 grams new potatoes or salad potatoes, thickly sliced

2 tbsp Evoo

2 red onions, wedged

4 bacon strips, chopped

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

100 grams salad greens, torn

50 grams creamy blue cheese

1 tbsp mayonnaise

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/450°F. Place potatoes in a roasting tin, rub with a tablespoon of evoo and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 15 minutes, then add the onion and roast for another 15 minutes or until potatoes are golden and onion is soft. Remove from the oven and allow to, cool, slightly.

2. Meanwhile dry fry the bacon.

3. Whisk together the mayo, red wine vinegar and remaining evoo to make the dressing.

4. Put potatoes, onions, bacon and salad leaves in a bowl, pour over the dressing, then toss well. Crumble over the blue cheese.

crockpot beef stew

Crockpot’s are brilliant and I miss mine so much, I think I may have to invest in a new one soon. I had never owned one before, but we were given one in the States, which although I didn’t use all the time, proved invaluable for busy days when cooking was going to be tough to fit in. This Beef Stew, was my first Crockpot recipe, and after I made this in it, I crock potted all my stews, chilli’s and even Bolognese sauce. I love that you can throw everything in the one pot, add limited clean up and that you flick a switch, show up 8 hours later and HEY HO! It’s ready to eat….. If I am honest the best stews where made in my Crockpot.

After having a look on Amazon, I have found that you can buy them from as little as £16.00, obviously some are a lot more expensive, it depends on what brand you want and what you want them to do, I saw an all singing all dancing one, which, steamed, slow cooked, and was also a rice and porridge maker, but that was £68.00. Although it was and is totally lovely, I would probably not use it to it’s full potential – I buy boil in bag rice, so the rice maker bit wouldn’t get used – frozen vegetables, so the steamer bit is out, I am not naïve enough to think you can only steam vegetables, I am just left wondering if I would really steam anything else? Porridge, hmmm, maybe, but I don’t make it often enough to warrant a maker. So that’s the porridge bit out too. This machine was by no means the most expensive either, I settled on a Morphey Richards slow cooker 6.5litre, so very big and it was £27.00, I have put it in my wish list for later. I’ve managed without for 17 months a little while longer is not going to hurt!!

Beef Stew

2lbs beef, cubed

¼ cup flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 ½ cups beef broth

1tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 garlic clove

1 bay leaf

1tsp paprika

4 carrots, sliced

3 potatoes, sliced

1 onion, chopped

Put meat into the Crockpot, mix flour, salt and pepper, and stir to coat the meat, stir in the rest of the ingredients cover and cook…  

poaching fish

This recipe is another of my own, and also the other way that I like to cook fish, I have a serious issue with "crispy" fish, I can't stand the texture, but love the taste - rather unfortunate if you ask me. It's like, for example, if you really like peanuts but can't eat them because of a nut allergy, to me that's really unlucky, but at least you have a reason! I just start to gag because of the texture, how incredibly lame is that? Anyway by poaching the fish, you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar, that the fish will be perfectly cooked, and it only takes a few minutes...... I serve this with new potatoes and vegetables. The milk I turn into a white sauce, simply by adding a little flour to cold liquid and pouring it into the milk,

cook stirring continuously until it thickens and        

season to taste.                                                       

   Poached Fish

2 fish fillets of choice

milk

salt and pepper 

1 bay leaf

tsp Italian dried herbs

butter

1 tbsp cornflour

50 ml white wine

1. Place fish in a large skillet, cover half way with the milk, add salt and pepper to taste, the bay leaf, Italian herbs and a knob of butter. Cook until the fish is cooked, you can tell because it should easily flake with a fork...  You may have turn the fish over, to cook the other side.

2. Gently remove the fish, once it is cooked. Carefully wrap in toil foil and keep warm. Remove the bay leaf, from the fluid.

3. Add the white wine to the cornflour, and give it a good stir so that the flour has "dissolved" then slowly pour into the milk, gently bring to a boil, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens.

Serve with new boiled potatoes and vegetables of choice! 

Bacon, potato and mushroom gratin.......... Good for a cheap, quick and effortless meal

In my opinion this is a really good recipe, as you can see from the picture, the first time I made it, it was in a deep bowl, which kind of, well not kind of, it does defeat the purpose of the word gratin, from what I understand it is made in a shallow gratin dish and you brown the crust, I tend to do this in the oven, although I am lead to believe it's normally done under the grill/broiler.

There are three very good reasons why this is a good recipe         

1. It tastes good and is filling - that's two but I'm counting it as one.

2. It's quick and easy to make. I'm cheating here that's another two. 

3. It's very cheap to make. Didn't cheat that time.                              

Another one for my comfort food list.                                               

Bacon, Potato and Mushroom Gratin                                                

250 grams small potatoes

coarsely grounded pepper

1 small onion, diced

125 grams bacon, diced

30 ml evoo

125 grams mushrooms

125 grams cheese plus a little extra

1. Halve the potatoes, cook until tender and drain thoroughly

2. Cook the onion and bacon gently, to soften the onion and crisp the bacon add the mushrooms and cook stirring for 2-3 minutes. Pre-heat the oven, to about 200 degrees C

3. Put the bacon, onion and mushrooms into a gratin dish and stir in potatoes, season with pepper  and stir in grated cheese, then sprinkle a little on top. Bake until cheese is bubbling.

Sometimes I add more cheese depends on how cheesy my mood is.

Beef Stroganov

When my husband and I first started dating, we often went out for meals and a few drinks (a lot of drinks) definitely my fondest moments in life - sitting in a restaurant enjoying a nice meal and talking for hours about life. I remember thinking at the time if it was because the relationship was new, and we were both making an effort at making US work, nothing has changed though other than my chain of thought. We are one of the lucky ones, where little effort is needed to make it work, even when we argue, if you can call it that, we end up giggling and smiling at each other.......... Anyway back to the recipe. On this particular occasion my husband, Glen, opted for a fish dish (due to my fish bone phobia, I never eat fish when we are out) I had beef stroganov served with spatzle, I guess I made this recipe to try and recreate that night. We've had lots of good times together some just stick out for different reasons I guess. I found this one in a cookbook my mother gave me, Country Cooking. When I first opened it, I assumed country as in rural, not country as in country. It covers mostly Europe and North America and gives a small piece of information pertaining to each one. It really is a nice book and I've used several of the recipes, some of them are a little obscure, I suppose that's because they're foreign to me, but I love the fact each recipe comes with the proper name (translation underneath) and original spelling!!!!!

Beef Stroganov

500 grams beef strips, sliced

2 onions sliced

100 grams mushrooms, thinly sliced

lemon juice

70 grams butter

100 ml  sour cream

150 ml stock

1 tbsp brandy

1 ½ tbsp flour

1 tbsp parsley

1 tbsp tomato purée

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

½ tsp mustard

1. Cut the meat into strips, mix the flour with salt mustard and pepper. Gently fry the onions in the butter. Add the mushrooms fry for 2-3 minutes; then remove from the heat.

2. Dip the meat strips in the flour and shake off any extra. Cook the meat in butter then add the onions and mushrooms with their pan juices. Fry on a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring.

3. Pour in the brandy, set alight, then add the tomato puree. Add the stock, bring to a boil, then add the lemon and the cream, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Bring back to a boil and serve.

Servings: 4

Meat Hot Pot

I had left over lamb from the night before, chops and mint hollandaise, but I wanted something else. I had all the ingredients to hand and figured I may as well give it a go! It tastes lovely if you like this sort of thing, but my opinion is that it is definitely a winter warmer. I kind of have this preconceived image of cold snowy weather outside, dim lights indoors with a crackling fire, or maybe that just makes me a hopeless romantic. Either way that's how this one and a few others make me feel. I guess I'm just having a love affair with food? Or prehaps the real love is for my husband and the food is just an added extra feel good factor? Our apartment in Virginia had dim lighting, in the evenings and because it was winter we often had the fire on, the atmosphere was already set, without any intention or effort, then with this ugly looking winter warming meal, it's definitely my ideal, I don't know about yours? Hmmmmm...... I feel kind of gooey inside good food and an even better husband to enjoy it with....

Meat Hotpot

2 tbsp evoo
2 lbs lamp chops
4 large potatoes, sliced
1 lb carrots peeled and thinly sliced
2 large onions, chopped
1 tsp sugar
salt and black pepper
1 bay leaf
parsley
2-3 cups vegetable stock

1. Heat the oil in a casserole dish, add the lamb a little at a time, and brown over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

2. Add the potatoes, carrots and onions, cook for 5 minutes. remove from the casserole dish.

3. Make layers of lamb chops and vegetables in the casserole, seasoning each layer with a little sugar, salt and pepper, putting herbs in the middle. Top with a layer of potatoes. Pour in enough stock to come up to the potato layer. Cover tightly with the lid and cook at 325°F for 2 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.

4. Remove the lid from the casserole dish and increase the heat to 425°F and cook for 20-30 minutes longer to brown the potato.
Servings 4

Potato And Lamb Bake

                                                

Glen really enjoys lamb and until he cooked lamb chops for about 12 months before I cooked this I hadn't eaten lamb in at least 18 years - so this was another first for me. I own a V cutter and made the mistake of cutting the potato too thinly the first time around, so they stuck together into one massive clump and increased the cooking time (example number 1 of not reading the recipe properly) but apart from that it's really tasty, although probably best as a belly warming winter onepot! You could even serve this with hot Garlic bread to mop up those tasty creamy juices.


Potato And Lamb Bake


400 grams lamb loin chops cut into thin slices
flour for coating
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 clove garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Italian seasoning
750 grams potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
butter for greasing
nutmeg
sage
125 grams cream
1/8 litre milk
50 grams grated cheese
30 grams butter flakes


1. Coat the lamb in the flour shaking off any excess, heat the oil and fry the meat until crispy.


2. Heavily season the meat with 1 garlic clove, salt, pepper and the herbs.


3. Halve the second garlic clove and with butter, grease the casserole dish.


4. Preheat the oven to 200°C (410°F approximately). Place half the potatoes in the dish season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then cover with the lamb and sage then put on the last layer of potato and season again.


5. Mix the cream and milk, pour over the potatoes and lamb, sprinkle the cheese on top, spread the butter flakes and bake for 50 minutes until potatoes are soft.
Servings: 4