Sour Beef and Dumplings

Aaaaahhhhhh, a taste of home... well my home at least. I was graving some good old german food so I decided to make Sour Beef and Dumblings.

The mix for the dumblings you can get in many grocery stores that have an international section. I believe Giant has them. They are simply called potatoe dumplings.

Please keep in mind that this beef should marinate in the vinegar for about 3 days, so plan ahead.





Ingredients:

- white vinegar
- water
- small onion
- beef roast
- 5-6 juniper berries
- 5-6 bay leaves
- pepper, salt
- about 3 packs of brown gravy mix (have extra on hand just in case)

- One pack of of potatoe dumplings (prepare those according to package directions)


Peparation:

- Season the beef with salt and pepper and put it into a large plastic container with lid. Add diced onions and fill the container with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water, just enough so the meat is covered in fluid. Throw in the juniper berries and bay leaves.
Seal the container and let it sit in the fridge for about 3 days.

Fast Foward to Cooking Time:

- Sear the meat in a hot pan until the outside is nicely browned.
Don't get rid of the vinegar mix yet!

Set the meat into your crockpot. You now want to add enough fluid to make sauce with it. I use half of the vinegar mix and then the rest just water so it doesnt get too sour.

Cook on High for 4 hours (I dont use the low setting because I want the meat tender, but dont want it to fall apart) Of course you could cook it on the stovetop like any other roast as well, but the crockpot gives amazing results.

After 4 hours carefully lift the meat out of the pot and stir in brown gravy mix (amount of packaged depends on the amount of fluid you have, play it by ear)

Set the meat back in while you cook the dumplings (and whatever veggie you may want to serve. Green beans are often served with this)


Slice the meat, serve with gravy (you may or may not need to run the sauce through a strainer) and dumplings. Enjoy!!

Apple Streusel Cake - my favorite!

This recipe is actually super simple but its so good.


For the Dough:

-200 g unsalted butter (I used two full sticks.. making it a little more than 200gr)

-1 Egg

-200 g Sugar

-400 g plain flour

- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder





For the filling:



- 1 small bag apples .. any kind that isnt too sweet works best



- 5 tablespoon brown sugar



- about 2 tablespoon cinnamon




Peel the apples, remove seeds and cut them into small cubes.


Put them into a pot with the brown sugar and cinnamon.


Turn stove on high, then turn down to medium as soon as you can tell the pot is heated up.

Let the apples cook slowly. stirring occasionally. You want them to become very soft.... and trust me.. you will LOVE the smell!


Ones they are cooked all the way you can either leave them as they are or you can break them up a little with a potatoe masher to whatever consistency you like your filling to be)




While the apples are cooking you can preheat the oven to 345 degrees and prepare the dough.



Just mix all of the ingredients and mix really well by hand.


At first the dough seems dry but keep working it and it will quickly turn into a nice smooth dough.



Grease a Springform and use a little over half of the dough to layer the bottom and side of the form.


Then pour filling into the springform.



Last break up remaining dough over the filling, spreading it nice and evenly.


The crumbs will "melt" a little while baking and build a pretty layer on top of your cake.



Bake for 45-50 minutes, The cake is done when the crumbs have turned into a nice golden brown color.




This cake is wonderful fresh but I like it even better the next day.

Pork (or chicken) Pot Pie a la Me ;)

- 3 pork chops (or chicken breast)

- cube chicken broth

- 3-4 potatoes

- 1 1/2 cups of corn

- half a head of broccoli

- a handful of sliced mushrooms

- 1 can of broccoli cream soup

- about 1 cup heavy whipping cream

- about 1 1/2 cups dry white wine ( I love keeping a wine box in the house .. I cook with wine a lot)

- salt, pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg, paprika, pepper flakes

- 2 cans of Pillsbury cressant creations dough (this one http://tinyurl.com/cuvm8f )


Boil chops (or chicken) slowly with a cube of chicken broth and salt, pepper and garlic

Take meat out of the water when done. Cut up potatoes into cubes and boil them until just done in the broth that the meat was in. You can add some water if needed.

Pull meat apart.

Drain water when potatoes are done. Add meat to the potatoes as well as the corn, broccoli, mushrooms and the can of broccoli cream soup. Add a cup of wine and let it all warm up over medium high heat. Stir carefully. Add cream and more wine if needed until you have the amount of sauce you want. Season to taste.

Spray a Casserole dish with cooking spray and line with one sheet of the cressant dough. Push the dough up on the sides so it will hold the filling.

Pour filling into the casserole dish and top with the second sheet of dough. Cut a few lines into the top.

Bake at 375 degrees until the dough is golden brown.

Soooo good. Of course you can replace the veggies I used for your favorite veggies.

Best Ever Marble Cake

Sorry about the metric numbers.. if your meassuring cup doesnt have metric meassurements on it then you can just convert it online.

-250 Gramm Butter (soft at room temperature)

-200 Gramm Sugar

-500 Gramm flour (dont use self rising, just the plain simple white flour)

-a few drops vanilla extract

-1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

-1 Pinch Salt

-4 Eggs

-1 Cup Milk

- few drops butter extract

- few drops almond extract

- 1 block 70 or 80% cocoa chocolate (Lindt has a good one)

- 3 tablespoon sugar

- a handful dark chocolate chips or candymelts

- few drops of rum extract

(or.. but the first tastes better....:
-30 Gramm cocoa powder for baking .. its about 5 tablespoons
-3 tablespoons water
-3 tablespoons sugar

- few drops of rum extract)

Mix the butter with the sugar, salt and vanilla until nice and creamy.

Slowly add the eggs. Mix well.

Mix flour with the baking powder and while mixing, slowly add the flour and the milk.. taking turns between milk and flour so the consistency stays smooth.

Add a tiny bit of almond extract (very little, maybe 3-4 drops) and a little butter extract.. maybe 10 drops)

Melt chocolate in a hot water bath (break chocolate up into a cup and set the cup into a pot that has some water on the bottom.

Heat the water and let the chocolate melt like that. Stir occasionally, add the chocolate chips or candy melts when the dark chocolate is smooth and add the sugar as well.)

(If you do the second option then just mix all ingredients until smooth)

Grease a "Kaiser Springform" and pour 3/4 of the dough into it.

Add the chocolate to the remaining dough and also add some rum extract.

I like the rum flavor so I put quite a bit but you can do that to taste.

Mix well.

Pour the dark dough in top of the white one in the Springform. Use a fork and twist the dough so the black slightly mixes into the white.

Bake at 355 degrees for about 60 minutes.

After about 45 minutes I lay a sheet of aluminum foil over it to avoid the cake getting too dark on the outside before the inside is done.

Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Honey Dijon Salmon

For 4 Servings:


- 1 large Salmon filet

- 1/4 cup melted butter

- 3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard

- 1 1/2 Tablespoon Honey

- Salt, pepper, garlic powder

- Panco breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400degrees.

Put the salmon filet, skin side down, on a foil lined baking sheet. Sprinkle some salt, pepper and garlic powder on it.

Mix butter with mustard and honey, stir until it is all well mixed, nice and creamy.

Pour the mixture on top of the salmon and spread it out all over so the whole salmon is covered.

Top with a nice coat of breadcrumbs and gently press them onto the fish/sauce

Bake Salmon for about 30 minutes or until it flakes nicely with a fork.

I served it with lemon pasta (pasta with salt, pepper, garlic powder, some lemon juice and a little butter)

Enjoy!

Homemade lasagna

- 1 pack lasagna plates (doesnt necessarily have to be the no boil kind, they cook through either way during baking time)

- 1 lbs lean ground beef

- 1 sweet italian sausages (squeeze out of casing)

- 1 cube beef broth

- 1 1/2 cups water

- 1 pack thick and zesty spaghetti sauce mix (its a seasoning pack)

- 1 container ricotta

- basil (fresh or dried... or both)

- salt, pepper, garlic (minced)

- a little olive oil

- a little milk

- 1 large can of tomatoe sauce

- 1/2 to 1 pack of grated mozarella (or cheese of choice)

Fry the beef in a little olive oil, add the sausage when beef is about done.. break it all up really well so its all crumbled up. Season with salt, pepper, garlic

When meat is done, add the cube of beef broth and a bit of water... let it break up and stir well. Add the pack of spaghetti seasoning and 1 1/2 cups of water and stir well. Let the water cook down, should go quickly

In the meantime mix the ricotta cheese with plenty of basil, a splash of olive oil and a bit of milk to get a thick and creamy consistency. Add garlic, salt and pepper.

Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Put some tomatoe sauce on the bottom, then a layer of lasagna plates.

Top with tomatoe sauce, then Ricotta mix, then meat,

Add another layer of lasagna plates and repeat.

Do as often as you want until you used all the meat and cheese (or until your dish is full)

On the top you want lasagna plates with tomatoe sauce

Finish with a nice layer of grated mozarella cheese.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a piece of aluminium foil with cooking spray and loosely cover the lasagna with it (so the cheese doesnt dry out)

Bake for 1 hour, then take the lasagna out of the oven and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Super easy, mouthwatering Porkchops ... and Brussel Sprouts

You can of course make this with anything other than brussel sprouts if you dont like them, but I am sharing both recipes here

For the Pork, 4 Servings:

- 4 thick Pork Chops (boneless)

- plain panco bread crumbs

- 1 egg

- salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder

- 1 can cream of mushroom soup

- a few tablespoons of cooking sherry (or white cooking wine)

- a few tablespoons of milk

- half a pack of sliced portabella mushrooms (optional)

Line a casserol dish with aluminium foil and spray with cooking spray.

Season the pork with spices listed above, then dip in egg and then in panco breadcrumbs.

Arrange in the casserol dish. I usuall add some more breadcrumbs on top and push them on nicely. Spray the breaded pork lightly with cooking spray (butter or olive oil flavor is favorable) .. you can skip that step if you want to. It just helps get things crunchier.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake chops for 1 hour.

Mix the cream of mushroom soup with a little sherry and a little milk to make it nice and creamy. You can add the fresh mushrooms here, if you are using them.

After 1 hour, take pork out of the oven, put the cream of mushroom mixture on top and continue baking for another 30 minutes

That's it. So tender and soooo good!!!

For the brussel sprouts, 4 servings:

- Fresh brussel sprouts (amount to what you normally eat, I get two bowls of the fresh one),

cut them in half if they are very large

- 3-4 slices of bacon

- 1 can chicken broth

- pepper

- 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Fry bacon until its just starting to crisp. Take bacon out and let it sit on a plate.

Use the bacon grease to fry the brussel sprouts until lightly browned outside.

Add brown sugar, stirr, then add the chicken broth and some pepper.

Cook covered for about 20 minutes on medium-high heat, then remove lid and continue cooking until all the liquid is gone.

Add bacon back into it and mix well

It's really tasty and even people that normally dont like brussel sprouts have liked it that way

Enjoy!