What are you eating?

[Brünnhilde forever]

Very pretty picture, André but not your work, I bet. Those red currants make my mouth water, love them, crave them, but the local groceries don't even know what I am talking about and trying to buy a bush and add it to my garden almost got me in jail!

Not that bad, but currant and gooseberry bushes are prohibited to grown in this State; has something to do with carrying diseases bad for the timber industry. Go figure! 

[Lilas Pastia]

Almost, Lis, almost, down to the mauve ribbon around the biscuits ( I searched long and hard for that pîc ).  Our charlotte had a slighty more prosaic garniture of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. And artificial stuff instead of real schlagsahne between cake layers .

Red currants are found here, but more often than not in gardens rather than in supermakets' counters. My wife's sister was very proud of her red currant bushes. But my jelly was better than hers  .

[Brünnhilde forever]

That is the only way I can satisfy my craving for red currants: In a jar as either jelly or jam, and even those I have to buy imports from either France or Denmark. I do prefer the jam, so much fun to pick out the rock-hard seeds from between your teeth for the next hour! 

Watscha got against Schlagsahne? On a diet or somsin? 

[toledobass]

I made an asparagus and gruyere quiche early this morning.  Remind me never to cook anything beside breakfast early in the day. I manage to somehow make the crust too thick but at the same time there was small hole in it.   The custard leaked out everywhere and the quiche is about 1/2 an inch shallower than it should be.  In the pic you can see the custard on the outside of the shell as well as too much crust over the quiche.  I also over seasoned the thing but that turned out to be OK as long as I just eat it cold and don't reheat.  It looks like a terrible mess but it tastes fine. 

Allan

[Brünnhilde forever]

Looks delicious to me, Allan! As long as it tastes great and you enjoyed making it, who cares. 

Asparagus and gruyere, eh? I still have a bunch of that purple stuff; will check what kind of cheese I have in the fridge, might come up with something as interesting as your quiche.

[jlaurson]

Just picked up a pork-happy Puerto Rican friend from the airport to stay with me a few days.

To stop the worst hunger before the Leberkaese (see below) is ready, we had some Olive Ciabatta with three different kinds of ham: Cooked, smoked, cured.

And in an hour, this:



(I don't have my camera-computer upload cable, hence the stock-photo... but I'll make sure it'll look just like that -- and yes, I do have fresh Bretzen for her, too.)

[Brünnhilde forever]

Why do you keep on doing this to me??? Always my mainstay when strolling the streets of towns and villages in Bavaria when hunger pangs hit: Warme Leberkäs Semmel. 

There are a few places in the USA making and shipping this delicacy, - or a poor substitute - but no matter what I try to revive the stuff, it never comes out the same as the native variety. 

[jlaurson]

Why do you keep on doing this to me??? Always my mainstay when strolling the streets of towns and villages in Bavaria when hunger pangs hit: Warme Leberkäs Semmel. 

There are a few places in the USA making and shipping this delicacy, - or a poor substitute - but no matter what I try to revive the stuff, it never comes out the same as the native variety. 

DYI

Pretty easy, actually. Let me know if you would like me to translate the below.

Bayerischer Leberkäse

        
Zutaten für Portionen

400    g    mageres Rindfleisch

400    g    mageres Schweinefleisch

200    g    grüner Speck (ohne Schwarte)

1       Weißer Pfeffer, frisch gemahlen
1       Salz
1/4    l    lauwarmes Wasser
1    Stk    mittelgroße Zwiebel
1    EL    Majoran
1       Für die Form: Butter

Zubereitung: Das Fleisch in grobe Stücke schneiden und durch die feine Scheibe eines Fleischwolfes drehen. Beide Fleischsorten mit einem Schaber in einen Mixer geben und unter Beigabe von Salz und Pfeffer, sowie dem lauwarmen Wasser glattrühren.

Den grünen Speck durch die grobe Scheibe des Fleischwolfes drehen und locker unter das Fleischbrät mischen. Zwiebel schälen, reiben und mit dem Majoran ebenfalls unter das Brät mischen. Diese Masse nun kalt stellen.


Zum Backen eine Kastenform mit Butter ausfetten und das Brät hineinfüllen. Die Oberfläche glatt streichen und mit dem Messer eine Rautenform einritzen (ca. 5 mm tief).

----This step you already know, if you've ever made it at home from the pre-made meat dough in the aluminum container----

Anschließend den Leberkäse auf 180 ° C in den vorgeheizten Backofen auf mittlere Schiene geben und etwa 1 Stunden backen (Umluft ca. 160 ° C, Gas Stufe 2-2 ½).

Dazu passt selbstgemachter Kartoffelsalat oder einfach nur eine Breze oder Semmel. In erkaltetem Zustand kann der Leberkäse in Scheiben abgeröstet oder gegrillt werden. Hierzu passt hervorragend ein Spiegelei und Spinat.
Am Besten schmeckt der Leberkäse jedoch, wenn er noch ofenwarm ist.

[Brünnhilde forever]

Great recipe and my limitless gratitude for posting it! Now please tell me what I did with the Fleischwolf I brought with me from Germany many years ago? I know of no implement now in American kitchens doing what a Fleischwolf does. Maybe if I talk nicely to my butcher, he'll help me with grinding the meat, I could do the rest - if I had a convection oven! Sigh!

Allan/aka Toledobass has one! 

[Papageno]

[Lilas Pastia]

Baby spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes and peanut dressing ?

What's the difference between rindfleisch and schweinefleisch ?? I always thought it was one and the same.

Lis, I love schlagsahne. I was discomfited to find that extra thick layer of greasy white stuff between the cake layers. Especially at the price I paid

[Papageno]

Baby spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes and peanut dressing ?

What's the difference between rindfleisch and schweinefleisch ?? I always thought it was one and the same.

Lis, I love schlagsahne. I was discomfited to find that extra thick layer of greasy white stuff between the cake layers. Especially at the price I paid

Dressing?  Hah!  Luxuries for slaves of the senses.  It's Tahini (creamed sesame seeds)

[SonicMan46]

Off on a weekend trip to Asheville, NC - staying @ the Biltmore Inn (pic below) - great restaurant on the property + a view of the famous Biltmore House in the distance; winery w/i walking distance.  Below are my dinner choices:

Starter:  Barbequed Quail w/  Sun-dried Cherry & Shallot Jam, Watercress Coulis

Main Course:  Roasted Rabbit Saddle w/  Morel Mushrooms, Peas & Carrots, Wild Ramps, Pancetta

Dessert:  Raspberry Soufflé w/ Vanilla Ice Cream, Homemade - shared w/ Susan - delicious dinner! 

Wine:  Pinot Noir made by Biltmore Winery w/ grapes from California; quite good for the price!

[jlaurson]

Hosting a few ex-Wash.DC friends, one down with stomach turbulence but the other just arrived from Freiburg and promptly dragged to a concert of John Adams (Dr.Atomic Symphony), Steve Reich (Three Orchestral Pieces), Elliot Carter (Cello Concerto), and another de-facto Cello Concerto by Udo Zimmermann.

After that, he might have mentioned that he was as hungry as a horse (he didn't, but it'd fit nicely into the story), which is perhaps why I served a wonderful, aged sirloin with sides of julienne-style pumpkin & ham one one side and leeks with zucchini and garlic on the other side.  A dollop of black currant jam on the meat. I did mention it was horse-meat, right?

De-Licious! (Sorry, no actual pictures.)

[Lilas Pastia]

The tahini I know and use is light in colour and very thick - a paste, not a sauce.

Yesterday we had our annual 'diversity meal' at work. Dishes from 15 different countries/cultures were offered to our staff. Everybody brought something from their country of origin: greek, lebanese, laotian, mexican, romanian, italian, polish, armenian, peruvian, algerian, moroccan, portuguese, jewish, haitian and of course canadian. It's always popular with the staff and a great occasion to exchange recipes!

[Papageno]

The tahini I know and use is light in colour and very thick - a paste, not a sauce.

Yesterday we had our annual 'diversity meal' at work. Dishes from 15 different countries/cultures were offered to our staff. Everybody brought something from their country of origin: greek, lebanese, laotian, mexican, romanian, italian, polish, armenian, peruvian, algerian, moroccan, portuguese, jewish, haitian and of course canadian. It's always popular with the staff and a great occasion to exchange recipes!

Yes I know.  This is organic tahini from whole-grain seeds which gives it a darker colour, and because of the sesame oil it looks more saucy.

[DavidRoss]

The tahini I know and use is light in colour and very thick - a paste, not a sauce.

Yesterday we had our annual 'diversity meal' at work. Dishes from 15 different countries/cultures were offered to our staff. Everybody brought something from their country of origin: greek, lebanese, laotian, mexican, romanian, italian, polish, armenian, peruvian, algerian, moroccan, portuguese, jewish, haitian and of course canadian. It's always popular with the staff and a great occasion to exchange recipes!

Canadian cuisine?  One of my grandmothers was Canadian, but I always blamed her cooking on the English.

[Lilas Pastia]

That's because she was English-Canadian  . No joke, canadian cuisine can be as diverse as "american" cuisine can be. If her stuff came across as not so good, it could be because she was not a good cook to start with (although no doubt a great human being - just like my wife, a terribly ordinary cook and a fantastic person  ).

What we call here 'canadian cuisine' is exclusively French Canadian (in Quebec there's no need to make that distinction). Originally the term "canadian" was, in French colonial times, applied to what is now geographically speaking, the Province of Quebec. Until 1930-40, it was used as a coined word for "French" Canadian. Until then, the rest of Canada was globally referred to as "Les Anglais".

Be that as it may, there's no denying that canadian cuisine is something extremely simple in terms of ingredients or culinary method. Basically, it's made from the game, fish, dairy or vegetal products our ancestors had to rely on for a living. Many of those evolved in fancier guises, but there are many staples that are to be found throughout the land: maple-cured ham, baked beans (served with maple syrup of course ), duck, goose and assorted poultry, cariboo, elk and, of course, canadian bacon 0:)..

Regional variations will occur, like the Lac-St-Jean 'tourtière' (meat pie), a dish made of 2-3 layers of pie crust interspersed with layers of meat and potatoes. Every meat, -  game or fowl - will do, but typically it's rabbit or hare,veal, pork, deer, fowl (quail, partridge, duck or goose). The whole thing is about 6-8 inches thick and cooks for 6-8 hours. Nowadays most recipes call for ground veal, pork, chicken or beef, but comes Christmas time and the real thing will be prepared and sold at great expense.

My Irish Great-Grandmother Mary King prepared a tourtière that mixed ground veal and pork with apples and raisins (with the appropriate spices: clove, nutmeg, allspice). I was raised eating and loving it, and only as a young adult found out it was unheard of in other families: "apples and raisins in a meat pie" . My mother was the only one in the family that kept and carried the tradition. Every New Year's Day the whole family would come to our house for the family gathering and Mary King's tourtière was always the hit of the evening. I can't think of a better meat pie than this. All others taste bland by comparison.

[Harpo]

Canadian cuisine?  One of my grandmothers was Canadian, but I always blamed her cooking on the English.

Try Canadian smoked meat sandwiches. Better than NY pastrami!

[Harpo]

I did mention it was horse-meat, right?

De-Licious! (Sorry, no actual pictures.)

Eeew!  Horses are sweet (I mean nice, not succulent), intelligent creatures.  I would hate to eat one.

btw I went to music camp with John Adams.