Lentils & Spätzle (Updated - v2)

Preparation time around 70 minutes

*The* swabian mainstay recipe.

One has to eat Spätzle with the lentils.
Best procedure is to prepare the dough before you cook the lentils, and afterwards you cook the Spätzle.

Preparation You'll need: A medium sized pot for the lentils A small pot for the roux
Ingredients (for 2 persons) for the lentils 125 grams brown lentils 0.9 litres of water for the lentils (it's needed to make the sauce, so don't use more water) this also goes with the lentils: 1 carrot, small ½ small onion 1 pair of scalded sausage 1 medium sized potato 1 piece of smoked pork belly (around 120 to 150 grams) 2 cloves of garlic 1 bay leaf for the roux 35 g butter 35 g flour 4 table spoons red wine vinegar 1 tea spoon honey 1 level table spoon of tomato paste ca. 1 tea spoons salt Pepper
Preparation of the lentils In a medium pot, bring 0.9 litres of water to a boil. In the meantime... Peel the potato and chop roughly. Dice the carrot. Wash 125 g lentils in a sieve. Add everything to the boiling water together with a bay leaf and cook for a total of approx. 40-50 minutes (see the lentil package). Meanwhile, finely chop half a small onion and 2 cloves of garlic. 20 minutes before the end of that time frame add onion, garlic, the sausages (as they are or cut in pieces) and the pork belly. After those 20 minutes, put the pot on the side and keep it warm.
Preparation of the roux and last steps Remove around 300 millilitres of water from the pot with the lentils. Now melt 35 g butter in the little pot, add 35 g flour in several parts and cook carefully until medium brown, keep stirring. Then slowly add the water from the lentils in small portions and let it boil up once. It should result in a rather thick cream, if not you have to reduce it a bit. Most water should evaporate when added in small amounts. Add 4 Tbsp vinegar, 1 level Tbsp tomato paste and 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp honey, season with some pepper to your liking, pour the content into the pot with the lentils and mix well.

Lamb Apricot Tajine (Updated - v2)

 

Best served with couscous (approx. 100 g per person).

Attention, the meat has to marinade at least 4 hours, better even start the previous day.
Remove the meat from the refrigerator again 2 hours before cooking begins.
The cooking itself also needs around 70-80 minutes.

Preparation You'll need: A Tajine (or casserole dish or wok with lid) A large non-stick pan A bowl with lid to keep the marinating meat
Ingredients (for 2 persons) approx. 400-500 g leg (or shoulder) of lamb for strong lamb taste Weight also depends on whether a bone is present and how large. Leg of lamb usually has more bone than shoulder. 2x ½ TL cumin (ground) 2x ½ TL turmeric 2x ½ TL cayenne pepper (ground) 2x 1 TL sweet paprika 30 g blanched almonds 6 small potatoes 100 g chick peas 2 small onions 3 cloves of garlic 15 g sultanas 1 table spoon honey 1 cinnamon stick Saffron 350-400 mL lamb broth (you can use chicken broth, too) 1 Tetra Pak (500 g) lumpy tomatoes approx. 100 g dried (but still soft) apricots (12 pcs.) 1 small Moroccan preserved lemon Half a bunch of coriander A small handfull of mint leaves Olive oil Salt and pepper ChezTeddy Tip: Two things should not be missing with these Tajine dishes: To have the food more spicy, one should always place a tube of Harissa on the table. I would, if available, take 'Le Phare du Cap Bon' Harissa. That one tastes really the best. Also you should always place plucked coriander leaves on the table, so that everyone can serve himself.
Marinating the meat Cut the meat into smaller cubes (around 2 to 3 centimetres), put in a bowl. Add half of the herbs, mix well. Cover the bowl (seal airtight) and place in the refidgerator. Take it out two hours in advance before you start cooking, so that the meat isn't so cold.
Preparation Roughly cut 1 medium onion, thinly slice 3 cloves of garlic. Prepare the second half of the spices. Roast 30 g almonds in large non-stick pan until they are light to dark brown on both sides. Set aside. In the meantime peel 6 small potatoes and cut them in half, if necessary. Heat simple olive oil in the pan and fry the meat until it is browned on all sides. Put it into the tajine. Now fry the onions and garlic in the rest of the olive oil in the pan over a medium heat with the second half of the spices until they become translucent (add some good olive oil). Make sure that the spices do not burn. Deglaze with 350-400 ml stock and add 12 apricots (approx. 100 g), 15 g sultanas, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 Tbsp honey, 100 g chick peas, potatoes and 500 g tomatoes. Bring to the boil briefly and season with salt and pepper. Pour into the tajine, add saffron and mix well. Place covered for 45 minutes at 180℃ in the oven. In the meantime you can pluck and wash the leaves of mint and coriander, cut the preserved lemon in half (you only want the skin): Remove the pulp and cut the thick skin into small pieces.
Last steps After 45 minutes, remove the lid of the tajine and let it cook for another 10 Minutes (the tomato sauce should thicken a bit). Then add the lemon skin and the coriander and mint leaves (roughly torn with your hands) together with the almonds and let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Bhuna Lamb (Updated - v2)

This goes well with rice, Chapati or Naan

Attention: If you are making chapatis to go with it, you should start with that - then as soon as the dough snails are to rest for half an hour, start with this recipe.
In total, the cooking time for bhuna lamb and chapatis is 2 hours.

Preparation You'll need: A large pan or a wok (no lid necessary) A hand-held blender (for the tomatoes)
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 650-850 g lamb from the shoulder or shank (cut into small cubes) - weight also depends on the size of the bone . Alternatively: lamb salmon - but we find that the lamb flavour is simply not as intense - 500 g 150 to 200 g plain yoghurt 6 Tbsp oil The following ingredients I was already sorting in 'plates'. It's best to prepare the spices already according to that, it will make it very easy to just add the right ingredients at the right moment.
Dish 1 3 bay leaves 1 black cardamom pod, or a tsp of cardamom powder 1 cinnamon stick 10 peppercorns 6 cloves
Dish 2 1 large onion (diced)
Dish 3 Cut the meat into small cubes (around 1 to 2 cm) 9 cloves of garlic 25 g fresh ginger 3-4 green chillis
Dish 4 (use the mortar) 1 tsp. salt 1 scant tsp. coriander seeds (crunch in mortar) 1 scant tsp. ground turmeric ½ tsp. red chilli flakes 2 tsp. Garam Masala
Dish 5 200 to 250 g tomatoes, peeled and puréed
Dish 6 1 bunch of coriander leaves (pluck the leaves)
Preparation Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan. When hot, add bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon stick, as well as peppercorns and cloves (plate 1). After about 1 minute, add the onion and sweat over a good medium heat (6) for about 5-10 minutes until light brown (plate 2). If you're doing Chapatis, you should start baking them in a pan by now. When the onions are browned, we add the lamb, ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry everything, stirring frequently, at medium temperature for about 20 minutes (plate 3) - without a lid. Always scrape the spices from the bottom of the pot. If the whole thing gets too dry, you can add 2 Tbsp water. Now we add the turmeric, coriander, chilli flakes, salt and Garam Masala and let it cook for five minutes, stir frequently (plate 4). Add the pureed tomatoes and let it cook for five minutes, stir frequently (plate 5). The sauce must simmer here until it is no longer really liquid, but sticks to the meat as a thick marinade! Add joghurt (around 150 to 200 g), stir everything well and let it simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. Place the plucked coriander leaves on the table, so that everyone can serve themselves (plate 6).

Stuffed Cabbage (Krautwickel)

 

Best with mashed potatoes

Will take approx. 75 minutes.

Preparation You'll need: A large pot with lid A small pot for mashed potatoes, if you want to do that A bowl A casserole dish A skimmer A small pan
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons) 1 head of pointed cabbage - approx. 1.5 to 1.8 kg (White cabbage also works, but there the leaves are more overlapping, with pointed cabbage you can separate the leaves much easier). 250 g minced meat 2 Tbsp breadcrumbs 1 small onion Approx. 750 ml meat stock 20 g butter 1 egg Pepper, salt, nutmeg 1 Tbsp Butaris oder similar frying fat Mashed potatoes
The stuffing with the minced meat Cut off the first 2 leaves of the pointed cabbage and throw them away. Then carefully peel off the next 6 or 8 leaves (depending on how well you can peel them off) and blanch in salted water, you can also take several at a time. Carefully remove from the pot with a skimmer (on the one hand they are hot, of course, and on the other hand the leaves tear easily). Dice 1 small onion and sauté 1 Tbsp. butaris. Put the ingredients in a large bowl: 250 g minced meat, 1 egg, 2 Tbsp breadcrumbs and the sautéed onion. Mix everything well and season with plenty of salt (½ tsp), as well as pepper and nutmeg.
The stuffed cabbage Divide the filling into 6 or 8 parts (see leaves ;-). Cut off as much of the hard stalk as possible from the cabbage leaves. Place some of the filling in the centre of each leaf, then fold the sides of the leaf over and roll up. You can now fry the cabbage rolls briefly in butter in a pan to brown them. But since they can easily rise, I do it this way for simplicity's sake: I put the cabbage rolls in a casserole and set the oven to grill. As soon as the grill snake starts to glow, I put the casserole in the oven and watch the whole thing. As soon as the cabbage rolls turn brown/black on top, I take them out again. You could also turn them over and grill the other side, but I don't usually do that :-). Place in the greased large pot, add 20 g butter flakes on top and pour in enough meat stock so that they are not completely covered. Then cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

Wiener Schnitzel (Updated - v2)

 

Serve the cutlets together with the side dish (e. g. potato salad) and lemon, that one can use to squeeze over the cutlets.

Preparation You'll need: A large pan or better a roasting try for the cutlets Three plates for the coating If needed a deep fryer for the chips / French fries
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 2 cutlets of veal, as large as possible (okay don't overdo it) and very thin (best piece would be the topside). Each around 180-200 g. 4 yolks plus 1 whole egg Breadcrumbs Some plain flour A lemon Chips / French Fries (I buy deep frozen French Fries) Other side dishes: green salad, red cabbage or potato salad Clarified frying fat (in Germany it would be Butaris) Salt, Pepper
The cutlets To be able to coat the escalopes in breadcrumbs, we need three large plates for flour, egg and breadcrumbs. Add a good amount of pepper and salt to the egg yolk. Mix well with a fork. Now melt a good deal of Butaris in a pan on medium high heat (should be a 4 to 5 mm high layer). Now the breading: take a cutlet and spray or brush it with a little water on both sides, then turn it first in the flour, then in the egg yolk and finally in the breadcrumbs and immediately put it into the (hot) pan. Fry it a short time and turn it. Everything should go quickly, since the cutlets are thin and the fat very hot. Better turn it several times, and watch out that it doesn't get too dark. As soon as it has the right colour, take it out of the pan, pour the fat away, clean the pan with a kitchen paper, and repeat all steps.

Also a tasty variation: Milanese Style, with a tomato sauce (just cut fresh tomatoes, one onion, two cloves of garlic, herbs (Oregano, Rosemary...) and Pasta.

Shrimps Curry with Pineapple

A fruity not too hot thai recipe.

Preparation You'll need: A medium pot
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons) 350-400 g shrimps 250 g pineapple in pieces 350-400 mL coconut milk (1 can) 8 tsp. red curry paste 3 Tbsp. fish sauce 1 Tbsp. brown sugar Some oil Those who have, can add a few leaves of mint before serving.
The cooking Wash the shrimps and let them and the pineapple pieces drip off. Heat the oil in the pan and fry the curry paste in it. Add the coconut milk and the pineapple and cook it for a short time. Add the fish sauce and the sugar to your taste. Then add the shrimps and let it cook for three minutes, until the shrimps are done.

Best served with rice

Swabian Zwiebelrostbraten (Updated - v2)

 

Preparation time around 1 hour!

Swabian Zwiebelrostbraten needs handmade Spätzle

Preparation You'll need: A non-coated steak pan . (if you don't have one, you can also do everything in just one big pan, first the meat, then put it on the side, then the onions - but then it takes a good bit longer). A large non-stick pan for the onions
Ingredients (for 2 or 3 persons) 2 or 3 slices , ea. around 250-300 grams either (classic) roastbeef or I love to buy dry-aged entrecôte. 3-4 large vegetable onions (I always take only the large rings, and the middle parts go on the side). 1 Tbsp tomato paste 750 ml beef stock Some concentrated butter Salt, pepper, flour For this you definitely need Spätzle and/or good fresh bread (such as farmhouse bread)
First steps First of all, because it takes the longest: Cut the onions into large rings. Then put the rings in the coated pan with 1-2 Tbsp butaris and fry over a good medium heat until light brown to very dark, depending on your taste. I prefer them almost black. This may well take about 30 minutes. In the meantime... For classic roast beef: Lightly pat the slices of meat with your hand and cut the fat around the edge several times. Season a little with salt and pepper and coat in flour. If you also make spaetzle, now would be the time to make the dough.
Fry the meat Heat a little fat (max. 1 Tbsp. Butaris) and fry the meat over a rather high heat for approx. 3 minutes on each side until brown. Remove from the pan and put to one side. I have a special steak pan, for really great grilled steaks, but this (non-coated) does not get on with the onions. In the meantime (if spaetzle are on the menu) you can heat the large pot of water for spaetzle.
Final steps Deglaze the onions with the beef stock, add 1 Tbsp tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil and then tip into the steak pan. Put the slices of roast beef in and simmer on a low heat for five minutes. If you also make spaetzle: It's now or never! If you have done everything right, the meat should be nice and soft, still slightly pink inside, and it should not taste cooked.