Gratin with minced beef, Brussel sprouts and potatoes

Preparation time: A good hour

Preparation You'll need: A fireproof oven dish A medium pot for cooking potatoes and Brussels sprouts A large pan for the minced meat
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 250 g minced beef 500 g medium potatoes, waxy 300-350 g frozen Brussels sprouts 1 medium onion 100 g Emmental cheese 100 ml milk 100 g Crème Fraîche 150 ml chicken or vegetable stock, or just water 1 Tbsp flour A little butter, salt, pepper, nutmeg
First Steps Bring approx. 1 litre of salted water (1/2 tsp salt) to the boil. Peel 500 g waxy potatoes and cut into 3-5 mm thick slices. Finely dice 1 medium onion. Measure out 100 ml milk and 150 ml water/stock. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Grease the oven dish with a little butter. As soon as the water boils, pre-cook the potato slices and 300-350 g frozen Brussels sprouts for 5 minutes. In the meantime, melt 1 Tbsp butter in a pan and fry the onion and 250 g mince until no longer red, then stir in 100 g crème fraîche. Coarsely grate 100 g Emmental cheese. As soon as the 5 minutes for the Brussels sprouts/potatoes are up, tip them through a sieve and leave to steam.
The Gratin As soon as the mince is no longer red, add 1 Tbsp of flour and mix well. Then deglaze with milk/stock and bring to the boil. Season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Now place the potatoes/ Brussels sprouts in the oven dish first, then spread the mince mixture on top. Finish with the Emmental cheese and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

 

Köfte with Yoghurt Dip (Updated - v2)

Preparation time approx. 90 minutes!

One could also make Cacık for the Köfte.

Preparation You'll need: A large pan Two somewhat larger bowls A mortar
Ingredients Köfte (for 2 persons) 400 g minced meat (beef or better lamb) 1 egg 2 cloves of garlic 1/2 small onion 1/3 bunch of parsley 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 3 tsp. Couscous 2 tsp. cumin seeds 4 tsp. chili flakes Salt and pepper 1 organic lemon for zest How about some Ayran to drink?
Ingredients yoghurt dip (for 2 persons) 300-400 g sour yoghurt with 10% fat (Süzme is too sweet). If you can't find Turkish, you can also use Greek. Some mint for 1/2 Tbsp chopped 2 cloves of garlic 1 tsp chili flakes Salt and pepper
Possible further supplements If you like, you can add a potato garnish (boiled potatoes, fries, hash browns, etc.) Grilled peppers would also go well with it
Preparation of the Köfte This can all go straight into a larger bowl: chop half an onion very finely (2 Tbsp. are needed), pluck 1/3 bunch of parsley and chop a little (2 Tbsp. are also needed here), Finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic, grind 2 tsp cumin in a mortar. Now add the remaining ingredients: 400 g minced meat, 1 egg, 3 tsp couscous, 4 tsp chilli flakes, a little pepper, a scant tsp salt and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Knead and mix very vigorously and carefully by hand. Then cover and place in the fridge for an hour.
Preparation of the dip Put 300-400 g yoghurt in a medium bowl. Finely chop 2 cloves of garlic, chop mint for 1 Tbsp, add to the yoghurt along with 1 tsp chilli flakes. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Put in the fridge.
Frying the Köfte After one hour, take the minced meat out of the fridge, wet your hands slightly and then shape each into an oblong roll about the size of an egg. Heat up oil in pan, melt one table spoon of butter, and fry the Köfte on medium heat until inside is done and outside dark brown. Serve together with the yoghurt dip.

Poğaça with Yoghurt Carrot Cream (Updated - v2)

 

Preparation time almost 2 hours

Preparation You'll need: A large bowl for the dough A medium sized bowl for the stuffing A medium sized bowl for the cream A pan
Ingredients (Yoghurt Carrot Cream for 2 persons) 300-350 g Turkish yoghurt (creamy and with a high fat content, approx. 10%; the somewhat sweetish Süzme also fits well). If you don't find that or don't like it, use Greek, it should just be 10% fat. 4-5 medium-sized carrots 3 cloves of garlic (fresh, not the dried version) 2 to 3 pinches of salt Olive oil Some Italian parsley to sprinkle over the cream
Ingredients (Poğaça dough for 2 persons) 190 g flour 40 or 45 g Turkish yoghurt (to match the egg in L or M) 1 egg 4 Tbsp. olive oil 45 g butter 1/2 tsp. around 15 g yeast
Ingredients (Poğaça stuffing for 2 persons) 200 g minced meat (lamb, but you could also use beef, if you really need to) If you make the minced meat yourself, take 20 g more meat (loss in the machine ;-) If you use lamb, and do it yourself, add 3 tsp Coucous. 90 g feta-cheese A bunch of Italian Parsley 2 Tbsp finely chopped onion (around 1/2 a small onion) 3 cloves of garlic 3 tsp. Acı Pul Biber (chili flakes) Oregano, Thyme 1 ea. 1 tsp. tomato purée 2-3 pinches of salt How about some Ayran to drink?
Preparing the Yoghurt Carrot Cream Cut 4 medium-sized carrots in thin slices (if the carrots are pretty thick, first cut them lenghtwise in half) and fry in plain olive oil in a frying pan at a little over medium heat (6.5) in regular olive oil in a pan until they start to get dark brown - this will take quite a while (45 to 60 minutes). While the carrots slowly roast (stir often!): Whisk 300 g yoghurt, add 3 cloves of garlic, cut in slices, add 2 to 3 pinches of salt. Mix well and place it covered in the fridge Preparation of the dough give 190 g flour into bowl. Add 1 egg, 40-45 g yoghurt, 4 Tbsp. olive oil, 45 g butter, 1/2 tsp. salt, 15 g yeast. Knead well with a food processor or your hands, the dough should be soft, but must not stick to your hands (in that case add a bit flour). Now let the dough rest at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes. Preparing the Poğaça stuffing The stuffing can be done with anything one likes, I did them with minced meat and feta cheese. Give into a bowl 200 g minced meat, finely chopped onion (2 Tbsp.) and garlic (3 cloves of garlic), spices (Oregano and Thyme (1 tsp. ea.), 2 to 3 pinches of salt, 2 tsp. chilli flakes, 1 tsp. tomato paste), 90 g crumbled feta-cheese and chopped parsley (1 bunch for 20-25 g). Mix well by hand for a few minutes, kneading as you go. When the carrots are done, fold them into the yoghurt cream. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the cream. Put it back into the fridge.
Making the Poğaça Split the dough and the stuffing into six pieces each. At one time spread each of the dough pieces with your hands into thin small flat cakes. Place one part of the stuffing at the centre and wrap the dough around it. Be careful to close the dough well, lest the Poğaça open again in the oven. You can leave the Poğaça then as they are or spread egg white or olive oil over them. Bake them on a baking tray in a convection oven at 180℃ for 20 to 25 minutes.

 

 

Stuffed Hokkaido Squash (Updated - v2)

Preparation time about 70 minutes

Preparation You'll need: a pan a casserole dish a brush
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 1 Hokkaido squash (ca. 800-1200 g) 200-250 g minced meat (beef) Around 60 g Feta cheese ½ stalk of leek (ca. 60 g) 1 medium tomato ½ bunch of Italian parsley 2 cloves of garlic 2 tsp. chili flakes 1 tsp. cumin (whole seeds) 100-150 g Crème Fraîche 1 Tsp. tomato purée Salt and pepper, nutmeg Some butter For the spiced oil: 2 Tbsp. good olive oil, salt and pepper, 1 thai chili
First prepare the spiced oil: Heat up about 3 Tbsp. of good olive oil (don't bring it to cook!). In the meantime chop the chili. Add to the oil, season generously with salt and pepper. Allow to draw at the lowest level for about 5 minutes. Continue with the next steps in the meantim. Preheat oven on 190℃. Remove the minced meat from the fridge. Wash the squash, cut open (upper part, as a lid), remove seeds. Cut off a little bit at the bottom, so that the squash does not roll anymore, but sits stable. Scrape 6-9 Tbsp. of flesh evenly, chop finely and add to the minced meat. Put the lid back on the squash and put it in the oven dish (190℃ - 15 minutes). Chop 1 medium tomato and half a leek (60 g needed). Chop 2 cloves of garlic. Place together in bowl on the side. Pluck ½ a bunch of parsley and chop finely, set aside. Crush 1 tsp. cumin in a mortar. Tip the seasoning oil from the pan into a small bowl. Do not clean the pan. While the squash is sitting in the oven, fry the minced meat with the squash flesh in some butter. Once the meat is done: add the tomato, leek, garlic, 60 g feta cheese, 2 tsp. chilli flakes and 1 Tbsp. tomato paste and fry for another 5 minutes on medium heat. Now add parsley and 100-150 g Crème Fraîche and season with around 1/2 tsp salt, coarsely ground pepper and nutmeg. Mix everything well and let it sit in the pan at low heat. Remove the squash from the oven after 15 minutes. Let it cool off for 5 minutes. Using a brush, spread the spice oil with the chilli pieces on the inside walls of the squash. Now spoon the filling into the squash, put the lid on and put it back into the oven for another 20 minutes. To serve, carefully halve the squash with a large kitchen knife and put it on the plates. There is no need for a side dish, the squash is very filling!

 

Cheeseburger (Updated - v2)

 

Something quick... certainly also available as Hamburger ☺

Preparation time approx. 35-40 minutes

Preparation You'll need: Food processor with suitable hook for the minced meat
Ingredients (for 4 Cheeseburgers) 4 hamburger buns 500-600 g of minced meat (from beef) Just under 1 tsp. salt, some pepper 4 tsp. Worcester sauce 4 tsp. soy sauce 2 to 3 small tomatoes 1-2 gherkins A small onion Some iceberg lettuce 8 slices of cheese (e.g. KRAFT Toast) mayo, ketchup, mustard If you like, Tabasco sauce ☺ (a MUST for me) and/or bacon or you could also fry a few onion rings in the pan.
Preparation Put the minced meat in a bowl. Add just under 1 tsp. salt and a little pepper, as well as 4 tsp. Worcester sauce and soy sauce each. Then knead well with a K-hook for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, cut the tomatoes and gherkins into thin slices, slice the onion into rings and shred the iceberg lettuce leaves a little. With 4 burgers for 2 people I do this in two shifts: Melt a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and shape the minced meat into two flat slices - these should be much larger in diameter than the buns as they will contract during frying. Fry them well until they darken. Just before the end, place two slices of cheese on top and cover the pan with a lid. Put the hamburger buns briefly in the preheated oven. Fry the meat for another 1 or 2 minutes until the cheese begins to melt. Then take it out of the pan and park it on a paper towel to remove some of the fat. Then simply put everything together, arrange with ketchup, mayo, mustard, one or two leaves of iceberg lettuce, one or two slices of tomato, one or two onion rings and half a gherkin (cut into thin slices) - that's it. I also always spice it vigorously with Tabasco sauce.

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.

Lasagna (Real Italian Recipe)

 

Recipe coming from Laura Lai ☺

ChezTeddy Tip: I always do a double portion and freeze one lasagna.

To make sure that the second lasagna tastes just as good as the first one, mind this:

1. Don't put cheese on top, before you freeze it! Put the cheese, freshly grated on top before you put it (unfrozen) into the oven.
2. Freeze wrapped airtight in clingfilm, take care that there's as little as possible air between the lasagna and the film (push the film).
3. Don't take the lasagna out of the freezer and throw it into the oven. Take it out one day in advance and put it into the fridge. Let it thaw slowly.
4. After grating the cheese on top, put the lasagne into the not pre-heated oven and bake it at 160℃. After half an hour you can turn the heat to 200℃ erhöhen, depending on the browning of the cheese.

Attention! This will take over 3 hours to prepare!

Green salad goes well with this.

Preparation You'll need: A medium sized, or large (for 2x lasagna) pot A small pot Medium sized casserole dish Mine has the width and length to fit one pasta noodle.
Ingredients for the tomato sauce (for 2 persons) For an additional portion to freeze, double the ingredients 250 grams minced meat (beef) ½ onion (medium sized) 1 large thai chili, if you feel like it (I do) 1 small carrot ½ to 1 celery stalk A slug of white wine - for the sauce, not to drink (ᵔᴥᵔ) 1 Tetra Pak sieved tomatoes (500 mL) ½ tea spoon salt, a bit ground pepper ½ rosmary twig
Ingredients for the bechamel (for 2 persons) For an additional portion to freeze, double the ingredients 30 g butter 30 g flour 300 mL milk A bit salt and nutmeg
Other ingredients If an additional portion will be frozen, you don't have to double the cheese. The cheese for the frozen Lasagne mußt be bought when that one goes into the oven. 6 or 7 lasagna noodles 50 grams grated Emmentaler or Gruyère cheese, and 50 grams grated Parmesan cheese Green salad, if you feel like it.
Cooking the tomato sauce Fine dice the onion, carrot, celery (and the chili if you want) and sweat them in hot oil in the medium/large pot for a few minutes. Add the minced meat and fry on medium to high heat until the meat starts to stick to the pot and turn brown. Only then add the slug of white wine, the sieved tomatoes, ½-¾ tsp salt, some pepper and Rosemary (chopped). Let it simmer on low heat for up to two hours. With the Bechamel you could start a quarter or half an hour before the two hours are over.
Cooking the bechamel Take the 300 ml milk out of the fridge a bit earlier, so that it is not so cold. Melt 30 g butter in small pieces (medium-low heat). Slowly add 30 g flour while stirring. Stir until smooth. Slowly add the milk and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes on high heat (level 4/5 or maybe 5/5) while continuously stirring. Or you've got a Saucier (see picture) and do it the easy way. Same procedure, but not having to stir yourself. Season with salt and nutmeg.
Putting everything together Preheat the oven to 160℃. Take the casserole and put a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom, place a lasagna pasta on top, then do one layer of bechamel, add another pasta. Keep doing that until the stuff is used up, or the dish is full ツ. Finally grate plenty of Parmesan and Emmentaler/Gruyère cheese on top and put it in the oven. After 20 minutes you may turn the heat up to 200, if the cheese isn't getting brown.