Geli Heimann Kitchen

Beef Rolls – Rinderrouladen – a Classic German Dish but with Aromatic Spices, Apricots and Almonds

Geli — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 23:31:42 +0000

Rinderrouladen with Sweet Potaoes, Mushrooms, Pickled Red Cabbage and Steamed Broccoli
(Click on all photos for full size)

Finally, I made another German dish. It’s a classic one, however I added a little twist, rolling in even more yummy goodness.

Recipe:

I bought slices of organic beef from my local Halal butcher, however I found them too lean and thus too dry. I would recommend you to get ‘Skirt’ *, a cut of beef that cookes beautifully moist (see description of that cut of beef below.

Ingredients:

Slices of beef
bacon slices
hot mustard
salt and pepper
mince (half-half beef and pork mince)
sweet pickled gherkins
very finely chopped onions
sliced shallots
ground aromatic spices: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, allspice
mixed dried herbs
slices of red bell pepper
garlic (3-4 good size pieces squeezed per Roulade)
flaked almonds
paprika (mild or sweet, not the hot variety)
fresh thyme and fresh parsley
bay leaf
beef stock cube
red wine
small amount of tomato puree

For the gravy:

small amount of corn starch to thicken gravy
crème fraîche or double cream to stir into gravy just before serving

(click to enlarge)

Pound meat with a tenderizing mallet (the side with “teeth”). If you use ‘skirt’ then you probably won’t need to tenderise the meat.

Generously season both sides of each slice of meat with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Spread the mustard, paprika and squeezed garlic on one side of the meat slice (the side you roll up everything in.

(click to enlarge)

Then add a small piece of mince formed into a shape of a saussage. The mixed mince you’ll have seasoned with the ground aromatic spices, salt and pepper, mixed dried herbs and the finely chopped onions.

Continue to add all the other ingredients, the gherkins, sweet pepper, shallots, dried apricots, flaked almonds, fresh thyme and fresh parsley.

(click to enlarge)

Then roll it all up and secure the roll with a thread / yarn, tooth picks, or if you have them, Rouladen clamps (which is what I used …. but then I bought mine in Germany).

Seal the Rouladen in fiercely hot coconut oil or ghee in the frying pan before adding them to the slow cooker / crock pot or oven casserole. (Please do not use olive oil or vegetable oil to heat seal the meat.)

In the crock pot (slow cooker) dissolve the beef stock cube in a little amount of hot water and stir in a small amount of tomato puree into it. Add the bay leaf and the fresh herbs.

Squeeze in the Rouladen (meat rolls) and pour in the red wine (I admit I used a bottle. I am quite generous with alcohol when it comes to cooking …)

After a few hours a very tantalizing delicious cooking aroma will waft from the slow cooker (crock pot). It will be worth the wait!

Serve with vegetables to your liking.

(click to enlarge)

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Beef Skirt Steak:

Skirt Steak is a long, flat muscle cut from the beef flank and plate area.

In the United States, this cut of beef is a long, flat, boneless beefsteak taken from the plate primal of the beef carcass. Unlike the U.S., in Britain the Skirt Steak is typically cut from the flank primal. The Skirt Steak is a flavourful piece of meat but can be rather tough if it is not cooked or cut properly.

It might come with a slightly thick layer of fat and muscle membrane; so, you would need to trim the surrounding membrane if your butcher has not done it for you.

Apparently, skirt steak is also known as the “butcher steak” because it’s rarely found on meat counters—the butcher takes this one home.

Here are a few pics to help you identify this particular cut of beef:

Cottage Pie (Shepherds Pie) with a Mashed Potato, Leeks and Cheese Crust

Geli — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:32:03 +0000

Cottage Pie – England
click on all images to enlarge them

A bubbling sizzling Cottage Pie is ready to be served. let me add to the age-old British debate, what’s the difference between Cottage Pie and Shepherds Pie? From what I understand, Shepherds Pie is made with minced lamb, whereas Cottage Pie is made with minced beef.

Traditionally, a British housewife would make a Cottage Pie the day after the Sunday roast. Of course the roast was beef with vegetables. So, she would cut up finely all the ingredients, make a little roux or use gravy left overs, mix it all up, and then spread a layer of mashed potatoes over it and let it all brown up in the oven.

I decided to check up a variety of top British chefs, such as Delia Smith and others, pick out all the ingredients they offered (meaning, I actually stuck to the *overall* British recipe), and assembled my own dish. Thus, for example, one of the chefs I consulted, mentioned tomato paste, others tomato ketchup, or a tin of tomatoes others just chopped fresh tomatoes. I decided to use both fresh chopped tomatoes and a tin of chopped ones. However, previously I used freshly chopped tomatoes and tomato purée. What I am saying is, what I am offering here is what I and my dinner guests enjoyed, however it’s just a guideline. Just like, for certain, most British housewives made their own variation the day after the Sunday roast.

I took this mini micro video just before serving. Next time I shall use the camera in the horizontal / landscape way (if you increase the volume, you’ll actually hear it sizzling)

Recipe:

Click on the images if you like to see them full size.

Ingredients:

(please note that I tend not to give measurements, on the whole, as people like their own individual strengths of flavours)

2 small onions
2 med carrots
swede (Delia Smith – 3oz/75g) (optional)
1/3 sweet red bell pepper (optional)
2 sticks of celery
minced beef or minced lamb (I prefer it very coarsely minced)
beef stock or lamb stock – stock cubes are fine – (to make the gravy or roux. I suggest not to make too much, as otherwise you’ll find the pie gets too sloppy, especially if you use a tin of chopped tomatoes.
tomatoes (I used a tin this time, plus two fresh tomatos). If you prefer you can substitute the tin with tomato paste. This makes it less liquid.
mushrooms
mixed herbs – if you have fresh herbs at hand, all the better. At other times, I add loads of fresh parsley and fresh thyme leaves with the dried, which I did not have this time).
bay-leaves
cinnamon
mild sweet paprika
Worcestershire sauce I used a good splash. Some recipes recommend 4 tsp.
Wine (optional). I saw recipes both with red and white wine. I personally prefer white wine as it is not too over powering in the overall mix. Again, be mindful not to make the mix too wet and sloppy. Basically I used the white wine instead of the water when I made the roux.

Method:

Chop up all the vegetables and fry / sautée them in oil (I like extra virgin pure coconut oil). Sautée all above mentioned vegetables except the mushrooms (I add them later as I don’t like mushrooms over cooked). When veggies are partially cooked, remove them from the pan into a large oven dish.

Next, fry the minced beef / lamb, and then also remove it into the oven dish as well.

Next, make the roux:

Stir in 1 level tables spoon of plain flour into the remaining juices from the meat and veggies in the pan. Then gradually add about 10 fl oz / 275 ml stock (either a home made meat stock, or stock cube crumbled into the wine … experiment with what you like best. Also, bear in mind that the fluid amounts are a just general guideline, depending on other liquids such as from veggies and tomatoes.

Next, mix all the ingredients, herbs and spices, salt and pepper to taste, in with the veggies into the oven dish / casserole.

Mashed Potato, Leek and Cheese Topping:

Ingredients:

potatoes about 2 lb / 900g
parnips (optional – I did not use any)
2 medium leeks cut into 1/2 inch / 1 cm slices (I cut mine so very thin that they were hardly noticeable when the dish was served. This is entirely according to your preference)
mature cheddar cheese at least 2oz / 50g. I used way more than that, simply because I like strong cheese topping
butter about 2 oz / 50 g
creamed horseradish (optional – I did not use any)
milk or cream (optional – I used some milk, again, please be mindful not to make everything too ‘wet’ and sloppy. The topping really needs to be firm!)
nutmeg a dash of nutmeg always gives the mashed potatoes a nice aromatic lift.
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Peel, cut and boil the potatoes and the parsnips (if you are using them). Once coked, drain off the water, add the butter and with the dash of nutmeg mash the potatoes to a purée. Check the taste if it needs some salt and pepper.
Only use some milk if the potato mash is really very dry, remember, the topping needs to be firm.

Then you have a choice, either mix the chopped leeks in with the mashed potatoes, which I did because I chopped them ever so finely, or alternatively add the leeks spread over the top of the mashed potato layer.

Next, take your mashed potatoes and spread them evenly over your mince meet mix in the oven dish, then layer the leeks over the potatoes, if you had not mixed them in already.

Next, scatter the coarsely grated cheese over everything.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C) and bake your assembled dish on a high shelf of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the top is crusty and golden.

The photo below (and the photos and mini video at the top happened on the ‘second round, as I made too much to be eaten in one go. Actually, the flavours matured nicely, so the next day it was even more sumptuous and yummy!

German Lentil Soup (One Pot Dish – “Linsen Suppe – Eintopf”)

Geli — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:15:32 +0000

German lentil Soup

The lentil soup is pretty much a family staple food in Germany. Although this is a classic soup / one-pot-dish, every family has their own variants re the ingredients, meaning every family develops their own traditions how they like their lentil soup best.

For some it’s just soupy with lentils and sausages, for others it’s a full blown meal with loads of veggies in it. Here is my version of it with suggestions as my Bavarian grandmother would cook it: with “Speck”.

(Although Wikipedia traces its origins to Austria and Italy, Speck is very traditional to Germany. It is not for the super lean cuisine conscious folk, but I challenge anyone who experiences the delicious and mouth watering cooking smells wafting enticingly through the home not to develop a very healthy and hearty appetite!!

Lentil Soup basic ingredients

Basic Ingredients:

Lentils (preferably the “green lentil” variety – you can also use brown lentils, but definitely not yellow split lentils)
Uncooked joint of smoked ham
Speck
Onions
Potatoes
Celeriac (half is enough)
Carrots
Soup Greens (Suppengrün) – a traditional ingredient in soups and consists of: 1 leek, ample amounts of flat leaf parsley, lovage, the green leaves of carrots (if you can get it), bay leaves and other fresh herbs as you have them.

Ham stock cubes (optional, please taste the end result of your soup first before adding the stock cubes, as you do not want it too salty. If however you do not have any speck and/or a joint of uncooked smoked ham, then you do need the ham stock cubes to give it some flavour!)

Tomato puree (amount according to taste)
Vinegar (I used 2 Tbs. in my soup – again it is according to personal taste. Some families serve the vinegar at the table for diners to add to their own dishes as reqired)
Sugar (1 tps or more according to taste) – I personally prefer the alternative to sugar which was also frequently used by my Bavarian grandmother: chopped up prunes for fruity sweetness.
Water

Smoked sausages (optional – if you cooked the soup with the ham and have plenty left over for another meal at some other time (next day or frozen for some other time), I then tend to add the smoked sausages just heated through with the rest of the soup.

Cook’s tip:
For some reason the lentils and vegetables just leech out the flavour of the smoked pork. It is perfectly fine to add a whole joint of uncooked smoked ham into the soup, provided you don’t cut it up into small pieces. What you definitely do not want to do is to add the smoked saussages at the beginning of the cooking process, else you wind up with all the smoked saussage flavour in the soup and some sort of meat texture without flavour as the saussages.

Method:

Soak the dried lentils in water over night. Before cooking drain the soaking liquid and rinse the lentils well (this helps reduce the “wind” production so typical with pulses )

I did not have speck or sausages at hand during this particular meal preparation.

If you have speck (here in London they sell speck in Polish shops or supermarkets that sell Polish produce), then here’s what you do:

Cube a good amount of Speck and gently fry / sauté till it releases the fat and until browned. Remove Speck (it will be added later when the soup is done) and then fry the onions in the fat created by the Speck. Do not remove any of the delicious and flavoursome Speck fat!

The Joint of uncooked smoked ham cooking with the lentils, vegetables and soup greens

Add the onions and fry them in the speck fat. Cube the vegetables and add them with the rest of the ingredients except the vinegar, sugar (unless you use prunes), tomato puree and sausages with a good amount of water. (Do check the water levels during the cooking process as the lentils plump up). Bring the lot to boiling and then reduce the heat. With a lid on the pot, let it simmer for a few hours until the lentils are soft.

Finally, before serving, add the rest of the ingredients according to taste (including the speck you had put aside earlier). Allow to heat through for a few minutes and then serve with a garnish of parsley.

Ghanaian Peanut Soup – spicy hot

Geli — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:40:11 +0000

Ghanaian - West African - Peanut Soup

This recipe originally was given to me by my Ghanaian friend, Patricia, but I needed to tweak it to suit my taste buds (read: add more chillies and give it more oompf!!). My dear friend still thinks she should tone down the spiciness for her Caucasian food lover … not so, please! I prefer a wild taste bud party with fire!

I have also discovered that this dish is ideally suited for a large slow cooker and cooked for best part of a day on a low heat. That way the chilli spiciness is not harsh but mellows in beautifully and allowing all the flavours to mature and blend nicely.

If you’re up for an unusual peanut soup with chicken or any poultry, here is the recipe:

Peanut Soup Ingredients - most of them

Ingredients:

Chicken or any poultry of your choice
onions
medium large piece of fresh root ginger aprox 8cm long – sliced and roughly chopped
garlic
red bell pepper – diced
2 or more chillies – Schottish bonnet with seeds
3 Tablespoons of Sambal Oelek (optional)
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon sugar
2-3 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
Tomato puree – nearly one tube
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Peanut butter – the equivalent of about 1 large jar – half crunchy half smooth peanut butter
peeled and cubed sweet potato
chicken broth – stock cubes
Maggi cubes
spinach or curly kale with the thick hard stems cut out (I used spinach)
water enough for a soupy consistency. You might need to add some more during the long cooking / simmering process.

Peanut Soup - chicken or any other poultry onions, chillies and stock cubes

I used a very large slow cooker, added the poultry (I happened to have half of a turkey) water, stock cubes, ginger, onions, chillies and cumin.

Cook this until the poultry is done enough to take the meat off the bones, and discard the bones.

Peanut Soup - meat taken off the bones

Once you’ve taken the meat off the bones, add all the rest of the ingredients except the spinach and water as needed.

Peanut Soup - adding spinach

After about 4 1/2 hours of cooking I added the spinach plus some more tomato puree. As you can see on the picture, the soup was looking rather pale still at that point.

Peanut Soup - ok and yummy but not yet great

After the soup had been simmering for about over 5 hours in the slow cooker, we all were very hungry. It was cooked through ok and it was enjoyable, so we dished out and ate.

However, I left the slowcooker on and after a further eight hours simmering it really had become amazingly delicious. The soup had lost its peanut buttery flavour and texture, was less harsh re the spices (OK, I did put additional Sambal Oelek into it) and had developed into a mellow all rounded spiciness with plesant heat without the raw fire.

Sambal Oelek

My favourite Sambal Oelek! I always have a large jar in the fridge ….
I probably have a Sambal Oelek addiction …..

Oh, By the way …
the first photo of the soup in the white dish at the top was taken after the additional loooooong cooking time.

Autumnal Vegetable Soup

Geli — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:43:14 +0000

Autumnal Vegetable Soup

The other day my dear friend Simone invited me over to spend a lovely afternoon and evening with her. Ever the outstanding hostess and brilliant chef, she produced this delicious tomato soup from fresh ingredients. It was totally amazing. So tonight I decided to cook it lest I forget how she did it. I added a few other ingredients and did some small short-cuts to make it really simple, in fact you can use any autumnal veggies and play around with it.

Unfortunately the battery of my camera was dead, so I used my iPhone to take the pictures. The soup is delicious and quickly made … definitely a winner!

Autumnal Vegetable Soup Ingredients

Right, here are the ingredients I used:

Butternut squash, pumpkin or whatever you find at your greengrocer’s
Carrots
Onions, several
Tomatoes
Sweet Potatoes (baked)
Garlic,
Mixed Dried Herbs
Fresh Parsley
Fresh Basil
Chicken Stock Cubes
Marmite / Vegimite (one heaped teaspoon)
Tomato Puree
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to season
Pinch of sugar
Cream or soured cream or just a splurge of olive oil

Method:

Bring a saucepan of water to boil and add stock cubes and dried herbs. Chop up the butternut squash or whatever you have plus the carrots, onions and fresh parsley and add it to the the boiling chicken stock and let it cook till the hard root veggies are soft.

Mean while either roast the sweet potatoes or take some previously roasted sweet potatoes.

Autumnal Vegetable Soup with tomatoes blanching

The tomatoes need to be blanched and the skin taken off. You can either do it the traditional way of pouring some boiling water over them, or dump them into the soup mix. Once you see the skin lifting, take them out and peel the skin and discard the tomato vine stems. Then add the peeled tomatoes back into the soup.

Scoup out the flesh of the sweet potato and add it to the mix.

Autumnal Vegetable soup - mixing

Add the basil leaves, crushed garlic and mix everything with an electric stick blender.

Now add the remaining ingredients according to taste.

Autumnal Vegetable Soup ... served

Enjoy your soup with a glass of wine and some hot crusty garlic bread. Stir in soured cream, ordinary cream or olive oil. Simone served the soup with heaps of freshly grated Parmesan chese, which was beautiful!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cream-Cheese Icing

Geli — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:48:12 +0000

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Chese Icing

These cupcakes Charis baked yesterday, too. I must say they were incredibly delicious. We could not stop licking our fingers *accidentally* dipped into the Nutella cream cheese icing. The cupcake base is beautifully chocolatey moist.
Really yum!!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

115g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
85g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g soft dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
185g plain flour, sifted
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¾tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
250ml semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature
1 tsp good-quality vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170˚C (fan)/190˚C / 375˚F /gas mark5 and line a couple of

melting dark chocolate - the light reflection from the camera flash makes it appear to be milk chocolate. It was high grade dark chocolate

12-hole muffin trays or four 12-hole mini muffin trays with the appropriate size cupcake cases.

Break the chocolate into pieces and melt. Put the pieces in a heatproof bowl or glass jug over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until it has completely melted and is quite smooth. Stir in the two heaped teaspoons of instant coffee into that mix. Leave to cool slightly.

beaten egg yolks added to the creamed butter and sugar mix

In a large bowl cream the butter and the sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth, which should take 3-5 minutes using an electric hand mixer. In a separate bowl and with clean beaters, beat the egg yolks for several minutes. Slowly add the egg yolks to the creamed mixture and beat well. Next, add the melted chocolate to the mixture and beat well.

Combine the flower, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl. Put the milk in a jug and add the vanilla extract to it. Add one-third of the flour to the chocolate mixture and beat well. Pour in one-third of the milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and the milk have been added.

carefully fold the egg whites into the batter

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter, using a metal spoon. Do not beat or you will take all the air out of the mixture.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about

we used two teaspoons to carefully fill the slightly liquid batter into the cases

two-thirds full. This is a fairly liquid batter, so take care when spooning out as it can end up being very messy!

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes (regular size) or 15 minutes (mini size). To check they are cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes – it should come out clean.

Remove from the oven ad leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 minutes before carefully placing them on a wire rack to cool. Once they are completely cool, ice them with the Nutella cream cheese icing.

For the Nutella cream cheese icing:

Nutella, Philadelphia, butter

Ingredients:

57g butter, room temperature, cut into cubes
227g cream cheese (Philadelphia), room temperature,
120g Nutella
1 tsp. vanilla
340-450g powdered sugar, sifted

.... and the icing (as you can see, we did not keep to the recipe, instead adding it all together, it work fine and was soooo delicious)

To make the icing, beat the butter and cream cheese with an electic hand mixer on medium high for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the nutella and vanilla until completely incorporated. (Actually we just mixed the Nutella, butter and Philadelphia in one go).

Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until desired consistency, until stiff peaks are reached.

Spoon the icing on the cupcakes.

Ready to bite into this thing!

it was Charis' job to sample her creation first!

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing

Geli — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:42:54 +0000

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing

Today, my daughter Charis baked two lots of cupcakes, and I acted as her chef’s assistant, plus taking pictures. Here are the Earl Grey cupcakes with a really delicious lemon buttercream icing.

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
250g sugar
2 large eggs
300g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
125ml milk
½ tsp. Almond extract (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
4 Earl Grey teabags (Next Time: 2 -3 Tbs loose leaves of Earl Grey tea – it’s best to use a good quality loose leaf tea for these cakes. If you don’t have loose leaf tea on hand, you can open two teabags and use the tea inside.)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175˚C (350˚F/gas mark 4 and line a whole 12-hole muffin tray with the appropriate size cupcake cases.

Earl Grey teabags infusing in hot milk

Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat, but do not boil, add the vanilla and the tea leaves. Take the milk off the heat to cool.

Cover with cling film and leave to infuse for about 30 minutes, then discard the teabags (next time add tea leaves directly into the milk and allow them to steep).

eggs sugar butter mix

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth, which should take 3-5 minutes using an electric hand mixer. Add the almond extract, if using, and the eggs, one at the time, mixing for a few minutes after each addition.

Sift dry ingredients together. Fold half of the dry mixture into the wet; add the milk (with the tea leaves) and the remainder of the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and do not over mix. The mixture will be soft and light, and will be flecked with little black tea leaves.

Cake mix in the little cupcake cases

Fill a twelve-cup muffin pan with the mixture and bake for 25 minutes. The top should be slightly raised and golden brown. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes – it should come out clean. Allow to cool completely.

Lemon Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-3 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
Grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons (you need at least 2 tsp)
500g icing sugar, sifted.

Method:
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and half the icing sugar until smooth – this can take several minutes with an electric hand mixer. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat again until smooth and creamy.

Earl Grey Cupcake

Moroccan Mint Tea

Geli — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:22:24 +0000

Moroccan Mint Tea

It was a Moroccan themed food evening that concluded with the ubiquitous mint tea.

The main meal was delicious: Moroccan lamb stuffed aubergines, and I should have added the recipe here to my food blog. The problem was that I managed to take absolutely abysmal photos. The aubergines looked more like dismembered unfortunate caterpillars. Well my dinner guests, who absolutely loved the flavours and the food, suggested that I should make that dish again *soon* and then take better pictures.

Anyway, here is the recipe for the Moroccan mint tea:

Actually it’s very, very simple. You need Green Tea, to be more precise Chinese Gunpower Tea, a good table spoon ful.

Bunch a lot of fresh mint, torn into pieces, together with the Green Tea into a tea pot and pour hot water over it. Allow the tea to steep for nearly 10 mins. over a tea light candle heater (or anything else to keep it hot), pour into little glasses with a sprig of mint, and enjoy.

I personally like my Moroccan tea sweet so I am generous with the sugar, but my dinner guests preferred it unsweetened. Thus I served the sugar separately.

Spanish Rice with Chili Peppers and Chicken

Geli — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:04:46 +0000

Spanish Rice with Chicken

Well, Germany did not win the World Cup, yesterday, Spain did. Congratulations and well done for a great team performance! Actually, lucky me, I have more Spanish family than German family, so there was still a reason for celebrating!

So, here is my version of Spanish Rice

I had some left over chicken from the other day when I made a delicious clear chicken soup, so this dish is great for left over meats, or serve it as an accompaniment for other meats, such as grilled or roast meats.

Ingredients for Geli's Spanish Rice

(click on images to enlarge)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil (or as much is needed)

1 onion, chopped

Several garlic cloves, minced (sorry I can’t give you the exact amount of garlic, I am extremely heavy-handed with garlic …. I was conservative tonight as I was considerate for my daughter and her work colleagues tomorrow)

Aprox 500g of long-grain white rice (2 cups for my US friends)

700g of * chicken stock (or 3 cups). I used the soupy stock from the chicken I made the other day, and it was superb. If all fails use chicken stock cubes)

1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste

1 tin / can of chopped tomatoes

Heaps of oregano and thyme (dried but even better if you have some fresh)

A good handful of peas

Chopped flat parsly

Several different types of chili peppers (the larger variety is not as hot as the small ones, yet they give some nice flavour)

Black olives (any black olives will do, but my personal firm favourite are Greek Kalamata olives!) I can’t stand the prepitted olives you can buy at shops, they don’t have any flavour. I do cut the stones out for the cooking and it is easier on an unsuspecting tooth later on. However, do serve a bowl of olives on the table so that diners can help themselves.

1 Tablespoon of powdered turmeric

—-

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice. (Can you imagine, I just wrote “cups” as a measurememnt, not gramms – ‘g’ and mililitres – ‘ml’ ???!!!)

Can some reader please help me with the names of these large chili peppers? At my local greengrocer I tend to just bag what I see I might need without knowing the correct names … Thanks!

Method

In a large saucepan brown the rice, onions and garlic in olive oil, medium/high heat. Cook onion rice mixture, stirring frequently, till onions are golden and softened. It is difficult but the rice should be fried to brown, almost to the point of burning. This will bring out the best flavor in it. (I cooked it less than I should have )

Next add all the other ingredients to the rice. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Lower heat and cook 15-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6.

Note to self: Next time add sundried tomatoes and chorizo sausages. Also there were not enough chili peppers.

Basic Streuselkuchen

Geli — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:34:35 +0000

Basic German Streuselkuchen (with yeast)

(click image to enlarge)

My daughter Charis was supposed to have baked cupcakes today, but changed her mind after a late night So, as there was plenty of butter in my kitchen, I thought I’d knock up a Streuselkuchen (crumble cake).

It has a light and moist yeast base and a really yummy crunchy buttery crumble topping. next time I’ll add some fruit into it.

Ingredients

For the Dough:
4 cups Plain Flour (All Purpose Flour)
115g Unsalted Butter
1 Egg
100g of Sugar
1 sachet Active Dry Yeast
1/4 teaspoon Salt
250ml Milk, lukewarm

For the Crumb Topping:
250g Unsalted Butter, cut into tiny cubes
250g of Sugar
1 sachet of Vanilla Sugar, or vanilla essence if you don’t have vanilla sugar
500g Flour

Additional Ingredients:
2 -3 tablespoons Powdered Sugar

Method:

Dissolve 1 teaspoon of sugar in half of the wam milk (not too hot), add the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the flour. Cover and allow this mixture to sit in a warm place for 1 hour.

Combine remaining dough ingredients then add in the yeast mixture. Mix with dough hooks/spirals (if you have a mixer) until a smooth dough forms, then knead by hand. Allow dough to sit in a warm place until double in volume.

Before putting itnto the oven, give the dough anough good kneading. The dough should not be sticky. If necessary ad a bit more flour.

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

Grease (butter) a baking sheet / flat rectangular tin. Transfer dough to baking sheet / tin and spread it evenly.

Prepare the crumbs by mixing the butter, vanilla sugar /essence, cinnamon and sugar. Gradually work in flour until mixture becomes dry and crumbly. The way you work it in is by rubbing your fingers or hands in the floury mix

Sprinkle crumbs over dough, distributing them evenly.

Allow cake to sit and rise for another 30 minutes.

Bake cake for around 30 minutes or until crumbs and crust become golden brown.

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely.

Before serving, sift powdered sugar onto top of cake for decoration.