Cucumber Tea Sandwiches with Chile-Basil Butter

These darling little sandwiches were inspired by Madhur Jaffrey's Indian-accented tea sandwiches, which call for chile-mint butter, and don't contain cucumber. I was tempted to add a hint of ground coriander and cumin to the butter mixture, just to elevate the sense of Indian flavours, and I might do that next time. Hers also had a touch of lemon juice in the butter mixture, which I might try as well, as I think the added brightness will work nicely.

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches with Chile-Basil Butter

Makes 8 Tea-sized Sandwiches

4 larges slices of thinly sliced soft white bakery bread
2-3 inches finely sliced cucumber
3 tablespoons soft butter
2 tablespoons minced basil
1 minced green chile
Kosher salt
Black pepper to taste

Mix the butter, basil, green chile, and a pinch of salt (along with any bonus seasonings you'd like to add) until thoroughly combined. Spread the butter mixture thickly on one side of each piece of bread.

On two of the slices of buttered bread, layer as many pieces of cucumber, overlapping, as you can fit onto the bread. Don't worry about peeling the cucumber (unless it has an inedible peel), the dark green adds a nice bit of contrast. Top the cucumber'd bread slices with the other buttered slices of bread, to make two large sandwiches.

Trim the crusts, using a very sharp knife and a single downward slicing motion for each side, to prevent the sandwiches from trying to fall apart. Slice each sandwich into quarters, in whichever way you see fit, or use a sandwich punch or cookie cutters if you want fancy shapes.

Serve right away, so that the bread doesn't have a chance to dry out. If necessary, cover tightly with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

International Bento (Mixed): Ham, Cheese, & Walnut Crêpes with Greek Salad

I've been making crêpes fairly often since we moved to Germany. They're a wonderful, multi-purpose flatbread that you can make in advance, even refrigerating for a few days (or freezing...separate each one with parchment, and bag them up) so that you can have them on hand for quick breakfast, lunch, snacks, hors d'oeuvres, dinner, or dessert. It's all about what you fill them with, and how many of them you want to eat at a time, that determines their role.

I have posted a recipe for Crêpes before, showcasing one of the wonderfully tender and silky French styles of crêpe. I still make those (they are especially good as dessert crêpes, with a sweet filling), but I also have another, slightly less eggy-and-rich go-to recipe for an everyday crêpe that can be used in exactly the same way.

These crêpes are the ones you want to use if you want the emphasis to be on the filling slightly more than the crêpe itself (don't worry, they're still delicious!), if you want a slightly lower fat/calorie version, or if you go to make crêpes and discover that you only have two eggs on hand. If you are planning breakfast crêpes with an egg filling, you probably want to use this recipe rather than the other.

The ratios are from Cook This Not That! but with better (I think) mixing directions.

You can easily halve the batch, or double it, as you see fit.

Everyday Crêpes

Makes 10-12 6-inch crêpes

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1-2 tablespoons melted butter

In a medium mixing bowl (or food processor, or blender), mix the flour and salt. Separately, combine the eggs, milk, and water, and beat well. Add the liquid mixture to the flour, and whisk (or process with a cutting blade) until smooth.

If you are mixing by hand and cannot get rid of a few lumps, simply pour the batter through a sieve, and push-through or discard any lumps left behind.

Stir in the melted butter, and then let the batter rest for about 15 minutes so that the flour fully hydrates. If you're planning to fill the crêpes right away, you might want to get your filling(s) ready while the batter rests. Otherwise, just pour yourself a glass of something pleasant - might I suggest wine? - to sip at during the cooking process.

To make a six-inch (15 cm) crêpe, I use an eight-inch (20 cm) non-stick skillet. The skillet is usually measured by the width of the top of the pan, but the base is usually somewhat smaller. The base of my skillet is just over 6 inches. You can use whatever size skillet you like, for whatever size crêpes you like, but I find this to be the best all-purpose crêpe size.

Just like in the previous recipe:

Heat the skillet over medium heat until a drop of water dances. Spritz with canola oil, or brush very lightly with mild oil of your choice. You only need to do this for the first crêpe, if you're using a non-stick pan.

Using a ladle or scoop that holds 3 tablespoons, measure your first crêpe's worth of batter. Lift the skillet off of the heat (I hold it in the air) and quickly pour the batter into the middle of the pan. Drop the ladle back into the batter-bowl and rapidly tilt the skillet in a circular motion, to spread the batter until it evenly covers the base of the pan. Return the pan to the burner, and allow the crepe to cook until lightly golden, and the edges release from the pan, about a minute or two.

Slide a silicone spatula under the crêpe (or grab the edge carefully with your fingers) and flip it over. Let it continue to cook for a minute, and then slide the crêpe onto your work surface for filling.

Repeat until all of the crêpe batter has been cooked. This does take a little bit of time, unless you've got multiple skillets going and are multi-tasking like a champ, which is (well, one reason) why I suggest having a beverage on hand to sip while you cook.

The crêpes in the bento above have a filling of Tilsit cheese (you could substitute Havarti), very thinly sliced ham, and chopped toasted walnuts. I find that it's important when considering crêpe fillings to ensure that there is something that will act as a sort of "glue" to keep the filling together while you're eating. A filling of only dry items, such as dice chicken, chopped almonds, and asparagus will simply fall apart into its discrete components once you cut into it. A small amount of cheese, or scrambled egg, or thick sauce (or paste) of any kind will help keep the filling together.

The other compartment of the bento above has a Greek-ish salad chopped cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, feta, radishes and an oregano lemon dressing, and the little dark item is a miniature Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chip muffin, as a tiny little dessert.

Caribbean Curried Chicken Skillet Dinner

It's been a while since I made a rice-based skillet dinner, so I thought it was time. You can easily adapt this recipe to use boneless chicken thighs, if you prefer, simply by shortening the cooking time and finishing the cooking solely on the stovetop. However, you won't get quite as pretty an effect, and of course, you won't get the crispy, delicious chicken skin.

Caribbean Curried Chicken Skillet Dinner

Serves 4

8 bone-in chicken pieces
1 tablespoon unbleached flour
2 — 3 tablespoons Jamaican-style curry powder*
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 cup parboiled rice
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 1/3 cups water
3 tablespoon shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
2 large carrots, shredded
30 grams sultana or golden raisins
1/4 cup finely sliced green onions
1 — 2 Scotch Bonnet Chili peppers, minced

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Combine the flour, curry powder (and salt, if you are using an unsalted curry powder) in a shallow bowl, and toss the chicken pieces to lightly coat.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the peanut oil and add the chicken pieces, skin side down, working in batches if you need to. Sear the chicken until darkly golden brown on the skin side, about six to eight minutes, and then flip over to brown the other side, too (for about five minutes). Set the chicken aside on a clean plate.

While the chicken is browning, combine the coconut milk, water, and the remaining curry powder/flour mixture, whisking until smooth, and have it standing ready.

When all of the chicken is out of the pan, drain most of the fat (and any loose browned curry powder) leaving only a thin layer of oil in the pan. Add the shredded carrots, green onions, scotch bonnets, and raisins. Stir and fry for a minute or so, before adding the rice and toasted coconut. Stir around until the rice is thoroughly coated, scraping the bottom of the skillet with your spoon or spatula so that everything is evenly integrated.

Add the coconut milk mixture to the rice and stir well, to ensure that nothing is sticking to the bottom of your skillet.

Return the chicken to the pan, placing each piece skin-side up in a single layer so that the skin is not submerged in the liquid. Place skillet uncovered in the hot oven, on a middle shelf for 30 minutes. (check at 20 minutes to see if more liquid is needed).

Remove chicken pieces from the skillet onto serving plates, and spoon up the rice with a big serving spoon. The rice will be creamy-textured rather than pilaf style. If I have leftovers, I take the meat off the bones before cooling and refrigerating, to make re-heating in a skillet or microwave easier.


This dish can be pretty fiery and intense, so a fresh green salad will help provide a cooling counterpoint.

*Use a Jamaican-style curry powder if possible. Also, check to see if your curry powder contains salt; if not, you may want to add a half-teaspoon of kosher salt (or coarse sea salt).

Käsespätzle: Germany's Macaroni & Cheese

This is German comfort food, as evidenced by its remarkably frequent appearance on menus here. It sometimes has different names - for example, one of my favourite places for German classics calls their version of this "Brauerspätzle" (Brewer's Spätzle), but when you read the description, it's the same dish. You can even buy it frozen in bags in the freezer section of supermarkets, although I can't imagine the quality is that impressive.

There's a lot of room for personalization here. Käsespätzle can be served vegetarian or with tiny ham cubes, the latter being the most common one I've seen (Germany loves its pork, after all). It can be short, stubby spätzle, or longer, more uniformly thin ones. It can have crispy onions on top, or finely diced sautéed onions throughout. You can use Emmenthal, Gouda, Bergkäse, Edam, or a blend of whatever grated/grate-able cheeses you have hanging about in your fridge. I used a pre-shredded combination of Gouda and Tilsit, which was advertised as "cheese for gratin".

This took me about 70 minutes, start to finish, and makes a bit of a mess (but one that is mercifully easy to clean up).

Pro Tip: Have a sink or basin of cold water standing by for you to put the batter-goopy tools in as soon as you've finished the stove-top phase.

Käsespätzle

Serves 4-6

Spätzle
4 eggs
400 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 - 1 cup water (or more, as needed)

For assembly:
150 - 200 grams grated tasty cheese
125 grams tiny ham cubes (Schinken Würfel, bacon, or similar)
3 tablespoons cream
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine flour and kosher salt in a medium-large mixing bowl or food processor. Beat the eggs and 1/2 cup of water together, and stir into the flour mixture. Add additional water until you get a thin batter, that falls in ribbons from the spoon or whisk. Beat/whisk/blend until smooth. If you can't get it completely smooth, pour it through a sieve and push any lumps through, otherwise you risk clumps of uncooked flour in your finished noodles. Let stand 15 minutes to allow the flour to fully hydrate.

Next thinly slice an onion, and set it to fry over low heat in the olive oil (with maybe a pinch of salt), until deeply coloured and crispy. This will take a while, and is low maintenance. It can finish crisping up while you're cooking the spätzle.

Preheat your oven to 400 F while you cook the spätzle.

While the batter is resting, get your onions and ham cubes (if using) cooking and set up your spätzle cooking rig. If you have a spätzle Hobel or spätzle Brett and know how to use it, carry on however you see fit. If not, here's my method:

Half-fill a tall saucepan with water. Ideally, the width of the saucepan will allow you to rest a four-sided grated over the top in a way that you won't need to hold onto it (although I do usually use one hand to keep it steady while I'm working). The batter is going to be pushed from inside the grater through the "large holed" side straight into the boiling salted water. You're going to want to lightly oil the grater (just the one side), inside and out, to help the batter fall more smoothly through the holes.


Place the grater over the gently boiling, salted water, with the largest round(ish)-holed side facing down. Use a large spoon to add a scoop of batter inside the grater. The batter will start to drip through the holes.


Using a flat-ended wooden spoon (you can use a spatula, but is easier to use a rigid tool), gently but firmly scrape the dough back and forth along the inside the grater, repeatedly, until all of the dough is pushed through.


Remove the grater from the top of the pot, and start using a spider-tool or other skimmer to remove the floating spätzle to a near-by waiting bowl. I like to use a large mesh colander over a plate, but a large bowl also works fine.

Return the grater to the pot and repeat the dough scooping and scraping, spoonful by spoonful, removing the cooked spätzle regularly with your skimmer, until all of the batter is gone. Remove the grater and any other batter-crusted tools immediately to a basin of cold water, and allow them to soak while you complete the next steps.

Loosen the spätzle with a fork, to de-clump it. In a 10 or 11-inch skillet (cast iron is terrific), rub a little butter or vegetable oil over the bottom, and then add a layer of spätzle. Top with a handful or two of grated cheese, and some of the ham cubes. Repeat until all of the spätzle are in the pan, ending with a layer of cheese or cheese-and-ham. I got about three layers of noodles, but your mileage may vary. Scatter the fried onions evenly over the top of the last cheese layer, and gently pour a couple of tablespoons of cream over all.


Place uncovered in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes. Serve with a nice big salad (or at least some sliced fresh vegetables).


Spätzle also reheats quite well the next day, either in the microwave, or in a foil-covered dish in a moderate oven.

Strawberry Shortcake

There are generally two camps for Strawberry Shortcake lovers -- the biscuit camp and the sponge cake camp. As you can see here, I clearly fall into Camp Biscuit. In fact, it was not until I was in my late teens that I learned about the sponge cake variation. It sounded good, but was a little disappointing when I tried it. Sponge cake gives you a much softer overall dessert -- easily made in advance, and easily sliced and portioned for a crowd, for sure -- but the firmer, yet still tender, biscuit gives each serving of this dessert an individual, more impressive character: each biscuit becoming a small work of art assembled for each guest. The crisply sweet finish on the golden top crust, the squish of the top of the biscuit descending into the tender interior of whipped cream and macerated berries, feel more decadent to me.

The biscuit method for Strawberry Shortcake is almost laughably easy: make your favourite drop-biscuit dough with an extra teaspoon of sugar per cup of flour, and before baking brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with a little more sugar.

If strawberries are not your thing, plenty of other fruits also work beautifully: raspberries, or peaches, or my all-time favourite, the tiniest possible blackberries.

Strawberry Shortcake

Serves 4

Berries:

3 - 4 cups sliced strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar

Toss the strawberries with the sugar and refrigerate, covered, for a couple of hours, stirring once or twice.

Shortcake Biscuits:

1 cup pastry flour
2 teaspoons sugar, plus extra to finish
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon cream

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender (or use your usual method, if different), and set aside until you're ready to bake the biscuits, say... just after dinner.

Preheat the oven to 450 F, and lightly grease a baking sheet. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the milk all at once. Stir rapidly with a fork until it becomes a sticky dough without streaks of dry flour. Drop in four equal spoonsful to make four biscuits on your baking sheet. Lightly press the biscuit into shape, flattening the top slightly if necessary. Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until risen and golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before assembling, so that the whipped cream doesn't melt.

Whipped Cream:
Whip 3/4 cup of cream with a teaspoon of sugar and a quarter teaspoon vanilla extract (or use vanilla sugar), until you have stiff peaks.

To assemble:

Use a fork to separate the biscuits into top and bottom halves. Spoon whipped cream onto the bottoms, top with berries, then another dollop of whipped cream before perching the lids on top. Serve immediately.

Smoked Duck Étouffée with Artichokes

I love Cajun food, which probably comes as no surprise to those of you who know how often I use chiles (and how many, and how hot) in my cooking. That said, there is a wealth of Cajun and Creole dishes that are not hot at all. They are often intensely flavourful without necessarily using loads of chile peppers.

This dish is one of those. The combination of a caramel-coloured roux, smoked duck breast, and artichoke hearts, along with the Cajun trinity of onion, celery, and green bell pepper and typical Cajun herbs and spices makes this Étouffée recipe decadent, richly flavoured, and incredibly satisfying, and is a unique dish in its own right rather than simply replacing seafood with duck in a Shrimp or Crawfish Étouffée. It does have the tiniest bit of cayenne in it, and you could add a drop or two of Tabasco sauce if you insist, but this recipe doesn't even remotely qualify as spicy.

Do not mess around when you are making your roux. It takes a bit of time, and patience, and stirring - generally around 25 minutes of stirring, but it's easy to do and your patience will be rewarded. Make sure you have completed all of your mise en place before you begin the roux. You can cook the rice separately during the simmering stage, which only requires intermittent stirring.

If you do not have access to duck fat to make your roux, use lard. If you cannot source duck stock, a strong brown poultry stock (such as roasted-bone chicken stock) will do, but do note that without duck fat and duck stock in this dish, you will be reducing the luxurious duck flavour significantly. If you've never made roux before, here are some links you might want to check out: Making Roux Step by Step (Allrecipes), and Master the Art of Making Roux (The Daily South). Making a roux is not difficult, but it must be done correctly -- no shortcuts or cowboy moves until you've mastered the basics -- at which time you'll understand why cowboy moves simply shouldn't be applied to roux.

Smoked Duck Étouffée with Artichokes
Adapted from Cajun-Creole Cooking by Terry Thompson-Anderson
Serves 4

Roux
1/2 cup duck fat
1/2 cup flour

Étouffée
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced/crushed
600 grams smoked duck breast, diced (largish)
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 cup duck stock (room temperature)
3-4 canned artichoke hearts, cut into sixths
2 green onions
handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Before you begin, prepare all ingredients so that they are ready to add to the dish. If your duck breast is skin-on, remove the skin and set aside for another dish - perhaps turn it into cracklings to garnish a pasta or an omelette or risotto, or tuck it into the freezer until you know what you want to do with smoked duck skin. Measure out your spices (they can all go into a single mise dish).

In a large Dutch oven, prepare your roux by melting the duck fat over high heat and add all of the flour at once (you can use all-purpose flour or cake flour). Whisk like mad for about a minute, to make sure you don't get any lumps. Then reduce the heat, change your whisk to a spatula, and stir over medium-low heat until it is all smooth and gently bubbling. Continue to stir relentlessly, regularly scraping the entire surface of the bottom of the pot, for about 25 - 35 minutes, or until the roux passes "peanut butter" (light brown) colour and moves on to "caramel" (medium-brown). The darker the roux, the easier it is to burn it, so be increasingly vigilant as you go along. Once the roux begins to darken, the process accelerates: you need to pay attention.

As soon as the roux reaches the right colour, add your onion, bell pepper, and celery (the "Cajun trinity") and the garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, or until they have started to soften. You don't need to turn the heat up - it's plenty hot already.

Add the spices (note there is no added salt in the recipe - there's quite enough from the smoked duck and the duck stock). Stir the spices through and allow to cook for a couple of minutes before adding the diced duck breast. If you are adding Tabasco sauce, add it now.

Add the duck breast, and stir until it is thoroughly coated with the roux.

Pour in the duck stock in a steady stream, stirring constantly, until it is all integrated. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this time, you can put your rice on to cook. We've used parboiled rice here, but long grain white or brown rice would also be fine.

At the end of the simmering time, add the artichoke heart pieces, the green onions, and the parsley, and cook for a further 5 or 10 minutes. Taste the Étouffée and add salt if needed (you probably won't need any, but it's good to check). When the artichoke heart pieces are heated through, you're ready to serve.

To serve, place about 3/4 cup rice in the middle of individual serving bowls, and spoon the Étouffée in around the rice. I like to use a round measuring cup (lightly buttered) to shape the rice --just pack the rice into the cup and turn it over into the middle of each bowl-- but it's certainly not necessary.

Schweizer Wurstsalat (Swiss Sausage Salad)

This is an enormously popular salad in this part of Germany, and while variations are also enjoyed in Switzerland, Austria, and the Alsace, this particular version of Wurstsalat (which also goes by the names "Straßburger Wurstsalat" and "Elsässer Wurstasalat") is often referred to as "Schweizer", meaning Swiss, because of the inclusion of Emmental cheese. It's a common summertime snack (as you can imagine, it goes rather well with a nice glass of beer) or light lunch, and easy to pack for a picnic.

As with the Rheinischer Kartoffelsalat, in my last post there are many, many iterations of this salad, and you can easily customise it as you see fit. As previously, I'm posting a fundamental version for your consideration, but feel free to adjust the proportions of the key ingredients — as I served this with the potato salad as linked, I kept the number of pickles somewhat discreet, although I have seen some versions that boast almost as much pickle as meat, and ones with a shocking amount of onions. There are versions with or without cheese, and versions with mayonnaise instead of marinade. Some delis here will have two or three different versions, so you can choose depending on your mood. So feel free to let your own needs and preferences dictate the balance of the various ingredients.

One thing that I appreciate about grocery shopping here is that there tends to be no real difference in price for "format shifting". That is to say, if I buy my cheese or meat as a block, or in slices, or shredded, it costs pretty much the same, priced by weight. Since I can buy pre-julienned sausage here, too — available, I'm sure, expressly due to the popularity of this salad in these parts — this dish comes together in a snap. You'll see that the marinade is quite similar to that of the potato salad, but has less liquid, since none of the marinade gets absorbed.

Schweizer Wurstsalat
Swiss Sausage Salad

Serves 4

300 grams thinly julienned sausage (recommended: Schinkenwurst or Lyoner sausage)
1/4 - 1/2 medium yellow or red onion, finely sliced
6 - 8 cornishon-style pickles, julienned
3/4 - 1 cup grated Emmental cheese (or Edam, or Gouda)

Marinade:
100 millilitres vegetable broth or stock
1/4 cup finely sliced green onion
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot mustard
3 tablespoons neutrally-flavoured vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon Kosher or coarse sea salt
ground white pepper to taste

Heat the vegetable broth/stock until not-quite boiling, and remove from the heat. In a medium-large mixing bowl, combine the green onion, parsley (finely minced), vinegar, mustard, oil, salt and white pepper and whisk. Slowly pour in the broth, whisking, to bring the marinade together. Add the julienned sausage and stir well, ensuring each piece is thoroughly coated with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight. Stir periodically, if convenient.

When you're ready to finish the salad, give it a quick stir, and then add the yellow or red onion, the pickles (julienned), and the grated cheese. Toss lightly to ensure that the marinade (I guess it's a dressing, by this stage) gets evenly distributed, and serve with buttered bread on the side.

One of the attractive looking versions that I've seen includes tiny bits of red chile peppers (and possibly also chile flakes). You could also use paprika sausage (which is essentially Lyoner sausage with pepper flakes) for all or a portion of the meat. I wouldn't use a super aged or smoked Gouda here, as it might overpower (or, go ahead, but maybe use half the amount of cheese to start, and adjust as necessary). While this salad is normally served without greens, you could certainly serve it on a bed of baby lettuces, for a sort of chef salad effect (with or without the hard-boiled egg). You could probably also use it as a basis for a pasta salad, although I think you would need quite a bit more marinade, and maybe more parsley.

Rheinischer Kartoffelsalat (Rhineland-Style German Potato Salad)

Summer weather has arrived in Rheinland-Pfalz, and with it many restaurants have switched over to their summer menus. Oh, not to worry, you can still get the heartiest of hearty items (Sauerbraten, Rinderrouladen, Goulash, etc.), but the seasonal offerings have definitely shifted. This includes a fundamental shift in the lunchtime menus from fried potatoes (that is, bratkartoffeln) on the side, to potato salad.

I was a pleased and surprised, here in the heart of sweetened mayonnaise country, to discover that most of the potato salads in this region are marinated in a vinaigrette as opposed to a creamy dressing. What didn't surprise me, however, is the lack of crumbled bacon in the salads. Oh, a lot of them have pork in them, but it's ham. Tiny, tiny cubes of fried ham. Also, not every potato salad, even the Rheinisch ones, contains pork - although plenty of them do. But it is definitely not the crumbled bacon, or even bacon bits, that so often comes with the "German Potato Salad" label in Canada. I chose to make this one vegetarian, simply because I was serving it as part of a duo alongside a sausage and cheese salad, and decided that my meat requirements were being well met already.

At its most plain, this potato salad omits the radishes, and at its most fancy (known as Bunter (colourful) Kartoffelsalat) it will have not only the radishes, but also a sparse inclusion of red and/or yellow bell pepper pieces, and possibly fresh cucumber to go alongside the pickles. The fun thing about salads is that it's very easy to customise them to your personal tastes. So, by all means, feel free to add the extra vegetables. Or tiny cubes of fried ham. This ham-free version is vegan.

Rheinischer Kartoffelsalat
Rhineland-Style German Potato Salad

Serves 4 - 6

2 kilos waxy potatoes
1/2 medium yellow onion
4 cornishon-style pickles
4 large radishes

200 millilitres vegetable stock or broth
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon hot mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
white pepper to taste
1/4 cup parsley (and/or fresh dill)

Boil and peel the potatoes in whichever order you choose. Allow them to cool, and then cut them into slices. Some of those slices will break up a bit - that's supposed to happen, and if it doesn't happen now, it probably will when the remaining ingredients are stirred in. Put the potatoes in a bowl with a bit of extra room (to allow you to stir).

In a small saucepan, heat the vegetable stock or broth (or heat up some water and add vegetable base as is appropriate). Add the vinegar, mustard, salt and white pepper, and whisk to partially integrate. Finely dice the onions, and add them to the stock, simmering very briefly - not for more than about two minutes. Pour the onion-stock mixture over the potatoes, and stir through. Allow to cool at room temperature for about 15 minutes, then stir in the parsley. Cover and place in the fridge. Let the potatoes soak up the liquid for at least an hour or two, then thinly slice and add the cornishons and radishes, and any of the optional additional ingredients that you like. Taste, and add a little extra vinegar if you like (places around here serve it extremely tart, which is very refreshing in hot weather) and more salt if needed. Allow the salad to chill again, covered, for about half an hour, and serve. If you like, you can garnish with wedges of hard-boiled egg or tomato. I like to do a final pass with freshly ground black pepper to serve.

Coming soon: Swiss-style Sausage Salad (Update: Now posted!)

Himmel und Erde (Heaven & Earth), plus International Bento (German)

Himmel und Erde (Heaven and Earth) is a classic regional meal popular in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz (also called the Rhineland-Palatinate), among others.

This is really more of a serving suggestion than a recipe - I'm assuming that you know how to make simple mashed potatoes, and can source decent sausage, onions, and applesauce. A basic sort of peasant dish, Himmel und Erde is simply mashed potatoes, served with sausages, applesauce, and fried onions. Himmel, or Heaven, is invoked by the apple, which grows high in the air, and Erde, or Earth, is invoked by the potato, which in some German dialects is Erdapfel ("earth apple", not unlike the nomenclature for French pommes de terre, which also means "apples of the earth"). But where do the sausage and fried onions come in? Well, short answer is, that the sausages are pork, and Germans seem to serve pork with almost everything. Fried onions are just a bonus.

The classic iteration of this dish that I can find is with blood sausage and bratwurst, and that's what I've done here. The blood sausage is a smokier version of the United Kingdom's blood pudding, which you could also use in a pinch. The applesauce I made by peeling and dicing some pie-making apples into a saucepan with a pinch of salt and some water, and then simmering and stirring until they became sauce, but you could use any applesauce you like (I would avoid overly sweetened ones myself...but a lot of Germans probably wouldn't). Then, it's just a matter of cooking it all up and getting it onto the plate.

So, boil your potatoes to make the mash, and warm up your applesauce. While that's happening, sauté your onion rings in the same skillet that you're using to cook up the bratwurst. When the applesauce is ready, turn it off with a lid on to keep it warm. Push the onions and bratwurst to one side of your skillet, and add the slices of blood sausage to the pan. Let the blood sausage cook over medium heat (turning once) for about five or six minutes, while you mash the potatoes. Once the potatoes are mashed, the onions and sausages are fried and standing by, assemble as desired.

I'm contemplating a slightly more elegant version of this dish using roasted potatoes and apples in wedges, in some sort of clever baking-dish assembly, but that hasn't happened yet.

I sent the leftovers to work with Palle the next day as a German bento. There are extra onions acting as a bed for the blood sausage, and no bratwurst (this seemed plenty filling for a lunch as it was). His co-workers seem to find it amusing when he arrives with home cooked German food for lunch, while many of them head out for pizza and Burger King.

Almond Chile Chicken

I almost called this "Not-Quite Kung Pao Chicken" as the primary difference is the use of almond slivers instead of crushed or whole peanuts. However, it turned out much too tasty to burden with a name that suggested it was not living up to its full potential. Another significant difference is the absence of Szechuan pepper, although it would be a great addition. This recipe makes no claim to authenticity, but it is delicious. With three sources of chile, it's also very hot.

It's helpful to allow the chicken to marinate for a little while, at the very least while you prepare the peppers and toast the almonds, but ideally at least for half an hour. You can easily add in another vegetable for an all-in-one dish green bell pepper, for example, or diced baby corn, or even finely chopped celery (to stay true to its Kung Pao roots), but don't crowd the chicken with a lot of other things. Maybe serve a simply steamed gai lan with a shot of oyster sauce, or sautéed baby bok choi with a nice dressing on the side. Serve the chicken over rice.

Almond Chile Chicken

4 Servings

400 grams boneless chicken (breast or thigh)
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
handful of dried red chile pods
3 — 4 fresh red chiles (long, preferably)
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon peanut oil

Marinade and cooking sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese mushroom sauce (or oyster sauce)
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry (or Chinese wine)
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar (or black vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Garnish
green onion, thinly sliced
cilantro, stems removed

Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, and stir until thoroughly combined. Cut the chicken into bit-sized pieces, and add it to the marinade, stirring well until the chicken is completely coated in sauce. Cover and let rest in the fridge for a few hours (if possible).

Thinly slice the red onion and mince the garlic, and set aside. Toast the almonds gently in a dry skillet until they are fragrant and golden brown, and set aside. Remove and discard the seeds from the fresh chiles and julienne the pods into nice, long matchsticks. Prepare the dry chile pods by removing the stem end, shaking out excess seeds, and breaking longer pods in half (or thirds).

Prepare any additional vegetables (either for this dish, or for a separate side), and slice the green onion and roughly chop the cilantro for your garnishes.

Have a half-cup or so of room temperature (or hot) water standing by once you're ready to fry.

Heat a large nonstick skillet (or wok, if you're set up for it) over high heat, and add the peanut oil. Using a slotted spoon or spider-tool, remove the chicken from the marinade (reserving the marinade to add later). Add the chicken in a couple of batches to the hot peanut oil, and let the pieces sear for a moment before giving it a quick stir. Add the red onion and stir through, and continue to sauté for another minute. Add the fresh chiles and the dry chile pods, and stir again. If you're adding diced baby corn, now is the time to add it, otherwise add any quicker-cooking items along with the marinade in a couple of minutes.

If the chicken starts to stick, or the marinade starts to burn, add a tablespoon of your stand-by water to loosen it up. Don't add too much water, or you'll be steaming your dish instead of frying it. You can get around this by simply using more peanut oil than indicated, but that makes for a much richer dish. Continue to sauté for another minute or so, and then add the reserved marinade along with another splash (ahem, tablespoon) of water, and stir rapidly to allow the sauce to cook through thoroughly and coat the chicken once more. Give it another couple of minutes sauté time, and add the almonds. Stir though, adding another tablespoon of water if it seems too dry, although you probably won't need to. Plate immediately, and garnish with the green onion and cilantro.

Kohlrabi Carrot Coleslaw

This salad is best made a bit in advance, as the kohlrabi has a bit of a starchy flavour when raw. Once it has had time to marinate for a little while, that off-note completely disappears. I liked this salad just fine on the first day, but on the second day it was absolutely fantastic.

While a lot of salads are at their best when prepared just before eating, this dish not only keeps well in the fridge, but actually improves with a bit of time. That makes it a perfect choice for any dinner where the other dishes demand all of your attention (or workspace, or time, or last-minute fiddling), and also works beautifully as a take-along or picnic dish.

Kohlrabi Carrot Coleslaw

Serves 2 - 4

1 large kohlrabi
1 large carrot
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
black pepper to taste

Peel away the thick skin of the kohlrabi, remove the fibrous top bit and trim the root end (as though you were trimming an onion) and grate on the large-hole side of a box grater (or equivalent). Peel and trim the carrot, and grate it too. Combine the grated vegetables in a bowl.

Make the dressing by combining the olive oil, wine vinegar, mustard, and salt in a small bowl, and whisk (or beat with a fork) until it is emulsified. Pour the dressing over the grated vegetables, and mix until thoroughly combined. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or better still, overnight.

Stir through once again, correct for salt (you may need a little extra on the second day), and add the black pepper just before serving. The starchy rawness will have disappeared, and overall the dish will appear a bit more...pliable, but the vegetables will retain a lovely, delicate crunch in the middle.

Sausage & Penne Skillet Dinner with Spinach & Peppers

This was adapted from an America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated recipe, and has become one of our favourite go-to skillet dinners. It gets the "healthy" tag, coming in around 450 - 500 calories per serving (depending on your choice of sausage), even though it is not a super-low-fat dish. What it is: delicious, satisfying, and easy to make, and has about 4.5 grams of fibre. It also reheats nicely the next day.

Sausage & Penne Skillet Dinner with Spinach & Peppers

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Serves 4

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
340 - 400 grams fresh, lean Italian sausages
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
225 grams penne pasta
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup skim or 1% milk (preferably at room temperature)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried chile flakes
8 small mushrooms, cut into sixths
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained, rinsed, and quartered
1/3 cup roasted red peppers (such as Piquillo), drained, rinsed, and coarsely chopped
4 handfuls baby spinach (or mature spinach, coarsely sliced)
a small handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Remove the sausages from their casings and crumble them into a bowl or onto a cutting board. Prepare all of the vegetables as indicated.

In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the sausage, and fry until lightly browned, stirring and breaking up with a wooden spoon. Add the onions and garlic and sauté another five minutes or so, until the onions start to turn translucent. If anything starts to stick, deglaze the pan with a tablespoon of white white, vermouth, or plain water.

Add the penne to the skillet, stirring it around to coat the pasta with the juices. Pour in the broth and milk, and give the whole pan a good stir, making sure to integrate the broth and the milk. Add the oregano, white pepper, and chile flakes. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to a medium-low heat and cover. Let it cook until the pasta is just about tender, about 10 - 12 minutes. The milk may try to separate, so stir periodically.

Remove the lid and add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and peppers. Cook, uncovered, stirring, until the mushrooms are done, about 5 more minutes. Turn the heat down to low and stir in the spinach, a handful at a time, letting it wilt. The spinach will cook down quite a lot, so don't worry if it seems like a lot at first. The spinach takes about 2 - 5 minutes to get all integrated, depending on how quickly you're adding it. Stir in the cheese and the fresh basil leaves, taste for salt, and serve. I note that because the sausage, the broth, and the cheese all contain salt, you may not need to add any.

Add ground black pepper (and maybe a bit more parmesan) at the table.

Dutch Baby, aka Popover Pancake

Wow, there's a lot of names for this one. In addition to Dutch Baby and Popover Pancakes, they are also called Dutch Puffs, Puff(ed) Pancakes, Oven Pancakes, and German Pancakes, although they don't seem much like the pfannkuchen I've seen so far here in Germany. Probably a few other names that I've missed, too. It is essentially the kissing cousin of Yorkshire Pudding (minus the dripping), and is frequently served drenched in butter, and/or preserves or syrups. You know, like pancakes. A fan of the classics will want to top it with lemon juice and confectioner's sugar. Lunatics like me might periodically tend toward toppings such as thick fruit yoghurt (or breakfast fruit Quark), or peanut butter (either you'll find that sounds delightful or abominable, I'm afraid. I go one further, and add syrup on top of the peanut butter). Some versions call for laying apples in caramel on the bottom, before the batter goes in, or simply laying the apple slices on top of the batter before it goes into the oven. Those are pretty good, too.

That being said, you could certainly just fill the otherwise empty crater of the finished pancake with sausages and fried onions, and I wouldn't turn that down, either.

Pancake politics aside, these are breathtakingly easy to make. If you've got a cast iron skillet, all the better, as this is cooked at high heat (notorious enemy of non-stick and plastic handles). A steel skillet should also work pretty well. I've used my 10 3/4 inch cast iron skillet for this one.

Dutch Baby
Serves 2

3 large eggs (at room temperature)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole milk
pinch kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until smooth. Add the flour slowly, whisking as you go, until it is all blended together. Add the milk and the pinch of salt, and continue to whisk until smooth. Set aside to rest while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven (rack in the middle) to 425 F. At the same time, preheat your cast iron skillet over medium heat on the stove-top (you could preheat it in the oven, but then the butter might burn when you add it). When the oven is fully preheated, and the skillet is nicely hot, but not smoking, add the butter, and swirl it around so that it is completely melted, and evenly coats the bottom of the pan.

Scrape the batter all at once into the hot, buttered skillet, and immediately place the skillet in the oven. Do not cover the skillet. Bake until the pancake has puffed up like a popover, and the edges are browned and start to pull away from the pan. This should take about 15 minutes, depending on your oven, so keep an eye on it. This time could be put to excellent use frying up some bacon.

Once the edges are nicely golden brown and puffed, remove the pancake from the oven and serve it up hot.

Note that this is not a soufflé, or a true popover. The middle will begin to deflate a bit as soon as it comes out of the oven, giving a softer, more sponge-like texture to the interior of the finished pancake.

Duck Noodles

Duck Noodles are delicious. But you can already tell that, just from the name: Duck Noodles.

This is partly a recipe and partly a serving suggestion. You probably already know how to stir fry some vegetables and noodles, and your selection of both might vary from mine (although I must put in a vote for both baby corn - fresh, if you can get it - and snow peas, which go so beautifully with the duck). But, at the end of the day, make the noodles how you like best, and top them with this tasty, tasty duck.

Pan Seared Duck Breast for Duck Noodles

Serves 2

350 grams duck breast (skin on)
3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon chile oil (optional)
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger (grating from frozen is easiest)
1 clove of garlic, sliced
2 star anise stars

Combine everything but the duck into a small dish (just large enough to fit the liquid and the duck breast (which will go in later), and stir well to combine, making sure that the honey is all dissolved.

Trim any straggly bits from the duck breast (if necessary) and, using a very sharp knife, cross-hatch the skin (that is, make long, shallow cuts diagonally along the whole length of the skin, and the turn the knife approximately 90 degrees and repeat, so that you end up with diamond-shapes over the whole surface). The closer the cuts are to each other, the better the fat will render during the cooking phase. Be sure when you are cutting to cut only through the skin and fat, and not into the duck meat itself, or the meat may dry out a little as it cooks. It is easiest to do when the duck is very cold, because the fat stays firm as you cut. When the whole surface of the skin has been cross-hatched, place the duck skin-side up in the marinade, and let sit for about 4 - 6 hours. Ideally, the liquid will not cover the skin, but don't worry if it does.

When you are ready to start cooking, prepare all of your mise en place for the noodles and vegetables, so that they are ready to go. Preheat your oven to 400 F, and preheat a steel or cast iron skillet until very hot.

Remove the duck from the marinade, and pat dry, especially the skin. Sprinkle the skin with a little coarse salt, and place skin-side down in the dry, very hot pan. Immediately turn the heat down to medium, and do not touch the duck again for at least five minutes.

If the skin is now golden brown and crispy all the way through (the edges may get a bit darker, especially if they got marinade on them), remove it from the pan. If the skin is not yet ready, wait another minute or two, peeking as necessary. Drain the excess fat from the skillet (reserve it for other cooking purposes) and return the duck breast to the pan, skin-side-up. Place it in the preheated oven and roast until the desired doneness - 10 minutes for very rare, 15 for rosy medium-rare (preferred). Remove from the oven, and transfer the duck to a cutting board to rest before you slice it.

While the duck is in the oven, and then resting, finish preparing your stir fry with the vegetables and the noodles. A spoonful of the reserved duck fat in the stir fry accentuates the duck flavour in the final dish. You can also use some of the marinade from the duck in the stir fry, but be sure to remove the star anise.

Arrange the finished noodles and vegetables on a large serving platter (or bowl), and then thinly slice the duck breast and lay it across the top. Garnish with thinly sliced green onion and red chiles.

Turkey & Stuffing Skillet Dinner

A classic turkey dinner is a wonderful thing. Sometimes, however, it's just not in the cards⎯whether it's time or money that you don't have enough of, or maybe it's simply that a full turkey dinner can generate a daunting amount of leftovers. That's where this little "beauty" comes in. Well, actually, as you can see from the picture, this dish isn't really ready for its close-up. Fact is, while I make this several times per year, I just can't seem to photograph it in a way that does it justice. But it is such a tasty little number that I encourage you to try it despite its less than movie-star looks.

Think of it as an innovative pot-pie: silky gravy base with tender chunks of turkey, and a bread stuffing top crust fragrant with sage and thyme. Best of all, it comes together quickly. If you're cooking for just one or two, you'd be hard pressed to find a better stand in for the holiday classic. If you have some chicken gold on hand, by all means use it in place of the same amount of stock for a richer depth of flavour.

Turkey & Stuffing Skillet Dinner

Adapted from Eating Well's Stuffing-Topped Chicken

Serves 4

3 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5-6 slices bread, diced into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
pinch celery seed
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage
1 1/2 cups turkey (or chicken) broth at room temperature, divided
700 grams boneless turkey breast (or chicken thighs)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups quartered cremini mushrooms
1/3 cup dry white wine or vermouth

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Add the celery, onion, and garlic. Sauté over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, or until the onion starts to brown at the edges. Add the bread and dry seasonings (except the salt) and continue to cook stirring, until the celery has softened and the bread begins to crisp up, about two to three minutes more. Empty the bread mixture into a bowl, and stir in 1/3 cup of broth (stir like crazy with a fork to get it all evenly distributed). Set aside while you prepare the rest.

Trim any excess fat from the turkey, and slice into medium chunks, as if for a stew. Toss the chunks with salt and fresh sage.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the room temperature broth and the flour until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the broiler of your oven.

To the emptied skillet, add the remaining tablespoon of oil until it shimmers. Add the diced turkey (or chicken) and the fresh sage, and let cook for about 1 to 2 minutes without stirring. Add the mushrooms, and continue to cook, stirring as needed, until the turkey is cooked almost through, about 5 minutes.

Increase the heat under the skillet to high; add the wine (or vermouth) and cook, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, until almost all is evaporated, about two minutes. Stir in the reserved broth-flour mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes more, and then turn down the heat to low and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes, to ensure the rawness is cooked out of the flour. Spoon the reserved stuffing mixture evenly over the turkey mixture. Spritz the top of the stuffing with a little canola oil, and transfer the skillet to the oven and broil until the stuffing begins to crisp and brown, about 4 minutes, depending on your broiler (keep an eye on it).

Use your largest serving spoon to dish it onto plates or pasta-bowls. Serve with roasted brussels sprouts or baked yams on the side, and a dollop of cranberry chutney on the side for maximum festive flair.

Breakfast at Home: Savoury Breakfast Polenta

This post barely qualifies as a recipe - it's more of a serving suggestion. Remember the Orange Breakfast Polenta from last August? I've been wanting to do a savoury version, and sausage with egg seemed the perfect solution.

At it's simplest, the recipe is this: Make up your favourite soft polenta recipe, top with crumbled sausage and a poached (or fried, basted, or steamed) egg - or two, ideally cooked soft or medium-soft. Season according to preference - hot sauce, fresh herbs, black pepper, really, there's a lot of options. You could even dust a little parmesan over the top, although it's not strictly speaking necessary. I should note that it's easier to make if you are starting with loose sausage meat, rather than the kind pressed into casings. If you can only get the kind in casings, slit them open to remove the meat before you get started - there's a bit too much going on at once to muck about trying to squeeze sausages out of their skins while preparing the polenta and/or eggs.

For a vegetarian or vegan version, you would need a veggie ground sausage, of course, or perhaps avoid the processed option with a sauteed mixture of seasoned mushrooms, walnuts and brown lentils (and maybe a bit of green onion), plus whatever tweaks you prefer to remove the dairy from the polenta (remove entirely, or replace with non-sweet almond milk or soy milk, or even pureed silken tofu). Egg or not, depending on which way you roll.

For the traditional version, break open your soft-cooked eggs so that the yolk escapes into the rest of the dish. Each bite brings you a mouthful of hot, creamy polenta, savoury sausage, and a bit of soft egg yolk. Your bowl will be empty, and your tummy full, in no time.

Hot, Sweet, & Sour Eggplant

This is fantastic hot or room-temperature, and just as good the next day. I use bulbous dark purple eggplants, as those are the ones available to me, but you could also use the longer, light purple Chinese varieties.

The combination of vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and sambal oelek give it that classic hot, sour, salty, sweet harmony of flavours that make you want to eat the whole pan at once. The texture of the eggplant becomes meltingly soft, just firm enough to maintain its shape, and is a nice counterpoint to a classic stir fry. If you like, thinly slice some garlic and add it along with the chiles.

Hot, Sweet, & Sour Eggplant

Serves 2 - 3

225 grams eggplant
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or black vinegar
1 tablespoons honey or agave syrup
1 tablespoon sambal oelek (or other hot chile paste)
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger or 1 tablespoon finely minced peeled, fresh ginger
1 - 2 long red chiles, seeded
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon coarse salt
5 tablespoons peanut oil, divided

Slice the eggplant lengthwise into quarters, and then slice the quarters crosswise to make triangular-ish slices that are about 1/2 centimetre wide. Sprinkle the eggplant slices with coarse salt, and set in a colander over a plate for at least half an hour. Rinse the salt off thoroughly, and drain well. Pat dry to remove any remaining water from the surface of the pieces.

Finely slice the chiles, into either rings or strips, as you prefer.

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sambal oelek, cornstarch, and ginger in a small bowl, and stir until smooth (or at least as smooth as anything containing sambal oelek is going to be).

Working in several batches over high heat, heat the peanut oil in a skillet. Lower the heat to medium high and, working in batches, stir fry the eggplant pieces for a few minutes, until they are golden in spots but not cooked through. Remove eggplant pieces to a waiting plate as they are done, and repeat until all of the eggplant is done, and the skillet is empty. Be sure to reserve a tablespoon of oil for the sauce.

Lower the temperature to medium, and add the final tablespoon of peanut oil to the skillet. Stir the soy sauce mixture again, and add to skillet. The mixture should bubble up immediately, but if it instantly caramelizes into a solid mass, your heat is too high. In that case, add a little hot water (a couple of tablespoons - best to have it standing by, really, just in case) and stir until smooth, before proceeding. Otherwise, immediately add the sliced chiles (and garlic, if using) and quickly stir until they are coated, and then add the eggplant pieces back to the pan. Lower the heat and stir and cook until the eggplant pieces are tender, and coated with a thick, sticky glaze. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Sometimes when I make this it turns out lighter, sometimes darker, so no worries if it doesn't look exactly like this. More often, I would say it turns out a touch darker, because I often have my pan a little hotter than necessary.

Vietnamese-inspired Lemongrass Pork Meatballs

What do you do when you have a surplus of lemongrass? Well, you could make meatballs, of course.

Living in this small city in Germany, access to Asian cuisines is rather limited, and often quite different from my previous experience of those cuisines in Vancouver. There are some tasty options, but there are also some notable absences, and much less variety than I've been accustomed to. I've taken on the challenge of making some of the things that I miss from Vancouver, and my list grows bigger every day.

That being said, I don't believe this to be any kind of authentic Vietnamese dish; rather, it is me playing with the flavours of Vietnamese cuisine and having fun while I do it. If you are looking for the springy sort of meatballs that one gets in Phó, you'll need to look elsewhere, as these are more in the Italian meatball school of texture (if not flavour). But if you want a tasty Vietnamese-inspired meatball treat - lordy, check these out! Bursting with flavour.

As I slowly build up my pantry, each new ingredient opens another door to new items to cook. My latest ingredient is fish sauce - essential for Vietnamese and Thai cooking. Because my fridge is a tiny German bar-sized fridge, shelf space for bottles is at an absolute premium, so I looked for the smallest bottle of fish sauce that I could find. That turned out to be a brand that also has red chiles in it. At first I balked - I tend to stick to the more neutral versions of basic ingredients, especially for cuisines outside my own - but as I turned it over in my head, I realized that I never use fish sauce without also adding chiles, so it was probably going to be okay. And it was. There's something about the chiles that actually takes the edge of the odour of the fish sauce, and that's kind of a relief, actually. It means that I get that all-important flavour that is so necessary in a lot of the dishes, without flinching my way through the adding of it.

Vietnamese-inspired Lemongrass Pork Meatballs

Makes 20 meatballs

500 grams finely ground lean pork
2 stalks lemongrass (preferably young)
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon fish sauce (with chiles)
1 long red chile pepper, seeded and finely minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
¼ cup minced cilantro
4-5 basil leaves (preferably Thai or Vietnamese basil), minced
¼ cup panko-style flakey breadcrumbs

Into a large mixing bowl, grate the tender, white part of the lemongrass using a microphone grater. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the pork) and mix well with a fork. If the mixture seems quite dry (it should look crumbly but a bit moist), add up to another tablespoon of the fish sauce. I use fish sauce with chiles, because there's simply no application that I have for fish sauce that doesn't call for chiles, and I find the added chile flavour takes some of the edge of fish sauce, while still allowing it to contribute its essential fish sauce qualities to the dish.

Crumble or tear the pork into little bits, allowing the bits to fall onto the seasoning mixture. When all the pork is added to the bowl, use a fork, or your impeccably clean hands, to gently work the seasoning mixture through the pork until it is evenly distributed, but try not to overwork the mixture - you're not kneading bread here, just trying to combine the ingredients.

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Use about a teaspoon of peanut oil to grease the bottom of a 7x11" glass baking dish or a rimmed baking sheet. Divide the meat mixture into twenty golf ball sized meatballs (a 1-tablespoon disher is what I use; I scoop all of the meatballs out, and then go quickly back over them to make sure they have a nice, round shape all the way around, since the disher tends to make them a bit flat on the bottom). Bake uncovered for 25 - 30 minutes. Serve hot, or allow to cool and freeze on a plate until firm before bagging them up for a future meal.

I've served these over a plain version of Coconut Ginger Noodles, with a marinated vegetable salad - essentially, fresh shredded carrots, julienned cucumber, minced chiles, green onion, cilantro, basil, with a (chile) fish-sauce vinaigrette (if I'd had daikon on hand, or even any other radish, I'd have thrown that in, too). Given the added chile in the fish sauce, it was quite spicy, but added a wonderfully fresh crunch to contrast against the soft noodles and luxurious textured meatballs.

Since there were only two of us for dinner, we restrained ourselves at consuming half the batch and the rest were stashed in the freezer for a future dinner - very likely a banh mi choose-your-own-adventure meal within the next week or so. I can hardly wait.

Quick-Pickled Red Cabbage

This is an easy, refreshing pickle to add colour and texture to a meal. It is not, however, a German recipe, despite a prodigious reliance on cabbage here in Germany; cabbage here tends mostly to be served as sauerkraut (fermented) or braised with apples, in my experience (such as was shown in my Hasenpfeffer post).

Rather, this recipe was inspired by some marinated cabbage that I had as part of a salad in a Croatian restaurant. Applying similar principles to those in the Mexican Pickled Red Onions from a couple of years ago. I did a quick search online, and found that Gluten Free Girl has a version as well which is also very similar.

Quick-Pickled Red Cabbage

Makes 4 cups

4 cups finely sliced red cabbage
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt or kosher salt
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 very small piece of cinnamon stick or 1 star anise (optional)

Mason jar or other sealable glass or pottery vessel that can fit in your fridge (I used a tempered glass bowl that has a plastic lid)

Make sure that your vessel is spotlessly clean, and rinse well with boiling water to be sure.

Toss the cabbage with the coarse salt and let it sit in a colander to drain for a few hours. Make sure that there's a plate under the colander (or it is in over the sink) because purple juice will be rendered out during this time, and it stains like a sonofagun. Combine the remaining ingredients and bring them to a simmer in a non-reactive saucepan. Cover and let cool while the cabbage drains in the colander.

A few hours later, rinse the salt off of the cabbage, and pack it into the clean glass/pottery vessel. Strain the spices out of the vinegar mixture, and bring back to the boil. Pour the vinegar over the cabbage, covering the cabbage completely with liquid. If you need a bit more liquid, you can add a little more water at this point.

Cover loosely, and let cool to room temperature before covering tightly and storing in the fridge. Allow a day or two for the flavours to meld before eating. It makes a lovely, crunchy garnish to a dinner, or adds interest to a salad (use sparingly if adding it to a salad, or it will overwhelm everything else). I've also been known to eat a small bowl of it (as shown) as a snack, but that may just be me.

If you really dig a spiced flavour profile, you can leave the cinnamon/star anise and bay leaves in the vinegar, but you may want to remove the black peppercorns (or some of them) because they're not all that pleasant to bite on accidentally. If you leave the spices in the vinegar, the spices' flavours will continue to intensify as it sits in the fridge.

This keeps for a couple of weeks, up to about a month, stored covered in the fridge.

Because this dish is so super-crunchy, I think I might try a version where the cabbage has been blanched first, just to see what the effect is on the texture. My guess is that it will remain crisp and somewhat crunchy, but might have a gentler texture. I'll be sure to let you know.

Hasenpfeffer (plus International Bento: Germany)

As any Bugs Bunny fan knows, Hasenpfeffer is a delicious German rabbit stew (probably best made without cartoon rabbits). This dish can be made with a whole, cut up rabbit, or with just hind legs, which makes for big, meaty pieces for each serving. In Germany, rabbit is a popular enough meat that it is available in the grocery stores either whole or in a variety of cuts (and even as pre-made frozen dinners, actually), so it is simple and affordable to purchase only the hind legs, which is what I've used here.

It is essential that the rabbit be marinated, although different regions vary significantly in what exactly constitutes the correct marinade - everything from red wine, to white wine, to vinegar, or even some of each. The stew is well seasoned with onions, bay leaves and peppercorns, and simmered slowly for a rich, luxurious flavour. Some recipes also called for dried fruit (most notably plums) to add a subtle sweetness to the gravy. My recipe is a hybrid of many different recipes that I encountered in my research.

Hasenpfeffer

Serves 4 - 6

1 kilogram rabbit pieces (hind legs are best)
2 cups dry red wine (I used a Spätburgunder, which is essentially a German Pinot Noir)
1 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
12 Juniper berries
10 black peppercorns
3 large bay leaves
2 large onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups diced celeriac (stalk celery is also fine)
kosher salt to taste
2 tablespoons peanut oil (or olive oil)
1/4 cup unbleached wheat flour

If you want to make it an all-in-one meal, you can also add some diced carrots and potatoes, but be sure to add them towards the end of the braising time, or they will turn to mush.

In a non-reactive bowl (glass (eg. Pyrex) works well), marinate the rabbit pieces overnight in the red wine, along with the cinnamon, Juniper berries, bay leaves, and black pepper. Turn the pieces once or twice as necessary, to ensure it marinates evenly.

Remove the rabbit from the marinade (reserving the marinade), and dry the pieces well. Toss them in the flour, shaking well afterward to ensure that there isn't too much flour on each piece (I give each piece a little spank to shake off the excess). Fry the rabbit pieces (in the peanut oil) in a large skillet over medium-high heat, until well browned on both sides. Work in batches if necessary. As the pieces are finished frying, remove them to a dutch oven. When all of the rabbit pieces are fried and standing by, add the onions, garlic, and celeriac to the skillet, and sauté briefly. When the onions have started to turn translucent, add the sautéed vegetables to the rabbit.

Into the emptied skillet, pour the wine and spices (the reserved marinade). Bring up to a simmer, and let reduce by about a third. Make a slurry of about a tablespoon of the leftover flour from the rabbit-frying stage, and a little water (about 1/2 cup). Add the slurry to the reduced wine, and stir well until it begins to thicken. Remove the spices (a sieve works best). Pour the wine mixture over the rabbit and vegetables, and put the dutch oven over medium heat. Try to arrange the rabbit pieces and vegetables as compactly as possible, so that it takes as little liquid as possible to cover the meat. If the meat is not completely covered, add some broth or stock (chicken, vegetable, or game is all fine) or water until the meat is just covered.

Bring the dish to a gentle simmer and reduce the heat to low. Cover, and allow the dish to braise slowly for about one and a half hours (you can do this in the oven, if you like).

Remove the rabbit pieces from the sauce onto a platter and keep warm. You can serve them on the bone, or with the bones removed - I chose on the bone, simply for the presentation, but after dinner I removed the bones from the leftovers that would be used for the bento (see below).

Press the sauce-liquid and vegetables through a sieve to make a smooth sauce (you could also use a stick blender). Taste, and correct for salt if necessary. The sieved vegetables will add body, but if the sauce is a bit thin, you could choose to thicken it at this point.

If you are serving the pieces on the bone, simply plate and ladle some sauce over top. If you are serving boneless, remove the bones from the meat, and return the meat to the sauce before serving.

We served this on homemade spätzle with braised red cabbage and apples, which is a fairly classic combination, all of which also went into the next day's bento lunch.