Hazelnut Brownies

This is a yummy German/American infusion I thought up.  I had to find a brownie recipe because unfortunately here in Germany they do not sell brownies mixes cheap.  I found this on Pinterest and the original recipe is from the Fake-It Frugal website, which I totally think is a great concept.  The great thing about these is how cheap they are to make.  What I also find great is that you probably already have these ingredients in your cupboard.  If you don't have unsweetened cocoa, use a sweetened kind and then cut a bit of the sugar out of the main recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup crushed hazelnuts

Mix all the ingredients together and place into a oiled 9x9 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Moroccan Shredded Carrot Salad

This was acutally a dish I made after I was inspired eating over a friend's house.  He prepared this salad in the traditionally French style with a really good wine vinegar.  It was delicious.  The following week it was my turn to host for dinner, and I decided to use the shredded carrot idea but add a Moroccan twist.  This salad was also divine.  Its also super heathy, cumin and cinnamon are both spices one should eat regularly.

Ingredients for about 4 people
1/2 lb (500 g) carrots ( I chose smaller carrots as my friend had recommended)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (half a lemon)
1/4 cup parsley
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika (I'm sure a smoked on here would also be good)
salt and pepper to taste

Grate all the carrots on the side of the grater with the biggest holes.  Then add all the rest of the ingredients and cover.  Place in fridge for about 2 hours.  This will allows all the flavors to blend together.

Soljanka

This was a typical dish back in the Former East Germany.  It was usually available at most canteens and public restaurants.  It is essentially soup that was made with left-overs.  As was common in both parts of Germany, there were always plenty of sausages. Strangley enough, this soup has ketchup as an ingredient, although an odd addition, it gives this soup its unique flair.  This makes a good quantity, so feel free to freeze some and thaw it out when you are short on time.

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped
4 pickles, chopped
3 red peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
1 lb. leftover meat (pork or beef), chopped
1/2 lb. salami, chopped
1/2 sausage (mixed bockwurst, jagdwurst or whatever you have), chopped
4 1/4 cups beef stock
salt and pepper
1 tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
butter

sour cream and lemon wedges, to serve

Heat butter in a dutch oven, add onions, cook until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.  Add the red peppers, garlic and continue cooking.  Add the sausages and leftover meat, stir.  Add the ketchup, pickles, paprika and chili powder, stir.  Now add the beef stock and mix well.  Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for about 1 hour.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle into soup bowls and serve with a dollop of sour cream and lemon wedges.  Guten Appetit!

Madrid-Style Meatballs in Tomato Sauce (Albóndigas con Tomate)

Spanish-Style meatballs have always been one of my most favorite dishes.  There was a tapas bar in Jerez, Spain that I ate at frequently as a child called Bar Alegria (Happiness Bar) and that was certainly the feeling you got as you devoured those meatballs.  Since then, my aunt and mother have been trying tirelessly to replicate that beloved balls of meat.  I was always more than happy to try each and every one of their attempts.  Unlike the Italian cousin of this dish, Spaniards tend to eat meatballs with fried potatoes.  Gotta love anything fried in oil.  This is a recipe I got at a book fair in Madrid.  It is called Madrid Al Fuego

Ingredients for 6 people

1 lb. ground beef/pork mixture
2 cloves or garlic, minced
1 teaspoon parsley
fist sized quanity of left-over inside of bread
equal quantity of milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
6 tablespoons of flour
vegetable oil for frying
2 big potatoes, cut into pieces

For the sauce:
3 tablespoons of oil that the meatballs were fried in
1 medium sized-onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup tomate frito (or homemade tomato sauce/tomato puree)
3/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

In a big bowl, mix the meat, garlic, parsley, white pepper, salt, cinnamon and bread together and blend together.  Then mix in the eggs.  At this point, its best to let this mixture set for about an hour, covered, while the flavors blend together.  Now, roll the meatballs about the same size as ping-pong balls.  Set aside.

Now in a deep pan, add oil and allow it to heat up.  Add the flour to a wide plate, and roll the meatballs, then, place them one by one into the oil and brown on each side.  Once the meatballs are brown on each side, remove and reserve.  Finish browning all the meatballs.

Once the meatballs are all brown, use some of the oil from frying the meatballs and add the onion and cook.  Cook until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.  Then add tomato sauce, white wine, water, salt and cumin.  Now, return all the meatballs to the pan and cover.  Let the meatballs simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until they are cooked completely.  Serve over fried potatoes with a generous helping of the sauce.

Spanish Giant White Bean Soup with Chorizo

I was hoping to make something that was a bit like a white bean stew I had in Plaza Mayor in Madrid.  I saw these beans at the Mediterranean grocery store in my neighborhood thought that they would be great to make this soup.  I soaked the beans overnight as indicated on the package.  The beans got a lot bigger overnight.  They were very similiar to something I've eaten in a Greek restaurant that were called Elephant Beans.  I cooked them in my pressure cooker for over 45 minutes with the vegetable that my mother told me to use and chorizo.  Although the beans were big, the stew tasted incredible.  My chorizo had a slightly smoked flavor and it made the stew taste a bit smokey, yum!

1 lb. giant white beans
1/2 lb. chorizo sausage, cut into big chunks
2 medium onions, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
salt and pepper
olive oil
water from soaking beans

Soak the beans overnight in water.  Make sure you use a big bowl as the beans will expand in the water.  In a dutch oven or soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Then add the pepper and stir.  Then take the cloves are garlic and smash them on a cutting board with the blade of a knife.  Place the garlic cloves into the pot.  Then add the bay leaves and sweet paprika.  Dump the beans into the pot with the soaking liquid.  Make sure the you have about twice as much volume of water as beans.  Then place the the chorizo into the pot.  Bring the pot to a boil and lower to a simmer.  Cover the pot and let simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender.  Taste the stew and see if you need to add any salt (The chorizo is salty and you may not need to add much salt).  Serve with beans on the bottom and a big piece of chorizo on top.

Turkish Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Mint

I've always eaten lentils ever since I was a small child.  My mother makes a fantastic Pardina lentil (brown) soup.  It was not until a Turkish restaurant Pasha Mezze opened up in my hometown of Norfolk, Virginia that I actually tried red lentil soup.  Unlike brown lentils, red lentils are usually pureed before serving and contain no meat.  It greatly reduces the amount of saturated fat, and lentils are extremely rich in protein and this soup is packed with tons of vegetables.  This soup was my attempt to replicate that of Pasha Mezze.

Ingredients for 4 people

1 cup red lentils
4 1/2 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek, cleaned and whites chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoons curry
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon dried mint leaves
1 bay leaf
olive oil
salt and pepper

In a large pot, heat olive oil, then add chopped onions and fry until translucent.  Then add carrots, leeks and bell pepper, cook until softened.  Then add garlic cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Then add the curry, paprika, mint and bay leaf, stir to mix.  Then add the red lentils and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to low/medium and cook for about 30-40 minutes until the lentils are tender.  Once the lentils are tender, use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until everything is nice and smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with crusty bread, or where available, Turkish bread.