Schnitzel Dinner

Every now and then I crave dishes that I had a child or while on vacation. Schnitzel is one of those dishes that I was craving last week. This German classic bring back memories of visiting friends in Bielefeld, Germany and summer trips with my family. Several years ago, I had to opportunity to visit friends in Germany I had made while studying in Windsor, Ontario. Timo and Bjorn were most gracious hosts. Turns out that every Sunday Bjorn and Timo go to his Mother's house for brunch. I was lucky to be invited to one such feast and what a feast it was. Aside from my Mom's Schnitzel, I had the best Schnitzel ever. I will never forget the tenderness of the pork cutlet or the crispiness of the breaded covering. Before leaving Bielefeld to go back to Thessaloniki, Timo took me to a Bier Haus for a traditional German meal. Of course, I had to order the Schnitzel Dinner which was paired with creamy mash potatoes, beer gravy and a blonde ale. Mmmmmmmm! An Unforgettable dinner. Another memory pops up in my mind when I think of Schnitzel is our summer trips with the family. Where ever we ventured to, my Mom being the frugal housewife always packed a hearty lunch consisting of Schnitzel sandwiches. My Mom's Schnitzel Sandwiches were a nice marriage of the Classic Germany fare and Mediterranean Flavours. First, the Schnitzel would be placed in a toasted Greek Pita and then dressed with chopped tomatoes, parsley and a squirt of mustard. Mmmmmmm! Last week, I attempted at making my own Schnitzel. I found a very easy recipe on the Internet from Simple Recipes to follow and paired the Schnitzel with Greek Mash Potatoes (Skordalia) and Traditional Greek Salad.

SIMPLE SCHNITZEL

7 pork cutlets

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup flour

salt

pepper

bread crumbs

paprika

canola oil

1. You will need 3 separate shallow dishes for each breading step.

2. Breading station 1: mix flour with a dash or salt and pepper.

3. Breading station 2: beat eggs. 

4. Breading station 3: mix a good helping of bread crumbs and as much paprika as you want. I added 1 tbsp of paprika.

5. First dip your cutlet in the flour station. Then in the egg station making sure to cover both sides with the egg. Last coat the cutlet with the bread crumbs.

6. Fry on a hot skillet or non-stick frying pan for a couple of minutes on both sides. Doesn't take long.

7. Place each Schnitzel in a serving dish before serving. You might want to line the serving dish with paper towel to soak up the extra oil.

8. Serve with your favourite side dish.

SKORDALIA

5 large yellow potatoes

2 tbsp minced garlic

olive oil

salt

pepper

1 cup milk

1. Boil the potatoes for 40 minutes. Set aside to cool down so that you can peel them easily.

2. Mash the potatoes while adding salt and pepper. The salt helps to mash the potato easily.

3. Stir in the olive oil and mince garlic.

Cooking with Mom

This afternoon, I had a cooking lesson from the best cooking teacher I know...My Mom! She taught me everything I know about Greek Cooking. She is well known for her killer Pites and her homemade Pizza is a close second. One of my favourite dishes is Pizza. I believe it is a complete meal (depending on the toppings of course). You can have for lunch, dinner or even better for breakfast with a nice cold glass of milk. Delissimo! Since I'm trying to stay away from take out for the 10 weeks, I decided to make pizza at home. After buying all the ingredients on Sunday, the problems was on how I was  going to execute making the pizza. Thankfully, Mom wasn't too busy today and so she came to the condo to give me a lesson on rolling pizza dough. Aside from getting my Mom to help me with the pizza today, it was nice to cook together. It's been along time since we engaged in sharing a kitchen now that I am domesticated myself. I'm looking forward to slicing up my very first homemade pizza.

Barese Sausage Pizza

1 link Barese Sausage
100 g sun dried tomatoes
100 g marinated artichokes
500 g Fruilano cheese
2 cups pizza sauce
1 package of ready made whole wheat pizza dough

1. Place the pizza dough in a large bowl and set out to allow the pizza to raise.

2. Meanwhile, cook the Barese Sausage. If you have a barbecue that would be the best place to cook the sausage. If you don't just use a non-stick frying pan as I did. Allow to cook through. About 15 to 20 minutes on medium-low heat.

3. In a small mixing bowl prepare the pizza sauce. If you have ready made pizza sauce go ahead and use it. If you want to make your own it is very simple. Add olive oil to 2 cups of tomato puree along with a good amount of diced garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

4. Slice the sun dried tomatoes and artichokes and grate the Fruilano cheese. Set aside.

5. Now, you are ready to roll out the dough. Roll the dough out to the size of your pan making sure to roll it out evenly and to not puncture the dough. Slowly place the dough on the pan. Grease the pan with oil and dust with cornmeal. This will help the pizza to slide off the pan after baking.

6. Now, assemble the toppings. First, the pizza sauce. Second the majority of cheese. Then the sausage followed by the sun dried tomatoes and artichoke. If you have left over cheese add that to the top of the pizza.

7, Bake in a 400F preheated oven for 30 minutes.

El Greco Empanadas

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Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

Every now and then I like to try my hand at a cuisine that is foreign to me such as Indian food. I love the combination of spices that go into a masala mix and the creaminess of many dishes. When I go to an Indian Restaurant one of my go to menu items is Butter Chicken. Lately, we haven't been dining out much due to parenting duties therefore I decided to recreate on my favourite Indian dishes at home. 

2 lbs chicken breast, cubed

salt

pepper

canola oil

1 onion, minced

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 cups sour cream

1 cup tomato juice

1 tbsp turmeric

1/2 tbsp cumin

1/2 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sugar

2 cups basmati rice

4 cups water

1. In a deep frying pan or a dutch oven brown the cubed chicken until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Remove and set aside.

2. In the same pan saute the minced onion and garlic on medium/low heat so not to burn the garlic. Add the masala spice blend. Stir together.

3. Spoon in the sour cream and tomato juice to create a sauce. Make sure not the burn the sauce. Lower the heat and add the chicken pieces.

4. Stir all the contents together and close the pan or dutch oven with the lid. Let simmer for 10 minutes on low heat so that the sauce thickens slightly.

5. Meanwhile make the rice. I use a rice cooker for consistency and convenience. Add 4 cups of water to 2 cups of rice, canola oil and salt.

6. Serve on a bed of basmati rice.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Sometimes you get those gifts that when you first receive them you think, "What am I going to do with that?" It is not after trying to use the item that the question is clearly answered. Several Christmases ago, my sister gave me a Slow Cooker. As I am always grateful for all my presents, I wasn't too sure how to use it. The size alone was intimidating. Now, after using my beloved Slow Cooker several times I understand why many busy women swear by this ingenious cooking appliance. The past week has been very busy and I didn't have time to cook dinner every night. After looking into my fridge and freezer I remembered that I had bought stewing beef, potatoes and frozen peas/carrots. Perfect ingredients for a hearty stew. Since I was tight for time I took out my Slow Cooker and put it to work. At 6 a.m. I assembled all the ingredients into the Slow Cooker and when we got home we had a delicious and hot meal. As I took the first bite I thanked my sister for her gift. I am grateful.

2 lbs stewing beef

5 yellow potatoes, diced

2 cups frozen peas and carrots

2 ripe tomatoes, diced

1 cup boiled water

1 cube chicken stock

3 bay leaves

salt

pepper

1 tbsp oregano

1/2 tbsp thyme

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Place the stewing beef on the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Followed by the potatoes. Then the peas and carrots and tomatoes.

3. Add the seasonings. Meanwhile dissolve the chicken stock in the boiled water. Pour into the slow cooker.

4. Stir altogether and set the timer at the desired setting. I left it for 10 hours and the beef was tender, well cooked and delicious.

5. Serve with crusty bread.

Ceviche con Camarones

Ceviche con Camarones

Of all the Peruvian dishes that I have tired and made, Ceviche has to be the most unique dish. Ceviche is a unique dish for one reason; it is not cooked using heat. That is right! You read correctly. Some  of you who are not familiar with this dish will be perplexed with this fact however, cooking doesn't necessarily need heat. To cook an ingredient such as a protein based ingredient such as fish or seafood, you need to eliminate the access moisture and control the acidity. The origin of ceviche is disputed but many agree that the dish was brought to Peru 2,000 years ago my Moorish women. Eventually with the Spanish colonization of Peru the dish was transformed in the addition of citrus juices. Which ever way it got to our tables, I am glad it did because it is one of my favourite dishes from the Peruvian cuisine. 

2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp

2 lemons

2 limes

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 Scottish bonnet pepper, diced 

1 red onion

salt

cilantro, chopped

1. Wash and drain the shrimp before adding to the Pyrex or baking dish of your choice.

2. Slice the red onion very thin and place in a small bowl with cold water. This will help the onion to dissolve of its strong flavour.

3. Squeeze the lemon and lime. Add the juice to the shrimp along with the white wine vinegar, salt, Scottish bonnet and garlic. Mix together.

4. Last add the red onions and chopped cilantro. Mix one more time making sure that the shrimp is submerged into the citrus juices.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours. The shrimp should be pink in colour and taut to the touch.

Sunday Afternoon Frittata

Sunday Afternoon Frittata

After a day of tutoring, empanada baking and some much needed rest from cooking, I was relaxed enough this afternoon to make this delicious and easy Sunday Afternoon Frittata. I had some leftover chorizo from a couple of nights ago and since I don't usually like eating the same thing twice I decided to use the chorizo for this dish. 

3 leftover chorizo, sliced thin on diagonal

3 small potatoes, sliced round

5 eggs

1/4 cup milk

100 g marble cheddar cheese, cubed

1/2 tomato, diced

salt

pepper

1/2 tbsp oregano

a few sprig of cilantro

1. Fry potatoes separately. Set aside as you work on the rest of the frittata.

2. In a oven proof pan, brown the chorizo slightly. Meanwhile in a separate bowl beat the eggs, milk and seasoning. 

3. Once the chorizo is browned nicely on one side pour the egg mixture into the pan. Arrange the fried potatoes in the egg mixture, followed by the cheese and finally my the cilantro.

4. Finish baking on a convection oven at 350F for 20 minutes.