This is another thrown-together, absolutely non-traditional yet very tasty pasta recipe. It’s amazing what you can do in practically no time with simple ingredients and a little creativity:
Crispy Browned Potato Rounds
Pan fried potato rounds. It feels like it’s been ages since I had these the last time as a kid from my aunt. I missed them… Basically, these are flattened german potato dumplings (Kartoffelklöße) fried in butter to golden brown deliciousness. Here’s how:
Pantry Raid Pork Belly and Mushroom Lunch
Ahhh… digging through the fridge and finding yummy things to throw together and grub on. Actually, it wasn’t bad at all and I used only a few ingredients:
My standard meat curing formula
Edit: Now with an image, because I made some bacon today 🙂
So here’s my standard recipe for curing meat that I mostly use. It can be adjusted to personal needs in terms of herbs and spices, but I strongly recommend to stick to the directions concerning the curing salt.
Recipe (per kg of meat):
30 – 40 g curing salt, which equals 3 – 4% by weight (and not “pink salt” etc., see below)
10 g brown sugar
1 tsp. freshly and coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried rosemary
Shallot Oil
I already made the “Spice’n Pans” special oyster sauce mix and I used it a lot. Now I tried the shallot oil from the same video. The first taste test was delicious – I think I’ll keep this stuff in the fridge as well, as some kind of a kitchen staple 🙂
(Recipe credits: Spice’n Pans – YouTube. Visit his channel!)
Product Review: Microplane Kitchen Grater
I’m not a kitchen tool voodooist and I’m normally sceptical when it comes to heavily advertised “world changing” kitchen appliances. But after seeing one of these microplane graters in what felt like the 500th youtube video, I decided to buy one and give it a try.
It’s a sturdy tool, as far as I read indeed “laser-etched” (whatever difference that may make) and it’s dishwasher safe. What makes a difference for me is that it grates almost everything that comes across for me to grind, from nutmeg to lemon zest to (comparably) soft cheese. The results are always fine gratings and not the ripped and torn shreddings that you get so often using other tools. Afterwards, it’s easy to clean.
Thumbs up, recommendation.
Special Oyster Sauce Mix
(Recipe credits: Spice’n Pans – YouTube. Visit his channel!)
One of my favourite asian cooking YouTube channels “Spice’n Pans” posted this recipe already a while ago: A simple, versatile and always seizable condiment for easy noodle dishes. For those days when you really can’t be arsed to make a big effort on cooking – I’ve tried this out and since then I always have a jar of it in stock in the fridge. Very convenient and very delicious. Since I used this condiment oftentimes now, I will also try the shallot oil he makes in his video.
How To: Make a Roux
Roux – Stolen Image (allrecipes.com)
I was asked by a member of the extended family circle about a recipe requiring a roux.
So let’s make a “Roux“… Ahh… yeah, right. Sure. Of course. This is french. It’s pronounced ( /ˈruː/ ) and this sounds sooo much better than the german Mehlschwitze, which – honestly – sounds more like a sore throat 🙂 .
A roux is used as a basis for things like heavy sauces, soups or stews. It thickens them up and makes them creamy and rich. Since it’s a base-ingredient, it is very versatile and can be used for a wide variety of cooking tasks from the standard french cuisine mother sauce Béchamel up to New Orleans Gumbo. Google “roux usage” and you’ll see what I mean.
Some people find making a roux a little intimidating because, yes, you can absolutely screw it up, but if you follow these simple steps here, I promise you’ll nail it every time. It’s no magic.