Food-wise, this weekend was about as good as it gets and I am feeling comfortably full sitting and writing on this chilly Sunday evening. We have the fireplace going, The Apprentice in the background (mother’s choice, not mine) a purring cat on my dad’s lap and my MacBook on mine - maybe our own Turkish-American version of a Norman Rockwell portrait?
Friday started with me helping my dad make his amazing Adana Kebabs. I've had these kebabs in Turkey, and I can say with all objectivity that his version is by far the best. In the whole-wide world. This recipe being a highly guarded family secret I'll just tantalize you with pictures of the prep and invite you to stop by for dinner next time we are grilling. When the weather is nice, there are few better places in the world to eat than on our patio facing the woods and getting full late afternoon sun.
My contribution to the evening was my highly improvised salsa fresca, enhanced by the grilled sweet peppers I had made a few evenings ago. The recipe is very easy and I change it around based on whatever ingredients are around:
Wash, spin dry and finely chop fresh cilantro in a food processor. Empty into a large bowl. Finely chop 1/2 a sweet onion, a few cloves of garlic, and a jalapeno or two in the same processor, and empty it into the same bowl. Coarsely chop up a few over-ripe tomatoes and pulse in the food processor until it is chunky but not pureed, and add to the mixture. If the tomatoes are too ripe, then it is worth seeding them, otherwise the salsa will be too watery. If you have grilled sweet peppers, puree them in the processor and add to mixture. Add the juice of one lime, a generous dash of cumin, some extra hot pepper (either sauce or dried depending on preference), and salt and pepper to taste.
Did I mention that the dinner went really well with Bell’s Oberon? The 2009 batch just came out and is highly drinkable.
Saturday morning we went to the Farmers' Market which has really expanded with the warming weather and ripening crops. We grabbed breakfast at Zingermans, and I tried their new Obama'bun, which I would highly, highly recommend. It is basically a pecan danish with a load of caramel on top. Probably not the healthiest breakfast choice but a great morning sugar rush. I also got to meet the lovely lady who makes the cookies I'm so fond of (shhh....they're cheaper at the Market....and bought a jar of her dulce de leche which I am very excited to try).
That evening my mom's cafe had their monthly prix fixe dinner, featuring lamb, chicken or shrimp Adana Kebabs well as an amazing mixed-meze plate and decadent tiramisu. Again, all of these recipes are family/trade secrets but maybe these pictures will whet your appetite and encourage you to stop by the cafe. We also make a mean kir a la turque, which I developed utilizing my vast expertise in, errrm, kir tasting, and it is quite the seller. . .
Finally Sunday evening I volunteered to cook as my German food craving got the best of me. Once in a blue moon the urge to eat a good Sauerbraten with Knoedel, Bratwurst, Kaesespaetzle, or Schnitzel appears and I can think of nothing else until it is satisfied.
When I was 17, I lived in a village called Ruderting for a year with a German (Bavarian) host-family and attended Gymnasium. It was my first real overseas experience, away from my parents in a country where I could legally drink, and in a household where pork ruled supreme. It was only after having gained 15-lbs that I realized everything in the house was literally cooked or baked in Schmalz, i.e. lard and not the Crisco-like fat I thought it was.
My own variation of German food is quite a bit lighter than what I ate during that year, and it was a success with my parents, both of whose palates’ are about as sophisticated and critical as they come.
Tonight's dinner featured lemon-thyme chicken schnitzel with panko, warm German potato salad, and roasted broccoli, all served with a great Californian Merlot, dill pickles and German mustard.
The salad was the easiest bit as I modified a recipe I found on Epicurious.com which you can find here. Living in a pork-free household, I omitted the bacon and sauteed the onions in olive oil with a sprinkle of sugar, allowing them to really caramelize and cook well. Instead of beef broth, my mom was making chicken broth, so I “borrowed” some of that, and finally, I added paprika and thyme, giving the dish a slightly woodsy taste. The salad is really good served warm and was very easy to make.
The schnitzel was also very easy to make, but just had several steps.
Wash, dry and marinate thinly sliced chicken breasts in the juice of one lemon, thyme, salt and a dash of olive oil, letting the chicken sit at room temperature. Set out three shallow bowls, filling the first one with a few tablespoons of flour, the second with 3 beaten eggs, and the final one with panko. The third should be the largest and deepest as the more panko coating the chicken, the better.
Add a few dashes of salt, thyme and black pepper to the flour mixture. Finely peel and chop about a square inch of lemon rind (I used the rind of the lemon I had juiced for the marinade) and add to the panko mixture.
Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet with olive oil in it until the oil is very hot but not smoking. I actually used the skillet I had used to cook the onions in for the potato salad without even bothering to wash it, and I think it gave the oil more depth of flavor.
Dredge the chicken in flour, then the egg mixture and then fully cover in panko breadcrumbs. Prepare three pieces of chicken and then carefully place simultaneously in the skillet. Brown the chicken fully on one side (approximately 3-5 minutes) and carefully flip over and cook on the other side until the chicken is cooked through.
Place the cooked chicken pieces in a baking pan, uncovered in a hot oven, and continue making the chicken until all the pieces are cooked. Serve with lemon wedges and German whole-grain mustard.
Und so ist unser Abend gelaufen und zur Ende gekommen - ich wuensche Euch alle eine leckere Mahlzeit und viel Spass beim kochen.
Liebe Gruesse und bis dem naechst.
