We are still getting the sweetest strawberries here in Santa Cruz. I have been buying them from Ron, my Dutch buddy, at the farmers market for many years. He grows and sells them only at local farmers' markets. Sometimes, I buy too many, and they start looking sad in my fridge. What am I to do? I hate throwing good food away. Several years ago, I bought a great cookbook called Baking At The 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine, who used to own a cafe in San Francisco that made Austrian-Hungarian delicacies. The cafe has since closed, but her book has been one of my favorite cookbooks. She substitutes local ingredients in her baking. I made several of her recipes, and they are all very good—and you can’t tell the difference from the original Austrian recipe. I know because I had both. She was nominated for the James Beard Pastry Chef Award.

In her book, she makes cream puffs filled with strawberry ice cream and chocolate sauce. I made the strawberry ice cream. The roasted strawberries are out of this world. I kept some for my morning yogurt, and just thinking about them makes me hungry.

The amount of sugar you will need depends on the sweetness of the strawberries. Her recipe calls for ⅓ cup, but I reduced mine to 3 TBS of sugar. I cut her recipe in half and ended up with a generous cup of roasted strawberries and 4 cups of ice cream.
My tasters approved of the richly flavored ice cream, even though my 40-year-old ice cream machine is having issues, and I think I need to replace it with a new one. I liked the ice cream best when it was soft after just a few hours in the freezer. However, most of it was eaten when it had been in the freezer for days. I made my own version of a banana split with it for some Swiss friends. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

Ingredients for roasted strawberries:
This amount makes a little more than 1 cup.
1 pound strawberries
3 TBS sugar
Preheat oven to 300˚F Fahrenheit  (150˚Celsius)

Directions for the roasted strawberries :
Arrange the strawberries in a single layer in a glass dish or baking dish and sprinkle the sugar over it. Roast the strawberries for about 3 hours, stirring every hour, until the juice has been reduced to a syrup. After the berries have cooled, transfer them with their juices to an airtight container. They will last in the fridge for several days. 

Ingredients for the ice cream:
2 cups strawberries
1 cup heavy cream
4 egg yolks
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ -1 cup roasted strawberries

Directions for the ice cream:
Wash and hull the strawberries. Puree them in a blender or food processor. You should have about a cup and a half. 
Heat the cream in a heavy saucepan until it begins to bubble at the edges of the pan. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Gradually whisk some (about ⅓) of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Be careful, or the mixture will curdle, and you will have to start all over again. Pour the mixture back into the pan with the remaining cream and cook, stirring often, until it registers 170˚F (200 Celsius) on an instant-read thermometer. Pour the mixture through a sieve, stir in the strawberry puree, cover, and refrigerate overnight.  Process the mixture in an ice cream maker. Follow the instructions for your machine. When the ice cream is completely frozen, add the roasted strawberries with some of the syrup and continue churning it for a few minutes. Transfer the ice cream to a container and freeze. 
Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Baking at the 20th Century Cafe 
By Michelle Polzine
Posted by the Sunnycovechef

We are having a  Pinot Noir wine tasting at our house next week. I am thinking of serving the following recipes.  

These salmon miso rillettes make a great snack or appetizer.
Click here for the recipe

Flammkuchen or flatbread makes a great snack with a glass of wine.
​Click here for the recipe

I think that these little cheddar cheese puffs will taste good with a glass of wine.
​Click here for the recipe

This cake is the quintessential German sheet cake. When the Zwetschgen are in season, you will find this cake in every bakery. It is always made with Italian plums, or Zwetschgen, as we call them in Germany. Read more about the Zwetschgen here, where I posted a delicious cake recipe for them. For this recipe, I decided to try a different dough using yeast, which is the traditional way in Germany when baking Zwetschgenkuchen. It is customary to bake the Kuchen on large baking sheets. The dough is drier and uses only 3 tablespoons of sugar. Think of pizza dough. My husband says this is not a Safeway cake (which is his favorite), it is dense and heavy but tasty. He approved, after all. (He has to.) There are many different recipes, but I decided to use Luisa Weiss’s recipe from her Classic German Baking book. She did all the homework for me, adapting the sheet cake to American ingredients. Thank you, Luisa! By the way, if you enjoy German sweets, this book is fantastic.

Luisa’s recipe only uses one half-sheet, which will make enough for 10-12 pieces. That’s great because this sheet cake is best when freshly baked and still okay on the second day. It tastes twice as good with whipped cream. Don’t skimp on the plums (you barely want to see the base of the cake). The next time I bake this cake, I will use more plums and maybe a little more sugar and butter. The streusel adds sweetness and richness. My godmother, a gifted baker, would often bake the cake with a custard on top. I loved that. Try omitting the streusel and sprinkle some sugar over the plums before baking it. Then, you could call it a plum pizza. Please try this cake with whipped cream. It makes all the difference and elevates this cake to a different level.

Ingredients:
The Dough:
7 ounces (200 g) of all-purpose flour, more for kneading
3 TBS sugar 
1 tsp. Instant yeast
½ tsp. lemon zest
pinch of salt
3 TBS (40g) unsalted  European butter
1 egg yolk
The Plums:
2 -2 ½ pounds Italian plums
The Streusel:
4.2 ounces (120 g) all-purpose flour (about a cup)
⅓ cup (70 g) sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
5 TBS. (70 g) unsalted European-style butter softened 

Directions:
Melt the butter and let it cool. Bring the milk and egg yolk to room temperature. (Milk should be warm to the touch). 
Line a 9 x 13-inch metal baking sheet with parchment paper, letting the sides hang over the edges.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, yeast, lemon peel, and salt. Mix in the butter, milk, and egg yolk. Once the dough is formed, dump it on a floured work surface and knead it for 5 minutes. It should be silky smooth. Add a little bit more flour, but not too much. The dough should still be soft and slightly floppy. 
Form the dough into a ball and place it in a buttered bowl. Cover the bowl with a dishcloth and place in a warm, draft-free location for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
Preheat the oven to 350˙ Fahrenheit (180˙C )
Prepare the topping, halve and pit the plums, then quarter them. For the streusel, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and add to the flour mixture. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have bean-sized streusels. Cover and refrigerate the streusel mixture until ready to use. 
Gently deflate the dough with your fingers and push it evenly to fit the pan, creating a 1-inch edge. The rest of the dough should be about 1/8 inch thick.
Starting at the edges, push the plums skin-side down into the dough. The plums should be snug together so that no dough is showing. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the cake. Bake the cake on the middle rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the edges of the streusel are turning colors.
Cut this cake into serving pieces. It is best served the same day or the next. It tastes great when it is still warm, smothered with whipped cream.

Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Luisa Weiss
Posted by Sunnycovechef.com

This plum tart has a buttery crust . Click here for the recipe.

Marian Burro's recipe for plum cake was printed in the New York Times for years. Click here for the recipe

My favorite recipe for spiced plum butter. We call it Zwetschgenmus in Germany. Click here for the recipe

Whenever I arrive in Germany I seek out one of my favorite meals. It is Matjes herring with fried or boiled potatoes. Matjes herring is a young female herring with silvery skin that has not yet laid eggs. They are caught in the North Sea at the end of May and beginning of June while they still have some of their winter fat. The word Matjeshering is borrowed from the Dutch word maatjesharing and from the middle Dutch word medykenshering, which translates to “maiden herring”.

During the pandemic, when I wasn’t able to travel, I recreated my favorite dish at home, and to my surprise, my husband loved it. I have been making it ever since. In the beginning, I ordered Matjeshering, but it was very expensive for just a few pieces of herring. It had to be shipped cold, which meant a lot of packaging. Honestly, I love the Matjes herring I get in Germany, but I couldn’t tell that much difference from the pickled herring that you can buy in jars everywhere here in California. I buy two 12-ounce jars of herring in wine sauce. Make sure you get large pieces of good-quality herring. My husband bought a jar that had tiny little pieces of herring, which was not very good.

On a personal note, for quite a few months, I lost interest in my blog. It was like I lost an old friend when I had my blog redone. But slowly, I am getting back into posting more recipes. The recipes in my blog are still there. Family and friends enjoy them, and occasionally, I get a notice that my niece or some other person has used one of my recipes. This keeps me going, and it gives me something else to think about other than dealing with age-related illnesses, family problems, and the political situation in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Let’s return to my Matjes herring. The last few times I made it, I bought a large jar of herring in wine sauce at Costco and used it for this recipe. If you are a purist, go ahead and order the Matjes herring from Amazon or other sources. I was told that IKEA sometimes has it. I found a store in Brooklyn that also has it and will ship. Let Mr. Google help you find a source, but watch the quantity of the actual herring.

There are different recipes for serving Matjes herring. My favorite is the one I am posting here. The herring is served in a cream sauce with onions, apples, and pickles.  I like to serve my herring with fried potatoes, but boiled potatoes are just as good.

The Herring needs to be refrigerated for a few hours for all the flavors to blend. This recipe makes 4 generous servings.
​

Ingredients :
​
1 lb. (500g) herring in wine sauce 
1 medium-sized crunchy apple  
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 cup chopped dill pickles 
½ cup (150g) crème fraîche  
4 TBS heavy cream
1 TBS champagne vinegar 
½ tsp sugar 
½ -1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper 
2 juniper berry kernels 
2 allspice kernels 
1 TBS mineral water
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
​

Directions:
Rinse the herring and let it drip through a sieve. Only use the herring and discard the rest. Cut the onion in half and thinly slice it, soaking it in a bowl with lemon juice while you prepare the sauce. Mix the créme fraîche, cream, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, juniper berries, allspice kernels, and mineral water into a smooth sauce. Core and cut the apples into bite-sized pieces. You can peel them if you wish. Chop the pickles into bite-sized pieces. Add everything to the sauce and taste for seasoning. Add additional salt, pepper, and sugar as needed. Keep the dish covered in the fridge for about three hours, which will improve the flavor. 

​Guten Appetit!    
Recipe from the Sunnycovechef.com
​

Here is a French version of a salmon sheet pan dish with vermouth and fennel. Click here for the recipe.

Here is an easy to make but delicious baked shrimp dish with Quinoa and peas.
Click here for the recipe.

Poached halibut with apricot salsa , a light dish for a hot summer day.
​Click here for the recipe.

It has been over a month since I blogged. There is a reason for that. I visited my family in Germany and took my computer thinking that I would find time to write and blog. I was wrong, I never turned on the computer. Being with my family was more important. The sun didn’t set until 10:00 pm and those long evenings were spent visiting with each other. There were the family problems, the political situation, and so much more to talk about. Here is an update on my brother’s Ukrainian women. Last year my brother hosted a grandmother, mother, and 14 year old daughter. The girl is going to school, the mother is working in a factory nearby and the grandmother returned to Kharkiv to her apartment and dacha. There is some damage to the dacha but her apartment is still standing. The mother and daughter are now speaking some German and studying German at night. They do not know how long they will have to stay. They are adjusting. Both of them would like nothing more than to return home. I understand why the mother is keeping her daughter safe in Germany. They prepared a meal of borscht and dumplings for the entire family. Let’s wish them the best.

While in the village my girlfriend took me on a little outing to the historical town of Hann Münden. Here the rivers Fulda and Werra meet to form the Weser, one of the larger rivers in Germany. The town is famous for its half-timbered houses, some over 600 years old. I spent time here as a young girl visiting distant cousins and I have some fond memories.

After a few days in the village staying at the tiny house I visited my niece and her family in Lüneburg

After a few days in Lüneburg my niece’s family and I rented an apartment on the Eastern Sea near Wismar. My grand niece was happy to play in the sand all day. One day we visited Wismar and got a great tour from my niece’s former professor.

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Another day we visited a castle that is now used as an art gallery. My niece had done some of her work there as a student. It is a beautiful place with a nice garden cafe nearby.

After our relaxing stay at the beach it was time to return to Lüneburg and I returned to the village. One day I  visited an old friend in Kassel. On another day my girlfriend Monika  and I visited her daughter‘s new family and home. It was here that I had the best herring meal on the trip. We went to a linen factory that makes the most beautiful linen. I bought way too much and had trouble getting it all on the train. 
Talking about German trains. Don’t count on them being on time. Twice my train was canceled and I had to wait at the station for an hour. My girlfriend Monika and I were going to visit Leipzig for a weekend but there was the possibility of a strike by the Bahn. We canceled our trip.  So much for  German punctuality.

I had some good and some not so good food while visiting Germany. It was asparagus season and I had the most wonderful salad and soup with my niece’s in-laws. They had an asparagus pizza and it was quite good. My niece  had never been a cook before she became a mom. She made delicious spinach and bread dumplings in a creamy tomato sauce in a thermo mix. This machine is currently the rave in Germany. 

My last meal was at the Pauliner Restaurant at the Frankfurt airport. I had the white asparagus salad with a grilled chicken breast. It was the perfect meal to say goodbye to Germany.
After returning to Santa Cruz I was glad to be back cooking in my kitchen. I made a German rhubarb sheet cake that was ok but not good enough to put on my blog.

Here are some of my recipes for the month of July. Click on the photos for the recipes. You will find more recipes if you type whatever you are looking for into the search bottom of my blog which is located above my photo.

Has it really been 10 years since I started my little blog? Wasn’t it just yesterday that my girlfriend suggested that I organize my many recipes into a blog to share them with friends and family. This blog has become my baby, my creative outlet. It challenges me to expand my knowledge and keep on learning. I do have issues with the technical part of it. Like everything in life , nothing is perfect. Even I use this blog myself quite often, as the recipes are like my old and most trusted friends. The most enjoyable part has been connecting with other bloggers and people around the world. This community has given me support and positive input and I thank you for being part of it. I hope that I can blog for a little while longer, and find some new and interesting stories and recipes to share. I appreciate your loyalty and taking time from your busy life to read my blog.
The recipe for duck confit quesadillas is one of my older recipes. If you click here
you will not only find the recipe but a write-up of one of my favorite restaurants  in Capitola called Shadowbrook. 

In a few days I will be flying to Germany to visit my family and friends. I have my railroad pass (read about the German railroad system here) and will be traveling by train. I will be staying in my nephew’s tiny house while at our farm since my brother still has 2 Ukrainian women and a teenager living in my niece’s apartment where I usually stay. Then I will take the train to go to Lüneburg, a beautiful historical old salt town near Hamburg, where my niece and her family are living (click on this link to read about my previous visits). I will also take a short vacation to the Eastern Sea near Wismar. I have never been there and I am looking forward seeing something new. Before I know it, my three weeks will be over and I will be back home with my husband.

Here are some of the recipes I have made in the last couple of months. My seafood pasta is a dish I have made for years.  It comes together quickly, I freeze my pesto when basil is plentiful. I like to serve this dish with asparagus, steamed or roasted. My husband likes it steamed, but I prefer it roasted with some walnut or hazelnut oil, sprinkled with garlic salt and pepper. I roast the asparagus for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Last time I omitted the scallops and used only shrimp. which was  just fine. I like to serve this dish on a large platter., which makes a lovely presentation. Click her for the recipe.

I have to say, I love my banana bread, especially when it is freshly baked. I made my last batch using frozen bananas. Once I defrosted them I got rid of all the juices that had accumulated. Click here for the recipe.

My husband and I are at an age where we gain weight easily, so I try to make some dishes that are light and not loaded with extra calories. My lentil salad fits that bill. Especially since  I can eat it for several days. I had some leftover homemade duck confit that I added as a protein. This  recipe I have for duck confit is great. Thank you Bon Appétit. It is a great  weekend project with little effort; it just takes time to bake slowly in the oven. I did some much-needed gardening while it was cooking.
Click here for the lentil salad recipe.
Click here for the duck confit recipe

Let’s return to eating healthy. For a quick , tasty and healthy dinner this fish dish baked in parchment is a winner. You can use any white fish and spruce up the flavors by adding anchovies, tomatoes, and capers, giving this dish a Mediterranean  twist.  The last time I added some sliced cooked leftover potatoes. It was super delicious. Click here for the recipe.

Thank you again my dear blogger friends for all your support and loyalty. Stay healthy and well. 

I have always wanted to go on a cruise. I had visions of floating down a staircase in a fancy dress with an elegant gentleman by my side. Think of the Titanic or imagine crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary. Over the decades nothing like this ever happened for many reasons, one of them was my husband being afraid of getting seasick and not liking the idea of cruising, and my wanting to visit friends and family in Germany on my vacations.

Our friends finally talked us into joining  them on a cruise from Sydney Australia to Auckland New Zealand. I had my doubts when I checked in and saw what would be my new home for 12 days. The first day I felt a little wobbly being on a moving vessel. All my doubts, fears, and wobbliness were gone by the second day. I woke up in the morning having slept like a baby with pleasant dreams ( very unusual for me.)

​I watched the sun rise over the ocean and explored the ship. For the rest of the trip I felt well taken care of, everything was done for me. All I had to do was to enjoy the journey.There were incredible sunrises and sunsets, and then there was the beautiful sky in the middle of the Tasmanian Sea. My favorite cruising day was the day we spent at Milford Sound. The weather was great, which is very unusual.We missed two ports in New Zealand because of the Cyclone Gabriela and stayed at sea for 5 days, which was just fine with me. So now I have become a cruiser and hope to be able to do a few more of them.

After the cruise we stayed 4 days in Auckland. We had a good time eating and exploring the city and surrounding area. My favorite was the Island of Waiheke, a  beautiful island with many wineries and beaches. The 40 minute ferry ride took us  past Auckland’s stunning coastlines and beautiful islands.

In Auckland my favorite bar was Churchill on the top floor of the "Sheraton Four Points". The view is great, the drinks are out of this world and the food is good. We ate twice at the Bistro“Oyster and Chop” at the harbor.

I would love to go back end explore Australia and New Zealand a little bit more. Who knows, maybe one day, but in the meantime I am thankful that I was able to experience this beautiful part of the world.

For Easter this year my girlfriend asked me to make my lemon pudding cake. This farro salad is great for potlucks and barbecues. 

Guten Tag my blogger friends. It has been a while since I posted. My life has been very busy for the last three months, and I took a little break from blogging. There were some sad things I did not want to share with the world, but there were also some happy times. My niece and her family came in January, and we had a great time together. It was such a treat to be with my little grandniece. In February, we embarked on an adventurous trip to Australia and New Zealand. When March came around, I had some health problems, but I am fine now and ready to rejoin the blogging world.

I finally had two dear friends convince me to go on a cruise with them. I have always wanted to go on a cruise, but not my husband. Earlier, we had signed up for a cruise to the Scandinavian Fjords, but when my husband found out he had to wear formal attire, he canceled, which was good because the pandemic hit one month later.

We signed up for our cruise in November. It would take us from Sydney to Auckland in February on a 12-day journey. Since neither my husband nor I had been in Australia or New Zealand, we decided to stay in Sydney for 4 days before sailing. It was a good decision. We loved Sydney with its brilliant beaches, unusual vegetation, exotic animals, and urban comfort. February means summertime in Australia, and it brings everybody out. The locals were friendly and courteous, they seemed to be content and well taken care of from what I saw. I think it would be a great place to live. It is ranked the 5th most livable city in the world, with so much to offer.

Sydney has an array of beautiful beaches. Our favorite was Manly Beach. You can reach Manly by taking a public ferry. I talked to a scuba diver who said this was his favorite beach for diving, and he had been all over the world.

The other beach we saw was Bondi Beach which we visited when when we were on the Hop On Hop Off bus.

And then, of course, there is the iconic Opera House that dominates the beautiful Sydney harbor with its towering sail structure. The Opera House is across from the Sydney Harbor Bridge, another iconic landmark of Sydney.

My favorite place to eat was the Harbourfront Seafood Restaurant, where we had the seafood tower. This was a great introduction to local seafood. My husband’s favorite food was a pig knuckle in a German restaurant. 

One afternoon, we explored the Royal Botanical Garden. I was fascinated by the different species of plants and trees. I wish I could have stayed in Sydney longer because there is so much more to see and do.

Once I returned to Santa Cruz, I was happy to be back in my kitchen. The first thing I made was a loaded chicken broth that I used for my chicken fricassee. We had so much rain and bad weather that I cooked warming dishes like short ribs and lamb shanks. The recipe for the short ribs is from the NYT, and the lamb shanks from Bon Appetite. I will post the recipe for lamb shanks one of these days.
Asparagus arrived in the grocery stores, and I made my Asparagus soup and my salmon crepes.  I am working on a recipe for asparagus quiche. For dessert, I chose this simple but oh so tasty Italian shortbread tart called Fregolotta.

It’s raining cats and dogs here in northern California. After several years of drought, we really need the rain. But we are not used to staying inside—it’s California after all where the sun always shines. I enjoy the rain, but I don’t like the wind. Being forced to stay inside, I cleaned out some old drawers and sorted through old cards and photos. It was easy to throw away most of them. Just as it was easy to say goodbye to 2022. My guest room is almost ready for my niece and her family from Germany. I can’t wait to see them, especially my 18-month-old little grandniece. She is pure sunshine and has a special place in my heart.

It was my turn this month to host our book club meeting, and since it was also my girlfriend’s birthday, she asked me if I would make duck confit. I was happy to oblige, especially as we have known each other for over 30 years. I doubled the recipe, so I and had four duck legs left the next day. I decided to make one of my favorite old standby recipes. It turns the duck legs into a rustic country peasant dish, hardy and--perfect for a rainy day and a country girl like me. The only thing I don’t like about this recipe is the smell of cooking cabbage.

Like so many of my recipes, this is an old one from Gourmet magazine. You do not need to follow the recipe exactly, so you can use less or more cabbage or duck legs. I added some red peppers that I had in my fridge. I also added some jellied duck stock from cooking the legs. I cut the amount of noodles to 9 ounces, even though the original recipe called for one pound. For the pasta, I used fusilli noodles. The original recipe called for campanelle (bell shaped pasta) or garganelli. And please, do not skip turning the skin into cracklings. It’s ten times better than bacon, trust me. You can also buy confit duck legs if they are available. 

Ingredients:
4  confit duck legs (about 8 ounces)
2 large white onions (about four cups) 
1 tsp.salt 
1 (1 ½ -lb) savory cabbage (about 8 cups)
1 red pepper (optional) 
¼ cup dry white wine
9 ounces fusilli pasta
1 TBS butter 
2 TBS chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
​
Directions:
Heat oil in a large frying pan and sear the duck legs skin down until some of the fat is rendered and the skin is golden (6-8) minutes. When the duck legs are cool enough to handle, remove the skin and scrape off any visible fat. Return the skin to the frying pan and cook over moderate heat, occasionally pressing down on the skin until the fat is rendered and the skin has turned into golden crisp cracklings (about 5 minutes). Drain the cracklings on a paper towel and tear into small pieces. Pull duck meat from the legs into roughly ¼-inch-thick pieces.
Reserve 2-3 TBS of duck fat in the frying pan. Peel and halve the onions, then cut them into ¼ inch thick slices (about 4 cups). Sauté them in the duck fat, stirring occasionally until they are golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Clean and chop the red pepper into 2-inch pieces, and then add it to the onion, cooking the mixture for several minutes. In the meantime, clean and core the cabbage and cut it into 2-inch pieces. Add the cabbage and ½ tsp salt to the onions, stirring and turning for about 5 minutes, until it begins to wilt. Add the wine and cook until evaporated for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and simmer (covered) for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cabbage should be very tender. While the cabbage simmers, cook the pasta. Drain the pasta, reserving 2 cups of pasta water. Stir the cabbage mixture with the pasta either in the pasta pot or frying pan (depending on the size of your frying pan). Add the butter and shredded duck with the cracklings, and some pasta water if the pasta looks dry. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the parsley.  This dish tastes just as good the next day. 

Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Gourmet magazine 
Prepared by the Sunnycovechef.com

I treasure my cookbooks and old cooking magazines. I hang on to them, not like my other books which I have no problem getting rid of. One of my favorite cookbook authors is Dorie Greenspan. She makes everything look so easy and she gives her readers the confidence to go ahead and try new recipes.  

Normally, rillettes are made with pork or duck, similar to duck confit. The meat is seasoned and then slow-cooked in fat. I enjoy eating them, but Dorie offers a healthier version using salmon and miso. I have made her miso-salmon rillettes from her cookbook, Everyday Dorie, many times. I like eating it on a cracker for a quick lunch or snack.  It makes a great appetizer and goes well with some bubbly beverage or white wine. Imagine sitting with some friends on your patio or balcony snacking on these rillettes on toasted rye bread with a glass of white wine or champagne. The rillettes make a great gift in a pretty jar. I am making them as an appetizer for this years Christmas dinner.

You don’t need to make this dish with the most expensive salmon or smoked salmon. Dorie says you can make them with smoked salmon bits but I have never tried this.  So far, I have used Costco’s wild lox. For the salmon, I have used Trader Joe’s frozen wild salmon or leftover salmon from a meal. In her book, she also has a recipe for two other kind of salmon rillettes. I have not made them because I love the miso rillettes. I get some special white miso at the farmers market, but any other white miso will be just fine.

You want to make the rillettes at least six hours ahead so the flavors have time to blend. Tightly covered, the rillettes will keep up to a week in the fridge. But mine are usually gone long before that. For the mixed herbs, I used dill, parsley, and some chives. Or Dorie said you can use just cilantro.

Ingredients:
6-8 ounces (170 to 227 grams) fresh or frozen  salmon
¼  pound (113 grams) smoked salmon
2 scallions
1 lemon 
zest of one lemon
juice of ½ lemon 
½ cup (120ml) white wine
½ cup (120ml) water
salt and pepper for seasoning 
3 TBS softened butter
3 TBS white miso
1 small shallot (about 1 tsp.) 
3 TBS mixed herbs (or cilantro)
a squirt of sriracha 

Directions:
If you use frozen salmon, bring the wine, water, the green parts of the scallions, a lemon slice, a pinch of salt to a boil in a small pan. Add the salmon, lower the heat and simmer for three minutes. If you use fresh salmon, simmer it only for one minute. Remove the pan and let it sit for ten minutes. 
Drain the salmon and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Discard the cooking liquid. You can prepare the salmon the day before. 
Mince the shallots, rinse them in water and pat them dry. Remove the skin and bones from the cooked salmon and tear it into bite-sized pieces. Also cut the lox into bite-sized pieces. Beat the softened butter until it is spreadable. Mix with the white miso, the grated lemon zest, and the lemon juice. Add the minced shallots, minced scallions, stir and then add both kinds of salmons, three tablespoons herbs, and the sriracha. Season with salt and pepper and put in a container with a lid. It will last for a few days.

Guten Appetit!
​and Happy Holidays
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie cookbook
Adapted by sunnycovechef.com

German Frikadellen, a flavorful meat patty that is a cross between a meatball and a burger.

Frikadellen are German meat patties made from ground beef and pork, seasoned with different spices. Eggs, onions, day-old soaked bread or breadcrumbs are added too. The ingredients and spices vary from region to region, and so does the name for these tasty morsels. In Berlin, they are called Buletten, and in other parts of Germany they are called Klopse, Fleischküchel, or Fleischpflanzerl. It used to be a poor man’s delicacy that has been around for centuries. In 1790, the German author Theodor Fontane’s mother wrote a recipe for Frikadellen that is basically the same as the ones used today. There is a rumor that the Frikadellle was the inspiration for the Hamburger. Apparently, some immigrants from Hamburg made their Frikadellen in the New World and just put it between two buns.

I love Frikadellen--they are the perfect comfort food. I especially like them cold on a sandwich slathered with mustard. Traditionally, they are served with potato salad, but they are great with any veggie of your liking.

Tips for making a good Frikadelle:
Select a ground meat with a good ratio of fat. If you use extra lean meat, the Frikadellen will lose a lot of water and become dry. Use your hands and thoroughly knead the mixture; the more you knead the better the results. Moistening your hands with water before forming the patties will prevent the meat mixture from sticking to your hands. If you want to test for the correct seasoning, sauté a little patty and taste. Keep the patties in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before sautéing them. Traditionally the Frikadellen are fried in clarified butter. 
And they freeze well.

 Ingredients:
This recipe makes between 5 and 7 Frikadellen depending on the size. This recipe can be easily doubled.

½ pound ground beef
½ pound ground pork
1 slice white bread or bun (preferably 1-2 days old)
2 tsp German or Dijon mustard
2 TBS finally chopped parsley
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tsp paprika 
1 tsp salt
½ tsp mace
a squeeze of Worcestershire  sauce
2 TBS olive oil +1TBS butter

Directions:
Soak the bun in cold water for about 15 minutes. Finely chop or grate the onion.
Finely chop the parsley. Squeeze all the water out of the bun. 
Add all the ingredients to a large bowl. Mix them with your hands for a while until everything is well combined. Use wet hands to make the patties. I formed six patties, but you can make them smaller. Shape each part into a ball and flatten them with your hands. All patties should be the same size. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and sauté the patties on medium heat until they are browned on both sides (6-7) minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, check the temperature. It should read 165° F in the center of the Frikadellen. Transfer to a plate with paper towels and rest them for a few minutes before serving.


Guten Appetit!
Recipe from sunnycovechef.com
(and many cooks before me )

Are you in the mood for some more German Recipes? The Rouladen are braised meat,  flavored with mustard, pickles , prosciutto and a rich gravy. 
Königsberger Klopse are German meatballs in tangy white sauce with capers. 

I am always looking for new ways to cook chicken. This pretzel-crusted chicken breast is perfect for salads or sandwiches. Let’s admit it, chicken breast by itself is bland and flavorless. So, we need to give it all the love we can. If I just want a plain “no fuss” chicken breast, I marinate it and bake it in the oven. This particular recipe for chicken breast is crispy and tasty, almost but not quite like a Southern deep-fried chicken. It’s really not, but we can pretend it is and tell our tastebuds to enjoy it. 

You can have these chicken cutlets on the table in about 25 minutes. It's a perfect weekday dinner dish. Serve it on a bun and make a crispy chicken burger. It makes a delicious dinner with my red cabbage and mashed potatoes. Younger children might have fun with this recipe. 

You can play with the recipe by adding some pepper flakes or other herbs to the crushed pretzels. Make sure you do not overcook the chicken. Check for an internal temperature of 165℉. For the pretzels, I used Thin & Crunchy Pretzel Slims from Trader Joe’s. But any miniature pretzel will do.
​

Ingredients:
2 cups miniature pretzel twists or pretzel slims
1 egg
2 8-ounces boneless chicken breasts 
Canola oil for frying
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:
Place the pretzels in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin or put them in a food processor. I did mine in the food processor.  Transfer the crumbs to a flat dish, and add some freshly ground pepper and some hot pepper flakes if you want some heat. Beat the eggs in a separate flat dish. 

Cut the chicken breast in half horizontally to make four thin cutlets. Pound them with a meat tenderizer to flatten them evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Working with one cutlet at a time, dip it into the egg and let the excess drip off. Put the cutlet onto the plate with the pretzel crumbs, pressing down gently. 

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the cutlets and cook for about four minutes. Flip the cutlets over and cook until the thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 165 ℉, about another three minutes. Transfer the cutlets onto a towel-lined plate. 

Slice your cutlets and add them to your favorite salad, or make a chicken burger. I enjoyed eating them cold as a snack. 

Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Real Simple Magazine
adapted by the Sunnycovechef.com

If you are hungry for some breaded pork cutlets with a mushroom  pepper sauce click here

At the end of August (before the temperatures reached three-digit numbers), my husband and I spent three days In the Napa Valley. This time we chose Healdsburg as our headquarters. We had been there before with friends and enjoyed it. We visited several wineries and had some great food. One of the nights, we made reservation at Bravas. Travel & Leisure rates it as one of the top 20 tapas restaurants in the U.S. James Beard finalist, Mark Stark, is the executive chef. Mark and Terri Stark own and operate several restaurants in the area. My taste buds were elevated trying all the different tapas. Everything was top quality, the setting was simple and relaxing. We ate in the garden. The one dish that got my attention was a baby kale salad. 

The salad at Bravas was made with baby kale, shaved Manchego cheese, and slivered fennel. I have made it several times and love it. I used the dressing for another salad with strawberries, sliced onions (soaked in cold water) and avocados. Add a sautéed chicken breast or piece of salmon and you have a meal. The recipe for a delicious chicken breast covered with pretzel crumbs will be my next post.  

To make this recipe you will need preserved lemon. I make my own every year, click here for the recipe. You can also buy them ( Amazon has them). You will not regret having a jar of this North African delicacy in your refrigerator. It's great on avocado  toasts,  couscous, in cocktails, and anything you can think of.   

This preserved lemon vinaigrette yields about 1 ¼  cup and will last in the fridge for about a week or longer. The preserved lemons are very salty, so add salt sparingly as needed. Do not rinse the preserved lemons. Make sure that the vinaigrette is silky smooth. My Vitamix did the job.

 
Ingredients:
1 generous TBS chopped shallots
a dash of black pepper 
1 generous TBS chopped preserved lemon 
2 TBS honey 
½ tsp. mustard
½ cup lemon juice
1 cup neutral oil  like canola oil 
½ cup sunflower oil

Directions:
Add shallots to the preserved lemon, honey and mustard to a mixer. I used my Vitamix. Puree the mix until everything is silky smooth. Slowly add the oil, creating a stable emulsification. Stir in the pepper and season with additional salt and honey if necessary. 

​Guten Appetit!
Recipe from the Bravas Restaurant in Healdsberg, CA
Adapted by sunnycovechef.com

Check out some of my other salad recipes. Click on the photo to get the recipe. 

My last and final destination for my five-week trip to Europe was Sweden. I was taken by the glimmering light of the sky, the golden, deep red and often violet sunsets during midsummer days during my visit. There was an evening glow that was breathtaking. Unfortunately, I have no photos to show you. My trip to Sweden began when Barbie, our tour guide, picked us up in Copenhagen. I had taken a trip with Barbie to Provence in March 2020, where we stayed in Julia Child’s home. Read more about it here. So, I was excited to go on another trip with her.

We were picked up on Monday afternoon in a hotel in Copenhagen and driven to our first lodging in Sweden. There we stayed in the countryside on a farm once owned by the king of Sweden in Kivik, a charming little town in Scane, part of Österlen. It is known as the breadbasket of Sweden. The setting reminded me very much of northern Germany, with its large wheat fields. We enjoyed a nice dinner the first night and got to know each other.

The following day, we had a wonderful cooking lesson in a typical Swedish house with several cooking stations and a nicely decorated dining area. The garden was spectacular with all its herbs and veggies, a labor of love. I very much enjoyed this day in the kitchen and garden with Maria sharing her Swedish recipes and house with us. If you are ever in the area, don’t pass this by. Here is a link to her website

The next day, we visited a farm where mustard is made. We learned a lot and made our own mustard. Mine did not pass quality control.

We visited Ale’s Stones, which I found fascinating. The function of Ale’s Stones is much disputed (according to Wikipedia), and there are many different theories about its purpose. It is generally believed to be either a grave monument, a ritual center or maybe a sun calendar. I tried to have my Outlander moment to go through the stones, but it didn’t work. And I am happy to still be here.
The same day, we ate in a restaurant on the water. Of course, I had to have herring. 

Another day, we went foraging for wild herbs with Roland Rittman. He forages for restaurants, most notably René Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen. Roland is quite a character and showed us many edible plants that we picked and ate throughout the week. He and his wife invited us to have coffee and cake in his house. It was very pleasant and the homemade apple cake was delicious. 
We also met Johanna Kindvall, an illustrator and cook who has written two cookbooks. Barbie sent us one of her cookbooks and I can’t wait to pick a recipe to try. The name of the book is Smörgåsbord, the Art of Swedish Breads and Savory Treat, by Johanna Kindavall.

On day four, we drove to Torekov in the Skane province. It’s a cute little town with its red and white clapboard houses. We settled into our rented house and started exploring the town. Barbie served us smoked salmon with fresh potatoes, which are the best I have ever eaten. The Swedes are very proud of the different varieties of potatoes they grow and I have to say that they are very good. Barbie added our foraged greens to them, which made for a very healthy dinner. Annette, our Swedish tour guide, had prepared lingonberries, I loved them.

Annette encouraged me to participate in the Swedish custom of going for a morning dip in the North Sea. The ritual is that you have to walk to the sea in an old robe with old wooden clogs, take a quick dip in the sea (seven strokes to be precise). On the way home, it’s okay to stop in a bakery in your robe and buy some rolls for breakfast. I found it very invigorating. Barbie gave us some robes.

On one of the days, we visited the beautiful gardens of Norrviken. Norrviken Garden is a 14-hectare garden that was created in 1906-1920 by Rudolph Abelin. There are temporary art exhibits both outdoors and indoors, with beautiful water and Japanese gardens. Ingmar Bergman made  All These Women (his first color film) here. We had a relaxing lunch at the Villa Abelin. I was taken by the beauty of this garden.

Another wonderful dining experience was a delicious dinner, which Annette’s friend, Maria, served us at a fisherman’s boathouse by the sea. Thank you, Maria, for a magical evening and for sharing this wonderful place with us.

Our week went by fast and for our last night, three beautiful Ukrainian women prepared a feast for us. Annette’s husband, Anders, shared his crawfish with us and showed us how to eat them correctly.

The next morning, Barbie and Annette put us on the train to Copenhagen where I checked into my airport hotel, as I had an early flight the next morning to return to the United States. Surprisingly, the hotel had a good restaurant where I had herring eggs with flatbread and cream cheese. Delicious! But I was ready to return home to my husband.

This is the fourth post about my trip to Europe when I visited five countries by train. Read about my days in Munich here and and then my week on Lake Garda in Italy here and my visit to Innsbruck and the village in Germany here.
After a beautiful four-hour train ride from Hamburg I arrived in Copenhagen.I checked in to the Marriott Hotel on the waterfront, which is conveniently located near many attractions. They gave me a gorgeous room overlooking the bay.I enjoyed the scenic walk along the waterfront and canals. The first night I walked to the Tivoli Garden and bought a lobster roll from a vendor. It was a delicious snack.

The next day I bought a ticket in my hotel for the “hop on and hop off” bus that also included a boat tour. In my humble opinion, this is the best way to see any new city. The hotel concierge advised me about which tour to take. According to him,  they are not all the same. He also made a reservation for me at a restaurant later that night. (More about that later.) During my bus tour, I got to see most of Copenhagen including the classic Little Mermaid statue, a small statue which is popular with tourists. I got off the bus downtown and walked through the shopping streets. There was an old-fashioned bakery where I would have loved to have tasted their sweets, but I was not the least bit hungry. After a  walk through downtown , I hooked up with my boat ride.  I saw small canals where houseboats were anchored, which reminded me of Amsterdam. After my hour long boat ride it was time to have little snack. I had a tasty shrimp toast in one of the historic restaurants on the waterfront. 

In the evening, I walked to the restaurant and had a very good meal by myself, sitting outside and watching people. I enjoyed every bite. The restaurant is named Koffoed. It is  located on a little side street near the center of town. The menu was exquisite, it was an amazing experience . 

The next day I decided to visit the Viking Museum. I walked through the canal streets, arriving at the museum before it started to rain. Copenhagen is a city with few cars. The locals seem to be relaxed, enjoying the long summer days. In the afternoon, I walked to Torvehallerne, a glass-covered food hall in the center of town. Here you can indulge in delicious treats, do your weekly grocery shopping, or as I did, admire all the choices being offered. This is a foodies' paradise. I ate more than I should have.

I was happy exploring Copenhagen never feeling unsafe, even at night. Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for my trip to Sweden.

It has been almost two months since I returned from my trip. Life has been very busy, cooking and trying out new recipes . I tried to make the semolina and bread dumplings  I had in Innsbruck. Both turned out to be a total disaster. I had some help from a Facebook site I belong to but I think it takes a lot of experience to make them. I am still trying. Instead I made my apricot jam and plum jam. Plums are still in season and here are some of my recipes.

This plum jam bakes in the oven while you can have fun doing other things. Click here  for the recipe.

This beautiful German plum tart made with Italian plums or Zwetschgen as we call them in Germany is delicious with whipped cream and is easy to make. Click here for the recipe. These plums are not easy to find in Santa Cruz.

This easy to make and delicious recipe comes from Marian Burros and was printed in the New York Times for many years. Click here for the recipe.

If you can find Italian plums try this recipe called Zwetschenmus in Germany. It is a tartly rich and earthy tasting plum butter with a taste of cinnamon and allspice. Click here for the recipe . 
​
Guten Appetit!
from the Sunnycovechef.com

This is my third post of my trip to Europe. Click on the highlighted text to read about my first stop Munich and my second stop Lake Garda, Italy.  When I made my travel plans I decided to break up the long train ride from Roverto, Italy to my village in northern Germany. My friend and I decided to stay in Innsbruck, Austria, for a few days before continuing our journey. We had planned to take the lift up the mountain and hike in the beautiful Tyrolean Alps surrounding Innsbruck. Well, the rainy weather changed our plans. The mountains would have been muddy, with no vistas and a cold rain. 

Then came the apple strudel with vanilla sauce— nobody makes it as well as the Austrians. Kaiserschmarren (pancakes) with plum jam was my favorite  Of course, let’s not forget clear broth with Griessnockerl (semolina dumpling soup). The first evening I had spinach dumplings that were to die for. One night at our hotel, after having tasted two desserts that afternoon, we had a small bowl of Hungarian goulash soup. It was the best goulash soup I have ever had.

A few facts about Innsbruck: it is the capital of the Tirol Province. Tirol is a popular tourist destination for Germans and lots of other Europeans. The landmark in Innsbruck is the Golden Roof in the middle of town. It was built in 1500 to commemorate the marriage of Emperor Maximilian I and Bianca Maria Sforza. The roof is not covered in gold, but in fire-gilded copper tiles .

The 500-year-old town is settled in a pleasant valley with Baroque churches, gabled houses, and narrow, twisting walkways. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants with the food of the region. After two days of indulging , we took the train to my village.

The apartment in my brother’s house (where I usually stay), has a family of three Ukrainian women from Kharkiv living in it. These three women fled without time to pack anything when they left their home. All they had was a purse and a small bag when they arrived. But my brother got them jobs, and the 14-year-old teenager is going to school. They needed a lot of help filling out forms and papers to get German health insurance and a monthly allowance. Everybody is trying to help. The Ukrainian mother and daughter baked two cakes for a Sunday afternoon coffee. They were delicious and my brother and I  had several pieces.

My nephew’s tiny house is an Airbnb on our farm. It was a perfect place for me to stay. I loved every minute in it. It was the perfect retreat to reflect, relax, and enjoy my family. The days were long and I enjoyed visits with my grand nephews and friends. My nephew also took in a Ukrainian woman with two children and a cat. Now he has five teenagers living in his house. We went out for dinner and had coffee and cake with our extended Ukrainian family. Their English is limited, they speak very little German and none of us speaks Russian or Ukranian, which are  their language. Sometimes, I just started to cry. Memories of my childhood with all the refugees from the old East Germany came welling up.

During my stay in the village, I prepared Matjes Herring with cream sauce and boiled potatoes for the family. Hopefully, I will post the recipe in the near future.

After ten wonderful days, it was time for me to leave and go north. Hamburg was my next destination. I stayed in the same hotel where I always stay, the
Westin above the Elbephilharmonie in the Hafencity. This time, I just needed a day to rest and see some old friends before continuing on to Copenhagen. The Elbepilharmonie, nicknamed Elphi, always amazes me. It is among the largest concert halls in the world. The glassy construction resembles a hoisted sail or wave built on an old brick warehouse. The view from my room was spectacular. If you visit Hamburg and have some time, don’t miss this part of town. There is so much to see. Read more about the Elphi in a previous post here. My friend from Hamburg and I had a beautiful dinner at Vlet. This was actually my first gourmet meal on this trip. The food was exquisite.  
​

Before I knew it, I was in the Hamburg railroad station waiting for my Danish train to Copenhagen. Let me tell you, I do not like the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (main railroad station).
It can be scary with the number of people and the constant construction going on. The station is on three separate levels with the trains departing on the lowest level. There have been times when the escalators didn’t work and I had to carry my suitcase down a long staircase. There are few elevators and they often don’t go the level you need to catch your train. I was lucky this time, and I used the escalator to get to the platform where my Danish train would arrive. I had a delightful conversation with a young man who was waiting for another train to go see his mother. I arrived in Copenhagen after a four hour scenic and interesting train ride . 

My friend and I left Munich in the morning and embarked on a four-hour scenic train ride over the Alps to a small Italian town called Rovereto. It is located in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northern Italy between Lake Garda and the Italian Alps.This was the easiest way to get from Munich to Malcesine on Lake Garda .

My niece’s travel agent had found the perfect hotel for all seven of us in Malcesine. It was a simple hotel in a beautiful setting away from the hustle and bustle of downtown. We adults rented rooms and my niece and her husband rented an apartment. This was the perfect (and relatively inexpensive) spot for a family gathering. The breakfast was great, everything was clean and comfortable. The grounds were specular, with a vast olive grove surrounding the hotel and apartments. There was a beautiful landscaped pool and a playground for children. The San Carlo hotel is run by a nice Italian family, and it became our home for one week. My niece’s in-laws arrived from near Berlin and were happy to see their grandchild.

Our focus was around the baby, but we still managed to go on boat excursions, and visited different towns around the lake. We never missed an afternoon coffee followed by an Aperol spritz. One day, we four elders visited the town of Riva, where we had a delicious lunch and explored the town while the young people visited a friend nearby.

Another day, all seven of us crossed the lake by boat and visited Limone. Limone is the Italian word for lemon and this part of Lake Garda is renowned for growing lemons and other citrus. Limone is set along a backdrop of rocky cliffs with stunning lakeside scenery. For me, the town had too many tourists, even in May. We ended up having a delicious lunch in a gorgeous setting. I felt like I was in a movie.

We declared our last day in Malcesine as a chill day and enjoyed the gorgeous pool at our hotel. It was hard to say goodbye the next morning, as I will cherish this week forever . 

It’s been a few weeks since I returned from Europe. Over five weeks, I visited five countries by train travel through Europe. There were some challenging moments, but overall I enjoyed this trip immensely. I was so fortunate to be able to do this. This is my first post of my trip , there are more to follow. 

It took quite a bit of planning to put it all together, but I did it with some help from my niece and her husband. After making all the reservations, I packed light because I had to carry everything on and off trains, not relying on anyone to help me. Although, I did get a lot of help and met some interesting people.

I arrived In Munich in the early evening and checked into my hotel after a 100-Euro taxi ride from the airport—even though there is a train to downtown that is much cheaper.  Munich is a wonderful city, for my first meal I treated myself to a beer and herring with cream sauce and fried potatoes—one of my standard meals when I arrive in Germany. It was a warm spring night and I was in heaven sitting outside enjoying my meal.

Thanks to jet lag, I was up early the next morning, exploring the town and visiting my favorite places. One of them is Dalmeyr an iconic store for food lovers. I bought some pastries for a late night snack.

The following day, we explored the English Garden on a warm sunny day. I missed it the last time I was in Munich (read here about my previous trip). Did you know that the English Garden is one of the largest inner-city parks in the world? It is larger than Central Park in New York. It has 78 kilometers of paths, which is why we rented a bike taxi.

Before we knew it , our two days in Munich were over and we packed our bags for   our next destination Lake Garda .

In the 1950s, as a child in Germany, I lived in a small village. Having a torte served in the afternoon was a special treat. My godmother was a gifted baker and made the most beautiful rich tortes. They were filled with buttercream, custard and cream, often in the same cake. After the farm work was done, cakes were baked on Saturday for special occasions and served in the afternoon to what we call in Germany Kaffetrinken, similar to teatime in England. There were often 3-4 different cakes and you had to try them all. These days, I feel guilty when I have even one small piece. 

This raspberry cake is lighter with lots of raspberries in it. I think my aunt would have liked this cake, but probably would have told me to add some custard or more cream to it. The original recipe comes from Dr. Oetker’s website. I changed it a bit by adding more raspberries and less cream. I decorated one for Valentine’s Day, but any other decoration would be fine. A pastry ring would be helpful when assembling the cake. Another time I used strawberries instead of raspberries but I prefer raspberries for this cake

I am leaving for Europe in a few weeks on an adventurous trip. I am flying to Munich to meet my German girlfriend. From Munich we will take the train to Lake Garda, Italy, where we will spend a week with my niece’s family and her in-laws.
I am so excited  because I get to see and play my with my great niece. After the week is over my girlfriend and I will take the train to Innsbruck where we will stay for 3 days. Then we will take a long train ride to my village. I will stay in my nephew’s tiny house Airbnb since my brother gave his upstairs apartment to three Ukrainian women from Kharkiv. They need it more than I do. After 10 days I will go on to Copenhagen where I will meet my cooking group to spend a week in Sweden. All in all I will visit five countries, cross your fingers and hope that all works out. I certainly do.

The cake is thin, but when the filling is added, it turns out fine. Cutting the cake horizontally in half takes a little skill and a large knife. There are tutorials on how to do it with toothpicks and string, but I just did it and it wasn’t difficult. For the cream mixture, I ordered a package of powdered gelatin (with two pouches in it) from Amazon. It is called gelatine fix from Dr. Oetker. I baked the cake a day before I assembled the torte. The torte will last in the fridge for a few days. A cake ring is helpful but not necessary when assembling the torte.

My next door neighbor and German friend Susanne really liked it. She knows about cakes, or tortes, as we call them in Germany. 

The cake  makes 12 large pieces or more smaller pieces

Ingredients:
​
The cake
4.4 ounces ( 125g) soft unsalted butter 
4.4  ounces (125g) sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
3 eggs at room temperature
6  ounces  ( 170g) all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder

The cream mixture
1 pint ( 470ml) heavy cream
12 ounces (340g) frozen raspberries
10 -12 ounces fresh raspberries  
​½  (75g) cup sugar
2 packages gelatine fix from Dr. Oetker
2 TBS lemon juice 
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

The Cake 
Preheat oven to 350˙ degree Fahrenheit
Grease a 10-inch cake pan with a removable bottom, and cover the bottom with parchment paper. Then butter the parchment paper. 
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Cream the butter in a mixer. Slowly add the sugar and continue mixing the batter until the batter is creamy. This will take several minutes. 
Add the vanilla extract and then each egg separately, mixing it for a minute before adding another egg. You want a creamy mixture that almost doubles in volume.
Gradually add the flour mixture until barely mixed. 
Add the batter to the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface of the dough. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Run a knife around the inside of the cake pan and carefully loosen the ring around the cake pan and remove it.
Turn the cake onto a rack and remove the parchment paper and flip the cake upside down.

The Filling
For the raspberry sauce, puree the defrosted raspberries in a mixer with the sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Press through a sieve to remove the seeds. Chill it in a jar. This can be made a day ahead.
In a chilled bowl, beat the heavy cream, slowly pouring in the the packages of gelatine fix. When the cream mixture is very thick, mix 1 cup of the raspberry sauce.

Assembling the torte
Cut the cake in half horizontally with a segregated knife
Put the bottom half in the cake ring. 
Cover the cake bottom with about ⅓  or more of the cream mixture.
Drizzle with the raspberry sauce. 
Put raspberries in a circle on the filling.
Add the top part of the cake. 
Cover the top part with the whipped cream mixture.
Take the cake ring off and and put the rest of the whipped cream mixture onto the sides the sides of the cake. 
Decorate the top of the cake anyway you like with the fresh raspberries and some of the sauce. Refrigerate three hours before serving . The cake keeps a couple of days in the fridge.  

​Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Dr.Oetker test kitchen
Adapted and translated by the Sunnycovechef.com

Here are some more of my desserts made with fruit. Click on the photo for the recipe.

Think of chicken fricassee as a chicken pot pie without the pie. It’s a treasured dish, here and in Germany where it is called chicken fricassee (Hühnerfrikassee).

In this country, it is more of a home-cooked everyday meal, while in Germany its can be a fancy dish. In the 1960s, it was often served at  weddings in a Vol-au-Vent  (a small hollow case of puff pastry). It was part of my wedding dinner when I got married decades ago in Germany.  But more often, chicken fricassee is served with rice, mashed potatoes or noodles. I had it with homemade Spätzle. The vegetables in this dish can vary; when in season asparagus is often added. Peas, carrots and mushroom are called for in most recipes. In the old days, canned white asparagus and canned mushrooms were added .

I have always enjoyed cooking this dish; it is the essence of comfort food. A few weeks ago, I was the personal chef of a friend of mine who was caring for her father during his last days. I made a big batch using two whole chickens, fresh asparagus, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and peas. I have made much smaller portions using chicken legs or breasts. The dish freezes well. I froze a portion for my husband to have when I go to Germany this spring.

​I have prepared this dish many times. And I have to say, the secret is in the sauce. I boil the chicken with veggies to make a homemade broth. Usually, I do this a day before. When I was cooking the dish for my friends, I prepared a large casserole and put a sheet of puff pastry on the top. Then I baked it in the oven following the instructions on the puff pastry package. I have also made it with a homemade cream cheese crust in individual serving dishes. If you use a crust, make sure you have plenty of sauce because the dish tends to dry out while baking. That happened to me.

This recipe will make 8-10 portions. 

Ingredients:
For the chicken broth:
2 small whole chickens
2 carrots 
2-3 celery stalks (with leaves) 
1 onion (with peel)
1 leek (or clean dark leek leaves)
 A  handful of parsley
1bay leaves
1-2 tsp of salt
1tsp garlic salt
1-2 tsp pepper 

The Fricassee:
8 ounces carrots (6 small ones)
6-7 ounces mushrooms 
2 lb. green asparagus 
4 TBs capers
3 TBs butter 
3 TBs flour 
4 or more cups chicken broth 
1 or more cups of milk
½ cup cream or half and half
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper 
4 tsp. capers 
1-2 TBs fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Cooking the Chicken
Place the chicken pieces or whole chicken in a large pot and add the vegetables. Cover everything with cold water. Bring it to a boil, and skim off the white foam from the top. Reduce the heat and simmer in the covered pot until chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes.  Cook the chicken breast less until the meat thermometer reads 165° degrees. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl and cool. Discard the skin and bones. Cut or pull the meat into 1-inch pieces. Strain the chicken broth and put the cooled broth in the refrigerator.
 Preparing the vegetables
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt and blanch the carrots for about two minutes until they are al dente. Do the same with the asparagus. You have the choice of blanching the mushrooms or sautéing them in a mixture of butter and olive oil over a medium heat. I have done both and honestly I can’t tell the difference.
The sauce and assembling the fricassee 
Melt butter in a large sauce pan, add the flour and whisk for two minutes. Make sure you don’t brown the roux. Gradually add in the chicken broth, one cup at a time. Before you add another cup, whisk the mixture until totally smooth for a creamy sauce. Add milk, Worcestershire sauce, capers, and let the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add cream or half and half, salt, pepper, freshly ground nutmeg and lemon juice. Add the chicken and bring it all to a simmer, then add the carrots, mushrooms, and asparagus . Season and serve.
If you want to add a crust, put the fricassee in a buttered oven-proof dish, cover the top with the puff pastry, and follow the instructions on the package. Cut some slits in the pastry and bake the dish until golden brown.
​ 
I would like to share with you some blog posts from prior Easter celebration in Germany.  There are so many  traditions and good recipes. Click on the photo for the link.

Happy Easter 2022 
and 
Guten Appetit!
from the Sunnycovechef

Many of you have followed my blog for years. It feels like a community to me, even though I don’t know each of you personally. There were times when your comments gave me great comfort, especially when I lost my mom and my girlfriend. Your sincere comments and condolence wishes meant a lot to me. Unfortunately, the comments are archived because of my new blog design. I am so sad about that. Maybe some day, I will find someone who can put them back where they belong. When I wrote the blogpost about my mom’s passing, I promised you the recipe for the wedding soup that I make. Well, here it is six years later, and I am finally getting around to doing it. In these times of war and loss we need comfort food.

There are many versions of wedding soups. Even in Germany, they vary in the different regions. What I am sharing with you is a recipe from Lower Saxony where I am from. I liked this soup ever since I was a child. Whenever I visit Germany I will look for restaurants that serve wedding soup.

My favorite in the soup is the egg custard cubes or Eierstich as we call them in Germany. The broth should be almost clear with a few vegetable pieces and egg custard. In my childhood, it was often the first course at a wedding or other celebration. Sometimes meatballs or bone narrow dumplings are added. The wedding soup was supposed to give the just-married couple strength for the upcoming wedding night!

The main ingredients in the soup is the broth. It takes some time and effort to make. I freeze half of the broth.

This soup will make about 6 servings depending on the size of the soup bowl. It's a filling soup and it makes a great first course or main meal. 
The egg custard recipe makes more than you need, but I like it as a snack. Sometimes, I like to add tiny meatballs. And sometimes I add pieces of meat to the soup. I got beef bones from the butcher, some of them had bone narrow in them which adds  a strong flavor. I have had wedding soups where the bone narrow was made into dumplings. 
For the broth, use the outer dark green leaves of the leek, because that’s where all the flavor is. Use the peel of the celeriac root and if possible, get a celeriac root with some leaves. That will add a lot of flavor to the broth.

The Broth:
½ to 1 lb. chuck roast
3 lb. center cut beef bones
1 fat  carrot
1 white onion with peel
1 small leek thoroughly cleaned
a few sprigs of parsley
the peel of a celeriac root
3 bay leaves
3 cloves 
1 tsp. whole allspice kernels 
2 tsp. peppercorns
4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Wash and clean all the vegetables thoroughly. Peel the celeriac root and use the peel for the broth and the rest of the root for the soup. Add lemon juice to the pieces of the celeriac root to prevent it from discoloring. Cut the unpeeled onion in half and roast the cut side down in a frying pan until turns black. Use all of the leek, including the green leaves. If you want, you can use some of the white part of the leek in the finished soup. 
Heat 12 cups of water in a large pot and just before the water boils, add the meat, spices, and the vegetables. I have never done it this way, but it seems to work. When the broth comes to a boil, skim the foam off. Reduce the heat and simmer the broth covered for at least four hours. Let the broth cool a little bit and remove all the large vegetable pieces and meat. Discard the vegetables and bones. Cut the meat into small pieces and save. Ladle the broth through a sieve covered with a piece of gauze or thin towel. This way, you get rid of all the spices and protein pieces from the meat. I put my broth in the fridge and remove the hardened fat the following day. 

Things that go into the soup:

The Vegetables:
1 fat peeled carrot cut into small cubes
About 2 cups peeled celeriac root  cut into small cubes

Meatballs :
You can double this recipe and freeze half of the meatballs when you make the soup again with the leftover frozen broth.

Ingredients:
¼ lb. ground beef
1 2-inch piece of baguette 
salt
pepper
a pinch of nutmeg

Directions:
Soak the piece of baguette in milk until soft. Squeeze out all the liquid and mix with the meat, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Roll into little balls and boil in salted water for about five minutes. Drain and put them aside for the soup. 

Egg Custard:

Ingredients :
3 eggs 
whole milk (equal to the volume of the eggs)
salt
pepper
a pinch of nutmeg

Directions:
Measure the volume of the eggs and then add the same amount of whole milk. Puree the milk, eggs, salt pepper and nutmeg in a blender (or use an inversion blender). Line a container with a fitting lid with plastic wrap. (I used a plastic container.) Pour the egg mixture into the lined container, put the lid on and emerge the container into a pot with simmering water. Cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes or until the custard has set. Once the custard is done, flip the container over a plate, remove the plastic and cool the custard. Cut into small cubes.

The Soup:
Reheat the broth, add the cooked meatballs, the meat, the vegetables and simmer for about  8-10 minutes. Ladle the soup into a bowl, add some egg custard and sprinkle with some chopped parsley.

Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Callekocht Hochzeitssuppe ( YouTube)
Translated and adapted by Sunnycovechef.com

Duck is my all-time favorite food. I am obsessed with duck confit. Because of that, I have neglected the succulent and tender duck breast, a delicacy that takes very little time and knowledge to prepare. Just follow a few simple steps and you will have an elegant and delicious dinner. Add your favorite vegetable and salad—and a your special dinner is ready.

When I was planning my dinner with the duck breasts, I was looking for an alternative to my calorie-laden mashed potatoes or my fried potatoes in duck fat. I found a recipe for celery root purée that I like very much. It is from Dorie Greenspan’s book Around my French Table, and like so many of her recipes, it turned out great. I reduced the amount of butter by half. The duck breast and the purée complemented each other perfectly. Another time, I served it with my stuffed pasta shells.

Several years ago, when I was at the culinary Institute in the Napa Valley, I bought Thomas Keller’s  book ad hoc at home. It has many good recipes that I want to make. I used his recipes for duck breast several times over the years and have loved every bite. I tweaked the recipe just a little bit.

I made this recipe during the pandemic with three small duck breasts. I think one medium-sized breast per person is plenty. One of the key elements to an excellent duck breast is crisping the skin properly. The skin needs to be scored so the fat can quickly render away. Cook the breasts slowly with the skin down, pouring off the fat as it cooks. Never, ever throw duck fat away. I keep mine in the fridge for months or freeze it and use it on my red cabbage or fried potatoes—and anything else I can think of. In this recipe, the duck breast is cured for up to 24 hours (adding spices and aromatics for the last 12 hours).

Ingredients:

Serves 2 
2-3 duck breasts (depending on size)

1 thyme twig per breast
1 bay leaf per breast
1 TBS orange zest for 2 breasts
balsamic vinegar 
grated nutmeg
1 tsp canola oil
grey salt or other coarse sea salt
½ cup of white wine

Directions:
One day before serving the breasts, defrost them. After they are defrosted, wipe the breast dry and put them on a plate uncovered skin up in the fridge for about 12 hours. To score the skin, the breasts have to be cold. Use a sharp knife, cutting a ¼-inch crosshatch pattern in the skin being careful not to pierce the meat. Season the flesh side of each breast with salt, pepper and a little bit of grated nutmeg. Sprinkle the orange zest and a few drops of balsamic vinegar over the breasts. Lay a thyme twig in the middle of each breast and cover it with a bay leaf. On a plate covered with a paper towel, turn the breasts over and put them on the paper towel. Sprinkle the skin side with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 1-12 hours (but at least one hour). I prepare mine the morning before I cook them, about 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
 
Discard aromatic spices, blotting away any moisture from the duck breasts. Season both sides of the breast with a pinch of salt. 
In a large frying pan, add canola oil and the duck breasts duck skin-side down. Sauté at low-medium heat. After about 5 minutes, the fat should begin to gently bubble. Maintain this bubbling, removing excess rendered fat with a large spoon by tilting the frying pan. Be careful not to burn yourself. If the fat hits the flame, it will cause a flare-up. Cook the duck breasts until most of the fat has been rendered: the skin will be golden brown and crisp. The internal temperature should read 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Flip each breast to the fleshy side and cook it for 30 seconds. Put the duck skin-side down in the oven and cook for about 5 minutes. The temperature should be 125 degrees for a rosy medium rare. Take the duck breast out of the pan, cover it with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes. In the meantime, deglaze the frying pan by adding half a glass of white wine. Add any juices that have accumulated on your plate with the duck breasts to the sauce. If you like, add a little orange juice and swirl some butter into the sauce. (This step is optional.)

Slice the duck breast and serve it with a vegetable you like. I envision some
​ red cabbage with potatoes fried in duck fat. Pour some of the sauce over the duck. A citrus-flavored salad would be a nice addition. The possibilities are endless. 
Click here for my  jumbo shells stuffed with Swiss chard and artichokes.
Click here for Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for “Go-With-Everything Celery Root   Puree.”
This is a wonderful meal for a special person. Have fun, enjoy, and tell me if you liked it.                                                   

Guten Appetit!
Recipe by Thomas Keller 
Adapted by © Sunnycovechef.com

Lemon Mousse (Zitronenspeise) would make a perfect light ending to a special meal. Almond pear tart would top it all off. You decide which one!
​

I have been playing in my kitchen with gusto. I was obsessed with making duck confit and cooking for friends. My girlfriend’s brother came from Switzerland and he so appreciated getting a home-cooked meal. I cooked some local dishes for him. One night we had cioppino with local Dungeness crab. Another time, my husband made his famous crab salad. I will have have to post the recipe one of these days. It’s difficult because his dressing is always different depending on what we have in the kitchen. He doesn’t follow recipes.

The recipe I am posting today is one I found in one of my cookbooks titled A Little Taste of France. I was looking for a lighter dish to serve my book club. In the cookbook, the dish is made with a whole trout and I would make it that way if I could find fresh trout. I thought local salmon would be a good substitute. I omitted the cream but added some potatoes to the dish. This is basically a sheet pan dish that is so popular in the blogging world right now. It has a nice flavor because it uses vermouth, a nice French addition to the dish. Homemade fish stock would be great for this dish, but I decided to use Better Than Bouillon Fish Base which was fine. 

I love the fennel and the leeks in this dish. Make sure you buy the fennel with the fronds. You can buy four individual salmon filets or one large piece.  

serves 4
Ingredients:
​
1 ½ lb. salmon 
2 fennel bulbs, with fronds
1 large leek, the white part only
2  carrots
2 yellow Finn potatoes
2 TBS olive oil 
2 TBS capers, rinsed
1 oz (25g) butter 
several lemon slices
¾ cup (185ml) fish stock
¼ cup (60ml) dry vermouth
2 TBS chopped parsley
1 lemon 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 º Fahrenheit (200 º Celsius)
Cut off the fennel fronds from the bulb and put them aside. Slice the fennel bulbs into thin slices crosswise. Clean the carrots and slice them into bite-sized pieces. Do the same with the potatoes. Slice the leek into ½ inch slices. Give it a thorough bath in a tub of water and make sure all the dirt is removed. Drain the leeks in a colander. Put the vegetables on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss the veggies with the oil and the seasoning. Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for about 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, chop one of the fennel fronds and mix it with about 2 TBS of capers and  finely chopped shallots.

When the vegetables are almost done, make a space for the salmon in the pan. Pour the vermouth and stock over the salmon. Add slices of butter on top of the salmon. Sprinkle the capers, fennel and frond mixture over the salmon. Top the fish  with thinly cut lemon slices. Bake for about 15 minutes (or an internal temperature of 145° F). You want to undercook (not overcook) the salmon. Sprinkle the dish with parsley before serving. 
​
Guten Appetit!
Recipe adapted from the cookbook:
A Little Taste of France 
Posted by Sunnycovechef.com

You might also like my recipe for fish baked in parchment paper which uses anchovies and green beans with tomatoes, a tasty Mediterranean dish. Or if your are looking for an elegant dinner check out my crepes with salmon and fennel filling. In Italy it is called Cannelloni Ripieni.  By preparing these tasty seafood dishes we can pretend that we are in Italy or France.
​Stay safe my friends and be well.

​Those who read my blog know about my love affair with duck, especially duck confit, duck legs cooked in their own fat. It is a classic dish from Gascony in the southwest region of France. It is super delicious, tender, moist, and full of flavor. Confit means preserved in French. Before refrigeration, this was the preferred method to preserve meat by submerging it in fat to produce an air-blocking seal. I order duck confit whenever I am in France. Duck confit should be silky, with tender meat and a crispy skin. I have used it in different recipes, such as duck quesadillas, one of my favorite meals. I won a prize for this recipe, and it was served at Shadowbrook, a restaurant in Capitola.

For years, I bought duck legs at Costco. They came from D’Artagnan, a company that sells high-quality fowl and meat from small farms, and their products are excellent. But now our Costco has stopped carrying them. I could order them from D'Artagnan, but I wanted to make them myself. I tried different ways. First, I made them the traditional way. They were delicious, but you need a large refrigerator to keep the legs in a jar of fat. I don’t have that space, so I tried different recipes, and some of them were ok, but I was looking for a more authentic recipe. While researching, I came upon a video from Bon Apppetit that I tried and liked very much. I have made it several times now, and I am very happy with the results.  It’s easy and takes little effort, but it does take time to cook. This is an especially good project for a rainy day or when you are working from home. You don’t have to pay much attention while it is in the oven for about 6 hours at low heat. Each step can be prepared a day ahead. The last time I started making them was in my little cabin in the mountains. I put the rub on, but then PGE turned the electricity off due to high winds and extreme fire danger. Back home they went, and I started cooking them the night we got home and finished them the next day They were absolutely delicious. My husband declared them to be the best ever.

I made four legs the first time but I recommend making six. That gives you some leftovers that are great in different recipes like my duck quesadillas or just add them to a salad. I have added them to my lentil salad and it makes scrumptious meal.

In this recipe the duck legs are rendered in their own fat just like traditional duck confit. I have served my legs with fried or mashed potatoes and always with my red cabbage.

This recipe makes 4 or 6 legs. I would recommend 6 legs. 

Ingredients :

6 duck legs
  
For the rub:

2 TBS peppercorns 
2 TBS coriander seeds 
3 Tbs kosher salt


The aromatics

3 pieces of 1-inch ginger 
1 jalapeño pepper or other hot pepper  (optional) 
1 head of garlic


Directions :

With a sharp knife, puncture the skin of the duck legs, trying not to puncture the meat. Turn the legs over and puncture the fat pocket on the inside of the legs. Doing this will help the fat flow out of the legs. The legs need to be immersed in fat to cook them confit style. 
Crush the peppercorn and coriander seeds lightly with a mortar and pestle, add salt, and mix together. You must cover the legs with the mixture, especially the salt. Put the legs in a ziplock bag and keep them in the fridge for 10-12 hours or overnight. When you take the legs out of the bag, brush off the spices and most of the salt, I use a paper towel for that. 
Put the duck legs in a Dutch oven with the skin side down. They are going to shrink as they cook. Half the ginger and score the fleshy side. I added ½ seeded jalapeño pepper. Cut the garlic bulb in half and add all your aromatics to the pot. Add ½ cup of water, and put the pot with the lid on in a 250˙ degree preheated oven. After one hour, check the duck legs. The fat will have started to render.  Move the legs around a little bit without breaking the skin. Put them in the oven for another hour.  After they have been in the oven for two hours, turn the duck legs over the skin side up, making sure that the meat is still immersed in the fat. Cook for another 2 hours. Take them out of the oven and put the legs on a baking sheet to finish them in a 450-degree preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes until the skin is crispy and has released most of its fat. Make sure you don’t burn them. That would be a shame. I often keep the legs in the fridge and crisp them the next day. In the meantime, drain the fat and discard the aromatics. Put the fat in a container. It will last for months in the fridge and will take fried potatoes to another level. I also put it in my red cabbage.
If you decide to do this, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I enjoyed watching the video.

Guten Appetit!
​Click on the link below to watch the video
Recipe from the Test Kitchen of Bon Appetit by Carla Lalli Music
Posted by ©Sunnycovechef.com
​

My dear readers I hope that the magic of Christmas fills every corner of your heart and home with joy-now and always. Enjoy the holidays and have fun with friends and family.
​

Just in case you still need some ideas for Christmas. I won't be making my standing rib roast this year because we are going to a friend's house for dinner. Instead, I will bring my cranberry sauce and chestnut shiitake mushroom stuffing and my country pâté. And, of course, I will share some of the cookies I made.  Poached pears will make a light and easy dessert if you depot add ice cream. 

Every time I return from Germany, I am in the in-between transition state. Some of me is still in Germany, and the other half is trying to readjust to my normal life in California. Visiting Germany has never been a vacation, but it is more about reconnecting with a deeper part of myself—a part of myself that I left behind many years ago.

Enough of that, let’s talk about my latest trip. Because of COVID, I wasn’t sure I was going until about two weeks before my departure. Because of that, I missed getting my German Rail pass in the mail. I now have an unused one here in the States because it arrived a day after I left. My advice is to buy your pass at the main railroad station in Frankfurt. I don’t know if they sell them anywhere else. The reason I buy a pass is because it gives me the freedom to choose any train at any time. For example, I was able to leave earlier than planned for Berlin because of bad weather. I wasn’t committed to a particular train at a particular time.

​The first week, I stayed in my village, reconnecting with friends and family I had not seen for over two years. I took care of other business, too. Throughout my stay, the weather was beautiful, crisp autumn days with the dimming light of the season in northern Europe. It rained only a few times. One of the highlights of that week was taking my family and friend Monika out for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the nearby town of Northeim. In Germany, even in the small country towns, you will find Italian or Greek restaurants, an Italian ice cafe, and a Turkish döner stand. Our food that night was delicious, and everybody had a great time.

I left my village mid-week to spend two wonderful days in Hamburg. I had a room in the Westin, located above the Elbe Philharmonic Hall. This place is phenomenal, a shimmering wave of glass built on a solid brick warehouse. One of the concert halls was built in the middle of the Elbe river. The place has a publicly accessible viewing platform that has amazing views of the city and harbor. This is my second time there, and I am always in awe. 

My friend, who has lived in Hamburg for decades, gave me a grand tour of the city. One of the foods I always have when visiting Germany is Matjes herring. Matjes are young female herrings who haven’t laid eggs yet (virgins). In Germany, they are served in different ways. In Hamburg and northern Germany, you can buy them on a bun. My friend, Elli, showed me where you can buy the best herring buns (Matjes Brötchen). Next to the fish market is the restaurant Rive, where we had dinner the second evening. This restaurant offers good food with a view of the harbor.

Hamburg is a major tourist destination and I hope to visit it many more times.

Then it was off to Lüneburg. It is a beautiful and well-preserved medieval town and very livable with a vibrant inner city that has stores for everyone. Read more about Lüneburg and Berlin in a previous blog post. I have visited Lüneburg many times because my niece lives there with her husband and new baby. There is nothing better than holding a tiny baby in your arms.

From Lüneburg, I went to Berlin for a few days. I invited my 16-year-old grand nephew to join me. We had a very good time together. I showed him the city and my friend, Tara, introduced him to Thai food. He loved it. As the oldest of three children, he was an agreeable and delightful travel companion. I enjoyed his company.

I spent one day by myself in Berlin and loved it. It was a beautiful autumn day. I had dropped my grand nephew at the train station and walked from there through the Reichstag and Brandenburger Gate. It was a spiritual experience that took me back decades. Memories flooded back in my mind, images of death and despair. In the 70s, I saw an East German refugee being shot at the wall. 

After Berlin, It was back to my village for a birthday celebration and family gatherings.

​As for COVID-19, Germany seems to have gotten it together after a very rocky start and no vaccines in the beginning. Everyone is being tracked; you have to show an app or, in my case (as a foreigner), a vaccination card to enter a restaurant, theater, hotel, and more. For two dollars, you can buy a self-test, which is used frequently. I tested myself for the new baby, and when I returned from Berlin. Just because I am adventurous doesn’t mean I should endanger my family or anybody else. I never felt unsafe. Everybody wears a medical mask inside and in public places. To re-enter the US, I had to take a PCR test 72 hours before my departure flight, which I did at a local train station. A young, extremely helpful person downloaded the appropriate app on my phone, and I was all set. United has a travel-ready site where I downloaded all the needed information. All I had to do at the airport was to check in my luggage and show my passport. It's important to prepare and do your homework in advance.

All in all, I am so happy I decided to go and would do it again tomorrow. But I was equally happy to be reunited with the old man and the sea.

Thanksgiving is next week. Here are some of my recipes I have used over the years. It has become a tradition with my family to serve my red cabbage for the holidays. And then there is my cranberry sauce, as well as the chestnut, shiitake mushroom stuffing which I have made for many years.If you want a delicious turkey sandwich, try my cranberry ketchup, a real treat.
Here is the link for the recipes.
I wish you all a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving , sharing  good food with family and friends.

Most of us are familiar with Botticelli’s painting called the Birth of Venus. In this beautiful painting, the goddess is emerging from the sea standing on a scallop shell. To me, this painting emphasizes beauty, self-reliance and elegance. 

In the world of food scallops are a delicacy that deserve special attention when being prepared. They are a tender and delicate, sweet and flavorful seafood. There are many varieties of scallops, bay scallops being the small ones and the large sea scallops, reaching 1½ inches to 2 inches in diameter.  In this recipe, I use large sea scallops. Whenever possible, the dry-packed sea scallops are best. The wet scallops are packed in a phosphate solution, and when cooked, extra liquid drains out into the pan. So instead of searing, you will boil your scallops. Although there are the divers scallops which are individually harvested by divers—very expensive but ecological better . Here in the US, the meat we call “scallop” is firm and white. It is what you get when you buy scallops in the grocery store. Another part of the scallop is called the “coral,” soft and brightly colored and available outside the US when you buy the scallop in the shell. It’s delicious, as I’ve had it a few times. The most famous dish with scallops is the acclaimed Coquilles St. Jaques.

I am leaving for Germany in a few days. I am still not sure if I will be able to go, so wish me the best. The rules are changing constantly.  I am so excited to travel again. It’s been a long time since I saw my German family and ate some good German food. I get to hold a new baby in my arms . That alone is worth the journey

My  scallop dish comes from a recipe I found in a magazine years ago. Unfortunately, I can’t give credit to whoever developed this dish because I can’t find any information on the internet. Thank you to the chef who came up with this delicious recipe. The combination of the different ingredients is perfect. The leeks and peas complement the delicate flavor of the scallops, while the mini-potato galettes act as a foil to the tender scallops. The bacon adds some crunch and wakes up the palettes. Altogether, this exquisite meal is light and delicate. A special meal for a special person in your life.

Make sure you buy the best scallops available. I usually buy mine frozen at Whole Foods when they are on sale. Defrost the scallops in the fridge and don’t thaw them at room temperature or in the microwave. The scallops will be ruined if you don’t dry them completely before searing them or if you overcook them. You will end up with a rubbery mess. What a shame! I made the recipe several times during our lockdown for just my husband and myself. We enjoyed every bite with a nice glass of wine. I like to serve three to four large scallops per person. This is a light elegant main course that tastes great with a green salad with a citrus dressing. 

This recipe serves four people. A mandolin will cut the potato in very thin slices. 
​

Ingredients:
 
Pea Purée 
1 ½ cups 7oz. 200g  frozen peas thawed
½-1 cup vegetable broth (the amount depends on the desired consistency of your puree)
Salt and pepper to taste

Scallops and Leeks
6 bacon slices of hickory smoked bacon
3 TBS butter, divided 
4 leeks (about 4 cups)
16 large sea scallops 
1 TBS olive oil
Salt and pepper
​
Potato Galettes 
5 TBS olive oil or more 
2  8-ounce potatoes

Directions:
This dish needs to be timed correctly. The leeks and pea purée can be made ahead of time but the scallops and potato galettes need to be done as close to dinner as possible. Warm the serving plates in the oven, and when it is time to serve, plate the food. Put the leeks on the bottom of the dish, add one or two potato galettes, and top with four scallops. Add the juices from the frying pan over the scallops. Pour the pea purée around the food and sprinkle the whole thing with bacon. It makes a stunning presentation.  

Pea Purée 
Purée the defrosted peas (10 ounces) with ½ to 1 cup of broth until smooth. Adjust the pea purée to your taste. I like mine smooth and a little runny. I used my Vita Mix to get a smooth consistency. Season with salt and pepper. This can be made one day ahead, but cover and refrigerate it. Reheat it and before serving, and thin it with broth if the purée is too thick. 

Scallops and Leeks 
Heat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit to keep the food warm.

Cut the bacon into ½-inch slices and sauté in a heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain on a paper towel and keep warm in the oven.

Use only the white part of the leeks. I freeze the green part to use in making broth. If the leek is large, quarter the white part lengthwise and then slice it into small slices. Wash them in a bowl of water and drain. You want about 4 cups of leeks.

Melt 2 TBS of butter in a large frying pan, add the leeks and sauté until they they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add ½ cup of water, cover, and simmer until the leeks are very tender but not brown. Cook until the liquid has evaporated, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Put the leeks in an oven-proof dish and keep them warm in the oven. 

Dry the scallops on paper towels until there is no moisture left. You might have to repeat this.  Put the dry scallops on paper towels and season them on all sides with salt and freshly ground pepper. Melt remaining 1 TBS of butter with the oil in a large large frying pan over high heat until hot. Add scallops one at a time and leave them alone for about 2 minutes. This is how they get a nice sear. Turn them over for a minute or so and remove them to a plate. You want the scallops just opaque in the center.  Deglaze the frying pan with a little bit of white wine that your husband has opened and served you in a glass. Pour the juices that have accumulated on the plate with the scallops into the frying pan with the sauce.  I cook the scallops last, when I am finished with my potato galettes.

Potato Galettes
I use the same frying pan for the bacon, leeks and scallops. I wipe the pan clean in between with paper towels. For the potato galettes, I use my cast iron frying pan. Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1/16-inch-thick rounds. I used my mandoline for this. The potatoes will discolor quickly, so I prepare them as soon as they are peeled. Heat a little bit of oil in the frying pan and carefully arrange potato slices in a round circle in skillet, overlapping slightly and forming a 3 ½-4 inch circle. I made three galettes at a time. Cook until each galette is golden brown on the bottom, about 3-4 minutes. Turn the galettes over with a wide spatula (rearrange if they fall apart) and cook until potatoes are tender.  Keep the galettes warm in the oven. They are best eaten right away. If you keep them warm for a long time, they will become soft and soggy.

Guten Appetit!
recipe author unknown
adopted by©Sunnycovechef.com

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