www.sunnycovechef.com
  SUNNY COVE CHEF
  • Home
  • Food Philosophy
  • Recipe Index
    • Desserts
    • Seafood
    • Main Dish
    • Jam
    • Salad
    • Soup
    • Appetizers
    • Miscellaneous
    • Vegetables
    • Pasta
  • About
  • Contact
  • Wanderlust Blog

Berlin and Lüneburg

6/12/2017

39 Comments

 
Has it really been two months since I went to Germany in April? I went  to visit my family and celebrate Easter with them. After celebrating a wonderful Easter holiday, I left my village and took the train to Lüneburg where my niece and her husband live. After Lüneburg, my niece and I spent a long weekend in Berlin. Read more about it on my Wanderlust blog.

Picture
Lüneburg
Back in Santa Cruz, I have been cooking up a storm and entertaining four visitors from Germany. We all had a wonderful time. I love playing tour guide because I live in such a beautiful area with so many things to see and do. My niece, her husband, and her in-laws are like family to me. Their favorite meal was steak, which my husband barbecued with baked potatoes and salad. For their welcome meal, I made a turkey dinner. Yes, I served turkey in May and it was delicious. I didn't do the whole bird, just the breast and legs which I had bought at Whole Foods. I made the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce from cranberries in my freezer. I will post my new turkey recipe at the appropriate time in November. It was a delicious meal and greatly appreciated by all. I made the turkey enchiladas from my blog with the leftovers. 
Big Basin State Park
At Big Basin Park, admiring the giant redwoods
turkey enchiladas
Turkey or Chicken Enchiladas
After  my visitors left, I bought a crate (about 28 pounds) of apricots and immersed myself in making jam, cobblers, apricot dumplings and an apricot cake. You can find all these recipes on my blog. I had planned to post a new apricot salad recipe, but it needs some work before I can do it.  In the meantime, I cooked my fish in parchment paper and it was delicious. Instead of green beans, I used shaved zucchini and added some spring onions. It makes a perfect light summer dinner. For the fish, I used northern wild rockfish which was fresh and  reasonably  priced.
Rockfish in Parchment
Cooking the fish in parchment paper
Rockfish
A meal full of flavors
View the recipe for Rockfish baked in parchment paper
View the recipe for Turkey or Chicken Enchiladas
39 Comments

German Strawberry Shortbread Tart- Erdbeertorte

6/4/2017

43 Comments

 
This is a German strawberry cake that is easy to make and  brings out the fruity flavor of strawberries.
German Strawberry cake
On my last trip to Germany  I was invited to a birthday celebration of my mother's friend and neighbor, Helga. Our families have been friends as long as I can remember. As a child I used to visit them all the time, sitting in their kitchen and watching the women prepare food.  I felt like part of their family. It was a peaceful household where I would go when when I wanted to be somewhere else. Helga was a good friend to my mother and visited her regularly and brought her food. My mom would always tell me on the phone that Helga had brought her some herring salad (one of my mom’s favorites), soup or whatever she’d cooked that day. I am so grateful for the kindness and caring she gave my mother. Helga’s husband, Willie, was my father’s friend and both of them farmed together. My father, a gentle and kind soul, mentored young Willie, who always liked to tease young girls like me. On warm summer nights, with the windows open, he and his friend would lull me to sleep by playing their violins, which made up for the teasing during the day.
Blackberry Forest Cake
Blackberry Forest Cake
Eierlikör Torte
Egg Liqueur Torte ( Eierlikörtorte)
Let’s get back to the birthday party and the afternoon coffee and cake. In rural Germany a birthday party usually starts around four in the afternoon with Kaffee and Kuchen (coffee and cake). Later in the evening, a hot meal is served. Sometimes, a savory hot meal is served for lunch and then followed by coffee and cake. For Helga’s birthday, all her friends had baked a fancy cake for her occasion. Of course I had to sample each of them and they were all delicious. I managed to get some of the recipes and hope to post them in the future when I have more time—and strawberries are not in season.
Strawberry tarts
For this post, I chose a common German cake that can be bought in almost any German supermarket, already baked (like a piecrust in this country). I don't care much for the commercial variety, preferring to bake my own. These cakes are called Tortenboden or Obstkuchenboden (try to pronounce that!) which translated means “the bottom for a cake” like you would use for a strawberry shortcake. This cake has fluted edges and the bottom is indented to create an edge. I used a Chef Tell dessert pan by Nordic Ware. I often use it to make flan. Any cake pan will do, and it will taste just as good. Once you bake this shortcake, you can be creative and use any fresh fruit you want. I remember way back when my aunt made it with kiwis and it was delicious. In my recipe I decided to use vanilla pudding for the bottom. Creme anglaise would be fantastic but I wanted to keep it simple and easy to make. Personally, I think it is just as good with a layer of strawberry jam. My husband preferred the one with the custard. In Germany, the cake is covered with a glaze that you can buy. Here in the US, you can buy Dr. Oetker’s glaze for fresh fruit tarts at Cost Plus or Walmart. It comes in small individual packages. I made my own glaze by using some sweetened strawberry/rhubarb juice that I cooked and thickened with pectin. Even though the glaze is traditionally used, I think you can do without it. What makes this cake even tastier is a dollop of Schlag (whipped cream). I sprinkled a handful of slivered almonds over my cake and added some blueberries for color.
Erdbeertorte
review recipe
My German visitors enjoyed my baked shrimp with quinoa and peas. Its a great dish for  warmer days. 
Quinoa with baked shrimp and peas
Click on the photo for the recipe
Strawberries are in season right now. Here are some recipes from my blog. Click on the photo to see the recipe.
Strawberry Bowle
Strawberry Punch
Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberry Rhubarb Cake
Strawberry Rhubarb Cake
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Robert's Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie
Picture
Strawberry Rhubarb Hazelnut Crisp
43 Comments
    Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  It means a lot to me and I would love to hear from you .
    Comments in English and German are welcome!
    
    Picture

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Appetizers
    Desserts
    German Food
    Holiday Cooking
    Ice Cream
    Jam
    Main Dish
    Miscellaneous
    Pasta
    Salads
    Seafood
    Seasonal Cooking
    Soup
    Stories
    Travel
    Vegetables

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Blogroll:


    the chef mimi blog
    food52
    East of Eden Cooking
    Marie Gabrielle
    Dorie Greenspan
    roughwighting
    The Wednesdaychef
    David Lebovitz
    The Kitchen Lioness
    lifeonthecutoff
    mamangerie
    Chocolate and Zucchini
    ​Cocoa and Lavender
    TheBeachHouseKitchen
    Memoriediangelina
    ​Sippitysub


    COPYRIGHT © 2013- 2021
    Sunnycovechef blog.
    ​All rights reserved.
Proudly powered by Weebly