To Europe and Africa in Two Meals

I've had some somewhat unique lunches over the past few days--Swedish and Ethiopian.

On Sunday, while driving home from the Chicago area, Nate and I stopped at IKEA to check it out because we had never been. And I knew there was a cafeteria, so of course we had to stop.

We split two meals--a panino and the Swedish meatballs plate, which game with the meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce. It was pretty good, considering we were in a furniture store ...

Then today, for lunch, some girlfriends and I met for lunch at Alem Ethiopian Cottage in downtown Milwaukee. I blogged about it once before, so I don't have a lot to say now, but I wanted to share what I ordered and show a new photo.

This time, I ordered the yatakilt alitcha (yellow, below), which is steamed vegetables (potatoes, cabbage and maybe something else?) cooked with onion, garlic and ginger. For my side, I had yater alitcha, or yellow split peas in a mild sauce. I would tell you what the other two things were that Sun and Leah ordered, but I can't remember!

And this time, we sat around the messob, a traditional Ethiopian made out of woven straw. Just like last time, the meal was delicious!

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

On Mondays, we often like to make crock pot recipes. It's less to think about on a Monday night and it's nice to come home from the gym and have dinner be ready, more or less.

This Monday, we made a super easy recipe--pulled buffalo chicken sandwiches. I first had this at my friend Jessie's. I knew Nate would like it since he loves wings.

Monday morning, we put a few chicken breasts in the crock pot, covered it all with Sweet Baby Ray's Buffalo Wing Sauce, mixed it all up a bit and cooked on low all day. When you're just about ready to serve, pull the chicken apart and add more sauce, if necessary.

We served the chicken on buns with some ranch dressing, tomato slices and lettuce. We also had a salad and sweet potato fries (cut into fries, mix with oil and spices like chili powder, pepper and garlic, and bake at 450 for about 20 minutes, depending on fry thickness).

We normally eat at the coffee table in our living room, in front of the TV, but we switched it up and ate at our kitchen table last night. It was nice! As Nate said, "Well, this is quaint." I'd like to eat in the kitchen at least once a week. We'll see how it goes. :) I think the dog was a bit confused.

Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe comes from my co-worker, Val. She passed it along about a year and a half ago, and since then, I've passed it on to many people. It's super easy and quick--well, other than the baking part. But it's so tasty you won't even remember you had to wait an hour and 35 minutes to eat it.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 package Pillsbury pie crust (need both crusts)

2 big cans of canned chicken in water, drained and broken up

6 small potatoes (about 2 cups) diced (be sure to dice them very small, otherwise they don't cook through all that well.

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 cans cream of chicken soup (I usually use the Healthy Request stuff)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I usually end up using a little less than a 2-cup bag)

salt and pepper to taste

(Some friends who have made it have made some adjustments, such as leaving out the potatoes or using canned potatoes, and including peas and/or carrots. I keep meaning to change it up, but I haven't yet.)

Put one pie crust on bottom of pie plate. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl.

Pour mixture into pie crust and cover with other crust. Cut an X on top of pie or poke holes with a fork. Bake at 350 for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Cool 30 minutes before serving (it's hard to do when you're hungry, but it's better that way!).

It never comes out looking like an actual piece of pie, but no matter. It's so good!

Black Bean Tostadas

Ok, ok. I know I say all the time that "so and so" is my favorite meal. But really, I mean it this time: tostadas. Black bean tostadas. Really, truly, I think it is my favorite meal.

I have always loved tostadas. My parents made them quite often as I was growing up, and I often order them at Mexican restaurants. In high school, I could easily polish off about four of them at Conejito's.

I've started to love my own more than what I can find in the restaurant. They're so easy to make and so tasty. Here is what I do.

Black Bean Tostadas
-1 can refried black beans, heated in a saucepan with spices/seasoning like cumin, coriander, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder. (This time I chopped up some yellow onion and cooked
it in the saucepan with some oil before putting the beans in.)


-Chop up tomatoes and lettuce, and crumble Mexican queso fresco (a fresh farmers cheese. We get it cheap at El Rey's).





-Heat up however many tostadas you want in the oven at about 350 for about seven minutes.

-Spread the beans on the tostada and top with tomatoes, cheese and lettuce. Put on guacamole and salsa, if you want.

-We often have our tostadas with Vigo yellow Mexican rice.

Of course, you need to start the meal with some guacamole and chips, and put a few dollops of guac on the tostadas. I've always made it the way my dad makes it. Not sure where he got the recipe, but it's darn good.

Adrian Guacamole

-Mash 1 (or however many you want ... ) avocado.

-Add a couple shakes of the following seasoning/spices: chili powder, cumin, coriander, garlic powder and salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon juice.

-Add a couple dollops of pre-made salsa and a dollop of mayo to make it a bit creamy.

-Chop up some onion and blend in.

-Dip with a chip to see if it tastes the way you want it to.

And everything should be washed down with a good Mexican beer with a lime slice inside. :)

Trader Jose's Tamales

Whenever I make a trip to Trader Joe's, I load up on tasty frozen meals--usually pasta, stir-fry and sometimes enchiladas. The last time I went, I bought two kinds of tamales: chicken and veggie and cheese. We had them for a tasty, easy meal last week. We used our bamboo steamer, which worked really well for cooking them quickly.


I heated up a can of black beans with some spices and seasoning, and chopped onion, red and green pepper.

This is what happens when a black bean ends up under the stove and the dog tries pawing at it for a couple minutes--your husband has to go in and get it for her.


Yum!

Tofu Stir-Fry

We had some marinated tofu to use up, and I had had a hankering for stir fry, so we decided to make a tasty Cooking Light recipe last week. According to the magazine, the ingredients included in the recipe are supposed to be good for your skin and hair. Can't go wrong!

Here is the recipe for Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu with Snow Peas, Peanut Butter and Mushrooms.

I made a few changes to the recipe:

-I used a package of marinated tofu.

-I used sugar snap peas rather than snow peas.

-I used a yellow onion rather than green onions.

-I didn't use fresh ginger, rather just a few shakes of powdered ginger.

-I added about 1/3 cup broccoli because I had it on hand.

We served the stir-fry over brown rice we cooked in our handy rice steamer.

A German Meal for a German Girl

Sauerbraten and bread dumplings. Mmm ... My (mostly German) family has been making this meal for as long as I can remember. It's one of my favorites--it's rich, comforting and delicious. I even recently entered it in a local recipe contest, but, unfortunately, I didn't make it to the finals.

But lucky for me, my parents make it every once in a while, and they made it for Easter dinner

It's developed from two different cookbooks--the sauerbraten from a Betty Crocker cookbook and the dumplings from a Mader's (a Milwaukee restaurant) cookbook.

Here is the recipe, courtesy of my mom, and lots of photos of the meal. In addition to the sauerbraten and dumplings--with the gingersnap gravy, of course--we had asparagus and red cabbage.

Mountain Style Bread Dumplings

1 loaf bread (cheap, white bread)

1 tbs. onion, chopped

1 tbs. parsley, chopped

12 cup butter

1-1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

salt, garlic powder and pepper to taste

2 cups flour

Dice bread. Fry onion and parsley in butter and add diced bread. Fry until crisp and place in bowl. Mix milk, eggs and salt and pour over bread. Blend in as much flour as needed. Form dumplings and cook gently in salted water for 10 minutes. Serves 10-12 people (2-3 dumplings each).

Sauerbraten

3-4 lb. beef rolled rump roast (what we use), boneless chuck eye roast or bottom round roast

2 cups water

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 medium onion, sliced

6 whole cloves

4 peppercorns, crushed

1-1/2 teas. salt

1 bay leaf

3 tbs. vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

10-12 gingersnaps, crushed

2 tbs. packed brown sugar

1/3 cup water

3 tbs. flour

1. Prick beef roast thoroughly with fork. Place beef in 4 qt. glass bowl or earthenware crock. Mix 2 cups water, vinegar, onion, cloves, salt and bay leaf; pour over beef. Cover and refrigerate, turning several times each day (marinate at least 2-3 days; we usually do 4-5).

2. Remove beef from marinade; pat dry. Strain marinade; reserve. Heat oil in Dutch oven until hot. Cook beef in hot oil, turning occasionally, until brown, about 10 minutes. Remove beef and pour off fat. Heat 2 cups of the reserved marinade and 1/2 cup water to boiling in Dutch oven (reserve remaining marinade). Return beef to Dutch oven; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beef is tender, about two hours.

3. Pour liquid from Dutch oven into large measuring cup; skim fat from liquid. Add enough reserved marinade to measure 2 1/2 cups, if necessary. Return to Dutch oven (if liquid measures more than 2 1/2 cups, boil rapidly to reduce to 2 1/2 cups).

4. Stir in gingersnap crumbs and brown sugar. Mix 1/3 cup water and the flour; stir gradually into liquid. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. boil and stir 1 minute. Strain gravy, and serve with beef and dumplings.

For dessert, we had carrot cake from Simma's, a fantastic bakery not far from my house and where I grew up.