Kannoli and Kraut

Don't make these this weekend

 

Last weekend I was going through some cookbooks and came upon this recipe by Nigella Lawson.  The recipe for Rocky Road Crunch bars looked too good to pass up.  And I had everything to make them in the pantry.  So I whipped up a batch.  

Here's your warning.  I ate almost the whole thing by myself.  I didn't feel good.  I didn't care.  These are good.  Really good.  And easy, fast and with no bake time.  So...don't make these this weekend...

Recipe

1 stick and 1 tablespoon butter

10 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1/4 cup light corn syurp

8 oz plain, hard and crunchy tea biscuits

 (after making these I realized graham crackers would also be really good.  It would probably change the consistency a bit though.  You could call them s'more bars!)

2 cups mini marshmallows

2 teaspoons powdered sugar

1. Melt the butter, chocolate, and corn syrup in a saucepan.  Scoop out about 1/2 cup and set aside.

2. Put the cookies in a freezer bag and then bash them with a rolling pin.  You are looking for both crumbs and pieces of cookie.

3. Fold the cookie pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate and then add the marshmallows.

4. Tip into a 9 inch square pan.  I lined my pan with buttered aluminum foil.  Spread the mixture best you can with a spatula.  Pour the rest of the reserved mixture overtop and smooth.

5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

6. If you lined the pan, you can just lift the foil out and cut into bars.  Dust with powdered sugar by pressing through a sieve or strainer.

Seared Tuna on Shaved Fennel Salad with Light Creamy Lemon Sauce and Parmesan

Kannoli and Kraut are proud to present another guest blogger...we will call her Mrs. Wheatfree.  Get it?  She can't eat Gluten...come on people...all of the good gluten free names are already taken :)  Say it fast...it's kind of cute.

Thanks Mrs. W for this yummy looking recipe.  We can't wait to try it!!...

 

 

The Beginning:

At age 34 I was sick and tired… of being sick and tired. I went to the doctor and described my symptoms and gave my family history. Of course they ran a full battery of tests, sent me to specialists, ran blood tests and found… wait for it… nothing. I was completely disheartened, pissed off. They were experts, shouldn’t they be at least be able to give me SOME idea of what was wrong with me?

 Did I mention I was overweight as well? Oh yes, I was fat. And not the kind with the PH, the much less attractive kind. So I decided to do something about my weight and went on the South Beach Diet. You know the one… all meat , veggies, and low fat dairy, no carbs. Something amazing happened. All my “sick and tired” disappeared within days. I knew there was a correlation so I did what any modern woman would do. I turned to the internet. Turns out I had all the symptoms of someone with a disease called Celiac. I immediately took this to my doctor. She was amazed, and pretty convinced that I did indeed have the disease. She also shared with me that approximately 1 in 133 American suffer from gluten intolerance. I was astonished. Wow. So then, more tests. The blood kind. My least favorite.

Long story short, I am indeed gluten intolerant and it was time to make some major lifestyle changes. No more bread. No more tortillas. No more fast food. No more pasta! My Italian husband was not too thrilled about any of this, least of all the pasta. He was however, incredibly supportive. I had to change our entire way of living and all the foods we eat were under scrutiny. Lucky for us, there are a lot of wonderful choices for us gluten intolerant peeps as far as pasta goes. Rice pasta is our favorite. Bread is another story. I have yet to find one that doesn’t either fall apart or feel like I just ate a brick.

 Did I forget to mention I lost weight? It started falling off after I began giving my body what it needed and stopped poisoning it with gluten. I have discovered all sorts of new and wonderful recipes, all of which I never would have experienced without this disease. Eating gluten free is not a necessity, but it can definitely be healthy for all… and absolutely delicious. So here it begins my first gluten free post for Kannoli and Kraut. Bon appétit!

 

 

Seared Tuna on Shaved Fennel Salad with Light Creamy Lemon Sauce and Parmesan

 Ingredients

 Salad:

1 fennel bulb, shaved paper thin w/a Japanese Mandolin or a cheese slicer if necessary

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme leaves

1 teaspoon chopped Italian parsley

2 tablespoons shaved Parmesan cheese

 

Creamy Lemon Sauce:

½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 clove garlic, minced

1/8 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoons capers

½ teaspoon lemon-pepper

¼  cup fat-free sour cream

 Tuna:

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon rainbow peppercorns

4oz. fresh sushi grade tuna

2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

 

Start with the Salad:

Shave your fennel like you never shaved it before!! Okay, maybe it was just me. But now I am hooked. I put shave fennel in all sorts of things now… but that is another post. So, back to the salad. This is the difficult part so pay close attention: mix shaved fennel, EVOO (that’s extra virgin olive oil to all of those of you who have never watched Rachel Ray), lemon juice, chopped thyme, Italian parsley, and shaved parm. Store it in a cool place while you prepare the rest. That’s it. Like I said…. rocket science.

 

On to the Creamy Lemon Sauce:

Heat the EVOO in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add two cloves of garlic if you are brave or live alone, one if you don’t. After one minute of sautéing, reduce heat to low. Stir in the lemon juice, capers, and lemon pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Don’t freak out when your garlic turns green… it will, just deal with it. Next add the sour cream and cook for another 5 minutes until heated completely through.

 

Cooking Charlie Tuna:

Brush Charlie on both sides with 1 teaspoon of the EVOO and sprinkle with freshly crushed rainbow peppercorns. Heat a sauté pan to high and add the last teaspoon of EVOO. Toss the tuna in the pan and allow to cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side, searing only the outside and leaving the inside completely raw and cool. Remove tuna from the pan, place on a cutting board, and gently slice into thin pieces.

 

Assembly!

Remove the Salad from its cool place and toss in the Creamy Lemon Sauce. Arrange salad tossed with sauce on plate, artistically arrange Charlie on the salad… and dig in!

 

Rouladen

 

The italians have Braciole, in the Philippines they have Morcon and in Argentinia it's called Matambre.
The germans call it Roulade and it is basically a piece of beef stuffed and then rolled into little individual packages.
The rolls are stuffed with onion, bacon, parsley and yes...pickles!

My mother made Rouladen quiet a lot, next to her famous pork roast.  She used to make a whole bunch, then freeze them, for us boys to have for lunch after school.

They are a bit labor intensive but make a fine sunday dinner.  And don't worry, they will not taste like pickles, I promise!

Note: Germans love pickels and no...they are not hidden in christmas trees around germany.  That is a legend and a rumor and it is my mission in life to put an end to this...but more about that later.

Ingredients
4 thin beef loin steaks (about 10"L x 5"W)
salt and pepper
2 slices bacon - diced
1/2 stick of butter
3 small onions
1 tbs flour
sour cream and tomato paste to taste (optional)
1/2 cup read wine
1 1/2 beef broth
1 large carrot
1 stalk celery
2 large pickles
chopped parsley
mustard

Tenderize the thin beef slices with a meat mallet on both sides evenly.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread a thin layer of mustard on one side, the filling side. Saute the bacon with two finley chopped onions until onions are tender, add the parsley.  Cut the pickles into lenghtwise into thin sticks.  Spoon the onion/bacon mixture evenly over the beef slices.  Add 2 or 3 "pickle sticks" to each beef slice and roll each slice just like a burrito).  Secure with toothpicks or string. 

Braise the Rouladen in a medium sized pot with some oil and butter until brown on all sides.  Add the finely chopped carrot, onion and celery, season with salt and pepper.  Add the wine and beef broth and let simmer covered for 1 1/2 hrs or until the beef is tender.

Remove Rouladen from pot and remove the toothpicks or string, cover and set aside.  Thicken the sauce with a flour or cornstarch slurry (flour/water "paste").  Season again to taste.  Remove the sauce from heat and add 1/3 cup of some sour cream and 1 tbs of tomato paste (optional), mix to combine everything.  Return the Rouladen to the pot.

Serve with potatoes, spatzle, red cabbage......the possibilities are endless!

Mexican Pulled Pork

I’m not afraid to say it...I don’t like the crock pot.  I have, until recently, never found a recipe that I thought was very good that came out of one.  I want to love the crock pot...with my families schedule it would be great to be able to throw in the ingredients and come home to a meal...and keep it warm as the family comes home from various work, meeting and sporting events.   I have a couple of “not blog worthy” recipes that I do this with, but I just don’t feel that you can get the flavors right when something cooks that long all day in one pot.  

 You may have noticed that I said “until recently”.  I found one!  A “blog worthy” recipe that came out of a crock pot!  A flavorful recipe for sure!  I came across a recipe for Mexican Pulled Pork on the blog "eat.live.travel.write".   I did adapt a few ingredients, preparation and final touches though.  The result was delicious.  This isn’t a crock pot recipe to be reserved for family soccer tuesdays...it should be shared at your next gathering!  Give it a try...let me know what you think.  I also froze the leftovers and am looking forward to defrosting and serving over some rice.  Yum.

                                                                                                 Recipe

 3-4 pound pork shoulder butt roast

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 minced jalapeno peppers

4 minced garlic cloves

1 chopped onion

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp smoked paprika

3 springs of fresh oregano

1 can diced tomatoes (28 oz)

3/4 cup canned chopped pineapple

1/2 cup of pineapple juice from same can

 

For serving:

corn tortillas

chopped fresh cilantro

salsa

crumbled feta cheese

A small batch of vinegar type coleslaw (recipe to follow)

 1. Place pork in the slow cooker and sprinkle with salt and pepper

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.  Pour enough to just cover the pork into the slow cooker.  Reserve the remaining in case you need it later (I didn’t)

3. Cook on low setting 6-8 hours.  When the pork can easily be pulled apart remove the pork and shred with two forks.  Place the shredded meat back into the crock pot.  Leave it in there either off or on low until you are ready to serve it. Or refrigerate until you are ready to reheat and serve

To serve: spoon onto a tortilla and cover with your choice of condiments...I liked it all.  Salsa, coleslaw, cilantro and feta.  

 Again...yum.  

 

 Simple vinegar coleslaw recipe

1/2 head cabbage finely shredded

1/4 cup sliced green onion

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

"Whatever-you-want-them-to-be" Scones

Ok, so scones aren't terribly german.
As a matter of fact they are not common in germany at all. Well, in most of germany that is....but you can find them in Hamburg where I'm from.
Hamburg is in the north of germany and borders the state of Schleswig-Holstein, which incidentally is where the Anglo-Saxons tribes came from. You know....the guys who invaded England in the 5th century.
There is no yodeling in Hamburg nor do we wear "Leder-hosen". It's a sea faring city (second busiest port in Europe) and just a couple of hours away from the danish boarder and a long ferry ride to England.
Maybe that's why I think there is a link between english is north german food.

This is a very simple but good scone recipe. I have made this recipe for years and usually always have a bag of frozen scones in my freezer, ready to be popped into the oven.
Add a a handful of raisins or chopped up candied ginger. Make them savory and add some grated cheese and herb. The possibilities are endless.

Scones dough freezes really well.
Just form the dough to the desired shape and freeze them. Once you are ready to bake your frozen scones just let them sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes or as long as it takes to preheat your oven. You definitely do not want them to be fully defrosted when you bake them.

Makes 12-14 large scones.

Ingredients
4 cups flour
2 tbs sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tbs baking powder
2 tsp salt
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
optional: 3/4 cup of raisins, chopped candied ginger, chocolate chips, etc.

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut the diced, cold butter into the flour, just like you would do when making a pie crust. The mixture should resemble very coarse meal. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add to the flour/butter mixture. Combine until just blended.
Now is also the time to add your favorite "optional" ingredient(s).
The dough may be a bit sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and be sure is it well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough out to a 3/4 - 1" thick circle. You might see "lumps" of butter in the dough, that's ok. Cut the circle into quarters and then each quarter into thirds.

Either freeze the scones or place them on a cookie sheet, brush them with an egg wash, sprinkle them with sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes ina 400 degree preheated oven.

 

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Snickerdoodle Muffins

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I love snickerdoodle cookies.  I love muffins.  So when I came across this recipe on Tasty Kitchen I had to try it.  As I was making them, I thought about Cream of Tarter.  What is this odd ingredient in my pantry seemingly reserved only for the snickerdoodle cookie?  Why does it add that certain something that no other cookie has?  So...I looked it up.  I have to admit, I laughed pretty hard when I discovered what it is.  It all makes sense now...why I love the snickerdoodle (i.e. cream of tarter).  According to BakingBites.com cream of tarter is “the byproduct of the winemaking process.  The powder forms inside the barrels during fermentation.”  Ah Ha!!!  Now I see!!!  I love wine...I love snickerdoodles.  Makes perfect sense!  So...try the snickerdoodle muffin.  I love it, almost as much as wine.  

 Recipe

 1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cream of tarter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup buttermilk

 

For the topping

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

 

Preheat the oven to 350 and line the muffin tins with liners

In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar and cream until fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine

In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and continue to stir to combine.

Add the sour cream and buttermilk and mix to combine

Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Using a scooper, gently plop a scoop of the batter into the bowl of cinnamon and sugar.  Gently roll the batter in the cinnamon/sugar and then place the ball in the muffin liner.

When you have completed all the muffins, sprinkle the leftover cinnamon sugar on the tops of the muffins.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes or until golden on top and baked through