Category: Food & Cooking

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Obstkuchen


This cake has so much going for it. It’s quick, easy, versatile and not overly sweet.

Obstkuchen or German Fruit Cake is a light sponge cake used as a base to hold fresh or canned fruit. It’s a terrific food canvas.  Mix and match fruit, then place in patterns or a generous mound.

You can put fruit directly on the cake, but be sure to pat them dry before placing on the cake base. To help keep the base from getting too moist, spread a filling, before adding the fruit. Experiment with flavored pudding, whipped cream, or even Nutella.


We topped our cake with a whipped cream mixture, then added a mound of blueberries. Obstkuchen is delicious as a dessert, snack…and even breakfast!

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Obst Torte

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whipped Cream Topping

  • 1 cup whip cream
  • 4 tbsp vanilla pudding mix or flavor of your choice
  • 3 tbsp powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp milk, as needed

Fruit Glaze

  • 3 tbsp seedless jam
  • 1 1/2 tbsp hot water

Fresh Fruit

  • 2 cups fresh fruit

Instructions

Obstkuchen

  • Beat 3 eggs on high until foamy.
  • Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar. Beat high for 8 minutes.
  • Whisk 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder.
  • Sift dry mixture, then add in thirds to eggs. Fold after addition.
  • Once mixed, add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
  • Line a springform cake pan or flan tart pan. Don't grease sides.
  • Bake for 25 minutes at 350. Let cool.

Whipped Cream

  • Chill bowl for 15 minutes. Add whip cream and beat 1-2 minutes.
  • Gradually add pudding mix and powder sugar until stiff. Set half aside for pastry bag, the other for smoothing on top of cake (only to edges).

Fruit Glaze

  • Stir 3 tablespoons seedless jam with 1 1/2 tablespoons hot water.

Assembly

  • Spread whip cream mix on top of cake (only to edges)
  • Leave 1 inch border open to pipe whip cream. Add fruit in pattern or in a generous mound.
  • Brush fruit with fruit glaze until shiny.
  • Fill pastry bag with the rest of the whip cream. Using a star tip or tip of your choice, pipe frosting around edge of cake.
  • Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

 

 

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Clean that produce

Fresh produce, fruits and vegetables, make up a major part of our diet. No shopping trip is over until the produce is rinsed, because along with dirt and general produce department grime, even the stuff marked organic might still hold trace chemical residue. We’ve discovered a simple method to ensure a clean rinse on all the raw fruit and vegetables going into our next meal.

Citrus essential oil, vinegar and water make up the initial bath, you then rinse with water and give veggies a quick spin. Finally, we pack everything in “Debbie Meyer’s” green bags to get a longer fridge life.

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Essential Oil Fruit and Vegetable Wash

A simple, cheap way to remove dirt and pesticides from fruits and vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 1 quart filtered water
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 drops Lemon essential oil Use citrus essential oil of your choice.

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in bowl.
  • Place produce in cleansing bath and let sit for approximately 5 minutes. 
  • Slightly agitate veggies to help knock loose any dirt clods and debris.
  • Rinse produce well in colander.
  • Dry. (We use a veggie spinner.)
  • Place clean produce in green bag or container. (Debbie Meyer GreenBags)

Notes

Optional: Store mixture in squirt bottle to spray on produce. Then rinse and dry.

 

 

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Nutty twist

We frequently look for new and healthy ways to eat. Finding a way to enhance fresh fruit, without adding sugar, seemed like a worthy challenge.

We found a simple, easy way by adding one additional ingredient.

We selected a mix of fresh berries and made it even more delicious, with the addition of toasted unsweetened coconut.

Stovetop toasting is remarkably quick and easy, and it has the added benefit of leaving your kitchen smelling great. It only takes a few minutes and is well worth the effort.

 

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Berries with Toasted Coconut

A healthy, refreshing treat.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword: berries, fruit
Servings: 2 people

Ingredients

  • 1 cup berries mixed
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes lightly toasted

Instructions

  • Select your choice of fresh berries. Rinse, dry and place in serving container.
  • Warm a pan on medium heat and measure coconut flakes into pan. Lightly stir until flakes begin to brown and you smell warm coconut. 
  • Sprinkle toasted coconut onto berries. Enjoy!
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Blue plate special

Meatloaf….classic diner fare and on our list of old-fashioned comfort foods. We searched for a recipe that packs flavor with pure comfort. Served with a side of diced potatoes and oven roasted veggies, this is a perfect warm meal after a day of winter hiking.

We figured the Instapot would make it an easy and relatively quick meal. Located among a plethora of online recipes, “Juicy Meatloaf” sounded tempting.  This recipe called for minced bacon, which is always a winner with us. We substituted ground pork for a portion of the ground meat, to help add even more flavor. I remember slathering ketchup on meatloaf in hopes of cutting the metallic tang of a baked beef dish.  In this version, the tomato sauce is cooked with the loaf, reduced, spread on top and is then oven-baked for a few additional minutes.   A bowl of extra sauce takes the place of that Heinz bottle.

That tomato zing really comes across when enjoyed in a meatloaf sandwich. This is our preferred way to enjoy meatloaf.  After dinner, the loaf left to cool, is then sliced and set in the freezer. The extra sauce is ladled into silicon ice-cube trays and frozen as well. Package up a couple of slices with cubes of sauce and you have a perfect frozen meal ready for the microwave.

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Juicy Meatloaf - InstaPot

A delicious meatloaf that cooks quickly and makes it's own sauce.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef lean
  • 1/2 lb ground pork
  • 7 strips bacon minced
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic chopped
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 1 ½ tsp oregano dried
  • 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
  • 3/4 tsp salt kosher
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 3 oz grated cheese parmegan & mozzarella

- SAUCE The following ingredients are used for the sauce.

  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 14 oz tomatoes 1 can (diced)
  • 1 tsp basil dried
  • 1 tsp oregano dried
  • 2/3 cup tomato paste

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, mix the ground meats by hand, then add in the bacon, onion, garlic, eggs (make sure they are beaten before adding) and milk. Follow with the Worcestershire sauce, spices, bread crumbs and cheese. Combine all these ingredients using your hands, try not to overmix.
  • Turn meat mixture out onto a foil covered board and form into a round loaf that is about 4 inches thick.  Use steamer ring to measure that it will fit into Instapot.
  • Add stock, diced tomatoes, seasoning and tomato paste to the Instapot. Stir until paste is incorporated into the stock.
  • Fold an 8 to 10 inch wide strip of aluminum foil into a strip about 3 inches wide. Place formed loaf on this strip, which will allow you to place and remove the loaf from the Instapot. Place steamer ring into pot (it may be covered by the sauce) and then carefully lower loaf onto the ring with the foil strip.
  • Lock the lid and cook at high pressure for 16 minutes.  Allow the pressure to release naturally for about 10 minutes. 
  • Preheat oven to 450 and line a rimmed baking sheet or appropiate sized oven proof dish with aluminum foil.
  • Carefully open pressure release lever. Once released, open pot and check to see that the internal temperature of the meat is 160 degrees (if not, you can re-seal lid, return to pressure and cook a few more minutes). Remove the meatloaf from the pot and transfer to a lined baking dish. Cover while you reduce stock.
  • On the Instapot, press sauté and adjust level to medium which should bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer sauce, stirring often to avoid burning and reduce by about a 1/3 or until it is at a desired consistency, about 8 minutes.   
  • Transfer thickened sauce to bowl and with silicon brush spread sauce over the meatloaf.  Reserve extra sauce for serving.
  • Bake uncovered in oven for 10 minutes, slice and serve. 

Notes

*Note:  You will need to press the off button to switch to saute.  We found high heat required too much stirring, so we set it to medium.
A 6 oz can of tomato paste equals 3/4 of a cup.  We use a freeze dried tomato paste, so it is mixed to the recipe each time.  If you find you are pulling moldy cans of tomato paste out of the fridge, check out Freeze Dried Tomato Powder at Honeyville.  The price might seem high, but you have long term access to tomato paste or sauce at any measured amount. 
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Smoky goodness

If you are not out there grilling in the winter, perhaps this will make you rethink your cooking choices.  The Weber gets less use in the winter months, but there are still plenty of good reasons to fire it up even if you have to chip a bit of ice off the cover.

Summer grilling is often more about adding extra heat to the house and heck, I’m sipping a cold malt beverage on the patio anyway. But in the winter those smoky flavored meals can be even sweeter.  While often it’s a low and slow or light it and leave it approach in the winter, I do want to share a BBQ burger recipe that we use year around.

Meal prep in this house involves cooking cook large and freezing small. This makes it easy to have a dinner entree on the table regardless of how busy the day has been.  This approach brought about smoky grilled burgers, which are a bit more stand-in-the-cold cooking but still pretty quick and easy.

For the meat it is always a fifty-fifty beef and pork mix. It tastes better and yes, it is worth getting the leaner beef. In making the patties.

It helps to use a scale because you want to keep them all the same size.  The thickness is even more critical. I use a metal ring that is two and a half inches across, which helps maintain consistent thickness in the patties.

Oiling the grill isn’t critical but it makes it easier to flip and these burgers will get packed closely together.  You can spray on cooking oil but I find that if you roll up an old dish towel and soak up some vegetable oil on one side then grab that with your cooking tongs it does a great job of prepping the grill.

Cooking is simple. You just work from a clock. Three minutes a side and then move them off the heat. You may need to shift patties that are on the outside edge of your coal bed to insure they all get a good searing. However, don’t try to “cook” the burgers at this point because they get smoked for 5 to 10 minutes and you don’t want them too dry.

Usually after smoking, I put all but the two we are going to eat for dinner, back into the pan as they are on the rare side at this point. We then chill, freeze and finally package in ziplock bags to be thawed and microwaved later.

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5 from 1 vote

Smoky grilled burgers

Barbeque beef burgers
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: BBQ, burger, Smoked
Servings: 10 patties

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef lean
  • 1 lb ground pork lean
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 oz hardwood smoking chips mesquite or choice

Instructions

  • Light a 'chimney' full of briquettes.
  • By hand, mix the ground meat together. Measure out 4 ounce portions and form into balls. Press meat into a patty shape no less than one inch thick.
  • Arrange patties in layers in a foil lined cake pan or baking dish.  Lightly season with salt and pepper and cover with foil.
  • When the briquettes are covered in a layer of white ash, spread evenly over one half of the grill (indirect cooking method). Place grill over coals and cover, leaving air vents open.  After the internal temp is 250 to 300 degrees (about 2 min) open BBQ and oil grill.
  • Arrange burger patties over the hot coals, close lid and sear for 3 minutes. Turn and repeat for another three minutes.
  • When burgers have been seared on both sides, move to cool side of grill. Spread hardwood chips over hot coal bed and close cover. Turning the air vents to half open, smoke meat for about 5 minutes or until the smoke stops coming out of the vent tubes.
  • Check internal temperature for well done (that should be 160 degrees). You can shift burgers back onto the hot side of the grill to adjust how you want them cooked.  A slice of cheese can be added at this point, as well. Note: if you close the lid flare ups will be less likely.