Why not Zoidberg?

While reading through a bunch of blogs I like, I found a so delicious sounding recipe on That's so Michelle that I simply had to try it myself.
I mean, read through the original recipe guys. It combines cheese, crab meat and fresh bread (and some garlic, naturally).

But here in Germany (or more precise in Bavaria) it's kinda difficult and expensive to get crab meat. You can't buy it canned and you rarely find frozen crab in your average supermarket.

So I decided to go with shrimp.

The next obstacle to recreate Michelle's recipe was to get a hand on the Old Bay seasoning.
I didn't want to order some via the Internet and you can't find American seasonings in your average German grocery store.

So I asked my old buddy wikipedia and voilà, all the ingredients neatly listed unfolded befor my eyes.
With a little imagination and luck I tried to blend a seasoning I never tasted in my life.
So naturally I can't say for sure if it was in any way akin the Old Bay seasoning but it tasted delicious.
And that's good enough for me.

For the seasoning I used

• 1 Tsp salt
• 1 Tsp freshly grounded black pepper
• 1/2 Tsp paprika
• 1/2 Tsp grounded cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch grounded nutmeg
• 1 pinch grounded clover
• 1 pinch grounded ginger

As you can see I didn't use mustard, cardamom, bay leaf and allspice mostly because I haven't had them grounded. Except the allspice, it's kinda impossible to get a hold on that in Germany.

For the Pull Apart Bread you'll need

• 1 loaf of French bread
• about 200 gr shredded cheese
• about 250 gr shrimp
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 green onions (chopped)
• 100 gr butter
• 50 gr creme cheese
• Old Bay Seasoning (or the one I created)

First of all you have to cut your loaf diagonally in botch directions, to create little rhombuses.
Try to cut down as deep as you can but don't cut trough the bread.

Be careful when you get to the second direction, because the bread tends to rip apart if you don't cut slowly.
I only used about half the recipe for half a loaf of bread.

First of all you'll have to fill the gaps in the loaf with half of the shredded cheese.

Then mince the pack of shrimp and press it onto the cheese. Try to push them as deep into the gaps as possible.


After the shrimp, add the remaining shredded cheese.
Now layer the green onions and the creme cheese on top of it.
Melt the butter, add the seasoning (1-2 Tsp) and the crushed garlic to it and then pour it over your prepared loaf.

Cover the loaf in foil (one layer beneath and one on top of it) and put it into the preheated oven for about 15 minutes on 180 °C.
Then remove the top layer of foil and bake for another 15 minutes until the cheese is melting.

I hope you'll enjoy your very own Pull Apart Bread as much as my girl and I did.
Also special thanks to Michelle for the delicious inspiration.

I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...

Long time no read, so I'll give you guys a quick update.
First off all, sry for not blogging for the past few months.
Part of my absence was because of me searching for a new apartment and moving in with my girlfriend, which was like in december.
Frankly, I had no motivation what so ever so that's that for the rest up until now :D

But that doesn't mean I didn't cook some new things.

So after that one I'll post a new recipe I found on a blog I'm reading but had to alter because some american seasonings and stuff just aren't available in Germany.

Chef Ninja ヽ(｀д´)ノ Secret Citrus Jutsu

As promised, here is my post on how to fillet a citrus fruit.

Yeah, I know, that was a long time coming, but I'm rather at my limit in terms of blogging time.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my sweet lady and me are about to move.
Well.. at least I have to move out soon, though we still got no new apartment. And that fact gets me rather on the edgy side.

So, besides getting another rejection, I decided it was time to work on the promised post. After all I had to do something to clear my mind.

Thus today, I'll teach you shinobi of the kitchen the  
long hidden and extremely powerful jutsu that will easily defeat your opponents or could be used to fillet citrus fruits


Took me some time to align the pics, *screw you CSS code* but here we go! 


〜(^∇^〜）                                           （〜^∇^)〜

Step 1:
Free your mind and try to get one with your knife.

ヽ(ー_ー )ノ

Calm your breath, aim, then swiftly cut off both edges of the citrus fruit in a smooth flow.

Step 2:
Deliver short but precise staccato blows with your knife, to dismantle the citrus fruit.

o（｀ー´） ﾂ

That should leave the citrus fruit vulnerable to your next attack.

Step 3:
Aim for the white membrane that separates the citrus' flesh. This is their weak spot.

٩(×̯×)۶

Now lenghtwisely cut in the flesh all the way down to the center. Proceed so on both sides of every membrane to finish her off.

\(≧∇≦)/

If you follow these easy steps, you'll surely be able to defeat the evil citrus fruit demon and master my forbidden salmon recipe.

Now go, young shinobi, and practice the art of a kitchen ninja!

Salmon says..

..let's get romantic!

Finally I got the right idea on how to make the linguine with oyster mushrooms work.

And that's why I'll show you how to make a delicious, fancy meal which perfectly fits on the menu for the next candle-light dinner with your sweet lady.

Salmon says: 'Buy the following stuff for your dinner!' (for two people)

• 2 pieces of salmon
• 1 lemon
• 1 or 2 handful of oyster mushrooms
• oyster sauce
• 1 or 2 tsp of capers
• and of course linguine 
• 1 onion
• 1 or 2 gloves of garlic
• a bottle of white wine

Yeah I know, you'll propably not have capers nor oyster sauce at home but believe me, without them it just wouldn't be the same. Also the oyster sauce is very versatile. You can use it to season any dish with fish or seafood, especially the asian ones.
But Salmon is getting impatient, so let's get started!
First of all you'll need to chop the onions, the garlic and the carpers. Also slice the oyster mushrooms to bite sized pieces.
Then fillet the lemon.
Yep, you heard it.
But fear not, me lads! For I'll make an extra post just about how to fillet citrus fruits.
So after that is done, heat up a dash of oil in a frying pan and roast the onions, the garlic, the mushrooms and the salmon. Then deglaze everything with the white wine and stir some sour cream into the pan to create a nice creamy sauce. Put the flesh of half a lemon in the pan (you can half the fruit slices), add the minced capers and season the whole thing with the oyster sauce, salt (but be careful, the oyster sauce already tastes saltily) grounded pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.

Let the salmon simmer in the sauce till it's well done et voilà you're dinner is ready.

Serve with a lighted candle and two glasses of white wine on a small table for two and last but not least Salmon says:
'Have a nice dinner.'

You want somma dis sausage?

Yeah I bet you want some.

And that's why today I'm gonna tell you how to make a Bavarian/Swiss delicacy. Good old-fashioned sausage salad.

It's the perfect light meal for a hot summer day, easy and quick to prepare and it's plain delicious.
In Southern Germany you can get it all year long in every inn and tavern. But you'll find it mostly being eaten on nice sunny days out in the beer garden of a pub.
Traditionally you'll have a pretzel or dark bread and a nice cold lager with the salad.

There are many variations of sausage salad, some with cheese, some without. Also some have pickles in it or even radishes or tomatoes.

For two people you'll need:

• half a ring Bologna or 3 to 4 Regensburger sausages
  (a total of about 300 gramm)
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• 50 gram Emmentaler or Swiss Mountain Cheese
• brandy or wine vinegar
• medium-strength or Dijon mustard

First of all, cut the sausages and the onions up into slices. Some people prefer really thin slices, others prefer the slices to be a bit thicker. I usually go with the thicker slices as you'll see in the picture below.
Then put the onions and the sausage slices in a bowl and cover them with a vinaigrette made from water, vinegar, salt, pepper and a pinch of mustard. Make the vinaigrette sourish but not too sour and a little bit salty. As a suggestion you could make it out of 100 ml vinegar, 250 ml water and half a teaspoon salt. But feel free to season to your own liking. Just remember, make it sour and salty, but keep it edible. You probably won't need salad oil in there, the sausage should provide enough fat.
While you marinade the sausages, cut the cheese and the tomato in mouth sized bits.
After 15 to 30 minutes you can add the cheese and the tomatoes (or pickles or radishes or all told)
 

Like I mentioned, a pretzel and a lager keeps it perfect company on a hot summer day.
There's nothing left to say except: "An Guadn!" (That's Bavarian for "Enjoy your meal!")

Sometimes you just don't get the hang of it

It's nearly the mid of the month and there's nothing I can post about.
Nothing except a failed attempt at some linguine with oyster mushrooms.
I'll try it again but it can't say when I'll get the time to do so.
Actually I'm somewhat stressed right now.
I failed at getting a place at university but that's not that bad at all, for plan B kicking in.
And the glorious plan B reads as follows:
Moving together with my girlfriend.
For you folks who never moved on your own, it can be a real messy, stressful and nerve-wracking thing.
But first of all, we gotta find us a nice new home. And that one is much easier said than done.
So you'll have to forgive my insolence; I'm not going to post new stuff till that one is sewn up.

Real American heritage, baby

Hey folks, today I wanna tell you the one or other thing about my girl. She's a real beaut, smart and funny but damn, sometimes she can get really demanding.
Don't get me wrong, she's a awesome girl. I really love her, exact the way she is but lord, sometimes she drives me crazy.
Tbh I'm not the easiest character out there and she has her own cross to bear with me. I know that, too.
And I love her funny lively way and while having a major affection for make-up (she has her own beauty blog) she also has some nerdish perks you'd never guess. And that's really cool, I think.
Also one awesome thing about her is her descent. You have to know, she's a real American girl, born in San Francisco, USA, unlike me.
And because today's her birthday, this post is dedicated to my gorgeous lovely lady.
So today's recipe is about a real American breakfast.
Today it's gonna be pancakes en masse.
The first time I ate pancakes was merely a few months ago when my girlfriend came up with that idea for Sunday's breakfast.
And it was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had in my life.
So if you or your girl never had pancakes before, now's the perfect time to consider them your next breakfast.

The ingredients are for about 12 medium sized (~ 12 cm in diameter) pancakes

• 2 medium sized eggs
• 400 gram of plain flour
• 1 small packet of baking powder (or 1 tbsp.)
• about 300 ml milk
• maple syrup
• butter
• some fresh fruits (I went with blueberries)
• some bacon strips (if desired)

So now all you have to do is put all the ingredients together in a bowl, stir them and maybe you can add some extra milk to get the mixture smooth but not too runny.

Put a frying pan on medium to high heat, put some oil (or whatever you use instead) in it and wait for it to get temperature.
Now take a ladle and pour the dough into the pan, creating the desired small cakes.
I generally make a stack containing three pancakes. You are free to make even bigger stacks, but you probably don't want to make them smaller. When you pile them up, spread some butter between each
layer and finally on the top too. Then drown that tower in syrup. Seriously you can't get enough syrup. Pour the blueberries on top and if you like you can add a side of baconstrips (As for me, what goes for syrup goes for bacon, too. There is never enough bacon.)

 If you wonder, yeah that's blood orange juice again. I do love it.