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Recently I made a trip over to my grandparent's house and made chicken noodle soup with dumplings, an easy but time-consuming task. I found out that my great grandmother stuck five (or was it six?) whole chickens in the pot when she made the soup. Of course, she was feeding 20 more people than I am. (While waiting, take this as a prime opportunity to have a cup of coffee and chat with your foxy, all-adoring grandmother.)

 Chicken Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
Soup-
1 whole chicken (about 6 lbs)
1 tablespoon salt
4 whole allspice
2 cups carrots chopped bite-sized
2 cups celery cleaned chopped bite-size
1 cup onion diced fine
1 tablespoon pepper
Cold water 3 inches above chicken

Rinse chicken, then place in stock pot. Fill with cold water 3 inches past 

chicken. Add salt and allspice. Bring pot to boil, cover, and let cook on 

medium for 1-1 1/2 hours. Chop carrots, celery, and onion while chicken is cooking.
Skim tallow from top of pot.

Remove chicken from broth when falling apart. Place chicken in colander to cool for 15 minutes until it can be taken off the bone and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add chopped carrots, celery and onion, and pepper to broth. Cover and cook the vegetables until tender. Once tender, put chicken back in pot and enjoy.


Dumplings-
3 eggs (minimum)
Cold water 3/4 of the way up the side of the pan
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups flour (to start)

Crack eggs, cover, and let sit to room temperature. Add salt to water. 
Once room temperature, beat eggs and add milk. Add flour 2 cups at a 
and whisk well between. Test the batter. Separate a tablespoon of batter
with a spoon and place in water for each dumpling. Cook 7-10 minutes. 
Once done, strain and add to soup.

Pożegnanie,
~Q.Q.

Hey!

This is not a cultural food post. This is a, I-went-apple-picking-and-wanted-to-make-pie-post. This is the apple pie we make every year after we go apple picking.

Apple Pie Recipe

2-Crust Pie:
2/3 cups and 2 tablespoons Crisco
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4-5 tablespoons cold water

Cut shortening into flour and salt until pea-sized. Add
water a spoonful at a time. Roll crust into 2 balls, then
roll both out.


Apple Pie Filling:
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cups flour
3-4 tablespoons cinnamon
Dash salt
6 cups apples-granny smith
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make crust. Mix all ingredients
except butter. Dot with butter. Seal and make slits. Sprinkle
sugar and cinnamon. Bake 40-50 minutes.


See ya!
~Q.Q.

Selamat Datan

Over the weekend, I met up with family friends Lee, Ryan, and Aidon to make an Asian meal part of Lee's culture. We made Ants Climbing Trees, from the recipe book "The Food of China". While you're waiting, it's fun to have a concert.

Ingredients:                                                                                                                            

LUSTROUS GLASS NOODLES                           

125 minced pork or beef                                         

1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce                                                                                       

1/2 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine                                 

1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame oil                                         

125 g glass noodles                                                 

1 tablespoon oil                                                        

2 spring onions, finely chopped                              

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger                              

1 garlic clove, finely chopped                                  

1 teaspoon chili bean paste

2 spring onions, green part only, finely chopped             

                                                                                  

SAUCE                                                                         

1 tablespoon light soy sauce                                            

1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine                               

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame oil

2250 mL chicken stock

                                                              Instructions:

Combine the minced meat with the soy sauce, wine and sesame oil. Soak the glass noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain. 

Heat a wok over high heat, add the oil and heat until very hot. Stir-fry the minced meat, mashing and separating it, until it changes color and starts to brown. Push the meat to the side of the wok, add the spring

onion, ginger, garlic and chili bean paste and stir-fry for 5 seconds, or until fragrant. Return the meat to the

center of the pan. 

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients. Add the sauce to the meat mixture and toss lightly. Add the 

noodles and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 minutes, or until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Sprinkle with the spring onion.

We added dried mushrooms that we soaked for fifteen minutes before dicing and adding to the sauce.

         

 Glass noodles are fairly tasteless and kind of chewy but are perfect for this dish.
 You may not be able to view what I am speaking of in the picture, but glass noodles are relatively clear, and hard to find in the water.

Just brown the pork,

add the sauce and you're done!


Selamat Jalan!
~Q.Q.

Grüß Gott

Over the summer, my family and I took a trip to Austria to visit family. It was so much fun I couldn't believe it. One of the best parts, other than meeting new people, was the food. After hitting one of the big cities, we went to Fleckendorf, a small village where my aunt and uncle live. We arrived at Fleckendorf 11 around three in the afternoon, just in time for tea.

Aunt Luise and I.

Fleckendorf 11.

Just  in time for tea.

In that last picture, you might see a tiny plate filled with tiny red and gold desserts. These are currant cakes, a square of deliciousness that I immediately fell in love with. Aunt Luise modified the recipe for sheet cake, and isn't sure how she did it, but here is her recipe for currant cakes:

Cake:

7 ounces flour

I/2 t. baking powder

3 1/2 ounces butter, cut into sml pieces

3 1/2 ounces sugar

pinch salt

1 egg

Mix together dry ingredients with cold butter until it resembles course meal; I do this using a kitchen machine. Then add egg and mix until dough is formed. Roll dough out to fit springform. It's easiest if you roll out bottom of form and then make long roll and press this to the sides; make sure half the height is covered.

Filling:

3 yolks

3 1/2 ounces sugar

4 1/2 ounces ground almonds

3 egg whites

1 lb red currants

Beat yolks with sugar and 1 tablespoon water til frothy. Add almonds and stiffly beaten egg whites and fold this into yolk mixture Bake 10 minutes in preheated oven at 375 and then turn down to 340 and bake another 40 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream and enjoy!

Auf Wiedershauen!

~Q.Q.

¡Hola!

   I am the Quesadilla Queen. Every time I am left to my own devices for a meal, I make a quesadilla. When debating names for this blog, the Panini Princess was also an option, because I am crazy about Paninis. It may seem that I only like simple foods, which is 1, not true, and 2, these two foods previously mentioned are only as simple as you make them. You can modify both quesadillas and paninis to any meal, with any ingredients, which is what I love about these so called "simple foods".

   My mother introduced me to cooking as a young girl, and I have loved it ever since. To me, it's an enjoyable feeling to be capable of creating something for yourself, by yourself. I truly believe that anyone can cook, so everyone should be able to feel good that they were able to make a meal for their family.

   Really, I am most passionate about foods from different cultures. We have family and friends with so many recipes that I've never heard of, and I want to learn them. I want to expand my knowledge of cultures and people through food, and I figured that if I wanted to learn this stuff, wouldn't other people want to learn this too? So I decided to make a blog, to share my adventures about the world, all from the comfort of my own kitchen. 

Hasta luego!

~Q.Q.