Wieners

I recently went on a little business trip to Germany. On this little business trip I discovered that the Deutsch love thier wieners. Seriously - this restaurant sign truly says it all. Jeremy flew over for a short weekend and we toured the Romantic Road with his cousin Joel and his wife Amy. They were fantastic tour guides as they talked us through all the menus...I actually tried a dish called Currywurst - and it was delish: fried hotdog, slathered in ketchup, and dusted with curry power. Jeremy, the hotdog connoisseur that he is, thought that the real flavor of the dog was over-powered by the ketchup.


On our first night, we stayed in the cutest medieval town called Rhottenburg. We decided to have "traditional" German food. I was delighted with my schnitzel but Joel got this rather unidentifiable item. I believe it was fried cod - but they fried EVERYTHING to include the scales. I don't think I would have been as happy as he was with this selection...

















On our last day in Germany, Joel and Amy made sure that we tried Doner Kebap - and it did not disappoint! It is fairly reminicient of a Greek Gyro - but better! They slice it off the stake as seen in this pic, and stuff it into flat bread with red cabbage, onions and this yummy sauce. Seriously awesome and a must try if you are ever in Germany!

A Little Fishy

Okay, so I tried the Cod with Leeks and Toms again - this time I actually used Cod. I was completely underwhelmed and fully prefered the Orange Roughy. However my test subjects: Sarah and Jeremy, both liked it.

There are several reasons why the cod wasn't great: the fish was frozen and quite possibly water logged or the orange roughy may have been fresher. Next time I try this recipe I might branch out and try some, *gasp*, FRESH FISH. Both fish were frozen jobbies from TJ's.

However, as you can tell the picture from the cookbook strongly resembles our end product - Tada!

It is a delish recipe, highly recommend you try it. However by the lack of comments I don't believe anyone actually reads what I'm writing...

Tonight, in all of my spare time I will add two more recipes with pictures. So stay tuned!

Save the Liver!

Not being an adventurous cook whatsover (think: steak and potatoes mostly) I decided to try Mario Batali's chicken liver and fettucini recipe. It sounds disgusting because what American under the age of having lived through the Depression eats liver. I was assured by Mario that Italians are not squeamish in the least about silly things like sweatbreads and tongues. Not being Italian myself, I'm not sure what I was thinking. (The Polish and the Irish stock from which I hail are not known for being creators of world class food- vodka and beer is where they'll kick your ass) I think it must have been the liter of chianti I was consuming last Sunday night while flipping through "Simple Italian Food" and half watching Goodfellas on TNT that prompted me to abandon my delightful spot on the couch and head to the ghetto Giant for a few simple ingredients. What turned out wasn't bad....I'm not saying that we will be having Liver Sundays at the Soja house from now on, but I was pleased that I tried it. I let Megan and little Jerry Seinfeld sample a bit of the leftovers as an "appetizer" before cod and leeks. The jury, as they say, was hung. "Gamey" and "meaty" were probably the best ways to describe Mario's and my creation. For the curious among you, you basically simmer some veggies and the aforementioned liver with some wine, tomato paste and bay leaves for 30 mintues. The resulting ragu is tossed with fettucini and parm. cheese and eaten....haltingly by me. Not bad, but pretty sure its not going to earn a place in the rotation.

Getting Rough

So just because I have't posted anything, doesn't mean I haven't been cooking! Jeremy and I tried a delish recipe that is definitely going on our list of faves: Cod with Leeks and Tomatoes. I did a little switch-a-roo with the fish: Cod for Orange Roughy; Trader Joe's didn't have any Cod the day we decided to make it. I don't know what it tastes like with Cod, but my goodness it was FAB with Orange Roughy! The whole darn thing from start to finish took 30 minutes - so simple!!

Serves 4

2 medium leeks, white and light-green parts only, thinly sliced, rinsed well, and patted dry
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 table spoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 sprigs thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
2 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (about 12 ounces)
4 cod fillets, each 6 to 8 ounces and 3/4 to 1 inch thick

1. Preheat the oven to 450*F. In a 9-by-13 inch baking dish, toss together the leeks, lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, thyme and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspon pepper. Cover with foil, and bake until the leeks just begin to soften, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Add the tomatoes, and toss to combine. Season both sides of the cod fillets with 1/2 teasponn salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; place on top of the vegetables.

3. Cover the dish and bake until the fish is opaque throughout, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Preparing the leeks:
Fist cut away and discard the leek's root and dark green leaves, then thinly slice the white and light green parts crosswise into rounds. Wash the leek rounds well, as dirt tends to collect in the rounds.