Bulletten, Spaetzle and Vegies

OK we start off with the ingredients for the Bulletten, which are ground meat patties, mostly a mix of beef and pork. I usually buy the two seperately, but I found a meat loaf mix, consisting of beef, pork and veal, so I tried it this time. Then I used two eggs, but normally I only use one but this was so much meat. I added a chopped large onion, about three cloes of garlic, about a Tbsp. of bread crumbs. salt, pepper, chilli powder and marjoram as well as some worchestire sauce.

I mix all the ingredients:



And form little patties, making sure they're all evenly sized:

Then I panfry them in some canola oil and butter:



Meanwhile I make the Spaetzle. Just mix 500g flour, 5 eggs, 220 ml warm water and one Tbs salt and let it stand for ten minutes. Then stir it again. The dough should not rip when being pulled up.

Boil salt water and then use a Spaetzle Maker (mine is a Tupperware one from Germany-Thanks Mom!). Just do one batch at a time and scoop up the Spaetzle as soon as they come up, which is pretty much right away.

After the Bulletten are done I make gravy. I just add about 2 cups of water and then some binder and spice it so it tastes good.

And then you get to enjoy it all after working so hard to make it:)

Tomato-Basil Soup

This one is really easy. We start with 3 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, 3 cups of chicken broth, 3 garlic cloves, 2 Tsp. olive oil, 3/4 Tsp. Salt and 2 cups of fresh basil, thinlys sliced (I didn't have fresh basil at first, so that's why I put the dried basil in the picture).

So, first I sauteed the garlic:

Then I added the broth, tomatoes and salt and brought it to a boil and the let it simmer for 20 minutes:

Meanwhile I baked some French bread (a la Pillsbury):

After the soup was done simmering, I added the basil:

Puree the soup:

And serve it:

Spaghetti and Shrimp

OK, here we go: I use frozen cooked, tail-on shrimp because it's easy. Then we need some lemon-pepper, the juice of one lemon and a few cloves of garlic, some olive oil and some basil (I usually prefer fresh basil, but was out).

I marinate the shrimp first in the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and spices:

Then I sautee the shrimp until they're done:
I add the spaghetti that were left over from my pasta dinner and that's it:

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of ythe plate...I was hungry.

Pizza Night

I updated the Pizza Night post here.

Pasta with Homemade Pasta Sauce

This is a combination of several tomato sauce recipes and it varies each time, especially the amount of spices I use.
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz. can tomato paste
1 cup water
1-1 1/2 cup chopped onions
1-1 1/2 cup chopped carrots
4 garlic cloves
2 Tsp sugar
2 Tsp dried Oregano
1/2 Tsp Salt

Sautee the onions, garlic and carrots in some olive oil...

...until they're nice and tender:

Add the rest of the ingredients except the ground beef:

Meanwhile brown the ground beef:

And then you add the meat to the sauce:

And there you have it! I cook it any time between 30 minutes to several hours, depending on how early I get started.

Serve it over spaghetti:

And with some Parmesan:

Pork Chops with Maple Mustard Glaze

My favorite pork chops recipe, found at Cooking Light.
And here are all the ingredients.

Brown the pork first and remove from pan:

Add the broth (I only had chicken broth), maple syrup, mustard, sage and thyme:

And let it cook:

Add the cream:

Return the pork chops to the pan:

And enjoy! I made Near East rice and some frozen veggies:

Last Night I cheated

Every now and then I need to make something easy. That's when those yummy Knorr Fix meals come in very handy. I get them from Germany, but I am sure you can find them online. I love GermanDeli.com, because they have anything I could want from Germany.

So I saute the mushrooms and follow the directions and in less than 5 minutes I am done. It took me longer to boil the egg noodles.

Looks good, eh?

Pizza Night - Updated

First I start making the sauce:

I usually make some extra sauce and freeze it, so that I have some ready to go.

Done:

And here is the rest. I used Pillsbury crust for the first time today. I'm usually the Boboli kind of person, but we'll see.

Since I have a lot more pizza to work with, I split it up. Ham and Pineapple on one side and corn, ham, peppers and broccoli on the other side.

17 minutes later, dinner is done and I can't wait:

As far as the Boboli/Pillsbury comparison goes, I like the Pillsbury because it's thinner and the edges are crustier. I will definitely use it again.

Update: I forgot to post the recipe here so there you go:
In a meduim saucepan combine one 8 oz. can tomato sauce; one 7 1/2 oz. can, undrained tomatoes, cut up; 1/2 cup chopped onions; 1 Tbsp dried basil, crushed; 1 Tsp sugar; 1 Tsp dried oregano, crused; 2 cloves garlic, minced; and 1/4 Tsp pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or till onion is tender.
- Courtsey of Better Homes and Gardens

Bon Appetit

Alright. Let's see. This is where I will try and show off my cooking skills...or the development of them:)
Enjoy!