I'm not German, but I can cook like one - PART 1

While my husband is figuring out his saurbraten recipe, which I will post later, I thought I'd post my recipe (stolen from my poppa) for German Potato Salad.  I love this salad because 1). while it does use fat in the form of a bacon dressing, there's no mayo or sour cream, so it can stand out longer without get funky, and 2). It's not sweet, like traditional mayo potato salad.  This is really one of those "taste it 'til it's right" recipes, so I recommend frequent samplings to make sure you've got the flavor you want!

Ingredients
Potatoes - we make large batches of this, so we use about ten red potatoes.  You can certainly use any kind you'd like; I'd shoot for around 2 pounds or so, more or less depending on your need.  I like the red, though, because they're less mealy and stay firm longer.
Dill pickle - Dill relish works perfectly here, and I usually use this.  If you don't want to, I'd suggest non-kosher dill pickle chips.  I always get chips, because they're easier to chop.  If you can't find non-kosher chips, any will do, really.
bacon - again, this depends on how much bacon flavor you want.  Typically, for two pounds of potatoes I'll use between 1/2 and 2/3 of a pound of bacon (1/2 or 2/3 of the pack).  This is one of those situations where really expensive, lean bacon is NOT what you want.  Because the fat is a key ingredient in the salad dressing, you need to make sure you have a bacon that has enough fat to generate some liquid.  Also, I tend to leave my bacon in the freezer until shortly before I am going to use it; this way, it's MUCH easier to chop into pieces!
vinegar - I always use apple cider.  I probably wouldn't deviate here, but if you had to in a pinch, I'd definitely go with the white distilled and avoid red wine or balsamic!
brown sugar - light or dark brown will do, and this will really be to taste; probably less than a cup

salt, pepper

Cube your potatoes into bite size pieces and place in a pot with water.  Place this pot on the stove under med/high heat and cook until the potatoes are fork tender but not falling apart.  Honestly, even if they do go a little to far your product will be delicious; it'll just be a little bit more mushy, which is still yummy!  When these are finished, simply set them aside.

In a pan, place the bacon and place over heat.  Cook the bacon until it is rendered but not crispy!  Again, if you like your bacon crispy, awesome; feel free.  I tend to prefer my bacon not quite that well done for this salad.

Once the bacon is finished, remove the meat and leave the bacon fat in the pan.  You are going to be making a dressing by adding vinegar here, so depending on how big your salad is going to be, use your judgement; if you need to remove some of the fat, just dump some.Then, add your vinegar and brown sugar.  This is usually about a 2:1 recipe, vinegar to fat, and you need to add as much sugar as you'd like until it tastes slightly vinegary with a hint of bacon. Add the bacon pieces back to this dressing. 

Salt this dressing to taste and set aside.

If you're not using relish, chop your pickles.  I usually use about half the jar, but again, this can be to taste.  I tend to chop the pickle chips pretty small.  Place the pickles into the potato mixture and stir.  Then, add the dressing and stir it all together.

Here is where you will have to do some tasting!  You may need to add more salt or more brown sugar depending on what it needs.  

The great thing about this recipe is you can eat this hot,cold, and everything in between.  It's great right away, or after sitting for a few hours.  It's a great addition to a summer BBQ because there's no mayo to get all yuckers!

Tequila Lime Shrimp

The thing I'm beginning to learn here, at least when I'm in Breckenridge (altitude, 9600ft), is that the quicker the recipe the better. Cooking anything takes time, here. And patience. I typically run short on both. So we eat at 8:30 at night, and I've still yet to cook a perfect pot of pasta up here. But I'm getting closer. The other night, I made rice and it actually turned out, although dinner was a bit later than hoped for.

See, it's cooking with liquid that is difficult up here. Which is pretty much everything I cook with the exception of some roasting I do.

1) Its super dry up here. I'm talking lip-splitting, skin-cracking, wake up at 3 in the morning feeling like you just drank the better part of a case of red wine dry up here. So therefore, when things boil or simmer, the liquid just gets sucked into the dry air even quicker than usual. So, we love our pots and pans with lids up here.

2) Atmospheric pressure. I won't get into the details, mostly because I sucked at physics. But basically, because of how high we are, there is way less atmospheric pressure. Which means that water boils at a much lower temperature (212 degrees Farenheit at sea level, maybe 185 up here... I didn't do the math, this is just an estimation). Which means that anything cooked in boiling water is being cooked at a much lower temperature than at sea level, so therefore we have to cook it longer. In the case of Breckenridge, much longer. I probably would be able to boil an egg in maybe 20 minutes? Which is pretty ridiculous, if you're from sea level.

So here lies my problem, and I'm sure I'll be moaning more about this in the future. Coming up here is like learning to cook all over again. I mean, I know what I want to do, but I have no way of determining how to get it done in a timely manner, and not be stuck chewing on uncooked pasta.

But I digress, this is a cooking blog, and so I will move on to cooking. As I mentioned, I made rice the other day, and it turned out fairly well. It was sort of mexican inspired rice, mostly because I had some canned tomatoes and chiles on hand. I'm big on using everything in my fridge, and so when I was figuring out my meal for tonight I focused on using that leftover rice. But after a day of skiing, what cooks fast and fairly easily? The answer (almost always to me) is shrimp. Which is kind of weird because I'm not a huge shrimp fan, but the ease of keeping a bag of frozen raw shrimp in my freezer and pulling out a handful makes a favorite meal solution of mine, especially when I'm cooking for myself. Just pull out however many frozen shrimp you want, place in a bowl of tap water for an hour or so, and they are thawed and you're set to go.

This recipe was kind of a concoction of my own, although I'm sure there are tons of others like it out there. Overall, it certainly hit the spot on a cold night.

Tequila Lime Shrimp

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped (or substitie 2 large shallots if you like)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tequila
1/2 cup chicken stock
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
8-10 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 avocado (optional)
2 Tbsp minced cilantro (optional)





In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until it covers the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent.  Add the tequila and let simmer until reduced to about half the volume. Add the chicken stock and juice of 1 lime, and season with salt and pepper. Once the mixture is heated, add the shrimp and cook until pink. Taste the sauce and season more if necessary.

Serve several shrimp and some of the sauce over a bowl of rice. Top with avocado or cilantro if you like.

Notes:
-This recipe benefits from a little heat, to balance the sweetness of the tequila and the tartness of the lime. I served this with spicy tomato rice, but if you're serving with plain white rice, consider adding a minced jalapeno (of desired spiciness) along with the onion and garlic at the beginning of the recipe.
-I would recommend using a decent tequila because what you're left with after the alcohol cooks off is the taste of the liquor itself. A good anejo has a sweet taste that cheaper version don't have.  
-The avocado and cilantro are optional, however I highly recommend using them. The fattiness of the avocado really lends itself to this dish, and I can't think of southwestern style cooking without the addition of cilantro. Of course, if you dislike the taste of cilantro, feel free to omit.

Yummers

So we have this amazing Asian grocery store near us (well, thirty minutes away) that has the most amazing protein and produce around.  Everything is super fresh, and the last time we were there (yesterday!) we purchased:

PRODUCE

Japanese sweet potatoes

Baby Bok Choy

asparagus

onions, red

onions, yellow

onions, white

shallots

garlic, fresh

red potatoes

lemons

limes

tangerines

cherries

PROTEIN

octopus, fresh

shark

salmon, sashimi grade

tilapia

flounder

Chilean Sea Bass

chicken thighs

chicken breasts

stir fry steak, cut super thin

We're going to make some kick-butt paella for a game night coming up soon, but the last two nights have been yummy.  Tonight, we had some delicious tilapia with asparagus and a modified puttanesca penne.

TILAPIA with BALSAMIC BUTTER SAUCE

Pat dry the tilapia and set aside.  In a small saucepan, heat on medium 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar with one crushed clove or garlic and some salt to taste until it has reduced about half and has thickened enough to coat a spoon.  Let cool slightly, then add 3/4 of a stick of butter (no one said this was a low fat recipe!) to the vinegar, setting it back on the heat, low.  Let this melt together and then take off the heat.

Simply salt and pepper the tilapia and add some lemon juice (I always squeeze on a bit).  We cook our tilapia in a pan with olive oil, about four minutes a side.

ASPARAGUS, ROASTED

We used about fifteen-twenty pieces of asparagus.  Take off the woody parts and set the asparagus aside.  In a small bowl, combine minced pork (bacon, ham, pancetta, etc.), a shallot, some parmesan cheese (the shaker kind's fine) and some lemon juice with olive oil.  toss the asparagus to coat, and then place the asparagus on a cookie sheet coated with olive oil.  Roast however you'd like (we convection-roasted it at 390 degrees for about ten - fifteen minutes).

PENNE with (sort of) PUTTANESCA SAUCE

Make penne however you want to.

For the sauce, in a pot combine two tablespoons of olive oil, about a tablespoon of smashed capers, a tablespoon of finely minced olives of your choice, and a little bit of butter with a dash of balsamic vinegar.  Once the pot's warm, add 28 oz. of canned Italian tomatoes.  I used the peeled plum in a can, and squeezed them into the pan, then added about 1/2 the remaining liquid from the can.  I also added about a 1/4 cup of powdered parmesan to thicken and add some flavor.  I didn't have any anchovy, however if I had I would have melted a 1/2 a finely minced anchovy into the sauce.

When the penne is done and the sauce has bubbled a bit, combine and enjoy!

Take 2?

So, recently my best-friend-in-the-world-kindred-spirit-other-half moved to Colorado; while we didn't see each other as much as either of us would have liked prior to the move, there's just something....other, I guess, about the difference between having the ability to see one another whenever we wanted and simply not having that as an option.  Even if I didn't see Kimmy all that often, I knew she was never more than an hour or two away if I needed her, and vice versa.  

Well, now that the move is complete, and she's, oh, lots of miles away, I thought we should rekindle something we started a few years ago.  At that time, we'd decided that one way we could stay in touch was to maintain a blog together.   One thing that joins our souls is our completely ridiculous and probably unhealthy adoration of all things food:  cooking it, eating it, talking about it, watching other people do it - food rocks our worlds, even with all the miles between us, and our blog, Whip, Whisk, Repeat, was an homage to that.

I realized today that, sadly, do to inactivity our original blog is kaput; it no longer exists, unfortunately.  Hopefully, after Kim receives my invitation, she'll agree that we can attempt a take two, if you will.  I imagine with her new-found home will come different kinds of ingredients, different ways of cooking them based on temperature and elevation and all those things we forget effects our cooking, and hopefully we can stay in touch here.  So.....I suppose the next entry will have to wait until Kimmy decides whether or not she's got time to do this.  :)