Enjoy Germany’s Stuttgart Wine Fest

Stuttgart Wine Village, 2014 (Germany) welcomes you with more than 500 exotic wines from Baden and Wurttemberg. The beautifully decked-up 125 wine arbours will certainly drive you crazy. Not only this, the masterchefs from Stuttgart show their cookery skills through best of Swabian food like Kasespatzle, Maultaschen, Schupfnudeln etc. Kasespatzle is noodle plus cheese blend. Maultaschen are filled pasta squares. Schupfnudeln are potato noodles with sauerkraut. Once you mention the word wine, in Stuttgart, you are there with the list of award winning local vintners and the popular wines produced there. Not to a surprise, by 16th century, Stuttgart served as one of the largest wine-growing communities in the German nation. The best of wines grown here include Trollinger, Spatburgunder and Lemberger.  

Trollinger is fruitful and light red in color. It is enjoyed when freshly made and old as well. Limberger is a special variety of red grape that's grown in the Wurttemberg area, Germany. Spatburgunder stands among the top quality wines with amazing ageability. So lemme start with Swabian appetizer called Maultaschen and refreshing cocktail.

Swabian Maultaschen:-

Ingredients:-

4 beaten Eggs,

1 cup Ground beef,

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg,

1/2 cup minced Onion,

1 pound frozen Spinach,

2 tablespoons Butter/Oil,

Salt and Pepper as required,

1 package Wonton wrappers,

4 Bread slices soaked in milk,

1 beaten Egg with a little Water.

Preparation Method:-

1. Thaw the spinach, squeeze out the liquid and chop finely. Heat butter or oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute the onions. Add ground beef and saute until cooked thoroughly.

2. Mix the spinach and ground beef mixture together in a large bowl. Crumble bread into the bowl and add the eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Knead the filling to form a paste.

3. Place 2 teaspoons of the filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper, moisten the edges with a little of the egg-water mixture. Fold the wrapper in two and press down on the edges to seal. Repeat this with the remaining filling. Lay them on a baking sheet as they are finished.

4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the finished maultaschen and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and serve topped with bread crumbs toasted in melted butter. Or serve in a bowl with a little beef or chicken broth!

Trollinger Sprizz

Ingredients:-

80 ml Trollinger,

1 slice Orange,

Rhubarb as required,

250 ml Mineral water,

30 ml Fruity-bitter liqueur,

Aromatic herbs as required.

Preparation Method:-

Blend all the ingredients together. Top-up with ice cubes. Serve with slice of orange. Enjoy!

Enjoy the Wine Fest!!

La Tomatina Festival

La Tomatina is held each year in Spain in the month of August. This food fight festival includes people throwing more than a hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes at each other. People participate in the paella cooking competition, a night before the tomato fight. The first event of La Tomatina first begins at 11:00 am. The festival is accompanied by music, dance, parades and lots of fireworks. Hope you liked my recipe, Spanish omelette. So let's prepare a recipe rich in tomatoes to celebrate La Tomatina to the fullest. Meatballs with Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce can be prepared in 30 minutes and forms a great appetizer(dry) or main course (gravy). The main course can be served with spaghetti or rice. 

Meatballs with Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

For Meatballs:-

1/4 cup unseasoned Dry bread crumbs,

500 grams ground Beef,

1/2 teaspoon Garlic salt,

4 medium Green onions,

1/4 teaspoon Pepper,

1 egg.

For the Tomato Sauce:-

1/2 cup Water,

2 tablespoons Wine vinegar,

3/4 cup chopped dried Cherries,

1 Handful chopped fresh Chives,

25.5 oz fire roasted Tomato pasta sauce.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 D. F. Mix meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Shape into 25 (1 1/2 Inches) meatballs. Place on an ungreased pan.

2. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. You can check this with the help of tooth-prick, the meat must not stick to it.

3. Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, heat all sauce ingredients except chives. Boil it, stir occasionally. Reduce the heat. Stir in meatballs. Sprinkle with chives. Serve hot!

Enjoy La Tomatina Festival!

Special July 4th Recipes - Happy Independence Day

Fourth of July represents birth of the United States of America as an altogether independent nation. As this auspicious day is falling on Friday, I am definitely gonna have a great weekend. My sister, her husband along with two lovely kids are gonna pay a visit to my place. The grand day must be welcomed by grand meal. I have already decided the menu. Hence, I will be selecting, quick and easy meal plus the meal that can be pre-prepared since I will like to share nuggets of my life with my sweet sister. They will be landing by brunch time. Just have a look at the goodies, I have decided for them. I will be celebrating Fourth of July with traditional/patriotic meal.

Have a look at my special menu:-

Double Beef Cheese Burger - I will be preparing traditional American Double Beef Cheese Burger. This will consist of two spicy beef patties, with rich American cheese slices plus creamy burger spread. I prefer making this at home. 

The Patriotic Spread/Dip Recipe:-

Ingredients:-

1 Cup Mayonnaise,

2 Tablespoons sweet relish,

2 Teaspoons prepared mustard,

1/2 Teaspoons white sugar.

Preparation Method:-

Mix the ingredients thoroughly till the sugar is dissolved completely. 

You can prepare the spread in advance to have a good chit-chat time with your pals. I'm doing the same, since I have a lot many things to share with my family. Infact the beef patties can be prepared a night before, we just need to warm it up. What a quick and easy recipe! Beef is my family's all time favorite.

Seven Layer Salad -  This classic potluck salad is a quick and easy recipe, stuffed with layers of veggies, cheese and bacon. You just need placing the greens in glass bowl. Then top it with layers of celery, peppers, onions, bacon and peas at the end. Then spread mayo over the peas. This completely covers the top of salad. Lastly, sprinkle with cheese. Refrigerate for 12 hours for flavors to blend completely. This recipe can be prepared in advance.

Apple Pie Pops - How can I forget the sweet children, Jane and Peter! Kids are very fond of Apple Pie Pops, what a delightful thought. Well hope you liked my recipe, Crunchy Apple Pie. I had prepared it during Christmas and everybody just loved it. Hope these Apple Pie Pops will be equally magical. I will be gifting kids a box full of this amazing sweets. 

This is not all I’ve got many coleslaw, salads etc. to share with you. Stay tuned. 

Happy Independence day!!

Dish of the Day - Tomato Bredie

Africa is so very tantalizing that a mere mention of the continent fills your mind with adventurous safaris, rugged trekking expeditions, relaxing on the golden beach, mummies of ancient Egypt, crude cultures, all in all a paradise for travelers. During the medieval period, grand cities of Fez, Marrakech and Timbuktu were of utmost importance and can be adored even today. Nevertheless the journey would be incomplete if you do not explore the great African cuisine. And here we’re gonna talk about one of the most savored African dish, named Tomato Bredie.

Bredie originally comes from Malaysian origin but its varied flavors are widely loved in Africa. It is basically traditional stew with a perfect blend of meat and vegetables. Bredie has ample of variations such as green bean bredie, cabbage bredie and tomato bredie. Tomato Bredie is unique in itself. It contains meat and vegetables that serve as the best platter for nutritions plus spices that make the royal dish even more delectable. Tomato Bredie is the most famous version of this specialty.

Ingredients:-

1 tablespoon vegetable oil,

3 1/2 pounds chopped lamb,

2 tablespoons cake flour,

1 large chopped onion,

2 1/4 pounds fresh chopped tomatoes,

1 teaspoon salt,

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,

6 whole white peppercorns,

2 bay leaves,

1 teaspoon brown sugar,

1 tablespoon white vinegar,

1 dash Worcestershire sauce,

1 cube beef bouillon cube,

2 quartered medium potatoes

Preparation Method:-

1. Take a heavy saucepan. Add some oil and keep it over medium high. Coat meat in flour. Cook until brown.

2. Add onion till they turn brown. Now add tomatoes and mix well. Stir in bay leaves, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, black pepper, white peppercorns, Worcestershire sauce and beef bouillon cube.

3. Cover it and simmer for 1 1/4 hours. Keep stirring. The stew must not stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Now add potatoes and cook over low heat for 45 minutes. 

 

4. Our dish is ready to be served. It complements well with steam rice.

Enjoy the luscious treat!!