Potato soup from Berlin

                                                                               Receta en Español
                                                                          
Potato soup is very typical in Germany, specially in Berlin. This is a dish with a lot of energy that you can take in winter.

Ingredients (4 people):

• 700 g potatos.
• 1 carrot.
• 1 piece celeriac.
• 1 piece leek.
• 1 onion.
• 1 garlic clove.
• 100 g bacon.
• 1 l water or broth.
• 1 tablespoon marjoram.
• 2 Bockwurst sausages.

Method:

1.    Peel potatos and cut them into thick pieces.

2.    Cut carrots,celeriac, onion and leek.

3.    Put some oil in a casserole, sautée garlic and onion.

4.    Cut bacon into strips, add it to the casserole and cook until bacon is done.

5.    Add the rest of the ingredients, add potatos at the end.

6.    Add 1 liter boiling water or broth.

7.    Add salt, pepper and marjoram.

8.    Cook on a low heat for 20 minutes.

9.    Remove from the fire , use a food processor to crush the ingredients , after that you can pass the soup through a siebe.

10.  Some minutes before serving , add sausages cut into slices and cook for 5 minutes.

My comments to the recipe:

This is an easy recipe to make, with a marvellous taste, I didn't know celeriac, it has a perfumed taste very nice to find in a soup, sausages provide the typical German touch. 

Where to find the ingredients:

 You can buy celeriac sometimes at Hipercor, in Madrid I found it at Ventas market, at 209  'Frutas y Verduras Toñín' .

Marjoram is also difficult to find at supermarkets but it is easier to find at herbalist's shop.

Germany

SauerKraut , choucroute (fermented cabbage)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Sauerkraut is also known als choucroute or choucrut in France, it is popular in Europe but it is a very old dish, fermented cabbage was already used during the construction of The Greart Wall.

It is very popular in Germany, there are some special recipients to ferment cabbage called Harsch crock. It is also possible to ferment cabbage in canned jars, you can use a jar 2 liters capacity.

During the fermentation the number of lactic bacteries, who are present on the surface of the cabbage, are considerably increased. 
Lactic bacterias are anaerobic microrganisms, they produce lactic acid from the carbohydrates of the plant.
Lactic acid and other substances obtained by fermentation provide preservative capacity given its antimicrobial activity.
Lactobacillum and Bifidubacterium are examples of these bacterias. Fermented cabbage is considered a probiotic.
The moment you put cabbage to ferment you can add different spices, the recipe I am going to show you is the simplest one, without spices. This way you can add the spices the moment you are going to cook it.

You can eat this fermented cabbage cooked or not to make salads or accompany meat.

Ingredients:

• 1 sterilized canned jar 2 liters capacity.
• 1 cabbage.
• 2 tablespoon salt.

Method:

1.       Take two whole leafs of the cabbage,  set aside to use them later.

2.       Cut the cabbage in half, get rid of the stem.

3.     Shred the cabbage into thin stripes.

 

4.       Put the shreded cabbage in a non metalic bowl.

         

5.      Sprinkle the salt over the cabbage and mix well, let stand for one hour so the cabbage starts to release its natural juice.

6. After 1 hour the volume of the cabbage has reduced.

 7. Crush cabbage for 15 minutes to make the cabbage release more juice.

8. Sterilize the jar: boil water and place the jar in it.

9. Now put the cabbage into the jar, keep on crushing the cabbage. Put the 2 whole cabbage leafs on top to cover the rest of the cabbage , the natural juice of the cabbage should be over the cabbage:

10. To keep the cabbage well crushed you can put a glass on top of it, as you see in the picture:

11. If the natural juice of the cabbage doesnt reach the top of the jar , fill it with water, cover the jar, keep for 3 or 4 days in a dark and cool place.

12. After 3 or 4 days put the jar into the fridge, after 3 weeks the cabbage is already fermented. You can keep it in the fridge for 6 months. This is how cabbage should look like:

Germany

Saudi Arabia

 By Javierblas (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
 By Keepscases (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Recipes from Saudi Arabia that I cooked:

  Khubz (Pita bread).

Tahini.

  Hummus.

  Mint Lemonade.

  Kabsa (Chicken rice from Saudi Arabia).

  Pistachios stuffed dates

Saudi Arabia

Pistachio Stuffed dates

                                                                              Receta en Español

Dates are typical from Saudi Arabia, they are cooked stuffed with nuts,coconut or chocolate, today I show you how to cook Pistachio Stuffed dates.

Ingredients:

• 22 Dates.
• 70 grams natural husked Pistachios.
• 2 dessert spoons of orange blossom water.

Method:

1. Grind pistachios.

2. Mix ground pistachios with blossom water.
3. Mix well until you obtain a paste.

4. Cut dates along side , get rid of the seed.
5. Put the mixture of pistachios with blossom water inside  the dates.

My comments to the Recipe:

They are very easy to make and extremely delicious, pistachios and dates make a perfect match. You should try them!.



Saudi Arabia

Kabsa (chicken rice from Saudi Arabia)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Kabsa is the national dish of Saudi Arabia, it is rice accompanied by chicken, lamb or fish. The recipe I present to you is rice accompanied by chicken.

I found this recipe at this blog where you can find other Saudi recipes:

http://www.yasalamcooking.com/chicken-kabsa/#.UoqAEHiDN0s

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken in Pieces.
• 1 cup basmati rice.
• oil.
• 1 tomato diced.
• 2 chillis cut into strips.
• 2 bay leaves.
• Half a stock cube.
• 1 onion in pieces.
• 2 cloves of garlic.
• 6 cardamom beans.
• 5 cloves.
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
• 2 black lemons.
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin.
• 1 teaspoon coriander.
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper.
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
• 200 grams tomato sauce.
• Some raisins.
• (Optional) 1 diced boiled egg and some toasted almonds.

Method:

1. put oil,onion and garlic in a casserole, put on a medium heat and sautée until gold.
2. Add bay leaves, cardamon, coriander, salt, black lemons, pepper, ginger, cumin, cloves, cinnamon. Sautée for a minute.
3. Add tomato sauce, diced tomato, stock cube and chillis.
4. Mix well and put on a low heat.
5. Add chicken and cook for some minutes stirring well to mix chicken with the spices.

6. Add water to cover the chicken totally, put on a high heat and boil, After reaching boiling point put on a low heat and cook for 35 minutes covered with a lid.

7. Once chicken is done, take 2 cups of the broth you have obtained after cooking it, we will use this broth to cook the rice.
8. Mix the broth with the rice in another casserole, put on a high heat , after reaching boiling point put on a low heat and cook covered for 10 minutes.
9. Serve chicken on the rice, add raisins, (egg and almonds if you want).

Where to buy the ingredients:

I bought black lemons in a shop at Antonio Calvo street, close to Madrid's mosque.



Saudi Arabia

Hummus

                                                                               Receta en Español

Hummus is an arab word to name cheakpeas, this is a very popular dish all over Middle East.

Ingredients

• 200 grams cheakpeas.
• 2 tablespoons of tahini.
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
• 2 garlic cloves.
• Salt.
• A pinch of cumin.
• A pinch of ground coriander.
• A pinch of grounded black pepper.
• A pinch of sweet paprika.
• A splash of olive oil.

Method:

1. Soak cheakpeas over night, you can add a teaspoon of baking soda to make them get soft  faster.
2. Put cheakpeas in a pressure cooker with water and salt. Water should just cover cheakpeas.
3. Close the pressure cooker and set on a high heat, once steam comes out of the safety valve , put on a low heat and cook  for 1 hour.
4. Drain cheakpeas , put them in a food processor, add garlic cloves, tahini, lemon, coriander, pepper and cumin. Process until you get a puree, if it is too dick you can add some water.

6. Put the purée in a dish, pour a splash of olive oil , sprinkle cumin and paprika.
7. You can conserve hummus in the fridge for a week, you should eat it accompanied by  khubz.



Saudi Arabia