sörenberg bahnen

Thanks to social media, food bloggers, and celebrity chefs with too much time on their hands, pork belly was/is all the rage. It’s a common site on menus across the land, and you can’t channel surf past a food show without seeing it. It also helps that people are no longer terrified to eat a little fat, and that’s what I’m banking on with this pork belly recipe. Yep, turns out sugar and the simple carbs do the real damage, so belly up to the bar. Sure, the fat content is a tad high, but it’s no different than that your average sausage link, and when paired with a tart, aromatic, root vegetable puree, it doesn’t feel heavy. In fact, I use a touch of extra virgin olive oil to accent the meat and celery root. Celeriac is delicious, but fat free, and even though I added a little butter, the grassy, peppery oil lends a bracing richness. The same goes for the crispy-edged pork belly, and the dish provides an opportunity to enjoy three great fats doing three different things. I thought this ...

I am going to write about this dinner, because I need to purge it from my mind, but I am not going to go into tons of detail about it, as I usually do because, well, I just don’t have the energy for it. Chef Curtis Duffy is an extremely celebrated chef in Chicago—he worked under Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz at Trio and Alinea and has been awarded two Michelin stars at both Avenues, and his current location, Grace. Hubby and I had eaten at Avenues and not really dug it, but thought it was maybe too close to when they ended up closing. Well, as it turns out, we just don’t really care for his food. And seemingly we’re the only ones. But when you spend several hundred dollars on dinner and a wine pairing and for the second time you leave the place fairly nonplussed, we have decided we’re breaking up with Chef Duffy for good. It’s a 9-course prix fixe menu. The meal started with several little amuse items in a log. One of them was a bruleed banana which would have tasted great for desse...

While I know no one is ever actually scared by the "spooky" Halloween treats you see posted this time year, I do know for a fact that many people are terrified to work with meringue. Hopefully, these bones and ghosts will help chase those demons away. As long as your bowl is clean, and you don’t accidentally get any egg yolk in there, you should be fine. It may take a while, especially if you do it by hand, but if you keep whisking, eventually you should get a nice, glossy meringue that will hold a shape when piped. Speaking of which, you can make this in any shape you want, in case you were thinking about trying to do a full skeleton (show off). Of course, different shapes may change the cooking time, but you’ll figure it out.   As long as your meringue feels firm and dry, you’re probably in good shape to let it cool in the oven. By the way, I did these on a very humid day in San Francisco, and as they sat on the plate, they sort of stuck together a little bit.   They came a...

The next video won’t be posted until Wednesday this week, as I’m taking a couple days off for a little medical procedure that men my age are recommended to get. Hair transplant? No, it’s much further down.  That’s right, I’m going in for a colonoscopy, and as a minor YouTube celebrity, I feel it’s my duty to encourage all my fans and viewers over the age of 50 to do the same. I just skimmed the brochure, but apparently this simple test can save your life.  Remember, the longer you’re around, the more traffic these videos get. So, if you’re my age and haven’t had one done yet, please contact your doctor and get it scheduled as soon as possible…and as always, enjoy! .

This is another revisit that I feel I need to update after going back after my first post. My son and I were both excited to try the chicken at the North End again because it was just so darn good that first time. We were with my in-laws too, so we got to try a few new things as well. We had the salmon dip starter ($8) again, which we really enjoyed the first time. For some reason, I wasn’t feeling it as much this time—I realized later it was because I didn’t have the lemon wedges to squeeze on top that I had pilfered from the oysters last time. I would potentially get this again, but it needs the lemon to jazz it up. The thick cut house potato chips are great though—super crisp and well seasoned. We also tried the pimento cheese spread with Johnnycakes and green tomato chow chow ($7). The portions for these starters are generous. The cheese spread was a big hit with my kids as were the Johnnycakes. Unfortunately, there aren’t really enough Johnnycakes to go along with the cheese. We u...

The first time I bought quinoa, I cooked it without any seasonings. I tasted it, shrugged my shoulders and then put it back in the pantry. This COULDN'T be the same quinoa that people were raving about could it? What I found out (much later) was that you have to add veggies, spices, etc. to the quinoa (while cooking) and then something magical happens. Quinoa takes on the attitude of whatever you cook it with......want beefy? cook it in beef broth, want it spicy? cook it with Rotel tomatoes. Some people even eat it for breakfast, but I haven't tried that yet. So, lately, I've been experimenting with adding different things to quinoa and this beefy quinoa was a hit. I hope you like it too.     MUSHROOM QUINOA 3/4 cup chopped onion 6 large mushrooms 1 large carrot 1 cup peas 1 cup quinoa (rinsed and drained) 2 cups beef broth (I used Campbell's beef consume) 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper pinch of c...

The recently posted Beef on Weck served as a reminder of just how many great regional recipes come from Upstate and Western New York. Here are a few of my favorites that you may have missed. To see the full post and recipe, just click on the title, and away you go. Enjoy! Chicken Riggies The pride of Utica! Easy and delicious, this is Italian-American comfort food at it's finest. Chicken Spiedies This sandwich hails from Binghamton, and besides learning a great, new chicken recipe, you'll also learn what "zuzu" is. Syracuse Salt Potatoes Not only is this Syracuse salt potatoes recipe one of the most delicious ways to cook baby spuds, it’s also one of the most interesting. Cornell Chicken Despite being invented by an Ivy League professor, this simple grilled chicken recipe is nothing short of amazing.  

96 th Street Steakburgers is a quick place that our whole family can agree on. It’s borderline fast food, but about as close as I get on a semi-regular basis. They do cook the food to order and even the French fries are fresh. I haven’t written about it in a few years (holy moly does time fly) and since it is a fairly regular spot for us, I figured I’d do a quick revisit. The burgers are tasty—my favorite part being the special sauce they use. It’s got a little bit of tanginess to it and gives some extra depth to the burger. I get mine with cheese pickles and the sauce—hubby usually adds lettuce and grilled onions. Both options are tasty. It’s a fairly thin burger, and they cook them all the same, but the maintain a fairly juicy inside and have some crispy edges. The burgers are around $4 for a single and around $6 if you make it a combo with a drink and fries. Like I said, the fries are freshly cut and cooked—they can vary slightly in how crispy they are, but they have a good flavor....

As promised, this is how I do roast beef for "beef on weck." In episode one, we made the weck rolls , which are awesome, but become significantly more so when filled with freshly roasted beef and horseradish. And, don't even get me started on the au jus. There are many cuts of beef used for this, including top round, rump roast, and brisket, but I like to use a nice thick top-sirloin roast. Instead of cooking it in the oven, I like to pan-roast this on the stovetop. There are many advantages to this approach. Since top sirloin roasts are only a couple inches thick, they cook relatively fast. They're also tender, flavorful, and because of their shape, very easy to slice thinly, which is one of the keys to this amazing sandwich. As far as the au jus goes, it’s only going to be as good as the beef broth or stock you use, but I have a great tip regarding where to find the nice stuff. Most of your higher-end grocery store chains, which have in-house butchery departments, u...

Yes, October 22nd is National Nut Day (thank you, Twitter), and while no one knows exactly why, it does give us an excuse to repost this deliciously addictive, spiced nut mix. With party season rapidly approaching, the timing is perfect for this easy to make snack. Follow this link for the full post and ingredients . Enjoy!

Welcome to the first of a two-part series on one of this country’s most delicious unknown sandwiches, the "Beef on Weck." This simple, but brilliant creation features thinly sliced, horseradish covered, roast beef, piled high on a freshly baked kummelweck. The roll's fragrant caraway seeds and coarse salt are a perfect accent, and when you add a steaming ramekin of fresh beef jus for dunking, you’ll understand why this is the pride of Western New York. Sorry, chicken wings. As legend has it, a pub owner in Buffalo, New York created the sandwich, hoping the salty rolls made by a local German baker would help increase drink sales. That sounds about right, and I do have it on very good authority that beef on weck works well with beer. So, even if you’re not into roast beef, I still recommend you give these great sandwich rolls a try soon. And, if you are into roast beef sandwiches, I invite you to stay tuned for what I believe is America’s finest example. Enjoy! Ingredien...

Of course I have been anxious to try Milktooth and as soon as I asked my friend Suzanne if she’d meet me, she said yes yes yes! She had been to both the preview brunches at Recess and really enjoyed them. I had been trying to wait my obligatory couple of weeks, but could barely stand it. First of all, this place is pretty darn adorable. Very shabby chic—lots of reclaimed and vintage pieces throughout, mismatched china, etc. I thought the chairs at our table looked familiar and then was told they were from the library at IU Bloomington. I probably sat in those same chairs! Even the tables were made by the chef himself from reclaimed wood. I also liked that although cute, the chairs were comfy. Also, hallelujah for a parking lot. It may not hold all the cars when the place is full, but it holds a lot of them I’m guessing. Food-wise, they’re sourcing much of the ingredients from local purveyors. It’s a brunch place so naturally, there are eggs everywhere and I was completely overwhelmed w...

Every once in a while I make a dish that no matter how great it tastes, I just can’t get past how it looks, and that was the case with this very easy, incredibly delicious scallop chowder.  The main culprit was the caramelization from the bacon and onions, which provided great flavor, but the hue they imparted, along with the pale green celery, and yellow potatoes, made things kind of dingy. I could have browned the scallops first, and gone even further to the dark side, but scallops this small and sweet need to be eaten as soon as they’re cooked, and by the time we reheated them in the soup, they’d be hard, dry, and disappointing. Maybe it’s just me. I hope that’s the case here, otherwise we’re going to need to brainstorm some kind of make-over, because this bowl of chowder is too good not to make. If you do make it, and want a thicker, more traditional chowder base, simply mash some of your potatoes into the mixture. A roux can also be used to tighten things up, but since scall...

Every time I write about pho, someone mentions Souper Bowl in Westfield to me. Obviously, I needed to try it so I got my friend Suzanne to go check it out with me since she lives on the north side and is always up for a food adventure. We always order too much food, and this day was no exception. We started with the fried tofu and the avocado rolls ($3.25). I had never seen an avocado roll on a menu (at least that I can remember) so I was intrigued. It was a cold Vietnamese-style spring roll filled with mainly rice noodles and some crunchy herbs as well as a couple of slices of avocado. It was just okay, not my favorite thing just because it didn’t have a lot of inherent flavor and the thick peanut sauce served with it was a little too much. They were too plain on their own, but all you could taste was the peanut sauce if you did use it. I think we both liked the fried tofu much better—they were very simple and just the right size (and really, really hot). There was the right amount of...

I had my first "Dutch Baby" in Chicago a few years ago, and have wanted to do a video on them ever since. I’ve always been fascinated by how many different breakfast foods you can create using just milk, eggs, and flour; and this is one of the more interesting examples. Especially considering the unusual, and borderline disturbing name. Sometimes called “German pancakes,” these have very little to do with Germany, and nothing to do with the Dutch. Apparently they were invented by German immigrants who were referred to as “Dutch;” a corruption of the word “ deutsch. ” So, save your emails saying they don’t have these in Germany or the Netherlands. We know.   As I mentioned briefly in the video, I like to use a little less batter than many recipes call for. I think this provides the best crispy-to-custardy ratio. I topped mine with butter, lemon, and powdered sugar, but any and all traditional pancake toppings will work wonderfully. I hope you give these beautiful ‘babies” a t...