Dancing bellies

Today Christian and I went to the Feast of the Middle East, held by the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church on El Paso’s Westside.
Christian and I had attended two years ago and, to be honest, were pretty unimpressed. Not enough seating, looooooong lines for the food, excessive heat outside, and the entertainment left something to be desired. Also, why in the world do they have a bar that serves Jägermeister shots at a church function?? First of all, Ouza maybe, a good white wine, sure. But Jäger? Hmmm. Well, since we don’t drink alcohol, that was easy. Just straight to the water “bar,” where we waited in no line and felt good in the heat after our drink.
The gift section offered your typical “fair” ware. Bracelets with Madonna (the biblical one, mind you), stuffed camels (toys, not taxidermy), candles, those tacky gold coin belly dancer “belts” that the little girls around 12 years old were buying in bulk, and incense.
But we all must face it … all of us came for one thing and one thing only. The FOOD. This is a food fest and it’s worth every excessive calorie. On the $15 per plate list: Malfouf (cabbage rolls), Yakhnit Loubieh (Green Bean Stew), Salata (‘nuf said), Rice Pilaf, Gyros, Hummus, Fatayer Laham (Meat Pies), Tabouleh, Ka’ick (Sweet Cookies), Khubz (Arabic Bread), Kibbeh (Ground Meat and Bulgur Mixture), Falafel, Charboiled Chicken and Shish Kebab. Oh, and LOTS and LOTS of Baklava (or Baklawa).
Since Christian and I had eaten lunch beforehand at home, we chose to just have dessert at the fair, although I could have easily downed a Gyro or some Kibbeh if I didn’t balk at the $15 price tag. And what’s with charging $45 for a plate of Baklava? Eh??? Okay, it’s got lots and lots of layers of filo. But come ON! We instead got a “sampler” size for ourselves and one for a friend who requested one for us to bring to her. It was enough to satisfy our sweet tooth and to give us another tooth filling about 6 months down the road
The Feast in the Middle East is an expensive culinary experience, but it supports a good cause and it’s something DIFFERENT for El Pasoans. We like to go to as many different cultural events as we can here, be it Thai, Mexican, Arabic, German or regional American, and it was so encouraging to see that others are starting to feel the same way.
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Tonight Christian makes Schweinebraten, Kartoffelsalat und Sauerkraut. Gooooood my favorite dish in the world! I don’t care that it’s one of the hottest days of the year, or that I had more than my fair share of calories and fat today, or that it takes 4 hours to cook. I’m so there! And it means pork sandwiches in all of its incarnations all week long! I’ll definitely be doing my own version of a belly dance at the end of the day

Babies, babies everywhere!

These days, I feel like I’m living in a movie, where the camera zooms in close on something the character is obsessing over, and just zooms in closer and closer and closer. I seem to be seeing babies in cloud formations, in window reflections, in ripples of water … It’s getting a little absurd, but I CAN’T HELP IT!! Man! And I used to scoff at this in other people!

I finally found the first perfect romper for our little one. I swear, I think the thing was MADE for me and Christian! Check it out at GermanDeli.com. We plan on getting many of our baby necessities there, such as lotions, baths, food and more. We definitely want our baby “kraut/cracker” to be immersed in both German and American cultures and to learn both languages from day one.

Okay, so my cravings are becoming real. I’ve been eating Belly Bars and find that they’re really a fantastic way to get all my Vitaminavegemins while pleasing my palate at the same time. Found them on sale at Walgreen’s and really dig ‘em! Especially with a flavor name of “Baby Needs Chocolate.” Doubt that’s true, but it’s a good marketing tool, lol. So I have officially replaced my Starbucks blondies with something that gives me at least a little reprieve from guilt.
Other than craving chocolate and bread, the only other thing that really makes me feel pregnant is the fact that I have to do a little dance now to get my jeans and shorts above my waist. Sort of like doing the hula. Oh, and the soreness in my chest (that’s a very diplomatic way of putting it, lol) which makes it almost impossible to lay on my tummy now.
I went walking for 40 minutes this morning after I got up, and I wonder if that is a good amount of time to walk for a first trimester-er. Any thoughts?

Hello, Domino’s?

Tonight we celebrated the failure of Christian’s sourdough bread, lol, with a “Bistro Night,” steak frites and salad.
You see, the sourdough starter was to rest for a day out of the fridge, but our apartment was so hot and muggy, a suspicious mold grew on top of the dough, and we were too frightened to take the chance.
Who knows, the “mold” could be innocuous, but in my condition, we decided it would be prudent (if not extremely disappointing) to throw it away.
Oh well, better safe than sorry! And anyway, we can try rye bread this weekend. No starter and no waiting days for it to be ready to proof. Anyone out there have a fail-safe recipe for sourdough? Any tricks of the trade?
And the steak frites? Blue-raw steak and falling-apart “frites.” Oh, dear. I need to just start calling Domino’s for a while.
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This morning I went to a clinic to get my HCg levels and some other vital signs documented, but they referred me to another doctor, who I see next week. So I’m still hanging by the seat of my pants, dying to know what my levels are! But I’ll just hold steady, continue to buy around 3 pregnancy tests a day from Dollar Tree (lol, I’ll have to recycle the tests as Christmas Tree ornaments.) and watch the test strip appear darker and darker.
•••
The last week or so, I’ve been helping out a friend named Zarela, who was once a caterer here in El Paso, but moved to New York City and made it big as a restaurateur and cookbook author. She has asked me to help her input recipes into her website, and I love being able to get the “sneak peeks” at her recipes before they’re posted. God, she has some amazing recipes that are so fresh, authentic Mexican and have a history to them, each and every one. Some of the recipes I’m posting are: Ensalada Pico de Gallo, Caldo de Huitlachoche (Google that, my friends), Caldo Tlalpeno, etc… mouth watering. You really must check out her website and if you’re in New York, go to Zarela (her namesake restaurant). She’s bringing the taste of the Mexican border (and beyond) to the glitterati of Manhattan, and doesn’t shy away from her El Paso roots.

Back to brotzeit

After weeks of Southwestern BBQ, hot Mexican salsas and all-American standbys like Tuna Helper and PB&Js, my husband and I went back to his German roots for dinner last night with his pfannkuchen, or German pancakes. He made me three and he had two (I was planning on dessert, yes, even dessert after pancakes, so I saved the third for today). We filled them with blackberry jam and also added some diced pear for crunch and added nutrition.

I’ve had German pancakes, or rather, Americanized German pancakes, at IHOP and Village Inn. I’ve even had others’ German pancakes in Germany. But my husband’s are the best, and not just because he’s my husband. They simply are amazing. I haven’t learned how to cook them partially because I know my pancake would end up looking like a plate of tostada chips after attempting to turn it.

While in Germany, staying with him, we’d have brotzeit for dinner, which is the norm in Germany. A round or oval wood board on which lay a few slices of deli meat varieties, some slices of cheese, a few pickles, a squeeze of hot or sweet mustard, and a few slices of rye or farmer’s bread. That was dinner. Lunch was the main, hot, course of the day. I miss that so much. The ritual, the simplicity, and not going to bed on a full stomach.

Christian’s making some bread now. It will take three days. He just started the sourdough starter last night, and we can’t use it until Saturday. I am thrilled! First of all, I know it will be just great (almost ALL bread is great to me), and secondly, we want to try to sell some of his loaves at the local farmer’s market in our neighborhood. I noticed that, at farmer’s markets, the baked-goods tables always seem to generate the most traffic. That and the potted herbs and wild greens. We can’t grow sorrel or watercress on the balcony of our apartment, but we sure can try our hand at artisan breads, muffins and energy bars! I’m still dreaming of an organic apple/spelt/poppyseed/chia seed muffin I bought at a farmer’s market more than a month ago! I’d love to recreate those and sell them.
We are trying to eat as well as we can for as little as we can, and recent circumstances have made that even more important for me. Speaking of which, for those of you who read this blog regularly, why not give a go at my “Can You Guess” blog (scroll down) and win a great giveaway package! Only ONE DAY LEFT! Then it’s not a mystery anymore!!!!
Just email me at krautundcracker@gmail.com if you think you have the answer.

And with that, I also leave you with photos of Mr. Gris, our apartment complex cat who loves to go with me to the laundry room and hide in the warm pile of clothes (necessitating a second washing sometimes, but I can’t get mad at him!).

And we’re off!

We’re leaving home in about 20 minutes to head to the airport for NYC. I seriously considered taking my passport, “just in case” we decided to just spontaneously take off to Munich from Manhattan, lol. But alas, my passport is locked up in a safety deposit box, and it’s too late to get to it in time. Flights to Munich from NY are so inexpensive compared to flying from El Paso, so it really was a thought I entertained more than just a few moments.
But Munich will have to wait, and we’ll just have to do our Munich on the Hudson this trip. Not that there’s much to complain about visiting New York!
So far, our only set plans are seeing “That Face” off-Broadway, doing a 2-hr. Circle Line tour, and dinner at Carmine’s with a mutual friend. Oh, and I insist on walking the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reservoir at Central Park every morning. But that’s about it.
Crossing my fingers for internet access at the hotel, but I WILL be blogging and sending updates from wherever I can.
Lunch is in flight. Not included with the flight, but I’m bringing pb&;j sandwiches, fruit and almonds. Dinner most likely will be pick-up food from the Atlanta airport, to be eaten en route to NYC. Delta does serve meals for purchase on that flight, but sorry, $7 for a ham sandwich or $5 for a bag of trail mix doesn’t do it for me. Not that the Atlanta airport is cheap, but at least there are some options.
If you have been to New York, and know of any German restaurants or clubs or other related activities, please let us know! We’re dying to check them out.
Four days is so short, but we’ll pack it in. Sleep is overrated

Chess and a mess

So, my husband dragged me to a chess tournament in South El Paso today. Susan Polgar, the No. 1 female player in the world and a 5-time Olympic medalist, was in attendance, and she played 50 people simultaneously. Wearing stiletto heels and nursing what appeared to be a heavy cold, I might add. She was still at it around 6:30 p.m., having started at 2:30 p.m.
Now, admittedly, I’d never heard of her, but she’s a big cheese, hubby says. She’s obviously a Grand Master player, nonchalantly moving chess pieces on people’s boards with nary a blink of an eye. We couldn’t stay long because we were due at a German-theme potluck at a local club and, well, we had to satisfy our curiosity to see whether or not anything remotely authentic would be served, besides Christian’s Kartoffelsalat.
I’m not complaining about the tastiness of the food that was served, but let’s just say some people have a sad idea of what is German. Served at the potluck:
• brats: Actually very good and charred to a blistered perfection
• American/generic hot dog buns. Shouldn’t be allowed!
• Blaukohl, or red cabbage boiled with beets and raisins. I actually liked it, but Christian almost gagged at the sight.
• Mustard/mayonnaise potato salad with pickles and pimentos. As un-German as you can get.
• Brisket (!!!!!!) Might have been good, but most definitely not German.
• “German” potato salad, consisting of sliced boiled red potatoes with a bacon dressing. Raw potatoes and undercooked bacon. Nice try, but…
• Christian’s kartoffelsalat. We stuck to that and the brats.
I do appreciate the fact that there was indeed a German theme to the potluck and that people did try, though. I wish I could serve them all a true German meal to let them know what they are missing. One guy didn’t even recognize red cabbage. Frankly, what other food remotely resembles red cabbage? Well, it was an experience, and we enjoyed ourselves. And we didn’t have to take home any leftovers!!!! (Not that I’d mind).
We continue our quest for authentic German food in El Paso!!!!!

‘Bottom of the Barrel’ Bolognese

What a crazy, crazy day, with this weather just not letting up at all. It really felt like I was back in Munich at Christmas-time, bundled up like the Michelin Man. Although no Christkindlmarkt to look forward to. But this is late April in El Paso, for godssake.
Well, I figured it had to be a warm, comfy, spicy dinner tonight, further using the perishables that were precariously close to being trashed in preparation of our NYC trip on Monday.
We had some jalapenos, Bob Evans breakfast sausage, heavy whipping cream and green onions that really needed to go this weekend. And the last of a box of thin spaghetti. Hmmmm. It was my turn to cook, and I was feeling a bit naughty. Christian was scared. Should he have been? You be the judge. Here’s the sauce for the spaghetti:

“Bottom of the Barrel” Bolognese sauce (for 4 servings):
• One pint heavy whipping cream
• Half a chub of breakfast sausage
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup ketchup
• Four tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Two jalapenos, sliced
• 4 sliced green onions (white and green parts)
•1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• 4 tablespoons hot chile powder
• 4 shakes of dried powdered thyme

Crumble the raw sausage in a sauce pan and cook until just browned. Then add the rest. Stir constantly. That’s it. That is absolutely it. Pour it over warm pasta (we used spaghetti, but I bet it rocks on penne). Serve. Watch spouse’s reaction. See how he/she goes for seconds. Smile. Success!!!!!
Tomorrow is a German potluck we’re attending. So, while I played wizard with the pasta, Christian made his mother’s recipe kartoffelsalat for the potluck. I cannot wait until tomorrow. Really, I cannot wait. I’m sneaking a few bites right now…
And I leave you with a few random photos I took today of my German sprouts and corn that are growing quite nicely. A piece of my hubby’s homeland, literally, growing right on our doorstep. Oh, and the gray kitty is not mine. He hangs out at our apartment complex, and I think he’s a human stuck in a cat’s body. He knows how to manipulate me and to make me stop anything to pet him and to shower attention on him. He also knows when we’re cooking wursts. And he lets us know he knows.

Curry (por) favor

Tonight, Christian and I went to Chut-ney, an Indian restaurant that we’ve passed by countless times but just finally decided we had to try out.
We got there at around 6 p.m., and we were the only ones in the restaurant. The hostess was on the phone and hurriedly told us that we could sit where we wanted. Bad omen, I thought. Too busy to pay us any attention and no one was eating there. But I’m such a sucker for a great curry, I was tired, and the wind/rainstorm outside had us seeking shelter.
We waited around 7-8 minutes before she finished taking an order on the phone and brought us the menu. There are at least 70 or so dishes listed, both vegetarian specialties and meat specialties, ranging from Aloo Parantha to Goat Curry (which is what I had).
Hubby ordered the chicken curry, which I tend to avoid because it’s so, well, obvious. I think of it as the “safe” dish to eat at an Indian restaurant, and I want to order, usually, the most unusual or “ethnic” item at an ethnic restaurant. But that’s just me
The curries, served in cast-iron bowls, were substantial and the smell of the spices wafted over us like the dust storm howling outside. All-encompassing and you couldn’t avoid it. They were served with rice, a great long-grain white rice with an extremely subtle seasoning that had us befuddled. A perfect bland accompaniment to the extremely bold and spicy curry.
My goat meat was not too goat-y or gamey, although it had plenty of bones and was a bit tough. I think another hour in the tandoori or oven could have done the trick. But it was a great taste and went very well with the amazing curry sauce that I could, frankly, eat as soup if no one was looking.
With our meal, we had masala tea, a hot chai tea with milk. Although it was lukewarm, it tasted heavenly and also provided a foil to the rich meat.
The naan was heavenly. Perfectly puffy bread soaking in clarified butter (?) and roasted garlic. I could eat that alone as a meal, maybe with a side salad. But not tonight. In the name of research, I wanted goat curry.
Again today I broke my self-imposed moderation rule with meals, and again I say “tomorrow.” But we do have leftover curry, rice and naan, and we don’t waste in our household. Alright, SATURDAY. Yeah, that’s it. SATURDAY is day one of moderate intake. Oh, wait. That’s the German potluck day…Well, at least we walked in the arroyo with the dogs today. That maybe took care of one-tenth of dinner.

Pre-NYC pantry

Our larder is getting skimpier and skimpier as we approach our trip to NYC, and as we are trying to save money so we don’t have to have street pretzels every day, we’re making do with what we have left here at the apartment. Basically, sausage, eggs, flour, semolina, onions, beef broth cubes, cucumbers, apple empenadas, oatmeal and milk. Perfect! Perfect for Christian’s Grießsuppe and his cucumber salad. Here’s the recipe he used, with a little tweaking provided by his father-in-law, Uli, who gave him some pointers on Skype:

http://www.webkoch.de/rezept/4566

After pigging out last night at the El Paso Club on pseudo-German fare (see yesterday’s entry), I was determined to rein it in food-wise. This morning was my typical steel-cut oats mixed in with diced pear and yogurt. So far so good. Lunch was fairly decent: a salad, a small slice of leftover homemade pizza, and a tiny bit of chai cake (I finally left the rest at the office, so I wouldn’t pick at it all night). But then after we walked the dogs this afternoon, we dropped by Barnes and Noble to flip through magazines and have a coffee. Well, the blondie blast “brownie” was just too good looking to pass up. Hey, I blame the barista, trying to up-sell everything to me. She won this time Note the magazines I chose to read while I indulged in the blondie. Not quite in jive. And, having sold my treadmill yesterday (which now pays for our hotel in NYC!!!), I appear to be evolving into a glutton. A happy one, at that, however.
Christian’s soup just rocked my world, and it’s so incredibly easy to make! Even I couldn’t mess it up. Well, maybe I could. The smoky sausage really penetrated the semolina, which had the consistency of a hot rice cereal. The soup was nutty, rich, yet oh so simple. And his vinegar-y and light cucumber salad was the perfect foil for the warm, substantial soup. This soup is commonly served in Bavaria, a “poor-man’s soup,” good for farm workers on cold days. But even though it was 85 degrees today, it wasn’t overbearing or cumbersome. Really a great comfort food.
Tomorrow I’ll try again to be good. I really will. But we have leftover soup that we just can’t toss. Nor can we freeze it. What if the electricity goes out while we’re out of town??? No, we must, must, must eat it ASAP! You know a soup is good when, after eating copious amounts and you’re cleaning the dishes, you already look forward to tomorrow’s lunch

He out-Tex-ed-me

No, he didn’t out-text me, although with my ability to text message he could do it blindfolded and backwards. My German husband out-Tex-ed-me in the fact that he made perfect Texas ribs last night. I mean PERFECT, and this is Rib Country. I gave him no prompting, no hints, no ingredients to use. He just did it instinctively and made the best ribs I’ve ever, ever had in my life.
I’m not fawning over my husband’s ribs because they were in fact made by my husband. They were better than the ribs I’ve had at The Rib Hut and State Line, and I thought those were the end-all-be-all of ribs. As you can see from the photos, we both finished off a rack (sans one tiny piece left over to shred on pizza tonight) in no time. AND some Neufchatel pureed potatoes AND a simple salad AND for me, about a quarter of a chocolate bar (dark chocolate, because it’s healthier )
The first thing Christian wanted to do right after dinner was to email the photos I took to his family in Germany, to let them know that they were. And this is what he said: “Und ich sage euch, sie waren sensationell, wie man auf den Bildern auch leicht erkennen kann.”

Last time we used pork ribs, but at the store yesterday, we saw that they’d run out, so we went for the beef ribs. All Christian did was line a pan with foil, salt and pepper the ribs, cover and seal the ribs with foil, cook them slowly at 300 for two hours, and then removed the foil, added Sweet Baby Ray Honey BBQ sauce (but didn’t slather it too much, like some restaurants), and put it back in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes. That is it. The meat really did fall off the bone, and it wasn’t toooo much of a “I need tooth floss” evening, as the meat was so tender.
My cheesy potato puree I thought was to die for. And it really was. But NOTHING holds a candle to a rack of juicy, sweet Texas ribs made by a German … unless it’s a pork roast made by a German. Or a plum kuchen made by his mom.
Tonight, to further elaborate on our Texas theme, we’ll make West Texas-style pizza, basically leftover rib meat, onions, bbq sauce, asadero cheese and jalapenos on a Boboli-type pizza dough. I had a pizza similar to this at CPK in LA once, and I’m hoping I can get it to taste somewhat the same.
Does anyone else have an even better way to use up leftover beef rib meat? Other than for the dogs, please! Our two dogs have ribs for a week.