Schnitzel, French Fries, and Mixed Salad

I also call this meal SchniPoSa as in Schnitzel, Pommes Frites, and Salat. This must be one of the main meals people associate with the German kitchen. Am I right? - Anyways, when we are in Germany Ron and I tend to order it out. However, it is not an item we ever order out for the girls mainly because of the breading. In any case I made Schnitzel for Dinner tonight.

It was an easy choice. Remember our Family Meat Pack from New Season's Market? It comes with a couple of packs of pork cutlets - a pound each. I took out one pack to defrost overnight in the fridge and had it ready to in time for dinner. I did forget lemon - I like to drizzle it over the Schnitzel on my plate. Oh well, they turned out - as my Ron said - great.

This is how I make it -

- 4 pork cutlets
- salt, pepper, paprika
- 1/4 C flour -
- 1 egg beaten
- app. 1/2 C breadcrumbs (make sure they are "safe" - I used Trader Joe's Organic
Breadcrumbs), or Panko which is coarser. In my opinion breadcrumbs work better
- Canola Oil or another oil that can be used at high heat

1. Pound cutlets with a meat hammer, or if you are like me and do not own one with a fork
2. Sprinkle salt, paprika, and fresh ground pepper on meat. Rub it in, and put spices on the other
Side
3. Put flour on one plate, beaten egg on another plate, and breadcrumbs on a third plate
4. Dredge one cutlet at a time, first in the flour, next in the beaten egg, and Last in the
breadcrumbs
5. When all cutlets are breaded heat the oil (about 1/8" or a little more high) in a pan - I use cast
iron - until hot. Add the cutlet, but be sure not to crowd the pan. I fry two at a time.
6. Turn the cutlet over once it is golden, then fry the other side until golden and crispy. It takes
about five minutes depending on the thickness of the cutlet.

Serve with French Fries, and salad. Guten Appetit!

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Alena in the Talent Show - March, 2012

Here is our big girl playing for the first time in front of a large crowd :)

Gulasch, Salad of Lamb's Lettuce (a.k.a. Ackersalad), and crusty rolls...

on a rainy day = perfect ocean cottage meal We spent a wonderful rainy weekend at the Oregon Coast. We brought all of the food along. It was easy as our freezer is filled with meat from the family meat pack I just got. Pasta Bolognese one night, and Gulasch the other night. Both are quick, easy and delicious. I made both the Bolognese sauce, and the Gulasch on the first day. So, the Gulasch was ready to eat the second day. It turned out great for one all we needed to do after a fun filled day was warm up the Gulasch, and second because tastes better if it has time to rest overnight well, at least I think so.
Here is my recipe - it was plenty for the four of us. It is easily doubled
- 1 lb stew beef; I like it cut into small chunks
- 2 large onions cut into rings
- splash of olive oil
- 4 Tbl of Paprika; be sure to use fresh, sweet paprika. I like smoked which I buy in bulk in the
herbs and spice section.
- 3 large potatoes peeled, and cut into quarters
- Water
- Salt to taste
1. Heat up olive oil and add onions. Sauté until onions are soft. Be careful not to burn them.
2. Add paprika, and meat. When meat is lightly brown add water. Water should be about an inch or a little more over the meat.
3. Cover and bring to a slow simmer. Leave lid on and simmer for about an hour.
4. After an hour, add salt, stir up the Gulasch cover and return to a slow simmer. Simmer for
another hour.
5. Add potatoes to the Gulasch. The Gulasch is ready to be served when the potatoes are soft.
6. Adjust salt and serve with crust bread.
I also like to add hot paprika to my own plate, Enjoy!

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Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts Topnotch Cookies & Cakes Issues Allergy Alert On Undeclared Milk In Chocolate Chip Chunk Cookies

You just have to ask...

the store I do most of our grocery shopping here in Portland is New Season's Market. Everything is just right; they carry all of the items we need, the employees are super nice always willing to go the extra step and the store is locally owned. They carry local food which is marked as such, the freshest fruits and vegetables, locally sourced meat and fish, plus all of the other galactosemia safe food items we like. With the prepared foods items,  sausages, ham, etc. the employees are always willing and able to tell us whether the item contains milk derivatives or not.  I have never encountered a person who was not willing to help.

The Soutions/Demo desk at New Season's Market on Hawthorne 

The girls also like to come along for the trip to the store.  Both of them have known New Season's Market their entire lives as the Seven Corners store opened right after Alena was born.  I think one of the reasons the girls like it so much is because there are always food samples at the demo/solutions desk.  The Seven Corners store generally always had a sign up stating whether the food contained any allergens.  We were used to the routine. Then the Hawthorne store opened about a year ago.  It is much closer to our house and is the natural choice for us for grocery shopping.  But you know what?  Yes, the food samples at the service/demo desk only declared nut and tree nut allergens.  Argh! - I was quite disappointed and talked with the lovely lady working the demo/solutions counter about this issue.  In my conversation I told her about the issue and that the other location, always declared all allergens.  I asked whether they would please implement the same system.  A week later or so, they did not have a sign up but they told me that they are working on finding a solution.  And yes, shortly the sign was there.  It list all of the major allergens, and the employees mark off which allergens are included in the samples. I was so happy and I never gave it a second thought until last week.  I saw the lovely lady I initially spoke with  through an ingredient list and mark all the allergens included on the sign.  It deserved a compliment and that is when she told me this specific sign was created just because I brought the issue up.  The demo manager came up with the solution to come up with the perfect sign.  Yay!!!!  Now that drives home the point, you just have to ask and you shall receive!

The perfect allergen alert sign

One last note, the opinion expressed in this post are my own and I have not received any compensation in any form from the store.  Thank you, New Season's Market on Hawthorne! You are THE best!

Troy, the demo manager and creator of the sign with Alena and Mia Rose

Eat your veggie stew with meatballs

was our Wednesday night dinner.  The girls were at camp were at day camp, while I worked from home.  Last night I decided to make soup. I took a cup of dry beans to soak overnight, and took out a package of frozen bulk sausage - remember our frozen family meat pack :).  In the morning I made the dough for the quick-no-knead bread and let everything rest until I picked up the girls.

We really like soup, and veggies especially on a rainy day. Oh, and yes today I made it with carrots, kale, onion, and sweet potato.

Here is the recipe

- Splash of olive oil
- one onion diced
- 2-3 carrots cleaned and diced
- salt
- 1 cup of dry 13 bean mix soaked overnight
- 1/3 cup dry barley
- 1 quart of chicken, or vegetable broth - I like Pacific Foods
- 1 large can of diced tomatoes - with broth
- 1 lb. of bulk sausage - optional
- 1 bunch of kale diced
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil and sautee onions with a pinch of salt.  Once they are soft,
2. add carrots and sauté for a little while longer, about 2 minutes until they are bright orange.
3. Add broth, canned tomatoes, barley and the soaked - drained - beans.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat
    down and simmer until beans and barley are soft.
4. Form meatballs out of the bulk sausage and fry them in a cast iron pan without oil.  When browned,
    drop them into the soup.
5. When beans/barley are soft, and meatballs are soft, add the Kale on top of the pot.  Put lid on pot.
    Leave it the lid on until the Kale is bright green and texture according to your liking.  We like it a little
    crunchy. Adjust salt and pepper

 Serve in a soup bowl with fresh, crusty bread. Enjoy!

It is a Mushroom Risotto kind of night...

with a side of mixed green salad. All of us love risotto it is the perfect comfort food to me. I generally make it with chicken broth, but today I used vegetable broth from Pacific Foods. It is delicious and full in color.

Here is the link to my risotto - this one is with asparagus. The mushroom risotto is just a little different, as I sautee them with a little pepper and add them at the very end, with a little wedge of Earth Balance. If you allow Parmesiano Reggiano you can also cook some rind with the risotto. It gives the risotto an amazing flavor. Okay so here is the recipe http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/2011/06/sunday-night-dinner-risotto-with.html

Monday Night Dinner Guest's

It is spring break and we have been enjoying a fun first day at home.  For dinner one of Alena's friends came over with his sister and parents.  The kids had a wonderful time, while all of us enjoyed some adult conversation.  For dinner we had pork loin with onion crust (Schweinefilet mit Zwiebelkruste), quinoa salad, pasta, home made bread, and mixed green salad.

The picture really does not do the pork loin justice.  It is a great meal, and prefect for guests.  The nice thing about it is that everything can be prepared ahead of time, and all you need to do is pop it in the oven about an hour before you are ready to serve it.