Maerkischer Rindfleischtopf (Mark Brandenburg Beef Stew)

This week's recipe was very fitting for the Autumn weather that we have been having (not to mention all of the rain!!!) here in S.C.

Mark Brandenburg Beef Stew is the Real German Cooking Challenge recipe for this week. Go to Amiexpat's blog to view the entire challenge, recipes, and to follow others who also are completing the cooking challenge!

The first thing about this recipe - don't think of a "traditional" beef stew as we know (mainly - like the Irish beef stews) - this one is more of a stroganoff type of dish. This recipe uses turnips instead of potatoes - we welcomed the change. The carmelized turnips added a nice flavor to the dish. We used regular white button mushrooms and sirloin steak for the meat.

We found it to be very hearty and flavorful with the mushroom, carmelized turnips, and sour cream. The only flavor that seemed to overpower the other ingredients was the bacon - the smokiness of the flavor seemed to be in every bite.

We served it with egg noodles. Very tasty and easy to do!

Next week: Weimar Onion Festival Cake (Zwiebelmarktkuchen)

Miesmuscheln in Weißwein (Mussels in white wine)

One of my favorite dishes from my time in Europe were Mussels in white wine - so needless to say, I was excited to see that this week's Real German Cooking Challenge was Miesmuscheln in Weißwein (Mussels in white wine).

This recipe was very easy to make - cooking the vegetables in the broth and then adding the mussels to steam them.

The recipe stated to strain the broth after the mussels had cooked and push the vegetables through the sieve. Our vegetables were still too firm to do this - I wish I would have tested them before putting the mussels in to cook!

The cream and mustard added a subtle taste to the broth, but I wish we could have had the richness of the pureed vegetables to really make the broth something wonderful. As we had it, the broth was okay, but not the best that we have ever had.

As a side item, we had french fries (have to love this way of eating mussels! Especially the style served in Luxembourg and Belgium!) - but a crusty loaf of bread would have been wonderful to dip into the broth - wished we would have had one!

Next week: Maerkischer Rindfleischtopf (Mark Brandenburg Beef Stew) - sounds like a great recipe for our cooling Fall temperatures!

Overall, a solid mussel recipe - but we like other recipes for this dish better.

Stampin' Up Deal of the Week

Well, SU has outdone themselves again....check out the sweet deals for this week! I LOVE these little embellishments and at a reduced price....EVEN BETTER!!!
Take advantage of these great deals! feel free to shop online HERE or email me at stampitsteph@charter.net

Have a wonderful day!

114348 - Basic Jumbo grommets, reg price $6.95, SALE price - $4.49
109857 - Mini Library clips, reg. price $12.95, SALE price - $8.99
112571 - Circle Designer brads, reg price $5.95, SALE price - $3.99
112581 - 1/2" Library clips, reg price $6.95, SALE price - $3.99

Kaninchen mit Pilzen (Rabbit with mushrooms)

Kaninchen mit Pilzen (Rabbit with mushrooms) was the Real German Cooking Challenge for this week. To check out all of the German cooking challenges that have been made - check out my blog or go to Amiexpat's blog (the creator of this challenge).

I found rabbit in the freezer section of one of our main grocery stores (Publix) with the help of the butcher. I decided to buy just one package (22 oz.) because it was $15.99 - I didn't want to spend much more for one meal! But this was fine, since I have often cut the recipes in half to accomodate our family. Eating rabbit doesn't bother me. I have had it before - but I probably wouldn't normally spend the grocery store price on it - but would fix it if a hunter provided it to me!

The thyme and mustard spread on the rabbit before cooking was very flavorful - and browning the rabbit first created a crust on the outside of the meat. This would be a great way to flavor pork or chicken also.

Because of our day spent at local apple orchards and eating a large lunch, we decided to eat this meal tomorrow night for dinner. But I did taste it before putting it away - and I really liked the flavor due to the thyme. The rabbit was tender and almost falling off the bone.

I plan to serve this with some dumpling noodles and vegetables on the side. Yum!

Smoke On The Water

On a recent Friday night, we decided to finally go downtown and try Smoke on the Water (1 Augusta Street, Suite 202).

We were unsure of how a "fancy" BBQ place would be here. Especially in the land of wonderful BBQ joints that just serve your food up on paper plates and you are happy. (that's what good food does, folks!)

I am VERY happy to report that we all LOVED this place! DH got the combo plate with pulled pork and ribs, I got the smoked prime rib (suggestion from the server), and the kids got side dishes - since there is no kids menu (but that's okay!).

Everything was well prepared and tasty. We enjoyed the cornbread brought to the table for starters (but one negative - the unsalted "butter" that came with it tasted like Crisco!). But the star of the show has to go to the side dishes. They were amazing and totally made this place one that we will remember!

Everything was fresh and you could actually taste the vegetables! I ordered the squash casserole and was so happy to see layers of yellow squash with a little bit of seasoning and crust - perfect! I also had the spinach casserole, and once again, the spinach was the main ingredient, not cream or other things - yummy!

The meats were done very well also - I enjoyed the prime rib and the salty crust on the outside - good recommendation - AND I had over half to enjoy the next day! But next time, I will probably order the pulled pork so that I can enjoy the homemade BBQ sauces a little more - they were very tasty!

Not sure why, but the manager came over (maybe saw me take a pic of our meals?) and offered us free desserts.... uhmmm... okay! We each ordered something different to share - they were all very good! We would definitely recommend getting dessert here - IF you have any extra room at the end of your meal!

We will definitely be back!

Dampfnudeln mit Weinschaum (Sweet yeast dumplings with wine cream)

Aye, aye, aye = yeast! My nemesis! This week's Real German Cooking Challenge recipe was Dampfnudeln mit Weinschaum (Sweet yeast dumplings with wine cream). I am happy to say - in this battle with yeast - I won!

Everything started off good - the dough rose fine - so I crossed my fingers that I could beat this recipe!

I started to get worried when the dumplings cooked for 1 1/2 hr. - an hour longer than what the recipe called for. My "fingertip" of water must have been more than what was required! I peeked after 50 minutes to make sure (I was supposed to hear a sizzling noise) - and yep - water was still there.... so I covered it back up and let it keep on steaming! I finally turned up the heat to medium - and that helped to get rid of the water and carmelize the bottom of the dumplings.

I looked up some pictures of this dish, and found that many pictures look like rolls - at first, mine looked more like potato balls.... but as they cooled, they did look like the pictures - yea!

The sauce was easy to prepare. I used leftover Riesling wine that we had in the fridge to make it. And I have to say, I did add about 1 t. of vanilla to it also - the wine taste seemed very strong as I was heating it! I couldn't imagine eating the sauce without a little more flavor that wasn't wine!

Combining the two together, dumpling and sauce, was nice - I can see how this dish would be considered a comfort food for many - the yeast dumpling was slightly sweet with a bread texture and the sauce was creamy. The wine flavor was still too strong for me - kind of wish I would have just made plain vanilla sauce!

Overall, good dish - but think that this would be something that I would need to try a few more times (and maybe try an "authentic" one in Germany so that I can compare) before I would acquire a taste for them.

Corona's on Pelham

Of the MANY Mexican restaurants in Greenville, we seem to hit most of them at one time or another! (As you already know from reading this blog!)

We visited Corona's (5101 Pelham Rd; (864) 286-1301) for lunch to celebrate a neighbor's birthday.

Typical mexican food - I ordered a combo that included a taco, chile rellano, and beans. Honestly, the cheese on the chile rellano was so thick - I couldn't eat it! Think of how melted cheese hardened and becomes a big glob... that's how this was - and it was too much for me!

The taco was good - typical of what you get at most places. The beans were okay - I didn't finish them either.

The kicker of this meal - they charged us dinner prices at lunch!!! Unfortunately, we didn't catch it until we were leaving and had paid - and by then, we needed to get back to work. That there, my friend, is a kiss of death! ALWAYS check your bill!

Sooo.... for Mexican places - skip this one and go to another with better food and better prices!