Unexpected Deliciousness

I would like to introduce  you to one of the best things I was introduced to in 2011: Hummus Pizza

Yes, you read that correctly.  Hummus Pizza.

Hummus pizza with spinach hummus, red bell pepper, red onions, and broccoli.

I know you are probably thinking that I'm am crazy. Or perhaps just have weird tastebuds.  David certainly did.

Trust me on this one.  You will thank me. Or perhaps you should thank my cousin. I was introduced to this wonderful combination by my dear cousin. She and I trade recipes weekly.  Always in search of the latest and greatest dishes to prepare.  My cousin cooks on an almost daily basis and is always inspiring me in the kitchen.  She does things like make her own Vanilla Extract, can her own jam concoctions, and back her own bread from scratch.   She is all kinds of amazingness.  She also knits, sews, and builds furniture (bed frames, bookshelfs, etc.). Did I mention that she also has a degree in mechanical engineering and speaks French.... yeah, she is amazing. She also gives great gifts such as custom decorative pillow cases and meeples.


Let's talk for a minute about hummus.  In the states, one can find good, prepackaged hummus.

I have yet to see packaged hummus in Germany...ever.

Thus, I have learned to make it myself. The ingredients are readily availible in most supermarkets here.  The one tough ingredient is Tahini, which is can be found in any Asian Grocery store.

Here is my go-to recipe:


Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 heaping TBSP Tahini
1 red repper, roasted
2-4 tbsp olive oil (depending on consistency you want)
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parsley to garnish

Directions: Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.

I like to vary the recipe a little bit.  Sometime I add in a hand full of fresh spinach.  Sometimes I leave out the red pepper and just make it plain.  Do whatever YOU like. There are no rules with hummus. Okay, strick that.  I would keep it to savory ingredients, aside from that, sky's the limit!
 



Moving on to this pizza recipe I have been tempting you all with for the last 2000 words. There are two versions, my cousin's version and my version.  My cousin's version is delicious and highlights the flavors of the hummus while my version was made to satisfy my hubby (meaning it contains everything but the kitchen sink :) ).  You've heard of backseat drivers? Well hubby is a backseat cook.  He LOVES to "improve" what I am making for dinner. By "improve" I mean add meat.  It's in his blood. He can't help it and I love him in spite of it.



Hummus Pizza, Original Version

1 prepared recipe of your favorite home made pizza dough,
1 recipe hummus, preferrable homemade
1 head broccoli


Directions:

1) Seperate brocolli stems from the florets.  Chopp florets into small pieces, similiar in size to a diced pepper.
2) Roll out pizza dough onto baking sheet or pizza stone
3) Spread hummus onto dough as you would pizza sauce
4) Sprinkle pizza generously with broccoli
5) Bake at 425 °F until crust is crispy and hummus has started to brown.  About 15-20  minutes depending on you oven
6) Cut, Eat, Share (or not), Enjoy!


Hummus Pizza, Amy and David's Version



1 store bought pizza dough
1 recipe hummus, preferrable homemade
1 head broccoli, chopped
corn kernels
mushrooms, sliced
very lean ham, such as prosciutto, chopped
cheese

Directions:  Same as above.  Eat up!

Weihnachtsmarkt

One of the most celebrated Christmas traditions in Germany is the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market). In every little town you can find some sort of Christmasmarket, be it big or small. Some markets are even themed, such as the midevil themed one in the area where my husband grew up. At all of the markets, one finds crafts (both traditional and modern)  as  well as delcious food such as Glühwein, Crepes, Baumkuchen, roasted chesnuts, to name a few.

In Karlsruhe,  our Weihnachtsmarkt begins every year on Thanksgiving day and lasts until Christmas Eve.  Despite it's lack of "Stimmung" (atmosphere), every year during the Christmas season I find myself visiting the Weihnachtsmarkt on multiple occasions, be it to have a cup of glühwein with a friend or to shop for gifts for friends and family in the states.


On Tuesday evening, I met up  i met up with a  German friend of mine at the Karlsruhe Christmas market. Although it rained (the preffered weather for a Weihnachtsmarkts is lightly falling snow), we still had a lovely time shopping, eating, and sipping Glühwein.  We wander throught the stalls of crafts looking at everything from Christmas decorations to silicon baking forms. She also introduced me to several new culinary delights that i would like to share with you.

The first is Laiberl.  Laiberl is an light dough that is back in the oven and covered in topping, it is sort of like a pizza, except that the crust is much lighter.  This is the vegetarian version with garlic, sliced veggies, and beets.  It was so yummy. My friend had the more traditional version with Speck und Käse (bacon and cheese).

The next thing  she introduced me to, was Wießglühwein or glühwein(hot wine with spices) made using white wine.  Traditionally, glühwein is made using red wine.  However, I highly recommend the white version if you are looking to try something new.  The only way I can describe the taste is to say that it is a touch lighter and sweeter than its red cousin.

*Sorry for the sideways picture, I cannot seem to rotate it.

I would love to show you all photos of some of the craft stands I looked at, but I fear that I might spoil your Christmas gifts for some of my readers back home.

Die Komisch Elefanten

that is how Emma and Millie were desribed to my niece by her father the other weekend. . My niece is only 4 months old. I highly doubt that she will remember the moment she first met Emma and Millie, but I'd like. If only for the humor in it. Meine Komish Elefanten.

For those who don't speak/read/understand German,  komisch Elefanten means strange Elephants.

It's a fair, fitting description. I have two very strange elephants. Today, let's focus on one of these elephants: Millie. I'd like to give her a moment as top dog.

She certainly deserves it because normally the situation is reversed.  

Let's get  back to Millie ( Emma will get her own post here one day).

We adpoted Millie back in September of 2008.  She was our wedding gift to ourselves.  Okay, we went to the pound to see the cute puppies and ended up leaving with one.  We are weak humans with big hearts.  We do not allow ourselves to visit animal shelters anymore.  If we did we would have a house full of dogs.  David does, on occasion, visit the website for the local animal shelter.  As of yet, he has held strong, but I worry.  The man has such a big heart.

We were drawn to Millie because of her sweet and timid nature.  The poor thing was so frightened of us. She had obviously been abused by a previous owner. We couldn't leave her, so we took her home with us, thinking she would be a calming influence on our wild, stubborn Emma.  We were wrong. Complete. Total. Failure.

Picture taken shortly after Millie was adopted.

Now, Emma is still wild and stubborn, albeit better trained.  Did I mention that it took my dogs almost 18 months to graduate from dog school (it is a 6 month program).  18 months.  Granted, dog school in Germany is intense, almost military like.   But still...

Despite their wild nature, i still love and adore my elephants.


In addition to her latest moniker, Millie has aquired a few other descriptive nicknames in the past 3 years:

Skitz ( My youngest's brother's nickname for her.  He also likes to say that she is short a few screws)
Blondie (David's brother's nickname for her)

Judging  by her nicknames, you might be thinking that Millie is a bit of an airhead. She is actually really smart. She loves life. She is so happy.


No matter how smart my elephant is, she still has her moments of questionable judgement. A particular incident involving an avocado comes immediately to mind. Yes, she ate an entire avocado including the pitt. Did you know that avocado can be toxic to dogs? Yeah...we were lucky.   There was also the time that the lenses from David's glasses disappeared in the middle of the night.  The frames were still there, but the lenses were gone. It was never proved, but 3 years later I am 100% certain that it was Millie who ate the glasses. 100%.

I must share Millie's latest "food"eccentricity with you...rotten apples.

I wish that was a joke.  She discovered this new "treat" about two months ago at David's parent's apple orchard.  Early in October, David and I went to help his mother pick apples for making apple juice.

Yes, my inlaws always have homemade apple juice.
Yes, it is amazing.
No, they don't press the apples themselves.
Yes, making apple juice is really fascinating.

I was fortunate enough to witness this process this year.  I am kicking myself  for not having somekind of camera with me to share the process. Maybe next year.  Back to Millie. We were at the apple orchard and had the dogs tied up to the tree.  The ground was littered with rotten apples that had fallen from the tree.  At first, Millie left the apples alone. She happily hung out with us, excited to be outside.  After about an hour, she got bored. We noticed that she was eating something. Worried that she had decided to feast on some grass, we moved closed to inspect her "treat".  She had found a rotten, slightly alcoholic apple that was hers for the taking. She took it.  Along with a second.  Crazy dog.

The next day. I offered her a piece of my apple after she whined and begged.  She took it in her mouth only to spit it back out moments later.  Apparently, the only apples that are worth eating are ones that humans will not touch. Ha!

This past weekend I found a rotten apple amoungst the apples we have at home.  I decided to give the apple to Millie as a treat. She took all day to eat the apple.  First, she carried it to her bed.  Staring. Admiring.  Lip licking.(Okay she doesn't have lips so she was what, mouth licking?)  Fast forward to 8 pm.  She still hasn't touched the apple.  Finally, I make a move to take the apple and put it in the trash and she goes for it, Taking small bites so she can savory the rotten, alcoholic goodness.

Millie guarding her apple. (Sorry for the bad photo.)

For the curious bunch, apples are totally safe for dogs. As long as the don't swallow the seeds or eat too much.

Brought to you by subsidized food prices

Red Peppers.  I have a  weakness for red peppers.

In the states, red peppers are super expensive...like $1-$2 a pepper.   Here in Germany you can buy three peppers for that price.  Yes, three.  LOVE. IT. 

Thank you subsidized grocery prices.  It is because of you that I am able to make one of my favorite soup recipes on a regular basis:  roasted red pepper soup.

I found the recipe for this soup randomly about a year about when I was searching for a vegan roasted red pepper soup.

This soup is delicious on it's own or with a nice melty grilled cheese.  A great alternative to the standard tomato soup. 

By the way, my fellow veggie lovers should totally check out this website.  It is a great source vegan recipes.  Every recipe that I have tried has been delicious.  :)

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Chickpea Soup

via http://www.vegalicious.org/

Ingredients:

3-4 red bell peppers, roasted, skins removed (or from jar) 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika powder 1 small onion 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 2 cups vegetable bouillon salt and pepper to taste chopped parsley or cilantro and sunflower seeds as optional garnish

Directions:

1. Roast and peel and slice the peppers. Alternatively if using store bought in a jar, choose 3 large peppers and a bit of the liquid they are stored in.
   

1. Drain the chickpeas and rinse.
2. Chop the onion and carrot and mince the garlic.
3. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and add the onions and carrots.
4. Saute until the carrots begin to soften and the onions become translucent.
5. Add the peppers, garlic and vegetable bouillon.
6. Add 3/4 of the chickpeas and bring the soup to a gentle boil.
7. Ad the cumin, coriander and paprika powder.
8. Puree the soup (I use an immersion blender).
9. Season to taste with salt and pepper and possibly a dash of cayenne.
10. Add the remaining chickpeas.
11. Serve the soup garnished with chopped parsley or cilantro and a few sunflower seeds.
    

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

What do I miss? Part I

I recently received an email from a friend of mine, a fellow American navigating German life.  This particular friend happens to have a connection worth it's weight in gold.  She knows someone who gives her access to the commissary at a nearby military base.  Can you see where I am going with this?  Anyway,  in her email she asked if I needed any American grocery products (i.e.  food, beauty products, toiletries, etc.).   After days of deliberating, racking my brain, and trying to predict future cravings of food from home sometimes brought on by the rare bought of homesickness that hits me for about 10 minutes every couple months  I finally made a list.

- Kashi GoLean Cereal:  my favorite cereal that I love to reach to mix in yogurt or eat plain as a snack. Plus it is loaded with protien which is perfect for veggie freaks such as myself.

- Life Cereal: Childhood favorite.  I usually can satisfy my desire for this on my trips home, but my parents are watching what they eat so there was no Life when I was last home.  Sadness for me.

- Cinnamon Life:  See above. With the added bonus of Cinammon.

-Advil:  We ran out and it is SUPER expenisve here. I am not even sure if you can buy it here in Germany, but I hear conflicting stories.

-Craisins:  Did someone say cranberry white chocolate cookies? Craisins in oatmeal is calling my name. The actually have dried cranberries here, but they are NOT the same. Not even close. David thinks they are nasty whenever I cook with them. The man also hates raisins, so his opinion is a mut point, but still...

- A1 Steak Sauce: Request from a friend of hubby's who just recently returned from living in the states.


That is it.  I miss cereal, craisins, and headache relief that doesn't involve sleeping the day away. What does that say about me? Or perhaps the better questions is what does that say about how I have adapted to life here?

I should clarify that there are other things that I miss from the USA, but I just restocked my supply in September when I was home.

-Trader Joe's Raw Crunchy Almond Butter:  Delicious, nutritious, and only like $5.  Gotta get my  ABandJ fix occasionally.

-Baking Soda:  Important if you want to bake almost anything using an american recipe.


Finally, there are the things that I always crave, but would be a fool to think that I could get here:

- a good southern biscuit
- a sweet Vidalia onion
- a Houston's veggie burger ( my first meal when I returned to the states from a summer in France back in college)
- mexican food
- bread from Great Harvest
- yellow squash
- kale
- a decently priced sweet potato that tastes like the ones from home
- Trader Joe's

For Christmas dinner in 2009,  after living here for just shy of 4 months, I requested what my family considered to be the stragest dinner ever: grilled, marinated salmon (fresh not frozen), baked sweet potatoes, and sauteed yellow squash with onions.   It was amazing...but probably only for me. :)