Alright, I’m a bad blogger. I can’t tell you how many people have contacted me wanting to know what is going on, why I’m not blogging more often, and even a few who were concerned about my well being. Well…okay, not a lot of people, but more than I expected. I’m not going to offer up any excuses other than it has been me not being very motivated. I promise I’ll try to do better.

Not long ago I had a craving for something pizza-like, big surprise I know, me being the king of pizza delivery. What was surprising is that I didn’t exactly want pizza. Yes, I even shocked myself. I wanted something crispy, and chewy, savory and loaded with carbs. Something with a lot of flavor, just like pizza. Then I remembered a German dish that I had had before, Zwiebelkuchen, kind of a cross between a quiche and a pizza. Yes, I know, it sounds strange, but stay with me for a minute. Zwiebelkuchen come in many different forms from thick and eggy to thin and crispy with just a thin layer of custard to hold everything together…just like the cheese on a pizza. Made with lots of sauteed onions, and usually some kind of pork, this dish packs a wallop in the flavor category, and although a little time consuming (you make a yeast dough that needs to rise) it’s pretty simple. Serve it like you would a quiche, with a side salad for a light lunch, cut it into smaller pieces and serve as an appetizer or cut it into large wedges like I do and eat it as you would pizza.

This recipe makes a more pizza-like Zwiebelkuchen as opposed to the thicker, deeper quiche style.

Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion Tart)

1 package active, dried, yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups All purpose flour
1 Tbl. butter
1 cup water, warm
6 slices Bacon, chopped (preferably thick cut)
2 mdium onions, sliced
1/4 tsp. Caraway seed
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper, freshly ground
1 each Egg
1 each Egg yolk
1cup sour cream
2 Tbl. milk (optional)

Combine the yeast with sugar, salt and 1/2 cup flour in a bowll. Blend in the butter and warm water and mix to combine. Add enough of the remaining flour flour to make a soft dough (you will need most of it) then turn this onto a lightly-floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turn to coat then cover and set aside to rise in a warm place for about 30-45 minutes.

After this time, pat the dough into a lightly-greased, 12 inch pizza pan or a jelly roll pan. Cover and set aside as you prepare the filling.

Place bacon in large, preheated skillet and cook until crisp then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Using the remaining bacon fat, saute the onions until tender but not browned. Add the caraway then remove from the pan and sprinkle over the dough. Top with the crispy bacon. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the egg, the egg yolk and the sour cream together. This will give a custard that you can spoon on top, leaving areas devoid of custard, which is how I like it. If you want something a bit more uniform add the milk to the egg mixture and pour over the onions, spreading it out to cover completely. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Bake 10-12 minutes longer, or until the top is golden brown and the sour cream mixture has set. Serve warm or room temperature, sliced into wedges.

Halloween is only a few days away and I am excited!!!! Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and now even more so since my daughter was born on Halloween. Our day will be booked solid with her birthday party in the morning and afternoon and trick or treating in the evening. Of course, party preparations started weeks ago as we finally cleaned and organized the garage, but last night was the start of the fun. It was pumpkin carving night. I only did 2 this year, while the wife carved one. Not as many as in some past years, but I still have time if I feel like carving a couple more. One of the benefits of carving pumpkins is the seeds. I really enjoy toasted pumpkin seeds. The problem is that I usually over do, snacking on them so by the end of Halloween I’ve seen enough pumpkin seeds until the following year.

I usually just make the regular, salted variety of pumpkin seeds but this year I wanted to spice it up a bit so I made three different flavors. Besides the regular pumpkin seeds I also made a Harissa inspired one, spiced with chile, coriander, caraway, garlic and cumin, and a Sweet, Smoky Asian one scented with Chinese 5 spice and chipotle pepper.

Over the years, one key I have learned to making good pumpkin seeds is a slow oven. I like to bake mine for almost an hour at about 275F. I think that it makes for a crisper seed that is less tough (an important consideration if using larger pumpkins with bigger seeds).

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups Pumpkin Seeds
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

Preheat the oven to 275F. Clean all the pulp from around the pumpkin seeds, removing all the strings. Rinse and blot dry with a towel. In a bowl drizzle the oil over the pumpkins and toss to coat. Sprinkle on the salt while tossing the seeds, making sure the salt is evenly distributed. Spread seeds out, in a single layer, on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Stir the pumpkins seeds and bake another 20 minutes. Stir again and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Seeds should be crispy and just lightly browned. If not done place in oven for 10 more minutes.

Harissa Accented Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup Pumpkin Seeds
1/2 tsp. Coriander seed
1/2 tsp. Caraway seed
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (depending on how hot you like things)
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Vegetable oil

Grind the coriander and caraway seeds in a mortar or electric grinder. Add all other seasonings. Toss pumpkin seeds with oil then with spice mixture. Place on a cookie tray and bake like the Toasted Pumpkin Seeds above. (continue reading…)

About 3 weeks ago I made my own sauerkraut for the first time. You can find the post about it here. For the last week, I have been checking and tasting it daily to see if it was ready. Today I decided it had fermented enough so I packed it up into smaller containers and refrigerated it. In hindsight, the next time I make sauerkraut I will let it go just a little further and get a touch more sour as I really like sour things, though my wife thought it had just the right amount of sourness. Either way I am very happy with the results. My homemade stuff is so much better than the store bought stuff, and it is so easy to make. I don’t know why it took me so long to attempt to make sauerkraut, but after this experiment I think it will become, at the very least, a yearly thing. Maybe next year I will make a larger batch and attempt to can some when it is done.

Of course, once the sauerkraut was ready I couldn’t wait to cook with it so I threw together one of my favorite dishes, Choucroute. Technically what I prepare is not truly choucroute as I use beer in my dish as opposed to white wine (usually Riesling) and I skip many of the traditional spices such as juniper berries, mace, nutmeg, etc. in favor of caraway seed, but choucroute sounds so much better than Sausages Braised with Sauerkraut. This dish can be made up pretty quickly, but I prefer to cook it slow and low for 1-2 hours as I find this long, slow cooking yields a depth of flavor that quick cooking just can’t achieve. (continue reading…)