À la Dankertier

When I studied in Dresden, this was one of my favorite meals in the university canteens. Although it was served every once in a while in different canteens, only one of them was able to make them really, really well (Neue Mensa ;) ). Fortunately, the union posted the recipe on their website .I didn't cook it in a while, almost two years, but recently I got somehow reminded and thought: That was so delicious, you have to redo this - and show it to Sophie ;)". First I was afraid, because she is not a big fan of cabbage, but when she tasted it the first time, she almost couldn't stop herself from eating the whole load at once. The ingredients and steps are super simple, just the cabbage needs some time to cook. Cut 100g bacon and 100g onion in small dices and fry them in a big pan. Meanwhile cut 300g Salami (originally I take the good German one you get in every LIDL, but any other one could do the job too) in big dices (1cm) and add them to the pan. Reduce the heat, so ...

This is an extremely easy, fast and cheap recipe. I just did it and was again surprised, that it took less than 30min, including cutting and cooking, from the fridge into the bowls. It's a recipe of my mom's old cook book, which almost falls apart, since it's from good old GDR times ;). Originally it's supposed to contain leftover meat, which has to be cooked long, or intestines, you won't eat otherwise. My mom altered it into a nice fashioned, anytime doable meal. We made a lot, either just for us or in big quantities, which is also straight forward. You just need a few ingredients, and with a twist you can do it all in one pot: I simply fry the stuff in a deep soup pan and add hot water from a kettle. If you don't have one, fry everything in a pan, boil water in the pot and add it. Cut and fry 200g onions , 100g Bacon and 2 cloves garlic in a deep soup pan (at least 3l). Meanwhile cut 500g of big Hot Dog sausage* in stripes and dice a few gherkins ....

Weekends are special right now (one could argue they always are... but I mean culinary-wise). We are working like crazy during the week, eating good, but fast prepared stuff. During the weekend, we take the time to impress each other with amazing food. In Quebec we have a very popular chef whose name is Ricardo. I personally tried many of his recipe and always found them delicious (even though sometimes he pushes a little on the fresh stuff... not everyone has a farmers' marker in their back yard!!!). It's then no surprise that when I decided to cook Paella I found a good recipe on his website. The original recipe is here . But I also decided to copy my version :). I fried a little piece of chicken (maybe the equivalent of a small breast) that I cut before in bite size portions. I salted and grounded some pepper and waited until brown. I put aside and add 1 yellow bell pepper and 1 big onion , diced. I also add 3 pieces garlic , finely chopped (we loooooooove garlic!) a...