Jessica

German Potato Salad

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I think Luisa Weiss described it best in her book My Berlin Kitchen “There were, as i saw it, two camps of potato salad eaters. Either you were in the camp that bound their potato salad with mayonnaise to make it rich and creamy or you were from the faction that used hot vinegar dressing for a light and sour salad.”

Chuck and I are definitely in two different camps. I LOVE
the decadent creamy texture and slight bite of the vinegar in a warm potato
salad. I grew up eating it, from a recipe that Miss Amy adopted from her time
working at a local German Restaurant The Brauhaus. As I grew up I discovered
the different variations that can be created by swapping chives, or green
onions for herbs even leafy greens like spinach or kale, and using ham or roast
beef instead of bacon, or omitting meat altogether. I have made it turn yellow
with turmeric and mustard, red with tomatoes, and even orange with carrots and
cabbage. All wonderful these, are delicious variations that I would almost
always recreate again in a heartbeat.

Chuck prefers his traditional American version of potato
salad like most things, though I am lucky in that he will eat pretty much
anything I put in front of him without question. I’m sure his bohemian
ancestors would probably roll over in their graves to know this but alas, I’m
working on him.

This recipe is one that I make every once in a while, as I was
taught by Miss Amy. It may not be her exact recipe but its how I have always
made it and it is how I like it. I strongly suggest that you try this, it is so
vary worth it, and if you have any variations please do share, I would love to
try something new!

Basic German Potato Salad

3 cups potatoes, peeled and diced

½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil, or bacon grease

1 small onion, diced

¼ cup cider vinegar

2 tbsp water

4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped Green onions, or chives

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the
potatoes for about 10-12 minutes or until they have softened. Then drain and
set aside. In the same pan sauté the onion with oil (or more traditionally
bacon grease) until it begins to caramelize, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and
add vinegar, water, bacon, salt, pepper and potatoes to the pan and stir vigorously
for several minutes. The potatoes will loosen and create a creamy, sticky
sauce. Serve warm or cold topped with green onions.

What camp are you in? Vinegar or Mayonnaise?

Perfect Fall Dinner

By Jessica

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I read a lot of blogs, it’s kind of an addiction, but I figure
that there are worse things I could be addicted to right? I get a lot of food,
cooking and photography inspiration from blogs, I mean who wouldn’t with all
these talented people sharing themselves all the time?

I don’t always share the recipes that I “copy-cat” form my
favorite blogs, mostly because I feel like I’m taking some of their thunder and
that’s kind of lame. However every once in a while I come across a recipe that
simply just knocks my socks off and that I have to absolutely share. This is defiantly
one of them.

I usually love everything on Jenny’s blog anyway, but when I
recreated her Sunday dinner, with my own twists of course, I knew I struck
gold.

I almost always have cooked my pork loin the same way, the way
my mom does, and Momma Chuck, and probably everyone else I know with rosemary as the main ingredient, and then
roasted for a good long while, until it is cooked through and usually dry (that’s
why there’s almost always gravy with it). I don’t know why we all do this (coincidentally),
but we do, we like it, I mean who doesn’t like rosemary? But once in a while it’s
nice to step out of the box and this recipe yielded a wonderfully tender, juicy
and succulent pork loin that I will definitely be repeating in the future.

Though I stuck right to the recipe for the pork loin I had
to alter the recipes for the braised cabbage and applesauce. The braised
cabbage was basically the same, except I do not have time to let it sit in the
oven for 2 hours, nor the desire to eat up that much energy, plus I like my
vegetables firmer. I also omitted the goat cheese, though it might be a nice
touch, it simply isn’t needed. The result was delicious! I’m also glad I came
across this recipe because aside from coleslaw I’m always stuck on how to use
up leftover cabbage. Just as an FYI the original Recipe can be found here.

Braised Cabbage

1
head of red cabbage, shredded

2 tbsp
of butter

½ cup
of white wine vinegar

¼ cup
of water

2 tbsp
of brown sugar

Preheat
the oven to 350 degrees. In a large oven proof pan melt butter and sauté
cabbage with vinegar, water, and brown sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until it begins
to wilt. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring at least once. Serve

warm.

As for the Apple Sauce I just made my own recipe of apple
sauce, clean and delicious. I usually do it in big batches to have throughout
the fall season, so I make it in the crock pot for ease.

Clean Crock Pot Apple Sauce

10 medium apples, peeled & copped

½ cup water

2 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg (optional)

Toss all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on high for 4
hours, stirring occasionally. Serves warm or cold.

That other delicious thing I added to this meal, that’s a
German Style Potato Salad that I made simply because I was craving it. It totally
deserves its own post, so you will have to wait another day or two for that
one.

A Special Bracelet

By Jessica

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Recently a friend of mine asked me to do a very special
piece for him.

His mother was having a hard time with the loss of her son,
my friend’s brother. In an attempt to memorialize him for her he asked me to
make a bracelet for her.

A few short conversations about his favorite things, colors,
and different types of bracelets I went to work. Finding the right beads and
charms was a little difficult but I really had a feeling that this piece was
important and I spent as much time choosing the parts as I did actually making
it. I had a sense of what I wanted to do in my mind, but not being 100% sure I actually
ordered each bead, and multiple types of beads in multiple colors and sizes so
that I could have more to work with.

Once everything finally arrived, it was as if my creative
spirit took over and I just began to create. I used a symmetric pattern so that
the central piece a Swarovski heart, in the son’s favorite color was the focal
point.

As soon as I was done I used a few of the leftover beads to
create a matching set of earrings. They are a very simple and basic design, but
I really love how the colors and beads just shine.

It’s amazing to me how much joy and feeling I put into this
piece. I can only hope that its recipient gets the same feeling.

Have you done any projects lately that really touched you?

Chicken with Apples and Fennel

By Jessica

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I have really enjoyed cooking with apples
this season, and not just in my traditional deserts, sauces and butters but I
like finding ways to add them to more savory dishes also. This particular
recipe I found while looking for a new chicken thigh recipe and it was
delicious. I usually gravitate to more salty dishes so this vinegar based dish
was a little different than what I was used to and a fun change to our week day
dinners.

You can find the original recipe here. Mine has a few small changes based on our own personal tastes, mainly
less vinegar, I didn’t want it to be too strong, although we do enjoy those
flavors, we prefer them in smaller doses, but those are just our personal
tastes.

Braised Chicken with Apples
and Fennel

4 bone in chicken thighs (with skin)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 fennel bulb, cored and chopped

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup apple cider

1 large tart apple, cored and sliced

2 bay leaves

1 tsp thyme

Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil
in a large skillet and place the chicken skin side down in the pan. Cook
without flipping until the skin is golden and separates from the pan easily,
roughly 9-10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan. You may want to also
drain some of the juices from the pan, though leave some to sauté the
vegetables in. Add onions, garlic, and
fennel to the skillet and cook, stirring regularly until the onions begin to caramelize,
roughly 5-7 minutes. Deglaze with the wine and then add the cider, allowing it
to simmer and reduce to half. Add the chicken skin side up, apples, thyme and
bay leaves to the pan, cover and allow it to simmer until the chicken is cooked
through, roughly 30 minutes. Remove the cover and increase the heat for 5-10 minutes
or until the sauce begins to thicken slightly. Then stir gently and serve warm.
(Serves 4)

Scalloped Potatoes & Oscars Smokehouse

By Jessica

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Somehow in all my years of cooking and baking I never happened to make scalloped potatoes. How is that possible? Scalloped potatoes are like the mac and cheese of the potato world. How could I of all people not have ever made this? Well I have now, so all is right in the world.

Scalloped potatoes are full of bubbly, cheesy goodness that is not by any means on anyone’s healthy eating list. Maybe that’s why I have shied away from them in the past? I made these last week because a woman at work suggested them along with the wonderful amazing smoked pork chops that I got from Oscars.

A moment if you will to discuss Oscars Aridondack Smokehouse. The wonderland of smokiness in the northeast; located in Warrensburg, NY. The only place I have found an Irish style banger (THANK THE HEAVENS!), a good chorizo, smoked mozzarella, and all natural deli meat all in the same damn place! And it’s CHEAP! CanigetanAMEN! It’s my new favorite place.I had eaten their food before, since they service a few local places but now that I know where it is you can bet your bottom dollar I will be making a trip a couple times a year to stock up. I also hear that their rubs, and dips are to die for, perhaps the next trip I’ll be able to tell you for sure.

I digress.

These scalloped potatoes were devilishly delicious. I used my trusty Betty Crocker cook book as a guide and the only change I made was adding slightly more cheese because if you’re going to be bad you may as well be very bad.

Classic Scalloped Potatoes

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 55 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 6 Servings

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp flour
1 ½ cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 cups potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 ½ cup grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a small sauce pan melt the butter and saute the onion until it just begins to become translucent.
Blend in the flour and allow it to cook for a minute before whisking in the milk and seasonings.Cook on low until the mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally.
Add 1 cup of the cheese, mixing well and removing from heat.
Place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of a lightly greased baking pan. Pour half the cheese sauce and then add another layer of potatoes. Cover the entire dish with the remaining cheese sauce, and leftover cheese.
Place it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour and serve warm.

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Jessica

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