Turkey masala with saffron rice

I had made a turkey stir fry as part of my diet, I am doing the 5 & 2 diet, 5 days in the week normal eating and 2 fast days, that is approx. 600 Kcals in the day. But this is about the rest of the 500g of diced turkey breast (have you ever tried to buy 50 grams of turkey breast?).

You will require:

450g of turkey breast (diced)

For the marinade

crush the following together

3 small chillies

2 garlic cloves

and add

3 tsp. masala powder (you can buy it or make it yourself)

add 500ml of yoghurt

½ diced onion

Juice of ½ lemon

Mix all the ingredients together and add the turkey pieces, mix well cover and put into the fridge overnight.

Rest of the ingredients:

200g of onions diced (or more)

200g carrots sliced

200g mushrooms diced

2 pepper (red, yellow or orange matters not)

1 tbsp. of curry leaves (crushed)

4 kafir lime leaves (chopped fine)

1 tbsp. Tomato puree

1 tsp. grated ginger

1 tsp. crushed garlic

5-6 small red chillies from my balcony (you may wish to buy them as I cannot be held responsible if you fall)

1 bunch of coriander

1 tbsp. of oil for frying the onions etc.

Mix the masala spices with the yoghurt, add the chilli and garlic paste and lemon juice,  add the Turkey pieces to the marinade, stir well and leave overnight covered in the fridge.

Next day heat the oil or ghee in a wok, soften the onions, add the lime leaves.

 

 add the ginger, garlic,

 

stir fry a little add the tomato puree,

 

the diced (or sliced) carrots, peppers and mushrooms and ½ the coriander.

 

cook it a little and add the tomatoes and rubbed curry leaves,

 

then cook until the oil separates out, add the chillies (left whole but slit ).

Add the contents of the turkey marinade.  

 

Stir to coat all and transfer to the slow cooker, cook on low for 4 hours. Add the remainder of the coriander leaves just before serving.

Serve with basmati rice cooked with 5 cardamom pods, 3 cloves; add a few strands of saffron into the cooking water.

We had a ginger mango chutney (bought) and a cucumber mint riata (home made) with poppadum’s as a nice little starter and naan with the main meal.

 

Raita

½ cucumber deseeded and diced

250g yoghurt

1 shallot diced

Juice of ½ lemon

Small handful of chopped fresh mint

1 tsp. Crushed coriander corns

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the whole lot together (add the salt and pepper at the end) cover and allow the taste to develop. Some may wish to pep it up a bit with some chopped or sliced chilli.

 

Steamed rainbow trout Asian style

Ingredients

 

1 trout ca 500g (gutted and cleaned)

1 table spoon of peanut oil

2 lemons

2.5mm² peeled ginger

2 cloves of garlic

3 spring onions

2 chillies

1 red pepper

1 tbsp Sesame oil

2 tsp Sesame seeds

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sherry vinegar

1 tsp dry sherry or plum wine

1 bunch coriander

1 tsp. of 5 spice powder

1 tsp Szechuan pepper (crushed)

Salt and pepper

Grate half of the ginger and then slice the rest into fine sticks

Grate 1 of the garlic cloves, slice the other into fine slices

Remove the rind from 1 lemon and slice into fine slithers, juice the lemon.

Slice the spring onions thinly

Slice the red pepper thinly

Cut the chillies in half, remove the seeds and pith, slice one very thinly and chop the other into small dice

Put the peanut oil into a pan, heat up; add the crushed garlic, the grated ginger and the diced chilli and allow to soften (no colour please) add 1/3 of the spring onions and ¼ of the sliced peppers, add the soy, fish and oyster sauce, add the sherry and vinegar, add the honey and the lemon juice and half of the lemon zest, add the Szechuan pepper and the five spicepowder. Simmer until it turns thick

Mix the remainder of the ingredients together with the exception of the sesame oil and seeds and a few sprigs of coriander

Rub the inside of the fish with salt and pepper.

Place half of the remaining ingredients on a heat proof plate and place the fish on top, fill the cavity with the coriander and the 2^nd lemon cut into slices.

Slash the fish through the skin and rub the remainder of the ingredients into it, place the plate on a rack inside of steamer or a baking tray with a rack and cover with foil, leaving enough space above for the steam to circulate.

Lid on and a short time later 7-8 minutes should be enough!

Steam the fish until it flakes easily (test by pulling its dorsal fin when it comes out easily then the fish its perfect)

Cook a block of egg noodles in stock (or water) for three minutes, that’s them finished

Toast the sesame seeds and then heat the sesame oil with the seeds.

Pour the sweet and sour sauce over the fish and then the sesame oil and seeds over that.

 

 

 

Put a pile of noodles on a plate (or into a bowl)

 and pull the skin back and remove the succulent flesh and put it on top of the noodles along with the sauce. That’s it a wonderful light evening meal and enough for lunch tomorrow.

 

Mosel Weekend

A bit of sun and wine plus a bit of a song and a dance along the Mosel

The village of Leiwen is said to have got its name from Livia, the wife of emperor Augustus, who had a summer residence in the village, and she gave her name to the village. There have been several excavations in the village, unearthing buildings and artefacts dating back to Roman times.

We, the Kegel club that is, as opposed to the Royal We, go on an weekend outing every 2 years. We have tried other places, but have now settled on Eurostrand, they have 2 places in Germany that do the all-inclusive weekends especially tailored for clubs and then for clubs of those getting into and past middle age. They have one in the Lüneburger Heide (the heathland in Lower Saxony) and one on the banks of the Mosel at a small wine village called Leiwen it is in between Bernkastel-Kues and Trier, we alternate between the two and it was Leiwens turn to host the 10 Kegelbrüdern aus Rheda!

We now tend to travel by rail, and to this end the Eurostrand put on a special train, called the Zambazug  this travels through NW Germany picking up the varying parties, Senior football clubs (Altenherren), Skittle (Kegel), dice (Kniffel), card  (Rommey) and even knitting (strich) clubs. The last pick up point is Köln before heading along the Rhine to Deutsches Eck.

 

This is where the Mosel joins the Rhine at Koblenz, from there train follows the bank of the Mosel, passing under the Moseltal bridge with the vinyards pinned to the steep banks behind.

 

 

 

 Passing many small Mosel wine towns along its banks and the locks and weir at Lehmen

 

until leaving it at Hammersmühle to head off into the Eifel, the area of volcanic lava that still has the odd seismic movement every couple of years, it is also the home of the famous racing circuit Nürenbürg Ring, along with Gerolstein  volcanic spring water, but these had very little interest to most (though not I)as the other two things that the area is famous for is the Bitburger beer and of course the Mosel Wines. This is the home of the Riesling wines, a crisp white, that in good years is soft and delicate on the palate, with a lingering taste of apple and in bad years gives you heart burn, they haven’t had many bad years of late.

We disembarked from the train at Witterlich after 3 hours of dancing, drinking and snoozing; the next part of the journey was by coach down through the vineyards and into Leiwen.
Arrival and into our rooms, the complex is split into very nice 2 story houses each with a kitchen/living room and a large 2-3 bedroom downstairs and 2 double bedrooms upstairs, each with on suite and a flat screen television (important for football daft clubs). The houses are used during the School holiday periods for families.

 

The complex has a swimming pool, a bowling alley, a sauna, an archery range, boccia and day trips can be arranged into Trier an old Roman town with its famous Porta Negra as well as to the other wine towns along the Mosel, Ruwer and Saal.

So it was then straight to the bar, this was an all-inclusive weekend and my Kegel brothers didn’t aim to miss anything out, I am on a close controlled diet at the moment so I was not drinking a lot. What a sad time to be strict with oneself.

The meals are really outstanding and if you are unable to find anything to suit you, there is something wrong with you.

First evening.

2 types of soup

A clear consommé with croutons and a pumpkin cream soup

Salads innumerable

Cold cuts of meat and wurste

Cold fish, smoked salmon and trout, rollmops, fried herring

Red deer Goulasch with Spätzle

Roast chicken

Roast pork knuckle (Schweins haxe)

Roast Pork

Riesling Sauerkraut

Cabbage, bacon and onions in a cream sauce

Honeyed carrots

Roast potatoes

Potato dumplings (Kartoffelknödeln)

The Desserts

Yoghurts and quarks, chocolate puddings and fruit mousses, fresh and preserved fruits
A cheese board with 10 different Cheeses.

During the meal you could drink white and red mosel wines, sparkling sekt, beers, spirits, fruit juices and Gerolstein sparkling water for me.

That evening was taken up with live bands, disco, dancing or in a lot of cases drinking, at 22:00 out came the soup and the Schmaltzstuhlen  (dripping on rye whole grain bread and plenty of roast onions).
Then it was time for bed (well it was for me) the rest carried on well in to the early hours.

Next morning I was up early and went for a walk to collect the newspaper for the lads, well I thought I would be, but I was out and about before the delivery. Not that it mattered as the grounds around the complex are very nicely laid out with fountains and ponds.

I got the newspaper and returned to find most up and ready for breakfast.

This had everything one could wish for (except poached eggs), speck, Weißwurst, grilled tomatoes, freshly made potato cakes. Cereals and preserved fruits, a great selection of cold meats and sausages including Mett (that speciality minced spiced raw pork with onions), cold fish of every hue including my Kiel Saturday breakfast, Matjes. Once again the cheeses many and fresh fruits, fresh brewed coffee and all the fruit juices that you could ever wish for.

After breakfast, it was time for a walk down to Leiwen (only 500mtrs the shortest route) 2 of my colleagues decided to accompany me so we set off down the hill, arriving at the start of the town which lies on the bank of the Mosel and is also the landing stage for the many Mosel ship tours.

 

The other two decided that as it was getting near to 11 it was time to get back (not wanting to lose any precious drinking time).I meandered along the river bank and sat and watched a swan and some Egyptian geese grazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then headed through the village taking a few pics of anything that took my fancy.

 Straußwirtschaft

And another one

 

The Straßewirtschaft are really just the winzers (wine growers) houses that are allowed to sell wine direct to the public at certain times of the year, they may also sell it by the glass under the pretence of sampling, they may also have a simple (or in some cases not so simple) food menu. Along with this many run pensions (B&B) you can be sure of a very reasonable nights sleep with good wine and a hearty breakfast in the morning.

 The town square with the wine fountain

An old wine store made out of Eifel volcanic slate

A rose sporting the morning dew

The Church of St ???

 

 

 

 

A wine press now used only for ornimental purposes all the wine is now pressed by hydraulics and stored in stainless steel vats until bottled. 

 

I returned via the vineyards (and a wine tastings) of St Urban a wine producer that sits amongst the vines above the town

 

Climbing up the steep sloped vinyards with in the main white Riesling grapes with some Rivaner, this goes mainly into making the Mosel sparkling sekt wines. 

But also some of the red Dornfelder grapes that go to make up a semi dry red wine.

 

 eventually returning in quite a sweat I time for a spot of late lunch (more of the same).

The meals continued in much the same vein, interspersed with Kaffee und Küchen, that typical German afternoon pastime that equates to our cream tea of scones and jam.

That evening was roast sucking pig (s) as there were two of them and pot roast beef with onion sauce, plus all of the rest of the goodies.

The weekend was as usual a great success, I didn’t get on a Mosel trip (though I have the past twice), but that is something to look forward to when I get my camper, as this is a must tour for the future.

In two years it's off to the Lower Saxony, to heath and moor landscape, no wine grown there, but plenty of heidschnucken, wild mushrooms and blueberries

Pigeon broth and liver dumplings (Leberknödel)

Leberknödel in a Pigeon and Cèpes broth.

 

 

Carcasses of 6 pigeons (these can be any game birds or small game)

1/2 diced onion

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 sprig of rosemary

3 sprigs of thyme

Break the carcasses into smaller pieces then put them in a roasting tin with the rest of the ingredients mixing so all of the pieces are covered in oil. Roast covered with foil at a high temperature (220°C) for about an hour.

Making the broth

 Browned bones and the remnants from the roasting tin

 

1 small onion halved

2cl of red wine (to deglaze the roasting pan)

3 ltrs. of good vegetable stock

2 heaped table spoons of dried soup vegetables

 

1 sprig each of Rosemary and Thyme

2 bay leaves

 

4 cloves

 

Brown the cut side of the onion, stud it with the cloves holding the bay leaves in place, place these in a large pan along with the dried soup veg and herbs

 

Transfer the bones etc. into the pan, cover with stock (I used a vegetable one) and the deglazed juices,

 

 

 

 

 

bring to the boil,

 

 reduce heat to a rolling boil,

 

 skim the scum as it rises,

 

then part cover with a lid and simmer for and hour or so.

Strain through a sieve and set aside to cool (you can skim the fat, but this is easier when completely cold)

Leberknödeln

The pigeon livers

1 small slice of calf’s liver (I would have preferred goose or game liver but alas none to be had)

4 slices of bread soaked in a ladleful of the stock

Chopped herbs (I used Rosemary and Thyme)

Panko crumbs to thicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Dice the livers and bread, put into a kitchen processor (or as I done use a mixing wand), when well mixed start adding the panko crumbs until it comes to a thick consistency, season to taste. Wet your hands and place a ball of the mixture into the palm of one hand and cover by cupping your other hand over it, now using a circular rolling motion (with your hands not your body, ya fool) form into 8 even sized balls.

To finish the broth

8 Leberknödeln

12 pigeon legs and if you like (I do) the hearts and crops as well.

150g of cleaned cèpes

Add the legs of the pigeons (and if using also the diced hearts and crops) to the broth and poach, when tender add the cèpes.

Then add the Leberknödeln and cook until they rise to the surface, it is ready to serve.

Guten Appetit