Brotchen

Brotchen is a type of German roll that has a hard crust, but soft inside. It's most commonly used for breakfast and sandwiches.

Brotchen
Originally found at Food.com

3 cups flour, divided
2 1/2 tsp (1 pkg) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water, divided
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oil
1 egg white

Sift 2 1/2 cups flour into a large mixing bowl. Form a well in the center. In a separate container, mix sugar and 2 Tbsp water until sugar has dissolved. Add yeast and stir well. Pour into the well formed into the flour, but do not mix. Cover bowl and set in a warm place for 15 minutes.

Add remaining water, plus salt and oil to the flour and mix well. Flour a large surface and turn out dough onto the surface. Knead until smooth, adding remaining flour as needed.

Oil a large bowl and place dough in the bowl. Cover and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (about 30-40 minutes). Punch down and divide into 12 parts. Shape into rolls and place 3" apart on a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until double in size.

Beat egg white and 1 tsp water with a fork until frothy. Brush egg mixture onto rolls. Bake at 450 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

My Notes:

I've missed Brotchen. I had some while visiting friends in Germany last summer, and fell in love with the stuff. Unfortunately, the bakeries around here don't sell it. They claim to, but the crust isn't the same hard and crispy crust. We used to have a German bakery near where we lived, but I've moved since then and haven't been able to find a good substitute since.

This was perfect. The crust is nice and crispy and chewy, and the inside is still really soft. I was worried when I first pulled them out that the inside would be as hard as the outside, especially given my tendency to have super dense and hard breads, but it works beautifully. Time intensive, but well worth the effort.

Guacamole

Guacamole
Adapted from Food Network

2 avocados
1/8 cup lime juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 roma tomato, diced
small bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt, to taste
1/4 tsp pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste

Cut the avocados in half to remove the pit. Scoop out inside with a spoon and place in a medium mixing bowl. Toss with lime juice. Mash with a fork to desired consistency, then add garlic, tomato, cilantro. Mix thoroughly, then season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

My Notes:
I was really resistant to eating guacamole for a long time. But I had some at a pool party last weekend and decided to try to make it. I decided that I really liked the flavor of the lime juice and cilantro that was in the guac I had, but there was no color to it; it just looked like green mush. So, I decided to add a tomato. The result was a much more colorful mix with a varying texture. Not bad. Not something I'll make regularly, due to avocados being super expensive, but every now and then should be fine.

Taco Salad

Pictured: Dairy variety

Taco Salad
From Connie's Kitchen
Serves One

Large handful tortilla chips
2 cups sliced romaine lettuce (about 4 large leaves)
1/2 roma tomato, diced
1/4 medium cucumber, diced
2 Tbsp Miracle Whip
1/2 cup salsa

For Meat variety:
1/4 lb ground meat, browned
taco seasoning, to taste
1/4 cup water

For Dairy variety:
1/2 cup Morning Star Grillers Recipe Crumbles (or other meat substitute)
Taco seasoning, to taste
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cheese

Place either meat or Grillers recipe crumbles in a frying pan. Combine with water and taco seasoning to taste. Heat to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens.

In a small container, mix Miracle Whip and 2-3 Tbsp salsa until well combined.

To assemble the salad, place chips on plate, followed by lettuce, tomato, and cucumber. Top with meat or meat substitute. Dress with Miracle Whip mixture and remaining salsa. If using meat substitute, top with cheese.

My Notes:
My host made this for me last month, except that I think she had carrots in her variety. I modified the recipe a tad, using less Miracle Whip (and Lite stuff, rather than the full fat variety), and making sure it was Kosher.

I personally really like cheese on my salads, so I looked for a way to get the taco flavor without using ground meat. I found the Morning Star crumbles, which are kosher-dairy, so acceptable to use with this recipe. It's made using TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein), so it does fall apart a bit when it's mixed with water, however formed it looks when it's frozen. Still, it gets the job done.

Eggplant Lasagna

Eggplant Lasagna
Adapted from About.com

1 lb lasagna noodles
Olive oil
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
Marinara sauce*
1 lb mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large saucepan, heat a small amount of olive oil. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender and fragrant. Add eggplant. Lightly saute for 3-4 minutes. Add marinara sauce. Cover and cook until eggplant is tender, about 10 minutes.

To assemble the lasagna, place a layer of the eggplant sauce on the bottom of the pan. Press noodles into the sauce. Top with another layer of sauce, then a layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers of noodles, sauce, and cheese until there is a half inch of space on the top of the pan, or until you run out of ingredients.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, until a fork can easily pierce the noodles. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, then serve.

My Notes:
*The tomatoes here in the store look absolutely terrible, and I didn't have all the ingredients to make a canned sauce from scratch, so I used a jar of marinara sauce. Blasphemy, I know. I do have a recipe for a roasted red pepper sauce to go with eggplant parmesean that I might try to make after I get back from my current rotation, but until then, just use whatever sauce floats your boat. I'll be adapting this one for a while, I think, before I get just the perfect balance of flavors.

My friend made eggplant parmesean for girls night the other night, and it was my first time really having eggplant. I had bought some before to make eggplant parm, but I got weirded out by the texture of the eggplant when I was cutting it, so I didn't ultimately use the eggplant. Go figure. But, this dish she made was absolutely amazing. So, I had to replicate it. Except that I still had a box of lasagna noodles in my pantry that I needed to get rid of, so I decided to start a little more basic.

Another friend and I had this last night for dinner. It was pretty good. The sauce needed some work (more heat and a little more spice), but I blame that on the fact that I didn't actually make the sauce from scratch. It had enough texture that I wasn't feeling like I was just eating noodles and cheese (which is my problem with a lot of 'vegetarian' lasagnas), so score. And I didn't have to deal with using ricotta (though I did buy some, so now I have to figure out something to use that in).

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Chocolate Truffle Cake
From Connie's Kitchen

1 cup flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 container whipped topping, divided
1 package instant chocolate pudding
1 package instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix together the flour, butter, and pecans until a dough forms. Press to the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely.

Beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Fold in 1 cup of whipped topping. Spread over cooled pecan crust.

Mix together chocolate and vanilla pudding mixes and milk. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes, until thickened. Pour over cream cheese mixture.

Spread remaining whipped topping over the top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until set. Serve cold.

My Notes:
This is a recipe that was given to me by one of my hosts while on away rotations when I was talking about what sort of dessert to bring to a potluck. I have no idea where the recipe is originally from. But it tastes amazing. As in, I couldn't stop myself from eating it. My friends went for seconds. And if you make it right, it looks really pretty when you're done. Ours didn't look so pretty since I was in a hurry making it and we ending up eating it before it was set. But whatever, it still tasted amazing and I'm not terribly picky about presentation.

My host suggested making this in a spring-form pan, because then you can pull off the sides easily and have your beautiful setting. The crust was really, really thick when I used the standard size springform, though, so I think using less crust or the 9x13 baking dish will be nicer. Or you can separate out the ingredients into individual ramikins. Whatever suits your fancy.