Schwammerlbrühe (Bavarian Mushroom Stew with Dumplings)

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Schwammerlbrühe (Bavarian Mushroom Stew with Dumplings)

I got the recipe from Craft Beering, but it's stashed on my phone, so sorry for no linkage.

Ingredients:
20 oz mushrooms
4-5 shallots
2 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)
½ cup white wine (preferably dry)
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
thyme, (optional, 1 tsp dried or picked leaves of 4-5 sprigs)
2 cups heavy cream
1 small bunch parsley, finely chopped

Instructions:
1. Finely dice the shallots or onion. Clean and cut the mushrooms depending on their size – slice, quarter or cut in half.
2. Heat a large, deep pan over medium-high. Add the butter and saute the shallots for a minute or so. Add the mushrooms, stir well and saute for a couple of more minutes.
3. Deglaze with the white wine and scrape off all brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine evaporate, then season with salt, pepper and if using thyme add it.
4. Pour the heavy cream over the mushrooms, stir and bring to simmer. Let simmer for about 5 minutes until the cream begins to thicken slightly. Remove from heat and add finely chopped parsley just before serving.


I substituted one large onion for the shallots, used regular butter, only used half the salt, used dried parsley, and left out the thyme (and did not miss it). I only quartered the mushrooms, which I though was fine, but my mother complained were too big. Everyone agreed it was extremely tasty though, and that is really the point. I did not make bread dumplings. Instead, we ladled the soup over chunks of pretzel rolls.

There was a little bit left over, so the next day, I added some leftover hamburger to it and heated it up over noodles for an impromptu stroganoff for one. Also, very good.

Goat Cheese & Mushroom Strudel (Puff Pastry or Phyllo Dough)

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Goat Cheese & Mushroom Strudel (Puff Pastry or Phyllo Dough)

Recipe is from Craft Beering.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter + more for brushing the dough*
2 garlic cloves, chopped
18-20 oz mushrooms (cremini recommended)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 tsp flour
1tsp salt (or to taste)
½ tsp pepper (or to taste)
6 oz goat cheese
2 sheets puff pastry (or 24 -30 phyllo sheets, about 5-6 ounces, or 1 recipe strudel dough)

Instructions:
1. Clean and trim the mushrooms and chop as finely as you'd like. Over medium heat melt 2 tbsp butter and saute the mushrooms with the garlic and thyme. Once most of the mushroom moisture has been released and evaporated add the chopped parsley, the flour and season with salt and pepper. Stir and cook for another minute or two. Remove from the stove and let cool down a bit. Fold in the goat cheese.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt the rest of the butter. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Spread out the puff pastry onto a clean surface and brush each of the two sheets with a bit of melted butter. (If using phyllo, start with 3 sheets, brush and so on until you have 2 separate piles comprised of 12 to 15 phyllo sheets each.)
4. Divide the filling and spread it over each sheet of dough. Leave a little room at the ends. Fold the short end inward and roll along the longer side. Brush seam with butter, place seam side down onto baking sheet. Generously brush with butter.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the surface is deep gold color. Allow to cool down for 5 minutes before slicing.

* You will need from 4 to 10 tbsp of extra butter melted. 4 if using puff pastry, about 6 if making your own strudel dough and about 10 if using phyllo.

This was extremely tasty, but I did have some problems with this one. To start, it says prep time: 10 minutes, cook time: 35 minutes, for a total of 45 minutes. It took me two hours from start until I got it in the oven, but that could be just a me problem.

Substitutions: I added more garlic, mostly because when I pulled off two cloves from the bulb, they ended up being many more than that each. I ended up with 24 ounces of button mushrooms and only 4 oz of goat cheese, because that was what was available.

I went the puff pastry route, which is why the strudel dough recipe is not here.

It was a lot of fun watching the mushrooms cook down.

At one point, I did have to track down the picture version of the instructions because how they wanted you to fold it was not clear to me. Apparently, they want you to fold it like a burrito.

They also neglected to mention cutting vents in the top like you do for pie, which I did do, but it still should have been in the instructions.

My oven must also not have been hot enough, because after 35 minutes in the oven, it had still not reached a “deep gold color” but it was cooked enough to eat and we did, after letting it cool for 5 minutes.

Kartoffelpuffer (German Potato Pancakes)

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Kartoffelpuffer (German Potato Pancakes)

From Craft Beering

Ingredients:
2 lbs starchy potatoes, such as Russet
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1tbsp corn or potato starch (use if you do not intend to use the starch from the potatoes)
cooking oil as needed for pan frying

Instructions:
1. Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes. Place in colander or large sieve over appropriately sized bowl and let drain for 10-15 minutes. Press a couple of times to help the process along. (Alternatively, place the grated potatoes in a clean cheese cloth and squeeze out all the water.)
2. Once most of the liquid from the potatoes has collected at the bottom of the bowl, move the drained potatoes to the side and either discard the liquid and reserve the starch settled underneath it or discard everything.
3. Beat the eggs with the salt, pepper, nutmeg and if using the 1 tbsp of corn or potato starch, then add to the potatoes.
4. Heat ¼ cup of cooking oil in a frying pan over medium to medium-high heat. When hot, add a large spoonful of potato egg mixture to the oil and flatten it out using the back of the spoon. (Do not overcrowd the pan).
5. Fry until each side if golden and crispy, about 4 minutes per side, depending on how large the pancakes are.
6. Drain the cooked potato pancakes over paper towels before serving. Serve while still hot with apple sauce or sour cream as a dip.

Unsurprisingly, extremely tasty and used a lot of oil. It took a little bit to find a rhythm, but once I found it, cooking them up went pretty well. I do wonder if my potatoes were not drained well enough and/or they were not mixed well as I did notice I had a lot of liquid left at the end, after I had fried all the pancakes, and that the pancakes towards the end of the batch were more “potato pancake” like and the ones at the beginning were more like fancy hash-browns. But very tasty regardless.

Baked Salmon Seasoned with Olive Oil and Cracked Black Pepper

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Baked Salmon Seasoned with Olive Oil and Cracked Black Pepper

Found on Zest My Lemon's Instagram here

I made this in August and forgot to post.

Baked salmon seasoned with olive oil and cracked black pepper with brown rice, zucchini sautéed in olive oil, crunchy snap peas and butter garlic mushrooms

For the salmon, place on a sheet pan over lemon slices, season with garlic powder, black pepper, sea salt and olive oil. Bake in oven or toaster oven on 400 for 12-15 minutes depending on the size of the salmon. Mine was a one pounder or air fry in a 390-400 F preheated air fryer for 12-15 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a pan on the stovetop on medium high heat until hot. Add desired veggies (mushrooms, peas, broccoli, bell peppers, onions, zucchini would all work) season with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Add additional seasoning/herbs/spices of choice to taste if desired. Lower heat a little so the oil doesn’t get too hot and the veggies don’t burn. Occasionally give a toss with a large spoon until the veggies are lightly golden. About 7-8 minutes.

This turned out great. The salmon reminded me a lot of how my dad used to grill it on the BBQ. My veggies were just mushrooms and zucchini with white rice. It was very filling and would do again.

Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Salad with Sliced Almonds and Creamy Goat Cheese

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Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Salad with Sliced Almonds and Creamy Goat Cheese

Found on Zest My Lemon's Instagram here

I made this in August and forgot to post.


1 boneless skinless chicken breast.
2 tablespoons @ batistinifarms Estate Notes Extra Virgin Olive Oil and more for drizzling.
2 tablespoons @ batistinifarms Estate No. 15 Balsamic Vinegar and more for drizzling.
2 cups baby spinach
2 cups baby arugula
6 large strawberries with stems removed and sliced in half.
2 tablespoons sliced almonds.
1 tablespoon shallots thinly sliced.
Goat cheese crumbles.
Salt and cracked black pepper.

Add the chicken breast to a shallow bowl. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Add the balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and fully coat the chicken. Let the chicken sit in the mixture for 5-10 minutes to let marinate. Heat a grill pan on the stovetop and grill each side of the chicken for 5-6 minutes until cooked through. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. To a large bowl add the baby spinach and baby arugula. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil then add the sliced balsamic chicken, strawberries, sliced almonds, shallots and goat cheese on top. Drizzle with more balsamic and enjoy!

I did use a different balsamic vinegar and I substituted the arugula with a different leaf lettuce. I am always looking for different ways to eat chicken, because frankly, I don't like chicken. I would eat this everyday though. I did wonder if it was going to be balsamic vinegar overload, but everything worked very well together. Extremely tasty.