We all like fish and as Oscar was ‘in‘ tonight and he is a particular fan of prawns and as the shop up the road had a super offer we bought 500 gr. of raw prawns.

I dry fried them in a pan just adding chilli flakes, some cardomam seeds and in the end some lemon. We served them hot with plenty of …. you will be surprised by this… but with a Limoncello I am making at the moment. The sweetish lemon juice (I make is strong!!) was really wonderful with the prawns.

Served them as a starter with hone made brown bread and butter and some wedges of lemons to accompany the other lemons!

I then did Moules Frites which I have been dying to make for ages. Bought some raw mussels and put them under the tap to wash. The I fried some garlic and some chopped onions (didn’t chop the onions fine enough!) in a pan, added some Vermouth, some Bay leaves and some turmeric and jiggled the pan about whilst they cooked.

At the last minute added a dash of fresh cream and some chopped parsley and served them. They were quite delicious even if Caroline suggested some of the mussels weren’t cooked properly which I disagreed with. I don’t like overcooking them but I suppose that is a matter of taste.

We ate them with some French fries which we got in from the local chippie – the long thin ones are much better than the English chunky chips and taste much better too.

Moules Frites is a wonderful dish to eat with a nice cold beer, especially in Belgium, but this evening we had it with a glass of Vergelegen white wine from South Africa.

Lamb chops done in the frying pan. Oscar cooked them and they were lovely. I was not this time going to eschew the fat, but I made sure I drained it off as best I could on some towel before eating. I do not like lamb pink and thee were done to perfection brown, crispy and still soft on the inside.

Caroline made a potato salad with onion and a salad made of lambs tongue greens.

It was all rather nice but that is enough meat for the week!

Chicken & Spinach Quiche, a photo by mjd-s on Flickr.

With feta cheese. Thanks to my claim that it was made out of special green eggs not any leafy vegetable EM inhaled his slice and demanded seconds. Thanks Dr Seuss!

Salmon en Papillote, a photo by mjd-s on Flickr.

Love to cook this way sans any oil or fat. About 14 mins baking time.

I returned from Germany yesterday. En route to the airport my old friend Andrea stopped off at an Aldi supermarket and so I went in to take a look.

I discovered Maultaschen years ago when they were served for lunch at an exhibition I was attending in Stuttgart – they are a local speciality – and have loved them ever since. They are in concept rather like chinese dumplings (though don’t tell the Germans!) and are jolly good!

They come ready made and vacuum packed.

You cook them in a good strong chicken stock for 20 minutes, adding garlic and parsley, some fresh basil. I added some German smoked speck ham as well, some fresh spinach, a few dried herbs.

Maybe I added too much salt given the stock, but the end result was OK. I added some cream at the last minute and a dash of ginger wine, both of which was rather delicious.

Sprinkled Paemesan over the top and served. Nice

So she had Farfalle with green beans…so we had Conchilie with green beans!

I though fried the beans in garlic and olive oil after cooking them and added tomato paste and some sun dried tomatoes (the latter not that good an idea actually)

Also sneaked in some cooked ham that was left over (they eat well when I am away!!) as well as a bit of Tirolian speck brought home from Germany today.

All very nom nom.

If there was ever an example of ‘if it ain’t bust, don’t fix it‘ this is it!

The main deal....perfect steak and baked potato

I have been returning to this place whenever I visit Frankfurt (and that is at least twice a year) for the past 15 years or so and in all that time I have never had a meal that has been less than perfect. It does what it does to utter, teutonic perfection! The cosy decor has not really changed alot, and the cavernous dining room is filled to capacity and more almost any time you care to visit!

We went again last night. The place was packed to the rafters as usual and there was a queue to get it. We were there with a 92 year old lady. The Maitre d’ immediately rustled up a chair for her to sit while we waited and made sure she wasn’t jostled by the waiting crowd.

And then there happened something that almost struck me dumb…the entire queue of people waiting (and there were about 15!) all got given a lovely glass of (good!) red wine…  on the house! Now I don’t know about you, but I dont remember when that happened to me last in a restaurant. It certainly was a long, long time ago! Anyway, it certainly worked for me!

free glass of wine....smartly painted nails!

The wait wasn’t long and we were shown to our table, right by the grill station….most interesting to see the amazing quality and the size of the steaks and how they are all lovingly cooked by three huge chefs in hats and red scarves, all of whom look like they are related to each other !

In a steak house you order steak…there isn’t much else on the Menu other than meat, and I ordered a 180 Gr Rib Eye which was enormous – though if you are looking for pig-out sized american steaks….sorry, we dont really like them in europe! –  cooked to juicy perfection.

The grill

The baked potato it came with was wonderful too, with a nice crispy skin and a dollop of Soured cream cheese. I might have liked a healthy cottage cheese with the potato instead, but I don’t think the Germans have heard of it. Pity. The plate also came with a nicely done piece of Garlic bread as an added extra.

The salad is another of their specialities. It is the freshest, crispiest salad I have had anywhere…absolutely wonderful with a wide variety of ingredients. Mine was served with an Italian sauce, though there is a good choice of other dressings. Infact it was so good I asked for a second plate…which of course came free, thought you actually have to be a bit careful here…..Germans so it seems, like to eat their salad as a sort of starter….whilst others (like me) like it WITH their steak.

Bonita went to school in Hereford

The atmosphere is buzzing and surprisingly sophisticated….this is Frankfurt after all, and if you like a busy atmosphere in a restaurant where the (extremely polite and friendly) staff flit about with plates of delicious looking food and there is alot of hubbub  then this is the very best place for you.

The inside

The restaurant is right in the middle of town and parking seems quite easy in the nearby streets.

I got a bag of frozen smelts a while ago and have been sorrowfully moving them out of the way in favor of more  conventional (kid approved) choices and tonight the suspense finally got to me.  Also, my hubby is back to inspire me, being done working nights and eating craft food.  So – roast marinated in italian dressing and cumin( that turned out pretty good too as I remembered to take it out of the oven when it was done), pan flashed asparagus with olive oil, sea salt, garlic and lemon and fresh hot smelts with seafood cocktail sauce (on newspapers).  Meow