Gerd´s little school of Cooking!

^^^^ Thats pretty cool that you had to travel all areound the workd to persuee your dream. It looks totally worth it, as you seem to like your job, and your dishes look great.

Hello,

and a wonderful good morning from wonderful Bavaria, famous for it´s good food, awesome variety of beer and the breathtaking Oktoberfest, the loveliest, heartiest and most adorable part of Germany, where the most beautiful and intelligent people of Germany life, where Spring is slowly arriving, the birds are singing and .... ok, ok, let´s come to the important things!

EGGPLANTS! ...they look fancy as decoration on a table and if you ask a greek man he will tell you that "Moussaka"(= a gratin based on eggplants and grounded beef) is the greek version of Viagra but most of us fail when they have to prepare a tasty dish out of them because mostly they taste like a old sole of a vagabond´s shoe!

But those times are over when you try this awesome Pasta-dish:

"Gerd´s little School of Cooking"-Productions proudly presents:

Open Eggplant-Lasagna

Have Fun

... and don´t even try to resist this lasagna, there´s no chance!

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Gerd

Garnish with fresh basil and grate some peccorino cheese over the lasagna.

Put some sauce on the plate arround the lasagna.

Keep repeating the last 4 steps until your lasagna has 3 layers.

... and top with a leave of fresh basil.

... cover with a slice of grilled eggplant ...

Put some eggplant-pepper-sauce on the lasagna, ...

Now we can dish up:

Take a warm plate, lay a sheet of cooked lasagna on it.

Meanwhile cook the lasagna-sheets inplenty of salted water, put a little bit of oil in it, that will help that the sheets won´t stick together while cooking.

Let the eggplant-slices with the cheese on it get crispy in the hot oven, that will take you 7-10 minutes.

... and grate some peccorino-cheese over it.

... cover each slice with a slice of buffalo-mozzarella ...

... from both sides ...

Now you can grill the eggplant-slices ...

Cover the pot and let it cook for 30 minutes, keep stiring from time to time!

... and fill up with the smashed tomatoes (I prefer the Italian "Sugo di Pomodoro", it´s allready pre-spiced)

... add the tomato-cubes ...

Now give in the eggplants, but pour away the liquid that is ot the bottom of the bowl , where the eggplants have been in, ...

... and pour in some white wine, stir the whole thing until the whole liquid is reduced.

Now flavor with some salt, grounded black pepper and honey, ...

... add the peppers and saute for another 5 minutes.

Give in a little bit of rosemary, ...

... and saute the onions, thai-peppers, garlic and carrots for 5 minutes.

Let Olive-oil get hot in a pot, ...

... and cut the tomatoes into cubes.

... remove the seeds, ...

Take the tomatos, remove all the green and wooden parts, ...

Remove the Pepper´s seed and inner white skins and chop it.

... as a valuable "Gerd´s little School of Cooking"-reader, you know:

When working with hot peppers, WEAR GLOVES!!!"

Peel a little bit of garlic, remove the inner green sprout (that´s the thing that coauses bad smelling breath!) and chop it!

... do so with the onions.

Peel the carrots and cut it in cubes, too, ...

Cut the peppers in cubes but remove the seeds and the inner white skins before!

... and rosemary and leave them for 20 minutes, so they loose liquid and get allready tasty.

Mix the eggplant-cubes and slices with sea-salt ...

... and the rest of them in cubes.

Take the Eggplants, wash ´em and cut one of them in slices, ...

Shopping-List-Time:

Lasagna-sheets

Peccorino- or Parmeggiano Cheese

Sea salt

Sun-dried Rosemary

Buffalo-Mozzarella (please try to get this one instead of the tasteless cheap cow-milk Mozzarella)

Peppers

Tomatoes

Carrots

Chill-, Thai- or Jalapeno-Peppers

Garlic

Onions

Eggplants (...of course)

fresh Basil

native Olive-oil

Honey

a glass of White-wine

Smashed Tomatoes

"...got you, little Miss Eggplant, or should I call you Madame Aubergine, come les Francais?!"

Oh, how nice, the 7 little dwarfs has brought some nice ingredients out of their hidden magic garden,

.... but wait, there´s missing one of the famous eggplant-sisters!!!

Gerd comes through with the goodness yet again. Seriously dude, is there anything you can't do food wise?

Keep up the great work as time permits, this thread is awesome. (As if I haven't said that like 10 time already.)

Cheers,

-Sean

I don't even like lasagna, and that still looks awesome. Maybe I will like this lasagna however, the one I usually buy is microwavable. I don't really cook lol. Like everyone has said, this is an awesome thread!

I even made my signature the best quote from this entire thread.

This is an awesome thread Gerd, thanks for posting these great recipes.

I will definitely be having a go at the strawberry cheesecake sometime in the near future, and will be sure to post a picture of the final (probably disastrous!) result.

Eggplants look dangerously like Aubergines.. Are they the same thing?

Eggplants look dangerously like Aubergines.. Are they the same thing?

It's the American name for them

I swear, everything you post in this thread looks irresistable. What's your suggestion for cutting onions though? I've tried different things, and still, it gets your eyes watering like sprinklers.

Me again!

Hy everybody! Do you know that feeling when all your stomach wants is a real awesome "snack", not such a convenience-stuff or Mc... - Burger-.... sh...!?

Here´s a sandwich you can´t resist; ok, it takes a bit longer to prepare because you bake the bread by yourself, but the taste you will get is worth every minute of work!

Here we go:

Panini "Pugliese-style" with homemade fries

Believe me, that taste will make your day!

Gerd!

... and serve with the fries!

Enjoy!

Cut the sandwich into two pieces ...

Top with the upper half of the bread-roll and fix it with two bamboo-sticks!

...and add another layer of fresh tomatos and the marinated mozzarella.

Top with layers of thin slicced, hot italian garlic-salami and the grilled, marinated eggplants, ...

... and cover with Lollo-Rosso-Letuce-Leaves.

Now, spread the grilled surface of the bread with salted butter, ...

Fry the potato-sticks in hot peanut-oil meanwhile until they are gold-brown and crispy!

... and grill them in a griddle-pan.

Now, cut the bread-rolls in the middle ...

... and mix with olive-oil.

Flavor with "Old Bay"-seasoning (I really love that stuff, it´s the best thing you can treat your potatos with!) ...

... cut it into thin slices and give the slices into a bowl.

To the fries:

Peel a potato, ...

.. until it get´s brown and crispy.

Now bake the rolls at 200°C (=400°F) ...

... pour that marinade over the eggplants.

... and mix up well, ...

Give some rosemary, some garlic (peel first and remove the inner green sprout), chili pepper and some salt in a mixing glas ...

Back again to the eggplants:

Grill them from both sides and lay them into a casserolle.

Cover the baking-tray with a clean (!!!) kitchen towel and leave the rolls at a warm place again so that they can double their size again!

If you want to, you can now top the rolls with some sesame-seeds or chopped rosemary or grounded pepper or whatever you want. I prefer sesame-seeds.

Mix warm water with a little bit of salt and honey and spread the rolls surface.

... roll the dough out thin and then roll them in like shown in the picture.

Lay the rolls on a backing-paper-covered backing-tray.

Make the pieces ball-shaped with a plain surface ....

Now we can carry on with the bread:

When the dough´s size has doubled, knead it again and part it in equal-sized pieces, mine are 80 g (=0,2 lbs) each.

...give the slices into a strainer and salt them. leave them there for 30 minutes so they will loose some brown liquid.

Next step:

Cut an eggplant in thin slices...

... and mix all the things carefully.

Pour some olive-oil over it ...

Flavor the Mozzarella with salt and sugar and grate a little bit of lime-peel over it.

Cut the piece of chili-pepper real small, but remove the seeds and the inner white skins first and please, wear gloves!

Give the chilis to the Mozzarella.

Cut the Mozzarella in slices and give the slices in a bowl.

Meanwhile we can start to marinate the Mozzarella:

You need: Buffalo-Mozzarella, Sea-salt, a little bit of sugar, Native Olive-oil, a piece of Chili-pepper and a untreated lime or lemon.

... and leave it covered at a warm place (I prefer putting it atop of the oven) until it has doubled its size. this will take about 30 minutes.

Cover the bowl with the dough in it with a clean (!!!!!) kitchen-towel ...

Keep on kneading until you get a compact piece of dough that doesn´t stick at the bowl´s side anymore,

Mix all the dry ingredients and add warm water, while you knead the dough.

That´s all you need for preparing awesome bread:

Flour, Water, Salt and Yeast(instant or fresh, that doesnt matter!)

I swear, everything you post in this thread looks irresistable. What's your suggestion for cutting onions though? I've tried different things, and still, it gets your eyes watering like sprinklers.

The problem with your eyes running while cuting and chopping onions is the acid, that is in the onion´s inner skins.

This acid is causing irritation in the nasal mucosa.

Try to breathe trough your wide-opened Mouth while choping onions, that will help!

Gerd.

Gerd - Look pretty much awesome! I'll have to try it with some veggie salami sometime, hold the cheese.

About how long does it take the bread to double again when rolled out and wrapped? 30 minutes again?

Gerd - Look pretty much awesome! I'll have to try it with some veggie salami sometime, hold the cheese.

It´s even fantastic if you replace the salami with grilled vegies like zucchini and peppers or, no joke, grilled Hokaido-Pumpkin.

When you grill the pumpkin, pour a marinade made from olive-oil, cinamon,salt and honey over it, that´s an awesome taste!

About how long does it take the bread to double again when rolled out and wrapped? 30 minutes again?

It depends on so much factors, about how warm it is, the acctual Humidity, ...

But I think it will take you 30-40 Minutes again, the longer you leave the bread, the better.

Here´s the recipe, it will make you about 12 bread-rolls:

1 lbs Flour

1,5 ounces fresh yeast or 2 small packs of instant yeast

0,5 coffeespoon sea-salt

5-7 fl oz warm water (depends on the flour!)

Gerd

The bread is totally Elissa Friendly!!!

I may try to bake it some time!! I'm obsessed with fresh bread, I seriously choose what restaurants we eat out at based on their 'pre-dinner' bread!

Hey, that made my day, I finally pepared something "Elissa-friendly", at least the bread!!

Dear Elissa!

Belive me, if you try that bread at home, enjoy it fresh out of the oven! You´ll love it!

And you´re totally right! The "pre-Dinner-bread" is a sign how good a restaurant is for my wife and me, too!

When they serve you good and fresh bread before the meal, there´s the danger I´m stuffed with bread before the dinner even´s started!

Gerd - Look pretty much awesome! I'll have to try it with some veggie salami sometime, hold the cheese.

It´s even fantastic if you replace the salami with grilled vegies like zucchini and peppers or, no joke, grilled Hokaido-Pumpkin.

When you grill the pumpkin, pour a marinade made from olive-oil, cinamon,salt and honey over it, that´s an awesome taste!

He is not just Elissa friendly now, but he is also vegan friendly (well, minus the honey in the marinade)! Way to go Gerd!

The bread is totally Elissa Friendly!!!

 

I may try to bake it some time!! I'm obsessed with fresh bread, I seriously choose what restaurants we eat out at based on their 'pre-dinner' bread!

Carrabas does this really AWESOME bread with an herb oil dip for there "pre-dinner" bread. It's really tasty.

Gerd, if you could show us how to make that herb-oil dip for bread that'd be nice, like a mini-lesson.

Have you realized that today´s Elissa´s Birthday?

A reason to prepare a very delicious Birthday cake:

The Elissa-Alvey-aka-SharkTums-Birthday-cake, or, in simple words:

Truffeaux cake from Belgian White Chocolate

Here we go:

... I hope the postman will find you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELISSA!

...and here we are:

This cake not only does look fantastic, it even tastes awesome and makes happy because of the high amount of chocolate!

Decorate with the roses and fresh strawberries.

... and lay a sugar-basket in the middle of the cake.

Powder the cake´s surface with dark cocoa-powder ...

Remove the sides of the backing-pan and put the cake on a plate.

Now we can decorate:

The roses I use for decorating cakes are chemical untreated and eatable roses that You can also give into cocktails or champagne. You have to pre-order them at your grocer.

... and put it into the fridge for three hours.

... plain the surface ...

Pour the creme over the crust, ...

... and mix until you have a homogenous creme.

... give in the melted white chocolate ...

Now to the Truffeaux-filling:

Mix cream and cream cheese ...

Take the crust out of the oven and spread it with strawberry-jelly imediatly.

Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes at 350°F (180°C) ´til it´s gold brown and still a little bit soft.

Pierce the crust with a fork.

Then roll out the crust and lay it into a baking-paper-covered backing pan.

Put the dough into your fridge for about 30 minutes.

... and knead until you have a compact piece of dough.

Flavor with a bit of cinamon-vanilla-sugar ...

... and two parts of ice-cold butter.

... with one part of sugar ...

Now to the crust:

Mix 3 parts of flour ....

Let this sugar-basket cool down a little bit and remove it careful from the ladle.

Leave it on a piece of wax-paper until you need it.

Continue with spinning the fibres until the ladle´s surface is covered with a sugar-net.

... and when your melted sugar will build fibres when you dip a fork in it, spin the fibres over the ladle.

Cover the surface of a metall-ladle with oil, ...

... let the sugar melt while stering, but be careful, that sugar get´s damned hot, and be careful that the sugar won´t get black. when the sugar´s molten completely, let it cool down a little bit.

Then put some sugar into a heavy pan, ...

... and let the chocolate melt completly.

... give it into a heat-resistant glass-bowl, put that bowl into boiling water ...

First, take a big block of white belgian chocolate with a high amount of cocoa-butter (< 60%), cut it into small pieces, ...

Hello Elissa,

not much more longer, and all this stuff will have transformed into your birthday-cake!

THAT'S SO AWESOME!!! THANKS GERD!!!

(even though it's not Elissa-Friendly, it still looks awesome!!!)

That sugar-basket is an amazing touch. Great job!

THAT'S SO AWESOME!!! THANKS GERD!!!

 

(even though it's not Elissa-Friendly, it still looks awesome!!!)

Just curious, what makes this Elissa-unfriendly?

Great presentation Gerd!

And Happy Birthday Elissa!

THAT'S SO AWESOME!!! THANKS GERD!!!

 

(even though it's not Elissa-Friendly, it still looks awesome!!!)

 

Just curious, what makes this Elissa-unfriendly?

...yup, what makes it Elissa-unfriendly?

Don't take it personally, I'm like the most picky eater ever!

- I don't like White Chocolate

- I don't like Strawberries

- I'm really just not a big cake person in general

Still though, the thought was awesome!

That cake looks awesome.

Besides, this will now be the most interesting thread in TPR history as the forever unknown question, how do you make an Elissa friendly dish may be answered.

this thread deserves the angel for such a heroic task.

Seriously though, I would totally eat that cake, it looks AMAZING!

Don't take it personally, I'm like the most picky eater ever!

- I don't like White Chocolate

- I don't like Strawberries

- I'm really just not a big cake person in general

 

Still though, the thought was awesome!

BLASPHEMY!!!