Germany trip recap and what I want to eat now that we're home...
…harissa chicken - two ways
Hi friends! Heads up - all my pictures made this newsletter too long for email, so it will cut off at the bottom. Just click the link there to read the whole thing on the webpage! You won’t want to miss any of it!
We’re back! Thanks for letting me take last week off and enjoy our trip.
And enjoy it, we did! We spent a week riding bikes along the Moselle River in Germany, about 135 miles over 5 days. And then we were able to spend a few days visiting my dad’s aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a whole family trip, including my 7- and 3-year old nieces, and they did great!
It was a trip filled with beautiful scenery and lots of fresh air, coffee and cake and ice cream stops, so much laughter and fun, and more schnitzel and potatoes than you think a person could eat. (You’d be wrong.)
Here are a few highlights…
The ride.
Much of the Moselle River is considered wine country, and many of our days were spent riding through vineyards.
We rode through small towns and villages, saw castles, met some nice deer, found a Roman wine barge, and of course, tasted the local fare!
Thanks to our e-bikes (and padded bike shorts!) the ride itself was actually very enjoyable! It only rained on us one day, but it gave us the chance to test our rain gear! I got pretty good at the bike riding selfie, and one of us got pretty good at napping while riding…
The food.
Schnitzel around every corner, and we ate every bit of it. With a squeeze of lemon, or smothered in gravy, or topped with a fried egg - yes, please! Plus rouladen and red cabbage, white asparagus with hollandaise (it was asparagus season while we were there, and every restaurant had a special “spargel menu”), and of course, bratwursts with fried potatoes and sauerkraut.
Traditional German breakfasts include a spread of rolls and breads, meats and cheeses, yogurts and toppings, and hard boiled eggs, and are absolutely one of my favorite things about being in Germany. At one gasthaus (hotel/inn), you actually dropped your own egg into a color coded little basket of boiling water and used the sand timer to cook it to your own preference! And then of course, once it was done, it got to wear a little egg cozy to stay warm. Also, can someone knit me egg cozies??
Coffee and cake is an every day affair, and we settled in quite nicely. The cakes are always stunning and the coffee is always served with a tiny cookie.
The family.
And here we are. I’m sure we were quite the spectacle going down the Radweg (bike path), but we were having too much fun to care. From left to right - dad, his cousin Reinhild, Marcus (my husband, yes he has a name!), niece number one, me in the middle!, niece number two, my sister-in-law, James (aka “the Kiddo” you hear so much about), and my brother. Rag tag smiling crew.
And, bam!, back to reality.
Now that we’re home, I’m back into the routine of meal planning (oh come on, you know me, I started making a meal planning list on the airplane ride home…) and thinking about what I’ve been inspired to try making and what we actually want to eat this first week. You know, things that aren’t meat and potatoes. At least for a couple days.
The Harissa-Yogurt Marinated Chicken (done two ways!) below is definitely a meal that would be on my list. Harissa - a North African chile paste - has become an ingredient I’m using a little more, and surprisingly for this spicy foods wimp, these are flavors I find myself craving when I’m in the mood for something a little different.
The first way, with a whole spatchcocked chicken, is an impressive meal. It’s smoky and spicy, and complemented by the sweet onions and carrots. The yogurt in the marinade keeps the chicken juicy, and the whole thing is so good on a pile of easy to make cous cous. (Seriously, there’s no easier side dish - just add hot water and wait five minutes!)
The second method uses the same marinade, but does boneless, skinless chicken thighs that you can then chop up to stuff into tortillas or pita pockets or serve over rice or another grain as part of a big bowl with toppings. (Go with some cucumber and that za’atar yogurt dip from a few weeks ago!)
If you’re looking for a chicken recipe that’s maybe a little different from your normal roasted chicken, this is it. Either the whole bird or just the thighs, you can’t go wrong.
That’s it for now. I’m off to keep catching up on laundry. Back next week with more food and fun!
MONDAY - Brother-In-Law’s Birthday Dinner
He’s requested wings and chicken fingers from a local restaurant. That sounds great to us, and I’ll definitely take the extra night off while we’re still getting back into a routine.
TUESDAY - Orecchiette with White Bolognese
This pasta dish is always at the top of the list when I ask the boys what they want for dinner. Small shaped orecchiette pasta and a light white wine sauce with ground pork and loads of punchy capers.
WEDNESDAY - BBQ Chicken and Mac ‘n Cheese
I have a small pack of chicken thighs in the freezer - I’ll slather them in sauce and bake them in oven while I heat up a refrigerated, store-bought mac ‘n cheese. Yep, we’re taking all the shortcuts tonight, and that’s a-okay.
THURSDAY - Egg Roll In A Bowl
Been wanting to try this for a while! I found a bunch of recipes online, I think I’ll start with this one and tweak it a little. (Like doubling the sauce, because we always want more sauce!) Honestly the whole egg-roll-in-a-bowl thing looks really similar to my easy asian noodles (which we love!) but served over rice instead.
FRIDAY - Friday Night Pick Up!
SATURDAY - Dinner at Yaya’s (the in-laws)!
Smash burgers!
SUNDAY - Dinner at Dad’s!
Happy Father’s Day to all the guys. We’ll celebrate with brats on the grill and fried potatoes because we got hooked on that authentic bratkartoffeln in Germany, and we have ideas for re-creating it at home.
LUNCHES for this week -
The day after we got home, I cooked a big batch of lentils to use in various salads and such. My body always needs a re-set of sorts after traveling, and lentils are one of those great super foods. Then I went to the farmers’ market on Saturday and came home with some lettuces, cucumbers, microgreens, and a beautiful purple cauliflower, plus I have radishes and swiss chard from the garden (!!!), so I’ll work all that into my lunch salads and bowls.
EXTRAS for this week
Oh baby, did I come home with so many ideas. So many things I need to make. Cakes and tortes and salads and schnitzels. I’ll have to pick one at a time. The Kiddo has requested that I try Black Forest Cake (which he ate a lot of), so that’s at the top of the list along with a couple of pasta ideas that have been percolating for a while.
Harissa-Yogurt Spatchcocked Chicken with Onions and Carrots
Makes about 6 servings
· One (approximately 5 pound) Whole Chicken
· ¼ cup Harissa Paste
· ¼ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
· 2 cloves Garlic, minced
· Zest and Juice from half of one Lemon
· 2 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
· 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand), divided
· ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
· 6-8 medium Carrots, peeled and cut into carrot sticks
· 1 medium Onion, sliced
· 1/8 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
Remove chicken from packaging and check to make sure the giblets are not included inside. If so, discard.
On a large cutting board, place chicken breast side down. Carefully use sharp kitchen shears or a knife to cut along each side of the backbone and remove it. Flip chicken over, spread both sides out and press flat.
Move chicken to a large, rimmed baking sheet. Use fingers to loosen skin from breast and create a pocket on each side. Loosen the skin on the thighs and make a pocket on each. Fold the wings under the chicken.
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine harissa paste, yogurt, garlic, lemon zest and juice, 1 tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the smoked paprika. Put half of this mixture under the skin in the pockets you made. Spread the other half of the mixture all over the top of the chicken. Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with another ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Move the chicken to the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.
After the chicken has marinated, remove it from the fridge and preheat the oven to 425 with a rack set in the middle position.
In a bowl, toss the carrot sticks and sliced onions with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, ½ teaspoon of the salt and the 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. Arrange the vegetables around the chicken on the pan.
Place baking sheet in oven on middle rack and bake for 50-60 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the internal temperature reads 165.
If the chicken is browning too quickly, loosely cover the top with foil and continue cooking.
Remove from oven and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving. (This is really excellent served with cous cous.)
Harissa-Yogurt Marinated Chicken Thighs…
Makes about 6 servings
· ¼ cup Harissa Paste
· ¼ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
· 2 cloves Garlic, minced
· Zest and Juice from half of one Lemon
· 1 tablespoon Olive Oil, divided
· ¾ teaspoons kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand), divided
· ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
· 2 ½ - 3 pounds boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs, cut the larger ones in half (You just want them all about the same size.)
Combine harissa paste, yogurt, garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and smoked paprika in a large bowl and mix well. Add chicken thighs to bowl and mix so the marinade is all over the chicken. Cover the bowl, refrigerate at least 3 hours, up to 24.
Preheat oven to 400, make sure rack is in upper third of oven. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
Lay thigh pieces in one flat layer on baking sheet, spreading out as much as possible. Smear any extra marinade over the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with another ¼ teaspoon salt.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until browned in some areas and chicken is cooked through. Remove from oven and rest for 5 minutes.
Slice thighs into strips and pile on serving platter. Serve with rice or cous cous or in tortillas or pitas.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading! See you back here next week!
(Don’t forget you can see all of the past newsletters and recipes at the archive link below!)
All recipes categorized by type can be found in the index!