Mornings - Bagels

Mornings are not my friend. Only through routine do I manage to make it to work. Sometimes routine fails but normally, it works out fine. Part of my auto-pilot program is the breakfast bagel that I never manage to eat at home. I wrap it in foil, run for the train & let my bagel sit in the office for a few hours until I remember that it's there. The last few days, I've been sleeping in and running late. Today, I finally found the time to make my breakfast bagel.

There is a wonderful tradition in this country of 2nd breakfast. This is the sandwich or other snack eaten at 10am, after one has already eaten breakfast at 7 or earlier. The second breakfast is normally more than a piece of fruit. It's a sandwich, sometimes with just a slice of cheese or a few coldcuts, but when I was in university, most students packed a mid-morning snack. School children also often have their mid-morning snack. This is enough to tide people over until lunch, when they have the main meal of their day.
Germany is apparently the land of over 600 different kinds of bread, none of which is Wonderbread. Most of these are incredibly healthy whole-grain loaves that really make you count your blessings with your daily bread.

There are a few things I haven't grown used to yet. I haven't yet converted 100% to dark breads, but I enjoy 4-grain bagels. I haven't grown used to having my main meal at lunch, so I often eat again with the workaholic in the evening. But I'm all about this mid-morning snack thing.

The breakfast bagel is fairly simple (it must be easy enough for a zombie to prepare)

1 4-grain bagel
1 small tomato, sliced
1 Tbsp goat cream cheese (thicker and tastier than regular cream cheese)
1/2 Tbsp green pesto
1/2 tsp capers
1/2 tsp green peppercorns

Split bagel. Smear pesto on 1 half. Smear cream cheese on the other. Place tomatoes, peppercorns & capers on the side with cream cheese. Place pesto-smeared side on top. Slice into halves, wrap in foil & run out the door because you're late for work again.

This morning, I finally managed to take a photo of the breakfast bagel. And with the list of ingredients, maybe my coworkers will stop begging me to bring more in to feed them.

Chevre Pancakes

In the last few years, dairy farmers in Germany have been complaining about the low price of milk. When milk costs €0.29 / L, it is very hard to make a profit, or even make ends meet (note: discount bottled water costs €0.35). A consumer who is aware of this problem can respond in a variety of ways. You can ignore the problem & continue to hope that your daily staple will not cost you more. You can choose to pay more for milk and milk products but the question remains: how much of that money really goes to the farmer & how much is absorbed by the milk company. You can buy local milk and ensure the farmers in your area see the money that you are willing to pay. I have gone a different route - I have stopped buying milk and milk products. I'm not sure that this is the answer, certainly it isn't for many German households, but I switched to goat milk for a few reasons.

Goat and sheep milk can normally be consumed by people who are lactose intolerant. Goat and sheep milk are not as commercial as cow milk, and I believe are thus less prone to the industrialized farming that results in high hormone and antibiotic use in cows. I could be wrong here, but because goats produce a fraction of the milk that cows do, they can not be used on such a large scale, and therefore, should not be as prone to disease as animals that are living in cramped quarters. For me, the most important reason to switch to goat milk was quite simply, the workaholic likes it better. I found some goat milk in the supermarket, imported from France, and had some goat yogurt in the fridge. Together, they are the perfect consistency for buttermilk - all without the bad conscience.

Goatmilk Pancakes
1 c flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 pinch salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
125 g goat yogurt
goat milk (about a 1/2 c)
1 egg
2 Tbsp oil

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda & baking powder in a medium sized bowl.
Place yogurt in a measuring cup. Add enough milk so you have 3/4 c liquid. Mix the thick mass until it is free of lumps.
In a small bowl, add the egg, oil and goat milk. Stir until smooth.
Slowly add the egg/milk mixture to the flour mixture. Stir a few times, the batter should still be lumpy.
Cook pancakes on a grill at medium heat until bubbles form. Then flip the pancakes. Keep them warm in a cool oven (50°), covered in foil until all pancakes are done. Serve with warm maple syrup.

I'm not sure if I'm really doing my part to help the farmers. Maybe it's time for government support, like in France. All I really know is that the pancakes were really sweet and went well with bacon. But what doesn't go well with bacon?

Hamstering the Goat

Since I've moved to Germany, I have been made aware of the traits of animals. Raccoons, known to me as "nocturnal garbage eaters", are here viewed as hygienic because they wash their food. They are even literally called "wash bears" (I know - they aren't bears). Hamsters go out, find food and store it for later. The word "hamster" is even a verb in German, referring to the act of hoarding. Stores in North America normally buy a surplus of stock & sell the excess at reduced prices (think Boxing Day, or post-Christmas shopping specials). Stores here do not buy excess inventory - when they're sold out of Christmas decorations by Dec 6th, all the better for them, not extra stock to get rid of. Being the product of classical conditioning that I am, I have learned to buy things when I see them - I have learned to hamster.

I went to the goat farm a few weeks ago & scored huge with the goat ribs. Because baby goat is seasonal, I went back & got more. When it was time to actually cook my goat, I tried to call my mom to ask her how to make a curry. Somehow, whenever I actually need to talk to my mom, I get the machine. At least she's normally home when I just want to talk.

In spite of having watched my mom cook for decades, I haven't really learned all that much from her. I know how to wash meat in lemon, I know that spices should be toasted - I even learned how to grind cumin. I know, in theory, how to cook a curry. I just have no idea how to do it in practice. I do know that thyme is a mysterious part of Carribean cooking, just as cinnamon is a mysterious part of Greek cooking (did I just let the cat out of the bag?). With that knowledge & with a bit of backup spices from Thailand, I set to work.

Kid Goat Curry for the Pseudo- Carribean Kid
600 g kid goat
lemon juice
1 Tbsp minced garlic
salt & pepper
1 Tbsp ghee (clarifed butter)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp corriander
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp Thai curry paste
1/4 red wine
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Wash goat in lemon water, rub with garlic, salt & pepper. Place in a Zip-loc bag & allow to marinate in the fridge for 2 - 8 hours.

In a large pot, melt ghee, & toast spices, add paste & stir. Add meat, wine, bay & thyme, allow to simmer over a low heat for 45 minutes.

I wanted to call my mom to ask her how to make Roti, but I've seen her do it - it involves a lot of rolling. The time she tried to teach me, I got bored & left. Of course, now I regret having let that lesson of my personal cultural heritage slip away. At the time, I was more concerned about how much my arms hurt. Next time I'm home, I guess. And I'll let my mom make her curry (chicken or shrimp - not beef!) and I'll try to take notes. But I know she cheats too. I saw a jar of Thai chili paste in the fridge last time.

Kid Goat, Taken from Mom

Through a series of unfortuntate events, I tried to escape work early after work before a long weekend, and instead found myself at the local goat farm. All I can say is that Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) was not working well yesterday.

Normally, I visit the goat farm's stand at my local farmer's market, but while I was out in the middle of nowhere, why not pop by the farm itself? As coincidence would have it, I was at the farm exactly 1 year ago for a wine & cheese tasting, where I got a tour of the farm. As a life-long city girl, I never really thought about where my cheese comes from. I know that goat cheese comes from goat milk and that mammals produce milk after children are born. Well, in order to ensure that the milk ends up as my cheese, and not as the food for some young kid, the "excess" kids are slaughtered, usually the males, as the females will produce more milk in later years. It all makes so much sense, and had I ever bothered to think about it, I would have figured if out on my own, I'm sure. Really.

Springtime is the time to get the young male kids. I did not grow up in a household with goat, but I have fond childhood memories involving my mother's excitement upon finding goat dishes in the most unusal places. Against my jeuvenile judgement, I tried the goat, and although I never insisted that my mom make it at home, I wasn't turned off by it. My mom is a picky eater, and if it's good enough for her, then it must be good.

The first thing I did after I bought my 600g rack of goat was call my mom. When I was at the farm, I told Stefanie (the lady of the farm) that my mom would be jealous. My mom wasn't exactly jealous, but she had more ideas then I knew what to do with. Ideally, I'll be buying meat exclusivly from the goat farm for the rest of the season. I never really listened to my mom in the first place, but she did give me some good ideas. And I think the next time she'll visit will be in springtime for goat season. If she cooks, I'll certainly welcome her visit.

Roasted Kid Goat
600g piece of kid goat back (loin with ribs - bone in)
1 lemon
1 Tbsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped rosemary
2 bay leaves
salt & pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 c french apple cidre (or substitute water + 1 Tbsp honey)
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme

Grate zest off of lemon & set aside. Clean meat, if necessary. Squeeze lemon & wash meat in juice. Salt & pepper meat. Place meat, along with thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, garlic and2 bay leaves in ziploc bag and allow to marinate overnight, or at least 4 hours.

Put goat in pan, add a splash of cidre, along with 2 bay leaves and 4 spigs of fresh thyme. Roast goat at 220° for 10 minutes, then turn the heat to 180°. Add more cidre. After ca. 45 minutes, turn heat down to 150°, and continue to roast. Baste continually (or whenever you remember). Keep the thing in the oven for a total of 2 hours.

I was thrilled with the tenderness of the meat, as well as the slightly sweet sauce I got out of it. To accompany my springtime treat, I made some simple quinoa, tossed in the wild leek pistou my friend gave me. Right now, I'm so content that I've forgotten about yesterday's traffic troubles. I might even pop by the farm again on the way home from work. And, yes, I'll call my mom to tell her how to cook goat.