Goetta, it’s a Cincinnati Thing!

Goetta

I started eating goetta as child when I would visit Cincinnati for two weeks during the summer. I immediately fell in love with goetta! We didn’t have this in Chicago, or my favorite fast food Skyline Chili. Oh how I looked forward to my visits to Aunt Boo and Uncle Bob’s for the summer. The moment we stepped off the bus Uncle Bob would take us straight to Skyline or United Dairy Farmers (another Cincinnati original). Now Cincinnati has Graeters Ice Cream which I am particularly fond of. I don’t think I would have stayed here if weren’t for these four things! So what is Goetta? Goetta is a German breakfast sausage made from ground meat, oats and spices.

To cook goetta, you just treat it like sausage. I fry my goetta in a cast iron skillet with a very small amount of oil. I like my goetta cooked about medium crispy with over medium fried eggs.

Tips for preparing goetta

Slice goetta thin, about a 1\4 inch using a very sharp knife.

Do not let the slices touch each other in the pan… They will stick together and become one!

Once in the pan, don’t mess with it. Leave it alone until it gets golden brown.

And lastly. Never, ever, ever cook goetta without a shirt on! Goetta has a tendency to pop and explode while cooking. It only takes one pop of hot goetta on your chest to learn your lesson.

First Time Waffle Tips!

So I made waffles for the first time today. Here are a few tips for the beginner.

The top of the “Waffle Iron” is very hot… Do not lay your hand on it to prove it!

Do not over mix the batter.

Use cooking spray every batch!

Try one waffle at a time until you get the amount of batter and cooking time right.

Fried Potatoes in Bacon Grease; Recipe

This is one of my mother’s many recipes that I have changed a little to make my own. This dish is not healthy at all and you probably shouldn’t try it! However, you haven’t lived until you’ve had Fried Potatoes in Bacon Grease!

Ingredients

1 Very large or 2 medium Idaho potatoes

1 Onion sliced

3-4 Slices bacon fried

1-2 Serrano or 1 jalapeno pepper (optional)

Ground black pepper to taste.

Salt or Goya Adobo if needed

Heat a cast iron or other large skillet to medium heat. Fry bacon until fat is rendered. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.

Eat the bacon now or save for meal. As you can see from the picture; I couldn’t wait!

Add potatoes to pan and sprinkle with black pepper. Fry covered for 5 minutes without stirring.

Flip potatoes and cover for another five minutes. Flip again after five minutes and add onions and peppers.

Fry uncovered flipping every several minutes until potatoes are dark and the onions are caramelized.

Serve with eggs of your choice or a side to to dinners.

Grilled Sourdough Breakfast Melt; Recipe

Sourdough Breakfast Melt

Ingredients

2 Slices fresh French Sourdough

1-2 Eggs

3 Slices smoked deli ham

2 Slices smoked turkey

2-3 Slices Swiss cheese

Cooking cooking spray

Oil or butter

Preheat a cast iron or other skillet to medium heat; at the same time preheat a non stick pan  to medium heat.

Scramble 1-2 eggs in a bowl.

Spray cooking spray in nonstick pan and cook eggs for about 3-4 minutes. Heat ham and turkey in microwave for 1 minute. Place ham and turkey on sandwich first. Flip your omelet and cook for two minutes.

Fold omelet into a half moon shape and place over meat on the sandwich. Add Swiss Cheese and cover with second slice of bread.

Add olive oil or butter to cover skillet. Place sandwich in center and cook covered for 3-4 minutes. Flip sandwich and cook covered for an additional 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.

Finish in microwave for 30 seconds to melt cheese if needed.

Chorizo Breakfast Tacos with Homemade Hot Sauce; Recipe

Chorizo Breakfast Tacos with Homemade Hot Sauce

I love Chorizo con Juevos! There are two main types of Chorizo. Chorizo from Spain is a dry cured sausage and very different from the South American Chorizo sausage most frequently cooked with eggs. Last week my friend “DP” Vasquez told me how good chorizo was in fried potatoes. At the same moment I had an epiphany remembering the failed skillet burritos from McDonald’s. I’m gonna do my own breakfast skillet tacos with homemade hot sauce!

Ingredients

4 Ounces Mexican chorizo

I like this brand because it comes in 3 4oz servings.

1 Small red potato cut into half inch pieces

1 Egg scrambled in a bowl

2 Ounces chopped onion

2 Ounces chopped bell pepper

1-2 Ounces olive oil

2 Flour or 4 corn tortillas

Homemade Hot Sauce Recipe

Black pepper to taste

Start the Chorizo and Potatoes at the same time in separate skillets. I use a small non stick pan for the chorizo.

Heat a skillet or non stick pan over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook breaking up the chorizo as it cooks. Remove from heat to add to the cooked potatoes.

Heat a skillet to medium high (just over medium). Add olive oil first then potatoes and season with black pepper. DO NOT ADD SALT; your potatoes will stick if you add salt and there is plenty of salt in the chorizo. Fry potatoes until golden on both sides. Add onions and bell peppers and cover. When onions and bell peppers are almost done add cooked chorizo. Cook covered for several minutes. Add beaten egg to potatoes and cook until the egg is done and incorporated into the potatoes. Serve in warm tortillas. I like to heat my tortillas in a cast iron skillet for about 30 seconds a side. This recipe calls for the use of two burners so the microwave will do just fine.

Top the tacos with some good hot sauce.

Makes 2 Tacos

Wooooooooo!

Skirt Steak and Eggs; Recipe

Skirt Steak and Eggs

Back in the early 1990s my group of friends would go for late night/early morning breakfast after a night of clubbing. One of our favorite places was the Addison House on Lake Street and Route 83. I always ordered the Skirt Steak and Eggs (Greek Style) and topped it with hot sauce.

Ingredients

Skirt Steak

2-3 Eggs

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

Preheat a small non-stick pan to medium heat.

Heat a Cast Iron or Heavy Skillet to medium high. Add a small amount of oil to barely coat the skillet. Season skirt steak with salt, pepper and oregano on both sides. Cook steak for 2-3 minutes per side or more to your liking. Do not move steak around the pan for at least 2 minutes so you can achieve a nice browned crust. Turn over and cook until browned on second side. Remove to plate and rest.

Spray your non-stick pan with Pam or cooking spray, add one egg at a time and cook for about a minute and a half. Spray the uncooked side with Pam and flip. Cook for 30 seconds or less and slide onto plate. repeat for more eggs using more cooking spray each time.

Season with more salt & pepper and hot sauce if you like.

This recipe works great with Rib Eyes, New York Strips and Sirloin.

Chorizo con Huevos Mexican Breakfast

Chorizo con Huevos! MMMMMM!

Chorizo con Huevos; Scrambled eggs with Mexican Sausage

Breakfast couldn’t be any easier! There are two main types of Chorizo; European and Latin American. In Mexico Chorizo is uncooked and cased like a sausage. In Europe Chorizo is a hard smoked sausage. We are using the Mexican style here, fragrant and mildly spicy with clove and chilies.

Ingredients

I like this brand because it comes in 3 4oz servings.

4-6corn tortillas

4-oz Mexican Chorizo

2-3 scrambled eggs

Mexican hot sauce

 

Fry Chorizo over medium heat until fully cooked breaking it up with spatula. Add beaten eggs or scramble eggs in pan with Chorizo.

Microwave 4-6 corn tortillas wrapped in a paper towel for 45-60 seconds.

Use two tortillas for each taco and top with the salsa of your choice. I think it took me about 10 minutes to make this, maybe less.

Enjoy!

Fried Potatoes and Eggs: “Sunday Morning Skillet”

Make sure the eggs go over the potatoes!

Fried Potatoes and Eggs

Ingredients

1-3 “Free Range” eggs

Slice potatoes thin.

1-2 large Idaho or several medium red potatoes halved & sliced thin.

3-4 patties breakfast sausage

1/2 medium onion

1 jalapeno seeded or 1 serrano seeded or 1/2 New Mexico/Anaheim seeded.

1-tbsp canola or olive oil

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Cook breakfast sausage patties in a skillet to about halfway done turning once. Break up with spatula and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove sausage to a bowl. You could use this skillet for the potatoes or start a new one.

Heat a skillet, cast iron if possible, to medium heat. Add the oil to coat, you may not need all the oil. Place potatoes into skillet sprinkle with black pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Turn and stir with a spatula and cook for another 5 minutes sprinkling with black pepper again. Add onion, cooked breakfast sausage and jalapeno. Stir and cover for 3-5 minutes. Make sure not to have the heat too high or your potatoes will burn. If your potatoes stick, scrape with a spatula. I actually like my potatoes and onions a little burned; but that’s me! Be warned, the peppers will give off some pretty potent smells and can irritate your nose and throat.

When the potatoes are just about done; heat a small nonstick frying pan or omelette skillet to just under medium. I use cooking spray instead of oil when cooking my eggs; the eggs never stick and flip very easy. If you’re flipping your eggs; spray the top of the yolk just before flipping.

Have a plate ready with the potatoes in the middle; top with as many eggs as you want. When you break through the yolk with your fork, the yolk falls onto all the potatoes beneath. If you like scrambled eggs and don’t like all of that yolkie (made up word) goodness on your potatoes; well, I guess you could substitute them.

Alternate Recipe; “The Heart Attack”

Follow recipe above excluding the breakfast sausage. Fry bacon in a large skillet; remove bacon and break into pieces. Fry everything, including eggs, in bacon grease. Add bacon as you would the sausage above.

Enjoy