Rosemary Surprise

I prepared this Rosemary Surprise the other day.

I also put a parsley leaf on top to accentuate that life is not that straightforward.

Anyway…

Recently, I’ve found myself in a rather inventing mood here in my kitchen… and this is my second fantasy-come-true this week.

You might ask why I’ve named it a surprise.

Well, have a look, I’ll show you…

These are the ingredients I’ve used.

They are rather simple and easy to obtain.

Because simplicity is my life.

1. First, cut the meat into 5 slices.

You can even let it marinate for a couple of hours, as I did.

But it’s definitely not necessary.

2. Put one slice into a Ziploc or cover with some plastic wrap and pound it until thin.

3. Then cut a piece of aluminum foil – it should be about twice the size of the pounded meat.

4. Place one piece of meat onto the foil and sprinkle with the grilling spice.

(The spice I was using contained some salt so I didn’t have to add any more. In case your grilling spice is salt-free, then use some salt in this step.)

5. Mustard time!

Spread 1 teaspoon mustard over the top.

It will balance the flavors wonderfully.

6. Go on and slice the cheese.

7. Place a few cheese slices over the meat – use as much as needed to cover one half of the meat surface.

8. Place one slice ham over the cheese.

Yum!

9. Slice the onion and the garlic cloves.

There’s a lot of slicing in this recipe.

Slice, slice, slice – like never before.

10. Scatter about 1/5th of the onion and garlic over the meat.

11. Then fold the meat in half – so that the cheese/ham part stays on the bottom and you cover it with the other half.

12. Move the meat to the center of the foil.

13. Now place 1/2 tablespoon butter on top and sprinkle with some rosemary.

If you’re using fresh rosemary, just place the twig on top.

Isn’t this just fun?

I love it when recipes are fun.

14. Wrap the meat with the foil.

Try to press the seals tightly since we definitely want to keep the delicious juices inside.

15. Place the cute packages on a baking sheet.

If you find some free space on the sheet, then slice (again!) some potatoes, sprinkle them with vegetable oil and also with some of the same grilling powder that you’ve used for the meat.

16. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 50-55 minuets.

Oh my.

Can you see the juices?

Well that is something!

And also, now you can see why I’ve named it a surprise.

If you served this dish to someone he’d first say something like: ‘Hm, nice piece of meat. Thank you.’

Then he’d go on, slice it open and …

… find out he is really, really lucky to know you.

And that’s very good.

Enjoy, dear friends!

And have a wonderful weekend.

Goulash… And a Short Story

Right here, at the very beginning, I’d like to make you familiar with one fact from my life.

I was a vegetarian once, for seven years exactly. And this meal was the first meaty stuff I tasted after that alternative period of my life had come to its end. And now  –  from my current point of view  –  I can confess that I couldn’t find a better way how to round off that pale and  hungry chapter of my life.

My friends said that after I’d eaten my bowl of goulash a started to smile around my entire face and fell into a strange, coma-like state, waking up one week later, the smile still present.

Well, this might be quite revealing about how great this stew really tastes.

And it’s really, really simple and easy to make…

And this is what we need, dear friends – simple, right?

1. Pour the oil into a larger pot and let it heat up.

2. Chop the onions finely.

We need a lot of onion,  and I mean A LOT of onion!

3. Fry the onion until soft.

4. Peel and chop the garlic.


5. Now add the garlic into the pot and fry for about two more minutes.

6. It comes in really handy if you have cut the meat beforehand.

Just add it to the onion and garlic and fry until…

… nicely colored on all sides.

Like this.

7. Now a very important step follows.

This is a small step for a human, but a giant leap for the goulash!

Adding the paprika, everybody!

The paprika brings the flavor, the color and the joy.

And add the salt at this stage too.

8. Pour the water in and stir.

Let boil.

When cooking, I always bring the water to a boil in my rapid boil kettle if I need it as an ingredient. I’ve learned it is less energy consuming than heating it up on the stove.

9. And these are our gorgeous, gorgeous spices and ingredients that will work wonders with the above mixture.

Just add them all into the pot…

… and stir.

10. Cover and let cook (boiling moderately) for about 1 hour.

Stir occasionally.

11. About 40 minutes into the cooking process, add the diced potatoes.

Serve with slices of fresh bread.

Yum!

You just have to make this dish!

It’s unbelievably delicious!

Mmmmmmmmm…

Enjoy, dear friends.

This recipe makes about 6-8 portions.

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