Birchermuesli

I have no idea how to pronounce the name of this dish. As usual, not a KGerbers original (this recipe is from the Movenpick restaurant chain), but it's a great brunch dish all the same and it tastes very fresh!

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup 18 percent cream

2/3 cup sugar

1 small apple, peeled and grated (I use granny smith, but any will do)

1 1/2 cups fresh fruit (I use strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries)

1/2 cup whipping cream whipped

2 tablespoons plain yogurt (or vanilla flavored is good)

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine oats, water, lemon juice, cream and sugar. Stir in the apple.
Slice fruit, if required depending on what kind you choose, and add to the oat mixture.
Stir in the whipped cream and yogurt. Makes 4 servings.

Jewish -style Brown Sugar Brisket (a.k.a. Brain Tumor Brisket)

To start, lay the fatty side down and sprinkle the top liberally with garlic powder
Brisket in the slow cooker with garlic powder, brown sugar, and onion soup mix
All done! Yummy meaty caramelized goodness!
Makes great left-overs and sandwiches for days!!


A little background on this one... When I was 14 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I had the tumor surgically removed in May of 1999. The surgery went well and I fully recovered. However, during my recovery it was necessary for me to take steroids to keep the swelling done. As a side effect steroids are known for increasing ones appetite. Just to give you an idea of how much my appetite was increased post surgery I will tell you that I went from 107 lbs to 127 lbs in less than a month. I ate everything in sight! (Once I was able to eat solid foods again - that is.) One of my fondest memories of this otherwise traumatic period of my life was this DELICIOUS brisket dish that my neighbor, Mrs. Zion, brought over to our house. I finished the entire brisket in two days flat ON MY OWN. It just melts in your mouth when cooked properly. Mmmmmmm.......

Ingredients

About a 4lb cut of brisket. (A notoriously tough and fatty cut of meat, it needs to be cooked nearly to death to be tender. It is very worth it though and usually much less expensive than other cuts of meat because of the toughness.)

1 Lipton's onion soup package

light brown sugar (enough to pack on to the brisket at about 1/4 inch thick or less) I used about 2/3 cup to 1 cup depending how large the surface of the meat is

garlic powder (this is also an eyeball measurement but you want enough to cover the surface of the meat. You are going to pound in in.

Instructions

1. lay your brisket cut fatty side down. On the non- fatty side take a sharp knife and ... stab it all over the surface a few times. (I was trying to think of a more professional term but you really do stab!) This is to allow the seasoning to seep into the meat while it is cooking. After a few good stabs :) sprinkle a liberal amount of garlic powder onto the surface and pound it into the meat with your hands. This can get a little messy

2. Next take your brown sugar and pack it onto the meat until you have a nice layer about 1/4 inch or so all over the surface.

3. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the meat mixture. Go ahead a use the whole package. Live a little.

4.Now place the brisket in to a large slow cooker or..... if you don't have a slow cooker don't panic! Seal the meat up really well in aluminum foil and place in a large glass baking dish. Put a little bit of water into the bottom of the baking dish to keep the meat from cooking to quickly. About a 1/4 of water or so. You can put a little bit of water in the slow cooker if you want but you don't need very much. The meat had it's own juices and the fat is going to cook off too. I wouldn't add more than a 1/4 inch to the slow cooker either. If you are cooking it in the oven you want your oven at 200 or 250 degrees (depending on how strong your oven is) and you will cook it for at least 8 hrs. In the slow cooker it cooks for about 6-8 hrs on high. Ours was done in 6 hrs.

5. To serve, just cut off the undesirable fat (there may be quite a bit) and serve with mashed potatoes, greens, rice, or whatever you like!

Mom's Spanokopita a.k.a. Cheese Triangles

I am on a roll tonight!! That's what happens when you get stuck at the airport because your flight has been delayed for 3 1/2 hours because, after the weather delay, and the air traffic ground stop, the ramp crew in LaGuardia put the passenger baggage on the wrong plane and they're now having to taxi the plane back to the gate to fix the error. Nice job LaGuardia.

This next dish was, without a doubt, my favorite dish growing up.

Spanokopita a.k.a. Cheese Triangles (with or without spinach)

1 pound feta (I usually use 8 oz)
1 pint cottage cheese about 8 oz.
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
4oz. cream cheese or half a pkg.
4 eggs
2 tbs cream of wheat or farina to thicken (optional, but I do it)

salt and pepper to taste (just a little as the cheeses are salty)

For spinach, use 10 oz pkg of frozen spinch extremely well drained and squished
10 green onions chopped finely (I don't add these because I don't like onions, but if you like onions, go nuts)

1 stick of butter or margarine, melted (I do this a little at a time as needed)
1 pkg phyllo dough

Cut filo in strips about 3" wide and fold like a flag (hence, cheese *triangles*) put on baking sheet and bake at 350 until golden about 20 minutes.

The best!

Matt-A-Roni and Cheese

I call this jazzed up Mac and Cheese dish "Matt-a-roni" because I got this recipe from my friend Matt. It is probably my favorite comfort food of all time. Without further ado:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Argo corn starch

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp pepper2 1/2 cups milk

2 Tbsp margarine or butter

3 cups cheese-->this is where you get creative – any mix of cheese you want. I mix in Sharp Cheddar, Muenster, and Mozerella. Yarlzberg is also a good choice. I get some extra Mozerella to sprinkle on top during baking.

8 oz Mueller's elbows (cooked & drained)

1. In a medium saucepan combine first 4 ingredients; stir in milk. Add margarine; stirring CONSTANTLY (seriously, don't take your eye off the saucepan as this will burn very quickly!), bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil 30 seconds to one minute.

2. Stir in 1 3/4 cups cheese until melted. Add elbows. Pour into greased 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese.

3. Bake uncovered in 375 degree oven 25 minutes or until lightly browned.This makes enough for about 4-6 people.

Ranch Mashed Potatoes

We made these for Roommate Thanksgiving this year and they were a huge hit. Again, not an original recipe, but it is from Cooking Light!

A note about the ingredients: I add more of almost EVERYTHING. More salt, more basil, more oregano, more garlic powder, more pepper, more dill. And definitely more sour cream. So much for the healthy factor. Play around with the different combinations of spices until you figure out what you like best.

Ingredients
13 cups cubed red potato (about 4 pounds)

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

3 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon dried basil

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried dill

Preparation:

Cover potatoes in water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender; drain. Place potato in a large bowl. Add sour cream and remaining ingredients; mash with a potato masher to desired consistency.

Yield
12 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup)

Enjoy!

Blueberry Cobbler from the Cobbler Gobbler

I actually can't take credit for this recipe as I found it online, but my friends and I enjoy it so much that I felt it was worth posting:

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I've tried both and they both taste fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 cup white sugar, or to taste (I usually add a LOT less and it still tastes great)
1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons white sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons sugar
1 pinch ground cinnamon (I add more)

DIRECTIONS:
1.
Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish. Place the blueberries into the baking dish, and mix with vanilla and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of flour, then stir in the tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside.

2.
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups of flour, baking powder, and 6 tablespoons sugar. Rub in the 5 tablespoons butter using your fingers, or cut in with a pastry blender until it is in small pieces. Make a well in the center, and quickly stir in the milk. Mix just until moistened. You should have a very thick batter, or very wet dough. You may need to add a splash more milk. Cover, and let batter rest for 10 minutes. (I usually let it rest for closer to an hour)

3.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spoon the batter over the blueberries, leaving only a few small holes for the berries to peek through. Mix together the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar; sprinkle over the top.

4.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown. A knife inserted into the topping should come out clean - of course there will be blueberry syrup on the knife. Let cool until just warm before serving. This can store in the refrigerator for 2 days.

YUM!

Chicken Parmesan a la Mama May

Browning the chicken in the olive oil, mmm.....
Just out of the oven!
The plated dish! (Cliff and I usually split a half breast as they grow once you have pounded them flat and added the breading.)


This is such an Easy recipe for Chicken Parmesan and it really hits the spot when you are in the mood for Italian! Thank you to Mama May for this recipe and many others :)

Cliff and I are currently a family of two so we usually cut this recipe down to suit our needs. I'll give the measurements we use for the two of us as well. :)

Ingredients

6 med. chicken breast halves, pounded flat (about 1/4 inch) You don't want them toooo flat or they will fall apart on you. * For two people we use two breast halves

1 1/3 c dry bread crumbs. * We 1/3 the recipe on just about everything or eyeball it. We have made our own bread crumbs when we are feeling industrious. Otherwise, we just use "Progresso Italian Style" bread crumbs and they work really well.

1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese. *( I would be lying if I said that I actually 1/3 this part of the recipe for us. I probably use about 1/3 a cup for the two of us........

3 eggs beaten. * 1 for two people

1 tsp. salt I don't usually add too much salt but it's up to you. I'm that way about everything.

Pepper to taste

1/3 cup olive oil. *(enough to light cover the bottom of your pan will do)

2 c. or more marinara sauce of your choice. * We make our own and use leftover sauce throughout the week. I'll post the recipe for that sauce a little later

6 slices (or grated 3 0z.) mozzarella cheese. * Cliff and I actually put two slices on each halve breast because we loooove cheese. Isn't that what makes chicken parmesan so good??

Instructions

1. Combine the bread crumbs and the parmesan cheese on a large plate.

2. Combine the egg(s) salt and pepper and any additional spices (i.e. cayenne pepper...) on another plate OR a pie plate works GREAT! (Thanks Stephanie!)

3. Dip pounded chicken breasts into egg mixture and then into the bread and cheese mixture, coating well.

4. Brown chicken in olive oil in skillet. (Golden brown on each side) This will almost cook the chicken all the way through because it is pounded so flat.

5. Put chicken in baking dish, pour sauce over chicken (Just a little, I usually put a little sauce on the bottom of the dish too.) Put mozzarella cheese on top (I usually sprinkle some extra parmesan cheese on the chicken before the mozzarella too.)

6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes (or until the cheese just barely starts to bubble up and turn a little brown)

3.