Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Dornbusch Tuesday Street Market

Fruit Vendor at
Dornbusch Tuesday Street Market
I had some business to attend to at the bank in Dornbusch yesterday, but upon arriving at 1340 I realized that they're closed for lunch until 1400. (Lesson learned! Guess these are pretty typical bank hours in Germany.) Harumph. I decided I might as well walk around for 20 minutes and get to know the neighborhood a bit better, and did I ever!

I stumbled upon the Tuesday Street Market, which I had heard about but never gotten the chance to find. It's located on the corner of Escherheimer Landstraße and Carl-Goerdeler-Straße, right by the Blumen Dornröschen, the free-standing flower shop. (See interactive Google map below.)

Along with fruit and vegetable vendors, selling plenty of stuff I've never found at Rewe, there are a selection of vendors who pull up big trucks with refrigerated cases, selling various cheeses, meats, breads, and even ready-made foods for a quick, delicious lunch. And of course there's a wine bar, ready to serve you up a delicious glass of Riesling.


The chili...
...and our chili dinner!
One shop (located all the way at the end this day) sold handmade Entegulaschsuppe (duck goulash soup), Chicken Fricassee (creamy stew), Bolognese sauce and even Chili! I purchased a jar of chili for dinner that night...3,95 per jar + 0,50 Pfand.  Not too bad for feeding a family of four! You'll also find all sorts of amazing looking soft cheese spreads, all 5 for about 8 oz. They were more than happy to give me multiple samples, and I chose the garlic-herb and nut cream cheeses...great for bagels or sandwiches or even just on bread, which is plentiful at the market! I went for what's called a "Laugenstange", basically a pretzel baguette, for 1,50.

All in all, the place is not cheap, but it was a fun experience with great looking vegetables and other goodies. If you like supporting smaller businesses, this is definitely the spot for you. 

Next time I'll bring a friend and spring for a half roast chicken (3,50) plus fresh French fries (pommes frites here, of course; 1,80).


Laugenstange

Let me know if you give the market a shot and how you find it!











Look for this vendor for your
homemade stews, chili and Bolognese!

A close-up of various flavors of fresh cheese...

Mouth-watering olives and other delicacies...

The line for the chicken and fries...
which looked amazing...

And finally, the wine bar!



Monday, August 29, 2016

An impromptu adventure for burgers on Freßgass...

I didn't have much planned today other than signing up my daughter for after-school activities (this is a bigger deal than you would imagine), cleaning the house, and maybe running a few errands. But a friend saved me around noon asking if I wanted to rent a bike to ride into downtown Frankfurt, do a little shopping and grab a bite to eat. Do I ever?!? That sounded new, a little scary and fabulous. I've never ridden a bike in a major city before but I learned today that doing so in Frankfurt is just about as easy and civilized as it gets, and of course I finagled a great meal out of it too!

We rented bikes from NextBike, which has two "stations" nearby our apartments. What a breeze. Signing up on their website is easy: give them minimal information, most importantly your cell phone number, and sign up for "pay as you go" or a yearly pass--48 Euros--then pay the minimum account balance of 9 euros with your credit card or by bank transfer. This balance can be used on your rentals, which cost 1 euro per 30 minutes or 9 Euros for 24 hours. The website is easy to use, letting you know all of the pick-up locations. You can also download the app or just call them to rent a bike. One account can rent multiple bikes at a time, and you don't have to drop off where you picked up. I'm sold!

A beautiful view of the Freßgass
Once we got our bikes squared away we were off on our adventure....zooming towards the Altstadt like we were pros. We drove past the incredibly beautiful Alte Oper (Opera House) and right onto Freßgass...the famous "grazing street" of Frankfurt, so named because of its numerous hip eateries.  It is definitely Frankfurt's culinary main street, and it's super accessible because it's not open to cars...only to bikes and pedestrians. We weren't ready for lunch yet so we continued onto the Zeil to do a little bit of shopping, but after we'd worked up our appetites we returned and chose one of the first spots we saw, Maredo. Little did we know we were in for an amazing lunch!


Maredo is known for their steaks, but since it was lunch and we were "exercising" we both went for the cheeseburger. (Haha!) And let me tell you...it did not disappoint. The hand-formed patty was deliciously tender and served on a brioche bun (suck it, Anthony Bourdain...it was delicious!) with an unctuous tomato chutney. Listen to me...if you're jonesing for a burger, just go try it.  They also offer one of my favorite simple Spanish tapas...sautéed Padron peppers with sea salt (Pimientos de Padrón)...so let's just say I DID have vegetables on the side of my burger...and fries...and so-incredible-I-can't-say-no remoulade to dip them in.............ahhhhh......heaven.

Let me know if you get a chance to run by Maredo and how you like it. Enjoy!!

Monday, August 22, 2016

Being an Expat is a humbling experience...

Today I was laughed at by the deli counter clerk. That's right, the "trained chef" who supposedly is proficient in German totally messed it all up by the numbers. And the associate at the grocery store certainly didn't let me slide!

Toasted Ham Sandwich
with Onion Mayo Spread and Arugula Salad
I'm trying to tell myself this sort of thing comes with the territory of being an expat, particularly when you first move to your new host country. A learning experience, but none the less humbling! A healthy dose of humility is good for everyone though...fortunately this lifestyle isn't short on those types of experiences. Living in a foreign country isn't for sissies!

I found myself in this situation because tonight we're having a couple folks from work over and I thought I'd do a French inspired light meal....turkey sandwiches with an onion/mayo/cheese spread, cream of roasted tomato soup and arugula/lentil/radish salad.  One of my mom's go-to hors d'oeuvres recipe is her Onion Canapés, which I have made many times for my own guests and even prepared on-air for Good Morning Connecticut back in 2009. It's always a huge hit...so very simple, quick, but amazingly yummy. Kyle came up with the idea a while ago that I should make the deliciousness into a sandwich (brilliant!) but I hadn't gotten around to it until I tasted something very similar at Le Madeleine right before we left Virginia. So tonight's the night I'm trying it out as a sandwich, but naturally roasted turkey is just not something that's readily available in the deli counters around Germany. They've got any type of pork you want, but no turkey. Pork it is!

I found a beautiful looking piece of roasted meat in the case at my local supermarket, Rewe, and thought to myself, well, it looks like roasted pork loin to me...so I quickly looked up pork loin in my English-->German iPhone app and quite confidently asked for the "gebratene Schweinelende, bitte" and all I got back was a look of confusion. Harumph. There goes the 30 weeks I spent learning German....we were reduced to pointing...and once she figured out what I wanted, she let out a hearty laugh and said something along the lines of "Wow, that sure would be a huge pork loin!"  Sigh. So much for my confidence...bring on the humility! I guess maybe she's never seen huge American pork loins...or at least that's what I'll tell myself. Turns out it was simply "Backschinken" or ham, but obviously herb-roasted ham. Next time I'll ask for the "Krauter gebratene Backschinken". I'll let you know how it goes....

If you want to give this meal a shot on your own, get some roasted turkey (not cold-cuts, the real stuff), thick cut ham, or use some leftover pork loin (try out this recipe one night, and use the leftovers for the sandwiches) and go to town!

Toasted Turkey/Ham Sandwiches with Onion Mayo Spread
Serves 4

1 onion, small dice
1 C mayonnaise
3/4 C finely grated mimolette cheese (or just use Parmigiano reggiano, parmesano, aged asiago or Grano padano cheese)
1-2 baguettes, cut cross-wise into 4-5 inch lengths or 1 boule crusty bread, sliced (at least 8 slices)
1 green apple, thinly sliced (optional)
4-8 slices of roasted turkey, ham, or pork loin (sliced to your liking, but not too thin)

Mix onion, mayonnaise and cheese together well. Spread a generous amount on each slice of bread (but not all the way to the edges to allow for spreading) and toast in the oven at 400 degrees F until starting to brown and bubble, about 10 minutes. Heat slices of meat in oven for the last five minutes or so, just to warm up. Assemble sandwiches with two slices of bread with spread, sliced apples (if using) and your meat. Cut diagonally and serve immediately with soup and/or salad (or both!).

My favorite Roasted Cream of Tomato Soup recipe is from Cook's Illustrated. Just click on the link to find it if you're a subscriber, or Google it.

To make my arugula salad, I just toss arugula and perhaps some romaine or red leaf lettuce together, and top with tomatoes, cooked French lentils, quartered radishes a nice Dijon vinaigrette. Yum!

Bon appetít!




 
 
 
Here's a more German way to use up those thick slices of ham...Brötchen mit Backschinken und Sauerkraut...
 


Friday, August 19, 2016

Wilkommen! Gute Nachrichten!

Exciting news! New country, new food, new drinks, new fun! We've relocated to Frankfurt, Germany so you can expect a whole new flair here at The Global Fork. While I'm still totally focused on eating and cooking, I'll probably get the whim to post on here about life in Frankfurt and a few of our adventures. Hope you guys enjoy it! As always, please feel free to share with me your reactions and results, and keep the questions coming!

Danke schön!
Alaina