hello Lorith and thank you so much for adding your recipe that sounds lovely!!!

Its been a few days with on and off rain... quite cool and today DS has to collect food and produce for the thanksgiving service in our church. He and the other kids from the confirmation group are wandering around with wagons to collect and tomorrow the things will be sold for a good purpose. Hope it doesn't raint too much. I will donate big bags of walnuts from our garden and some jams.

How is everybody doing?

Have a nice weekend Twinkle

German Potato Bread Recipe

Kartoffelbrot

Kartoffelbrot or potato bread is one of our favourites. It is very easy to prepare and as with all bread recipes, not too many ingredients are required.

 

 

Ingredients

400g potatoes
0,1 litre hot water
400g flour
1 pkt dried yeast
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Peel and wash the potatoes, leave them to drain and then grate them finely. Place the grated potato in a bowl and pour over 100ml boiling water. Mix the flour with the dried yeast and salt. Add the potato and the egg to the flour mixture and knead the mixture together thoroughly. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees C. Place the potato dough on a floured work surface and knead once more. With floured hands form a round bread shape from the dough. Place the potato bread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in the centre of the oven.

Spray a little water in the oven and close the door immediately. Bake the potato bread for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 200 degrees C and place near the bottom of the oven. Bake for another 30 minutes. To test whether the bread is baked through knock on the bottom of the bread with your knuckles. It should sound hollow.

I hope you enjoy my German bread recipe. I will be adding to this page so make sure you come back for another look.

 

My German pretzel recipe will make 6 pretzels or you could make 3 large ones!

 

Pretzels or Brezel are most often found in Southern Germany and are a traditional Beer Garden snack. In Bavaria the pretzel accompanies the Weißwurst breakfast. My children often take one in their lunchbox to be enjoyed with cold meats and cheese.

 

 

Ingredients

250 bread flour
20g fresh yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
150 ml water1/2 tsp salt
10g soft unsalted butter
1 litre water
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp coarse salt

 

Sift the flour in a bowl. In a small separate bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar in 150 ml lukewarm water. Add the flour, salt and soft butter and knead. On a slightly floured surface shape the dough into a roll.

Cut into 6 equal pieces. Shape every piece into a long thin roll (about 40 cm / 16 inches long). The centre part of the rolls should be thicker and the ends thinner. Shape into Pretzels (a knot).

Cover with a clean cloth and leave to rise for 10 minutes. Mix 1 liter water with the baking soda and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to simmering. Immerse the Pretzels one by one in the water for about 30 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and leave to drain.

Place the Pretzels on a parchment paper lined, rimmed baking sheet and refridgerate for 30 min. It is important to chill the Pretzels! Pre-heat the oven to 225 degrees C and bake the Pretzels in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. Brush the Pretzels with water and sprinkle with coarse salt.

German Bread Dumplings Recipe

Semmelknoedel

300g white bread or rolls from the day before
170ml milk
3 eggs
salt and freshly ground pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
1 dessert spoon fresh parsley leaves

 

Slice the bread or rolls into very thin slices. Place into a large bowl. Heat the milk until boiling and remove from heat. Beat the eggs and then mix with the milk, salt, pepper and pinch of nutmeg. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the stale bread. Cover and leave to rest for a few minutes.

Mix the parsley leaves into the egg and bread mixture and with damp hands form 8 dumplings out of the mixture. In a very large pan bring salted water to the boil. Place the dumplings in the scalding water and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy my German homemade dumplings recipe.

Spaetzle Recipe

With the popularity of German food these days there are many now so authentic German recipes out there. Follow this recipe exactly and you are gaurenteed to have an authentic German spaetzle that everyones mouth with water for.

Whether you have enjoyed German food in the past or not you will love this delicious German dish. If you think you have had an authentic German Spaetzle before be sure to try this recipe out to be sure that old recipe really is authentic German food. This is one of my favorite German recipes provided by my wife Claudia and I think you will enjoy it just as much as I do.

This German Spaetzle is a good combination with many dishes, for example, pork steak, schnitzle, gulasch and many other meats. This dish can also be served as just a snack. I enjoy this dish with a jagerschnitzle with jagersauce (mushroom sauce). If you follow this recipe exactly right you will end up with a Spaetzle just as good as those served in top notch German restaurants or even better. With such a simple recipe almost anyone can do it and with the very few ingredients that are easy accesible this recipe should never be a problem to whip up at any time.

Ingredients: 3 cups flour, 4 eggs, 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg (optional), 1 1/2 tsp. Salt, 1 quart cold water

Directions: Stir flour, eggs, salt and 1/2 cup of water.  Beat until batter is smooth and no longer sticks to the spoon.  Add water as needed.  The spaetzle dough can be firm enough to be rolled and cut into slivers or soft enough to be forced through a sieve, colander or spaetzle-maker with large holes. Boil a pot of salted water.  If you have a Spaetzle press, press the dough through the press and into the boiling water.  If you do not have a press, place dough on cutting board and roll out.  Cut dough into tiny noodles.  Add noodles to boiling water. They cook quickly and are done when they float to the surface.  As the noodles finish cooking, remove them with a slotted spoon. You can saute' the noodles in a Tbsp. of butter before serving.  Other suggestions:  Serve with brown gravy or beef stock. If you do not want to use the egg yolks, use the egg whites and add some yellow food coloring for color.

Beyond Sauerkraut:
Where to Find Great German Recipes
By Esther Schindler

To some people, German food is less a meal than the introduction to an afternoon nap. The stereotypes -- sausages, schnitzel and sauerkraut -- don't extend very far. But German food is so much more!

The real thing
German food is more than a few heavy dishes, sodden with gravy and starch, all too often overcooked in American restaurants, or with so many corners cut that the dish bears no resemblance to the original. Our perceptions of German food are also affected, I suspect, by Midwest interpretations of ancestral recipes and by the presence of US servicemen in Germany -- most of whom were stationed in Bavaria. That's like judging American cooking only by Louisiana; good food, sure, but you won't encounter the specialties from other areas, such as knishes or Texas barbecue.

German food, like Italian or Chinese or Indian, has regional variations, historical evolution and a growing awareness of health and diet issues. All of those are reflected in German cookbooks. Here's a short introduction to my favorites.

The grande olde dame of German cookbooks is Mimi Sheraton's The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking. While it's the most likely German cookbook found on bookstore shelves, it isn't on mine. That's not because Sheraton wrote a bad book (she didn't) but because the text is so dated. Like so many cookbooks published in the 1970s, when now-common vegetables were hard to find and readers had to be cajoled into trying something new, the recipes are more "for the American kitchen" rather than authentic. For instance, the German fresh cheese Quark (think of yogurt-meets-ricotta) was completely unavailable at the time, so Sheraton makes substitutions.

Instead, I'm more likely to reach for the New German Cookbook by Jean Anderson and Hedy Wurz. Its recipes are lighter, without making low-fat tradeoffs that reduce your dinner to a pale shadow of the traditional dish. You'll find no compromises in "Celery root and apple salad with dill-mustard dressing" or "Medallions of pork with mushrooms in cognac cream sauce." The "traditional" German dishes are here, too, such as sauerbraten (a beef pot roast marinated in red wine for up to five days) and maultaschen (Germany's answer to ravioli).

Anderson and Wurz's emphasis is on freshness and quality, as in most recent cookbooks of any ethnic persuasion, rather than "like Grandma used to make." There's an extensive ingredient glossary (which introduces you to the German love affair with white asparagus) and an enlightening chapter on wine and beer.

For heavier fare (both intellectual and on the plate), I turn a page back into history. Horst Scharfenberg's The Cuisines of Germany traces the evolution of German recipes, often providing hand-written instructions from the 16th century along with modern variations, and he emphasizes regional specialties. Reading his recipes is a peephole into time as well as directions for your next dinner party. About jugged hare, for instance, he writes:

"This most famous of traditional German game dishes presents certain problems for those who have difficulty getting hold of fresh hare's blood, which the traditional recipes call for; any other kind of blood would do as well, I'm sure, but many of us would just as soon not pursue the matter any further. Luckily, a solution is at hand -- a fresh, smooth blutwurst can provide the same rich flavor and sufficient binding without disturbing our contemporary sensibilities too much."

The food does not take a back seat to history. The author provides more than a page of instructions on the proper way to prepare sp�tzle, Germany's fresh pasta. Yet, the description is complete rather than intimidating; after reading the how-to, even a beginner will attack the job confidently. I've had success with several recipes, from "Red cabbage with bacon and apple," to Frankfurt's "Green sauce" (a yogurt-onion-herb sauce delightfully overwhelmed by fresh herbs, served over boiled potatoes), to rindsrouladen (beef rolls stuffed with bacon, pickles and vegetables).

Regretfully out of print is Hannelore Kohl's A Culinary Voyage Through Germany. If you cook for a meat-and-potatoes crowd, go out of your way to find this book. While the regionally-organized cookbook has one of the worst indexes I've encountered, and nearly every recipe starts with frying onions and bacon, the book is chock-full of family dinner possibilities. "Pork goulash with beer and mustard-pickled gherkins" and "Harz potato salad" are delicious and easy to throw together -- grab a bottle of Riesling and supper's ready.

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The dearth of really great German cookbooks has, I confess, led me to desperate measures. That is, I bought a German cookbook that's written in German: Kochen mit den Fallers by Hans-Abert Stechl. It's been worth the effort of laborious translation to decipher their recipes for maultaschen (stuffed this time with trout, accompanied by a chervil sauce) or chicken breasts sautéed in Riesling and mushrooms.

Savvy readers may have noticed that I never mentioned recipes for schnitzel, sausage or sauerkraut. Those are all part of German cuisine -- but they're not the only part

Recipe: Roulade of Beef

The roulade, or rolled meat or fish with a filling, is a concept that exists in many countries. This version, rolled beef wrapped in bacon, most resembles a German dish; the Italian braciole is made from pounded beef, rolled with a filling of cheese and herbs; and paupiette is a French version, usually made from fish, using flounder or salmon fillets. These days, Americans often make roulades from pounded chicken and turkey breasts. It�s a technique that allows you to be creative, have fun in the kitchen, and use whatever ingredients that look best at the market.

Ingredients:
8 thin slices bottom or top round
(3 to 31/4 ounces each)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
4 bacon strips, halved
1 small onion, cut into 8 wedges
1/2 dill pickle, cut into 8 slices
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon white peppercorns, crushed
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups beef stock or water


How to make this recipe:
Preheat the oven to 350�F.

Place the meat slices on a clean flat surface and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mustard over the top of each slice, then place a slice of bacon, 1 wedge of onion, and 1 piece of dill pickle over the mustard.
Roll the meat, lengthwise, forming roulades, and secure closed with toothpicks.

Heat the oil in a large saut� pan over medium-high heat. Add the roulades and brown on all sides. Transfer the roulades to a plate and add the carrot, celery, and diced onion to the pan. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, and cook until it begins to brown, another minute.

Add the red wine, cloves, bay leaf, garlic, peppercorns, and thyme, and stir to loosen any flavorful bits adhered to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute, and add the stock or water. Bring to a boil, return the roulades to the pan, cover and transfer to the preheated oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, no more than 30 minutes.

Remove the roulades from the sauce and discard the toothpicks. Remove any fat from the surface of the sauce; adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Strain the sauce. Serve the roulades with sauce spooned over top.
Notes: Klaus Muller, CCE, AAC, Dean, Academy of Culinary Arts,
Atlantic Cape Community College, Mays Landing, NJ

Serves 4

Hi Everyone!

 

I am back!!  Just after our computer died we heard that our main hospital was selling off old computers they were replacing.  So we were able to puchase one of those for an amount we could afford.  So we are back online, thank goodness.

 I have been having terrible withdrawals.  I have lost some information - mainly recipes - because I had not backed up recently.  I was just thinking it was time to when it became too late.  :(

 

I also need to bookmark all my favorites again.  I am sure I lost some good cooking sites.

 

It is going to take some time to get back to normal.

 

Twinkle - I love sweet and sour red cabbage but have never had homemade.  Thanks for the recipe.  I have also been wanting to mention how nice your blog is looking.  You have really made some improvements.

I love Rouladen - my German friend used to make it sometimes.  I really need to make some myself.  As I recall it was quite easy to make.

 

Renate - That pie sounds wonderful.

 

It will take me a while to get caught up, but I will be back.

 

Wiener Schnitzel Recipe

 

An original Wiener Schnitzel Recipe.

A Wiener Schnitzel is originally made with veal. The meat is coated in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan. If you want to learn how to cook an original Wiener Schnitzel, then this German meat recipe is the only one you will ever need.

Schnitzel is found on all the menus in Germany and is a popular dish to be made at home.

You can also use this recipe to make a pork Schnitzel or a chicken Schnitzel if preferred.

A Wiener Schnitzel is only original when made from veal. When made with pork (Schweineschnitzel) is known as "Schnitzel Wiener Art".

First coat the meat in flour, then dip into beaten egg. Lastly coat in breadcrumbs made from fresh white bread.

To Make A German Schnitzel

Fry the Schnitzel in enough butter or lard. During cooking, press the Schnitzel lightly with the back of a spoon.

An original Wiener Schnitzel is served with lemon slices that is squeezed over the meat. If liked anchovies and capers can also be served.

Ingredients

4 veal fillets (approx each 200g)
salt and pepper
2 tbsp flour
3 eggs
150g breadbrumbs
butter, lard or cooking oil

Flatten the meat with a rolling pin or meat hammer. Season with salt and pepper and then coat in flour.

Coat in beaten egg and then coat in breadcrumbs.

Heat oil in a pan and then fry the Schnitzel on both sides until brown and the meat is cooked through. Approx. 4 mins on both sides.

 

Serve with German potato salad, fried potatoes or Spaetzle. Once cooked serve straight away. Do not keep warm in aluminium foil as the coating will go all soft and soggy.

Swabian Rostbraten

This is an easy German recipe using steak. My steak recipe is known as Schwaebischer Rostbraten (Swabian roast steak).

It is easy to prepare and is one of my easy German food recipes. It consists of slices of beef with fried onions in a red wine and cream sauce.

You can serve Swabian Rostbraten with some coarse Rye-bread or with Sauerkraut and Spaetzle or with Spaetzle and salad.

Enjoy one of many traditional easy German recipes.

4 slices rib steak (each about 200g)
salt and freshly ground pepper
melted butter or good cooking oil
4 medium onions
lard when frying in a skillet
a glass of red wine
4 tbsp cream

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
Flatten the slices of meat lightly with a rolling pin or meat hammer. Score the edges so that the meat won't cup when frying.Season with salt and pepper and brush over with some butter or oil.

Put on the grill in the oven and sear the meat on both sides. Cook to your liking (rare, medium or well done). To test press meat with your fingertip. If it is still elastic, it is still rare. The firmer it feels, the more it is well done!

Slice the onions thinly into rings and fry in hot lard until crisp. Arrange the onions on top of the meat. It is preferable to fry the onions separately.You can also fry the meat in a heavy skillet. Flatten the meat slices lightly. Score the edges and sear in hot lard or oil. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side. Season with salt and pepper, take out of the pan and keep warm.

Boil the meat juices together with a glass of red wine, let the sauce thicken and stir in the cream. Serve this creamy sauce with the Swabian roast steaks.

Utterly delicious and tasty meat recipe.

Schupfnudeln

Have fun making this German cooking recipe. Schupfnudeln is typical of the Baden-Wurttemberg state in South-West Germany. My mother-in-law makes this German noodle recipe by hand by rolling out the potato dough onto a wooden board and then cutting and forming them into shape.

The back and forth movement used to roll out the potato mixture is called Schupfen or Wargeln. It depends on the region as to which word is used. Hence where the German potato noodles get the name Schupfnudeln.

Enjoy my German cooking recipe with sauerkraut or sausages.

They are easy to make and taste delicious.

If you don't know what to make the kids for dinner try this easy German Kid recipe and enjoy some traditional German food. Serve with apple puree or compote. This recipe is a firm favourite in the Kindergarten!

1kg potatoes, cooked the day before
2-3 eggs
a pinch of salt and nutmeg
100g flour
4 litres of boiling saltwater
lard for frying

Peel the potatoes and finely grate them. Add the egg, salt, nutmeg and just enough flour until the mixture holds together (this depends on the sort of potato). Knead the mixture thoroughly, form a roll and cut into slices.

On a floured board form into small finger-sized rolls. Boil the Schupfnudeln in slightly salted water until they rise to the surface. It is a good idea to test one before you continue. If it falls apart in the water, put a little more flour into the remaining mixture. Drain the German potato noodles, then fry them in lard or butter until golden brown and crisp.

Serve with Sauerkraut or pot-roast.

Alternative

You can place the well drained potato noodles in a greased baking dish. Beat 1-2 eggs with 2-3 tbsp cream and pour over the potato noodles. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Roter Rueben Salat

For this German beet salad recipe, you need to use small beets for the very best result. Beet salad is very healthy and seeing as it will keep in the fridge make up a large batch.

You will need:

2-3 1bs beetroots
3 cups of water
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole clove
2 sugar lumps
1/2 tsp salt
1 onion
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
3 tablespoons oil

Clean the beetroots using a vegetable brush.Put the beets in cold water in a potato steamer, bring to the boil and then simmer for about an hour. Will take about 15 minutes or so in a pressure cooker.

Peel and slice the beets.

Bring the water, wine vinegar, cinnamon, clove, sugar and salt to a boil in a saucepan for 10 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon stick and clove and then pour the hot liquid over the beet slices.. Leave to stand for about an hour.

Add the finely chopped onion and caraway seeds and when the salad has cooled completely add the oil and then mix together well.

Haselnussplaetzchen

Bake these fine hazelnut cookies for Christmas. The Germans use lots of ground nuts in their Christmas baking and Haselnussplaetzchen are a joy to bake and eat.

1/4 pound flour
1/4 pound hazelnuts, lightly toasted and ground
1/4 pound sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1/4 pound butter, flaked
chocolated glaze
whole hazelnuts

Note: 1 pound = 454 g

Sift the flour onto a board and add the hazelnuts, sugar, vanilla sugarr and flaked butter. Quickly knead all the ingredients to a make a dough. Shape the dough into a roll of approx. 1 1/2 inch dia. and put into a cool place.

Cut 1 inch rounds from the roll and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Refrigerate once more. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for about 10 minutes.

Cover the cookies with chocolate glaze while they are still hot and decorate each cookie with a hazelnut. Leave the cookies to cool at room temperature.

The Not-So-German Chocolate Cake

Where does German Chocolate Cake come from? Is Germany its motherland? Or ...? There are many questions like these, and as many guesses. However, the truth is that German Chocolate Cake is an American creation.

German cooking is famous for its complexity and extravagance in choosing the ingredients. Therefore such a rich dish as German Chocolate Cake might perfectly fit into German cuisine. Yet it was not brought (as is sometimes reported) to the American Midwest by German immigrants. The cake took its name from an American with the last name of "German." In 1852, Sam German created the mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker's Chocolate Co. The product was named in his honor - "Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate." In most recipes and products today, the apostrophe and the "s" have been dropped, thus giving the false hint as for the chocolate's origin.

The first published recipe for German's chocolate cake showed up in a Dallas newspaper in 1957 and came from a Texas homemaker. The cake quickly gained popularity and its recipe together with the mouth-watering photos were spread all over the country. America fell in love with German Chocolate cake. No wonder: its superb chocolate taste conquers you at first bite!

Hello Kathleen,

WOW thats is great news - good to have you back so fast. Lovely to be able to make such a deal on a computer.

Thanks on the blog - i try to make it as authentic as possible  i still would like to change things buti am not really computer literate enough ....

Red cabbage is one of my favorits and especially this time of year. there are so many good recipes out there also for the crockpot! I hope oyu enjoy some homade one with rouladen one of these days.

Looking orward to your recipes. take care and enjoy your weekend twinkle