german night recipes

1/15/11:

Creamy Mushroom Sauce (from Diane Phillips Perfect Party Foods); I augmented by 50/50 chicken & beef stock, also about 1tbsp of brandy before adding flour.

Roast Pork Loin from ATK; did a brine using Alton Brown's brine (I think; I had a plastic cup of it stored in the cabinet) for 1 hour before pan searing then roasting.

Pretzels (my own recipe)

Apple Schnapps

Riesling

behold...the german taco

I am proud of my latest culinary creation. Behold!

The German Taco: a cross-cultural, trans-national fusion of deliciousness!

You'll need:

• Corn tortillas
• Cooked taco meat (carne asada, ranchera, tri-tip, or steak; any kind of roasted or braised pork would also be excellent)
• Red cabbage braised in red wine (recipe follows)
• Spicy mustard
• "Senf" Crema (recipe follows)
• Minced onion or shallot
• Minced parsley

Assembly:

• Toast your tortillas on a flame or grill (I like them double-stacked)
  
• Spread tortilla with mustard, then taco meat
• Top with red cabbage, crema, minced onion and parsley . Throw down with some German weissbier (try it with lime!) and maybe some "El Yucateco" hot sauce for a kick.

Braised Red Cabbage In Red Wine
(adapted from A. Green's "Starting with Ingredients")

1 medium head red cabbage, cored and shredded
2 tbsp. bacon or smoked pork fat (substitute olive oil if unavailable)
1/4 cup smoked bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 tart apples (like Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c hearty but soft red wine, like Cab, Merlot, Petit Verdot, maybe even Rioja!
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300. In dutch oven, heat pork fat and cook bacon for 5 minutes. Remove bacon onto paper towels, remove all but 3 tbsp. fat from pan.

Add onion and saute over medium heat until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add apples, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes more.

At once, add brown sugar, vinegar, wine, and cabbage. Bring to a boil (about 1 minute), stirring to moisten all of cabbage.

Cover and bake in oven for 45-50 minutes.

"Senf" Crema

1/4 c. mayo
1/4 c. plain yogurt
2 tbsp spicy mustard, deli mustard, or Dijon
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. honey
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let flavors distribute. Add more lime juice or mustard to taste.

german dumplings

I thought I had some Panni mix, but I didn't, and I decided to make turkey soup with Bavarian potato dumplings tonight for dinner tonight. So here's the recipe I improvised.

2 medium yellow potatoes
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1.5 tsp salt
Grated nutmeg (just a dash)
Stock or water

1. Scrub and rinse potatoes, and poke holes in them.
2. Microwave potatoes on high for about 7 minutes.
3. Place them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, and let them sit for 10 minutes. Then dump then into a bowl full of ice water to cool them
4. Peel and then rice the potatoes in a potato ricer
5. Meanwhile, Bring stock or water to a high boil in a large pot
   
6. Add flour, starch, salt and nutmeg. Knead for 3-5 minutes until even. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest about 10 minutes.
7. Form mixture into 6-8 large, smooth balls.
   
8. Lower them carefully into the boiling water/stock, and reduce heat to a simmer
9. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, or till they float to the top. Take one out and test it (cut it in half, and make sure it is cooked through).
10. Remove and serve with meat + gravy; or, add the ones you want to use to a soup.
11. Store remaining dumplings outside of any liquid. For example, slice them up the next day and cook them in some butter.
    

Results

• Dough came together & held together perfectly in the stock with no disintegration
  
• Good texture:, a bit soft, no graininess (might be desirable), extremely even texture
• Nice hint of nutmeg flavor
• Not sure if texture would work for Lithuanian cepelinai, a little too soft and smooth
  

For Next Time

• Try steaming/boiling the potatoes to determine effect on texture
• Try a bit less flour (maybe 1/4 cup?)