German Goulash or Beef Stew

Goulash is actually a dish from Hungary but we Germans have adapted it and it has become quite popular. First of all this dish has two faces: One is the soup and the other one the stew. I remember that the soup was often made as a New years Eve Snack right after midnight. It was the first dish of the New Year.
The soup can be hot and spicy or just mild, but whatever you choose, it is delicious! I promise I will post the German recipe for the Goulash soup as soon as possible. First I want to give you the recipe for the stew. I like it because the beef become very tender and the Paprika adds the nice red color and some spicy taste. I personally like to eat Goulash with rice which is not typically German. I just love rice…

What you’ll need
1 kg onions
3 garlic cloves
1,5 kg beef (shoulder)
150 g bacon or Speck
cooking oil (olive oil, lard or butter)
400 ml white wine

2 tablespoon ground paprika (red Hungarian pepper, mild, medium or hot: you choose)

salt, pepper
water as needed

How to make it

– Peel onions and garlic; chop them both in very small cubes
Wash the meat and cut it into cubes (German butchers cut the meat; I always ask if they can cut it, saves me  a some time)
– Cut bacon speck into very small cubes
– Heat oil, lard or butter  in a big pot
– add onions and bacon and fry them a bit 
– add meat in small portions until it is slightly brown, add salt and pepper
– add ground paprika and mix it well with the meat
– add white wine and let it cook for 3-5 minutes so everything is mixed well

– fill it up with water until the meat is covered
– let it cook on low heat for 2 hours; the first 90 minutes with a lid, the remaining 30 minutes without
– spice it as needed.

Serve it with mashed potatoes, Spaetzle or Knoedel (dumplings) and green salad (or rice 🙂

Homemade German Chicken Broth

Here is my complete Lunch or Dinner Menu:
Chicken broth
Glaced Pork Roast with green peas and mashed potato
Vanilla Pudding

Soups are the best for cold days and such days where you need something caring! I love soups, especially the broths. In my country we would have before every Sunday lunch a soup. Either a broth with pasta with beef or chicken. The soups should be home made. I mean you can buy the broth in a container; I tried it and was disappointed. The German Knorr or Maggi soups are not bad and are very practical if you don’t have much time. But you know, a homemade soup doesn’t take that long. You cut the ingredients and throw them all in one pot. Just let it cook. I would say it would take 15 minutes – maybe 20. This is not long.
I also cook a big amount of broth which is lasting for the next 2 or more days, depending how many hungry mouths you have to feed. You can freeze it too and when you are in a hurry just defrost the broth, add some pasta or vegetable and that’s it. Here is my own special recipe for you.
Things You’ll Need:

• 2 l filtered or spring water
• 3 chicken breast halves or 1 smaller chicken fresh or frozen, both is good
• 1 onion
• 2-3 cloves (If you think adding cloves is odd, I understand. Try it. It makes the little difference!

• celery leaves and root
• 3 carrots
• salt, pepper, nutmeg
For the soup: Use Soup Noodles; they are special pasta extra made to add to a broth or soup.
How to make the Broth
– Wash the chicken meat, dry it with a paper towel.
– Put the chicken in a pot and cover it with cold water
– Peel cerely root, add celery leaves and 3 slices of celery root, laurel leaves to the water.
– Cut carrots in half, peel onion, cut it in 2 pieces and stick the cloves into the onions, add it to the broth.
– Boil it for about 1 hour on low heat, and keep it covered with a lid but not completely; you can also do a test: if the meat is done, the broth is done too.
Using a whole chicken is extending the cooking time up to 2 hours.

– When the chicken meat is done, filter the soup into another pot (use a strainer, sieve or linen.
– Cut carrots and celery root into small pieces and add them into the broth.

In an extra pot bring water to a boil, add soup noodles (very thin noodles) and cook them until done, filter them and mix them into the broth.

Add salt, pepper and some nutmeg and fresh or dried parsley. Done!

Tips and Warnings

• Don’t add any other ingredients as mentioned
• Never use tap water, it is just not good and contains chlorine
• instead of noodles you can enjoy the broth with tortellinis, or add more vegetable and you have an excellent vegetable soup.
• The broth should look clear and not milky.
• You can add all the ingredients to the meat before the broth comes to a boil; I prefer this way.

This pudding is the best. Contains no sugar, you decide how sweet it will be.

How to make German Glaced Pork Roast

It is Thursday today and if you are looking for a recipe for your Sunday diner or lunch, you will like this one.
Porc roast is as traditional as it can get. It is on every menue of a good German restaurant “the Gasthaus” and always comes with a gravy, served with green salad or some green vegetable, mashed potatoes or “Spaetzle” (the famous German pasta. I would recommend using organic meat for this dish; serves 4-5 hungry people.

Things You’ll Need:
• 1 kg roast porc
• 2 garlic cloves
• 6 sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon rosemary fresh or dried
• salt, pepper
• 1/8 L water
• 3/8 L orange juice
• 2 tablespoon orange jam
• 4 teaspoon coarse mustard
• 20 g brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon orange juice
• 1/8 L hot water
• 2 tablespoon orange liquor
• fresh herbs (thyme, parsley)
• Tabasco sauce
• Orange for decoration

– Wash the meat and dry it with paper towels.
– Peel 3 garlic cloves and cut each clove in 4 pieces.
– Using a sharp knife, stab around the meat and push the garlic pieces into the gaps (you can take them out when the meat is done)

– Cut sage into very small pieces, remove stem from rosemary leaves, and gently press the herbs all around the meat. Spice it with salt and pepper.
– Preheat oven onto 350 degrees.
– Put the meat on a grate in the middle of the oven and place a dripping pan underneath (the meat will dripp and you dont want to mess p your oven and it can be used for the gravy as well)
– Pour 1/8 l water into this pan.
– Roast it for about 85 minutes.
– While roasting pour little by little 3/8 l orange juice over the meat.
– 30 minutes before roasting time ends add 2-3 whole garlic gloves into the roast fond.
– Mix orange jam (marmalade) with coarse-grained mustard, brown sugar and 2 tablespoon orange juice. Add this paste 5 minutes before roasting time ends onto the meat.

How to make the Gravy/Sauce:
– Take the dripping pan out and put it on the burner, add water and scratch the crusted dripping from the pan, heat it up a bit to get it off easier.
– Fill it into another pot and let it cook until it gets thick.
– Add herbs, orange liquor, Tabasco sauce.
– Cut the pork roast into slices, put them on a large plate and decorate it with orange slices.

Serve it with mashed potatoes and some vegetable of your choice. I would recommend carrots, peas or broccoli or red cabbage (the German version).

Tips and Warnings
• Don’t use gravy powder from the package, it would ruin the taste.
• Enjoy a glass of red wine with it.
• You can also add heavy cream or creme fraise to the sauce (make sit creamy).

You might also like this: Bavaria Munich Weisswurst, 6 Pounds

German Potato Speciality from the Rhineland – Doeppekooche, Kesselsknall or Uhles

Do you know the Rhineland? It is the region around Dusseldorf Cologne, Bonn and Koblenz and further down. It is one of the most pittoresque and unique regions of Germany indeed. You can find old castles, wineries, loveley old towns and villages and everything which are attributes of the German culture and tradition. There can be found many traditional dishes such as the one here: The “Uhles” or “Kesselsknall” or “Doeppekooche”.
It is a hearty and zesty meal consisting of potatoes and special sausages, called Mettwurst.
It is difficult to find them here but I found a website which offers a big variety of German sausages.
Click here to see what they offer or go to https://www.bavariasausage.com/

Ingredients
2,5 kg potatoes, floury potatoes are better than the waxy ones, dont use new, fresh potatoes

4 onions, chopped, some chopped garlic (if you like)
150 g German smoked bacon (Speck), chopped
some cooking oil, to fry the onions
some lard
4 sausages (Mettwürste), slice them or leave as whole or smoked bratwurst
These sausages are raw and made out of pork or partially beef minced meat; preserved through smoke or just dried; similiar to the Italian sausages. Used in stews and soups (Eintopf = everything cooked in one pot)), combined with Sauerkraut and potatoes.
If you cannot find them in the USA use the Smoked Bratwurst instead
2 eggs
salt and pepper, ground nutmeg
1 jar apple sauce, 700g

How to make it

– Peel potatoes
– Grind the potatoes by using a grater and grind 2 onions too, add garlic if used. If the potato mix should turn brownish, just stir it again. Some use sulfur powder to prevent  that but it is not really necessary. I prefer it completely naturally and sulfur always leaves some taste.
– Now you must add salt and pepper (not later because the potatoes wont take up the salt anymore). Calculate 1 teaspoon salt for 1kg potato.
– Adding eggs: The dish will become more m ushy when adding NO eggs. You would add eggs if you want the dish dry. Mix in the eggs with 2 tablespoons flour.
Use a fire resitant pot with  a lid and rub the inside with lard, add a hint of oil. You can layer the inside of the pot with the Speck (bacon) but you don’t have to.
– Place the sausages in the middle or mix in the sliced sausages
– Bake it for at least 2 hours in the oven (220 degrees or 425 f); increase the temperature a bit for the last 20 minutes to get a nice crust
– Serve it with apple sauce or with endive salad

They show a vido here how to make it but it is in German:

http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/1574021264947476/Rheinischer-Doeppekooche.html

I love Hanuta, it’s the best sweet snack!

German Semolina Pudding

We had at least once  a week Semolina Pudding – in German “Griessbrei” – with mashed apples or other fruit or just with sugar and cinnamon. It was easy to keep warm so we had something nice when coming home after school. There was no micro wave to heat up the food, and the Griessbrei was kept warm in the old oven (which was by the way heated up with wood). Yes, in the early days, like 1960s my mum cooked on this stove. Unbelievable, isn’t it?
She hand made also the pasta and when there were some dough left overs, we kids got them and baked them on the stove like pizza, but this is another story…
Let’s cook Griessbrei now. By the way the ei in the word brei is spelled like the i in the word wine.

Ingredients:

1/2 l milk
100 g semolina powder
40 g sugar or Vanilla sugar (you can by it in little sachets at international markets)
Make a mix of cinnamon and sugar
Fruit to add:
Sour cherries (from the jar)
Peaches fresh or from the jar
Strawberries (cut them in pieces, add a bit of sugar and add it to the Griesbrei)
Pear halves (fresh or jar)
All kinds of frozen fruit

Apples:– stewed fruit
– apple sauce

– apple puree

How to make it

– Pour the milk into a pot and heat it up on medium heat. 

– Check if milk is warm, then stir in the semolina – use a wire whisk.

– Add the sugar and keep it on low heat until milk and semolina become creamy like a pudding. 

If you want you can buy semolina in a package and use it per the instructions.

Pictures from http://www.germandeli.com/

German Vegetable Casserole

At my parents house there was always a little garden  (and still is) where my mother would grew herbs like parsley and chives, and carrots, green salad, radish and potatoes. I grew up on the country side where “the fox and the rabbit would say good night”. This is a German saying which describes a region which is really out in the nowhere – the pure country side. You know, just fields and forest and forest and fields. What the heck! How did I end up in Los Angeles??? Well, that’s another story…
Looking back, I remember I ate the radish directly from the soil. There is no substitute for this. It is just delicious.
But if you cannot have your own garden I am sure there is a farm where you can get the vegetable fresh or you can buy at the organic section in your local supermarket.
Germans usually like to eat meat, I rather not. So once in a while you will find these vegetarian recipes inbetween the Schnitzel and beef.  This recipe is also good for diets as it is of low carbs. We call it “Gemueseauflauf” in German.

Things You’ll Need:
• 100 gr floury potatoes
• vegetable mix (e.g. carrots, broccoli, red and green pepper, mushrooms)
• 1 table spoon mixed herbs (e.g. thyme, parsley, rosmary, chives)
• 2-3 table spoon sour cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 100 g grated unprocessed cheese (gouda or Swiss cheese), salt, nutmeg
• casserole dish for the oven
• cutting board
• sharp knife
• bowl

– First boil the potatoes with the skin, then peel them and cut them in thick slices into a bowl. Use a cutting board to cut fresh vegetable into some smaller pieces, cut off stems and skin if needed.
– Boil the vegetable mix (broccoli, carrots, peas, sweet corn, cauliflower, green beans) in water, drain the mix and let it cool off.
– Mix the vegetable with the potatoes.
– Add sour cream, egg yolk, salt, nut meg, herbs and half of the grated cheese to the potato-vegetable mix (It should be of some thick consistence).
– Pour the mix into a casserole dish which had been buttered.
– Add the remaining cheese over it and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes with 400 degrees.
– Serve it with green butter lettuce on Italian vinaigrette.

This is a great dish which you can prepare the day or some hours before. It is great for a party or brunch buffet and an ideal meal for vegetarians. Try it out as a diner for 2! Why always salmon or lobster? If made with organic and natural ingredients it is a delight.

Tips and Warnings
• Buy vegetable mix frozen or use it fresh
• you can use also mushrooms, asparagus spears or zucchini (Italian squash) as a variation
• add some uncooked cherry tomatoes at the end before you add the last cheese on top

German Spinach Omelet

Did you know that the German lunch consists always of a warm meal. In my childhood we never ate a big warm dinner. Never. If we had some warm meal in the evening then it was small and light, like an omelet, fried egg or Griesbrei (semolina pudding).
A spinach omelet is easy to make and it’s a healthy alternative for a cold lunch. Why? A good lunch takes care of 30 percent of the overall calories which the body needs a day. Such a lunch replaces a warm dinner.
You can also add it to a brunch buffet or have it as a light dinner.

Things You’ll Need:

• 4 eggs
• 4 table spoon milk or cream
• 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper or mushrooms
• 100 gr frozen or fresh spinach (or mixed vegetable)or fresh spinach
• salt, pinch of nutmeg

Serves 2 persons

– Mix the eggs with milk or cream, salt and fresh nutmeg
– Cut the red and green pepper into little pieces
– Defrost the spinach in a strainer (don’t use the micro wave)
– Braise pepper with butter lightly in a pan
– Add the eggs, stir it one time then add the spinach on the top
– Let it cook on low heat reduce until the eggs are semi-solid (use a lid but don’t have it completely closed)

Serve it like a pizza with boiled potatoes or natural and organic bread.
You also can add boiled rice or millet to the omelet.

Tips & Warnings

• Use fresh or frozen vegetable instead of vegetable in cans
• Use whenever fresh herbs; you can have some of the important herbs in little pots in the kitchen (like parsley, thyme or basil) or have an extra herb collection in your garden or on the balcony.
• Try not to use the micro-wave oven whenever you can; I hardly never use it

Authentic German Potato Salad Southern Style

This is an authentic German recipe as they make it in the Southern Part (Swabia, which is around Stuttgart, Freiburg and Karlsruhe) of Germany. Every traditional restaurant (Gasthaus) serves this salad either in comination with a mixed salad or just plain. We call it “Kartoffelsalat”.
It is one of my favorite salads and I think my mother makes the best one. She boiles the potatoes and lets them cool off completely before she grates them. Every Christmas Eve, which is the 24th, we had potato salad and Wienerle (the long and thin sausages). Then we would open the presents and enjoy the German Christmas cookies but this is another story which I will tell you later…
Try it out. The recipe is for 6-8 people.

Things You’ll Need:

* 1,5 pounds cooked (waxy) potatoes
* 500 ml beef broth
* 1 medium sized cucumber
* 1 medium sized onion
* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 1/4 cup sun flower oil
* 1/4 cup vinegar
* salt, pepper

– Boil the potatoes but don’t peel them.
– While potatoes are boiling chop the onion into little cubes, add it into a big bowl.
– Add oil, vinegar and mustard, stir. Peel the cucumber and cut it into thin slices or grate it.
– Add it to the onions and pour 250ml (half of the amount) HOT beef broth (the best would be to make one!) over it.
– When potatoes are done, take them out of the water, peel them and cut them into thin slices.
– Add them to the onion-cucumber mix. Stir. Add more broth. The salad should NOT be too dry (hear a smacking sound while stirring) and should not be swimming in broth.
– Add salt, pepper.
– Let it stand for some time to see if it still moist (potatoes take up the liquid), add more broth if needed.

This salad tastes delicious as a side dish with the famous German “Wienerschnitzel”, hot dogs, sausages or is great for a barbecue. A typical diner for the evening before Christmas would be potato salad and Wiener sausages.

And it has less calories as you think! 5 pounds of this salad are having only 1900 calories. That’s not so bad.
Enjoy!

Tips & Warnings
* Buy waxy, yellow potatoes; if possible use organic potatoes
* Home made broth is the best or boullion (cubes), the one in a container is always artificially flavored and doesn’t taste so good
* You can add parsley before you serve it
* Don’t use chicken broth
* Don’t use soft and floury potatoes
* Never use mayonnaise for this salad

Here you can purchase German Food and Ingredients: http://www.germandeli.com/

How to make German Beef Rouladen

Beef Rouladen (or beef rolls) is a very delicious and popular German recipe especially served for Sunday lunches when the whole family gets together.

The rouladen consist of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef and then cooked. Served with mashed potatoes and red cabbage and a glass of red wine.

It’s one of my favorites and I never got them served in California as they should be. I had them in a restaurant at Big bear and I was disapointed. Well, here is the authentic recipe for 6 people; please don’t add anything else to it.

Things You’ll Need:

* 1 1/2 pounds flank steak (calculate 1 piece for each person; I always get the meat ready sliced at a German butcher’s or store; the meat needs to be thin; if you cut it, the slice needs to be 1 cm or 0.5 inches thick)

* Dijon mustard or German style mustard

* 1/2 pound smoked bacon (Speck) cut in thin slice

* 4 medium sized onions

* 4 (German style) pickles

* 2 1/2 cups water (as needed)
* 3 table spoon oil

* some celery leaves

* heavy cream or crème fraiche

* some dry red wine (if you like)

* salt, pepper, red pepper (paprika)

Cut the meat in 6 rectangular pieces (not too thick), beat the meat if it is too thick or – easier way – get it already cut at the butcher’s.

– Spice them with salt and pepper and red pepper (paprika)

– Spread mustard on the spiced side

– Cut onions in small cubes

– Cut pickles in small cubes

– Put on each piece 1 slice of bacon

– Add onions and pickles on the meat and roll the slice so it becomes a roll

– Use sewing cotton or metal picks to prevent that they fall apart (don’t forget to remove them before serving!)

– Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the rouladen from all sides really well

– Add celery leaves and another onion and quench it with water (or if you like you can use red wine instead)

– Put on the lid and let it boil for 1 hour and 20 minutes

– You can turn them once and add more liquid if needed (the rouladen should be covered with liquid and it should not get dry at all).

Home made Gravy:

Get the rouladen out of the pan and keep them warm while making the gravy

Take the liquid with all ingredients and mix it very well, sieve it.

Add crème fraiche or heavy cream to the liquid and some flour (to bind it); the sauce should not be very thick.

If needed add some salt and pepper or 2 table spoon tomato paste (gives a nice red color).

Tips and Warnings

* if you don’t want to make the gravy yourself use some instant gravy and stir it up with some cream

* serve it with mashed potatoes and vegetable (red cabbage or peas/carrots mix)

* to save time for the next meal, make the double amount and freeze the rest (without the metal picks of course)

Where to buy German ingredients:

On http://www.germandeli.com/ you can purchase all kind of original German food online