Rotkohl - red cabbage with apples

Cabbage is of course a staple in Germany - from red cabbage to sauerkraut to coleslaw. Rotkohl (red cabbage) is usually stewed in vinegar and sugar, sometimes with bacon, apple, onion, garlic, pepper or cloves. Here's the recipe we used.

Ingredients:
1 head red cabbage, finely sliced (about 2 lb, or 12 cups)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 - 6 Tbsp sugar (to taste)
1/3 - 2/3 cup balsamic or cider vinegar
2 - 3 slices bacon
1 tart apple, thinly sliced or grated

Directions:

• Chop bacon and fry until cooked
• Add butter, then saute cabbage until slightly wilted, about 5 minutes
• Add sugar and vinegar to taste
• Cover and simmer on medium-low heat about 20 minutes, stirring often
  
• Add apple slices and simmer for 10 more minutes
• Season to taste with salt and pepper
  

Original Recipe: Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage from Simply Recipes

Jaeger Schnitzel mit Spaetzle

This week while Grandma B., Omi, and Eva are all in town, we're trying some German dishes. Check back every few days for new recipes!

The infamous "Schnitzel with noodles" is a breaded cutlet of veal, venison, or pork with "Spaetzle," or homemade egg noodles. Jaeger Schnitzel is served in a mushroom cream sauce (another variation, Wiener Schnitzel is served with lemon juice). We served this with a side of Rotkohl (red cabbage), which we'll post later.

Guten Appetit!


Ingredients:
Spaetzle noodles -
1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp salt
*Or just use any light, fluffy, eggy noodles
Jaeger Schnitzel -
veal/venison/pork cutlet, pounded thin and floured on both sides
1/2 cup mushrooms
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp finely chopped shallots or onions
6 oz brown gravy mix or beef bouillon, flour, and butter
3 Tbsp white wine or apple juice
3 Tbsp cream or half & half

Directions:
Spaetzle - Prepare noodles according to package, or follow recipe below if you have a pasta maker.

• Combine ingredients and beat well until bubbles form.
  
• Pour batter through Spaetzle maker into simmering water
• Let noodles rise to the top, then drain well and rinse with cold water

Jaeger Schnitzel

• Melt butter in pan and saute cutlet until lightly browned on both sides
• Remove cutlet and keep aside
• Add mushrooms, garlic, shallots, and parsley and saute until partially cooked
• Add wine/juice and deglaze the pan, then add gravy and cream
• Put cutlet back in the pan and simmer in sauce for 1-2 minutes

Original Recipe

Lion House Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
2 T dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
5 to 5 1/2 cups flour
Vegetable oil

Directions:

• In large bowl or mixer, combine water and milk powder until milk dissolves
• Add yeast, sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour
• Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed
• Add 2 more cups flour
• Mix on low speed until wet, then medium speed for 2 minutes
• Add about 1/2 cup more flour - dough should be soft, not overly sticky or stiff
• Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about 1 T vegetable oil all around sides of bowl
• Turn the dough over to coat in oil, cover with plastic, and let rise until double in size
• Sprinkle flour on cutting board or counter
• Place dough on floured surface and flip over, so dough is floured on both sides
• Gently flatten dough to about 1 inch thick
• With rolling pin, roll out to rectangle about 18 inches x 8 inches and 1/4 inch thick
• Brush top of dough with melted butter
• Cut lengthwise into two 4-inch strips, then cut strips into 2-inch-wide pieces
• Gently roll each piece from one short end, with butter on inside
• Place each piece on parchment-lined pan with other short end down on the paper
• Cover with plastic and let rise until double in size
• Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes
• Brush immediately with melted butter
• Serve warm with honey-butter
  

Sweet Potatoes

When we went to the Milletts last year for Thanksgiving, another family brought some fantastic sweet potatoes. Anna never really liked sweet potatoes...until now. So this year, we got the recipe from them and made a big batch (with a couple "secret" ingredients) for Thanksgiving this year. If you only pick at candied yams for the marshmallows, I dare you to not like this version!

Ingredients:
5 lb sweet potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
1 c brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans (can also use praline pecans for extra yumminess)
1/4 cup butter

Maple syrup (or even better, butter pecan syrup)

Directions:

• Peel sweet potatoes, cut into large chunks, and boil until tender
• Mash in large bowl and mix in the rest of ingredients above with a mixer
• Place in casserole dish (9x13) or pie tins
• In a separate bowl, mix together topping ingredients
• Crumble topping mixture over top of sweet potatoes
• Drizzle a little maple syrup over the top
  
• Cook at 350 for 30-45 minutes
• Serve hot or cold (cold is your classic "sweet potato pie," but warm is best, we say)
  

Coconut Coriander Chicken / Homemade Naan

I made this combination for Annamaria just before my dreaded four-day trip to Florida a couple of weeks ago. It turned out very nice. The naan is really easy to make, other than waiting 1 1/2 hours for the dough to rise. It doesn't get as poofy and bubbly as at a restaurant, but it tastes delicious.

I followed both recipes pretty closely, so I'll just link to them here. One major change: We have tons of cilantro growing in our garden, so I added quite a bit to both recipes. Add one or two big bunches of cilantro to the paste in the curry recipe, and add a bunch of chopped cilantro and coriander powder or garam masala with the garlic to the naan dough after letting it rise the first time.

Coconut Chicken Masala from Sailu's Kitchen
Grilled Naan from Allrecipes.com