German Style Potato Salad

I love the neighborhood I live in....

The streets are made of brick and are incredibly uneven. The houses were built a hundred years ago and look like cottages that were plucked straight out of Germany and dropped into Columbus, Ohio.

Each house looks like it has its own fascinating story as the steel gates are rusted and the gardens are extravagant. You can usually poke your neighbors house just by sticking your hand out the window.

I love it.

It's not for everybody but I appreciate it. Growing up with strong German roots, German Village feels like home to me. I appreciate the shabby aspect of this neighborhood. I love the idea of walking into a cottage with wood floors, brick walls and claw foot bathtubs and calling it home.

I'm a little creepy in that when I go for runs around the neighborhood and see a new house for sale, I do an about turn and run home to Google the house just so I can take a peek on what the inside beholds.

My grandma always makes this German Potato salad that I crave at least weekly. When I Google "German Potato Salad" in the hopes of finding something similar to hers, nothing seems to compare...

But I always see recipes similar to this. I played around with it and decided it HAD to have sauerkraut. It's a must.

German Style Potato Salad
Dame Good

Ingredients:

4 potatoes
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped (I like to bake my bacon :))
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons white sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces sauerkraut
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes; cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop.

Add the olive oil, flour, sugar, water and vinegar to skillet and cook over medium heat until dressing is thick.

Add bacon, potatoes, sauerkraut and green onions to skillet and stir until coated. Cook until heated and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Chicken Sausage with a Quick Homemade Sauerkraut

I have got a bad case of the Mondays. Anyone who likes mondays is crazy. Productive is the last thing I want to be on this day. I woke up wanting homemade whole wheat blueberry waffles (which I satisfied myself with happily) and to stay in bed in my warmest PJ's and watch movies with Shawn...

Of course, this just was not allowed as I had to get to work right away (after the waffles of course, and coffee...lots of coffee) then class immediately after until 6:30...yep, me and Mondays are not friends.

As this winter quarter is slowly nearing an end, I am finding that I am burnt out and in dire need of a vacation. I can't afford one so the one week break I get off from school will have to do. For the longest time now I have been grinding out day after day with either class or work or both...0 days off...ZERO

Totally getting to me now...feeling worn down and overwhelmed. Perhaps the fact that it is totally crappy out doesn't help. This morning it was raining and now it is snowing...the kind of snowflakes that are as big as my fist. Boooo!

I think I am done being a Debbie Downer...I'm going to find chocolate and watch "The Bachelor" :)

Ps, if you love sauerkraut, as I do...but find the stuff out of a can or jar or bag or what have you to be rather one-note and sometimes too sour...this homemade quick kraut rocks...its delish...honestly. I have never had chicken sausage before making this recipe and while it is definitely not the fatty oily sausage we all love, it is pretty yummy...

Chicken Sausage with a Quick Homemade Sauerkraut
From Eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

1 12-ounce package chicken sausage
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
1 10-ounce package shredded cabbage, preferably finely shredded
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Directions:

Cook sausages in a large skillet over medium-high heat until brown on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Heat oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and apple and cook, stirring constantly, until beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cabbage, vinegar and salt and cook, stirring often, until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Add cider and caraway seeds; bring to a boil. Return the sausages to the pan, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the sausages are heated through and cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes.

Bierock Casserole

Bierocks are a traditional German dish. They're usually pastry or rolls stuffed with beef and sauerkraut or cabbage. I noticed a recipe once that was a bierock casserole and I loved that idea but noticed the recipe seemed bland and needed more oomph. So I took the idea and ran with it and decided to make it for my German potluck where I made the German Pumpkin Cheesecake and Pumpkin Cream Puffs.

I think it is safe to say that a lot of people are turned off by sauerkraut. I know it does not smell the best but I love it. I think it is delicious, especially on a brat with brown mustard and onions. I expected that my potluck guests would be reluctant to try this dish because of the sauerkraut but they all tried it and proclaimed that they actually liked it and barely noticed the sauerkraut. Yay! I love surprising people with food!

Some fun facts about German food and drink (for fun thats why!)

You would have to try one kind of German bread per day for almost a whole year in order to be able to taste them all! There are over 300 different kinds of bread in Germany.

Germans really do love beer; they rank second in world-wide beer consumption per person after Ireland.

Betcha didn't know one of those! ;)

Bierock Casserole

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 (8 oz) cans refrigerated reduced-fat crescent rolls
3/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb turkey sausage
2 cups sauerkraut, drained
1 (1 oz) package dry onion soup mix
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 cup dark german beer (such as becks or st paulis girl)
1 1/2 cups pepperjack cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Brown onion, ground beef and sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat. Drain fat then stir in beer, sauerkraut, onion soup mix, caraway seeds, and garlic powder and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Press one and a half packages of crescent roll dough in the bottom of a lightly greased casserole dish (9x13). Spread the meat and sauerkraut mixture on top. Sprinkle with pepperjack. Then layer the rest of the crescent roll dough on top of the beef mixture, overlapping just a little. Sprinkle with the parmesan.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top.

German Pumpkin Cheesecake

I love cheesecake, and I love fall, and I love being German. I decided to get crazy and combine these 3 loves for my German potluck and take a pumpkin cheesecake recipe and turn it into a German cheesecake recipe.

Changing baking recipes is always risky, at least for me anyway, so I was terrified. I think I held my breath the whole 3 hours it took to make. I know that sounds like a lot but it wasn't so bad. I was able to get a workout in while it baked and even some cleaning so if you're feeling the need to be productive, make this cheesecake!

It's one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had and I've had probably half of the cheesecakes available on the Cheesecake Factory menu. It's perfectly creamy and has a wonderful hint of fall flavors including pumpkin and cinnamon spices without being overpowering...mmm...my mouth is watering writing about this...

German Pumpkin Cheesecake
Adapted from foodnetwork.com and allrecipes.com

Crust:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
2 3/4 cups sugar
Salt

Cheesecake:
2 pounds Quark (or 2 8 oz neaufchatel and 16 oz Quark), at room temperature (if you can't find it, learn how to make it here)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
6 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups sweetened whipped cream

For dusting:
powdered sugar
pumpkin spice

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Brush a 10-inch springform pan with some of the butter. Stir the remaining butter with the crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, then wrap the outside of the springform pan with foil and place in a roasting pan.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the quark (or cream cheese and quark) with a mixer until smooth. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the sour cream, then add the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt and the spices and beat until just combined. Pour into the cooled crust.

Gently place the roasting pan in the oven (don't pull the rack out) and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is still loose, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the door briefly to let out some heat. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from the roasting pan and cool on a rack. Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Bring the cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove the springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of the whipped cream on each slice and sprinkle with powdered sugar and pumpkin spice.

Quark: German Cheese

As I said in my last post, I recently had a German potluck. I must say I am pretty proud to be German. My dad was born in Germany and I adore my little blonde-hair blue-eyed grandmas thick german accent. I've never been to Germany (although it is something I would love LOVE LOVE to do!) but I have been fortunate enough to be exposed to the great food...

Beer, bratwursts and saurkraut...they may not smell the best but they sure do satisfy this tummy. I think the little German in me forced me to move into my neighborhood, German Village, where on every corner there are german pubs and restaraunts with good authentic eats. The food is fabulous here and brings me back to visiting my family in Minnesota eating my grandmas and grandpas german potato salad, fried bread, german pancakes and Spaetzle or as us American's call it "spatula".

I wanted to try and be daring and take a pumpkin cheesecake recipe and make it German...seeing as to how my risks don't always go as planned, I made the cheesecake and the cream puffs in case one didn't work. I lucked out and both turned out great...German and fall flavors all in one...can't beat it.

Apparently in Germany, when they make cheesecake they use quark instead of cream cheese like we American's do or ricotta like many Italians do. Quark is a soft creamy cheese comparable to cream cheese. It's hard to find but relatively easy to make. It takes about 12 hours, but it was worth it...in my eyes at least.

Quark

From Germancorner.com

Ingredients:

1 quart buttermilk

1 large Pyrex form with lid or any other form with lid
1 large colander

1 cheesecloth or plain linnen

Directions:

Pour the buttermilk in oven proof form, cover with lid and put into oven overnight at lowest temperature (150 F). Next morning line the colander with cloth and pour the lumpy buttermilk into it. Cover with the ends of the cloth and let drain in sink for about 2 hours. This process can be speed up by putting a bowl filled with water on top. This instruction will make about 1/2 lbs of quark.

*Totally off topic but if you like comedy I recommend checking out Orny Adams. I was up late one night unable to sleep and turned it to comedy central and this guy was doing standup and I was laughing away...alone...in my bed. His jokes are clever and I think he may be a bit intoxicated which is all the more funny...you might be able to check him out here http://www.amazon.com/Orny-Adams-Takes-the-Third/dp/B004AD9L9E/ref=pd_vodsm_B004AD9L9E

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Pumpkin Cream Puffs

Happy Halloween all! I love Halloween. I tend to take advantage of any available excuse to dress up and act ridiculous. This year I was a German beer girl and wore a dirndl. I went out with some friends to enjoy a lot of drinks...perhaps one too many...meh, it was a holiday. Here's me and Shawn...yeah he's creepy.

THESE CREAM PUFFS ARE AWESOME! I seriously ate like 10 when I made them...that's terrible I know. I was having a german potluck with some lady friends (recipes coming soon) and I remembered how I went to Schmidts, a german buffet in german village and they had huge cream puffs so I decided I had to make some kind of fall cream puff. So naturally I went for pumpkin...of course. I remembered seeing a recipe for cream puffs once that used pudding so I was inspired by that idea and came up with these....LOVE THEM! :)

Pumpkin Cream Puffs
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

cream:
1 3.5 ounce package instant pumpkin spice pudding mix
1 1 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cool whip
1/4 cup pumpkin puree

puffs:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

powdered sugar
pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

Mix together pumpkin and vanilla instant pudding mix, cream, cool whip, pumpkin and milk. Cover and refrigerate to set.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.

When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells. Dust with powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice.

Look at how much fun we have with holidays at the bakery :)