German Potato Dumplings (Kartoffelkloesse) – Dial-Up Some Delicious Dumplings

Sorry for the late upload, but I had some mysterious modem issues, and this German potato dumpling video took over 5 hours to upload! I was having flashbacks to those good, old dial-up AOL days, and they weren’t good flashbacks. I do miss that cool modem sound, but that's about it.

Anyway, it’s late, but I wanted to post the ingredient amounts, and maybe I'll add some more info tomorrow, although these are so basic that’s probably not necessary. The only tip I’ll give is that I think baking the potatoes works better than boiling them whole. Peeling, quartering, and boiling until tender will also work, but don’t overcook them, otherwise they'll absorb too much water.

By the way, if you’re German, or know the same things they do, I’d love to learn why we're sticking croutons in the middle of these things. I totally get the crumbs on top, but inside? If you have an explanation, I’d like love to hear it, and in the meantime, I really do hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 to 10 German Potato Dumplings:

2 large russet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)

salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne to taste

pinch of nutmeg

2 large eggs

1 cup flour

fresh chives to garnish

For the croutons/crumbs

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup)

2 cups fresh bread cubes

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Grilled German Potato Salad – Warming Up to a Great Summer Side Dish

I’ve never been a huge fan of German potato salad, for two very good reasons. First of all, my love for mayonnaise borders on inappropriate, and secondly, the potatoes always seem to be under-cooked. 

I enjoy many things cooked al dente, but potatoes are never, ever one of them. I know people want clean, neat slices, but to me that’s just not a good enough reason.

However, if they’re cooked tender, especially over some smoky coals, I can forgive the lack of mayo, since this is a very flavorful change of pace, and as I mentioned in the video, perfect for bringing to a cookout. A German potato salad must be eaten warm, or at least room temp, so placing a bowl of this on a sunny picnic table works out very well.

I use a ton of bacon in my version, because it’s bacon, but if you do decide to use less, you’ll have to add some vegetable or olive oil to the dressing to make up the difference. You could just use less vinegar, but then you might not have enough dressing to really soak the potatoes, which would be a shame. So, what I’m trying to say is, use a lot of bacon. Either way, I really do hope you give this great potato salad a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 Portions Grilled German Potato Salad:

2 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, grilled until just tender

1/4 cup freshly chopped Italian parsley

For the dressing:

8 ounces sliced bacon

1 cup diced yellow onion

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

cayenne to taste

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

Note: If you want you dressing tangier, add more vinegar, but if you want it less so, you’ll have to adjust with vegetable oil, since you can’t add more bacon fat.

How to Make Spätzle (aka Spaetzle) – Little Sparrows for Big Meat

Apparently “Spätzle” translates to “little sparrows” in German, which makes a lot of sense when you consider their shape. What doesn’t make sense is why these micro-dumplings are also called “spaetzle.” Is it an alternate spelling? A different recipe? I’m hoping maybe some of our German foodwishers can clear this up.

Since my favorite German restaurant calls this stuff spätzle, that’s what I went with, and they are as easy to make, as they are hard to correctly pronounce. You only need a few ingredients, all of which you generally have on hand at all times, and they take just minutes to cook.

Once boiled, you can toss in butter like I did, or sauce them any way you’d sauce similarly shaped pasta. While wonderful served as-is, they make the perfect side dish to any large hunk of slowly braised meat. I paired mine with a pork shoulder stewed in hard cider, and it was amazing.

I thought I’d posted a video for that, but it was actually a cider-braised pork cheeks recipe I was thinking of, which would work perfectly here. So, I may have to do a braised pork shoulder after all. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll have little trouble figuring out what to serve yours with, and I really do hope you give this Spätzle recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes 2 portions:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more to adjust

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

pinch of cayenne

1 tablespoon cream fraiche, sour cream, or yogurt

3 tablespoons milk

Tarte Flambée – Alsatian Bacon & Onion Pizza (Not Pizza)

The hardest thing about this amazing tarte flambée recipe isn’t the prep, or finding some exotic ingredient, it’s actually trying to explain to your guests why it’s not called pizza. I’m reminded of that old saying, “If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and looks like a duck, sometimes it’s a trout.”

That’s right, while this is a pizza almost everywhere else, in certain places on the German/French border, it goes by the totally dessert-sounding name of tarte flambée. Just tell people the name comes from the fact it used to be cooked in a fire, and then trail off.

Once your crust is pre-browned and topped, you have several options for bringing this to a successful, and hopefully crispy conclusion. Since the bottom is already browned, I usually just broil it on high, about 8 inches from the flame, for about 5 minutes, or until the top is looking just right.

The other method would be to pop it in a 500 F. oven, for about 7-10 minutes, or until you’re completely happy. Or, you can actually do both – start in a hot oven, and then give it a minute under the broiler to seal the deal. Either way, I really hope you give this tarte flambée a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 tarte flambée:

4 balls prepared pizza dough (about 5 ounces each) Note: Wolfgang Puck pizza dough recipe would would perfectly

12 ounces bacon, sliced

1 large yellow onion, sliced, cooked with salt, until soft, but not caramelized

For the cheese mixture:

1 cup formage blanc

1/4 cup crème fraiche

pinch of nutmeg

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

Beef Rouladen – German Engineering You Can Eat

For something that looks and tastes as impressive as this beef rouladen, it’s actually one of the simplest stuffed meat recipes I know. Everything happens right on the meat, and after a quick roll and tie, we simmer in the gravy until tender. The beef and fixings flavor the sauce, the sauce flavors the beef, and everybody wins.

Regarding the meat, one of the great things about this technique, is that you can pretty much use any cheap cut of beef they have on sale. I used some round steak, but rump, chuck, flap meat, and other similar cuts will work.

Tell your butcher you’re making rouladen, and they will hook you up with what you need. If they’ve never heard of rouladen, then you should probably find another butcher. As I mentioned in the video, this can be scaled up to any size group. Just use a bigger pot, and the recipe will work as shown. I really hope you give this Rouladen recipe a try soon. Genießen!

Ingredients for 2 Beef Rouladen:

2 (about 1/4-inch thick) slices of cheap beef, about 6 ounces per slice. I used round, but rump, chuck, flap meat, and any other long cooking cuts will work.

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

4 strips pancetta or bacon
paprika to taste

sliced onion, as needed

6 slices dill pickle

1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the gravy:

2 tbsp butter, added to the pan drippings

1/4 cup flour

3 cups beef broth, veal, or chicken stock

salt to taste

Beef Short Ribs "Sauerbraten" – Oh, Snap!

I had heard that some sauerbratens were finished by thickening the sauce with ground gingersnaps, but had never tried it since it just sounds so wrong. It certainly doesn’t seem very German. Cookies in a sauce? What’s next, laughing in public?

Anyway, I’ve had a lot of “do something German!” food wishes lately, and since I’ve wanted to post another short ribs recipe, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to go full cookie. The results shocked and amazed me. This was comfort food at it's finest.

The 24-hour marinade ensured the succulent rib meat had that signature tanginess, and those little cookies not only gave the sauce a beautiful texture, but also added a great spicy sweetness. I am now officially in favor of using cookies to finish savory sauces.

With cooler weather on the way, it’s time to rediscover the simple joy of slowly stewed meat, and what better way than with this delicious take on a German classic? I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the marinade

3 lbs short ribs, seasoned with salt and pepper

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2/3 cup cider vinegar

2/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 1/2 cups water, plus 1 cup cold water at end to cool marinade down

2 bay leaves

9 whole cloves

12 juniper berries

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

*Marinate at least 24 hours

Then stew with:

1 chopped large onion

1 chopped carrot

2 ribs celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup water

1 cup chicken or beef broth

2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup crushed gingersnaps

salt and pepper to taste

View the complete recipe

Crispy Pork Cutlets with Creamy Jalapeno Green Onion Gravy – Say Auf Wiedersehen to the 3-Pan Breading Station!

This is what happens when you have two food wishes in your head at the same time. I’ve wanted to do a schnitzel video für immer, but thanks to another recent food wish, I was also craving biscuits with cream gravy. So, I sort of did both, and it worked out well. Very well.

The crispy pork cutlet part of the presentation is very simple and straightforward, but it did afford the opportunity to share my new breading system. With all the time you’ll save, you can hit the gym to burn off this less than light, but extremely satisfying meal.

I’ve never been a big fan of the 3-pan breading system. Once you dredge meat in the prescribed dish of seasoned flour, you have to toss the rest. The whole idea is to simply coat the meat with flour, so why not just sprinkle on already seasoned meat? We use much less flour that way, and with zero waste.

From there, we’re not dipping these in a bowl of beaten eggs. Why do that, when we can just dump one egg on to the same plate and toss to coat. Faster, easier, and one egg is plenty for four cutlets.

As far as the cream gravy goes, the jalapenos and green onion probably seem logical, but some may raise an eyebrow over the diced dill pickle. I’m not sure exactly why I added them, but I just had one of those feelings. Pickles and pork, dill and cream sauce, it felt right, and it tasted even righter.

By the way, you can substitute veal, beef, turkey or chicken for the pork without missing a beat. Anyway, I hope you give this easy pork cutlet, delicious cream gravy, and/or new breading system a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 Cutlets (makes four entrée size portions of 2 cutlets each):

2 fully trimmed pork tenderloins, cut into 8 pieces, pounded flat

salt and pepper to taste

flour as needed

2 eggs

about 3 cups panko breadcrumbs

For the gravy:

2 tbsp melted butter

1/3 cup diced dill pickles

1 or 2 jalapeños, small dice

1 bunch green onions, chopped

salt and cayenne to taste

1 1/2 tablespoon flour

1 1/2 cup cold milk, plus more to adjust thickness if needed

View the complete recipe

Braised Red Cabbage – That is All

No matter how basic or boring an ingredient or dish is, I can usually come up with something to pontificate on, but for this lovely braised red cabbage recipe, I’ve got absolutely nothing.

I could go on about how I’m not sure what that color red is called, but I did that in the video. I could joke about taking one for the team, and keeping this side dish purely vegetarian for a change, but there’s nothing funny about not adding bacon.

I could suggest a few easy ways to turn this into an amazing one-dish meal, by adding some smoked sausage or leftover pork ribs, but that’s probably so obvious that I’d be insulting your intelligence.

Or, I could have gone into a great, old prep cook anecdote about how I won $10 from a pastry chef in 1987 by juggling red cabbages on the hotline during service, but that would have meant making up the story, since it was actually cantaloupes.

No, I’m not going to mention any of that. I'll simply suggest that if you want an easy, gorgeous looking, and very tasty vegetable side dish, then you should give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4-6 portions:

2 tbsp butter

1 small Red cabbage, sliced thin, about a 1 1/4 pounds

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup red wine

2 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste

2 tbsp white sugar

pinch of caraway seeds

salt and pepper to taste

*Note: there are SO many ways to tweak this recipe! Raisins, currants, shallots, onions, leeks, apples, and pears are just a few things that rock in this recipe.

Canned Cheeseburgers? How do you say WTF in German?

As the old cliché goes, you just can't make this stuff up. The photo you see here has not been doctored. It's directly from the German website Trekking-Mahlzeiten, which offers ready-made meals for hikers. They're selling, for $3.95 euros each, a canned cheeseburger. Of all the food products I've wished existed, I can say that a canned cheeseburger has never crossed my mind. I've added a link to the site in hopes that someone orders one, and writes a review for the site. Frankly, I just don't have the guts to try one myself.

As disturbing as the thought of a canned cheeseburger is, what really bothers me about the photo are the garnishes. I'm assuming it doesn't come dressed with lettuce and tomato, and that these are just "serving suggestions" to make the whole thing seem less horrible. But, cucumbers? Cucumbers? Do German's put cucumbers on their cheeseburgers? Imagine the shame for the citizens of Hamburg. It's enough to make you want to move to Frankfurt.

UPDATE!!!
Thanks to a tip from scallywag, here is a live taste test of the above mentioned canned cheeseburger! I don't speak German, but you really don't have to in order to understand this review. Enjoy?

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Dijon Pan Sauce - Déjà Vu to You Too

I've used pork tenderloin in several video recipes on the site, and I always say the same things; easy to cook, tender, tasty, fast, etc. So, I'm not going to bore you with why I love this cut of pork again. I'm sure you don't want to hear how it needs almost no trimming, and cooks in only about 20 minutes again. No need to explain about the delicious pan sauces that can be made once it comes out of the oven, like this amazing Apple Dijon Sauce. Deglazing, reducing, finishing with butter…you've probably been there and done that.

What I will say however is that if your planning on cooking a holiday dinner, and you're not the most confident cook in the world, you should consider this recipe. It's really hard to screw up, and believe me I've tried. Of course, that's assuming that by now I've convinced you to get a meat thermometer, and you use it on this pork to get a perfect internal temperature for maximum succulence. Teaser Alert: I also will be posting a great, health cauliflower and potato side dish video soon that will be perfect with this roast pork and sauce. Enjoy!
Click here for the transcript and ingredients.

Cider Braised Beef Brisket - Slow Food for Fast Times

Braising is such a great cooking technique in general, and in particular for the new cook. It's such a forgiving method; The meat is always moist, the timing doesn’t have to be exact since it’s virtually impossible to overcook, and easy to put back in to cook longer, and best of all…most braised recipes make there our sauce or jus (natural juice)!

This is a classic beef brisket dish I learned from a German chef many years ago. As you'll see in this video recipe, it takes about 10 minutes to prep, and after a nice, leisurely 3-hour braise, you have an amazingly aromatic, and succulent brisket.

This is a great dish any time of the year, but it is especially perfect on that chilly fall night, or for that holiday dinner party. Since the average brisket runs about 5 to 6 pounds, it’s great for entertaining. And the leftovers? Forget about it; there is nothing like a brisket sandwich.

There is an aroma that this dish produces as the apple cider, garlic, and rosemary vapors somehow escape the tight foil wrap and waft throughout the kitchen and house that no scented candle has ever come close to surpassing. This is a great meal, and the best kind of aromatherapy. I served it with a new carrot dish I just developed that uses Chinese 5-spice with some surprisingly results. I will show that video recipe soon. It was a perfect match for this dish. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
5 pound beef brisket
6 cloves garlic
1 tbl dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste (this needs to be seasoned generously)
1 pint apple cider
2 tbl olive oil
1 yellow onion