German Knockwurst In Beer Broth

I don’t know what is going on with me lately but I am on a roll with my German cooking! I promised myself I would try harder to learn these great dishes of Toblerone’s culture..anticipating one day that we have children of our own to share it all with. So far, looks like I’m living up to that promise!

The other day I found a package of German Knockwurst at our grocery store (made by Boar’s Head company) which I liked since it was in it’s natural casing with zero additives. I hate all that “added caramel” for color plus 8,000 extra chemicals. Just trying to stick to what is clean and good! (The German way of course!)

I wasn’t sure what I would make with Knockwurst but there is one thing I know…nothing goes better with Wurst than….yep…you guessed it….BEER!!!

What You Need:

Knockwurst (I used a pacakge of 4 for our smaller family)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Medium onion sliced

12 ounces of light beer (I used a can of Labatt blue…cuz I’m classy like that!)

1 Cup water

Salt & Pepper to taste

Parsley

 

Here’s How Its Done: 

First off, heat up a dutch oven with olive oil on medium heat. Add the wurst to oil, turning every couple of minutes to brown each side. I would highly recommend putting the lid on. These suckers spit hot oil at me!

 

Next up, add the onions until they are soft. I added just a little extra splash of olive oil. Again, lid on and occasionally stirring them around and turning the sausages.

 

Once onions are cooked through, remove the sausage and place aside. Next comes the fun part…or as some might see it…alcohol abuse. Pour in your 12 ounces of beer! I mean…if you ended up only pouring in 10 ounces because you were feeling a bit thirsty throughout the ordeal, that would be ok too! (I did it. No shame!)

 

As the beer starts cooking up and the fumes start to slightly intoxicate you…add in your salt, pepper, and parsley to taste! Add your cup of water  and bring to a boil. Once boiling put on low heat and let simmer until reduced and you no longer smell the alcohol. This takes about 12-15 minutes.

 

Once reduced, add back in your sausage and keep on low heat. Just need to heat the sausages through.

 

While that continued to warm up, I made my homemade Spätzle and warmed up some Sauerkraut to complete the meal. If you want a thicker sauce you can certainly add a little sauce thickener or cornstarch and water mixture. I didn’t do that to mine, I liked it as it was but to each his own!

 

There ya have it! It’s a really simple dish which requires very few ingredients. Let’s be honest…most of which you probably have in your home already!

Let me know if you try it out or what you would do to change it up!

Until next time, Readers!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo

 

 

 

Holy Schnitzel!

The word “Schnitzel” just sounds dirty doesn’t it? Like what your younger brother used to call his boy part. Well..this has nothing to do with nakedness but more like the deliciousness that is “THE SCHNITZEL.”

The German people love their Schnitzels (see what I mean…that just sounds wrong!) especially with French fries and lots of beef flavored gravy. I don’t think it’s in any way good for you as it is a fried food but when I first came here to visit and I couldn’t read the menu I always ordered Schnitzel with Käse Spätzle because I knew that was safe to eat. I didn’t want to mistakenly order Liver or something like that. Speaking of Liver, Grandpa, you would LOVE the food here. They have liver soup, liver noodles, liver everything and lots of deer meat!

So, I started to learn how to make Schnitzel for the Toblerone and it’s crazy easy. You can make Schnitzel with a beef gravy, creamy mushroom gravy, tomato sauce, turn it into a Hawaiian (pineapples with cheese), A Caprese Schnitzel, A Schnitzel salad. The possibilities are endless here! And not to mention it takes an assembly line and 20 minutes to cook, tops! You know me, the faster the better. This recipe is to make the very basic Schnitzel. Once you have the base you can make anything you want.

What You Need:

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. All-purpose flour

3-4 pork steaks – thin cut

1 egg beaten

1 cube beef flavored bouillon

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

How to Make it:

1. In a shallow dish, mix bread crumbs, flour, and salt and pepper. Put aside.

2. In a shallow dish, beat egg. Put Aside

3. In a shallow dish, put mustard in bowl.

4. If your pork steaks are still too thick, use a meat mallet to flatten it a bit. Here they have them so thin they spread out to be bigger than the plate. It’s incredible. So, the thinner the better!

5. Heat oil in a large skillet. While the oil is heating up work an assembly line with the pork steaks. First dip into the egg, then coat with mustard, then coat with the breadcrumbs evenly. This is the fun messy part so get down and dirty! Liberate yourself in the mess!

 

6. Place steaks in pan and cook evenly on both sides until browned.

7. Make the bouillon in a separate pot, you may want to add cornstarch or flour for thickness.

My Toblerone usually eats this with gravy poured over his french fries and his schnitzel and whatever else he can find. Literally licking the plate afterwards…(he’s obsessed with gravy.) This is a super quick meal to make and since I wasn’t able to get a finished picture fast enough (he eats like Garfield) I found one that looks similar so you get the idea! When in Germany, eat as the Germans do!  Guten Appetit!

 

 

 

 

Käse Spätzle Mit Sauerkraut – The Way to a German’s Heart

German food is incredible. Very different from what I’m used to back home but I’m all for trying new things. While Toblerone was living in the states I knew he missed the meals of his culture. So, I took it upon myself to start learning these dishes and so far, found that although these are not easy, and take a lot of time, it’s all well worth it in the end! Every now and again, I’ll post a recipe of something that I’ve learned.

I make homemade Käse Spätzle with sauerkraut which he claims is better than his Omi’s (Grandma’s). Thats a huge compliment considering the competition!! Go me! At any rate…follow these instructions to the “T” and I assure you it will be one that you’ll make over and over again. And of course, this is good for your vegetarian friends as well!  This is a dish that takes a bit of time and a lot of love but it’s well worth it in the end! It’s cheese, noodles, onions, and sauerkraut goodness! 🙂

What you will need:

3 sliced onions

1 Tbsp Vegetable oil

4 1/2 Cups All purpose flour (cheaper is not better!)

1 Tbsp Salt

5 Large Eggs

1 3/4 – 2 Cups water

1 (14.5 oz) can of Sauerkraut (don’t drain, keep juice)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil or butter

1 package of shredded mozzarella cheese

 

 

Eat your heart out:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Fill a large pot with water, add vegetable oil, some salt, and bring to a boil.  Place flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Add salt, eggs, and water. It should look like this:

   

Beat the dough until smooth and bubbly, until thick. I have a  Spaetzle Press (shown below)

 

BUT – I learned without that first by putting the dough on a cutting board and scraping it off bit by bit into the boiling water using a knife. If the dough is too sticky…wet the knife in the boiling water and try again. (Also Shown Below) This way actually will make a larger noodle also known as Schupfnudel. The smaller noodle is called spaetzle – however, the taste is the same either way you do it! 

 

Once the Spaetzle float to the top, drain.  Put a layer of Spaetzle in a casserole dish, add a layer of sauerkraut and cheese topped with salt and pepper. Repeat layer – Spaetzle, sauerkraut, cheese, Salt and Pepper.

 

If you’re feeling really creative – if you’re making the Schupfnudel (larger noodles by hand) you can take them out and brown them in a pan with butter. Not so good for the heart-attack prone but I hear it’s good. I don’t do this only because of the amount of time it takes to do this by hand. The Spaetzle press has brought me down to a good 15 minutes where as before, I would be over the stove for 40 minutes or so by hand.  If you choose to brown them, place them by the layer as mentioned above. 

 

 In a pan, heat olive oil and add sliced onion until brown. (Warning…eyes will sting!)  Now back to the noodles…you’ll make 2-3 layers depending on how large the casserole dish is. Once onions are done cooking, spread on the top of the casserole dish and place it in the oven to cook for 20 minutes or until warm and cheese is melted. The idea behind putting it in the oven is to get the Sauerkraut warm. I usually put the oven to 250 or so just enough to keep it from drying out. 

 

This was the very first time I ever made it….and with practice…..

 

This is how it looks now. Better every time! 🙂 

 It’s fantastic! For an extra kick, if you’re the serious Sauerkraut lover use the juice from the can to moisten before placing in the oven.  Just made this tonight and even though it took quite a bit of time and effort…it was made with a lot of love and the true German can appreciate that, back massage for me tonight!! Guten Appetit!!

 

Until next time, Readers!! xoxoxo