Obatzda - Bavarian cheese-spread

Obatzda is Bavarian cheese-spread that can be found on the menu in every beer-garden. Every beer-garden has its own spice mixture that is added to the cheese. Some of the spices often used are sweet paprika, caraway, onions and beer. There are probably as many variations as there are beer-gardens.

Obatzda
original recipe in German
250 gr Camembert (at room temperature)
1 tbsp soft butter
1 small finely chopped onion
salt & pepper
some sweet paprika
some ground caraway seeds
4 tbsp wheat beer (Weißbier)

rye bread

Mix well Camembert and butter. Add all the spices and as much beer as you need to get a creamy spread. Let it sit for at least an hour so that all flavours develop. Obatzda should be eaten on the same day it is made. If you plan to serve it the next day cook the onion in some oil until soft, cool and add to the mixture.  Obatzda is best eaten on a slice of rye bread.

Black Forest cake

Black Forest cake, or as it is called in German Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, is one of my favorite cakes. Chocolate, cherries, cream and kirsch are meant to be together! And the kirsch is a must, without it you cannot really call it a Black Forest cake...and the more the better.

I found a recipe at the website of a company selling traditional clothes from Schwarzwald. They also have a detailed pictures of how the cake is put together. It is a great recipe!

Black Forest cake
recipe from Trachten Winkler
chocolate-almond cake
200 g butter
200 g sugar
some vanilla
8 eggs
200 g cake flour
200 g ground almonds
150 g grated dark chocolate
zest of one lemon
2 tsp baking powder
short-crust
100 g powder sugar
200 g butter
1 egg
zest of one lemon and some juice
300 g flour
filling
50 g cherry marmalade
9 tablespoons kirsch (more or less)
8 dl whipping cream
150 g powder sugar
cherry filling
about 500 g fresh cherries or from a jar
about 150 g sugar
about 50 g corn starch
decoration
6 dl whipping cream
100 g powder sugar
150 g dark chocolate, grated
16 fresh cherries

If you can, make the chocolate-almond cake a day before because the next day  it is easier to slices it in three layers.

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a 26 cm round cake pan with parchment paper on the bottom. In a small bowl put the flour, ground almonds, grated chocolate, lemon zest and baking powder.

In another bowl beat the room-temperature butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy and fluffy. Add room-temperature eggs one buy one until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture and with a spatula slowly mix until well blended. If you fell the mixture is too thick add some milk. Pour in the cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Check with a cake tester. Let the cake cool completely. If you are baking the day before, after it has cooled down wrap it in the plastic foil and refrigerate.

Now make the short crust. Beat the sugar and butter, add the egg. When fluffy add flour, lemon juice and zest. Roll out, about 2 cm thick and cut a 26 cm circle. Bake at 180 C degrees about 15 minutes.

If you use fresh pitted cherries for the cherry filling put them in a sauce pan together with the sugar. Cook on a low heat until they have softened and released the juice. In a small cup mix the corn starch and some water, add to the cherries and cook shortly until thick. Let cool.

If you use jar cherries, drain them from the juice. Put the juice in a sauce pan, add sugar and let it boil. Mix the corn starch with some cold water and when the cherry juice in boiling add it. Cook shortly until thick. Take of the heat and add cherries. Let cool.

Assembling the cake
Cut the chocolate almond cake in three layers.  Whip the cream and powder sugar for the filling. Spread the cherry marmalade over the short crust.

Top with one almond-chocolate layer and soak it with 3 tablespoons of kirsch. Spread two rings of cherry filling over the layer. Spread three rings of whipped cream around.

Cover with the second layer of almond-chocolate cake. Soak with 3 tablespoons of kirsch. Spread whipped cream. 

 











Top with the last layer  of almond-chocolate cake, soak with 3 tablespoons of kirsch. Refrigerate the cake for couple of hours or overnight.

Whip the cream and powder sugar for the decoration.Cover the whole cake with whipped cream. Mark the 16 slices with a knife and with a help of pastry bag pipe 16 whipped cream roses. Grate the chocolate and spread on the top and the sides. Top each cream rose with a cherry. Enjoy!

Lentils with spätzle

Lentils with spätzle is an old traditional Swabian dish (south west Germany) and it has become my favorite lentil recipe. Well, not exactly the traditional dish but rather an updated version of it.

I found the recipe at the website of the organic food company Rapunzel and it is somewhat modernized version of the traditional dish. These lentils have a touch of apple juice, apple balsamic, cloves, cinnamon and there are no sausages on the side like in the traditional version. And it is not only delicious but it is also very easy to make.

Just make sure to use cloudy apple juice without any additives or sugar, i.e. pure unfiltered apple juice. I use this one.

Lentils with spätzle
adapted from Rapunzel
serves 2
400 gr cooked brown lentils
30 gr butter
20 gr flour
3 dl cold water
3 tbsp cloudy apple juice
2 tbsp finely diced celery
2 tbsp finely diced carrot
2 tbsp finely diced potato
1 tbsp apple balsamic ( I use regular apple vinegar)
1 bay leaf
a tiny tiny pinch ground cloves
a tiny tiny pinch ground cassia cinnamon


250g flour ( I use spelt)
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
about 1,5 dl water

In a saucepan melt the butter and add the flour. Cook on a medium heat until the flour gets light brown, takes a bit more than 5 minutes. Add about 3 dl cold water and whisk until nicely blended with the roux. Add the apple juice, all diced vegetables and spices. Cook until the vegetables are done.

If you are making spätzle start with the dough. Mix flour, salt and eggs. Add slowly water until you have dough that is not too much runny nor too much thick. When you put the dough in the spatzle maker it should form drops but not drop straight through. Cook the spatzle in plenty of water and drain.

When vegetables are done add apple balsamic (or vinegar) and cooked lentils. Let it boil and serve with spätzle.

Kaiserschmarrn

Kaiserschmarrn is a traditional Austrian dessert...and a perfect Sunday breakfast if you ask me. It is made of a fluffy pancake that is split with fork into small pieces and it is served with apple or plum sauce.

Every Bavarian restaurant has Kaiserschmarrn on their menu and they can be very different in taste and texture. Some are light, some are dense, some are egg-y, some are not, some are caramelized, some have strong rum taste, many have raisins or sliced almonds, other not...plenty of variety out there.

I started with a recipe from Austrian/German chef Sarah Wiener and couple of Kaiserschmarrns later I found ingredient combination that makes my perfect Sunday breakfast.

Kaiserschmarrn
adapted from Sarah Wiener
serves 2
2 tbsp raisins

1 tbsp rum

3 small eggs
2 tbsp sugar

half a vanilla bean
6 tbsp milk

1 dl + 3 tbsp flour ( I use white spelt flour)

2 tbsp sliced almond

20 gr clarified butter ( I sometimes use coconut oil)

plum or apple sauce (room temperature, not cold from the fridge)

1 tbsp powder sugar + 1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a small bowl put the raisins add rum and let sit for about 30 minutes. Or if you do not have time, heat the rum until warm add the raisin, take off the heat and by the time you make the dough raisins will be nice and soft.

Separate the eggs, beat egg yolks with sugar and the vanilla seeds until the eggs are thick and light yellow in colour. Add the flour, whisk, add slowly the milk, whisking all the time to avoid the lumps.

Heat a cast iron pan (22 cm) on low heat and let the butter melt. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. Add first a third to the egg yolk mixture, carefully fold in. Add the rest of the egg whites. Pour the mixture into the heated pan. Let it cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Then sprinkle the raisins and almonds (or fresh fruits) over the pancake.

Now you need to turn around the pancake. The easiest way to do this is to put it in the oven until the top is set and gets colour, 10-15 minutes on 180C.

Or if you are brave enough (and do not mind the mess), take a biggest spatula you have, run it under the pancake and turn around. This method can be very messy but it does work. And to do not worry if the pancake breaks, it will be split in small pieces anyway. After you have turned around the pancake let it cook for another 5 minutes, or until it is nice and golden.

When done split it into small pieces with a a help of two forks. Serve on two plates, dust with the powder sugar and cinnamon, and eat with the apple sauce. Mahlzeit!

Pumpkin seed spätzle

Recently I wrote about the pumpkin seed oil and since then I have been looking for more recipes where I could use this amazing oil. And I found the pumpkin seed recipe: spätzle. Both the seeds and oil are used, and I also sprinkled the roasted pumpkin seeds over the dish. Fabulous.

I also bought new spätzle maker. It is so much better than my old one as the dough does not have anywhere to escape and make a mess.

Pumpkin seed spätzle
recipe slightly adapted from Epicurious
serves 4 as side dish 
1/2 C pumpkin seeds (mine were a bit roasted)
2 C flour (I used white spelt flour)
1 tsp salt
1 C water
3 eggs
1 tbsp pumpkin seed oil
50 gr butter
nutmeg, salt and pepper
2 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds

Blend the seeds and 1/2 C flour until the seeds are ground. Add the rest of the flour and salt. In a bowl whisk eggs, add water and pumpkin seed oil. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisk until smooth. Set aside.

In a large saucepan boil water, add salt and with a help of spätzle maker make spätzle. Cook for 2-3 minutes. If you have smaller saucepan make the spätzle in two rounds. Drain spätzle and set aside.

In a big pan melt the butter, add spätzle, freshly grounded nutmeg, salt and pepper. Serve with some drizzled pumpkin seed oil and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin seed oil

Pumpkin seed oil is a very Austrian thing. Recently we were in Vienna and one morning for breakfast we had scrambled eggs that were drizzled with the pumpkin seed oil. I was instantly hooked. Some drops of the pumpkin seed oil took the eggs to another level. Completely.

Pumpkin seed oil is made of roasted pumpkin seeds so the taste is very intense. I have now a small bottle in my fridge and am using it for eggs and in salad dressings. It is truly wonderful.

Just make sure you buy the oil that has been made from a very first pressing. And do not use it in cooking, all the good things get destroyed then.

Old-style Bavarian appelstrudel

I have become the biggest Strudel-fan ever. I love it. The dough is so fun to make, you can fill it with almost anything and it is always amazing. I found the recipe for this apple strudel at the website of the Bavarian TV. I was curious about it as brown butter and sour cream are used in the filling and the strudel is baked in vanilla-milk.

It is a wonderful recipe, this strudel is like an apple cake with soft and creamy filling. It tastes even better the next day!

Old-style Bavarian appelstrudel
serves 6
recipe from Bavarian TV
3 Boskoop apples (about 600 gr)
50 gr butter
50 gr raisins
150 gr sour cream
1/2 dl sugar
1 tsp cassia cinnamon
1 dl + 2 tbsp milk
half a vanilla bean

2 dl strong flour (I used white spelt flour)
2 tbsp oil
pinch of salt
about 5 tbsp warm water

baking dish 17x26 cm (1,2l)

First make the strudel dough and let it rest for about one hour. In the meantime prepare the apple filling.

On medium heat melt the butter and let it get brown, it takes about 15 minutes. Set aside so that the brown milk solids settle on the bottom of the pan.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds and add to the milk. Peel the apples, cut in quarters, core and slice in thin slices.

Stretch the strudel dough to a 65x45 cm, cut the thick edges so that you have a nice thin strudel sheet 60x40cm. Let it dry for about 10 minutes. In the mean time pour brown butter in a small bowl, try to leave as much as you can of the brown milk solids in the sauce pan. Brush the strudel dough with brown butter. Save a bit of butter for the baking dish and for brushing the strudel when rolled.

Heat oven to 200C. Cut the strudel sheet in half so that you have two 20x30 sheets. Spread the apples on the short side, over a bit less then half of the dough, leaving an edge all around. Sprinkle raisins over the apples and spread the sugar mixture all over the apples and over the empty part of the strudel sheet. Spread the sour cream over the apples. Fold in the edges and roll the strudel. As you roll keep on folding the edges over so that the filling does not escape.

Butter a bit the baking dish, put the two strudels inside and brush strudels with brown butter. Pour inside the vanilla milk and bake for about 50 minutes. Let it cool completely before serving. The best is to make it in the morning and serve in the afternoon.

Poppy seed strudel with cherries

I have been wanting to make poppy strudel since forever and when I saw this recipe in the food-magazine Essen und Trinken I knew the moment had come. I love poppy seed, taste is so special, so different, and oh so delicious. And poppy seed with sour-cherries just cannot be wrong.

To use poppy seed in baking is very Central and Eastern European thing. There are many different cakes, cookies and breads that are made with poppy seed, and luckily strudel is one of them as well.

This time I made strudel dough with spelt flour, and I was really surprised how well it worked. It was the best strudel dough I have ever made. In Germany there are three different types of spelt flour and I used the white one which in German holds the number 630. The number says that each 100 grams of this type of spelt flour contains 0,63 grams of minerals (i.e. good stuff).

Poppy seed strudel with cherries

adapted from Essen & Trinken

serves 10
200 gr ground poppy seeds
2 dl milk
7 tbsp sugar
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 dl raisins
3 tbsp dark rum
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
1/4 tsp cassia cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
2 eggs
about 3 tbsp bread crumbs

1 can of sour cherries
2 tbsp sugar
1 dl orange juice
1 tbsp cornstarch (more or less)

2,5 dl white spelt flour (or strong bread flour)
2,5 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
about 7 tbsp warm water

80 gr melted butter for brushing the strudel dough

First make the strudel dough and let it rest for an hour. While the dough is resting start preparing the filling.

In a sauce pan heat the rum and raisins, pour over in a small bowl and set aside. Put the milk, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and cook until it boils, add ground poppy seed and mix well. Add raisins with rum, blend well, take off the heat, cover with a lid and set aside. The mixture should be quite thick (but wet, not dry) as later eggs will be added.

In a small sauce pan melt 2 tablespoons of sugar until light golden, add the orange juice and cherries with their juice, and let everything boil. Dissolve cornstarch in a bit of cold water and add slowly to the cherries (mixing all the time) until you have a thick sauce. Depending on how much cherry juice there is you will maybe have to add more cornstarch. Drain the cherries from the sauce and set both aside.

Stretch the strudel dough, and cut the edges so that you have 70x50 cm sheet. Let it dry for about 10 - 15 minutes and then brush with melted butter (a bit more than half of the melted butter). Preheat the oven, 200 C.

Lightly beat the eggs and add to the poppy seed, mix well. Spoon the poppy seed paste over a third of the stretched dough (40x25 cm), leaving a 5 cm edge on the three sides.

Now carefully with a help of a spoon spread the poppy seed paste evenly and put the cherries on the top.

Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the whole strudel dough, filling and the part without the filling. Fold in the sides (only the sides around the filling) and start rolling the strudel.
As you roll keep on folding in dough sides over the strudel and push the ends inwards when the strudel wants to get out of the path.

Brush the strudel with melted butter and with the help of the cloth roll over the strudel on a baking sheet. Now brush the other side with the melted butter, use all of the butter that is left, strudel loves the butter. If you have some butter left over brush the strudel couple of times during the baking. Strudel really loves the butter.

Bake for about 40 minutes.When done let it cool, then cut and serve with the cherry sauce.

Rolled potato dumplings with sauerkraut

Lately I have been into sauerkraut. More than usual I would say, as living in Germany makes it very easy to get to know new ways of preparing and eating sauerkraut.
So this is another dish with cooked sauerkraut, pan fried potato dumplings (Schupfnudeln mit Sauerkraut). It is a typical dish from south of Germany, Schwabia.

Potato dumplings are basically gnocchi that are rolled and pan-fried until golden. Result? Nice crunchy-crust dumplings with soft inside. And together with sauerkraut they make a most wonderful hearty winter dish. I heart it.

I found the recipes for dumplings and sauerkraut at the website of a German food magazine called Essen und Trinken. The second recipe is a fancy way of preparing these noodles but I choose to make them simple and traditional, just like they are served on the country side.

Rolled potato dumplings with sauerkraut
serves 2
adapted from Essen und Trinken
400 gr floury potatoes
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp corn starch
0,5 dl flour (or as needed)
freshly ground white pepper and nutmeg
some salt

200 gr sauerkraut
50 gr smoked ham
1 small onion
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 bay leaf

1 dl vegetable stock

Put potatoes with skin on in a sauce pan with water and salt and cook until done. In the meantime chop finely the onions, and cube the smoked ham. Heat a sauce pan with some oil, add onions and ham and cook until they get some colour. Add sauerkraut, caraway seeds, bay leaf and vegetable stock. Cover and cook on low temperature for about 40 minutes. The sauerkraut will become brownish.

When potatoes are done let cool 5 minutes and peel. This can also be done one day in advance. Mash potatoes, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The potato dough should not be sticky when you touch it with clean hands. If it is sticky add some more flour.

Take a piece of potato dough and on a table roll into finger thick rolls. Cut dumplings, 5 cm, and form spikes at the ends. Boil water with salt in a sauce pan and cook dumplings for about 2-3 minutes. Drain well.

In a pan heat some oil, add drained dumplings and fry until golden. When done add sauerkraut and serve directly. The dumplings get soft quite quickly when mixed with sauerkraut so add them in the last minute. Guten Appetit!

Sauerkraut soup

I have grown up eating sauerkraut every winter and I love it. Served as a salad to a hearty winter stew is a true comfort food to me. However I have never eaten cooked sauerkraut, but here in the south of Germany it is quite common. So when I found recipe for sauerkraut soup in a magazine called Eve I had to try it.

The recipe comes originally from a book called "33 magical soups" written by Marion Grillparzer. The soup turned out really excellent, it is definitely a new winter favourite. It is spicy, sour, sweet and pan fried apples give it a wonderful touch. But the dish is really filling so I think I would rather call it a stew...delicious stew that is!

Sauerkraut soup
serves 2
original recipe can be found here
1 onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flour
1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp hot paprika
200 gr sauerkraut
1,5 dl dry white wine
6 dl vegetable or meat stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
4 potatoes (about 250 gr)

1 apple
salt and black pepper
1 tsp honey
fresh marjoram (I used dried)

Cut onion in half and slice thinly. Cook in 1 tbsp oil until soft and transparent. Add the flour, both paprika and cook shortly until fragrant. Add sauerkraut and cook couple of minutes. Add wine, stock, bay leaf and caraway seeds. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes. After 30 minutes add peeled and cubed potatoes.

Cut the apple in thick slices, salt and pepper and pan fry in the rest of oil until they soften and get some color.

When the soup is done, season with honey, salt and pepper, serve in bowls and decorate with apples and marjoram.

Semolina soup dumplings

These soup dumplings were one of my favourite food when I was a kid, but I cannot remember when I ate them last. Luckily they are very popular in this part of Europe so I have kind of rediscovered them.

Something that was complete new to me was that here in Germany these dumplings can even be prepared as a dessert. I just bought some buckwheat semolina and will definitely give it a try.

Semolina soup dumplings

serves 4
2,5 tbsp soft butter
1 egg
1 dl semolina (I used kamut semolina)
pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt
1,5-2 litres chicken soup
finely sliced chives

Beat the butter until creamy, add egg and beat well. Add semolina, salt and nutmeg. Blend well and let rest 20 minutes.

Boil the chicken soup and take off the heat. To shape dumplings take 2 teaspoons, put some dough in the spoon that is in your right hand (if you are right handed). Slide it off on to the empty spoon and you will get one semi-fine side (picture 2 and 3, first row).

Now with your right hand spoon slide of the dough again (picture 1, second row). Turn your hand and slide off the dumpling on to the left spoon (picture 2, second row) and your dumpling is ready (picture 3, second row). The dough is enough for 16 dumplings.

Slide the dumplings into the hot chicken soup. When all dumplings are done put the saucepan back on the cooker and cook on the low heat for about 20 minutes. The dumplings double in size so make sure the saucepan is big enough. Pour the dumplings into individual bowls, sprinkle some chives and serve.

Bramley apples

I have been curious about Bramley apples for a very long time, and finally I got a chance to cook with them. Bramley apples are British and almost all UK recipes, where apples are included, call for Bramley apples.

They even have their own web-page where they are described as "superior to other dessert apples when cooked". The web-page has some great recipes as well. So what can put these apples to the test if not good old apple strudel!

The strudel turned out excellent and Bramley apples were amazing. They are melting away and the taste is wonderful. Bramley apples have passed the test. But all of you who are not able buy them, do not worry, Boskoop apples, which are easier to find outside the UK are as good as Bramley.

Apple strudel serves 64-5 apples (500 gr when peeled and cored)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1,5 dl breadcrumbs
65 gr butter
1/2 dl sugar
1 dl raisins
3 tbsp rum
1 dl chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon

homemade strudel dough or phyllo

If you are doing your own strudel dough start with it and let it rest while you are preparing the filling. Peel the apples, cut them in quarters, core and slice in thin slices. Add lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon to the apples and set aside. Heat the rum in a saucepan and add raisins. Take off the heat and set aside.

Roll and stretch out the strudel dough until thin. I find it easier to handle the dough if I let it dry a bit while I am preparing the breadcrumbs.

Melt the butter in a pan. Take away 4 tbsp of melted butter that you will use for brushing the strudel later on. Add the breadcrumbs to the pan and fry until golden. Should look something like this:

Add raisins and walnuts to the apples. Brush the strudel dough with butter. Sprinkle breadcrumbs all over the dough, leaving 5 cm edge all around. Spread the apples only over half of the dough. Fold in the edges on the sides, fold in the dough on the short side.

With the help of the cloth start rolling the strudel until you have used all the dough.

With the help of the cloth put the strudel on a baking sheet, brush with butter and bake in preheated oven 200 C for about 35 minutes.

Strudel is traditionally sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with vanilla sauce. I serve the strudel just like it is, simple and delicious.

Strudel dough

Strudel comes from Austria and the most popular version of strudel is with apples, Apfelstrudel. But strudel can be filled with both sweet and savoury, fruits and vegetables, meat and tofu...I have even heard about the strudel filled with sauerkraut, have not seen it yet but as soon as I do, I will document.

The dough and the shape is what makes it a strudel. The dough is slightly thicker then the phyllo dough, and I have seen countless recipes, some have eggs, some don't, some have vinegar, some don't...

I found this particular recipe in a German magazine called Landlust (March/April 09), they had a whole article about the strudel and how you make the perfect dough. I have made it couple of times so far and it has worked perfectly.

One of the most important things is to use a flour that forms strong gluten (bread flour) as all that elasticity and plasticity, that gluten provides, is needed to be able to stretch out the dough very thinly. You also need to use warm water and let the dough rest in the room temperature, the warmer the better.

Strudel doughmakes one strudel

100 gr bread flour (1,5 dl)

pinch of salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive)

4 tbsp warm water

Blend flour and salt, add oil and water and kneed the dough for about 5 minutes. The more intensively you kneed the better the gluten will develop and the better the dough will stretch out. Form a ball, the dough should be smooth and soft, something like this:

Sprinkle some flour on a big cloth, put the dough on it and brush it thinly with some oil, cover with a plastic foil and let rest for about 1 hour. After one hour the dough is just a little bit flatter, much more softer and looks like this:

Sprinkle some flour on the top of the dough and press with your finger tips until you have flatten it:


Roll out the dough as thinly as you can, just be careful not to make any foldings. I got a rectangle 35x45 cm:


Now carefully lift one side of the dough, and starting in the middle stretch the dough with your hands:


Stretch the dough from all sides until you have a very thin sheet, or something close to 60x70 cm. Cut the edges all around, about 5 cm, and you will have a dough that is ready to become a strudel.

Fresh cabbage salad

I really love cabbage in all its glorious forms: fresh, cooked, sour, any kind. This salad is made with fresh cabbage and it is typically prepared this way here in Bavaria.

The caraway and smoked ham give a wonderful taste and balance well with the freshness of the cabbage. My favourite smoked ham is Schwarzwald ham and I used it here as well, but any kind of smoked ham or bacon work fine as well.

Fresh cabbage saladserves 2
200 gr white cabbage
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 finely diced shallot
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp diced smoked ham
salt and pepper

Slice the cabbage as thinly as you can. Salt it and rub until it stars releasing the juice. Set aside.

Cook the smoked ham in a pan until slightly crunchy, add the caraway seeds and take off the cooker. Pour away some of the cabbage juice and add ham, shallot and vinegar, blend everything. Season with pepper, some more salt if necessary, and serve. Can be kept in the fridge over night, tastes even better the next day.

Knödel

This is what Bavarian people do when they have some old bread at home, they make knödel.

Knödel is a Bavarian type of dumpling usually eaten with beef-roast and sauerkraut. But if you ask me it can definitely be a great replacement for potato and rice in many other dishes.

Usually bread rolls (Semmel) are used when making knödel but I think any kind of yeast bread should work. I used bread rolls and pretzel-style rolls and it worked excellent. Bread rolls should be about 2 days old, but not stone-hard dry.

Knödel

8 small knödels
4 bread rolls (300gr)
2 dl milk
2 eggs
1 medium onion
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Cut the bread rolls in thin slices. Heat the milk and pour over the bread, let sit for 20 minutes. In the mean time dice finely the onion and fry in some oil on the low temperature until glossy, it should not get brown. Add onions, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper to the soaked bread and blend everything well, but not too much, it should not be like a smooth paste, it is ok if some pieces of bread are still a bit dry.

Form round balls, the size you like. I formed eight small knödels (see above), but usually they are bigger, something like tennis balls. Boil water and some salt in a big casserole (just like you would do for pasta). As soon as the water boils take the casserole off the cooker, put the knödels inside and put the lid on.

Let the knödels steep in the hot water for 15 minutes. If you have made bigger size knödels then you should let them steep longer. It is important that the knödels are just steeping in the water and not boiling. Serve immediately, or keep in the hot water until ready to serve, but not longer than 30 minutes.