Archive for the ‘: GERMAN’ Category
Creamy Cucumber Salad
This is a German style cucumber salad and it is delicious. Greek yogurt can be used in place of the sour cream but when doing this, leave out the lemon juice. I made this on 20 Aug 2017 and it is delicious! Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 7-10 small cucumbers, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 small red onion, quartered, sliced thin
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
- ¾ cup sour cream, see Step 1
- 1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, see Step 2
- pinch black pepper, or to taste
- ½ carrot, julienned, optional
Instructions
- For the sour cream, you can substitute Greek yogurt but omit the lemon juice.
- For the salt, you can make the dressing with the salt included but the salad will need to be consumed just after making or within just a few hours as the salt will cause the cucumbers to weep. An alternative is to salt the cucumber slices in a sieve and let them set for an hour, gently squeeze out remaining moisture, then proceed as directed, which will result in crispy cucumbers for 2-3 days with the dressing. This photo is of the cucumbers salted and draining.
- Using a small bowl, add the sour cream (or Greek yogurt), lemon juice only if using sour cream, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix and refrigerate until needed. Best results if you mix the dressing into the vegetables just before serving. If using the salted cucumber method, omit the salt in the dressing mixture.
- Place the cucumber and onion in a bowl, add the dressing and mix and serve then or within 2-3 hours, keeping the salad refrigerated until use.
- If using the salted cucumbers, mix in the dressing and refrigerate until use, store leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days. I used salted cucumbers so everything is mixed and goes into the fridge to chill. I also added the julienned carrot for a bit of color.
- Serve as a side as is or on a bed of lettuce for a nice presentation and a light meal.
Notes
Shortcut: Sour Cream.
Pork Knuckles & Sauerkraut (Kombes mit Eisbein und Kartoffelbrei)
This is a true German dish and if you have ever had pork knuckles, this is a good way to prepare them compared to just roasting, which is also very good.
Ingredients
- 2 pork knuckles, or 4 ham hocks
- 3 cups sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups beef stock
- 1 cup dark beer
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons juniper berries
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons Worcherstershire sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
- mashed potatoes, to serve
Instructions
- Place the pork knuckles in your slow cooker.
- Mix together remaining ingredients except the mashed potatoes and pour over the knuckles. Cover and cook on Low setting for 8 hours without removing the lid.
- Remove the knuckles from the slow cooker. Scoop out some sauerkraut and place on one side of each plate, place a pork knuckle on top of the kraut, then place a scoop of mashed potatoes on the other side of the plate. Serve.
Notes
These are available at Makro, frozen, each is 800 grams and cost is 200 Baht each. And I recently seen them 4 in a bag, frozen in Tesco, cannot remember the price. If serving one knuckle for 2 people (easily done), the cost would be about $2.95 per person. I will add the cost of sauerkraut when I find that. More expensive than other meals listed here but is a great treat for yourself.
German-Style Fried Potatoes
I cannot vouch for these being German style, sounds like fried potatoes with bacon, but it does sound good, and I do like the part of boiling the potatoes first. On my to cook list. This would be a good side with grilled brats, chicken, or about any dish.
Ingredients
- 750 grams small potatoes, skin on, boiled, then place in the fridge overnight, (1½ lb)
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 slices bacon, cut into cubes
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoons butter
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Slice the cold potatoes into thin ⅛ inch thick slices, then set aside.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of the oil to a large frying pan and heat gently. Fry the onions until soft then add the bacon pieces. Continue frying till the bacon and onions are lightly browned then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Set aside.
- Add the remaining oil and butter to the pan and fry the potato slices over a low/medium heat, turning them occasionally. Allow them to brown lightly on one side before turning, repeating the process till most of the potatoes are golden brown.
- Once the potatoes are almost done, return the onion and bacon mix to the pan, season with salt and plenty of black pepper, then continue frying over a medium heat till everything is nicely browned. Serve as a side dish.
Scrapple
This is a an old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe that in my opinion is very good, an acquired taste really. Recipe is based on making your pork sausage. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Loaf Pan (4x8 inch)
Ingredients
- 750 grams pork sausage, Shortcut
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 cup yellow corn meal
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and rinse in colander under cold water, breaking sausage into pea sized pieces. Return to skillet along with the condensed milk, and heat over medium until just bubbling. Immediately stir in the cornmeal and pepper and reduce heat to simmer. Continue cooking, 5 minutes total; mush will be stiff.
- Remove from heat and pack into 8x4 loaf pan, cover and chill overnight, pack tightly. To serve, cut into ¼ to ½ inch slices and sauté until golden in nonstick skillet.
- Removed from the fridge the next morning, the end piece fell apart when I floured it, the other pieces, cut about ⅜ inch thick, held together well for the most part.
- I did the optional step and floured the slices and fried them in bacon fat.
- Browning in the pan.
- Served.
Notes
Minced pork is about 130 Baht/kilo, 750 grams would be about 98 Baht. For 8 servings minus sides (like eggs and hash browns), this is about 37 cents per serving.
Optional, slice about ¼ inch thick, roll in flour then fry, also, slice thin for crispy fried slices or slice a bit thicker for a softer less crispy variant.
Shortcut: Pork Sausage.
Hot German Potato Salad
Excellent tasting side dish, liked by the whole family. Highly recommended.
Ingredients
- 750 grams potatoes, cut into cubes, (1½ lb)
- 3 slices bacon
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup vinegar
Instructions
- Boil potatoes until tender, drain.
- Cook bacon in skillet until crisp. Remove and chop. Add the onion to the bacon fat and cook until tender. Stir in flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly. Slowly add water and vinegar and heat to boiling stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and combine with drained potatoes and bacon until potatoes are completely coated. Serve as a side dish, enjoy.
Beer Braised Pork Knuckles
To start off, this is not a $1 meal by any means. Simple recipe however. The crackling (skin) was perfect, the internal temperature was spot on for pork, bone pulled right out (great treat for our dog), and the meat was fork tender with a delicious flavor.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 2 pork knuckles, these were 800 grams each
- salt and pepper, to taste
- garlic powder, to taste
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 cans beer, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220° C (425° F). Get out a 7x11 inch baking dish.
- Score the skin of the knuckles.
- Slice an onion and place that on the bottom of the baking dish, place knuckles on top, extra onion, just put that around the knuckles.
- Pour a can of beer over the knuckles then generously add garlic powder and ground black pepper to the knuckles, add salt to your liking.
- Put in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, remove and pour another can of beer over the knuckles. Reduce heat on the oven to 180° C (350° F) and put the baking dish back in the oven for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, increase heat back to 220° C (425° F), remove the pan and baste the knuckles with the liquid in the pan, put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- You can either carve these or leave whole, in Germany, I guess it is tradition that one knuckle is one serving to a person and plated like that.
- Sides would be mashed potatoes, potato salad, buttered egg noodles, or sauerkraut, and as green vegetable.
Notes
I found these in Makro, frozen. Each is 800 grams and cost is 200 baht each. If serving one knuckle for 2 people (easily done), the cost would be about $2.95 per person. A bit more expensive than other meals listed here but is a great treat for yourself.
