For many years, my husband and I looked forward to the local Oktoberfest that was held first in Ponchatoula and then Gonzales, small towns near Baton Rouge.
There is something so convivial in sitting at long tables with people you’ve never met, swaying in unison to “oom-pah” music as you drink beer out of steins the size of small children.
When we went to Germany in 2005 to visit my husband’s relatives (see Summer Jazz Brunch, August 2009), I bought a German folk costume which consists of a full-skirted jumper, a puffed-sleeved under-blouse, and an apron. (Think Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music.) Since there are not a lot of occasions to wear such a garment in southern Louisiana, I loved dressing in my trachtendirndl (folk costume) for the Oktoberfest. Surprisingly, many of the attendees also wore their dirndls or lederhosen (leather shorts with suspenders).
Sharing a deep-rooted love for German food, my husband and I also relished the sausages, schnitzel, sauerkraut and red cabbage at the Oktoberfests and always saved room for apple strudel or marzipan-filled treats for dessert.
Unfortunately, the Oktoberfest stopped being held a couple of years ago, leaving sausage-shaped holes in our hearts. So this year, we decided to hold our own, very small, Oktoberfest at our camp on the Tickfaw River. Although we neglected to break out into the “chicken dance,” viel Spass (a good time) was by all.
______________________________
German appetizers tend to be heavy and often include pickled herring (not my favorite) or sausage (which I was serving for the entrée.) Instead, I offered some large pretzel sticks with an apple-mustard dipping sauce and a wonderful cranberry-cheddar cheese with the following two items. Of course, German beers were served with the meal.
Asparagus with Black Forest Ham Bundles
German people love asparagus (Spargle), especially white asparagus. In fact, in June many restaurants feature a “sparglefest” and offer white asparagus in all sorts of dishes.
Source: original recipe
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 lb. each green and white asparagus (substitute green if white is not available)
8 oz. Black Forest ham, sliced thin (any good quality deli ham can be used)
prepared horseradish sandwich sauce
Blanch the asparagus in boiling water for a minute or two and then refresh in an ice water bath. Drain the asparagus and pat dry. Slice the ham slices in quarters. Wrap a strip of ham around the center of two asparagus spears to form a bundle. Arrange on a serving plate and serve with the horseradish sauce.
Korzott
This is really a Hungarian recipe, but the caraway seeds give it a distinctive German taste. Don’t omit the anchovy paste—it won’t taste fishy.
Source: Standing Ovation (Junior Board of Tri-City Symphony Orchestra Association, Davenport, Iowa)
Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients:
12 oz. cream cheese
½ c. butter
½ c. sour cream
½ c. small curd cottage cheese
1½ T. anchovy paste
1 T. paprika
½ T. caraway seeds
¼ c. chopped green onions (white and green parts)
1½ T. capers
1 pkg. pumpernickel bread
Have cream cheese at room temperature; melt butter; put both into small mixer bowl with all ingredients except chopped onions and capers and blend well. Put chopped onion and capers in and hand mix. Chill for an hour or more. Serve in a mound in the center of a plate, surrounded by “fingers” of the thin pumpernickel bread.
German Sausages
For the entrée, I served four different kinds of grilled German sausages: weisswurst (a mild-flavored veal sausage), knockwurst (on the order of a wiener or ring bologna) and two different kinds of bratwurst. Three kinds of mustard and warm pumpernickel bread were accompaniments as were the following side dishes.
Nana’s German Potato Salad
This is not the version I made for our fest, but I remember it fondly from my childhood, have made it in the past, and plan to try it again soon.
Source: Olga Rohloff, my paternal grandmother, via Mary Rohloff Douglas, my mother
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
½ lb. potatoes, approx. 6-8 medium (red potatoes work best)
1 large onion, chopped
¼ to ½ lbs. diced bacon
4 T. flour
1/3 c. sugar
¼ c. vinegar
Scant tablespoon salt (might be a bit much for modern tastes)
1 c. water
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (optional)
Process:
Cook the potatoes in their skins in boiling water until tender. Drain, cool, peel and cut in cubes. Place potatoes and onion in large bowl. Fry bacon in a large frying pan. When bacon is browned, stir in the flour. In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Whisk this mixture into the fat and flour in the frying pan. Slowly add about 2½ c. water. The mixture should be the consistency of pudding. Pour mixture over potatoes and onions in the bowl. Serve warm. (My mother added the hard-boiled eggs at this point.)
 |
| An assortment of German beers |
Hot German Potato Salad
This is what I did make with the main difference being the addition of chopped green pepper, celery and pimentos which did add a bright flavor and crunch.
Source: Southern Living Cookbook
Yield: 6 servings
4 med. potatoes
8 slices bacon
¼ c. sugar
2 T. flour
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. vinegar
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
¼ c, chopped celery
1 T. chopped pimiento
Cook potatoes in boiling water to cover 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool slightly. Peel potatoes; cut into ½ -inch cubes. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon, reserving ¼ c. drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon, and set aside. Add sugar, flour, water and vinegar to pan drippings, stirring well. Cook mixture over medium heat until slightly thickened. Combine potatoes, bacon, green pepper, onion, celery, and pimiento in a large bowl; top with vinegar mixture, and toss gently.
Jan’s Daughter’s Mother-in-law’s Red Cabbage
Source: Jan Shoemaker, my dear friend
Yield: 8-10 servings
2-2 ½ pound red cabbages
2/3 c. red wine vinegar
2 T. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 T. lard or bacon fat
2 medium cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ⅛-inch thick wedges
½ c. finely chopped onions
1 whole onion, peeled and pierced with 2 whole cloves
1 small bay leaf
1 c. boiling water
3 t. dry red wine
3 t. red currant jelly (optional)
Wash the head of cabbage under cold running water, remove the rough outer leaves, and cut the cabbage into quarters. To shred the cabbage, cut out the core and slice the quarters crosswise into ⅛-inch-wide strips.
Drop the cabbage into a large mixing bowl, sprinkle it with the vinegar, sugar and salt, then toss the shreds about with a spoon to coat them evenly with the mixture. In a heavy 4- to 5-quart casserole, melt the lard or bacon fat over moderate heat. Add the apples and chopped onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until the apples are lightly browned. Add the cabbage, the whole onion with cloves, and the bay leaf; stir thoroughly and pour in the boiling water. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, and reduce the heat to its lowest possible point. Cover and simmer for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the cabbage is tender. Check from time to time to make sure that the cabbage is moist. If it seems dry, add a tablespoon of boiling water. When the cabbage is done, there should be almost no liquid left in the casserole. Just before serving remove the onion and bay leaf, and stir in the wine and the currant jelly. Taste for seasoning, then transfer the entire contents of the casserole to a heated platter or bowl and serve.
 |
| The train station in my mother-in-law's hometown in former East Germany. |
Ruth’s Red Cabbage (or Blau Kraut)
I have eaten this version for many years at my mother-in-law’s table and have made it several times. The recipe makes a lot, but leftovers are never around for long in our house. Don't panic when the cabbage turns deep blue after the first cooking. When you add the remaining ingredients, it returns to a more appetizing deep red.
Source: Ruth Hofbauer Demastes
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
1 red cabbage, hand shredded
½ onion, sliced or chopped
2 chopped apples, cored but not peeled
3 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 T. of bacon drippings
Process:
Put the cabbage into a large pot of salted boiling water. Let the water come to a boil again, about 1 minute. Drain off most of the water. Then add one cup of cold water and the remaining ingredients. Cook all this at low temperature with the lid slightly open until tender, about an hour. Check once in a while and add a little water if necessary. (But you don’t want a lot of liquid.) At the end of the cooking, you can blend 2 T. cornstarch with a little cold water and stir into cabbage just to thicken the liquid.
Sauerkraut with Apples
I made this the day before to let the flavors meld, and they did wonderfully.
Source: adapted from a recipe in Gourmet, November 2009
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3-4 pieces bacon, chopped (original recipe called for 2 T. butter)
4 pounds sauerkraut, rinsed and drained (preferably refrigerated)
2 apples, thinly sliced (Gala, Fuji or Red Delicious)
1 c. dry white wine
1-2 T. packed dark brown sugar
Process:
Cook bacon in a 4-to 5-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned. Remove and reserve bacon. Cook onions in bacon fat until golden, about 6 minutes. Stir in sauerkraut, apples, and wine and bring to a simmer. Cover pot and reduce heat, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauerkraut is very tender, about 2 hours. Stir in 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Add more brown sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir in reserved bacon before serving.
Apple Kuchen
After the meal, we took a break with a long boat ride and then came back for this dessert. I topped the slices with whipped cream. The crust here is incredibly quick and easy to make and would lend itself to lots of variations.
Source: Kay Ewing’s Cooking School Cookbook
Yield: 8 servings
Crust:
1¼ c. flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ c. cold butter, cut up
2 T. sour cream
Preheat oven to 375°. With metal blade in place in a food processor, process flour, salt and butter in food processor until crumbly. Add sour cream and process only until dough starts to form a ball. Transfer dough to a greased 9-iinch tart or pie pan. Press out dough with fingers to cover the bottom and sides of the pan evenly. Place a piece of foil under the pan to catch any drippings. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool slightly.
Filling:
4 medium red delicious apples, peeled and cored (I only could fit 2 on the crust)
Juice of a half of a lemon
3 egg yolks
1/3 c. sour cream
1 c. sugar
¼ c. flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 egg white
(The instructions called for slicing the apples in the food processor, but I cut them by hand.) Slice apples lengthwise and place in a bowl; sprinkle with lemon juice. Wipe out processor bowl with a paper towel and with metal blade in place, add egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, flour and salt. Process until combined, about 15 seconds.
After crust cools slightly, brush with lightly beaten egg white to seal the crust. Arrange apple slices in concentric circles in crust and cover with filling. Bake at 375° for about 45 minutes or until custard is set and top is lightly browned. Allow to cool and refrigerate to set custard and for easier slicing.
Boo Bark
A common expression in southern Louisiana is lagniappe, which means something extra. As a bit of lagniappe for our Oktoberfest, and with Halloween just around the corner, I gave our guests small bags of this candy. I love the combination of candy corn and salted peanuts—together they taste like salted nut rolls—and mixing them with white chocolate was ausegezeichnet (excellent)!
Source: original recipe
Yield: 3-4 cups candy pieces
Ingredients:
1-12 oz. bag white chocolate chips
½ cup (approximately) candy corn
½ cup (approximately) cocktail peanuts
Process:
Line a baking sheet with a sheet of wax paper. Heat the chocolate chips at 50% power in the microwave or in a double boiler until melted. Pour the melted chocolate on the wax paper and spread it into about a 10 X 8-inch rectangle. Sprinkle the chocolate with equal parts of the candy corn and peanuts, pressing them into the chocolate. Chill in the refrigerator until set. Break up the bark into small pieces using your hands or a knife.
No comments:
Post a Comment