Authentic German Cabbage Soup with Croutons
This is a delicious German cabbage soup especially good during the cold months but can be made at any time. Cabbage is a popular fall/winter vegetable in Germany and can be used for many German recipes such as the German cabbage soup with croutons. Why is it known to be a winter vegetable? Back then during the cold winter months cabbage was used because of its high Vitamin C content, it can be preserved easily such as making Sauerkraut – How to make Sauerkraut – Happy Cooking!
Ingredients German Cabbage Soup
1kg white cabbage
60 g butter
80 g bacon cubes (German Speck cubes, or Pancetta)
1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp caraway seeds
200 ml dry white wine
1 liter vegetable broth (instant or home made)
– How to make Vegetable Broth –
200 ml heavy cream
2-3 potatoes, medium size
salt, pepper to taste
4 slices farmers bread or baguette bread
5 tbsp chopped chives
Cooking Instructions German Cabbage Soup
– Cut cabbage in quarters, remove hard parts and cut it in 1 inch wide stripes.
– Heat butter, add speck, sugar and caraway seeds with cabbage and saute it until transparent.
– Fill up with wine, broth and heavy cream, spice with salt and pepper.
– Peel potatoes and grate them, mix into soup, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 25 minutes.
– Cut bread into small cubes and fry it in a skillet in 1 tsp of butter until golden colored.
– Cut chives in small pieces and when soup is done sprinkle over soup on top of croutons.
German Mustard is the Best – click here
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Poached Eggs in Mustard Sauce – Verlorene Eier
This German egg dish – Poached eggs in Mustard Sauce – is coming from the good old times when meat was rare or too expensive. It’s a recipe from grandmothers cooking book and what do you know, it’s still popular. It’s called in German “Verlorene Eier” because the eggs have lost their shell. Some call this dish also “Saure Eier” because you use vinegar.
It used to be a very popular dish in East Germany. It’s a good combination, the poached eggs and the mustard sauce, rounded up with boiled potatoes (we recommend Gold potatoes). Happy Cooking!
Ingredients Poached Eggs in Mustard Sauce
1 small onion
40 g butter
40 g flour
500 ml water
3 tbsp German mustard
– All About German Mustard – How to Use it in Cooking –
1 tsp lemon juice
4 fresh eggs
1 liter water
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt, pepper to taste
German Mustard from Develey: So Good!
Cooking Instructions Poached Eggs in Mustard Sauce
– Chop onion fine.
– Melt butter, saute onion until transparent.
– Add flour, mix very well until you get a slightly yellowish substance. Then add 500ml cold water.
– Bring while mixing to a boil.
– Add mustard and lemon juice, spice with salt and pepper to taste.
– Bring 1 liter water to a boil, add vinegar and 1 tsp salt.
– Crack one egg in a cup.
– Very carefully let the egg slide into the boiling water. Repeat with each egg.
– Reduce heat, and let simmer for 5 min.
– Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.
Serve the poached eggs with the mustard sauce and boiled potatoes.
TIPS
This recipe is using a lot of water. Always make sure that you use purified and good water. Here is a recommendation: The Berkey filter.
I am using this filter since a long time and it’s the best water I’ve ever had, and I tried many filter systems. All the water that I need for cooking will be going through this filter. The coffee and tea tastes better, the drinking water has no strange after-taste anymore. The other good thing is, this filter system is portable. So it’s 100 percent hassle free. No special connections needed. And they have good deals. Check it out!
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German Beer Bread – Original Bavarian Recipe
German Beer Bread is the best to be made with German beer and especially the Bavarian beer from Hofbrau which is one of the oldest breweries in Bavaria. Here is a little history of the Hofbrauhaus: The Hofbrauhaus was founded in 1589 by Herzog Wilhem V.
Since then the brewery and the Brauhaus are a historical location in Munich. Hofbrau are part of the Bavarian history and it is a 400 year old tradition to brew this beer that is been served at the annual Oktoberfest. We all know it by its abbreviation “HB”. Indeed it is part of Bavaria and the beer has created a life style with the beer garden, the food and the so called “Gemütlichkeit”.
The First Oktoberfest
Bavarian king Maximilian I. demonstrated that he is a generous man when his son Ludwig was going to marry Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. For this wedding he sponsored a gigantic celebration for 40.000 visitors; it was in fact the first Oktoberfest and happened on October 17, 1810. The sensation of the fest was the horse race on a meadow in front of the city, and from that date on it was called the “Theresienwiese” (Wiese = Meadow), and from that day on, it had been decided that such a fest should be occurring every year.
It was the starting day of the famous Oktoberfest and it is happening yearly on the “Wies’n”, the former Theresienwiese. 2 years later, in 1812, a special beer was created: The Oktoberfest Beer. It is of a dark yellow color, and is more spiced, and contains more alcohol than the regular beer. Since then the Oktoberfest beer from Hofbrau has been the world most famous beer worldwide.
Germany is known for being the country with the best beer. It is because of the water they use, the hops and of course of their traditional recipes that are kept secret for hundreds of years. The beer does not contain any chemicals, nor unnatural ingredients. It is brewed per the rules that are quite strict in Germany (per the so called “Reinheitsgesetz” – the law of purity ).
Beer can be used in many German recipes. There’s a recipe where you would use beer for making bread, and it is the main ingredient. Have a look. Happy Cooking! And Prosit!
Ingredients German Beer Bread
500 g all purpose wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 sachet baking powder (Dr Oetker) –
0.5 Liter beer Bier (Lager, Pilsner)
(Optional: 100 g roasted onions
Herbs such as thyme, marjoram, walnuts, roasted sunflower seeds)
Baking Instructions German Beer Bread
– Pre-heat oven to 200°C or 390 F.
– Grease a box type baking form of size: 4 x 9 inches (10x20cm) generously with butter or layer with parchment paper.
– In a big bowl mix all dry ingredients very well, add the beer and the roasted onion or the herbs if you use these options. Mix well.
– Pour dough into the form and bake for 35-40 minutes, until it has a light brown crust.
– When done let cool off for 10 min on a cooling grid.
– Release the bread.
– Optional: Place the bread on a baking tray, and because the bread is hot, any butter will melt right away, so spread the butter generously over the top and sides. This creates a very nice crust.
– Place back in oven and broil for 2 min. Watch the bread so it won’t get burned or dark.
Available from Sept 15 – Oct 30
Tips
Depending on the beer you will be using, the bread color can be light or dark. Dark beer can be used as well as Lager or a light version.
You can skip the sugar if you like or use a bit of honey that will be dissolved in the beer.
The taste also depends on the kind of beer you are using. A light beer is recommended that is not too strong in taste.
NOT recommended: Guinness, Hefe Weizen, Bock beer or ale.
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Römertopf Chicken – Cooked in Clay Pot
Have you ever used a so called Römertopf or Schlemmertopf? It’s a clay pot that is used in the oven, like a Dutch oven, and you can make delicious meals like the Römertopf Chicken.
Using a clay pot for cooking is very healthy because all nutrients will stay in the food. You don’t have to use any grease or fat, so it’s a perfect alternative for a pan fried dish. Every ingredient will be placed into the pot and cooked in the oven. The meat turned out to be very tender and to be honest, it was the best chicken that I ever served. To get a Römertopf is quite worth it. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients Römertopf Chicken
1 chicken, about 2 kg that’s about 5 lb
2 smaller carrots
1 of each: leek, apple, medium size onion
salt, pepper, mild paprika – mixed
250ml white wine
Clay pot size in inches: L 13 x H 10 x W 8 – I used this pot size for the recipe
Cooking Instructions
– Wash the chicken inside and outside, pat dry with kitchen paper.
– Soak the clay pot in water for 10 min. If your pot is glazed you don’t have to. If only the lid is glazed, soak the lid only.
– Peel apple, onion and cut into coarse pieces. Cut carrot the same way.
– Mix veggies in a bowl.
– Mix the salt with spices and apply to the chicken inside and outside.
– Fill the chicken with some veggies.
– Place chicken into the clay pot and place remaining veggies around it.
– Fill up with the white wine.
– Close with the lid and place in the COLD oven. This is important. If the oven is warm or hot you risk that the clay pot will break.
– Bake on 390 F 75-90 min or longer depending on th chicken size. When you see that it’s bubbling under the skin, it’s done.
– 20-30 min before the cooking time ends remove the lid and continue baking so the chicken gets a nice crust.
– When the chicken is done let sit for some minutes, remove from the pot and serve.
GRAVY
Drain the veggies and make a gravy out of the stock.
Keep the stock in a small pan, add 1 tbsp corn starch and bring to a boil. Spice with salt and pepper to taste and add 1 splash of heavy cream.
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German Cake: Granatsplitter from Scratch
The German cake “Granatsplitter” or in English “Chocolate Mountain” is a typical cake specialty, or you could also call it a pastry.
So what is is exactly?
In the bakeries it is made out of the left overs from cakes and a so called “Tortenboden” (layered cake biscuit). The cake left overs are mixed with a buttery cream, rum and almonds and mounted on a shortcrust cookie bottom piece up to a height of 10cm or 4 inches, so it’s shape reminds of a little mountain.
This little mountain will be completely covered with chocolate. Because the ingredients can vary the Granatsplitter is always different and this makes it so unusual. You can be very creative and use all kinds of ingredients.
In Berlin they call them “Hackstockkratze”, in the Eastern regions it is a “Punschberg” (because of the rum). For the glaze you can use dark, medium or even white chocolate. To make the dough you can use all kinds of cake rests like from a coffee cake, cookies that are left over or a biscuit base cake. The recipe below is original and authentic German. Happy Baking!
Ingredients German Cake Granatsplitter
– Makes 8 Granatsplitter –
Dough
1/2 biscuit base cake (Tortenboden) – Already made or make from scratch (500-600 g)
You can use the recipe for an Obstkuchen (fruit cake) – Find it here –
some baking flavor: rum or vanilla (or Whisky, brandy, Amaretto etc)
75 g almonds chopped coarsely (or hazelnuts, walnuts)
Shortcrust cookies
150 g flour
1 tbsp baking powder
50 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar 0.3 oz – How to make Vanilla Sugar –
rum flavor
2 tbsp milk
50 g butter
Butter Cream
500 ml milk
100 g sugar
250 g butter
1 package Vanilla pudding or Cream pudding, Dr Oetker
Glaze
150 g chocolate glaze or “Kuvertüre” (if you cannot get the Kuvertüre just melt 1 bar of dark chocolate like from Lindt using the double boiler method, add 1 tbsp of coconut oil and let it melt)
The German Breakfast Box comes with these Items!
Baking Instructions German Cake Granatsplitter
Make the Cookies
– Mix flour with baking powder, and sieve it on a baking board.
– Make a mold into the flour, into this mold add sugar, vanilla sugar, rum and milk, mix with some flour.
– Add cold butter that is cut in smaller pieces.
– Knead until you get a smooth dough.
– On a floured baking board or smooth surface roll the dough very thin.
– Cut out round cookies (diameter 4-5 cm or 2 inches).
Optional: If you have left over dough, you can create fantasy forms which will be used for the topping.
– Bake cookies and fantasy forms for 10 minutes on 180 C or 350 F.
Make the Butter Cream
– Make the pudding per instructions
– Place plastic foil on top to avoid skin build up.
– Let cool off completely.
– When pudding is cooled off beat briefly, then add the butter.
– Mix well until you get a smooth cream.
Make the Dough
– Crumble the cake that you will use, you need very small pieces.
– Combine crumbles with butter cream, not in one time, bit by bit.
– Add rum flavor and chopped almonds.
– If you use the left over cookie dough, cut it in very small pieces and add to the dough. It adds some crunch to the Granatsplitter.
– Knead well until you get a dough that can be formed with the hands.
– Place in fridge for 10-15 min.
Make the Mountains and Glaze
– With a spoon remove some dough, place it on the cookie and form it into a little mountain.
– Place in fridge for 1 hour.
– Melt chocolate with some coconut oil by using the double boiler method.
– Pour chocolate over the mountain, use a BBQ fork or a spatula that has holes (see video). If you try to dip the mountain into the chocolate it might fall from the cookie.
– Place on parchment paper and let dry.
The video below is in German, but you can follow it quite easily. She shows 2 variations to create the little mountain:
Use a frosting bag or place with hand a small portion of the dough on the cookie and form the mountain.
Photo Source
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Pan Fried Leberkäse with Spinach
A classic and typical German meal is the pan fried Leberkäse with spinach and fried potatoes. It’s just delicious and so easy to make, you jsut need to get the Leberkäse. In the USA you wold find it in special German stores or places where they serve German specialties. Happy Cooking.
Ingredients Pan Fried Leberkäse with Spinach
500 g frozen spinach
4 eggs
3 larger potatoes
4 slices Leberkäse
1 onion
3 tbsp heavy cream
salt, nutmeg, pepper to taste
Cooking Instructions
– Place frozen spinach in a pot, add 3-4 tbsp water, cover the pot, and bring to a brief boil.
When spinach has defrosted spice to taste and add the heavy cream. Cook for 5 min.
– Peel potatoes, cut in slices, boil them in water with some salt until semi-soft.
– Heat oil in a pan. Fry the Leberkäse slices until they are brown. Set aside and keep warm in the oven.
– In the same pan add chopped onions and fry for 2 min (add oil or butter as needed).
– Then add the potatoes and fry until they are golden brown.
– Make the fried eggs, spice with salt and pepper. Important is to add the eggs to the pan when the butter had become really hot. I always use a mix of butter and olive oil.
Place the fried egg on top of the Leberkäse, spinach and the roasted potatoes go aside. Alternatively you can also make French fries or potato salad.
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German Stuffed Peppers or Filled Pepper with Meat
German stuffed peppers are filled with meat and are called in German “Gefüllte Paprika”. This German dish is easy to make and can be varied. If you don’t like to use meat fill the peppers with a rice-vegetable mix. You can also use ground Bison meat or a mix of pork and beef. Happy Cooking!
Ingredients German Stuffed Peppers
4 green medium size peppers (or red, yellow, orange peppers)
1/2 lb ground meat
1 cup of long grain rice
1 med size onion
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1-2 tsp clarified butter
salt, pepper to taste
ground nutmeg, 1 dash
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
Tomato Sauce
2-3 tbsp tomato paste, water
1 can diced tomatoes or 5 fresh tomatoes (or use all natural Italian style tomato sauce)
1/2 cube vegetable broth, instant
salt, black pepper, dried oregano, thyme to taste
or 1 jar ready made tomato sauce
(Note: If you use ready made tomato sauce you won’t use the spices)
Cooking Instructions German Stuffed Peppers
– Cut off the upper part of the pepper (the lid); remove white parts and seeds inside the pepper with a sharp knife or a spoon.
– Chop onions fine; in a pan heat butter and saute onions until transparent.
– Add the meat and brown it briefly. Remove from heat.
– Combine meat with rice and mix it well.
– Spice with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and red paprika powder, and parsley. Mix well.
– With a spoon fill meat-rice mix into each pepper until it is filled.
– In a heavy sauce pan fill in the tomato sauce or chopped fresh, or diced tomatoes.
– Add herbs, spices and bring to a boil.
– Remove from heat.
– Place the filled peppers into the pot with the tomato sauce (the pan should be big enough so peppers will stand straight inside).
Important: Before you fill the peppers place them into the pot to see if it is the right size.
– On very low heat let peppers simmer for 15-30 minutes depending on the size of the pepper (needs to be covered with a lid). The rice is uncooked so it needs to cook until it is soft. They are done when they won’t show their fresh green color.
– 10 minutes before the peppers are done, place the lids on top of each pepper.
Serve them with mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, or your favorite pasta.
TIPS
– You can add zucchini, carrots, celery or leek to the tomato sauce.
– For the vegetarian version, mix rice with chopped carrots, peas and mushrooms, fill the peppers and let simmer covered the same way as described above in the recipe.
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Erdbeer Bowle – Strawberry Cooler
Here’s a recipe for a drink that will go very well at your summer party – The German “Erdbeer Bowle” or Strawberry Cooler is a combination of sparkling wine, white wine and strawberries that were soaked in vodka. If you make this drink you will for sure have no left overs. The European sparkling wine can be found at Trader Joe’s or any good liquor store. The punch bowl should be made out of glas and you need a ladle as well.
Ingredients Strawberry Cooler
1.5 kg strawberries
50 g sugar
200 ml vodka
fresh mint leaves as needed
1.5 liter white wine, dry
2 bottles sparkling wine (Sekt)
some ice cubes made from white wine
optional: some frozen raspberries
1 punch bowl and 1 ladle
Instructions Strawberry Cooler
– Wash strawberries, remove green parts.
– Depending on size cut in halves or quarters.
– Place into the Bowle bowl and add the sugar.
– Mix, let sit for 15 min, then add the vodka. Strawberries should be covered.
– Add mint leaves as desired.
– Keep in fridge at least for 5 hours.
– Just before serving pour the wine and the sparkling wine into the bowl.
TIP: Instead of adding ice cubes add some frozen wine cubes (regular ice cubes will make the drink too watery)
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