Ingredients:

• 3/4 kg / 1.6 lbs potatoes (mealy or mashing type like Russet)
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 small egg
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• pinch of pepper, preferably white ground
• oil for frying, canola

Preparation:

1. Wash the potatoes and place in a large pot. Cover with water and add salt. Boil, covered, until soft. Drain the water. Peel and place in a bowl, then mash with a hand masher, or use a potato ricer while still hot. Set aside.
2. Place about one inch of oil in a frying pan. Begin heating at medium to start. Be careful not to burn the oil.
3. Separate egg carefully, and add yolk into the potatoes. Set aside the egg white. Add butter in flakes to the potatoes, as well as the flour, and seasonings. Blend together well.
4. Whisk the egg white in a bowl. In a separate bowl, pour in breadcrumbs. Set both bowls aside.
5. Knead the potato dough with your hands, and then shape into long cylinders. Cut with knife if necessary, to create about two inches long, and 3/4 to one inch thick pieces.
6. Quickly coat each piece in egg white, then gently press into breadcrumbs to cover.
7. Test oil by dropping a few breadcrumbs in, and if the oil sizzle, the pan is ready. If not, raise the temperature slightly and wait a few minutes more.
8. Fry croquettes, turning frequently, until golden brown. Turn heat down if they are browning to quickly.
9. Set croquettes on paper towel to drain off some oil. Serve while hot.

Difficulty: Moderate.
Preparation Time: 1 hour 30 minute.
Portions: 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head red cabbage, cored and sliced
• 2 large tart apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 medium sweet onion, sliced and separated into rings
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 whole peppercorns
• 2 whole allspice
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons cold water

Preparation:

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, toss cabbage, apples and onion. Add water, vinegar, sugar, butter and salt. Place the peppercorns, allspice, cloves and bay leaf on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and stir with kitchen string to form a bag. Add to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/4 hours.
2. Discard spice bag. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir in cabbage mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

Difficulty: easy.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes.
Portions: 4.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs butter
• 3 tbs flour
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 large can, 2 small cans, or 2 cups of fresh quartered or sliced mushrooms
• 1 – 2 cups broth, beef, pork or vegetable
• pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. If preparing as a side to schnitzel, set the meat aside and keep warm, so you can use the same pan for added flavor. Otherwise, use a small saucepan.  Melt butter in pan, then add in flour and mix constantly over medium-low heat.  The trick is to get the flour a pale brown color, but do not burn.  This mixture should be paste-like.  If it is too thin, add a smidge more flour, if too thick, add a bit more butter.
2. Add in nutmeg and continue to brown flour.
3. If using canned, open the mushrooms and drain juice into a measuring cup.
4. Pour mushrooms into the flour mixture, and stir, cooking this way for about a minute.
5. Pour in broth with the juice in the cup, until you have 1 cup of liquid.  Add this to the pan and stir constantly.  Raise the temperature to medium.  **At this point, you want to monitor the thickness, and decide how thick of a sauce you want.  A total of 1.5 cups of liquid is perfect for my family, but you may have different tastes.  It thickens very quickly, so this is not a long process, and if you have 1 can of broth, that should be plenty, even if you go thinner.  You can even supplement with some hot water if necessary.
6. Add salt, and a pinch more nutmeg if desired.  Serve immediately.

Difficulty: Easy.
Preparation time:  1.25 hours
Servings: 4 – 6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 quart sauerkraut
• 1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp. butter, bacon drippings, or margarine
• 2 – 3 medium sized apples
• 1 1/2 cups white wine
• 1/2 cup beef broth or bouillon
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. celery seeds

Preparation:

1. Drain some of the juice from the sauerkraut.
2. Cook onion in a sauce pan with fat (butter, drippings, etc.), until golden.
3. Add sauerkraut to the onion and stir. Cook on low heat.
4. Wash, peel, and core apples; dice the apples and add to the sauerkraut. Stir well.
5. Add the wine and enough stock or bouillon to cover.
6. Cook slowly, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
7. Add sugar and celery seeds. Cover and finish cooking in moderate 325° oven 30 minutes longer.

**To make this dish vegetarian friendly, simply use margarine (Smart Balance is a good butter substitute) or vegetable oil, and vegetable broth or bouillion.

Difficulty: moderate
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Portions: 6 – 8

Ingredients:

• 6 – 8 boiling potatoes, water to cover, salt
• 1/4 pound bacon
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup beef stock
• salt and white pepper to taste
• sour cream (optional)
• minced parsley

Preparation:

1. Boil potatoes with skin on, in slightly salted water. Be sure to not overcook. Peel while hot, and cut in thin slices.
2. Fry bacon in saucepan (large enough to accommodate broth and vinegar), and when golden, but not crisp, add onions. Saute slowly until onions become translucent. Remove from heat.
3. Pour in vinegar and stock. Bring to a boil and pour over sliced potatoes. Using a wood spatula, gently lift potatoes a little so dressing runs over them evenly.
4. If using, fold in sour cream.
5. Sprinkle with minced parsley.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. ]]> http://www.thegermankitchen.com/index.php/recipes/2009/03/warmer-kartoffelsalat-warm-potato-salad/feed/ 0 http://www.thegermankitchen.com/index.php/recipes/2009/03/hackfleischsuppe-ground-meat-soup/ http://www.thegermankitchen.com/index.php/recipes/2009/03/hackfleischsuppe-ground-meat-soup/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:44:04 +0000 Lisa http://www.thegermankitchen.com/?p=102 (German version below.)

This is a great comfort soup that is very forgiving as far as substitutions. Our 5 year old loves this soup, but beware the fat content!

Difficulty: simple
Preparation Time: 35 minutes
Portions: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 pound, ground meat (I usually use turkey, but meatloaf mix is closer to the mix our German relatives use, and I have also used beef in a pinch.)
• 1 medium onion
• 5 bunches of leek (I have also used scallions instead, with no drastic taste change)
• 2 cans, mushrooms OR 2 cups of fresh mushrooms
• 2 Liters of broth, beef or vegetable works best
• 2 c. of Velveeta, or similar type of cheese product

Preparation:

1. Saute onion in big pot (Dutch oven, or similar size). You can use butter, margarine or oil, as per your personal taste.
2. When onion is golden, add in meat and brown. Drain off oil.
3. Mix in chopped leeks or scallions and cook for 2 – 3 minutes.  Add the broth (you can also use the water from the canned mushrooms as part of your broth content – this gives some extra flavor, and wastes nothing). Mix well.
4. Add in mushrooms.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer covered, for about 20 minutes.
7. Add the cheese into the soup in smaller chunks. Mix constantly. When all of the cheese is melted, remove from heat.
8. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

German version (as received from relatives in Franconia):

• 500 g Hackfleisch
• 1 Zwiebel
• 5 Stangen Lauch
• 2 Dosen Champignons
• 2 L Brühe
• 2 Becher (900 g) Sahneschmelzkäse

1. Hackfleisch in Öl anbraten
2. Zwiebeln und Lauch klein schneiden
3. Champignons zugeben
4. Brühe aufgießen und köcheln lassen
5. Zum Schluss den Sahneschmelzkäse unterrühren
6. mit Salz u. Pfeffer abschmecken