Monday, January 11, 2010

Oktoberfest in January...Bavarian Comfort Food


My German roots are showing. I have roots all over the place; the quintessential Heinz 57 - some Scottish, Irish, French, German, Native American...

I love German food. There is a restaurant at home, Schmidt's Sausage Haus, that I love to go to. It's in German Village. I love German Village. Spending the day there is #1 on my agenda for next time I go home.


If you're in the mood for a hearty, wonderful Bavarian dinner (great for Sundays), this will satisfy that craving.

German Pork Roast (Bavarian Schweinebraten)


One 2-pound pork roast (I used boneless center cut loin)
1 large (or 2 medium) onions, sliced in thick rings
3 cloves garlic, minced or sliced
2 carrots cut into 2 x 1/2-inch pieces or 1 small bag of baby carrots
1 bottle of dark beer
Vegetable oil
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
Salt and pepper
Coarse ground spicy brown mustard (like Guilden’s)

Preheat oven to 350º.

Sprinkle vegetable oil on bottom of roasting pan. Arrange onions and garlic over that. Add the carrots and beer, and sprinkle caraway seeds over mixture.

Coat entire roast with about 1 to 2 tablespoons of mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Place roast on top of onion-beer mixture. Cover with lid or foil (whichever fits).

Roast in oven, fat side of roast up, for 60 minutes at 350º. Remove cover. Baste roast. Brush with another light layer of mustard. Increase heat to 400º. Roast, uncovered, an additional 45 to 60 minutes, or until meat and carrots are fork tender. Let roast rest 10-15 minutes before slicing. Thicken sauce with cornstarch or serve as jus on the side. Either way, it's heavenly.

Hot German (Potato) Noodle Salad

This is actually a potato salad recipe. We had potatoes last night, so I changed out the potatoes for noodles as a side for this dinner. Tastes just as yummy!

4 cups wide noodles ( or 4 medium potatoes, boiled in skins, if you're making potato salad)
4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon each, salt and pepper
1 cup water
3 tablespoons white or cider vinegar

Cook noodles according to package directions. (For potato salad, peel and slice potatoes very thin)

Meanwhile, in large skillet (cast iron is great for this), saute bacon slowly until crisp then drain on paper towels. Set aside. Saute onion in bacon drippings in pan until they are just beginning to caramelize. Blend in cornstarch, sugar, celery seed, salt, and pepper. Cook on low heat; mix well. Add water and vinegar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute.

Carefully stir in noodles (drained) and crumbled bacon bits. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand until ready to serve.

*Amish noodles are fantastic in this dish.

And, I did whip up a batch of Snickerdoodles but 5 minutes into baking, they were smelling burnt. Nicely cracked on the top but the bottoms were burned. I used brand new cookie sheets. Wonder if that was the problem or if the temp was too high - recipe said 400º - maybe a combination of both. After I research a bit, I'll try again tonight.

3 comments:

Ann O. Nemus said...

blah blah blah test comments.

Anonymous said...

blah blah test full page comments.

Judy said...

More that we have in common. I too am German and Native American. Very little Native American but my mother liked that we are. :) I wish you lived near me, or me near you, so that you could teach me how to cook!