German Comfort Food Recipes by Peter Gau - HTML preview

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Chapter 3

Meat Dishes

Roast Pork

Sour Beef

Roast Duck

Roast Lamb

Hunters Schnitzel

Koenigsberg Dumplings

Beef Roulades

Roast Pork

Ingredients:

2 lbs. pork with fat rind

2 onions

2 carrots

1 parsnip

1 piece dark bread

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of caraway seeds

1 bunch of marjoram finely chopped

1 bunch of rosemary finely chopped

1 bunch of thyme finely chopped

2 cups meat broth

ice cold beer

salt

freshly ground pepper

vegetable or sunflower oil

Wash the meat, dry it and rub all around with salt and freshly ground pepper and the finely chopped marjoram, rosemary and thyme.

Using a very sharp knife, cut a diamond pattern into the fat rind.

In a hot frying pan with some vegetable or sunflower oil sauté the meat on all sides, to seal it.

Fill a roasting pan with appr. 1 inch of water and add the meat with the fat rind down. Now quarter the onions (don't peel them), wash the carrots and parsnip and cut them into 1.5 - 2

inch junks. Leave the carrots and parsnip unpeeled also. Add them all to the meat in the roasting pan.

Crush the garlic cloves and add them to the meat as well as the piece of dark bread.

Now sprinkle with the caraway seeds and place the roasting pan into a pre heated oven and roast at 480 degrees (Fahrenheit).

After appr. 30 minutes turn the meat around, so that the fat rind is on top and continue roasting.

Frequently baste the meat with the juices in the roasting pan and gradually add the meat broth as needed. Make sure the meat broth is hot when adding it.

Total roasting time is appr. 1.5 to 2 hours.

Towards the end of the roasting time, brush the rind with the ice cold beer to make it crisp.

When finished roasting, take the meat out of the roasting pan, cover it and let it rest for appr.

10 - 15 minutes so that it doesn't loose its juices when carving it.

The gravy:

Scrape up the juices in the roasting pan and sieve them into a saucepan.

Add some hot meat broth if needed and let it boil up for a minute or two and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

Bind with some flour or starch if you prefer a thicker texture. In Bavaria however, the gravy is left in a rather watery texture.

Roast pork is mainly served with bread and/or potato dumplings and different salads like Bavarian white cabbage salad or any other salads of your choice.

Sour Beef

Important:

The beef will have to be marinated for at least 3 days, so make sure you buy the beef and the ingredients for the marinade well in advance of the day you are planning to serve this dish.

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef

for the marinade:

2 cups of red wine (dry)

1 1/2 cups of red wine vinegar

1 1/2 cups of water

8 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

4 whole cloves

8 juniper berries

1/4 celery root

1 small leek

1 small carrot

1 bunch parsley

1 onion

on day of cooking:

3 1/2 oz. pumpernickel ( dark whole grain rye bread) 1 handful of raisins

1/2 cup of vegetable broth

salt

vegetable or sunflower oil

3 days before serving, wash, peel and slice the celery root and carrot. Wash and slice the leek.

Peel the onion and cut in half. Chop the parsley.

Mix the red wine, red wine vinegar and water and add the prepared vegetables and the chopped parsley as well as the peppercorns, bay leaves, juniper berries and whole cloves.

Place the meat into the marinade, cover and leave for three days in the fridge or other cool place.

Important: The meat has to be fully covered with marinade!

On day of serving, take the beef out of the marinade, dry and rub with salt all around.

Heat some vegetable or sunflower oil in a large saucepan and sauté the beef well on all sides.

Pour a little bit of the marinade into the saucepan with the beef and mix the rest of the marinade with the vegetable broth. Pour this mixture carefully, little by little over the meat and let simmer. Make sure the saucepan is covered.

After 45 minutes, turn the meat in the saucepan and add the sliced or crumbled pumpernickel.

Let simmer for another 30 minutes and frequently baste the meat with the broth.

When finished cooking, take the meat out of the saucepan and keep warm.

Sieve the sauce into a smaller saucepan, add the raisins, bind with some flour if needed until you're happy with the texture and let boil for a minute or two. Then let simmer for appr.5 - 10

minutes.

Slice the beef, place on a plate and add the sauce separately. Serve with potato dumplings or spaetzle, red cabbage and apple puree.

Roast Duck

Ingredients:

1 duck (4 lbs. ready to roast)

1 onion

2 bunches celery

2 cooking apples

2 oz. bread crumbs

1 tablespoon of butter

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 tablespoon of salt

1 teaspoon of lemon rind (grated)

1 cup cider

2 tablespoons honey

For the filling:

Wash, peel and chop the onion, wash and chop the celery. Wash and peel the apples, remove the cores and slice thinly.

Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the onion, celery and apple slices and sauté for appr. 3

minutes until the apples are golden brown and the onions are glassy.

Take the saucepan off the heat, add the bread crumbs, cinnamon, black pepper, lemon rind and cider. Stir and set aside.

The duck:

Wash the duck, rub with salt and freshly ground pepper inside and outside.

Now fill the duck with the prepared filling and, if possible, sew up the opening. Alternatively use metal or wooden sticks to close the opening.

Puncture the duck several times in different places (especially the haunches) and place on an oven grill with its back up.

Prepare a roasting pan, fill with hot water and place in the oven underneath the duck. The oven should be preheated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roast for appr. 30 minutes, turn the duck and roast for another 60 minutes. Make sure to frequently baste the duck with the water and caught juices in the roasting pan.

15 minutes before the end of roasting time, mix the honey with some hot water and brush the duck with the honey-water mixture.

When finished roasting, take the duck out of the oven, set aside and let rest for 10 - 15 minutes before carving.

Scratch up the juices in the roasting pan, skim off the fat and use the fond as gravy. Add spices to taste and bind with some flour if needed. Make sure you let the gravy boil up for a minute or two if you added flour for binding, to remove any floury taste.

Serve duck with red cabbage, potato dumplings, spaetzle, leipziger allerlei or other vegetables.

Roast Lamb

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs. lamb

17 oz. white beans

3 onions

4 carrots

4 tomatoes

1 garlic clove

1 bunch parsley (finely chopped)

1 cup cream

1 cup vegetable broth

2 bay leaves

salt

pepper

allspice

vegetable or sunflower oil

Wash and dry the meat and remove any extensive fat. Rub with salt and pepper all around.

Slice the clove of garlic and stud the meat in different places with the garlic slices.

Place in a preheated oven and roast at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for appr. 2 - 2.5 hours.

In the meantime, wash and peel the onions, slice two of them and leave one whole.

Wash peel and slice the carrots.

In a saucepan, heat some vegetable or sunflower oil and sauté the onion slices until glassy.

Add the carrot slices and beans and while stirring thoroughly add the vegetable broth slowly.

Let simmer for 4 - 5 minutes and then add salt, pepper and allspice.

Stud the onion, that you left whole with the bay leaves and bury in the vegetables. Let simmer for 20 minutes.

In the meantime cut the tomatoes into small dices. Add them together with the cream into the saucepan, stir and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

When the lamb is ready, take out of the oven, and let rest for appr. 10 - 15 minutes before carving.

In the meantime, scratch up the lambs juices in the roasting tray and add to the vegetable mixture.

Stir and place the vegetable mixture on a large dish, carve the meat and place nicely on top of the vegetables.

Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve with boiled or roast potatoes.

Hunters Schnitzel ( Cutlet in mushroom - bacon sauce)

Ingredients:

4 pork cutlets (boneless)

18 oz. champignons

1 onion

1 oz. bacon

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons of flour

1 tablespoon of thyme (chopped)

1 bunch parsley (chopped)

1 egg yolk

bread crumbs

salt

pepper

vegetable or sunflower oil

Wash, dry and beat the cutlets until they are no more than 1/2 inch thick. Now rub the meat well with salt and pepper.

Prepare three deep plates and fill one with flour, the second with the egg yolk and a third with bread crumbs.

Turn each cutlet (or now that its beaten, lets call it schnitzel) in the flour first, then in the egg yolk and last but not least in the bread crumbs, so that they are well covered in same.

Place them into a preheated frying pan with vegetable or sunflower oil and fry them until done. Turn them at least twice while frying.

When the 'schnitzel' are done, take them out of the pan and keep them warm.

Now wash and slice the mushrooms. Wash, peel and chop the onion. and dice the bacon.

Place the mushrooms into the frying pan, in which you just fried the schnitzel (add some more oil if you deem necessary) and sauté them just for 2 - 3 minutes.

Take them out and leave them aside but not to far away, you will need them again in a little while.

Place the chopped onions together with the diced bacon in the frying pan and sauté until the onions are glassy.

Now add the mushrooms again and sauté for another 5 minutes.

Slowly add the vegetable broth and the cream, while stirring thoroughly. Add salt, pepper and the chopped thyme and let simmer until the watery texture is gone which can take up to 15

minutes.

Now add milk until the texture of the sauce is creamy. Keep stirring while doing so.

When you are happy with the texture take the pan off the heat and mix 3/4 of the chopped parsley into the sauce.

Serve the schnitzel on a plate, pour some sauce over it and sprinkle with the rest of the parsley.

Very tasty with French fries, spaetzle or bread dumplings. A light mixed salad also compliments this dish very well.

Koenigsberg Dumplings

Ingredients:

2 lbs. minced beef

2 eggs

2 bread rolls

2 onions

3 1/2 oz. butter or margarine

3 1/2 oz. flour

3 cups vegetable broth

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons of capers

1/2 cup vinegar

vegetable or sunflower oil

salt

pepper

sugar

Wash, peel and chop the onions and soak the bread rolls in some water.

Place the chopped onions, the soaked bread rolls (give them a good squeeze), the eggs and the mince in a mixing bowl. Add some salt, pepper and vegetable or sunflower oil and mix thoroughly.

Now form dumplings (1 to 1.5 inches in diameter), place them on a different dish and leave aside for the moment.

In a large saucepan heat the butter or margarine and slowly add the flour (a little bit at a time) while stirring vigorously. Do this until all the flour is used up and the colour changes to a light brown.

Now slowly add some vegetable broth and continue stirring. Don't add to much vegetable broth at once or lumps will form.

When all the vegetable broth is used up, slowly start adding the milk. Continue stirring. In the end you should have a smooth, gravy-like texture. If its to thick, add more milk. If its to thin, add some more flour.

Now add the vinegar and some sugar to taste. It should be slightly sweet and sour. Also add some more salt and pepper if you deem necessary.

Now add the capers, let simmer for a minute or two and then add the dumplings.

Cover and let simmer for 45 - 60 minutes.

Serve with potatoes and vegetables (i.e. leipziger allerlei) Beef Roulades

Ingredients:

3 lbs round steak

6 slices of bacon

1 onion

2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

2 long dill pickles (sour gherkins)

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1/4 cup vegetable or sunflower oil

1 bay leave

4 pepper corns

salt

pepper

flour

Peel, wash and chop onion.

Half bacon crosswise and slice the two pickled gherkins lengthwise.

Wipe beef with a damp paper towel and cut the steaks crosswise into 6 equal pieces.

Flatten steak to about 1/8 inch thickness and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Spread each steak with 1/4 teaspoon of mustard and sprinkle onions on top.

Place bacon and a pickle strip on narrow end of each piece.

Roll up and tie. Sprinkle with flour.

In a Dutch oven or saucepan heat some vegetable or sunflower oil, add the roulades and brown on all sides.

When brown, slowly add the beef broth, the bay leave and the pepper corns and let simmer for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Cook slowly to make sure the meat is nice and tender.

When finished cooking, take roulades out, remove strings and keep warm.

Thicken the broth with flour, let boil up for a minute or two, season to taste and use as gravy.

Serve with spaetzle, potatoes or potato dumplings and red cabbage.

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