Oofdah!

I realized a week or so ago that I am not horribly diverse in my food. I really like German food, but don't make it often enough. Growing up, my mom used to make german spiced cabbage all the time. It's something I think all of us kids love and the only time I ever get it is when I go home. The reason why? Jim doesn't like it. I made it once and he pretty much turned his nose up at it. How dare he! lol

Well, it has been awhile since I made it and thought I would give him another chance in liking it. I decided to make a whole german meal so he would have *something* to eat. This entry will contain all three recipes. I made wiener schnitzel and spaetzle with this and served cooked carrots on the side (gotta get those veggies in somewhere!).

The cabbage is very easy and fast. Let me show you how.


Thinly slice some red cabbage. Since there are only three eating in our home, I used half a head. Make more if you have more mouths to feed.


In a small bowl, put 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp allspice, and 1 tsp salt.


Put the cabbage in a pan over medium heat and add the spices.


Add 1/2 cup brown sugar.


And add 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar.


Cut up some kielbasa and put in the pan. Cover with a lid and let steam for about 20 minutes.

While that steams, let's make the spaetzle.


This recipe didn't make a lot. It was enough for three of us, so double if you need more.

In a bowl, put 1 cup flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Mix up.


Make a well in the center and pour into the middle 1/4 cup milk.


And 2 eggs.


Use your fingers to mix everything together. Work in a circular motion until the dough pulls together.


It will be thick enough to coat your fingers. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.


Bring some water to a boil. Add some salt.


You're going to need a colander with wide holes. This is a colander I got for my wedding and have used it before to make spaetzel. They also sell something called a spaetzel hex. A special little gizmo to make perfect noodles. I highly suggest using that instead of this because it will go a lot faster.


Dump your batter in and use a spatula to press the batter through the holes into the boiling water.


Let them cook in the water for a few minutes.


Drain well.


Return to the pot and add a couple pats of butter and some finely chopped chives. Stir well and set aside.

Finally, let's make the wiener schnitzel!


Season your veal well. If you buy veal chops, you'll need to pound them with a mallet to flatten. I bought veal that was already sliced thin so I didn't need to do that step.


Coat with flour.


Dip in some egg.

Coat with some breadcrumbs.


Heat a little oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Fry on both sides until golden brown. Since these are thin, they don't need to fry that long so make sure you don't let them go forever.


Just before serving, squeeze some lemon on top.


There you have it! A german fest to make anyone happy. Making all three of these dishes wasn't difficult. I had it all made within an hour. So if you're looking for something new to make for your family tonight... try this! Enjoy!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_108q4mxkkhs

.low country boil.

Low Country Boil is a traditional southern style shrimp boil. There's a restaurant in Savannah that we always go to called The River House Restaurant and Bakery right on River Street that has this and we always get it when we're in town because it's not only delicious, but it feeds the two of us easily. Traditional LCB doesn't have crab in it, but we are BIG crab lovers so I always throw some in the pot.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

• Red potatoes


• Crab legs


• Shrimp (peeled)


• Corn on the cob


• Kielbasa


• Zatarain's crab boil seasoning


• Old Bay seasoning

First we need to make the clarified butter. Clarified butter is butter with the milk fat removed. That's the cloudy film you get when you melt butter.

Put some sticks of butter in a small saucepan. Melt on LOW heat. You don't want to boil the butter because that will keep the milk fat from floating to the top.

Once it's melted, use a spoon and carefully skim the foam off the top. That there folks is the milk fat. We don't want that.

Once that has been skimmed from the top, you'll be left with beautiful clear butter. CLARIFIED butter.

Cut up some red potatoes and set aside.

Cut up your keilbasa and set aside.

Measure out 4 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning and get your crab boil in a bag ready to go.

Get the largest pot you have. I have a pasta pot that I use for this and as you will see I used the strainer insert. I wound up taking it out because I couldn't get as much crab in the pot as I would have liked. So save yourself the trouble and LEAVE the strainer out but rather put it in the sink so you have it ready for straining once everything's cooked.

Add your potatoes and spices (Zatarain's and Old Bay) to the pot. Bring to boil and let boil for 5 minutes. At that time, add the kielbasa and boil for another 10 minutes.

I highly recommend using fresh seafood whenever possible, but you can use frozen. I always keep crab and shrimp in the freezer.. and corn on the cob, for quick meals.

When the 10 minutes are up, add as much crab, shrimp and corn on the cob to the pot. Cook only 4 minutes and then remove the pot from the stove and drain.

Put in a big bowl and serve.

The fun thing about LCB is that it's basically a free-for-all. Just dig on in and eat til your heart's content.

If you notice in the picture below, I used paper sacks for placemats. Just cut off the bottom of a paper grocery bag, and cut down the sides, folding the flaps over. As you eat, you can put all your shells on the paper and when you're all done, just remove your dishes and carefully wrap up the shells and toss in the trash. EASY CLEANUP!

Oh and that clarified butter we made? Put some in little bowls for dipping shrimp and crab in. We also like to have some tartar sauce and cocktail sauces on the table. Enjoy!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_24crxj6mc6