Deutsches Essen

{A page from my Germany scrapbook}

I recently had a disturbing revelation:  I have never cooked German food for Cole.  I decided I needed to remedy the situation post-haste.  I'm planning a serious feast von dem Vaterland this weekend (well, as serious as it can get, being vegetarian and all).

{part of Spaetzle recipe from class}

In order to properly plan this meal, I had to unearth my stock of tried and true German recipes from my archives, which are housed in a few blue plastic tubs and contain my childhood-through-college papers, drawings, report cards, photos and mementos (those that have survived several rounds of ruthless cuts due to many moves, that is).  Most of the stuff from my German program made it into these boxes, including the first and only recipe I've ever used for Spaetzle.  Making Spaetzle was actually an activity we did as part of class one day in Tuebingen and I remember quickly realizing that cooking, i.e. reading recipes, was a great way to learn a language.

{Some of the Plaetzchen we made in Germany}

I also picked up some delish cookie recipes while in Germany as a result of a big Weihnachts (Christmas) project I did with my friends.  So I was on the lookout for those recipes too.

I knew I'd hit the motherload, though, when I found the recipes I used for what I'll call the Great Shira Cook-off of 1998.  That summer, my sisters and I each brainstormed a culinary experience for guests (i.e., Dad, Grandpa, and the odd boyfriend/best friend/person we could cajole into coming over) to take place in a competitive setting.  It was every sister for herself.  I had only been back from Deutschland for about 9 months, so I chose to whip up a German feast.  Sam decided on a Mexican fiesta, while Karie envisioned an elaborate New Orleans-style dinner.  Each of us also dressed the part (thank God this was before digital photography--very little of it was captured on film), created menus and table settings, decorated the dining room, and handpicked music to help set the scene.

{Some of the recipes I used for my meal--note the grease stains}

The way that the Great Shira Cook-off turned out is a matter of controversy to this day.  We forced Dad and Grandpa and whomever the guest was to cast a vote about everything they'd experienced each evening:  food, ambience, costume, etc.  Dad and Grandpa, those smarties, gave each of us perfect marks.  As I recall, I don't think our guests really knew what to do--be honest, or vote loyally?  To this day I'm not sure who won.  All I know is that we spent a lot of Dad's money on cooking supplies, picked up a few culinary skills, and laughed a LOT.

The vocabulary list above is the one memento (aside from the recipes themselves) that I still have from my German meal.  Clearly I thought it was critical that I teach my sisters how to ask for another beer.

Here's the menu I executed for the Cook-off in 1998:

• Angemachter Muensterkaese mit schnittlauch (Muenster cheese spread with fresh chives (served on black bread))
• Gurkensalat (Cucumber relish salad)
• Bayrischer Kartoffelsalat (Bavarian potato salad)
• Kaesspaetzle (Cheese Spaetzle)
• Kalbsschnitzel in currysosse (Veal steaks with lemon and curry)

And for dessert...of course...Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Torte)!

I've made this Black Forest Cherry Torte several times now and it is always delicious.

Obviously, I won't be serving Cole veal, but otherwise I could recreate my 1998 feast just about perfectly.  I also don't think I'll be making the torte, as it is ridiculously time consuming (everything about it is from scratch) and serves about 20 people.

{German grocery store ad from my scrapbook}

Bis bald!  Tschuessi!

The New Whole Grains in My Life

Yes, I'm really writing about whole grains.  It's pretty exciting.  You think I'm being sarcastic...

For the past few years, I'd been playing the field with the usual suspects:  brown rice, Israeli couscous, oatmeal...some steel-cut oats that I quickly rejected.  About six months ago, I fell into an addictive relationship with popcorn, popped fresh on the stove and topped with nutritional yeast.  During this time I also started seeing bulgur (cracked wheat) on and off, but never could commit to a regular thing.

But this week I decided to step up my commitment to the ol' whole grain by bringing the following into my life:

• Barley:  Filling, chewy, delicious.  Barley has appeared this week in a salmon/baby spinach/orange salad; as an entree with sauteed onions and mushrooms; and as breakfast with a sprinkle of sliced almonds, cinnamon, Mayan cocoa, and milk.  It's a great alternative to my first love, oatmeal, in the morning.
• Kamut & Quinoa:  Now, to be honest, I'd already seen quinoa quite a few times and knew that my pantry contained an abundance of this grain in a red-lidded jar.  But it took a desire for better-tasting, healthy (i.e., not white) pasta for me to seek quinoa and friend kamut out in the co-op aisle.  They're a twisted pair, those 100% organic, whole-grain fellows.

Truth be told, I was a bit apprehensive about this pasta after having a lackluster experience with whole wheat pasta, which is just kind of cardboard-esque and not even that good for you in the end.

But these guys!  This twisted pair!  They knocked my socks off.

After cooking the pasta to a nice tenderness, I added a few large fistfuls of arugula (I am OBSESSED with its peppery goodness), some diced tomato*, olive oil, sea salt, and pepper.  Topped it all off with some grated Parmesan.

It came out pretty delish, if I do say so myself.  I could tell straight away that K&Q and I were hitting it off.  This twisted pair was nice and tender but not soggy.  Nowhere could I detect the taste of cardboard, despite a robust 5 grams of dietary fiber per serving.  Just like regular pasta, but better!

{I actually had to go look kamut up.  The Interwebs tells me it's two times larger than regular wheat and has a rich, nutty flavor.}

*Yes, I know tomatoes aren't in season right now.  It's a sad, sad fact of winter.  So when I saw some shiny tomatoes at the farmers market last weekend, I pounced.  Are they the best tomatoes I've ever tasted?  Not by a long shot.  Am I wondering where they came from?  Yes.  But neither of these things detracts from my enjoyment of their juicy goodness.