Fall in Arizona

You know what Fall in Arizona means right? Crisp cool air, squirrels foraging food for the long winter ahead and foliage beginning to change colors from end-of-summer deep green black to the beautiful oranges, reds and yellows. Nope! My computer screen is displaying a lovely 102 degrees as I write this. It is unpleasantly hot, and the thought of Pumpkin spiced ANYTHING make me want to vomit. We are still in the season of lighter summery foods like salads and grilled shrimp.

However, last weekend, my husband and I decided to take a drive in our new (to us) electric car. We wanted to drive it out of town far enough so that we could test out some fast chargers in neighboring communities. We decided to drive about an hour away to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. As we were mapping it, we saw a German restaurant pop up as one of the nearby restaurants. I got really excited seeing that because Doug and I both grew up eating German food in the heart of Pennsylvania Deutch land. Even though my husband had his heart set on the Mexican restaurant, he acquiesced, and we set navigation on my choice.

As we perused the menu, we were pretty excited about our choices. They were typical German entrées and sides of which we are fond. We placed our order and waited with great anticipation. The food was served and looked delicious. However, after tasting it, we wished that we had gone to the Mexican restaurant. Upon leaving, Doug said that I make better German food than the restaurant . . .So here is my version of what they were trying to serve.

Bavarian Mandel Schnitzel topped with a boozy strawberry sauce, Herbed Spaetzle and Cucumber Salad. I must admit, I tried their German Potato salad because that is one of my favorites. Again, not as good as my recipe.

If you want to see more German recipes, check out one of my earlier posts about Oktoberfest.

Bavarian Mandelschnitzel

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Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 2 ounces blanched almond
• 4 pork chop
• flour
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 5 ounces strawberry preserves
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ounce gin
• 1 ounce kirschwasser
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water
• cayenne
• 1 lemon

Instructions

 

• Beat eggs. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs and almonds. Pound pork chops until 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick. Lightly dredge pork in flour. Dip in egg batter, and roll in bread crumb mixture to cover. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in large skillet and saute pork until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan, place on platter and keep warm.
• Sauce: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet and saute onions until soft. Add chicken stock, strawberry preserves, sugar, gin and kirschwasser. Mix cornstarch and 3/4 cup water in cup and stir until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to sauce and stir until thickened. Sprinkle with cayenne to taste. Place sauce on warmed plates and lay pork on top. Garnish with lemon slices.

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Fresh Herb Spaetzle

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Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 8 teaspoons minced assorted fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, and chives, divided
• 4 tablespoons 1/2 stick butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
• 8 ounces mushrooms thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3/4 cup or more low-salt chicken broth

Instructions

 

• Blend flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in large bowl. Whisk in eggs and milk, forming soft batter. Mix in half of herbs.
• Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Butter large bowl. Working with 1/3 cup batter at a time and using rubber spatula, press batter directly into boiling water through 1/4-inch holes on coarse grater, strainer, or wide ladle. Stir spaetzle to separate and boil 2 minutes. Using fine sieve, scoop spaetzle from pot, drain well, and transfer to buttered bowl. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms; sauté until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add onion; sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon oil, and spaetzle. Sauté until spaetzle begin to brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add 3/4 cup broth. Simmer until broth is absorbed, adding more broth if dry. Mix in remaining herbs; season with salt and pepper.

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German Cucumber Salad

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Servings 0 Servings: 6

Ingredients

  

• 2 lbs cucumbers sliced ⅛”
• 4 scallions thinly sliced
• 1 cup 8 oz sour cream
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 tbsp minced chives

Instructions

 

• Combine the cucumbers, scallions, sour cream, kosher salt, and about 10 cracks of fresh black pepper in a large mixing bowl. Toss well to combine.
• Cover the bowl and let sit in the fridge for about 3 hours (give the cucumbers a mix about half way through).
• Mix the cucumbers well before serving. Taste and season with more salt if needed. Pour the cucumbers into a bowl and top with more freshly cracked black pepper and the chives.

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German Potato Salad

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Servings 0

Ingredients

  

• 2 pounds red potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt for boiling the potatoes
• 12 ounces bacon
• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar*
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon salt for seasoning the potato salad
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic about 3 cloves
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

 

• Scrub the potatoes and cut any large potatoes in half so that all of the potatoes are approximately equally sized. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Reduce heat and simmer the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender when stabbed with a fork. Drain the water. Leaving the potatoes in the pot, return the pot to the still-hot (but turned off) burner. Leave the lid off of the pot and allow the potatoes to steam dry for a couple minutes.
• Set another large pot over medium heat and, using kitchen shears, cut the bacon strips into approximately 1-inch pieces directly into the pot. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy. While the bacon is cooking, cut the potatoes into ½-inch thick slices, cutting any extremely large slices in half. Set aside. Once the bacon is done, remove the pot from the stove and use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon pieces to a plate or bowl while leaving the bacon grease in the pot (I had about ¼ cup).
• Slowly and carefully add vinegar, sugar*, Dijon, salt, and pepper to the pot of bacon grease. Place the pot back on the burner, bring the mixture to a simmer, and stir for a couple of minutes. Stir the minced garlic into the mixture and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the garlic starts to turn a light golden.
• Remove the pot from the heat and toss in the sliced potatoes, gently mixing until potatoes have absorbed all of the liquid. Carefully fold in the cooked bacon pieces and chopped parsley.
• Transfer the potato salad to a serving dish and serve hot or warm. Potato salad should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours before refrigerating any leftovers.

Notes

*When I make this recipe, I do use the full 3 Tbsp. sugar and we find the flavors to be balanced. However, if you think you may prefer less sweetness in your dressing, I recommend starting out with 1 Tbsp. sugar (or less), tasting (blow on it first!), and then adding additional sugar until your desired tangy-sweet balance is reached.

Always start off your potatoes in cold water before bringing them to a boil, which promotes more even cooking.

After the potatoes are cooked and drained, let them steam (or dry) a bit in their still-hot (but drained) pot. This will allow them to absorb the bacon grease-vinegar dressing more easily.

If you’d like to add onion to this recipe, you may add 1 diced (medium) yellow onion to the bacon grease in the pot after removing the bacon. Sauté the onion in the bacon grease for several minutes until translucent, and then proceed with the recipe by adding the other dressing ingredients.

Make sure that the pot is off of the burner and the bacon grease has slightly cooled before slowly and carefully adding the vinegar (in order to prevent the mixture from potentially bubbling up).

Be very gentle when stirring the potatoes into the dressing. Otherwise, your dish may end up looking more like mashed potatoes.

Leftover German Potato Salad can be transferred to an airtight container and refrigerated for up to five days. Enjoy leftovers cold, at room temperature, or reheated in the microwave (50% power) for a minute at a time, stirring between increments.

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