Das deutsche Frühstuck (and an American recipe)

I guess you could label me as a morning person.  I certainly enjoy my sleep, but somehow or other I tend to find myself getting an early start to the day.  And, it goes without saying, that breakfast is an important meal; I don't know about it being the most important meal, but it's right on up there.
The typical German breakfast is quite different from that of a typical American breakfast.  To our pancakes, bacon, bagels, eggs, sausage, cereals, etc they have fresh bread, cold cuts, cheese, yogurt and müsli.  I definitely enjoy the German breakfasts; the yogurt is unbelievably good and the bread, oh, the bread.

So much to say... take a walk down the street early in the day and just soak in the aroma emitted by the bakeries all over the city.  Low/No-Carb diets surely don't exist here.  Semmeln (crusty rolls), Brezen (pretzels), Butter-Brezen (need I translate this one?!), various Croissants, Krapfen (Donuts), the list goes on and on.  The temptation that is the German bakery is one I find similar to that of fast food or junk food in the states.  The fast food epidemic has not quite taken Germany, sure, there are McDonalds, Subways and the like scattered around the cities; but it's the bakeries that are on every corner and have lines out the doors during rush hours or after classes.  But the bread-obsession doesn't stop there; not even close.  Check out the discount grocery store, Aldi.  There's a bread vending machine, seriously.  Look at the pictures, push a button, and a warm, freshly baked Semmel, loaf, Breze, whatever is sent to you within seconds and will cost you just a few cents (0,29/ Breze!).  Or if you are planning ahead for a busy/lazy morning grab a bag of the frozen or brown and serve Semmeln to finish off in the toaster oven.  Most of the bread in Germany ist crusty, however, if you're feeling a little homesick, "American style toaster bread" is available pretty much all over.

Now the hard part, what to eat atop this glorious bread.  As I mentioned earlier, cold cuts and cheese are typical at the breakfast table.  As far as cold cuts go, I would say the most popular are some sort of "Wurst" (but not the hotdog style wurst, more like bologna), Salami, and Ham; deli Turkey exists but is rarely eaten.  The cheese is fantastic.  As sliced cheese, Berg (Mountain) Cheese, Butter Cheese or Emmenthaler (Swiss) are probably the most popular; of the spreadable variety Brie is very popular as well as Camembert and several flavored cream cheese like spreads.  Germans are certainly not afraid of butter, it will regularly be used as a condiment instead of mayonaise.  Outside of the cold-cut sandwiches, there are of course several varieties of spreads such as Nutella, Philadelphia, Exquisa (a cream based spread), jams... just to name a few.  You really can't go wrong.
The yogurt in Germany is out of this world, or I guess out of the American world!  It's on a whole different level; think creamy, super fresh, and super cheap.   With a little bit of Müsli (sort of a less sweet granola), it's a great start to the day.


But.... sometime you get a little craving for an American breakfast.  Hans, a friend from the JYM program, introduced me to this fascinating way to eat an egg: inside a slice of toast.  Brilliant.  Of course for this undertaking, we had to use the American style Toast bread.  It's super easy and looks pretty cool.

Take a regular slice of bread, cut out a circle in the middle (with a glass or just free-form it with a small knife), heat equal parts butter and evoo (I like to put a little bit of rosemary in the pan as well) and once the oil/butter is hot, add the bread and crack the egg into the middle.  Let the egg set and flip it, cook until the egg is done!  It's simple, looks pretty cool and tastes good!

Guten Appetit!

Farro/Spelt/Dinkel...whatever you want to call it! A healthy recipe for the New Year.

After a wonderful visit from my family, I am completely full of Bavarian food. 

I've had more than my fair share of Spätzle, Würstl, Schnitzel, Knödeln, Brezen...  too much!  It was good to cook a veggie-rich dinner tonight :-)

Cooking for one person is a little less than rewarding for the most part. It can feel like a waste to pour all of your effort into a fancy meal when you are the only one who will enjoy it.  Therefore, meat has become a luxury and things like pasta have become the norm.  Normal spaghetti noodles, penne and the like, however, can get quite boring and it's not so healthy.  I read a lot of Heidi Swanson's blog, 101 Cookbooks, and have seen Farro pop up a few times.  I finally decided to give it a try.  After many a disappointing trip to the market due to the language barrier (food vocab can be difficult!) I checked for the translation (and to make sure it would be available over here) and set off to purchase "Dinkel."  It looks a little like brown rice but it's the full form of the wheat grain.  It's nutritional value is much higher than that of normal pasta; it's a whole grain so the vitamins have not been stripped away. It's a good source of complex carbs as well as fiber and protein.  It soaks up more liquid than rice and has a nuttier flavor.  It's great mixed with veggies like I did or I have also read to use it for soups or salads.

Farro is pretty easy to prepare. For best results soak it overnight or as longs a possible.  For a still delicious spontaneous Farro-meal, don't worry about the soaking.  It will be a little more crunchy but will cook properly, no problem. 

General Farro prep:

For one cup of Farro use about 2 1/2 cups of salted water, boil the farro and water together and reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the farro is soft.  It will be soft, but it has a little bit of a bite, more so than rice or other grains I have tried. 

Zucchini-Eggplant Farro

source: original recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup (185g) of Farro, soaked if possible

1/2 cup (1 dl) milk (optional) with 2 cups (4dl) salted water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

about 1/4 cup slivered almonds (more or less to your preference)

1 zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces

1 eggplant, cut into bite sized pieces

one tomato, diced

about 1/2 of a normal sized block of feta, crumbled

fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper

Cook the farro as described above.  I used a little bit of milk with the water to cook mine, just as an experiment, I really liked it! I think buttermilk would be even better. 

As your farro is simmering, prepare the veggies.

Heat the oil in a medium pan and add the garlic, onion, and almonds. Add a little salt to bring out the flavor of the onions. Sautée about 5-7 minutes, until lightly browned.

Add the zucchini, eggplant and tomato and cook until tender. 

Drain the farro if there is any liquid left.  Add the cooked farro to the sautée pan with the feta and combine.  Finish with a little bit of lemon juice, salt and fresh pepper and enjoy!!

I really liked this dinner!  It's healthy, filling and delish!  It was very easy to prepare and it's something that is very open to variation.  You can swap veggies pretty freely (possibly asparagus??), swap the almonds for another nut, add a little bit of wine, etc. 

I wish you all a splendid New Year. Einen guten Rutsch ins Neujahr!

Guten Appetit! 

Frohe Weihnachten!! God Jul!! Christmas celebration in Munich and Norwegian Christmas Bread Recipe.

Ich wünsche Euch alle frohe Weihnachten!!
I couldn't ask for a better German Christmas experience.  After much delay and drama with the flights, my family arrived in Munich on Friday morning; just in time to enjoy the last leg of the wonderful Munich Christmas Markets.  Everyone is loving it, especially Dad!! They all love the hearty bavarian food and the Christmas specialities like Glühwein and Gebrannte Mandeln.
We had dinner in my tiny apartment last night; they all got to try the famous Käsespätzle and I made a Norwegian Christmas Bread, Julebrød.  It was quite cozy in my room but a success!

I am taking an introductory Norwegian course this semester and love it!! We had a Scandinavian Christmas Celebration with the University a few weeks ago where we saw the Swedish Lucia tradition, sang Norwegian Christmas songs, and had a potluck meal of Scandinavian food.  I made Julebrød and really liked it, so much that I made it again for my family!  It's a very slightly spiced sweet yeast bread, the perfect compliment to a warm glass of Glühwein (or gløgg!).  Julebrød literally translates to "Christmas Bread," and I find it to be absolutely perfect for Christmas!
I found the recipe on Trines Matblogg, a Norwegian food blog.  The recipe was very easy to follow and turned out just as promised.  Her recipe makes 3 julebrød, so I divided it and just made one.  I ended up tweaking the recipe very slightly last night; going with the gløgg/julebrød combination, I decided to soak the raisins in Glühwein instead of water.  I really like it!  It wasn't too overpowering, but instead just the right compliment to the spice of the bread and really taking it to the next level of Christmas baking :-)

Julebrød

Translated and very slightly adapted from Trines Matblogg  

Ingredients:

330-350 g all purpose flour (about 2 2/3 c) 

2 dl Milk (a little less than one cup), warmed to about 30 C/85 F 

15 g fresh yeast (10g dry active yeast/ 5g instant yeast) 

50g sugar (1/4c) 

1 tsp cardamon 

1/4 tsp kosher salt 

about 1 Tbsp Butter, cubed 

about 100 g rasins, soaked in gløgg, Glühwein, sweet red wine, or water (at least 30 minutes, better if overnight) 

egg, for brushing

Combine all ingredients except for butter and raisins in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix at a low speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth.  If the dough seems too sticky, add a bit of flour.  

Cube the butter and mix into the dough, increasing the speed of the mixer slightly.  Add the raisins and mix to just combine.  The dough should be ready to rise.  

Cover the bowl with a towel and allow it to rise for 1 hour.  The dough should now be easy to work with.  Shape the dough into a circular loaf or if you'd like, a few smaller rolls.  Allow the shaped bread to rest about 20 minutes longer.  Place the dough on a parchment paper lined tray and let them rise a bit longer until they double in size.  Brush with a lightly beaten egg and score the top of the loaf.  

Bake at 200 C/390F on the bottom rack for 25 to 30 minutes (less if you are doing smaller loaves).  

Enjoy with butter, goat cheese (very Norwegian!) and tea, coffee, gløgg or Glühwein!  

Although I love to cook, the space is a little too limited in my room to make Christmas brunch.  The restaurant Ratskeller has been recommended to me over and over again so I thought it would be the perfect place to take the fam for brunch, it was great!! We got there at 10.30 and were served food and drinks until after 2pm!  The food was all very good and presented very nicely.  It was definitely a good choice for a nice Christmas meal! 

Guten Appetit!

Munich at Christmastime and Chili and Cornbread

Winter has finally made it to Munich. The Christmas spirit has taken over the city. Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) are all over. They are great, I don't want the season to end! Munich itself has quite a few, Marienplatz being the most popular (and definitely my favorite) and a few of us visited Germany's most famous market in Nürnberg. Personally, I prefer the one in Munich, it just feels like home! The Christmas markets have a huge selection of handmade goods like nutcrackers and Rauchermännchen and of course a variety of amazing German street food. Riesenbratwürste served in an entire baguette, Bratwurst- and Leberkäsesemmeln, Rahmbrot (flatbread with a cream sauce and toppings), etc. The warm gebrannte Mandeln (sugar roasted almonds) are definitely our favorite sweet snack. There is nothing quite like being at the Christmas market in the snow with a glass of Glühwein: a sweet, warm, spiced wine. The first time I tried it I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it, but now I'm dreading the end of the Christmas and Glühwein seasons! Glühwein comes in several varieties, the normal red wine, normal with a shot of either amaretto or rum, or white Glühwein. There are also special Weihnachtsbiers, Feuerzangenbowle and Eierpunsch. Of those, I've only tried the Eierpunsch and was honestly not impressed! I was expecting a sort of eggnog like drink but it was some kind of egg liqueur with whipped cream, I'll stick to the Glühwein!  

Riesenbratwürste

Gebrannte Mandeln

German winter days can be pretty tough. It is starting to get very cold and the sun starts to go down before 4pm Aka comfort food weather!! I decided to make a totally American (particularly southern) dinner after a day of shopping in the christmas markets. Turkey and Black Bean Chili with homemade cornbread; it really hit the spot! The chili itself is very healthy; it's made with lean ground turkey instead of beef and vitamin rich black beans. I can't say the same about the cornbread, however. It's made with sour cream and a bit of buttermilk and best served with fresh honey butter. Neither chili nor cornbread is very well known in Germany.  I couldn't find chili powder so I just made it with paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper.  It seemed to work well!  This was definitely the perfect meal for a cold evening.

  

Turkey and Black Bean Chili 

1Tbsp Olive Oil

2 c finely chopped red pepper

1 c chopped onion

½ c finely chopped carrots

2 lg garlic cloves minced

4 tsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 lb ground turkey breast

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

3 c canned no salt chicken broth

1 small can of tomato paste (or to taste) 

Heat oil in large saucepan over med heat.

Add pepper, onion, carrots and garlic; sauté until

tender about 12 mins.  Add chili powder and cumin.

Stir to blend.  Increase heat to med high and add turkey.

Break up the meat and sauté until no longer pink. 

Add beans, broth & tomato paste.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer until liquid thickens.

Season with salt and pepper.

Top with sour cream and shredded cheese.  

Sour Cream Cornbread 

Marcus Samuelsson

1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (145g) yellow cornmeal 

2 Tablespoon (25 g) sugar 

2 teaspoons baking powder 

dash of cayenne or hot paprika (to your taste, about 1/2tsp) 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 cup sour cream 

1/3 cup buttermilk 

2 T olive oil 

Preheat the oven to 400 F (about 210 C).  Generously butter a 9x5 loaf pan. 

Combine the dry ingredients in one (larger) bowl, whisk to ensure everything is well mixed.  

In a smaller bowl whisk together the wet ingredients.  

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones, mixing until just combined.  (Over mixing at this step will make for denser bread).  

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes.  




Guten Appetit!