MKMW: Germany

This week, for My Kitchen, My World, we traveled to Germany, thanks to Roxanne of Roxanne’s Road Rules. I have been to Germany quite a few times, traveling by rail and by car. I’ve been to Berlin and parts of eastern Germany, Munich, Garmisch, Dachau (town), Heidelberg, Tübingen, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt, as well as the historic town of Dinkelsbühl and Neuschwanstein Castle. I have friends who live in Stuttgart, Munich, and Frankfurt.

Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if I had relatives living somewhere in Germany. While doing some genealogical research recently, I discovered that one side of the family actually came from Germany and not the Netherlands as I had always believed. In the US, ‘Dutch” has more than one meaning.

Sometimes, when my German friends travel to the US, they often stop and visit. Several years ago, on one particular visit, we decided to make a German specialty: spätzle. My friend gave me an authentic, German spätzle press, that I treasure.

The dinner we made during her visit was Käsespätzle, layers of caramelized onions, Emmentaler cheese, and spätzle.

However, since I’m a big fan of pork and sauerkraut, I decided to feature these ingredients in my German meal and to make fresh spätzle to accompany it. This made several dinners for me, but I’m not complaining – it’s one of my favorites!

(This dinner is a bit on the brown side, but it really was delicious.)

Pork with Sauerkraut

1 ½ pounds country style pork ribs (or pork chops, sausage, or any combination)

1 15-ounce can sauerkraut, drained

1 small potato, peeled and grated

1 small tart apple, peeled and grated

1 small onion, peeled and grated

½ teaspoon caraway seeds

Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine sauerkraut, potato, apple, onion, and caraway seeds in a casserole. Top with the ribs or chops; bury the sausage in the sauerkraut. I found boneless country style ribs, which worked out well. Bake, uncovered, for about 1 ½ hours, or until done.

Spätzle

¾ cup flour

pinch of salt

pinch of nutmeg

1 egg

¼ cup water

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat egg and add to dry ingredients. Add about half the water and beat well. Keep adding water, a little at a time, while beating, until bubbles start to appear and the batter is smooth. The batter should be thick and wet.

Fill a large pot with water; bring to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cool water. When the water comes to a boil, place some of the batter into the spätzle press, and slowly squeeze so the batter drops into the boiling water. When the spätzle float to the surface, skim them off and place them in the cool water. Repeat until all the batter is used up. When ready to serve, drain the spätzle and saute in butter to reheat. Season with salt and pepper.