On the Menu: Kaesespaetzle

There's nothing more comforting than macaroni and cheese, right?

What about macaroni and cheese made with swiss, caramelized onions, and egg noodles?

I'd call that pure decadence.

Although there's a bit of prep work involved, this is one of the simplest dishes I've prepared and (bonus!) only requires four ingredients: butter, cheese, spaetzle, and onions. The key, I think, is caramelizing the onions.

Kaesespaetzel
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 cups dried spaetzel
1/2 lb Swiss cheese (Emmental is another good choice), grated
2 onions, sliced thin
2 tbs unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Cook spaetzel according to package directions. Drain.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan and saute onions. Cook until nicely browned, about 15 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8" casserole dish.
4. Pour half of the spaetzel into the casserole dish. Put half the onions on top of the spaetzel. Put half of the cheese on the onions. Repeat layers with the rest of the ingredients.
5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until bottom is bubbly. Serve hot.

On the Menu: German Baked Beans

This experiment has already been interesting and it's been great to see the kids trying new foods and learning about various countries.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure how "German" these baked beans are - would a German from Germany actually recognize it as local cuisine? - but considering they were the only bean dish we could find, I was willing to bend.

These beans have two staples in German food: sauerkraut and apples. Not in a million years would I have thought to put sauerkraut in baked beans, but they offer a surprisingly nice tang to the dish. And the apples, of course, give it an excellent sweetness almost reminiscent of a dessert.

To make this dish, I modified a favorite baked beans recipe. I may make this dish again and tweak it because it was a tad too sweet. If you are worried about the dish being too sweet, decrease the amount of molasses, increase the amount of water, and use unsweetened applesauce.

German Baked Beans 
Adapted from: The Bacon Cookbook by James Villas
Makes 6 main dish servings or 8-10 side dish servings

2 cups dried beans (navy or small white beans work best)
1/2 onion
2 whole cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 lb bacon, chopped
1 tbs salt
1 tbs rum
1 tsp dried mustard
1 16 oz jar sauerkraut, well drained
3/4 cup molasses (can be reduced to 1/2 cup)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1. Soak beans in water for about 8 hours.
2. Pierce onion half with the cloves. Put into the pot with the beans and the baking soda. Bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
4. Drain beans into a 3-4 quart casserole dish, reserving 2-3 cups of the bean water. Add bacon, salt, rum, dried mustard, sauerkraut, molasses, applesauce, and 2 cups of bean water. Mix well.
5. Cover and put in oven. Bake for about 3-4 hours, checking every couple of hours to add water as needed.

Germany Week: The Menu

I grew up in Barrow, Alaska. It's the furthest north city in the United States - way out in Bush Alaska. Normal was being one of the only white kids in school. Normal was 24-hour nights in the winter and 24-hour days in the summer. Normal was trying maktaq and eating Eskimo doughnuts.

Culturally, I am an American. My ancestry, however, is primarily German. Most of my family on both my mom and dad's side emigrated from various parts of Germany, all before the 1900's. My dad's family settled in rural Wisconsin, where there was a tremendous German enclave. In fact, most people still spoke German as their primary language up until World War I.

I love visiting the area around my grandmother's farm. There's a delightful cheese factory in Theresa (Widmer's) and a butcher shop in Brownsville that sells the most amazing brats (Hoff's). The last time I was there, I spent over $50 in cheese and meat (enough said!).

Cheese, meat, onions, cabbage, and apples are a mainstay of the traditional German diet, although there is a significant Turkish population in Germany as well, which explains why kebabs have become very popular in Germany.

This week we will be eating:

German Baked Beans

Kaesespaetzle
Saurbraten

German Apple Cake

Alternative Menu Ideas:

Brats

Pickled fish

Liver sausage

Open sandwiches