Christkindlmarkt Fest Foods

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we visited 6 Christmas Markets. It just doesn't get any better.

Flammkuchen, Glühwein, Bratwurst, Rindswurst, Kartoffelpuffer (Reibekuchen) mit apfelmus, Kinderpunsch, Pommes Frites, Mandeln, Pizzabrot . . .

Zur Rose

Thanksgiving Buffet

We waited in line for 1 hour and 20 minutes at the Wiesbaden Dining Facility. We were part of the 2000+ people who were served in a 4 hour time period.

It was still less time than cooking and doing dishes!

And, it was worth the wait. Turkey, shrimp cocktail, roast, filet mignon, lobster tail, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, dressing, rolls, gravy, salad bar, strawberry shortcake, pumpkin pie, ice cream.

Yo-Yo

We are leaving for Germany tomorrow and will be gone through the weekend. Dinner tonight will most definitely include cleaning out the fridge. It's all good. Here's what we have to choose from:

BBQ beef & beans - enough for one more sandwich
Salad - enough for one person
Minestrone - whatever doesn't get eaten, gets frozen
Chicken from the Kindy Thanksgiving Feast - enough for 2 servings
Wheat rolls, also from the Fest -- 4 left
Pecan tassies, Feast again - 11 left

Whatever leftovers from the Feast were mine to start with. Here's how I made the kid-friendly chicken.

Chicken on a Stick

• Toss frozen chicken thighs with: a drizzle of evoo, Turkey Rub, rubbed sage & thyme.
• Defrost one bag of frozen, boneless & skinless chicken thighs in the fridge overnight.
• The chicken marinates as it defrosts.
• When the chicken is totally defrosted, cut into small bite sized chunks & thread onto wooden skewers (soak the skewers in water for 1 hour prior).
• Line a baking pan with foil, place chicken sticks on to pan & put into a hot oven (400F).
• Bake for 20 minutes, turning 1/2 through, or until the biggest pieces of chicken are cooked through.

Buttery Bread Machine Rolls

I followed this recipe posted on RecipeZaar with the following exceptions:

• I used 2 cups white flour & 2 cups of whole wheat.
• Made 32 smaller rolls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• I let the dough rise a second time for over 1 hour.
• I baked at 350F.

Pecan Tassies

Shall we mosey on over to Not Just Strudel and see how they are made?

OK, fine. There are only ten nine tassies left now. I think I'm going to have to call dibs on the salad for dinner.

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Food Category: PG, Southern Comfort
Difficulty: Easy

With all the festive cooking going on this time of the year, there's less time to actually cook dinner. Last night I was up to my elbows in sugar cookie dough & pecan tassies and ended up with no time to cook dinner. So, I pulled chopped BBQ beef out the freezer & pimped out a can pork-n-beans (add a little mustard, BBQ sauce, brown sugar & heat in the microwave).

Viola! Dinner.

Serve with a big side salad. The bigger the salad, the more butt-friendly this meal is. Which is very important this time of the year. Two days before Thanksgiving is no time to be piggin' out. Save your appetite & calories for the right day.

Leftovers

I cleaned out the refrigerator & made minestrone which is what MiniMe & I quite happily ate for dinner w/a side salad. Man needed a little more meat, so a rummaged around in the freezer & triumphantly produced leftover meatloaf. That with salad & Naan bread (and a side of soup) pulled together a real meal in no time flat. Laze-E ate Naan bread and a salad, only because she was full from 2 bowls of afternoon-snack cereal.

Breaded & Baked Chicken

Food Category: PG, Southern Comfort
Difficulty: Easy

Breading

1 cup bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle of your favorite flavors: garlic/onion powder, seasoned salt, salt/pepper, basil

Chicken

• Cut 2 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts in half crosswise to make 4 servings.
• Lightly coat with flour. You can toss them into a bag with some flour.
• Then dip into an egg/water mixture (50/50).
• Then toss in a plastic bag with breading to coat.
• Place chicken on a preheated baking pan. You can use parchment paper for non-stick & easy clean up.
• Drizzle with evoo or spray with a cooking spray.
• Place baking pan into a hot oven (400F).
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown & crispy, turning 1/2 way through.

Serve with:

Roasted potatoes: Peel & cube 4-5 medium baking potatoes, lightly toss with evoo & season with salt, onion powder & pepper. Bake at 400F on a hot baking pan lined with parchment paper for 15-20 minutes, turning once.

Green beans: Cut with kitchen shears one slice of center cut bacon & cook over medium heat until most of the fat is rendered. Add cut frozen green beans to the pan and a bit of water. Cover and cook until the beans are tender. Stir occasionally. Season with salt/pepper.

Leftover Potential: Beans can be frozen for soup. Chicken can be reheated in a toaster oven (keeps it crispy). How about a chicken sandwich for lunch? Potatoes can be added to scrambled eggs and make an appearance on a breakfast burrito.

Pizza Dip

Food Category: PG-13 with Food Porn tendencies

Difficulty: Easy

My pizza dip is a slightly pimped out version of the Pampered Chef recipe that was super-popular back in the mid-late 90's. It's a great potluck, party & snack dish. I make my dip in a 9X13 stoneware dish because it will stay hot for quite a while out of the oven.

Pizza Dip

Soften one package of cream cheese (full fat or not) in the microwave on the lowest setting. You want a consistency that is easy to stir & spread.

To the cream cheese add:

• ½ teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon basil
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (either powders or shredded)
• 2 large crushed cloves of garlic

Mix well and spread into the bottom of a baking dish.

Pour one large can (26 oz) of spaghetti sauce on top of the cream cheese.

Sprinkle the sauce with precooked & well drained Italian sausage (2-3 links, casing removed).

Top with 2-4 cups of mozzarella cheese & a sprinkling of more Parmesan.

Top the cheese with other favorite toppings. I used sauteed onions & tri-color peppers. Mushrooms & black olives would have been great, too. I left the onions & peppers off the kid-friendly side.

Bake in a 400F until heated through & the cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

Serve with crusty French bread, either toasted or not. And, a salad.

Leftover potential: I don't know from experience, but I think this would keep well in the fridge for a few days. Reheat in either the microwave or oven.

Leftovers

I made Potato Soup for lunch & there was plenty leftover for dinner. So, that's what I had. Man had leftover Greek food for our last restaurant trip & the girls had leftover spaghetti.

Cheap? Yes. Exciting? Depends on what you think about leftovers.

Spaghetti for the Kids

Man & I had a little Hell & Farewell shindig to attend, but I "cooked" spaghetti for the kids before I left. I'm using "cooked" in the very loosest sense . . . meaning I boiled the pasta and dumped a can of cheap spaghetti sauce on top. My only embellishment was a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

They didn't mind my culinary slacking. They probably didn't even notice the lack of loving in the form of meat, garlic, onion, basil, oregano, etc. etc. etc.

Dinner for the adults included a catered BBQ buffet. Normally, that might be a bit scary here in Brussels, but this particular buffet was catered by some of our spouses. Apparently, I'm not the only HausFrau in town who can cook.

Leftovers

For dinner we had leftover chili, grilled cheese sandwiches & raw veggies with Ranch dip. While I didn't actually "cook" dinner, I did make muffins before I went to "work" this morning. Yes, I do have a food porn banana bread recipe, made with a cup of butter, white flour & lots of sugar. I'll save that one for Not Just Strudel. This particular muffin recipe is definitely the healthier, lower fat version.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

Sift together & set aside:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon each: cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg

In a separate bowl, cream together with an electric mixer:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup pack Splenda Blend - brown sugar

Then:

• Add 2 eggs & beat until smooth
• Mix in 4 über-ripe bananas (I leave mine a little on the chunky side)
• Stir in 1/2 cup applesauce

Gentle stir dry & moist ingredients together just enough to incorporate the flour mixture.

Fill lined muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 20-25 minutes (or until passes the Toothpick Test). Makes 16 muffins.

Texas Beer Chili

Food Category: PG-13, High-5
Difficulty: Easy

Tonight, I added a few more veggies & less meat than I normally do, but it still turned out characteristically HausFrau delish. The veggies are definitely in the background & won't be obvious to any veggie-haters. Of course, you can always used an extra 1-2 pounds of meat & less veggies and beans.

Texas Beer Chili:

• Brown 2 lbs of lean ground beef in a big ol' soup pot, remove from pot & drain fat. Set aside.
• Add about 2 T evoo to the pot & chopped tri-color bell peppers. I chopped most of 3 peppers - the rest is in the fridge for a future meal - maybe cheese steaks or minestrone.
• Sautee on medium high heat until the peppers have given up most of their liquid.
• Add the chopped onion. One large or 2 medium. Sautee with the peppers until most of the liquid is cooked off.
• Add the shredded carrots. About 2 large carrots -- double handful.
• Toss the drained meat back into the pot.

• Heat meat & veggies over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes.
• Add 350-500 ml of beer -- preferably a German Dunkel.
• Toss in a lot of crushed garlic - about 4-5 decent sized cloves.
• Continue to cook until the beer has reduced by half.

The picture is cloudy because of all the steam coming off the beer.
But this is an idea of how much garlic to add.

Now it's time to add: can of pumpkin, large can of crushed tomatoes, 3 cans (6 cups) of beans (your choice as to what kind), 4 cups of beef broth (or beef granules in 4 cups of water) & chili seasonings (I totally cheat and use Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit -- it's got great flavor & has never not made an awesome pot of chili. Don't add the masa thickening agent until later!).

Stir everything together & reduce heat to medium low. Continue to cook for 45-60 minutes. Once the veggies are looking thoroughly cooked, add the masa, stir & remove from heat.

Tonight we made Frito Chili Pie -- just ladle the chili into a big bowl & top with Fritos, extra-sharp cheddar & chopped chives. Other great toppings: sour cream, chopped red onion, chopped tomatoes (if that's you thang), chopped peppers, etc.

Leftover Potential: Hopefully, you'll have leftovers. I was so incredibly sad the one time I took chili to a potluck lunch. I was hoping to come home with leftovers for dinner but ended up having the potluck participants practically lick my crock pot clean. I came home with dirty dishes & a house that smelled wonderfully of chili. But, sadly, no chili. Leftover chili will hang out in the fridge for a few days & it freezes well. Besides chili pie, you can slap chili on hotdogs, baked potatoes, nachos or serve it with cornbread.

Teriyaki Chicken & Stir Fry Veggies

Food Category: PG, High-5, Bum Lovin'
Difficulty: Easy

Stir Fry Teriyaki Chicken

• Marinate 3-4 servings of chicken breasts in Teriyaki-Garlic sauce for 3-4 hours.
• Slice chicken into thin strips & pat dry with paper towels.
• Sprinkle with ground ginger.
• Stir fry with evoo over medium-high heat with thin slices of onion & one garlic clove.
• At the very end of the cooking process, season with Teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, salt & pepper.
• Once chicken is browned, remove from pan, cover to keep warm & set aside.

Stir Fry Veggies: Zucchini, Carrots, Sugar Snap Peas

• Slice one large zucchini into half-moons.
• Sautee in evoo until tender crisp.
• Season with sesame oil, soy sauce, salt & pepper.
• Remove zucchini from pan & set aside.
• Add more evoo to the pan & sautee sliced carrots until about half cooked.
• Add sugar snap peas & continue to cook both the carrots & peas until tender crisp.
• At the end of the cooking process, season with sesame oil, soy sauce, Teriyaki/garlic sauce, salt & pepper.

Serve with rice cooked in the rice cooker.



Leftover potential: Straight-up leftovers work. Also, everything will keep well in the fridge for a few days. You can stir fry the whole kit & kaboodle to make fried rice. Veggies & chicken can be frozen and later added to soup.

Sandwiches

Nothing blog worthy. I was feeling very ick & had chicken noodle cup of soup & toast. Everyone else slapped some meat & cheese on bread and called it a meal.

Greek Food

We took a little road trip on Saturday & drove into Holland to visit a Christmas Market that is underground in a cave. By far, it is the most unique Market we've visited & we all loved it. The Christmas Caves (there are actually two) are located in Valkenburg aan de Geul in the Netherlands. It's not far from USAG Schinnen & the Geilenkirchen area. The town itself is picture perfect, when all lit up at night, it's total eye candy.

This is a picture of MiniMe in front of the Cave.

I know. This is supposed to be a food blog. And, it is. I'm just explaining why I didn't cook dinner. We found a Greek restaurant & pigged out on gyros, souvlaki, frites, rice, tzatziki & salad.

Here's a picture of MiniMe enjoying her Kinder Ouzo.

She said it tasted just like Sprite!

Quick & Easy

Food Category: G-Rated
Difficulty: Easy

Tonight, I had a very important meeting to attend. OK, fine. It was a very interesting game of Bunco. But the point is that I threw together some food for the family before I headed out.

Man had leftover turkey & stuffing from the freezer. The kids had chicken strips baked in the toaster oven. I did make mashed potatoes to pull both meals together. Veggies, Schmeggiges. Who eats them if Mom's not home anyway?

Obviously, there was nothing exciting food-wise, but I'll share my recipe for HausFrau's Red Rooster:

2 quarts of cranberry juice
8 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
2 1/3 cups of peach vodka

Mix together into a gallon bucket (I use my Bill Miller ice tea bucket) with a lid & freeze for 24 hours. The cranberry & orange juice certainly count toward you five-a-day. Substitute orange juice blend with calcium for that extra nutritional punch. See how healthy it is? And vodka is made from potatoes. It's almost like kicking back a V8.

Bean & Cheese Quesadillas with Spanish Rice

Food Category: PG
Difficulty: Easy

Bean & Cheese Quesadillas

I had a container of frozen taco meat, beans & salsa in the freezer. I reheated that in the microwave & added to my quesadillas. Lightly butter white flour tortillas & pan grill on one side. Flip & add beans & cheese (gouda & Monterrey jack) and a bit of bottled taco sauce (Taco Bell). Fold in half. Grill each 1/2 side.

Served with microwave-in-the-bag corn & side salad (w/fat free Catalina dressing).

Spanish Rice

• sautee 1/2 medium onion in 2 T evoo until 1/2 cooked over medium high heat
• add 2 c. uncooked white ricecontinue to sautee until the rice begins to turn golden
• add one clove crushed garlic
• add 2 cups of water seasoned with a Sazón seasoning packet, 3 oz tomato paste, T Spanish rice seasoning (I used Fiesta brand, widely available in Texas)
• bring water & rice to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer
• continue to cook until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes

Leftover potential: Rice, beans & corn reheat great in the microwave. To reheat leftover quesadillas: microwave on 1/2 power until no longer fridge cold. Then cook in a toaster oven @ 400F until cooked through & crisp. Or cook on the stove top in a non-stick skillet. You can just nuke, but they lose the good texture & flavor.

Shrimp & Pasta

Food Category: Bum Lovin', PG

Difficulty: Easy

Garlic Pasta

Cook Barilla Plus Thin Spaghetti according to package directions. When cooked, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process & prevent pasta from sticking.

Toss pasta back into pan with 2 large crushed cloves of garlic (don't cook) & evoo. Season with sprinkles of salt, oregano, basil & a tad of ground cayenne pepper.

You could just stop right here. My kids could live off garlic pasta without complaint.

Or you could add the shrimp . . .

Gorton's Shrimp Temptations, Shrimp Scampi: cook according to package directions. I add more shrimp (uncooked, tail on) because the Kinder have wised up. I tell you, it's a sad, sad day when children decide to like shrimp. It's almost as bad as when they figure out that chicken legs are not the most desirable part of the bird. Or that hotdogs pale in comparison to ribeye.

Don't be afraid of the scampi. It's only 120 calories per serving.

Served with frozen broccoli, microwaved to perfection.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bon appetite!

Leftover potential: All of this will hang in the fridge for a few days. Makes a great lunch for during the week. Extra broccoli can be frozen and later added to soups.

Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Sandwiches

Food Category: Bum Lovin', PG
Difficulty: Easy

Chicken Sandwiches:

I used 2 frozen chicken breasts (they were huge) that I cut in half crosswise while partially still frozen. I ended up with 4 thin chicken filets about the size of the bread. Season with garlic & onion powder, pepper & all purpose chicken seasoning. Let the chicken marinate in the dry rub for about 30 minutes.

Pan grill the chicken in a bit of evoo. Baste with a honey-mustard mixture (half honey, half spicy mustard). Remove from heat & set aside until ready to assemble the sandwiches.

I toasted the bread on a stove-top pan grill.

Sandwiches were assembled with:

lettuce

sliced Kosher dill pickles

sliced red onion

3 slices Oscar Mayer precooked bacon (70 calories, lots of flavor)

Miracle Whip

honey-mustard chicken breast

Served with:

Thick cut oven fries.

Here's the white bread, white potato version:

And, the healthier, whole wheat & sweet potato version:

With sweet potato fries as a side, you can easily get 3 veggie servings (one for the lettuce & 2 for the fries).

Here's a recipe & cooking method for garlic oven fries. My only suggestion would be to definitely cook the potatoes on parchment paper to prevent sticking. Other than that, I think I'll give these a try soon. Just like mine, only better because of the garlic!

Again, here's Paula's sweet potato fries recipe.

Wine & Cheese or Tuna Sandwiches

Food Category: Bum Lovin', PG-13 (because of the rotwein)
Difficulty: SuperEasy

This is HausFrau's favorite go-to meal for no fuss, no mess.

Whole grains, calcium, good fat, heart healthy red wine . . . eat & repeat.

Others in my family had tuna sandwiches with leftovers from lunch. I make my tuna with:

• Solid white albacore or chunk light Starkist (the big can)
• chopped celery ribs with leaves
• finely chopped red onion
• 2 chopped boiled eggs
• chopped Kosher dill pickles
• 1/2 chopped red apple
• Miracle Whip -- the bare minimum needed to hold it all together
• pepper, lemon herbed seasoning, fresh parsley

Served preferrably on whole wheat. Certain family members prefer worthless white (Man, Laze-E).

Salsa, Guacamole & Bean Dip with Tortilla Chips

Food Category: PG
Difficulty: Easy

It was snack night at our Haus. Friends were visiting from Hohenfels (Hi, CoopaChick, E-Girl & J-Boy) & this kept the teens happy. Winkler Kupfer Spezial straight from the source in Lengenfeld, Bavaira, kept the adults happy.

Tortilla Chips served with:

Bean dip topped with melted cheese: leftover pinto beans, seasoned with chili powder & cumin, food processed, heated in the microwave, melted cheddar & gouda on top.

Haus Salsa

Guacamole, made with: 2 large avocados, 1 T lime juice, 2 T chopped red onion, 1/4 c cilantro leaves, small clove of minced garlic. Chopped fresh jalepeno peppers optional.

Garnished with sour cream & pickled jalepeno peppers.

Dinner in Paris

Man & MiniMe had McD's. Laze-E & I had yummy ham & cheese on fresh baguettes from a Brioche. Hey, it was a quick day trip. No time to leisurely dine over French cuisine. As a matter of fact, we grabbed food, ran to the bus & ate on the way back to Brussels.That's FastFood, HausFrau style.

Chopped BBQ Brisket Sandwiches

Food Category: Southern Comfort, PG
Difficulty: Easy

BBQ Brisket Sandwiches

I chopped leftover brisket from last night (just on the cutting board, using a big knife) & added last night's leftover sauce with additional bottle BBQ sauce.

Serve on lightly toasted sesame buns with mustard & dill pickle relish.

Served with potato chips, sliced cucumbers/carrot sticks & Ranch dip.

Texas Brisket, Beans & Potato Salad

Food Category: Southern Comfort, PG
Difficulty: Easy

Texas Brisket

I must give Paula Deen credit for this delicious brisket recipe & cooking method. I follow this recipe with the following exceptions: I've never used the bay leaf & I don't add the extra beef broth when cooking the brisket in the oven. Sometimes I cook the brisket on the grill: sear meat over high heat, place into a disposable heavy aluminum roasting pan, add the broth, cover tightly with heavy duty foil & grill over indirect heat for 3-4 hours. I have a 3 burner gas grill & turn off the middle burner & set the outer burners to the lowest setting.

Either way, the meat is very tender & finger-licking good. Yes, brisket is a finger food -- who doesn't sample it while cutting for the ta-da presentation?

Drain the fat from the pan juices & add mix equal parts with your favorite bottled BBQ sauce. Serve as a side to the meat or as a sauce later for sandwiches.

Red Beans

Simply make in the crockpot according to package directions. Add 2 slices of bacon while cooking for a little pork fat action. Season with salt just before serving.

Potato Salad

Peel, cut into small cubes & boil until cooked thoroughly
(estimate one medium potato for 2 servings)

To the drained & cooled potatoes (approx. 2.5 lbs) add:
bacon crumbles (6-8 slices of bacon)
finely chopped red onion (1/2 medium onion)
chopped Kosher dill pickles
2-3 chopped boiled eggs
2-3 stalks of celery & leaves, finely chopped
freshly snipped parsley & chives
3 parts light mayo: 1 part mustard (for the "dressing")
salt & pepper to taste

Leftover Potential: Potato salad will hang in the fridge for a few days. Leftover beans can be run through the food processor with "taco" seasoning for use in Tex-Mex dishes: burritos, nachos, bean dip, etc. Beans can be frozen and added to soups/chili at a later time. I always aim to have lots of leftover meat. Chop for brisket sandwiches, shred & add "taco" type seasonings to make tacos, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, etc. Freeze and add to soups later.

Sandwiches

Food Category: G-Rated, Bum Lovin'
Difficulty: Easy

Plain old sandwiches & chips for dinner. Browned turkey, pepper jack, red tipped lettuce, sliced Kosher dill pickles on whole wheat. Served with Cool Ranch Doritos, Funyuns, cucumber slices, carrot sticks & dill/sweet pickle spears.

Leftovers

My fridge was full of leftovers & needed to be cleaned out before I can "cook big" again. This particular leftover night was kind of like eating out at a restaurant where everyone orders something different off the menu. Except, we eat at home & the menu is limited to what's in the fridge. And, I still have to do dishes.

To round out 4 meals, I baked two potatoes & one sweet potato in the oven.

Man had leftover Schnitzel & a baked potato.

I had leftover turkey & stuffing with a baked sweet potato.

Laze-E had a salad (yes, that is shocking & a most recent development) & a baked potato.

MiniMe had leftover spaghetti.

Jägerschnitzel mit Bratkartoffeln

Food Category: Food Porn

Difficulty: Moderate

Did you see that? Not Just Schnitzel finally has Schnitzel on the menu for dinner! About damn time, huh? For all those hits I've had looking for "schnitzel recipes", I sincerely apologize to the googlers for not delivering sooner. But, I promise, it will be worth the wait.

Tonight, we are having Jägerschnitzel. Most of the time, the Schnitzel part of this meal is breaded & pan fried, but occasionally not. I'm leaving off the breading for tonight & just pan grilling the meat. The Jäger part of this meal means that the Schnitzel is covered in a delicious onion & mushroom gravy.

I've tried to take lots of pictures so you know what you are aiming for. I also highly recommend prepping everything before you begin to cook anything. This includes pounding the pork, slicing potatoes & prepping the salad.

If any of the natives reading this want to add comments or suggestions, we are all ears. FrauRose (Kathy?) or Oma? Any words of wisdom?

How to make Jägerschnitzel:

I have taken 6 Schnitzel cuts of pork - I asked the German Metzgerei (butcher) for 6 Schnitzel & this is what he gave me. You have my permission to begin with pork cutlets or thick sliced pork loin. I marinated the meat overnight with Braten seasoning. Knorr has some products you can purchase over the Internet. If you are in Germany, you can find Braten, Schnitzel, Kotlett, &/or Grill seasonings at any local market.




Pound the schnitzel until uniform thickness of about 1/2 inch. Pan fry in a bit of evoo & set aside in a warm oven until the sauce is ready. You might want to start the sauce first & get it going before you cook the schnitzel.

For the Jäger sauce, wash & slice one large container of mushrooms & finely chop one large onion. Sautee onion in 2 T evoo & 1 T of butter until about 1/2 cooked.

Then add the mushroom and cook on med-high until almost all the liquid evaporates. Mushrooms will reduce in volume by about 1/2. Below is a picture of what the mushrooms look like before.
After the mushrooms cook down, add about 8 oz (250 ml) of dark beer, preferably a German Dunkel. Usually I use a medium to dry red wine, but decided to make a beer sauce tonight. MiniChick (Hi, Laura) convinced me to use beer. Peer pressure at its finest.

The picture above shows what the mushrooms looked like right after adding the beer. Notice the color and texture change. Continue to cook until the beer reduces by about 1/2 in volume. Once the beer & mushrooms look like this (below), add 8 oz of beef broth & 8 oz of light cream.

Reduce heat & continue to cook until the volume of liquid reduces again by 1/2 & the sauce begins to thicken. This might take about 20 minutes. Once the sauce looks creamy & thick, it is done. Remove from heat.

And, while you are cooking the sauce & juggling the schnitzel, you'll need to start the potatoes. Peel, cut in half lengthwise & slice (1/2 moons) at least one medium potato per person. Place in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap & nuke on high for 7-10 minutes. You want the potatoes to be about 1/2 cooked.

Meanwhile, heat 3 T evoo over medium-high heat. Add potatoes to hot oil & top with 1/2 of a chopped onion. Cover at let the potatoes cook for a few minutes. You will need to stir the potatoes frequently, cover when not stirring.


Below is a pictures of the potatoes that are about 1/2 way done. There is still quite a bit of steam being released and a few of the potatoes are starting to brown up nicely. Don't worry about really brown potatoes, that's what provides lots of flavor.


Below is a picture of the Bratkartoffeln cooked to HausFrau perfection. They will have lots of color & will all be cooked through & be fork tender. Season with Bratkartoffel seasoning. I'll have to work on deciphering the seasoning blend. Right now, the best I can tell from the bottle in order: salt, paprika, onion powder, curry, pepper, marjoram, ginger, celery salt, & dry mustard. And a few other ingredients that totally got lost in my German & Chemical translation.


I had some leftover bacon crumbles in the fridge that I tossed in with the potatoes. You can cook bacon in with the potatoes & probably should, but that's not how I made them tonight. Maybe next time I'll add the pork fat like a proper HausFrau should & take pictures for you.

To plate the meal like it would be presented at a typical German restaurant, put the potatoes & schnitzel on one plate & top the schnitzel with the Jäger sauce. Sprinkle with freshly snipped chives. If you want to be all fancy-pants, you can also garnish with a bit of lettuce, cucumber, tomato and either orange or lemon slice.


I rounded out this meal with a side salad which is very typical for a full German meal. For a quick dressing, add 1 T mittelscharf mustard (or Dijon) & 1 teaspoon of sugar to a bottle oil & vinegar dressing. I used Newman's Own Basalmic Viniagrette because that's what I had, but I think a more bland dressing would work best. Toss dressing with lettuce greens, thinly sliced cucumber & (if you can get it) pickled shredded carrots & red cabbage.

Serve with a dark beer if you made a beer sauce. Red wine if you made a wine sauce. Either way . . .

Guten Appetite!