One-Crust Pie with Onions: Zwiebelkuchen

When days are getting darker and colder it is time for some autums recipes. One of the most popular recipes in Germany is the 'Zwiebelkuchen'. It translates as 'German Onion Cake', but it is more or less a one-crust pie made with onions. You may change the ingredients as you wish - at least it is all only a question of taste.

It's the perfect dish if you have guests coming and like to enjoy some wine. All sorts of wine go down well with it - it's originally made in those regions where wine is being produced. Enough of the talking now. Let's get ready for some easy cooking. Read through the recipe and you will learn that it is a no-brainer - something for beginners.

Ingredients:

• Ready made yeast dough (or you prepare one by yourself)
• 2 lb Onions
• 2 oz Bacon (cut into small cubes or pieces)
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tablespoons of Sour Cream
• Salt, Pepper, Sugar, Caraway
• Butter
• Some strong tasting cheese (optional)

This is how you do it:

• Spread the dough in a baking pan, so that there is sufficient space for the filling.
• Stir two eggs and two tablespoons of sour cream together, add salt, pepper and the caraway. You may also use some nutmeg and/or a teaspoon of instant broth ... it is not really needed, but i like it.
• Peel the onions, cut them into cubes, put them in a pan and bake them with butter until they are starting to become brown. Add one tablespoon of sugar and keep on baking for about 2 to 5 minutes.
• Cut Bacon into small pieces or cubes.
• Mix the baked onions with the sour cream & eggs, add the bacon and fill it all into the baking pan - onto your dough.
• Grate a little bit of cheese (whatever cheese you like, it should be one with a very intense taste) and spread it on top.
• Put it in the oven for about 45 minutes and enjoy the whole thing while it is still warm.

Mix Onions, Eggs & Sour Cream and Bacon and fill the dough with it.

This how it looks alike: German one-crust Pie with Onions or Zwiebelkuchen.

Cut it into pieces like a cake and serve with white Wine.

Ehhhmmmm .... No. It was not meant like this. Since when do Cats eat Onions?

Obatzda - Bavarian Cheese Spread

Authentic Bavarian Obatzda is a cheese spread of its own kind. To me it is one of the most delicious things, bavarians can offer. You may buy it in a supermarket all over Bavaria, but the home-made version cannot be topped. Mostly you only get a basic variation, that does not offer the strong cheesy and fruity taste of this one. Try it and die for it.

Ingredients:

• 1 Camembert (125 g)
• 125 g Cream Cheese
• 50 g Butter
•  4 Tablespoons Cream
• Bacon or Bacon Cubes
• 1 Pear
• 1 Green Onion
• Half Teaspoon of Ground Caraway and black Pepper

Preparation:

1. Cut Camembert in small pieces. It will work best, if the cheese is not too cold. Mix camembert with cream cheese. Cut bacon and green onion into small cubes or pieces. Also cut half of the pear into small cubes.
2. Heat butter in a pan and add the bacon cubes. Fry until the cubes are slightly roasted. Put butter and bacon  into your camembert-and-cream-cheese-mix, while it is still warm. Add all the other ingredients and mix it all by using a fork.
3. Put the whole thing into the fridge for some hours, otherwise it will be too soft. You need to eat it within a few days otherwise the pear will become unsavory.

Cut Camembert into small cubes

Cut Bacon in small Cubes

Mix all ingredients and keep in fridge for a few hours

Enjoy with Bretzel, on a sandwich or as a Dip

 Enjoy this recipe for an authentic bavarian obatzda with bretzel, on a sandwich or as a dip. If you want the Obatzda to be more liquid, just add some more cream. The pear gives a slight taste of sweetness and fruits and it perfectly points out the intensive taste of the bacon. The basic recipe is without onions, pear, bacon and cream. You may mix in whatever you like. I have tried many variations but I find this one the best.

Classic German Dish: Potato Salad

Today it is time for one of my favourites: Potato Salad. This side dish is very popular in Germany. You can buy it in every supermarket - readymade. But none of those readymade products will ever achieve the qualitiy of a handmade potato salad. It is used for barbeques in Germany, but also together with fish, sausages and all kinds of fried meat.

Basic Ingredients

• Waxy or low starch potatoes
• Boullion Cube, Stock Cube, Cooking Base, Instant Boullion
• Onions
• White Wine Vinegar
• Sugar, Salt, Pepper, Cooking Oil

Optional Ingredients

• Parsley and/or Chives or
• Radish or
• Cucumber or
• Bacon Cubes / Bacon cut into small pieces

Preparation

1. Peel and cook potatoes until ready. Keep them in the fridge for at least a couple of hours. When you start preparing the salad, cut them into slices and put them in a bowl. Put aside and get started on the dressing.
2. Cut onions into cubes.
3. Take a small cooking pot and heat up cooking oil (medium temperature, not too hot), put in the onions and stir. Wait about 1 to 2 minutes. Now add 1 tablespoon of sugar and wait about 2 to 3 minutes - stir from time to time.
4. As soon as the onions and the sugar start to take on colour, add 250 ml water. Boil it and add 2 teaspoons of instant boullion or one boullion cube. Also add 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Take the pot off the cooking plate and add 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar.
5. Mix dressing and potatoes as long as the dressing is still hot. The salad is best served lukewarm.
6. The basic potato salad is ready now. If you prefer a more sophisticated flavour, add radish, parsley, chives, cucumber or whatever you like.

Potato Salad - The basic Type

Potato Salad with Radish and Parsley

Potato Salad with Chicken and Yoghurt Sauce: Healthy and Tasty

 You will certainly find many ways of preparing a real good potato salad, but this here is a classic recipe from southern parts of Germany. It does not only taste good - it is not as heavy as many recipes that use sour cream or mayo. It is also pretty easy to prepare and encourages your creativity.


Find "potato salad" on verygoodrecipes: http://verygoodrecipes.com/potato-salad

Weisswurst - How to Eat

Every year many tourists and business travellers come to Germany. Certainly they will go und try out a real German thing: Weisswurst. Show that you a real master of weisswurst-eating-techniques and do not embarrass yourself by eating it by just cutting the sausage into slices. There are some things to know about eating it:

1. Do not eat the skin. This part of a real weisswurst is peeled off, before eating. After it is peeled, you use a fork and a knife. Originally it's been sucked out. Sounds nasty? Yes it does, but it is true. Nowadays people do not do this any more because it not exactly a decent behavior.
2. The skin does only come off, if you peel it right after taking it out of hot water. Only two minutes will make peeling impossible. This is why they always serve it in a bowl of  hot water.
3. Use sweet mustard together with it. This is what belong to a delicious weisswurst-enjoyment and you will miss the taste of the compontents, if you use something else or nothing.
4. Eat it until midday. In former times there was no way of keeping it fresh until after 12.00 p.m. This is why it is traditionally eaten during the morning. In some restaurants you won't be able to order weisswurst after midday.
5. Eat together with a Bretzel. The Bretzel is not the dry thing, you might know. It is a soft pastry with a crisp skin and it tastes absolutely delicous. Do not accept another side dish and of course it should be a fresh one.
6. Weisswurst is a Bavarian thing.  It is known all over Germany, but the best ones are available in Bavaria. If possible: Wait until you are in the southern part of Germany (Bavaria) and give it a go where it originally comes from.
7. Enjoy it together with "Weissbier". This sort of beer is very gentle in taste and it makes the experience perfect.

Weisswurst - Do no eat with skin

Peel it before eating. It is necessary to use your hands, a fork and a knife.

Enjoy with Brezel, sweet mustard and Weissbier

 Now you are ready to eat, drink and feel like a real bavarian. All right, there are some things missing like the strange bavarian clothes. But no need to wear this carnival-alike leather trousers or dresses like from a 1950's film. It's still tasty when you are wearing a jeans and a shirt.