Swiss Fried Potatoes (Rasti)
4 medium potatoes
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup diced Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons water
Heat 1 inch salted water to boiling. Add potatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Peel and shred potatoes or cut into 1/4-inch strips. Heat butter in skillet until melted. Add potatoes, onion and cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook uncovered over medium heat, turning frequently, until potatoes start to brown, about 10 minutes, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons butter to prevent sticking if necessary.
Press potatoes with spatula to form a flat cake; sprinkle with water. Cover and cook over low heat, without stirring, until bottom is golden brown and crusty, about 10 minutes. Place inverted platter over skillet; invert potatoes onto platter.
Yields 4 to 6 servings.
Stuffed Tomatoes
4 beefsteak tomatoes
4 ounces German Camembert or Bavarian Brie
2 scallions
4 anchovy fillets
1 tablespoon capers
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
Salt and ground black pepper
Remove stalk from the top of each tomato. Slice off the bottom of each tomato. Remove core from the bottom of each tomato. Cut a slice from the rounded end of each tomato and scoop out the pulp and seeds with a small teaspoon. Strain out the seeds and use the pulp and juice for the filling.
Place anchovies in a little milk and let soak for about 5 minutes to remove salt. Rinse, pat dry and chop. If the capers are large, chop them roughly.
Chop scallions finely and mash with the cheese, capers, anchovies, caraway seeds, salt and pepper. Add reserved tomato juice and pulp and mix ingredients together thoroughly. Spoon the filling into the tomatoes and place them on serving plates. Top with the reserved tomatoes slices and serve chilled.
Stuffed Sole (Northern Germany)
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups fish or vegetable stock
3 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
6 ounces peeled, cooked shrimp
4 ounces canned, frozen or fresh cooked crabmeat
4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons brandy
1 ounce fresh breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
6 to 12 sole fillets, depending on size
4 tablespoons melted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter and add flour. Cook for about 3 minutes over gentle heat or until pale straw colored. Add stock and bring to a boil. add mushrooms and allow to cook until the sauce thickens. Add cream and re-boil the sauce. Remove sauce from the heat; add brandy, shrimp, crab and breadcrumbs.
Skin sole fillets and spread filling on the side that was skinned. Roll up and arrange in a buttered baking dish. Spoon melted butter over the top and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the fish is just firm.
Strudel Dough
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup butter, melted
Mix salt, flour and egg. Add water. Mix dough quickly with a knife, then knead on board, stretching it up and down to make it elastic, until it leaves the board clean. Toss on a small, well-floured board. Cover with a hot bowl and keep it warm 1/2 hour or longer.
To stretch the dough, have materials for filling ready before stretching. Work quickly. Lay dough in center of a well-floured tablecloth on table about 30 x 48 inches. Flour dough. Roll into a long oval with rolling pin. Brush dough with 1/4 cup of the melted butter. With hands under dough, palms down, pull and stretch the dough gradually all around the table, toward the edges, until it hangs over the table and is as thin as paper. Cut off dough that hangs over edge and drip 1/4 cup more butter over surface of dough.
To fill, roll and shape, sprinkle filling over 3/4 of the greased stretched dough. Fold a little of the dough at one end over the filling. Hold the cloth at that end high with both hands and the strudel will roll itself over and over, like a large jellyroll. Trim edges again. Twist roll into a greased 16 x 11-inch pan or cut into 3 strands and lay them side by side in pan. To bake strudel, brush top with more melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 1/2 hour.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 1/2 hour longer, or until brown and crisp. Brush well with butter from time to time during baking, using all together about 1 cup melted butter for the strudel with its fillings.
Steamed Pudding (John in the Pocket)
1 package active dry yeast
3 cups sifted flour
1 egg, well beaten
3/4 to 1 cup milk
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup currants
1/3 cup orange peel
Salt, to taste
Scald milk, then cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add egg and milk and yeast mixture to the flour. Dough will be sticky. Work in the raisins, currants, orange peel and salt. Cover and let rise in a warm place 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Meanwhile, sprinkle a clean wet cloth with some flour. Tie dough into cloth, place in boiling water and simmer 2 to 3 hours.
Remove from cloth. To serve, slice pudding and spread with melted butter and brown sugar.
Springerle (German Anise Cookies)
Pennsylvania Dutch call them Schpringerkuche (springer cakes).
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
4 cups flour
10 drops anise oil
2 tablespoons aniseed
Add sugar gradually to well beaten eggs and continue to beat for 15 minutes with electric mixer, or 30 minutes with rotary beater. Add anise oil and blend into mixture. Gradually add sifted flour and stir until a smooth, stiff dough is formed. Chill dough in refrigerator.
Roll out on lightly floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Roll with a springerle roller or on a springerle board to make designs. Press firmly and cut on line of imprint. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle with aniseed and let stand in a cool place overnight to dry.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 3 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F for about 12 minutes longer.
When baked, these cookies should be light in color and appear frosted. Keep cookies in a tightly covered can for 2 or 3 weeks before using. To soften, put an apple in container a day or so before they are served.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Spice Cake (Ontbijtkoek, Holland)
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
Combine all ingredients to a smooth paste. Butter an 8 x 3-inch cake tin. Fill with dough and bake for about 1 hour at 300 degrees F. Allow to cool.
Keep in a tin for 24 hours before serving.
Spaetzle ("Sparrow" Dumplings)
3 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil while making the noodle dough. Beat eggs with milk. Mix flour with salt and nutmeg. Beat egg-milk into the flour to make a very wet dough. Spoon a large blob of dough onto a small plate. Hold the plate with one hand over the pot of simmering water. Scrape off pieces of the dough by pressing the tip of a table knife against the rim of the plate so that the dough drops into the water. Work as quickly as possible.
When the dumplings rise to the surface, skim them with a slotted spoon into a warm bowl of melted butter. Toss the spaetzle lightly with a fork in the butter before serving. Or, as an alternative, put the butter in a frying pan and add 4 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs. Cook until golden brown and crisp and toss with the hot spaetzle. Alternatively, pour the melted butter over the spaetzle and toss with poppy seeds.