Geschnetzeltes is a popular German dish for the busy cook. A creamy sauce with pork, mushrooms and onions, it is traditionally served with Spätzle, cucumber salad or potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 kg lean pork, cut into thin strips
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 300 g fresh white button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder
• 2 beef stock cubes
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat the oil in a stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat and brown the pork on all sides. Transfer the pork to a plate and set aside.
2. Add the onions to the skillet, adding more oil if necessary, and saute until translucent and beginning to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the onion mushroom mixture to pork and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in the skillet and whisk in the flour, continuing to whisk until the mixture is a rich caramel brown. Add the milk and heavy cream, whisking continually, until the mixture is smooth and thickened.
4. Add the paprika and crumble in the beef stock cubes and whisk until smooth.
5. Return the meat mixture to the sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add more milk if the sauce is too thick, or add a flour slurry to thicken.
6. Serve immediately with hot Spätzle or fresh cucumber salad.

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The combination of tangy cider vinegar, salty soy sauce, onions, and smoked bacon makes this German side dish absolutely addictive. It’s so good, you’ll want to eat it as the main meal! There is something about adding bacon to recipes that sends the dish over the top. Between the crispy tenderness of the sauteed cabbage and the crunchy bacon bits, this easy side dish is pure perfection.

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Speckeier are scrambled eggs with bacon. It’s a perfect dish for Vesper – German snack time in-between main meals (Zwischenmahlzeit).

A Zwischenmahlzeit is also referred to as Brotzeit, Vesper or Zweites Frühstück for adults. After all, snacks aren’t just for children! The English word “snack” is also used, as is Imbiss, although these refer more to actual meals that may replace main meals. However, the Zwischenmahlzeit is meant to be eaten in addition to the main meal to fill one up during work hours.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 tbsp butter
a small onion, diced
100 g bacon, diced
1 tbsp flour
1/3 cup milk
salt
pepper

Preparation:

1. Beat eggs lightly, add flour, mix thoroughly. Add milk, set aside.
2. On a hot frying pan melt the butter, add onions and bacon and roast till golden-brown.
3. Pour the egg mix into the frying pan with onions and bacon. Stir everything around till the mix sets. Serve with fresh Bauernbrot and pickles.

Kalbsvögerl, literally “little veal birds”, are small veal roulades with herbal spicy stuffing. Perfect to enjoy with mashed potatoes or Spätzle.

Ingredients:

8 thinly cut veal steaks (100 g each)
2 spring onions
1/2 bunch of parsley
2 stems thyme and marjoram
1 (about 125 g) coarse, uncooked bratwurst
1 tbsp flour
1 bunch of soup vegetables
3 tablespoons butter
200 ml veal stock (1 glass)
100 ml of dry white wine
2 tablespoons whipped cream
1 knife tip of grated lemon zest
kitchen string
salt
pepper

Preparation:

1. Wash the steaks, dab dry, place on a board and knock a little flatter. Season with salt and pepper. Wash the spring onions, clean and cut into small pieces. Wash herbs, shake dry, peel off leaves and finely chop.
2. Squeeze the sausage out of the skin into a bowl. Mix with spring onions and herbs and spread evenly on the schnitzel. Roll up the flattened steaks and tie them up with kitchen string. Turn the rolls into flour, tap off the excess flour.
3. Clean, wash and dice the soup vegetables. Heat the frying pan and add butter. Roast the rolls on medium heat for about 10 minutes, remove. Add the vegetables to the frying fat and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring.
4. Add the stock and the wine, put the rolls back in the pan and cover, cook for about 45 minutes on a low heat. Remove Kalbsvögerl from the sauce. Pass the sauce through a sieve, heat and stir in the cream.
5. Season the sauce with lemon zest, salt and pepper. Heat the rolls in the sauce again briefly. Garnish with thyme. Enjoy!

Räuberfleisch is easy and quick to prepare, yet far from fast food. Guten Appetit!

Ingredients:

2 paprika
8 champignons
1 onions
8 pickled cucumbers
4 tbsp tomato paste
800 g pork gulasch
pepper
ground paprika
4 garlic

Preparation:

1. Chop the peppers, mushrooms, gherkins and onions.
2. Lay out a deep plate with aluminum foil and spread the tomato paste on it. Spread the pork goulash on it.
3. Add onions, peppers, cucumbers and mushrooms.
4. Season with pepper and paprika powder. Chop garlic cloves and add.
5. Stew in the oven for one hour at 160 degrees Celsius.
   

Spargelzeit (asparagus season) starts in Germany in April and lasts for two months every year. At this time of the year small wooden huts start popping up across Germany. The message they all bear is simple. It’s just one word. “Spargel.”

German passion for asparagus is unrivaled. One fifth of the entire arable landmass of the country is dedicated to its cultivation. 55,000 tonnes are produced each year in the short spring season, with a gross value of €175 million.

What is it about asparagus that makes it such hot commodity? There are several reasons for that:

1. Because it’s the first fresh vegetable of spring, it gives people a mental boost when they see it on the shelves.
2. What’s more, it is healthy and low in calories.
3. Then there is the tradition. “The Gods ate asparagus; kings and queens ate it… and normal people too,” jokes Manfred Schmidt, who runs the Asparagus Museum in Beelitz.
4. But there is one other reason for its success. “Many people say it is an aphrodisiac. There is a saying here that if a newly wed couple are to have a good wedding night, she should eat asparagus and he should eat celery,” the Spargel historian notes.

Asparagus has been growing in the German countryside for millennia. Writing his “Natural History” in the 1st Century, Pliny the Elder noted the many pale stems which protrude through the Germanic soil, reports Die Welt. Up until the First World War, production grew steadily and in 1908 a co-operative was founded. During the First World War profits fell, although they recovered in the 1920s but the Second World War put an end to the golden years.

The policies of collectivized farming in the 1970s ensured that the farms simply didn’t have the manpower to cultivate the white vegetable – it is highly labor-intensive since the roots must be cut by hand. Cheap labor from Poland has provided all the manpower the farms need, and production has surpassed pre-war levels.

The only question left to answer is how one should best cook one’s Spargel. Mostly it’s all about keeping it basic.

All you’ll need is some asparagus, olive oil and salt and pepper:

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus and discard.
2. Spread the asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Toss the asparagus to evenly coat with oil.
3. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
4. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes on the top rack of the oven. The roasting time will depend on your taste. You can roast until the asparagus are just barely cooked through or quite well roasted and getting a little crispy on the ends. It’s up to you!

Typical German beef soup with bone marrow dumplings, vegetables, noodles and egg custard, so comforting and delicious!

Ingredients:

2 large bread rolls
2 1⁄2 cups bread crumbs
1⁄2 cup finely chopped parsley
2 eggs
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
0.5 kg beef marrow bones
10 cups beef stock
1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 small leek, white and light green parts only, finely chopped

For the egg custard:

4 eggs
120 ml/ ½ cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
a pinch of nutmeg

Preparation:

1. Make the custard: mix the eggs, milk, salt and nutmeg very well. Pour the mixture in a freezer bag, knot the bag very tightly. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, lower the heat, place the bag with the eggs in the pot and simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes, turning the bag a few times in between, until the eggs are completely set. Take out of the water, let cool for a while, remove the bag, slice the eggs thickly, then chop them into small squares or diamonds. Add to the soup during the last cooking minutes.
2. Make the dumplings: place rolls in a bowl and pour warm water over them and let sit until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze completely dry. Using your fingers, crumble rolls into a medium bowl. Add bread crumbs, 6 tbsp. parsley, eggs, nutmeg, and salt and pepper; set aside.
3. Using a small spoon or butter knife, scoop marrow from bones into a small saucepan; heat over medium heat until melted. Pour into bowl with rolls and mix until dough forms. Shape into about thirty 1-oz. balls; set aside.
4. Mix stock, carrots and leek in a 6-qt. saucepan, season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium, and add dumplings. Cook, stirring occasionally, until dumplings are cooked through, about 3 minutes.
5. To serve, ladle soup and dumplings into bowls, and garnish with remaining parsley.

German stuffed cabbage rolls, or Kohlrouladen, are the quintessential German comfort food.

Ingredients:

1 large white cabbage about 1800 g
600 g of ground beef
1 bread roll
1 egg
1 egg yolk
150 g of chopped onion for meat
150 g of chopped onion for gravy
1 beef cube
2 tablespoons of crème fraîche or sour cream
2 teaspoons of salt
½ teaspoon of paprika (hot)
½ teaspoon of black pepper
750 ml of water
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
3 tablespoons of corn starch
baker’s twine

Preparation:

1. Remove the bottom core of the cabbage head with a knife. Place the cabbage in a large saucepan of boiling water and cook for 2–3 minutes. The leaves will loosen. When done, place the cabbage in a colander and rinse with cold water. Carefully separate the leaves and dry them with a paper kitchen towel. If there is some of the core remaining on the leaves, cut it out with a small kitchen knife. Use eight large leaves (if the leaves are not large enough, you can use two leaves) and spread them out on your work surface.
2. Soak the bread roll in the water. Place the ground beef in a bowl and add a half of the diced onions, egg, egg yolk, paprika, pepper, and salt. Wring the water out of the bread roll. Spread the bread roll pieces over the meat and mix all the ingredients together.
3. Divide the meat into eight portions and place each rounded ball on a cabbage leaf. Wrap the leaves around the meat by folding the right and left sides over the meat so that the meat remains contained in the leaves. Use baker’s twine to hold the rolls together.
4. Heat up the oil in a roasting pan and fry the cabbage rolls until slightly brown. Remove the cabbage rolls from the pan and set aside.
5. Sauté the other half of the diced onions in the roasting pan until they are transparent. Fill the pan with the water and add in the tomato paste. Crumble the beef cube and add to the water. Mix with a whisk until tomato paste, and beef cube is dissolved. Place the cabbage rolls back into the roasting pan and cover it. Simmer for about 35–40 minutes. As the water evaporates, add more from time to time. Use kitchen tongs to remove the rolls and place them on a plate. Keep warm.
6. Add crème fraîche or sour cream. While the gravy is heating, stir with a whisk. Dissolve the corn starch in a cup with a little water and add the dissolved starch slowly to the gravy while constantly stirring. Continue until you have reached your desired texture for your gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste along with some paprika.Serve with mashed potatoes and cucumber salad.

Red cabbage is often used raw for salads but can also be eaten cooked. This German vegetable dish is a favorite and can be served with Rouladen, Sauerbraten or Buletten. For those who find sauerkraut a little too strong or sour, Rotkohl is a sweeter, less pungent alternative. Basically a sweet-and-sour braised red cabbage, Rotkohl is very easy to make and it tastes great.

Ingredients:

1 head red cabbage, shredded
1 apple, grated (you can leave the skin, just remove the seeds)
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp black pepper
a pinch of cloves
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 Tbsp butter

Preparation:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat until foamy and golden. Add the shredded red cabbage, grated apple and toss to coat with the butter. Sauté until slightly wilted, about 5 minutes.
2. Add sugar, apple cider vinegar, cover and simmer. Sprinkle sugar and cloves over the cabbage and toss to coat evenly. Add the vinegar and lemon juice to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and simmer until the cabbage is completely tender, stirring often, about 30 minutes total.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. If making sweeter version: brown the butter in a small saucepan by cooking it over medium-low heat until foamy and golden. Remove from heat and stir into cooked cabbage mixture with the lemon juice.

Pork roast is the staple of German cuisine. If the skin and the underlying fat is included in the cut, it is  called Krustenbraten, where the skin is made into a crispy crust.

The roast is served with vegetables of the season, a salad and dumplings (bread or potato) or red cabbage.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg pork shoulder with rind
2 carrots
2 onions
1 clove garlic
salt, pepper, nutmeg, caraway seeds to taste
rosemary sprigs for garnish

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200° C.
2. Prepare the roast by first cutting a criss-cross pattern into the rind. If the rind is too soft to cut, place the meat in the freezer for 10 minutes.  This hardens the rind enough to cut the pattern.  Season the meat with salt, pepper, and caraway seeds.
3. Wash and peel the carrots and chop them into small cubes. Peel the onions and garlic and chop them up into small chunks. Place all the vegetables into the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the meat on top of the vegetables, rind side down.  Add 2 cups of water.
4. It’s important that during the first part of baking the rind remain moist. Only at the end of the baking period is the roast turned around, the oven temperature is increased, and the rind is allowed to get crispy.  This ensures that the rind doesn’t get gooey and tough.  But, be sure to keep an eye on your roast. With the high oven temperature, the rind can burn very quickly.
5. Roast the pork for 1 hour in the oven. At this point, make sure that there is still liquid in the roasting pan.  If not, add a little more water. Reduce heat to 180° C and continue roasting the meat for another 1 1/2 hours.
6. At this point, turn the roast over so that the rind is up and out of the liquid. Turn up the heat to 230° C.  Bake uncovered an extra 5 to 10 minutes or until the rind is crispy and brown (but not charred).
7. Remove the roast from the pan. Keep it warm but do not cover it.  With a little extra water, loosen the pan drippings and pour this through a sieve into a small sauce pan. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste.
8. To slice the roast, turn it rind-side down for easier cutting.Tip: Krustenbraten should be eaten immediately, otherwise the rind begins to absorb liquid and salt from the meat, softening it.