Europe Pictures

groan! it's lunchtime and I'm eating crackers and fake WW cheese wedges. could it get any worse?

 
Thanks You SOO much for sharing! What a wonderful vacation you had! I am

so glad you were able to go to the opera (actually my MIL would be happy, I just appreciate it when someone has a love for the opera)
Have you checked out fathomevents.com (I think that is the site, they are now offering simulcast of many operas throughout the season. My MIL used to go into NY for all events, but she is slowing down, so this may be a fun alternative / addition to her routine. You should take a look.

Marzipan Stollen caught my attention, and I am not a sweet eater, but that just sounds devine! I was thinking of making your apple strudel, may just find a recipe for a marzipan one....

What a lovely vacation. Thanks so much for sharing the photos!

I would have gained 20 lbs from that trip, but it would have been worth it!

Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your trip, it must have been really special!

 
Richard, I had to look at a few at a time....

it's been a busy day, but WOW! What a fantastic trip, and I am amazed you only gained 5 pounds, the stuff you showed is anything but light eating...
smileys/smile.gif

wonderful, loved the photos, and my favorite one is the one of you sitting at the table in the place near the British Embassy, with a very composed and serious expression, reading... a menu, maybe smileys/smile.gif

 
Steve, that would be hard to say...

most of these roasted meats (the hocks are spit-roasted to perfection, BTW) are just a result of good ingredients and the right equipment, not so much a home recipe. But a nice saurbraten always is a good way to go, especially if you make your own Lebkucken to use in the sauce. Absolutely wonderful are Munich's "Braezelknödeln"--the usual bread dumplings made out of the large Munich soft pretzels. A really wonderful flavor, and they spice them with nutmeg, lemon, parsley, white pepper. A real treat!

 
Richard, is it still a drunken brawl there at Oktoberfest? I can remember being

so surprised at how obnoxious some people were allowed to become. The broken glass covering the ground everywhere. I admit to finding it a bit unnerving. And one American so drunk that he had virtually passed out standing up against a wall while a couple of locals were rifling through his pockets. That was a sad sight. Lots of images very clear in my head yet.

That was about 10 years ago. Has it been toned down at all?.

Not at all a beer-drinker; I sure loved those sausages though.

 
Thanks Richard. I have your sauerbraten recipe,which looks fab and a recipe for pretzel knodel,

courtesy of Hans Rockenwagner, a prominent Austrian chef, here in LA. How's THIS recipe look to you? (My Mom's from Austria so, I usually ask her for info regarding all-things-Germanic-foodish)

Pretzel Knödel
from Hans Rockenwagner

½ cup MILK
¼ cup UNSALTED BUTTER
1 MEDIUM ONION, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup coarsely chopped FLAT-LEAF PARSLEY
6 oz UNSALTED SOFT PRETZELS, cut into ¾ inch cubes
3 LARGE EGGS, lightly beaten
1 tsp SALT
½ tsp FRESHLY GROUND NUTMEG
2 Tbsp finely chopped PARSLEY

In a small saucepan, heat the milk over low heat until nearly simmering, then set aside. In a medium skillet, heat 2 Tbsp for the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions and sauté for 3- 4 minutes or until softened. Add the parsley, stir together for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the pretzel pieces in a large mixing bowl, pour the warm milk over them and stir to mix. Add the eggs, mix well and add the sautéed onion, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir the mixture again and let sit for 5 minutes.

Turn half the mixture out onto a 15”-long piece of heavy-duty plastic wrap place horizontally on the work surface. Spread the mixture along the center of the plastic to form a roughly even sausage shape, about 8 inches long. Wrap the long bottom edge of plastic up and over the sausage, then bring the top edge up and over the bottom edge, encasing the dough. While holding the mixture in at one end, twist the other end several times and tie a double knot in it. Hold the sausage upright with the knotted end down and let the mixture settle and compact, pressing out the excess air through the top end while you hold it closed loosely enough for the air to excape. Twist the top end several times and tie a double knot in it. Cut off the excess plastic at the ends and tie the sausage snugly once in the center. Repeat the process with the remaining mixture.

Fill a large rectangular roasting pan with water and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Add the sausages and simmer for 25 minutes, or until firm, turning them over halfway through the cooking time. Cool to room temperature then chill. (At this point, 1 of the sausages can be frozen for future use. When ready to use, thaw for 1 hour at room temperature, then continue with the recipe. )

Remove the plastic wrap, then slice the chilled sausage with a serrated knife into ¾ inch rounds. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the knödel and sauté for 2 minute son each side, or until golden. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately or within 5 minutes.

 
smileys/smile.gif Love that spice-package one. The Cesky Krumlov Co-op--not shabby! Bigger than I expected!

 
Marg, I was there during the daytime on the first weekend...

I don't deal with crowds very well, so that was my strategy all along. Get in, have a couple beers and a nosh, and get out. I went back into the altstadt to enjoy it. I would have to think it would be the American tourists getting drunk and nasty. Germans (and Europeans in general) are usually very well behaved and happy festival drinkers for the most part. Of course there are exceptions to every rule.

I had several bad experiences on this trip with extremely loud, obnoxious, and bad-mannered Americans who were drinking and thought they owned the place. And since everyone needed to hear what they were saying, they had to shout and scream. These were mostly middle-aged adults. It truly is embarassing at how badly some Americans behave in public. We walked out of 1 restaurant after a table full of these neanderthals was seated next to us.

 
I so understand. I did that frequently.

The great thing about renting short term apartments is that we had a kitchen and did our own breakfasts for about half the trip. Lots of leftovers hauled home to be recycled into breakfast.

 
Steve, looks great. I would make the following tweaks:

Add:

-1 tsp dried marjoram
-change the milk to cream
-1/2 to 1 tsp fresh ground white pepper (to taste)
-substitue shallots for some or all of the onion.
-And if you want to get really authentic, change the butter to rendered pork fat with the cracklings (or add some bacon).

Get your pretzels from a good german-style bakery, and not a grocery freezer case. Or make your own. The store-bought soft pretzels in this country are a pale comparison to those being served in Bavaria and Austria. I'm so lucky that we have a German bakery here in town baking their own pretzels.

The Bavarian Sauerbraten is milder than the recipe I normally use. Many of the places use Beer instead of the usual vinegar based marinade. There is also a vinegar-less marinated roast that is nearly identical to sauerbraten in Bavaria, just without the "sauer"--its called Böfflamott. I can translate a recipe for it you want to give it a spin.

 
My Richard Cookbook is becoming so fat. H and I had planned on working

our way through winter with what I had collected from your Austro-posts. So the entire compendium remains untried. I wonder if I would be the one to become fat, making my way through it alone.

Hmmmm. Must negotiate with friends who are willing to relish leftovers.

 
I certainly understand...

cooking mostly for two, I'm frequently reminded of my grandmother (I'm turning into my grandmother!), who could never cook for a small number of people ("I'm used to cooking for the threshers!," she'd say as she was filling everyone's plates again under protest.)

I would love nothing more than to be making these recipes weekly, but alas, they have from necessity been relegated to company and holiday dinners. But then, that keeps them very special.

Finding a group of friends to meet for potluck would be one solution.

But remember, most german food freezes very well and is very good reheated, if not better, the second time around. I always put a couple packs of sauerkraut in the freezer to take out and serve with the odd quick Brats weeknight dinner.

 
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