Hot Purple Cabbage

Hot Purple Cabbage

 

So I made up the name of this recipe.

It comes from my friend Jan, who makes it for holiday meals all the time.

It's originally from Roger's German side of the family.

 

Roger and Jan

Jan brought it to our Oktoberfest Wine Club party a couple of months ago and David and I really liked it.  I'm always up for a new veggie recipe.

 

Jan assured me it was really easy, so I pestered her until she emailed me the recipe :)

 

She said that she puts all the ingredients together in a large pot.

 

I had a really large head of cabbage, so I dealt with the other ingredients first, then added the cabbage.

 

I placed the apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar, and water in first and let the sugar dissolve over medium heat.



 

Then I added in my purple cabbage.  When Jan made this recipe, I think she used red cabbage.  Or, there may not be a difference.  My outcome just looked a lot purple-r than Jan's!  Regardless, it worked just fine.

 

Mix it up, cover, and let it cook for an hour on medium-low heat.  Stir often.

This is after just 10 minutes.

Serve piping hot, even if you have to microwave it again after transferring to a serving bowl.

 

I love the flavors and will make this again soon I'm sure!

 

Thomas had 3 helpings the night I made it, and Brennan had leftovers the next day with his after-school snack. 

 

(Results not typical)

 

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Guten Appetit!

 

Warm Lentil and Potato Salad

Warm Lentil and Potato Salad

 

I found this recipe in this month's Southern Living and decided to try it for our Oktoberfest-themed wine club last night.

 

I found a very similar recipe online from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, near Germany.  The lentils were a great addition to a traditional warm German potato salad.  David and I really liked this dish, and I'm sure the boys will too.

 

I assumed this dish would take longer than it actually did.  I think you could cook and make up the entire dish in less than 30 minutes.

 

Cook 1/2 c of French green lentils in salted water for 20 minutes, then drain.

Clean red potatoes and halve or quarter them, cooking them in salted water for 15 minutes.  Drain.

 

Combine the potatoes and lentils in a serving dish.

 

 

 

While the potatoes and lentils are cooking, cook the remaining ingredients in a small skillet.

 

 

 

Cook bacon and crumble it, leaving the oil in the skillet.

Add sliced celery, chopped garlic, and finely chopped shallots and cook for 3 minutes.

Stir in red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

Gently stir potatoes, lentils, and dressing and top with chopped fresh parsley just before serving warm.

 

 

Really great German potato salad!

 

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Guten Appetit!

 

Reuben Dip

Reuben Dip

 

We attended an Oktoberfest party last night and I wanted to take a couple of good German dishes.

My friend Kathja shared this recipe for me. 

 

It ended up being great!  I returned with an empty dish.

 

Best part - this is an entirely microwaveable recipe.

Only 5 minutes or so of overall cooking time.

 

 

Kathja is from Austria and said (in her dry German way) that this is a very typical Oktoberfest style dish.  That can be served any month at all!  She loves our obsession with all things Oktoberfest this time of year.

 

She said that she normally uses dried beef for this dish, but if you had leftover corned beef, this is a great way to use up those leftovers.

 

She let me know that men especially love this appetizer for its salty, heartiness.

I found that the ladies liked it too :)

 

I used Armour dried beef.  It's really salty, but the crackers help cut the salty taste.

Really, it was delicious!

 

 

You start by melting a little butter in a microwaveable dish for 30 seconds.

 

Then you add in shredded Muenster cheese (I used Havarti because Kroger didn't carry Muenster), cubed cream cheese, ketchup, Dijon mustard and black pepper.

 

Microwave it again for 1 minute.  Stir it and if it needs another minute, go for it.

 

Don't worry - this isn't the serving dish so don't worry about the messy look.

 

Then stir in the chopped dried beef.

At this point I covered the dish and put it in the refrigerator until we were about ready to leave.

It's not necessary though.

 

When you're ready to serve your dish, place a cup of rinsed and drained sauerkraut in the bottom of your serving dish, top with the beef mixture and stir up just slightly.

 

Microwave for 3 minutes and serve with crackers or small slices of rye bread.

Delicious and decadent!

 

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Guten Appetit!