Hot German Potato Salad
6 cups diced cooked potatoes; I prefer red new potatoes or Golden potatoes I cook and dice skin on. Both ad color and flavor to the salad.
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar (I prefer brown, but have used white)
1 teaspoon salt
some fresh ground black pepper (1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 pound bacon cut in bits (this is what makes it sooooo good!)Cook the bacon. Leave some drippings in pan (or save if you are pre cooking bacon to prep for day of) and pour the rest into a small bowl. Brown the onion in the pan. Add the remaining ingredients (except potatoes) and whisk until mixed ad to onions and stir until thickened. Add remaining bacon drippings, potatoes and the bacon crumbles, toss and heat through. -ready to serve.
Sausages:
There are raw sausages and pre cooked sausages.
It’s important to know the difference, because the cooking is different.
*The bratwurst on the bottom is raw,
*Muenchner Weisswurst top of plate is pre cooked.
Raw sausages are slowly brought to a low simmer on the stove in a pot of water and cooked until done – about five miinutes. Do NOT boil. Boiling will cause these sausages to split.The cooked sausages just need heating. For them you will bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Turn it off and drop in the sausages to steam. Watch closley so they do not split. (If pre cooking raw sausages SAVE the water they were cooked in. You will need this for your cabbage dishes.)
When your sausages are hot and cooked, just prior to serving you’ll want to create that nice brown “pan stripe” by quickly adding them to 2 table spoons of hot browning butter, turn once – ready to serve! Click here for cooking photos.
Red Cabbage:
1/4 pound bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 head of red cabbage
1/2 apple (optional) 1/2 cup wine vinegar
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour (and a sieve)
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
Chop cabbage then wash and drain. Grate apple.
Take bacon and brown in skillet,
remove when crisp.
Add cabbage and shredded apple to bacon drippings.
Stir, cover then steam over low heat, stirring occassionally and adding some sausage water. (Water retained from cooking your sausages. If they are on the stove at the same time, or if saved from pre-cooking) This makes a tremendous difference in the final flavor.
When cabbage is tender ad the vinegar then stir in the bacon crisps, brown sugar and caraway seeds.
Before removing from heat sift the tablespoon of flour into the pan and stir. This will absorb the excess moisture. A little more “sausage”water should be added. C ontinue cooking and stirring over low heat until cabbage is not “runny”. Prep time 20 minutes, cooking 30 -35 minutes. ( I prefer to make the day ahead if serving a large group.
Sauerkraut:
Three cans of the cheapest sauerkraut
1 Lb Bacon
1 cup sweet white onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 Tablespoon Caraway seeds
2-3 tablespoons flour
Drain kraut in strainer
cut bacon into strips and brown, crumble and save bacon drippings in pan. reheat drippings and add onion sauteing until clear. Add kraut and caraway seeds stirring to mix well. Very important, add *sausage water roughly 1/2 cup simmer on low heat adding vinegar and stirring. cover let simmer to heat through and through. Add flour using a sieve stirring in after each spooonful. Add rouchly another 3-4 tablespoons sausage water put lid on and stir occasionally. Final touch is to stir in the bacon crisps before serving.
*If you don't have sausaage water use plain water.
Stirring in the potatoes for the hot potato salad. 
Dinner’s ready!
Home made desert… Apfelkuchen…
German Apple sheet cake
This is a really fun desert to make from fresh apples.
Tip: assemble everything before starting. European cooking uses weight measurements. see tips for help.
Dough:
375 gram (13oz) plain flour
1 pkg. dry yeast
50 g (2oz) sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt
1 egg
200 ml (7 fl oz) warm milk
50g (2 oz) melted butter or margarine cooled
Sift flour (if not pre sifted) into mixing bowl and carefully mix in dry yeast. Add the sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, egg, milk and the melted butter. Use dough hook of mixer to work the mixture into a dough. first at low then at high for 5 minutes. ( If you don’t have a dough hook, use wooden cooking spoon and hand mix.)
Move dough into a new bowl which has been pre treated with a teaspoon of oil. Turn dough so that oily side is up. The oil keeps the dough from drying out while rising.
Cover the dough and keep it in a warm draft free place until it has visibly increased in size. (double)
Remove from bowl and turn onto a floured work surface where you briefly kneed it again.
Roll out to fit a greased cookie sheet 15 X11 inches.
Lightly kneeded… While the dough is rising; peel, quarter and slice apples. Set out slivered almonds and rasins.After rolling out the dough and placing on cookie sheet, place apples on first then sprinkle with almonds and rasins.I have made this desert with only apples and without nuts and rasins. It is still tasty and delicious.Serve warn or cold with a wollup of whipped sweetened cream – or vanilla ice cream..
Ready for the oven!
Bake at 400′ – 425′ in a pre heated oven or
convection oven 350′
for 20 -30 minutes.
For the finishing touch mix 3 tbsp apricot jam with 1 tbsp water bring to a boil in small sauce pan. Brush over apples when taken from oven.
Winetrivia -Fun with Food and Wine 