Sunday, March 2, 2014

Fastnacht Kuechl

When you talk to most people about Easter or Lent in general they begin by telling you about their religion and the significance that has on this time of year.  But when I was a kid, all I would have told you about was the food.  Funny now because I am sharing my talent with all of you.

Most of you may know the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday as "Fat Tuesday,"  traditionally celebrated as part of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  But what you may not know is that the Germans celebrate this day, and let me tell you, it makes me fat just thinking about these.  Remember though everything in moderation and since I had the time today I attempted these for the first time on my own.  The recipe is:

4 cups Flour                             1/4 pound Butter
3 Eggs                                      1 cup Milk
1/2 tsp Salt                              1 TBSP Sugar (or 1 Packet Sweet One low calorie substitute)
1 ounce yeast (1/2 of a 2 ounce household cake) (If you were me, you need 4 of the small 1/2 ounce packets)

1.  Sift flour into a mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center. Scald (make hot, you may see a skin form, but you don't want it to burn) half the milk, cool to lukewarm, add a pinch of sugar and dissolve the yeast in the mixture.  Pour into the well and with your fingers mix a little of the flour with the liquid let this sponge rise for a half-hour or so in a warm place.


2.  Melt the butter, add the rest of the milk to warm it, then add to the sponge along with the tablespoon of sugar, the 1/2 tsp salt and the eggs.  


Mix in the rest of the flour.  Beat well until the dough is very light and elastic.  This shouldn’t be a stiff dough; sometimes a little more milk is needed.


3.  Let dough rise again for 45 minutes in a warm place until doubled.  Measure this on your bowl - don’t use fingertip method as you would for bread dough.  Work the dough down.


4.  On a floured board, roll out a portion at a time with a rolling pin (or if you are like me and don't have a pin, and clean wine bottle works as well) to quarter inch thickness. 


Cut into strips two inches wide.  Cut each strip diagonally into three or four pieces, making diamond shapes.  


Put them on a clean towel in a warm place (like the range top) for about 10 minutes to rest.  A slight crust will form on the top, make a small well in the middle, making sure not to puncture the dough.



5.  In the meantime, heat Crisco until hot but not smoking.  Test with a sample kuechle, stretch dough slightly to a circular shape.  Put it in to hot oil crusty-side-down.  It should puff up immediately and brown on one side in about a minute.  When fat is right temperature, fry a half-dozen at a time.  When they are nice and brown ( it takes about a minute on each side) remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  


Roll while warm in granulated sugar, or sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Makes 30 to 35 kuechles.


All in all these tasted really good for my first time making them.  I'll have the master try them next weekend and let him tell me what I can do differently next time.

Well that is all for now, i'll be taking requests on what to make next weekend.  So if anyone has any ideas let me know!

Grandma Miller's Famous Brisket

First let me apologize to all of you for the delay on this recipe, between wedding planning and a little car accident, things have been really crazy.

A couple weeks ago it was a special someone's birthday in my life.  This meant only one thing for me, dusting off the Grandma Miller Brisket Recipe (taken from Bon Appetit Magazine, year unknown).  I have tried making this recipe twice before, and each time was a failure.  Well maybe not a failure (we still ate them), just not the same as Grandma Miller. What did you have problems with, well let me list them for you:

- I used Ketchup instead of chili sauce (trust me don't substitute here, it ends up tasting like a salt lick). 
- Make sure you have the full recipe (otherwise you won't know to make the wonderful tasting gravy).

Now to the recipe, ingredients:

Whole Brisket (8-pounds, or less before trimming)
1 Large Onion (or 2 Small ones)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 package onion soup mix (each box contains two packages)
1 bottle chile sauce (I used Heinz as Grandma Miller was from Pittsburgh)
1 can or most of a bottle of beer (I used Yuengling)
1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
3 slices of rye bread (get fresh made from the bakery in your supermarket, trust me)
8 carrots
Fresh Ground Pepper




For the  Preheat oven to 350°.   Pat Brisket Dry with paper towel, to make it easier to work with and asses how much fat you have.  

Trim brisket of as much fat as possible. 


Rub Brisket with garlic and place the garlic and meat on top of a your stale bread and onions in a roasting pan with a tight fitting cover (I used a dutch oven).  


Over the brisket place the following in this order: fresh ground pepper, Worcestershire Sauce, onion soup mix, chile sauce and beer.  


Cut carrots into smaller pieces and fit around the brisket wherever you can.  


Cover and place in oven.  After 45 minutes reduce oven temperature to 275°  braise another 2 hours and 15 minutes or until done.  Once during braising, check to see that the bread is covered in liquid (I have never needed to add fluid, but that doesn't mean you won't).  When Brisket is done, remove from oven and let stand to cool (I like to get it out of the cooking pan and onto a cutting board).  


Make sure to get carrots out of the pan before making the gravy.  Try to start your potatoes boiling about an hour before the brisket is done.


Gravy:

Take the bread, half the onions, garlic, and 2 cups of the liquid from the roasting pan.  Place into either a food processor or a blender and process until blended.  


Return mixture to pan and combine with remaining liquid.  Cut meat against the grain and thinly for the best flavor.


Serve with carrots, mashed potatoes meat and the gravy.



My taster tried this meal for you and wanted to say that he truly enjoyed it, and that it was just how he remembers Grandma Miller making it.  I hope that all of you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.  My next recipe is an old Lenten treat that Oma has passed down.  This is one that has been shared in the past, and I am happy to be able to share it with you as well.  The recipe is Fastnacht Kuechles, can't wait to share this with you!