Rouladen, Spätzle, Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage, Cucumber Dill Salad = the fixin's for a typical German meal that is special enough for any celebration.
As you can guess, I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. I am happy there - buzzing around, testing and re-testing recipes for this blog and to feed my family. But when I get to play in the kitchen with a friend or two, I enjoy it even more.
Last week I spent an afternoon in the kitchen with Valerie Lugonja from the blog A Canadian Foodie. What a fun day - a grown-up play date!
Valerie, a creative force on the Alberta food scene, has started up a new project, called Cooking in the Kitchen with YOU, in which she invites local cooks, chefs, and food bloggers to come into her kitchen and cook one of their favourite dishes with her. We had a fun-filled and very busy day cooking one of my family's favourite meals. It's become our tradition to eat Rouladen on Christmas Eve, and of course, these rich and savoury meat rolls need to be served with all the trimmings - Spätzle, Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage, and a crunchy Cucumber Dill Salad.
Head on over to Valerie's site for the story and my family's recipes, with step-by-step photos of each of these lip-smacking German dishes.
Fleisch Rouladen - just a few simple ingredients to make these savoury rolls of beef stuffed with bacon, pickles, and onions.
Spätzle (pronounced shpets′-leh) - soft, slightly chewy little noodle dumplings - good with just butter, doused in gravy, or fried up with onions or cheese. (This recipe is not gluten free.)
Rotkohl - sweet and sour, tender braised red cabbage - a tasty and colourful side dish to Rouladen, sausages, or any robust meat.
Gurkensalat - a special technique removes most of the liquid from cucumbers, leaving them extra crispy. Dressed with a little dill, oil, and vinegar, they make a refreshing salad to lighten up any meal. Great for picnics and potlucks, too.
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These dishes are all so tasty, and don't need to be reserved for Christmas Eve (that's just our own family's tradition). Serve them at any time of the year. To make them extra special, serve them with a robust German red wine or one of the famous German beers.
Rouladen, Spätzle, and Rotkohl can all be made ahead and frozen (fully cooked). The Gurkensalat can be made hours ahead, so this meal is wonderful for entertaining. The recipe for Rouladen on my site has amounts for larger crowds - when making Rouladen I like to make a whole bunch at a time, cook them, and freeze them. There's nothing like being able to pull a fantastic meal out of your freezer on a moment's notice.
German food is full of rich and savoury flavours, (lots of stick-to-your-ribs cooking) and of course, some pretty amazing baking and delicacies, too.
Have fun in the Küche!
Guten Appetit!
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Sabine macleod
Hi my dear friend,
That is one of my families fav. food. I can't wait to cook it myself after our travels.
Hugs
Sabine
Margaret
It is such a comfort food, isn't it? We all love these dishes, and our kids love helping prepare the rouladen. There's that tangy element to German food that makes it so tasty. I bet it will be nice for you to be cooking in your own kitchen again after your lengthy trek halfway around the world! XOXO
Christine Enkerlin
Oh Margaret, this is one of our families Christmas meals!
Dad's favourite for sure. My mouth was watering and bringing wonderful childhood memories. Thank you so much for sharing!
Margaret
It is so wonderful how powerful food memories can be. They can bring back so many special times, just with a whiff of delicious aroma or the taste of a specific flavour. I love that you think of your dad when you just look at photos of this special meal you shared with him. Thanks so much for stopping by to share your comment.