Guest Author - Launa Stout
Do you celebrate Oktoberfest?
Across America many families enjoy some traditional German recipes in the month of October as they remember their heritage.
Others have had the opportunity to travel to Germany and others may have been lucky enough to live there to be totally immersed in their foods and their culture.
Red Cabbage
Gather these ingredients:
• ¾ cup water
• 1 small head of red cabbage
• 3 apples
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon butter, divided
Follow these steps:
1. Shred or finely chop the head of cabbage
2. Peel and core and then chop the apples
3. Put a saucepan on the stove
4. Add the water, cabbage, apples and brown sugar, vinegar
5. Add the cinnamon, allspice, cloves and 1 tablespoon of butter
6. Stir all the ingredients together
7. Bring to a boil
8. Reduce the heat, and cover the pan.
9. Simmer for 45 minutes
10. Occasionally open the lid and stir the contents of the pan
11. You will know the cabbage is done when it is tender
12. Just before serving stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
This dish will serve 6 people if everyone likes it, or if it is the first time you are serving it and you have picky eaters who think they won’t like red cabbage it will make more servings, but I hope everyone will give it a little try.
Serve this in a pretty bowl so that everyone can see the beautiful color of this traditional dish.
German Potato Salad
Gather all these ingredients:
• 3 pounds potatoes
• ½ cup onion
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoon white sugar
• 2 Tablespoons dried parsley
• Ground pepper to taste
Follow these simple steps:
1. Chop the onion, you can either chop it fine or leave it in big pieces
2. Peel the potatoes and then slice them into ¼ inch slices
3. Fill a large pot on the stove ¾ full of water
4. Add 1 Tablespoon of salt
5. Bring the water to boil
6. Add the potatoes
7. Cook them until they are tender and still firm, this will take about 15 minutes
8. Drain the water from the potatoes
9. Put the potato slices in a large bowl
10. Add the onions and stir together gently
11. Use a large bowl to make the dressing:
Whisk together the mayonnaise, oil, vinegar, sugar, parsley, and the salt and pepper
12. Gently add the potato and onion
13. You will want to let it stand for about 1 hours to allow the flavors to enhance the potatoes
Enjoy your Oktoberfest celebrations by cooking up these traditional dishes.
Make it a family tradition to try some new German recipes each October even if you have never celebrated Oktoberfest before.
