Hedy's German Potato Salad

Simple flavors combine to make a warm and tart take on potatoes, onions, ham, and parsley ... German Potato Salad. SB and I are just back from a visit with German friends and I'm feeling the nostalgia for all that German brauhaus food that we enjoyed while touring. Every small village has its little pub/restaurant that serves the local specialties and potato salads come a few different ways.

Kipferl for Christmas

It's almost Christmas and I have been so busy that I haven't done much cookie baking ! Until today ...

Pflaumenkuchen with Almond Streusel

The plums of September are not the plums of August ... no huge round orbs of sweet flesh with tangy after bite. The prune plums of September are small blueish ovals, sweet and fleshy and easy to go soft.

Every autumn, one sees the foragers in Germany gathering these blue prune plums along agricultural paths or off along the walkways of parks. Home they go with their cache to make pans of Pflaumenkuchen for their daily Kaffetrinken. This 'cake' is a soft cross between a coffeecake and a soft bread with a fruit topping (kinda like a pizza, SB, but NOT !)

Sandkeks for Santa

Classic German Sandkeks, a hazelnut shortbread cookie with a sandy vanilla sugar coating were set out in the afternoon on Christmas Eve ... Santa had a chance to grab a few before dropping off the loot! The rest, we have been nibbling with cups of coffee and tea. These cookies are a perfect crumbling shortbread - not overly sweet except for the sandy outer sugar layer.

Susan's Speculaas

I have been waiting to make these cookies since my blogging friend, Lizzy sent me a box of Dutch baking and snacking goodies this past Spring! I used the bottle of speculoos spice that she sent today and made the first of a few different types of cookies. They will be part of a cookie platter for our Christmas Eve celebration. With gluwein or coffee or hot tea, these little 'dunkers' will be so delicious!

Christmas ... a little at a time ...

When the kids were growing up, my mother-in-law gave me this Advent calendar. I would bring it out at the beginning of each December. I wrote little paper tags and put them in the pockets and we'd try to do whatever the tag said on that particular December day ... little things like 'run outside and make a snow angel', or 'read the Christmas story', 'draw a Christmas picture for Grammy and Pop-pop', 'watch a Christmas movie tonight', 'wrap one present', 'help Mom bake some Christmas cookies'  ...

My Seven Links ...

... from a small idea, much has come 

Being recognized by a fellow blogger is a big thing, but whoever thought to start this 'Seven Links' thing was really pushing the envelope. I am honored that my friend Devaki  from over at Weave a Thousand Flavors thinks enough of me that she would like to see what I think of my work.  I am, however, intimidated by the task! It's difficult being impartial. It's difficult to judge your own work, to sift through the portfolio of all you've done and evaluate ... and sometimes, it's embarrassing.

I've found myself re-reading back posts and sometimes thinking, Who wrote that drivel? Who photographed that? What was that blogger thinking rambling on about that ? Oh, gosh .... never mind! I guess the exercise here is to NOT be so hard on oneself, but instead, look at the project as a chance to slow down and really celebrate the work ... so my links ... after much kerfluffle... and some added storyline because the concept of food memory is one of the things that first inspired me to start this blog in the first place

Most Beautiful -

... a simple and elegant cake with the softest of frostings and the freshest embellishment

Making cakes with floral and herbal decorations has been 'my thing' for a long time. I have a picture of my daughter, Sara holding her birthday cake up for the camera. It's a large heart shaped single layer cake with icing this exact shade. It has a wreath of beautiful fresh gladiola flowers placed around it - flowers in shades of deep pinks and whites. Sometimes, I think, the food memory dictates the creative response to a new project. So this is my 'most beautiful' inspired by that other 'most beautiful grinning child' ...

Blackberry and Sour Apple Cake With Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Bubble and Squeak with Bratwurst

Ah, a down home dinner that has nothing tussy-mussy about it. As the football season starts to wind its way toward play offs, I am dealing with a guy who is gearing up for a New England Patriots visit to the Superbowl ... gosh, I hope I didn't just jinx the whole deal!

Ein Pils, Ein Riesling und Flammekuchen, Bitte!

What can I say? I am missing Germany something fierce this week! The days of trundling off to the little commuter train down the hill from our home in Hohensachsen and jumping a quick ride into Weinheim are long gone. Long gone, too, the stroll into the Marktplatz to Cafe Florian for a glass of wine or a stein of beer and a warm bread board with a steaming Flammekuchen!

The other evening I sat dejectedly wishing for a taste of that authentic German pubfare. Knowing there is none to be had here in southwestern New Hampshire seemed a cruel gustatory blow. After carping about it to Silent Bob, I did what any self-respecting cook would do. I logged onto the computer and searched for recipes! It was like opening a treasure chest! There were tons of recipes out there, but wait! None of them seemed like the Flammekuchen that I remembered from our little area in Baden-Wurttemberg. One recipe had the thin crispy crust, but the mellow cheese topping seemed too bland. Another had a wonderful cheese/yogurt topping, but the onions were added to the cheese raw instead of limp and glistening from being sauted in a bit of butter. Another recipe was made with bacon... bacon! No Flammekuchen I ever had was made with bacon. Instead, the meat that dresses traditional Flammekuchen is Speck, a type of fatty ham that is cut into tiny cubes.

After about an hour of trolling the different recipes, I decided to take the crust recipe from one, the cheese mixture from another, the treatment of the onions from a third, and my memories of German Speck preparation and roll it all together into a new 'morphed' recipe for Flammekuchen. After scurrying around the market grabbing the needed ingredients, I cleared off the countertop and went to town... maybe not Weinheim, but as close as I'll get for a while.

And so... what follows is the recipe that I've come up with... it is a pretty true composite of my food memory. The crust cooks up a bit thicker than I remember, but it's crunchy and crisp and holds the toppings without collapsing or breaking off when you pick it up to knosh. The onion-y cheese topping is a perfect foil to the saltiness of the ham. And everything is better with pepper!

Schmeckt gut!

Flammekuchen - printer friendly

Flammekuchen

Oven- 450º - until crust is crisp and top is bubbly and slightly browned – about 15 minutes

* In the morning of the day you want to serve Flammekuchen, prepare the cheese topping.

In a small bowl, combine, cover, and refrigerate for the day -

1 c. ricotta cheese
½ c. plain yogurt

About 2 hours before you want to eat-

In a large mixing bowl:

2 ¼ c. flour
¾ tsp salt

Make a well and add:

1 pkg. yeast dissolved in 1 c. warm water with a small pinch of sugar

Mix until no more flour can be incorporated, then knead the rest in (10 minutes).

Cover and let rest in a warm place until doubled.

Punch down the dough and let rest again while you prepare the following ingredients.

In a fry pan, sauté until glistening and then set aside:

1 tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, thinly sliced wedges

In the same fry pan, brown and then set aside:

12 oz. fatty ham (Speck, in Germany), cut into very small cubes

Roll out the dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet until it makes a very thin crust (about ¼” thickness). Make a rim by rolling the edge of the dough back under itself a bit all the way around. This dough makes a rectangular Kuchen about 12’ by 15’.

Combine the onions and the cheese and spread on the crust.

Sprinkle with black pepper (plenty) and nutmeg (go easy).

Press the ham with paper towels to absorb some of the fat.

Top the Flammekuchen with the bits of ham and bake in a fully heated oven.

Serve this dish with a dry Reisling or German pilsner beer. A traditional German green salad would be a nice addition if you're looking to make a complete meal. Mmmm! As the Germans say, "Lecker!"