Oktoberfest ! Ja!

It's the end of October already! Can you believe it? In honor of Oktober, I decided to cook a German meal. Because really, who doesn't love German food? If you raised your hand, then you obviously haven't German food before. In case you haven't, here's a start. I, by the way, could eat this stuff EVERYDAY. I would put sauerkraut on most things if I could. Yum!

German Quiche
*Modified from Rachel Ray



1 cup sauerkraut, squeezed dry + 2 extra handfuls
2 baking potatoes (mine weighed 1.29 pounds in case you're wondering)—peeled, grated and squeezed dry
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 teaspoons caraway seeds
Salt and pepper
1 c. egg substitute (or 4 lg. eggs)
1 cup heavy cream
One 9-inch frozen (deep dish!) pie shell

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large bowl, combine the sauerkraut, potatoes, bacon and caraway seeds; season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and cream. Stir into the potato mixture. Pour the mixture into the pie shell; place to pie shell on a cookie sheet. Bake until the filling has set and is golden around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(*Note: The original recipe said to bake for 35 minutes. I had to bake my quiche for almost 75 minutes and the potatoes were still slighty raw and the center was not completely set. Next time, I would grate the potatoes, then partially cook them in the microwave and then bake in the quiche. I also think the non-setting had something to do with using egg substitute. I'll be making this again for sure and will experiment!)



German Beer Brats

5 uncooked brats
1 medium onion
1 bottle of beer (I used Miller Lite)
1 bottle of water
red pepper
garlic
salt

Turn oven on broil. Put all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Make sure that you have enough liquid to cover the brats. Bring to a simmer, simmer for 10 minutes. Remove brats and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Leave onions simmering on sove top. Broil on each side until brat turns brown and crispy (I prefer mine extra crispy!). This process goes fast, so leave the door cracker and keep an eye on your brats. Brats are ready to eat as soon as they are brown enough for you! Serve with onions and a good german mustard!

*Note: You can also skip the broiling and throw the brats on the grill. However it was cold and I don't do grilling, so broiling is basically upside down grilling. =)



Glücklich Essen!