Kabeljau mit Senfsosse (Cod with Mustard Sauce) and Spaetzle

Feeling extremely ambitious one night, I decided to do some "extra credit" work for the month of Germany - I decided to make an entire German meal, rather than following my typical course of parceling out a side dish here or dessert there.  So, I tackled a meat, a sauce and a side, all of which sounded appealing to me.  I chose to make kabeljau mit senfsosse (boiled cod with mustard sauce) and a side of spaetzle. 

Of course, I was given much grief about it from my husband.  His usual response (though genuinely supportive of my endeavors) has always been apprehension whenever there is a lack of spices required in a meal.  However, either because of his fatigue after a long day at work, his endless affection for me, or the hope that the meal would fail (enabling take-out to be an option), he succumbed to my experiment and we ate as Germans do (much to his chagrin). 

Making the cod and mustard sauce was extremely easy.  I doubt there would be a kitchen novice who would have much difficulty with this dish.  The spaetzle, on the other hand, has quite a learning curve indeed.  Often served instead of potatoes or noodles, it is more commonly paired with beef or pork.  Of course, with that said, I doubt there are any laws that disallow its use with fish.  And, after you get over the daunting hurdle of making spaetzle once, or I should say once you know what to expect when making it, it's really not as hard as it seems.  They are like buttery, dumpling-like noodles, with a taste similar to Italian gnocchi - definitely worth the effort! 

In the end, though my husband wasn't won over by the boiled fish or the accompanying sauce, he did like the spaetzle.  And, hey, one out of two is good enough for me.  I liked the fish as well as the sauce and spaetzle, but I'm easy.  I eat tuna out of the can (only occasionally, but it has been known to happen).  My tastebuds, though they are becoming more refined, are still able to appreciate the simpler things; and, unlike my husband, I don't need twenty spices in a dish in order to consider it edible.  But, maybe by the end of this little family experiment, our tastes will meet somewhere in the middle - between black pepper and boiled meat, garam masala and garden greens, cayenne and cabbage, India and Germany.   New things from new worlds - it's all good!

Cod - Ingredients:

4 cups water
1/2 lemon, sliced
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
6 peppercorns
1 1/2 lbs. cod, cut into four pieces

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients except fish in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Add fish and reduce heat to low.  Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, until fish is flaky. 
3. Serve with mustard sauce (see below).

Mustard Sauce - Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup water
4 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
dash of salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. heavy cream

Instructions:

1. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over low heat.  Dust with flour a little at a time, stirring well after each addition. (Be careful - this can burn easily!)
2. Stir in water a little at a time.  Add mustard, salt, and sugar.  Stir well.
3. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream.  Sauce should be creamy and easy to pour.  If it is too thick, add another tablespoon of heavy cream.

Spaetzle - Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 to 3/4 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. butter

Instructions:

1. Sift flour and 1/2 tsp. salt together into medium bowl.  Make a hollow area in the center of the flour and add eggs and 1/4 cup of water.  Slowly stir the flour into the liquid.
2. Stir in remaining water, little by little, until the mixture has the consistency of cookie dough.  Beat with a wooden spoon until small bubbles form.
3. Fill a large saucepan half full of water and add 1/2 tsp. salt.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Scoop up small pieces of dough with a wet teaspoon and drop into water.  Cook only enough spaetzle at one time to fill the pan without touching.
4. Boil, uncovered, for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender.  Remove from water with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander.
5. When all of the spaetzle is done, rinse with cold water and drain well.
6. Just before serving, place spaetzle in a medium sauce pan with about 2 tablespoons of butter.  Cook, stirring constantly, until butter is melted.  Serve and enjoy!

(These original recipes all came from "Cooking the German Way" by Helga Parnell)

Pfefferneusse (German Spice Cookies)

Anyone who knows me can be certain of one thing: I love cookies.  I love to make cookies.  I love to eat cookies.  I even love to read recipes for new and exciting cookies.  So, naturally, with Germany being our country of the month, I felt it was only proper to make pfefferneusse, a German spice cookie traditionally made at Christmas.  Deck the halls and call me crazy, I figured they shouldn't just be cloistered away until the Christmas season.  Why not make them any time?!  So, that's what I did.  I made a batch of delectable, spicy gems and passed them out among family and friends.  And they were just as good as I remember them when my grandmother used to buy them from the store.  A little softer than the store-bought version, though, this recipe was quite serendipitous in its approach to making an "ethnic" classic an everyday treat.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup margarine
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons anise extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

Instructions:

1. Stir together the molasses, honey, shortening, and margarine in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until creamy. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in the eggs.
2. Combine the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, anise, cinnamon, baking soda, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Add the molasses mixture and stir until thoroughly combines. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Roll the dough into acorn-sized balls. Arrange on baking sheets, spacing at least 1 inch apart.
4. Bake in preheated oven 10 to 15 minutes. Move to a rack to cool. Dust cooled cookies with confectioners' sugar.

(The original recipe came from this link:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pfeffernusse-Cookies/Detail.aspx)

Bratwurst and Kartoffelsalat (German Potato Salad)

To start off on the right foot, I must confess one thing: I didn't make my own bratwurst.  The daunting task of making sausage is still a bit too heavy a kitchen burden for me to bear.  So, I bought it.  From a store.  And it wasn't imported from Germany, either.  So sue me. 

But, to appease the German gods of food, I did opt for one traditional aspect of the meal in the midst of my ugly American folly.  I played it safe by making a common side dish - kartoffelsalat.  Better known to those of us in "the States" as German potato salad, it is a dish that speaks with subtle undertones of flavor and simple origins of taste.  Nothing fancy, just a solid dish created by a solid group of people. 

Be warned, it is nothing like its American, picnic-style counterpart.  It is neither creamy or gooey; but, rather, it's unexpectedly dry and tangy, with its unavoidable vinegar rising to the top of your taste buds.  Sour.  Almost akin to kraut.  But, it's nice.  It accompanies sausage well, the acidic taste cutting through the greasy quality of the wurst.  By itself, I'm not sure the kartoffelsalat would be as appealing; but, together, the two items work almost as well as the legendary pairing of chocolate and peanut butter.  Except more bitter.  And less exciting.  And, well let's face it, not quite as sought-out.  Though, with that said, my Germanic chromosomes will beckon me to eat it again - and, I will certainly like it.

Ingredients:

2 pounds red potatoes (6 medium) scrubbed and cut into 1 inch chunks
Salt
8 slices of bacon
1 medium onion, minced
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Instructions:

1. Place potatoes and 1 Tbsp. salt in a Dutch oven and cover with 1 inch of water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 10 minutes).  Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain the potatoes.  Return the potatoes to the pot and cover to keep warm.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until brown and crisp (about 5 minutes).  Transfer bacon to a paper-towel lined plate and pour off all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease.
3. Add the onion to the fat left in the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until softened and beginning to brown (5 to 7 minutes).  Stir in the sugar until dissolved, about 30 seconds.  Add the vinegar and reserved potato cooking liquid, bring to a simmer, and cook until the mixture is reduced to about 1 cup, about 3 minutes.  Off the heat, whisk in the mustard and pepper.
4. Add the potatoes, parsley and bacon to the skillet.  Toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

(The original recipe came from "The Best International Recipe - A Home Cook's Guide to the Best Recipes in the World" by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated)

Germany

Capital City - Berlin
Currency - Euro
Population - 81,757,600 (as of January 2010
National Language - German
Religion - 63% are reportedly Christian - of that, Protestants and Catholics seem to be equally divided.  Muslims make up about 5% of the populous; and, other religions such as Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism only together equal about 1%.  About 30% of all Germans are reportedly non-religious.
Type of Government - Federal Parliamentary Republic
Leaders - Horst Kohler (President); Angela Merkel (Chancellor)
Country's Motto - While Germany doesn't have an official motto, the words "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit," taken from the national anthem, are words which mean "unity and justice and freedom."

Geographical Highlights - The Federal Republic of Germany is a country in central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.  Germany is divided into three geographical regions: the north German plain, the central highlands and the south Central Alps.  The notable Black Forest resides in the southwest, overlooking the Rhine Valley.

History - The formation of the Germanic tribes, and hence settlement of Germany as a country, began sometime during the Nordic Bronze Age or the Pre-Roman Iron Age (roughly 3,000 years ago).  Originally from Scandinavia and Northern Germany, the early Germanic people spread to the south, west and east around the first centry B.C.  During the time of the Roman Empire, the land from the Rhine River to the Ural Mountains was given the name Germania.  It was so named after the Germani, a name of one of the tribes that inhabited the land.  In the 5th century, the Germanic tribes attacked and plundered the Roman Empire.  As a result, the western part of the Roman Empire was split up into several kingdoms.  The Kingdom of the Franks was the largest of these kingdoms and was ruled by Clovis - and, later, by Charlemagne.  From 962, much of the German Empire became what was known as the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1512, the country was challenged by the ideas of a monk, Martin Luther.  His criticism of the Catholic church and subsequent Protestant movement (called the Reformation) lead to a religious division that was the partial cause of the Thirty Years' War.  Following the war, Germany lost territory to France and Sweden, and also became a country that was subdivided into hundreds of states and free cities.  It took about two hundred years for the country to recover fully from this aftermath.

In the centuries that followed, Germany faced conflicts which lead to the possession and loss of many territories, most notably including Prussia, Austria-Hungary and Alsace-Lorraine.  During World War I, Germany entered into the Triple Alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungary.  After their defeat, Germany lost its colonies and the Empire fell asunder.  The Versailles Treaty added insult to injury when it named Germany entirely responsible for the war, demanded a payment of reparations be made to the rest of the world, and called for the dismantling of the German military.  This, as well as the economic collapse of the country in the 1920's, lead to the perfect breeding ground for the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler's rise to power.

Following the German defeat in World War II, the country was again left in ruins.  The Soviets seized East Berlin and, in 1961, a wall was constructed to separate the "free" West from the Communist East.  The reunification of Germany took place in 1990; and, since that time, Germany has become revitalized as one of the major players in what has become the European Union.

Landmarks -

• Neuschwanstein Castle- The most photographed building in Germany, this Bavaria castle was built in 1869 by King Ludwig II.  It inspired Walt Disney in his creation of the famous tale "Sleeping Beauty." 
• Brandenburg Gate - More than any other landmark, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is the national symbol for Germany. Built in 1791, the gate was a symbol of peace - it has also, more recently, come to symbolize the reunification of West and East Berlin.
• Hofbräuhaus - Home of the Oktoberfest in Munich, Hofbräuhaus is the most famous beer hall in the world since 1589.
• The Black Forest - The vast expanse of hills, valleys, and forests stretches from the posh Spa-town Baden Baden to the Swiss border, covering an area of 4,600 square miles.
• The City of Trier - On the banks of the Moselle River lies Trier, Germany's oldest city. It was founded as a Roman colony in 16 B.C. and became the favored residence of several Roman emperors.
• The Christmas Market - Starting in November, the old center of Nuremberg becomes transformed into a Christmas market which houses over 180 wooden huts.  A magical winter wonderland, it is a sight full of red and white cloth, lights and fresh garlands. 

Interesting Trivia -

• Germany is the most populous European nation, aside from Russia.
• Germans are the second biggest consumers of beer (first being the Irish).
• About one quarter of all Americans claim at least some German heritage.
• Germany has the third highest recycling rate in the world (48% of waste recycled), beaten only by its Swiss and Austrian neighbors.
• The German Autobahn is the oldest motorway network in the world - the first section was completed in 1932.  It is also the only one in Europe to have no general speed limit in place.