Deutsches Abendessen! (or, German Dinner!)

Just a little refresher, in case you forgot: I LOVE GERMANY. I love the people, I love the language, and I love the food. I spent most of my time last summer in Baden-Württemberg, the most southwest state in Germany, which includes the region of Swabia. Swabian food was very, very good to me, and I finally found two great recipes (on About.com, go figure... pardon my copypasta) for my favorite meal: Maultaschen and Swabisch Kartoffelsalat! Or, German ravioli and potato salad!

Maultaschen

Noodle Dough:

• 2 2/3 c. all purpose flour (300 grams)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 T. oil
• 3 T. water

Meat Filling:

• 2-3 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 oz. (25 grams) day-old bread or rolls, cut into cubes and sprinkled with 2 T. water
• 5 oz. frozen spinach (1/2 package), thawed, squeezed dry and chopped
• 2 T. fresh or 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 T. spicy mustard
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
• 8 oz. ground beef, pork, or turkey
• 1 egg.
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Fresh ground pepper

For Cooking:

• 1-2 quarts broth (beef or other; I used chicken)

Dough:
Mix flour with salt, eggs, oil and just enough water to make a smooth dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes, until satin-y. Form dough into a ball, oil surface, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for at least an hour.

Filling:
Cook bacon and remove from pan. Sauté onions and garlic in bacon drippings until translucent. Cook the ground meat and drain. Mix all filling ingredients well. If you want a finer texture, put ingredients through a food processor for a few seconds, which I did.

Make the Maultaschen:
Roll out 1/2 dough to 1/8 inch thickness or thinner. You should have a sheet about 12 inches by 18 inches. (You may also use a noodle roller to make flat sheets with 1/5 of dough at at time.)
Score dough with a knife, one time through lengthwise and five perpendicular cuts to make 1 dozen rectangles.
Place one tablespoon dough on each rectangle.
Fold rectangle over and pinch sides to close.
Repeat with the other half of dough.
Bring broth to a simmer and place 1/3 of the Maultaschen in the broth. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove and drain. Keep warm if not serving immediately. Repeat with the rest of the Maultaschen.
Serve in bowl with some broth and sprinkled with chives and/or parsley.

Potato Salad

• 4 medium potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 c. broth (beef, vegetable or chicken; again, I used chicken)
• 3 T. cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 2 T. cooking oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 T. prepared mustard
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Place whole potatoes in a pan, add cold water to almost cover, bring to a boil and cook until done, about 20-30 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and peel while they are still warm. Use a mandolin to slice thinly or slice with a knife 1/8 inch thick. Place in a bowl. Pour the broth over the warm potatoes and mix gently. Let sit 5 minutes.
In a second bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, sugar, mustard, finely chopped onion and pepper to make a vinaigrette. Pour over the potatoes and mix gently. Potatoes will crumble a bit, but that is expected.
Allow the potatoes to marinate for 20 minutes before serving. Serve lukewarm or room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers.
*I used Russet potatoes. Yukon Golds are the best for this particular salad, but if you happen to live in Idaho and the only potatoes you can afford are Russets (like me) you have to be extra vigilant about watching them while they're boiling. If they get too mushy it won't work. A trick is to poke the potato with a fork; if you can get it all the way in with a little bit of resistance, it's done. Remove and drain them now! Any mushier than that and you might need to start over.

Okay, seriously, this was awesome. It wasn't AS good as the stuff I had in Germany last year, but it's pretty darn close! I followed this recipe exactly and both dishes were awesome. This was Nathan's first experience with German food (well, almost... I attempted the potato salad last fall with terrible under-cooked results, sorry in-laws!) and he LOVED it. It's a bit labor intensive, so we decided to have German Night once a month. How about you guys? Any interest in trying this food? If you're lucky, I'll cook it for you when we're in Washington in August ;) If you're not in Washington... make it yourself! The hardest part is making the noodle dough and even that isn't too hard, it just takes time!

Bonus awesome: I got a job! I just got off the phone with the lady who OFFICIALLY offered me the job. Yesterday, I had an interview where I was told that I'd be offered the job tomorrow, and he wasn't lying! I'm going to be working on campus starting this fall as a transcriber for deaf and hard-of-hearing students! My online training starts on July 7, and it won't disrupt our plans to go home for a month!