Carnival Pastries - Quarknudeln (Quark Doughnut Strips)

Thursday marks the official beginning of “Carnival”. It goes by many names in German, depending on the region and dialect. Whether you call it “Fastnacht”, “Fasching” or “Karneval”, it is a time for revelry, humor, and satire. The actual celebrations of the German Carnival take place 40 days before Easter, it is like a last week-long party before Ash Wednesday (“Aschermittwoch”) and the beginning of Lent (“Fastenzeit”).

Donnerstag markiert den offiziellen Beginn des Karnivals. Er hat viele Namen in Deutsch, je nach Region und Dialekt. Ob man es "Fastnacht", "Fasching" oder "Karneval" nennt, es ist in jedem Fall eine Zeit zum Feiern, des Humors und der Satire. Die eigentlichen Feierlichkeiten des deutschen Karnevals beginnen 40 Tage vor Ostern, es ist wie eine letzte lange Party vor Aschermittwoch und somit dem Beginn der Fastenzeit.

On Thursday, the Carnival celebrations kick off with Women’s Carnival Day (“Weiberfastnacht”) at exactly 11.11 a.m. The next highlight is Rose Monday (“Rosenmontag”). Marching bands, dancers, and floats parade down city streets. The participants of the parades throw confetti, sweets, little bundles of flowers and toys to the eager costumed crowds lining the streets where the parades take place. The elaborate floats often show caricatured figures mocking politicians and other personalities and thousands of dressed-up Germans are flocking the streets every year to watch these spectacles.

An Weiberfastnacht um 11:11 Uhr geht es dann endlich los. Und am Rosenmontag gibt es traditionelle Karnevalszüge in vielen deutschen Städten. Die Züge bestehen aus Abordnungen der Karnevalsvereine mit Prunkwagen, Kapellen, Tanzgruppierungen und oft auch aus so genannten Motivwagen. Letztere stellen oft Ereignisse und Personen des vergangenen Jahres in satirisch interpretierter Form dar. Von den Prunkwagen und den teilnehmenden Gruppen des Umzugs werden Kamelle und Blumen unter die Zuschauer geworfen.

Almost every German city celebrates Carnival and organizes a street parade in its city center. The best and most traditional Carnival festivities take place in the Cities of Düsseldorf, Münster, Aachen, Mainz, and, of course my beloved hometown, Cologne. On Shrove Tuesday ("Veilchendienstag"), costume balls are held all over Germany, while the quiet Ash Wednesday ("Aschermittwoch") marks the end of the frenzied fun.

Fast jede deutsche Stadt feiert Karneval und organisiert einen Karnevalsumzug in der Innenstadt. Im Rheinland finden die besten und traditionsreichsten Karnevals-Feierlichkeiten in den Städten Düsseldorf, Münster, Aachen, Mainz und natürlich in meiner geliebten Heimatstadt Köln, statt. Am Veilchendienstag finden viele Kostümbälle statt und am Aschermittwoch beginnt die 40-tägige Fastenzeit und somit steht dieser Tag für das Ende der Karnevalssaison.

As with every longstanding traditional holiday, special sweet treats are also served during the Carnival season. So during the next couple of days, the so-called "fifth season" ("fünfte Jahreszeit"), I will be baking some very tasty Carnival treats. Pastries that are particular to Carnival and are prepared as a special pre-Lenten delicacy include the wonderful Fried Almond Cookies (“Mutzemandeln”), pictured below, the recipe for these will follow in my next post...

Passend zur Saison gibt es natürlich jede Menge süße Karnevalsrezepte. Während der nächsten paar Tage, der so genannten "fünften Jahreszeit", werde ich einige wunderbare traditionellen Karnevals-Leckereien backen. Zum traditionellen Karnevalsgebäck gehören zum Beispiel die allseits beliebten Mutzemandeln, das Rezept kommt im nächsten Post, habe es heute nochmal ausprobiert…

…or crunchy Waffle Rolls (“Eiserkuchen”) that are baked in a specialty waffle maker. The recipe that I am using is like the one my grandma Clara used to make. Unfortunately, the original recipe card is nowhere to be found....

….oder Eiserkuchen, die in einem speziellen Waffeleisen gebacken werden. Mein Rezept ist angelehnt an das Rezept meiner Oma Clara - leider ist das Orginal verloren gegangen..

Today, I am featuring a recipe for traditional Quark Doughnut Strips.

Heute beginne ich meine Karnevals-Bäckerei mit traditionellen Quarknudeln.

Quark Doughnut Strips (makes about 20) Ingredients for the Doughnut Strips 300 g pastry flour * 20 grams fresh yeast 50 grams unsalted butter 50 grams superfine sugar 2 tsp pure vanilla sugar 150 grams low-fat Quark** 1 pinch of fine sea salt 2 eggs (M) 75 ml milk (lukewarm)

Quarknudeln (ergibt ungefähr 20 Stück) Zutaten für die Quarknudeln 300 Gramm Weizenmehl (Typ 405) 1/2 Würfel Hefe (20 Gramm) 50 Gramm ungesalzene Butter 50 Gramm feinster Zucker 2 TL Bourbon Vanille Zucker 150 Gramm Magerquark 1 Prise feines Meersalz 2 Eier (Größe M) 75 ml lauwarme Milch

In addition some flour Vegetable shortening/oil for frying 100 grams of cinnamon sugar Preparation of the Doughnut Strips Mix together the flour, fresh yeast, butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, Quark, salt, and eggs in a bowl. Add the milk and knead until you have a smooth dough. If the dough is too soft, add some flour. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. *NOTES: pastry flour is available in the U.S. in health food stores, specialty stores, and online - to make flour with the same gluten content as pastry flour, combine 1 1/3 cups (185g) AP flour and 2/3 cup (90g) cake flour). ** Quark is also known as soft white cheese or fromage blanc. Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces, and shape each into a ball and then a kind of noodle. Place the dough strips on a lightly floured kitchen towel, cover and let the dough strips rest in a warm place for another thirty minutes. Heat the fat/oil for deep-frying to 175 degrees Celsius. Slide the dough strips into the hot fat making sure to leave sufficient space between the strips as they will expand during frying. Fry until they are golden brown. Drain the strips on paper towels. Roll the dough strips in cinnamon sugar while they are still warm. NOTE: As is the case with most fried treats, these are best enjoyed while still warm and are definitely best eaten the same day they are made.

Zusätzlich etwas Mehl Pflanzenfett/ Öl zum Ausbacken 100 Gramm Zimt-Zucker Zubereitung der Quarknudeln Mehl, Hefe, Butter, Zucker, Vanillezucker, Quark, Salz und Eier in eine Schüssel geben. Milch zufügen und zu einem glatten Teig verkneten. Falls der Teig zu weich ist, noch etwas Mehl zufügen und abgedeckt ca. 30 Minuten an einem warmen Ort gehen lassen. Den Teig in 20 gleich große Stücke teilen, jeweils zu einer Kugel und dann zu einer fingerdicken Nudel formen. Auf ein mit Mehl bestäubtes Küchentuch legen und abgedeckt ca. 30 Minuten an einem warmen Ort gehen lassen. Fett/Öl zum Frittieren auf 175 °C erhitzen. Die Quarknudeln vorsichtig in das heiße Fett gleiten lassen. Dabei darauf achten, dass ausreichend Platz zwischen den Nudeln bleibt. Mit 2 Esslöffeln wenden und backen, bis sie goldbraun sind. Auf Küchenpapier abtropfen lassen. Noch warm in Zimt-Zucker wälzen. Hinweis: Wie mit dem meisten Gebäck, dass in Fett ausgebacken wird, schmecken auch diese Quarknudeln am besten noch warm und sollten auf jeden Fall noch am selben Tag genossen werden.

Let the Carnival celebrations begin!

Lasst die Karnevalssaison beginnen!

French Fridays with Dorie - Butter and Rum Crêpes

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Butter and Rum Crêpes”.

Crêpes originated in Brittany, France and were thought to have evolved because the land could not grow enough wheat to make bread. The word "crêpe" comes from the Latin “crispa”, meaning “curled”.

Crêpes are made by pouring the well-rested batter onto a frying pan or hot circular plate. The batter is spread by tilting the pan or using a spatula. The batter needs to be turned, or flipped, at least once to ensure it is cooked on both sides. You can fill crêpes with sweet or savory fillings. Popular savory fillings include cheese, ham, spinach, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus.

Popular sweet fillings include chocolate spread, lemon and sugar, maple syrup, fruit, nuts and ice cream. The best-known ones are Crêpes Suzette, which are crêpes served with a sauce made from fresh orange juice, orange zest, sugar, butter and Grand Marnier that is flamed at the table before serving.

Dorie´s recipe also calls for the preparation of a sauce using honey, orange as well as lemon juice, and cold butter. As there are still the wonderfully fragrant blood oranges from Italy available, I used the juice and zest of these for the sauce and added some orange segments for the garnish. Blood oranges have a distinctive dark-red rind and flesh and their unique flavor is ideal for serving them with these sweet crêpes.

Fragrant with the spicy tartness of blood oranges and fresh lemon flavors, these buttery citrus crêpes make a beautiful dessert.

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for “Butter and Rum Crêpes” on pages 411-413.

FFwD: Hélène´s All-White Salad - Happy Valentine´s Day!

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Hélène´s All-White Salad”.

This is a recipe for a true winter salad with humble ingredients such as celery ribbons, tart Granny Smith apple slices, white mushrooms and shredded Napa cabbage.

This salad recipe was created by one of Dorie Greenspan´s friends, Hélène Samuel, who used to own a Café in Paris, France.

The dressing for this salad is a yogurt vinaigrette, essentially a mayonnaise, it consists of an egg yolk, Greek yogurt, sea salt, freshly ground pepper and good-quality olive oil. The finishing touch on the salad is a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Since I like the white-on-white effect of this recipe and to stay true with the color theme, next time I prepare a white winter salad, it would be interesting to use lovely fresh endives instead of the shredded Napa cabbage or maybe shaved kohlrabi instead of the apple. The yogurt dressing would be nice with those vegetables as well, it seems substantial enough to stand up to all kinds of  healthy winter fare. A bit of shaved Pecorino Romano would also add a nice boost of flavor to this salad.

As it is Valentine´s Day today, I baked some heart-shaped soft pretzels to go with the salad. Happy Valentine´s Day to all of you!

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for “Hélène´s All-White Salad” on pages 108-109.

Tuesdays with Dorie - Onion Bialys

Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie group are Onion Bialys from contributing baker Lauren Groveman.

“Bialy”, a Yiddish word short for “Bialystoker Kuchen”, from Białystok, a city in Poland, is a small roll that is a traditional dish in Polish cuisine. A bialy, is a chewy yeast roll a bit like a bagel. Unlike a bagel, which is boiled before baking, these chewy cousins of the bagel, are simply baked, and instead of a hole in the middle they have a depression. Before baking, the depressions are filled with diced onions and other ingredients, including garlic, poppy seeds, coarse salt, bread crumbs, or chopped olives.

The recipe calls for the preparation of a yeast dough with bread flour, yeast, malt extract, vegetable shortening, minced onion and black pepper. Once the dough is ready for baking, you will have to shape it into rounds and flatten the center to create rims. The depressions will be filled with a topping of sautéed onions, poppy seeds and black pepper.

This east European cousin of the bagel is a chewy, oniony delight.

If you happen to own a copy of "Baking with Julia" by Dorie Greenspan, you will find the recipe for these delicious Onion Bialys on pages 90-92.

To see an array of Onion Bialys, baked by the other members of the Tuesdays with Dorie group, please click here.

"River Cottage Veg Everyday" - Kale (spinach) and onion pizza

For today´s recipe in my River Cottage Veg Everyday series, I chose the "Kale (spinach) and onion pizza". This lovely dish is the fiftteenth post in my series. This is a homemade pizza that will get your family in the mood for comfort food

Für meinen heutigen Blogpost in meiner River Cottage Veg Everyday Serie habe ich eine Grünkohl (Spinat) Pizza ausgesucht. Dieses leckere Rezept ist der fünfzehnte Beitrag in meiner Serie. Eine selbstgemachte Pizza, die sicherlich der ganzen Familie schmecken wird.

This is a two-step recipe. First, you will have to prepare the pizza dough – easy enough as there is a wonderful recipe for the so-called “magic bread dough” in the book. This dough will be sufficient for three pizzas – since I have numerous eager taste testers at home, I usually make one rather large pizza and end up using about two thirds of the dough and then freeze the rest. Besides, I love using my large vintage pizza pan. As the dough is made half with strong flour and half with plain flour,  it is just perfect for any pizza recipe.

Diese grüne Pizza wird in zwei Schritten zubereitet. Zuerst macht man einen Pizzateig – das ist ziemlich unkompliziert, denn es gibt ein wunderbares Rezept für den so genannten "magic bread dough" in dem Buch. Der fertige Teig ist ausreichend für drei Pizzen - da es uns an an bereitwilligen Geschmackstestern nicht mangelt, mache ich in der Regel mit zwei Dritteln das Teigs eine ziemlich große Pizza und friere dann den Rest ein. Der Teig wird zur Hälfte mit Weizenmehl Typ 1050 und zur Hälfte mit Weizenmehl Typ 550 gemacht.

Once you have your pizza dough at the ready, it is time to prepare the topping. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall comments that “(t)here is no tomato here because I like to emphasise the more unusual flavor of the kale”. I prepared this recipe using kale and another one using spinach – the younger members in the family definitely prefer the fresh spinach version. But I know that there are a lot of kale lovers out there, so just use the vegetable that you prefer, this pizza will be delcicious no matter which greens you use as a topping.

Wenn der Pizzateig fertig ist und weiter verarbeitete werden kann, sollte man sich an die Zubereitung des Belags machen. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall kommentiert sein Rezept mit den folgenden Worten: "hier werden keine Tomaten verwendet, da sonst der eher ungewöhnliche Geschmack des Grünkohls nicht zur Geltung kommt". Ich habe dieses Rezept mit Grünkohl sowohl als auch mit frischem Spinat zubereitet und obwohl beide Gemüse ganz wunderbar auf der Pizza schmecken, bevorzugen meine jüngeren Esser doch die Spinatversion.

For the topping, all you need to do is sauté sliced onions (I used two medium ones), add some garlic (I used two cloves), sauté some more, then add the chopped greens and cook for about five minutes. While the recips calls for about 300 grams kale for a small pizza, I used about 1000 grams fresh spinach for my large version. Do not forget to season with fine sea salt and some freshly ground pepper – taste the veggies before adding them to the pizza. Roll out your pizza dough and transfer to a baking sheet or pizza stone, if you own one. Then add the prepared topping, sprinkle with some grated cheddar cheese, trickle some olive oil over the top and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Für den grünen Belag sautiert man zwei mittelgroße Zwiebeln, fügt zwei Knoblauchzehen hinzu, sautiert das Ganze noch etwas, dann fügt man den vorbereiteten Grünkohl oder Spinat hinzu, (bei mir waren es etwa 1000 Gramm) und läßt das Gemüse kurz garen. Nicht vergessen alles mit feinem Meersalz und etwas frisch gemahlenem Pfeffer zu würzen und unbedingt zu probieren bevor es auf den Pizzateig kommt. Den Pizzateig ausrollen und auf ein Backblech oder einen Pizzastein geben. Dann den Belag gleichmäßig auf dem Teig verteilen, mit etwas geriebenem Cheddarkäse bestreuen, ein wenig Olivenöl über die Pizza träufeln und für zirka 10 bis 15 Minuten im vorgeheizten Ofen backen.

Other than using more greens, I did not change the recipe. I just felt that particularly at this time of year we need to add as much green veggies to our diets as we can and decided to add a larger quantity to our pizza than is called for in the book. And looking at the vast pile of greens at the green grocer, I could not resist and bought double than what is suggested in the recipe. We really enjoyed this green pizza, with kale or with spinach – it tastes incredibly good and all you need are very few ingredients – should you be pressed for time, you could also easily substitute store-bought ready-made pizza dough for the "magic bread dough". If you own the English edition of this family friendly vegetable cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, called "River Cottage Veg Everyday", you will find the recipe for the “Magic bread dough” on page 172 and the recipe for “Kale and onion pizza” on page 186 in the chapter on "Bready Things".

Außer das der Belag etwas mehr als angeben war, habe ich das Rezept nicht verändert. Zu dieser Jahreszeit kann etwas mehr Gemüse nicht schaden. Und mit Blick auf den riesigen Haufen von frischem grünem Blattgemüse beim Gemüsehändler, konnte ich nicht widerstehen und habe eben etwas mehr gekauft als nötig. Uns allen hat diese grüne Pizza, mit Grünkohl oder mit Spinat, unglaublich gut geschmeckt. Und alles was man für die Zubereitung braucht, sind ein paar wenige Zutaten. Falls es mal besonders schnell gehen muss, kann dann durchaus auch mal fertigen Pizzateig verwenden. Wer die englische Ausgabe dieses familienfreundlichen Gemüsekochbuch von Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall mit dem Titel "River Cottage Veg Everyday" in seiner Kochbuchsammlung hat, findet das Rezept für den "Magic Bread Dough" auf Seite 172 und das Rezept für die "Kale and onion pizza" auf Seite 186 in dem Kapitel "Bready Things".

Please take a look at the other posts from my "River Cottage Veg Everyday" series.

French Fridays with Dorie - Paris-Brest

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is the famous French dessert pastry “Paris-Brest”.

The Paris-Brest is a circular-shaped French confection, made of choux pastry, filled with a cream filling, and garnished with almonds. In 1910, the pastry was invented by Louis Durand, a pâtissier who had founded his own bakery in 1907. Louis Durand was inspired by the bicycle race Paris-Brest-Paris that took place for the first time in 1891. To this day, the “Pâtisserie Durand” in Maisons-Laffitte (in the Île-de-France region in north-central France) still exists and is still operated by members of the family Durand. The original recipe for the Paris-Brest is still guarded as a family secret - Louis Durand is the pâtissier pictured above.

Pierre Giffard (May 1, 1853 – January 21, 1922) was a French journalist. He created the 1,200 kilometer bicycle race in 1891 when he organized the Paris–Brest–Paris event for his newspaper  called “Le Petit Journal”. The race took place for the first time on September 6, 1891 and from then until today, it was promoted as “Paris–Brest”. It is now established as the oldest long-distance cycling road event. Le Petit Journal described it as an "épreuve", a test of the bicycle's reliability and the rider's endurance. Riders were fully self-sufficient, carrying their own food and clothing and riding the same bicycle for the duration. Participation was restricted to Frenchmen and 99 of the 207 participants finished the first race. Charles Terront was the winner of the first race in 1891, he won in 71 hours and 22 minutes - he is the cyclist on the cover of "Le Petit Journal" pictured above.

So, onto the recipe. First you start by making a basic choux pastry like you would for cream puffs. You will need whole milk, water, unsalted butter, a bit of sugar, salt, flour and eggs. The dough has to be cooked (or as we say "burnt")  before it can be baked. To get the circular shape, you will need to draw the outline of a circle on parchment paper and pipe three rings along the outline. One outside ring, one inside and the third one on top of the two bottom rings. Now it is time to bake.

Literally translated we call cream puffs “little wind bags” ("Windbeutel") because of all the air bubbles in the finished pastry – the French call them “little cabbages” ("choux") because of their shape. Although I used to make cream puffs on a regular basis, I had not prepared them in a while but I remembered a trick that I learned from one of my favorite bakers. Make sure to place a bowl of steaming hot water at the bottom of the oven, to create some steam – that way the pastry rises better. And never, ever open the door of the oven before the pastry is fully baked, otherwise it will deflate, just like a flat tire on a bicycle.

Be that as it may, the cake baked up nicely, I split it in half, and after it had cooled completely, I decided to fill it with lovely softly whipped cream because my taste testers prefer that to vanilla pastry cream.

I decided to drizzle the caramelized, slithered almonds on top of the pastry while they were still soft. The sweet almonds are nice as a topping on this pastry as the cake itself is not very sweet and since I did not add much sugar to the whipped cream either.

Overall a very big success, no Paris-Brest left. I will definitely keep this recipe in mind for future invitations. It looks a bit intimidating at first but it in fact it is rather easy to prepare if you follow Dorie´s wonderful recipe.

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for “Paris-Brest” on pages 475-6.