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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Oktoberfest!

Sadly it's been awhile, in large part to the relative lack of cooking that had been going on in our household. A couple of busy weeks led to too much eating out or quick throw-together meals that were fairly standard and unexciting (i.e. a lot of pasta). However, yesterday I finally got around to a couple of recipes I'd wanted to try in honor of Oktoberfest. Better late than never? Anyway, here goes!

Knefla Soup
About 6 servings.

Adapted from Knefla Soup I by Sue H. from allrecipes.com. Yummy potato soup with homemade noodles.

4 potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
5 tsp chicken-flavored boullion
1 T dried parsley
7 cups water
Ground black pepper, to taste

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 cup skim milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated skim milk

6 tsp. Artificial "bacon" bits to garnish, optional

In a large stock pot combine potatoes, onion, carrot, celery, bouillon, parsley, water, and ground black pepper to taste. Simmer until vegetables become tender.

In a separate bowl mix 2 c flour, egg, salt and milk. Mix until dough is formed - adding flour as needed - and form into long strips by rolling into "snakes". Cut into bite-size pieces into soup pot. Let simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat, add evaporated milk, stir and serve. Sprinkle on "bacon" bits, if desired.


Vegetarian Bierocks Recipe

Makes 20 servings (if you can eat just one)

German buns with vegetarian "beef" and cabbage filling.

If you're intimidated by the idea of making the dough, you can substitute 2 - 1lb loaves of frozen bread dough, and thaw them. Skip the dough prep up to dividing into pieces and rolling them out. Or, if you use old-fashioned yeast instead of Rapid Rise you should first dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand, then mix the other dough ingredients together using 1/2 the flour, add the yeast. When smooth add the remaining flour as usual. You'll need to let it rise 1 hour before forming buns, and rising time before baking might be longer.


Ingredients
2
cups warm water
1/2
ounce active dry yeast (Rapid Rise)
1/2
cup white sugar
1/4
cup butter, softened
1
egg
2
teaspoons salt
5
cups all-purpose flour
2
cups white whole wheat flour
3/4
cup textured vegetable protein (tvp) flakes
1
beef flavored boullion cube
1
tablespoon olive oil
1
onion, diced
1/2
red bell pepper, diced
3
cloves garlic
1/2
head green cabbage, (medium size) shredded
2
tablespoons vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
2
tablespoons melted butter
Directions


  • Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown. Brush with remaining butter and serve warm.



    1. To prepare the dough: in bowl of a stand mixer combine 4 cups of all-purpose flour and the whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and rapid-rise yeast. Melt butter and combine with warm water and egg. Slowly add to bowl with mixer running. Add enough of remaining flour as need to form dough, without being too stiff or too sticky. Dough should pull away from sides of bowl nicely. At this point, cover and let rest for 10 + minutes.

    2. Following directions for TVP, boil the correct amount of water and crumble in the boullion cube. Pour over TVP and allow to rehydrate. Heat a large skillet and add olive oil. Saute onion and garlic, when softening add red pepper, cabbage and rehydrated TVP. Cook until cabbage is softening and mix in worcestershire sauce. Allow to cool somewhat while forming buns.

    3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover dough and punch down. Divide into 20 roughly even-sized piece. Roll out each piece into 4-6" circle. Place ~ 2 tablespoons of filling in center, and pinch edges together over filling (so you have a roughly round bun). Place pinched-side down on a greased baking sheet.
    4.  Once a sheet is filled, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free area for 30 min - 1 hour. Test by lightly pressing two fingers into dough, if an indentation remains dough is properly risen.

    5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown. Brush with remaining butter and serve warm.
    If you're interested in nutrition info, I added both of these to Calorie Count:
    http://caloriecount.about.com/vegetarian-bierocks-recipe-r272770
    http://caloriecount.about.com/knefla-soup-recipe-r272746

    Hubby Jon loved the soup, even without the "bacon" bits. I can't say I have had the original, authentic version of either of these, so if you have please let me know how these compare. Enjoy!

    1 comment:

    1. The soup was awesome! Suprisingly creamy, and just perfect. Switch the noodles for chives and you'd have baked potato soup!

      -The Hubby!

      ReplyDelete