This is an old revision of the document!
KPTree Recipes
Recipe Links
Stollen:
- The spice house Old-Fashioned Christmas Stollen
- The Spruce German Christmas Stollen
Kaesekuchen - German Cheesecake in Diana's Recipe Book
German Cottage Cheese Cheesecake
Quick German recipes, German Recipes made Just like Oma
Equivalent Terms and Measures
Recipes
Ratatouille
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes, medium to large, diced (or 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 x 400gr cans)
- 1 tbsp tomato puree (if not using canned tomatoes)
- 2 onions, chopped
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 egg plant, large, diced
- 2 yellow capsicums, diced
- 2 red capsicums, diced
- 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped (just the leaves, no stork)
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp torn fresh basil
- 1 bunch fresh parsley (3 tbsp), chopped
- 2 tsp salt
Preparation
Using large saucepan
- fry the diced egg plant in 3 tbsp oil, for 5 - 6 mins
- set aside the pan fried diced egg plant
- fry the chopped onions in 2 tbsp oil for 3 mins
- (use same pan as for set aside egg plant)
- add garlic and capsicums to onions, fry for 5 mins
- add previously cooked egg plant, salt, parsley and thyme
- cook and simmer for 15 mins
- add torn basil
- salt to taste
Like most stews, this meal tastes better after 1 or 2 reheats
Bee Sting Cake
This is for a not filled version, the cottage cheese base makes up for this.
Ingredients - base
- 250gr cottage cheese
- 1 egg, large
- 1-2 tbsp cooking oil
- 125gr Sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract (or 1 sachet vanilla sugar)
- 200gr SR Flour
Ingredients - topping
- 200gr butter, unsalted
- 150gr Brown sugar
- 50gr White sugar
- 230gr Almonds, sliced
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract (or 2 sachet vanilla sugar)
- 2-4 tbsp milk or cream
I prefer natural, not blanched almond. Hand sliced is the best, but takes some time. A machine can be used, if so ensure that the final product is consistent and not too much fine almond meal is produced.
For the topping brown sugar tends to work better than white sugar, easier to fully dissolve and gives a less sweet topping.
Preparation - base
Using large cookie flat pan (about 27 x 38 cm)
- Mix cottage cheese, oil, egg, vanilla essence and sugar together
- Slowly mix in flour, allowing flour to fully blend in to form a smooth consistent mix
- Keep slowly mixing in flour until a dough of correct consistency is formed, with the ability to stretch and pull without being too tacky.
- Place baking paper on cookie tray, use 5-10cm overlap between paper sheets, if necessary
- Stretch and kneed and roll out the dough to reasonably evenly cover tray.
- Set aside and prepare topping
The dough is normally a bit tacky, so use some flour on your fingers to rub off any sticky dough and also on top the dough when kneading / rolling out to reduce further sticking.
Preheat the oven to 200deg.C (180deg.C in fan force oven)
Preparation - topping
Using a medium saucepan
- Melt the butter in the saucepan
- Add the sugar into the molten butter
- Cook the butter sugar mixture until sugar is fully dissolved, the mixture should be cooked until it has frothed. (Ensure well stirred during cooking to prevent burning at base and over frothing.)
- Add 2 tbsp cream, mix and heat to froth again
- Turn down heat and add the sliced almonds (Ensure the sugar is fully dissolved and frothing before adding). Then heat to frothing again.
- Add more milk, if too sticky/tacky (The final mixture must be reasonably easy to spread upon the base, but not to runny that it flows by itself when spread.)
- Turn off heat and add vanilla sugar/essence and mix in.
- Spread the final mixture on the base
Take care when heating the hot butter for spraying and also not to froth to overflow
Bake
Bake at 200deg.C (180deg.C in fan force oven) for 20 - 30 minutes.
After 20mins check that the almond topping is medium to dark golden, ensure that no dark to burning occurs
This cake is delicious when still warm after baking, but still very nice when cool.
Pancakes
I prefer the use of butter to pan fry (cook) the pancakes. I like the taste of the browned butter. When using butter care must be taken no to over heat and burn the butter, while ensuring sufficient heat to allow the correct bake of the pancake. Use of a high burn temperature oil, such as sunflower oil can help, but in my opinion does not taste as nice. Ensure the use of quality ingredients to ensure final product enjoyment.
Plain Pancakes
The dough should rest at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes (preferably in the refrigerator) Can give 5-6 pancakes from 26cm diameter pan.
Ingredients
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 250 ml whole milk
- 3 eggs - medium or large
- A pinch of salt
- 5 tsp vegetable oil or butter (used in the pan for cooking)
Procedure
- Mix the flour and milk with hand whisk or food processor until well mixed and almost no lumps left.
- Then add the 3 eggs and a pinch of salt. Mix everything into a smooth dough.
- Now let the pancake batter rest in the fridge for 10 to 30 minutes, so that the flour can swell up nicely and the batter thickens a little. NOTE: Since the ingredients do not combine quickly, the dough should rest to develop and become stable. This helps to prevent the pancake from shrinking and bubbling in the pan.
Apple Pancakes
Get good size pancakes from a 24-25cm diameter pan
Ingredients
- 400 g self-raising flour
- 525 ml whole milk
- 4 eggs, medium size
- 100 g of sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essences or sachet vanilla sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 2-3 apples - cut into small pieces
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter - for pan cooking
Procedure
- Add the flour, milk, sugar and vanilla essence as well as a pinch of salt and eggs in the bowl. Mix everything well with a hand whisk or food processor.
- Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces. (Or leave unpeeled)
- Mix the apple pieces in to the pancake mix. Now let it rest in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
- Put some vegetable oil or butter in a coated pan and cook the apple pancakes in portions at a medium setting. Add the butter or oil to the pan before to cooking each pancake. If using butter careful not to make too hot and burn the butter.
NOTE: The dough is much thicker than normal pancake batter. It is best to spread the mass in the pan with a spoon or spatula.
The best thing to serve with the apple pancakes is powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. It also goes well with homemade apple sauce.
Banana Pancake
3 ripe bananas - only slightly ripe to very ripe - everything is possible 1 egg - size M 1 packet of Bourbon Vanilla - Alternatively: 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 80 g brown sugar 200 g flour - Type 405 1 tbsp baking powder (8g) 150 ml milk - at least 3.5% fat 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 pinch of nutmeg 1 pinch of salt 1 tbsp vegetable oil - per pan batch TO SERVE 2 bananas - young and firm Cinnamon sugar to taste
First, crush the bananas in a bowl, preferably with a fork, and season them with a pinch of nutmeg.
In another bowl, whisk the egg with the sugar, vanilla sugar, cinnamon and salt with a whisk.
Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the crushed bananas and stir with the whisk of the hand mixer or the food processor
Then you mix the flour with the baking powder and lift it alternately …
… gradually with the milk under. NOTE / TIP: The ripe your bananas are, the more fluid the dough becomes. If you like the handling better, you can leave the dough to stand / rest for a few minutes, then the flour swells up and the dough becomes thicker.
Now you heat about 1 tablespoon of oil per pan batch of pancakes on a medium setting. Take out some dough with a small ladle / sauce spoon (mine has 25 ml capacity) and put some pancakes side by side in the pan. Bake about a minute per side. TIP: If I go in the pancake pans according to the diameter of the pancakes, the standard size is between 7 and 9 cm in diameter. Just as an info.
Baked Cheese Cake
Still trying on this one
Bratkartoffel - Pan fried Potatoes
Is also known as German style sauteed potatoes
Ingredients
- 3-5 medium potatoes, any type, lightly peeled, sliced 2-4 mm thick to your preference, but reasonably consistent
- 2 medium to large onions, cleaned and sliced, 2-3mm thick
- 3-4 tbsp cooking oil, or butter
- 3 cloves of garlic, cleaned and sliced (less if you don't much like garlic).
- 50gr Speck or similar smoked bacon, diced (omit for vegetarian, kosher, halal, etc.)
- 3-4 slices of cheddar cheese (omit for vegan)
- Salt and black pepper
Some recipes suggest addition of caraway seeds, I don't use them
If you use speck or bacon you can use less oil. Also if the speck is very salty be careful with adding salt.
Preparation
Using a medium to large frying pan
- Heat the oil (and speck) in the fry pan
- Add the onions and fry on medium to low heat for about 5 minutes or until starting to brown. Turn over regularly to prevent burning.
- Add 1/2 tsp salt and grind in a lot of black pepper to taste
- Add the garlic and fry another minute (I add the garlic later to prevent burning it)
- Add all the sliced potatoes. Cook for a further 10-15 minutes, until all potatoes are cooked through and a lot of potatoes and onion is caramelised, turning over regularly to prevent burning and ensure even cooking of all the potato. When turning over check pan surface to ensure no material build up sticks, if so scrap off with spoon to clear before it burns.
- Add more salt and pepper as required to taste
- Place 1/2 cooked on to plate then add 2 slices of cheese then add remainder to plate and 1 or 2 additional slices of cheese on top. The cheese will melt into the fresh hot bratkartoffel on the plate. Ready to serve.
Becareful with the salt and cheese, you can easily add more, but can not take it out.
Onion Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbs butter
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 5 large onions thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 tbs brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 1 tsp sage (optional)
- 2 tbs plain flour (optional for thicker soup)
- 125 mL dry white wine or red wine
- 2 L chicken stock (or beef stick or vegetable stock for vegetarian)
- 2 tbs brandy (optional)
- 8 thick slices of French bread, toasted
- 340 gr grated gruyere cheese (Plain cheddar cheese can be substituted, but is not as nice)
Preparation
Using a medium to large frying pan
- Heat the butter and olive oil in large sause pan over medium high heat
- Add onions and cook for 10-12minutes until soft and start to brown
- Add the garlic, sugar, thyme, bay leaf and sage and continue cooking for 30 minutes, until the onions are well browned, stirring frequently
- Sprinkle in flour and stir until well blended. Stir in the wine and stock and bring to boil.
- Skim off any froth that rises to top. Then reduce heat and simmer gently for 45 minutes. Stir in brandy, if using.
- Preheat grill, rub both sides of toasted french loaf slices with garlic clove. Place soup bowls on a baking sheet and 3/4 fill with hot soup.
- Float a piece of toast on each bowl and top with grated cheese.
- Grill until cheese has melted and bubbling
Ensure bowls used ceramic / stone ware that can handle grill heating
Macaroni Pizza - Simple, but not prepackaged
Pizza Base
Ingredients
- 340g (3 cups)Self Raising Flour
- 60ml of olive oil
- 120ml warm water
- 1/2 tsp salt
Method
- In a large bowl empty the dry mix then slowly mix in the warm water and olive oil.
- Mix for a few min's to form a dough ball.
- Knead for five minutes and roll out to form a pizza shape on a floured surface.
Macaroni Cheese - Classic
Ingredients
- 400g macaroni
- 50g butter
- 2 tablesp plain flour
- 2 cups (500ml) milk
- 1-1/2 cup (200g) grated cheese (gruyere, tasty, vintage)
- 1/2 cup (75g) grated cheese (parmesan)
- 1 tablesp chopped parsley
Method
- Cook the macaroni in a large pan of boiling water according to packet instructions (different brands may vary in size & cooking times) until al dente.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute over medium-low heat.
- Gradually add the milk, stirring until smooth. Stir gently until the mixture comes just to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the grated cheese and stir until melted and smooth.
- Drain pasta and return to the pan. Pour cheese sauce over the pasta and stir until well coated. Season with salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in finely chopped parsley or use course chopped as garnish.
Macaroni Cheese Pizza
Ingredients
- Pizza base
- Macaroni cheese
- pizza sauce
- 1/2 cups (75g) grated cheese (mozarella, tasty, vintage)
- 1 teasp fine chopped Basil
Preheat Oven to 200deg.C (fan forced) or 220deg.C)
Method
- Spread out pizza dough on pan
- Spread pizza sauce on top of dough
- Spread macaroni cheese on top of dough
- Spread basil on macaroni cheese
- Spread cheese on top
- Bake for 12-15 minute in oven at heat