German Potato Salad - Warm Comfort Food for Autumn

There's a chill in the air and some mornings reveal a icy coating of frost on the grass these days.
It can only mean one thing: Autumn is here and with it, comes the warm comfort food we love.

Today I discovered some bacon near its sell-by date and decided it was time to make some German Potato Salad. If you have never had it, but if you like the sweet and sour sauces, you will love this simple, delicious dish.
There are only three main ingredients: potatoes, bacon, & onions, so you will probably have them in your larder right now.
You will also need some corn starch (corn flour), cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.

It is a simple recipe but with many steps so it does take some time to complete.
If you don't have a lot of time, all in one go, then simply cook your bacon today and finish the rest tomorrow. But make sure to save the frying pan in which you cooked the bacon - including the bits - don't wash it!
Also, this dish is perfect to make ahead one day to give the flavours time to all blend together, so it works well for company. Simply reheat it on very low heat or place it in a slow cooker.
I will place the recipe at the bottom of this post and show you how it's made beginning here.
Mine came out superbly today - I do hope yours will, too!

Chop the onions and set aside.
Mix about 2 tablespoons of cornflour with some water to make a thin paste and set aside.

Select some new potatoes or salad potatoes to use. Waxy ones work best.
Scrub and remove eyes and imperfections. (I leave the skin on but you can remove it all if you wish)
Boil until just barely done - 'al dente' so-to-speak - they continue cooking even after the heat is off so it is best to remove them from the water and the heat once they have finished cooking.
The reason for keeping them as firm as can be is so that later they don't break apart in the sauce. It is really difficult to get it right so if they are over done, don't worry about it, they will still taste fine.
Place the potatoes to cool in a colander and rinse out the pan they cooked in.


Once cool, you can either slice the potatoes or cut them into quarters to have ready to mix in the sauce in the last step.

While the potatoes are boiling, cook your bacon. Place the pieces to drain on paper towels.
Cool your pan when finished cooking the bacon and pour away most of the fat from the pan, being careful to keep the bottom coated with a little bit of it.

Place the bacon pan back on the stove and warm it up again. Put the chopped onions into it and simmer until they are translucent.
Break up the cooked bacon and add the bits to the sauteed onions. Stir well.

Now pour the vinegar into the pan with the onions and bacon and bring to a boil, stirring all the time and cleaning the wee bits off the bottom of the pan with the vinegar/sugar mixture.


Pour the contents into the larger pan in which you cooked the potatoes.



Add the water and bring to a boil.

Add some cornflour paste you made earlier, a little bit at a time, until the mixture thickens.
Once it reaches a sauce-like consistency, and is boiling again, stir constantly for at least one minute before reducing the heat to a slow simmer. It is important to do this stirring/boiling for a minimum of one minute to eliminate the starchy taste from the cornflour.

This is another tricky bit: how do you know when the sauce is too thick or too thin?
It is impossible to get it perfect every time, but what I find that helps is to watch the side of your pan. If the sauce you are stirring seems to coat the side of your pan, it will also coat the potatoes, too. You can see this in the picture, below.

Add the quartered/sliced potatoes to the sauce. Stir and heat through being careful not to have the stove heat on too high and burn the mixture. It is finished! Yeah!



Some comments:

• I never use as many onions as the recipe calls for although it will not hurt if you do as they cook down and look so much less once cooked than they do when you are chopping them!
• I use less bacon - here in the UK I use two packs or 16 slices. I have made it with the full 2 lbs in the past though and it is really nice!
• I have been trying to cut back on sugar so I reduce the sugar in the recipe to 1 1/2 cups and it seems to not affect the outcome in the slightest.
• I always use cider vinegar as that is what I was taught to use. Experimenting with other vinegars might be good or bad - not really sure!

And now for the recipe:
Betty's German Potato Salad (from my sister, Elizabeth Schmidt)

2 lbs of bacon, cut up and fried

4 pounds of potatoes (approximate)

2-4 tablespoons cornstarch (approximate)

Some water to mix with the cornstarch to make a paste

3-4 baseball sized onions, minced/chopped

1 cup cider vinegar

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

Prep:

Fry bacon, set aside to drain on paper towels

Toss out the bacon fat, reserving about 1 tablespoon of bacon grease (fat) in the same pan it was cooked in

Mix cornstarch and water to form a thick syrup in the mug; not too thick, not too thin

Boil peeled potatoes until just done – not so done that they fall apart and not so undone that they are still hard – sort of al dente potatoes!

Drain immediately and set aside to cool

Sauce:

Fry minced onions in the bacon pan with grease until soft and translucent

Keep temp up on the pan so it is really hot and add the vinegar, stirring until it cleans off all of the lovely bacon bits from around the pan

Add sugar

Add water

Stir all of it together until it is boiling

Add cornstarch mixture, a little at a time, stirring all the time until it thickens

(it will continue to thicken as it cools so not too thick at this stage)

Once the mixture returns to a full boil, stir for a minimum of one full minute and remove from heat

Set aside

Combine it all together:

Slice potatoes or cube them – whichever you prefer

Place in large pot and cover with the sauce mixture

Stir well and enjoy!

xxx
Maggie

Cupcakes!!! A Tasty Book for Wednesday

Up too late so this will be short! (I know, I know, that's not like me!!!)
Wednesday book night has fallen by the wayside, it seems.
So tonight's book is:
Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat (Paperback)
You can get it at Amazon.
My sister has been writing to me, insisting I buy it! LOL!
Now you either love Martha or hate her and I love her, but no matter which category you fall into, you have to agree she has some of the best recipes out there.
So to all of my English and European friends, dig out gramma's old Imperial measures and get yourself a new book! I will be ordering mine very soon!
If you try a recipe share it with the rest of us, okay?

xxx
Maggie

Today is the day for lovers - and in our house, we take that seriously!
And it includes making a 'new' traditional favourite - decadent chocolate brownie hearts!

When my children were young, I left chocolate Valentine heart lollipops and Valentine cards for them on the dining room table before I went to bed.
In the morning, they would hurry downstairs, getting ready for school, and find their surprise waiting for them.
It was a nice way to welcome their day and let them know how much they were loved.

Since I married my husband, Jim, and now live here in England, we have begun a new tradition: we celebrate the day with home-made, from scratch, brownies. I make them, bake them, and cut them into hearts using a cookie cutter.
Then we adorn them with fresh raspberries and a bit of vanilla ice cream.

I use a brownie recipe from Martha Stewart's Living Magazine, originally published in 2004.
I looked for it on-line, and it has been removed, so I cannot provide a link for you.
But I will place the recipe at the end of this post.
So here are some pictures showing the steps, and the finished product.
Enjoy and wishing you all new traditions to share and love in your hearts for Valentine's Day!

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Makes about 8

Vegetable Oil Cooking Spray

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 ounces semisweet chocolate (about 170 grams)

* I used Green & Blacks

¼ cup best quality unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder

*I used Green & Blacks Organic Cocoa

¾ cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (about 180 C)
2. Line an 8” square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 2” overhang on 2 sides. Coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

· Press the paper in the pan, trim to fit.

· Spray the pan first, and then replace the trimmed paper.

· Spray again. I used butter.

3. Melt together: butter, chocolate & cocoa in heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat. Stir until smooth. Let cool slightly.
4. Whisk together: flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
5. Put eggs, sugar and vanilla into a bowl of an electric mixer fitted wit a whisk attachment. Beat until pale, about 4 minutes.
6. Beat in the chocolate mixture. Add the flour mixture. Beat until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
7. Transfer batter to the prepared pan. Smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted between the edge and the center of the pan comes out with a few crumbs on it, about 30-35 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool about 15 minutes and remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack.

Martha Stewart Living magazine: 15 Years of Delicious Desserts

February 2006; Originally from magazine published in February 2004

Photograph & Description: Page 61; Recipe: Page 16

Some Food for Thought

My daughter has pre-announced her engagement and so the diet is on!
You are probably wondering how someone can 'pre-announce' . . . and you are so right in questioning that expression!

Her 'fiancée' has purchased the ring and wants to surprise her with his proposal, but she knows he is asking, and because she lives in the New York City area, she knows she must plan the wedding early or there just won't be one.

I have been procrastinating on dieting - well - if I am honest - since last July!
Well this pre-announcement has me right in gear, no excuses now! I need to look good in my mother-of-the-bride dress!
My long suffering husband met me about 40 pounds ago and I need to shed it back to what I weighed when we announced our own engagement.

So this week I began in earnest - low carbs is what works for me. I know, I know - no lectures, please.
(Everyone has an opinion, and unless you have read the Atkins books, I don't want to hear about it!)

I began my love affair with carbohydrates when I was just a young girl - penny candy was my main squeeze at the time, or perhaps, starter-drug, might be the more appropriate terminology! But it didn't take long to advance to ice cream, candy, cake, and pie! Oh how I LOVE pie!

And other carbs too - pasta, bread, corn, oatmeal - if it is made from starch and/or sugar, I love it! My sister, Sue says that she is positive that the manufacturers of the loveliest of carbohydrate things, place heroine in their 'white foods' to keep you addicted and coming back for more!

So this is a sacrifice for me - I have given up all of it. Yup, I am down to eating only low carb items during the day and a sensible dinner with maybe just a bit of potato or corn, and green everything else.
Snacks consist of tea, coffee, and sugar-free Jello.
Sometimes a bit of apple, raspberries, strawberries, or grapefruit, too.

I wanted to wait until Monday to get on the scale, but I faltered, and had to get on it today, and found I had lost about seven pounds! I am so pleased!

So I was thinking about all of this tonight when I was making dinner, and I thought I would share a recipe with you all.

Have you heard of Gordon Ramsay?
He has such a potty mouth, but we love him anyway.
In what I believe was his first series on TV, (where he goes around rescuing restaurants in the UK from certain disaster,) he helped one particular pub to become known for its great hamburgers.
And even though I didn't have a pen in hand, and he didn't provide measurements for the ingredients, I memorized it. A great feat at my age!
I made them tonight - usually reserved for summertime grilling - and it brought a bit of sunshine to our dreary day. They are yummy and I know you will adore them!

1 - 2 lbs of minced beef - hamburger to you Americans
chopped onion - a small one
Worcestershire Sauce - about 1/8 to 1/4 cup, depending on how much hamburger you use
Dijon mustard - a heaping tablespoon or two
1 egg - again, if you are making a big batch, add more

Mix it all up together and season with salt and pepper while grilling.
Don't overcook.
These have a lovely flavour and melt in your mouth when cooked properly.

Let me know how you like them!

xxx
Maggie