Helene’s Zwiebelkuchen (Onion Pie)

3 eggs

12 oz. Sour cream

12 slices bacon

12 large Vidalia onions, peeled and sliced

salt

oil

2 tbsp caraway seeds

2 large uncooked pizza crusts

Makes 2 pies. Steam onions (with a little oil on top) for a few minutes over low heat; add salt and some caraway seeds. Continue cooking for about 15 minutes. Fry and drain bacon. Separate eggs, beat the whites (moist not stiff) in a bowl with a whisk. Add sour cream, the yolks and some salt; stir. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain onions with slotted spoon & spread on rolled out pizza dough. Spread cream mixture on top. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil on top. Sprinkle with bacon. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes then 375 for 20 minutes more. Serves 6 - 8

Oma's Sauerbraten

Gravy

3-5 lb. bottom round roast

2 tsp. pickling spice

1 cup water

1 large onion, thickly sliced

1 carrot, thickly sliced

1/2 cup red wine

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup water

2 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 cup sour cream

Boil pickling spice in water for 10 minutes. Cool. Put meat, onions, carrot in a plastic bowl or ziploc bag. Add cooled pickling spice with liquid and vinegar, to just cover top of meat. Seal and let stand in the refrigerator for 5 - 7 days.

Remove meat, reserving liquid, carrots and onions. Dry the meat well with paper towels. Brown meat thoroughly in a heavy bottomed non aluminum pot. Remove meat from pot. Place carrots and onions at the bottom of the pot, and then let the meat rest on top of them. Add wine. Cover tightly and simmer over very low heat for about 3 hours.

Gravy: Remove meat from pot. Set aside and keep it warm. Add the reserved pickling spice liquid. Add 2 beef bouillon cubes. Bring to a simmer. Add 1/4 cup cornstarch mixed with about 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer for one minute. Strain the sauce, discarding pickling spices. Whisk in 1/2 cup sour cream. Serves about 10.

Oma's Spatzle

4 cups flour

6 eggs

1 tbsp salt

About 2 cups water

Put flour and salt in a large bowel. Make a well and add the eggs. Beat in the eggs slowly with a wooden spoon. The mixture should be slightly sticky and have the consistency of soft taffy.

Using a potato ricer, press the dough into boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes. Remove cooked noodles, and repeat until all the dough is used. Makes about 10 portions.

Helene?s Knoedel (Potato dumplings)

6 cups potatoes ? riced

1 large onion ? diced

9 slices stale bread ? cubed

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs -- fork beaten

Cook potatoes in skins, until soft. Cool, peel and rice (or run them through a sieve to make small granules of potato).  Cool riced potatoes overnight. Measure potatoes and adjust recipe ingredients accordingly. (Recipe is for 6 cups potatoes). Soften onion in butter (margarine) over low heat. Add to potatoes. Slightly heat bread in butter and add to mixture. Add remaining ingredients and cool. Mix all together and sprinkle additional flour on top. Flour hands often while forming dumplings. Form into balls using slotted-spoonfuls. Boil salted water and drop balls (a few at a time) into water for about 10 minutes. (Begin by testing the first one. If it falls apart, it may need more flour or bread.) Drain and serve immediately, or dry on plate and later heat in frying pan in butter. Serves about 20

Oma's Bread Knoedel (Bread dumplings)

1 diced onion

3 Tbsp. diced parsley

2 Tbsp butter

1 lb. stale Italian bread, cut into cubes

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp marjoram

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Sautee onion and parsley in butter. Add to bread cubes. Beat eggs slightly, and mix with milk. Add that to the bread. Add remaining ingredients. Mix with your hands, and form a roll (like a thick jelly roll). Put the roll into a cheesecloth, and place into boiling water. Simmer about 20 minutes. Cut into slices (I use a thread to keep a clean cut). Serve.

Helene’s Rotkohl (Red Cabbage)

1 head red cabbage, sliced

goose fat (who the heck has goose fat lying around?) or bacon fat. Or vegetable oil

salt

sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1 chunk onion

1 bay leaf

cloves

slice lemon

2 chunks apple

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon flour

Prepare spice bag with cheesecloth, fill with onion, cloves, spices, lemon, and apple. Place sliced red cabbage in a pot with goose fat, salt, sugar vinegar, 1 1/2 cups of water and spice bag. Cook slowly. (2 to 3 hours or so) When almost ready to serve, prepare red wine and flour and pour over cabbage. Heat some more. Remove spice bag and serve.

Oma's Green Cabbage

1 medium head cabbage

1 chopped onion

5 cloves garlic

1/4 cup cider vinegar

3 Tbsp Sugar

4-5 Tbsp Olive Oil or bacon fat

3/3 cup water

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large pot, sauté onions and garlic in oil. Cut cabbage in half, and remove the stalk. Slice thinly. Add to onion mixture and stir well. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over the cabbage, mixing well. Cover tightly and simmer for 45 minutes.

Maultaschen

Dough

Filling

5 cups flour

6 eggs

1 Tbsp salt

About 1 1/2 cups water

1 large onion

1 large bunch parsley

1/2 stick butter

2 lbs parboiled spinach (or 4 boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed)

1/2 loaf stale white bread, cubed

2 lbs. ground meat (beef, pork, veal)

6 eggs

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 Tbsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Dough - Mix 4 1/2 cups of the flour with the remaining ingredients until smooth. Use the remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle. Knead well. Prepare the filling

Filling - Saut頦irst three items until onions are transparent. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Use your (clean!) hands to really get in and mix it all together.

Putting it together - If you have a pasta maker, it will be much easier. If not - separate the dough into 6 pieces. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board to about 15" by 20". This will be the top. Put aside. Roll out another piece of dough for the bottom. Add 1/3 of the filling. Cover with the first piece. Seal the edges by running a plate around the corners (like a wheel), and use the plate to divide the maultaschen into pieces - about 2" x 4" each. Slice through with a knife. Place them in large pot of boiling water, and cook for 10 - 12 minutes. Drain. Repeat until all done. You may need to add water to the pot after a few times, because it boils off.

Note: This recipe takes about three hours to make. It costs about $15 - $20, and will feed about 20 people. It freezes extremely well. The first night we eat it in a soup - the water that was used to boil the maultaschen with 2 bouillon cubes added. The next night we eat them fried with a slice of American cheese melted on top, or an egg scrambled on top. Lots of work, but it's inexpensive, healthy, and delicious.

Pizza Dough

2 cups warm water

1 package dry yeast

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tsp salt

About 6 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup moderately warm water. Add oil, sugar, salt. Add 4 cups of the flour and mix until smooth. Add the remaining 2 cups flour and knead until soft and pliant. Place dough in a greased bowl, flip the dough upside down, and cover with a moist warm dishtowel. Let it rise until double (or overnight). Punch down the dough. (Dough can be refrigerated at this point). Let rise again until double.

For Pizza - Roll out dough, add tomato sauce and grated mozzarella cheese. Bake on an aluminum pizza pan in a 450 degree gas oven (on the floor of the oven) for about 7 minutes. Once the bottom of the pie is lightly browned, move it to a middle rack for another 3-5 minutes.

Tomato Sauce aka "Gravy" a la Antoinette Sophie Johnson

1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage

4 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 large chopped onion

3 chopped cloves garlic

5 large cans tomatoes - whole and crushed

1/2 cup red cooking wine

2 Tbsp Oregano

1 Tbsp Basil

1/4 Tsp. Red Pepper

1 Tsp Salt (optional)

Brown sausage in oil. Lower heat, add onions and garlic and cook until tender, not brown. Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Stir. Lower heat. Cook about 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Corn Fritters

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon oil

Suggested food for fritters (about 1 cup chopped):

Shrimp, ham, corn, chopped apple, banana, pineapple cubes

Heat fat or oil (3 - 4 inches) to 375 degrees. Measure all ingredients into bowl. Beat until smooth. Add choice of fritter food. Drop level tablespoons into hot fat and fry about 5 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Drain.

German Lettuce Salad and Dressing

1 head lettuce

1 finely chopped green onion or chives

1 clove finely minced garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped dill

1/2 finely chopped onion

3 tablespoons water

In a mixing bowl, blend all ingredients together. Wash lettuce and slice into pieces. Pat dry and add dressing right before serving. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.

Bread & Butter pickles courtesy of Dot Lafroscia

2 gallons cucumbers

1 gallon white vinegar

2 cups salt

4-5 pounds of sugar

¾ cup alum (1 jar)

2 cinnamon sticks

1 jar pickling spices

Pack whole pickles into a large suitable container (crock, glass jars, etc.) Add salt to 1 gallon boiling water. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 24 hours. Drain. Add alum to 1 gallon boiling water & let stand over cucumbers 24 hours. Drain. Pour 1 gallon plain boiling water over cucumbers & let stand 24 hours. Drain. Bring vinegar to boil. Pour over cucumbers. Add 2 sticks of cinnamon & pickling spices. Let stand 9 days. Drain. Slice cucumbers in a large bowl and add sugar gradually mixing until melted. Keep adding sugar until at the desired sweetness (about 4-5 pounds). Pickles will keep in jars unsealed.

Potato Pizza courtesy of Crissy Mullooly

Ingredients:
Pizza dough
6-8 Red Skin Potatoes (with skin on)
1 - 16oz container of Sour Cream
1 Bar of Cracker Barrel Yellow Cheddar (you will shred)
1 Bar of Cracker Barrel White Cheddar (you will shred)
Bacon Bits or Real Bacon

Deep Dish Pan
Drizzle pizza dough with Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper
Fork Dough
Cook for 8 minutes @ 425
Check on dough if it bubbles puncture it with a fork
Let cool

Wash and Fork Red Potatoes
Microwave them for 2 minutes on each side (they should be soft)
Let cool
Spread sour cream on the dough, covering the dough
Slice and place the red potatoes, cover the sour cream
Cover the potatoes with the white and yellow shredded cheese
Spread bacon bits or real bacon over the cheese

Bake for 16 minutes @ 425
Check bottom of pie for how dark you want the crust

Let Cool
Tastes even better the next day