German Fest...minus all the beer.

It was our November meeting of the cooking minds, German was on the menu, and I was the hostess. What to cook? After looking through many blogs and recipe sites online I decided on the following menu: 

Fondue with bread and veggies

Cucumber and Onion Salad w Dill

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Brandied Meat Patties

Pear & Cranberry Strudel

Only one important ingredient was missing from our night and that was Evonne. :( She must have been really miserable to miss out on great food!

Of course we had to have an appetizer that we could be munching on while we were making the other dishes. You can NEVER go wrong with fondue. 

Fondue: Gruyere, Gouda, garlic, lemon juice, white wine, and nutmeg.

On to the side dishes. We just HAD to have cabbage, and this recipe didn't disappoint! It was the best cabbage I've ever had. You start by sauteing the sliced apples and chopped onions in butter. Then add the cabbage and the other ingredients, cover, and let simmer for a while. Oh man, the smell from the onions, clove, butter and wine was incredible.

Red cabbage, tart apples, red wine, cloves, onion, 
brown sugar, vinegar, butter. YUM!

Our other side dish was the cucumber, onion, and dill salad and Casey was the slicing and dicing queen! 

VERY thinly sliced cucumber, vinegar, sugar, salt,
pepper, red onion, and dill. Chill and eat!

What a cutie. 

The main dish...Brandied Meat Patties! Now that sounds German. Amy was the woman for this job, and she handled it beautifully. 

Ground beef, bread crumbs, yogurt, creme fraiche, salt
pepper, cubes of cheese, and brandy.

The meat patties are filled with a cheese cube or two, and then pan fried in oil and removed from the pan. Then brandy and creme fraiche was added to the pan, heated, and then the sauce was spooned over the meat. It was interesting because the meat patties were actually kind of bland, but then we realized it was necessary because the sauce was so rich. 

adding the brandy

And finally, desert. This course has been a challenge for us every time we've met, but we are not deterred! For this month...Pear and Cranberry Strudel.

We layered 8 sheets of phyllo dough with butter, sugar
and almonds between each sheet.

Then we filled it with a mixture of crasins, pears, sugar, butter,
all spice, ginger, and a little bit of bread crumbs.

Finally we tried to wrap it up, but it started
sticking to the pan, and crumbling.

We finally got it though, and Casey made sure it knew who was boss!

It ended up turning out beautifully, and it was delicious. Triumph was ours once again! I'm telling you, there's not a better way to spend an evening than with sweet friends and scrumptious food. Happy cooking and Merry Christmas!

Missed you Evonne!