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Hope you all are enjoying Summer.
In Germany sometimes they call this Sommerloch.
It's a funny German word, literally means, "Summer Hole"
If you go to google translate
"Summer Slump"
it refers to the slow time in Germany when folks are taking vacations,
the news is slow,
and a good excuse to slow down and enjoy the heat a bit.
Pronounced ZUMmer-lock
Maybe a good time to explore some new recipes or develop
new versions that make them your own!
One I have been playing with is the German version of a Hamburger
that has been popular for centuries.
It is called one of these funny German names
that remains a mystery to it's origin. Frikadellen
It goes by many other names depending on where you are in Germany
You can BBQ them
The Traditional Way is to fry them.
So Frikadellen is a bit different than our US burger.
It is a blend of 2 meats and a special binder that holds in the juices,
sauted onion, mustard and spices to flavor.
The traditional way to cook them
is to make a meat ball, flatten it on both sides a bit, and cook it so it is crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.
These may not look like burgers to us in the US but they are popular all over Germany for centuries and equally from other countries around it including Denmark, Scandanavia, Poland, Eastern Europe,
In many parts of Germany it is a staple
a weekly lunch or dinner,
for an outing also as they are eaten
hot or cold.
The non German thing about this recipe is that it is very flexible with lots of ways to be
creative with this.
Just kidding, sometimes we joke about us Germans
being too rigid.
these are fried and then cooked with onions and finished with a good German beer to Deglaze.
You can also make a light gravy to go with these.
It is a popular way to serve them in Germany, often with some mashed potatoes
and green beans.
This 12 inch cast iron skillet has several advantages. It is 6.8 lbs and lighter than most other cast iron skillets out there. I have always loved how Calphalon performs. This also has curved sides as opposed to straight sides which make maneuvering food easier as well as cleaning.
Seasoning Oil, Metal Chain Mail Scrubber, 2 Plastic Pan Scrapers and Silicone Hot Handle Cover - Cleaning Accessories Set to Scrub and Clean Skillet, Pot or Dutch Oven
These Frikadellers I put on a wood plank and smoked them for a hour before
grilling them.
I put a nice char on them and then made a special glaze.
I wanted to put another American touch on them so I glazed them with bbq sauce laced with curry powder.
Making it like a curry catsup. It was very good!
Our ancestors definitely took their butchering seriously and made a
social event out of it sometimes and everyone pitched in.
You were not only making food for the present but to get
through the winter.
There are always scraps during the butchering process and they made
sausage and Bratwurst since the 10th century.
However meat grinders, even the hand ones werer not invented till
the 1800's so how did they grind meat before that?
Meat grinder,
the tool was invented by
Karl Drais
In the 18th Century
A Mortar and Pestle was very common and efficient way to break meat, vegetables and spices down. Being made of rock you had a coarse surfae to help.
For the most part they would just chop it by hand. I know that sounds like a lot of work,
but great to get your aggresions out, There is actually great techniques to make it
easier and efficient and many chefs swear it is superior to meat put through a grinder.
I find it helpful with making Frikadellen, because I don't always have ground pork on hand.
I do have pork loin, or chops on hand most of the time however and a quick chop
of a bit of pork is easy.
Here is a video on how to mince meat without a grinder.
This takes a bit of practice and a sturdy knife but a great technique to learn
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Newspaper Recipes from the Past for
Frikadellen
I explored some of the recipes in the US
It was hard to find an English version before
1949
However the recipes are really interesting and quite different
in many ways.
This one here whom the author says is a Danish recipe,
doesn't use any binder, but mixes a whole cup of milk
to pound of mixed beef and pork.
This would make a very soft mix
he says you can't make a patty but spoon it into the oil.
This recipe is from a German war bride in Texas
that wrote a cook book for other brides that couldn't
find the ingredients or recipes to cook family favorites.
Interestingly enough this recipe uses left over "Cooked Roast Beef"
I have not tried it but I am interested in it.
A recipe book and short biography of my Grandmother Emma Block. Her recipes, culture and cooking styles that were brought over from Germany. How they evolved when she came to America in the early 1900s and settled in Portland, Oregon on the west coast of the United States. Over 100 recipes
Bonus Recipe CD with the Ebook and recipes with step by step pictures
Biography of my grandma
Emma Block From Germany with Love tells the story of my grandma, Emma Block, growing up in a little town in Baden/ Würtemberg, Germany near Heidelberg named Steinsfurt. Then at the age of 15 immigrating to the United States, taking a train with one of her sisters and brothers to Hamburg and sailing the Atlantic with other hope filled Germans wanting to make a life in the "New World". It was not easy but with good values learned in her German upbringing made a full life, had a wonderful family with lots of fun and celebration including the great German meals.
Through modern technology we can enjoy music from Germany at the touch of your computer, there are many venues now, Pandora, Amazon music, and Youtube is free.
I love my noise canceling headphones that are completely wireless and give incredible sound!
This is a wonderful tool from Germany, that makes the longer Spaetzle noodles. My German friend brought one over from Germany for me.
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Karin Elliot born and raised in Germany
is a chef and wonderful friend giving me encouragement through the years here and donated her recipes for our newsletter. She also does wonderful volunteer work like providing meals for school children in need in Tuscon, Arizona.
Many German-Americans and German immigrants are interested in Native American items from books and movies to jewelry and arts and craft supplies. Karin will take care of you personally with her online store Native Rainbows
This is the newsletter you are reading now, called the German Goodies Recipe Newsletter. I have been publishing this for 20 years now and we have had a lot of fun doing it.
Want to receive our
German Goodies Newsletter?
If you enjoy the history I talk about in this newsletter you will also love the history of other dishes and foods I like to do in my
Food History Newsletter
This is a basic blog of what is going on at the Kitchen Project
Frikadellen History 
I wanted to put another American touch on them so I glazed them with bbq sauce laced with curry powder. 
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