ACHTUNG! Since JO isn't going to do one, lets make our own MN GERMAN KOCHBUCH

[MmeLindor]

There were a few of us on that thread who were asking for a German cookbook, some of us have German relatives who might be willing to part with their recipes.

Can we collate some recipes on one thread? Maybe put them on the recipe section too, and link from here?

[BoffinMum]

My local Tesco delivers Brezen. Fantastic.

[BoffinMum]

Somewhere I have the Lebkuchen recipes from my grandfather's housekeeper, which were amazing, so I will dig them out later if I can.

[Anja1Cam]

Flibbertyjibbet sorry for the delay - start of school term keeps me busy....

I have never made Spekulatius, but know exactly what you refer to regarding 'mouth feel' though tht's never stopper me from stocking up at Lidl pre-christmas (a 25 mile round trip)

Here is a recipe that comes recommeded though I have never tried it myself.
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Spekulatius

225 g Butter, (room temp)
210 g Light brom sugar
2 ts ground Cinnamon
1/4 ts ground Ginger
1/4 ts ground Cloves
1/4 ts ground Nutmeg
1/4 ts Salz
1 ts Almond Essence
3 TB Milk
480 g Plain Flour
1/4 ts Baking Powder
flaked almonds - optional

Cream butter, sugar and spices. Mix flour and baking powder. Beat milk into butter mix and then quickly add flour and bring together. Make into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for several hours.

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C. Line baking tray with non-stick baking paper

To shape press into wooden spekulatius molds or simply roll out quite thinly and use cookie cutters. The dough will not rise much it at all. If you like, press the almonds on to the underside of the biscuits - by sprinkling on the baking tray or pressing onto the biscuits before removing from their molds.

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Leave to cool, and will keep well in a tin, in fact they taste better with a bit of maturing time (if you can wait)

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For the spices you can buy ready-made Spekulatius and Lebkuchen mixes in the shops in Germany.

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PacificDogwood before you started being able to get Bretzeln here, I've successfully made 'Laugenstangen' using baking soda in the water instead of lye. Apparently not quite like the real thing, but pretty close as far as I could tell. And pretty yummy anyway

[PacificDogwood]

ubik, yes, us Germans are easily pleased.
'Liebe geht durch den Magen' - roughly translated as 'Access love via the stomach'

[noobieteacher]

www.thegrocer.co.uk/companies/discounters/lidl/lidl-targets-in-store-bakeries-in-all-uk-stores/235242.article

Good news!

[MmeLindor]

Yes, I was thinking of WEST - we haven't eaten there yet, but it looked great when we were there recently.

Where is the cheese/ham/bread shop?

Was chuffed to discover the bakery section in Lidl. My DH goes every Sat morning, just as he used to go to the Baeckerei in Germany.

[ubik]

Mmmm Lidl bakery. German friends practically combusted with joy when it opened.

[PacificDogwood]

Thinking of WEST just got me thinking: they were my only source of soft Bretzeln for a while - I am not that interested in beer, but used to go just for a Bretzel.

I tried making them once myself, with some success, but working with lye is just scary and the whole process is quite a faff.

Now my local Lidl obliges in baking them instore

[PacificDogwood]

Well, you deserved that pint, ubik.
They have a brewmaster trained in Bavaria and their USP is that their beer is brewed according to the German Reinheitsgebot (only water, yeast and hops allowed).

[ubik]

Delicious beer. I had a pint after doing the great Scottish Run and had to ...er ...lie down afterwards

[PacificDogwood]

Nope, I'm not aware of a German restaurant in Glasgow either. I'd be delighted to be educated, though.

WEST Brewery at Glasgow Green has some German dishes.

[ubik]

I live in Glasgow and have a few German friends who bake wonderful bread, cinnamon buns and an amazing kind of cheese/ham soup. There is a German brewery in Glasgow but I have never heard of a restaurant.

[MmeLindor]

Anyone in Edinburgh or Glasgow area? There are German restaurants in both. Haven't tried them yet but on the list.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

Thanks to others for the tip about polish food stores. I can get to one without too much of a detour on the way to my mothers.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

ANJA1CAM

Thanks for the list, I'd been racking my brains to think of the name or some kind of description. They are Spekulatius.

I think the Lidl ones imported into the uk had maybe some different cheaper kind of fat in them as the mouthfeel was just not the same although the packaging was almost the same.

To rephrase my original request then, does any one have a recipe for Spekulatius?

[Liskey]

Thanks for the prune jam recipe Mignonette looks lovely.

That north German potato salad looks wonderful (memories of visiting relatives in Scheswig-Holstein and having similar). Also used to eat loads of sausages and frikadellen there. I may have to find a polish shop near here as this thread is making me feel starving.

[noobieteacher]

Tethersend -it's actually an Austrian restaurant but they do German food as well - Kipferl in Islington. They also run the cafe at Corams Fields and sometimes do Spaetzle, but great cakes are always available.

[MmeLindor]

Flibberty
Were they biscuits like cookies, tasted of cinnamon, sometimes with sliced almonds on the base - then I'd say Spekulatius.

Otherwise maybe Elisenlebkuchen, which are nothing like the 'lebkuchenherzen' that the supermarkets sell.

Hmm, we are going to Germany in October. Wonder if they will have the Xmas stuff out. Will need to leave space in the suitcases for Marzipankartoffeln, Elisenlebkuchen and Zimtmandeln.

Our Tesco has a Polish selection, even fresh stuff. They have really good salami and smoked ham. Russian or Polish shops are good for certain ingredients.

[MousyMouse]

[MousyMouse]

GERMAN potatoe salad (northern version)

cook waxy potatoes, charlotte works well.
(in their skin=pellkartoffeln)
peel and slice into half a cm thick slices.

chop an apple (eating apple), a handfull of pickled gherkins (from the polish isle, the english ones are too sour) and add to the still warm potatoes. finely chop a small onion.

for the dressing :
bring to the boil the onion covered with the pickle liquer from the gherkins and take off the heat and leave for a few minutes until the onion is translucent.
pour over the potatoes.
mix well and stir in a jar of mayonaise.
leave in the fridge for a few hours before eating.

[MousyMouse]

the rick stein programme was blrilliant imo. it showed other regions (the north) as opposed to the south that are usually shown.
I practically was weaned on labskaus and asparagus
yes the potatoe features heavily in german cooking but that's just how it is.
will try to post some northern german recipes later.

[tethersend]

Marking place- and noobieteacher, whereabouts in London is the German restaurant you found?

[gyros]

If you're after the chicken seasoning have a look in a polish food shop. Ours do the mixes for about 40p. They also have milchschnitten, mettwurst, herringsalad, decent sour dough bread, dr oetker cake mixes and loads more German goodies. In polish packaging of course so you have to look at the pictures. Went to one yesterday and my fridge is full of yummy goodies.

[PasswordProtected]

Nobody has mentioned Kraueterquark with Pellkartoffeln and salad. Delicious, light and cheap!

[Gloria36]

@ noobieteacher - No, I just looked on Amazon and it is all types of dishes from the different German regions and some recipes are also on her blog.