A German Feast. Rouladen, Knodel and Red Cabbage with Black Forrest Cherry Cake for Dessert.

Oh yeah, we wore these while we cooked.

I have Oktoberfest on the brain! Last weekend Ron and I slaved away in the kitchen making a German feast. I am excited to compare it to what we have in Germany. We usually only make this meal for a special occasion like Christmas dinner but I just couldn't wait! If you have some time on your hands you should give this one a try. And a special thank you goes to Ron's parents who introduced me to this dish and taught me how to make it.



Rouladen
Rouladen are a German dish usually consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles (never tried it with a pickle) wrapped in thinly sliced beef and then slow cooked.

Ingredients

• 6 pack of German Beer
• 8-10 1/8 inch slices of top round (ask your butcher to cut it for Rouladen)
• German Mustard (dijon will work if you can't find German)
• 1 yellow or white onion, sliced
• 1 package of bacon (4 slices reserved)
• salt and pepper
• wooden toothpicks or string

Directions
Drink a beer. Cook the bacon and crumble. Reserve 4 slices and the drippings. Lay out the sliced beef, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Spread on mustard, layer on bacon and onion and roll lengthwise.

Drink another beer. Secure with toothpicks or string.

Place in baking and fill the dish about 1/4 of the way up with beer. (You can also use stock, wine, or water). Finish that beer (waste not want not). If you have any leftover onions you can throw those on top.

Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You should have 3 beers left to keep you busy while you wait ;)

Finished product. Yummmmm

Red Cabbage
I LOVE this side. I could eat it all by itself for a meal. It is sweet, vinegary goodness. And it is such a pretty color too.

Ingredients

• One small head of red cabbage
• One green apple, peeled and diced
• 4 pieces of crumbled bacon and drippings (reserved from above)
• One cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 and 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 juniper berries

Directions
Core and chop cabbage. Peel and dice apple.

Combine all the ingredients in a dutch oven and toss.

Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and simmer stirring occasionally for at least one hour. You can leave it simmering for a bit longer if needed. It is pretty forgiving. Remove cloves and berries and serve warm.

All Done!

Knodel
Knödel are large round poached or boiled potato or bread dumplings. They can be made from flour, potatoes, old bread or a mix like I used. The mix is cheating for sure, but its the only way I have ever had them so I don't know the difference. You can put bacon or croutons in the middle for an added surprise. Since its a mix there aren't many ingredients or instructions. Buy the box and follow the directions as written.

Black Forrest Cherry Cake

I fount this recipe on Allrecipes. I'm not retyping it here because I don't really recommend it. I worked pretty hard on making this cake but I must say I was a bit disappointed by the result. The icing and cherry topping were good but the cake was dry. Maybe it was something I did? When I spend the time to make a cake from scratch I want it to be delicious, not just OK. At least it looked pretty.