Welcome to My Kitchen

Festplatz, the center of Deutschesfest activities, boasts a vast array of German and American food selections. Many of the items offered for sale are made from recipes that have been used since the beginning of Deutschesfest, adapted from recipes used by Germans from Russia for over a century. A number of these recipes originated in everyday cooking in our ancestors kitchens and adapt well to current food tastes.

Kraut Ranza predates today's pizza pockets by at least one hundred years. Golden brown yeast bread wraps the meat and sauerkraut mixture creating a savory on the go meal. The recipe used by St. Joseph’s Alter Society at Deutschesfest includes yeast risen dough, but thawed, frozen bread dough may be used for making your own at home.

Kraut Ranza

Yeast dough:

2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp dry yeast

3 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

5 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp margarine or butter, melted and cooled

Ranza filling:

1 pound lean hamburger

3/4 pound cabbage, chopped

1/2 pound onion, chopped

1/2 can sauerkraut (about 2-2 1/2 cups)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Ground black pepper to taste

1 or 2 drops liquid smoke

Extra butter for brushing

Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Stir in sugar and salt, then flour and margarine. Mix with a spoon until smooth. Turn onto a floured board and knead for about 5 minutes until dough is smooth. Place in a greased bowl, turning dough so greased side is up. Cover with cloth and let rise until double in bulk.

Meanwhile, crumble hamburger into skillet. Brown until cooked through. Drain off fat. At the same time, simmer sauerkraut in a saucepan about 30 minutes, until cooked. Drain off remaining liquid.

Sauté cabbage and onion in a little margarine until golden. Combine hamburger, sauerkraut, cabbage, onions and seasonings and cool slightly.

Punch down dough. Divide dough into two pieces. Roll each into a 12 inch square. Cut each into nine, 4 inch squares. Portion filling onto dough squares. Bring opposite corners together and pinch dough edges to seal completely. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet, leaving space between for expansion. Let rise. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes until nicely browned. Remove from pan to cool on wire rack. Brush immediately with melted butter. Yield: 18 ranzas.

Hot Potato Salad is another Fest food with a long history. Today we think of it as a side dish to sausage and sauerkraut but in the past, it was often the main dish, maybe accompanied by some late cucumbers or tomatoes. There are about as many recipes for Hot German Potato salad as there are cooks, but this is the version originally used by Royal Neighbors.

Hot Potato Salad

6 medium potatoes, cooked in jackets

6 slices bacon

1/4 cup finely minced onion

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp minced parsley

2 Tbsp finely chopped green pepper

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Note: “cooked in jackets” means cooking with the skin on.

Peel and dice potatoes. Using an electric skillet, set temperature control at 325 degrees or medium for stove top. Fry bacon until crisp, remove from frying pan. Drip off all but 1 tablespoon bacon grease. Reduce heat to simmer or medium low. Combine potatoes, onion, green pepper, sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar and water. Place mixture in frying pan. Cover and heat thoroughly. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon and parsley. Serve immediately Yield: 6 meal servings or 12 side servings.

Note: some recipes call for slicing the potatoes, include more onion or specify cider vinegar.

Blena-German Hotcakes, are a great day starter or an easy meal at the end of the day. The yeast based batter works overnight or throughout the day to create a light crepe-like delicacy good with syrup, jam or a side of sausages.

Blena-German Hotcakes

1 package dry yeast

2 1/2 cups warm water

All-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

Combine yeast, warm water and about 2 cups flour to make a soft sponge. Use a very large bowl to allow for expansion. Let mixture set overnight or 5-6 hours. When ready to make pancakes, blend in soda, salt, sugar and beaten eggs. Mixture should be very thin, almost watery. If too thick, thin with a little warm water or milk.

Grease a large frying pan with a teaspoon of shortening. Add one soup ladle of batter, rotating pan so batter completely covers pan bottom. Cook on a hot stove ( medium high on our modern ranges) until bubbles form and edges brown, turn and brown other side. Serve immediately.

Many old country blena recipes call for rye flour or buckwheat flour. Some use part milk or potato water for the liquid, and melted fat, shortening or butter was added to the batter. Then, of course, is it blena, blenna, blini, blinna, belina balina or blinis? That question can get an animated German discussion going. No matter the name, these are a culinary delight, with syrup, jam, applesauce or filled with cream or a savory meat mixture.

This bit of information has very little to do with German cooking, as you don’t find many jalapeño peppers in German dishes. I got a desperate call from a reader who’s hands were burning from handling Jalapenos without gloves. Be warned, you can get a serious burning sensation from the capsaicin in the peppers, painful and annoying. I suggested several remedies and she found rubbing her hands with the cut surface of a very ripe tomato and a cut onion gave her relief.

Several recipes for pet treats have been submitted, and they will be featured in the next column. Do you have recipes for treats for your dogs, cats, horses, hamsters or what have you? Send them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa WA 99159, email: therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. For less spoilage remove dirt and thoroughly dry potatoes before storing for winter.