Sausages in Beer and Bavarian Cabbage - It's Oktoberfest

Yup that's right. We love any excuse to party hearty and it's Oktoberfest weekend. What better way to celebrate than with yummy food and good beer. Last night's dinner epitomized the great tastes of German food.

 
To start with we enjoyed beautiful fresh Bratwurst sausages from Sprouts Market. If you live locally and haven't been there yet, then for heaven's sake get with the program. They have many, many different kinds of fresh sausages made daily in their Meat Department and I surely don't know where they get the recipes, but they're always winners. I've never had a sausage there that I didn't like and these Bratwurst were no different. Browned first, I cooked them in a mixture of carmelized onion, breadcrumbs, caraway seeds and beer. Download Sausages in Beer Served on a bed of Bavarian style red cabbage - well enjoy the view because the the flavor was incredible too. Download Bavarian Cabbage

Now there's dessert. We were celebrating, so I had to make one you know. I found this recipe on a great blog after searching Kuchen on the internet. http://julesfood.blogspot.com/2009/09/grandmas-pear-kuchen.html

 
This is Jule's Grandmother's recipe for Kuchen and it is unbelievable - with a fabulous shortbread style crust, and pears smothered in creamy custard. The only additions I made to the mix were a spoonful of vanilla - hey I make it from scratch and it's so delicious I use it whenever I have an excuse. I also grated a little fresh nutmeg on top. It was so absolutely incredible that we almost had a fork fight over the last piece. Yup, we devoured it faster than you could say lederhosen, although we had every intention of calling the neighbors to invite them over for coffee. We just looked at each other and both said nahh at the same time, and forked in another mouthful. Sorry guys - I will definitely make another one. In fact the big guy's asking for one made with rhubarb and raspberries. Not sure how that'll work cause I have a feeling it's better made with stone fruit, apples or pears, but I'm sure willing to give it a try. After all, with that crust you'll never have a failure. Oh about the crust, be sure to switch to a fork when you add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar. It'll keep you from working the dough too much because a light hand will give you a lighter crust. It is unbelievable - trust me.

Thanks Jules for sharing this treasure with all of us. Your blog is beautiful and photographs absolutely amazing. You have an incredible talent! Obviously, it runs in your family because your Grandmother was no slouch either.

Comments

[Mags]

Ach du lieber! We'll all be buying bigger lederhosen after eating all this! Geeze June, hubby's going to enjoy the heck out of this.

[June]

We loved it too. The cabbage is a real keeper!