Welcome to this Chistmas issue of Sausage and Kraut. Christmas recipes are on the menu this time, Well Nikolaus visited us again this year, the kids sang songs and he welcomed them with small gifts and went through his list of what they had achieved this year (good and bad). Hopefully they will take on board what he told them, but somehow I doubt it!

Hmm, at the moment in Bavaria, we have rain, but snow is forecast tonight and hopefully will create the gorgeous winter wonderland we are all hoping for.

The third candle is about to be lit this Sunday on our Advents wreath, I can't believe that Christmas will soon be upon us.

Now down to recipes that you can make over the holiday season.

By the way, have you made your cookies yet? Please do write back and let me know how you got on with the recipes and if you tweaked any of them to your taste.

Swede Recipes - Steckrüben

Swede And Potato Gratin - Steckrüben-Kartoffel-Gratin

You will need for 4 people:

800 g fresh swede
300 g potatoes
salt and pepper
300 ml cream
nutmeg
2 onions
2 apples
2 dessert spoons of oil (rape seed oil or similar) marjoram
1 dessert spoon sesame seeds
butter for greasing dish

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C. Peel and wash the swede and potatoes. Quarter the swede and cut both vegetables into 2-3 mm thin slices. Grease a shallow baking dish with butter and then place the layers of swede and potatoes into the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the cream in a pan and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer for 5 minutes and then pour over the vegetables. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Peel the onions and apples and chop into small pieces. Heat oil in a pan and fry until golden brown. Lastly add some marjoram to taste. After about 10 minutes in the pan scatter the onions and apples over the veg and the sesame seeds. Bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes until golden.

Caramelized Swede - Karamellisierte Steckrübe

750 g fresh swede
2 dessert spoons sugar
3 dessert spoons butter
salt and pepper
small bunch spring onions
2 dessert spoons of sunflower seeds

Peel and wash the swede. Cut into thick slices and then in 5 cm long sticks. Heat the sugar in a pan until it is golden brown and caramelized, add the swede and mix together well. Add the butter, salt and pepper and let it cook over a mild heat for about 15 minutes. Check and if necessary add a little water. Wash the spring onions and remove the dark green part. Chop into 5 cm pieces. Add to the swede and cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve scattered with sunflower seeds.

This is a great side dish to serve with meat or just serve with a fresh green salad and chunky warm bread.

Lentil, Carrot Soup - Linsen-Möhrensuppe

For 4 people you will need:

150 g red lentils
500 g carrots
1 onion
2 cm cube of fresh ginger
2 dessert spoons olive oil
1 dessert spoon curry powder
1 litre vegetable broth
400 ml coconut milk or 200 ml milk and 200 ml cream
salt

Wash and peel the carrots and cut into thin slices. Peel the onion and ginger and chop finely. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion gently. Add the lentils, carrots, ginger and curry powder and mix together. Then add the broth and simmer until the carrots are tender. Lastly add the coconut milk, but save a little to garnish. Salt to taste and then puree the soup. Heat through again, but don't let it boil. Pour into serving bowls and garnish with a little coconut milk.

Enjoy with crusty warm bread.

Blood Orange Chutney - Blutorange-Chutney

You will need:

6 blood oranges
6-8 red onions
2-4 cm cube of fresh ginger
1-2 red chillies
125 g sugar
100 ml white wine vinegar

Peel the blood oranges with a very sharp knife so that you also peel off the white pith. Separate the orange pieces taking care to catch any juice in a bowl as you will need this.
Peel the onions and ginger. Finely cube the onion and finely grate the ginger. Cut the chillies in half, remove the pips, wash and cut into fine strips. Heat the sugar in a pan until it is caramelized. Mix in the onions, ginger and chillies and immediately add the vinegar and orange juice. Heat until it starts to thicken. Lastly add the orange segments and mix them in carefully. Cook on a rapid heat for 2 minutes. Pour the chutney into sterilized jars and seal immediately.

Go here for more homemade Christmas gifts ideas

Winterpunsch

For 6 people you will need:

1 orange
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 cinnamon sticks
a few cloves
2 1/2 dessert spoons sugar
1 bottle red wine or 750 ml fruit tea

Wash the orange. Using a knife or vegetable peeler cut off thin strips of orange rind. Decorate these with cloves and set to one side. Juice the orange. Heat the orange juice, lemon rind, cinnamon sticks, sugar and red wine in a pan, but do not boil! Pour the punsch into heat proof glasses and decorate with a slice of orange on the side.

Hazelnut Cookies

Below are a couple of recipes for you to try:

250 g hazelnuts, finely ground
250 g confectioners' sugar
3 egg whites at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 "Messerspitze" of cinnamon (about a 1/2 teaspoon)

Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees C. Beat the egg whites while adding sugar a little at a time. Beat until the mixture is soft. Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside 1/2 cup of the meringue mix. Stir in the ground nuts carefully and then using a spoon, place spoonfulls of the mix onto a lined baking tray. Top each cookie with a dab of the reserved meringue. Push a whole hazelnut into the meringue to garnish each cookie. Bake for about 20 minutes until they're light brown. Makes about 30-35 cookies.


130 g cornflour (cornstarch)
200 g flour
250 g hazelnuts
250 gsugar
250 g butter
40 g hazelnuts

Mix the cornflour and flour together in a bowl. Add 250 g ground hazelnuts. Add the sugar and butter and using a kitchen aid or hand mixer, mix to a firm dough. Halve the dough and form two long rolls. Wrap the rolls in aluminium foil and place in the fridge for half an hour. Cut 1 cm thick slices from the dough and place onto a prepared baking tray. Make sure you leave enough space between each cookie as they will spread out. Place a whole hazelnut on top of each cookie. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees C for about 18 minutes until golden brown. Leave the cookies to cool on the baking tray otherwise they may break if you try to remove them while hot. Once cool they will be crisp.

More German Cookie Recipes

Well, that about wraps up this edition. 2009 has been a great year for my web site thank to all my visitors. Thank you all for visiting my site and I hope you will continue to do so in 2010. I hope you all have a wonderful, festive, holiday season. Most of all I wish you good health and happiness.

Sarah

Frohe Weihnachten!

I also have a new website I have created. If you are stuck for your wording for christmas gift thank you notes or need holiday card wording ideas you will find loads of examples here! There is also an offer on, 20% off holiday cards, so you won't want to miss it! Go straight to thank you note examples wording ideas.