This was the third week of the Real German Cuisine challenge and this week’s recipe was Käsespätzle, or Spaetzle with Cheese.
I decided to do this recipe up old school, using a knife and board to make the Spätzle, rather than using a Spätzle maker (which I don’t have and would have either had to buy or borrow from someone).
It started out relatively easy, but as several people warned, the recipe makes a very dry dough and I found myself completely unable to beat it. I stubbornly decided to power through with the original recipe from the book (I’m trying not to change too much, just so there’s at least one person testing out the original recipe), so I pulled out my mixer and allowed it to beat the heck out of the dough. After a couple minutes, there was not one bubble to be seen. As Harvey later confirmed, this is because there wasn’t enough liquid. From talking to a couple Germans, it sounds like the dough should be a bit thicker than pancake mix, which allows you to beat the batter till bubbly.
I bought shredded Emmentaler to save a step, and fried up the onions. Wow, the smell was just fabulous.
Next up was making the Spätzle. As stated in the recipe, I wet a cutting board and spread the dough out on it. I ran a wet knife over it several times, stretching and smoothing it, which was necessary it seems, as Rainer tried a portion after me, skipped the smoothing, and was completely unsuccessful. It may also have worked better that way because of the extra moisture added to the dough by the wet board and knife. Anyways, it took me about half a portion to get the hang of it, but soon I was on a roll.
Rainer said my Spätzle was a little thick (it got pretty good towards the end though), but given that this was my first ever attempt, he thought I did a really good job. He said he’s seen people try making Spätzle at home and end up with a pot full of goo as the Spätzle disintegrate when they hit the water. He was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d pretty much succeeded.
Homemade Spätzle should come out of the water with an airy, almost pancake-like consistency. Mine were a little heavy, but Rainer said (and I agree), that these were still way better than the store-bought Spätzle that all the restaurants around here serve. He said the only time the two of us have had better Spätzle was at a restaurant in Stuttgart. That was good Spätzle. Forget the name of the restaurant now though, was near the train station in a hotel.
As Gary suggested, I served this with a salad with bacon and vinagrette. It was delicious. Oliver wasn’t a huge fan of the onions, but happily sucked down a whole serving of the Spätzle. Rainer said it was well executed and would have been quite happy to be served this in a (Schwabian!) restaurant. He and I both agree that this is a pretty darn good recipe book we’re working out of for these challenges.
Rainer tells me that in the old times, Schwabian girls were not considered ready for marriage until they had mastered the art of Spätzle making. He says according to those standards, I’m not quite marriage material, but he thinks I might be after only a couple more attempts.
I do want to try making Spätzle again. I think I’m up for the challenge of mastering this. Next time I’ll add more liquid, and maybe try milk instead of water, as a couple people have suggested. Just to warn you, it is very tiring, my forearms were aching all evening after I made this, but maybe it’s easier with thinner dough. Or maybe Schwabian Hausfrau just have killer forearms.
Other participants (will be updated throughout the day):
- Harvey at Leben, Kochen, Bücher, Bier u. Fussball
- Stephanie at A Greenville Life
- Yelli at 50% of my DNA
- C N Heidelberg at Heidelbergerin
- Emily at American Wolpertinger in Bayern
- Naturelady at Borealkitchen
Next challenge!
Next week’s challenge is Apfelstrudel (Apple strudel). If you want to participate, make it sometime this week and post about it on Monday. I haven’t decided if I’ll pick a roast for the following week or the week after that, but we’ve got one coming up.
Want to pick a future recipe? Go through the list and pick out recipes you want to do. I’ve got about three-quarters of the recipe names translated to English, so there’s plenty of recipes there for you guys to choose from. Nominate something!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Yours look spectacular.
My version is up at: http://mehrgedanken.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/kasespatzle/
I’ll be adding pictures to it shortly.
Harvey Morrells last blog post..Käsespätzle
Here is my post: http://agreenvillelife.blogspot.com/2009/03/kasespatzle-spaetzle-with-cheese.html
spaetzle turned out great once I added more liquid to the batter – my only downfall was the quality of swiss cheese that I chose – mine was very mild and the flavor didn’t come through in the dish.
Stephanies last blog post..Käsespätzle (Spaetzle with Cheese)
some future recipe nominations: rouladen, sauerbraten, and the shrimp ragout sound yummy!
Stephanies last blog post..Käsespätzle (Spaetzle with Cheese)
Looks pretty darn good and my mouth is watering.:) Have you tried the Spaetzle Mehl yet? Works well, too. I don’t ever use milk in the dough, just water.
The cutting board I find is a messy undertaking, much easier is a real heavy Spaetzlepress, which you can get from the internet or a Haushaltswarenladen at the Schwobalaendle. I found that those presses are harder to find in other areas. And experience tells me that those flimsy shiny presses with several inserts look only good in the store, but are rather potatoe ricers than Spaetzle makers. Just a little note on the side from me to you.:)
We made it this weekend too – hope to post it later today!
CN Heidelbergs last blog post..Breaking Meet-Up News
My post is up! I see you had the same problem as me with the bubbles. More liquid? I will have to try that next time. LOL on the Schwabian Hausfrau point!
Yellis last blog post..Real German Cuisine Challange – Käsespätzle
Man that looks delish. I am at the edge of my seat to see what your Apfelstrudel looks like – I have posted quite a few reviews of Strudel in Vienna:
http://www.swisstoryblog.com/2009/02/apfelstrudel-yum-x-1000.html
http://www.swisstoryblog.com/2008/10/viennese-apfelstrudel.html
http://cndrnh.blogspot.com/2009/03/amiexpats-kaesespaetzle-cheese-spaetzle.html – Here’s ours! Photos didn’t turn out so hot, but it was delicious!
From the list, Damon requests a Kalbshaxn challenge! :O
CN Heidelbergs last blog post..Breaking Meet-Up News
@silvia: This is the first time I’ve made Spätzle, and I just used regular Type 405 flour. Next time maybe I’ll try the Spätzle mehl, never noticed it before, but I have noticed there are a lot of different flours at the store here. Thanks for the Spätzlemaker advice. Maybe next time we head into Schwaben we’ll stop into a cooking supply store and pick up a good Spätzlemaker.
@jessica: Bavarian Apfelstrudel is different than Viennese, it’ll be interesting to see how different it really ends up being. I don’t think I really noticed a huge difference between the Apfelstrudel here and in Wien, except that Austrians would never serve it with ice cream and they do that pretty often here.
@cn: Alrighty. I’ll stick Kalbshaxn on the list. Rainer will be happy about that. I’ve never actually eaten Kalbshaxn (or Schweinshaxn or Eisbein), so I guess I’m in for a surprise.
I think we’ll do a Sauerbraten after the Strudel, re: Stephanie’s suggestion. I’ll get the recipe up soon since it has to marinate 3 days.
ok. Just got back from English Comedy Club. Finally posted! here: http://americanwolpertinger.blogspot.com/2009/03/real-german-cuisine-challengekasespatzl.html
Thanks to everyone for the great experiences and the tips… i was so happy to know that you all shared many of my woes…
Apfel Strudel here we come!
Emily Flechtners last blog post..Real German Cuisine Challenge—Käsespätzle (or: the attack of the killer slugs)
I made the spaetzle today with the cheese and onions, and they were a big hit (see my post at borealkitchen.blogspot.com. The recipe made enough for a second meal!
A warning: I nearly burned myself when my Spaetzle-Reibe mal-functioned: the sliding unit came off its base!
Ute Olssons last blog post..Homemade German Spaetzle
Hi!
Thanks for the thorough explanation on how to make German Cuisine: Käsespätzle.
I learn something new today.
See you around.
lunaticgs last blog post..Mongolia; World Oldest Country
@emily: Your post had me cracking up!
@ute: Love the anecdotes and tips in your post!
@lunaticg: Thanks for stopping by, see ya round!
Christina, I am getting ahead of myself!
The Spaetzle looked so good that I forget the fact that you made them the first time! LOL
We cheated and made the recipe this evening, a week late! Since Christopher and I were alone, I made only a half recipe.
Having been warned about the dry dough, we followed the Spätzle recipe from our Dr. Oetker cookbook which called for less flour (200 g flour, 2 eggs, 5 TS water). Even with the mixer, I wasn’t able to get the dough to bubble, just a few blisters. I tried scraping the dough from a board with a knife, but didn’t get the hang of it and resorted to using a collender, but it was still hard work. But the end result tasted very good.
The dough is quick and easy to make, so maybe homemade Spätzle is worth putting into our regular rotation. But then with a real Spätzle press, please.
Scott Hansons last blog post..Spring Break
Sounds great! We usually make without the onions (per Oma’s instructions) but will try those next time. They look good. With a stand mixer and a Spaetzle maker, these aren’t tough to make, but the cleanup can be a pain. You can use a Spaetzle press (comes out long and thin) or the one that’s like a funnel that scrapes on a metal grater-thing (comes out short and fat). Good luck!
By the way, what recipe book are you using for these? Being in America, I don’t know much about converting grams to cups.
@Jen Using Google I found a nice conversion table for grams-to-cups for many ingredients at http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml But it’s still easier to use a digital scale, Tchibo here has them every so often for 20€ or so.
.-= Scott Hanson´s last blog ..American Breakfast 1994 =-.
@jen: I’m translating the book “Die echte Deutsche Küche,” (The Real German Cuisine) one recipe at a time. And like Scott said, using a digital scale is the way to go. You can order them off Amazon in the US, or find them in cooking supply stores. I’m a total convert. Much more accurate and easy than using measuring cups. I convert the grams to ounces, for US scales, but if you want cups, the link Scott provides is a good place to look.
@scott: Thanks for the great link!