This week’s recipe challenge was Märkischer Rindfleischtopf (Mark Brandenburg Beef Stew). The Mark Brandenburg is the area including and surrounding the city of Berlin. I wasn’t too impressed with the local cuisine when we lived in Berlin and in Potsdam, but the recipes from this book for that region have been pretty good.
This is the first week where I actually had very little to do with the challenge. We bought the meat last Saturday to make the next day, and I ended up coming down with a really bad cold. Since we bought beef filet to use, and didn’t want it to go to waste, Rainer did most of the work and I read instructions to him from the kitchen table, where I was also frequently resting my head.
We didn’t have Teltower Rübchen (turnips). I planted some seeds back in August, but the plants are only about 3 inches high. I read that Bavarian Rübchen are almost identical, so I had hoped to find some of those to use, but there weren’t any in the local markets. We decided to use Kohlrabi and carrots as a substitute.
I ended up eating very little. I had a small scoop of vegetables and one slice of filet, but Rainer loved this dish. He proclaimed it one of his favorites so far and said he was really surprised that the filet went so well in it. He hadn’t had high expectations, but in the end, he says, “It was beef filet and a lot of butter. Look at the picture, it’s butter, butter, butter, butter. How can you go wrong with that?”
Other participants:
- Stephanie at A Greenville Life
Upcoming challenges!
Write up
- November 9 – Zwiebelmarktkuchen (Weimar Onion Festival Cake)
- November 16 – Muschelsalat (Mussel salad)
- Sächsischer Weihnachtsstollen (Saxon Christmas Stollen) – To be made the week of Thanksgiving and publish either right before or after Christmas (Dec 21 or 28). Let me know if you have a preference.
Feel free to join in anytime. Want more Real German Cuisine? Check out the full recipe list organized by German state.
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We didn’t do it because we went shopping at the last minute and couldn’t find turnips and couldn’t decide what to substitute. We might still do it though…it looks pretty good.
.-= CN Heidelberg´s last blog ..Adriatic Day Trip from Ljubljana! =-.
Sorry to hear you have been unwell…
Hmm still waiting for my shipment from Egypt, camping in the new house with 3 borrowed cups, forks, spoons etc… but will jump on board once I have unpacked. Do you think that the kohlrabi worked like turnips? I quite like kohlrabi just steamed, but here in NRW they always drown it in a mehlschwitzer white sauce.
.-= Lynda´s last blog ..Falling…Falling…Fell =-.
It’s interesting to try local cruisines when visiting somewhere. Thanks for sharing.
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We made this last week since it looked so good and we finally found the little turnips. I’m not sure when/if I will get around to posting it. It was really good EXCEPT the turnips! They were a disaster! I don’t know if we cooked them wrong, didn’t peel them enough, got the wrong kind, or what! They were so bitter I couldn’t even eat them and just picked them all out. A few days later I had the leftovers and the bitterness of the turnips had permeated all the other parts. Gack!! Otherwise it was really great – next time we leave them out!
.-= CN Heidelberg´s last blog ..Hallstatt, Austria (and the way there) =-.
@lynda: I’m not a turnip expert, I guess I had them as a kid sometime, so I don’t really know. I thought the kohlrabi worked well in the recipe though.
@cn: Oh no, that’s too bad about the turnips and them ruining the leftovers!
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