Had a very nice time traveling seeing my folks in Reno, friends, relatives and family reunion. Thank you for all the well wishes! I hope you are having a good summer in the northern hemisphere, and I hear it is cold where some of our German friends in the southern hemisphere are, like South Africa.
I wanted to share a way to do some good outdoor foods and give them a German twist. Sabine Woern who learned the Bratwurst trade in Frankfurt am Main said that a chicken rouladen that is rolled and cut into slices and then BBQued really went well in the store she worked at. You can use any kind of filling you want. I chose to use a Black Forest Ham and Emmentaller cheese.
I also use the ham and cheese on another dish, Schnitzel Hawaii which is on many menus in Germany.
Black Forest Ham is a real art in the Black Forest. It takes several months to do it right. It is different than the Black Forest Ham you buy that is made in the United States, which is just a ham that looks like they put a black glaze on the rind.
Emmentaler Cheese is Swiss by origin but they make it in Bavaria also,
where the spring flowers are said to make great grazing for the cows and exceptional milk to make cheese.
Roy Denman shared his great Bavarian Sauerkraut Potato Salad that has a nice sweet and tart flavor, with the sauerkraut and the sweet pickle juice.
Cindy Clark inspired a Kuchen pizza that, I took another step and cooked on a BBQ. If you have never seen a Kuchen cooked from the raw state on a BBQ you should try it. It is fun!
One of my favorite German folk songs growing up was, Freut euch des Lebens , (Rejoice in Life) Edith Prock sings it well, and I feature more of her music also.
This cheese comes from Emmental, Switzerland. A cow's milk cheese that started in
the 13th century, and gets it's holes from not pushing out the CO2 bubbles. read more about it here
Also Bavaria makes it's own Emmentaler cheese from a
Swiss Cheesemaker that came to the Allegäuer area.
The Allgäuer area in Bavaria
A classic hard cheese with a mild, nutty taste and distinctive round, cherry-sized holes. Only cheeses from the districts of Lindau, Oberallgäu, Unterallgäu, Ravensberg and Lake Constance, as well as the towns of Kaufbeuren, Kempten and Memmingen fall within the protected area of the PDO and can be labeled Allgäuer Emmentaler .
Black Forest Hams
There is an interesting process in making REAL Black Forest Ham.
In the Euro Zone a Black Forest Ham must be made to specifications.
cured with spices and cold smoked for about 7 weeks over Fir or pine branches and Sawdust
This is the brand that shows you are part of an association that is authentic Schwarzwälder Schinken (Black Forest Ham) from the Black Forest made to certain specifications.
Read more about it here
My friend Sabine Woern who learned the Bratwurst trade in Frankfurt am Main, told me that this
dish sold well. I had never heard of a roulade that was sliced first and then grilled.
This looks like a BBQ version of Chicken Cordon Bleu, but you can use all kinds of things to fill it.
When looking at menus of restaurants in Germany I found this to be a popular menu item.
The panko breading and pineapple along with the Black Forest Ham and Emmentaler cheese
makes a nice "Fusion Schnitzel between Germany and Hawaii.
I thought you might be thinking about starting some special Holiday Vanilla Extract for the holiday season.
I just got in some fabulous vanilla beans, from Madagascar that are moist, very fragrant with that nice spiceyness that only the Bourbon Island beans seem to have.
The only thing is , they are just a bit smaller than my usual beans. They are exquisite in flavor though. They are between 6-7 inches in length shown in the picture above.
I thought that I would just throw half again as many vanilla beans in the package that I sell them for.
Try making some Almond vanilla extract, that you add some toasted almonds in. You can do the same with adding 1 cup of dried cherries and 6 vanilla beans to 2 cups vodka andand make a cherry vanilla extract or try the same with coffee beans.
Roy Denman from Germany that now lives in Kentucky, is a fabulous
cook! He told me that I had to try this dish it was really a winner.
On these hot summer days a dish like this is almost a meal.
You can use ham as Roy did here or bacon, what ever you have on hand.
the Sauerkraut, along with the sweet pickle juice gives a nice sweet and sour
balance to the dish.
This dish was inspired by my friend Cindy Clark, I was looking for a
way to Do different with the crust on a kuchen.
Next I did this for a group, on a warm day and cooked the dough on the grill.
For these hot days it makes the perfect dessert. It is really fun for
guests as well, they get a kick out of it.
Nägeli, son of a clergyman, has been called “the man who taught Switzerland to sing.”
He was virtually a national hero of popular music and folk singing; his most popular song, still sung in beer tents the world over, is “Freut euch des Lebens” (1791).
Nägeli helped found several choral societies, and frequently corresponded with Friedrich Silcher, who greatly admired him. Nägeli's works include:
Edith Prock Freut euch des Lebens
Freut euch des Lebens
weil noch das Lämpchen glüht
Pflücket die Rose
eh sie verblüht!
Man schafft so gerne sich Sorg´ und Müh´
sucht Dornen auf und findet sie
und läßt das Veilchen unbemerkt
das uns am Wege blüht.
Freut euch des Lebens...
Wenn Scheu die Schöpfung sich verhüllt
Und laut der Donner ob uns brüllt,
So lacht am Abend nach dem Sturm
Die Sonne uns so schön.
Freut euch des Lebens...
Wer Neid und Mißgunst sorgsam flieht
Und G´nügsamkeit im Gärtchen zieht
Dem schießt sie schnell zum Bäumchen auf
Das goldne Früchte trägt.
Freut euch des Lebens...
Wer Redlichkeit und Treue übt
Und gern dem ärmeren Bruder gibt
Bei dem baut sich Zufriedenheit
So gern ihr Hüttchen an.
Freut euch des Lebens...
Und wenn der Pfad sich furchtbar engt
Und Mißgeschick uns plagt und drängt
So reicht die Freundschaft schwesterlich
Dem Redlichen die Hand.
Freut euch des Lebens...
Sie trocknet ihm die Tränen ab
Und streut ihm Blumen bis ins Grab
Sie wandelt Nacht in Dämmerung
Und Dämmerung in Licht
Freut euch des Lebens...
Sie ist des Lebens schönstes Band
Schlagt, Brüder, traulich Hand in Hand
So wallt man froh, so wallt man leicht
Ins bess´re Vaterland.
Freut euch des Lebens.....
Enjoy life
because even the lamp glows
Pflücket the rose
wilted before her!
It creates so much like himself Sorg 'and toil
seeks and finds them on thorns
and leaves unnoticed the violet
flowers that are on the way.
Enjoy life ...
If fear is the creation veiled
And the loud thunder roars us whether,
Sun laughs in the evening after the storm,
The sun so beautiful.
Rejoice in life ...
Those who envy and jealousy carefully flees
G'nügsamkeit And pulls in the small garden
to the trees to shoot it quickly became
the golden bear fruit.
Enjoy life ...
He who practices honesty and loyalty
and love are the poor brother
in which satisfaction is based
on As much as her little hut.
Enjoy life ...
And if the path is awfully restricted
and misfortunes plaguing us and urges
Thus, the sisterly friendship extends
to the honest man's hand.
Enjoy life ...
She dries the tears
And he scatters flowers to the grave
It converts night into twilight
and dawn light in
Enjoy life ...
It is life's most beautiful band
Beat, brothers, intimate hand in hand
So you glad surges, so it undulates slightly
ins bess're country.
Enjoy life .....
