Sunday Dinner Oktoberfest Style

A couple of months ago, Wayne reminisced about the absolutely delicious chicken he had on his trips to Germany during Oktoberfest. A trip to satisfy that hankering is not in the cards anytime soon, but I figured I could at least try to recreate an Americanized, home version, and that turned out to be a great success! We'll have this again someday, maybe even during the proper Oktoberfest season.

Weisn Hendl

I followed the instructions found on this website and we were quite pleased with the results. Basically, stuff a whole chicken with fresh parsley, sprinkle - liberally! - with salt and baste with browned butter** every 15 minutes while it roasts in a hot oven. Florida chickens must be at least as large as Texas chickens; ours was 5-6 pounds. If I recall correctly, I put it in a 390 degree oven right-side-up for 30 minutes, flipped the chicken upside down and baked it for another 30 minutes, then flipped it again and raised the temperature to 450 degrees for another 15-30 minutes, until the chicken reached an internal temperature of 175 degrees. Remove and let rest for 15-30 minutes before carving.

**To brown butter, melt a cube of butter over very low heat until it separates and turns brown. This will take a while, but keep an eye on it because apparently it can go from golden brown to burnt very quickly. Depending upon its intended use, you may desire to strain it; I didn't this time. What I didn't use I stuck in the fridge, and it became the perfect topping for the Spaetzle (or delicious German pasta) I served with the leftover chicken a few days later.

While I imagine you'd stick with chicken and pretzels (and maybe beer) in an Oktoberfest tent, for our Sunday dinner, I wanted a couple of side dishes. The potato pancakes were good although nothing special, but we also tried something brand new - braised red cabbage (recipe from here because I didn't have the black currant jelly called for in this recipe). Maybe it's not our favorite vegetable, but we liked it and were pleasantly surprised to discover that it could be served not only warm, but also cold.

Kartoffelpuffer, also known as Reiberdatschi in Bavaria.

Basically grate russet potatoes, drain, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix with an egg (or just egg yolk) and cornstarch if desired. Fry in hot oil. Serve with applesauce or sour cream and lax (possibly lox or smoked salmon).

Rotkolh

6 cups shredded red cabbage
1 apple, peeled and sliced
½ onion, sliced
1/3 cup water
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
One bay leaf
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary.

For our German pretzels I decided to try the recipe from the same website as the chicken, even though it seemed a bit odd to use both yeast and baking powder. The result was delicious, but more a roll than a pretzel, at least according to Wayne, possibly due to the way I made my pretzel knot. So a few days later I tried another recipe, this time from King Arthur Baking. These were much better, although I learned that to be truly authentic, I'd need to use a lye bath and not a soda bath. Isn't it great to learn new things??

Brezln

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon gluten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon softened butter
3/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients and knead into an elastic dough. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes. "Fold" the dough. (Run a spatula down the inside far wall of the bowl. Bring the dough up from the bottom of the bowl and fold it over on top of itself. Turn the bowl 90° and repeat; repeat twice more (for a total of four times), turning the bowl 90° each time.) Let rise another 45 minutes. 

Gently deflate the dough, divide into 5-6 pieces, and let rest for 20 minutes. Roll each piece into a long rope and shape into a pretzel. (See how to do that here.) Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator to chill for another 30 minutes (or longer if you decided to take a spur-of-the-moment 3-hour road trip).

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and bring 6 cups of water to boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons of baking soda and reduce to a simmer. Carefully place the pretzels in the hot water - a few at a time - and cook for one minute without turning them over. Remove with a slotted spoon and place back on baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Spaetzle (recipe from here)  Note that I scaled this way down, so this is the amount for 2-4 servings. 

1 1/8 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg
1/4 cup water

Combine dry ingredients; stir in egg, then water. Mix thoroughly. Let set for 10-20 minutes while bringing a pot of salted water to a boil, (could also use chicken broth - I used a mixture). Reduce to simmering and drop batter/dough into the water by scraping through a spaetzle maker or colandar/strainer. (I used a section of my pasta pot and it did the job.) Remove from the water, with a slotted spoon or strainer, once they rise to the top. Toss with browned butter and serve warm.

I thought this was such a fun recipe, that I decided it would be worth it to buy the proper tool. It does make it much easier to make. (Just remember to do a bit at a time when pushing the dough through the holes; otherwise the steam starts cooking it before it hits the boiling water.) I chose the type that just sits on top of my regular large pan.