Had the best day yesterday in Alameda drinking beer and eating great German food at Speisekammer Restaurant & Bar. We ate Falscher Hase or meatloaf and mashed potatoes and had Reibekuchen which is potato pancakes served with an apple compote. This place is right in line with what Germany must be like. The people were all decked out in their dorky hats and overalls. The women even had fake flowers pinned to their hair all nestled into their buns or braids.Loved the contest to see how long one of these women could hold up a mug of beer. The winner got a free beer, which made it even more fun to watch.
I couldn’t help but think of my Dad because he would have loved it. He is always looking for a good potato pancake, one like his mother would make.
Here is one of the many contraptions that the guests would drink out of. Oh and I wanted a warm pretzel so bad!
Here is a pic that I took at the Frankfort Germany Airport a few months ago.See how the restaurant used the same pretzel stands?
I totally missed out on seeing the dessert menu and I am really bummed because I read on Yelp about their strudels. I need to go back to try it, but for now I can make my own at home. Here is my version of Apple Strudel.
APPLE STRUDEL
serves @ 6-8 people
1 Pkg of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry found in frozen food section (leave in fridge overnight before using or let thaw out on counter covered) Comes two in a package
4 medium to large size granny smith apples
1/2 lemon juiced
a little all purpose flour to sprinkle on counter
1/4 C granulated sugar plus a little extra for sprinkling
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp cold butter cut into pieces
1 egg
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Take a small handful of flour and spread on counter. Take dough and separate by opening up and lay it flat onto counter onto flour. Use a rolling pin to roll out dough into a long rectangle.
Cut apples thinly and sprinkle with lemon juice. In a small bowl mix sugar with cinnamon. Pour sugar mixture onto apples and mix so that all the apples are coated in sugar. Place apples along the edge of long side of dough. Place butter pieces on apples. Roll dough up keeping the apples inside of pastry. Pinch dough to make sure it is sealed and place onto a sil pat baking pan or a greased sheet pan. Brush pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle with more sugar. I like to use the coarser sugar for this. Cut into pastry 3 or 4 times at an angle to let steam out while baking.
Bake for @ 20-25 minutes or until apples are bubbling a little on top and the top pastry crust is golden.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.