Schnitzel is breaded meat cutlets served with lemon.
German cuisine favors hearty portions of meats and breads. Knodel and spätzle are starch-based dumplings, usually made with mashed potatoes or bread and often served with meaty entrees or in stews. German savory foods utilize cheap, easy-to-access meats and vegetables. The country had little access to food after the World Wars and thus adjusted the cuisine accordingly.
Krautsuppe
Krautsuppe is a cabbage soup that blends fresh cabbage with bacon, onions, garlic, chicken broth, russet potatoes, celery, parsley and bay leaf. The cabbage is shredded and added to a pot with the other ingredients to cook for up to two hours, or until the cabbage is cooked soft. Cabbage is a staple of German cuisine, also appearing in the popular dish sauerkraut, with "kraut" meaning cabbage.
Rouladen
Rouladen are stuffed beef rolls made using large cuts of flank steak. The steaks are cut to a quarter inch in thickness and covered with a spread of brown mustard, bacon slices and diced pickles and onions. The meat is rolled closed and held together with cooking string. Each roll is cooked in butter in a skillet, browned on each side and then set to cover the pan and simmer for an hour to a 1 1/2 hours. The sauce in the pan is then reduced to half through further cooking to provide a sauce for serving. Each rouladen is meant to serve one person.
Wiener Schnitzel
Schnitzel simply means "cutlet." Wiener schnitzel uses veal cutlets, or pork cutlets if veal is not available or affordable. The meat cutlet is coated in flour and dipped in egg, then in breadcrumbs to form a stable breading. Fry the cutlet in a skillet with heated vegetable oil. Brown each side for two to three minutes then set the cutlets on a paper towel to drain. Serve with slices of lemon.
Szegediner Goulash
German cuisine has gotten some inspiration from Hungary, as with this goulash dish. Szegediner goulash is a pork and sauerkraut stew seasoned with paprika and caraway seeds. A pound of pork is cubed and seared on the bottom of a stew pot. Diced bacon is cooked in the same pot. Diced onion, vegetable broth, drained sauerkraut, tomato paste and the seasonings plus a bay leaf are added. The mixture is cooked on a simmer for 45 minutes. Heavy cream is stirred in, and the stew is served immediately with sour cream as a garnish.
Tags: German cuisine, each side, served with