Oktoberfest with a bit of my Granny and a bit of my Mom

Check out this red cabbage and pork tenderloin.  Yummmm

I have always loved cooked red cabbage.  Man, the sweet and sour flavor.   This recipe is pretty simple with great results .   Serve with your holiday meals, Oktoberfest, or how about a red cabbage Rueben.   Yumm

The pork tenderloin was cooked in my instapot. Made  a mushroom onion gravy to serve on top.   

My mom used to make pork tenderloin with sauerkraut and my granny would make sauerbraten with red cabbage.   Well I love the combo of the pork and red cabbage.  The color together too! Let’s do that haha.  

I’ll add a couple recipes at the bottom from dinner I think would be great for the holidays. 

How about some shots of the rest of dinner 

Pretzel bites and beer cheese dip with German mustard  

I used a pretzel making mix from World Market.  I wanted them like bites instead.  Instructions were great for the how to’s.

$4.99 for the box.  I was able to get  about 30 generous bites from the kit.  World Market sells these year round.   

Some very big spaetzle.  Have not made these in 20 years.  Need some practice . But tasted great !!!!  

Black Forest cupcake  

Let me tell you so easy and perfect.  I’m not the best at baking and these were great .  I impressed myself.  

We also dined on cucumbers and a simple green salad.  What a great dinner.  Little German festival music on pandora and ta da it’s a party.

How about some recipes? 

Red cabbage and Apples  

• This can be made up to three days in advance and reheated or served cold 
• prep 20 and cook 1 hour

Ingridients -  

1 cup currant jelly

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cinnamon stick

6 whole cloves

2 tsp salt  

1/2 tsp pepper  

3 lbs red cabbage 

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup currants  (if you can’t find currants use raisins, give a rough chop

3 large Granny Smith apples.  Peeled, cored and diced  

The how to -

1. In an 8 quart pot over medium heat, bring jelly, vinegar, cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf and S & P to boil.  
2. Add cabbage, onion and currants.  Return to a boil, tossing several times to blend.  
3. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 45 minutes, stirring several times.  
4. Uncover, increase heat to medium and. Cook ten minutes.  Add apples and cook five minutes longer or until pot juices have thicken and apples still hold their shape.  

Makes about 8 cups.  Serves 8 to. 10 as a side dish.  Recipe can get easily be cut in half ________________________

Black Forest Cupcakes 

Ingredients- 

• ¼ c. unsalted butter, melted
• ½ c. canola or vegetable oil
• ½ c. granulated sugar
• ½ c. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 oz. 60% bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2 eggs + 2 yolks, room temperature
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• ½ c. natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ c. full-fat sour cream or buttermilk, room temperature
• ½ c. water (warm)

For the filling -

• 16 oz jar sour cherries or maraschino cherries no stems.  But I really recommend the sour cherries .  
• 1/4 c. water
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar (more or less depending on personal tastes)
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Whip cream frosting 

• 2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

And the topping

• Chocolate shavings or curls
• Maraschino cherries

Can not say enough about these.  I purchased  from World market 

The how to 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard size cupcake pans with 18 liners, set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, oil, sugars, vanilla extract and melted chocolate until smooth. With mixing speed on low, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated.
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sifted cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. With mixing speed on low, gradually add the dry ingredients along with the sour cream (or buttermilk) and the warm water. Mix just until combined. Allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes.
   
4. Divide batter evenly among cups, filling ⅔ of the way full (I like to use a large scoop, a #20). Place in the oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched and a cake tester comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake! Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Meanwhile, to prepare the filling, in a medium saucepan, combine the cherries, water, sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Allow to cool completely before using.
6. To prepare the frosting, in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat on low, then gradually turn speed up to high. Beat until stiff peaks form.
7. To assemble, using a cupcake corer or a paring knife, cut a hole in the center of each cupcake. Add cherry filling, then spread or pipe the whipped cream “frosting” on to the cooled cupcakes.
8. Garnish with chocolate shavings or curls and top with fresh or jarred cherries.

**** You can use a can of cherry pie filling instead if you don’t want to make filling.  But bout I recommend it.  The filling is fantastic on ice cream, in a crumble or on top of a nice warm bread pudding .   

This post is a bit late for fall I guess .  Haha.  I do think the cabbage would be fantastic in a Christmas table.  Try the cupcakes too.  I hope to post more often .  Franny