Draniki (potato pancakes)

After its vague and short-lived attempt at Spring, Manchester has gone drizzly and miserable again, and if there's one thing guaranteed to make me crave comfort food, it's miserable weather.

 

This recipe is for a traditional Russian/Belarusian dish of Draniki, or potato pancakes. In fact, according to wikipedia, variants of this item are fairly common in the cuisines of countries across Central and Eastern Europe and beyond, and when you've tasted them, it will be obvious why they enjoy such widespread popularity.

 

When I've had these in Russia and Belarus, the traditional accompaniment is sour cream. However, I've also had them with vegetable slaw (in Russia) and apple puree (German style). Here's the basic recipe for the Draniki, together with two alternative condiments to serve them with. Although these are best served fresh, they can be reheated and still taste pretty darn good. Though I have to admit, I've rarely experienced a case of leftover Draniki... just sayin'.

 

Draniki

 

Ingredients:

1kg potato, peeled

1 onion

1 tblsp plain flour

1 medium egg

a liberal amount of sunflower oil

 

Method:

1. Grate the potato and onion. Considering that Draniki are a traditional peasant dish, the idea of doing this manually fills me with dread - if you've got a processor with a grater attachment, let it take the strain!

 

2. Mix the grated vegetables with the flour and egg in a large bowl.

 

3. Heat a little oil in a good frying pan to a low-medium temperature (use several frying pans if you have them - you'll save a lot of time if you get a few on the go at once). Place a dessert spoonful of Draniki mixture into your pan, and flatten with the back of the spoon. Repeat with as many as you can fit in the pans. Gently allow the Draniki to fry without burning. You will know that they are cooking at the right kind of rate if the top side starts to go dry whrn the underside is just pale golden. At this point, flip the Draniki to cook from the other side. Make sure you keep topping up the oil, as this helps them to cook evenly.

 

4. When the Draniki are cooked through, drain them on a piece of kitchen towel. If you've still got a large batch to fry up, you can keep them warm by placing on a warmed plate and covering with tin foil, or popping in an oven on a very low heat.

 

5. When ready, serve with your choice of accompaniment.

 

 

 

 

Spiced carrot slaw

Ingredients:

2-3 medium carrots

3 pieces of stem ginger, finely chopped

1 dessert spoon of ginger syrup

 

 

Method:

1. Peel the carrots and grate finely.

2. Combine with the other ingredients, and serve. Simplicity itself!

 

 

 

 

Apple puree

 

Ingredients:

2 eating apples

dessert spoon of honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon

 

Method:

1. Peel the apples and cut into small cubes.

 

2. Put the cubed apple into a saucepan, and add enough water to rise about a third of the way up the pieces.

 

3. Simmer over a medium heat until the apple is tender, adding the honey towards the end of the cooking time.

 

4. Allow to cool slightly, then add the cinnamon and blitz to a puree. Can be served warm or chilled.

 



German Christmas Biscuits (1)

Christmas comes but once a year, so you might as well make the festive season last!

 

For me, the most important part of the Christmas festivities is the feasting, and I love having the excuse to make lots of delicious goodies for my nearest and dearest. This year the bake-fest started early, with a marathon session of biscuit-baking, using recipes from the splendid Dr Oetker: German Baking Today. All in all, my German friend Mel, and I spent about 9 hours in her kitchen on an ueber-efficient production line of jollity, making batch after batch of biscuits.

 

As well as being one of the simplest of the recipes, I have to say that these delicious little nuggets were my favourites. Sweet and spiced in equal measure, they really say "Christmas is coming"...

 

Spicy glazed biscuits

 

Ingredients:

For the biscuits

250g/9oz plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

160g/5.5oz sugar

1tsp grated lemon zest

pinch salt

1 egg (medium)

1 pinch each ginger, cardamom, cloves, allspice, white pepper (all ground)

3-4 tblsp milk

25g/1oz ground almonds

25g/1oz finely chopped candied lemon peel

 

For the glaze

175g/6oz icing sugar

2 tblsp hot water

 

Method:

 

1. Mix together the flour and baking powder in a bowl, then add the sugar, lemon, salt, egg, spices, milk, almonds and mix together thoroughly.

 

2. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until very smooth. Divide the dough into two rolls, about 25cm/10in long. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. I made four, smaller rolls, so that I could take one out a time later without them warming up too much.

 

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment and preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius (Gas mark 4).

 

4. Reshape the rolls if they have gone flat on the bootom, then cut into slices approxiately 1cm in width. Arrange the biscuit coins onto the baking sheet, and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

 

5. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

 

6. For the glaze, mix together the icing sugar and hot water to make a thick, spreadale glaze, and coat the biscuits, allowing it to set completely.

 

Kässpätzle

Apologies all for the long delay in posting - it's been rather hectic in P's kitchen of late. Well, more to the point, I haven't really had much of a kitchen due to our extended house move.

But - long story short - moving is now complete, so you can anticipate some rather lovely culinary adverntures coming up shortly. Here's the first, to fulfil a promise made long ago. It's the recipe for a traditional Swabian dish (from Southern Germany) that I wasn introduced to by my friend Mel. It's a carby, cheesy mouthwatering feast of naughtiness, which I am sure you will appreciate.

Spätzle

Ingredients:

(these are the pasta noodles that form the basis for the dish)

500g plain flour

5 eggs

200ml water

pinch of salt

Method:

1. Mix the flour, eggs, salt and some of the water together and beat in as much air in as possible, so that you get bubbles in the dough. Gradually add in as much water as necessary to gain a thick, sticky consistency (you probably won't need all of it). Mel rather appealing describes the desired consistency as being "like chewing gum".

2. Next comes the tricky part, for which a large potato ricer will come in handy. In the absence of a potato ricer, there is a cutting method, whereby you spread the dough on a wet board and then cut thin slices with a knife, as shown on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y6Ga9hMm4Y

3. Next, the Spaetzle have to be cooked. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, and add the Spaetzle. When they float to the top, scoop them up with a slotted sppon.

The Spaetzle can be served as they are, in accompaniment to a meal, but my favourite recipe is Kässpätzle (cheesy spätzle):

Kässpätzle

Ingredients:

Spätzle from 700g of flour

200g Gruyere or Emmental cheese, grated 

250g Edam, grated

200ml single cream

Salt, pepper,  and nutmeg to taste

1 dried stock cube

Method:

1. Grease a large ovenproof dish, and spread half of the Spätzle across the dish. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, then cover with half of the cheese and cream.

2. Prepare a second layer in the same way, and bake for about 20 minutes at 200 decrees celcius (until light brown).

Röstzwiebeln

(Crispy onion garnish)

Ingredients:

onions (about 4-5 onions for 3 people)

handful flour

sunflower oil

Method:

1. Slice the onions and cover in flour, then brown in a generous amount of oil until most of them are crisp.

It might sound like a lot of complicated steps, but it's definitely worth it - that's what helps to make such a simple series of ingredients just so darn tasty.

And because I'm nice like that, I'm passing on an official Swabian Housewife's tip that Mel passed on to me: when you wash utensils use cold water, otherwise the dough won't come off!

Enjoy!