German Peach Tart

Ingredients  

• 200 g  (1 ½ cups minus 1 tablespoon)   wheat flour
• 1 even tsp baking powder
• 125 g  (1/2 cup) sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 package vanilla sugar)
• 1 egg
• 125 g  (1/2 cup = 1 stick + 1 tbsp) butter or margarine
• 125 g  (1 ½  cups minus 1 tbsp)  ground almond or hazelnut
• a pinch of salt

Preparation

Dough

1. Sift flour and baking powder onto a board. Make a depression in the center and place the egg and sugar in it. 
2. Using a spoon, combine egg, sugar and some of the flour into a thick batter. 
3. Scatter ground almonds and butter or margarine cut into small pieces over batter, cover with the remaining flour. 
4. Then combine all ingredients quickly into a smooth dough using your hands. The idea is to keep the dough as cool as possible so that the butter stays firm. Should the dough be sticky let it rest for a while in a cool place.
5. Take the dough and place it in a 26 cmdiameter spring form pan (ca. 10 inches) and flatten it, pressing down on it and spreading it from the center to the edges of the pan.You need to keep the dough in the bottom of the pan about ¼ inch thick. This will leave enough dough close to the rim so that you can press the dough upwards against the wall of the pan to form a raised edge. 
6. Now take a fork and prick the dough with it all over. This way the dough will stay flat and you will prevent blisters from forming which would make the baked tart very uneven.
7. Preheat oven for 10 minutes and bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Filling

1. Prepare vanilla sauce, using a little bit less than1 cup of milk, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar and 1 package vanilla sauce powder (from Cost Plus or some Middle Eastern stores carry German products at times) according to package directions. 
2. Cool and spread over bottom of tart shell. You can also use ½ ounce of standard American vanilla pudding, not instant, but the kind you need to boil with the milk.
3. Place sliced peaches (1 jar, Costco, e.g. or canned from grocery store), well drained, slightly overlapping on top of vanilla sauce layer. You can also use cherries, apricots, pears or other fruit like that.
4. If you are able to find the glaze that goes over the fruit layer, prepare it according to the directions and spread over the fruit. It is called Tortenguss (klar) in German or glaze for fresh fruit tarts or cakes, transparent, in English.

Kartoffelkloesse (German Potato Dumplings)

Portion : 3 persons

Ingredients

• 1 box potato dumpling mix
• Milk or water

Preparation

1. Follow instructions on box.
2. Mix with milk or water.
3. Roll into balls (about 1½ inch in diameter)
4. Bring a big pot of water to boil then add salt. 
5. Add the dumplings and continue to boil until the dumplings float. 
6. Turn off heat and remove dumplings from water. 
7. Serve dumplings with beef gravy (prepare from mix).

Sauerkraut (sour cabbage/ fermented cabbage)

Portion : 12 people

Ingredients

• 3 lbs sauerkraut (from Lucky supermarket)
• 2 bay leaf
• 3 apples (cored and cut into large pieces)
• 1 large onion (cut into large pieces)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp caraway

Preparation

1. Rinse the Sauerkraut with cold water, best in a fine colander / strainer
2. Put all ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil. 
3. Reduce heat and simmer and cook for 20 minutes until apples and onions are soft and mushy.

Buletten (German-style Hamburgers)

Portion : 12 persons

Ingredients

• 3 lbs ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 large onion (finely diced or grated)
• 2 tbsp salt / pepper (adjust according to taste)
• 2 tsp fresh nutmeg
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1½ cup bread crumbs

Preparation

1. Mix above ingredients together and set aside for an hour to marinate. 
2. Roll ground meat mixture into mini hamburger shapes and pan fry till both sides are brown and the center is cooked. 
3. Remove from pan and serve.

Semolina Halvah with Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter (or ghee)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 tbsp pine nuts
• 2 cups semolina 
• Ice cream as the filling

Syrup

• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups sugar

Preparation

1. In a sauce pan, combine butter, olive oil and pine nuts. Stirring constantly, cook this mixture over medium heat until the pine nuts are fully roasted. You need to roast the pine nuts properly to bring out their delicious flavor. You know they are roasted when they turn toasty brown, watch out for burning as they gradually turn brown and fill your kitchen with a very sweet aroma. 
2. Add the semolina at once and keep stirring until the semolina turns to a light brown color. 
3. Meanwhile, in a separate sauce pan, boil milk and sugar. It doesn't have to come to a full boil as long as all the sugar is dissolved. 
4. Carefully add the milk-sugar mixture to semolina. Be careful at this step as hot splatters do happen and you don't want to burn yourself. 
5. Close the lid and let simmer over low-medium heat for 5 minutes. (You need to watch closely and make sure semolina absorbs all the liquid.) 
6. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool. You've successfully completed the "semolina halvah" part of the recipe. Now you just go get your ice cream from the freezer.
7. While the halvah is still warm, cover a small bowl’s bottom and sides with semolina halvah. Do not pour the halvah or fill up the bowl as that ruins the whole ''filled with ice cream " concept. 
8. Fill with ice cream. 
9. Now cover the ice cream with the rest of the halvah. Immediately turn the bowl upside down over a serving plate. Serve with cinnamon on top.

*My mother doesn't use 2 cups of milk but a cup of milk and a cup of water. She says too much milk changes the texture and the taste.

**Go sparingly on sugar. Sometimes a cup and a half is enough. As a sugar snob, I recommend taste tasting.

Borek with Chicken Filling

Ingredients

• 1 package of borek dough
• Sesame seeds (optional)
• Black seeds (optional) 

Filling

• 2 pounds ground chicken
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 can of peas and carrots
• salt and pepper to taste

Liquid mixture

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 egg

Tomato Sauce

• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2-3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 cup water

Yogurt Sauce
Simply mix a cup yogurt with 2 cloves of minced garlic. If you're using Greek yogurt (you know, the strained thick kind), you may need to water it down a little bit.

Preparation

1. Cook the ground chicken in cooking oil. Right before the chicken is fully cooked, drain well and add the can of vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes and set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the liquid mixture and whisk well.
3. On your working surface, lay a sheet of dough. Generously brush the dough with the liquid mixture. Make sure the dough is fully soaked, no dry spots! 
4. On the longer side of the sheet, put the filling mixture along the edge and begin rolling from that edge. When you're done rolling, you'll end up with a log shape. Much like how you'd make a strudel, roll up that log into a rose. Place on a well-greased pan. 
5. Repeat with the rest of the dough. If you have any liquid mixture left - which you should have - pour that over the pan. Sprinkle with sesame or black seeds. Generally, we use a lot of these but, please remember that sesame seed allergies  are not uncommon in the U.S. On the other hand, black seed is believed to act as an antihistamine that helps to reduce the common symptoms of allergies. 
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Cooking times vary a lot since ovens vary in efficiency and power. You should always allow standing time.
7. For the tomato sauce, add cooking oil and tomato paste to a sauce pan and cook. When you smell the pleasant tomato smell raising from the pan, add the water. I know, adding water to a hot pan with a red sauce in it is tricky. The splatter may and will ruin your outfit/stove/counter. Take precaution. Turn off the heat when the water boils.
8. Right before serving the borek, pour the yoghurt sauce over and top with the tomato sauce.