Sauerkraut Pizza, Ms.Schnitzel Style

 

We are really excited to share this recipe because it is super simple to prepare and yet still meets up to the Ms. Schnitzel Standard of Excellence! You could make it for Friday pizza night when you're exhausted from a long week of work, or throw it together for a casual gathering of friends.

We tested it three times to ensure we had the right balance of flavors. Oh, the sacrifices we make! 

The first time we ended up having to go to two different stores on empty stomachs, which is never a great idea, and we were getting HANGRY. (That is not a typo, it is a term that is defined in the Urban Dictionary, though Tara initially thought that Jen and GK made it up.) So we tossed our grandiose ideas to the side and just smeared some garlic infused oil on our crust, topped it with sauerkraut, sausage and cheese and threw it in the oven. It was super quick and pretty darned good, especially with a bit of horseradish. But we knew it could be better.

The second time we wanted to do a test run of our idea before the big MSU vs. OSU game, which is a tradition in these parts, and at which we wanted the pizza to make its big debut. We will not talk about the outcome of the game as there is a bitter rivalry between the founders of this blog.... Outcome of the game aside, the outcome of this pizza was brilliant - no matter who you ask!

See our lovely array of ingredients:

Pretty simple, right? When we are feeling more ambitious, we will make our own crust. But we had a whole game day spread to prepare, and buying Trader Joe's dough really made prep a breeze. You could also buy a prepared crust, which we did on our hangry night with a Whole Foods brand organic prepared crust. So you've got options.

Since our dough was chilled, we needed to bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes. Having tried to hurry this process before, we highly recommend you take the time to do so or your dough won't be pliable. Like yeah, it will just break apart when you try to stretch it. But this is the perfect amount of time to prep your ingredients.

Once your ingredients are prepped and the dough is ready, go ahead and spread it out or, if you're fancy like this fella we know named Rob, toss it in the air pizzeria style!

Then, drizzle some garlic oil on the crust and spread it all over, including the edges (fingers work well if you're not afraid of getting them a bit greasy!). We used pre-infused garlic extra virgin olive oil, but you could also gently heat a finely chopped clove of garlic or a few shakes of garlic powder in a tablespoon or two of olive oil and that would do the trick.

Next, spread your sauerkraut sauce evenly over the crust.

After that comes the sausage.

And finally, plenty of cheese!

This was definitely a hit, even the skeptics were made believers! It's not German, but it is German-ish. :)

Our Ingredients:

1 prepared pizza crust or dough ball

1-2 Tbsp garlic infused extra virgin olive oil

8 oz Cortland Valley organic sauerkraut

8 oz organic mixed medley cherry tomatoes (so pretty!), halved

1 small organic gala apple (also pretty!), grated

Pinch of caraway seeds, optional

6 oz (or 2 links) of precooked Brats Hans Chicken Brats, cut into thin rounds

8 oz Kerrygold Kilaree Cheddar (roughly, or more to taste)

Horseradish to serve, optional

1) Bring your dough ball (if using) to room temperature.

2) Make sure to start simmering your sauce first so that the flavors have a chance to meld together and the tomatoes and apple get tender. For one pizza, throw 8oz of sauerkraut, 8oz of cherry tomatoes (cut into halves), and 1 grated apple into a small saucepan and turn it to medium. If you'd like to throw a pinch of caraway in, go for it. We tried and liked it both ways.

3) While the sauce simmers away, preheat your oven according to the directions of your pizza crust (ours was 475*). Slice the bratwurst and grate up half a block of white cheddar - the Kerrygold Kilaree Cheddar comes highly recommended. 

4) Once the dough is pliable, spread it out or toss it to fit your pizza pan. Spread the garlic oil all the way to the edges of the dough. Evenly distribute the sauerkraut mixture over the dough, using a slotted spoon and pressing out most of the liquid. Place your sausage rounds in a pleasing pattern, and top everything with as much cheese as you fancy. Just remember, this is cheddar and it is stronger than mozzarella.

5) Pop the pizza in the oven and bake it according to the directions of your crust of choice. Ours said 10 minutes but took a little longer. Just make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!

This recipe is so easy to double since we used exactly half of all the ingredients we purchased. Or you could just save the other half for the next time you want Sauerkraut Pizza. Like later in the evening... or the next day... Because you will want it again, and soon. Trust us.

Seriously though, we hope you enjoy this as much as we did. Have a fabulous weekend!

Ms. Schnitzel's Double Trouble Burger

Whenever Jen asks her boyfriend what he wants for dinner his response is ALWAYS either, "burgers or fish and chips." This time, Jen succumbed to one of his demands. With German food ideas on her brain, and a fresh taste of German cheese on her tongue,  Jen had a light bulb moment. What if we make a German cheeseburger?! Jen's boyfriend would be so happy and the Ms. Schnitzel test kitchen would have an original recipe to fire up. Brilliant! But what is a German cheeseburger without a homemade pretzel bun?

Jen and Tara quickly got to work following the exact recipe from the Pretzel Bread post and instead of making pretzel bread, they shaped the dough into hearty buns. 

The rest of this idea is simple, the homemade pretzel bun holds an organic, grass-fed burger, sauerkraut and cheese (choose one of 2) topped with your favorite German mustard, layered in whatever order you prefer.  

There are two cheese options for this burger depending on your taste buds. You can either use the Cheddar Beer Spread (from previous post) or use the German blue cheese (from Pretty Cheese with Sugar on Top?). We all had a difficult time choosing a favorite because they were both delicious in their own right. 

We would love to hear what different German cheeseburger combinations and flavors you come up with? Feel free to comment below! 

Holy Kraut Fest!

 
For all of you Ms. Schnitzel following Ohioians, this weekend boasts the annual Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville. We found this festival particularly fitting considering 1.) we are all about some kraut 2.) Jen is from Ohio. 

Who would have thought an entire two day event was designated for the mass consumption and celebration of fermented cabbage?! And by mass consumption, we mean 7 tons of sauerkraut! This is such a big deal that their "claim to fame" is on the town sign. 

 

Rain or shine as many as 350,000 people enjoy egg rolls, cabbage rolls, soups and many pork and sauerkraut combinations as well as some very nontraditional sauerkraut ice cream, fudge, pizza and cookies. Sauerkraut pizza? We're intrigued. That may become an experiment for the Ms.Schnitzel test kitchen!

Sauercrowd

Ms. Schnitzel's nerdy fun facts:
 
*According to Don Heinrich Tolzmann, author of The German-American Experience, "...German is the largest ancestral group in the country."

*Even though Pennsylvania boasts the largest German-American population, that doesn't mean Ohioians can't have a kraut fest.

*The only bummer about this festival is the absence of beer tents. Yes folks it is an alcohol free zone. I guess there's no harm in getting kraut-wasted?

Sauerkraut With Apples

Mmmmm! Who doesn't love a heap of warm sauerkraut with their weiner? Especially with apples?! Seriously.

Sauerkraut With Apples from Grandma's Cookbook was a fairly simple recipe to throw together, and you simply have to check out this cool contraption of Jen's which took it to a whole new level of quick and easy:

 

Would you believe she scored the #1 selling sauerkraut of Germany at Big Lots?? At least that's the claim on the jar... It's nice because, unlike some jars of kraut you find around these parts, it only contains real ingredients - the things that are supposed to be in sauerkraut - and even a little wine.

In case you weren't aware, we are at the beginning of apple season (yes, apples are indeed a seasonal fruit even though it's easy to find them year-round), so we've taken advantage of that for a number of recipes. We're talking apple pancakes, apple strudel, as well as this apple sauerkraut... Is your mouth watering yet?

Just a few simple steps and this kraut will be sitting prettily on your table to serve alongside whatever main dish suits your fancy - first butter and onions, then kraut, then apples, then broth, some cider vinegar, thicken it up with a bit of flour and some potato, and you're good to go! 

The one thing we did, as in the Breasts of Chicken Paprika, is we boiled our organic free-range chicken broth down to the amount called for rather than buying conventional condensed broth. Scroll on down to that recipe if you'd like to see our method.

Guten tag, and happy Oktoberfest!