Not your average Oktoberfest

October dinner club: German Autumn

October 16, 2011

chez Christina Allain

410 South Huntington Avenue

Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

October dinner club at 410 South Huntington was German-themed and, not only an opportunity to flex my cooking muscles for the dinner club folks, but also a chance to master some family recipes. And by "master" I mean take a stab at it for the first time, ever.

Sauerbraten with braised red cabbage, potato dumplings (kartoffel klosse) and applesauce is a traditional German dish and one that's been served in my family now for four-plus generations. Luckily, I had some clutch reinforcements to help me out with all the cooking and set-up: Shell as sous-chef and co-host and Mom as supervisor. The family recipes were contributed by Ann Wasmuth Donahue, Jane Donahue Allain, and Ellen Van Patten.

Gotta say the pleasure of this project was all in the process.

Menu

Drinks

• Red wine
• White wine
• Münchner Edelstoff

Appetizer course

• Obatzda with crudites and Clear Flour Bakery organic vollkornbrot bread Heike K., recommended
• Thyme-roasted almonds Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food

Soup course

• Crème of celery soupe Heike K.

Main course

• Sauerbraten Ann Wasmuth Donahue (a.k.a. Gram)
• Braised red cabbage Ellen V. P.
• Kartoffel klosse Ann Wasmuth Donahue (a.k.a. Gram)
• Clear Flour Bakery German rye bread
• Applesauce
  

Dessert course

• Kalter Hund Heike K., recommended