German Side

Buttered Red Beets
Rote Ruben
(Serves 6-8)

The lowly root vegetable (lowly as in below ground) achieves new heights when served in this delicious buttery sauce.

3 lb. fresh cooked beets (see sidebar)
3-4 T butter
4 scallions, white & pale green parts (diced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
2 tsp. flour
2 T vinegar
pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 T fresh parsley (chopped)

Cook, peel, and slice beets (see sidebar). Set aside. In a large skillet, heat butter, add scallions, and cook 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Sprinkle with flour, stir in vinegar, and continue cooking (and stirring) a while longer to reduce raw flour taste.

Mix in beets, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat beets with buttery sauce. Turn into serving bowl and toss with fresh parsley. Serve along with mashed potatoes (kartoffelpuree) and as an accompaniment to roast pork or German Sausages.

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Tips & Glossary

Beets: how to peel and cook beets is a matter of personal preference. You can cut off the tops, peel them with a vegetable peeler and boil them. Another method: leave on about 1" of the tops, wrap them in foil, and bake for 1 hour in a 350 oven. Cool and use rubber gloves, or handle with a paper towel, to prevent hands from turning...well, beet-red. The skins will slip right off. Most cooks say baking- then-peeling is the tastiest way to cook beets.

Ginger: dried ground ginger is far more potent than freshly-grated from the root. Sweet dessert recipes call for ground powder. If you wish to use freshly grated ginger, use 6 times the amount of ground called for in the recipe.

Nutmeg: use small whole nuts and store them, tightly covered, in a dry dark area. Grate what you need using the smallest grating edge or grind in a food processor. What a difference from store bought ground nutmeg!

Wurst: German sausages— more types than you can shake a stick at. Here are several:
• Bockwurst: smoked; with veal, chives & parsley.
• Bratwurst: pale; with veal, pork, ginger & nutmeg.
• Knockwurst: short & plump, smoked; with pork, beef & garlic.
• Weisswurst: "white"; with veal, pork, cream & eggs.
• Wienerwurst: with beef, pork, coriander & garlic.
• Frankfurter: smoked; with lean pork & bacon fat.