German Potato Salad

The essential New Ulm meal and the secret for growing tall, talented children, is Tim Babel's German Potato Salad. Serve with Landjägers and Schell's beer.

The real German Potato Salad

Ingredients

2 pounds of potatoes (red is best)
five or six strips of bacon
one small onion, finely diced
3/4 cup vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbl flour
1 1/2 Tbl cornstarch

Directions

1. Cook and peel the potatoes, slice to desired size.

   

   Tim and Joan know how to cook and
   entertain... at the same time!

2. Fry the bacon until crisp and rendered. Remove from pan, pour off bacon fat. Put 2 Tbl back into the vessel and cook the onion until soft. (SAVE THE REMAINING BACON FAT)
3. Pour 1 cup of the water into the pan to remove the fond from the bottom
4. Add sugar and vinegar. Cook until sugar is dissolved.  
5. Take the remaining half cup of water and add flour and cornstarch to make a slurry. Add to pot and cook until thickened, stirring constantly.  
6. Add bacon and potatoes, salt, pepper and reserved bacon fat to taste.   

Note: MIX IT GENTLY OR YOU WILL HAVE MASHED POTATO SALAD!

Acorn Cookies

A New Ulm Thanksgiving is one of the Babel favorites. Like many family celebrations, the holiday is an all-day affair of filling food, festive drink, drinks, cards, and several pies. Something uniquely "Babel" is Mom/Esther's Acorn cookies. Nuts in shortbread, topped with chocolate. The only tricky part is shaping the acorn, then deciding when to stop eating them.

Esther Babel's Acorn Cookies

  Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/16 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup finely ground walnuts
• 2 1/2 cup white flour
• 1 pkg (14 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp paraffin wax

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar together
2. Add salt and vanilla
3. Stir in nuts
4. Gradually add flour 
5. When all ingredients have been combined, cover and chill for several hours
6. Preheat oven to 350°
7. Roll 1 tsp of dough into an acorn shape*
8. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for ~12 minutes (they should not be brown)
9. Remove and cook completely
10. In a double boiler, heat chocolate chips, vanilla, milk, and wax until smooth
11. Spread the chocolate onto the top of the cookie, like a brown cap on the acorn!

 

 

Rachel (left), Joe, and Britta shaping acorn cookies
early one Thanksgiving morning in 2014.

The acorn technique

From Madeline Babel: "To make them, I take about a tbsp worth of dough, roll it into a ball, and using my pointers and thumbs shape them into acorns.  My left hand squeezes the bottom to make the point and my right hand pushes the middle in to make the cap.  Then i pinch the top to make the very top."

Mini Pancakes

You know all those drips of batter that fall onto the griddle while you're struggling to form a perfect pancake disc? Did you know that they are not only edible, but also delicious? Did you know that they fit in your hand?! Mastermind and future chef August Babel unlocked the destiny of pancakes with this resourceful innovation.

August's Mini Pancakes

This contraption is completely unnecessary with
this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Directions

1. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture to later add liquids
2. In another bowl combine the egg, milk, and cooking oil.
3. Add liquid mixture to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy).
4. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet; making sure to splatter batter about the hot surface (these are your mini pancakes!).
5. Watch the little splatters until they begin to brown on one side, then flip. These will be done when each side is brown.
6. Cook the large pancake disc over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or till pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry.

Old Fashion

Before deciding to pursue a career in medicine, did you know that Jake enrolled at the bar tending school on Lake Street and University Avenue in Minneapolis? Not only can this guy stitch you up, but he can also serve you a fabulous drink.

Jake's Old Fashions

In a low ball glass:

Jake serves a perfect Old Fashioned

2 tbsp simple syrup (equal parts water/sugar combined over low heat and chilled)
3 dashes Angostura bitters
5-7 drops Bitter Cube, Jamaican #2
Add a few ice cubes and stir
2 ounces bourbon
Big slice orange peel (pinch peel over drink)
Fill glass with ice
Enjoy!

Fermented Hot Sauce

After a particularly successful year at the St. Cloud State Community Garden, Zack ended up with several pounds of hot peppers. He already had a string of dried Thai peppers collecting dust, a 5+ year supply of crushed chili's, and even a few frozen cream cheese jalapenos in the freezer. What do you do with all these spicy peppers?

Zack's hot sauce... for the pepper hoarder in your kitchen.

Tools

• Wide mouth food-grade glass or plastic vessel
• Glass plate/bowl that fits inside the mouth of (above mentioned) vessel
• Cheese cloth or "breathable" fabric to cover vessel
• Plate or bowl to set vessel into in case of leaking
• Blender or immersion blender

Ingredients

Submerged, fermenting, quiet peppers...

• 20-40 Peppers (any size, color, variety, fresh/dried)
• 1 Head Garlic
• 1 Tbsp. sea salt (or non-iodized salt)
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1-2 cups chlorine-free water

Directions

1. Dissolve salt and sugar in water. 
2. Wash peppers, remove the stems, and cut into 3-4 pieces. 
3. Peel garlic. 
4. Place peppers/garlic in the vessel and top with salt/sugar solution. Add enough liquid to cover all solid ingredients. 
5. Put vessel on the plate/bowl to catch liquids in case of runoff.  Place the glass plate bowl into the vessel until all solid chunks are submerged under the liquid. 
6. Tie cloth/fabric over the top and place contraption way from sunlight/heat.
7. Wait several weeks.

 

Cloudy? That's okay!
Wait for this to settle, it is safe to eat.

About fermentation: To put it plainly, you have added peppers to a brine, you are "pickling." This is an old and safe food preservation technique that creates an environment full of lactid acid. This acid makes it difficult for bad bacteria to thrive. The air-lock (food submerged in a salty/sugar solution with a container pressing down) leaves very little surface area for bad bacterias to be introduced.

Basic safety measures are to prepare this recipe with clean utensils, vessels, hands, and surfaces. If a white substance forms (kahm yeast), this should be carefully removed. It is typical on the surface when lactofermenting. If you have concerns about this white substance, or any other appearance of your food, look at this guide from Cultures for Health.


After 4-6 weeks of waiting, it's time to move onto bottling your hot sauce!

1. Carefully remove the plate/bowl from the top and skim off any kahm yeast that has formed.
2. Use an immersion blender, or a regular blender, to puree the mixture, careful not to splash any spicy liquid into your eyes or onto any other nearby surfaces.
3. Fill cleaned bottles almost to the top, allowing for very little surface area. We have reused tabasco bottles (including the small circle stopper) for the best pouring results.
4. Enjoy! This does not need to be refrigerated but follow common sense to ensure the freshness and safety of your product.

  Thank you for your inspiration ARISE! 

This recipe was modified from "Fermented Hot Sauce", submitted by a community EXCO class, in ARISE's "Recipes for Radicals" cook book (pictured left). Thank you for this delicious wisdom, found on page 17, between "How to Fall in Love with your Dumpster" and "Kimchi for Lovers".

R.I.P. Arise Book Store: A"radical" book store and place for action, inspiring community, free meeting space for our mischief, and safe harbor for our wild aspirations.