A FOOD POST!!!! ARGH!!!

[tubeast]

Doc, you surely are a man of good taste.

BTW, Vorarlberg is famous for its "Käsknöpfle". those are similar to Spätzle. I´ll make sure to get you the recipe, right now I have only part of it.

Actually the complete national dish of Vorarlberg consists of Käsknöpfle, Bavarian potato salad, green salad and fried onions.

Dough for Käsknöpfle, noodles, German (Crèpe-type) pancakes, Spätzle and the likes:

1 pound of flour,
2-3 eggs (doesn´t really matter)
water

Mix eggs and flour. Add water to get the desired viscosity.

For pancakes: very fluid. It´s a good idea to use sparkling water. You want to pour the dough in the pan without needing to spread it out. If the dough tastes like it´s a little overly salted, it´s just right.

For Knöpfle: much higher viscosity (less water) but still not really a dough. Rather like mudd. No salt, that´s to be in the cooking water. Use a plate of sheet metal with lots of 3-4 mm holes. Pass the dough through those holes so it´ll drip right into a large pot with boiling water. Let boil for 5-8 minutes.
Work in several charges, so the Knöpfle have enough room in the pot.

For Spätzle: still less water in dough, but the dough needs to form a loaf that´ll tend to stick to your palm.
Use large knife to scrape (don´t cut) thin, longish pieces of dough. Sweep pile of dough-pieces right into boiling water, as above.

For noodles: still less fluid. Dough has no tendency to stick to your palm. You all know how to make pasta.

To be continued.

[tubeast]

OK, here goes:
(BTW, corbasse: You´re right. That´s what I meant.


Vorarlberger Käsknöpfle
- a total of about 400 g of three different Mountain-cheeses. Two of them should be Walserstolz and Rässkäs.
If not available: use rather hard kinds of (cattle) cheese with different, intense tastes. One could be a milder brand, such as Emmentaler.
- Onions ad lib
- (at least) 1/4 pound of butter

1 - chop or cut very cold cheese to a kind of fine granulate. Mix well.
2 - prepare Käsknöpfle as described above. Don´t make them all in one, be sure to make them in consecutive charges.
3 - put charges of Knöpfle into heated bowl. Cover with layer of cheese granulate. It won´t hurt if some of the Knöpfle-water makes it´s way into the bowl, too.
Repeat from no.2 until material is used up.

4 - Mix well. Keep bowl of Knöpfle warm as you continue (don´t bake or something)
5 - Cut onions into half rings.
6 - fry onion rings in butter to be nice gold-brown and crispy.
7 - pour onions and butter over bowl of Knöpfle.

Serve with Bavarian potatoe-salad (the kind with vinegar and onions) and a black-pepper mill (Important: NO powdered pepper from the groceries. Can´t beat the real thing).

Also important: many restaurants around here include a glass of home-made Obstler. Great idea considering the ingredients.

Remember: this is simple, cheap food designed to keep you going for the rest of the day, working your butt off on an alp-cottage.

P.S:
Kässpätzle would be derivatives of this recipe.

[Chuck(G)]

OK, here goes:

A Lipitor chaser would be in order, methinks.