Kaiserschmarren, Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce

The finished product

May 1 is a holiday in Germany so we used the day off work to travel to Bad-Cannstatt (outside of Stuttgart) to visit a friend and the festival Wasen (like Oktoberfest in the Spring). This friend is definitely not a chef but he is quickly learning and wanted to give a new recipe a try, with us as the taste testers. We are always happy to have someone else cook for us so we took him up on the offer and enjoyed a tasty lunch. He did very well for his first time making a multi-course dish. Nothing caught on fire and everything tasted as it should :)

A beautiful day at Wasen

He asked to share these recipes on our blog and since they were delicious and we might have stepped into help just a little bit ; ) we were happy to do so.

First he made Kaiserschmarren mit Pfaumenkompott. It is a lot like a pancake that then gets cut into pieces to be served with asparagus and hollandaise sauce.




Kaiserschmarren (3-4 servings):
300 g flour
6 eggs
60 g sugar
Enough salt and milk as needed
Oil or butter for cooking

A perfect golden brown

Separate the eggs so you have a bowl of egg whites and a bowl of yolks. Whip the egg whites.

Mix the yolks with the flour, sugar and about two/three pinches of salt. Add milk and continue to stir. You need enough milk to make the batter fluid but still thick. Add the egg whites and mix well.


Heat a medium-sized pan over medium heat. Use butter or oil to grease the pan. Only a small amount is needed but more oil should be added between each pancake.

Pour a portion of the batter (about one-fourth) into the preheated pan. The batter should cover the entire pan but not be too thick (about one-fourth of an inch). Cook until browned. Flip and cook the other side.

Torn apart into pieces to serve

When the pancake is brown on both sides remove from the pan, add butter or oil to the pan, melt and cook the next pancake. It is a good idea to heat the oven on low to keep the finished pancakes warm while cooking the others.

When all pancakes are finished, use a fork to rip them apart. This is how they should be served. 



Hollandaise Sauce

250 g butter
3 egg yolks
3 Tbs (EL) water
1 Tbs (EL) lemon juice
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

Water bath

In a saucepan melt the butter on low.  In a hot water bath heat up the egg yolks, lemon juice, water and salt.

Whisk, whisk, and whisk some more

 


Whisk (or easier, use an electric mixer) until the sauce is creamy.

Slowly add the buttter

Remove the bowl from the water bath and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time while continuing to whisk. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and serve immediately.


 



He served this over the pancakes and with asparagus (cooked as you usually would, either by steaming or boiling). White asparagus are the most common asparagus found in Germany but we think green would be good too.

Crunchies!

For an additional tasty on top, toast one piece of regular sandwich bread until it is quite brown. Crumble and add it to the leftover oil from making the pancakes. Cook until browned and crispy. This gives you a crunchy topping for the pancakes and hollandaise sauce.

Not bad for a first-time cook!

 Let your guests put their own meal together or serve already fixed.