Oktoberfest Celebrate the season with German gemutlichkeit

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 11, 2006 | by Jackie Burrell, MEDIANEWS

Serves 8.

Per serving: 290 calories, 3 g protein, 32 g carbohydrates, 19 g fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 35 mg sodium, 4 g fiber. Calories from fat: 59 percent.

Gingerbread Hearts

Adapted from "Rose's Christmas Cookies" by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup brown sugar

12 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg

Royal icing (or squeeze tube frosting, if you're in a rush) Ribbon

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking soda and spices together.

Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer or food processor.

Add the egg and molasses and beat till smooth, scraping down the sides.

Add the dry ingredients and blend just until incorporated. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a flat disk. Wrap the dough well,

and refrigerate it for two hours or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cookie sheets with heavy duty aluminum foil. Lightly butter the foil.

Roll the dough out between two sheets of plastic wrap to a 1/4- inch thickness and cut out hearts using a 5-inch cookie cutter or heart-shaped template. Transfer to the prepared cookie sheets using a large spatula.

Bake the cookies 10-12 minutes or until they begin to darken at the edges. Cool the cookies on the pans for a minute or two, then take a skewer and gently poke two holes in the top of each cookie, so you can thread narrow ribbon through them later. Grasping the edges of the aluminum foil, transfer the pan contents onto a countertop, so the cookies can finish cooling undisturbed on the foil.

When the cookies are completely cool, use royal icing (3 large egg whites and 4 cups confectioners' sugar beaten at low speed until the sugar is moistened, then at high speed until very glossy and stiff, 5 to 7 minutes) to write a message on the cookie and form a decorative border. (Shortcut: You can buy decorative tips that fit store-bought, squeeze tube frosting, and use that instead.)

Let the icing dry for at least 24 hours, then thread narrow ribbon through the holes so you can hang them. This recipe makes six 5-inch hearts, but some Oktoberfest cookies are made in even larger sizes and decorated with frosting flowers along the edges.

Makes six 5-inch hearts.

Per serving: 620 calories, 8 g protein, 93 g carbohydrates, 24 g fat, 95 mg cholesterol, 340 mg sodium, 2 g fiber. Calories from fat: 35 percent.

Kartoffelsalat

(Potato Salad)

Despite the popularity of hot German potato salad in this country, traditional Bavarian kartoffelsalat tends to be a simpler affair.

Potatoes are boiled in their skins, then quickly peeled -- use an oven mitt to protect your hands -- and sliced into a large serving bowl where it is dressed with a light vinaigrette and tossed with diced onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Alameda's Speisekammer restaurant adds sliced apples and uses a vinaigrette made with oil, cider vinegar, coriander and a dash of cumin.

Reach Jackie Burrell at (925) 977-8568 or jburrell@cctimes.com.