The Mid-November Thing

This is about Zwiebelkuchen, which is the German onion “cake,” “torte” or “pie,” whatever you want to call it. Traditionally, it's made in the fall, with some grilled sausages and the not-quite-wine yet stuff, which they call Federweiße or Federweisser, depending on where they were raised.

For a slight digression, just to explain that, Federweiße is the newly fermenting pressing of the white grape. It translate literally as “White Feather” but don't confuse that with the British term; no cowards need sample. It's still Kool-Aid sweet and still white-cloudy with suspended yeast but has way enough alcohol that if you climb up to the mountain-top locale on a humid foggy morning and quench the accumulated thirst with a big tumbler or three it could be “interesting” to try and stand, stagger back outside and try to hike down. Most likely there's some logging road up there that hauls in the groceries and maybe an intrepid local cab-driver will brave it to haul you home?

But we're not about that today so let's get on with what we are doing. Down here on the Gumbo Coast, one can't help but think that, well, we have a new stock of Elberta-wurst laid in and mid-November Georges DuBœuf will be trotting out his Beaujolais Nouveau pretty soon, which you gotta try every year just because, so channel Eugene Walter and “when it doubt, throw a party.”

One must say that the recipe essentially is that of Lou Seibert Pappas from The Elegant, Economical Egg Cookbook and, of course, Bonnie Slotnick can find that for you, or any other cookbook you want or can even vaguely remember.

To start you need ½ pound of fairly lean bacon and two pounds of yellow onions. Cube up the bacon as best possible and fry it crisp, saving ¼ C drippings for the onions. You're also going to need three eggs, a whole 8oz of sour cream or strained yogurt, at least 2 TBL of chopped parsley, 3 eggs plus flour, salt, yeast and oil for a dough. I don't care what kind of oil; Lou said safflower which certainly costs enough. Use what you have or like.



So while the bacon's draining and all, the onions get a nice, slow sweat in the drippings, with some grindings of salt and, although Lou didn't say so, we like a sprinkling of caraway seeds in ours. It seems like a good thing.





When the onions are “there” they need to cool, which is why you do this first; we're not making scrambled eggs. Since this is November, I usually set them out on the patio table. Then you can do other things – clean up a bit? Chop parsley? Find a pan and think about making crust? - until they do.





Anyway, the whole thing needs to bake about 25 minutes then cool before slicing, the dough needs to proof about ½ an hour and you need time to stretch it out and assemble so add that up and start your dough accordingly. This is almost a pizza dough but a bit more yeast as in, to one pack of yeast, only ¾ C luke water, a whole 2TBL oil, ¼ tsp salt and a scant 2C AP flour. It's going to rise or raise a whole lot more than a pizza or focaccia crust so don't be afraid to spread it thin.

That's the dough resting after proofing and punching down – we have a convection with a proof-setting so we use it – and a well-greased pan spread liberally with cornmeal. Just stretch out the dough in the pan. It can be any pan: pizza, sheet, jelly roll… no matter; cut slices or squares. Then you just spread the onions on top, grab a bowl, beat three eggs, mix in the sour cream or whatever and, classically, mix in the parsley and bacon, pour over the top and bake. It would seem nobody much photographed that. We'll “fix it in the mix,” as in maybe next November. I'm saying 25 minutes at 425° and maybe switch to “roast” or broil a bit at the end to brown the top.





I would say that maybe if you don't spread the crust as thin as could be so you're going to end up with more “wet works” than will fit on it, maybe spread the bacon and parsley over the onions and just pour on however much of the beaten-egg-sour-cream mix seems right. Those proportions are for ~150 in² as in a 10x15 jellyroll pan or 14” pizza pan but, you know, experience and all.




Hopefully more pictures of topping-steps appearing above next year. But then, slice it and plate it. That's obviously a snack plate the next day, the same negligent photographer didn't get the big plate with grilled Elberta sausage, mustard – be it Jack Daniels, Créole, just yeller or whatever - and all. That's what happens when you have company and play host (or house-cleaner?) instead of journalist. But, really, who can't beat three eggs and whisk in some sour cream?



But, anyway, try it; you might like it. I don't know anybody who hasn't. Plain yellow onions get sweet enough but if you want to try some sweeter ones then, by all means, go for it.



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