{"id":3935,"date":"2024-05-21T18:22:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T16:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/?p=3935"},"modified":"2024-09-09T09:59:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T07:59:15","slug":"spatzle-with-chicken-in-creamy-barlauch-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radishthegreat.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/21\/spatzle-with-chicken-in-creamy-barlauch-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"Sp\u00e4tzle with Chicken in Creamy B\u00e4rlauch Sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We’re nearing the end of B\u00e4rlauch<\/em><\/a> (Bear’s Garlic) season, but I look forward to picking up the series again next year. This week’s featured supper definitely appealed to my Schei\u00df-Ami<\/em> palate: Sp\u00e4tzle<\/em> with chicken in a creamy B\u00e4rlauch<\/em> sauce<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I’ll give you the finished dish up front, so you can quit reading before the rant.
May 2024<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sp\u00e4tzle<\/em> feels like something I shouldn’t have to explain, but I’m surprised how many people find the concept new or confusing: They are egg noodles, formed by running the dough through a press or special device<\/a>, or by spreading the dough thin on a wooden board and cutting it with a knife. Which ever method you choose, the dough is sent right into a pot of boiling water; the finished noodles can be kept warm until the rest of the meal is ready, or even refrigerated for use the next day.

I have never made Sp\u00e4tzle<\/em> myself, but I have seen it done on television–all three ways. Normally I buy dried noodles and serve them with mushroom\/sour cream sauces and pork. I’m surprised I forgot to write about them during the Lockdown<\/a>, honestly. They’re pure Bavarian\/Swabian comfort food, especially with cheese.

Note for US readers:<\/strong> I was able to find dried Sp\u00e4tzle<\/em> in Indiana ten years ago, so it may still be possible. Let me know.<\/p>\n\n\n

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And the gov’t says they’re healthy, but not as healthy as dried pasta with no egg. *snort*
May 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This week I purchased, for the first time, heat-and-eat Sp\u00e4tzle<\/em> out of the refrigerated section of a supermarket. I still occasionally read comments like “Europeans don’t eat processed food” on the socials, from Americans trying to shame working moms and poor people, and I’d like you all to know that is a lie, at least in Germany. I walk by\/into four different supermarket chains every week, and they’re all pretty much the same as supermarkets in Iowa. And now that I have experienced how yummy and easy it is to get Sp\u00e4tzle<\/em> in sauce without having to wash a second pot, I will buying the heat-and-eat every time they go on sale.

Anyway, the dish:

Start by cooking some chopped-up chicken breast in a big pan. Use your biggest pan. I should have used a bigger pan. Remove the finished meat and then sautee some red onion. When you’re happy with it, add the Sp\u00e4tzle<\/em> and let them get a little brown. (If you have dried noodles, you can boil them in a separate pot first.)<\/p>\n\n\n

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I also added some mushrooms that needed to be used up. Nothing around here is ever like the linked recipe.
May 2024<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While this is happening, mix up the chopped B\u00e4rlauch<\/em><\/a> with Schmand<\/em> (analogous to US sour cream), cream, cream cheese, and chicken broth. My little food mixer\/chopper was too small for this step; I used the Stabmixer<\/a><\/em> to combine the B\u00e4rlauch<\/em> and cream cheese, then combined the broth and sour cream in a different bowl.

This way lies madness, btw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Because now you have to combine them in your pan with the noodles.
May 2024<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Time to pour both sauces into the noodles, mix them up well, and cook them until the sauce reduces a bit. Did I mention you need to use your biggest pan? Use your biggest pan. Trying to mix this all up separately in my second-biggest pan was a hot sloppy mess.

Next time, I will also deglaze my biggest pan with a bit of white wine; the sauce was extremely tasty but could always use that extra shot of umami\/Maillard<\/a> goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don’t forget to add the chicken back to the pot, too.
May 2024<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everything is better with Rostzwiebeln<\/em>, fried onions. They’re not just for Thanksgiving’s green bean casserole, you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ta-da!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am absolutely making this again next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am absolutely making this again next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-3935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-and-seasonal","tag-barlauch"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t