Today on the Sonrise Morning Show, Matt Swaim and I were chatting about Pope Benedict XVI and the fact that we are mourning this beloved pope.

We talked about some of his favorite foods of his homeland, Germany/Bavaria. (His mom, before she married, cooked in hotels so I imagine she brought some interesting recipes to both the hotels and her own kitchen). Here are some of the foods Pope Benedict loved even as an adult living in Rome.

Easy kartoffel/potato pancakes

Now don’t turn up your nose at frozen shredded potatoes. These are actually my preference in this dish, since they keep their color and are ready to go. Bavarian potato pancakes usually include a bit of flour. Potatoes are a new world veggie, but onions, eggs, flour, salt are all Bible ingredients.

Ingredients

1 pound shredded fresh potatoes squeezed very dry, or frozen potatoes, thawed and squeezed very dry

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons flour or bit more to hold mixture together

Salt and pepper or seasoning salt to taste

Finely minced onion to taste – start with 1/2 cup 

Handful of fresh parsley, minced (optional) 

Instructions

Mix everything together.  With a small ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out portions of potatoes on hot griddle or omelet pan which has been filmed with a light coating of olive or other oil.  Cook until golden brown on both sides. 

KulIeraugen (“Googly Eyes”) Raspberry Thumbprints 

The little ones love to make the thumbprint. 

Bible ingredients such as  butter, almonds, eggs and flour (wheat) abound in this recipe. 

Ingredients

1 stick butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg, separated

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup finely chopped almonds

Raspberry jam

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300.  Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk until fluffy. Blend in flour and gather into a ball. Chill several hours or overnight.  

Roll level teaspoons of dough into balls. Roll into slightly beaten egg white; roll in nuts. Place on ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheets 1″ apart. Press an indentation with your thumb in each and then fill indentation with jam. Don’t overdo or the jam will bubble over onto the cookie. (Well, that’s not so bad, is it?!) 

Bake until lightly golden, anywhere from 20-25 minutes or so. Don’t overbake. Makes about 24.

Bavarian Wurst/Sausage Salad with Cheese

Find this yummy salad on platedcravings.com – here’s a photo from her site.