O 'Zapft Is!

At exactly 12:00 noon on the first day of the Oktoberfest, the Mayor of Munich taps the first keg of beer and yells "O‘zapft is!" ("the keg is tapped"). This officially declares the festival open.  I have found that many people in the U.S don't realize that Oktoberfest is actually celebrated in September.  Traditionally, it begins the first Saturday after September 15th and ends the first Sunday in October.  So, lucky you...this post is just in time for you to whip up a delicious Oktoberfest dinner! :)
Drink...

Samuel Adams Octoberfest
Usually I try not to just feature a beer or a glass of wine as the drink for my blog.  However, beer is the key ingredient to Oktoberfest, so I had to do it this time.  This beer was good and I believe it is best served in a stein like one pictured above.  
Ingredients:

• a cold Octoberfest beer
• a beer stein 

Directions:

1. Pour the beer into the stein (steins are big - you may need a couple beers to fill it up).
2. Drink and yell "Prost! (cheers!)"

Dinner...

Apple Oktoberfest Cheese Soup
*recipe from Evil Shenanigans
Do you like cheese?  How about bacon? Oh, and then a little beer to make everything yummy, and Oktoberfesty.  When I saw the recipe for this soup I figured it would be good, but I had no idea how good.  It is like a spoonful of  German autumn in every bite (ok, I have never been there...but I could imagine this soup would be perfect on a crisp fall day during Oktoberfest in Germany).  
I have to give credit to my husband, Doug...he actually made this one!
Ingredients:
(serves 4)

• 2 strips bacon, chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped (We omitted this)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup Oktoberfest style beer (I used Sam Adams)
• 2 cups milk
• 5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 ounces smoked Gouda

Directions:

1. In a medium pot over medium heat add the chopped bacon.  Cook until the bacon is very crisp, about 3 minutes.  Remove the bacon from the pot reserving the fa
2. Add the butter to the pot and once it foams add the onion, apple, carrot, celery, salt, and pepper.  Cook until the mixture is starting to become tender, about 5 minutes, then add the dry mustard, paprika, and cayenne pepper.   Stir to combine and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender.  Add in the sliced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add in the flour and cool for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, to cook out the raw taste of the flour.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and slowly add in the chicken stock, beer, and milk, stirring constantly to remove any lumps of flour.  You may need to whisk it during this process.  Once combined increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the soup comes to a boil and thickens, about 5 minutes.  Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool for 3 minutes. 
4. Working in batches, blend the soup in a blender until very smooth, about 3 minutes on the highest speed (or use an immersion blender like we did).  Add the cheese, in batches, to the soup and blend until the cheese is melted.  Once all the soup is blended return it to the pot.
5. Heat the soup over medium heat to re-warm.  Season with hot sauce, and additional salt and pepper as desired.  Serve the soup with the crumbled bacon as a garnish.

Dessert...

Butterkuchen (Butter Cake)
*recipe from German Food Guide and Directory
Butterkuchen is a type of Blechkuchen.  The word Blech means "sheet" so a Blechkuchen is a German cake that is baked on a large baking sheet. These cakes are usually rectangular in form and they are cut into squares for serving. There is no one "typical" Blechkuchen because it is how the cake is baked (on a large baking sheet) that makes it a Blechkuchen, not its ingredients. In fact, there are so many different varieties of Blechkuchen because many kinds of doughs and toppings can be used.  Tradionally, Blechkuchen are made with a yeast dough or a dough that can be easily rolled out.  
Butterkuchen is a butter cake, the most basic Blechkuchen. It is made from a yeast dough, which is baked with a topping of butter pieces and sugar. Some regions also add almond slices as a topping.  
This is definitely a different interpretation of a cake.  It reminded me of a  dessert pizza since the dough is thin and rolled out onto a baking sheet.  When I was making it, I thought, "oh, this is too much sugar."  Then, I thought, "oh, this is too much butter."  But, I stuck with the recipe and it turned out delicious.  The amount of butter and sugar may seem like a lot, but they sure do make it taste good.  I am officially a Butterkuchen girl now!
Ingredients:
(serves 12)
For the Dough:

• 4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (1 stick)
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 package Active Dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Milk, lukewarm
• Zest from half of a Lemon

For the Topping:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, cut into tiny cubes
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 cups Sliced Almonds
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast and half of the milk. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the flour and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Allow this mixture to sit in a warm place for 1 hour.
2. Combine remaining dough ingredients then add in the yeast mixture. Mix until a smooth dough forms, then knead by hand. Allow dough to sit in a warm place until double in volume.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
4. Grease a baking sheet. Roll out dough to fit the size of the baking sheet. Transfer dough to baking sheet.
5. Sprinkle the sliced almonds, sugar, cinnamon, and butter cubes over the dough.
6. Allow cake to sit and rise for another 30 minutes.
7. Bake cake for around 30 minutes or until a golden crust develops.
8. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool. Before serving, cut into squares.

A Delicious Dinner for Doug

I told you all that June was a big birthday month for me.  My last post was for my sister's birthday and this one is for my fiance, Doug's birthday!  I wanted to make him a dinner of all his favorite things.  Well, his favorite thing I can make is actually chicken piccata, and I already made that for my blog.  So...I made his second favorite dinner :)

Drink...

Bière de Belœil

I always feel like I am kind of cheating when I just put a beer or wine on here instead of making a cocktail.  However, I can truly say that beer is Doug's favorite drink.  I let him pick this one out.  This beer is brewed by one of Doug's favorite breweries; Brasserie DuPont.  He decided to try it because of that brewery being one his favorites.  However, he said it was good, not outstanding.  If you want to try a real stand-out beer from Brasserie DuPont, than try one of their Saison beers.
Ingredients:

• A slightly chilled bottle of Bière de Belœil (we keep ours in our wine fridge at 50 degrees Fahrenheit)

Directions:

1. Pour and enjoy :)

Dinner...

Chicken and Asparagus Pasta 
*recipe from Maureen K.
This is one of Doug's (and my) favorite pasta dishes of all time!  It is soooo good and soooo easy to make!  It was invented by my mom (I know...she is such a great cook).  Please, make it....I guarantee you will like it!  Just an FYI - I always add WAAAY more red pepper flakes than the recipe calls for, and quite a few more splashes of wine and lemon juice than it calls for just to make it extra flavorful.
Ingredients:

• 1 lb asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch long pieces
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 4 to 6 cloves of garlic (I use 6)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I use A LOT more - probably about 1 1/2 - 2 tbs!  It really is not spicy, just adds more flavor)
• 1 whole tomato, chopped or grape tomatoes, sliced (I usually don't add tomatoes, but it would be good in it)
• 2 - 3 tbs lemon juice (I usually add a little bit more)
• 1/3 cup white wine (again, I usually add a few extra splashes)
• garlic powder
• salt
• pepper
• 1 lb chicken breast, chopped into pieces
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Season the chicken breast pieces with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cook in olive oil until almost done.  Remove from pan.
2. Cook linguine according to the package directions.
3. Cook asparagus in microwave until tender.
4. Add 3/4 cup of olive oil to the pan the chicken was cooked in.  Cook garlic and red pepper in oil. 
5. Add chicken, asparagus, white wine, lemon juice, and tomato.  Heat through.
6. Toss the linguine with the Parmesan cheese.

Dessert...

Liege Style Waffle with Speculoos Spread

There is a food truck here in NYC called Waffles and Dinges.  I first tried their waffles last fall and immediately told Doug he had to try them.  Since then, we are both officially addicted!  They have many different kinds of waffles there, but the only one we have had is the "Throwdown Waffle".  It's named that because the owner of the truck was on the TV show Throwdown with Bobby Flay and won.  It is one of their Liege style waffles with Speculoos Spread and whipped cream.  
Doug also has a recent addiction (I do too, but not as strong of an addiction) to Speculoos Spread.  It is a delicious Belgian gingerbread cookie spread (I don't really like gingerbread, but I love this stuff!).  Doug prefers the one bought from Le Pain Quotidien, which is the one we used in this recipe.  I prefer the one from Trader Joes.  They call it Cookie Butter and I think it is less gingerbready.  Plus it is cheaper and comes in a bigger jar :)  
This is a super easy recipe to make (especially since we don't have a waffle maker, so I just bought a Liege style waffle they sell in packages at convenience stores around here) and is really incredibly delicious. 
Ingredients:

• 1 Liege style waffle
• Speculoos Spread
• Whipped cream

Directions:

1. Make a waffle, or buy a pre-made one like me.  If you buy one, put it in the toaster to heat it up and toast it a bit.
2. Spread Speculoos over the warm waffle.
3. Top with whipped cream, and try not to eat it too fast :)

A Beer Dinner

I enjoy a good beer and my fiancé enjoys one even more than I do.  His love of beer inspired me to make a dinner in which all of the recipes include beer.  

Drink...

What could a beer dinner be without a beer to drink?

For this dinner, we had a bottle of Bellegems Bruin, a beer brewed in Belgium by Bockor.  This style of beer can be difficult to categorize, but it probably falls under one of two styles: Oud Bruin, which means "old brown" in Flemish, or Flanders Red.  Both styles of beer are made by aging it in oak barrels, typically for between one and three years.  Then this "old beer" is blended with "younger" beer (usually aged for less than a year).  Oud bruin and Flemish Red beers are usually described as having fruity flavors like cherry, plum, and raisin, and are a bit acidic and tart.  They taste more like red wine than your standard lager. 


The beer we chose was quite tasty.  Bellegems Bruin is described by one beer expert as "lightly creamy, with a good firm tartness and touches of passion fruit and chocolate."*  I agree. 


Unless you are a beer connoisseur, you've probably never had a beer in this style.  It is worth trying and many folks who "don't like beer" might like these brews.  


The directions for this one are simple: open, pour, and enjoy! :)


*Source: Michael Jackson, Great Beers of Belgium (6th ed. 2008).

Dinner...

Carbonnade Flamande and Beer Bread

This is a good winter meal and is sure to warm you up on a chilly day!
Carbonnade Flamande
*recipe from Cooks Illustrated Magazine
This is a traditional Belgian beef, beer, and onion stew.  I chose to serve mine with egg noodles.  I highly recommend it served this way, though the traditional accompaniment is pommes frites.  Another option is to serve it with mashed potatoes.
Ingredients:
(serves 6)

• 3 1/2 lbs of steak (the recipe said top blade steaks, but either Trader Joe's didn't have them or I don't know another name for them.  I ended up just buying the pre-cut beef stew meat.  I was a little nervous about it, but I trimmed it up a bit and it was great in the stew - very tender!)
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 3 medium onions, sliced about a 1/4 thick
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbs flour
• 3/4 cup of chicken broth
• 3/4 cup of beef broth
• 1 beer (we used a bottle of Bellegems Bruin)*
• 4 sprigs of thyme (I just sprinkled in a little ground thyme)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbs cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Dry the beef with a paper towel and season liberally with salt and pepper.
3. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a large Dutch Oven.  Add one third of the beef to the pot.  Cook without moving pieces until browned 2-3 minutes.
4. Turn each piece and continue cooking until well browned, about 5 more minutes.
5. Remove the cooked meat from the pan.
6. Repeat this step two more times for the remainder of the meat.
7. Add remaining 1 tbs of oil to the pan.  Add onions, 1/2 tsp of salt, and tomato paste.  Cook while scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until onions are lightly browned 12 to 14 minutes.
8. Stir in garlic.
9. Add flour and stir until onions are evenly coated.  Cook about 2 minutes.
10. Stir in the beef and chicken broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
11. Stir in the browned beef, beer, vinegar, thyme, and bay leaves.  Salt and pepper to taste.
12. Bring to a simmer.
13. Cover and place in the oven until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.
14. Discard the thyme and bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

*A note about the choice of beer for your carbonnade flamande. According to beer and food expert Michael Jackson, a proper carbonnade flamande uses a brown beer from East Flanders. The beer we used is from West Flanders, but it was still good and the brown/red beers from the two regions are not that different.  But many cooks recommend a wildly diverse range of beers for carbonnade flamande that are both stylistically wrong and completely differing in taste.  For instance, legendary chef Escoffier recommended using either a lambic or a stout for the stew, which is a bit like saying one can freely substitute champagne for pinot noir.  Not all beer tastes the same, so use care when making substitutions. 

Beer Bread

*recipe from Mark Bittman 

I have had beer bread before and it was soooo good.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for this beer bread.  It tasted a little bitter to me and the cornmeal was a little strange in it.  Maybe it would be better with a lighter beer and instead of cornmeal, just use flour.  However, if you are going to make beer bread, I have to recommend using the beer bread mix from Tastefully Simple instead.  It's much better and easier too.  I guess I should have stuck to what I said before and never make bread from scratch again...I am just not good at it.
Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour (I just used all regular flour.  Maybe that messed it up?)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 bottle beer in the Doppelbock style (we used Paulaner Salvator, an excellent example of that style)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350. 
2. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with a little oil or butter. 
3. Whisk together the flours, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar and salt. 
4. Add the oil or butter and beer, and stir just until everything is combined.
5. Pour into the loaf pan and bake until the loaf is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes. 
6. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan and serving. 

 Dessert...

Beer Float

We've all had a root beer float.  Why not take out the root and just have a beer float? 

Ingredients:

• Kriek Boon Beer
• Vanilla Ice Cream

Directions:

1. Put a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream in a glass.
2. Pour the beer over the ice cream  

You should use a fruit lambic style of beer for this float.  Without getting into too much detail, these naturally tart beers are sweetened with fruit and make for an excellent dessert drink.  We used the traditional Belgian flavor kriek, which is the Flemish word for cherry.  Also traditional is raspberry (framboise), but newer flavors are available like peach (pêche) and black currant (cassis).  As with the oud bruin style of beer, fruit lambics will challenge preconceptions as to what beer tastes like.

Prost! (Cheers!) to Oktoberfest!

Get out your Lederhosen and celebrate Oktoberfest!  Oktoberfest  is a 16-18 day beer festival held in Munich, Germany.  It is the world's largest fair and begins at the end of September and goes until the first weekend in October.  For this meal, I made all traditional German Oktoberfest foods. "O'zapft is!" is the phrase the the Mayor of Munich shouts out at the beginning of Oktoberfest, meaning "It's tapped!"
Drink... 
*Chosen and written by Doug W.

Oktoberfest is a beer festival, so what else could we drink with this dinner besides beer?  Doug knows all about beer and chose a perfect Oktoberfest beer to go with my dinner.  Here is his description of the beer and why he chose it:
 
Greetings from your favorite (self-anointed) beer expert!  An important part of Oktoberfest is beer (and loudly singing Ein Prosit).  But before describing the beer, a note on pairing beer and food.  The way I see it, there are three routes one can take in selecting a beer to go with a meal.  First, one might choose a beer that is likely to complement the taste of the food being served (like pairing wine with food).  Second, one can choose a seasonally appropriate brew (many styles of beer were traditionally brewed for a specific season or time of year).  Finally, the choice might be made to satisfy the theme of the meal.  Our choice certainly satisfies the second and third criteria—you can judge whether it satisfies the first.  

             

If you purchase an “Oktoberfest beer” here in the states you are most likely to receive what the Germans call a märzenbier.  This translates to “March beer,” as in a beer that was brewed in the month of March.  Beer brewing is an old pastime and thus many of the seasonal brewing traditions reflect the necessities of pre-modern life, and märzen is no different.  Before widespread air conditioning, brewing lagers, which require cool temperatures for good results, would cease in the spring once the outside temperatures crept up (some sources also claim summer brewing was banned to stem fires).  Märzenbier is brewed in March and stored until late September, which in Bavaria is Oktoberfest, hence its association with the famous German festival. 

            

 Most Oktoberfest beer is medium brown, not very dark, but not pale.  We chose Spaten’s Oktoberfest beer for our celebration and it’s representative of the style (if you like the style, I recommend both Ayinger’s and Hacker-Pschorr’s Oktoberfest beers).  Only six breweries are allowed to serve beer at Munich's Oktoberfest, including Spaten.  Anyone who has attended Oktoberfest in Munich, or seen pictures of the same, probably noticed that most of the beer served is suspiciously pale.  Dirty little secret:  most Germans (and Oktoberfest tourists) are not beer connoisseurs, and like their American counterparts, drink only pale lager (called helles when made in the Munich style).  My advice: try a märzen if you haven’t, but drink whatever brings you Gemütlichkeit. 

Dinner...
*Recipes from: The Oktoberfest German Food Guide 
Who needs to go to a restaurant to get traditional German food when you can make it right at home? 

Laugenbrezeln (Laugen Pretzels)

While making these, I learned that pretzel making is an art and not just a science.  These pretzels turned out tasty, but not the way I expected.  They were a little harder and crunchier than I would have liked.  The only way I can think of to correct this is to roll the dough thicker and bake for less time.
Ingredients:
(Makes 6-7 pretzels)
For the dough:

• 2 3/8  cups of bread flour (I did not have bread flour so I added 2 tbs more of flour per cup...maybe this is where my pretzels started to go wrong :)
• 1/2 pkg of dry yeast (3.5 oz)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup of lukewarm milk
• 1 tbs. coarse salt (I used sea salt)

For the soda water:

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tbs. salt
• 1/2 tbs. baking soda

Directions:

1. Create a "starter" by mixing milk, yeast, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour. The consistency of the Starter should be like a watery pancake batter. 
2. Let sit for 15 minutes. Small bubbles should begin to form. This shows that the yeast is alive.
3. To the Starter, add the remaining flour and salt. 
4. Knead until dough is smooth and soft. If dough is too dry, add a little bit more liquid. Likewise, if dough is too sticky, add a little bit more flour. (I had to add more milk)
5. Let dough rest, covered and in a warm place, until it is double in size.
6. Knead dough one more time to remove all air bubbles that formed during the rising period. 
7. Divide dough into equal pieces. Roll each dough piece into a pencil-thick 11-inch string (This is where I think it should be thicker so the pretzels don't turn out crunchy). 
8. Form each string into a pretzel.
9. Let pretzels rest for 15 minutes, covered and in a warm place.
10. While the pretzels are resting, prepare the soda water. Do this by combining the baking soda, water, and salt in a wide pot. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.
11. Drop each pretzel in the hot soda water. As soon as it rises to the surface, remove it from the soda water and place it on a baking sheet. Repeat this step for each pretzel.
12. Sprinkle pretzels with coarse salt. 
13. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes in a 425°F oven (I would try baking them for a little less time so they are not so crisp).

Kartoffelpuffer Mit Zwiebel (Potato Pancakes with Onions)

These were good, but would be even better (and easier) if I would have had a food processor to cut the potatoes.  If you have one, use it!
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

• 3/4 lb potatoes 
• 1/2 a small onion, finely chopped
• 1/8 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• salt (to taste)
• vegetable oil (2 tbs per potato pancake)
• Applesauce or sour cream for topping

Directions:

1.  Peel and wash the potatoes. 
2. Finely shred the potatoes into a bowl (I used a peeler to shred the potatoes, but it was very time consuming.  If you have a food processor, use it here to get the potatoes really finely shredded). 
3. Place shredded potatoes into a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze out excess juice. Return potatoes to bowl.
4. To the potatoes, add eggs, flour, onions, and salt. Mix together.
5. Heat oil in a frying pan. Using about 2 tablespoons per pancake, fry pancakes in hot oil until the pancakes are crispy and golden brown. 
6. Allow excess oil to drip off of pancakes. Serve immediately.  
7. Top with applesauce or sour cream.

Wiener Schnitzel

This dish is typically made with veal, but that was a little too expensive for me, so I used pork, which worked great.
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

• 1/2 lb veal cutlets (I substituted pork cutlets)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• dash of black pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko breadcrumbs which are obviously non-traditional, but they worked great because they really crisp up nicely!)
• 2 tbs. butter
• 2 tbs. oil (I used olive oil)
• 1 lemon, sliced into wedges for garnish

Directions:

My workstation - ready to bread the pork!

1. Season each veal cutlet with salt and pepper (both sides). 
2. Let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. 
3. In the meantime, prepare your work area. You will need 3 plates - add the flour to the first one, add the eggs to the second one, and add the bread crumbs to the third plate. Arrange the plates in a row, close to the stove. 
4. Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy skillet or pan over moderately high heat for about 2 minutes. 
5. For each veal cutlet, coat the cutlet with flour, dunk it in the eggs, then coat it with bread crumbs. 
6. Put the coated veal cutlet immediately in the hot skillet. Cook each side for about 3 minutes, or until each side is a deep golden brown. 
7. Remove the schnitzel and place on a plate lined with paper towels (to absorb any extra oil). Keep warm. 
8. Serve the schnitzels warm with lemon slices.

  Dessert... 
*Recipes from: The Oktoberfest German Food Guide

Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel)

The recipe for the strudel dough seemed really complicated so I used frozen Phyllo dough as it suggested.  The Phyllo dough was a little crisp .  I'm not quite sure if that is how a strudel is supposed to be, but it still tasted really good! (I wonder if you could use a refrigerated biscuit or crescent dough rolled very thin in order to get a softer strudel crust?)
Ingredients:
(Serves 6)

• 1/4 cup ground walnuts
• 2 cups sliced and peeled apples
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (I added more...probably about 2 tsp. total)
• Phyllo dough (or biscuit dough?)
• 2-4 tbs. melted butter for basting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Grease a large sheet pan or line it with parchment paper.
3. Combine the filling ingredients.
4. Roll out the Phyllo or biscuit dough very thin.
5. Spread the apple filling across the dough, leaving about a 1 1/2 inch border from the edges. Fold over the 1 1/2 inch flaps of dough to the right and left of the filling. Roll up the dough with the filling (kind of like rolling up a burrito).  Brush the outside of the dough with butter to seal it and help it bake golden brown.
6. Poke a few small ventilation holes on the top of the strudel with a fork. 
7. Bake the strudel for about 1 hour, basting it occasionally with melted butter, until the strudel is golden brown.
8. Remove the strudel from the oven. Allow it to cool somewhat, then dust with powdered sugar. 
9. Serve warm.  It would also be good served with with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

Ein Prosit!

Happy Oktoberfest!  Enjoy a meal full of good food, good beer, and hopefully good friends!