Nuremberg Castle in Germany

On November 6, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany2 Comments

Nuremberg is truly a wonderful city in Germany with the walled old town and castle fortress sitting high above the medieval town. While Nuremberg is most known for the trials of the Nazi leaders at the end of WWII, there is much more to see than just the courthouse where the trials occurred. Most notably is the Nuremberg Castle, which provides spectacular views of the city. Almost all castles served as fortresses, while not all fortresses also served as homes to royalty and to the wealthy. Nuremberg Castle feels more like a true fortress than an actual castle, but many kings did stay at the castle throughout its almost thousand year history.

Walking along the walls of the fortification takes you back in time and it is easy to see why the castle fortress was considered to be one of the most important fortifications during the medieval period. Taking a self-guided tour of the castle grounds includes seeing the Imperial Castle, the Imperial City Buildings, and the former Burgrave’s Castle. There are no rooms decorated with historical replicas trying to depict what life was like in ancient times, but there is still plenty to make touring the castle worthwhile.

The views of Nuremberg are definitely the highlight of visiting the castle. There are several spots as you walk along the walls of the fortress up towards the heart of the castle where you can stop and look over the rooftops of old town and see the spires of the cathedral reaching skyward. There are so many interesting features on the castle grounds that you can easily spend a couple of hours walking around and exploring the historic site.

Nuremberg Castle is definitely one of the most important places to visit while you are in Nuremberg. The cathedral and the courthouse are the two other places that should be on your must-see list, but don’t miss out on visiting the castle and getting a true view of the old town and the city as a whole.

Butcher’s Sausage with Peppers and Onions

On July 24, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Food, Germany, Recipes4 Comments

When we lived in Frankfurt, there was a butcher located on the corner of our street where we would go and buy fresh meats for dinner. Here in Colorado, we have to go a little bit further to get to a butcher, but it is well worth the effort. Everyone talks about farm to table cooking, but for home-cooks it isn’t always as easy. We also go to a local farmer’s market every weekend to get fresh vegetables. This is a meal that definitely reminded us of Germany, not just because of the sausage, but also because of using the fresh ingredients with no preservatives. Butcher’s sausage is a sausage that is made up of meat scraps that the butcher saves as they trim up different cuts of meat. Our sausage had pork, beef, duck pate, chicken liver, and chicken. It sounds like a crazy combination, but it tasted really good. Obviously, this recipe works well with bratwurst, beef sausage, or almost any type of sausage. You can also use green pepper if you’d like, but red and orange peppers are a little sweeter. Because the sausage has a lot of seasonings inside of it, there isn’t any reason to add anything other than some salt and pepper.

Peppers and Onion from the Farmer’s Market

INGREDIENTS

Two Links of Butcher’s Sausage
1 Red Pepper – sliced
1 Orange Pepper – sliced
1/2 Red Onion – sliced
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 Buns or Hoagie Rolls
Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

Browned Sausage and Caramelized Vegetables

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a large skillet with the oil over medium-high heat. Be sure to slice the peppers and onion into similar size strips. Place the peppers in the pan and sauté them for about 5 to 6 minutes, until they start to soften. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and continue to sauté until peppers and onion begin to caramelize, about another 4 to 5 minutes. Butterfly the sausage and place them into the center of the pan, moving the peppers and onion towards the edge of the pan, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes per side until the sausage begins to brown. Spread the mustard onto the bun, place the sausage cut-side down, and cover with peppers and onion.

Spicy Sausage Sandwiches

On April 17, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn RecipesLeave a comment

We enjoyed a lot of different sausages during our time in Germany, including currywurst. Another thing that we enjoyed was going to our local butcher and seeing what seasonable meats were available. We are fortunate that have a butcher in our home town that does the same, so we went there a couple of weeks ago and we were able to get some Linguica sausage. It is a spicy cured sausage from Portugal and we cooked it in a spicy curry and chili sauce. We made more sauce than we needed for the sausages and plan to use it on some other things as well. It was simple, delicious, and definitely registered on the spicy scale. The sauce would be great with hot dogs, bratwurst, or beef links as well. Although not exactly the same as currywurst, it certainly satisfied that craving.

INGREDIENTS

2 to 4 Sausage Links – Linguica or other style
12 oz Beer – something that you would enjoy drinking
1 cup Chili Sauce
1/4 cup Malt Vinegar
2 tbsp Light Brown Sugar
2 tsp Curry Powder
2 tsp Hot Sauce
1 1/2 Onion – thickly sliced
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Hoagie Rolls

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the chili sauce, salt and pepper, brown sugar, curry powder, hot sauce, malt vinegar, and beer in a large sauce pan and heat over medium-high heat until it starts to simmer. Continue cooking for another 5 to 7 minutes to reduce the sauce. While the sauce is thickening, brown the sausage in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the sausage and add another tablespoon of olive oil and the onion to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook the onion until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the sausages and onion to the sauce and simmer together just for a couple of minutes just to let the sauce coat the sausage and onion. Butterfly the sausage so that it will lay flat, place on the rolls, and spoon onions and sauce over top.