Week 4 Menu Plan and Recipes
(the Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit)
Hi friends and Happy Friday! Glad to see so many new faces and am happy that you found your way here. Welcome. We are in Week 4 of the Fall Cooking Habit and this one features Oktoberfest-inspired dishes.
September is quickly coming to a close and I’m happy to report Southern California is starting to cool off. We recently went for a Duffy ride with good friends around Newport Harbor and the weather was so lovely.
Before we get into this week’s delicious post, please don’t be sad that our Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit is coming to an end. You can keep the ball rolling on the cooking habit! There is exciting news about how to make that happen, an answer to the age-old dilemma of what to make for dinner.
The answer: 15 Dinner Recipes for the Rest of Your Life. Yes, an eBook written by me!
Inside you’ll find:
Five proteins, five veggies, and five carb recipes that are the building blocks for 125 meal ideas.
How to combine recipes to make a balanced meal.
Delicious seasoning combinations to change flavor profiles.
Guidance on how to assemble a weekly menu plan.
All the recipes are reliably delicious, simple to prepare, and easily adaptable to your taste. They are gold! Reasonably priced at $5.99 and ready for digital download.
I have also posted the link at the top of this newsletter’s Home page if you decide to purchase it later (or again as a gift to your favorite foodie!).
Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit
This is the last week of our monthlong endeavor. You can, of course, use this plan any month, not just September!
Did you miss any previous weeks? Find them here: Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3.
A recap on how it works:
Every Friday in September, there is a free menu plan with recipes for the following week. This gives you the weekend (or Monday morning) to shop for the ingredients.
Recipes include a variety of protein options including plant proteins, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, and seafood.
We plan for three dinners per week leaving the rest of the days free and flexible for leftovers and dinners out.
You decide which three days you want to cook. I typically make dinner on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but choose whatever days work for you.
The Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit is free for everyone.
Free subscribers receive one weekly recipe plus the menu plan.
Paid subscribers receive all the recipes plus the menu plan and a printable shopping list.
This week’s menu is a Southern California spin on Oktoberfest food. I’ve never been to Munich’s annual beer festival that begins in late September and ends the first Sunday in October. It’s on my bucket list and I’ve even got a forest green dirndl saved on my Amazon wish list for that someday trip.
However, I have been to Germany many times. When I was in my 20s, my best friend and I enjoyed spending our university Christmas breaks in Munich, Oberammergau, Farchant, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We didn’t get snow where we lived in Texas so the weather, plus the smaller wintertime crowds and cheaper airfare appealed to us.
One year, we rented a car and drove from Munich to Berlin. Now this was in the dinosaur age when Germany was still split into East and West and the Berlin Wall was still up. That road trip through East Germany was one I will never forget, but is another story for another day.
Arriving in West Berlin, we were wowed by the Ku’Damm aka Kurfürstendamm, the Champs-Élysées of West Berlin. And later wowed in East Berlin by the mirrored exterior of the Palast der Republik parliament building (which has since been torn down).
A trip to Deutschland is on my and my husband’s list of places to re-visit. But in the meantime, we have a German-inspired menu.
Week 4 Menu Plan and Recipes
A word of warning: these are NOT authentically German dishes we are making this week. But! They are a fun mash-up of Bundesrepublik-inspired food with a California twist that I think you are going to love.
As a whole, chicken is the most popular meat in America, but in Germany it’s pork. It is a protein source this week, along with dairy and plant protein. Veggies include onions, cabbage, fennel, leeks, and fresh herbs.
Pork Chops with Onions, Figs, and Thyme. Thick and juicy chops are pan-seared, combined with dried fruit, and served over a tangle of egg noodles.
Flammekuchen with Leeks, Bacon, and Gruyere. Delicious flatbread but German-style! Easy-to-make dough is sprinkled with toppings and baked, ready in about half an hour.
Plant Protein Schnitzel with Fresh Cabbage Salad. You won’t believe how good this version of schnitzel tastes! And never mind the sauerkraut, because there is a refreshing cabbage and fennel salad.
Beer Suggestions
While previous menu plans included wine suggestions, this week has to be beer. I think a lager or ale will pair nicely with these meals. About this time last year we talked about German beers in this post and any of those would be great with the dishes this week.
My local BevMo has an annual display of Oktoberfest beers and maybe a store in your area does, too. This year, the selection of beers was much more limited, but I found a popular brand at around $12 for six bottles.
Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier 6.3% ABV. A lovely golden lager with a thick white head that settles after a few minutes. It’s malty with a crisp, clean finish and very easy to drink. Only available for a few weeks in autumn.
Recipes
Pork Chops with Onions, Figs, and Thyme
Serves 4
Time: 45-ish minutes
Deliciously seasoned and cooked until *just* done, these pork chops make for a hearty meal (thanks to Inspired Taste for the recipe inspiration!). Dried figs add a touch of sweetness that pairs well with the meat, but if you don’t have or like figs, sub in another dried fruit like apricots or prunes.
I served this with egg noodles but you could sub in mashed potatoes or go very traditional with German spaetzle.
Ingredients:
4 bone-in pork chops, 1-inch thick (about 2 lbs total)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil for cooking onions
1 onion, cut into slices
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil for cooking chops
1/2 cup dried California Black Mission figs, diced
12 to 16 oz dried egg noodles
Pan Gravy Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Fresh thyme sprigs (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
Directions:
Pat the chops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the salt on both sides of each chop and allow to rest for 10-ish minutes.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Sauté the onions for 5 to 7 minutes until they are soft and translucent. Remove the onions to a bowl and set aside.
Pat the pork chops dry again. Combine flour, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and black pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture on both sides of the chops, using all of the mixture.
Heat the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining oil to the pan. Place the chops in the pan (may need to do this in 2 batches so you don’t crowd the pan) and cook for 5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for 2 or 3 minutes. The chops should be golden to deep brown on both sides. Move the chops to a plate and cover to keep warm.
Cook the egg noodles according to the package directions. Drain and keep warm.
Make the pan gravy by melting the butter over medium heat in the skillet. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. It will be clumpy, but don’t despair. Tip in the broth and whisk everything together until it is smooth. Throw in the fresh thyme sprigs and the figs.
Serve the pork chops over the egg noodles and drizzle with pan gravy.
Flammekuchen with Leeks, Bacon, and Gruyere
Serves 2
Time: 35-ish minutes
A delicious and surprisingly easy flatbread! No yeast and no proofing required, no kidding. It is topped with a handful of ingredients that you might even have in your fridge right now and then baked for 20-ish minutes. Sehr gut!