German style New Years Eve.

In 2010, my girlfriend and I went to Germany to visit her family over Christmas and the New Year. It was the first time they were going to meet me, I was very nervous, but also really looking forward to seeing how German cooking differed from English. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed all the dishes I tried, from the locally caught fish in a pub that was on the docks, to the everyday meals that her family prepared, but - the one meal and evening that I enjoyed the most was New Years Eve. In the past my New Years Eve mainly contained a fair amount of alcohol and a dance floor, but this was going to be a bit more civilized. Not to say there wasn't alcohol, but we were going to all sit round the dining table for my first meeting with a raclette.

Considering that I was in a different country with people I barely knew, it was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have experienced. For those of you that don't know what a raclette is, it's basically an indoor BBQ, where you have a stone and grill cooking pad on top and 8 trays underneath for grilling cheese to melt over your food. We had turkey, chicken and pork, then vegetables like red and yellow peppers, baby corn, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, with tinned pineapple, pickled onions, gherkins and stuffed red peppers and a variety of cheeses. I have to say that the evening for me almost had it all - even down to the German tradition of the mustard filled doughnut, which I had the pleasure of eating, but according to their philosophy I was going to have a lucky year: Which was true as our first child was born with no complications.

Anyway enough babble about this and time to get to the point, which is that for Christmas one of the pressies we received from my girlfriend's grandparents was a raclette. Which I have to say was pretty cool. I instantly started thinking of when I was going to be able to use it for the first time? I had an idea straight away. My best friend and his girlfriend had been trying for a baby after a miscarriage and had just found out that they were expecting another baby. So I knew they were weren't going to have a mad night out on the town and thought they might appreciate of a nice relaxed evening with a bit of food, which they did. So me and my girlfriend went to work.

What we used:

650g of a good quality steak

3 good quality pork chops

To be honest, there are so many different types of salads, vegetables, dips and different types of cheeses and all types of pickled and Jared goods to go with the raclette that you are spoiled for choice, you just can't go wrong as there is something for everyone. And the one thing I found the best was the fact that it was very relaxed and sociable. Which made for a great new years eve for us.

I know this is not much of a recipe but it's my blog and my rules, lol and I just wanted to share this with you.