Ilsa's Kitchen | Menu | Appetizers

Ilsa's Kitchen | Menu | Soups and Salads

Ilsa's Kitchen | Menu | German Specialties

Ilsa's Kitchen | Menu | Sides and Sandwiches

Ilsa's Kitchen Dinner Menu

Ilsa's Kitchen Dessert Menu

Please find more info about address and opening hours at the official website of Ilsa’s Kitchen Bavarian Restaurant!

Ilsa's Kitchen Dining Room

Find more info about opening hours, directions, and a few first food pictures by visiting my new Squidoo lens about “Ilsa’s Kitchen“.

Bratwurst at Ilsa's Kitchen

A heartfelt thank you to all our guests from the first 3 weeks. Your generous feedback and praise gave us an extra boost of much needed energy. You are the best!

Please come see us at the latest addition to the vibrant scene of Austin, TX restaurants:

Ilsa’s Kitchen Bavarian Restaurant!

Ilsa's Kitchen Website

Ilsa's Kitchen Bavarian Restaurant & Market

It will be a “soft opening” with a Grand Opening Party following around the end of January or early February next year.

We are tremendously proud of our offerings including original Oktoberfest pretzels from Munich, a fantastic Bavarian apple strudel, pork roast, sausages, rouladen, sauerkraut, red cabbage, bread and potato dumplings, and many more specialties from my Bavarian homeland. Imported beers? Yep, course!

We can’t wait to open our huge beer garden, a few weeks down the road when the weather is warmer.

The address is: 20700 Hwy 71 West, Spicewood, TX, 30 minutes from downtown Austin.

Phone: (512) 494-4270

Ilsa's Kitchen pre-opening

UPDATE! Ilsa’s Kitchen now open! Find more info at Ilsa’s Kitchen.com…

Ilsa's Kitchen Website

Several weeks ago, a group of investors approached me with the question: Would you be interested in opening a new German-Bavarian restaurant in Austin? I answered with a hearty “yes”, knowing that my life will change drastically. Lots of fun and tons of work ahead!

Jumping right in – this is what the outside of the place looks like now (11/15/09) and we’re supposed to open in a little over two weeks (12/1/09)! Oh, brother…

Ilsa's Kitchen Pre-Opening

Ilsa's Kitchen near Austin, Texas

We’re dreaming BIG! Bavarian German Oktoberfest Oompah Band Pork Roast Capital Of Texas Bratwurst And Sauerkraut Destination Event Center And Authentic German Restaurant Emporium Of The Texas Hill Country Make That Of ALL Texas. Or something…

Yours truly will be the executive chef and I’ve found one promising sous chef, so far. Garrett seems to be eager, talented, and – the most important aspect – without any out-of-control ego issues. We’ll need another line cook, dishwashers, and, further down road, a baker and one or two prep cooks. The front of the house will be taken care of by other partners in this venture.

Stay tuned…

UPDATE! Ilsa’s Kitchen now open! Find more info at Ilsa’s Kitchen.com…

Ilsa's Kitchen Website

How To Make The Best Focaccia Bread Recipe Ever!

Find elaborate descriptions of the entire focaccia bread process in previous post about general focaccia bread info and focaccia bread recipe and method.

But what if your prayers have gotten longer and longer since Junior brought home the news about his approaching young fatherhood?

Grandpa’s hearing is nothing to write home about, anymore. So you repeat your menu announcement over and over until he finally gets it that “rabbit with noodles” has nothing to do with a rabid poodle…

Don’t get me started on “Thanksgiving dinner”!

I saw something today that has me dream of entire requiems for our pre-chow blessings: A dinner plate that actually stays hot for 45 minutes, but only in the center where the food is. The rim is cool enough to handle! (Remember when you tried to pull your enchilada plate a little closer, at the Mexican place, last week? Turned out to be a “blistering move”, baby…)

Honestly, I haven’t bought and tried them, yet. Just saw this today and thought I let you know about it, right away. This seems to be the perfect solution for an old pet peeve of mine: I hate it when food gets cold over etiquette or mindless chatter. Let’s have a look…

Product Description for InstaHot Plates from Amazon.com

* Patented Stefan-Boltzmann Technology, REALLY stores heat
* Really keeps food hot, tested by inventor for over 3 years
* It is still hot even after 30 mins. Rim stays cool for handling
* Requires only one minute preheating in full size microwave
* Delay action releases heat slowly, does not overcook or overheats food

“Heat Retentive Plates will eventually replace regular cold plates; they are a patented technology. This is a real break-trough; the first functional change to a ceramic plate in centuries the whole industry will be impacted even if they do not know it, yet. The restaurant industry will use them; today people expect to be served on a preheated plate, in the near future restaurant customers will expect that their food stays hot while they enjoy. HotSmart plates may even help people to lose weight by simply eating slowly while their food stays hot, you’ll get satisfied with less food (research “eating slowly”). Designed to bring the luxury of eating on a real hot plate at home on a daily basis, but the plates are elegant and appropriate for formal dinners. This “Heat Retentive Plate” was mentioned in El Paso Times, Popular Science and Inventor’s Digest magazines. EXPECTATIONS CHANGE At restaurants people’s present expectations are to be served on a preheated plate but they know it will cool down in 5 minutes; in the near future their expectation will be that the food remains hot while they enjoy and without the danger of burning their hands with the hot rim of the plate; HotSmart plates have a cool rim and do not overcook or over heat your food they use the Stefan-Boltzmann law to release heat slowly (at a controlled rate). You need to see it to believe it, that is the reason they are initially offered as individual units, but customers will be back for more.”

One happy customer wrote this: The plate is wonderful, it does the job just as advertised. The plate comes with instructions on recommended microwave time for the wattage of the microwave. My microwave is 1100 watts so I heated the plate for 1 minute, it was able to keep the food warm for over 45 minutes. A family member is a very slow eater (due to medical problems each meal takes a little over an hour not including dessert) and this plate was able to keep the food warm the entire time. Initially, I was looking for a metal platter/wood tray combo that restaurants use to serve fajitas or steaks to help keep food warm. I saw this and thought I would try it out; I am very glad I did. I think it is much better than the “sizzler” plates since:
1) it keeps food warm for a longer period of time.
2) it can be washed in dishwasher (some metal plates have to be hand-washed).
3) takes up less room in cabinet, do not have the hassle of metal plate and protective outer wood/plastic plate.
4) safer than metal plate since rim of this plate is safe to touch if you follow the instructions.
Plus, it is very pretty and neutral in design so fits with any decor. The only potential down side is that the plate is a little heavy, however, it is still lighter than the metal platter/protective tray combo. I am very impressed with this product and recommend it to everyone who likes their food hot. As I said, buy it and you won’t be disappointed.
A big THANK YOU to the inventor for coming up with this product

Personally, I think I’m gonna get a couple before Thanksgiving. Should make me less antsy around the gravy…

We’re lucky to have a life-long bread baking expert as our teacher. George Eckrich was an important contributor to the Whole Foods Market bakery and bread program, and later he started his own business with the now legendary, award-winning line of Dr. Kracker whole-grain crackers. So, without further ado – here’s George with the second part of our mini focaccia recipe tutorial…

How To Make Focaccia Bread With Kombucha Sourdough Starter

by George Eckrich

If the key to great killer focaccia is a ciabatta-like very moist dough, how do we mix and pamper a wet and sloppy dough? How do you knead something that is sticky, tacky and flowing? My focaccia never leaves the 8 qt-salad bowl until it goes onto the baking sheet. A number of other home bakers have recommended this bowl technique and it is a great one.

My preferment/poolish begins in a smaller bowl but then is combined into the salad bowl where it is mixed with the other ingredients after 5 or 6 hours. I “knead” with a spoon or spatula, turning the dough over on itself 100 beats or turns. At this point, I carefully lift the dough with the spatula away from the bowl and oil the sides of the bowl.

Many focaccia recipes call for adding oil to the recipe. I don’t, because when I repeatedly oil the dough during the rise, more than enough oil gets into the recipe. Then the dough sits for almost 2 hours. During this time, the yeast and lactobacillus bacteria continue to do their work, transforming flour into CO-2, alcohol and aroma by-products that define great bread. The acidity strengthens the gluten bonds during this resting period, and the sloppy and unmanageable dough becomes much more manageable. After these two hours, the first of 3 stretch-and-fold techniques is used.

Put some olive oil on your hands so that the still tacky dough won’t stick to your hands. The oiled dough is pulled away from the bowl and folded onto itself from all four directions. This folding organizes the stands of gluten into long sheets that will trap more gas and create the open pore structure that defines ciabatta in particular and artisan bread in general.

I re-oil the bowl and let it rest another 50 minutes or so, stretch and fold, re-oil, and rest one more time. Each one of these stretch-and-folds builds additional strength and elasticity in the dough and furthers the goal of building more aroma. After the 3 rd dough rest, I only fold the dough on two sides so that I have a longer dough piece that I can lift onto the baking tray after another 30 minute rest or relaxation.

You could put the dough piece immediately onto the oiled baking sheet or tray, but I find that it is easier to spread out the focaccia if it has relaxed. Pat, stretch or manipulate the dough so that it fills up the baking sheet. Thicker focaccia is better than thinner, because you can slice it open and use it for sandwiches.

How you top it is up to you. Just keep it simple. If you add too much tomato sauce and other toppings, you have pizza, which is really OK, I guess, since there is no well defined line where focaccia stops and pizza begins.

I let the focaccia proof for 45 minutes, and bake very hot at 500 degrees for 18 minutes and turn the oven temp down to 350 for the last 5 minutes.

That’s it! If on a Saturday I start the preferment at 6, I mix the dough around 11 or 12, and have the focaccia out of the oven at 5 to 5:30. If I’m going to a party, sometimes I take the focaccia on the baking tray and bake it at the house. There are unlimited variations of toppings and possible ways to change this process. But the fundamental technique is to keep the dough wet or slack, and do everything that you can to encourage fermentation, either with yeast only, or probiotic enhanced. I guarantee that it will work and that it will taste great!

Focaccia Recipe Information

Preferment:

1 ¾ cups water (80 degrees)
¼ cup probiotic drink: Kombucha or bread drink
2 cups of flour.
1 package dry yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar.

Read the directions on the yeast package; some yeast needs to be dissolved in the water to make it active; other yeast is mixed directly into the flour. Both work, but read the directions! Mix together, consistency should be like a pancake batter. I cover the bowl and poolish with a plastic bag and set aside for 5 or 6 hours.

Dough:

1 cup water (80 degrees)
3 cups flour
1 package dry yeast
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
Preferment from above.

The sugar is not absolutely necessary, but with home baking, we never know how much simple sugar from the damaged starch is available in the flour and adding sugar ensures the rising and the coloration of the focaccia. Mix as described above with about 100 beats of spoon, using a turning rather than a beating technique. Follow the dough rest and rising instruction, then bake in a very hot, 500 degree oven, turning the temperature down for the last 5 minutes of the 23-minute bake.

Watch the 4-part video tutorial on this Killer Focaccia Bread Recipe!

Like many other kinds of breads, focaccia gets its flavor from the dough starter, the initial breeding facility for happy chemical reactions. And like many good things – this takes time!

Well, that’s what we used to hear. Enter George…

He’ll teach us how to make a fantastic focaccia bread in 10 hours, revealing a revolutionary “shortcut” that saves us from having to cultivate our sourdough starter over several days, like most traditional bakeries still do. And since this saves us so much time, we’ll use some of it to learn more about focaccia bread and best bread baking tips in a two-part mini course on this subject. So, the actual focaccia recipe will be taught in tomorrow’s post.

Bread lovers, home makers, baking professionals – you’re in for a real treat! Master bread baker George Eckrich reveals his personal secret to making the best focaccia recipe in the world…honest! And he will show us exactly how to do it…

Easy Recipe For The Most Flavorful Focaccia Bread In The World

by George Eckrich

As a partner in Dr. Kracker, I obsess about new flatbread formulas, and occasionally, my cracker obsession influences my occasional home baking. Such is the case with my latest focaccia bake!

Critical to baking focaccia is learning how to spell it, and whether there are two “c’s” at the beginning or the end!

Second most important thing is that focaccia be moist rather than cakey and dense. I learned to bake great focaccia from a dedicated and totally passionate Bolognese baker, Mauricio. Since I no longer work every day in the bakery, I don’t have the luxury of multiple days to prepare preferments. The preferments are the source of flavor, aromas and texture. The challenge for the home baker is to bake great focaccia in one day or 10 hours. (I had a cracker dream the other night that gave me an idea how to take my focaccia from great to killer! But first some definitions.)

Killer Focaccia

What makes breads great? The quick and easy response is flavor and texture. But when we say flavor, do we mean their taste or their aroma? Remember that we can only taste four basic flavors: sour, sweet, salt and bitter, and a fifth, called umami, that has been recently described. Part of great bread is the manipulation of these five flavors, especially the sweet and bitter that can be found in an over-the-top crust where caramelized flavors predominate.

The nose perceives aroma, and there are unlimited combinations of aromas that the baker can play with to entice, please, entertain and addict.

The essence of transferring aroma is moisture. The first rule of great bread is add as much water as you can to the dough, and in the case of focaccia this means using recipe that is more ciabatta than standard focaccia. All bad focaccia is dry and cakey, and usually defined by a few basic flavor and herby aroma. Nothing interesting nothing complex. A waste of calories and baker effort.

Killer focaccia begins with a preferment. A preferment is a catch-all term for sponges, sourdoughs and poolishes, these are standard ways bakers create more flavor. My focaccia always starts with a poolish that I mix while I brew my tea at 6 in the morning. My dream was about a new Dr. Kracker recipe and involved the creation of a sourdough flavor. The insight was that I had in my fridge the means to create a quick sourdough that would enhance flavor and texture. Bear with me and I will describe this very easy sourdough that I combined with my poolish.

My normal poolish for focaccia is two cups of water, two cups of flour (1/4 cup of which is whole spelt flour—bacteria prosper with whole grains just like the human body— and 1 ¾ cups regular white bread flour), 1 tablespoon of sugar to nourish the yeast and 1 package of dry yeast. These ingredients ferment for 5 to 6 hours, depending on my program for the day, and this poolish creates a pleasantly sweet, yeasty aroma as well as a spongy texture – but no sour notes. My insight was to replace ¼ cup of the water with a German bread drink (Brottrunk) which is like kombucha and rich in lactobacillus bacteria.

Both the German bread drink and kombucha are probiotic drinks with live but inactive bacteria. These bacteria are inactive because there is no more simple sugars for them to metabolize; they only need a new sugar medium to begin flourishing again. The flour in the recipe provides their food source, and the bacteria immediately awaken and acidify the poolish.

Normally, a sourdough will take several days to start and will involve multiple feedings or builds. Easy enough to schedule in the bakery, but not at home. The beauty of using probiotic drinks like bread drink or kombucha is that during this 5 or 6 hour preferment they will not be able to overwhelm the yeasty flavor that is totally pleasant and very umami. At the same time, they will provide the missing sour note that tickles both the tongue and the nose. Moreover, this acidity will help improve the dough extensibility and create a more porous and intriguing structure of the crumb.
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My friends all thought that this was the best focaccia I had ever baked.

Continue reading here about the actual focaccia recipe and method…

Focaccia close-up image courtesy of Foodista. Thank you.

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