The Amana Colonies were founded in the 1800's by German members of a religious commune. Industrious people, they went into a number of businesses over the years to supplement their farm income: refrigerators (yes, that Amana refrigerator), woodworking tools, tourism. Ronnenburg has become my favorite restaurant in Amana, although I must admit that I have several more to try.
My meal started with a selection of side dishes. All of them were superb: the cottage cheese was wonderfully doctored; the cole slaw was superb; the beets were mouth-poppingly good; the bread was, of course, wonderful.
My main dish was this outstanding sauerbraten. The hint of sourness really perks up the dish and complements the wine and beef very well. Good sauerbraten isn't easy to find in this country and this is an excellent example.
I of course had to order dessert. My rhubarb pie was perfect in both crust and filling.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...




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