Staying In On Sunday: How To Feed Yourself On The Weekends In Berlin

Despite Berlin's reputation for being a party-marathon machine that warps Tuesday into Saturday in the time it takes to throw back a shot of Jaeger, that party finally ends on Sunday.

In fact, Sundays in Berlin have an almost provincial air to them. Just about everything is closed from pharmacies to grocery stores to retail shops. Only restaurants and cafes are allowed to do business.

But if you overdid it Saturday night, chances are you're in no mood to sit in a crowded cafe. Now we face the Berlin Sunday dilemma: how to feed yourself and cram in a day's worth of Mad Men episodes, without ever leaving the house.

Having survived quite a few of these Sunday's myself, I have drawn up an essential survival kit—a modest cache of goods I make sure always to have on hand. Actually, my tendency would be to add a bit more bacon and garlicky Turkish sausage to my Sunday meals, but I opted for a list that would work for meat eaters and vegetarians alike.

The list: Eggs, sugar, bread, frozen parsley, ginger, potatoes, feta cheese, pickles, basmati rice, red lentils, butter, onions and garlic.

These ingredients are cheap, multipurpose, and above all, comforting. I've devised a series of loud, robust recipes meant to restore your faith in the pleasure of plain, simple eating. However, I am, as always, interested in hearing about your go-to Sunday meals.

Sometimes the limitations of ones own cupboard and fridge can provide a spark of creativity that wouldn't otherwise be necessary on days when you can just pop down to the Edeka and pick up what you need.

Potato salad with pickles, Feta and hard-boiled Eggs: You're in Berlin, which is technically still Germany, therefore German potato salad is part of your new found heritage. Eating it warm is especially delightful and whatever condiments are in your fridge will probably be delicious additions. It's hard to ruin potato salad, so experiment.

Ingredients:

3 pounds potatoes (about 8 medium)

6 hard-boiled eggs, roughly chopped

¼ finely chopped onion (spring onion works well too)

½ to full block of feta or weich-kase, broken by hand or roughly chopped

2-3 medium dill pickles (or any pickles you choose), roughly chopped

1/4 cup dill pickle juice

4-5 teaspoons mustard

½ container of frozen parsley

1 teaspoon oil or mayonnaise (or both)

Salt and pepper to taste

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until tender. Drain potatoes and wait until they are cool enough to handle. Roughly cube potatoes and place in a large bowl (or the pot you boiled them in). Add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, feta, finely chopped onion and pickles.

Dal and rice: Possibly the cheapest, tastiest, healthiest, most filling meal on earth. Dahl contains two key ingredients for Sunday rejuvenation: garlic and ginger. These ingredients in combination are a magic health elixir. Garlic improves blood flow throughout the body, while ginger reduces headaches and cold symptoms. I like to eat this with a heaping tablespoon of Patak's Garlic Pickle, which can be found at any Asian grocery in Berlin.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups basmati rice

3/4 cup red lentils

4 cups water

1 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

1-3 tablespoons salt (depending on taste)

1 tablespoon olive or rapeseed oil

3 tablespoons butter

Fresh lime or lemon juice (optional)

1 tablespoon frozen parsley

Mix lentils and rice in a bowl. In a medium-sized saucepan, add the oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and at least 1 tablespoon of salt. Cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the rice and lentils and stir so the melted oil and butter coats the grains. Add the water and stir constantly. Bring to a boil without covering then lower to medium heat.

Seal the saucepan with aluminum foil and cover tightly with a lid. Steam should escape from the pan. Cook for another 30 minutes on low, or until rice and lentils are tender. When the foil and lid is removed, taste for salt and add more if necessary. Spoon into bowls and add extra butter, parsley, and lemon juice (if available).

Tortilla Espanola: The Tortilla Espanola is a 5 ingredient symphony! This recipe does require a bit of plate inverting. If you don't manage this tricky maneuver, it will still work as a an egg-potato hash. It's Sunday, just go with it!

Ingredients:

1 cup olive oil

2 pounds (about. 4 medium or 2 large) waxy potatoes

1 large chopped onion

4 finely chopped garlic cloves

6 large eggs, lightly beaten

Coarse salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and slice them into pinky-width thick slices, about 6-8 per potato. Heat oil over moderate heat in a large non-stick pan or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet (about 10-inches wide and 2-inches deep is ideal).

Place a layer of potato slices on the bottom of the skillet. Add a layer of onions and garlic, and then continue adding potatoes and onions in alternate layers. Salt each layer of potatoes generously. Reduce the heat to moderately low, and cook approximately 10 to 12 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. The secret is to slowly cook the sliced potatoes in the olive oil without really frying or browning them.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Scrape the cooked potato mixture into the bowl, being sure not to leave any in the skillet.

Return the skillet to the heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the egg mixture, spreading it out in an even layer. Cover and cook over low heat until the tortilla is set on the bottom and the edges, about 10 minutes.

If you're using cast-iron, transfer the skillet to the oven and broil 8 inches from the heat just until the top is set, about 1 minute longer. Pull the skillet out. Set a large plate over the skillet and carefully invert the tortilla onto the plate. Let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

If you're using a non-oven proof pan, after approximately 8 to 10 minutes, when the tortilla is cooked 3/4 of the way through (top is no longer liquid and the bottom is beginning to brown), place a large plate over the pan and invert the tortilla onto the plate. Add 2 additional tablespoons of oil to the hot pan. Increase heat to get the oil hot then immediately reduce heat to low. Gently slide the omelet (cooked side up) back into the skillet, and cook for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer the tortilla to a large plate.

French Toast Bread Pudding: I tend to be a real savory eater, but I do like sweet simple things as well. Depending on what's in the house, I might make it lean one way or the other. Adding, for example, cheddar cheese, spinach and bacon for a savory pudding, and perhaps a crumbled up chocolate bar, and raspberry jam for a sweeter one.

There is usually enough bread in the house to make some version of this recipe, but, if you feel like being proactive about your pudding, you can start saving (and cubing) the ends of bread loaves in a plastic bag in the freezer. Saturday night, if the collection has amassed to pudding proportions, take them out of the freezer and let them defrost in a bowl.

Ingredients:

A loaf of stale bakery bread, torn or cut into 1-inch bread cubes

3 cups milk, cream (schlaggsahne), or a combination of both

1/2 stick butter (4 Tbsp.)

2-3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

Extra sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 200-degrees and butter a medium-sized baking pan. Toss the milk, butter, cinnamon and sugar into a saucepan, and heat gently over medium heat until the butter has melted.

Place bread in a large bowl. Pour the milk mixture over the bread, making sure to cover all the bread. Weigh the bread down by placing a plate or pan on top of the mixture, held down with a few cans from the cupboard. Let sit for about five minutes, making sure the bread gets good and soaked.

Beat the eggs and pour on top of the bread mixture; stir to thoroughly combine. Pour mixture into 8-inch pan and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Place the pan into a larger baking dish and place in the oven. Add enough hot water to the larger dish until the water reaches about an inch from the top.

Bake for 45-70 minutes. The pudding will be puffy and golden when it's done; when a knife stuck into the center comes out fairly clean, the pudding is done.