Kettle bang

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1.6 kg potatoes
• 3 eggs
• 6 Mettenden or bacon, finely chopped
• 2 onions
• 2 tbsp oat flakes, flower-soft
• some salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• 2 tbsp fat (ideally lard)

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

or Düppes or Knällchen – Rhenish potato casserole

Peel the potatoes and onions, quarter them, and grate them alternately using the fine grater of a food processor. Season generously with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. Mix in the eggs and thicken with the oatmeal. A well-seasoned cast-iron or wrought-iron pot is best used as a baking dish (it’s best to rinse only with hot water, otherwise the dough will stick). Heat the pot on the stovetop with the fat, then fill it halfway up the edges and then halfway towards the center with the dough and fry for 1 minute. Spread the finely chopped Mettenden sausages over the dough and cover with the rest of the dough. Bake the whole thing at 200°C for about 1.5 hours, until the edges are crispy, then turn out. It is cut like a cake and served hot. Kesselsknall is the typical dish in the Rhineland and the Bergisches Land during St. Martin’s Day and has a different name in almost every town. It’s served with black bread, apple or plum syrup, or, less traditionally, smoked salmon. It’s still baked in large roasting pans in bakeries by some clubs for St. Martin’s Day celebrations. As an alternative to the Mettenden, you can also use bacon cubes or line the pot with bacon. Dried plums or raisins are also popular for a sweeter version.