Steak Flambe with Peppercorn Sauce and Spätzle

• Preheat the oven to 60 degrees.
• Take an iron pan and fry the steaks on butter each side for 3-2 minutes.
• Add extra butter and chopped onion. Stir.
• After the butter melted add the green peppercorns.
• Pour cognac over the meat, onions and peppercorns. Take a long lighter and flambe the steaks. Don't worry, the alcohol will evaporate immediately, but the nice cognac flavour will stay.
• Wrap the steaks with cooking foil and put into the oven for 5 minutes.
• Add veal bullion, cream and salt to the same pan.
• Let it simmer until the steaks are ready. Use beurre manier, if you are unhappy with the consistency of the sauce. 
• Take the steaks out of the oven and pour the juice from them into the pan. Mix the sauce very well and serve immediately.

• Wash, scrape and cut the carrots into 5cm lengths.
• Place the carrots in the heavy-bottomed saucepan with beef stock, sugar, salt, pepper and butter. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes with a lid.
• Uncover the carrots and simmer them for another 20 minutes or until the liquid evaporates.
• Check if the carrots are tender. Correct the seasoning if needed. 
• Reheat the dish before serving. Stir the carrots gently to coat them with glaze!

• Take a large pot (4l-5l large) and fill it with at least 3l of water. Bring it to a boil, add salt.
  
• In the meantime, prepare your Spätzle-Making Station and make Spätzle dough.

Prepare your Spätzle-Making Station

• Put an empty mixing bowl right next to the pot with boiling water. Additionally, you can put the sieve on top so the water from the cooked Spätzle can escape, leaving the Spätzle dry.
• Set a dough scraper and skimmer spoon next to your large pot.

Prepare the dough

• Melt the butter in a small pot or pan.
  
• I prepare the dough using my kitchen machine or hand mixer with a kneading attachment (the hook). A wooden spoon with a large bowl will also do the job.
  
• Using a hand mixer, I mix flour, eggs, milk, and salt in a bowl. Then, I add a cooled melted butter.

Make German Noodles

• While scraping Spätzle into the pot, ensure the water is simmering, not boiling. Please don't burn yourself. Set the heat to medium or medium-low and wait until the water simmer.
  
• To make German egg noodles, I use a Spaetzle Grater. I fill the black container of the grater with the dough and move it forward and back, letting the small pieces of the dough fall to the simmering water.
  
• When the noodles swim to the surface (which happens immediately), I drain them with a skimmer spoon and put them into the bowl/sieve.
  
• If you want to freeze some of them, now is the time to set them aside. One portion weighs 250-300g.

Make Cheese Spätzle

• Take a large pan, melt the butter and fry the onion until translucent on medium heat.
  
• Grate the hard cheeses and mix them in a small bowl. Cut Romadur into small cubes (It is usually too soft to be grated).
  
• If you don't like strong-tasting cheeses, you can make your German Cheese Noodles with edam only. This recipe comes from Allgäu, so some of the cheeses I use come from the German Alps.
• Add the cooked Spätzle to the pan and fry until they build a golden crust. Lower the heat.
  
• Add the cheese and cream, and sauté for another minute or two until the cheese melts.
  

Serving

• Serve immediately with fried onion on the top.