From the Alsace to Burgundy

From Freiburg, we drove to Strasbourg in the Alsace and took the wine route to Turckheim. As well as wine, Alsace is a region of many traditions - picturesque painted houses, storks atop chimneys and the food is a kind of fusion of French & German. It is the home of tarte flambee, which is similar to the Italian white pizza; kugelhopf, a yeasty cake baked in a decorative circular mould; and choucroute, a variety of pork cuts & sausage served with sauerkraut. The Alsace dish that took my fancy is Baeckoffe which is a casserole cooked in white wine in a beautiful earthenware dish. Try this simple recipe for 6. Marinate overnight 300g diced pork (loin), 300g diced lamb (shoulder), 300g diced beef (chuck), 3 carrots & a leek sliced with 3 finely chopped onions, plus a bouquet garni, 2 cloves & 4 juniper berries. Season & pour over 1/2 a bottle of Alsace Riesling.
The next day lightly butter a Baeckoffe dish (I used the Le Creuset) & rub with a clove of garlic. Cover the base of the dish with a layer of peeled & thinly sliced waxy potatoes, layer up the meat & vegetables, top with another layer of potatoes and pour over the marinade liquid. Cover & cook in a low oven - around 160 - for 3 hours. There was a lot of liquid and I guess it was traditionally mopped up with bread but I just got out a soup spoon. I thought it would be quite winey but it was just like drinking a very flavourful stock. There are lots of versions, some more complicated than others but this worked for me. My butcher chopped all the meat so there was really very little work and quite considerable rewards. Serve with a simple green salad. This will become a winter standby.
Our next stop was Dijon in the heart of Burgundy and the home of the French traditions we are familiar with - snails, Boeuf Bourguignon, coq au vin and Dijon mustard. As well as the old favouries I made some new friends. Kir - a mix of Creme de Cassis with white wine enjoyed as an aperitif; Oeufs en Meurette - eggs in a red wine sauce which sounded alarming but was truly wonderful; Jambon Persille - a terrine of ham & and parsley; and to finish, the divine pain d'epices - a French gingerbread/cake. I found the trick is to try things with an open mind. Quite frankly, the idea of eggs in a meat sauce or ham in aspic was a bit scary but I am a convert to both.
Using a French recipe I created what I think is a fairly traditional Boeuf Bourguignon which I have attempted to translate for you here. This isn't at all scary and really quite simple which is the case with most French provincial cooking. This is food to make at home.
Assemble:
1.5 kg stewing meat
1 bottle red wine
250g pork belly or streaky bacon
2 carrots
20 pickling onions
300g mushrooms - I think they are brown buttons
1 tbsp flour
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
1 bouquet garni - this usually comprises a bayleaf with a sprig or 2 of parsley & thyme
salt & pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
50g butter
Brown the meat in your Le Creuset with the oil & butter. Remove & set aside while you soften the onions, finely chopped shallots & lardons. Put the meat back in the pot with the flour & mix well. Cover with the wine. Throw in the carrots, the boquet garni, chopped garlic & seasoning. Here I should mention that I was given a little pot of Fleur de Sel au Poivre de Penja when I was in France and this now goes into all my dishes.
Bring to the boil. Cover & simmer 3 hours. Throw in the mushrooms & leave to cook another 15 minutes.
Serve with steamed potatoes or pasta. I chose potatoes but pasta is a very popular French accompaniment. There will be enough for 2 meals for four, so freeze one portion for a rainy day.
This is really simple because once it's underway you don't have to do anything until 15 mins or so before serving. There were 2 other variations which I think involved marinading the meat overnight in the wine but I had enough trouble translating this one. Making this does give you a sense of firstly how uncomplicated good French cooking really is and secondly why it tastes so good.
Bon appetit.

A Taste of Germany

After 4 weeks eating our way around Germany & France, I want to share some of our experiences with you. We started in Germany and our first stop was Frankfurt. We were staying near the station and as is often that way with immigrant communities we found an abundance of Turkish restaurants. I had the best Turkish food I've had outside of Melbourne (having never actually been to Turkey where I assume they do it the best). One of the things I noticed in the cafe we went to is that the majority of the diners were Turkish and there were no women. The food was superb and it's always worth considering good immigrant food when you're travelling. It is interesting to note that immigrant food takes on the elements of the host country so although the Turkish restaurants felt authentic they also felt very German.

We then travelled to Freiburg via the Romantische Strasse, the Deutsche Alpenstrasse & the Schwarzwald enjoying regional seasonal delights along the way. There was a common theme throughout:

Bread rolls topped with a variety of seeds which is the mainstay of the German breakfast, served with sliced meat & cheese, radishes & cucumber, a selection of jams including the delectable sour cherry and sometimes a boiled egg. Erdbeere (Strawberries) which were the best you've ever tasted. We bought them each day from the local market or from intriguing roadside stalls shaped like strawberries. Pfifferlinge - a delicious mushroom known as Chanterelle in France was in season and available in the markets as was white asparagus.

The yoghurt made from Alpen milk was really distinctive - how could those adorable cows not produce wonderful milk.

The amazing variety of cured meats & cheeses was impressive and delicious. We could buy a selection of breads & cheese & sliced meat for roadside lunches.

Potatoes were plentiful, and could be found in fritters, dumplings, salad with Frankfurters, baked -the list goes on. The highlight of Freiburg was dinner at the local Kartoffelhaus where we had the choice of any potato dish you could imagine.

We had two great meals of Sauerbraten which is a traditional German dish of beef marinaded in a red wine & vinegar sauce. We enjoyed a Franconian version at the Hotel Dortmunder Hof in Wurzburg, which included lebkuchen (gingerbread) & was served with potato dumplings which had a small piece of toast embedded within.

The second was a Swabian version at the Gasthof Berghof at Leutschenbach, in the Schwarzwald, and was served with spaetzle, which is a pasta specialty of Southern Germany and also of Alsace in France.

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the food in Germany & I attempted to recreate a German meal at home. We were usually served a salad to start as a matter of course and the German dressings were beautifully sharp & vinegary. I then prepared a sauerbraten. It wasn't entirely successful but I think I am close. I followed this recipe which worked up to a point. I thought it was too vinegary and I would halve the vinegar and substitute a cup of red wine. Bottom round is silverside and I think that was the right meat although I would reduce the cooking time from 4 hours to 3. I made lebkuchen which were very successful and thickened the sauce beautifully giving the velvety texture I was looking for. I made a quantity of round biscuits and then some fancy shapes using cutters I bought in Germany - the gingko leaf symbolising Goethe and Neuschwanstein castle. I used about 12 biscuits in the sauerbraten. We served it with potato dumplings. If you are an expert on German cooking and have any suggestions I would be grateful. I feel there was definitely room for improvement.

To finish off the meal I made a Rhabarberkuchen (rhubarb cake) which comprised a slice base topped with lightly stewed rhubarb then a crumble mixture. It was baked in round cake tin in a medium oven about 40 minutes.

Soup of the Evening, Beautiful Soup

I tend to agree with the Mock Turtle. Soup is one of the best things you can eat in winter. Phoebe has Scholarship maths at 7 on Monday night & Harriet is staying & has French until 8.30. Because I needed to serve meals at 3 different times, we have been having soup Mondays. The soup just sits on the stove in the dutch oven. It is so popular it may become a permanent fixture. We have some old standbys in our house. Basic pumpkin soup is a must. I roughly chop a whole pumpkin - allow plenty of time if you have forgotten what hard work this can be. Add to a large pot with several onions, several carrots, a large potato & I often add a swede - all roughly chopped. You can add bacon bones if you like. Just cover with water, bring to the boil & simmer until all the veg are cooked, especially the carrots. This is your base. I freeze most of it at this stage, in batches. When you're ready to use dress it up as you fancy. This year I've been making a paste with a little curry powder & adding to the base with a little cream. This is one of the few times when I use curry powder - we buy Empire Madras hot. The others are devilled eggs & kedgeree. Try grating in some nutmeg or chopped herbs, and thin with yoghurt or cream. Another favourite in our house is Digby Law's carrot soup which involves gently sweating chopped onions & carrots in thyme with fresh time until soft, then covering with chicken stock & adding 4 tbsp rice. Simmer until rice is cooked, puree in the blender & serve with cream. The rice is deliciously nutty. Or try simmering 4 chopped kumara in chicken stock until almost cooked. Add 1/2 head diced celery & cook a further 5 mins. Puree & serve with cream & a crushed garlic clove. Try a delicious cauliflower soup. Cauliflower can be deceptively smooth, almost velvety. Cook a thinly sliced leek until softened. Chop the cauliflower into small florets & saute most (reserve a cupful for garnish) & add to leek with some chopped garlic. When the cauliflower has softened slightly, add a litre of vegetable stock & simmer 20 mins until the cauliflower is very soft. Puree until very creamy & add more stock if it is too thick. Make croutons according to my method in previous post. Steam the reserved cauliflower until al dente then saute in a little oil with 3 tbsp capers, until golden. If you want a richer soup add a little cream. Serve with croutons & capers. What about a carrot & parsnip soup? In a large bowl mix 4 or five carrots & 2 parsnips, peeled & diced into 2 cm pieces, 1 onion thinly sliced, 2 roughly chopped tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic crushed & some olive oil. Tip onto a large roasting tray & roast at 180 about 40 mins. Turn occasionally. Process half the vegetables & 2 cups of chicken stock until smooth, then tip into a saucepan & add the remaining vegetables & another 2 cups of stock. Simmer for 10 minutes then stir in juice of 1/2 a lemon, 3tbsp cream & chopped parsley to serve. Finally I have saved the best for last. Finely chop in the food processor an onion, 2 carrots, a stick of celery and whatever else you like the look of in the fridge. I used a bit of fennel, some capsicum, 1/2 a red onion. I have taken to using the food processor to finely chop my vegetables for sofrito because I get improved consistency and, let's face it, it just saves a lot of time & effort. Just chop them into rough chunks first. Soften the vegetables in a large saucepan with a few chilli flakes. Add 4 cups boiling water & 3/4 cup pearl barley. I bought this to make a barley & meatball dish I haven't got around to, but this soup is now on my list of must repeats. Simmer about 1 1/2 hours until barley is tender. Stir in a tin of chopped tomatoes & a can of creamed sweet corn. Must be creamed. Simmer 20 minutes or so & serve with chopped parsley. Season to your taste. You can freeze the left overs. Watch this space for more soup Monday ideas. What are the favourites in your house?