Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Green Bean and Mushroom Salad

Recipe Source: Staib, Walter. Black Forest Cuisine. Running Press, Philadelphia, 2006 p. 32

Do you want to know what I liked best about this salad? I could make it well in advance, stick it in the refrigerator, pour it into a serving dish about an hour before serving and be done. That makes this a great dish for picnics, cookouts, potlucks and barbeques. It was also a pretty darned easy salad to throw together. In fact, it was so easy and such a simple recipe that I only made two changes. I omitted the oil out of deference to my husband's palate and I used a horseradish mustard in place of the Dijon. That was it. This dish went over pretty well and there were no leftovers.

Green Bean and Mushroom Salad (serves 10; approx. $0.58/serving)

2 ½ pounds green beans, trimmed

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons horseradish mustard

1 pound Baby Bella mushrooms, thinly sliced

3 shallots, peeled and chopped

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Small bowl

1. Fill the saucepan about ¾ of the way with salted water. Bring to a boil.
2. Cook the beans until barely tender and very bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water immediately. Drain again.
3. Put the mushroom slices in your serving vessel.
4. In the small bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, shallots and pepper.
5. Put the beans in the serving vessel.
6. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss well and enjoy.

Recipe: Not Really a Linzertorte

Recipe Source: Medrich, Alice. Pure Dessert. Artisan, New York, 2007 pp. 204-5

I made this recipe with one goal in mind: using some of the very popular Strawberry Honey Jam I'd made. I guess that means that it was never really going to be a linzertorte, since I think that's traditionally made with raspberry instead of strawberry. I didn't care, though. I did have every intention of following the rest of the recipe pretty carefully, though, and I did. That was kind of the problem with this dish. The dough was sticky – very, very sticky. Unpleasantly sticky, even. Okay, fine. I was able to press the dough into the tart pan without a problem, but I ran into a problem with the lattice top. I followed the instructions, which basically involved making long lines of this very sticky dough and weaving these strips of dough into a lattice. The dough fell apart, but I persevered and carefully re-formed the ropes. Great – a lattice appeared. Then I followed the direction to freeze the lattice until ready to use. I didn't have parchment paper, but I've never had trouble getting anything off the surface I did use – until now.

I could have cursed and swore, or I could have carefully started again. What I did was to make a crumble topping instead, crumbling the bits of dough over the top of the preserves. This worked out quite well. It didn't look like a linzertorte, but it looked deliberate, not like a hastily-conceived solution. I did double the amount of preserves, because the amount in the pie looked insufficient when I spread it out. I also altered the proportions of spice in the crust. The resulting dessert went over remarkably well.

Not Really a Linzertorte (serves 10; approx. $0.36/serving)

3 ¾ ounces almonds

4 ½ ounces flour

¾ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

11 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks

1 egg yolk

Grated zest of ½ lemon

Grated zest of ½ orange

¼ teaspoon almond extract

1 1/3 cups raspberry preserves

Equipment:

• Food processor
• 9 1/2 " fluted tart pan with removable bottom
• Foil

1. Combine the almonds, flour, sugar, salt and spices in the food processor. Process until the almonds are finely ground.
2. Add the butter, egg yolk, zests and extract. Pulse until blended.
3. Preheat your oven to 350 ̊.
4. Grease up your tart pan with your lubricant of choice – I like cooking spray. Be generous.
5. Press about half the dough into the bottom of the tart pan and up the sides.
6. Spread the preserves over the bottom of the pan, making sure that they are evenly spread.
7. Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the preserves.
8. Bake 30 minutes.
9. Tent loosely with foil and bake another 5 – 10 minutes.
10. Cool completely.

Recipe: Beef with Mushrooms

Recipe Source: Metzger, Christine (ed.).  Culinaria Germany.  H. F. Ullmann, 2007 p. 20

I made this dish for a friend whose husband had gone away on a business trip.  He cannot eat mushroom and his wife loves them, so she wanted to indulge in this ingredient while he was away.  I probably made it a little spicier than was originally intended (the original called for a chili powder of medium heat, which of course I don't have), but that was okay.  The husband has a hard time tolerating spicy foods as well, so the wife got to enjoy that too.  Other changes that I made include using olive oil instead of clarified butter (personal preference) and omitting both the sugar and creme fraiche (also personal preference). 

Beef with Mushrooms (serves 4; approx. $5.13/serving)

1 1/2 pounds stewing beef, cut into thin slices

2 tablespoons olive oil

14 ounces onions, diced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beer - the original called for lager, but we used a brown ale because that's what we had

1 tablespoon chili powder (I used Chili Powder Extra Hot)

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 pound mixed mushrooms (I used one of those Chef's Sampler Packs, which had some really interesting looking mushrooms in it), chopped

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Equipment:

• Large, deep saute or saucepan

1. Heat the oil in the saucepan.
2. Add the beef and quickly brown.
3. Add the onions.  Saute until translucent.
4. Add the tomato paste and cook quickly.
5. Deglaze with the beer.  Drink the remaining beer.
6. Add the chili powder, kosher salt, black pepper and thyme. 
7. Cover and simmer over low heat for about an hour. 
8. Add the mushrooms.  Cover and simmer another 10 minutes.
9. Sprinkle the parsley over the stew and serve. 

Recipe: Bacon and Pecorino Quiche

Recipe Source: Staib, Walter.  Black Forest Cuisine.  Running Press, Philadelphia, 2006 p. 87

For those of you who have not yet experimented with this for yourselves, allow me to save you the trouble: beef bacon smokes up much, much faster than pork bacon.  We're talking some serious smoke here.  This doesn't mean that you shouldn't use beef bacon.  It just means that you should probably put your vent hood on before you start and should probably consider using two frying pans. 

You may be wondering why there is bacon at all.  After our Pork Fest back in April, where this was only one of the many bacon dishes served, I was pretty adamant that there would be no bacon in my home for a very, very long time.  Does six months count?  And I can't eat pork anymore - apparently the Fearless Fetus has some strong objections to the stuff and as long as we're sharing a digestive system, I have to yield to her tyrannical will.  But there are so many tasty-looking recipes that require bacon, and they're so perfect and seasonal for fall!  I decided that I would try a substitute for pork bacon.  Bacon at all was a substitution in this recipe, which originally called for Black Forest Ham.  Since I'm pretty sure that Black Forest Ham is made from pig (I could be wrong here, this isn't a part of the world I know much about) I was going to have to substitute anyway.  I also switched pecorino for the gruyere, because I had it on hand, and some whole milk when there wasn't enough heavy cream in the container. 

Bacon and Pecorino Quiche (serves 8 - 10; approx. $1.78/serving)

1 1/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

4 tablespoons vegetable shortening

5 tablespoons ice water

7 eggs

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

3/4 cups whole milk

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 bunch chives, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup grated pecorino

1 cup chopped beef bacon, crisped

Equipment:

• Tart pan with removable bottom
• Bowl
• Whisk
• Aluminum foil
• Pie weights (I use dried beans)
• Food processor

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, 1 t salt, butter, shortening and ice water in your food processor.  Process to a dough. 
3. Press the dough up the sides of a greased tart pan.  You will have just about enough. 
4. Dock the dough in a few places with a fork.
5. Line the crust shell with aluminum foil, then fill with pie weights.  Bake blind 15 minutes.
6. Remove the crust from the oven.  Reduce heat to 375, remove the pie weights and foil, and set aside. 
7. Combine the milk, eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, pepper and chives in the bowl.  Whisk well.
8. Spread the pecorino over the bottom of the crust. 
9. Sprinkle the bacon bits on top. 
10. Pour the egg mixture on top. 
11. Bake 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. 
12. Serve.   

Recipe: Roasted Carrots with "Sauce of Minimal Cost"

Recipe Source (sauce): Grewe, Rudolf and Constance B. Hieatt (eds.)  Libellus de Arte Coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book.  Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Tempe, 2001 p. 33

When you see a recipe for a "Sauce of Minimal Cost," how is it possible to not find an excuse to make it?  I found this one in a collection of medieval recipes that has been found, in slightly different variations, in four different libraries in (I believe) three different languages.  The Danish version is thought to be the earliest of the four, although it is thought that the recipes have been translated from an earlier German text that has not been found yet.  I decided to make it for the medieval dinner we gave on a recent camping trip, although I was kind of stumped.  What would I serve it with?  Meat would be unwieldy, as I was unsure if I would get any cooking time and I didn't want to store meat for two days in a cooler without cooking it.  But what kind of vegetable would stand up to such a (frankly) strongly-flavored sauce?  I decided to roast some carrots, mostly on a whim. 

Roasted Carrots with "Sauce of Minimal Cost" (Serves 20; approx. $0.63/serving)

5 lb carrots, peeled and cut into serving-sized pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

4 onions, very finely diced (by hand, not in the food processor.  The original specified "chop as small as peas.) 

3 bunches parsley, finely chopped

2 cups Lemony Vegetable Broth

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

Equipment:

• Roasting pan
• Bowl
• Immersion blender

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
2. Put the carrots into the roasting pan.  Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and mix to ensure that all of the carrots have some of this mixture. 
3. Roast 40 minutes or until the carrots are reasonably tender.
4. Meanwhile, combine the parsley, broth and vinegar in a bowl. 
5. Using the immersion blender, mix well. 
6. Add the onions and stir with a spoon. 
7. Serve the carrots topped with some of the sauce. 

Recipe: Asparagus Salad

Recipe Source: Metzger, Christine.  Culinaria Germany.  H. F. Ullmann, 2007 p. 339

Asparagus is a wonderful vegetable.  First, it is a spring vegetable.  Its arrival signals an end to winter and a return to pleasant days.  Second, it is a healthy vegetable.  Third, and most important from my perspective as I planned our Easter menu this year, it is a flexible vegetable.  It can be used in any number of interesting dishes.  It's very difficult to screw up asparagus.  It can be served hot or cold.  It can be served on its own or as part of a larger dish, like a frittata or a stir-fry.  In my case, I decided to serve it as a salad. 

I made a few minor changes.  Not being sure what the "basic recipe" mentioned in the original was, I decided to just go ahead and steam it.  (Yes, I could have looked it up, but that would have taken time I just didn't have.)  I also omitted the shallot - my allergies were particularly severe that morning, and I just did not need the "help" of my eyes swelling shut from the shallot.  Finally, I couldn't find chervil at the market, so I used tarragon.  The result was a delicious, refreshing side dish that brightened up the table.

Asparagus Salad (serves 8 as a side dish; approx. $1.41/serving)

2 bunches asparagus

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 bunch chives

1 bunch tarragon

1 tablespoon olive oil

Kosher salt and grains of paradise, to taste

Equipment:

• Steamer baskets
• Saucepan
• Bowl
• Whisk

1. Trim the woody ends off the asparagus and arrange them in your steamer baskets.
2. Bring a saucepan partially filled with water to a boil.
3. When the water is boiling, put the steamer baskets on top of the saucepan and steam 5 - 7 minutes (depending on the thickness of your asparagus, of course.)
4. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining ingredients together in the bowl.
5. When the asparagus is tender, arrange it on your serving platter.  Pour the vinaigrette over it and serve.

Recipe: Dandelion Green and Bacon Salad

Recipe Source: Staib, Walter with Jennifer Lindner McGlinn.  Black Forest Cuisine.  Running Press, Philadelphia, 2006 p. 203

I know we've posted the Bacon Explosionrecipe (I will heroically refrain from using my more colloquial name for it).  If you read that post you know that we wound up hosting a very pork-centered dinner party.  Dishes included a different type of pulled pork than we originally posted (we'll post that one at a later date) as well as "squealers", which are like sliders but made with pork.  And bacon.  Bacon was served as a passed hors d'oeuvre.  My whole house smelled like bacon for two (insert expletive of your choice here) weeks.  It was everywhere. 

I will heroically refrain from launching into a tirade about my reaction to having so much pork suddenly in my life.  I will simply state that I am not a huge fan of pork.  Anyway, in contemplating the huge amounts of bacon and pork that were to be consumed that day, I decided that I wanted to make side dishes that had a lot of fiber.  This recipe fit the bill.

Of course, when it came time to prepare it I had ten people in my kitchen and couldn't really find the book, so I kind of groped my way along by memory.  So what I came up with bears no resemblance to the original, other than the fact that it contains both bacon and dandelion greens.  Still, Mr. Staib's book was the inspiration, at least.  The salad was actually pretty good.  The dandelion greens matched really well with the bacon.  I used tarragon in the dressing on a whim, which provided a nice compliment. 

Dandelion and Bacon Salad (serves 12; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 large bunch dandelion greens, torn into pieces

1 pound bacon, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons dried tarragon, crumbled

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

Equipment:

• Skillet
• Bowl
• Whisk

1. Heat the skillet.
2. Add the bacon, in batches if necessary, and cook until crisp.  Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon or with tongs; reserve the rendered fat from the skillet. 
3. Put the dandelion greens in your serving bowl.  Sprinkle the bacon pieces on top of it. 
4. Pour the bacon drippings into a bowl.  Add the tarragon and the vinegar. 
5. Whisk well to emulsify. 
6. Pour the dressing over the greens and toss well to coat.
7. Serve. 

Recipe: Chicken in White Wine Gravy

Recipe Source: Metzger, Christine.  Culinaria Germany.  H. F. Ullman, 2007 p. 367

A little while back, I received an email from a reader.  I was gently chided for not including enough German recipes on my blog.  Now, I know the author and I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but I've been looking for a German recipe that worked for me at the time to include.  I wouldn't want him to think I wasn't listening, after all!  Anyway, I found this recipe and it looked pretty good, so I decided to give it a try. 

I did make a few changes to this recipe, although they were kind of minor.  I couldn't find any celeriac, so I substituted some small potatoes.  I didn't have Riesling, much less a Riesling from Baden.  Instead I used a Greek white from Santorini.  Finally, when the sauce was made, the original recipe called for the vegetables to be discarded.  I thought - correctly, as it turned out - that they probably had some life in them yet, so I decided to serve them as a passed dish.  They weren't very pretty, though, so they didn't get their own picture.  I actually liked this dish a lot more than I expected to, although the next time I make it I plan to cut the chicken into smaller, more manageable pieces.  The gravy didn't feel heavy despite the addition of more dairy, and the flavor was pretty amazing. 

Chicken in White Wine Gravy (serves 4; approx. $3.55/serving)

1 small chicken

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

3 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, diced

4 small potatoes, quartered

1 cup white wine

8 oz button mushrooms, quartered

3 sprigs of thyme

2 tablespoons sour cream

Equipment:

• Large, wide-bottomed pot or stovetop-appropriate casserole
• Smaller saucepan
• Small sieve

1. Remove the breasts and drumsticks from the chicken.  Season with Kosher salt and black pepper to taste.
2. Heat the oil and butter in the large pot until the butter is melted. 
3. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. 
4. Remove the chicken from the pot and keep warm.
5. Add the onion to the dish.  Saute until softened. 
6. Return the chicken to the pot along with the root vegetables, wine, mushrooms and thyme. 
7. Simmer gently over low heat for 40 minutes. 
8. Remove the chicken pieces to a plate and keep warm. 
9. Pour the remaining contents of the pot into the saucepan through a strainer. 
10. Put the drained vegetables into a bowl to be passed around. 
11. Bring the saucepan to a boil and reduce the sauce by half. 
12. Remove the sauce from heat.  Stir in the sour cream.
13. Put the chicken pieces onto a serving platter.  Pour the gravy around the chicken and serve.

Technorati Tags: Chicken,wine,mushrooms,sour cream,German food,recipes,Culinaria Germany