Fillet Wellington

Traditonal christmas day lunch in our family. You should optimize cooking time, because I do not like it rosa.


Ingredients:
1 kg beef tenderloin
80 g veal
100 g bacon
80 g canard liver
150 ml cream
2 tablespoon port wein
salt, pepper, thyme, dijon mustard
50 g porcino (i have used dried as i could not get fresh)
200 g white mushroom
cognac
meat stuck
truffle
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed and if you like 1 more for decoration
1 egg
For pommes duchesse:
1000 g potato
200 g butter
6 egg yolks
truffle
salt

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Marinate beef with salt, pepper, thyme and mustard.
Prepare duxelle out of veal, bacon, canard liver, cream, port wein in a mixer. You may use cognac or madeira as you like.
Add porcino in water for about 20 minutes
Chop white mushroom and fry in a pan. Add chopped porcino.
Put porcino water aside.
You may puree mushroom-porcino mix and add to duxelle.
Heat a pan and fry fillet, add cognac and flambé, cool.
Smear about 1/3 duxelle on puff pastry, put beef on it and add rest of duxelle. Cover with the rest of the pastry, and smear egg on it.
I baked for an hour, but it depends how you like it and how thick the beef is.
In a saucepan ( i used the same in which i fryed mushroom and beef) add meat stuck, porcino water and let it reduce half. Add cognac, and bind sauce with butter and/or cream. Add grated truffle.
Pommes duchesse with truffle:
Cook potatos in salted water.
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Peel potatoes and press through ricer.
Add butter, egg yolks and grated truffle, mix it well.
Press them on baking sheet with help of an icing bag.
Bake for 10-15 minutes.
I also made some Brussels sprouts which I marinated with mustard, lemon juice and baked in oven. And served some salad with pommegranate and port wein dressing.

Hungarian Zserbó

Traditional hungarian cake containing a lot of walnut.


Ingredients:
530 g flour
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
75 g sugar
250 g butter
50 g lard
1 dl milk
10,5 g yeast
pinch of salt
pinch of baking powder
apricot jam
1000 g walnut
300 g sugar
chocolate for coating

Warm milk a bit. It should be lukewarm.
Add a teaspoon sugar and yeast.
Add diced butter to flour, add lard, add eggs, sugar and pinch of salt, baking powder.
Add milk with yeast. and knead a dough and roll out to the form of the baking form.
Cut dough in 4 equal pieces.
Smear jam on it and 1/3 of the walnut and sugar.
Do this until you used each dough piece.
With a fork make holes on the dough and leave for 1 hour on a warm place.
Preheat oven to 180°C and bake for 30 minutes.
After it is cooled down smear melted chocolate on top.

Hungarian Beigli

Traditional Hungarian Christmas Dessert.



Ingredients:
500 g flour
250 g butter
2 eggs
50 g sugar
20 g yeast
1 dl milk
pinch of salt
For the poppy filling :
300 g poppy
200 g sugar
50 g wheet groat
3 dl milk
8 g vanilla
lemon zest
For the walnut filling :
300 g walnut
200 g sugar
16 g vanilla
lemon zest
100 g butter
1 dl sourcream

Warm milk a bit. It should be lukewarm.
Add a teaspoon sugar and yeast.
Add diced butter to flour, add beaten eggs, sugar and pinch of salt.
Mix in milk with yeast with milk and knead a dough.
Leave for 2 hours on a warm place.
Poppy filling:
Cook milk, add with sugar and wheet groat mixed grated poppy and let it cool down.
Add lemon zest.
Walnut filling:
Mix grated walnut with sugar, lemon zest and vanilla.
Melt butter with sour cream.
When you fill them, spread walnut mixture and sprinkle from the melted butter-sour cream mixture on it.
Form 4 small dough pieces.
Roll them out into a 1/2 cm thick rectangle on a floured board.
Spread filling onto the dough, leave out a 2-3 cm strip at the longer side.
Fold back a 2-3 cm strip at the shorter sides (prevents the stuffing from coming out).
Roll the dough up and place them in buttered oven dish.
Brush the top of the rolls with slightly beaten egg.
Prick the top and the sides of the rolls with a fork, it prevents cracking.
Bake in preheated oven at 180 °C for about 35 minutes until the top gets a nice brown colour.

Poppy Pie

My absolutly favourite poppy pie. It is really fantastic if one likes poppy.



Ingredients:

400 g flour
200 g butter
1/2 package baking powder
2-3 tablespoon milk
50 g sugar
for the filling:
500 g poppy
400 g sugar
6 dl milk
100 g wheet groat
2-3 tablespoon home made peach jam
lemon zest
4 egg white

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Mix all ingredients into a smooth dough and cut in half.
Roll out one and put in a buttered form, smear apricot jam on it.
Boil milk with sugar, add grated poppy and wheet groat.
After poppy cooled down add lemon zest and beaten egg white.
Pour poppy into the baking form and cover with the another rolled out piece of dough.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.

White Pillows

There is a swiss cookie called Brunsli, which is made of dark chocolate. I created a version with white chocolate.



Ingredients:
90 g white chocolate
140 g sugar
180 g grated almond
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lemon
2 tablespoons sherry
8 g vanilla

Grate white chocolate.
Add sugar, grated almond, lemon juice, cinnamon, sherry and vanilla.
Mix together and leave for 1 hour in the fridge.
Roll out between foil for about 1 cm thick.
Form as you like.
Leave for 6-7 hours and after bake for 3-4 minutes on 250°C.

Hazelnut Kisses

These are extremly yummy.


Ingredients:
200 g flour
100 g grated hazelnut
150 g butter
150 g sugar
1 lemon
1 tablespoon rum
For the filling :
either with home made peach jam
or with chocolate cream:
2 eggs
150 g powder sugar
8 g vanilla
70,5 g dark chocolate
200 g butter
chocolate for coating


Mix flour, hazelnut, butter sugar, lemon zest and rum to a dough.
Chill for 30 minutes. Roll dough out for about 1/2 cm thick. Make round forms out of it. Bake for 12 minutes on 180°C. After cooled down smear jam on each half and coat with chocolate and put a half walnut on top. For the chocolate cream beat 2 eggs with sugar and vanilla, add chocolate above steam and mix till it is molten. After it is cold add butter.

Almond Corners

This a recepie I wanted to make since years and finally I managed to bake it.


Ingredients:
300 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
16 g vanilla
130 g sugar
2 eggs
130 g butter
4 tablespoon peach jam
For the filling:
200 g butter
200 g sugar
4 tablespoon water
150 g grated and 125 g chopped almond

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Mix butter with sugar, vanilla and egg.
Add flour and baking powder. You have to get a smooth dough.
Roll out dough and place in a buttered form.
Melt butter with sugar, vanilla and water, add almond and mix it.
Let it cool down and smear on top of the rolled out dough.
Bake for 20-30 minutes and let it cool well down.
Cut into triangles and decorate with melted chocolate.

Coconut Macaroon

Fluffy and easy.


Ingredients:
4 egg white
a pinch of salt
8 g vanilla
70 g sugar
150 g powder sugar
1 lemon
1 teaspoon corn starch
50 mm diameter wafer
250 g grated coconut




Preheat oven to 150°C.
Beat egg white with a pinch of salt, vanilla and sugar.
Add slowly powder sugar and beat on.
Add corn starch, lemon zest and coconut.
With a help of a teaspoon place mixture on the wafers.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Cinnamon Stars

Some years ago, during my last school year, we've had a Swiss exchange student in our class. Around Christmas time she surprised our class with some selfmade cinnamon stars, the so called Zimtsternen. They were so totally delicious, besides I am anyway a cinnamon fan, so I had to ask for the recipe, even though I did not even think about baking or cooking that time. This year, I baked these for the first time together with the neighbour's daughter, who enjoyed to brush the stars with the glaze a lot.

Ingredients:
300 g ground almonds
100 g powder sugar
50 g flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 egg whites
for the glaze:
1 egg white85 g powder sugar

Knead a dough using all the ingredients and chill for 1-2 hours. Roll out between two layers of foil and cut out stars with a help of a cookie cutter. For the glasur beat egg white with  a pinch of salt, then add powder sugar in small portions and beat until shiny. Brush stars with the glaze and bake on 170°C for 10-12 mintues.