Altough, I still have no clear plan about Christmas dinner, it is not a bad idea to start at the basics. This means to prepare some more stock to be on the safe side. I believe there is no such thing like "too much stock in stock". Some days ago I cooked Gordon Ramsay's vegetable stock, and now I decided to cook his veal stock instead of the usual one. I spent almost the whole day in the kitchen but it was worth it! This stock is simply gorgeous. I froze almost the whole amount, but I left bit aside for my lunch, that I am going to post tomorrow. Now let's see that magical stock!
Ingredients: 3 kg beef bones200 ml olive oil
2 large onions4 large carrots4 parsley roots (not in the original recipe)1 leek (not in the original recipe)3 celery stalks
1/2 garlic bulb
2 tablespoon tomato puree
350 ml Madeira
350 ruby port
10 l cold water
200 g mushrooms
1 bouquet garni (2 outer leaves of a leek, 1/2 celery stalk,1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, each 1/2 teaspoon black and white peppercorns
6 coriander seeds)
Preheat oven to 220°C and roast with half of the olive oil drizzled veal bones for 1-1 1/2 hours until browned. Heat the remaining oil in a large pot and fry the chopped vegetables and garlic until coloured. Stir in tomato puree and fry for another 2 minutes. Add Madeira and port and reduce until it has a thick consistency. Drain roasted bones and add to the pot. Pour cold water over it and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat, add mushroom and bouquet garni and simmer for 6 hours. Skim off as often as needed. Let it cool a bit and strain through a muslim-lined colander. If you want you can reduce by half for a more intense flavour.
Well, I used to say that I am never going to own a deep fryer, but then I changed my mind. Simply, because I discovered those gorgeous looking pommes frites in Anthony Bourdain's book. Though once in a while I made french fries, but I never really bothered about the exact temperature of the oil. I should have! I must confess that these fries are highly addictive and definitely worth the effort!
Ingredients:
4 large potatoes
peanut oil
salt
Peel and cut potatoes in sticks and place in a bowl filled with ice water for at least 30 minutes or over night. After wash it again under running water and dry with a help of a kitchen cloth. Heat the deep fryer to 140°C and fry potatoes in small portions for 6-8 minutes. Let them cool for 15 minutes while heat the deep fryer to 190°C. Now it is time for the second frying for 2-3 minutes. Place a kitchen cloth into a bowl, add fries on it, sprinkle with salt, remove the cloth and shake it for a moment or two. Serve immediately.
Last month, I posted about my newest crash: 3 Star Chef by Gordon Ramsay. I also mentioned that I am going to make each and every dish, however this seems to be a bit more compliacated then I thought. Why? Well, because some ingredients I simply can not get or do not want to. For example lobster and langoustine. Why? Yeah, you guess, the overfishing problem. There is the gorgeous ravioli of lobster, langoustine and salmon with a lemongrass and chervil velouté in the book. So actually the dish that I am going to present now, is only inspired by Ramsay's. I prepared a zander filling for the raviolo using Ramsay's fantastic saffron pasta dough recipe that calls for 4 eggs and 6 egg yolks for a half a kilogramm of flour. Instead of the lemongrass and chervil velouté I prepared a basil velouté and instead of the shellfish stock a truffle vinaigrette. The dish also includes a tomato chutney that is very simple yet so delicious. It is made of tomatoes, what a surprise, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Simply cook all ingredients until it is soft but dry and season at the end.
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon walnut oil
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon truffle paste
1 tablespoon Madeira
salt, pepperFor the vinaigrette heat truffle in Madeira and then mix it with the rest of the ingredients.1 shallot
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
2-3 thyme sprigs2 handful of fresh basil
125 ml dry Vermouth
250 ml fish sock
250 ml cream
2 splatter lemon juice
salt, pepperFor the basil velouté chop shallot and together with the garlic, coriander seeds, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, 1 handful of basil and Vermouth bring it to boil. Reduce until it is kinda of thick and add fish stock, reduce half and sieve. Add cream and the rest of the basil leaves and cook until creamy. Puree, sieve and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
For the first time I prepared Gordon Ramsay's vegetable stock, that is quite different from the one I usually prepare. It is done pretty fast and it is not much work at all. The only thing I changed is that I added some parsley roots and some leaves of sage as well.
Ingredients: 3 onions
1 leek2 celery stalks
6 carrots
1 garlic
1 lemon
some white peppercorns
1/2 bay leaf2 star anise
each 1 twig tarragon, basil, coriander, thyme, parsley and chervil
200 ml dry white wine
Chop veggies, half garlic, slice lemon and put all together in a pot among peppercorns, bay leaf and star anise. Bring it to cook with 2000 ml water and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside, add herbs and wine. Let it cool completly and if possible let it stand for 24 hours.
December is here, so it is time to plan the Holiday menus, gifts and bake cookies. I am not yet done with my plans, but almost. I am going to bake some Swiss cookies among the meanwhile classic ones, like the honey cookies, Lebkuchen and Beigli. Now I would like to share a recipe for a pear-chocolate jam, that could also make a delicious gift.
Ingredients:1200 g ripe pear (e.g. Williams)
750 g sugar
juice of 1 orange
50 ml lemon juice250 g dark chocolate (60% cocoa)
Peel and dice pears and bring it to boil among the lemon and orange juice. Set it aside and stir in chopped chocolate, mix well until melted. Let it cool and leave it in the fridge over night. The next day bring to cook and as soon as it reached 105°C fill in jars and let them cool covered by a blanket over night.
