European Cooking Secrets
Nov 1st, 2016, 08:48 AM
#81
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A second fish/meat combination:
Plaice, Finkerwerder style.
Sear bacon cubes with onions. Add shrimps and stir. Then fill the plaice with the bacon-onion-shrimp mass and bake it in the oven.
Simplified version:
Sear bacon cubes in a pan. Then sear the plaice in the pan and serve with bacon cubes.
Finkenwerder is a part of Hamburg where many fishermen used to live. They liked the taste of bacon which they took with their ships on their journeys.
Plaice, Finkerwerder style.
Sear bacon cubes with onions. Add shrimps and stir. Then fill the plaice with the bacon-onion-shrimp mass and bake it in the oven.
Simplified version:
Sear bacon cubes in a pan. Then sear the plaice in the pan and serve with bacon cubes.
Finkenwerder is a part of Hamburg where many fishermen used to live. They liked the taste of bacon which they took with their ships on their journeys.
Nov 1st, 2016, 09:59 AM
#82
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A Catalan fish/meazt recipe : Mar y mont (sea and mountain) : http://spanishsabores.com/2014/12/23...hicken-shrimp/
Nov 1st, 2016, 10:37 AM
#83
May I request an authentic duck recipe please? Any kind of it will do, thank you. I like canard confit very much.>>
ok, confit de canard coming up:
I've always had it made with duck legs; first find the dish in which you think you might make it [not metallic] and buy as many as you can comfortably get in the dish. 4-8 depending on numbers of diners.
The other thing you need is duck or goose fat - and a lot of it. if you don't have any from cooking a duck or two, and can't buy any at the shops [in the UK Waitrose and Sainsbury's stock tins of goose fat], don't try to make confit de canard -or anything else.
once you've got your fat and your duck legs, you lay the legs in the container and cover with 2-3 chopped cloves of garlic, some branches of thyme, and pepper and salt. The recipe I used to follow said 6 tablespoons of salt for 6 legs but we found that terribly salty so I have gradually cut it back to about 2 which is quite enough. Then cover and put in the bottom of the fridge.
Turn the legs a few times over the course of 24-48 hours, then when you are ready to cook the confit, take the legs out of the dish and wash them thoroughly to get rid of the salt. and I mean thoroughly. then dry them thoroughly too as you're going to add them to a saucepan of hot fat and water will make them spit.
melt the fat in a deep saucepan [with plenty of headroom to allow for the level of the fat to rise when the legs are added] and then add the legs. You aren't deep frying them, but poaching them in the fat which needs to bubble gently. cooking them will probably take about 90 mins but after an hour or so, check to see if the meat is coming away from the end of the leg bones. When it does, they are cooked.
you can take them out and serve them straight away, [with sautéed potatoes or small roast potatoes and a green salad is nice] or let them and the fat cool, place in a non-metallic container with a lid, and cover them with the fat, which ideally should cover them entirely. Traditionally the container would then go in a cold dark place in a pantry but [heresy] I put them in an old plastic ice-cream container and put them in the freezer.
When you want to eat them, release them from the fat and cook gently in a frying pan til hot. Serve as above with a Cotes de Rhone or similar.
ok, confit de canard coming up:
I've always had it made with duck legs; first find the dish in which you think you might make it [not metallic] and buy as many as you can comfortably get in the dish. 4-8 depending on numbers of diners.
The other thing you need is duck or goose fat - and a lot of it. if you don't have any from cooking a duck or two, and can't buy any at the shops [in the UK Waitrose and Sainsbury's stock tins of goose fat], don't try to make confit de canard -or anything else.
once you've got your fat and your duck legs, you lay the legs in the container and cover with 2-3 chopped cloves of garlic, some branches of thyme, and pepper and salt. The recipe I used to follow said 6 tablespoons of salt for 6 legs but we found that terribly salty so I have gradually cut it back to about 2 which is quite enough. Then cover and put in the bottom of the fridge.
Turn the legs a few times over the course of 24-48 hours, then when you are ready to cook the confit, take the legs out of the dish and wash them thoroughly to get rid of the salt. and I mean thoroughly. then dry them thoroughly too as you're going to add them to a saucepan of hot fat and water will make them spit.
melt the fat in a deep saucepan [with plenty of headroom to allow for the level of the fat to rise when the legs are added] and then add the legs. You aren't deep frying them, but poaching them in the fat which needs to bubble gently. cooking them will probably take about 90 mins but after an hour or so, check to see if the meat is coming away from the end of the leg bones. When it does, they are cooked.
you can take them out and serve them straight away, [with sautéed potatoes or small roast potatoes and a green salad is nice] or let them and the fat cool, place in a non-metallic container with a lid, and cover them with the fat, which ideally should cover them entirely. Traditionally the container would then go in a cold dark place in a pantry but [heresy] I put them in an old plastic ice-cream container and put them in the freezer.
When you want to eat them, release them from the fat and cook gently in a frying pan til hot. Serve as above with a Cotes de Rhone or similar.
Nov 1st, 2016, 11:05 AM
#84
Seems that this thread has become a little lame after it had started lively. Well, I will continue to post and see what happens.>>
au contraire, Traveller - I'm enjoying it very much, and thank you for starting it.
but if you want controversy, why not try the British food thread; an innocent enquiry from a 16 year old american has led to a major breakdown in the entente cordiale:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-609524-2.cfm
au contraire, Traveller - I'm enjoying it very much, and thank you for starting it.
but if you want controversy, why not try the British food thread; an innocent enquiry from a 16 year old american has led to a major breakdown in the entente cordiale:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-609524-2.cfm
Nov 1st, 2016, 11:25 AM
#85
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We do confit de canard with some regularity here, as duck is so prevalent. But we don't use any salt at all, just pure duck fat and pepper and thyme and rosemary from the garden. We use duck (and goose) breasts as well, not always just legs.
As I said on the other thread, à chacun son goût. I won't have it any other way, no matter how "popular" it's become.
As I said on the other thread, à chacun son goût. I won't have it any other way, no matter how "popular" it's become.
Nov 1st, 2016, 12:21 PM
#86
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Thank you, annhig and StCirq.
I'm surprised to hear that you (StCirq) don't use any salt as I see salt in every canard confit recipes. Will try it. Also, 90 mins cooking (annhig) sounds good to me, other online recipes said 3, 4 or even 6 hours and that scares me away. I confess I was tempted to do it with cooking oil but now I will look for goose fat. Just curious, you said "if you don't have any (goose fat), don't try to make confit de canard -or anything else", does it mean that you use goose/duck fat for all kinds of dishes?
I'm surprised to hear that you (StCirq) don't use any salt as I see salt in every canard confit recipes. Will try it. Also, 90 mins cooking (annhig) sounds good to me, other online recipes said 3, 4 or even 6 hours and that scares me away. I confess I was tempted to do it with cooking oil but now I will look for goose fat. Just curious, you said "if you don't have any (goose fat), don't try to make confit de canard -or anything else", does it mean that you use goose/duck fat for all kinds of dishes?
Nov 1st, 2016, 12:50 PM
#87
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annhig:
British food is always controversial.
I already contributed to the British food thread, with this post:
Pictures say more than words.
If you want to see what authentic British food is like, look here
http://uknet.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13448
and click on "view slideshow".
It may be a good idea to take a Dramamine before you look at the pictures.
British food is always controversial.
I already contributed to the British food thread, with this post:
Pictures say more than words.
If you want to see what authentic British food is like, look here
http://uknet.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13448
and click on "view slideshow".
It may be a good idea to take a Dramamine before you look at the pictures.
Nov 1st, 2016, 01:00 PM
#88
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You could use salt, FuryFluffy, we just choose not to. I don't know how to explain it, but in the past 5 years or so (I am 64 and husband is 66), everything has suddenly seemed really salty to us, so I don't put salt in anything I cook, and I try not to eat things that have salt in them. It's weird, but I have this aversion to salt in anything. You could of course put salt into your confit recipe.
I cook my duck for 4-6 hours. It's just not confit unless it's cooked to bits!
I cook my duck for 4-6 hours. It's just not confit unless it's cooked to bits!
Nov 1st, 2016, 01:21 PM
#89
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Ann and traveler.
You really want to pollute this nice thread ?
No way. I am just reading and will post when we come to THE cooking masterpiece : how to cook fries.
Ps : I hate anchovies. Unless raw in olive oil. Don't know why.
I went to the Fournil. Quite nice. What did you do in Mougins ? Not very tourist not that nice.
We only go because we have friends there ....
You really want to pollute this nice thread ?
No way. I am just reading and will post when we come to THE cooking masterpiece : how to cook fries.
Ps : I hate anchovies. Unless raw in olive oil. Don't know why.
I went to the Fournil. Quite nice. What did you do in Mougins ? Not very tourist not that nice.
We only go because we have friends there ....
Nov 1st, 2016, 02:00 PM
#90
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We once stayed in a vacation rental in Mougins. Nice house, with a private pool.
Actually, we dined at Roger Vergé which we found disappointing, despite the two Michelin stars he had at that times. Too many cruise ship passengers...
Most of the times, we cook ourselves, using the wonderful ingredients we find there.
We have a wonderful book, titled "Le Grand Bordel", about Mougins and Le Fournil and Picasso and M Dior and the Mafia and 72 recipes of provencal cuisine... written by a German cook who used to work at Le Fournil, Stephan Hippe, who runs now a restaurant in Hamburg: http://brasserielaprovence.de/
You may think about your previous judgement that there is no good food in Germany (or it is expensive). I will be happy to prove the opposite.
Actually, we dined at Roger Vergé which we found disappointing, despite the two Michelin stars he had at that times. Too many cruise ship passengers...
Most of the times, we cook ourselves, using the wonderful ingredients we find there.
We have a wonderful book, titled "Le Grand Bordel", about Mougins and Le Fournil and Picasso and M Dior and the Mafia and 72 recipes of provencal cuisine... written by a German cook who used to work at Le Fournil, Stephan Hippe, who runs now a restaurant in Hamburg: http://brasserielaprovence.de/
You may think about your previous judgement that there is no good food in Germany (or it is expensive). I will be happy to prove the opposite.
Nov 1st, 2016, 02:20 PM
#91
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Today, I cooked cassoulet for the first time. With duck legs, not confit, but cooked slowly.
It turned out delicious.
I will write about it tomorrow, because it's time to go to sleep in Europe.
It turned out delicious.
I will write about it tomorrow, because it's time to go to sleep in Europe.
Nov 1st, 2016, 02:29 PM
#92
Just curious, you said "if you don't have any (goose fat), don't try to make confit de canard -or anything else", does it mean that you use goose/duck fat for all kinds of dishes?>>
sorry, furyfluffy [love the screen name BTW] I didn't express myself very well. I think I meant not to try to make other sort of confit [like goose legs or a different cut of duck] without the right sort of fat, not not to cook anything else without it. Does that make sense?
I do use it to cook roast or saute potatoes if I've got it, but otherwise I don't use it much, if at all.
<<You really want to pollute this nice thread ?
No way. I am just reading and will post when we come to THE cooking masterpiece : how to cook fries.>>
ah, les frites. Je t'attends.
traveller - I'm very open to being convinced that german cookery has been as maligned as British, but please don't try to convince me that "Pfaelzer Hausmacher" is fit for human consumption 'cos I won't believe you.
sorry, furyfluffy [love the screen name BTW] I didn't express myself very well. I think I meant not to try to make other sort of confit [like goose legs or a different cut of duck] without the right sort of fat, not not to cook anything else without it. Does that make sense?
I do use it to cook roast or saute potatoes if I've got it, but otherwise I don't use it much, if at all.
<<You really want to pollute this nice thread ?
No way. I am just reading and will post when we come to THE cooking masterpiece : how to cook fries.>>
ah, les frites. Je t'attends.
traveller - I'm very open to being convinced that german cookery has been as maligned as British, but please don't try to convince me that "Pfaelzer Hausmacher" is fit for human consumption 'cos I won't believe you.
Nov 2nd, 2016, 12:57 AM
#93
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"Hausmacher" just means home-cooked or, in fact, "traditional style".
The Pfalz - traditionally a rather poor region with simple, rustic food and simple wines which are grown there - is known mainly for two specialties, the liver sausage (Leberwurst) which is flavoured with thyme and the Saumagen (pig stomach).
Actually, the stomach is just the casing and you actually don't eat it. Nowadays, most saumagen is made with a plastic casing and no stomach at all. (You know this from haggis?)
The filling is a mixture of minced meat and potatoe cubes. You cut it into slices and brown the slices in a pan.
Does not look too elegant. Certainly a simple, rustic dish. I remember a recent thread where several British Fodorites asked for the recipe. But people who eat Wheetabix and Spam and Marmite can digest everything.
The Pfalz - traditionally a rather poor region with simple, rustic food and simple wines which are grown there - is known mainly for two specialties, the liver sausage (Leberwurst) which is flavoured with thyme and the Saumagen (pig stomach).
Actually, the stomach is just the casing and you actually don't eat it. Nowadays, most saumagen is made with a plastic casing and no stomach at all. (You know this from haggis?)
The filling is a mixture of minced meat and potatoe cubes. You cut it into slices and brown the slices in a pan.
Does not look too elegant. Certainly a simple, rustic dish. I remember a recent thread where several British Fodorites asked for the recipe. But people who eat Wheetabix and Spam and Marmite can digest everything.
Nov 2nd, 2016, 01:49 AM
#94
"Hausmacher" just means home-cooked or, in fact, "traditional style".>>
Das weiss ich schon, traveller. My only experience of "Pfaelzer Hausmacher" is from visiting a hut in the woods near Trifels where our german friends insisted that we try it.
it was nothing like your description of it, except that Saumagen and liver were involved. Very strong, and utterly inedible, as I suspect I said on that thread you mentioned.
BTW I like the vast majority of german food that I've had but NOT "Pfaelzer Hausmacher"
Das weiss ich schon, traveller. My only experience of "Pfaelzer Hausmacher" is from visiting a hut in the woods near Trifels where our german friends insisted that we try it.
it was nothing like your description of it, except that Saumagen and liver were involved. Very strong, and utterly inedible, as I suspect I said on that thread you mentioned.
BTW I like the vast majority of german food that I've had but NOT "Pfaelzer Hausmacher"
Nov 2nd, 2016, 02:11 AM
#95
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"Hausmacher" is actually used as an adjective, so there must be a noun to follow, like "Wurst" or "Platte" (plate).
You probably had a Hausmacherplatte with different kinds of meats and sausages. You made me really curious what they had put on this plate. Usually, they take different kind of sausages, ham, speck, aspic, maybe raw minced pork..
I cannot imagine what the strange matter might have been. If you say "strong", it might have been some kinds of innards (which I despise) but I have never seen innards on a Hausmacherplatte. Maybe strange things happen in the woods..
You probably had a Hausmacherplatte with different kinds of meats and sausages. You made me really curious what they had put on this plate. Usually, they take different kind of sausages, ham, speck, aspic, maybe raw minced pork..
I cannot imagine what the strange matter might have been. If you say "strong", it might have been some kinds of innards (which I despise) but I have never seen innards on a Hausmacherplatte. Maybe strange things happen in the woods..
Nov 2nd, 2016, 02:14 AM
#96
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Ah, les frites Belges. Je t'attends aussi.
Thank you again annhig and StCirq.
Germany foods might be rustic but that's what I like in them. I still remember the yummy crunchy-skin pork leg I ate in Stuttgart:
https://moveablefeastofamess.files.w...all.jpg?w=1000
or the "coal miner" beef stew in Essen:
https://moveablefeastofamess.files.w...mall.jpg?w=600
traveller1959: me too, I found that the food I cook myself, or my family/friends cook for me, tailored by my specific taste and with the freshest ingredients we could find in the market that day, is still the best. No restaurant can compare.
Thank you again annhig and StCirq.
Germany foods might be rustic but that's what I like in them. I still remember the yummy crunchy-skin pork leg I ate in Stuttgart:
https://moveablefeastofamess.files.w...all.jpg?w=1000
or the "coal miner" beef stew in Essen:
https://moveablefeastofamess.files.w...mall.jpg?w=600
traveller1959: me too, I found that the food I cook myself, or my family/friends cook for me, tailored by my specific taste and with the freshest ingredients we could find in the market that day, is still the best. No restaurant can compare.
Nov 2nd, 2016, 05:50 AM
#97
Traveller - I don't remember whether it was a Platte or something else, and it was a while ago -12+ years - so my memory is a little hazy about the specifics, but I do know that I didn't like it.
Last time we visited our german friends, who live near Landau, they were telling us about the award-winning local butcher who has now installed an automatic Wurst dispenser to cater for those of his clientele who are suffering from wurst deprivation when the shop is shut. Now that I can understand!
Last time we visited our german friends, who live near Landau, they were telling us about the award-winning local butcher who has now installed an automatic Wurst dispenser to cater for those of his clientele who are suffering from wurst deprivation when the shop is shut. Now that I can understand!
Nov 2nd, 2016, 07:42 AM
#100
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Coming back to confit de canard. For the first time in my life, I had it in an unpretentious little restaurant in the countryside in the Landes, near the Atlantic ocean. And it was divine.
But it was a bit like with drugs: the first time is always the best, and when I had duck confit later, it always seemed to me that it didn't quite match the first one. Which could be true, since my first confit de canard was in the Landes, the region where this dish originated, and when I had in Paris it might not have been authentic.
Well, yesterday I tried to make 15 portions of cassoulet, Castelnaudary style, with duck legs, pork sausages and bacon.
I decided to make a cardiologist-friendly version, so I removed the skins from the duck legs and did not make confit.
First, I seared bacon strips in a pan (it turned out that this step was not necessary at all because the bacon would dissolve completely later in the cooking process), then I browned the duck legs and put them in the oven. In the meantime, I browned the sausages and then seared onions, carrots, celery and leek before I added tomato cubes and white beans. I seasoned the bean-vegetable mass with lots of pepper, thyme and summer savory.
Then I poured everything on the duck legs, put the sausages on top and baked the whole thing in the oven for 3 hours, occasionally stirring the brown crust, which repeatedly formed on surface, under the beans (the people of Castelnaudary say, you should do this seven times).
The result was extremely delicious. The duck was, as you can expect, so soft that it fell from the bones and my final thought was, a confit would not have been better.
Actually, there was not much grease in the dish. The skinless legs were lean, I used a high-quality, rather lean sausage and just a little goose fat for searing, maybe 120 grams for 15 portions which makes 8 gram per portion.
Needless to say, it was much better than the canned cassoulet, even the better brands from Castelnaudary. And after all, it wasn't that much work (skinning the duck legs was the hardest part).
But it was a bit like with drugs: the first time is always the best, and when I had duck confit later, it always seemed to me that it didn't quite match the first one. Which could be true, since my first confit de canard was in the Landes, the region where this dish originated, and when I had in Paris it might not have been authentic.
Well, yesterday I tried to make 15 portions of cassoulet, Castelnaudary style, with duck legs, pork sausages and bacon.
I decided to make a cardiologist-friendly version, so I removed the skins from the duck legs and did not make confit.
First, I seared bacon strips in a pan (it turned out that this step was not necessary at all because the bacon would dissolve completely later in the cooking process), then I browned the duck legs and put them in the oven. In the meantime, I browned the sausages and then seared onions, carrots, celery and leek before I added tomato cubes and white beans. I seasoned the bean-vegetable mass with lots of pepper, thyme and summer savory.
Then I poured everything on the duck legs, put the sausages on top and baked the whole thing in the oven for 3 hours, occasionally stirring the brown crust, which repeatedly formed on surface, under the beans (the people of Castelnaudary say, you should do this seven times).
The result was extremely delicious. The duck was, as you can expect, so soft that it fell from the bones and my final thought was, a confit would not have been better.
Actually, there was not much grease in the dish. The skinless legs were lean, I used a high-quality, rather lean sausage and just a little goose fat for searing, maybe 120 grams for 15 portions which makes 8 gram per portion.
Needless to say, it was much better than the canned cassoulet, even the better brands from Castelnaudary. And after all, it wasn't that much work (skinning the duck legs was the hardest part).
