STEPPER Cookbook

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A story. Life in all its facets, its possibilities and challenges, its magic and pleasures – this is the story of each individual. But what makes the difference between each story? It’s the main protagonist. Is he a driving force?

Does he move us? Does he touch us? Can we perhaps even identify with him?

father‘s footsteps and, driven by his own vision, changed the industry.

Those who know Hans Stepper also know his great passion for good cuisine. His courage for new things, his will, his creativity and his inventive spirit come to life in his professional (optical) as well as his private (culinary) visions. Loaded with ingredients from all over the world, based on his unique biography, he has refined and multiplied his culinary skills over the years. And just as every story and every good meal has a beginning, a main part and an end, so do we wander through Hans’s favourite recipes in this book – and through his story.

STEPPER EYEWEAR has been successful on the market for 50 years, offering people great comfort by wearing the right frame. The promise „Every Frame Tells a Story“ is based on the idea that the frame accompanies the wearer in every life situation – his or her individual story.

Especially in companies, we often forget that the spirit, creativity, innovative power that emanates from one person can shape an entire company. This is the moment when the story of a person becomes the story of a company. Just like Hans Stepper’s story. He is the founder and creative force behind STEPPER EYEWEAR, followed in his

Enjoy this Cookbook or better said: Accompany us through this book of the cook.

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THE COOK´S STORY

Contents.

00

01

Introduction The Cook’s Story

The Beginning Starters Bread & Soups Snacks & Sides

Page 10 - 21

Page 22 - 53

8

02

03

The Main Course

The Grand Dessert

Meat

Sweet

Pasta

Chocolate

Fish & Vegetable

Fruit

Page 94 - 111

Page 54 - 93

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00 10

“I was never a revolutionary, but I was a good frame maker and that became the essence of STEPPER frames.”

Hans Stepper Founder of STEPPER EYEWEAR LTD.

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POST-WAR GERMANY

The spice of a new beginning.

I’m born in Stuttgart in 1935, so I grew up during the times of post-war Germany. At that time children had been evacuated from the city and we didn’t witness too much of the conflict. I was in a very lovely university place and went to the first year of school.

important. I was 11 years old – old enough to help. So me and my friend went around all these destroyed buildings and tried to find copper wire to exchange it against a lot of other things.

My father persevered and opened the optical shop. He was always a very happy man and he made a nice living and was able to have savings. It was a one man show though and when I became older I helped him. I could even glaze frames by hand when I was 16. That was my youth: I went to school but apart from school, I helped in the shop. I was quite good at school and I could have gone to university easily. But for me it was clear, that I would become an optician. It was interesting, and after I left school with an A-level, my father looked for a good apprenticeship position in a little town nearby with a famous optician. I became an apprentice there and because of my A-level-degree, I only did two and a half years of learning whereas the normal period is three and a half years.

My father was a passionate optician. In 1936 he opened a little shop and was quite successful, but only on his own.

He wasn’t a great entrepreneur and he didn’t want to be.

Unfortunately, in 1941, he was conscripted into the military. He became a commander soldier, but he was a true social democrat and had been active in fighting the Nazis developing in the time before Hitler came. Of course the shop was closed during that time –and when the bombing started, it was sadly destroyed.

At the end of the war the whole family had survived and my mother, aunt, my sister and myself went to the countryside to live. We occupied a little house and helped the farmers slaughtering pigs. I also had to look for the cows when they were outside and they went missing. We had very simple food, but for me it was the first time that I watched a dish - however simple it may be - being prepared from the ground up, including the slaughter.

I must say that I developed a high degree of self-confidence when I became an optical apprentice. After a month in the practice, I thought I should make a frame. I got some material from a frames company and made a frame out of it. I polished it and then it went out into the shop – and was sold immediately. So, the next day I made another one which got also sold, and I developed quite an interest in designing but also making frames. That gave me extra responsibility.

In late 1945 my father came home from Italy, where he had been captured. Back home he tried to re-open the shop, but it was difficult to get building materials, so he took silk stockings from my mother and exchanged them for concrete and things like that. Copper was also very

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It was country life; interesting and educational, with a very human touch.

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For me it became not only a working place, but a romantic retreat as well.

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FINLAND

A temptation of career and love.

Of the frame companies we had been working with, one company called Metzler. They encouraged me, saying: “As you are so good at frame-making, after your apprenticeship, why don’t you go to another country and make frames instead of working in an optician shop.” I followed the advice and went to another country.

I loved the time very much, I got a fever for the Finland cuisine – so different to Germany – and, of course, the Finland women are beautiful. It didn’t take a long time until I met a very nice girl who is still my wife. Finland is now a second home to my beloved Kirsti and me.

For me it became not only a working place, but a romantic retreat as well.

Finland. Because there was a company called Instrumentarium, a very famous company at that time that had been looking for a designer to make handmade frames – and indeed, they chose me. In their main shop, they separated a room for me with fake Chippendale furniture because I was very young, and they believed it would make me look a little more serious.

However, in career terms the status of the furniture may have actually helped me. I was recognised by very important people, ambassadors and people like that and then started a little frame production business on my own as I didn’t only want to design frames, I wanted to do the production part as well. Finland was an ideal place to gather my first experiences and make important contacts.

But for me it was not the end of my journey.

Spending my early career in Finland gave me a lot of independence as I was quite a shy person. To position yourself living in another country where nobody is helping you take care of yourself, look for apartment, or get food or drink, that was very challenging.

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GERMANY

The flavour of success.

I wanted to go back to Germany to obtain my Master’s degree in optics. This puts you a bit below ophthalmic optician but above dispenser, somewhere in between. My wife Kirsti decided to come with me – I couldn‘t have been happier. I went back to the same company where I did my apprenticeship. But this time I was the chief man in this company and worked as an optician.

I told him my dream would be to make injection-moulded frames and he told me he could handle this. In 1969 we created a little company: “Stepper and Ide“.

I quit my job from the opticians and my design job with Metzler. We had only a limited amount of money, 50,000 DM, and invested a good part of our capital in a jewellery workshop. The reason: In Finland I had a good relationship with a goldsmith as my frames had metal, gold and silver decorations. I had even made some jewellery myself, including a beautiful diamond ring I made for my wife. And that’s where the STEPPER SI inspiration comes from. So a good knowledge in jewellery was absolutely important to us.

I achieved the Master’s degree after half a year, but I had not given up the connection with the Metzler people.

Metzler was in Mühlacker, which was not far away. They asked me if I would come back one day per week to create designs. So, every Wednesday I went to their place, created a design and made the frame in the evening. During that time, they said they wanted to make injection-moulded frames, which were very difficult to make then. They had a reputation for being difficult and the quality was not very good, so they were used for cheap sunglasses only, but I thought, why not use this method for making good frames?

I was motivated to realize my professional vision. My private life fired me up to carry on. Kirsti had given birth to our first daughter, Silja and a few years later to Saskia. I was also able to pursue my hobby of cooking and merge Finnish and German cuisine. And now my business vision was within reach.

A good thing is that I had a very nice customer – Mr Ide – in my optician’s role, who bought his own eyewear from us and it turned out that he had a factory.

My objective for STEPPER was clear: delivering effortless vision. As an optician I have always wondered why peo-

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I told him my dream would be to make injection-moulded frames and he told me he could handle this. In 1969 we created a little company: “Stepper and Idie”. ple should pay so much for a frame. But as soon as the customers put on the glasses and said „oh they feel so good“ I knew the glasses were sold. Therefore, I wanted to create frames with the best comfort and fit the market has ever seen. When you mould a frame, you can mould it much better in three dimensions than cutting it out of a piece of acetate. That means that a moulded frame has much better fitting properties, especially on the nose. To make sure, that this fitting properties ensure the highest comfort we developed a nose fit system. The frames were also lighter than other frames. That was the beginning of STEPPERs success. And it worked. In 1992 we were producing about half a million frames a year and we had very strong products for the US market.

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CHINA

True moments of pleasure on two continents.

In 1994 our company in Germany became bankrupt because there was a very strong move away from plastic frames into metal and secondly, this was the time when the whole buyers’ situation in Europe broke down.

This trend impacted first on Italy because Italians at that time produced frames much cheaper and then, of course, the influence of China was already being felt.

Simply put, the company had nothing to survive on in Germany.

We decided to move to Hong Kong with our company where we worked together with Arts, who is still one of the leaders in frame-making – and that was the best decision we could’ve made.

I started living in China in 2000 and got on with very nice support. While my wife managed everything in Germany, I tried to gain a foothold in China. The company had several people who spoke English, so that was no problem and then after a certain time, I had an old friend of mine with me, Peter. He has been working with me as a toolmaker since the beginning of our factory in Germany.

We developed very important things, changed the people from a reactive approach - production only to order - to an active approach - design, planning, stock, delivery. We introduced knowledge about how to make good frames for today and tomorrow. One week before 18

the official start of the STEPPER EYEWEAR in China I wrote my wife Kirsti a mail (as we couldn’t see each other for a couple of months, we wrote mails every single day) with the words: „It‘s still one week before the official start and you can say that we will have a super equipped production, which is actually unique in Asia“. I was infinitely proud of what we had achieved in a very short time in another country.

Over time even my hobby overlapped with my business.

From the beginning I had invited friends and colleagues to a meal from time to time, where I prepared delicious 4 to 5-course menus. I have also integrated a lot of European food to the Chinese and have had fantastic times and enormous fun. We even introduced our Chinese friends into wine-drinking in a very successful way! This is important as normally they always drink from the bottom up but with wine you must sip it. They have been trained now to drink wine in the decent way. That was also the start of the development of STEPPER wines, and now we produce thousands of bottles of labelled STEPPER wines. And we started inviting customers to this “meetings” as well. When the factory was rebuilt in 2015, they even built in a complete kitchen for me, so I can easily make food for 30 or 40 people now.

I had freedom in the company in Shenzhen, and we were able to build STEPPER up again to the point where we are now.

This freedom I owe Michael Ng and his daughter Michelle who supported me and the company with great confidence and generosity.

If I had been asked before, I would not have thought that we would succeed so well in managing a life on two continents. Of course, I was not only living in China but travelling and, in many cases, going via Europe so I could go home to Stuttgart. My wife came out from time to time and then my daughter Saskia became involved in the business more and more. We even diversified STEPPER into two main lines, with STEPPER and STEPPER S where my daughter Saskia is very heavily involved, giving a much younger and contemporary look.

So this is my story. I am proud of it. Proud of being married 60 years with my wife, proud of doing the same like my father did, proud of moving forward with my family and with Saskia, who is taking a leading role in the team, and proud of offering people what I always wanted: Eyewear that will accompany them through their story.

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“In my legacy I would like to be thought of as a little contributor to the modern frame-making. I want to be remembered as a universal person and participate in life again and again with some of my recipes.”

Hans Stepper Founder of STEPPER EYEWEAR LTD.

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01 22

The Beginning.

I remember my first attempts in a Chinese kitchen. The kitchen was dominated by two huge woks, each about 80cm in diameter. In addition there was a professional gas stove with a suction. Nothing else. No oven, no machines. A Chinese kitchen hatchet was used for all cutting and dismantling work. Large round hardwood logs served as chopping blocks. With the help of 2 cooks and a helper I started to prepare my German meals. At the end of the evening I was greeted by my guests with applause and compliments.

Sometimes a surprising beginning gives a foretaste of what may follow.

Sometimes not.

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The Beginning.

Starters, Soups, Snacks & Sides Starters Calamari-Fish Ravioli Green Asparagus Salad Herring Salad (Finnish Style) Leek Tart Octopus Salad Poached Egg with Coriander Paste Prawns with Coriander Salmon Tartar

Bread & Soups Baguettes françaises with Sourdough Sourdough Wheat Bread with Sourdough Buckwheat Soup „Lew Tolstoi“ Chestnut Soup with Walnut Oil Mulligatawny Soup

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Snacks & Sides Apple Chutney Apple Chutney with Cucumber Caviar Morsels Coriander Paste Cucumber Snacks (Chinese Style) Goose Rillettes Salmon Rillettes Har Gow

STARTERS

Calamari-Fish Ravioli 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

300 g pasta dough, soft and elastic

1 Clean the calamari and chopp it into larger pieces. Do the same with the fish filet.

2 medium Calamari

2 Put all ingredient in a blender and blend until the puree is homogeneous and glistening.

2 fish filet, like sea bass

3 Form raviolis, fill them carefully with the puree.

3 egg white

4 Boil the ravioli in salt water until soft.

100 g dry white bread soaked with cream

5 Drain and fry carefully in butter with sage leaves.

100 ml extra cream Lemon Juice Piment d’espelette Sea salt Butter for frying Fresh sage leaves

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STARTERS

Green Asparagus Salad 40 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

½ small red onion

1 Cut the onion into small cubes and put them in a bowl with garlic, both vinegars, olive oil and some salt. Leave to stand for a while until the onion and garlic are soft and mild.

1 crushed clove of garlic 2 tbsp white wine vinegar ½ tbsp old balsamic vinegar

2 Do not peel green asparagus, but remove the woody ends. Then place in boiling water for 2 minutes and rinse with ice-cold water. Dab dry.

4 tbsp olive oil

3 Heat a grill pan and fry the asparagus in it for two minutes from all sides. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

400 g green asparagus

4 Cut the tomatoes into quarters. Remove the seeds and cut the tomatoes into small cubes.

200 g ripe tomatoes

5 Add the tomatoes, dill, parsley and mint to the marinated onions, salt and pepper and mix carefully.

1 tbsp dill 1 tbsp parsley

6 Arrange the asparagus on the plate with the tomato salsa. Spread the goat‘s cheese over it.

1 tbsp mint 100 g young goat cheese Salt and pepper

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STARTERS

Herring Salad (Finnish Style) 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 kg beetroot

1 Cook beetroot and carrot separately in salted water until soft.

400 g carrots

2 Peel apples and remove core house.

160 g onions

3 Clean salted herrings and put into milk.

400 g apples

4 Cut all vegetable and fruit ingredients into cubes (edge length 8 mm).

200 g pickled cucumbers

5 Peel and chop the onions.

4 salted herrings, cut in halves

6 Dry the herring and cut into 8 mm long pieces.

3 hard-boiled eggs

7 Mix all ingredients, cover and leave to stand for 6 to 8 hours.

200 ml cream

8 Mix again and arrange in a glass bowl.

Milk

9 Cut the eggs into roses and decorate the herring salad with them.

White wine vinegar

10 Whip the cream with the vinegar and sugar until a semi-rigid mixture is obtained.

Sugar

11 Serve the herring salad with the egg halves on plates and partially cover with three spoons of cream.

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STARTERS

Leek Tart 1 hour

6-8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

Pastry:

1 Sieve flour on a board, add a pinch of salt, place butter on top and cut it with a long knife into the flour in ever smaller pieces. Work the dough also with your hand.

Cutting and quick rubbing gives you a dry crumble with still very small pieces of butter remaining.

200 g good basic flour plus extra for dusting 140 g cold butter Sea salt

2 Add water in little portions; knead quickly until the mixture just holds together and you receive a ball. Wrap it in cling film and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Some drops of ice-cold water

3 Preheat the oven to 180°C, use top and bottom heat, no fan.

Filling:

4 Cut off dark green parts of the leek and cut the remaining stack lengthwise almost to the bottom. Remove the outer layer, unfold the layers and wash them carefully.

500 g leek 30 g butter 150 ml whipping cream 150 ml crème fraîche 5 smaller eggs or 4 large ones Sea salt

5 Cut the leek 2 mm thick and fry gently in the butter. Add salt, grind pepper over the leek and stir until it is soft and some water has evaporated. Afterwards let it cool down.

6 Combine cream, crème fraîche and eggs in a bowl; whisk the mixture quickly until the eggs are blended in. Don’t whisk too long, otherwise the filling would not rise nicely in the oven.

7 Blend the leek gently into the mixture, test seasoning by adding more salt or pepper if necessary.

Freshly ground pepper

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8 Remove the dough from the fridge, dust it with flour, press it flat with your hands and roll it out to a about 3 mm thickness. Put it carefully in a round metal baking tray of 22 – 23 cm diameter with a corrugated edge, press it gently around the inside of the tray and cut the dough away around the edge. Prick the bottom all over with a fork to avoid bubbles coming up during baking.

9 Pour the filling into the tray and make sure that the leek is spread evenly. Put the tart into the oven below the middle and bake it for about 40 - 50 minutes.

10 After 20 minutes reduce the temperature to 160oC. In case the surface would become too brown, cover the tart with a parchment paper. But make sure the paper does not touch the surface.

11 To check whether the tart is ready gently joggle the tray. When the filling is still wobbly continue baking until it looks firm when joggling again.

12 Then take the tart from the oven, let it cool down before you remove it from the tray, cut it in wedges and serve it lukewarm.

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STARTERS

Octopus Salad 40 minutes

6-8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 fresh octopus (800 – 1000 g)

1 Blanching octopus: Add the washed octopus to boiling salted water, remove and quench in ice water.

3 bottle corks from red wine bottles 6 gloves of garlic 40 g parsley Olive oil Wine vinegar Lemon juice Salt Sugar Flour

2 Cook the octopus: Heat the salted water to about 80oC, add the bottle cork and simmer the octopus for about 15 minutes. Cover and let cool in the liquid.

3 Dissolve the sugar in a little water, caramelize carefully and deglaze with a little wine vinegar.

4 Heat some olive oil, add a teaspoon of flour, bring to the boil and drain with a little boiling water. Add chopped garlic, salt and boil until a slightly creamy sauce is obtained.

If necessary, add more liquid.

5 Add the chopped parsley before boiling.

6 Pour both liquids hot over the bite-sized octopus and mix.

7 Add olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper.

8 Leave to stand in the fridge for 6 to 10 hours.

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STARTERS

Poached Egg with Coriander Paste 20 minutes

1 Person

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 potato

1 Boil the potato.

1 egg

2 Poach egg until yolk is still liquid, drain and place on kitchen paper to dry.

Butter

3 Cut slice from potato, 4mm thick.

Sea salt

4 Carefully fry in butter, salt lightly.

Fresh coriander

5 Blend coriander with olive oil, add salt.

6 Cover potato with coriander paste, place egg on top.

7 Cut egg open and put extra coriander paste in the cut.

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STARTERS

Prawns with Coriander 20 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

18 fresh prawns or shrimps, peeled and deveined

1 Cut garlic in micro-cubes and chop the coriander leaves.

2 gloves of garlic 30 fresh coriander leaves Lemon juice Olive Oil Salt

2 Dry prawns and sprinkle with very little lemon juice.

3 Dry with kitchen paper.

4 Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat and fry garlic until pale yellow.

5 Add prawns and toss pan to fry them all around for less than a minute.

6 Add salt, butter, coriander and piment d’espelette, toss for another 30 seconds and serve.

30 g butter Knife point of Piment d’Espelette

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STARTERS

Salmon Tartar 30 minutes

6-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

600 g fresh or marinated salmon

1 Cut salmon off the skin and deepfreeze until quite firm.

2 medium sized shallots

2 Cut into 6mm cubes and keep refrigerated.

30 g capers

3 Blend egg yolks, lemon juice from the lemon, mustard, salt, sugar, and beat the mixture under constant adding of olive oil, until a firm mayonnaise has been created.

1 lemon 8 anchovies halves 2 egg yolks 100 ml olive oil

4 Finely dice the shallots and the anchovies. Coarsely dice the capers.

5 Add diced shallots, capers, lemon zest from the lemon, anchovies, chives, dill, piment d’espeletts and refrigerate.

1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

6 Before serving blend salmon and sauce, add roasted pine seed, season with ground pepper.

Salt

7 Check seasoning and serve in a bowl that is placed in a container with ice cubes.

Pepper Sugar Piment d’Espelette Chives, finely cut, or spring onions Dill, plucked in small twigs, or dried sage 40 g pine seeds, roasted 37

BREAD & SOUPS

Baguettes françaises with Sourdough 3 days

6 Pieces

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1,85 kg special French baguette flour “Grands Moulins de Paris T65”

1 Follow the “55” rule: Room temperature plus flour temperature plus water temperature must be below the maximum of 55°C.

900 ml water 300 g sourdough (see recipe p.39)

2 Day 1: Knead all flower, water and salt and keep at around 15°C to 16 °C. 3 Day 2: Add sourdough and keep at around 15°C to 16°C.

40 g salt

4 Day 3: Add yeast and some more flour (maximum 100 grams) if dough seems to be too soft.

32 g fresh yeast

5 Let rise for around 6 hours at around 15°C to 16°C. 6 Form 6 breads and let rise for around 2 hours at 24°C to 28°C. 7 Heat oven to 270°C / 235°C, actual value 225°C. 8 Cut the baguettes with a razor blade.

9 Create a steam atmosphere before putting the baguettes into oven.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

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BREAD & SOUPS

Sourdough 3 to 4 days

6 Baguettes or 2 medium sized Wheat Breads

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

150 g flour 812

1 Carefully mix flour, sugar and water.

1 tsp sugar

2 Put loosely a lid on and keep for 2 to 3 days at around 25°C.

150 g lukewarm water

3 Check smell and texture. The mixture should have developed a strong sourish smell and a bubbly texture.

4 Use the sourdough immediately or close the lid carefully and store at 2°C to 4°C.

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BREAD & SOUPS

Wheat Bread with Sourdough 2 days

2 medium sized loafs

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

500 g flour type 1050

1 Follow the “55” rule: Room temperature plus flour temperature plus water temperature must be below the maximum of 55°C.

200 g flour type 812 350 g flour type 550 570 ml water 300 g sourdough (see recipe p.39) 24 g salt 28 g fresh yeast

2 Dissolve salt in water, cool according to rule 55.

3 Knead all flower with the salt-water for 8 minutes.

4 Add sourdough and spices and knead for 12 minutes until a homogeneous, elastic dough is obtained.

5 Let the dough rest at around 14°C to 16°C overnight.

4 g fennel powder

6 Add yeast and knead for 8 minutes. Add some more flour type 812 (maximum 100 grams) if dough seems to be too soft.

2 g ground fenugreek

7 Let rise for around 4 hours.

2.5 g coriander

8 Form breads in medium and large bread forms and let rise for around 2½ to 3 hours.

9 Heat oven to 260°C top heat / 230°C bottom heat (actual value 222°C).

10 Create a steam atmosphere before putting the baguettes into oven.

Bake for about 35 minutes.

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BREAD & SOUPS

Buckwheat Soup „Lew Tolstoi“ 40 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

30 g diced lard

1 Fry lard, shallots and buckwheat, deglaze with vegetable broth and get boiling.

150 g buckwheat

2 Add meat, simmer for 30 minutes with lid closed.

1,5 litre light vegetable broth

3 After 15 minutes add vegetables and simmer further 15 minutes.

300 g smoked pork, cut into 2.5 cm cubes

4 Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

2 shallots, diced

5 Add cream and parsley.

6 Serve in preheated plates.

⅓ celeriac, cut into slices 2 carrots, cut into slices ½ leek, cut into rings 3 cabbage leaves, cut into stripes Salt Pepper Nutmeg 1 dl Cream 1 bunch of parsley, chopped 42

BREAD & SOUPS

Chestnut Soup with Walnut Oil 1 hour

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

300 g pre-cooked chestnuts

1 Fry shallots in butter.

80 g finely chopped shallots

2 Add 2 chestnuts and cook for 5 minutes.

40 g butter

3 Deglaze with vegetable stock and cook for 30 minutes.

400 ml vegetable broth

4 Puree finely with a hand mixer and pass everything through a sieve.

80 ml crème fraîche

5 Simmer for another 30 minutes.

Salt

6 Add crème fraîche, salt, pepper and port wine.

White pepper

7 Season to taste and put into deep plates.

Dash of bitter port wine

8 Add a fine jet of walnut oil.

Walnut oil

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BREAD & SOUPS

Mulligatawny Soup 40 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

100 g red or orange lentils

1 Fry shallots and garlic in Ghee until soft.

3 to 4 shallots, diced

2 Add lentils and let fry some minutes.

3 gloves of garlic, diced

3 Add spices.

Ghee, heaped spoon

4 Add boiling chicken broth.

Chicken broth

5 Cook for 45 minutes and blend finely.

Spices (all finely ground): Cumin, Fenugreek (fraction), Coriander, Cardamom, White Pepper, Piment, Turmeric powder (spoonful)

6 Season with salt, sugar, lemon juice.

7 Cook slowly another 20 minutes.

8 Adjust seasoning.

9 Sprinkle with chopped fenugreek leaves of chopped coriander leaves.

Lemon juice Salt Sugar

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SNACKS & SIDES

Apple Chutney 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 kg sour apples

1 Dice ginger and onions. Cook them with the sugar in the orange juice and vinegar for 30 minutes, if necessary add some water.

150 g ginger 200 g onions Juice from 2 oranges 250 ml cider vinegar 150 g brown sugar Mustard oil or mustard seeds

2 Peel, deseed and cut apples into pieces. Add them and cook for another 20 minutes.

3 Blend with the hand blender to receive a smooth texture.

4 Add spices, salt, mustard oil and simmer for 10 minutes.

5 Add raisins and let the soak by simmering 3 minutes.

6 Keep in sterilized jars for a few days.

Coriander, freshly ground Cardamom, freshly ground Pinch of nutmeg Piment d’Espelette 150 g corinth raisins Salt

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SNACKS & SIDES

Apple Chutney with Cucumber 1 hour 20 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

300 ml water

1 Put water, the vinegar, sugar and spices in a pan. Heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Add diced ginger, spices as well as chopped onions and garlic and cook for 1 hour.

250 ml cider vinegar or white wine vinegar 180 g brown sugar Spices: Black Pepper, Coriander, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Fenugreek 2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds or 1 tbsp mustard oil 1 cinnamon stick 200 g onions 3 gloves of garlic

2 Then add the cucumbers, partly peeled and deseeded, with a tsp of salt.

3 After 30 minutes add the apples.

4 Bring back to a simmer, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until darkened, thick and chutney-like.

5 To sterilize the jars, wash thoroughly in very hot soapy water. Rinse in very hot water then put on a baking sheet in a 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 oven until completely dry.

6 Pour the chutney into the sterilized jars while still hot, seal and leave in a cool dark place for at least 3 weeks before opening.

30 g ginger 500 cucumbers 6 apples 180 g sultanas or corinth raisins

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SNACKS & SIDES

Caviar Morsels 20 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

60 g real caviar, or salmon caviar

1 Cut cooked and peeled potatoes in 5 mm thick slices and fry slices in butter on both sides, until light brown. Keep warm.

2 – 3 potatoes 20 g butter 3 eggs White pepper

2 Blend eggs with cream, salt slightly, pepper, and prepare thin, fine scrambled eggs.

3 Put the fried potato slice in a larger, warmed up Chinese Spoon.

4 Put eggs on the potato, add a spoonful of caviar and top the pile with whisked crème fraîche or Smetana and extra caviar.

50 ml cream 30 ml crème fraîche or smetana

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SNACKS & SIDES

Coriander Paste 20 minutes

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

200 g green coriander with stems

1 Chop shallots and fry in olive oil until soft.

5 medium shallots

2 Add chopped coriander and cook lightly.

3 tbsp olive oil

3 Put mixture in blend, add butter, lemon zest and piment d’espelette and blend to coarse puree.

2 anchovies’ fillets 50 g butter 1 Lemon

4 Add as much cream to form a lighly solid puree.

5 Season with salt and dash sugar.

Piment d’espelette Cream Sea salt Dash Sugar

48

SNACKS & SIDES

Cucumber Snacks (Chinese Style) 40 minutes

6-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 kg cucumbers

1 Combine all ingredients except the cucumbers, the oils and the sesame seed in a bowl and blend well.

20 g white wine vinegar 30 g sugar Soy sauce Piment d’Espelette Sesame oil Mustard oil

2 Deseed and cut cucumbers into bite-sized pieces and add them to the stir.

3 Add the oils for a good texture and flavour.

4 Check seasoning.

5 Add the roasted sesame seeds and stir.

6 Fill the mix into vacuum bags, vacuumize and refrigerate until usage.

25 g garlic, finely chopped 30 g ginger, finely chopped 60 g sesame seeds, roasted Black and white pepper Salt

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SNACKS & SIDES

Goose Rillettes 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

500 g goose meat

1 Chop generously, but separately, the goose meat, the pork belly and the lean pork.

500 g pork belly

2 In a large saucepan place the pork belly together with some goose fat and let it simmer at low heat.

500 g lean pork meat 300 g goose fat 1 large onion 6 shallots Thyme and bay leaves Salt and pepper 50 ml Armagnac

3 Add the lean pork, increase the heat and let it roast until golden brown.

4 Lower the heat and add the goose meat and the goose fat.

5 Peel onion and shallots and add them in whole.

6 Add thyme and bay leaves.

7 Cook on low fire or in the oven under low heat for 6 hours. Stir from time to time.

8 Half an hour before end of cooking remove onions, shallots, thyme and bay leave.

9 Then add sea salt, pepper and Armagnac and continue until end of half hour.

10 Fill an earthenware pot with the rillettes and make sure they are completely covered with goose fat.

11 Close the pot with parchment paper that is fixed with a rubber band.

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SNACKS & SIDES

Salmon Rillettes 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

350 g salmon

1 Cook the shallots in a tablespoon of butter in a pan, add cream and reduce.

150 g butter

2 Cut the salmon into medium sized cubes, add them into the pan and cook slowly, just to get the outside milky.

80 g shallots, 100g crème fraîche 30 g cream Tarragon Lemon juice

3 Put the content of the pan into the fridge to cool them down to around 6°C. 4 Mix all ingredients in a blender, including the salmon until very smooth.

5 Check seasoning, blend again and fill the rillettes into jars.

6 Cover them and keep in the fridge.

Lemon zest Salt 1 ts Dijon mustard 1 dash of sugar Piment d’Espelette White pepper

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SNACKS & SIDES

Har Gow 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS Dumpling Dough:

Filling:

1 ½ cups wheat starch

¼ cup / 2 oz canned bamboo shoots, rinsed and minced

2 tbsp tapioca starch 1 cup boiling water 1 tbsp vegetable shortening

½ lb raw shrimp, shelled and deveined (about 20 size 31/40 shrimp)

2 tbsp cilantros, minced

1 ts sugar

½ tbsp soy sauce

¼ ts salt

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or pale-dry sherry

A pinch of white pepper

½ tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp scallions, minced

1 tbsp cornstarch

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Napa or savoy cabbage leaves

HANS’S TIP: It is essential to use boiling water when making the dumpling dough. The boiling water cooks the starch which acts as a binder when kneading in the rest of the flour. Work quickly. It may be hot, so use a wooden spoon when you mix the starch and shortening to form a ball.

PREPARATION Preparing the dough:

Preparing the filling and the Har Gow:

1 Combine the wheat starch and the tapioca starch. Form a well in the centre. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring until a ball forms.

1 Cut half the shrimp into 1/3 in cubes, and mince the rest.

2 Mix all the ingredients together.

3 Take a dough portion, work into a round ball, flatten it with a rolling pin into a 3 1/2 inch round and about 1/8 inch thick.

2 Cool a little, while still warm, stir in the shortening, a little at a time. Transfer to a lightly floured board and knead for a few minutes until soft and smooth.

4 Place the wrapper in your palm. Place 1 teaspoon of filling into the dough. Spread a little water on the edge. Fold into half to make a crescent moon.

3 Divide the dough into 2 balls. Roll each piece of dough into a 1 inch cylinder.

5 Using your thumb to form little pleats the top edge and press the two layers together to seal. Gently tap the bottom of the pouch and make a little purse.

4 Cut each cylinder into ¾ inch pieces. Roll into a ball. You should have about 30 pieces. Cover as you work.

5 Cover dough with a damp tea cloth for 15 minutes.

6 Placed onto a steamer that is lined with cabbage leaves.

7 Steam over simmering water for 6-8 minutes or until the dumplings are translucent. Add water if necessary so that the wok is not dried out.

8 Afterwards the Har Gow is ready to serve.

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02 54

The Main Course.

Have you ever tried to order in a restaurant without speaking the language of the country?

In my first months in China I wanted to order the speciality of the house for myself and my visit: Roasted suckling pig. “Pork” and “suckling pig” were not understood. Then I drew the silhouette of a pig on paper - again without success, because apparently too little “piglike”. As the last attempt I tried a pig grunt, which was however understood as dog barking, whereupon the astonishment about my culinary variety grew. Already ready to give up the meal, I saw two men in a shed working hard on roasted suckling pig.

The courageous look beyond one’s own nose is sometimes able to conjure up delicious main courses.

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56

The Main Course.

Meat, Pasta, Fish & Vegetable Meat Barbequed Chinese Duck and Goose Cassoulet Chinese Fried Rice German “Bratwurst” German “Knackwurst” Osso Buco “Maultaschen” made in China Pan-fried Pork or Beef with Potatoes Meat and Liver Loaf Oxtail Goulash with Spätzle

Pasta Casareccia with Five-Nut Pesto Linguine with Shallots, Raisins and Turmeric Egg Noodles Piemonte Style Malfatti Pasta with Coriander Paste Pasta with Squid

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Fish & Vegetable Aubergine Gratin Cabbage Rolls with Salmon Farce Duxelles Pike Dumplings on Duxelles Potato Gratin Prawns in Coriander Coat

MEAT

Barbequed Chinese Duck and Goose 2 hours

8-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS 1 duck

Fresh or dried thyme

Stock

150 g carrots

1 goose

Finely ground spice mixture of bengali pepper, coriander, cumin, fenugreek

100 g onions

6 tomatoes

30 g garlic

Bay leaves

200 g celery

Coarse black pepper

250 ml white wine Sea salt

Olive oil

Fresh or dried oregano

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PREPARATION 1 Debone the birds completely, leaving only the first wing bone and the thigh leg bone. Cut each bird in 4 pieces.

8 In a flat pan combine olive oil, spices and herbs – make one oregano mixture for the duck and one thyme mixture for the goose – and rubb the bird with it.

2 Rub the meat with sea salt and keep it cold for 18 hours.

3 Chop all bones, heads, throats, gizzards, and roast them in the oven at 180°C until brown.

9 Put both birds separately in a plastic bag, add an equal part of the cold stock and vacuumize.

10 Cook in the thermolizer at 78°C for 8 hours. Cool down in ice bath and keep overnight for maturing.

4 Deglaze with white wine and water.

5 Add ground pepper, bay leaves and all vegetables for the stock and simmer for around 4 hours.

6 Strain the liquid through a fine strainer and put it into the fridge overnight. Remove the fat from the top and keep it separately.

11 The easiest serving is to put the meat under the grill or in an oven at very high temperature for quick roasting.

12 Roasted meats, stock and fat allow a variety of delicious dishes with rice, pasta, potatoes, and vegetables.

7 Clean the duck and the goose parts from excessive salt.

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MEAT

Cassoulet 2 hours 30 minutes

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS Goose Confit

Lamb Pot

Bean pot

Finishing Cassoulet

1 medium sized goose

1.5 kg lamb shoulder

1 kg white beans

2 garlic gloves

Thyme

2 carrots

2 carrots

Bread crumbs

Sage

2 onions

1 onion

Sea salt

5 garlic gloves

2 pork paws

Goose fat

Concassee of 4 tomatoes

Pork skin

0.3 l dry white wine

0.5 kg fresh bacon or shoulder

1 tbsp of flour

10 toulouse sausages

Ground black pepper

Bouquet garni

Sea salt

Sea salt

60

PREPARATION Goose Confit

Lamb Pot

1 The day before the Cassoulet is served debone goose, and remove skin.

1 Cut lamb into 2.5 cm cubes.

2 Dice carrots and onions and fry in goose fat. Then cook for around 10 minutes.

2 Rub with sae salt and let marinate for 8 hours.

3 Clean from excess salt.

3 Remove from the pan, increase heat, add more goose fat and fry the meat on all sides.

4 Separate breast and thigh parts.

4 Sprinkle with flour, fry again, add onions and carrots and deglaze with the white wine.

5 Seal both parts separately with herbs and goose fat in plastic bags and vacuumize.

5 Add crushed garlic, bouquet garni, and tomato concassee.

6 Cook Sous-Vide: breast 60°C for 8 hours; thigh parts 62°C for 12 hours.

6 Stir for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and cool down rapidly to room temperature.

7 If not immediately used cool rapidly in ice bath and keep in fridge.

7 Vacuumize and cook Sous-Vide at 580C for 9 hours.

8 Also prepare a good broth from goose bones, stomach, and other parts with aromates.

BEAN & FINISHING

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Bean Pot

Finishing: Cassoulet

1 The evening before: soak beans in plenty of water.

1 Use a sufficient large ceramic pot and rub it with squeezed garlic gloves.

2 Discard water.

2 Line the bottom of the pot with the pork skin, cut in stripes.

3 Put pork skin, pork paws (cut lengthwise) and bacon or shoulder into boiling water and let blanch for 4 minutes.

Remove and put into ice water.

3 Cut the goose meat in eatable portions and add it to the skin.

4 Put one third of the beans on top.

4 Put beans, pricked sausages, all pork meat, onions, bouquet garni without salt into a large pot and cover with cold water, 3 cm over the bean level.

5 Cut the pork paw in pieces without bones, add the lamb meat with concentrated broth, and add to the pot.

6 Generously add ground black pepper.

5 Bring to boil and simmer slowly, always skimming the impurities from the surface.

7 Put on another third of the beans.

6 After 30 Minutes remove the sausages and put aside.

8 Add the sausage without skin (cut in 2 cm large pieces) and the pork meat (cut in 2 cm large pieces).

7 After further 30 minutes remove the bacon or shoulder and put aside.

9 Cover with the remaining third of the beans.

8 Cook beans with the remaining ingredients until almost soft.

10 Add so much liquid – goose broth and bean cooking liquid to reach the top of the beans

9 Remove pork skin and paws and put aside.

11 Sprinkle with bread crumbs, pour over some table spoons of goose fat, and make sure the crumbs are covered with fat.

10 Remove onions and bouquet garni and discard.

11 Season beans with sea salt.

12 Put in oven and simmer at around 140°C without lid.

12 Strain liquid and keep it for later use.

13 After 30 minutes add - if necessary - more broth or bean liquid.

14 Carry on simmering, add liquid, and cut the brown surface crust at least four times.

15 After around two hours the cassoulet will be ready for serving.

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63

MEAT

Chinese Fried Rice 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

500 g rice

1 Cook the rice and chop the vegetables.

3 eggs

2 Heat the oil in a wok.

Vegetables as you like (e.g. cabbage and carrots)

3 Add the eggs quickly and stir rapidly to mix them well.

3 tbsp concentrated chicken stock Cooking oil Salt Optional: slices of cooked beef or chicken

4 Add vegetables and fry for some minutes.

5 Add cooked rice and stir thoroughly to get the grains separated.

6 If too dry add more oil.

7 Add chicken stock by stirring continuously.

8 Add meat if desired.

9 Stir and season with salt.

10 Check seasoning.

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MEAT

German “Bratwurst” 1 hour 30 minutes

8-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 kg pork shoulder

1 Cut all meat and bacon in cubes, cover with all spices (no salt), mix carefully and freeze partly.

500 g lean pork ham 500 g bacon fat 38 g sea salt 2 eggs 200 ml milk frozen in cubes Cumin Pepper white Pepper black Macis Coriander

2 Mince the meat finely.

3 Take about 30% of the minced meat and put it into a blender.

4 Blend with cubes of milk and garlic.

5 Add all meat and knead all parts until binding starts.

6 Add salt and knead until homogeneous.

7 Fill into pork casings with sausage stuffer, part and bind into sausage-long segments.

8 Let them rest for 12 to maximal 24 hours in the fridge.

9 Blanch in water bath at 640C for 15 minutes.

10 Barbecue or fry on frying plate.

The German Bratwurst goes perfectly with mashed potatoes or fresh salad.

Cardamom Fenugreek (fraction) 2 gloves of garlic Pork casings 65

MEAT

German “Knackwurst” 2 hours

10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

750 g salted ham

1 Pickle the ham for a week.

1 kg pork shoulder

2 Cut all meat in cubes, cover with all spices (no salt and garlic), mix carefully and freezepartly. Hold the ham separately.

750 g bacon 500 g beef 35 – 40 g sea salt (depending on the ham)

3 Fry the garlic in butter and cool it down.

4 Mince the pork, beef and garlic through the middle disc (6mm).

5 Mince the ham through the coarse disc (8mm) and hold it separately.

8 gloves of garlic

6 Freeze and dice the bacon.

40 g sugar

7 Freeze everything again. Then blend 750 g of meat with garlic and ice cubes.

7.5 g freshly ground black pepper

8 Add salt as well as all meat and bacon (except the ham) and mix e.g. in a dough mixer.

2 g each of caraway seeds, coriander and paprika

9 Add ham and work it in for 30 minutes until a solid bond is formed.

0.75 g nutmeg

10 Fill into cleaned (hand-hot soaked) casings with sausage stuffer, part and bind into sausage-long segments of 12 to 15 cm length.

1 g Macis

11 Brew the sausages at 75°C for 30 min, then cool them down.

250 g ice cubes 50 ml Cachaça or Armagnac Pig casings or sheep casings 66

MEAT

Osso Buco 1 hour 30 minutes

8-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

4 veal shanks, 3 cm thick

1 Put kitchen twine around each shank to hold the meat together.

2 tbsp flour

2 Create a flour-salt-pepper-mix.

½ tbsp salt

3 Cover veal with flour-salt-pepper-mix and tap off excess.

⅓ tbsp ground pepper

4 Fry veal in a pan with butter and brown on all sides, then put it aside.

Soffrito (mirepoix)

5 Add Soffrito to the pan, sprinkle over some flour-salt-pepper-mix and let it fry gently until soft.

White wine 150 ml chicken stock 4 tomatoes 6 shallots 6 celery sticks 4 carrots 2 tbsp gremolada (garlic + lemon peel) 50 g butter Olive Oil

6 Heat temperature and deglaze pan with white win.

7 Add chicken stock and tomatoes (peeled, deseeded and chopped) and let it simmer for some minutes.

8 Chop shallots, celery and carrots.

9 Put meat and vegetables in an oven pan, drizzle some olive oil over, cover and let it cook for 60 – 90 minutes until meat is soft.

10 Put meat aside in a warm place and add gremolada to the sauce.

11 Reduce sauce to around 250 ml.

12 Season to taste.

13 Add meat, pour some sauce over and serve.

Sea salt 67

MEAT

HANS’S TIP:

“Maultaschen” made in China

There are different ways you can serve Maultaschen. Find out the one you prefer most: · In a beef broth with slightly fried shallots. · On the plate with melted butter. · Sliced in pieces and fried with beaten eggs.

2 hours

8-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION 30 g butter

1 Slightly freeze pork shoulder and ham.

350 g fresh b readcrumbs

2 Put through the fine mincer disc, but keep separated.

800 g raw ham 120 g ice

Parsley

16 g pickle salt

Chives

600 g boiled beef brisket

Oregano (dried)

1.6 kg pork shoulder with fat

200 g leek 200 ml cream 1.6 kg spinach 80 g shallots 20 g garlic

Salt Black pepper Nutmeg 900 g well prepared pasta dough

3 Blend the ham in a blender with ice and pickle salt.

4 Put beef brisket through the fine mincer disc.

5 Chop leek and cook in cream.

6 Fry chopped shallots and garlic with butter in a pan.

7 Blanch spinach, put into ice water, press water out and finely chop.

8 Blend all ingredients and work through for a good binding.

9 Add herbs and spices and mix again.

10 Correct seasoning.

11 Roll pasta dough out very finely and cut into 10 cm long rectangles.

Place the filling in the middle and put an equal piece of dough on top.

Press the edges down well and press the pasta flat with both hands.

12 Cook in simmering water around 15 minutes and serve.

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MEAT

Pan-fried Pork or Beef with Potatoes 25 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 kg beef or pork

1 Cut the meat into thin slices.

1 tbsp starch

2 Chop onions and garlic.

2 tbsp Chinese wine

3 Marinate the meat with starch, wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and sugar for 1 – 2 hours (beef longer).

1 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce 200 g onions 50 g garlic 500 g potatoes Salt Sugar Black Pepper

4 Cut potatoes into slices, fry on both sides and put aside.

5 In the same pan fry the meat briefly at high heat until it is light brown outside.

Then put aside.

6 In the same pan fry onions and garlic until light brown by using additional water.

7 When all water is evaporated add the pork or beef and potatoes.

8 Season with pepper and Piment d’Espelette, check salt and serve immediately.

9 Instead of potatoes the pan-fried pork or beef goes also perfectly well with pasta or polenta.

Piment d’Espelette

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MEAT

Meat and Liver Loaf 2 hours

8-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1.2 kg marbled pork

1 tbsp of ground Cumin

1 Pickle the lean pork 10 days before in a brine.

500 g beef

1 tbsp of ground Fennel

2 Wash pickled meat, dry it, mince finely and put aside in a cold place.

700 g pork ham, pickled

1 heaped ts of ground Fenugreek

3 Mince 300 g of marbled pork finely and add it to the pickled meat.

300 g lard 300 g pork liver 400 g ice 8 gloves of garlic 12 shallots, or 2 large onions

1 tbsp of Piment d’Espelette Lemon peel Sea salt

4 Cut 700 g of marbled meat, lard in cubes and put in freezer for 4 hours.

5 Mince finely.

6 Fry garlic and shallots in butter until golden brown and soft.

7 Puree marbled meat, beef, lard, and cooled garlic and shallots portion by portion with ice 8 Cut liver in fine slices, then chop in cubes.

3 heaped tbsp of white pepper

9 Blend all meats and liver, add spices and herbs and blend firmly for at least 15 minutes.

1 heaped tbsp of ground Mazis

10 Check taste and add seasoning if necessary.

3 heaped tbsp of dried Oregano

11 Bake the loaf in moist heat at 120°C until core temperature reaches 70°C. 12 Brown surface at 160°C for around 5 to 10 minutes and verify that the core temperature has meanwhile reached 73°C. 13 Let rest for 20 to 30 minutes, then serve.

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Selfmade Brine INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1.2 l Water

1 Boil the water with all ingredients.

250 g sea salt or 200 g nitrite pickling salt

2 Clean surface from foam.

40 g sugar 8 bay leaves

3 Cool down.

4 Make sure the product is completely covered.

5 Time for pickling is between 7 to 14 days depending on meat volume.

1 tbsp of black pepper, crushed 1 tbsp of coriander seeds, crushed

71

MEAT

Oxtail Goulash with Spätzle 1 hour

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

Oxtail Goulash

Marinade

2 kg oxtail in parts cut at the joints 1 kg onions 8 tbsp concentrated tomato puree

Beef stock

1 Blend carrots, leek, celery, thyme, pepper, bay leaves and wine.

Salt

2 Marinate the meat for around 18 hours. Make sure that all meat is covered, otherwise turn it around from time to time.

Thyme Black pepper (finely crushed)

Gremolada

4 tbsp sweet red paprika powder

Parsley

1 Finely dice garlic, lemon zests and parsley.

2 carrots

Spätzle

1 leek, cut into juliennes

500 g spätzle flour

3 sticks celery

6 large eggs

5 dl of good red wine

16 g salt

Piment d’espelette or ground chilli

200 ml water

Clarified butter

2 Set aside.

Spätzle 1 Mix all ingredients and work through with a strong whisk until the dough blisters.

2 Leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

3 Now fill a large pot with water and bring the water to the boil, add plenty of salt. Make a bowl and a sieve available for draining.

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4 When the water is boiling, briefly place the spaetzle board and scraper in the pot to moisten.

5 Add tomato puree and stir for another 5 minutes.

6 Deglaze with boiling beef stock and stir well.

5 Put about 1 to 2 spoons of the dough on the board, smooth it down and use the scraper to scrape the dough into the water pot.

7 Then add the paprika, piment d’espelette, stir and add the complete marinade.

6 When the spaetzle reaches the surface of the water during the cooking process, it is ready. Remove from the pot, place in a sieve and drain.

8 Bring to boil, then add the meat and some salt. Heat it up, cover the casserole and place it in the oven at around 110°C. 9 Let the goulash cook for 3 – 4 hours. Check the texture from time to time and add – if necessary – some more boiling beef stock. When the oxtail is soft remove the pieces from the casserole, cut off all meat and set aside.

7 Repeat with the whole dough.

Prepare dish

10 If the goulash is too runny put up heat and reduce it sufficiently for a soft texture.

1 Take oxtail pieces from the marinade and dry them.

2 Dice the onions.

11 Add the gremolada and the meat, stir, check seasoning and put the casserole back into the oven for 10 minutes.

3 Fry the meat in an iron casserole in some clarified butter from all sides and set aside.

12 Serve the Oxtail Goulash together with the Spätzle.

4 In the same pan add more butter and cook the onions slowly around 10 minutes without browning them.

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PASTA

Casareccia with Five-Nut Pesto 40 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

½ cup each of almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios

1 Roast all nuts in the oven at 145°C for 10 minutes.

6 garlic gloves 2 cups fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish ⅓ cup flat parsley ½ cup grated Parmesan ½ cup grated Pecorino Salt and ground pepper Piment d’Espelette

2 Put all nuts, both cheeses, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, Piment d’Espelette into a food processor and start the machine.

3 Immediately pour in the olive oil until the mixture has got a spreadable consistence.

4 Do not over-puree.

5 Check seasoning and use Nouilly Prat or Dry Martini for the final touch.

6 Bring 8 litre of water to boil.

7 Add fistful of salt.

8 Add pasta and boil until the pasta is tender.

9 Meanwhile put 2 cups of pasta water and the butter to the pesto and warm through.

¾ cup olive oil

10 Put the drained pasta back to the saucepan and stir in the pesto, cup after cup, adding more reserved pasta water until the pasta is coated, but not dry or sticky.

A good splash of Nouilly Prat or Dry Martini

11 Serve with grated Parmesan Cheese.

1 kg casareccia (Gemelli, Strozzapreti) 2 tbls butter 74

PASTA

Linguine with Shallots, Raisins and Turmeric 40 minutes

6-8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

420 g linguine

Prepare condimento:

80 g butter

1 Cook shallots slowly in the butter until golden brown.

6 shallots

2 Add drained raisins to the shallots and cook for 2 minutes.

60 g raisins, soaked in warm water

3 Stir in cream and turmeric.

60 ml double cream

4 Add some pasta water.

1 tbsp turmeric

5 Add salt and pepper to taste.

Salt

Prepare pasta:

Pepper, freshly ground

6 Bring 4 litre of water to boil.

Olive Oil for linguine water

7 Add fistful of salt.

Parmesan cheese

8 Add olive oil.

9 Cook the linguine until al dente.

10 Remove them from boiling water and put them into the pan with the condimento.

11 Toss the pasta with the condimento at high heat.

12 Add some pasta water to make the linguine smooth and moist.

13 Serve with grated Parmesan Cheese.

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PASTA

Egg Noodles Piemonte Style 2 hours

6-8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

4 whole eggs

1 Form a ring of flour on a wooden board, put eggs, egg yolks, olive oil, salt in the middle and start making a dough, mixing with your fingers.

4 egg yolks 3 quarters of semi-coarse soft wheat flour, 1 quarter of durum wheat flour, mixed together 1 tbsp olive oil Sea salt

2 Add more flour mix and knead carefully until you reach a soft texture that does not stick any more to the surface.

3 Knead 10 minutes and wrap the dough in a cling film for resting.

4 After 30 minutes roll out the dough thinly by hand or with a pasta machine and cut it in 4 – 5 mm wide noodles.

5 Cook noodles in boiling salt water until they are “Al Dente” (around 4 – 5 minutes), drain and mix with Gorgonzola Sauce or Duck Sauce.

DUCK SAUCE & GORGONZOLA SAUCE

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77

Duck Sauce INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

Duck

1 Get water to boil in a pot big enough to hold the duck. Put the duck in for two minutes, remove, cool under cold water and discard the water.

1 duck (around 2 kg) 2 large onions 8 gloves of garlic 2 leeks Bay leaves Soffrito (mirepoix)

2 Cut duck in half and place the two pieces flat in the pot, add cold water to just cover it and bring to boil.

3 Clean the surface from rising debris and simmer.

4 Add onions, garlic, leek and bay leaves and continue simmering until the meat is tender.

5 From time to time skim and retain the rising fat.

3 tbsp shallots

6 Remove the duck halves, and – when cooled – strip the meat completely from the bones.

3 tbsp celery

7 Chop all bones, put them back into the broth and simmer for another 90 minutes.

3 tbsp carrots

8 In a pan fry the Soffrito in the duck fat until it becomes softer and add the chopped tomatoes.

Sea salt Sauce 8 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped White wine Thyme, Marjoram, Savoury, Basil (all chopped) or: dried “Herbs de Provence”

9 Add the fresh or dry herbs and the Piment d’Espelette.

10 Add some white wine.

11 Continue cooking for around 30 minutes, and add – when liquid is evaporated – some of the boiling duck broth.

12 Meanwhile mince the duck meat in a meat grinder.

13 In an earthenware skillet combine duck meat and all vegetables, salt and pepper, and add so much broth to get a not so thick saucy texture.

Piment d’Espelette

14 Close the lid of the skillet and cook in the oven at 1200 for 90 minutes.

Sea salt

15 Put the sauce into a sterilized jar and let it ripe for some days.

Pepper

16 Before serving take the required amount from the jar and cook it for 10 minutes with fresh Gremolada.

Gremolada 1 tbsp Lemon cest, diced

17 Check seasoning and serve the duck sauce with “Egg Noodles Piedmont Style”.

2 tbsp chopped garlic 3 tbsp chopped parsley 78

Gorgonzola Sauce INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

250 g Gorgonzola “Piccante”

1 Cook butter in a saucepan until foam disappears, then add flower under constant stirring.

500 ml whole milk 40 g butter 1 tbsp wheat flour Whipping Cream

2 Add milk slowly under stirring with a whisk and cook slowly for 10 minutes.

Stir regularly to avoid sauce scorching.

3 Stir in the cheese piece by piece and whisk until completely melted.

4 Add pepper, stir and taste.

Flat parsley leaves, two handful, chopped

5 As the Gorgonzola is salty be careful with adding salt.

White pepper

6 In case the taste seems to be too strong, add cream until the sauce is well balanced and creamy.

Sea salt

7 Add parsley, cook for another three minutes, and serve the sauce with “Egg Noodles Piedmont Style”.

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PASTA

Malfatti 30 minutes

4 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

250 g low-fat curd

1 Wash, clean and dry the spinach.

200 g leaf spinach

2 Squeeze out the low-fat quark well.

1 bunch parsley

3 Finely dice the onion, chop the parsley, remove the bark from the white bread and grate.

1 onion

4 Melt the butter in a pan, add the washed and dried spinach, let it collapse and remove it from the pan.

50 g white bread 2 egg yolks 1 sprig thyme 1 pinch nutmeg 30 g Parmesan cheese 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp fine semolina

5 Chop coarsely and put in a bowl with the squeezed quark.

6 Grate the parmesan and put aside.

7 Add all other ingredients to the bowl and knead together.

8 Then form balls about the size of a table tennis ball.

9 Poach in salted water. Take out with a skimmer, drain well and serve.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

10 Optional: Heat butter until golden brown and pour over.

15 g soft butter Some grated lemon Salt and pepper Nutmeg 80

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PASTA

Pasta with Coriander Paste 30 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

250 g duck ham, or ripened bacon, or speck

1 Put pasta into salted boiling water, observe cooking time.

2 shallots 2 tbsp duck fat, or olive oil 1 heaped tbsp coriander paste 420 g Durum wheat pasta 30 ml Nouilly Prat (dry vermouth) Grated Parmigiano

2 Heat duck fat or olive oil in a pan and fry the ham / bacon / speck in it.

3 Add shallots and fry again, but avoid getting brown.

4 Add some water and let cook until water is evaporated.

5 Add coriander paste, blend, then add cooking water from the pasta.

6 Add Nouilly Prat. Correct seasoning with salt and sugar.

7 Rinse pasta when strongly al-dente and put into the pan.

Salt

8 Cook pasta in frying pan until it is nicely covered with sugo and extra liquid is evaporated.

Sugar

9 Serve with grated Parmigiano.

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PASTA

Pasta with Squid 30 minutes

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

Pasta Sauce

Pasta

500 g squid, cleaned

500 g pasta (Tagliatelle)

6 ts olive oil

4 tbsp shallots, finely chopped

4 ts Nouilly Prat (dry vermouth)

6 gloves of garlic

1 Mix all ingredients for the sauce and put them together with the squid in a plastic bag, vacuumize and marinate for 8 hours.

2 Poach for 5 hours at 75°C. 3 Put pasta into boiling salt water and cook according to instructions.

4 Cook shallots in butter, add flour, and continue to cook until shallots are soft.

2 ts lemon juice

Butter

Zest from one lemon

1 dash of flour

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

Black Pepper

2 tbsp Piment d’Espelette

Basil, chopped

6 Cut squid in manageable pieces and add together with the chopped basil.

1 ts sugar

Sugar

7 Taste for seasoning and adjust with pepper and sugar.

Salt

5 Deglaze with the content of the squid bag, add the gloves of garlic, and simmer until the liquid has been reduced by half.

8 Drain the pasta, mix with the sauce, discard the garlic, and cook until the sauce sticks to the pasta. If needed add some more water from the pasta cooking.

83

FISH & VEGETABLE

Aubergine Gratin 40 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

2 medium sized aubergine

1 Cut aubergines into slices.

3 tomatoes

2 Blanch aubergine slices briefly in salted water and chill in iced water.

4 cloves of garlic

3 Fry both sides in olive oil, put slices on kitchen paper.

Coarse salt

4 Season with salt and pepper.

Bengali pepper

5 Squash the garlic with salt and fry slightly in olive oil.

5 – 7 anchovies filets in oil

6 Add tomatoes (peeled and deseeded) and anchovies. Fry everything briefly.

Olive oil

7 Add thyme, oregano, sugar and check seasoning.

Thyme

8 Place aubergines, overlapping, in an oiled pan.

Oregano

9 Cover each layer with seasoned garlic / tomato spread.

Dash of sugar

10 Mix cheeses with breadcrumbs and some cream.

Cheeses like Gruyere and Parmigiano

11 Sprinkle over covered aubergines and bake at moist heat at 150°C until surface is golden brown and bubbling.

Breadcrumbs Cream

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85

FISH & VEGETABLE

Cabbage Rolls with Salmon Farce 1 hour

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 medium size young white cabbage

Cabbage Rolls

500 g salmon 150 ml cream

1 Preblanch the cabbage head in salted water.

2 Cut off the stalk and remove individual leaves.

Salt

3 Blanch the leaves a little, if necessary, then quench, dab dry and cut out half of the middle rib.

Pepper

4 Puree salmon with cream, season with salt and pepper.

Butter

5 Fill the cabbage leaves and press to form a ball.

Shallots

6 Spread the cabbage rolls with butter and bake in the oven at 160°C for 25 minutes.

Flour

Sauce

White wine

7 Sweat shallots with butter in a pan, stir in some flour.

Nouilly Prat

8 Deglaze with white wine and Nouilly Prat and let thicken slowly.

Dill

9 Sprinkle with dill.

10 Halve cabbage rolls and serve with sauce.

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FISH & VEGETABLE

HANS’S TIP:

Duxelles 30 minutes

Duxelles is excellent for filling hard-boiled eggs, omelettes or pancakes. But also as a spread – pure or refined with other ingredients – it offers a tasty alternative.

6-10 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

400 g brown (preferably) or white button mushrooms (champignons)

1 Chop mushrooms very finely.

150 g shallot 60 g butter Thyme Sea salt and fresh pepper 5 cl dry vermouth Drops of lemon juice

2 Put mushrooms out into a clean, cotton towel.

3 Twist towel around mushrooms and wring out as much liquid as you can.

4 Chop shallots finely.

5 Melt half of the butter in a pan and fry the shallots until blond.

6 Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and fry under constant stirring until all liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated.

7 Lower the heat, add rest of the butter, chopped thyme and vermouth.

8 Season to taste, stir and let vermouth almost evaporate.

9 Add lemon juice.

10 Let duxelles cool down.

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FISH & VEGETABLE

Pike Dumplings on Duxelles 2 hours

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS Choux Pastry

Dumplings

Fish-Butter-Egg-Sauce

Duxelles

250 ml whole milk

1 kg pike meat or the meat of another white lean fish

2 carrots

400 g brown (preferably) or white button mushrooms (champignons)

50 g butter 125 g wheat flour 4 eggs Sea Salt

500 g choux pastry 100 g soft butter 20 g sea salt Piment d’Espelette (French Chili Powder)

2 onions 1 leek Fish bones, fish skin, fish head cleaved without gills

150 g shallots 60 g butter Thyme, chopped

5 dl of dry white wine (Riesling)

Sea salt and fresh pepper

2.5 dl full fat milk

5 cl dry vermouth

70 g butter Fresh thyme 2 bay leaves 40 g wheat flour 3 egg yolks Fresh lemon juice Sea salt 88

PREPARATION Choux Pastry

3 Strain the meat portion by portion through a flat sieve and keep cold again.

1 Heat the milk together with the butter and the salt in a sufficient large casserole.

4 Before blending fish meat and choux pastry, make sure that both have the same cool temperature.

2 When it boils remove the casserole from the heat and sieve the flour in the milk by constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.

5 Strain the choux pastry and the butter quickly through the sieve and blend fish, pastry, butter, salt and spices carefully but firmly until the mixture becomes very firm and homogeneous.

3 Reheat the casserole again and stir until the choux pastry has formed a dry ball.

6 Season to taste, cover with cling film and let the mixture rest for 12 hours.

4 When the pastry does not stick anymore, let it cool down to around 40°C; work in the eggs, one a time until the pastry is homogeneous and silky.

7 Form longish dumplings of around 100 to 120 g each and put on a floured greaseproof paper.

Heat salt water in a large pot. When boiling put the dumplings carefully into the water and let boil lightly.

5 Put the choux pastry in a stainless-steel bowl, cover with cling film and let it rest in the fridge at least for one day.

Dumplings 1 Chill the fish meat in the deep freeze until firm but not frozen.

8 Cook the dumplings 2 minutes, then turn carefully around and boil another 2 minutes.

2 Put it twice through the meat grinder or grind it finely in a mincer.

After mincing put the fish back in the fridge to keep it very cold.

9 Take dumpling out with a strainer and let them drip off on a kitchen cloth.

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Fish-Butter-Egg-Sauce

Duxelles

1 Clean vegetables carefully, chop carrots, onions, cut leek in small rounds.

please see page 87 Finishing

2 In a large casserole let melt 30 g butter and cook the vegetables until blond.

1 Butter the earthenware dish that will hold the ingredients.

2 Mix around on quarter of the sauce with the Duxelles and spread evenly in the dish.

3 Add fish bones, head and skin, white wine, thyme and bay leaves and gently boil for 20 minutes.

3 Put the dumplings on top until the dish is well filled.

4 Filter through a sieve and press the solid pars to get most of the fumet.

4 Ladle half of the sauce over the dumplings. Make sure you have still around one quarter of the sauce left.

5 In a large casserole heat 40 g butter, add the flour and stir rapidly until blond.

5 Put in the preheated oven at 200°C and cook around 20 minutes and you see the dumplings rising and the top is lightly coloured.

6 Add the fumet little by little under constant stirring, then add the milk and boil carefully under stirring for 15 minutes.

6 Remove the dish from the oven and put it on higher top heat or switch on the grill.

7 Remove the casserole from the heat, let cool down to around 60 – 70°C and add the egg yolks under whisking.

Do not heat again.

7 Spread the remaining sauce carefully over the dumplings and put back into the oven. Grill until the surface is brown.

8 Add lemon juice and season to taste.

8 Serve right away.

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91

FISH & VEGETABLE

Potato Gratin 40 minutes

6-8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 kg potatoes, medium cooking

1 Spread out gratin dish with butter.

300 ml full fat milk

2 Peel and slice the potatoes.

300 ml cream

3 Place the potato slices in overlapping layers, provide for a maximum of three layers.

Butter(-flakes)

4 Salt and pepper each layer.

Salt

5 Cover the last layer with butterflakes.

White pepper

6 Carefully fill in the milk and cream mixture until just below the surface.

7 Bake on a low heat at 130°C. 8 Occasionally press in the uppermost layer so that it comes into contact with the liquid.

9 Bake until the potatoes are soft and have formed a light brown crust.

92

FISH & VEGETABLE

Prawns in Coriander Coat 10 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

18 fresh raw prawns, peeled and deveined

1 Cut garlic into thin lamellas, spring onions in thin disc and chop coriander leaves finely.

6 gloves of garlic

2 Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and fry until golden brown.

40 g coriander leaves

3 Add prawns and fry quickly by turning them over all the time. They must be still very soft inside.

6 spring onions

4 Add butter, coriander and spring onions.

Piment d’Espelette

5 Add salt and Piment d’Espelette.

Butter

6 Turn the prawns quickly in the pan until they are covered all over and firm.

Olive Oil

7 Serve immediately.

Sea salt

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03 94

The Grand Dessert.

My first New Year celebration in China gave me the feeling of belonging and of being able to move important things. Out of this mood, I invited friends to an evening snack at my place. There were various salami, French country pâté, Greek olives, French cheese, dark and light bread and for dessert homemade German “Ofenschlupfer”. We had already eaten almost everything when, miraculously, three more friends suddenly appeared and gave the evening a fresh impetus.

Sometimes the dessert is not the end, but the promise of another beginning.

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96

The Grand Dessert.

Sweet, Chocolate, Fruit Sweet Curd Cheese Pancakes German “Ofenschlupfer” Crème Brûlée Crème Caramel Tiramisu

Chocolate Baked Chocolate Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake Chocolate Mousse

97

Fruit Chocolate Mousse with Orange Sauce Mango Crème Brûlée Strawberry Charlotte

SWEET

Curd Cheese Pancakes 30 minutes

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

110 g soft butter

1 Melt 50 g butter in a pot. Sieve the flour into a bowl.

100 g flour

2 Gradually stir in the milk, 2 eggs and melted butter with 1 sachet vanilla sugar and salt.

200 ml milk

3 Leave the dough to stand for about 30 minutes.

5 eggs

4 Meanwhile, wash the lemon hot for the filling, grate the peel finely.

2 sachets vanilla sugar

5 Roast the nuts in a pan at medium heat until they have a fine fragrance and let cool.

1 pinch salt

6 Stir 30 g butter until creamy, add 2 eggs and the curd cheese or layered cheese with the sugar, add lemon peel and nuts and mix well.

1 lemon 50 g ground hazelnuts 250 g curd cheese or layered cheese 50 g sugar 150 g sour cream or crème fraîche Icing sugar

7 Preheat the oven to 200°C (switch on later: circulating air 180°C).

8 Heat a pan and melt some of the remaining butter in it. Fill in a ladle of dough and turn the pan back and forth until the dough fills the bottom of the pan.

9 Bake at medium heat for about 1 minute, turn around and bake for another ½ minute. Remove and allow to cool. Bake another 7 pancakes from the dough.

10 Spread the filling on the pancake, roll up and cut each roll diagonally into four pieces, overlapping each other slightly and place in a fireproof dish.

11 Mix remaining egg with sour cream or crème fraîche and remaining vanilla sugar. Pour over.

12 Bake the pancakes in the oven (middle) for about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. The curd cheese pancakes go well with compote.

98

SWEET

German “Ofenschlupfer” 40 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

300 g of stale rolls or white bread

1 Cut bread in thin slices and set aside.

4 medium sized apples

2 Peel apples, clean inside, cut into thin slices.

Lemon juice

3 Put lemon juice on apples, sprinkle with sugar and cook slightly in butter. Set aside.

6.5 dl milk

4 Separate the eggs.

1 vanilla pod

5 Whisk milk with egg yolk, sugar, and the inside of the vanilla pod.

5 eggs

6 Grease a flat mould with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

60 g raisins soaked in rum or brandy

7 Arrange the bread slices in an overlapping manner.

Almonds sliced Hint of cinnamon 60 g sugar Bread crumbs Pinch of salt

8 Put apple slices and raisins between the bread.

9 Beat egg white with pinch of salt and fold carefully into milk mixture.

10 Fill in this mixture into the mould until it reaches around three quarters of the bread.

11 Press bread carefully down and wait 20 minutes until it has fully soaked in the liquid.

12 Cover with a hint of cinnamon, sugar, pieces of butter and sliced almonds.

13 Fry in the oven at 180°C for around 40 minutes, cover at half time with baking paper.

Butter

99

SWEET

Crème Brûlée 40 minutes

6-8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 l cream

1 Blend eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes almost white.

6 whole eggs

2 Put cream in a casserole and start heating.

4 egg yolks

3 Slice the vanilla pods in half, scrape out the seeds, and put seeds and pods to the cream until boiling.

150 g sugar 2 vanilla pods Crystallized brown sugar

4 Pour the cream through a colander into the egg-sugar mixture by gentle whisking.

5 Pass the mixture through a passing cloth into flat dishes.

6 Bake the mixture in a steam oven at 90°C, or in a bain marie at 140°C until firm.

7 Refrigerate overnight.

8 Sprinkle brown sugar over the crème and glaze either in a salamander or with a blow torch.

100

SWEET

Crème Caramel 40 minutes

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

Creme

1 Heat up the porcelain casserole dish or dishes up to 150°C.

500 ml milk

2 In a casserole heat up sugar, tartar and water until water has evaporated and the liquid sugar has become light brown.

500 ml cream 6 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 140 g sugar 2 vanilla pods

3 Pour quickly the caramelized sugar in the dishes and turn around to cover the sides of the dishes. Let cool down.

4 Blend eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes almost white.

5 Put milk in a casserole and start heating.

6 Slice the vanilla pods and scrape out the seeds. Put all seeds and the sliced vanilla pods to the milk until boiling.

Caramel

7 Pour the milk in the egg-sugar mix and stir gently to get a homogeneous blend.

140 g sugar

8 Pass the mixture through a wide mesh colander into the caramelized casserole dishes.

50 ml water

9 In a steam oven bake at moist temperature at 85°C for around 2 – 2.5 hours until firm.

Large pinch of “tartar (acidum tartaricum)”

10 Refrigerate overnight.

11 With a thin knife cut around the edge of the casserole dish, put a plate on the dish and turn around courageously.

12 Serve with the accumulated caramel sauce.

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102

SWEET

Tiramisu 50 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

500 g Mascarpone

1 Whisk sugar and egg yolks until almost white.

200 g sugar

2 Bring cream to boil, add sliced vanilla pod and all seed.

6 egg white

3 Pour boiling cream through a sieve to the sugar-egg mixture and whisk.

4 egg yolks

4 On a bain-marie heat the mixture under constant whisking until it develops a “rose”.

150 ml cream

5 Add quickly the mascarpone and let cool down.

1 vanilla pod

6 Add lemon juice and lemon zest.

Lemon juice

7 Whisk egg white with a dash of salt and some sugar until it develops white firm peaks.

Lemon zest from 1 lemon

8 Fold in egg white in the Mascarpone mixture in two stages.

400 g Savoiardi (Ladyfingers)

9 Create a coffee-Marsala-Rum liquid.

200 ml strong coffee

10 Build up the Tiramisu in a tray, starting with a layer of Mascarpone mixture.

40 ml Marsala

11 Dip every Savoiardi briefly into the coffee-Marsala-Rum liquid and arrange on the Mascarpone layer.

20 ml Rum Dash of sugar Salt

12 Cover with Mascarpone mixture and build up another layer of Savoiardi.

13 Finish with a final layer of Mascarpone mixture and let it rest in the fridge at least 8 hours.

14 Before serving dust the Tiramisu with cocoa powder.

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CHOCOLATE

Baked Chocolate 30 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

275 g dark chocolate couverture

1 Boil the cream and the butter.

110 ml cream

2 Then stir the couverture into the mixture and homogenise on the heat.

3 eggs (1 whole, 2 separated)

3 Remove the pot from the heat and whisk the egg and yolk into the mixture.

100 g butter

4 Add the rum as desired.

1 tbsp flour

5 Beat the egg whites and fold into the mixture.

1 tbsp sugar to taste

6 Pour the whole into small bowls, place chocolate pieces inside and bake in the oven at 150°C for 15 minutes.

Small piece of couverture Rum

7 Make sure that the mixture inside is still a little creamy.

8 Meanwhile whip cream with sugar and vanilla and serve the baked chocolate with a spoonful of cream.

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105

CHOCOLATE

Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake 25 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

100 g butter

1 Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bain-marie.

100 g Valrhona chocolate

2 In another bowl mix sugar, egg yolks and whole eggs. When fluffy fold in the flour.

2 whole eggs

3 Add the chocolate-butter mix. Pour the mix up to the edge of separate greased moulds.

2 egg yolks

4 Cook the cakes in a 180°C preheated oven in a tray with around 2 cm hot water for around 5 minutes, then let slightly glide an extra piece of chocolate into each cake and cook for another 5 minutes.

60 g sugar 1 ts flour

106

CHOCOLATE

Chocolate Mousse 45 minutes

8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

400 g dark chocolate, 60 % cocoa or a bit more

1 Separate the eggs, keep the white and whisk the yolk with the sugar until the mass is almost white.

280 ml whipping cream for the custard 160 ml whipping cream for finishing 2 tbsp of dark cocoa 1 pinch each of cinnamon and instant coffee powder 1 tbsp each of Grand Marnier and XO Armagnac

2 Boil 280 ml cream and add the boiling liquid to the egg-sugar mixture by constant stirring. Continue stirring and heat carefully on a bain-marie until the mass thickens slightly. Cool down under stirring until around 40°C are reached.

3 Add chopped chocolate, stir slowly until chocolate is melted.

4 Add butter and liaise carefully. Stir in Grand Marnier and Armagnac.

5 Sieve over cocoa, cinnamon and coffee, and fold in.

6 Add chilly and homogenize everything.

7 Taste and – if necessary – add more sugar to the egg white.

8 Mix remaining 160 ml cream with the lime juice and beat it until it shows yellow shadows.

7 large eggs

9 Make sure the chocolate mixture has reached less than 25°C.

60 g sugar

10 Fold in the beaten cream.

90 g butter

11 Beat egg white with salt and possibly more sugar until reaching white solid peaks.

2 tbsp of lime juice

12 Blend half of the egg white with the chocolate mass.

1 dash of Indian chilly

13 Finally, very carefully, fold in the remaining egg white and cool the mousse at least for 12 hours.

1 dash of salt 107

FRUITY

Chocolate Mousse with Orange Sauce 1 hour

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS Chocolate mousse

Orange sauce

200 g finest dark chocolate with 80 % cocoa

150 g sugar

200 ml liquid cream 1 vanilla pod 50 g butter 1 ts fine cocoa 1 pinch each of cinnamon and instant coffee powder

1 lemon (juice) 40 ml grenadine 4 oranges (juice) 50 g Kumquats jam 20 ml whisky 1 ts potato flour

1 ts Grand Marnier 1 ts cognac 2 egg yolks 3 egg-white 8 g sugar 1 pinch salt

108

PREPARATION Chocolate mousse

Orange sauce

1 Chop the couverture into small pieces.

1 Melt the sugar with a little lemon juice to caramel.

2 Heat 100 ml cream in a bowl in a warm water bath, add chocolate pieces and stir until smooth with a clean wooden spoon.

2 Deglaze with grenadine.

3 Slice the vanilla pods in half, scrape out the seeds, and put seeds and pods to the cream until boiling.

3 Add the orange juice with the remaining lemon juice. Then add the jam and whisky and cook lightly for about 3 minutes, skimming if necessary.

4 Cut cold butter into small cubes, gradually add to the couverturecream mixture and stir until homogeneous.

4 Tie the sauce with potato starch and place on ice to cool. If you like, garnish the orange sauce with orange fillets and mint.

5 Sieve over cocoa, cinnamon and coffee, and fold in. Then remove the bowl from the water bath.

6 Add the cognac and Grand Marnier to the mixture. Stir in one egg yolk after the other. Beat the egg whites with the sugar and a pinch of salt until stiff.

7 Whip 100 ml cold cream until firm, but do not exaggerate. Add a little whipped cream and beaten egg white to the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Now add the rest of the cream and the beaten egg white and fold loosely.

8 Cool the mousse for 3 hours, then pour into a suitable bowl or individually into round glasses.

109

FRUITY

Mango Crème Brûlée 50 minutes

6 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1 l cream

1 Blend eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes almost white.

300 ml of pureed and sieved mango

2 Put cream into a casserole and start heating.

6 whole eggs

3 Slice the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds, and put seeds and pods into the cream.

4 egg yolks

4 Pour the boiling cream into the egg-sugar mixture by gentle whisking.

Lemon juice

5 Add mango puree, lemon juice and lemon zest.

Lemon zest

6 Pour the mixture into flat dishes.

100 g sugar

7 Bake the mixture in a steam oven at 90°C, or in a bain marie at 140°C until firm.

1 vanilla pod

8 Refrigerate overnight.

Crystallized brown sugar

9 Sprinkle brown sugar over the crème and glaze either in a salamander or with a blow torch.

110

FRUITY

Strawberry Charlotte 45 minutes

6-8 Persons

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

Sponge fingers

1 Mix a syrup with some water, the icing sugar and the liqueur and soak the sponge fingers with it.

24 sponge fingers 3 tbsp icing sugar 1 liqueur glass Crème de Cassis

2 Line the bottom and walls of a mould with the sponge fingers.

3 Finely puree the strawberries with the yoghurt and icing sugar.

500 g strawberries

4 Soak the gelatine, squeeze and dissolve it in the heated red wine. Carefully add 4 tbsp of the fruit puree to the gelatine, mix well. Add this to the whole puree and mix well again.

1 pot of milk yoghurt

5 Whip the cream until stiff and fold into the strawberry puree.

150 g whipped cream

6 Pour the mousse into the form lined with the sponge fingers. It should be finished off with the edge of the sponge fingers (cut off the sponge fingers if necessary). Cover the mould with cling film and place in the fridge overnight.

Mousse

90 g icing sugar 100 ml red wine semi-dry 6 slices gelatine

7 Before serving, carefully peel off the foil and turn the mould onto a plate. Decorate with mint leaves and small strawberries.

Decoration Strawberries Mint leaves

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