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.
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
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.
Enjoy this Cookbook or better said: Accompany us through this book of the cook.
COOK´S STORY
Cook’s Story
Page 10 - 21
Beginning Starters Bread & Soups Snacks & Sides
Page 22 - 53
Page 54 - 93
Page 94 - 111
The Main Course Meat
Pasta
Fish & Vegetable
The Grand Dessert Sweet Chocolate Fruit
“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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
It was country life; interesting and educational, with a very human touch.
For me it became not only a working place, but a romantic retreat as well.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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?
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.
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 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.
My objective for STEPPER was clear: delivering effortless vision. As an optician I have always wondered why peo-
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.
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”.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
Starters, Soups, Snacks & Sides The Beginning.
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
Apple
Snacks & Sides
Apple Chutney
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
300 g pasta dough, soft and elastic
2 medium Calamari
2 fish filet, like sea bass
3 egg white
100 g dry white bread soaked with cream
100 ml extra cream
Lemon Juice
Piment d’espelette
Sea salt
Butter for frying
Fresh sage leaves
PREPARATION
1 Clean the calamari and chopp it into larger pieces. Do the same with the fish filet.
2 Put all ingredient in a blender and blend until the puree is homogeneous and glistening.
3 Form raviolis, fill them carefully with the puree.
4 Boil the ravioli in salt water until soft.
5 Drain and fry carefully in butter with sage leaves.
Green Asparagus Salad
40 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
½ small red onion
1 crushed clove of garlic
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tbsp old balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
400 g green asparagus
200 g ripe tomatoes
1 tbsp dill
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp mint
100 g young goat cheese
Salt and pepper
PREPARATION
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.
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.
3 Heat a grill pan and fry the asparagus in it for two minutes from all sides. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4 Cut the tomatoes into quarters. Remove the seeds and cut the tomatoes into small cubes.
5 Add the tomatoes, dill, parsley and mint to the marinated onions, salt and pepper and mix carefully.
6 Arrange the asparagus on the plate with the tomato salsa. Spread the goat‘s cheese over it.
Herring Salad (Finnish Style)
1 hour
INGREDIENTS
1 kg beetroot
400 g carrots
160 g onions
400 g apples
200 g pickled cucumbers
4 salted herrings, cut in halves
3 hard-boiled eggs
200 ml cream
Milk White wine vinegar Sugar
8 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Cook beetroot and carrot separately in salted water until soft.
2 Peel apples and remove core house.
3 Clean salted herrings and put into milk.
4 Cut all vegetable and fruit ingredients into cubes (edge length 8 mm).
5 Peel and chop the onions.
6 Dry the herring and cut into 8 mm long pieces.
7 Mix all ingredients, cover and leave to stand for 6 to 8 hours.
8 Mix again and arrange in a glass bowl.
9 Cut the eggs into roses and decorate the herring salad with them.
10 Whip the cream with the vinegar and sugar until a semi-rigid mixture is obtained.
11 Serve the herring salad with the egg halves on plates and partially cover with three spoons of cream.
Leek Tart
1 hour 6-8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
Pastry:
200 g good basic flour plus extra for dusting
140 g cold butter
Sea salt
Some drops of ice-cold water
Filling:
500 g leek
30 g butter
150 ml whipping cream
150 ml crème fraîche
5 smaller eggs or 4 large ones
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
PREPARATION
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.
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.
3 Preheat the oven to 180°C, use top and bottom heat, no fan.
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.
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.
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.
STARTERS
Octopus Salad
40 minutes 6-8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
1 fresh octopus (800 – 1000 g)
3 bottle corks from red wine bottles
6 gloves of garlic
40 g parsley
Olive oil
PREPARATION
1 Blanching octopus: Add the washed octopus to boiling salted water, remove and quench in ice water.
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.
Wine vinegar
Lemon juice
Salt Sugar
Flour
Poached Egg with Coriander Paste
minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 potato
Person
PREPARATION
1 Boil the potato.
2 Poach egg until yolk is still liquid, drain and place on kitchen paper to dry.
3 Cut slice from potato, 4mm thick.
4 Carefully fry in butter, salt lightly.
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.
STARTERS
Prawns with Coriander
20 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
18 fresh prawns or shrimps, peeled and deveined
2 gloves of garlic
30 fresh coriander leaves
Lemon juice
Olive Oil
Salt
30 g butter
Knife point of Piment d’Espelette
PREPARATION
1 Cut garlic in micro-cubes and chop the coriander leaves.
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.
Salmon Tartar
30 minutes 6-10 Persons
INGREDIENTS
600 g fresh or marinated salmon
2 medium sized shallots
30 g capers
1 lemon
8 anchovies halves
2 egg yolks
100 ml olive oil
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
Salt Pepper Sugar
Piment d’Espelette
Chives, finely cut, or spring onions
Dill, plucked in small twigs, or dried sage
40 g pine seeds, roasted
PREPARATION
1 Cut salmon off the skin and deepfreeze until quite firm.
2 Cut into 6mm cubes and keep refrigerated.
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.
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.
6 Before serving blend salmon and sauce, add roasted pine seed, season with ground pepper.
7 Check seasoning and serve in a bowl that is placed in a container with ice cubes.
Baguettes françaises with Sourdough
3 days 6 Pieces
INGREDIENTS
1,85 kg special French baguette flour “Grands Moulins de Paris T65”
900 ml water
300 g sourdough (see recipe p.39)
40 g salt
32 g fresh yeast
PREPARATION
1 Follow the “55” rule: Room temperature plus flour temperature plus water temperature must be below the maximum of 55°C.
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.
4 Day 3: Add yeast and some more flour (maximum 100 grams) if dough seems to be too soft.
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.
Sourdough
3 to 4 days
INGREDIENTS
150 g flour 812
1 tsp sugar
150 g lukewarm water
6 Baguettes or 2 medium sized Wheat Breads
PREPARATION
1 Carefully mix flour, sugar and water.
2 Put loosely a lid on and keep for 2 to 3 days at around 25°C.
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.
Wheat Bread with Sourdough
2 days 2 medium sized loafs
INGREDIENTS
500 g flour type 1050
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
4 g fennel powder
2 g ground fenugreek
2.5 g coriander
PREPARATION
1 Follow the “55” rule: Room temperature plus flour temperature plus water temperature must be below the maximum of 55°C.
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.
6 Add yeast and knead for 8 minutes. Add some more flour type 812 (maximum 100 grams) if dough seems to be too soft.
7 Let rise for around 4 hours.
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.
BREAD & SOUPS
Buckwheat Soup „Lew Tolstoi“
40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
30 g diced lard
150 g buckwheat
1,5 litre light vegetable broth
300 g smoked pork, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
2 shallots, diced
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
6 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Fry lard, shallots and buckwheat, deglaze with vegetable broth and get boiling.
2 Add meat, simmer for 30 minutes with lid closed.
3 After 15 minutes add vegetables and simmer further 15 minutes.
4 Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
5 Add cream and parsley.
6 Serve in preheated plates.
Chestnut Soup with Walnut Oil
INGREDIENTS
300 g pre-cooked chestnuts
80 g finely chopped shallots
40 g butter
400 ml vegetable broth
80 ml crème fraîche
pepper
of bitter port wine
Persons
8 Add a fine jet of walnut oil. 1 hour
PREPARATION
1 Fry shallots in butter.
2 Add 2 chestnuts and cook for 5 minutes.
3 Deglaze with vegetable stock and cook for 30 minutes.
4 Puree finely with a hand mixer and pass everything through a sieve.
9 Sprinkle with chopped fenugreek leaves of chopped coriander leaves.
SNACKS & SIDES
Apple Chutney
INGREDIENTS
1 kg sour apples
150 g ginger
200 g onions
Juice from 2 oranges
250 ml cider vinegar
150 g brown sugar
Mustard oil or mustard seeds
Coriander, freshly ground
Cardamom, freshly ground
Pinch of nutmeg
Piment d’Espelette
150 g corinth raisins
Salt 1 hour 8 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Dice ginger and onions. Cook them with the sugar in the orange juice and vinegar for 30 minutes, if necessary add some water.
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.
SNACKS & SIDES
Apple Chutney with Cucumber
1 hour 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
300 ml water
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
30 g ginger
500 cucumbers
6 apples
180 g sultanas or corinth raisins
6 Persons
PREPARATION
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.
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.
Caviar Morsels
20 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
60 g real caviar, or salmon caviar
2 – 3 potatoes
20 g butter
3 eggs
White pepper
50 ml cream
30 ml crème fraîche or smetana
PREPARATION
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 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.
SNACKS & SIDES
Coriander Paste
20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
200 g green coriander with stems
5 medium shallots
3 tbsp olive oil
2 anchovies’ fillets
50 g butter
1 Lemon Piment d’espelette Cream
Sea salt
Dash Sugar
SNACKS & SIDES
Cucumber Snacks (Chinese Style)
40 minutes 6-10 Persons
INGREDIENTS
1 kg cucumbers
20 g white wine vinegar
30 g sugar
Soy sauce
Piment d’Espelette
Sesame oil
Mustard oil
25 g garlic, finely chopped
30 g ginger, finely chopped
60 g sesame seeds, roasted
Black and white pepper
Salt
PREPARATION
1 Combine all ingredients except the cucumbers, the oils and the sesame seed in a bowl and blend well.
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.
SNACKS & SIDES
Goose Rillettes
1 hour
INGREDIENTS
500 g goose meat
500 g pork belly
500 g lean pork meat
300 g goose fat
1 large onion
6 shallots
Thyme and bay leaves
Salt and pepper
50 ml Armagnac
PREPARATION
1 Chop generously, but separately, the goose meat, the pork belly and the lean pork.
2 In a large saucepan place the pork belly together with some goose fat and let it simmer at low heat.
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.
SNACKS & SIDES
Salmon Rillettes
INGREDIENTS
350 g salmon
150 g butter
80 g shallots,
100g crème fraîche
30 g cream
Tarragon
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
Salt
1 ts Dijon mustard
1 dash of sugar
Piment d’Espelette
White pepper 1 hour 8 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Cook the shallots in a tablespoon of butter in a pan, add cream and reduce.
2 Cut the salmon into medium sized cubes, add them into the pan and cook slowly, just to get the outside milky.
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.
SNACKS & SIDES
Har Gow
1 hour 8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
Dumpling Dough:
1 ½ cups wheat starch
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp vegetable shortening
Filling:
¼ cup / 2 oz canned bamboo shoots, rinsed and minced
½ lb raw shrimp, shelled and deveined (about 20 size 31/40 shrimp)
2 tbsp scallions, minced
2 tbsp cilantros, minced
½ tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or pale-dry sherry
½ tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 ts sugar ¼ ts salt
A pinch of white pepper
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:
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.
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.
3 Divide the dough into 2 balls. Roll each piece of dough into a 1 inch cylinder.
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.
Preparing the filling and the Har Gow:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Meat
Meat, Pasta, Fish & Vegetable The Main Course.
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
Fish & Vegetable
Aubergine Gratin
Cabbage Rolls with Salmon Farce
Duxelles
Pike Dumplings on Duxelles
Potato Gratin
Prawns in Coriander Coat
Barbequed Chinese Duck and Goose
2 hours 8-10 Persons
INGREDIENTS
1 duck
1 goose
250 ml white wine
Sea salt
Fresh or dried oregano
Fresh or dried thyme
Finely ground spice mixture of bengali pepper, coriander, cumin, fenugreek
Olive oil
Stock
100 g onions
30 g garlic
200 g celery
150 g carrots
6 tomatoes
Bay leaves Coarse black pepper
1 Debone the birds completely, leaving only the first wing bone and the thigh leg bone. Cut each bird in 4 pieces.
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.
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.
7 Clean the duck and the goose parts from excessive salt.
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.
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.
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.
Cassoulet
2 hours 30 minutes 8 Persons MEAT
INGREDIENTS
Goose Confit
1 medium sized goose
Thyme
Sage
Sea salt
Goose fat
Lamb Pot
1.5 kg lamb shoulder
2 carrots
2 onions
5 garlic gloves
Concassee of 4 tomatoes
Bean pot
1 kg white beans
2 carrots
1 onion
2 pork paws
Pork skin
0.5 kg fresh bacon or shoulder
10 toulouse sausages
Bouquet garni
Sea salt
Finishing Cassoulet
2 garlic gloves
Bread crumbs
PREPARATION
Goose Confit
1 The day before the Cassoulet is served debone goose, and remove skin.
2 Rub with sae salt and let marinate for 8 hours.
3 Clean from excess salt.
4 Separate breast and thigh parts.
5 Seal both parts separately with herbs and goose fat in plastic bags and vacuumize.
6 Cook Sous-Vide: breast 60°C for 8 hours; thigh parts 62°C for 12 hours.
7 If not immediately used cool rapidly in ice bath and keep in fridge.
8 Also prepare a good broth from goose bones, stomach, and other parts with aromates.
Lamb Pot
1 Cut lamb into 2.5 cm cubes.
2 Dice carrots and onions and fry in goose fat. Then cook for around 10 minutes.
3 Remove from the pan, increase heat, add more goose fat and fry the meat on all sides.
4 Sprinkle with flour, fry again, add onions and carrots and deglaze with the white wine.
5 Add crushed garlic, bouquet garni, and tomato concassee.
6 Stir for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and cool down rapidly to room temperature.
7 Vacuumize and cook Sous-Vide at 580C for 9 hours.
Bean Pot
1 The evening before: soak beans in plenty of water.
2 Discard water.
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.
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 Bring to boil and simmer slowly, always skimming the impurities from the surface.
6 After 30 Minutes remove the sausages and put aside.
7 After further 30 minutes remove the bacon or shoulder and put aside.
8 Cook beans with the remaining ingredients until almost soft.
9 Remove pork skin and paws and put aside.
10 Remove onions and bouquet garni and discard.
11 Season beans with sea salt.
12 Strain liquid and keep it for later use.
Finishing: Cassoulet
1 Use a sufficient large ceramic pot and rub it with squeezed garlic gloves.
2 Line the bottom of the pot with the pork skin, cut in stripes.
3 Cut the goose meat in eatable portions and add it to the skin.
4 Put one third of the beans on top.
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.
7 Put on another third of the beans.
8 Add the sausage without skin (cut in 2 cm large pieces) and the pork meat (cut in 2 cm large pieces).
9 Cover with the remaining third of the beans.
10 Add so much liquid – goose broth and bean cooking liquidto reach the top of the beans
11 Sprinkle with bread crumbs, pour over some table spoons of goose fat, and make sure the crumbs are covered with fat.
12 Put in oven and simmer at around 140°C without lid.
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.
Chinese Fried Rice
INGREDIENTS
500 g rice
3 eggs
Vegetables as you like (e.g. cabbage and carrots)
3 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
Cooking oil
Salt
Optional: slices of cooked beef or chicken
Persons
PREPARATION
1 Cook the rice and chop the vegetables.
2 Heat the oil in a wok.
3 Add the eggs quickly and stir rapidly to mix them well.
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.
German “Bratwurst”
1 hour 30 minutes 8-10 Persons
INGREDIENTS
1 kg pork shoulder
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
Cardamom
Fenugreek (fraction)
2 gloves of garlic
Pork casings
PREPARATION
1 Cut all meat and bacon in cubes, cover with all spices (no salt), mix carefully and freeze partly.
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.
10 Persons
INGREDIENTS
750 g salted ham
1 kg pork shoulder
750 g bacon
500 g beef
35 – 40 g sea salt (depending on the ham)
8 gloves of garlic
40 g sugar
7.5 g freshly ground black pepper
2 g each of caraway seeds, coriander and paprika
0.75 g nutmeg
1 g Macis
250 g ice cubes
50 ml Cachaça or Armagnac
Pig casings or sheep casings
PREPARATION
1 Pickle the ham for a week.
2 Cut all meat in cubes, cover with all spices (no salt and garlic), mix carefully and freezepartly. Hold the ham separately.
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.
6 Freeze and dice the bacon.
7 Freeze everything again. Then blend 750 g of meat with garlic and ice cubes.
8 Add salt as well as all meat and bacon (except the ham) and mix e.g. in a dough mixer.
9 Add ham and work it in for 30 minutes until a solid bond is formed.
10 Fill into cleaned (hand-hot soaked) casings with sausage stuffer, part and bind into sausage-long segments of 12 to 15 cm length.
11 Brew the sausages at 75°C for 30 min, then cool them down.
Osso Buco
1 hour 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
4 veal shanks, 3 cm thick
2 tbsp flour
½ tbsp salt
⅓ tbsp ground pepper
Soffrito (mirepoix)
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
Sea salt
PREPARATION
1 Put kitchen twine around each shank to hold the meat together.
2 Create a flour-salt-pepper-mix.
3 Cover veal with flour-salt-pepper-mix and tap off excess.
4 Fry veal in a pan with butter and brown on all sides, then put it aside.
5 Add Soffrito to the pan, sprinkle over some flour-salt-pepper-mix and let it fry gently until soft.
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.
“Maultaschen” made in China
2 hours
8-10 Persons
PREPARATION MEAT
HANS’S TIP:
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.
INGREDIENTS
1.6 kg pork shoulder with fat
800 g raw ham
120 g ice
16 g pickle salt
600 g boiled beef brisket
200 g leek
200 ml cream
1.6 kg spinach
80 g shallots
20 g garlic
30 g butter
350 g fresh b readcrumbs
Parsley
Chives
Oregano (dried)
Salt
Black pepper
Nutmeg
900 g well prepared pasta dough
1 Slightly freeze pork shoulder and ham.
2 Put through the fine mincer disc, but keep separated.
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.
Pan-fried Pork or Beef with Potatoes
25 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 kg beef or pork
1 tbsp starch
2 tbsp Chinese wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
200 g onions
50 g garlic
500 g potatoes
Salt Sugar
Black Pepper
Piment d’Espelette
6 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Cut the meat into thin slices.
2 Chop onions and garlic.
3 Marinate the meat with starch, wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and sugar for 1 – 2 hours (beef longer).
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.
Meat and Liver Loaf
Persons
INGREDIENTS
1.2 kg marbled pork
500 g beef
700 g pork ham, pickled
300 g lard
300 g pork liver
400 g ice
8 gloves of garlic
12 shallots, or 2 large onions
3 heaped tbsp of white pepper
1 heaped tbsp of ground Mazis
3 heaped tbsp of dried Oregano
1 tbsp of ground Cumin
1 tbsp of ground Fennel
1 heaped ts of ground Fenugreek
1 tbsp of Piment d’Espelette
Lemon peel
Sea salt
PREPARATION
1 Pickle the lean pork 10 days before in a brine.
2 Wash pickled meat, dry it, mince finely and put aside in a cold place.
3 Mince 300 g of marbled pork finely and add it to the pickled meat.
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.
9 Blend all meats and liver, add spices and herbs and blend firmly for at least 15 minutes.
10 Check taste and add seasoning if necessary.
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.
Selfmade Brine
PREPARATION
1 Boil the water with all ingredients.
Oxtail Goulash with Spätzle
1 hour
INGREDIENTS
Oxtail Goulash
2 kg oxtail in parts cut at the joints
1 kg onions
8 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
4 tbsp sweet red paprika powder
2 carrots
1 leek, cut into juliennes
3 sticks celery
5 dl of good red wine
Piment d’espelette or ground chilli
Clarified butter
Beef stock
Salt
Thyme
Black pepper (finely crushed)
Parsley
Spätzle
500 g spätzle flour
6 large eggs
16 g salt
200 ml water
8 Persons
PREPARATION
Marinade
1 Blend carrots, leek, celery, thyme, pepper, bay leaves and wine.
2 Marinate the meat for around 18 hours. Make sure that all meat is covered, otherwise turn it around from time to time.
Gremolada
1 Finely dice garlic, lemon zests and parsley.
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.
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.
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.
7 Repeat with the whole dough.
Prepare dish
1 Take oxtail pieces from the marinade and dry them.
2 Dice the onions.
3 Fry the meat in an iron casserole in some clarified butter from all sides and set aside.
4 In the same pan add more butter and cook the onions slowly around 10 minutes without browning them.
7 Then add the paprika, piment d’espelette, stir and add the complete marinade.
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.
10 If the goulash is too runny put up heat and reduce it sufficiently for a soft texture.
11 Add the gremolada and the meat, stir, check seasoning and put the casserole back into the oven for 10 minutes.
12 Serve the Oxtail Goulash together with the Spätzle.
PASTA
Casareccia with Five-Nut Pesto
40 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
½ cup each of almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios
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
¾ cup olive oil
A good splash of Nouilly Prat or Dry Martini
1 kg casareccia (Gemelli, Strozzapreti)
2 tbls butter
PREPARATION
1 Roast all nuts in the oven at 145°C for 10 minutes.
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.
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.
11 Serve with grated Parmesan Cheese.
Linguine with Shallots, Raisins and Turmeric
40 minutes 6-8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
420 g linguine
80 g butter
6 shallots
60 g raisins, soaked in warm water
60 ml double cream
1 tbsp turmeric
Salt
Pepper, freshly ground
Olive Oil for linguine water
Parmesan cheese
PREPARATION
Prepare condimento:
1 Cook shallots slowly in the butter until golden brown.
2 Add drained raisins to the shallots and cook for 2 minutes.
3 Stir in cream and turmeric.
4 Add some pasta water.
5 Add salt and pepper to taste. Prepare pasta:
6 Bring 4 litre of water to boil.
7 Add fistful of salt.
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.
Egg Noodles Piemonte Style
2 hours 6-8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
4 whole eggs
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
PREPARATION
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.
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.
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.
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.
6 Remove the duck halves, and – when cooled – strip the meat completely from the bones.
7 Chop all bones, put them back into the broth and simmer for another 90 minutes.
8 In a pan fry the Soffrito in the duck fat until it becomes softer and add the chopped tomatoes.
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.
14 Close the lid of the skillet and cook in the oven at 1200 for 90 minutes.
15 Put the sauce into a sterilized jar and let it ripe for some days.
16 Before serving take the required amount from the jar and cook it for 10 minutes with fresh Gremolada.
17 Check seasoning and serve the duck sauce with “Egg Noodles Piedmont Style”.
Gorgonzola Sauce
INGREDIENTS
250 g Gorgonzola “Piccante”
500 ml whole milk
40 g butter
1 tbsp wheat flour
Whipping Cream
Flat parsley leaves, two handful, chopped
White pepper
Sea salt
PREPARATION
1 Cook butter in a saucepan until foam disappears, then add flower under constant stirring.
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.
5 As the Gorgonzola is salty be careful with adding salt.
6 In case the taste seems to be too strong, add cream until the sauce is well balanced and creamy.
7 Add parsley, cook for another three minutes, and serve the sauce with “Egg Noodles Piedmont Style”.
Malfatti
INGREDIENTS
250 g low-fat curd
200 g leaf spinach
1 bunch parsley
1 onion
50 g white bread
2 egg yolks
1 sprig thyme
1 pinch nutmeg
30 g Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp fine semolina
15 g soft butter
Some grated lemon
Salt and pepper
Nutmeg 30 minutes 4 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Wash, clean and dry the spinach.
2 Squeeze out the low-fat quark well.
3 Finely dice the onion, chop the parsley, remove the bark from the white bread and grate.
4 Melt the butter in a pan, add the washed and dried spinach, let it collapse and remove it from the pan.
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.
Pasta with Coriander Paste
30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
250 g duck ham, or ripened bacon, or speck
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
Persons
PREPARATION
1 Put pasta into salted boiling water, observe cooking time.
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.
8 Cook pasta in frying pan until it is nicely covered with sugo and extra liquid is evaporated.
9 Serve with grated Parmigiano.
Pasta with Squid
30 minutes 8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
Pasta Sauce
500 g squid, cleaned
6 ts olive oil
4 ts Nouilly Prat (dry vermouth)
2 ts lemon juice
Zest from one lemon
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp Piment d’Espelette
1 ts sugar
Salt
Pasta
500 g pasta (Tagliatelle)
4 tbsp shallots, finely chopped
6 gloves of garlic
Butter
1 dash of flour
Black Pepper
Basil, chopped
Sugar
PREPARATION
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.
5 Deglaze with the content of the squid bag, add the gloves of garlic, and simmer until the liquid has been reduced by half.
6 Cut squid in manageable pieces and add together with the chopped basil.
7 Taste for seasoning and adjust with pepper and sugar.
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.
Aubergine Gratin
40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
2 medium sized aubergine
3 tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
Coarse salt
Bengali pepper
5 – 7 anchovies filets in oil
Olive oil
Thyme
Oregano
Dash of sugar
Cheeses like Gruyere and Parmigiano
Breadcrumbs
Cream
6 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Cut aubergines into slices.
2 Blanch aubergine slices briefly in salted water and chill in iced water.
3 Fry both sides in olive oil, put slices on kitchen paper.
4 Season with salt and pepper.
5 Squash the garlic with salt and fry slightly in olive oil.
6 Add tomatoes (peeled and deseeded) and anchovies. Fry everything briefly.
7 Add thyme, oregano, sugar and check seasoning.
8 Place aubergines, overlapping, in an oiled pan.
9 Cover each layer with seasoned garlic / tomato spread.
10 Mix cheeses with breadcrumbs and some cream.
11 Sprinkle over covered aubergines and bake at moist heat at 150°C until surface is golden brown and bubbling.
FISH & VEGETABLE
Cabbage Rolls with Salmon Farce
INGREDIENTS
1 medium size young white cabbage
500 g salmon
150 ml cream
Dill 1 hour 6 Persons
PREPARATION
Cabbage Rolls
1 Preblanch the cabbage head in salted water.
2 Cut off the stalk and remove individual leaves.
3 Blanch the leaves a little, if necessary, then quench, dab dry and cut out half of the middle rib.
4 Puree salmon with cream, season with salt and pepper.
5 Fill the cabbage leaves and press to form a ball.
6 Spread the cabbage rolls with butter and bake in the oven at 160°C for 25 minutes.
Sauce
7 Sweat shallots with butter in a pan, stir in some flour.
8 Deglaze with white wine and Nouilly Prat and let thicken slowly.
9 Sprinkle with dill.
10 Halve cabbage rolls and serve with sauce.
Salt Pepper Butter Shallots
Flour
White wine
Nouilly Prat
FISH & VEGETABLE
Duxelles
30 minutes 6-10 Persons
INGREDIENTS
400 g brown (preferably) or white button mushrooms (champignons)
150 g shallot
60 g butter
Thyme
Sea salt and fresh pepper
5 cl dry vermouth
Drops of lemon juice
HANS’S TIP:
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.
PREPARATION
1 Chop mushrooms very finely.
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.
FISH & VEGETABLE
Pike Dumplings on Duxelles
2 hours 8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
Choux Pastry
250 ml whole milk
50 g butter
125 g wheat flour
Dumplings
1 kg pike meat or the meat of another white lean fish
500 g choux pastry
Fish-Butter-Egg-Sauce
2 carrots
2 onions
1 leek
Fish bones, fish skin, fish head cleaved without gills
5 dl of dry white wine (Riesling)
2.5 dl full fat milk
70 g butter
Fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
40 g wheat flour
3 egg yolks
Fresh lemon juice
Sea salt
Duxelles
400 g brown (preferably) or white button mushrooms (champignons)
150 g shallots
60 g butter
Thyme, chopped
Sea salt and fresh pepper
5 cl dry vermouth
PREPARATION
Choux Pastry
1 Heat the milk together with the butter and the salt in a sufficient large casserole.
2 When it boils remove the casserole from the heat and sieve the flour in the milk by constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.
3 Reheat the casserole again and stir until the choux pastry has formed a dry ball.
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.
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.
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.
3 Strain the meat portion by portion through a flat sieve and keep cold again.
4 Before blending fish meat and choux pastry, make sure that both have the same cool temperature.
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.
6 Season to taste, cover with cling film and let the mixture rest for 12 hours.
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.
8 Cook the dumplings 2 minutes, then turn carefully around and boil another 2 minutes.
9 Take dumpling out with a strainer and let them drip off on a kitchen cloth.
Fish-Butter-Egg-Sauce
1 Clean vegetables carefully, chop carrots, onions, cut leek in small rounds.
2 In a large casserole let melt 30 g butter and cook the vegetables until blond.
3 Add fish bones, head and skin, white wine, thyme and bay leaves and gently boil for 20 minutes.
4 Filter through a sieve and press the solid pars to get most of the fumet.
5 In a large casserole heat 40 g butter, add the flour and stir rapidly until blond.
6 Add the fumet little by little under constant stirring, then add the milk and boil carefully under stirring for 15 minutes.
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.
8 Add lemon juice and season to taste.
Duxelles please see page 87
Finishing
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 Put the dumplings on top until the dish is well filled.
4 Ladle half of the sauce over the dumplings. Make sure you have still around one quarter of the sauce left.
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 Remove the dish from the oven and put it on higher top heat or switch on the grill.
7 Spread the remaining sauce carefully over the dumplings and put back into the oven. Grill until the surface is brown.
8 Serve right away.
FISH & VEGETABLE
Potato Gratin
40 minutes 6-8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
1 kg potatoes, medium cooking
300 ml full fat milk
300 ml cream
Butter(-flakes)
PREPARATION
1 Spread out gratin dish with butter.
2 Peel and slice the potatoes.
3 Place the potato slices in overlapping layers, provide for a maximum of three layers.
4 Salt and pepper each layer.
5 Cover the last layer with butterflakes.
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.
Salt
White pepper
FISH & VEGETABLE
Prawns in Coriander Coat
10 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
18 fresh raw prawns, peeled and deveined
6 gloves of garlic
40 g coriander leaves
6 spring onions
Piment d’Espelette
Oil
PREPARATION
1 Cut garlic into thin lamellas, spring onions in thin disc and chop coriander leaves finely.
2 Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and fry until golden brown.
3 Add prawns and fry quickly by turning them over all the time. They must be still very soft inside.
4 Add butter, coriander and spring onions.
5 Add salt and Piment d’Espelette.
6 Turn the prawns quickly in the pan until they are covered all over and firm.
7 Serve immediately.
Butter
Olive
Sea salt
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.
Sweet
Curd Cheese Pancakes
German “Ofenschlupfer”
Crème Brûlée
Crème Caramel Tiramisu
Sweet, Chocolate, Fruit The Grand Dessert.
Chocolate
Baked Chocolate
Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Mousse
Fruit
Chocolate Mousse with Orange Sauce
Mango Crème Brûlée
Strawberry Charlotte
SWEET
Curd Cheese Pancakes
30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
110 g soft butter
100 g flour
200 ml milk
5 eggs
2 sachets vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt
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
8 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Melt 50 g butter in a pot. Sieve the flour into a bowl.
2 Gradually stir in the milk, 2 eggs and melted butter with 1 sachet vanilla sugar and salt.
3 Leave the dough to stand for about 30 minutes.
4 Meanwhile, wash the lemon hot for the filling, grate the peel finely.
5 Roast the nuts in a pan at medium heat until they have a fine fragrance and let cool.
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.
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.
German “Ofenschlupfer”
minutes
Persons
INGREDIENTS
300 g of stale rolls or white bread
4 medium sized apples
Lemon juice
6.5 dl milk
1 vanilla pod
PREPARATION
1 Cut bread in thin slices and set aside.
2 Peel apples, clean inside, cut into thin slices.
3 Put lemon juice on apples, sprinkle with sugar and cook slightly in butter. Set aside.
4 Separate the eggs.
5 Whisk milk with egg yolk, sugar, and the inside of the vanilla pod.
6 Grease a flat mould with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
7 Arrange the bread slices in an overlapping manner.
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.
SWEET
Crème Brûlée
40 minutes 6-8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
1 l cream
6 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
150 g sugar
2 vanilla pods
Crystallized brown sugar
2 Put cream in a casserole and start heating.
3 Slice the vanilla pods in half, scrape out the seeds, and put seeds and pods to the cream until boiling.
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.
Crème Caramel
INGREDIENTS
Creme
500 ml milk
500 ml cream
6 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
140 g sugar
2 vanilla pods Caramel
140 g sugar
50 ml water
Large pinch of “tartar (acidum tartaricum)” 40 minutes 8 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Heat up the porcelain casserole dish or dishes up to 150°C.
2 In a casserole heat up sugar, tartar and water until water has evaporated and the liquid sugar has become light brown.
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.
7 Pour the milk in the egg-sugar mix and stir gently to get a homogeneous blend.
8 Pass the mixture through a wide mesh colander into the caramelized casserole dishes.
9 In a steam oven bake at moist temperature at 85°C for around 2 – 2.5 hours until firm.
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.
Tiramisu
50 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
500 g Mascarpone
200 g sugar
6 egg white
4 egg yolks
150 ml cream
1 vanilla pod
Lemon juice
Lemon zest from 1 lemon
400 g Savoiardi (Ladyfingers)
200 ml strong coffee
40 ml Marsala
20 ml Rum
Dash of sugar
Salt
PREPARATION
1 Whisk sugar and egg yolks until almost white.
2 Bring cream to boil, add sliced vanilla pod and all seed.
3 Pour boiling cream through a sieve to the sugar-egg mixture and whisk.
4 On a bain-marie heat the mixture under constant whisking until it develops a “rose”.
5 Add quickly the mascarpone and let cool down.
6 Add lemon juice and lemon zest.
7 Whisk egg white with a dash of salt and some sugar until it develops white firm peaks.
8 Fold in egg white in the Mascarpone mixture in two stages.
9 Create a coffee-Marsala-Rum liquid.
10 Build up the Tiramisu in a tray, starting with a layer of Mascarpone mixture.
11 Dip every Savoiardi briefly into the coffee-Marsala-Rum liquid and arrange on the Mascarpone layer.
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.
CHOCOLATE
Baked Chocolate
30 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
275 g dark chocolate couverture
110 ml cream
3 eggs (1 whole, 2 separated)
100 g butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sugar to taste
Small piece of couverture
Rum
PREPARATION
1 Boil the cream and the butter.
2 Then stir the couverture into the mixture and homogenise on the heat.
3 Remove the pot from the heat and whisk the egg and yolk into the mixture.
4 Add the rum as desired.
5 Beat the egg whites and fold into the mixture.
6 Pour the whole into small bowls, place chocolate pieces inside and bake in the oven at 150°C for 15 minutes.
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.
CHOCOLATE
Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake
25 minutes 6 Persons
INGREDIENTS
100 g butter
100 g Valrhona chocolate
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
60 g sugar
1 ts flour
PREPARATION
1 Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bain-marie.
2 In another bowl mix sugar, egg yolks and whole eggs. When fluffy fold in the flour.
3 Add the chocolate-butter mix. Pour the mix up to the edge of separate greased moulds.
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.
CHOCOLATE
Chocolate Mousse
45 minutes 8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
400 g dark chocolate, 60 % cocoa or a bit more
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
PREPARATION
1 Separate the eggs, keep the white and whisk the yolk with the sugar until the mass is almost white.
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.
9 Make sure the chocolate mixture has reached less than 25°C.
10 Fold in the beaten cream.
11 Beat egg white with salt and possibly more sugar until reaching white solid peaks.
2 tbsp of lime juice
1 dash of Indian chilly
12 Blend half of the egg white with the chocolate mass.
13 Finally, very carefully, fold in the remaining egg white and cool the mousse at least for 12 hours.
FRUITY
Chocolate Mousse with Orange Sauce
INGREDIENTS
Chocolate mousse
200 g finest dark chocolate with 80 % cocoa
200 ml liquid cream
1 vanilla pod
50 g butter
1 ts fine cocoa
1 pinch each of cinnamon and instant coffee powder
1 ts Grand Marnier
1 ts cognac
2 egg yolks
3 egg-white
8 g sugar
1 pinch salt
Orange sauce
150 g sugar
1 lemon (juice)
40 ml grenadine
4 oranges (juice)
50 g Kumquats jam
20 ml whisky
1 ts potato flour
PREPARATION
Chocolate mousse
1 Chop the couverture into small pieces.
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.
3 Slice the vanilla pods in half, scrape out the seeds, and put seeds and pods to the cream until boiling.
4 Cut cold butter into small cubes, gradually add to the couverturecream mixture and stir until homogeneous.
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.
sauce
1 Melt the sugar with a little lemon juice to caramel.
2 Deglaze with grenadine.
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 Tie the sauce with potato starch and place on ice to cool. If you like, garnish the orange sauce with orange fillets and mint.
Orange
Mango Crème Brûlée
INGREDIENTS
1 l cream
300 ml of pureed and sieved mango
6 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
100 g sugar
1 vanilla pod
Crystallized brown sugar 50 minutes 6 Persons
PREPARATION
1 Blend eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes almost white.
2 Put cream into a casserole and start heating.
3 Slice the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds, and put seeds and pods into the cream.
4 Pour the boiling cream into the egg-sugar mixture by gentle whisking.
5 Add mango puree, lemon juice and lemon zest.
6 Pour the mixture into flat dishes.
7 Bake the mixture in a steam oven at 90°C, or in a bain marie at 140°C until firm.
8 Refrigerate overnight.
9 Sprinkle brown sugar over the crème and glaze either in a salamander or with a blow torch.
Strawberry Charlotte
45 minutes 6-8 Persons
INGREDIENTS
Sponge fingers
24 sponge fingers
3 tbsp icing sugar
1 liqueur glass Crème de Cassis
Mousse
500 g strawberries
1 pot of milk yoghurt
150 g whipped cream
90 g icing sugar
100 ml red wine semi-dry
6 slices gelatine
Decoration
Strawberries
Mint leaves
PREPARATION
1 Mix a syrup with some water, the icing sugar and the liqueur and soak the sponge fingers with it.
2 Line the bottom and walls of a mould with the sponge fingers.
3 Finely puree the strawberries with the yoghurt and icing sugar.
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.
5 Whip the cream until stiff and fold into the strawberry puree.
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.
7 Before serving, carefully peel off the foil and turn the mould onto a plate. Decorate with mint leaves and small strawberries.
