Potato Gratin

A simple side potato dish which can be served with any kind of main meal.  It is easy to prepare and tastes excellent.  This recipe was taught to me by my dear mother-in-law.

Ingredients (serves 4):

500 g potatoes, to be peeled and finely sliced

200 g fresh cream

salt & pepper to taste
butter

Method:

Arrange potato slices in a buttered casserole dish.  Season with salt and pepper after each layer.  Then, add fresh cream and a few cubes of cold butter on top.  Bake in a preheated fan oven at 180° C for about one hour.

Once done, serve hot!

Bon Appetit!

Saibling Müllerin served with Parsley Potatoes & Steamed Broccoli

Normally, I will use Forelle (Trout) to prepare this simple dish but today, I used Saibling (Arctic Char). Both fishes taste great!

Ingredients (serves 2 persons):
2 medium-size Saiblinge (Arctic Char) or Forellen (Trout), to be cleaned and descaled
salt and pepper to taste
sufficient flour to coat
sufficient butter to shallow fry
2 tbsp sliced almonds

Method:
Season fish inside out with salt and pepper.  Then, coat in flour and shake off excess flour before frying.  Heat butter in a big pan over medium heat.  Add fish and fry for about 8 minutes or until the underside is golden brown.  Turn over fish carefully and continue frying until done. Remove to serving plate.

Add sliced almonds to remaining butter in pan and stir-fry until golden brown.  Once done, spoon almonds together with the hot butter over fish.  Serve with parsley potatoes and broccoli or fresh salad.


Parsley Potatoes
Ingredients:
8 medium-size potatoes, to be peeled
salt to taste
50 g butter
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Method:
Place potatoes and salt in a pot.  Add enough water to half cover the potatoes.  Bring to boil. Then, put on lid and reduce heat to medium.  Cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are done.  Drain water away and return pot to stove.  Add butter and lightly swirl the pot in order that the potatoes are covered with butter.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

Bon Appetit!

Roast Duck served with Apple-Red Cabbage and Potato Dumplings

Specially for Christmas Eve's dinner, I prepared a typical Bavarian dish:  Ente mit Apfelrotkohl und Kartoffelknödeln.  As a filling for the duck, I prepared a bread/apple/raisins filling for a change and it tasted delicious.

Ingredients (serves 3 - 4 persons):
1 duck (about 2,5 kg)
salt and pepper to taste

Filling:
4 bread buns, to be cut into 1 cm cubes
3 apples (unpeeled), to be quartered and cut into 1 cm cubes
4 shallots, to be finely chopped
2 tbsp raisins
2 eggs
400 g bottle duck fond
salt and pepper to taste
ghee or Butterschmalz

Method:
Clean and wash duck thoroughly.  Then, pat duck dry with kitchen paper.  Remove any visible hairs and season duck both inside the cavity and outside skin with salt and pepper to taste.  Leave aside.

Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a pan and roast cubed bread buns until golden brown.  Then, sprinkle with a little water and put on the lid.  Leave to cool down completely.

Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a small pan and stir-fry chopped shallots until translucent.  Leave aside.

In a large bowl, add in roasted cubed buns, shallots, apples, raisins and eggs.  Combine mixture thoroughly and season to taste.  Stuff duck with filling and secure opening with toothpicks.  By using a kitchen string and starting from the top, plait the string in between the toothpicks and secure tightly after each toothpick.  Make a knot at the end and cut string.  Tie both legs together.

Preheat oven (conventional - no fan) to 190° C.  Place duck onto a rack and place a deep baking tray underneath to catch the drippings (1st rack from bottom).  Pour about 200 ml water into the baking tray. Roast duck for about one hour or until the fat oozes out.  One needs to poke the duck's legs to enable the fat to ooze out easily.  This procedure needs to be repeated regularly.

Once the fat is starting to ooze out, reduce oven heat to 170° C and roast duck for a further one and a half hours, making sure to poke the legs to let the fat ooze out.

Then, increase the temperature to 190° to 200° C and roast duck for a further 30 minutes.  Mix 100 ml water with 1 tbsp salt.  Brush duck with this salt water mixture often in order that the duck skin becomes crispy.  Once duck is ready, remove from oven and cut into serving portions.


Apfelrotkohl (Apple/Red Cabbage)

Ingredients:
1 red cabbage (about 1 kg)
1 apple, to be peeled, quartered and cut into small chunks
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
200 ml red currant juice
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp ghee or Butterschmalz

Method:
Clean, wash, quarter red cabbage and cut into strips.  Heat ghee in a medium pot and add in red cabbage strips.  Stir-fry for about 5 to 10 minutes.  Then, add red currant juice, red wine vinegar, salt and sugar.  Mix thoroughly and simmer with lid on for about 30 minutes.

Add apple chunks to pot and further simmer with lid on for another 30 minutes.  Check seasoning. Warm up just before serving.


Kartofelknödeln (Potato Dumplings)

Ingredients (yields 12 dumplings):
2 kg floury potatoes
200 ml milk
1 - 2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt or to taste

Method:
One and a half kg potatoes to be peeled and grated.  Add lemon juice immediately to grated potato and mix well in order that it does not change colour.  Place a small quantity into a linen dishcloth and wring the cloth to press out the juice into a bowl.  Do not throw the juice away as we need to gather the potato starch.  Add potato starch to the potato and mix well.

500 g potatoes to be peeled & quartered.  Then, cook in salt water for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Drain water away and mash potatoes or pass them through a potato presser.

Bring milk to a light boil and add to the potatoes.  Then, add cornflour, salt and the raw potatoes. Mix thoroughly.  Form mixture into 12 dumplings and leave aside.

Boil enough water in a big pot and add salt.  Then, add in dumplings one by one and reduce to medium heat.  Simmer dumplings for about 25 minutes.  Once ready, remove dumplings by using a perforated ladle and place in a serving bowl.

Bon Appetit!