Well, I had promised you a new recipe a week, and it doesn't take a science degree to figure out that it has been three weeks...So, here is the second episode of our winter newsletter with three recipes: - Choucroute garnie - Cassoulet - Blanquette de veau And to help me being forgiven for being so slack, I will show you one of my favourite winter desserts! Choucroute garnie - ALSACEThis is a classic! There are many possible variations as the name "choucroute garnie" implies, the "garnie" is where the Chefs can deploy their skills, as well in the way they prepare the "sauerkraut" itself, although this is only done in the best establishments... In my case, I buy the best I can find, and my neighbours of Baska-Jon fame usually provide me with one of their organic sauerkraut conserves and you can buy them online here - free plug, by the way: http://www.baskajon.com.au/9-preserves/212-baska-jon-sauerkraut-with-carrot-700g Being who I am, I can't resist "tampering" with it, and I add lots of cloves, peppercorns and bay leaves, and some good white wine to the pan in which I reheat the choucroute. People also use juniper berries and beer instead of wine, so there is space for experiment...However, this is what you prepare last... Well, all the fun is in deciding what we will "garnir" the choucroute with, and it is primarily pork meat in various guises, but generally three different types of meat will make the dish more interesting. In my case, I used a piece of organic pork shoulder - courtesy of Near River Produce - some very thick ribs and some Saucisse de Strasbourg. This gives a range of textures and flavours to the dish. CASSOULET - PERIGORDYou are not visiting my site to get told to buy a conserved Cassoulet, although some can be very good. So how do we go about it, then? Well, first a word of caution as this recipe is expensive in terms of the time involved and the cost of the ingredients. It is also better cooked in large quantities, so if it's only you and your significant other, visit Jean-Marc at the Orange Grove Market and it will be quicker and cheaper. In my case with 4 or 5 people around the table, it starts to make sense, and in that particular case, I did it just for you my dear subscribers and a young man just arrived from Paris who is staying with us for a couple of weeks. Now, feel free to compensate me for my trouble with a good bottle of Bordeaux - my address is in the footer! More seriously, you will need to buy some organic beans, some magrets or confit legs, some duck fat and some saucisses de Toulouse. See my choices below Now that you have spent your good money on quality ingredients, it is time to use them properly, and that entails starting to prepare at least the day before you want to serve. If you can, add an extra day, so the cooked cassoulet can rest overnight and reheated on the day. You need to first soak the beans in cold water overnight. To plate, put some of the beans and sausages in the plate, add some bits of proscuitto and top up with the duck. You can add boiled potatoes as well, but that might be just a bit too rich. My apologies as something happened with the photo of the plating, disappearing in the digital ether! You will have to use your imagination for once...but here is a photo of the wine I served with it. Enjoy! BLANQUETTE DE VEAU - VEAL IN WHITE SAUCEThis is a very traditional recipe that few people have tampered with as any change in the process might result in anything else but a blanquette. The term blanquette is derived from the fact that none of the ingredients are brown in the process and the purist even don't serve carrots with it as it add colour to the plate. But I do like my blanquette with carrots...You will need oignons, mushrooms and some nice pieces of veal - a French butcher will find the best cut for you - entrelardé, which means intertwined meat and lard , but you can use deboned ribs which will give you that mixture of tender meat and fat. Now it is time to make a roux - and not it is not "roux" but a white sauce...Here is the method:Melt butter in a small pan, add flour and stir continuously for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens. Pour the roux sauce into the blanquette pot. Mix well with a whisk and cook for 5 minutes on a low heat, until the stew sauce starts to slightly thicken. Return the meat and vegetables to the pot. Cover and cook for 15 minutes on a low heat. Bonus: Dessert Recipe - Plat de PommesThis a very simple dessert made out of leftover bread, apple, sugar, honey and lime: delicious! Once you have the bread and the apples sliced about the same size, butter the bottom of a square tray and pile up the slices of bread and apple sequentially until the first row is done, then move on to the next row and the next until the tray is well packed Prepare a syrup with honey and lime and spread generously. the syrup will moisten the bread and you can sprikle the top of the dish with some sugar to add caramelisation to the top of the bread
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AUTHORBorn in France, well travelled, relocated to Sydney in 1997. Archives
April 2019
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