German Cooking Today
Page 27
1. Wash the pears, peel, halve, core and cut into pieces. Add the sugar, vanilla sugar, cinnamon stick and cloves to the water and bring to the boil.
2. Now add the pears, bring to the boil again, cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes until soft. Stir in the lemon juice. Leave the compote to cool down.
3. Add sugar to sweeten and remove the cloves and cinnamon.
Tip: Serve as a pudding with whipped cream or ice cream, or as a sweet meal with pancakes or curd cheese pancakes. The flavour of all fruit compotes can be further enhanced by the addition of the zest of 1⁄2 lemon (untreated). This is added to the pan at the beginning of the cooking and removed after cooking when the compote has cooled down.
Variation 1: Replace half the water with 125 ml/4 fl oz (1⁄2 cup) white wine.
Variation 2: Plum compote. Wash 500 g/18 oz plums, leave to drain, dry each plum with a cloth, remove the stalks, cut in half and remove the stones. Add 50 g/2 oz sugar to 125 ml/4 fl oz (1⁄2 cup) water or red wine in a pan and bring to the boil. Now add the plums, 1 cinnamon stick and 3 cloves, bring to the boil again, cover and braise over low heat for about 8 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves, leave to cool down a little and add sugar to taste.
DESSERTS
185 | Fruit salad
Fruity (6 servings)
Preparation time: about 30 minutes
1 apple
1 small mango
1 nectarine
1 peach
1 orange
1 kiwi fruit
1 banana
100 g/31⁄2 oz strawberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar or honey (to taste)
30 g/1 oz chopped walnuts, hazelnut kernels or almonds
Per serving:
P: 2 g, F: 3 g, C: 22 g, kJ: 548, kcal: 131
1. Wash the apple, peel, cut into quarters and remove the core. Peel the mango, cut in half and remove the stone. Wash the nectarine and peach, wipe dry, cut in half and remove the stones. Cut all the fruit into pieces. Peel the orange so that the white pith is also removed using a sharp knife and “fillet” the segments, removing the membrane surrounding each segment.
2. Peel the kiwi fruit and bananas and slice. Wash the strawberries, drain, remove the stalks and cut into pieces.
3. Stir the lemon juice into the fruit and add sugar to taste. Put the fruit salad intoa glass bowl and sprinkle with chopped walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds.
Tip: As a dessert, serve the fruit salad with cream, vanilla sauce or ice cream. As a sweet meal, serve with hot semolina pudding or rice pudding. The flavour of the fruit salad can be enhanced by adding a little orange liqueur. You can also stir 50 g/2 oz raisins or 1 tablespoon chopped peppermint leaves into the salad.
Variation: Fruit salad can be varied endlessly according to the season and taste. In winter some of the fruit can be replaced by grapefruit (prepared like the orange), persimmon (wash but do not peel, and cut into pieces, passion fruit or granadilla (remove the stone and whisk together briefly with 2 tablespoons orange juice, using a hand-held mixer with whisk attachment) or pomegranate (cut open and remove the seeds). You need about 1 kg/21⁄4 lb fruit in all.
DESSERTS
186 | Welfenspeise (Vanilla sabayon)
With alcohol
Preparation time: about 30 minutes, excluding cooling time
For the custard:
whites of 2 medium eggs
35 g/11⁄4 oz cornflour (cornstarch)
40 g/11⁄2 oz sugar
2–3 drops vanilla essence in 1 tablespoon sugar
500 ml/17 fl oz (21⁄4 cups) milk
For the frothy sauce:
yolks of 3 medium eggs
80 g/3 oz sugar
10 g/1⁄3 oz cornflour (cornstarch)
250 ml/8 fl oz (1 cup) white wine
Per serving:
P: 9 g, F: 9 g, C: 48 g, kJ: 1491, kcal: 356
1. To make the custard, whisk the egg whites until stiff enough to be cut with a knife. Mix together the cornflour, sugar and vanilla sugar and stir in 6 tablespoons of the milk.
2. Bring the rest of the milk to the boil in a saucepan, remove from the heat and stir in the mixture with the cornflour using a whisk and bring briefly to the boil.
3. Now stir the stiffly beaten egg whites into the hot mixture and bring to the boil again. Pour into a glass bowl or individual glasses or bowls, filling them only half full, and put in the refrigerator.
4. For the frothy sauce, mix together the egg yolk, sugar, cornflour and white wine in a stainless steel saucepan or bowl. Place the bowl in a hot bain-marie, and whisk using a hand-held mixer with whisk attachment until the mixture is thick and frothy; the volume should almost double. Do not let the water or sauce boil or it may curdle. Remove the bowl or saucepan from the bain-marie, loosen the mixture round the edges and stir again briefly.
5. Leave the sauce to cool down and pour on top of the custard in the bowls or glasses.
Note: Only use very fresh eggs; check the sell-by date!
Tip: Garnish with lemon balm leaves before serving.
To ensure that the egg white can be beaten stiffly enough, the bowl and whisk must be completely free of fat and there must be no trace of egg yolk in the white.
Variation: An alcohol-free variation of frothy sauce. Replace the white wine with 250 ml/8 fl oz (1 cup) apple juice and 3 tablespoons lemon juice.
DESSERTS
187 | Raspberry sorbet
Fruity
Preparation time: about 30 minutes, excluding freezing time
150 ml/5 fl oz (5⁄8 cup) water
160 g/51⁄2 oz sugar
peel of 1⁄2lemon (untreated)
500 g/18 oz raspberries
2 teaspoons raspberry spirit
Per serving:
P: 2 g, F: 0 g, C: 46 g, kJ: 877, kcal: 209
1. Add the sugar and lemon to the water in a small pan and bring to the boil and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes without a lid. This should produce about 100 ml/31⁄2 fl oz (1⁄2 cup) syrup. Leave the syrup to cool down, then remove the lemon peel.
2. Sort out the raspberries but do not wash. Put the raspberries with half the syrup in a tall mixing glass and purée with a masher. Rub the mixture through a sieve if you like, add the rest of the syrup and flavour with raspberry spirit.
3. Put the mixture in a frost-resistant container and put in the freezer for 1 hour, stir and put back in the freezer for 3 hours, stirring several times to ensure a creamy texture.
4. The sorbet can be made in an ice cream machine in 30–45 minutes, depending on the model.
Tip: The sorbet can be made in an ice cream machine in 30–45 minutes, depending on the model.
200 ml/7 fl oz (7⁄8 cup) chilled whipped cream may be stirred into the fruit mixture before it is frozen.
Pour sparkling white wine over the sorbet in each bowl, 250 ml/8 fl oz (1 cup) in all.
Variation 1: Red currant sorbet. Use red currants instead of raspberries. Wash the red currants, drain thoroughly and remove from the stalks. Prepare the sorbet as described above, rub through a sieve and freeze.
Variation 2: Strawberry sorbet. Use strawberries instead of raspberries. Wash and drain the strawberries, remove the stalks and purée (do not rub through a sieve). Using only 100 g/31⁄2 oz sugar for the syrup, prepare the sorbet as indicated above.
Variation 3: Mango sorbet. For the syrup add 80 g/ 3 oz sugar, the peel of 1⁄2 lime (untreated) and 3 teaspoons lime juice to 125 ml/ 4 fl oz (1⁄2 cup) water and bring to the boil as indicated above (this will produce about 80 ml/3 fl oz syrup) and leave to cool. Remove the lime peel. Peel 2 mangoes, cut in half and remove the stones, cut the flesh into cubes and purée with a masher. Stir together the diced mangoes and the syrup and freeze for about 4 hours, stirring once or twice after the first hour. The sorbet may be crushed again with a masher just before serving or whisked with a hand-held mixer with whisk attachment.
DESSERTS
188 | Vanilla ice cream
Good for preparing in advance (8 servings)
Preparation time: about 30 minutes, excluding freezing time
1 vanilla pod
yolks of 4 medium eggs
500 ml/17 fl oz (21⁄4 cups) whipping cream
100 g/31⁄2 oz sugar
Per serving:
P: 3 g, F: 23 g, C: 15 g, kJ: 1163, kcal: 278
1. Cut the vanilla pod lengthways and scoop out the flesh with the back of a knife. Mix together the egg yolk, sugar and the flesh scooped out of the vanilla pod with 3 tablespoons of cream in a stainless steel bowl or saucepan. Place in a hot bain-marie and whisk vigorously until the mixture thickens (the water in the bain-marie and the mixture should not be allowed to boil because this may cause the mixture to curdle).
2. Take the stainless steel bowl or pan out of the bain-marie, place in cold water and continue whisking the egg yolk mixture until it has cooled down.
3. Whip the cream until it is stiff and fold into the mixture. Put in a shallow freezer box holding 1 litre/13⁄4 pints (41⁄2 cups) and freeze for at least 3 hours.
Tip: Serve the ice cream with fresh fruit, chocolate sauce, a little egg liqueur or whipped cream.
Using an ice cream maker, ice cream can be made in about 40 minutes, depending on the model; follow the manufacturer’s instructions. In this case whisk only the egg yolk mixture in the bain-marie. Do not whip the cream but add in its liquid state.
Variation 1: Vanilla and walnut praliné ice cream. Chop up 100 g/31⁄2 oz walnuts, fry over low heat in a pan without fat until golden brown and transfer to a plate. Caramelise 60 g/2 oz sugar in a pan until golden brown, stir in the chopped walnuts and spread the mixture evenly on a piece of greaseproof paper. Leave to cool down, crumble a little and stir into the egg mixture together with the whipped cream. If you are using an ice cream maker, only add the walnut and caramel mixture shortly before the end of the freezing process.
Variation 2: Chocolate ice cream. Coarsely chop 100 g/31⁄2 oz plain chocolate and melt in a bowl placed in a bain-marie over low heat. Finely chop 50 g/2 oz milk chocolate. Prepare the egg yolk mixture in the bain-marie as described above but without the vanilla. Stir in the melted chocolate and leave the mixture to cool a little. First add the whipped cream in two stages, then add the chopped milk chocolate. When using an ice cream maker, stir the cream into the chocolate mixture without whipping it. Add the chopped chocolate just before the end of the freezing process.
DESSERTS
189 | Lemon pudding
Fruity
Preparation time: about 30 minutes, excluding cooling time
4 leaves white gelatine
150 ml/5 fl oz (5⁄8 cup) lemon juice, from about 3 lemons
125 g/41⁄2 oz sugar
150 g/5 oz natural yogurt, 3.5% fat,
300 ml/10 fl oz (11⁄4 cups) chilled whipping cream
Per serving:
P: 5 g, F: 25 g, C: 36 g, kJ: 1669, kcal: 399
1. Soak the gelatine in cold water, following the instructions on the packet. Heat the lemon juice in a small pan but do not let it boil.
2. Squeeze the gelatine to remove some water, dissolve in the hot lemon juice, then stir in the sugar. Leave the gelatine and lemon mixture to cool down, then stir in the yogurt. Refrigerate the mixture until it begins to set, stirring occasionally.
3. When the mixture begins to set, whip the cream and fold in. Transfer this mixture into a glass bowl or individual bowls and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Tip: Serve the lemon pudding with whipped cream.
Variation 1: Serve the lemon pudding with chocolate sauce. To make the chocolate sauce, coarsely chop 100 g/31⁄2 oz plain chocolate and melt with 3 tablespoons water in bowl placed in a bain-marie over low heat while stirring.
Variation 2: Orange pudding. Use freshly squeezed orange juice instead of lemon juice and use only 100 g/31⁄2 oz sugar.
DESSERTS
190 | Vanilla sauce
Classic
Preparation time: about 10 minutes, excluding cooling time
1 vanilla pod
10 g/1⁄3 oz cornflour (cornstarch)
500 ml/17 fl oz (21⁄4 cups) milk
yolks of 3 large eggs
40 g/11⁄2 oz sugar
1 pinch salt
Per serving:
P: 7 g, F: 9 g, C: 18 g, kJ: 768, kcal: 183
1. Slit open the vanilla pod lengthways and scoop out the flesh with the back of a knife. Stir together the cornflour with 3 tablespoons of the milk, using a whisk. Then add the egg yolk, sugar and salt and stir well.
2. Bring the rest of the milk with the vanilla flesh to the boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the mixture with the cornflour, using a whisk. Bring the sauce briefly to the boil.
3. Remove the sauce from the boil and leave to cool, stirring occasionally.
Tip: Vanilla sauce is delicious served with stewed fruit, red fruit pudding, baked apples or apple pie.
100 ml/31⁄2 fl oz (1⁄2 cup) of the milk may be replaced by whipping cream.
GLOSSARY
Glossary and information
Herbs in cooking
Herbs and spices complete and enhance the flavour of a dish while also adding variation to the menu. Herbs can be used on their own or together, and they can also reduce the need for salt. They are also very good for the health.
Storing and preparing
• If the herbs are in bunches, cut the ends off the stems and place them in water, or wrap loosely in clingfilm and store in the fridge.
• Fresh herbs should be rinsed carefully under cold running water and thoroughly patted or shaken dry.
• Strip off the leaves of smallleaved herbs such as thyme and marjoram. Hold the top of the stem with one hand and strip the leaves off the stems with the other, moving it from top to bottom.
• Chop up the herbs with a sharp paring or chopping knife just before using them so that they do not lose their aroma. Chives can be also cut with clean, sharp kitchen scissors.
More about herbs
Basil
Green, sturdy, oval, ribbed leaves with an aromatic, slightly peppery taste. Recommended with: lamb, poultry, fish, eggs, salads (especially tomato salad), raw and cooked vegetables.
Borage
Oblong, slightly hairy, pale to deep green leaves and blue flowers. Slightly cucumber-like taste. Recommended with: salads, sauces, vegetables, eggs, curd cheese and yogurt-based dishes and soups.
Chives
Thin, tubular stems with violetblue flowers. Spicy, sharp taste. Chives can be used in almost all dishes: soups, sauces, herb butter, salads, pasta, rice, vegetables, casseroles, egg, curd cheese and yogurt-based dishes.
Coriander
Coriander can be bought fresh or as dried, round, brown seeds that are whole or ground. Fresh coriander is used in Oriental, Indian, Caribbean and Mexican cuisine. Coriander seeds are used in marinades, pickled vegetables, cabbage and in baking (e.g., in Christmas pastries and bread).
Cress
Garden cress has small, delicate, light green leaves and a strong spicy taste. It is sold in containers. Recommended with: soups, sauces, salads, raw vegetables, curd cheese, yogurt and eggbased dishes, herb butter and on bread. Watercress has larger leaves and a stronger taste. Neither type can be frozen or dried.
Dill
Stems with feathery, light green leaves and a pleasantly spicy aroma. Recommended with raw vegetables, salads, crustaceans, white meat and poultry, fish, egg and curd cheese-based dishes, soups and sauces.
Lemon balm
Pale green, oval, slightly hairy leaves with white to pale yellow flowers. Its taste is reminiscent of lemon. Used to flavour: salads, sauces, egg, curd cheese and yogurt-based dishes, tea, refreshing soft drinks and fruit salads.
Lovage
Tubular stems with large, serrated leaves. It is very spicy and therefore used sparingly. Recommended with: soups, casseroles, stuffing, stocks, pulses, vegetables and spicy salads.
Small oval leaves with white to pale violet flowers. Very spicy and slightly bitter, it makes fatty food more digestible. Recommended with: soups, sauces, minced meat, casseroles, spicy salads, vegetables, potatoes and sausages.
Mint, peppermint
There are several varieties. Light green to violet green, oval, ribbed leaves. Very spicy, strong aroma, it should be used sparingly. Recommended with: ragouts, stuffing, lamb, casseroles, pulses and fruit salads.
Oregano
Very popular in Italian cuisine, it only develops its full aroma during cooking or baking. It is used in pasta dishes, spicy sauces, pizzas and vegetable dishes.
Parsley
There are both flat-leaved and curly varieties. The flat-leaved variety has a particularly intense, spicy aroma. Parsley can be used in almost all dishes, especially vegetables, soups, sauces, pasta, casseroles and gratins.
Rosemary
Green to dark green needlelike leaves with violet-blue flowers. Strong, spicy, slightly bitter taste.
Recommended with: roasts, poultry, fish, offal, game, potatoes, pulses, spicy sausages, mushrooms, courgettes, aubergines and lamb.
Sage
Oval, silver-grey to olive green leaves with violet-blue panicles. Spicy, slightly bitter taste. Use only sparingly. Recommended with: offal, lamb, poultry, eel, pasta, rice, stuffing and tomatoes.
Salad burnet
Small pale green, lightly feathery leaves with reddish-blue flower heads. Slightly spicy with a faintly nutty taste. Recommended with: soups, sauces, raw vegetables, egg, curd cheese and yogurt-based dishes.
Samphire
Grows mainly in the wild. Oval, arrow-shaped, succulent leaves. Slightly sour taste. Recommended with: soups, sauces, fish, white meat and poultry dishes, egg, curd cheese and yogurt-based dishes, potato salad and herb butter.
Savory
Small, pointed, deep leaves with lilac to white flowers. Recommended with: green beans, spicy salads, casseroles, pulses and potatoes.