Tafelspitz.

This is a staple in Germany and it is very good. It can be found in all restaurants and hotels. It is this country's version of the Pot au feu or the New England Boiled Dinner. This dish only uses beef and the beef is cooked in a stock containing juniper berries. It is served with a horseradish cream. I have attached a recipe.

1 piece brisket of beef (approx. 2 kg)

750 g beef bones

3 pieces carrots

3 pieces turnips/parsnips

1 piece celeriac (small)

1 piece onion

2 leaves bay

10 pieces peppercorns

2 pieces juniper berries

Salt

Chives (chopped)

Fill a large pot with about 5 liters of cold water. Wash the bones and boil in the water. Remove the sinew and skin from the beef but leave the fat on. Place the meat, bay leaves, peppercorns and juniper berries in the water and simmer just below boiling point on low heat for about 2–2 1/2 hours, regularly skimming off the fat.
Halve the unpeeled onion, and fry, without fat, preferably in old pan, on the cut surface until dark brown.
Cut the vegetables into large cubes and add with the onion to the meat. Simmer for another hour until the meat is really tender. (Test the meat with a fork to see if it’s ready: the fork should slide in easily when the meat is ready). Remove the meat, strain the soup, and put the meat back in the soup for a while.
Take note: as long as the meat is sitting in the soup, don’t add salt, otherwise it will become red and dry up.
Slice the meat, and arrange on a warmed plate. Pour over a little soup, add salt to taste, and sprinkle with chives. Serve with boiled potatoes and carrot and white turnip cut into strips and tossed in butter when they are cooked, chive sauce and apple-horseradish sauce.

Roge Verge In Palm Springs

Roger Verge was the owner of the Michelin 3 star restaurant in France called Moulin De Mougin. He came to Palm Spring to do a Weekend in Provence. The photo below is of the crew of the Esmerelda Resort in Palm Springs with Mr. Verge.

I had worked in his restaurant and invited him to come over and do a special weekend. He was delighted to do so and the mayor named the day of the big event ' Roger Verge Day'. It was very successful and got a lot of publicity for the hotel.

Cauliflower Risotto With Sauteed Shrimp And Bacon

This is a recipe from a Mr. Jose Gutierrez who was the restaurant chef in the Meridien in Houston. He was an outstnding restaurant chef and is to this day a dear colleague. I made a few changes to suit myself but stuck to his main idea. Jose is now in Memphis and is a great hit down there. I was glad to make contact with him over the weekend. Here is the link to the pdf with the article and the original recipe for the risotto.

http://www.cookingwithjennifer.com/documents/magazines/Jose.pdf

Pork Wiener Schnitzel

Braised Beef And Carrots And Roast Potatoes.

In praise of simple food. A great staple from the British Isles and one that never goes out of fashion. The beef braised for about 4 hours and could be carved with a fork. Great with a pint of full flavored ale.

Braised Oxtails In Tomato Sauce And Creamy Polenta.

Creamed Chicken And Vegetable Hotpot With Potato Dumplings.

Citrus, Garlic And Herb Roasted Poussin With Root Vegetables And Pureed Potatoes.

New Year's Eve.

Tomato And Vegetable Risotto With Sauteed Shrimp.,

Garlic Tempura Shrimp On Fresh Ratatouille

Corned Beef

Slow Braised Lamb Shank On Ratatouille Nicoise

Stroganoff With Mashed Root Vegetables And Fried Garlic

Beef, Guinness And Garlic Stew

I put some whole cloves of garlic in this dish without the

strong garlic taste using this method: Peel the garlic cloves

and poach them in water until tender. Strain the cloves and

wrap them in some muslin cloth. Add this to your dish and

when the whole thing is cooked remove the muslin and return

the cloves to the dish after the sauce has been strained.


Recipe anon.

Nuttin' Like A Good Gumbo

Ingredients:
1 pound medium shrimp
2 boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons salt
Bay leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces smoked sausage, such as andouille or Polish sausage, 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 (14.5 ounces) can diced tomatoes in juice
4 bay leaves and some fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 cups long-grain rice
4 cups of chicken stock or water.
Preparation:
Sauté the chicken and shrimp with the sausage in a little oil and remove from pan. Add all the vegetables to the same pan and allow to cook on a medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and the bay leaves and salt and pepper. Add the tomato. Add the rice. Allow the flavors to merge for a few minutes. Then add the liquid and allow to cook on a medium to low heat.

Atlantic Cod And Chips

Curried Prawns On Basmati Rice

This started off as a simple Prawn Curry and developed into this dish which is almost good enough to be on a menu in a restaurant. It consists of a curry sauce made with the shells of the shrimp and a few chopped up vegetables then passed through a fine strainer over the prawns, rice and spinach.

Chicken And Mushroom Crepes.

You can do this with seafood, vegetables or anything you like. This is a savory crepe so if you have a crepe recipe just take the sugar out and add some parsley or chives.
Firs you make your crepes, you can make them the day before if you like.
For the mix and the sauce: You need a breast of chicken per person and about four mushrooms.
Here we go: chop a shallot very finely (an onion will do but a shallot is better) /cut the chicken breast in largish chunks/ cut the mushrooms into fairly large pieces. Have some white wine, some chicken stock and some heavy whipping cream at the ready.
Add a little olive oil to a casserole and sauté the chicken. When it is half cooked add the shallots and cook until the shallots are translucent. Add white wine and start to reduce. Take out the chicken and let the wine reduce till almost dry. Add a little chopped garlic at this point. Add heavy cream and reduce to a sauce like consistency. Return the chicken to the sauce and add the mushrooms allow to rest for a couple of minutes until the flavors are combined.
Remove from heat and add a little chopped parsley or chives. Let cool and correct the seasoning.
With a slotted spoon remove the chicken and mushrooms and keep your sauce warm but not hot.
Fill the crepes and line them up on a flat oven proof dish. Whip up a little heavy cream very stiffly and fold it in to the sauce. Add some more fresh herbs and coat crepes.
Pass them under the broiler until you get a nice gratin effect and serve with rice.

Bananes Flambee

Cathy and I used to have these in a little restaurant at the beach in Africa. They are very easy to make and delicious to eat. I didn't have any rum so I used Cachasa and I didn't have any ice cream so I whipped some cream and added some Cashaca and sugar. It is better with vanilla ice cream.

Just follow the instructions and don 't burn anything. In the United States this dish is called bananas foster.

I almost caught the flames with my camera but ...... too late.

Make Some Soup!

This is a thirteen bean soup and it is great for this time of the year .

Split Pea Soup With A Smoked Ham Hock.

Another winner for the winter cold.

Boiled Shortrib And Chicken Dinner

It's freezin' here so this was good.

Scotch Eggs, Roasted Tomatoes, Mash And Onion Gravy

This is the true pub grub from England. This would also be served in the cafeterias and middle of the road cafes. It is usually served as an accompaniment to a good pint but rarely as a main meal from what I remember. This started off as a bit of fun but ended up as being a tasty treat.
Nothing could be easier than to make this. All you need is a couple of eggs, some sausage meat, egg wash and breadcrumbs.
1/ place the egg on the sausage meat. 2/ envelope the egg in the sausage. 3/ roll the egg in egg and breadcrumbs. 4/ Place the finished product on a tray with a little olive oil and bake in the oven. The rest is up to your own imagination.
This is normally done with a plain breakfast sausage mix. I used Italian sausage meat for this and I baked them with rosemary and some thyme. They went great with the creamy mash and of course the long simmered onion gravy went with it very well.

Lancashire Hotpot

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces chopped onion
1 1/2 pounds cubed leg of lamb or beef
2 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Carrots and Celery cut into large pieces
Tomato paste
Crushed garlic
Any root vegetable that will hold up to a couple of hours of cooking.
Bay leaf
1 ounce butter
2 cups chicken or lamb stock or just plain water.

Directions
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté onion until soft and deep golden in color. Remove from skillet and set aside. Add lamb to skillet and fry (in batches if necessary) until rich chestnut brown in color, 12 to 15 minutes. Then add all the vegetables cut into large pieces. Cook until all flavors are combined then add the garlic , bay leaf and thyme.
Add a couple of spoons of tomato paste and cook until the meat and veggies have a deep chestnut color. Add a little flour to thicken and then add the stock. Cook this for a half hour or so to get the dish started and the add the potatoes sliced nice and thick in a layer over the whole thing. Brush with some melted butter and finish in the oven.
It’s important to make your sauce a little shorter than usual. In other words just make enough to cover the meat so that the potatoes don’t get lost. You can get a golden brown potato by brushing them from time to time with a little melted butter.

If it is going too fast turn the heat down and cover with foil. If you keep your eye on it , it will be fine.
I added a little ale to this before adding the potatoes. Let sit for a half hour before serving. This is a great dish.