"Wähen" - The Swiss Fruit Quiche !

The Swiss have their own version of quiches. These tarts are kind of a mixture between the French quiche and a clafoutis. Since way back in the medieval times the people in Switzerland, which are mostly Roman-Catholic Christians, were not allowed to eat meats on Fridays. The rich could afford to eat fish on Fridays but the mostly pheasant population had to go with something a little less fancy and more readily available. They invented the Friday tradition of what is commonly known as "Wähen" day. Still today most bakeries and even supermarkets in Switzerland do offer some selection of "Wähen" each Friday. These tarts come in savory and sweet versions. People eat first a piece of the savory "Wähen". The savory kinds are usually either cheese or onions. These are very similar to the French quiches. They are made in a pie form using either a pie dough or a puff pastry dough. The filling is a simple mixture of eggs, cream, milk, condiments and either cooked onions or grated cheeses. After the savory piece they move on to the sweet version of the "Wähen", which is really a fruit quiche. They use fruits that are seasonally available. Most commonly you can find cherries, apple, rhubarb, apricots or plums. I have tested a few recipes and found a fruit version of this delicious fruit tart that is extremely easy to make. It does not require any time, skills or special ingredients. This will be most likely the easiest tart you will ever make and everybody will enjoy it.

Simple Swiss Fruit "Wähen" Recipe

one pack of frozen puff pastry (usually available in every supermarket)

3 whole, large eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of whole milk
1 teaspoon of corn starch
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt

use fruits of your choice (best with apples, cherries, apricots, rhubarb or plums)

Let the puff pastry thaw. Sprinkle a little flour on a surface and roll the puff pastry out so you can fill a 9 inch tart form and do a little double dough on the sides of the tart form. Then fill up the form with the fruits of your choice. Use apricots half's, or cherries, plum half's or eights of apples. Use fresh fruits only. Once the fruits are tidily set in the form use a bowl to assemble the filling. Start with the three large, whole eggs (best at room temperature) and beat in the sugar. Than add the heavy cream, the whole milk, the vanilla and the salt. Completely dissolve the corn starch with two teaspoons of cold water and add to the mixture. Than pure the filling right over the fruit. Fill up the form quite well. The fruits should be almost covered with filling. Transfer the tart carefully to a preheated oven and bake it at 350 F for about 40 minutes. The top should have a nice golden color but must not become dark brown. Take the tart out of the oven and let it cool on a rack. This tart is at its best when almost cold.

California Apricots Are Here - The Easiest Dessert You Ever Prepare !

The first fresh California apricots of this season are hitting the market as we speak. Something about apricots. It is one of these fruits that mean nothing to me fresh, but when you dry, cook or bake them, they seem to trun into something magical. Here is the quickest and easiest apricot dessert you will ever prepare:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pull 2 pounds of apricots apart with your hands and remove their pits. Put apricots in a pie plate--or any other baking or souffle form you have. Melt 1 stick of butter and stir in 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour and a pinch of salt and cover apricots with the mixture. Bake for about 40 minutes and serve warm, with some Häagen-Dazs® vanilla ice cream.

Tiramatzah - Now We Are Talking !

Tiramatzah is a tasty variation on a classic dessert: tiramisu made with many layers of matzah bread. Because it's made with many thin layers of matzah instead of of layers of ladyfingers, it develops a very interesting flaky and layered texture, much like the alternating custard and pastry layers of a Napoleon. Even so, it retains the distinctive flavor of tiramisu and is a darned sight easier to make than traditional pastries. And the best part of all of this is the fact that made this way, this classic has a lot less calories and carbs. Whom would have ever thought that making a disg the Jewish way could actually be healthier and lighter!?! Try it--you might like it!

Spectacular And Easy - The Perfect Home Baked Loaf Of Bread !

This recipe has been created by Jim Leahy of Sullivan Street Bakery in N.Y. City

If you are into food - good food that is - well than you must love bread. Bread is the smallest common denominator amongst gourmets and gourmands around the world. I have not met a person that is into food, that does not appreciate a good piece of crusty bread. And some of us have tried to get that perfect loaf of Poilane bread out of our ovens and have failed miserably, just to learn that one cannot bake real good bread at home! What if I told you that there is the most simple recipe/method to bake the nearly perfect loaf of bread right there in your kitchen. Only four ingredients and less than 5 minutes of real work! And the result is better, than what most professional bakers around you can produce!
Yes! A fantastic and easy recipe invented by Jim Leahy of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City! All you do is mix some instant yeast, bread flour, salt and some water to form a rough dough. Cover it tightly and let it sit undisturbed for 18 to 24 hours. Then you form a ball with the dough, let it rise for another 2 hours while you preheat an oven and a cast-iron pot (can be a LeCreuset Dutch oven or any other heavy pot you have with a lid). After that you invert the dough ball into the hot pot bake it in the oven covered with a lid for 30 minutes. Bake it for another 20 to 30 minutes uncovered until the loaf is a handsome dark brown. You have to let it cool before slicing, but when you do, beware. A taste of those slices of bread will make everybody around you become singularly fixated and before you know it the entire loaf will be gone.

The Nearly-Perfect Loaf Of Bread

3 cups unbleached bread flour - any brand (some more for dusting)
2 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoons of instant yeast - preferably SAF
wheat bran as needed

1.
In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water (that is 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) using your fingers stir until blended. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at for at least 18 hours, preferably 24 hours at room temperature.
2.
Flour the work surface and with the help of a plastic spatula, pure the dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour, pat the dough into a square, fold it to the middle from all four sides and and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran and put dough seam side down on to the towel and dust with more flour and bran. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for 2 hours.
3.
A half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 500 degrees (maximum). Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 20 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Porcelet - Not Kosher But Extermely Succulent !

There are always new products for us Foodies. One of the sure fire purveyors and my personal favorit such company in the US is D'Artagnan. Best poultry, best foie gras, best duck and so much more. And now this one - unlike any pork you’ve ever tasted! This D’Artagnan Porcelet is available through exclusive arrangement with a small Canadian family farm. You’ll get a half of a very young pig separated to provide one shoulder, one leg, and one middle portion. The 100% milk-fed baby pig is rich, tender, moist, and succulent, with a skin so crisp it crackles when you take a bite. This milk-fed porcelet is ten weeks old, organically raised and about eight pounds. This meat is so extraordinary that you really need to try it once.


RECIPE: ROAST PORCELET
Salt and pepper 7- to 8-pound piece of porcelet, put in roasting pan, add 3 cups water, cover tightly, and roast at 325 degrees for 2 hours. Remove cover, increase heat to 350, and roast about 45 minutes more, until skin is crisp. Serve with pan juices. Serves 8 to 10.

Saturday - Happy St. Patricks Day To All The Irish !

We shall not ignore that it is St. Patricks day tomorrow Saturday! Most of the culinary contributions of the Irish come in liquide form. There is only one solid contribution that I personally know of. A hearty

Irish Bread Pudding

with a beautiful caramel sauce that is infused with Irish whiskey. You wont need another drink after that one I promis you. Click on the links and you will find the best recipe for good old Irish Bread Pudding that I know! Happy St. Patricks!

The New Old - Nose To Tail Eating !

There is a new movement in the food world that evolves around a very old concept; cooking and eating the whole beast. Instead of just serving up the top cuts, like the loins, the chops and the tenderloins, these new kids on the block are going back to the ways it used to be on the farms. The butcher came out and a pig was selected and butchered on the spot and within the next few days all parts of that pig (nose to tail) was artfully turned into great food. Some meat and inerts were served fresh, some of the parts were cured, smoked, pickled, salted or turned into sausages. In the process we rediscover that many of the parts that used to end up in the gutter can actually be turned into some of the best plates you'll ever have. One of the pioneer in this field is my Gourmet Brother Fergus Henderson that together with Trevor Gulliver opened ST. JOHN in London in 1994. Situated in a former smokehouse, around the corner from London's Smithfield Market they have developed one of the most unique eateries in London. You will go through a special experience, eating the most remarkable cuts that you wont find anywhere else. The food is phenomenal and the whole atmosphere between the place itself and the food is almost a culinary catharsis in a wonderful way. When in London - a must try!
26 St John Street, London
+44 (0) 20 7251 0848

Most people believe that the best Speck, Bacon and Pancetta actually comes from the pig's belly. Whilst it is true that most of these products are made from pork belly, one of the best bacon type cut is called Guanciale (gwan-CHA-leh) - that actually comes from the pork jowl or, to put it more delicately, pig cheek. Guanciale is always cured and never smoked. It is an amazingly good tasting bacon, that will turn your spaghetti carbonara into a true sensation. Try Guanciale cold cut style or pan seared with a good bread, or add some of it cubed and seared to your scrambled eggs in the morning and you wont want to go back to that other stuff. Guanciale is hard to find. Call my Gourmet Brother Marc Buzzio of New York's Salumeria Biellese and he will ship it to you!
Salumeria Biellese
212-736-7376

Maybe you wish to get in on this Nose To Tail cooking and try something that you never done before. How about some slow roasted pork belly Fergus Henderson style. It is a simple recipe and a simple process with a great result.

4 lb piece pork belly
1/3 cup whiskey
2 medium onions cut in 1/2-inch-thick rings
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2/3 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves
1 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup cider (or beer)
2 teaspoons salt
8 whole cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar

Remove the skin from the pork belly. In a baking dish marinate the pork belly in the whiskey for at least 4 hours up to one day. Occasionally turning the pork belly over, keep it covered and chilled.
Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 300°F.
Spread onion rings in an even layer in a large ovenproof roasting pan and sprinkle with garlic and half of sage leaves. Pour in the chicken broth and arrange pork belly, fat-side up, on onions (discard marinade). Pour cider or beer over the pork belly. Finely chop remaining sage leaves and mix with salt, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon in a small cup. Sprinkle pork belly with the mixture.
Cover tightly with foil and roast, basting occasionally, until pork is very tender, about 3 hours.
Remove foil from pork and sprinkle brown sugar over pork. Increase oven temperature to 400°F and roast pork until glazed and golden, about 20 minutes more. Transfer pork to cleaned cutting board, reserving onions in pan (discard cloves), and let stand 20 minutes before serving.
Transfer onions with a slotted spoon to a serving dish and keep warm, covered. Add vinegar to liquid in roasting pan and boil on stove top until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Pour reduced pan juices into a measuring cup and skim off fat. Cut pork belly lengthwise into 3/4-inch-thick slices, then halve each slice crosswise. Serve with onions and pan juices.

Premium Salt - The Gourmet Salts You Kneed To Know !

For most people salt is nothing more than what comes out of a shaker in a restaurant or what we can buy bulk in a cardboard box in the supermarket for 90 cents. The reality is that salt is so much more than that. To the great chefs, their salts are as important to their cooking as their knifes, the right pans and the best ingredients money can buy. And there is a whole unisverse of great salts out there. Not only do they serve different purposes but they also have a wide range of different falvors. Salt is not like salt. Here are my personal favorits amongst the premium salts. You should have at least some of these in your kitchen. Embark on this trip and you will find out what a treasure some of these salts really are.

Grey Sea Salt (fine) - Le Tresor Whole mineral sea salts from the prestigious salt ponds of Guérande France are completely natural and unrefined. This Grey Sea Salt is harvested using traditional Celtic methods. The beautiful grey color comes from the clay lined salt ponds that the seawater is evaporated in. The exceptional French clay in these ponds adds valuable minerals and nutrients to both the nutritional value and flavor of these fine salts. Le Trésor salts are never blended always 100% pure.

Bolivian Rose - Andes Mountain (fine) This incredible pink salt is hand harvested from the Andes Mountain range in Bolivia. Ancient sea salt deposits were covered with volcanic lava creating this high mineral salt and protecting it from pollution. The light rose and orange color of The Bolivian Rose makes it gorgeous when presented in a clear salt shaker or mill. This Salt is incredible over fresh pasta or bakend and boiled potatoes with a little butter.

Alaea - Hawaiian Red Sea Salt (fine) In ancinet times Hawaiians use Alaea salt in ceremonies to cleanse, purify and bless tools and canoes, as well, in healing rituals for medicinal purposes. Alaea Hawaiian Red Sea Salt is non-processed and rich in minerals. A small amount of harvested reddish Hawaiian clay (‘Alaea) enriches the salt with Iron-Oxide. Savor its unique flavor on roastet or grilled meats. This is the traditional and authentic seasoning for native Hawaiian dishes such as Kalua Pig, Hawaiian Jerky and Poke.

Salish - Alderwood Smoked (fine) This Pacific Sea Salt is slow smoked over real Alderwood, giving its it’s authentic, clean smoke flavor. Salish™ smoked sea salt is a 100 % natural and combines traditional Alderwood flavor with sea salt to create a most unique and beautiful spice to use in any of your favorite recipes. The name Salish™ comes from the Native American Indians- the first to inhabit the great Pacific Northwest. In fact Alderwood has been used to smoke salmon and other meats for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Sonoma Kosher Flake Salt Kosher Flake salt is a unique, pyramid shaped crystal with stair-step sides. The irregular crystals make this salt ideal for cooking and seasoning as well as an accent for refreshments that call for a salt-rimmed glass. Sonoma Flake is commonly used by spice blenders due to the increase surface area that improves adherence to food. Contains no additives. This is a true all-purpose salt.

Fleur De Sel - Le Tresor This salt is from the Guérande region of France and is certified Organic. This Fleur de Sel is hand harvested. Only on certain afternoons when weather conditions are just right, a lacy-white film forms on the top of the salt beds. This is the precious Fleur de Sel. It must be harvested on the same afternoon it is formed. It is very rare, but all you need is a few grains to transform any dish. I love it on anything cold - over fresh, ripe tomatoes, grilled vegetables, or salads. Any fish or meat; Just drizzled with a little olive oil and then sprinkled with a pinch of Fleur de Sel. This is truly the Best of the Best of French gourmet sea salts.

Kala Namak - Black Indian Salt This is an earth salt, not a sea salt, that is mined in central India. It is actually pinkish grey rather than black and has a very distinctiive sulfurous mineral taste, almost like hard boiled eggs. It is used in Indian cuisine as a condiment, added to chaats (fruit glazes), Indian fruit salads, chutneys, raitas (plain yogurt with cucumbers), tastey salads and savory deep-fried Indian snacks. Black salt goes well in vegetable dishes and with seafood. Chaat masala, a Indian spice blend, is dependent upon black salt, among other ingredients, for its characteristic aroma and flavor.

Murray River - Pink Salt Flakes These pink salt crystals are light and delicate peach colored flakes. They have a wonderfully mild flavor. The crystals melt quickly and evenly making Murray River flake salt ideal for finishing, roasting and baking. The Murray River is the biggest river in Australia. The source of its water are the Australian Mountains. The Murray-Darling Basin’s low rainfall and high evaporation have combined to concentrate salt in the groundwater. A red pigment - carotene - is secreted from the salt tolerant algae. The underground saline waters have been laying dormant for thousands of years and are now utilized to produce this beautiful salt.

Velvet De Guerande - Le Tresor This salt is light gray in color and almost the consistency of flour. This is a very delicate crystal that has a “buttery” feel and taste as it melts on your tongue. This is a terrific salt to top any dish. Its texture makes it ideal for popcorn, french fries or sauces and salads. It is one of my favorit finishing, or topping salts. Whatever comes out of the deep fryer and needs to be seasoned, will become just that much better with this salt.

Fumee de Sel - Le Tresor This is unlike any smoked sea salt available. This Fleur de Sel is cold smoked from chips made from seasoned French oak Chardonnay wine barrels, which for years have been used in the aging of fine wines. The five to seven year old barrels are hand selected for wood smoking chips. This unique smoked salt is hand made from start to finish. The crystals are smoked to a light toasty brown and have a deep smoke flavor without being bitter. The moist Fleur de Sel crystals readily absorb the natural smoked flavors of the oak and chardonnay. Top a piece of butter-poched King salmon with this salt and you will be wowed.

Himalayan - Pink Salt This pure, hand-mined salt is found naturally deep inside the pristine Himalayan Mountains. This sea salt is about 250 million year old, from the Jurassic era and is known for its healing properties. It is used by health professionals, spas and individuals to heal the body and relax the mind. For centuries, salts have been used as folk remedies for a variety of health issues. Stimulating circulation, lowering blood pressure and removing toxins such as heavy metals from the body are just a few of the many benefits of Himalayan Pink salt. It is incredible pure. I use this small grains to top rice dishes and potatoes.

Bali - Coconut and Lime Smoked Sea Salt This salt starts with tropical salt harvested from the Bali Sea. The beautiful geometric crystal that grinds easily and absorbs lots of flavor. Indigenous coconut and kaffir lime leaves are used to create a smoky salt with a bite of citrus. Try Bali - Coconut and Lime salt on halibut or prawns. I use it in all my Thai dishes.

Italian - Black Truffles Sea Salt This is Italian premium hand harvested sea salt mixed with luxurious dried Black truffles from the Abruzzi region of Italy. This aromatic and superbe truffle salt is adored by chefs and connoisseurs alike. Try this truffle salt over cooked egg dishes, butter tossed fresh pasta, on foie gras, or sprinkled on buttered popcorn and served with a glass of spumante! This is truly a “special occasion” condiment!

My Gourmet Brother Ferran Adria (currently the worlds best Chef) has a simple but nevertheless astonishing snack recipe that lets you experiance different salts like nothing else you have experianced before. Preheat your oven/broiler and position a rack about 8 inches from the heat. Cut a few slices of a baguette (or any other bread really), and spread them on a baking sheet and broil them until toatsted, about 30 seconds to a minute. Take them out, turn them over and set a few chunks of nice dark premium chocolate on each slice. Put them back in the oven and broil until the bread turns golden and the chocolate begins to melt, about another 30 seconds to a minute. Put these chocolate toast on a plate and drizzle them very lightly with a good olive oil. Then sprinkle them lightly with the premium salt of your choice (or even better use different salts for each toast) and serve right away. You will be surprised!

Latkas - Best Recipe Hands Down !

Jews all over the world call potato pancakes Latkes (also spelled Latkas). Latkes originated in Eastern Europe, where they are still today considered comfort food although the Jewish population to go with the tradition has long perished! Areas like northeast Poland, for instance, know many varieties like the Placki Wegierskie, Latkes stuffed with a thick spicy goulash. Latkes are a very important part of Jewish cuisine. They can be served any time, but by tradition they are especially popular at the year-end; Hanukkah. Eating Latkes is not one of the mitzvot of Hanukkah; however, Jews find it appropriate to eat foods cooked in oil during the festival that celebrates the miracle of the Temple oil. In Israel, where Latkes are also known as Levivot (singular Levivah), they are well-liked, and served with Sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) that are considered to be the Hanukkah tread. Latkes are traditionally eaten with sour cream or applesauce, or both. I personally love my Latkes with sour cream and some nice smoked salmon to go with! Over these past holidays I've been eating my fair share of Latkes and one may even say that the share was too big. Anyhow I'm happy to report to you that I'm now able to cure the best Latkes of the 2006 Hanukkah season. It comes from a dear friend of many years. Susan knows how to prepare terrific staples of the Jewish cuisine. Her Latkes are the best hands down. So next time you prepare Latkes - or maybe you want to try them for the first time - here is her recipe. She has not shared this with anyone, so please feel privileged. Also Susan happens to be one of the top Realtors in South Florida. If buying or selling real estate around South Florida - she's your girl. Just click on her picture!

Potato Latkas (courtesy of Susan Kasen)

4 Idaho baking potatoes peeled and quartered
1 large onions peeled and quartered
2 large eggs beaten
3/4 cups of matza meal (you can use allprupose flour too)2 cups of canola oil for frying
sour cream and apple sauce

Use a blender to grate potatoes. Take 1/2 the potatoes and add to the blender, add water to cover potatoes. Put blender speed on medium high and grate the potatoes until they have no lumps and are of medium consistency. Pour the potatoes through a strainer to remove all the water. Than put the potatoes in a some kitchen paper and press them dry. Put the grated potatoes in a large bowl and add 1 tablespoon of sour cream and mix. The sour cream prevents the potatoes from turning brown. Repeat this very same process with the rest of the potatoes and all the onions and mix everything together in the same bowl. Then mix in the matza meal (or allprupose flour) and also the previously beaten 2 large eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. Heat up frying pan and add one cup of canola oil at the time. Use a 1/4 cup of batter for each Latka and fry them deep golden on both sides. Serve them hot with homemade apple sauce or sour cream.

Best Pancakes Ever - Hands Down!

I will be very honest with you guys; For many years I have shied away from sharing my recipes. It was my business to wow people and after all, if everybody knew, how do you keep wowing them? Anyway, as I get older and things change I loosen up a little and have decided that I make some of my best secrets available to you all. Now, not everything that I consider "my secrets" actually has been invented by me. Some stuff I have learned from my Gourmet Brothers around the world. Today I will share with you my secrete for the best pancakes ever. This recipe has been created by my Gourmet Brother Bill Granger. He is an Aussie and is becoming more and more popular as a Chef, not only in DownUnder but also in the rest of the world. Make these pancakes and you will be blown away! They go with everything. Honey, any fruits, jellies, jams, Mabel syrups but also savory things like caviar. Go wow your guest, friends and yourself. And as always; You heard it here first!
Best Pancake Ever Recipe