Smoke-Beer Marinated Horse Steaks

Not that long ago I noticed this article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (which I read sort of randomly from time to time) and I decided I should start experimenting some more with beer marinating.

For this first time I around, I decided on horse steaks and a dark, smoky beer.

Ingredients:
- 4 horse steaks
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 10 pearl onions, quartered
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp allspice
- 5 dL (1 pint) Märzen Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier
to serve:
- potatoes, cubed
- sunchokes, cubed
- red cabbage salad

The marinade was made by simply stirring all the ingredients together. The horse steaks were placed in the marinade, covered and left in the fridge for 4 hours. The steaks were removed from the marinade and allowed to drip off before searing in the pan. When the steaks were done, they were removed from the pan, kept warm under a lid of foil while reducing the marinade to approximately half volume in the pan to use as sauce.


Served with pan-fried cubes of potato and sunchokes, and red cabbage salad. I was quite happy with the result. The meat was quite tender, and the marinade left a distinct touch on the taste of the meat.

Red Cabbage Salad

Based on a recipe we read in a newspaper we tried this over a year ago - the newspaper said it would be rich, and they weren't kidding. In fact, we thought it was way too rich, so in trying to adapt it better to our taste we used more cabbage and only half the dressing of the original recipe.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (1/2 lb) red cabbage, finely cut
- 100 g (3.5 oz) corn salad
- 9 cherry tomatoes (168 g / 6 oz), quartered
- 1 onion (85 g / 3 oz), cut in thin strips
- 142 g (5 oz) brown mushrooms, finely sliced
- 25 g (~1 oz) pecan nuts, coarsely chopped
- 25 g (~1 oz) brazil nuts, coarsely chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
dressing:
- 75 g (2.6 oz) blue cheese^[1]
- 3 tbsp milk

The cabbage, corn salad, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms were simply mixed in a large bowl.

The nuts were candied by first toasting them on a hot, dry pan for a few minutes (taking care not to burn them), then adding the honey, which melts and bubbles. After quickly coating the nut pieces in the honey, the candied nuts were transferred to a sheet of baking paper.

While the nuts were cooling off, the milk and blue cheese was whipped together using a fork. When the dressing was ready it was poured over the salad and mixed well. At last, the candied nuts were spread on top.


^[1] I used Blue Castello - for other cheeses it might take a different amount of milk to get the right texture ... just add one tbsp at the time.

Märzen Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier

Once again I am nothing less than amazed by a Bavarian beer I didn't even have an idea existed in the first place.

The 'authentic Schlenkerla smoke beers' from Bamberg come in a couple of varieties, but I only saw the Märzen variety at my local supermarket.

It is smoky all right. And given my taste in whiskey it's hardly a surprise that I like it a lot. The smokiness comes from drying the malt over beechwood fires.

The name Schlenkerla appears to mean something a along the lines of "the little dangler", as a reference to how one might walk after enjoying this product.

Baked Rice

Mrs. Erator came up with this trick for making left over rice more interesting. Leftover rice can of course quickly heated in a microwave oven ... but there's nothing fancy about the result. Alternatively, one can make fried rice ... but that requires the work of standing there stirring the rice on the pan, and often it becomes quite the sticky mess.

This is where our suggestion comes in: just spread the rice on a plate and leave in the oven at 250 C (450 F) until the rice starts to turn crisp at the edges. Here, we did it with these sesame rice, but I think any kind of leftover rice could be warmed this way to give a nice crunchy result.

Sesame Rice & Coconut Prawns

The decision to make this dish was largely motivated by our stockpile of sesame seeds (keeping in mind that we will have to move again in a couple of months) and the prawns we had had lying in the freezer since New Year when our dinner plans were changed...

Mrs. Erator took over the kitchen for this one.

Ingredients:
sesame rice:
- 3 dL (1.25 cups) jasmine rice
- 6 dL (2.5 cups) water
- salt
- 4 tbsp white sesame seeds, toasted
- 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
- 1 bunch chives, chopped
coconut prawns:
- oil
- 12 tiger prawns, peeled
- 1 zucchini, cut in half slices
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1-2 tsp sambal oelek
- 200g (1/2 lb) green cabbage

While boiling the rice in lightly salted water the white sesame seeds were toasted on a pan. When the rice were done, the sesame seeds (white toasted, black raw) and chopped chives were stirred into the rice.

A little oil was heated in a wok, then added the pealed prawns. When the prawns had turned pink all over the sambal oelek was added, then onions. When the onions were translucent the zucchini were added, and after another few minutes the coconut milk. When the coconut milk was warmed up the cabbage was added and after a few minutes it was ready to serve.

Delicious. To the extend that extra spice was wanted we used Thai sweet chilli sauce.

Carne Adovada

Some time last summer, Mrs. Erator asked me if I shouldn't try my hand at this art... taking the author's note to heart, some time later I bought a pork shoulder when one was on sale at the supermarket, put the pork shoulder in the freezer and forgot about it for a couple of months.

In the mean time I bought some (quite a few) dried red chillies for making this - in some ways similar - dish, and there we were .. it was time to try.

Ingredients:
- 1.35 kg (3 lbs) pork shoulder, cut in 8 longish pieces
- 12 dried red (puya, I think) chillies
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 cloves garlic
- fresh oregano
- water
to serve:
- tortillas
- bunch of scallions, cut
- cheddar cheese, grated
- pinto beans, on the side

The seeds and stems were removed from the dried chillies, which were then soaked in hot water (boiling just prior to soaking, but not during the soaking) for 20-30 minutes. The chillies were liquefied in a blender together with 2-3 dL (approx. 1 cup) of the soak water, salt, garlic, and fresh oregano.


The pork shoulder was cut in 8 longish cuts, placed in a sealable plastic bag together with the marinade and left in the fridge overnight (it got some 18 hours). When I took it out and opened the bag, I was surprised at just how much the smell resembled the famous barbecue spareribs of one of my previous house mates.. I started getting really excited to find out how the final result would be.


The marinated pork was placed in a oven-proof tray which was wrapped in foil before going in the oven at 160 C (325 F) for 4.5 hours. The meat was quite tender as promised, but I found it that I wasn't very good at shredding it using two forks, I'm not sure if this due to bad shredding technique on my part or this meat wasn't quite right after all. So I ended up chopping most of it.

It was served on soft tacos with scallion rings and cheddar and beans on the side.


We were very pleased with the result - although different, the taste was somewhat reminiscent of the barbecue ribs mentioned above. Said Mrs. Erator: "It's nice because you can eat pork without it tasting too much like pork...".

I think I will try this (or a very similar) marinade in other combinations.

Beans - Revisited

I guess I was aware that canned beans are already cooked - but it certainly wasn't very much on my mind back when I wrote this post. In fact, it's fair to say this fact wasn't on mind at all until I moved from California to Switzerland and was suddenly faced with a sharp decline in the available options of canned beans in the supermarket.

Not to be discouraged (well, in truth I have come to crave beans on a fairly regular basis) I started shopping for dried beans and read up on the subject of how to cook dried beans, primarily in my copy of Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico. What I learned was that cooking times would be dependent on the type of bean, their state of drying, and whether or not they were pre-soaked. Pre-soaking, apropos, was considered decidedly un-Mexican. hmm...


As illustrated I armed myself with black beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, and white beans .. and patience. Then I started cooking, varying the method a bit every time. And by now, after I don't know how many times of cooking dried beans from scratch I present my guide on it.

As in my original post on the subject, there are two fundamentally different versions: with or without bacon. With bacon starts by frying some bacon in a large pot, then adding onions - without simply cooks the onions in a little oil. Either way, when the onions are translucent, beans, water, and chillies (whatever I happen to have) are added, and the pot is brought to a boil. While boiling, keep an eye on them - you don't want them to foam too much, nor to dry out (especially some of the longer cooking times might require additional water).

As mentioned the cooking times vary quite a bit, so I've tried setting it up in a little table:


Cooking times are approximate - once the beans are fully cooked they will be pleasantly soft. At this point, I reduce the volume by cooking uncovered at medium-high heat with occasional stirring.


Et voila... lovely beans, to be eaten with all the lovely Mexican fare that makes my exile from California more tolerable. As a side note, I've found that it's nice to sometimes cook a large batch, freeze the rest, which can then be quickly warmed up later.

UPDATE: The text above does state that cooking time is dependent on state of drying - the black beans I've bought in Sweden so far need only a little over an hour of cooking after overnight soaking.

Red lentil goulash

I had had a bag of red lentils lying in the cupboard for a while and decided to make a rare bacon free goulash.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 2 medium-large onions, coarsely chopped
- 2 sausages, sliced
- 1 L (1 quart) beef tongue broth
- 500 g (1 lb) dry red lentils
- 2 green chillies, seeds removed, chopped
- 2 red chillies, seeds removed, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- fresh marjoram
- 130 g (4.5 oz) fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- salt

The onions and sausages were sautéed in the oil for a few minutes before adding the broth and the rest of the ingredients. After bringing to a boil, the heat was reduced and the pot was covered to allow simmering for an hour. Finally, seasoned to taste with salt and served with rice.

The result wasn't quite as red as I'd naively hoped for, but I found the golden yellow colour quite pretty nonetheless.

Corrections

We just discovered that there was a mistake in the amount of shortening listed for this recipe - that has now been corrected...

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I can't claim the idea of adding roasted red peppers to hummus as my own - it was something we used to be able to buy in California. That being said, I'm happy what how this turned out (not least that is was better than my previous attempt at making hummus).

Ingredients:
- 250 g (1/2 lb) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
- water
- salt
- 3 sweet red peppers
- juice of 2 limes
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed

After soaking the chickpeas overnight in cold water they were boiled for 1.5 hours (salt was added when nearly done).

While the chickpeas were boiling the red peppers were cut open, the seeds were removed and the pieces were broiled (skin side up) until the skin blackened in patches.

The boiled chickpeas were separated from the water, but the water wasn't discarded.

The chickpeas and the roasted peppers were puréed together - I found a stick blender to be more convenient for this than a conventional blender because the resulting paste is so thick. Then tahini, garlic, and lime juice was stirred into the mixture, and at last was added portions of the water from the chickpeas until the texture had the right smoothness.

We had some immediately as a side to some köfte and couscous salad, and have we been using the rest as a spread on bread.

Jever

Now, I don't know when I would have been introduced to this German pilsner if it hadn't been for the fact that I once had a colleague who considered it his favourite beer. And so he gave me one, when he himself imported a few to the US.

Naturally, I though of this friend when I recently saw Jever in a beer store in Zürich. And thinking of him - as well as remembering the beer - I of course bought one. Which, in all honesty, I might not have otherwise done - given the wide array of beers available in said store.

Jever is - for good or for bad (as your taste will dictate) - a very pilsner pilsner. By which I mean: very hoppy, quite bitter. Not for those who like their beer watered down. But if you like your pilsner hoppy and appreciate the bitterness, well, then I can recommend you Jever...

Potatoes Hasselback & Coquelet

This dinner arose mainly due to our limited knowledge of the French language and birds in general. When we saw 'coquelet' on sale at the supermarket, we thought it might be some bird we hadn't tasted before. As it turns out, a 'coquelet' is just a young chicken. Oh, well... not catastrophic by any means: Time for some roast chicken.

Since we were going to turn on the oven anyway, we decided we'd want some baked potatoes with the chicken .. not just ordinary baked potatoes, but potatoes hasselback.

potatoes hasselback
- 6 potatoes, peeled, sliced nearly through
- oil
- salt, pepper, paprika
coquelet roast
- 1 'coquelet'
- 1 parsnip, in chunks
- 1 large sunchoke, in chunks
- 0.5 dL white wine
- salt & pepper
- 3 medium onions, quartered
- fresh sage


The peeled, nearly-but-completely-sliced-through potatoes (see pictures for details) were placed in a baking pan, brushed with a little oil and sprinkled with salt, black pepper, and paprika. They were in the oven at 225 C (450 F) for an hour.

The coquelet was stuffed with some of the onion, sunchoke, parsnip, and sage. The skin was rubbed with salt and pepper, and the coquelet was placed in a baking pan on top of a bed of the rest of the vegetables and the wine. It was in the oven at 225 C (450 F) for 45 minutes.

The result was delicious: Crisp skin, cooked through, but nowhere near dried out (I guess this is easier with a smaller bird like this). As an added bonus, there was more meat on it than we expected - I guess it didn't have big bones or anything. Served with a quick salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and roasted peanuts.

Karbonader (Danish Meatballs 3)

These breaded meatballs are another classic of Danish cooking .. although I don't seem to make them all that often. In fact I have no idea when I last made them (other than that it over 2 years ago).

Ingredients:
- 300 g (2/3 lb) minced pork
- 1 egg
- bread crumbs
- salt & pepper
- oil

The minced pork was pressed into firm balls using the hands, then flattened somewhat by applying light pressure with a knife (this part of the process identical to these other Danish meatballs). In a small bowl the egg was beaten lightly with a fork, and in a second bowl bread crumbs were mixed with salt and pepper (no, I did not have enough bread crumbs in the bowl in the picture - I needed about twice as much). The flattened meat balls were turned out first in egg, then in bread crumbs and fried in the pan until golden and cooked through.

Served with boiled potatoes and a simple salad.

Wädenswiler Single Malt Beer

Now, this is a very interesting Swiss beer. As you may guess, not from the end of the country where I'm living these days.

Anyway. Since whiskey is - in a very fundamental sense - distilled beer, it makes sense for a brewery to try their hands at both. So, in Wädenswil they did just that: brewed a beer with whiskey malt, bottled some of it for sale as is and distilled the rest to make whiskey.

For now, I've only tasted the beer, so I can't comment on the successfulness of their whiskey production.

The beer was very ale like to me - in taste as well as in colour. I think I expected a darker beer based on the appearance of the bottle, and I certainly expected a much smokier taste - although that might mainly betray which kinds of whiskey I personally prefer.

Roasted Sunchoke Salad

I first had (and tried) the idea of adding roasted sunchokes to a salad while on vacation this past summer, but I never really got back to it till recently. I'm sure this isn't exactly like the first time I made it, but the essentials are there.

Ingredients:
- bacon, thinly sliced
- onion, diced
- sunchoke, diced
- butterhead lettuce
- corn salad
- cucumber, half slices
- cherry tomatoes, halved
- pickled caper berries
mint raita
- yoghurt
- fresh mint, chopped
- garlic, mashed
- salt & pepper

The bacon was fried in a pan till nicely crisp, then added the onion and a few minutes later the sunchokes, and the heat was reduced to medium high - occasional stirring was continued while mixing the other parts of the salad. In the end the lovely taste of the roasted sunchokes was brought out while retaining most of the crunch of the fresh sunchokes. Mixed with the rest of the salad and served with a little mint raita.

Spanish Omelette

At some point during my childhood my brother introduced this dish into our family, and was probably the one who kept making it over and over until it became a classic for us. For some, to me anyway, unfathomable reason our parents actually had such a silly unitasker as a french fry cutter - unfathomable not least because I can't remember them ever making french fries. I admit that for cutting potatoes into little square-cross section beams of equal thickness there is no faster way than to use the french fry cutter ... but doing it with a good knife doesn't take that much longer as long as we're talking about reasonable amounts. Of course, making this dish later in the dormitory - using a knife - was what got me forever the reputation of being that-guy-who-makes-his-own-fries..


Ingredients:
- oil
- 8 medium potatoes, peeled, cut like french fries
- 2 medium onions, chopped coarsely
- 4 eggs
- 1 dL (1/2 cup) milk
- salt, pepper, and paprika

The onion were sautéed in a little oil in a large (preferably non-stick) pan till translucent, then the potatoes were added and sautéed with occasionally stirring^[1] until they looked nicely browned.
The eggs were beaten together with milk, salt, pepper and paprika in a bowl, then poured over the potatoes. The heat was reduced and the omelette was allowed to stand until the eggs had solidified - which of course goes much faster if the pan is covered.

Was served with a salad and some ketchup - although not the case this time we sometimes also have it with some fried bacon on the side..

^[1] Without a non-stick pan this should be almost constant stirring.

Tomato Soup

I don't know about you, but for me a tomato soup must contain noodles in order to be fully satisfying - I realise this may simply be a force of habit, an opinion based on the way I remember tomato soups from my childhood more than anything else. However, knowing that doesn't change my attitude about it one bit...

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- paprika
- cayenne pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
- 2.5 L (ca. 2.5 quarts) vegetable broth
- 3 leeks, cut in rings
- 800 g (28 oz) canned crushed tomatoes
- 140 g (5 oz) canned tomato paste
- salt
- 150 g (ca. 5 oz) noodles^[1]
- fresh basil, chopped - for serving
- sour cream - for serving

Olive oil was heated in a large pot, then added paprika and generous amounts of cayenne pepper. The onion and garlic was sautéed in this until the onions were translucent. After adding the vegetable broth, leeks, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste the pot was covered and brought to a boil. The heat was reduced and the soup was allowed to simmer for 10 minutes. After seasoning to taste with salt, the noodles were added and the soup was allowed to simmer until the noodles were cooked.

Served immediately with a tsp of sour cream and some fresh basil on top.

^[1] Preferably small noodles like little elbows or small shells.

Grolsch Herfst Bok

When it comes to beer the Netherlands doesn't quite have the reputation of its two giant (beer-wise) neighbours: Germany and Belgium.

That doesn't mean to say Dutch beer is unknown around the world: although I haven't checked, I'd guess Heineken is available pretty much worldwide - and neither Amstel nor Grolsch can be that far behind. I remember all three as drinkable, if not quite memorable, lagers.

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to try Grolsch's Herfst Bok ('autumn bock'). Alone by virtue of being a bock beer it was already much more to my liking .. it's not like I'm getting a lot of bock beer here in Geneva, so it was all the more welcome for that reason too. In fact I was sad it wasn't served at more of the places I went to on that trip.

Bacon wrapped green beans

Due to bad weather I was stuck in an airport most of New Year's Eve and by the time I made it home it was rather too late for preparing dinner - so we had our New Year's dinner on New Year's Day instead.

I know I have been served bacon wrapped green beans somewhere before, but I can't remember where or when. It is of course similar to bacon wrapped asparagus, although perhaps more winter-like.

Ingredients:
- 6 thin slices of bacon
- 24 green beans

After rinsing the beans, they were collected in bunches of four each, wrapped in bacon, and baked at 225 C (450 F) for about 15 minutes.

I guess they could be used as a starter, but here they went on the dish for the main course: steak, mashed potatoes de luxe, and a leek-mushroom-cream-Gorgonzola sauce..

Happy New Year! Cheers!

Falafel in Geneva

Sad as I was to leave all the lovely little hole-in-the-wall type Mexican eateries and their enticing selection of burritos, tacos, nachos, beans and other goodies behind (somewhat alleviated by the fact that I've been trying my own hand at the craft), I must profess my joy of what I have gotten in stead: loads and loads of lovely little hole-in-the-wall middle eastern eateries (click on the picture above to enlarge .. it's somewhat big) where I can my occasional fix of falafel, something there were depressingly few options for along the stretch of the southern Californian coast where I lived. The typical falafel fix here comes in the shape of a sandwich or a rolled large pancake.

The only downside is that now I have even less incentive to make my own falafel - something I dabbled a little bit into earlier, but never really became comfortable about. Oh, well .. maybe I'll return to it some day after all.