Fricassée de Poulet à la Crème

Divide chicken in 8 pieces. Fry in 30 gram butter. Add pepper and salt, 250 ml white wine and 500 ml water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Fry 100 gram chopped onion, 250 gram mushrooms in 30 gram butter. In the last 5 minutes add 10 gram sugar.

Remove chicken from and reduce the stock. Add crème fraîche and simmer.

Königsberger Klopse

German meat dumplings. Königsberg used to be part of East Prussia but is now known as Kaliningrad, Russia.

Shopping list:
* minced meat (beef, veal, pork or combination)
* eggs
* breadcrumbs
* milk
* onion
* lemon
* capers
* anchovy
* bay leaf
* vinegar
* dry white wine (optional)
* sour cream, best quality you can get
* parsley
* butter
* flower

Quantities for 500 gram of minced meat.

Prepare the broth:

Heat 1 liter salted water, 1 bay leaf, 60 ml vinegar, 125 ml white wine (optional), one halved onion, 10 black peppercorns and 4 piment in pot. This will be the broth.



Make the meatballs:

Combine 500 gram minced meat, 1 egg, some breadcrumbs soaked in milk (50 ml), half an onion (finely chopped), lemon zest, juice of half a lemon, 1 tablespoon chopped capers, 1 tablespoon chopped anchovy fillet, salt and pepper. Optional: chopped parsley. Make little balls, roll in flower.

Carefully place meatballs in broth. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove meatballs and keep warm. Drain broth through sieve.



Make the cream sauce:

Make a light roux with 50 gram butter, 50 gram flower. Use about 500 ml of the stock. Season with 2 tablespoons sour cream (crème fraîche), one egg yolk, lemon juice (according to taste) and 2 - 3 tablespoons of capers. Add meatballs to cream sauce. Garnish with parsley. Serve with potatoes.

Glühwein

German malt wine. For 1 liter:

a 0,75 liter bottle of dry red wine
0,25 liter water
juice of one orange
juice of one lemon
12 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
mace (optional)
sugar according to taste (I prefer 3 tablespoons)

Bring 0,25 liter water to a boil, add the spices, simmer for 10 minutes or so and let stand overnight (or at least a couple of hours). Sieve out the spices, add wine , orange juice, lemon juice and sugar. Heat to about 80 degrees Celsius. Instead of water you can start with black tea.

Weißer Glühwein:

a 0,75 liter bottle of dry white wine
0,25 liter water
fresh apple juice, according to taste (haven't tried adding apple juice myself)
juice of one orange
12 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
mace (optional)
star anise (optional)
sugar according to taste (I prefer 3 tablespoons)

Glögg, Nordic variation:

1 bottle of red wine
0,25 liter water
10 cardamom pods (whole)
2 cinnamon sticks
dried ginger, but not ground
10 cloves
1/2 orange peel (dried or fresh)
sugar

Optional additions for serving: 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup almonds.

Penne ai Gamberetti con Pernod

« Le pastis, c'est comme les seins : un, c'est pas assez, et trois, c'est trop. »

Penne with prawns and Pernod.

200 ml panna da cucina
250 ml fish stock
250 gram penne (for 2 persons)
50 ml Pernod
250 gram peeled & cooked prawns
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, plus more to garnish
salt and pepper

1. Heat cream and fish stock on a low fire. Simmer for 15 minutes until reduced by half. Add Pernod and prawns, season with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

2. In the meantime cook the penne.

3. Drain penne into bowl, add cream mixture and fresh chopped dill. Toss and garnish with some more chopped dill.

Door 74's Mojito

I never succeeded in making the perfect mojito at home. The bartender at Door 74 gave me his recipe. Now in July 2012 I finally took the time to try it out. It's a winner! It has more sugar than I would allow myself, but it seems a mojito needs quite a lot of sugar to make it taste raw. Disclaimer: I have never been to Cuba.

List of ingredients:

8-10 mint leaves
15 ml lime juice
10 ml sugar syrup (2 parts cane sugar, 1 part water)
2 teaspoons raw sugar
50 ml Havana Club Añejo Blanco Rum

Make you own sugar syrup by boiling 2 parts cane sugar and 1 part water:



Your own sugar syrup. 10 ml is two tea spoons.



Lightly crush 8 to 10 mint leaves by hand.



Get a tumbler ready for that precious Havana Club Añejo Blanco Rum.



Crush ice cubes at this point. I use a hand ice crusher, which has developed some rust. It's always beyond me why companies use non-stainless steel in appliances which get wet.



Start with a tall glass (or any glass you prefer) and add 2 teaspoons raw sugar:



Squeeze half a lime, which should be 15 ml.



Now, mix the 2 teaspoons raw sugar, 10 ml sugar syrup, 15 ml lime juice, 50 ml rum and 8-10 mint leaves together with a spoon. Notice there is no muddling!



Add the crushed ice:



Top off with soda water and mix with a long cocktail spoon.



Garnish with mint sprig. This is the best mojito recipe I tried at home. It's sweet and dark.

You can't do much about the mint leaves. Either they smell great (fresh from the soil) or they hardly smell (when bought in a supermarket). The secret of a mojito is really the balance between sweet and sour. That's all there is to it.