Kalbskotlett - Calves cutlet in the cassoulet style

Good morning!

On Monday evening I was on my way from work when I remembered I had to visit a local farmer who is a member of our hunting group. He was asking if I could get a few guns together to shoot pigeon (they are a scourge at the moment) over his land at the weekend. I am unable as I am off up to the Baltic (Wismar) with my kegel brethren, but I have got a few of my club mates that are quite willing to loose off a few shots it their general direction.

As I entered the "hof" I noticed the his cold room was open, me not being the nosey type stuck my nose around the door and their on the tables where 4 or 5 washing baskets full of meat, his missus was busy sorting it out. I asked what was up then my dear, giving her a peck on the cheek, as one does in these parts. Just then the Alter (the father of the Bauer) came in, I shook his hand as one does in these parts ( you should not get them mixed up). We had a chat and I inquired what meat was in the baskets, he said it was calf, they had, had a couple slaughtered and he had just butchered them. Oh! said I, it looks all very nice, wink wink, I can see it has been butchered by an expert (you are now getting my drift), at which point we got into a deep conversation about the youth of today, how they are all not willing to learn a decent trade, how things had never been so bad and how hard times had become, that the price that they are getting for the porkers and beast are a travesty and it is all the fault of the EU. I of course agreed with with his every sentiment and even offered my sympathy about the miserable state of the Nation, Europe and the world in general ( he didn't seem to have a lot of time for returning Germans from the Baltic states, Russia or Romania).

Just then the Jung-alter (his son) pulled up in a brand new top of the range Merc 4x4, "hard times" eh, wink, wink. I said hi and didn't kiss him on the cheek as one doesn't do in these parts. I said I had arranged for a  few to come shooting over the corn stubble on Saturday, He went into the house and came back a "Granate", a grenade is a bottle of klare Wacholder Doppelkorn (clear twice distilled schnapps) flavoured with juniper not unlike gin. We had a couple (I was driving so had to be careful).
Just as I was about to leave the Alter-alter came around the corner with a parcel and pushed it into my hands saying " here is a little something for the pot". He then said when your up in Wismar see if you can get a couple of smoked eels for me, I said I most certainly will, well I mean sources like this have got to be kept sweet, wink, wink.

I got in my car and just then Renate (the young farmers wife) came back out of the house with a half a dozen fresh eggs for me and a peck on the cheek, as one does in these parts. As I pulled away, I heard the Alter-alter say "nah junge, sehs'te nicht alle Englander sind schlecht" (see my boy, not all English are bad) now that IS a pat on the back around these parts.

So getting home I unpacked my parcel and in it was 2 wonderful Kalbskotletten (calves cutlets or chops as some would term them). These went into the fridge, as I contemplated how I was going to cook them. I had a look through a load of my cookery books English, German and a variety of others just to get some ideas. I was nonchalantly flicking through the Rick Stein French Odyssey and PING, I came across Cassoulet. I thought, well I could do my lazy mans cassoulet the next day.

So folks here it is!

Ingredients

2 calves cutlets (bone in)
1 large onion sliced
200g of chestnut mushrooms
50g of dried ceps
4 carrots chopped
3 sticks of celery chopped
white of a leek chopped
125g of speck (chopped smoked streaky bacon)
2 large cloves of garlic
800g tin of pinto beans
400g tin of butter beans
400g tin of diced tomatoes
4 red roasted red peppers (out of a glass)
1 bunch of fresh herbs (I had bay leaf, rosemary, sage, lemon and normal thyme from my balcony)
1 chillie (also from my balcony)
A couple of table spoons of goulash seasoning (I made this up a couple of months back and consists in the main (I think) of paprika, marjoram, thyme, mint, ground coriander seeds, garlic and celery salt
1 teaspoons of smoked paprika
1/2 litre of vegetable stock
4 table spoons of corn oil
Salt and Pepper to taste (I used my special herbal salt from the Vendée salines)

Methodology

Put the dried ceps into a bowl and cover with water. Put a heavy casserole onto the heat add the oil add onions and soften add garlic but don't let it colour.

Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, season the cutlets, put the remainder of the oil in and add the cutlets to the casserole and brown.

Remove and set to one side, add the speck and let it sizzle until it starts to release its fat, now return the onions and garlic, placing cutlets on top.

Chop the chilli and put together with the herbs on top.of the meat

 Sprinkle with the goulash spices,

Add the diced vegetables and mushrooms, strain the ceps (retain the liquid but strain through a net sieve) and distribute these over the top, now chop the smoked peppers and put on top.

add the diced tomatoes add the beans. Sprinkle the top with the smoked pepper and mix the ceps liquid and the stock together and pour over the top washing the paprika through the contents with the liquid.

I had pre-heated the oven to 180°C, put the top on my bonnie blue Casserole and popped it into the oven for 3 hours.

The photos will be on board tonight!!! I had three plates last night will be having some at lunch and some more tonight. The rest will be frozen for a later date. Must say I am quite (no very) pleased with the result and may even take a portion around for my mate's missus, I am thinking of making Coq au Vin and need an old cockerel (and a peck on the cheek as one does around here). Wink, Wink!!!!

Cheers

Hestons (and mine ) real slow fore (three) rib beef

There was a thread on the wild food website about roasting a rib of beef joint, I thought I would present my effort as per Hestons 20 hour beef done for our cookery club diner..

I think that this was one of my successes that I am most proud of, not that it took a lot of prep or that it was especially demanding or difficult but because it turned out just as Heston said it would.

First make sure you have the best piece of beef that money can buy (you cannot turn a piece of an old milk cow into a good roasting joint and if that is all you can afford then try making a good stew.

I bought mine from a farmer that only raises beef cattle and I can watch them growing from start to finish, they feed naturally on grass and only in the deepest winter will they have hay as a suppliment.

The whole point in low temperature roasting is that if you keep the oven temperature at 60 degrees then it is impossible to dry your beef out and it will be juicy and tender.

I gave my forerib joint a good going over with a blow torch, this gets rid of any nasties still attached  to the outside and also gives it a nice browned crust

When it has been scourched all over (I have a good blow torch that does 1700 degrees so much more than any oven is going to get to.

Next push in the oven thermometer, I have an electronic one, but as I was at Lindas, we used her good old analog thermometal one. (it also proved that Lindas oven thermostat was perfect). I rested it on some spuds cut through the middle, this allows the heat to circulate all around the beast, rubbed it over with a bit of neutral tasting oil and gave it a good salting and peppering.

Now into the oven for 20 hours or a bit more, it doesn't matter as the inner and outer temperature cannot rise above the oven temperature of 60 degrees.

After the 20 or so hours removed, you can carve it straight away as the heat has not been high enough to drive the juices into the centre, they are evenly spread through out the joint.

Notice the cut from piece I cut to do a tasting, it is perfectly (for me and my guests) rare. If anyone needs it a bit more "done, then you can do it at 70 degrees

Presenting the beast prior to carving, it was perfect.

I will do it again when I am able to get a nice piece of grass fed beef.

Cheers

Dick

Frischling Vorderkeule. Young wildboar leg (for those that want to be exact front LH)

I had a small (about 2kg and a bit)  leg  that had been languishing in my freezer since spring and as I want to make space in my freezer, I decided to do a game cooking and clay shooting weekend.

I removed the leg and three pigeons (these I found hiding at the back of one of the drawers) on Saturday evening and put them in the sink to defrost. The leg was defrosted, I dried it off and then covered it with my patent game spices (it is in my recipes). I wrapped it in cling film and left it overnight

Sunday morning up with the larks, went to get some rolls, had breakfast (I do lead an exciting life) then started on the job in hand, roughly chopped some root vegetables, 2 carrots, a slice of celeriac, the white of a leek and parsley(bund suppengrun).

I placed these in the bottom of the slow cooker,

next unwrapped the Wildschweinkeule,  rubbed in a bit more game spice and sprinkled it with some apple and honey vinegar

and placed that on top of the vegetables.

I spiked using a clove, a medium onion with 2 bay leaves and placed this in the pot along with two large stalks from my rosemary bush. I put another 5 cloves in the pot along with 6 crushed juniper berries and 2 crushed and roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves.

I had a slab of home cured/smoked pork belly, I cut a slice about 2cm thick and chopped this into 2cm pieces this also went into the pot. I had taken the breast and legs off one of the pigeons, roughly chopped I put the 

Next I made up 400ml of good vegetable stock (marigold) added this along with a schnapps glass of port, cassis and a wine glass of good Bordeaux (the rest we shall deal with later). All this went into the slow cooker at 08:00, switched on high for 4 hours and went out for a few hours shooting and missing clays.

On returning opened the door to the most wonderful smell. I had promised an OAP at the local a Sunday lunch so I set a cauliflower on to boil, I opened a packet of half and half potato dumplings (you didn't think I was going to start making them from scratch at this time on a Sunday afternoon, a pint was waiting), I opened a packet (shame, shame) of spiced red cabbage with apple this was ready for the microwave.

BUT the forester sauce was all my own,  I sautéd some shallot, smoked ham (schinken wurfel) diced ceps ( steinpliz) and champinions, I took three ladel fulls of the cooking liquor from the SC and placed this into a small saucepan and reduced by half tasted and then added to the sautéd mushrooms etc added a bt more game spice, bubbled up and set aside. By this time the dumplings where finished as was the cauli, into the microwave with the red cabbage, sliced some meat from the leg, put this in a microwave plate (those ones that are divided and have a lid) next came the cauli and dumplings poured over some of the sauce and ping went the sound of the microwave. Couple of spoonfuls on the plate, lid on and off to my OAP.

I had mine on returning and can tell you it tasted bloody good, the rest I am having for lunch!!!

Now I bet you are wondering what happened to the pigeons, well while I was finishing off the meal for the OAP I had put them in a pressure cooker along with freeze dried veg a bit of broth mix. I will tell you about this a little later.

The breasts  are secured away in my fridge for a nice salad tomorrow.

Cheers my dears 

Birnen, Bohnen und Speck - String beans, pears and cured belly pork

This is an old North German speciality at the start of Autumn.
It consists of small hard pears cooked together beans and smoked pork belly.

You require 4 pieces of cured belly pork about 1 cm thick
400 – 500g of small hard pears (kochbirnen)
500g of beans
A bunch of savory (called Bohnenkraut in German, meaning bean herb)
½ a large onion
Pepper & Salt
Bunch of parsley (chopped)

Dice onion and boil together with the belly pork, turn the heat down low and simmer for 20 mins. Remove the pieces of pork belly and set to one side, cover and keep warm.

Clean, top and tail the beans add to the liquor, add the savory, S&P, boil and lower temperature to a medium heat for about 15 mins until cooked. Now lay the pears (Don’t peal) on top of the beans and cook until just soft (about 10 mins) Place the pears, beans and speck on a warm plate sprinkle with the chopped parsley, cover and keep warm.

Bring the cooking liquor to the boil and reduce.

Pour over the beans, pears and belly pork.

Serve with boiled potatoes.

This is very big in the area of Hamburgh and Northwards up to the Danish border at this time of the year.

Cheers