A Golden Autumn Menu

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The Kikoklu Autumn Menu

This years had been planned a few months back (well Kalle had offered to host it, so believe me that is planning) and as is ritual in this cookery club of culinary excellence, the host gets to do the main course and we tag along each picking a course, normally 6 but as Martin was not with us (he was at a wedding in Berlin) then there were 5.

Linda had picked the starter, but Kalle had chosen to do a few pre-dinner nibbles and a cocktail. It was to be a gin –martini but made with Noilly Prat. (Linda and I visited the Distillary in France when we visited that part of France two years ago). Kalle certainly didn't spare the horses in this one.

 

Linda had made a very nice starter, Klein aber oh so fein.

In fact It was made in two parts

A potato and spring onion Rösti, a green Italian sauce topped with smoked trout.

A large raw potato grated and then squeezed out in a clean tea towel, a spring onion sliced very fine. mix well and allow to rest.

Heat oil in a frying pan and place a teaspoonful of the mixture into the oil and push down lightly, just enough to flatten, not to hard or you will not be able to get them off the pan. when the bottom is a golden brown flip them over and brown the other side. Note these are true rösti's made from raw ingredients.

Put onto kitchen paper to drain

These can be made in advance and put into the oven at about 180°C just before you require them.

The green Italien sauce

1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley leaves only chopped
1 small bunch of basil chopped
1/2 tsp capers chopped
1 tsp finely chopped cornichion
1 anchovy filet finely chopped
1/2 clove of garlic very finely chopped
1 tsp dijon mustard
3 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Mix all well together to form a thick sauce, don't blend, it is meant to be a bit lumpy.

1 filet of smoked trout cut (or broken) into small pieces.

To serve

Heat the rösti's in the oven set at 180°C.

Plate them up (for a starter 2 -3 each) put a teaspoon of the green sauce on top of each rösti and place a piece of trout on top. 

 

Salmon balls with a home made  dill mayonaisse

250g of salmon filet (skinned and pin boned)

1.5 tbsp of crushed panko crumbs

1/2 a beaten egg

1/2 tsp lime zest

1.5 tsp lemon juice

1.5 tsp chopped dill

S&P to taste

Dice the salmon into 5mm cubes, mix together wit the rest of the ingredients and form into small balls in the palms of your hands (it is best if your hands are wet, it means that the mixture does not stick to your hands)

Fry the balls, in a little oil, turning so that they get well browned,

place along side your trout rösti's and drizzle a little home made dill mustard mayonnaise over, a knife point of caviar and a slither of lemon skin.

 

Everyone agreed that it was a wonderful starter, that was well thought out and passed into the theme of the evening.

Wine was a very nice picpoul (now one of our favourites with fish)

 

Next followed my roasted paprika and tomato soup with brown shrimps topped with a wasabi foam and rosemary. To this I had made a rye & wheat fougasse stuffed with sundried tomatoes, olives and anchovies. I had used Raymond Blanc’s recipe from his kitchen secrets, but had then added my own twist to it, I shall certainly be making it again. I had originally meant to do a second bread, the hairy Bikes onion and sage tear and share, because I decided to use fresh yeast instead of the fast acting yeast in the recipe (don’t ask me why, as I had it with me) it had not risen in time to bake. But it was the next day and is a really wonderful bread (ask Linda, well done lads)

 

Then came Mariannes Autumn composition, a wonderful roasted pumpkin salad with pine kernels and pumpkin seed oil (Steiermark of course). It was really rather nice.

 

 

 

 

Smile it was very tasty

 

And that led us on to Kalles pièce de resistance, his Steinpilz (Cèpes) risotto. It was a smashing creamy consistency the rice still with that bite. Well done Kalle wonderful

I watched and not a tear was shed

 

Sweating the onions

In with the rice

give it all agood stir to coat the rice

In went a drop (or two) of white wine

Creating alcoholic steam, cough, cough



Slowly adding the home made chicken stock

And the last bust not least, the steinpilz, oh and a handful of freshly grated Parmasan



To finish we had a smashing baked apple dessert from our Carolyn, this was baked in a tray topped with a quark topping sprinkled with nibbed almonds and baked in the oven, nice one Carolyn (though because of its sweetness I didn’t participate, but those that did, the other 4, thought a wonderful composition).

 

We had quite a smashing evening and alas as I as normal snatched my 40 winks, it was soon time to depart for home, we drove there and got a Taxi home, I walked to Kalle’s next morning to pick it up, it was so nice and not a lot of people about ( just a few joggers, willi-nillying through the parks and along the Hindenburg Ufer (I met a couple of old sea dogs as well).

 

It was such a smashing evening we even had a special rendering of “The Healy River Dance”

 

And Kalle doing his wick trimmer, keeping the lights burning bright

 I am now looking forward to our Christmas menu, it will be in Richmond Castle this year and of course Christmas games will be the theme, wink, wink nudge, nudge just to give you a little clue.