Recipe Exchange anyone...

[Demondalby]

Since arriving in Switzerland, I've had some fun learning how to cook. I was a work-a-holic in America and had little time for cooking or baking. Now , I love to collect recipes and make great food for my husband.

I was wondering if anyone here would be interested in a recipe exchange? Personally, I'm interesed in Swiss, French, Italian and Mexican recipes. Anyone else interested?

I'll kick off the recipe exchange with one of my favorite recipes which I received from a French friend, who received it from their Italian in-law - Italian Lasagna.

450 grams of hamburger meat cooked in 2 teaspoons of olive oil

4 carrots chopped finely

2 onions chopped finely

(cook all the above together till the meat is brown and the onions are clear)

Add about 1400 grams of Tomato puree and

3-5 bay leaves

1 cube of sugar (I personally don't. It's sweet enough with the carrots and onions)

and cook for about 20 minutes

In a lasagna pan, layer the following:

sauce then pasta,

then sauce -but VERY thin

sprinkle parmesan

place a few spoonfulls of sour cream

sprinkle emental cheese

then start with your pasta and thin layer of sauce again.

It's important to put only a little sauce in so you can get in more layers.

The top layer should end with 2 or 3 times the amount of the sauce before, the parmesan, sour cream and emental so it looks nice and decorative.

Place in preheated oven at 200 to 220 °C for 30 to 45 minutes. You'll know it's done when the knife goes through the pasta layers nicely.

[Demondalby]

For all the chocolate lovers.....

From a nice Swiss lady in Basel

Brownies that are extra chocolaty

250 grams of butter

200 grams of dark chocolate

10 full heaping coffee spoon fulls of cocao powder (without sugar)

about 4.5 dl sugar

8 normal eggs

1/2 a coffee spoon of salt

2 packs of vanilla sugar

3 dl flour

200-300 grams of walnuts

(no baking powder)

Melt the butter and chocolate on a low heat, then add the cocao powder. Do not allow the sauce to boil. When melted, allow it to cool.

Mix eggs, salt, sugar, vanilla sugar and mix a long time so that the dough becomes airy or fluffy.

Take the room temperature chocolate mixture and add it to your dough. Mix well. Add nuts.

(this is where I changed the recipe. Add two more bars of dark chocolate, in the form of broken pieces, right into the dough. This is dreamy when the brownies come out.)

Spread your dough in a large pan and bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 25 minutes if you have one of those ovens where the air and heat are always moving. Much longer if you have a normal oven, like 45 min. I always use a toothpick to find out if it's done or not. (but also bake it at 180 °C)

Enjoy!

These are the most delicious brownies I've ever eaten.

Too bad I don't eat sugar any more - but I make them for my husband, and he LOVES them.

[thursiah]

What I would really like is some ideas on how to cook Swiss food. Even after living here for quite a few years there is still some stuff at the supermarket that I have no clue how to cook or what to do with it. I only learned recently how to deal with spätzli. Any Swiss folks willing to share some recipies or hints if we give you a mystery (to us anyway) ingredient?

[bekov]

Sorry Colors i meant to quote you on that. I love the recipe idea.

Just wondering about your lasagne ingredients though and the amount of tomato puree in there???

[quote=colors]Add about 1400 grams of Tomato puree and

3-5 bay leaves

[bekov]

This is a jamie oliver recipe that i've used a few times now. cooking the chicken in the bag results in really tender chicken and the wine, garlic and mushrooms give a great flavour. I add some red chilli (dried or fresh) to spice it up a little more too.

This will do for two people as a good main meal.

2 chicken breasts scored three time each

1 egg, beaten

1 handful dried porcini

255 grams mixed mushrooms (field, oyster, and shiitake), torn up

1 large wineglass white wine

2 medium potatoes, peeled, sliced and cooked

3 tablespoons butter

1 handful fresh thyme

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

Olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C.

Mix the mushrooms, wine, potatoes, butter, thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a bowl; add the chicken.

Using wide aluminium foil, make a bag by folding 1 large (about 3 feet) piece in half. Brush all four edges with egg wash and fold the foil in half again, creating a double thick bag with a closed end.

Fold the side edges over twice, creating two sealed edges; and leaving one side open. Place mixture into the aluminium foil bag, including all the liquid, making sure you don't pierce the foil. Close up the final edge, making sure the bag is tightly sealed and secure on all sides, and carefully slide it on to a roasting tray.

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 25 minutes Remove from the oven, place the bag on a big plate, take it to the table and break open the foil.

Mind when you are cutting the foil open though as the bag has expanded like popcorn in the microwave and steam bursts out.

Hope you like it.

Brian

[haimu]

As far as traditional Swiss dishes, I can make Spätzle, Brätkügeli, Rösti, Voressen, Käsewähe, Apfelwähe, Älplermagronen, and probably some other things. Homemade Spätzle and Brätkügeli is probably one of my favorite dishes, but it makes a monstrous mess.

If anyone wants recipes, just let me know. My wife, on the other hand, mainly cooks Tex-Mex and Asian dishes.

[theubaloke]

I would LOVE a good recipe for Rosti - we have been trying be trial and error - while it tastes good, its still not quite traditional!!

[bekov]

I'd love a good rosti recipe too please..

[emonlyssa]

does anyone have vegetarian recipes to share too??? please, please, please..

[haimu]

Ok, here's a basic Rösti recipe with no specific amounts of anything because I always just eyeball it, and there's no real stuff to measure anyhow. As a disclaimer, there are probably hundreds of Rösti recipes out there and an equal amount of methods, but this is the one I like best. For instance, some people used cooked potatoes (but fully cooled cooked potatoes), but I much prefer using raw. The toppings or other ingredients are also highly regionalized, and bacon and onions are just my personal preference. Some people use various cheeses, etc.

Firstly, and I think most importantly, get waxy potatoes, not mealy ones. I'm pretty sure Migros lists the uses of the different potato types on the bag. Peel and grate the potatoes. I fry some chopped bacon, remove the bacon, add a chopped onion to the bacon grease, fry that until soft, and remove that as well, mixing the bacon and onions with the shredded potatoes. I then add a tablespoon or two of butter to the pan, lower the heat to low/medium-low, throw in the mix, press it down with a spatula, and cover with a lid.

I think I generally cook it for about 20-30 minutes, and I check periodically to make sure that a nice golden crust is forming, and that nothing is burning. To turn, I wish I had the confidence to just flip the Rösti up in the air and catch it again, but I don't, so I just cover the pan with a plate, flip the pan, and slide the rosti back into the pan, uncooked side down. Cook on that side until golden brown as well.

Hopefully this works, I think at the very least, it will give you a decent starting point with which to experiment. En Guete!

I'm sure I can find a few we make on a regular basis. What kind of vegetarian recipes are you looking for? Vegan? Are eggs ok, etc.? For the Swiss stuff, Rösti is good if you leave out the bacon, Spaetzle, though not as great without a meat based gravy in my opinion, are great baked with some gruyere after cooking.

I'm a die-hard meat eater, but there's a spicy Lebanese veggie soup I make often and am extremely fond of.

[emonlyssa]

it's for lacto ovo vegetarian so eggs & milk are okay..

btw, thanks for the rösti cooking tips too..

[emonlyssa]

hey, could you share the recipe for the spicy lebanese soup?? i'm a big fan of spicy stuff, so that really got me excited! thanks in advance..

[Magsterniam]

How do you deal with spätzli and are they nice?

I have a recipe which is relevant to the autumn season. It is chocolate mousse with marroni, it is a bit of a variation on Vermicelli.

250-300gr fresh marroni, or 1.25 dl unsweeted marroni puree

150grams pure chocolate (bitter, say 75% cocoa mass)

2 spoons fine sugar

2 spoons cognac (optional)

300ml halbraum (what you use to make whipped cream)

Crumb the marroni. Break the chocolate into small pieces. Put them in a clean, dry bowl and melt them au bain marie (double pan, or small pan in a big pan with water), or in the microwave. Add the cream and cognac and stir. Add the maroni and use a mixer to stir. Add the sugar in parts and keep mixing. Divide in 4-6 bowls, let them stand in the fridge for a few hours until solid. These will keep for four days. You can add cream and strawberries as a decoration. Note this desert is almost half a meal!

[haimu]

What do you mean exactly? How do I cook them, deal with the mess, etc? And if by nice you mean do they taste good, then absolutely, yes they do, in my decidedly unbiased opinion.

Also, I've had the Vermicelli in restaurants before and liked it, but never thought to try to make it at home. Thanks for the recipe.

Brownie, here's the Lebanese Soup Recipe, it's from one of the Moosewood vegetarian cookbooks:

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 medium carrots, chopped

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of coriander seeds

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large potato, chopped

4 cups vegetable stock

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 14-oz cans of artichoke hearts

3/4 cups of canned garbanzo beans

Saute the onions in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add

the carrots, cover, and cook about three minutes. Add the spices and garlic, cover, and cook a few more minutes. Add potatoes, salt, and half the vegetable stock. Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil.

When the soup begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the

potatoes are nearly tender. Cut the artichoke hearts into quarters and

add them to the soup. Add the brine, too. Finally add the tomatoes,

garbanzos, and the rest of the stock, and salt to taste. Cover and

gently heat the soup - get it too hot and the artichokes will

disintegrate.

[Cohmsa]

I second that - especially soups now that the cooler weather is finally here!

[Anmil]

I have a fair few favourite recipes but here's a great quick easy and gorgeous choc pudding recipe - one of Gordons!!

Hot Chocolate Fondant

Serves 2

50g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease

2 tsp cocoa powder

50g good quality bitter chocolate (min 70% cocoa solids) in peices

1 free range egg

1 free range egg yolk

60g caster sugar

50g plain flour

Heat the oven to 160°C Butter 2 large ramekins, about 7.5cm in diameter, then dust with the cocoa

Slowly melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl set over a pan of hot water, then take off the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for 10 mins.

Using a whisk, whisk the whole egg, egg yolk and sugar together until pale and thick, then incorp the choc mixture.

Sift the flour over the mixture and fold in using a metal spoon. Divide between the ramekins and bake for 12 min.

Turn the choc fondants out onto plates and serve immediately

basically the outer should be a cooked cake consistency with the inside being a rich hot melting chocolate - they are yum!!! but very rich and chocolaty!!

I'd be very interested in a spätzli recipe...

Also got a great Pumpkin Laksa Soup recipe (one of Jamies) here's a link to the recipe

Nicky

[Cohmsa]

Care to share your recipe?

[haimu]

There's another soup I love to make, a recipe from my German mother. It isn't quite vegetarian, but I think the omission of bacon and substitution of vegetable stock wouldn't make all that much of a difference.

Again, this is a recipe that I don't have written down anywhere, so my apologies that there aren't any precise directions.

Fry about 6 strips diced bacon in a large pot, remove bacon when done, and add 2 chopped onions, cooking until soft. (Common theme with me, eh?). Remove onions, and add about a dozen peeled and cubed potatoes (Any type is fine, mealy or waxy) and 3 or 4 peeled carrots cut into slices, along with just enough stock of your choice to cover the potatoes and carrots. Add about a tablespoon of thyme (I think it's thyme, I have to smell it when I get home to know for sure, if I'm wrong, I'll edit this post), salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and bring to a boil.

Simmer until the potatoes are very tender, and add the onions and the bacon. Let the soup cool a little bit and use a stab mixer to puree all the ingredients. (A handheld potato masher works well enough if you don't have a stab mixer.) I usually add some sliced sausage.

I'll add the Spätzle and Älplermagronen recipes when I get home, I don't make them often enough to know them offhand. If you're interested in making Spätzli though, invest in a Spätzle or Knöpfli pan, it looks like a small frying pan with half-inch holes in the bottom. It sits on the rim of the pot, over the boiling water and you push the dough through the holes instead of scraping odd-sized lumps of dough into hot water from a cutting board. It's far easier and cleaner than making them without it one, though I think then they technically become Knöpfli.

[Anmil]

Here's a great burger recipe also - but maybe not so appropriate now summer is over

But here it is

a Pack of beef mince (400g ish)

one red onion finally chopped

handful of breadcrumbs

1 egg

handful parmesan cheese

pinch cinnamon

pinch of cumin

pinch of ground coriander

salt and pepper

dollop of Dijon mustard

Fry off the finely chopped onions until soft, then in a bowl mix together mince, onion, cumin, coriander and cinnamon

Then add the egg, parmesan, dijon and bread crumbs

season with salt and pepper

Shape into small flat burgers and chill until ready to cook (ideally chilled for at least an hour)

Much much better than any bought burgers and probably a lot cheaper!!

I also make a great red onion marmalade or tomato relish to go with these

Tomato relish

200g tin of chopped tomatoes

100ml White wine

50g sugar

chopped chilli to taste

3 - 4 all spice berries crushed

place all ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil then simmer for about 20 mins until it has thickened to a jam like consistency

Red onion marmalade

3-4 Red onions sliced

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2tbsp on brown sugar

simmer all ingredients together until you get a sticky marmalade texture

[bekov]

hey Nicky

Your recipe sounds great. Two things i do with homemade burgers are

1. use raw onions straight into the buger mix....i guess this is just down to preference really but i love em this way

2.Scoop a little bit from the middle of the burger shape and stuff some cheese in and cover up with what you removed.

Looking forward to trying your recipe though