Flieshkierla

After making a big pot of beef soup my grandmother would use up the remaining cooked beef into flieschkierla, a small beef patty that is mixed with onion, parsley, egg, garlic, flour, s/p and fried in some butter.

My family loves it and asks for it after I have made a roast or a beef tenderloin -  but a reminder:  as any family recipe, such as flieschkierla, it fits my cultural palette and may not be of someone else's liking.  As an example.. my grandmother ate tripe salad and sorry to all you tripe salad lovers, I can't get near the stuff.  But I hope you try it.

The problem with family recipes that are orally handed down is that there is not a set recipe as you use up what you have and add the ingredients by the dish looks and how it feels,  that becomes familiar to the cook.

So I have given you a set recipe from an Alsatian cooking blog: Les delices de laetita (please see below) that should help you make your own Flieshkierla.  She also has a beautiful picture (so much better than mine!!!) so please take a look.
http://delicescooking.canalblog.com/archives/2010/05/30/18052500.html#c56246009

I had about a pound of left over beef tenderloin that already had been used as a roast and the next day sandwiches and it was fantastic but I didn't want to make another sandwich so I made flieskierla. If I would have only had 1/4 pound I would adjust the recipe to fit what I was making (as example not using a whole egg, I would just use the yolk)

for this much meat I used:
1 whole egg plus one egg yolk (as two eggs would have made the dish too watery as it was less than a pound of meat).
1 piece of bread soaked in milk (some people use cream instead of milk)
1/2 large onion (i use vidalias which tend to be huge - you can use a whole yellow onion chopped
1 T parsley medium chopped
s/p
a little less than 2 T flour (if this was a pound I probably would have used exactly 2 T of flour) If it was 1/2 a lb. of meat it would be half of that etc.
(optional a minced clove of garlic)
1 Tablespoon butter and about a tsp. oil (vegetable)

1. Grind the beef with the bread that was soaked in milk (do not add the milk that sits on the plate - just that lovely soaked bread - some of the milk of course will follow but you don't need all that mixture.) and a piece off the onion.

I use a grinder (my grandmother had a crank grinder that attached to the table.. I am so sad that I didn't keep it... I was young when I got it and didn't yet know what a treasure that was)
(you can use a food processor but be careful not to over mix as you will get much).

2. In a bowl, add the ground meat/bread mixture, parsley, chopped onion, (garlic if using) and taste (yes taste - its cooked so you don't have to worry). Add your salt 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp salt... (note my meat I made was already well seasoned so I didn't have to add a lot of salt and pepper) and your pepper 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp. Taste for seasonings. Remember you can always add more but you can't take it away.

For this recipe since it was almost a pound
3. add 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
and almost 2 T of flour and mix well

Heat butter with a bit of oil (so it doesn't burn as easily) I use vegetable or canola oil.

Make patties out of the meat (I use a ice cream scooper to get consistency).

You can dip the patties in flour and shake off and then cook them as I did in this picture for a little crust or you can cook them straight in the butter.  brown on one side, turn over (if you make your patties too big they will fall apart as the dough is not like hamburger meat - it is finer - you just want them big enough to turn. If they fall apart - that's okay - its all good.

With my flieshkierla I made a dijon vinaigrette salad, egg pasta with wild mushroom sauce (I found some great mushrooms at the market yesterday)

my mushroom sauce: sauteed mushrooms in butter until almost done, added 1 shallot finely minced and cooked for a minute as they burn fast. I added a 1/4 of wine (red or white dry) and a pinch of thyme and cooked the wine down by half. Added s/p pinches. and at the end a dollop of heavy cream until heated through. topped with bits of parsley and small grating of parmesan.

website Les delices de laetita Her recipe! 

in French: (english translation (google) listed below)

* 450g de viande hachée ( mélange porc-boeuf pour moi )

* 2 oeufs entiers

* 1 gousse d'ail

* 1 gros oignon finement haché

* persil 1 càs

* 2 càs de farine

* sel, poivre


Dans un saladier, mélangez la viande avec les oeufs, la gousse d'ail écrasée, l'oignon, le persil et la farine.

Assaisonnez de sel et de poivre du moulin.

Bien mélanger pour avoir une préparation uniforme.


Faites chauffer une poêle avec 1 càc de beurre,

façonnez les galettes de viande avec 1 càs de préparation.

laissez-les griller 2 à 3mn sur chaque face, ,n'hésitez pas à remettre du beurre si les galettes accrochent.

in english: 



2-3 for gourmets:


* 450g minced meat (pork, beef mixture for me) (note: about a pound) She seems to use raw meat but in my families tradition we use cooked beef  as a way to use up extra beef. 

* 2 eggs

* 1 clove of garlic

* 1 large onion, finely chopped

* 1 tbsp parsley

* 2 tbsp flour

* Salt and pepper


In a bowl, mix the meat with eggs, crushed garlic, onion, parsley and flour.

Season with salt and pepper.

Mix well to have a uniform preparation.


Heat a pan with 1 tsp butter

fashion patties with 1 tbsp preparation.

let the grill for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, do not hesitate to call if butter patties hang.

Remains only to taste good hot ...
-----------------------------------


A great website about for Americans going to Alsace

from Suzele: Get Alsaced: http://www.getalsaced.com

Kiechle or Kierla in Alsatian 
by: Suzele

Kiechle and Kierla seem to be Alsatian words for "galette" in French. The word "galette" can translate to "crepe" or "pancake" or even sometimes "cake" in English.

So a fleisch kierla is a meat galette or meat patty in English. Quetsche (pronouced kvatchka) is the Alsatian word for a purple plum.- "kueche" is Alsatian for "cake."

Alsatian isn't a written language, so there are many many variations in the spelling and pronunciation of almost every word. 

Tomato Salad

I always love when the tomato garden is ready for picking. Nothing is better than a beautiful ripe tomato that is picked a little warm or after a warm rain. I especially love a good tomato salad.

My grandmother and my mother always made tomato salads and I couldn't imagine a summer without it.

Uncle Jean Pierre's horse used for carrying the grapes in the early 70's

My Grandmother and her mother would cook for the immediate family which included my mother and her siblings and my grandfather of course to having extra family and extra helpers that came for gatherings or during harvest time of the grapes.

Her food wasn't always photo ready but it was graciously and loving set for the family and friends they loved. She cooked simple food, cooked with love and done beautifully that everyone left the table feeling refueled not just nutritionally for the body but for the soul.

We have always had salads with what was available from the garden: green bean salad, lettuce, beets, celeriac, carrot and of course tomato salad

As it is home cooking this tomato salad is flexible 

Tomatoes (any size, any color) just make sure they are ripe (if the tomatoes are cut them to bite size medium to large pieces or 1/4" slices)

 I have found a good ripe organic tomato will due in this dish but my true favorite is still a garden grown kissed by the sun plump tomato!

onions: can be red, or Vidalia or yellow onions or scallions or shallots (what do you have, what do you like).  Our family likes onions in their salad so we add more than other people: so for us a couple nice size tomatoes get 1/2 a sliced or chopped onion, sliced scallions or finely chopped scallions (2 medium)

parsley chopped (again use what you like) we use a good tablespoon of chopped parsley. curly or flat

My grandmother would have stopped the Tomato salad at the above ingredients then add her vinaigrette as she didn't have fresh mozzarella and basil at her farm.  Times have changed and I add the current trend of:

fresh mozzarella cut bite size or slices
Basil leaves sliced into thin ribbons

which I love!

Plating - you choose. My grandmother chopped her tomatoes, her onions, parsley and put it in a bowl. Depending on the time or how I feel:  I will do like my grandmother or layer slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella slices on a neat circle and drizzle the parsley and chopped or sliced onion on top of the tomatoes. Like my grandmother before me I take a small pinch of salt and sprinkle that on top of the tomatoes.  Top with dressing (listed below)

***Dressing: In my family the oil to vinegar ratio is generally 2 oil to every 1 vinegar*  as we tend to like a the vinegar taste (it's been like this forever). But most recipes call for a 3:1 ratio such as 3 T oil to 1 T vinegar. I like both but for most peoples taste I find they like the 3:1 ratio better.

(double the recipe as you add more tomatoes - this recipe is for 2 medium to large tomatoes)

Oil (I use olive for this) 3 T (most people like 3:1)
Vinegar Balsamic 2 T
(2:1) my family's taste
1 teaspoon shallots chopped fine or 1 T onion chopped small to med
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
1/2 tsp of dijon (we taste the dressing as we tend to like more dijon as a rule.. it's usually a tsp.)
s/p to taste
Garlic (optional) 1small clove minced (we don't use it always)

put in a container and shake to blend.  I have always used a small canning jar

pour it on about 15 to 30 minutes before serving. (if you put in a bowl with chopped tomatoes - mix, if on a plate all nice and fancy - just pour the dressing over the tomatoes)

*Vinegar:  My grandmother couldn't go to the store and pick the lovely balsamic and other multiple of vinegars that are on the market today.  They made their own vinegar.  At the time I am sure the vinegar was made out of grapes that grew in the fields.  Then when my grandmother came to live in the states for 15 years, after the war, before going back to Alsace she used apple cider vinegar for her recipes as it was readily available.  I have to admit I have gotten very spoiled with the good balsamic vinegars on the market for my tomato salad.


How to make your own vinegar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rYQyWTeX1M

My great grandfather in front of his house in Dambach La ville (built in the late 1600's early 1700's) 

It is now a set of apartments and lovingly restored (they now have a plaque outside of it with the date the home was built) 

Professional chef's recipes for vinaigrettes that would work just as well, maybe even better:  :o) 

Martha Stewart: cooking School book:  must buy for the beginning or learning student of cooking (I have tried many a Martha recipe.  Her recipes turn out 99.9% of the time for me and they have taught me so much about cooking. 

Martha's Balsamic 

in a small bowl whack together  

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

1 T dijon 

and a pinch of sugar

season with sal and ground pepper

slowly add 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and whisking until emulsified. 

Store up to 2 weeks in a air tight container. 

Her shallot vinaigrette:
"3 T sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dijon
1 t minced shallot
1/4 cup plus 2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Her red win vinaigrette
2 T red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove smashed
1 teaspoon coarse salt or to taste (such as a kosher salt)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper or to taste
3 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T sunflower or other neutral tasting oil"

put in blender to emulsify (blending well so that the ingredients don't easily fall apart)

from the Closet cooking blog: http://www.closetcooking.com/2010/02/balsamic-vinaigrette.html

"Ingredients:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 large clove garlic (grated)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
1. Mix everything."

Emeril's balsamic vinaigrette: 

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/simple-balsamic-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html

"Ingredients
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, optional*
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
Mesclun salad mix or favorite greens, for accompaniment
Assortment of salad ingredients, such as cherry tomatoes, chopped carrots, sliced red onion, chopped celery, diced cucumbers, walnuts
Blue cheese, for garnish
Directions
Beat the vinegar in a bowl with the optional sugar, garlic, salt and pepper until sugar and salt dissolves. Then beat in the oil by droplets, whisking constantly. (Or place all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake to combine.) Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Toss a few tablespoons of the dressing with the salad mix and desired salad ingredients, top with blue cheese and serve immediately.

If not using dressing right away, cover and refrigerate, whisking or shaking again before use.

*If using a good quality balsamic vinegar you should not need the sugar, but if using a lesser quality you might want the sugar to round out the dressing.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/simple-balsamic-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback"

Strawberry Goat Cheese Tartine (by Dorie Greenspan)

The challenge of the week: Simple, easy and very good.  If you like goat cheese like my family does, I think you should try this extremely quick and tasty Strawberry Goat Cheese Tartine by Dorie Greenspan found in her book Around my French Table!

The combination of the naturally sweet strawberries, now in season,  creamy goat cheese and balsamic make this a lovely start or end of a nice dinner as well as a tasty breakfast and a side dish to a lovely green salad.

not the best picture but I wanted to munch on it right away - I didn't have a chance for a second shot :o)

Dinner tonight: June 5, 2013 food network magazine's fondue

I am always looking for something different to try on my family; especially recipes that I have been afraid to try as I thought the recipe might be too fussy. It's really easy. As I only had 3 of my family members eating tonight I cut the recipe in half and I am glad I did.  The recipe is very very rich, almost too rich for my palette.  My husband enjoyed it but he also said it was too rich to eat too much... maybe that's the point.  A little goes a tremendously long way in my house. As my grandfather used to say "Enough is too much".

Full Recipe from Food Network: I had cut this in 1/2 for my family.

12 ounces (4 cups) shredded gruyere cheese
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (1 cup shredded)
mix with 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
-Put Aside-

Cut a garlic clove in 1/2 (I cut off ends and take off peel) and rub inside a small sauce pan (makes 2-1/2 cups fondue)

Put 1 cup dry white wine, 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons dijon mustard in the sauce pan and bring to a gentle simmer over med. heat... (I had to lower my heat on my stove as my stove tends to run hot).  whisk.  Add 1/2 the cheese above into the sauce pan and they suggest using a wood spoon.  (I used the whisk) until smooth. add the remainder of the cheese and stir until smooth.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

Put in a fondue pot or small slow cooker... as I don't have either so I kept the fondue in the sauce pan and put it over a simmering pot of water (I served the fondue in small individual bowls with a skewer where they could add more fondue if they want.)

I found I had to add salt and pepper to really bring out the cheese flavor.

My fixings:  I used left over beef tenderloin (cold) from last night's dinner (cubed) 

red/yellow peppers

mushroom

carrot strips

blanched cauliflower 

(I wish I had some snow peas) 

small tomatoes 

green onions 

french bread

Things I might do If I made this again:  put shallots chopped fine in the wine/lemon juice/dijon mixture while cooking then strain out the shallots

Dorie Greenspan's Fruit Terrine

I made Dorie Greenspan's fruit terrine: for this recipe please see her cookbook 

Around my French Table. My daughter said it was good but different (texture).  I used grapefruit juice as the base; Dorie used orange juice. Next time I might try it with champagne with the unflavored gelatin or or might try Orangina.  

This would be good on a hot day as a salad 

I like Martha Stewarts recipe better as it uses grape juice instead of orange juice or grapefruit juice. (the grapefruit makes the dish zingy but I like the milder taste of the grape juice) http://www.marthastewart.com/317451/mixed-berry-terrine?czone=h&center=276964&gallery=275196&slide=317451

lunch: cold meatball sandwiches/ dinner halibut on spinach with lemon and caper compound butter

Lunch today

One of our favorite lunch time dishes at the Cafe restaurant in Sister Bay, Wisconsin (Door County) was their open faced cold swedish meatball sandwich.  Unfortunately their lovely owners retired going on to other adventures and closed that wonderful restaurant that offered really fresh Scandinavian food and other delights.  My family missed this simple dish so much that they asked if I could give it a try. Even though I couldn't do the dish justice my family still enjoyed it.

ingredients:  cold plain meatballs (no sauce) sliced (2 - 3 meatballs each sandwich depending on size of meatballs and preference) (Our local Italian deli freezes their meatballs for their costumers to use in their own dishes - as I really didn't want to cook meatballs today I bought theirs). 

red onion chopped

lettuce (we actually like butter or black seed simpson lettuce the best

chopped tomato 

chopped pickles (we like the french ones chopped) 

horseradish sauce: (if you like your sauce less sharp you can add a bit of mayo)

good scandinavian rye

for one dish: spread horseradish on rye bread 

but lettuce on top of spread

top with sliced cold meatballs

top with tomato, onion and pickles 

eat with a fork and a knife 

serve with fruit on the side or a nice cup of soup 

Fish by Martha (in her cooking school book) 

In Martha's book she cooks this dish in parchment paper but I am out of it so I used foil instead. I had to cook this dish a little longer than the 12 minutes suggested but it still turned out great.  I also made it for 2 rather than the 4 suggested. 

Need: 4 pieces of  11 x 17 parchment paper (I used foil) 

4 skinless firm fish deboned (I used halibut that I cut in 1/2 removing the center area where the bone had been) you can also use salmon (as martha uses in her recipe), or sea bass (I buy from a fish monger in my area... how I can tell the fish is fresh... when I come into the store it smells like the ocean... fresh! the fish isn't slimy, falling apart and it smells really fresh.  

compound butter (listed below) 

2 lemons 1 sliced thin, the other into wedges 

1 bag of spinach washed well and drained. about 2 cups 

Set oven to 400 Degrees 

1. Make the compound butter and put in refrigerator until ready to use

Compound butter:  for this dish: 4 Tablespoons Butter at room temperature, 2 Tablespoons salted capers (rinsed and chopped), 1 garlic clove (she says minced- I like pressed or grated and taking out center germ to make the garlic milder in flavor, 2 Tablespoons minced parsley, and 1 Tablespoon lemon zest.  Mix together and shape and place in refrigerator to make firm.  You can freeze the butter compound for 2 months.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAce_zo-A-8 is a great video on how to make herb compound butter and how to shape the butter. As this recipe only calls for 4 Tablespoons of butter the roll will be smaller than the one shown on the video 

2.  season fish on both sides with salt and pepper set aside

3. place a handful of clean spinach in the middle of your paper or foil 

4.  top with 3 slices of lemon

5. top with fish 

6. top with 1/4 of the compound better 

7. fold paper or foil over and seal the edges so that no steam comes out.  (you tube has lots of video's on how to fold parchment paper)

8.  cook 8 minutes for each inch of fish.  Martha says for 1-1/2" of fish cook for 12 minutes.  I had to cook my fish a little longer as my fish was opaque in the middle still (which means the fish 
was not finished cooking)  (serve immediately) very easy 

SERVE WITH LEMON WEDGES 

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to/tell-when-fish-is-cooked.aspx

I never knew making a set recipe was so hard.

    My dear mom and I will be trying our hand in taking old family dishes that have been passed down verbally and by sharing the kitchen experiences of generations of women in my family.

   My hope, in the next few weeks, is to create these recipes my grandmother, mother and aunt shared with me, into reproducible dishes that will bring the younger generation of my family a link to their past of all the great women who had come before them.

My great grandfather, my grandmothers brother who lost his life in a camp in world war II, my grandmother as a girl, my great grandmother. 

    I never realized how hard it is to make a recipe with measurements that should work all the time! I now have a deeper appreciation of the chefs that make recipes for the home cook! So in the next few weeks wish me luck as I try to bring the verbal family recipes into written reality.

My children many many years ago!

The joy of life is in the moment! As Jacque Pepin says: Happy cooking!