Don’t be afraid of game!

Wild boar stew with plum and vanilla sauce, potato noodles and salsifies

December 26th, 2017 | main dishes

Time and again I hear: “I have never prepared game, I don’t know whether I can do that.” This concern is nowadays absolutely unfounded. The days of strong smell and taste are long gone. So-called “Haut goût” (French for „high taste“) referred to the very intense, slightly unpleasant smell that arose when the meat was stored too long without proper cooling. Today, in the age of cold stores and freezers, it does not exist any longer. So, get to the wild feast.

Wild boar stew with plums and vanilla

(4 – 6 servings / braising time: 2 hours)

2 onions

1 parsley root

150 g carrots

dice in small squares

3 ts canola oil

1 kg wild boar stew

sear the meat in hot oil in batches

Salt, pepper

season, add the vegetables and sauté

1 ts tomato paste

add, briefly roast

500 ml venison stock

deglaze with stock

1 vanilla bean

scrape out, add pulp and pod to the goulash

2 bay leaves

3 juniper berries

3 cloves

1ts seasoning for game (I prefer „Altes Gewürzamt“)

add spices, cover and allow to simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours

1 – 2 ts cornstarch

solve in a bit of cold water and thicken the sauce to taste

3-4 ts plum jam

season with jam, salt and pepper

AND this is how the wife of the captain does it:

When I use frozen venison, I defrost it overnight in the fridge covered with buttermilk in a sealed container. So the meat stays tender.

As a side dish, I recommend red cabbage or salsifies and homemade potato noodles or dumplings (spaetzle), which I use to have freezed in stock. Then you have just to fry them in butter, season with pepper and nutmeg – done! And, of course, my Vanilla Quince fit perfectly to the wild pig stew.

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Carinthian cake seen through a smartphone display

November 1st, 2018 |

Carinthian cake – like on the alp

An Austrian farmer’s wife gave me the recipe for this traditional Carinthian cake. Many years ago, when there was no internet and no airbnb, we had rented their mountain hut for the summer holidays. A hut without running water, without electricity and light. But with a wood stove, ringing cowbells, marmots and heavenly peace. As a welcome gift, we found this cake on the table. When I bake it today, I can almost smell the hut.

November 30th, 2017 | sweets

Piedmontese chocolate pudding with vanilla quince

A beautiful and strong coffee, anyone? Then, after a substantial meal, this specialty from the Piedmont is the right! In Piedmont, this pudding is called also Bonèt, because its form probably reminds something to a hat or a chef’s hat. Another story around the Bonèt comes from the Langhe. It states that one puts so to speak “a hat” – a crown – on dinner with this dessert. Anyhow, it tastes excellently and even better when prepared the day before. Incredibly handy when you expect guests.

PS: The Vanilla Quinces are a perfect match!