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Flavours of Europe

RAKESH GHAI

Here's a peek into French and German cooking styles

Perhaps it's the result of the world becoming a global village that we get to see a lot of international cooking seeping into our culinary habits.

How often have we dug into a sinful apple pie or reach out for tomato basil soup on a cold evening? Ever thought how these are cooked authentically by the French and the Germans? Here's how you too can make them.

Tomato basil soup

Ingredients

Tomatoes - 400 gms

Carrot -100 gms
Turnip - 30 gms
Onion - 30 gms
Refined flour - 30 gms
Butter - 30 gms
Milk - 300 ml
Basil leaves - 10

A pinch of pepper

Salt to taste

Method: Clean the vegetables, roughly chop them and boil. Once the vegetables are tender, cool and puree with basil leaves. Heat a heavy bottom pan. Add butter and melt it on slow flame.

Add refined flour and cook it for a minute. Add hot milk and cook further till the mixture thickens. White sauce is ready. Add pureed vegetables to the sauce while stirring constantly. Stir the mixture through sieve. Boil the sieved mixture and adjust seasoning. Serve hot, garnished with basil leaves.

Stuffed chicken breast with red wine

Ingredients

Chicken breast - 2
Chicken bone - 400 gms
Carrot - 100 gms
Onion - 100 gms
Celery - 20 gms
Beetroot - 1
White vinegar - 1 tsp
Mustard - half tsp
Oil - 50 ml
Chicken stock - 200 ml
Tomato - 3
Potato - 1
Baby corn - 3
Salt to taste
A pinch of pepper

Method: De-bone the chicken breast. Open the breast from the middle taking care not to cut into two parts. Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken breast. Now marinate with a mixture of boiled white vinegar, mustard, and salt on top of chicken mince.

Wrap the chicken breast carefully. Sear the chicken in a hot pan. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and add onion, carrot and celery and let it brown. Add chicken bones and cook till dark brown. Add chicken stock and cook for another 15 minutes; strain the mixture.

Now arrange the seared chicken breast in a tray; pour the strained sauce. Cover it with aluminium foil and put under salamander or in oven for 20 minutes. Remove the tray and take the chicken pieces out.

Heat a pan; add red wine and heat it and then add cooking liquid. Strain and cook for some more time until it thickens. Adjust seasoning. Boil carrot batons and baby corn. Strain and add butter and toss in salt. Boil potato till it is three-fourth done. Cut roundels. Heat oil in a pan; put roundels of potato and cook it by sprinkling salt.

Remove the eye from tomato and Grill it on a hot pan. Arrange the ingredients on a plate and serve hot.

German potato salad

Ingredients

Potatoes - 4
Sliced bacon - 4 slices
Refined flour - 1 tbsp
Icing sugar - 2 tbsp
White wine vinegar - one-fourth of a cup
Green onions, chopped - half cup
Salt to taste
White pepper, powdered - 10 gms

Method: Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm. Drain, cool and cut potatoes into small pieces.

Place bacon slices in a large skillet; cook it over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Reserve bacon fat.

Add refined flour, sugar, a small quantity of water and vinegar to the skillet and cook in reserved bacon fat over medium heat until dressing becomes thick. Add bacon, green onions and potatoes to the skillet and stir until coated. Cook until heated and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Apple pie

Ingredients

For the crust:

Refined flour - two and a half cups
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt - one-fourth tsp
Cold butter broken into pieces - half cup
Cold margarine - 5 tbsp
Ice cold water - 8 tbsp

Method: Rub in refined flour, butter, sugar and salt together. Hold the dough together with a small quantity of iced water. Keep this in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then, take it out and roll out lightly with very little use of dusting flour into 1/8" thickness. Put a layer of dough into the pie dish. Cut the excess dough coming out of the dish. Keep the filling and cover it with another layer of dough. Pinch the edges together.

Filling

Ingredients

Sugar - two thirds of a cup
Refined flour - one fourth of a cup
Ground nutmeg - half tsp
Ground cinnamon - half tsp
A pinch of salt
Medium sized apples - 8
Margarine - 2 tbsp

Method: Peel, core and slice apples such that the slices are of same thickness. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt together. Pour this mixture into the pastry lined pie dishes. Dot with margarine. Cover the filling and pinch the edges.

Slit the pastry on top. Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 350 c for 45 minutes. Serve hot.

(The writer is executive

chef at ITC Hotel Kakatiya Sheraton and Towers)

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