Today’s diary comes from Switzerland. Swiss cuisine is heavily influenced by the countries surrounding it — France, Germany and Italy.
This recipe for Rösti is one example. It’s essentially a German potato cake, but with some added ingredients that distinguish it. Check out the recipe page for more variations!
The potatoes should be boiled in their jackets the day before. These should be waxy potatoes of the potato-salad kind.
The next day, peel them and grate them on the coarsest blade of the grater. Heat a large heavy frying pan, and let the fat get hot: then put in the potatoes, sprinkle with salt, and fry, turning them constantly.
When they have soaked up the butter or whatever, add more. Now form a "cake" by pushing the potatoes from the edges of the pan into the middle and flattening down the top. Sprinkle with the water or milk, reduce heat, and cover with a lid or inverted dish.
Shake the covered pan occasionally to keep the potatoes from burning, and leave on low heat for at least 15 minutes. The potatoes must stick together, but not to the bottom of the pan.
When cooked, turn the cake out onto a plate, bottom side up, and serve. (Or alternately, brown the other side as well.)
Rosti Fried Potato Cake Side Dish
The next few recipes are from the Swiss Recipe Collection of the website “European Cuisines”.
Stollen (a type of fruit and nut bread)
PREHEAT OVEN TO 350F. Combine the citron, angelica and raisins in a small
bowl, pour boiling water over to cover, then stir and let stand. Melt the
butter and let cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk in a
large bowl, stir, and let stand a few minutes to dissolve. Add the salt,
eggs, butter, granulated sugar, mace and cardamom, and mix well. Add 2 cups
of the flour and beat vigorously until smooth. Add 3 more cups flour, 1 cup
at a time, beating well after each. After adding the last cup, beat until
the dough holds together in a shaggy ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured
surface and knead for a minute or 2, sprinkling on more flour if necessary
to keep it from being too sticky. Let rest for 10 minutes. Drain the fruits
and raisins in a strainer and press firmly to remove excess water.
Sprinkle the fruit and nuts over the dough, and resume kneading until the
dough is smooth and elastic. Add a little more flour as necessary to keep
it from being too sticky. Place in a greased bowl, and turn the dough about
to coat all surfaces. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. (This dough
is especially rich, and the first rise might take as long as 3 hours,
depending on the temperature of your kitchen.) Punch the dough down and
divide in half. Shape and pat each piece into an oval about 10 inches long
and 4 1/2 inches at the widest part. Fold almost in half the long way,
bringing the upper edge only about 2/3 of the way over, so the bottom edge
extends beyond the top. Place the loaves on a greased baking sheet, leaving
several inches between them. Cover lightly and let rise for 45 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 40-to-45 minutes, until nicely
browned. Remove from the oven and dust with the confectioners' sugar
sprinkled through a sieve, then transfer to racks to cool.
Salmon Basel Style
Season the fillets with salt and pepper, squeeze the lemon juice over
them, and leave to marinate for a short time.
Dredge the onion rings in the flour. Shake off the excess.
Dredge the fish in the remaining flour, then brown quickly in the combined
butter and oil for 5-6 minutes on each side. Brown the onion rings as well
(after the fish have been removed from the pan).
Arrange the fish on a warm plate and cover with the onion rings. Deglaze
the pan with the fish stock and serve as a sauce over the salmon.
Serve with boiled potatoes.
(From a recipe handout from the GLOBUS chain of department stores in
Switzerland. The Globus distributes about 50 recipes a month in punched
"notebook" format, to make them easier to keep and refer to.)
Gluhwein
1 l Good red wine
1/4 l Water
1/2 Stick cinnamon
2 Cloves
200 g Sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Combine the ingredients in a pan and heat (don't boil!): strain and
serve.
Basel Flour Soup
2 1/2 oz Butter
20 1/2 fl Beef stock*
3 3/4 oz Flour
2 oz Grated cheese**
(This is the famous soup which is served in Basel at Fasnacht, the
pre-Lenten Carnival.)
*Made with stock cubes if necessary. **plus extra for handing around
with the soup. -- Heat butter in a shallow iron pan and fry the
flour until golden brown, stirring constantly. Work in 2-3 fl oz. of
stock. Pour all into a saucepan and add rest of stock. Allow to
simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Pass through a sieve, and add
grated cheese. Serve with additional grated cheese so that everyone
else can help themselves.
Under the name of "Guarn', a similar brown flour soup is made in the
Graubuenden; this soup, however, is prepared not with stock but with
salted water. Two tablespoons red wine and 1 tsp sugar per plate are
added to give the soup its special flavor.
Perhaps the most famous Swiss dish is fondue, which has historically been made with cheese. Here’s a vegan twist on fondue!
Ingredients
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3 cups water
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1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
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1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
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4 teaspoon onion granules
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1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
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1/3 cup quick cooking rolled oats
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4 tablespoons arrowroot powder
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1 teaspoon salt (optional)
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Put all the ingredients into a
blender. Blend to form a smooth mixture.
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Pour the mixture into a saucepan. Bring the mix to the boil, stirring often.
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Reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer and stir constantly until the mixture thickens. The stirring is important to ensure that it is smooth.
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Pour the mixture into a fondue pot. Keep the fondue pot warm (low flame).
That’s all the recipes for today; enjoy them, and feel free to suggest your own! Some bonus videos from Sound of Music follow (with a special shout out to DoReMI):
This doesn’t quite fit with the Switzerland theme, but what the hey. Have some Glenn Miller!