Ingredients
1 large yellow Onion, peeled and cut into half
1 Garlic Clove, peeled
1 Bayleaf
2 Cloves
50g Flour
90g Butter, clarified
800ml Milk
300g Whipping Cream
850g assorted mushrooms (Chanterelles, Cepes, Button Mushrooms, Swiss Browns, or similar)
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated nutmeg
A bit of lemon zest
250ml Vegetable stock
A twig or two of curly parsley to chop
Method
- Take one half of the onion and pierce it with the bayleaf and the cloves.
- The remaining half onion and the garlic, to be cut into small pieces.
- In a pot of the right size warm up about 50g of the clarified butter.
- Whisk in the flour till smooth.
- Bit by bit whisk in the milk and whip till smooth (we call this a Bechamel).
- Bring to a boil for a couple of minutes (watch the pot and bottom!!)
- Reduce the heat and let simmer for 8+ minutes. Add the onion/bayleaf/clove to it
- Add the 200g of the cream and continue to let it simmer
- In the meantime, clean, if necessary, the mushrooms with a moist kitchen towel or a clean brush, to remove any dirt.
Cut the mushrooms into pieces of various size and shape, but not too small, Chanterelles best kept whole.
- In a large, wide pan, melt some of the remaining clarified butter and sauté the mushrooms, type by type, at high heat for a couple of minutes, season a little bit with salt and set aside.
Do not add to many mushrooms in one go, or else the temperature will drop, and the mushrooms start to simmer and lose a lot of water.
- Sauté the chopped onions, garlic in a pan, deglaze with the vegetable stock, bring to a boil
- Add the Bechamel and the mushrooms, slightly boil once more, then reduce the heat. Season with the salt, pepper, nutmeg, lemon zest.
- In the meantime whip the remaining cream and fold under the ragout
- Arrange in a large soup plate and sprinkle some chopped parsley over it
- Best served with a Semmelknoedel (Bread Dumpling)
Semmelknoedel (Bread Dumpling)
Ingredients
10 pieces (~350g) of Kaisersemmel or baguette, at least a day old
Salt, Nutmeg, some white pepper
½ ltr Milk
1 Onion
20g Butter
3 Eggs
Curly Parsley, chopped
Method
- Cut the bread in thin slices, place it in a suitable mixing bowl and sprinkle some salt over it
- Bring the milk to a boil and pour it over the bread, cover and let sit for 20 minutes
- Sauté the onion in some butter till soft and translucent
- Add the onion, eggs, parsley to the bread and using your hands mix all the ingredients well till you have a sort of doughy consistency
- Form dumplings of tennis ball size
- Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add the dumplings in at one go and bring the water back to a boil, reduce the temperature and let them simmer for about 20 minutes
- Lift them out with a slotted spoon, shake off any excess water, and serve.
Tips from Thomas:
- The Semmelknoedel mix needs to be soft, but bind well
- There are times when you need to adjust this mix a bit, for example if the bread is very dry, you might need more milk.
- So, it is best to make a small sample dumpling, if it holds, job well done, if it falls apart, add some breadcrumbs to the mix
- Making a small sample dumpling also lets you see if all is good with the seasoning
What to drink?
Either a Kuchlbauer 1300er Zwickl, which is well balanced and refreshing or a glass of Dönnhoff Weissburgunder or Bürgerspital Sylvaner, you prefer a red? Choose one that is low in tannins!
Wohl bekommt's! |