Tag: red currants

Ringing in 2011 with a Gourmet Dinner

Desserts Fruit Dessert Goose Main Course Tarts Vegetables Baroness Tapuzina

New Year's Eve 2011 Dinner

New Year’s Eve, Mr BT and I celebrated our anniversary and 2011 with a gourmet romantic dinner. Our anniversary was actually the day before, but I had more time to prepare a lovely meal on Friday, so we had an anniversary/Shabbat/2011 special meal.

Last week, I found two beautiful goose breast fillets and some very large bright yellow quinces. I thought these would be two perfect ingredients for a romantic anniversary dinner. I made goose breast with a quince and red currant sauce, roasted butternut squash, Jerusalem artichokes and potato, and steamed broccoli. For dessert, I made a luscious quince tarte tatin.

This year, Mr BT and I will be searching for a home to call our own. Something we have dreamed about for a long time. I hope that 2011 is filled with more foodie adventures that I can share with you. And, I hope that all of your hopes and dreams come true this year.

Mr BT and I wish you all a very happy, healthy, peaceful and delicious 2011.

Goose Breast with Quince and Red Currant Sauce

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Caramelised Goose Breast with Quince and Red Currant Sauce
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: International
Servings: 2
Ingredients
For the goose:
  • 2 goose breast fillets about 200g (7oz) each
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 piece of fresh ginger about 2 1/2 cm (1 inch), minced
For the sauce:
  • 1 medium poached quince diced
  • 1 shallot minced
  • 4 tablespoons port
  • 1 piece of fresh ginger about 2 1/2 cm (1 inch), minced
  • 100 ml 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 strand of fresh red currants or 1/4 cup of thawed and drained fresh-frozen
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chives chopped
Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 220C (425F).

  2. Season the goose breast with salt and pepper. Heat a dry pan over medium-high heat. Sear the goose, skin-side down, until golden. Turn the breast over and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the honey, mustard and ginger to the pan, and baste the goose a few times. Transfer the goose to a roasting pan with a rack and roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Do not overcook. The goose should be slightly pink in the center.
  3. Meanwhile, add the quince and shallot to the pan in which you seared the goose, keeping the goose fat in the pan to help thicken the sauce. Add the port to de-glaze the pan, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by half. Add the ginger and the white wine, return to the boil and simmer to reduce again. Season with salt and pepper, and add the red currants and chives.
  4. To serve, place the roasted vegetables on the center of the plate, slice the goose breast and place on top and pour the sauce on top of the goose.

 

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Roasted Butternut Squash
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Servings: 4
Ingredients
  • 180 g (1 cup) butternut squash peeled and cut into cubes
  • 180 g (1 cup)Jerusalem artichokes peeled and cut into cubes
  • 180 g (1 cup) roasting potatoes cubed
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Place the butternut squash, Jerusalem artichoke and potato on a baking tray in one layer. Sprinkle the fresh thyme and massage in the olive oil until the vegetables are coated evenly with the thyme and the oil. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper and roast them for 15-25 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Quince Tarte Tatin

Quince Tarte Tatin
by David Lebovitz

The is one of the best Tartes Tatin I have ever had and Mr BT thought so too. It is not too sweet and really shows off the quince.

Red Currant Kuchen

Cakes Fruit Baroness Tapuzina

I have been trying to find ways to use up the remaining flour in the cupboard and luck would have it that I was invited to spend Shabbat with good friends. I insisted on making a cake and suggested a cranberry kuchen only to find that the fresh-frozen cranberries cost 31 NIS (8.40USD) for 400g. I decided to make the cake with fresh-frozen red currants that were on sale. I love red, white and black currants and have been know to eat an entire container of them when I am in Germany during berry season. Actually, I love all berries. I just wish they weren’t so expensive here.

I usually don’t like making parve cakes, but I have always wanted to try rice milk as a substitute for milk and I used Vanilla Rice Dream in this recipe. The cake turned out moist and delicious, and most importantly it didn’t taste artificial like other parve cakes do. It did take longer than 30 minutes to bake the cake and I am not sure if it is my oven or the rice milk.

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Red Currant Kuchen
Ingredients
  • 110 g 6 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 400 g fresh or fresh frozen red currants thawed and drained of its juices
  • 1 large egg
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-1/4 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk or vanilla rice milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease the bottom and sides of a 22cm (8-inch) round cake pan. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar on the currants and drain all juices before sprinkling them on top of the cake batter. Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and lightly whisk to combine. Set aside.
  2. Cream the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, lemon zest and vanilla, and beat until well combined. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, until well combined.
  3. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Place the drained currants evenly on top of the batter and place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake the cake for approximately 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool before serving.