MENU Nov 8, 2012

CADS Dinner Menu

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Foods of Alsace-Lorraine - Dennis Hosting

Appetizer

Cheese: Munster Géromé

Bargkase

Bread: Sliced baguette

Wine: 2010 Roland Schmitt Pinot Gris

Comment: Cheeses were from Mickis’s Palo Alto. The actual regional ‘mountain cheese’ is called Bargkass, thought to be closely related to the Bargkase, above. The Munster is not to be confused with its pallid US version. The wine, and all wines below, were from the ‘Alsace’ section at K&L.

First Course

Quiche Lorraine/Quiche au Fromage de Gruyère

Mixed greens salad – raspberry vinaigrette

Wine: 2010 Charles Bauer Pinot Blanc

Comment: The recipe is from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck, Alfred A. Knopf, 2009 (Anniversary Edition) p. 147. (This and other recipes occur I think in all previous editions.) The variant of adding cheese (au fromage) suggests leaving out the bacon and using more milk. I kept the bacon and mixed whipping cream and milk about 50/50. Note that the bacon does NOT press into the bottom of a partially-baked shell, so it tends to float around in the liquid. Stir gently to distribute it – doesn’t affect the taste! I used a commercial crust – will make my own next time, this one stuck too much to the pan.

Second Course

Choucroute Braisée à l’Alsacienne/Choucroute Garni

Boiled Potatoes

Wines: 2010 Allimant Laugner Gewürtztraminer

2011 Allimant Pinot Noir

2011 Zind Humbrecht Riesling

Comment: Recipe from ibid., p. 498-499. Fresh sauerkraut was from Dittmer’s. For the choucroute garni I used center-cut, boneless pork chops (Piazza’s), and bratwurst and weisswurst (Dittmer’s). People asked about cooking the chops. The recipe relies on the coating on the chops (a paste made from 1+ tablespoons cooking oil, 1 ½ + tablespoons honey, 1+ teaspoons anchovy paste, ½ teaspoon pepper, for 6 chops). It .is from Cook’s Illustrated, September & October, 2012, p. 10 and 11. Use HOT grill, 4-5 minutes per side depending on thickness (3/4 to 1”). See email for more information.

I found the sauerkraut the least tasty of these dishes. It was OK, not sure it was worth the effort (actually pretty easy recipe, cooks a long time but you don’t have to do anything while it’s cooking). Yet it was almost all eaten, so people clearly liked it!

Dessert

Tarte aux Poires with Apricot Glaze

Wine: 2008 Meyer-Fonnè “Hinterburg de Katzenthal” Pinot Gris

Comment: The pears were comice (piazza’s). The recipes are from ibid. p. 638 following the recipe for tarte aux pommes p. 636 (for the tarte) and p. 593, 594 (for the glaze). I found this the most time-consuming of the recipes, but a good result. The tarte itself was too sweet for me, so if I do it again, or do the apple variation, I would examine the recipe for ways to cut back on the sugar. Again, I did not like the commercial crust, will do my own. The recipe calls for a sweet-dough crust, but I think a regular crust helps temper the sweetness of the filling.