THE BRETT-SESSIONS | VOL.5
OUR CULINARY HEARTBEAT
by the stove
on THE STOVE
JOHANNES, LISA & JOSEPH
HASSELBACK-PUMPKIN with PILAW-rice,
Offenbacher MEATBALLS UND SAFRAN-SAUCE
Hasselback-pumpkin
// Christmassy, sweet, fragrant.
A vegetarian roast. Christmassy, sweet, fragrant, with almonds and oranges, accompanied by fresh Turkish figs, goat cheese and a creamy saffron sauce.
Please note the order of preparation:
1. prepare pumpkin completely, so that it only needs to go into the oven.
2. form meatballs and get them ready
3. prepare rice completely and cover with a kitchen towel
4. put the pumpkin in the oven
5. 15 minutes later, put meatballs in the pan
6. set the table
Preparation: about 30 minutes / cooking time: 20-35 minutes
- THE BRETT-SESSIONS | VOL.5
- HASSELBACK-PUMPKIN
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2-3 pieces of butternut pumpkin
Saffron
2 packets of butter
100 ml maple syrup
3 pieces of organic oranges
fennel and coriander seeds
cumin, cinnamon
150g chopped almonds
figs
Goat cheese
Some fresh thyme
PREPARATION
1 - We use the Hasselback cutting technique to rub, or lard, the pumpkin with spiced butter, maple syrup and orange slices. To do this, peel the pumpkins and cut in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and place on the cutting board.
2 - Then place "cut way limiters" (such as chopsticks) on both sides of the pumpkin to prevent accidentally cutting too deep. Then, using a sharp, wide knife, cut down to the chopsticks at 2 mm intervals, leaving the pumpkin intact at chopstick depth. This creates "fanned" pumpkin backs that you place side by side on baking sheets.
3 - Finely slice oranges and tuck about 3-4 slices per half squash into the sliced wedges, evenly spaced. Disappear the fresh thyme by the twig in the columns as well.
4 - Crush the spices in a mortar and knead them together with the almonds and some salt with 150-200 g of butter. The amount depends somewhat on the size of the pumpkin - we want to rub the pumpkins completely with the butter, so better too much than too little. Spread the butter by hand on the pumpkin and rub it completely.
5 - Finally, drizzle some maple syrup lengthwise over the top of the pumpkin to add a little sugar kick.
6 - Place the pumpkin in the oven at 180° for 20 - 35 minutes. The cooking time varies slightly depending on the size of the pumpkin. Please keep an eye on the degree of cooking with fork, nose and critical eye.
7 - Cut the figs into wedges, crumble the cheese. Both will be decorative on the finished pumpkin later.
SAFRAN SAUCE
8 - The saffron sauce was indeed just awesome. Please note: With saffron there are different qualities, which is reflected in the taste and of course accordingly in the price. Here in Offenbach, you can find a good selection at any Arabic greengrocer. Calmly try the most expensive one - it is usually not that expensive, because you only need a little - and it makes a big difference in taste.
9 - Grind the saffron threads (about 0.4 g) with 1 tablespoon sugar in a spice grinder or mortar. Heat 200 g of butter once and let it melt, then remove from heat and only then stir in the saffron.
10 - Then boil about 200 ml of water. Mix 3 tablespoons of rice starch with a little cold water until there are no lumps. Then gradually add the mixture to the boiling water, always boiling once between portions. Starch does not set until it comes to a boil, so it is important to proceed gradually to achieve the desired consistency. The target consistency is about the same as wall paint.
11 - The "wall paint" is now mixed into the butter to make it slightly lighter in fat content and more fluffy. Finally, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice as well as some salt to taste. The result should be a bright yellow, creamy and homogeneous sauce that you can pour on the pumpkin. Spectacular. The whole thing is probably also an excellent base for a dessert. That's what we're going to try out.
NOTES
Offenbacher Frikadellen
// aka Köfte
- THE BRETT-SESSIONS | VOL.5
- MEATBALLS
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2kg minced meat (real or vegan)
2 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
250g bulgur
4 eggs
salt
pine nuts
150 g mint, chopped
200 g parsley with stems, finely chopped
5 tablespoons sweet paprika powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tbsp ground allspice
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp. chili flakes
4 tbsp. soy sauce
PREPARATION
1 - Pour 500 ml of hot water or broth over the bulgur, stir and let it swell. Put all the other ingredients in a large bowl, reserving some parsley and mint. Season to taste. Form balls and finish frying in pan with oil over medium heat.
2 - After frying, pile up on a plate, herbs on top and on the table.
NOTES
Pilaw rice
// Turkish rice with browned risi noodles
For this rice dish, we took some great Turkish rice with browned risi noodles and lots of butter. A classic side dish to kebab-on-a-plate and really very tasty when done well. Accompanied by blanched rapa, wild broccoli. A rather unknown vegetable, with a great taste of its own. Actually only available from wholesalers and said Arab or Turkish greengrocers. In addition, barberries, as an acid highlight, salty pistachios, fried echalottes and finally a fragrant cumin butter on top. Very fine. Here's how:
- THE BRETT-SESSIONS | VOL.5
- „Pilaw RICE"
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500 g rice noodles
Sushi rice
2 medium onions, cut into cubes
½ garlic bulb, unpeeled, the cloves just pressed on with a knife
1-2 liters of water
2 bunches rapa, stems finely sliced, leaves plucked off
shallots, cut lengthwise into thin rings
Barberries
cumin butter (cumin + 150-200 g butter)
Pistachios
80 g dill, finely chopped
STEPS
1 - In a large shallow pot, sauté the rice noodles with the diced onion and garlic cloves in a little vegetable oil over medium heat until they turn nice and golden. Meanwhile, wash the sushi rice thoroughly. When the rice noodles are nicely browned, add the drained rice to the pot and sauté a bit more.
2 - Then - as with a risotto - gradually add hot water so that the rice is always slightly covered. Stir regularly so that nothing burns. Cook in this way until the rice is delicious. Then add a little salt.
3 - Meanwhile, in another pot, bring water to a boil with quite a bit of salt and sugar. Next to it, have a container of ice water ready to quench.
4 - Blanch the rape stems in batches for about 1.5 minutes in the water and quench immediately. Then blanch the leaves for about 30 seconds and quench. Keep ready for later.
5 - Deep fry the shallots in hot fat (about 160°) until they are completely brown and fried through. Remove with a frying spoon, spread out on paper towels, lightly salt.
6 - Roast the pistachios in a dry pan without fat, then add a sip of salted water, toss, and continue roasting until the water evaporates.
7 - Finally, prepare the caraway butter: Melt the butter, pestle the caraway seeds briefly in a mortar, then add them to the butter, remove the pot from the heat and let them steep for 10 minutes. Retain a little pistachios and barberries.
8 - Put the cooked rice, rapa, dill, pistachios and barberries together in a large bowl, pour the cumin butter over them and mix everything thoroughly.
9 - Put everything on a suitable platter or in a bowl and pile it up nice and high. On top, add the fried onions and the remaining pistachios and barberries.
NOTES
