Month: April 2013

Curried Gizzards, Herbed Potatoes & Frisse In Honey Mustard Dressing

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“Sauteed Gizzards in curry cream with buttered, herbed yukon gold potatoes and frisse salad in honey mustard dressing”
The verdict is out : I’ve got a new favorite chicken gizzard recipe, taking the #1 spot and pushing “Gizzard Adobo” to spot #2 🙂
What a great dish. Even if you are not a fan of gizzards, you can of course replace them with anything that tickles your fancy: Shrimps, scallops, mussels, sliced beef, diced chicken, shredded duck, whatever you like and whatever is available. The curry cream, potatoes, butter, herbs and frisse just go together so well, you don’t want to miss this combination.

Curried Gizzards, Herbed Potatoes & Frisse In Honey Mustard Dressing

: Curried Gizzards, Herbed Potatoes & Frisse In Honey Mustard Dressing

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1. Simmer gizzards in salted water until tender, but still with a bit of a bite. Strain. Saute garlic paste and diced onion in butter until fragrant, add curry powder and saute on low heat for another minute. Add heavy cream and a bit of ketchup and reduce until creamy. Add the gizzards, simmer for another minute. Season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper, set aside.
2. Simmer peeled and cut potatoes until tender but still keeping their shape. Saute in LOT’S of butter without letting potatoes brown. Remove from heat, add lots of chopped italian parsley.
3. Mix honey, dijon mustard, canola oil, lemon juice, kosher salt and freshly ground black papper. Dress frisse with the dressing.
4. To plate, put gizzards on the plate, add potatoes and top with frisse. Sprinkle with chili flakes. Eat. Be happy 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

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Paprikash is the national dish of Hungary. Which means that it has been prepared and eaten for many decades, by millions of people, in many restaurants and homes, in many different regions, with an infinite number of variations. So folks, relax, don’t call my house and say that this is not a real paprikash, because………….
Anyway, here is a version I prepared last week and, I might add, a pretty good and pretty pretty 🙂 version. >

Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

: Chicken Paprikash & Spaetzle

Ingredients :

Chicken, your favorite parts, I prefer legs
Sweet hungarian paprika,
Chilis, finely chopped, some left whole for garnish (optional)
Tomatoes, finely chopped
Garlic, paste
Onions, finely diced
Kosher salt,
AP flour,
Chicken stock,
Sour cream,

Method :

Saute chicken in fat until golden brown. Remove. Saute onions and garlic until fragrant. Add paprika, chopped chilis and flour and saute for a short time. (Careful, paprika burns easily !) Add tomatoes, stock, whole chili’s and salt. Return chicken to pot, cover and braise slowly until chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 162F. (Carry over heat will take it to a safe 165F). Remove chicken. At this point you have the option of straining the sauce or not. You also have the option of whisking in the sour cream or not. If you don’t whisk in the sour cream at this point, add a generous dollop when serving (See picture). Adjust seasoning if necessary. To serve, add chicken to serving dish, cover with sauce and whole chili’s. Serve with Spaetzle.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good ! >>
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Schwäbische Spätzle Mit Schmelze (Swabian Noodles)

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” Swabian spaeztle with browned bread crumbs “.

One of the most common,simple, quick, delicious, economical and (in my biased eyes), one of the most beautiful dishes coming out of South Germany (Swabia).
When I grew up, this was one of the more boring dishes for me and my brother Wilhelm to grace our dinner table, because it showed up with regularity a few times a week. Even today, spaetzle are one of the stables of south german cooking. But, alas, I have moved away from my homeland many decades ago, so now spaetzle have become a treat, truly enjoyed whenever possible.
Spaetzle are hard to come by even in German restaurants around here. This is probably due to the fact that more cooks in american German restaurants go by the name of Pepe instead of Fritz and have never seen real spaeztle, so what you mostly get are “Knoepfle”, not “Spaetzle”.
Knoepfle means little bottons, so they are a small spherical pasta, while spaetzle derives from “little spitz”, which means little penis. (Many folks believe spaetzle derives from the word spatz, which means sparrow and would makes no sense at all. Also, many Americans let their spaetzle or knoepfle brown while sauteeing, which is an absolute no no in Swabia!
So there you have it. One of the easiest and fastest pastas to make is actually difficult to come by (at least any good ones). Go figure 😦
But, there is hope ! Following is the recipe for original swabian spaetzle. Please note that there is no milk or water added, just AP flour, eggs and salt. In times past, when eggs where not as easily available and as affordable as now, folks have had to stretch the eggs by adding milk or even water. Today that is not necessary anymore, so just stick to flour, eggs, and salt. With a little practice, it will take you less then 10 minutes to make about six portions.
Mix flour, salt, and eggs and beat the dough until it is elastic and forms large air bubbles. To shape the spaetzle, either use a “Spaetzle Brett” (spaeztle board) and a straight spatula, or, much easier, invest $ 20 and buy a “Spaetzle Press” online. If you are not so sure how to proceed with the dough and the shaping of the spaetzle, go online and check out one of the numerous good instructional videos ( But be aware, there is also a lot of crap online, so choose wisely ).

Fill the spaetzle press 3/4 with dough and press into boiling, salted water. After a minute or so the spaetzle will float at the surface. Remove to a bowl with cold water. Drain. To serve, saute in butter until hot, without allowing the spaetzle to brown. Top with “Schmelze”.

For the schmelze, melt butter and saute bread crumbs until golden.
(I like to use brown butter and add chives to my schmelze).

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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