what did I order?

Swiss cuisine is so predictable that if I see something I don't understand on the menu, I order it. Sometime I ask the waiter what it is, but I usually don't understand their explanation enough to figure out what I might get. Almost every time, I've gotten something really yummy.

Yesterday at Hintergiessboden on Zugerberg was no exception, though there was a twist. I thought I was ordering fish. The waiter returned and asked me something that I thought meant "do I want it all cooked?" This was confusing so I asked if the fish was too big and perhaps he was asking if I wanted only a half portion. After a couple of minutes, we realized that I had ordered "fleisch" (meat), not fish and he was asking how I wanted it cooked, medium or well-done. We settled on medium and I awaited my fate. I got a steak, nicely presented and delicious, covered in garlic butter. Throughout the meal, I was raving about the meat, how tender and tasty it was. It didn't cut like a regular steak, it kinda fell apart like a roast.

Later that night I translated what I had ordered and discovered that I had eaten....


you guessed, horse meat. Specifically, I had ordered Fohlenfillet, which translates to foal or young horse. So not only did I eat a horse, but the horse equivalent of veal. I wasn't disgusted like I eaten a spider or something. I just felt dirty and a little sad, like I just ate a puppy or endangered animal. So gauche. Today, I've been treated to all manner of neighing and clip-clopping around the house.


we started with housemade garlic bread, super yum


Max opted for the horse-free Aelplermagronen, the swiss mac n'cheese

tarte tatin

I agreed to bring a tarte tatin to a dinner party this week. This worried me because the last time I made a tarte tatin, the caramel was super liquidy and promptly spilled all over my pants on the drive to the dinner party. I served soupy tarte tatin and spent the night in sticky jeans. But this weekend, my tarte tatin was spot on - yay!

I forked out 7.90sfr/kilo for Granny Smith apples from Italy (why??? Italy is so close). I also treated myself to a new non-non-stick 9in pan, since I didn't have the right size for this dish. It was hard to find; almost everything is non-stick here. When I asked the sales clerk if this pan could go in the oven, she looked at me with shock and horror and asked why I would do that. Sometimes I wonder why I bother asking anyone anything?


caramelizing beautifully


I drew a circle on the parchment paper to help me roll the dough to a 12in circle


trying to fit a 12in circle into a 9in pan - why?


flipped perfectly, with one little bit of dark caramel from a hot spot on my new pan - argh!

I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe but next time I think I'll use my favorite free-form tart pastry instead of this egg pastry, which didn't excite me.

gingerbread caramels

the recipe made about 150 caramels, which took forever to individually wrap

I was inspired by my friend, Michelle, to make gingerbread caramels, which taste like just like your best Christmas memory. I took them to Megan's baby shower and they were a big hit.

The recipe calls for corn syrup, which I can't buy here. But luckily, Michelle brought me a couple bottles when she was in Zurich during a short layover last year. I made a huge mess of the kitchen, not remembering how big candy boils before it cooks down. I switched to bigger pans twice, resulting in this sticky mess...


Candy requires very specific temperatures so I had three thermometers going, just in case. But all three were giving dramatically different readings as shown in the pic below. I panicked and tried a meat thermometer, dangling it into the bubbling cauldron with tongs. Of course, I promptly dropped it and had to fish it out with the tongs. Then I realized that I had attached the wrong sensors to my digital timers/thermometers. Once I switched the sensors to their proper owners, I got better readings but still a couple degress off from each other. I think I cooked the candy to 248F, which would be hard ball stage, but my candy was still quite soft. I'll cook it a little higher next time so the caramels keep their shape. But in any case, this recipe is a keeper. Thanks for the inspiration, Michelle.



Gingerbread Caramels
From Martha Stewart, my notes in green

Makes about 12 1/2 dozen

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
4 cups (2 pints) heavy cream
2 cups light corn syrup
4 cups granulated sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Coat an 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on short sides. Coat parchment. (Make sure parchment covers the whole pan - I left a tiny bit exposed on the long sides of the pan and I had to unstick the caramel with a knife)

Bring cream, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and molasses to a boil in a large pot over high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. (make sure this pot is at least twice the volume of your initial mixture as it grows when it reaches a boil - I used a tall stock pot) Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan, and continue to cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture reaches 248 degrees (firm-ball stage), about 20 minutes. (Some candies require that you don't stir the mix to avoid crystallization, but this recipe says to stir frequently. I didn't have a problem - the candies were super smooth)

Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla, salt, and spices. (Make sure you really stir. When I poured the caramel into the pan, a hidden chunk of spices plopped out and I had to mix them in the baking pan, which was not easy) Immediately pour onto prepared sheet, without scraping pot. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature for 24 hours without moving.

Coat a large cutting board generously with cooking spray. Pull up parchment to unmold caramel, and invert onto the cutting board. (I did not invert onto cutting board - I simply lifted caramels and parchment onto the cutting board, cut into pieces on parchment, and peeled off pieces to wrap individually.) Remove parchment. Cut into 1-by-1 1/4-inch pieces (My pizza cutter worked well here). Wrap each in cellophane or waxed paper (I used parchment paper, but cellophane would have been prettier). Caramels can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

measure it

One of my favorite gadgets is my Super Fast Thermapen Digital Thermometer. Yes, it's expensive, but it's so worth it. I get an accurate reading in seconds, so no losing heat from the oven or food cooling down while I'm waiting for that stupid little dial on old school food thermometers to creep around. Wondering what you might use it for?

• don't get sick from your meat
• don't curdle your custard (180F and it turns into scrambled eggs)
• ensure your ice cream base is cold enough (40F) so it will freeze in the ice cream maker
• boil your candy to the proper consistency: soft ball, firm ball, hard ball, soft crack, etc
• and...

don't kill your yeast (100F is usually best, but definitely nothing over 120F)


maintain deep-frying oil at optimum temperature (360F), so your food doesn't soak in too much oil (too cold) or burn (too hot, duh)


know when bread is done by the internal temperature (195F-205F depending on the recipe)


Yes, I am a gadget geek and also have an infrared model so I can test surface temperature. This is great for pancakes which cook the best at exactly 350F.

sloppy croissants

Inspired by my friend Astrid, I attempted to make croissants. Per usual, I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe, aided by Sherry Yard's instructions in The Secrets of Baking. Despite my poor and lazy effort, they tasted pretty darn good, probably because of the 12 oz (24TB) of butter for 12 croissant. I ate three in one day (one slathered in Nutella) and felt like I might have a heart attack at any minute. They were definitely better than Swiss croissants, but as Astrid says, that's not saying much. Here's what I learned (I was in a hurry so I didn't take pics of all the steps and the pics are blurry and ugly - sorry)...


This is the butter block that will be rolled between the dough layers. Getting this cold butter into a 7in square was the hardest part. Obviously, I'm not a perfectionist. That is the smoothest I could get that stupid block o' butter without throwing it out the window and calling it quits.


Then I folded the corners over the butter and chilled for 2 hours. Then I rolled out to 14in square. This involves banging the dough/cold butter with the rolling pin to soften it. I thought bang meant bang, and I banged too hard creating lots of chunks of butter in my dough instead of smooth layers. Must be more gentle next time.


I folded it in thirds like a business letter, then again, creating two "turns" in pastry terms. Then chill 2 hours and repeat. I chilled the dough in the fridge overnight before the final roll and shaping. This didn't have any poor effect on the dough (like over yeasty flavor or something).


I rolled to 20in square, cut and rolled up the croissants. Mine are so ugly, esp. compared to Astrid's. Only that one in the top right-hand corner any hope of being pretty. Then they rose for an hour or so.


After a couple minutes in the oven, there were pools of butter under every croissant and I was expecting the worst. However, they puffed up nicely and were flaky, buttery, and delicious. They were however, quite heavy - not sure why. Next time I will roll more gently so the butter evenly spreads in the layer - I think that's my main problem. I froze six shaped but not baked ones. I'm curious to see if they bake up ok.


there's nothing better than a croissant fresh out of the oven - ok, maybe two croissants fresh out of the oven

america: the spoils

In addition to lots of eating, there was lots of shopping in America. Switzerland has nothing like a Bed, Bath & Beyond or Sur La Table or even the kitchen section of Target. I have to go all the way to Paris to get a proper kitchen store like Mora or E. Dehillerin.

My biggest investment was my first KitchenAid attachment: the Kitchen Aid Fruit & Vegetable Strainer, Food Grinder and Slicer/Shredder Attachment - yay! This means I don't have to spend hours hand-cranking 10 kilos of apples through my manual food mill to get apple butter next fall.

I got several bread-making supplies from King Arthur: hi-gluten flour, vital wheat gluten, diastatic malt powder, caramel color So I now I can really bake proper bagels.


fourteen pounds of brown sugar - you can see where my priorities are


sprinkles - apparently the Swiss don't care for sprinkles shaped like dinosaurs, vampire bats, and lips


what kitchen is complete without an avocado slicer?


we saw this oil dispenser in the Crate & Barrel catalog and just had to have it

Plus various other knick-knacks:
> universal silicone lids - plastic wrap never sticks, so I thought I'd give these "universal" lids a try
> non-tapered french rolling pin
> 55 decorating tip set - I'm not much into decorating cakes, but I like to have a nice variety when I do
> silicone cupcake molds - I'm hopeful, but not sure if they'll work

Still on my list: cute cake stand, bamboo cutting board, three baguette pan, proper china