Favourite Recipies

[Neophyte]

Let me start with a Swedish classic with Russian antecedents, Biff à la Lindström. There are several versions of this, but the general trend seems to be something like this.

For four persons:

400 grams of ground beef
4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
1,5 decilitre of water or milk
1 egg
1 onion
2 whole pickled cucumbers
5 slices of picked beetroot
2 tablespoons of capers

Mix liquid and breadcrumbs and let it swell for 10 minutes.
Finely chop the onion and fry it slightly without it turning brown.
Chop the cucumber, beetroot, and capers finely.
Mix everything to a paste; salt and pepper to taste.

Fry a small test patty to see that everything hangs together and tastes well. Sometimes, because the ground beef is mixed with the chopped pickles, it will not stay together. If that happens add some more eggs and breadcrumbs to bind everything together. Then form the paste into patties, two per person or so, and fry them in butter at medium heat.

Serve with e.g. mashed potatoes and brown sauce (from meat stock). Personally I am partial to red wine sauce; mix 3 parts of meat stock to 1 part of red wine, suitable spices, and some thickening agent.

[FoxyFox]

Pour a bottle of red wine in a pan.
Add 1/4 cup of brandy and 1 cup of sugar
Then add 5-6 sticks of cinnamon and the zest of half a lemon.
Mix everything and heat for 10 minutes.
Strain and pour into glasses.
Serve hot.

[Elfriede]

Kalbsbraten in Apfelwein

2 Veal chuck chops (About 1/2″ thick)
1 large apple cut into thick slices
1 onion sliced
2 C “hard” apple cider (i.e. the alcoholic kind)
1 bay leaf
1 Tsp salt
Ground black pepper to taste
Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Salt and pepper both sides of the chop.

Heat a heavy bottomed oven safe pan big enough to hold both chops in 1 layer until hot then add a splash of olive oil. When you see thin wisps of smoke rising, put the chop in the pan. Don’t disturb the chop until it is well browned then flip and let that side brown as well.

Remove the chop, turn down the heat to medium and add some more oil if needed. Put the onions and apples in the pan and saute until soft and lightly caramelized.

Pour the cider into the pan and deglaze. Add the bay leaf, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

Return the chop along with any juices that have collected in the plate back into the pan and spoon some apples on top of the chop. Cover and stick it in the oven for around 2 hours or until the meat falls apart with a fork.

When the meat is ready, take it out of the pan and over with foil. Bring the liquid in the pan to a boil and reduce until it gets slightly thicker.

Spoon the sauce over the meat and serve with a wedge of lemon.