Recipes & Nutrition Bits

that is.. homemade, gourmet Käsespätzle sauce and store bought Spätzle. How could I spend another hour making the noodles when there’s perfectly good, fresh Spätzle in the store.. calling my name, Hees saa?

It’s fantastic! I could eat buckets full of this stuff. I jazzed up a typical cheese sauce recipe with Max’s “Ente Mehlschwitze”(Duck rue) (about a 30g/30g flour to fat ratio) and a splash of Vermouth before adding 250 ml Milk and 200 ml of water.

The story goes back to about two weeks ago during a dinner engagement at Max’s. He pulled out all the stops to impress us with a roasted duck and traditional Bavarian fixings. One thing he forgot to make in his all-too-tiny kitchen was a sauce for the duck and potato dumplings. So we together whipped up something of half-ready Roux with all of the fat to make enough for two gallon of sauce.

I rationed out just about the right amount of Roux for the evening and coyly asked Max if I could take some left over Roux home with me (Roux stores forever frozen and about 1 month in the fridge). I imaging he thought I was just trying to help him clean up the leftover chaos, but that stuff he had in the pot was worth hours of sweat over precious flavor and potentially heavenly sauces.

I could barely contain myself when he gave me a jelly jar full. Score! Still, because of time constraints (sauces take forever but the results are worth it) my sauce that evening was a bit too flourly. Still it was fun spending time with Max and Veronika.

My Käsespätzle sauce has about 150 g of Gouda and about two slices of some cheese called ‘old Amsterdam’, (a hard cheese, mildly sharp) but you could stick to Gouda or add some cheddar if you’re lucky. I added sliced cherry tomatoes and green onions to a pan of hot butter before browning the ready-made Spätzle and smothering it was my cheese sauce.

Did I mention? This isn’t diet food. It’s next to heart-attack food. Make sure you have your stationary bike near by if you attempt to make this dish. Happy Monday and Happy Eating.

P.S. Yes, I could tell you how to make homemade Spätzle but that burns too many calories for this post.

This recipe makes a sweet, tangy, nutty sauce.

for 2 People
Ingredients:

100 ml Red Port Wine
30 ml Balsamic Vinegar
50 ml robust dry Red Wine (Madeira, Bordeaux)
half of a white onion, fine diced
125 ml Beef, Veal or Stock
salt and pepper
Roux from about 30:30 gram flour to butter ratio, caramel color

I make the Roux ahead of time because it takes about an hour to get to the nice caramel color. If you want to learn about roux try these sites:

Making a Roux: Barzelay.net
A Basic Saucemaker’s Skill..: Tigers & Strawberries
Making Roux: chow.com
How to make a Roux: Southern Gumbo Trail

Heat the pre-made roux in a water bath. So in a pan heat about 2 tablespoons of oil or lard over high heat. Toss in onions and fry until they are brown. Then add the balsamic vinegar and prepare to burn your eyes a little. Reduce over high heat until there isn’t much liquid left. Then add the port wine and cook it off over high heat until it is reduced to a third of the volume. Then add the red wine and cook for a few minutes more. When it is the right consistency (Maybe about 5 minutes. There is a lot of play as to the “right consistency". You’ll just have to try it out.) Then add the beef stock and reduce the sauce a little bit more (about 5 minutes). The beef stock mixture should be between simmering/ just at a boil. Taste for acidity. If it’s still to acidic, let the sauce simmer longer.

Before adding the roux, stir the roux to get a uniform mixture (you’ll notice the butter and roasted flour have separated). I know that some people advise to add the stock to the roux but I didn’t find any clumping problems with added a warm roux to a near boiling stock. By the teaspoon full, add the roux to the sauce and stir vigorously. After about 3 teaspoons, if you don’t want to keep the onions, you may want to strain the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Now that the sauce is strained add the rest of the roux teaspoon-wise, until you arrive at the desired thickness. Dip a spoon into the finished sauce and watch it slide off the spoon to judge the thickness.

What if it’s too sweet:

Sweetness comes from the port wine and a little bit from the balsamic vinegar. You might want to reduce the amount of port wine and substitute that volume for more red wine.

What if it’s too acidic:

The second time I made this sauce I changed to a balsamic vinegar that was much strong than the first attempt. I was left with a very acidic sauce but just the right sweetness. If you know you are using a very good balsamic vinegar, be sure use less to avoid having an over powering acidic taste. If it’s too late, then letting it simmer for a while before adding the roux should weaken the acidity.

Multiplying the recipe

Just remember the time to reduce the liquid will increase and adding the balsamic vinegar is not a linear function so, for example, when making the recipe for 8 people add about 80-100 ml of balsamic vinegar instead of 120 ml.