For your enjoyment…

Are you like me on weekends or special holidays or when you have guests? On those occasions I like to cook something very special, not the usual fare. Then I’m either spoilt for choice or nothing occurs to me. If even the most intensive search on the internet comes to nothing, or leafing through piles of cookbooks fails to offer a solution, try out our Recipe of the Month! 

From chefs of the Schick restaurants in Vienna, every month there will be a new, seasonal recipe from Austrian-Spanish or Viennese cuisine for you to cook and enjoy at home!

In May2013 – recipe by Johannes Reiser – Chef at the decorated Restaurant “Das Schick”:

Gratinated salmon trout
bulgur . fried chicory . spume of sea food

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1 kg salmon trout fillet, deboned, with skin removed
olive oil
lemon
sea salt or flavoured salt, to taste
white pepper
2  chicories

Soufflé mass:
3 floury (baking) potatoes
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1 tbsp. coriander, chopped
1 tbsp. butter
salt
nutmeg
a bit of horseradish, grated

100 g bulgur wheat
approx. 1/4 l water
some olive oil
1 small tsp. curcuma
salt
juice from one lime
1 small tsp.  Ras el hanout (Moroccan spice mixture from approx. 25 spices)

Spume of sea food:
100 g lobster butter (available at good delicatessen shops or fish shops)
2 cl brandy
2 shallots
100 ml white Rioja (really, a shame for cooking… enjoy the rest yourself!)
1/8 l crème fraîche
150 ml vegetable stock
salt
pepper
a pinch of sugar

Preparation:

Cook bulgur in olive oil and water (like rice) until al dente. Add salt and curcuma. Season with Ras el hanout and lime juice to taste, but only when done cooking.

Spume of sea food: Briefly sweat shallots in lobster butter. Deglaze with brandy. Add Rioja and vegetable stock and simmer for approx. 15 minutes. Add crème fraîche, season to taste, and mix with a hand blender. To obtain a nice foam, the sauce must not be too thick; therefore, simply add a bit of water if necessary. Mix until foamy once again prior to serving – best done in a high container.

Soufflé mass: Boil potatoes with peels. Subsequently peel and press potatoes through a sieve. Season with egg yolks, butter, coriander and a bit of grated horseradish. Stir until creamy, like a puree, and allow to cool. Once cooled off, beat egg whites until frothy and fold into the soufflé mixture.

Trim salmon trout fillets somewhat. Split into 4 portions and season only slightly. Briefly sauté on one side in olive oil. Place fillets into another pan and dress/cover with the soufflé mass (with the aid of a pastry bag, or form dumplings with a spoon and place them on top). Finish in the oven on high heat – they should be nicely au gratin (depending on the intensity of heat of your oven).

Fried chicory: Remove outside leaves. Cut off the stems slightly and slice chicory into 4 pieces. Make a marinade from olive oil and salt. Turn chicory in marinade, and sauté for 3 – 4 minutes shortly before serving.

Arrange as desired – like in our photo, for instance.

We wish you much success!