For your enjoyment…

Do you feel the same as I do on weekends on or special holidays, or when you have guests over? I’d like to cook something very special, not the usual fare. Then I’m either spoiled for choice or I can’t think of anything at all. If even intensively searching the internet turns out to be fruitless or leafing through piles of cookbooks doesn’t turn up any solution, try our Recipe of the Month!

From the chefs of the Schick Restaurants in Vienna, every month there is a new, seasonal recipe from Austrian-Spanish or Viennese cuisine for you to prepare and enjoy at home! If you don’t want to have to prepare the recipe yourself, you can order the finished dish in comfort at the corresponding Schick Restaurant and indulge all around…

In April 2015 – recipe by Roman Rothmayer – chef of the decorated Restaurant “Das Schick”:

Gratinated rhubarb . lavender honey

Ingredients for 4 servings:

Gratinating mixture:
3 eggs
250 g curd cheese
2 tbsp. sour cream
50 g sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
grated peel of 1 organic lemon

1.5 kg rhubarb
200 g sugar
1/2 stick of cinnamon
2 cloves
lavender essence and/or 1 small sprig of lavender
4 tbsp. organic flower honey

Preparation:

Peel rhubarb and cut into pieces 3 cm long. Boil down rhubarb peels, sugar, cinnamon and cloves in a pot with approx. 1 l water and reduce to approx. 1/2 to 3/4, then strain mixture. Add the rhubarb pieces into the hot stock, set aside and steep until the rhubarb is cool.

Place 1 tbsp. of lavender essence in a small pan. Wash the sprig of lavender, tear off a couple of leaves and slice them finely. Add the lavender essence and heat the lavender mixture. Subsequently, mix honey and lavender in a mixing bowl to taste.

Gratinating mixture:
Separate eggs. Mix curd cheese, sour cream and egg yolks, then season to taste with sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon peel. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the curd cheese mixture.

Add rhubarb pieces – without a lot of liquid – to a deep, heat-resistant dish (porcelain), sprinkle with honey, cover with the gratinating mixture, then sprinkle again with some honey. Bake at 200° C until “au gratin.” Carefully remove the hot dish from the oven after baking “au gratin.” Allow to cool somewhat. Garnish with strawberries and sprinkle with powdered sugar, as in our photo for instance.

We wish you much success… bon appétit!