Tarte Flambée with Asparagus and Prosciutto - Flammkuchen mit Spargel und Prosciutto

Tarte flambée is the Alsatian version of the Italian Pizza. Traditionally, it is cooked quickly at very high temperature in a wood-fired oven and takes its name from the fact that the edge of the dough often caught fire in the intense heat of the oven. 

Depending on the region, this tart can be called in Alsatian "flammekueche", in German "Flammkuchen", or in French "tarte flambée".

The tarte flambée, consists of a thin bread base, either round or rectangular, that is typically topped with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, lardoons and onions - all popular ingredients in Alsatian cuisine. 

There are many variations of the original recipe and there are really no limits as to what can be added as a topping. For example you could add smoked bacon and reblochon or gruyère cheese or maybe red onions and pancetta. For today I chose a seasonal springtime topping of white and green asparagus and some delicious Italian Prosciutto.

In Germany asparagus still is a distinctly seasonal product. Just as apples mark the fall season, nothing epitomizes spring quite like the revered white stalk (green asparagus is still quite uncommon around here).

Ingredients for the Dough

(please note that the dough makes enough for two tarts - the second half will be turned into a sweet dessert tarte flambée tomorrow)

• 160 ml (2/3 cup)  warm water
• 1 package (2 ½ tsp) active dry yeast
• ½ tsp sugar
• 315 grams (2 cups) bread flour, plus some more for dusting 
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus some more for oiling
• some sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Ingredients for the Topping

• 250 grams (8.8 ounces) fresh white asparagus (try to choose thin stalks)
• 250 grams (8.8 ounces) gfresh green asparagus (try to choose thin stalks)
• 200 grams (7 ounces) crème fraîche or fromage blanc
• some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 150 grams (5.2 ounces) Prosciutto, very thinly sliced

Preparation of the Dough

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Then add the flour, oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
3. Stir until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Pull the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead a few times, then form into a ball.
5. Oil a second bowl, put the dough ball in the bowl, and turn to coat it with oil.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free area.
7. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about an hour or an hour and a half.

Preparation of the Topping

1. While the dough is rising, prepare the asparagus. First, completely peel the white asparagus with a swivel vegetable peeler. White asparagus is peeled downwards starting just below the tip. Then for the green asparagus just peel the lower stalks to avoid any woody strings and chop off the bottom of all stalks, green and white.
2. Then pre-cook the white asparagus for about eight to ten minutes (depending on the thickness of the stalks) in boiling, salted water and the green asparagus for about four minutes. Drain the asparagus on paper towels. NOTE: there is a special steamer which is supposed to help cook the asparagus as gently as possible, preserving more of its flavor. When using a normal pan, a good trick is to tie the stalks together using kitchen twine. The cooking water may be flavored beforehand by adding some butter, salt, a pinch of sugar and the stems and peel left over from peeling.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit).
4. Once the dough has risen, place it onto a floured work surface.
5. Roll the dough out thinly into a rectangular shape and transfer it onto a floured baking sheet (you can the other half of the dough for the dessert - please see tomorrow´s post).
6. Spread the dough with the crème fraîche, followed by the white and green asparagus, making sure to go all the way to the edge with all the ingredients. Season well with some salt and black pepper and a bit of olive oil.
7. Bake until the crust of the tart is firm and browned at the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.
8. Transfer the tart to a wooden board, garnish with the slices of Prosciutto, a bit more olive oil and some more salt and pepper to taste.
9. Cut into wedges and serve at once.

This is a tarte flambée with the most quintessentail spring vegetables you can find around here, asparagus. It is delicious and pretty and can be eaten on its own or with a spring salad alongside. Since asparagus season officially ends on June 24th here, I always make sure to prepare as many dishes with this fabulous healthy vegetables as I can.

Just remember when buying asparagus, that freshness is the key to the perfect flavor and texture. Gourmets know that it tastes best "picked in the morning, eaten at midday". Make sure the stems are firm, crisp and plump, and have the characteristic velvety sheen. The tips should be intact and firm. If you don't intend to cook them right away, wrap them in a damp kitchen towel and store in the refrigerator's crisper.

The other half of the dough can be kept in the fridge for tomorrow´s dessert version of a Tarte flambée with a delightful topping of fresh apples, cinammon and sugar.

FFwD: Coupétade aux Fraises

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Coupétade, a traditional French dessert that can be described best as a cross between French Toast and old-fashioned Bread and Butter Pudding. For some extra deliciousness my version of Dorie´s recipe contains small pieces of fresh strawberries baked into the custard,  instead of dried fruits such as raisins or other dried fruit, hence the name, Coupétade aux Fraises.

For this rich dessert you can use just about any type of plain bread that you like, of course homemade brioche would be the first choice but it can also be made with any other type of fresh bakery loaf. If you wanted to add dried fruits to the custard anyways you could even use a loaf of bread that is already studded with some dried fruits such as raisins.

Like many of the best desserts, this Coupétade  is not the type of dessert that can be thrown together at the very last minute, as you do need some day-old bread as well as some additions to the custard or some toppings such as fresh fruit.

Since it was Father´s Day in Germany yesterday, we enjoyed individual servings for dessert with a light dusting of powdered sugar as well as more fresh strawberries on the side.

To make the Coupétade, the first step is to prepare French Toast with your bread of choice. There is a 14th-century German recipe for French Toast under the name of "Arme Ritter" which literally translated means “poor knights” because it was a dish prepared with ingredients that were readily available at the time and when thrown together they made a satisfying meal for the knights returning to their castle after battle.

The second step in this recipe involves preparing a simple custard as is usual for most Bread and Butter Pudding recipes – a combination of milk, sugar, eggs, and pure vanilla extract all mixed together and poured straight over the French Toast that you previously layered in a well butter baking dish. Since I added the seeds from one vanilla bean to the mix as well as some heavy cream and a pinch of sea salt, the custard got a fabulous taste boost.

Dorie recommends baking the pudding in a bain marie for a smoother- textured custard – it keeps the temperature more uniform and it is easy enough to do with a roasting pan, and it does give a softer, silkier set to the finished dish.

This ultrarich French version of a Bread and Butter Pudding seems perfect for dessert or brunch.

To see how the other Doristas fared with this recipe, please do click here.

Bonne Fête des Mères! – Happy Mothers Day! – Alles Gute zum Muttertag!

TwD: Fresh Rhubarb Upside-Down Baby Cakes

Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie group are Fresh Rhubarb Upside-Down Baby Cakes. The recipe for these pretty little spring cakes was contributed by baker and culinary artist Johanne Killeen. I made these tiny cakes as per the recipe and they were absolutely gorgeous, so moist and delicious with an incredible light crumb!

The recipe for these delicious Fresh Rhubarb Upside-Down Baby Cakes is a two step process. First,  you will have to make a classic butter cake, using all purpose (plain) flour, baking powder, some fine salt (I always use fine sea salt), thick crème fraîche, unsalted butter, fresh eggs and pure vanilla extract (I used homemade vanilla sugar).

Second,  you need to make the caramel topping by using brown sugar (I used light brown sugar), a bit of bourbon (I used French Cognac), more unsalted butter and chopped nuts (I used natural almonds) and for the fruit layer you will, of course, need fresh local rhubarb that can be found everywhere around here at this time of year. As I mentioned in my April post  when I featured a Rhubarb Almond Bundt, the slightly tart rhubarb and the sweet almonds go very well together - quite a delicious taste combination.

To bake these small tea cakes, you start by spooning the hot caramel with the chopped nuts into the bottom of the buttered and floured baking molds, then you add a layer of chopped fresh rhubarb and top the fruit layer with the cake batter, filling your molds almost to the rim.

The mini cakes bake until they are puffed, golden brown, and just starting to pull from the sides of the molds, about 20 minutes. Turn them out on a rack to cool only slightly, then turn them upside down while still warm because otherwise you will not be able to unmold them as the caramel will stick to the molds when cooled. And while they are best eaten warm from the oven, they may be stored and re-heated a bit just before enjoying them.

This recipe was enough for eight mini cakes – I used my brand new mini cake molds from England for these small cakes plus two baby cakes - I used mini pie dishes for these. So, I ended up with ten servings, perfect.

These gorgeous Fresh Rhubarb Upside-Down Baby Cakes are an indulgent treat and perfect for that afternoon tea. We enjoyed them while they were still warm from the oven with no adornments but they would certainly be nice with a bit of really good vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream or even better some clotted cream. I will be making these again for sure!

To see how the other Doristas fared with this recipe, please do click here.

The recipe can be found at Erin´s blog – When in Doubt…Leave it at 35o - "Thank you very much for hosting today´s recipe"!

FFwD: Creamy Mushrooms and Eggs

Today we are preparing Creamy Mushrooms and Eggs for the French Friday with Dorie group.

When I read the recipe I understood that it is meant to be served as an appetizer and I thought that it was quite easy to prepare à la minute. There is only a short list of ingredients required and the few steps in this recipe are not difficult to follow at all.

You sautée one finely minced shallot in some good butter and olive oil, add sliced mushrooms (I used cremini mushrooms), freshly ground black pepper, some sea salt and cream. The sauce will thicken quickly as it bubbles away in the pan.

Then all that is left to do is add herbs and voilà, the sauce or as the recipe calls it the “creamy mushrooms” are ready – though I added fresh Italian parsley and chives from the garden rather than the rosemary and mint that Dorie´s recipe calls for.

Then onto the egg – the recipe states that the eggs should be poached and that the mushrooms should be served on a slice of toasted brioche. But  I decided to go a bit of a different route to make the appetizer more appealing and the recipe a tad more challenging.

Instead of serving the mushrooms on a slice of brioche, I made some fresh breadcrumbs with the brioche and fried the poached eggs with a coating of flour, some more egg and fresh brioche crumbs.

Then I served the appetizer with some steamed and thinly shaved green asparagus and carrots and decorated the plate with some pretty savory blossoms – now that was different and certainly quite delicious!

To see how the other members of the French Friday with Dorie group prepared the Creamy Mushrooms and Eggs, please click here.

May Day Celebrations - Maifeiertag

May Day (Maifeiertag) on the first of May is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday. The first day of May is celebrated in many parts of the world. In the Rhineland, where we live, May 1st,  is also celebrated by the delivery of a Maypole (Maibaum) a tree covered in streamers to the house of a beloved person the night before. Often, the person who decorates and puts up a Maypole in front of a house, also places a painted wooden heart on the tree that bears the name of the recipient.

Flowers are always a big part of May Day celebrations. May Day not only brings the image of maypoles, but also of collecting flowers and throughout its history, May Day has traditionally been a joyous celebration of spring and the coming summer.

May Day is an ancient holiday that has its roots in paganism, stemming from the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht), in honor of St. Walburga, a nun who is believed to have cured the illnesses of many.

The Romans were the first to specifically mark the first day of  May with a festival that celebrated the coming of spring.  As Europe moved away from Paganism, May Day began to take on other meanings.  It is now variously considered an International Workers’  Day as well as a day to celebrate the beginning of Summer, a national holiday and, perhaps most importantly, a day to have a party.

For our celebrations at home,  I like to make a simple and pretty Lemon Buttermilk Bundt cake that needs no adornment other than some icing sugar. Make sure to use a lovely cake pan.

So why not celebrate the first day of May and the coming summer by baking a delightful little lemony cake and decorate the table with some wonderful late spring flowers.

I took these pictures today, downtown Bonn (Germany) and this one shows a Maypole that someone placed in front of a house near the City garage...

...and in the old part of the city, there are presently quite a numer of tourists taking numerous pictures of the wonderful cherry tree blossoms (Kirschblüten) - the fragile pink flowers will not last for much longer and it is always very special to see them appear on those trees around the first of May.

Whichever way you choose to celebrate the frist day of May today, this very special day certainly reminds us all of the coming summer and of nature´s incredible bounty that awaits us in the next couple of weeks.

Sources: 

• Backing pan called LURCH Flexi Royal Blankenburg from "Lurch" (http://www.lurch.de)

Koninginnedag 2013 - Queen´s Day & Poffertjes (Mini Dutch Pancakes)

Queen's Day is going to be special this year for the Dutch. It is the last one for a while, since on January 28th, 2013,  Queen Beatrix announced her abdication on April 30th, 2013 in favour of her son, Willem-Alexander. Tomorrow, on April 30th, 2013, she will abdicate the throne after 33 years. On the same day, the new King, her son Willem-Alexander, will be inaugurated, which means next year it will be King´s Day. Also, the date will be changed from April 30th to April 27th, which is the birthday of Willem-Alexander. The ceremonies for the inauguration will take place at the Royal Palace at Dam Square and the Nieuwe Kerk.

Queen's Day, Queensday or Koninginnedag (as the Dutch call it), is a national holiday in the Netherlands. On this day, the Dutch celebrate the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. Queen Beatrix's birthday is not on that date, but on January 31st. April 30th was the birthday of her mother, Queen Juliana. Queen Beatrix wanted to continue celebrating Koninginnedag on that date as a mark of respect to her mother.

This special holiday is also a typical occasion for the world-famous "orange craze or madness", in Dutch, "oranjegekte". The color orange is a ubiquitous sight, referring to the name of the royal family, the House of Orange. On this special day, everywhere you go, you will see orange banners, orange colored foods and drinks as well as people dressed in orange.

We spent a lot of time in the Netherlands as we like everything about this wonderful country. I have blogged about some wonderful places to visit in the Netherlands such as the utterly delightful Dille&Kamille kitchen supply store in Middleburg, the heavenly Boekhandel Selexy Dominicanen bookstore and the traditional Blanche Dael coffee roasting company in Maastricht and I have also posted a recipe for utterly delicious traditional Stroopkoeken cookies. So, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate this special day by baking a wonderful Dutch treat, namely little Dutch pancakes, also called Poffertjes.

Poffertjes are a traditional Dutch treat. These small, fluffy pancakes, are typically made with yeast and buckwheat as well as all purpose flour and baked in a special Poffertjes Pan (poffertjespan). This specialty pan is either made of cast iron (that is the one I use), copper, or in a non-stock pan. Whatever the material of the pan, it usually has sixteen shallow indentations in the bottom. When you prepare Poffertjes, you should always use a Poffertjes Pan, but if you do not own one you could always use a regular pan or even an aebleskiver pan.

Traditionally, Poffertjes are served with powdered sugar and butter, and sometimes syrup. They are often served as a delicious afternoon snack or as dessert. When the weather turns cold, temporary stalls selling Poffertjes are quite popular, and sell portions containing one or two dozens of these little Dutch pancakes. Usually the cook prepares them fresh while you are watching and will serve these delicate treats to you on a small cardboard plate together with a small disposable fork.

Poffertjes (Mini Dutch Pancakes)

serves about four 

Ingredients

• 1 level tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp milk
• 100 grams (1 cup) buckwheat flour 
• 100 grams (1 cup) AP (plain) flour 
• 2 eggs (L), organic or free range
• 1 tsp superfine (caster) sugar 
• 1/2 tsp fine salt (I use sea salt)
• 1 1/4 cups warm milk (250 ml)
• unsalted butter for frying the pancakes
• some more butter and some powdered sugar for serving (optional) - you can also serve some syrup or fresh fruit alongside

Equipment

• a specialty Poffertjes Pan (or other frying pan)
• soft brush for buttering the pan
• two small forks for turning the Poffertjes in the pan
• a plastic squeeze bottle 

Preparation

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the milk.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the buckwheat flour, the AP (plain) flour, eggs, yeast, sugar, salt and half of  the milk. 
3. Whisk the ingredienst until they become smooth. 
4. Then add the remaining milk and whisk some more.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, set aside and allow the dough to rest for about an hour (there will be bubbles on the surface). 
6. Turn on your stove to medium high and heat the Poffertjes pan or simply melt some butter in a frying pan. 
7. If using a Poffertjes Pan, lightly butter each indentation (unless it is a non-stick pan, then no need for greasing) and pour some batter into each - making sure to fill only to the very rim of each indentation. You can use a plastic squeeze bottle for this step (I do).
8. After two minutes or as soon as a few bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes, use your forks to flip them over and fry some more on the other side (another two minute or so).
9. If using a regular pan, once the butter sizzles, add a teaspoonful of the batter in circular movements to create the mini pancakes and turn the Poffertjes around as soon as the bottom has set, using two forks.
10. Transfer the Poffertjes onto a cooling rack and brush with melted butter or serve them with some pats of butter and generously dust with powdered sugar.

These little Dutch pancakes might seem like a lot of work, but they are utterly delicious, they are buttery and have a nutty wholesome flavour from the buckwheat.

If you find a special Poffertjes Pan while travelling in the Netherlands or Belgium, do make sure to buy one and take it home with you.and prepare those delicate little treats.

So whether you are Dutch or just like to celebrate Koninginnedag 2013 and would like to join in the Dutch fun...

...wear orange, eat orange, drink orange, put all your carefully collected Dutch souvenirs on display..

...or invite some friends and prepare some Dutch food for them -  why not consider baking some of these delightful traditional sweet treats that everyone is certain to enjoy!

Eet smakelijk!