The Co-op Food Stores

added 03/07/08

>A Hearty Austrian Supper for Six

Modern Austria’s cooking originated in all parts of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the five centuries of the Habsburg dynasty’s reign, parts of the Netherlands, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Italy, Germany, and for a time even distant Spain, belonged to the Austrian Empire. Each paid tribute not only with taxes, but with recipes.

The Empire is no more, but what remains is the Austro-Hungarian cuisine that excited Vienna and the world for decades.

Mahlzeit ! (Happy Eating!)

Menu

Beef Goulash (Rindsgulyas)
Boiled Potatoes
Beets with Horseradish (Roter Rübensalat)
Black Forest Cherry-Brandy Torte (Schwartzwalderkirschtorte)

Pilsner beer or hearty red wine, if desired

Beef Goulash (Rindsgulyas)
Serves 6

Cook’s Note: A Viennese beef goulash differs from the Hungarian version. It omits green peppers and includes far more onions (the rule being that the weight of onions must equal the weight of meat.) Flavored with lemon, caraway, marjoram, and garlic, the beef goulash will delight your senses with a taste of Vienna.

3 lbs. onions, sliced
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbs. Hungarian sweet paprika, divided
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
2 tsp. caraway seed
1 Tbs. dried marjoram
1 Tbs. salt
1 Tbs. lemon juice
3 lbs. stew beef, cubed
1/2 cup cold water
1 Tbs. flour
2 tsp. tomato paste

In a large skillet, sauté onions in butter until softened. Stir in 1 Tbs. paprika, garlic (if using), caraway, marjoram, salt, and lemon juice. Add beef cubes and water. Cover and simmer two hours or until meat is tender. Skim off fat. Blend in remaining paprika, flour, and tomato paste. Simmer 15 minutes more. Serve with boiled potatoes.

— The Art of Viennese Cooking, by Marcia Colman Morton

Boiled Potatoes

1_ lbs. potatoes, washed, unpeeled

Boil potatoes in a large pot of salted water until tender. Drain and peel, if desired. If potatoes are small, serve them whole. Larger potatoes can be quartered.

Beets with Horseradish (Roter Rübensalat)
Serves 6

2 cups thinly sliced freshly cooked or canned beets
1 small apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 tsp. caraway seeds
2 tsp. grated fresh horseradish root or prepared horseradish
_ cup wine vinegar
1 Tbs. sugar
_ tsp. salt

In a deep bowl, combine the beets and apples, caraway seeds, and horseradish. In a 2-quart saucepan combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Pour over the beet and apple mixture and mix gently. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours.

—Adapted from The Cooking of Vienna’s Empire, Time-Life Books

Black Forest Cherry-Brandy Torte (Schwartzwalderkirschtorte)

Austrian pastry is an important contribution to international gastronomy. Beautifully presented and exquisite to eat, this torte is fun to make for the end of your “Dinner Along the Danube.”

Cook’s Note: Kirsch is a cherry brandy made in Germany’s Black Forest region. It is essential to this cake, as are the sour cherries. The cake (Sachertorte) is made a day ahead, then finished the next day with kirsch, cherries, and whipped cream

Day 1 – Sachertorte:
_ cup butter, softened
5/8 cup sugar, divided
6 eggs, separated
5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
_ cup sifted flour
3/8 cup ground blanched almonds
_ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8-inch springform pan.

Cream butter and 3/8 cup sugar until very fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time, keeping mixture fluffy. Beat in chocolate.

In another bowl, combine flour, almonds, and salt. In another bowl, beat egg whites and remaining _ cup sugar until very stiff.

Lightly but thoroughly, fold beaten egg whites and flour-almond mixture alternately into chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Let cool. Remove cake from pan and tranfer to a plate. Cover loosely and let cake sit on the counter (do not refrigerate) overnight.

Day 2 – Finish the torte:

Chilled bowl and beaters
2 cups very cold heavy cream
4 Tbs. powdered sugar
2 Tbs. kirsch, divided
1_ cups sour cherries, drained and pitted
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, grated
Pastry bag with rose tip

In a chilled bowl, beat cream until almost whipped; then add powdered sugar. Beat in 1 Tbs. kirsch.

Cut torte horizontally through the middle. Set top layer aside. Arrange thoroughly drained cherries evenly over the bottom layer. Sprinkle cherries with 1 Tbs. kirsch. Place top layer of torte over the cherries. Spread about two thirds of the cream over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle very generously with grated chocolate. Using a pastry bag and rose tip, make rosettes to decorate top of cake with remaining cream Chill until serving.

—Adapted from The Art of Viennese Pastry by Marcia Colman Morton

Shopping List

Produce
3 lbs. onions, sliced
1 clove garlic (optional)
1 lemon
1_ lbs. potatoes
2 cups thinly sliced freshly cooked (or canned beets)
1 small apple
2 tsp. grated fresh horseradish root (or prepared horseradish)

BIN Bulk
3 tsp. caraway seed
1 Tbs. dried marjoram
2 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. Hungarian sweet paprika
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
3/8 cup blanched almonds

Meat
3 lbs. stew beef, cubed

Grocery
2 tsp. tomato paste
1 cup butter
_ cup wine vinegar
1_ cups sour cherries (1-pound can)
6 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
4 Tbs. powdered sugar

Beverages
2 Tbs. kirsch
Beer or wine