Früstück (Breakfast)

The other night, at a dinner party we were attending, I was asked if I missed "American Breakfasts". I laughed politely and promptly said no. The woman who asked then went on to describe her experience with our American breakfast; a monstrous plate piled with meat, eggs, pancakes, and potatoes, that left her feeling more than full for hours.

Now, I am well aware of that meal. It's the weekend restaurant breakfast, or the Christmas at Grandma's breakfast. It is not the every day breakfast of most Americans (which honestly, most days, only includes coffee and maybe a bagel). Yet, what tourist would see that?

Swiss breakfast, or Früstück, is a totally different, yet completely similar meal. It has all the same food groups as an American breakfast, but in other forms. Our pancakes or toast, get turned into the bread basket, complete with butter (lots of butter). The jams and jellies stay the same. The meats go from sausage and bacon to a deli tray of cured, sliced meats. There are sometimes eggs. Usually there is fruit of some sort. Now, added, and purely Swiss, is a cheese plate, and yogurt or Museli (see recipe below).

To me, this meal is just as extravagant as any I have ever had back home, but I love it. It has a much lighter feel to it, and a fresher flavor. It is, honestly, what we eat most mornings (every few days it will be just yogurt and fruit, if the fiance is in a rush), and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Bircher Muesli

2 heaped tbsp rolled oats
3 tbsp milk or water
2-3 tbsp yogurt
1-2 tbsp honey
1 apple
fresh fruit, (1 peach or 1 banana, blackberries, strawberries or raspberries etc.)

1. Soak the oats in the milk or water for at least 20 minutes. Mix in the yogurt, honey and grated apple.
2. Divide between the two bowls and top with fresh fruit.

Easy Fresh Muesli

1/2 cup dry cereal or granola
1 container yogurt (plain or flavored)
Fresh fruit (whatever is in season)

1. Combine yogurt and fresh fruit. Top with cereal.

En Guete!

Swiss Brownies

Let me just start off by saying, I love chocolate. Even more so, I love Swiss chocolate. Ever since my fiance sent me the first bar last autumn, I was hooked. Frey makes, in my opinion, some of the best chocolate in the world. (Lindt is a very close second and available state-side). I have tried many of their products, and hands down my favorite is their Bouquet d'Oranges and the Noir Special (I am completely biased towards dark chocolate though).

So, where was I? As soon as the blueberry muffins were gone, I was thinking about brownies. My fiance made me wait till we had a opportunity to share them, which came sooner than expected. So, Friday I went searching for a recipe. I choose the following because of what was on hand at home.

Brownie Cups

1 cup (225g) butter
1 cup (170g) semisweet chocolate, chopped
(I used Frey Noir Satin Chocolate with 69% cocoa, thought Lindt Excellence 70% would work too.)
4 eggs
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°F).
2. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Cool.
3. In a bowl, combine eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla. Fold in chocolate mixture. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out almost clean.

Now I know I called them Swiss, but really that's more about ingredients than the preparation. I used all Frey chocolate and very good Swiss butter. The resulting brownies were moist and chocolaty. They weren't too dense or too sweet, just perfect. Ober lecker!

En Guete!

Hörnliuflauf (Macaroni Casserole)

Last night I took a night off and let the fiance cook. I was very excited about this dish, because he made it once before while visiting me back home. Let me tell you, it was better than I remember it. Like any good casserole, you can switch up the vegetables, cheeses and spices to your liking (or what you have on hand).

Hörnliuflauf

1 pound (450g) ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 small head of broccoli, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
4 large mushrooms, sliced
3 cups (300g) macaroni, cooked
2 cups (200g) bowtie pasta, cooked
4 1/2 cups (450g) cheese(s), grated(we used Emmentaler (Swiss), Gruyère, and Tilsiter cheeses)
6 eggs
3/4 cup (180ml) milk
salt, pepper, chili, garlic and herbs to taste  
(we also added a little Tabasco and nutmeg)
Parmesan cheese, grated fine

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. In a skilled, saute onions until translucent then add the beef. Cook until browned. Set aside.
3. Mix beef mixture, vegetables, and pasta together. Layer with cheese in a large casserole. Bake for 15 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and spices. Pour over the pre-baked mixture. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake another 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

En Guete!

Magical Muffins

After the failed flan, I needed a pick me up. The fiance had picked up some blueberries while we were shopping, so I figured muffins would be the best. Now, I know muffins (I have been making them for years, and have written a few of my own recipes for them), and this time I tweaked the recipe first. The end result is a basic recipe, one where any fresh fruit, nuts, or chocolate could be added at the end. Probably even dried fruit would be good, like adding dried, sweetened cranberries and orange zest. So, here we go...

Basic Muffins

1 3/4 cups (220g) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (65g)white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons (10g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
3/4 cup (180ml) milk
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla
1 egg
1/3 cup (75g) butter, melted
1 cup fresh fruit, or chocolate chips
(if using fresh fruit, dust it with a little flour to keep it from sinking in the batter) 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add milk, egg, and butter; mix until ingredients are moistened, do not overbeat.
4. Stir in fresh fruit. Spoon batter into twelve greased muffin cups.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Streusel Topping
(Best used on fruit muffins)

1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
2 tablespoons (15g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (1g) ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon (15g) butter or margarine

1. Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon.
2. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon over each muffin.

The minute I smelled the batter I knew they were going to be good, and oh my was I right. They were light, airy and not too sweet. The berries burst in your mouth and the streusel was nice and crunchy. I had one while they were still warm, and then another for breakfast. I will have to admit, they got better over time. (Usually, I prefer baked goods fresh out of the oven).

The pièce de résistance came the next day. For a while, I had been wanting to take something to one of our neighbors down the street. She is a friend of the family, the mother of one of my fiances friends. Twice now she has had us over for tea, and I really wanted to return the favor. So, I suggested we take a few muffins over, but my fiance thought we should have her and her husband over for dinner instead. It was a wonderful evening, as I really do enjoy their company. Best of all, she loved (this really isn't a strong enough word) the muffins, and made me promise to teach her how to make them. I was very happy, and will be using this recipe again and again.

Failed Foray into Flan

Last Saturday, after getting up entirely too late, the fiance got a phone call about a dinner party. This wasn't shocking, as this is pretty much how his social life goes. The six hour notice was really quite pleasant. So, I asked, "Are we bringing anything?" The answer thrilled me: dessert! (I love my sugar, I really do.) With one more question, "Well, what's for dinner?" the idea was hatched. We were having fajitas, so the dessert would be flan.

Back home, flan sits side by side churros and fried ice cream as the dessert of choice for most Mexican restaurants. This made it a natural, but insane, choice. I say insane because custards and I have never really played well together. I have tried making them a handful of times, because both my best friend and I truly love them. Much to my dismay they usually come out wrong: too thick, too dense, too rubbery, too... well you get the picture. I really have no idea why I thought it would be any different.

As we got to looking up recipes, I was informed the Swiss have a similar dish; Caramel-köpfli. The recipe we had at home was all in German, so I went to the internet to find one I could more easily follow. So, I chose a recipe and sent the fiance off to the store. (No way do we keep that many eggs on hand, let alone condensed milk.) When he returned, we got to work. I carefully followed the recipe with his helping hands, then placed the finished dish in the oven, and waited.

Taking them out of the over, my heart fell. The tops looked like scrambled eggs, not creamy, smooth, delicious custard. I prayed it was only the top and wrapped it up for the party...

...They went over well, but I knew I had failed. They were rubbery, flavorful, but rubbery. Also there was much to much sugar at the bottom that didn't melt. Inverted, it looked more like a Crème brûlée than a flan. Still, I tried to smile and be gracious when they all thanked me for bringing them.

I will try again. I have researched and tweaked the recipe till I think, finally, I will have a success. Below is the recipe. I will post again when I have them just right! Until then, this has been a failed foray into flan.

Spanish Flan

1 cup (200g) white sugar
3 eggs
1 (14 ounce) can (397g) sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can (410g) evaporated milk
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped out

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).
2. Beat eggs slightly; add sugar and salt. Blend in milk and vanilla.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until liquefied and golden in color. Carefully pour hot syrup into ramakins, turning the dish to evenly coat the bottom and sides. Set aside.
4. Pour custard mixture over sugar. Place in shallow baking pan of hot water.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.
6. Chill overnight.

Equipping the Kitchen

Over the last week, I have taken on the task of somewhat decently equipping the kitchen. This took, at least, three shopping trips to two different stores. I'm not trying to, for lack of a better term, "pimp" it out. I'm only here for three months, and let's face it, the guy won't use it when I'm gone. So, here is a list of what I got, and where I got it.

Migros - MMM Wallisellen/Glattzentrum
Neue Winterthurerstr. 99, 8301 Glattzentrum Wallisellen

We visited the Glattzentrum (a rather large mall outside of Zurich) on two separate occasions. They have, inside the mall, a very large Migros. They sell pretty much everything there. I promise to post again about Migros, Coop, and the various other kinds of grocery stores. It really deserves more attention than I can give it here. Anyways, back to the story...

The first time there I mainly picked up utensils: a mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a spatula, a basting brush, and various baking pans. The second trip I focused on baking goods: flour, sugar, vanilla, spices, baking powder, eggs, butter, and so on. You will notice I didn't mention baking soda. This American kitchen staple is only to be found at select drug stores (and is rather expensive).

Lian Hua
Schaffhauserstrasse 269, 8057 Zürich

Lian Hua is a small, but well stocked, Asian grocery. It leans to the Chinese side of ingredients, but is decently well rounded. Here we purchased both hardware and software. A rice cooker (a great invention) and wooden chopsticks round out the hardware, while a myriad of sauces and oils, ginger, limes, and noodles comprise the software.

I'm not sure if I'm 100% sure I'm done stocking the kitchen, but this is a step in the right direction to be able to adequately cook Swiss (and a few other things). 

The Beginning

As of yesterday, I have now been in Zurich for two weeks. A lot of things have led up to this trip, but that's another blog. Basically, I am on vacation from my "real" life back in Portland, Oregon to spend nearly 3 months with my fiance in Switzerland.

Upon arrival, I was pretty much designated as head of the small and very under-stocked kitchen. This made sense, as I would be home all day in a country where I know only a handful of people, and words in the local dialect. In true European style, I have basically a sink, a dishwasher, a small fridge (I think the one I bought for my sister's dorm is larger), and a stove/oven. For storage I have 3 drawers and a china hutch. To top it off, my fiance had been a bachelor forever, and his cooking set-up showed that. He has pretty much two frying pans, a couple pots, a salad spinner, an electric water kettle, and a toaster. The kitchen was pretty much bare-bones, from my point of view.

I soon found out that my American way of thinking and preparing food would have to change. We shop, at least, bi-weekly here, unlike my grandmother, who goes bi-monthly. Vegetables are mostly seasonal, and top it off the freezer only holds ice. No frozen meats, vegetables, or entrees here. No, there isn't even ice cream in this house. Other things are different as well. Asian foods are much less available than in Oregon, where every grocery store has at least one side of one aisle dedicated to these products. Also, on average, the selection of items is less than back home (except for dairy items and cured meats). This makes for a challenge when finding certain items.

The change been a shock, in more ways than one, but I am adapting. So, that's the goal of this blog; to document my forays into cooking Swiss. I will be documenting my shopping experiences, recipe successes, and tips, so I hope you enjoy!