Pin It
Do you remember the scene in Castaway where Tom Hanks finally gets a fire going? After hours and hours of rubbing sticks and doing this and that, he gets flame. And he makes a bonfire. And he dances around it, pointing to it and proclaiming, "Fire!" for the whole world to see and hear.
I feel the same way about this meal. In my mind I'm dancing around the table, pointing at the plate and bellowing, "Spaetzle!" Trust me though, you will never, ever see me really do such a thing, especially if Hubby has camera in hand. Ok, maybe you would. I have a five year-old; I've done worse.
This isn't the first time I've mentioned Fine Cooking's Classic/Classic Update feature and I can guarantee that it won't be the last. I love these six pages. The magazine takes an iconic dish, in this case beef stroganoff, and provides a top-notch recipe for readers to make. Then, it asks a known chef, Chef Graham Elliot Bowles for this month, to update the classic recipe with their own spin.
When I saw the update the first time, I knew that it would challenge me because I've never made or eaten spaetzle before. I had no idea how hard it was, or not, whether we would like it or if I could even make it since I don't have a spaetzle maker and wasn't going to run out and buy one. That's why this dish is showing up on the last day of the month. Nerves, my friends, nerves.
The Process
Let me begin by telling you that even though we had this for dinner last night, my kitchen is still a wreck. Unlike the stroganoff, which uses a pot for the pasta and a skillet for the rest, I think this recipe made me utilize every item in my kitchen and left my stove sticky with streaks of marmalade and crusted with blobs of spaetzle dough.
The Shallot Marmalade is easy and uses just one pot. I suggest making it well in advance so that pot can be washed, put away and forgotten about. Since this can be made up to a week ahead of time, it works well.
The Spaetzle can also be made a day ahead, which I recommend. Spaetzle is nothing more than lazy pasta. It's a combination of sour cream, milk, eggs, salt, pepper and flour, combined, then pushed through small holes directly into boiling water.
Since I don't have a spaetzle maker, I used the largest-holed colander I could come up with. It's a messy but easy job and requires quick work. The dough is goopy. The spaetzle is supposed to stay in the boiling water for only 30 seconds but by the time you've pushed enough through, the first of the batch has been in there for over a minute.
The little wormy looking pasta is removed to a bowl of ice water with a slotted spoon, then put in a bowl and tossed with olive oil.
Did you get that? Pot for boiling water; bowl for making spaetzle dough; colander; spatula; slotted spoon; ice water bowl; final tossing bowl. And that's just for one segment of the recipe. See what I mean?
The mushrooms are a one skillet deal and get cooked up with more shallots, some garlic and thyme. But, it's still a skillet that's added to the stack in the sink.
Finally, you have to grill the beef. I used our Foreman grill simply because I was in the midst of sauteing the mushrooms and didn't want to be running outside every few minutes.
When ready, heat butter in a big skillet and add the marmalade so it thins out and warms up. The spaetzle and mushroom mixture go in and mixed together until heated up. Put that mixture on plates, slice the beef and add it over it and drizzle on a combination of creme fraiche (sour cream in my case), salt and pepper. The plate is supposed to be garnished with dill but the grocery store didn't have any and I didn't have any parsley to add a pop of green (sorry, pretend it's there, ok?).
Many pots, pans and utensils later, you have dinner.
The Verdict
Hubby and I both liked this. It's very, very good. In truth though, where the strogranoff is the kind of comfort food that you want to keep eating until you're sick, we both thought that this dish was best eaten in small portions. The sweetness of the marmalade started getting to Hubby while the tang of the vinegar worked on me after a while. Dudette said (her words exactly), "Tell your blog that I do not like this." But, that's to be expected. This is a dish that is not child-friendly unless your child has a very, very complex palate.
I am so very happy that I did make this dish and that it was successful and enjoyable.
Now I have to go clean the kitchen.
What I'd Do Different Next Time
Adapting this to our taste would change the dish entirely, so I hesitate to use this section. But, if I were to make it so we would eat it again, I would have to change the marmalade, swapping the vinegar with wine, using just a couple tablespoons of sugar and thickening it instead with flour instead.
Grilled Steak and Peppered Spaetzle with Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Shallot Marmalade - print this recipe
from Fine Cooking Magazine, February/March 2012
For the shallot marmalade:
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
8 oz. shallots, sliced 1/8 inch thick (1-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
For the spaetzle:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly cracked black peppercorns
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
For the mushrooms:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5-1/4 oz. black trumpet mushrooms, washed and thickly sliced (3 cups)
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1-1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar; more to taste
1-1/2 teaspoons white truffle oil (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
For the cooking the steaks and serving:
4 6-oz. beef flatiron steaks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup crème fraîche or sour cream, whisked to to loosen
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Dill sprigs, for garnish
Make the shallot marmalade:
Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the sugar and vinegar, reduce the heat to medium low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes.
Make the spaetzle:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Have ready a large bowl of ice water.
Purée the sour cream, milk, eggs, salt, and cracked pepper in a blender until smooth. Pour the mixture into large bowl and fold in the flour.
To cook the spaetzle, place a spaetzle maker over the boiling water. Push the dough through the holes, letting it fall into the water below. (If you don’t have a spaetzle maker, use a rubber spatula to push the dough through the holes of a colander set over the pot of water.) The dough will form small dumplings as it drops into the water. Allow the spaetzle to rise to the surface and float for about 30 seconds before transferring it to the ice water with a slotted spoon. Let cool completely, about 5 minutes. Drain well, transfer to a large bowl, toss with the oil, and reserve.
Cook the mushrooms:
Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until very hot. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic, and thyme. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the sherry vinegar and continue to cook until the pan is almost dry, about 1 minute.
Take the pan off the heat and drizzle in the truffle oil (if using). Season to taste with salt and pepper, and a touch of vinegar, if necessary. Keep warm.
Grill the steaks and serve:
Season the steak generously with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan (or a large cast-iron skillet) over medium-high heat until very hot. Working in batches if necessary, grill the beef until medium rare (130°F to 135°F on an instant-read thermometer), 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the crème fraîche and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper.
Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallot marmalade and cook until heated through and thinned, about 2 minutes. Add the spaetzle and the mushrooms; cook, stirring, until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.
Thinly slice the steak across the grain. Serve the steak over the spaetzle, drizzled with the crème fraîche and garnished with the dill sprigs.
Subscribe to Fine Cooking Magazine.