Tarte Flambée (Flammkuche) - Alsatian pizza with smoky bacon and cheese

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Tarte Flambée (Flammkuche) is Alsatian take on pizzza. Wonderfully easy and bacony treat!

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After another delightful day with my gorgeous Gothenburger I grabbed his hand, looked deep into his eyes and (in an apparent attempt at Femme Fatale) whispered in my most soulfully deep voice the following question: "you know what I love?"

He looked back at me, flashing that smile of his that makes me all weak at the knees and answered, in an every bit as seductive voice: "pizza."

Romantic moment. So totally over. 

Though I suppose it won't come as a surprise to anyone who's ever read this blog: I really, truly, madly love pizza (hey - I've even featured a breakfast pizza on the blog!)

But seeing how I still have some issues with cheese (rather essential part of the pizza, non?), I'm particularly fond of different local pizza varieties around the world that don't feature it, such as Turkish lahmacun and pide and Arabic sfiha which is one of my favourite recipes in my new book.

There are some serious treats to be found in Europe, too: Alsace is not just one my favourite wine regions in the world - it's also home to Tarte Flambée which either might or might not have cheese in it. No wonder I'm so into it - the most popular version is laced with bacon. 

And bacon, as we all know, equals love. Oh, it does - ask anyone. 

The lack of cheese won't mean dry, though (as my Italian potato and rosemary pizza shows) - this is something that a generous dollop of crème fraîche takes care of.

Tarte Flambée is something that one doesn't often come across in Finland, but the one they make at Wistub Alsace in Tampere is so good it just might warrant a day trip all on its own. 

And in case you need more inspiration for Tampere, Finland's answer to Gothenburg, just check the blog over here and here.

Depending on the region Tarte Flambée is also known as Flammkuche. Initially it was a rustic fare that the German-speaking farmers would make at home and it only started appearing on restaurant menus during 1960's pizza boom. 

This version is called Gratinée. Other popular versions include Forestière (with mushrooms) and Münster (topped with its namesake cheese), but there's also a sweet dessert version featuring cinnamon, thinly sliced apples and usually a sprinkling of Calvados.

makes 2 large ones or 4 smaller ones 

Tarte Flambée Gratinée - Alsatian pizza with smoky bacon and cheese 

the base:

2,5 tsp dry yeast
1,5 tsp sugar
1,5 dl warm water
1,5 tbsp oil
4 dl flour (00- grade if possible)
1/2 tsp salt

toppings:

150 g tub of crème fraîche
a couple of handfuls of grated cheese (Gruyère is a classic choice)
140 g (smoky) bacon
1 small onion, thinly sliced

To serve: finely chopped chives (optional), freshly ground black pepper

Combine dry yeast, water and sugar and leave aside, covered for 5 minutes while the yeast activates. 

Then add oil, flour (and along with the last dl of flour) salt. Knead into a smooth dough. Cover with cling film and leave to double in size in a warm place for an hour. 

Pre-heat the oven to 250ºc  at this point (in a fan assisted oven 230 should do). If you have a pizza stone, leave in in the oven. If not, then do the same with the tray.

Cut the bacon into strips of desired size and cook in a pan over medium heat until they start to get crunchy. Remove from the pan (using a slotted spoon) and transer aside. 

Divide the dough into 2 or 4 balls. Roll each out into a thin disc. You shouldn't need any more flour at this point, so it's easiest to do this on a parchment, which in turn makes it easy to flip it over onto hot tray. 

Pre-bake the base for about 4 minutes, Smear the base with crème fraîche and sprinkle the grated cheese on top of it. Top with bacon and thinly sliced onion rings and continue cooking until cheese has melted.

Garnish with chives (if using) and black pepper. Serve. 

For more pizza recipes on the blog, just click on the following:

-  breakfast pizza with smoked salmon, spinach, eggs and fool-proof Hollandaise
-  Italian potato and rosemary pizza
- Lebanese lamb pizza
- pide - Turkish pizza

- pizza with Prosciutto, pear and Brie

- pizza with duck confit

- pumpkin and chorizo pizza

Has Tarte Flambée/ Flammkuche stolen your hearts already?

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Best burgers right now: Beef Lindström beetroot burgers and Sileni Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2014

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Herby Beef Lindström beef and beetroot patties topped with caramelized onion and mayo dressing make the best burgers right now. Especially with Sileni Cellar Selection's Pinot Noir 2014.

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A few years back I diagnozed myself with a severe case of pumpkin fever. This autumn I've fallen head over heels with beetroot. With its gloriously rich colour and taste which, once cooked (especially when roasted), takes on such gentle sweetness, it's stolen my heart (and a couple of previously white shirts, mind you...)

I would imagine we eat rather well in my kitchen. Good food made of good ingredients. But trust me, that does not mean I'm stranger to good old mince. Oh no - that's something I always have in my freezer. 

Be it organic or lamb or just a package of pork and beef I picked up on sale, it is the unsung hero of everyday cooking. It's versatility is also unparallelled: while the quintessential ingredient for homely meatballs, it can be pimped up for a Mexican fiesta (taco salad, anyone?) but just as easily it lends itself to Mediterranean mood (Greek meatballs - ooppa!) or Middle Eastern feasts (Moroccan köftes! Harira! )

And if you have a couple of hours to spare, it simmers down to a Bolognese, heaving with such deep flavours of love it easily becomes the star of any Sunday lunch.

Since meat has traditionally been the priciest of ingredients in cooking around the world, different cuisines have found ingenious hacks to make a little go further. Wrap in in pastry like tortellinis (or Shish Barak dumplings of my up and coming book!) and a quarter of a kilo is enough to feel a family of 8. 

Another way of strecthing the buck is adding mushrooms or veggies to it. My absolute favourite is this (despite of its Swedish-sounding name) recipe that apparently originated somewhere in Russia, where they add cooked and grated beets into the meat. 

I cannot tell you how in love with different variations of Beef Lindström I am. But I can tell you it's pretty much what I've been having every day for the past two weeks. 

My latest love are these burgers, where the herby beef and beetroot patties are topped with mayo dressing that gets its colour and incredible depth of flavour from caramelized onions. In addition to rosemary thyme and dill are some of the herbs that love the company of beets.

For home-made brioche burger buns see my recipe here. For marinated red onion, just see here. Oh, and polenta fries? Right over here!

Lindström's burgers:

6 -8 brioche buns (gluten-free if needed)

6-8 herby Beef Lindström patties (recipe below)

caramelized onion and mayo dressing (recipe below)

marinated red onion

kale, ripped off the hard stem

6-8 rashers of bacon (optional)

1 gherkin, sliced lengthwise or cornichons

Beef Lindström with rosemary:

depending on the size 6-8 patties

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 large beets, cooked, peeled and grated (á 150 g)

400 g mince (ground beef or lamb)

2,5 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary (or thyme) 

2,5 tbsp finely chopped gherkins/ cornichons (or capers)

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

for frying: butter and/or oil

Sauté the onion in oil or butter over medium heat until translucent. Let cool to room temperature and combine with rest of the ingredients. 

Work into a smooth mixture, cover and leave to rest in the fridge for half an hour. In the meanwhile caramelize the onions for the dressing (which can be made already the day before)

Form the beef mixture into 6-8 evenly sized thick patties. Fry in a pan for about 6 minutes per side. 

Caramelized onion and mayonnaise dressing:

2 small onions (or 1 large one), thinly sliced

1 tsp mustard

3 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

2 dl good mayonnaise

(salt, black pepper)

for frying: a couple of tbsp butter

Caramelize onions in a pan or coated pot, stirring every now and then, until they are golden brown and start to crisp. Let come to room temperature and measure into a food processor. Blizz until smooth, check the taste and season asif needed. 

Assemble the burgers. 

Roast the bacon in the oven at 200 on a parchment-lined tray until crips. Drain on kitchen towels and cut in half.

Soften the kale, covered, on a hot pan in a little bit of water for a couple of minutes. 

Half the brioche buns and toast them.

Spread a little dressing on the bun, followed by kale and marinated red onions. Top with the beef and beetroot patty, generous dollop of the dressing, bacon and cornichons. Place the top half of the bun on top of it all and feast.

And a burger this tasty deserved a beverage of same calibre. Once again I found the perfect match from New Zealand Pinot Noirs.

Sileni Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2014 from Hawke's Bay region on the East Coast of New Zealand is a newcomer in my wine arsenal but a firm favourite already - showcasing so many of the qualities that make New World Pinot Noir (especially ones from NZ) such sweethearts of mine. 

It's medium-bodied, blessed with soft berriness such as cherry and raspberry. It's also got hints of violet which, together with the gentle oakiness, pair well with the sweetness of the beets and the robust choice of herbs.

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Bacon and whisky marmalade - best of both worlds

They say (who are they, anyway? What do they know?) old dogs don't learn new tricks. hah, say I. Last weekend alone I learn a bunch of stuff. Like the fact that

- my phone has an operating system
- operating systems require updates
- I'm not cut out to even update my hairstyle
- cooking in demo kitchens in front of total strangers is soooo much fun
- professionals do that leaving behing soooooo much less mess than us bloggers...
- bacon well and truly makes everything better (can I get an amen?)

And while bacon making everything better is already a bit of a universally acknowledged fact, when you add whisky... Enough to reduce a grown man into tears. 

Last weekend I did two demo kitchens. At the first one I made shakshuka (and  I can only imagine, a total ass out of myself) and on Sunday I was at an organic food fair promoting a wicked artisan cheese (yes, cheese. My old nemesis.) To go with the grilled cheese I made , I cooked this condiment. I wasn't sure what to expect but the feedback I got from the crowd (yes, there was one. And it wasn't even roped in by Dad, my #1 fan) was that the recipe needs to go on the blog ASAP. So, dears, here it is. 

This portion was enough for about 60 sample portions and makes about 7 dl of marmalade. In an air tight container it keeps in the fridge for about 4 weeks (bet your sweet ass it won't!) but sure, you can go ahead and halve it for smaller needs (you'll regret it, though), in which case it takes less time, too. 

Bacon, whisky and onion marmalade:

850 g bacon, cut to 1/2 cm strips 

6 largeish onions (total weight 1,4 kg), peeled and chopped into 1/3 inch cubes

2 dl brown sugar

0,5 dl (maple) syrup

6 tbsp (0,75 dl)  whisky (can be omitted or substituted with cognac)

1,25 dl cider vinegar

3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

(salt, black pepper)

Roast bacon strips on a dry pan or in a big coated pot in a couple of batches over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the colour is dark but they haven't quite gotten crisp yet and are still chewy. Using a slotted spoon, remove from the pan and drain over kitchen towel. Pour out the rendered bacon fat, reserving 3 tbsp. 

Sauté the onions in bacon fat, stirring every now and then until it's soft, golden and starts caramelizing - depending on the size of your marmalade batch this takes 20-50 minutes. Add sugar and increase the heat a bit. Once the sugar has completely dissolved, add the remaining ingredients (save the salt and pepper).

Let simmer over low heat until liquid has evaporated and mixture has thickened to the consistency of marmalade (depending on the size of your batch 20-60 minutes) - as it cools it sets even more. 

Check the taste and season as needed. Let come to room temperature before spooning it into jars. 

Great accompaniment with cheeses (yes, cheese!), on bread... or wolfed down straight out of the jar (what do you think I'm doing at this very moment?). 

I served with grilled cheese. Take two slices of good bread (such as this no knead bread) , scatter generous amount of grated cheddar on one of them, sprinkle some fresh thyme on top and press the other half on top of it. Fry over medium heat in butter on both sides until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden and crunchy.

Store the marmalade in fridge, but take into room temperature about half an hour before (or blast it in the microwave for a couple of seconds) to allow it to soften. 

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Quick and easy weekday treat: pasta with pea pesto and crunchy bacon

Thirties are apparently the busiest years in anyone's life. And boy, does it feel like that, too. Usually though people my age are also juggling marriages and mortgages and children's football practices too, in addition to everything else. How that is even possible I don't know. I mean, how many hours do they have in their day?

Lately this rush hour of my life has been even more hectic than usual. Last time I got enough sleep was sometime at the beginning of the decade. The bags under my eyes are beginning to reach the point that the airlines will start charging extra for them.  

Even in the sleep-deprived haze I navigate my days in I still need to eat. This recipe is from one of the many, many enticing cook books that have been published this spring, which I have a whole stack to get through...

Serves 2

Pasta with pea pesto and crunchy bacon

170 g bacon

Pea pesto:

200 g frozen peas

1/2 bunch basil

1/2 dl grated Parmesan

1 tbsp oil

2-3 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove

1/2 dl pasta cooking water

Lemon oil:

1/2 dl oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

The zest of a lemon, in thin strips

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

To serve: 1 dl Parmesan shavings

Roast bacon until crisp, either in an oven or in  a pan over moderate heat.

Prepare the pea pesto by blizzing peas, basil leaves, Parmesan, oil, lemon juice and seasoning in a blender or a food processor. Add cooking water from pasta to reach the desired consistency.

This point at latest start cooking the pasta. Combine the ingredients for the lemon oil. 

Add lemon oil into the cooked and drained pasta. Add pea pesto and crumbled up bacon. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and serve.

Any fool-proof weekday dinner life-saving recipes you've come tor rely on?

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Chestnuts roasting in Hell - Brussel sprout, bacon and chestnut bake

Now, I love chestnuts. I love their nutty, potato-like taste and texture and I love how versatile they are. Crème de marron, chestnut paste, is my favourite filling for crêpes when in Brittany. But if possible I love them even more in savoury dishes: in France they were often serves as an accompaniment for game. Cooked with lardons, bien sûr!

So, sure, I'd love to be able to eat them more often. Nut that I can, though (see what I just did there? A little nutty joke!)

See, at least in South of Europe these babies are available cooked and peeled. And as you know, I'm not one to pine after vacuum-packed ready-made stuff when the fresh one's are in season and readily available in any old corner store. But these are an exception. These buggers are a pain to prepare.

The operation itself isn't much of an operation at all. You just cut a cross-shape incision into the chubby side of the chestnut, place them on  a tray the cut side up and roast at 200º for 15 or so minutes. Then, while they're still warm, you peel them: both the woody exterior shell and the brown skin on the inside. But at least with the specimen sold here there are simply no guarantees of what's lurking on the inside. 

I can tell you however, that after you've spent 3 days roasting 4 batches and peeling those little devils so that your fingers are bleeding (quite literally too) "helpful tips" such as "the skin comes easily off when using good quality chestnuts" don't feel terribly helpful at all.  

Every single time I've tried roasting my own, most of them have been either old and dry, rotten or just... inedible in 500 other ways. So, if possible, save your nerves and buy the vacuum-packed ones. Do not skip the recipe though as it is good.

Since bacon makes... well, everything better, I paired chestnuts with that. And as it is the Brussels sprout season, I threw some in too.  A little garlic to give it a bit of a kick and lemon zest to freshen it all up. And hey ho, ho ho ho!

As a side this this feeds 4

1 pkt (140 g) bacon or pancetta

1,5 tbsp butter

400 g Brussels sprouts

1 tsp garlic powder

250 g roasted, peeled chestnuts, halved

salt, pepper

to serve: 1/2 lemon zest, finely grated

Cut the bacon in cubes and fry, starting on cold pan and bringing the temperature up so they start rendering the fat and crispen up. Once they're done, remove with a slotted spoon. Depending on the bacon fat left in the pan, add butter and fry the halved, trimmed sprouts until a little caramelized. Then add garlic powder and chestnuts. 

Continue cooking for a couple of more minutes, season with salt and pepper and place in an oven-proof dish. Continue cooking at 200º for 15 minutes (tossing if needed halfway through), add the bacon and continue cooking for another 5 minutes until the sprouts are done. 

Check the taste, season if needed and sprinkle the lemon zest on top. Serve with a roast. And this roasted garlic and cashew sauce!

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German potato salad

I don't often eat potatos but once the new harvest potatos hit the shops - get out of my wayyyyyy! Even its scent is so special and makes me purr with pleasure. Sure, the world is full of potato salad recipes (my favourite? Spanish Ensalada Rusa with seafood), but perhaps there's room for one more? German potato salads the potatos are not drenched in heavy mayonnaise-based dressing but instead get their sweet kick from white wine vinegar-sugar-solution. Or, as they did chez nous, oil and mustard dressing (because Germany=sausages=mustard).

I don't often seem to make salads either (shame on me! SHAME!) and sure, this isn't really a salad from the lightest end of the spectrum but it does have veggies, you know. Such as, well, potato. Which, especially when not peeled, is a source of vitamins B and C fiber and potassium. And bacon... well, that's an unrivalled source of love!

Spring onion can be replaced with thinly sliced (red)onion and instead of parsley you can use rucola. Or dill!

Serves 4-6

1 kg new potatos
1 bunch spring onions
1 (140 g) packet of bacon
1 generous handful of capers
a couple of handfuls of parsley leaves

Dressing:

1/2 dl olive oik
2 tsp mustard
a couple of drops cold water
1 tsp black pepper

Combine mustard with oil and mix thoroughly. Star adding water little at a time until you have a smooth textur. Season with black pepper.

Steam or boil the potatos in generously salted water. Cut the bigger ones in 4 and the small ones in half. Bake the bacon sices at 200°  until crisp and drain on kitchen towels. Toss the (still hot) potatos in the dressing and carefully fold in rest of the ingredients. Serve at room temperature.

Oh, and did you know that German word for potato, kartoffel, comes from Italian word tartufoli, meaning truffle? Or that peruna, the Finnish word for it comes from päron, Swedish for pear? See, in ye olde Sweden it used to be called jordpäron, "earth pear". The French and The Dutch aren't too far behind either: their words for potato, pomme de terre and aardappel mean "the earth apple". The English word potato, comes from Spanish patata which originally referred to a whole different sweetheart; the sweet potato! OK, that's enough of Wikipedia for now, let's eat!

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Colcannon to the rescue!

I don't think I've ever managed to have an overdose of the Christmas foods. Especially ham. By Boxing day at latest my Dad had to bake a new ham as Someone had managed to devour the previous one. But in case you've not been as fortunate and are currently struggling to come up with ways to turn that ham into something new and exciting (for 4th day in a row) here's a treat from ye goode olde Ireland: Colcannon!

Initially this was a dish that was particularly popular in the autumn as the kale was in season. At its most frugal that's pretty much all this was: mashed potatos and kale (or cabbage).  On a good day this has evolved to contain ham (or bacon) along with some leeks (or onion). This time I recycled Brussel sprouts left over from the Christmas dinner into it along with some roasted garlic left over from the herring in garlicky mustard dressing. And mustard of course: ham ♥ mustard!

This isn't a camera-loving photogenic diva, but does the trick alright - this is just the thing to restore one's powers after yet another long night of craic that this festive season seems to be full of...)

Serves 4

12 (small) potatos

1 dl hot milk

150 gr butter

salt, white pepper

1 tsp mustard

2 large roasted garlic cloves (for instructions please see here)

1/2 leek

300 g Brussel sprout leaves or a bag of kale (or cabbage)

about 400 g boiled ham or gammon 
(a couple of dl cream)

Boil or steam the potatos. Mash with butter and milk (add more if needed), squeeze in the paste from the garlic cloves, add mustard and season. For extra rich colcannon add some cream. Finely slice the leek and sauté in butter until soft. Add ham and sprouts or kale and continue cooking until piping hot. Combine with mash.

PS. A tip I forgot from the original post is browning the butter first in a pan - this gives it (and the mash) a wonderfully toasty, in its nuttiness almost toffee-like depth and lifts the mash to a whole new level! In this case less butter is also needed.


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