Comfort food: from Potée to Apfelstruedel

With the cold weather, the need for comfort food returns. The oldest one (another Middle Ages staple) is cabbage soup. All the regions of France have a variant of it. It starts with the vegetables – onions, cabbages, carrots, dry beans – which resisted winter well in pre refrigerator times, and continued with salted meats for the same reason. Today the dish is a great way to entertain a crowd with minimal time spent in the kitchen thanks to the slow cooker. My version uses chicken and duck breasts whereas the traditional one is limited to pork in different guises. One can forego pork entirely and substitute fowls instead if so desired. Because of the conservation techniques of the meat, no additional salt is required. In fact the soaking is needed to attenuate the salty taste.
To complete the meal and make use of the abundance of seasonal apples, I made an Austrian apple pie for dessert. I still remember an obscure Eastern Europe movie of 25 years ago, which before Julie/Julia showed to my utter fascination the confection of the pastry. It took the 4 women of the family to pull the sheet of pastry over a clean towel to paper transparency. The towel, gripped firmly by expert hands served to guide safely the pastry over the apple filling. As 4 hands are much better than 2, Apfelstruedel is great couple therapy (or not). By preparing the dough some time ahead and freezing it, it is rendered more pliable to the rolling pin once unfrozen. As I mastered the art of obtaining a very thin pastry sheet, I decided to use the leftover potée to create a savory cabbage struedel. Prepare 1 dough recipe and a half at a time. Another use for my new found expertise is Beef Wellington, which I shall feature in a next issue.
The first two recipes serve 8 generously, the last one 4.
Potée (Cabbage and smoked meat stew)
Easy, Preparation: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 6 hours largely unattended, Reasonable)

Ingredients:
3 garlic sausages
6 oz bacon
1½ lbs (750 g) smoked pork chops
2 smoked chicken breasts
2 smoked duck breasts
1 smoked ham hock
2 onions
3 garlic cloves in their skin
1 cup (237 g) great northern beans
1½ cabbages
6 carrots
6 potatoes
1 bouquet garni
Material:
Saucepan
Strainer
Slow cooker

The day before:
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
Place all smoked meats in cold water for 12 hours, changing the water twice.
The day of the meal:
Cut the bottom of the cabbages, remove the outer leaves if needed and quarter them. Blanch the quarters in boiling water for 5 minutes with the garlic cloves in their skin.
Strain the meats and discard the water. Cut the smoked bacon in small pieces.
Peel and slice the onions. Stir-fry them in the saucepan. Add the bacon bits and cook for another 5 minutes.
Place the onion slices and bacon in the inset of the slow cooker. Add all the meats and the bouquet garni. Cover with water and cook for three hours on the low setting of the slow cooker. After three hours, add the cabbage quarters, the garlic, the carrots, and the northern beans. Cook for another 2 hours and ½. During the last half hour, add the garlic sausages in the slow cooker. Set the halved potatoes in cold water in a saucepan over the stove. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes.
Serve each guest a mixture of strained vegetables and all the kinds of meat. Propose a variety of mustards on the side. Keep the broth for the next day and serve it hot over slices of bread.

Austrian apple pie (Apfelstruedel)
Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 60 minutes, Cheap

Ingredients:
Dough:
3 cups flour (710g) plus extra flour to dust the clean towel
1 egg
½ stick (60g) butter cut in small pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (237ml) cold water

Filling 1
¾ cups (170g) coarse white bread crumbs
½ cup (113 ml) melted unsalted butter

Filling 2
4 cooking apples peeled, cored and roughly sliced.
1/3 cup (80g) granulated sugar
¾ cup raisins (170g) soaked in orange juice
¾ cup (170g) coarsely crushed nuts
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest


Material:
Food processor
Toaster
Frying pan
Towel
Brush
Parchment paper lined pastry sheet

The day before:
Place all the ingredients of the dough except the water in the food processor fitted with the dough blade. Start mixing and add the water while the machine is running. When the ball is formed, stop the machine. Wrap in a plastic sheet and freeze.
The day of the meal:
Preheat the oven at 375F (190C)
Remove the dough from the freezer and bring to room temperature.
Pour ½ of the melted butter in a pan. Place the pan on the medium range of the gas and cook the breadcrumbs until light brown. Reserve
Mix all the ingredients of the second filling together in a salad bowl.
Roll out the dough as thinly as possible on a clean towel to obtain a rectangle roughly 11 inches by 13. Brush the dough with the melted butter. Place the apple filling in a roll shape along the longest edge of the dough closest to you. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the remainder of the dough. Using the cloth, lift the dough on the side of the filling to roll it over the crumb side. Seal the log on all three sides and roll seam side down onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the strudel with the last of the melted butter.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
When it has cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar*, slice and serve at room temperature.
*To spread out evenly the sugar use a strainer and shake the strainer over the surface you want covered.

Cabbage Struedel
Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 45 minutes, Cheap

Ingredients
Dough:
1½ (350g) cups flour plus extra flour to dust the clean towel
1 egg
¼ stick (60g) butter cut in small pieces
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g) cold water

Filling
¼ cup (60 ml) melted butter
Leftover cabbage
Leftover garlic sausage

Material
Food processor
Strainer
Clean towel dusted with flour
Rolling pin
Parchment paper lined pastry sheet
Brush

Prepare the dough the day before. Freeze. The following day, unfreeze for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator. Follow the technique described in the previous recipe to roll out the pastry.
Peel and cut the garlic sausage in cubes. Strain the cabbage. Mix the two together. Place in a link on the pastry side closest to you and brush with butter the exposed band of pastry. Using the towel roll the pastry sheet until it meets the other side. Brush the outside of the roll with butter. Place on a pastry sheet lined up with parchment paper and bake at 375 F (190C) in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Serve as a light lunch with a green salad.