Spätzli

Homemade pasta that beats anything you can buy in a store.

Spätzli

Bruno
Spätzli are a traditional Swiss (and German – Spätzle) home-made pasta that is easy to make, looks creative and tastes great fresh or fried.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Austrian, German, Swiss
Servings 6
Calories 215 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 250 g Wheat Flour
  • 2 small eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp sour cream
  • 5 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp butter to fry – if going to

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, add sifted flour and salt
  • In a medium sized bowl combine all other ingredients and wisk together
  • Add this mixture to the flour and wisk vigourously until you obtain a smooth dough and starts to produce large bubbles
  • Let rest to swell for 30 minutes
  • In a large pot, bring 2 litres of water to a boil
  • Scoop a good ladle of dough onto a wooden cutting board
  • Take a chef knife and dip it in the boiling water, then slice a small portion of dough and slide it into the boiling water making sure you dip the knife into the water at the same time again; this helps to prevent the dough from sticking to the knife. The amount and the shape of the dough “dropping” is up to you and you can vary both for additional fun. The traditional shape and size is about a 1/4 tsp of dough and has a slightly elongated shape
  • Repeat the above step in rapid succession until your first batch of dough is used up
  • When the Spätzli are done, they float to the top. Using a slotted spoon or small sieve, scoop out the Spätzli that are done, toss them in a colander and give them a quick rinse with cold water.
  • Continue until all the dough has been cooked
  • To serve, reheat as necessary or fry in butter to a nice golden brown
Keyword pasta
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Flavours of Italy – Calgary

I’m attending the “Flavours of Italy” trade tasting in Calgary today.
My tasting theme will be “The Underdogs of Italy” since the event promises to showcase a number of wines made from the lesser known native or indigenous (autoctone) varietals.
It promises to be fun and since Calgary got hit with cold weather and snow, what better place to be 🙂
The event is held at the Hotel Arts and as coincidence would have it, this is where I’m staying.
Look for some tasting notes in my next post.

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The Flavours of Italy – Calgary

I’m attending the “Flavours of Italy” trade tasting in Calgary today.
My tasting theme will be “The Underdogs of Italy” since the event promises to showcase a number of wines made from the lesser known native or indigenous (autoctone) varietals.
It promises to be fun and since Calgary got hit with cold weather and snow, what better place to be 🙂
The event is held at the Hotel Arts and as coincidence would have it, this is where I’m staying.
Look for some tasting notes in my next post.

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Wine – The only question that matters

In an interview with the French publication “Le Figaro”, legendary 84 year old French chef Paul Bocuse (owner of luxury restaurant l’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, near Lyon) made a couple of interesting comments that I wholeheartedly agree with.

When asked

“Are there things which irritate you when in a restaurant?”

Bocuse answers

“Yes. When I order a chicken, I do not need to hear about the grandfather of the chicken from the Maître D’. The same goes for the sommeliers. The only worthwhile question is: “Is it good?”, or “Did you enjoyed drinking it?”. The rest, poof. I like identifiable plates. If it needs a lengthy explanation, it does not interest me.”

At the end of the day, you liked the wine or you didn’t. It’s really just that simple.

How do you feel about it?

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Wine Club Update and schedule

January 23, 2010 marks the beginning of a new year of monthly wine tastings for the Zen Gourmand’s Wine Club. The season promises to be exciting with a lineup of themes to appeal to every palate, budget and interest.

The coming season also brings a few changes to this informal wine club.

  • Regular monthly tastings, allowing you to plan and schedule well ahead of time.
  • Membership. It saves you money, brings privileges and you help support a local charity.
  • More variety. Not just wine tastings any more but also fortifieds and spirits once in a while as well as evenings of food pairings.
  • Special seminars letting you gain indepth knowledge into the world of wine.

Schedule:

  • Saturday, January 23: Cozy Winter Wine Tasting REGISTER HERE
  • Saturday, February 20: TBD
  • Saturday, March 20: TBD

Membership:

  • $98/annum, a $200 value
  • $5 of every membership goes towards the support of Durham Region’s St. Vincent’s Kitchen. Oshawa.
  • Tastings and events at cost
  • Includes a $25 Gift Certificate at Julie Moore Spa, Whitby.
  • Includes a monthly Club News Letter
  • Includes a monthly personalized food and wine paring consultation.
  • Additional special privileges as they become available.

Non Members:

  • $15 + Cost of tasting/event

Location:

  • South Whitby. Specific venue depends on the event and the number of people attending. Announced two weeks prior to event

CLICK FOR CLUB MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION FORM

CLICK TO REGISTER FOR ANY OTHER EVENT

 

 

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Zen Gourmand Approved!

I’m launching a new feature called “Zen Gourmand Approved”.

This is where I review food related products, condiments, beverages, kitchen utensils and gadgets, cook books, services etc. etc.

If my review of the item or service in question results in getting me exited and exclaim a unequivocal “WOW!!!”, the item or service will receive the “Zen Gourmand Approved” stamp of approval.

What does that mean to you?
Depends.
If you know me, you also know that I’m ruthless when it comes to things of taste, quality, usability, style and function. Getting labeled “Not another piece of crap from [company|country|supplier|store|]…!!!” is a lot more likely than receiving a “Zen Gourmand Approved”.

So there.
Keep watching.
And if you’ve got something that you think might get “Zen Gourmand Approved”, send it over and I’ll check it out.

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No more German Table Wine!

On Thursday, July 2nd the German Federal parliament (aka the “Bundestag”) decided to abolish the term “table wine” (Tafel Wein).

In line with recent changes in European wine laws, it enforces the EU rules at a national level. The upper house (the Bundesrat) is expected to approve in what is considered a mere formality during the July 10th session.

The term “table wine” will disappear as at August 1st, 2009 in accordance with the ruling.

Subsequent descriptions will be: “without specific origin” (“ohne engere Herkunftsangabe”), “with protected statement of origin” (“mit geschützten Ursprungsbezeichnungen” or “g.U.” for short) and “with protected geographic statements” (“mit geschützten geografischen Angaben” or “g.g.A.”) on the label. Varietal and vintage labeling will be allowed in future even whithout stating any origin, something that was not the case for table wines.

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Food, Drink and Gourmet related Domains for sale..

Below is an updated list of premium food, drink or gourmet related domains from my inventory.

All these domains are currently listed for sale on SEDO. SEDO will act as the facilitator and broker. These are all premium domains and the prices are extremely reasonable. The prices are negotiable but in the event that expected minimum prices are not reached by direct negotiation, the domains will be put up for auction.

Below are approximately 15 domains listed in alphabetical order.

Two links are provided for each domain. The first link is to the domains landing/parking page, the second link leads to the domain’s listing on SEDO.

Landing Page Sedo Link
beerpassions.com ***SOLD*** beerpassions.com
bistronight.com bistronight.com
casualdinner.com casualdinner.com
casualgrill.com casualgrill.com
casualmenus.com casualmenus.com
casualwines.com casualwines.com
estatevintages.com estatevintages.com
foodanddrinknews.com foodanddrinknews.com
foodandwinechannel.com ***SOLD*** (see below) foodandwinechannel.com
foodpassions.com foodpassions.com
gourmettrail.com gourmettrail.com
kitchenzen.com kitchenzen.com
relaxedentertaining.com relaxedentertaining.com
salmonmenus.com salmonmenus.com
salmontreats.com ***SOLD*** salmontreats.com
sensuouscook.com sensuouscook.com
sensuouscooks.com sensuouscooks.com
sensuousfood.com sensuousfood.com
sensuousfoods.com sensuousfoods.com

***SOLD***
How do we know our domains are premium domains?

Here is why:

  • I sold foodandwinechannel.com last year for $US 5000.00
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Renovations underway….

Please bear with me while I revamp this site.

You will be seeing a more logical structure and mostly, you will see a lot more of my personal winetasting notes, short essays and my usual opinionated rants.

In the meantime you can pretty much ignore what’s online while I’m doing some conceptual testing.

Of course, if you want to buy one of my domains, please go ahead and make an offer. It helps me pay for my tuiton 🙂

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