50 x Fish for MAK’s Feldküche

Holidays at home, 2 days of sunshine and one phone call: I was just settling in on my balcony, snuggling into a deckchair with my newly bought cookbook "Honestly Healthy: Eat with your Body in Mind, the Alkaline Way", when I received a phone call from Feldküche's Martin Fetz inquiring, in his charming dialect, whether I had plans for August 31st. I thought about it for a second, said no, and a moment later, I was assigned cheffing duty. But the plan wasn't just a leasurely afternoon with a bit of cooking, but instead a huge task of preparing a meal for 50 people - a main course of fish with all the bells and whistles...Until then, I'd only been a guest at Feldküche and Betonküche events, enjoying the sensational food their chefs produced. And I may cook a lot on a regular basis, but not for that many people all at once. My hungry guest max so far had been 10 people at the most. I briefly felt a bit overwhelmed, but of course incredibly honoured to be invited to be a guest chef at the Feldküche with 50 guests, even more so because I got assigned the main course. Of course this being me, a gluten-free side dish had to go on the menu. Martin thought so too. And because it was the beginning of autumn and I really like beetroot, I immediately thought of my beetroot risotto. Most people will have made or eaten risotto at one point, but millet is a bit of an outsider in the grain world. It's also gluten-free. So I set out to produce my first millet risotto and the result was pretty impressive, if I may say so myself! It was topped with caramelised apples and some goat's cheese from the Waldviertel region I had bought at the Naschmarkt food market's Käseland stall. The cheese, I was told, was made by a Frenchman residing in the Waldviertel and after further investigation, this French cheese maker turned out to be Monsieur Robert Paget from Diendorf am Kamp. The line-caught Coregonus fish hailed from Hallstadt.

I spent the entire night before the event filleting and deboning 50 pieces of fish. That was a new one for me - and even surprisingly meditative, even if I could think of a few other things I'd rather have done on a Saturday evening. Of course I read up on my ingredients some more as well - I did have to present the dish competently. My research yielded the following information: the Coregonus belongs to the salmon family and lives at depths of up to 50 metres in mountain lakes like the Millstätter See, the Bodensee and the Hallstätter See in Upper Austria's Salzkammergut region, which is where our fish came from. The white meat of this fish is particularly fine-textured and therefore has to be prepared and cooked gently. The Coregonus is low on calories but turns dry very quickly, so it's best to steam or cook it in one piece, and that's how I prepared it for the Feldküche event. One of the most popular ways of cooking this fish is à la meunière or "like a miller's wife", whereby the fish is dunked in some salted milk, dredged in flour and then fried in butter until golden. It is served drizzled with lemon juice and brown butter and topped with chopped parsley.
The Feldküche was originally supposed to take place at the beautiful MAK-Expositur Geymüllerschlössel in Vienna's 18th district, but since the spring of 2012, the MAK DESIGN SALON resides at this particular location, featuring contemporary design. This particular event was somewhat of a one-off, with invitations going out to friends and acquaintances of Feldküche founders Matthias Felsner and Martin Flatz to cook for special guests. Each one of us was assigned one or more of the six courses. ORF Vienna's marketing director and passionate cook Silke Sztatecsny got two - an entree and the dessert. Her menu consisted of a delicious porcini tarte with parsnip mash and fennel flower as well as blueberry and sour cream ice cream (bought at Eis Greissler) with homemade Madeleines. The lovely Alexandra served her dishes on her own Roughcutboards -  a Brettljausn (charcuterie board) with black pudding, chicken liver terrine, liver pâté, fresh cheese crackers and a homemade chutney followed by some fantastic cheese, also served on her Roughcutboards.                      

(c) Melanie Limbeck / Das Mundwerk

Christoph and I were responsible for the main courses. Christoph Fink, hailing from the Tyrol, used to be recipe creator at Einkaufssackerl and now works as a chef at the Swedish embassy in Vienna. He scored with an alternative variation on the burger: homemade brioche burger buns filled with venison patties that were raw inside like a tartare. The accompanying coleslaw and homemade "Dirndl-Ketchup" were yummy as well as aesthetically pleasing. I'll tell you about my own main course at the end of this posting. (c) Melanie Limbeck / Das Mundwerk
Due to the rainy summer weather, Martin and Matthias unfortunately had to change venue on short notice, but their second choice was more than adequate - guests were invited to dine at the MAK's (Museum of Applied Art) impressive portico hall, adhering to this year's summer theme "forest & meadow". Absolutely all credit for providing this spectacular location goes to Olivia Harrer. The MAK, originally focused on industry and the arts only, today features everything from contemporary and historical art to design and architecture. My jaw hit the floor when I walked into the columned hall, decked out in beautifully decorated wooden carpenter tables. I thought "wow, this is where I'm allowed to cook for 50 guests tonight."

This time, I finally got to meet „Das Mundwerk“'s very own Melanie, who has run with the Feldküche guys since the beginning of this tour and whose fascinating blog regularly features nature in all its glory as well as all manner of heavenly dishes.  You can read more about this unforgettable evening at the MAK on her blog hier. In keeping with the last time I was a guest at the Feldküche, Martin Fetz and the incredibly nice Pia Buchner, press officer for the Austrian Forestry Commission, opened the event with the words "If we can't come to the forest, the forest has to come to us".
And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... my fish course:                                                                          [print_this]

Herb-infused Coregonus from the Oven on a Bed of Millet-Beetroot Risotto, Caramelised Apples, Thyme and Goat's Cheese

The Risotto (enough for 2 people):

Ingredients:

200g millet

1 onion

2 beetroots, cooked

50-100ml beetroot juice, Ja!Natürlich brand, for example

150g fresh goat's cheese

1 bay leaf

30g parmesan

1 organic vegetable stock cube

1 tart apple (my favourites are Elstar and Boskoop)

¼ bunch fresh thyme

2 TBSP butter (for the risotto)

700-900ml water

20g butter (for the apple)

50ml water (for the apple)

1 TBSP dark balsamic vinegar

1 TBSP olive oil

50ml white wine

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

Preparation:

1.)   For the stock, bring water to a boil and dissolve the vegetable stock cube. Peel and cube the onion. Heat the olive oil and half the butter in a pan and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the millet until cooked through. Deglaze with beetroot juice and white wine. Add the bay leaf and thyme and let simmer until almost all the liquid has been absorbed, stirring constantly until the risotto is creamy. Add the stock little by little (up to 500-600ml for 2 people) until the millet reaches the desired consistency (around 30-35 minutes).

2.)   In the meantime, peel the apples, cut them into eight pieces and core them. Cut the beetroot into 0,5cm cubes (wear gloves, beetroot stains!). Add it to the millet around 25 minutes into the cooking time and add 100-200ml more of the stock. Let simmer for 10 more minutes.

3.)   Melt some butter in a small pan and steam the apples over a medium heat. Add sugar after about 4 minutes and let it caramelise a little. After a further 5 minutes, deglaze with water until it has evaporated and add the balsamic vinegar. Lightly salt the apple.

4.)   Grate the parmesan and mix it under the risotto along with the rest of the butter. Add half the goat's cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the risotto on deep plates with the goat's cheese and the apples.

For the Coregonus:

Ingredients for 2 people:

2 Coregonus fillets, deboned

a little sage, thyme and rosemary

2 tsp butter

2 tsp Sonnentor*'s Gute Laune Gewürz-Blüten-Zubereitung (spice-petal mix)

sea salt and pepper from the mill

a little olive oil

aluminium foil

Preparation:
1.)  Preheat the oven to 180° C (fan). Fold some small parcels for the fish and fill with a sprig of rosemary, 2 sprigs of thyme and 3 sage leaves.

2.)  Top the herbs with the fillets and season with sea salt, pepper and the spice mix and drizzle with olive oil.

3.)  Add a small piece of butter and close the parcels (but not all the way). Put them in the oven on the medium shelf and cook until finished (around 15-18 minutes).

* contains sea salt, garlic, basil, ramson, oregano, marigold, rosemary, thyme, rose and cornflower petals

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