Tasty Alpine winter-warmers

PLAIN IN PIGNA

This 'Engadine potato cake' – goes well with salads, smoked meats, farm ham and sausages.

Ingredients (for 6 people):
• 500g hard-boiled potatoes, peeled and grated
• 60g butter
• 30g white flour
• 50g cornstarch
• Salt, pepper and nutmeg
• 60g melted butter
• 60g each of leeks, celeriac and carrots, cut into strips
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 200g finely sliced rashers of Speck

Method:
1 - Fry the onion in a little butter, then add the leeks, celeriac and carrots
2 - Melt the remaining butter and mix with the grated potatoes, flour and the cornstarch
3 - Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg
4 - Cover a plate (approx. 26cm across) with the vegetables, then spread the grated potato over it
5 - Press well and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes
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SALZBURGER NOCKERL

This light and fluffy dessert may remind some people of Salzburg’s snow-capped mountains – but it is also a real treat for gourmets. Legend has it that the famous Salzburg prince archbishop of Raitenau loved his mistress Salome mainly because of her exquisite Salzburger Nockerl.

Ingredients (for 4 people):
• 150ml milk
• ½ vanilla pod
• freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 7 egg whites, chilled
• pinch of salt
• 80g sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• rind from 1 lemon
• 10g grated vanilla sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (Maizena)
• icing sugar for dusting
• butter for greasing

Method:
1 - Heat the milk with the cut-open vanilla pod and lemon juice
2 - Remove from the stove and leave to sit
3 - Remove the pod
4 - Smear an oval-shaped, ovenproof form with butter and pour in enough vanilla milk to cover the bottom
5 - With a hand-mixer, mix the egg whites with a pinch of salt and a third of the sugar until very stiff
6 - Slowly add the rest of the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is thick and creamy
7 - Preheat the oven to 220°C
8 - Add the egg yolks, lemon rind, vanilla sugar, flour, and cornstarch to the egg white mixture and fold three or four times with a whisk
9 - Make 4 pyramid-shaped Nockerl, placing them next to each other in the baking tray
10 - Bake for 10-12 minutes until light, golden brown
11 - Dust with icing sugar and serve quickly so that the Nockerl don’t collapse!

TIROLER GROSTL

This is a tasty bacon, onion and potato fry-up, especially when served with a fried egg – one of the hearty favourites from the Tirol. Traditionally, it is a delicious and satisfying way of using up left-overs, and makes a great shared-from-the-pan mountain lunch.

Ingredients (for 4 people):
• 1½ tbsp corn, sunflower or vegetable oil
• 400g smoked bacon lardons (or cooked ham)
• 1 onion, cut into chunks
• 500g cooked potatoes (preferably waxy ones), cold and cut into small chunks
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1½ tsp hot, sweet paprika (or sweet paprika mixed with a pinch of chilli powder)
• small handful of parsley, roughly chopped

Method:
1 - Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then fry the bacon and onion together for 10 minutes until the bacon is golden
2 - Lift out of the pan onto a plate, before adding the potatoes and frying for 10 minutes more until golden
3 - Tip in the caraway and paprika, season well, then fry for another minute, stirring to release their fragrance
4 - Return the bacon and onion, taste for seasoning, then add the parsley
5 - Serve hot and – for a real authentic touch – with a fried egg on top.

BIRCHERMÜESLI

is a simple but delicious breakfast food. After over a century of tinkering in households all over Switzerland, there are countless variations – but keeping it simple is probably the best.

Ingredients (for 1-2 people):
• 1 cup of porridge oats
• 1/2 cup of cold milk
• 1/2 cup of berries (can be frozen)

Method:
1 - Pour all the above into a bowl and leave in the fridge overnight.
2 - In the morning, add more milk to suit
3 - Then stir in yogurt (fruit or natural), grated apple, sliced banana or any fruit you fancy
4 - Top with a sprinkling of nuts (hazelnuts & walnuts), seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, ground linseed) and raisins, sultanas or chopped dates.