Wildschweingulasch Sankt Hubertus

(Goulash of Wild Boar St. Hubert)

November 3: Feast Day of St. Hubert

For our 10th anniversary, we returned to Oahu and renewed our vows by the beach. A few guests from the mainland attended our milestone event in Hawaii so we planned to play tourists with our friends around the island during our two-week vacation. While visiting the Marquesas Village at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Highlander participated in a mock wild boar hunt. It was a humiliating yet humorous sign of affection for Islander. Of the three “warriors” who demonstrated their love for their women, we were together the longest, followed by two other newlyweds!

Wild boar is not only hunted in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands but also in Western Europe where St. Hubert is known to be the patron saint of hunters. The recipe we are featuring for his feast day originally includes wild boar meat. But we used pork for this hearty stew instead. This goulash is great for the cooler days of fall and for the Feast Day of St. Hubert.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf)

Ingredients

• ¾ pound wild boar meat (we substituted this with lean pork)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup carrot, diced
• ½ cup leek, finely sliced
• ¾ cup beer
• 4 tablespoons constarch
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 cup meat stock
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon thyme

Directions

Slice the vegetables. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt, pepper, caraway seeds, marjoram and the lemon rind. In a large skillet, fry the meat in olive oil until brown. Transfer to a casserole dish.

In the same skillet, saute the onions, carrots and leek. Add the beer and cook for a minute, scraping the brown bits in the skillet. Pour over the meat. Cover the casserole dish and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for one hour or until tender.

Make a paste with the cornstarch and vinegar. Mix this in a small bowl with the meat stock, maple syrup, tomato paste, yogurt, rosemary and thyme. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish and stir to combine with the meat and vegetables. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Notes

• The cookbook author recommends serving the goulash with noodles, spätzle or crusty bread.
• As this is a Deutsch dish, use a German beer as an ingredient.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

November 2: Cookie Monster’s Birthday

Admit it! We are all kids at heart and have a little cookie (or dessert) monster inside of us. The lovable, googly-eyed, blue furry creature on Sesame Street TV has a voracious appetite for cookies and gobbles them up with gusto! But lately, Cookie Monster has been promoting healthier eating habits. But just for his birthday, indulge a bit with blue frosted cupcakes with—what else?—a mini chocolate cookie! Om nom nom nom—yum yum! Happy birthday, Cookie Monster!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 dozen cupcakes (we used Duncan Hines brand Moist Deluxe Devil’s Food cake mix)
• 1-2 cans white frosting tinted blue (we used Wilton brand Ready-to-Use Decorator Icing tinted with Royal Blue Icing Color)
• 1 tube white icing (we used Wilton brand Ready-to-Use icing tube)
• mini chocolate chips (we used Nestlè Toll House brand mini morsels)
• Oreo Cookies chocolate mini bite size

Directions

Bake cupcakes and cool completely. Tint the white frosting blue. Fill a pastry bag with the frosting and, using the star tip, pipe the surface “fur” of the cupcake.  Fit the white icing tube with a round tip and pipe the eyeballs.

Insert a mini chocolate chip on the white icing point to make “googly eyes.” Shove a mini Oreo cookie for the mouth onto the blue frosted cupcake surface. Complete all cupcakes in the same manner.

Notes

• See our Food Flop page for “what could have been” Cookie Monster macarons.
• See our blog recipe post for Elmo macarons on Elmo’s birthday on February 3.

Curried Devil’s Eggs

November 2: National Deviled Eggs Day

We dress up deviled eggs for Halloween dinners and make them a little hot and spicy with curry powder and red bell pepper. The added appeal of these appetizers is that they are made with healthier ingredients, such as fat-free yogurt instead of mayonnaise and a crisp, fresh vegetable for a garnish. For an “eggs-traordinary” presentation, prepare curried devil’s eggs for National Deviled Eggs Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Weight Watchers)

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs, boiled and shelled
• 3 tablespoons fat-free yogurt
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• red bell pepper slices
• black tube icing (we used Wilton brand)

Directions

Boil, cool and shell the eggs. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Carefully remove the yolks and place in a small bowl with the yogurt, curry and salt. Mash together with a fork until smooth. Fill the egg whites with a mound of the yolk mixture (we used a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip).

Slice the red bell pepper into a long strip. Cut out tiny triangles and arrange on them on the egg. To make the devil’s horns and beard, use two red bell pepper triangles pointing up on the wider end of the egg and another one pointing down on the opposite side of the egg. Lightly touch the tip of the black tube frosting to make the eyes and nose. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

• Knead the black tube icing and squeeze out the excess liquid on a napkin before decorating the curried devil’s eggs to avoid runny smears on the yolk filling.