Chalet Girl Favourites
One of the most enjoyable job titles I ever had was that of “Chalet Girl”. I know these days that is considered quite a condescending title, but putting that aside I can honestly say that the ski season I spent in Maribel was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and changed my life forever… more of that will follow at a later date…..
Being a chalet girl also prepared me for the most important job title of my life – the one of ‘mum’. Not just because I got used to picking up clothes and cleaning up after people whilst they went and did something fun, but also because we were trained to cook homemade meals from scratch that will fill bellies after long days out on the slopes.
Zoom forward 35 years, I still cook many of these meals for my family whether we are home or away. Below are our all time ‘Chalet Girl Favourites’ that we swear by after a day of fun skiing on the slopes of Saalbach,
Austrian Goulash Soup
Although we call this soup, it could very easily be referred to as a stew. It is a hearty dish whose combination of hot and mild paprika and caraway seeds mixed with beef chunk is a welcoming warmth. The ‘soup’ tastes better as the flavour develops over a couple of days. That’s why I tend to make a huge pot of it on the first day of the holiday, so we have something yummy ready to eat within minutes of walking through the door of The Lodge each evening. Served with local bread, this keeps the hunger monster away from the kids, whilst I have a chance to make the evening meal and pour a glass of wine.
Ingredients:
2kg of diced stewing steak
125g of plain flour
2 large white onions, sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
2 tsp Hot paprika
1tbs Mild Paprika
1 tbs Caraway Seeds
2tbs Tomato puree
400g Can of passata
125ml Chicken stock
Zest of a small lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Add enough olive oil to a large pan to just cover its base. Put the heat on high until the oil shimmers but does not smoke.
Pat dry the meat with kitchen roll and coat in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
Sear the meat in the pan, in batches if necessary, for 3 – 4 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
Turn the heat down to a medium, add a little more oil and cook the onions for 3 – 4 minutes, add the garlic and cook for a further 30 seconds.
Add the tomato puree, paprikas and cook for a couple minutes more.
Add the passata, caraway seeds, lemon zest and stock and stir well.
Return the seared beef and the juices back into the pan
Cover the pan with a lid and bring to a simmer for approximately 2 hours, checking regularly and adding more stock (or water) if the sauce is too thick.
Enjoy!!
Beef Bourguignon
I know this is another beef recipe, but as I said, these are our ‘favourite’ recipes from my days as a chalet girl…and what can I say, we like beef :-).
This recipe always went down a storm with the Chalet guests, and I loved cooking it as it is easy to make and the bulk of the time is cooking time, meaning I could make it in advance, leave it in the oven on a low heat and head off to the slopes. I would head back from a great day skiing just before my guests were due back, to finish it off and produce a showstopper of a meal that everyone enjoyed. Win, win if you ask me.
Ingredients:
180g bacon, chopped
1.5kg diced stewing steak
1 large carrot, chopped into ½ inch slices
I large white onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
12 small pearl onions
450ml of good quality red wine (I recommend a French Burgundy, or similar)
450ml beef stock
2tbs tomato puree
1tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2tbs fresh parsley, chopped
2 bay leaves
500g brown mushrooms, cut into quarters
2tbs butter
Plain flour
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees
Use an oven safe pot, with a lid and add some oil and heat
Add the bacon and sauté for 3 minutes or until crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside
Pat dry the beef and sear in the pan, in batches if necessary. Set to one side with the bacon.
On a medium heat, sauté the carrots and onions until softened, add 4 cloves of garlic and cook for a further minute.
Remove any excess fat – leave about 1tbs in the pan – and return the bacon and beef back into the pan
Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with flour (to absorb the liquid), stir and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the pearl onions, wine, stock, tomato puree and herbs and bring to a simmer.
Place the lid on the pan and place on the bottom shelf of the over for 2 – 3 hours, until the meat falls apart. Turn the heat down if the sauce is anything more than a slow simmer.
Before serving melt the butter in a skillet, once melted add the remaining 2 cloves of garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until brown. Season with salt and pepper
Remove the pan from the oven and discard the herbs. Add the mushrooms to the meat and season accordingly. Place the pot back on the stove for a couple of minutes to heat through.
Serve with buttery mash and green beans.
This recipe is beautiful re-heated a few days later, so two family meals for the price of one
Banana Bread
Never throw away overripe bananas again! For this recipe, the blacker the banana, the better. This is my go-to recipe and has become somewhat of a ‘presumed’ item in our fridge by my youngest and his gaggle of friends who arrive on a weekly basis to eat me out of house and home. If there is not banana bread ready for them on a Friday after a long week at school, I’m in trouble! It also become a competition piece between my friends and I (the very friends the Candles on the Cob blog piece talks about) to see who can make the most scrumptious, moist, finger licking good banana bread. So, here we go….
Ingredients:
420g over ripe bananas
70g full fat Greek yoghurt, at room temperature
115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
80g granulated sugar
120g light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1tsp vanilla extract
235g plain flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease a 1lb loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper.
Add the bananas and yoghurt into a bowl and mash until fairly smooth and mixed together.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well. When all the eggs have been incorporated, add the vanilla essence and mix.
Add the banana mixture to the bowl and mix well.
Give the now empty banana bowl a quick wipe, and combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in it. Then add the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Be careful not over beat the mixture.
Transfer this batter to the loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
One the bread is cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack and allowing to cool completely.
I would love to see how you get on with these recipes. Please enjoy and send me pics of any you try.
Thank you
