2011 Cooking Club Week 45: Winzerrösti

The Hill Billy

I got stuck here working in Bern this weekend & thought that I'd try a local dish, but with ingredients that are easy enough to get back home.

So here we go with Winzerrösti...

Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes (skins on)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 200g bauernspeck [or 6 smoked streaky rashers]
• 100g Winzerkäse [or white cheddar or Gruyère]
• 1 knob of butter
• 1 splash of white wine

Method

• Parboil the spuds for 10 mins, then drain & cover in cold water
• When cool enough to handle grate the spuds & put to one side
• Mince the garlic
• Grate the onion
• Slice the bacon into small lardons
• Grate the cheese

• In a dry pan - gently fry the bacon for 5 minutes & then set aside
• Combine the spuds, onions, garlic & bacon in a bowl & mix well
• Add the knob of butter to the pan on a medium heat & allow to melt
• Once melted, roll the pan so that the melted butter coats the sides of the pan
• Now add the rösti mixture to the pan & pat down well with a fish slice or spatula
• Cover the pan with a lid or a plate & allow to cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the the potatoes begin to brown around the edges

• The rösti needs to be turned - it is best to do this by placing a plate on top of the pan & quickly turning over, slide the rösti off the plate back into the pan
• Sprinkle with wine & cook the other side for 5 to 10 minutes
• Now sprinkle the grated cheese on top & stick under a hot grill to melt & go slightly brown
• Fry a couple of eggs & serve on top of the rösti

Not the prettiest of dishes, but damn tasty!

Interesting. Would this be more a breakfast dish or a dinner? It's jumping out at me as a good meal for a hangover!

Faith

Wait, 4 potatoes is listed in the ingredients, but the final dish appears to serve one... That's hardly right, is it?

The Hill Billy

Dónal - It is an all-day dish & great for a hangover too.

Faith - I halved it & there were 2 good portions for two hungry lads.

(And a big thanks to Dazza for selecting the tunes & keeping the wine coming.)

Little Alex

I feckin' knew that you were going to do a Rösti! Being that you said you'd be in Switzerland.

That's lovely looking smoked ham that you are using. In Ireland you can get very similar ham in Polish shops. That's where I get it for when I make Spätzle.

Anyway, I'll be making this soon!

Faith

Little Alex wrote: »

That's where I get it for when I make Spätzle.

If you could post a recipe for that in the random recipes thread, I'd be very grateful! I have a half-German boyfriend and I keep promising to make it for him.

I'm really looking forward to trying this HB, thanks!

The Hill Billy

Spätzli (as we call them here in Bern) sind sehr schön.

The Black Oil

Week 45 there, fella, or are the Swiss operating on their own Autumnal cooking week? :pac:

Don't know any German, but I believe there's a German soft drink called Spezi, half coke/fanta type deal.

The Hill Billy

Fixed. So much for good ol' Swiss time-keeping.

Little Alex

Faith wrote: »

If you could post a recipe for that in the random recipes thread, I'd be very grateful! I have a half-German boyfriend and I keep promising to make it for him.

I will, but you might need a special type of device to make them.

Mine are actually really Knöpfli (the same, but just a different shape) and I use this to make them.

Black Oil wrote: »

Week 45 there, fella, or are the Swiss operating on their own Autumnal cooking week? :pac:

Don't know any German, but I believe there's a German soft drink called Spezi, half coke/fanta type deal.

Jawoll! Spezi is a cola and fizzy orange mix. It looks like muck (which is what it's called in Ireland, at least where I used to work), but tastes pretty good.

Swampy

Dónal wrote: »

It's jumping out at me as a good meal for a hangover!

It looks made for that. Yum.

Little Alex

Just had this for breakfast and it was very tasty. I mixed the cheese in with the potato instead of sprinkling it on top.



... and there's enough potato left over for tomorrow! :pac:

The Hill Billy

Jaysus! Well done - that looks fantastic!!!

_blank_

In your last pic Hill Billy, is that a Swiss Army Knife you are using for a corkscrew?

The Hill Billy

It is indeed Des. Not an authentically Swiss one. The real Soldatenmesser 08 doesn't have a corkscrew - probably because they don't want the soldiers lashing into the Pinot Noir when on duty. See below:

juke

Rösti - always bring back happy memories .

Going to give this a recipe a try tonight - as a side to out main, so without the bacon/egg.

My recipe is too buttery (loads extra butter while cooking and instead of wine when it's flipped) so looking forward to the end result.

juke

Voila.

Nice - liked the wine flavour

Not sure if was the frying pan (most likely - it's not the greatest, but the best size), or the wine - but it stuck a bit to the bottom once I flipped it. Didn't affect how it tasted, tho

BaZmO*

Had this for dinner and it was delish. What's not to like about potatoes, bacon, cheese and egg?

I had no white wine so I just splashed on some Weissbier I was drinking (it's German so it'll do!)

The Hill Billy

Well done all & a big thanks for trying the recipe!

bluto63

I'm only teasing myself looking at this at this hour. Definitely trying this tomorrow!

Malari

I have a couple of leftover spuds so gonna try this tonight. It'll be more like a side though, so what would be good with it as a main?

The Hill Billy

It goes great with any meat to be honest, eg, pork chops with gravy, steak with fried onions, etc, etc...

The Hill Billy

Actually, a traditional Swiss dish would be 'Schweinekotelett Walliser-art mit Rösti' (Pork chop in the Valais-style with rösti).

Basically, make the rösti without the cheese & bacon & serve with grilled pork chops. Before serving - place a slice of tomato on each chop, then a slice or two of cheese (a white cheddar would be good) & stick under the grill until the cheese melts & browns a little.

Malari

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Actually, a traditional Swiss dish would be 'Schweinekotelett Walliser-art mit Rösti' (Pork chop in the Valais-style with rösti).

Basically, make the rösti without the cheese & bacon & serve with grilled pork chops. Before serving - place a slice of tomato on each chop, then a slice or two of cheese (a white cheddar would be good) & stick under the grill until the cheese melts & browns a little.

This could be a go-er. Schweinekotelett. I love German.

Malari

Oh, found a recipe for porcini minute steak with rosti, so think I will try that.

Malari

It was really good! Made some leek and cabbage to go with it, and served the steak on top, just seasoned with sea salt and pepper and olive oil.

I didn't take a picture because it wasn't the best looking. Rosti collapsed while I was doing the old switcheroo to a plate (I'm looking at you, "non-stick" frying pan :mad:) but it tasted good

The Hill Billy

Let's face it - my pics weren't the Mae West either.

Padraig Mor

Made this over the weekend. Unfortunately it didn't all go according to plan! Like another poster, things went south at the rosti - flipping phase, with half it staying in the pan, stuck to the bottom. It still tasted good, but didn't look quite as professional as the OP's. Probably my fault for (1) not using a non stick pan and (2) misreading the recipe, and putting the grated cheese in at the start of cooking - might have made things a bit 'stickier' than they should have been?

Roald Dahl

This is a lovely recipe. We're big fans of Rösti in this house!

We had it for breakfast; one was made with Black Forest Ham and the other with smoked tofu, along with some mustard.