New Year's Menu at the "Zur Bleiche" Hotel

Carpaccio of Marinated Beef Tenderloin with Parmesan
Ingredients:
1 kg beef tenderloin
60g Himalayan crystal salt
25g freshly chopped tarragon
15g fresh chervil leaves
25g freshly chopped parsley (flat-leafed)
75g shallots, cut into small cubes
50g hot mustard (Bautzen or Dijon)
25g thyme

With a mortar, finely grind up:

1 tablespoon of juniper berries
1 tablespoon of white pepper berries
½ clove of garlic
1 tablespoon allspice (pimento)
5 cloves
5 bay leaves

Preparation:
Remove all the sinews from the beef tenderloin and set aside the head and tips of the meat. Combine the remaining ingredients and brush them over the tenderloin. Wrap it well in clear plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Let the meat marinate for 24 hours. Using a sharp knife, cut it into thin slices. Place these on a plate that's been brushed with a bit of lime oil. Brush the meat with pesto and top it with some grated parmesan.

Sautéd Zander (Pike-Perch) with Crayfish and Pearl Barley Risotto
Ingredients (per person):
120 to140g of fresh zander filet (scaled, but with the skin)
1 or 2 crayfish
50g medium to coarse pearl barley
1 tablespoon of whipped cream
ruccola

For the Crayfish Sauce (serves four):
50g shallots
50g carrots
50g celeriac (celery root)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
50g butter (cold)
50g white mushrooms
1 fennel root
4cl Noilly Prat
2cl cognac
200ml chicken broth
200ml fish bouillon
200g crayfish, in their shells
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Heinz Chili Ketchup
cream

Preparation:
Wash the unshelled crayfish well. Place them in the oven to dry for 30 minutes to one hour at 120 degrees Celcius. In the meantime, chop up the vegetables into cubes. Then sweat the crayfish with the diced vegetables. Add the tomato paste and the alcohol. Top up the mixture with the chicken broth and the fish bouillon and let it simmer for 45 minutes. Add cream and simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the ketchup and some cayenne pepper, Himalaya salt and ground pepper to taste. Just before serving mix in the cold butter to bind the mixture.

In a cast iron frying pan, slowly sauté the zander filets -- skin side down -- in a mixture of olive oil, butter and other flavourings (shallots, rosemary and a bit of garlic) until the skin is golden brown. Cook the crayfish in a spiced stock for two minutes, let them sit for two minutes and then crack and remove the shells. Briefly warm the crayfish tails in the sauce.

For the pearl barley rissotto, sweat the diced shallots in olive oil, add the pearl barley. Quickly douse the mixture with chicken broth, so that the barley is evenly covered. Cover the pot with a lid and cook over a low heat. When the liquid has evaporated, add cold butter, 1 tablespoon of whipped cream and salt and ground nutmeg to taste. Just before serving mix in some freshly cut ruccola. Serve immediately.

Truffled Guinea Fowl with Potato Gnocchi and Fenugreek Cheese
Ingredients (for 4 persons) Potato Gnocci:
600g potatoes
100g hard wheat seminola
vegetable bouillon
5 tbs. fenugreek cheese
nutmeg
caraway seeds
butter
4 breasts of guinea fowl

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes, still in their peels, in plenty of salted water with a pinch of caraway seeds, until they are soft. Peel them while still warm and immediately press through a potato ricer. Mix in the seminola, grated nutmeg, and cheese and stir into a smooth dough. On a floured work surface, roll the mixture out in a roll and cut into slices about 1 to 2 cm thick. Form these into gnocchi and cook until ready in the vegetable bouillon. Before serving, briefly heat in butter.

Debone the meat. Loosen the skin and insert two or three substantial slices of black winter truffle under the skin. Season and briefly brown on the meat side, then turn to the skin side and put it into an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes. Let cool for 2 or 3 minutes, then carve. Serve with seasonal vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or carrots brazed quickly and buttered.