Happy Swiss National Day! Surprise…here’s a Swiss recipe! A few months before the pandemic, my wife and I were in Zermatt, and we toured Tradition Julen’s Valais Sheep Barn. It was amazing…she got to hold a lamb, and we had a blast all around. Well, in that barn, we were given a soup to try. It was delightful, and then they told us that it was made with hay. Of course, I was immediately captivated by the idea of cooking with Hay.
A few years later, a friend shared with us a Swiss cookbook that featured hay stock in one of its recipes, and that only emboldened me. So, I procured some organic hay and have been dabbling in the barn food arts ever since (with surprising amounts of success). So far, we’ve only dipped our toes in with sauces…but hear you me…soup is on the radar once the weather cools off.
Knowing we wanted to feature hay in our Swiss National Day post, we thought of foods that feature copious amounts of sauce. That’s when we decided on Geschnetzeltes! Then, given that our sauce was going to have earthy notes, we opted to use Pork Tenderloin and Cremini Mushrooms as our primary ingredients. We served our geschnetzeletes with Rösti and Butter Cabbage to round everything out! En Guete!
Time: 35 Minutes (Plus 60 Minutes to make your Garlic Hay Stock, which can be done ahead of time)
Ingredients:
- For Your Stock:
- Organic Hay
- Water
- Veggie or Roasted Garlic Boullion
- Pork Tenderloin. That said, this would also work well with chicken breast, beef, or veal.
- Cremini (Baby Bella) Mushrooms
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 Tablespoon Flour
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- Black Pepper
Method:
- Combine your hay, water, and bouillon in a pot. Then, cover loosely, and simmer for about 30-40 minutes to infuse your base with the hay flavours. Then, pour your liquid through a fine strainer into a measuring cup or bowl to strain the hay out. Discard your hay, and keep your stock.
- Slice your mushrooms. Then melt two tablespoons of butter in a large pan, and add your mushrooms. Sauté until they soften and darken in colour.
- As your mushrooms cook, slice your pork tenderloin thinly. When your mushrooms have darkened a bit, add your pork into the pan, and stir to combine. Sauté together until your pork has completely browned on the outside.
- When your pork has browned, pour in your hay stock, and bring it to a simmer. Allow to reduce a bit as it cooks to concentrate flavours.
- Pour and mix in some heavy cream, and bring everything back to a simmer. Sprinkle in some black pepper, and stir to combine.
- As your sauce and pork simmer, make a “latent” roux by adding a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon of butter to a bowl and then mashing together with a fork to fully incorporate into one another. Add your butter/flour mixture into your geschnetzeltes pan, and allow your sauce to thicken to your desired consistency.
- Plate, Devour, and Enjoy!
