Per person, one even slice of farmhouse bread, about 1 cm thick; 200g pink mushrooms, cleaned and chopped; 1 diced shallot, 1/2 finely chopped garlic clove, 2 tbsp olive oil, 120g chopped poultry liver, 2cl chicken stock, 2 sprigs each of fresh thyme and flat-leaf parsley, 4 fresh sage leaves, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper.
Toast the bread at 200°in the oven. Sauté the mushrooms with the shallot and garlic in the olive oil, add the liver and sauté for a short time. Deglaze with the stock, add the chopped herbs, stir in and boil down until thick. Salt, pepper, season with the balsamic vinegar, spread on the slices of bread cut into quarters and serve.
Bakery bread made with real bread and grains
<.x>N</x>In most villages one would be already proud, could one still (or again) a single village bakehouse boast. Not so in Hochelheim, for there are their two. That should be interesting enough; but on top of that there is always talk of a cowboy in the flesh, who is doing his thing in Hochelheim's "Backes".
Then Larry Ford is at work there, who is rarely seen without his western hat. He's helping his wife, Gudrun, bake bread. Which is not to say he played merely a minor role. The American from Iowa got to know and love farming on the farm of an uncle, and when in the past his wife thought aloud about whether it would be better to leave farming and livestock, then it was he who advised against it and, in addition to his work in the Army, also lent a hand.
Baking bread is Gudrun Ford's thing, according to old fathers' custom, or, more precisely: according to the recipes and advice of her unfortunately early deceased mother. She regrets that she didn't learn much more from her, as there is no substitute for experience, especially when baking bread in the bakery. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the bread is baked in Hochelheim, after the order has been drawn in the traditional way. The numbered brass tickets are drawn from an apron, and whoever draws ticket number 1 is also responsible for firing up the oven. This is still done with beech wood, and if a bundle of cherry wood is also burnt, the embers turn out particularly well. When the required heat of 300-350° is reached, the embers are removed, the ashes wiped out with a damp cloth, the loaves taken out of the baskets and "eingeschossen".
Gudrun Ford's breads are made of pure rye flour mixed with natural sour, the kilo costs €2.60; the breads enriched with grains or fruit, 10 varieties in all, from four-grain to raisins, cost €2.90. In any case, you know what you're getting. Every now and then, regular customers visit the baker in Hochelheim to take a closer look. Not a few help eagerly; what can be done in the bakehouse, but not when kneading the dough, because if that is not always the same person provides, it affects the quality and taste of the bread.
A low mood no less; when she is in good spirits, the bread turns out best for her, Mrs. Ford has found in many self-experiments. You can tell if a loaf is properly cooked by tapping the underside with your knuckle. If it sounds light and not dull, the bread has been in the oven long enough. That son Frank, who is usually found at the stall, has learned to be a baker can only be of benefit.
In addition to the breads, the Fords' market stall offers a wonderful bounty of all that each season has to offer. From wild vegetables in early spring to homemade jams in summer to home-pickled sauerkraut in winter. Not to forget: local mushrooms, sometimes even noble mousserons, garlic swallows. If you take those instead of mushrooms, the chicken liver crostini taste even better, and you should make more of them.
Gudrun Ford, Larry Ford and Frank Krämer
Moselstr. 18
35625 Hüttenberg-Hochelheim
Phone: 06403-71890
Fax: 06403-71890
Öffnungszeiten: Sale ex farm by appointment
Fri: Market Bad Nauheim, Sat: Farmers' Market Frankfurt, Konstablerwache
from Waldemar Thomas