Heaven, Earth and Green

The original to this dish is called ‘Heaven and Earth’. It has sweet and spicy parts – like the weather and life. (Rcp# 0023)

Ingredients for ‘Heaven, Earth and Green’

• 1 big or two medium sized sweet potatoes (350 g)
• 5 -6 regular potatoes (350 g, mostly firm when cooked)
• 4 pears, not too ripe, slicable (500 g, if possible cooking pears, ask at your local farmers market)
• 1 big handful green beans, young (150 g)
• 250 g brown edible mushrooms (e.g. cremini, porcini, oyster mushrooms, shitake …)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried sour cherries (pitted) or 1 handful sweet cherries (fresh/frozen, pitted)
• 4 – 5 dried tomatoes, salted (both halves)
• 3 – 4 branches fresh plain parsley
• 10 – 15 fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon savory
• nutmeg, freshly ground
• 2 teaspoons ginger in oil
• Mild pepper, freshly ground (e.g. Tellicherry Pepper)
• Canola oil for browning
• 1 tablespoon potato flour
• 1 tablespoon agave syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 liters vegetable broth, self made (see [Vegetable Broth])
• Pot with at least 4 liters of cooking space

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Cooking Instructions for ‘Heaven, Earth and Green’

1. Remove the bad parts from sweet potatoes, potatoes and pears, but do not peel them, then cut into round thick slices (about 1 ½ – 2 cm high).
2. Heat the broth in a saucepan with ½ teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Set a kitchen timer.
3. Carefully remove the seeds and hard parts from the center of the pear slices, taking care not to break the round shapes.
4. Drop the sweet potato slices into the cooking liquid and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. After 8 minutes, add the pear slices. After another 8 minutes, add the regular potato slices and simmer all slices for another 8 – 10 minutes, then turn off the heat. Allow all the slices to stand in the hot broth for 8 – 10 minutes, then remove the pears from the broth and set aside on a large plate to cool.
5. Wash and clean the other fresh ingredients. Separate the mushroom heads from the stalks and set the heads aside.
6. Slice the mushroom stalks and beans. Halve the dried cherries and cut the dried tomatoes into equal pieces. Chop the chives and parsley.
7. Combine sliced mushroom stalks, beans, cherries and dried tomatoes in a saucepan with canola oil. When browned, reduce heat to low, add chives, chopped parsley and sliced mushroom heads.
8. Remove all potato slices from the broth and set the broth aside. Keep the potato slices in a covered pot (to keep warm, do not heat).
9. Add 1/2 liter of the broth from cooking the potatoes and pears to the mushrooms and beans. Heat, then add the agave syrup, the ginger in oil, the ground nutmeg, the pepper and the savory.
10. Simmer over a low heat for 8-10 minutes, then add the potato flour (previously dissolved in 3 tablespoons of cold water). Wait for the sauce to thicken, then remove from heat immediately.

Serve with a salty smoked protein source – such as smoked tofu. Set the tofu (or similar) aside to serve cool with the dish, or add to the sauce prior to serving to warm up. If you need to cook the protein source, do so ahead of time.

Makes 3 – 4 servings.

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Side Notes:

• The original version of this dish dates back to at least my great-grandmother’s childhood. It’s a traditional northern dish for the fruit and vegetable harvest season. In our family version from Bremen – where my great-grandmother grew up on a farm – this dish was made with cooking pears called ‘Die Köstliche’ (‘The Delicious’) from the trees in the front yard and fresh potatoes from the field behind the house. The original sauce back then was made with roasted striped ham bacon (the neighbor’s poor pig had to donate that …).
• There is also a dish from the Cologne area called ‘Heaven and Earth’ with apples, heavy onion topping and blood sausage, but that is a completely different story.

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