Posts from — December 2005

4 – 6 cleaned pork kidneys
pepper and salt
butter
200 g – 7 oz. white mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
150 g – 5,25 oz. ham, in fine strips
cognac or brandy
white wine
chopped parsley

Season the kidneys with salt and pepper and fry them in butter. Cut the mushrooms in slices and fry them too. Add the chopped onions to the kidneys and brown them slightly. Add the ham and mix well. Add the mushrooms, pour some cognac over the dish and flamb?. Add some white wine and mix well. Add seasonings to taste.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with baked potatoes.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: my collection.

2 oz – 60 g chopped salt pork
1 bay leaf
1 lb – 500 g beef chuck in chunks
1 ts thyme
3 onions thinly sliced
3 tb Dijon mustard
1 ts flour
1 French bread (stale)
1 1/2 tb vinegar
2 c – 5 dl Belgian dark Trappist beer
1 parsley sprig
1 tb packed brown sugar

Blanch salt pork in boiling water 5 minutes. Drain and rinse well; pat dry. Transfer to heavy large skillet and cook over medium flame until lightly browned. Remove from skillet using slotted spoon and reserve for use in salads or other dished. Increase heat to medium high. Add beef to skillet in batches (do not crowd) and cook until well browned on all sides, turning with spatula.

Transfer meat to heavy 2 to 3 quart saucepan. Add onions to skillet reduce heat slightly and cook until deep golden brown about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Blend in flour and cook about 30 seconds, watching carefully so flour does not burn. Add stout and stir, scraping up any browned bits. Bring mixture to boil. Pour over beef. Blend in vinegar, sugar, parsley, bay leaf and thyme. Cover saucepan and simmer mixture for 30 minutes. Spread mustard over bread. Press bread into stew. Cover and cook until meat is tender, about 1 hour. Remove bay leaf and discard. Serve immediately. Serve with boiled potatoes, green salad and beer.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: my collection

FOR THE FISH BALLS:
350 g – 12 oz. leftover fish, boned and skinned
500 g – 1,1 lb boiled floury potatoes
1 clove garlic
2 tb chopped parsley
1 tb chopped chervil
1 tb chopped chives
50 g – 1,75 oz. softened butter
2 egg yolks
FOR THE BATTER:
100 g – 3,5 oz. plain flour
1 tb olive oil
1.5 dl – 5 fl. oz. lukewarm beer
Whites of 2 eggs
Pinch of salt

Mix the flour and salt with the oil and the beer, beating well together. Cover and leave in the kitchen, not the refrigerator or the cool larder, until required. This gives the batter a chance to ferment slightly, which improves its texture. Just before the batter is about to be used, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold in carefully.

Remove any skin or bones from the cooked fish. Mash the boiled potatoes and mix the fish, potatoes, chopped garlic, herbs and the softened butter together. Add the egg yolks one at a time: the mixture should hold its shape and be neither too dry nor too liquid. Use only one egg yolk if this gives the right consistency, or the second egg yolk and a drop of milk if the mixture is too dry.

Season to taste. Take a tablespoon of the mixture, roll between the palms of your hands, into a small ball: continue until all the mixture has been used up, flouring your hands from time to time.

Using a fork, dip each ball in the batter and then plunge into hot fat.

When brown and crispy, remove and serve with tomato sauce or mayonnaise.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).

4 chicory heads
salt
2 tb lemon juice
6 tb butter
1 chicken breast, boned, diced
2 tb flour
1/2 c chicken stock or broth
1/2 c half and half
1 pn nutmeg – grated
pepper, white
4 sl ham – cooked
1 egg yolk
1/4 c cheese, Gouda – grated (1oz)

Preheat oven to 350?F. Butter small covered baking dish. Remove and discard core from chicory heads. Place in baking dish. Sprinkle with a little salt, lemon juice and 2 tb butter. Cover and bake 1 hour.

Melt 2 tb butter in large skillet – add chicken and saute 10 minutes.

Melt remaining 2 tb butter in small saucepan – add flour, Stir 1-2 minutes. Stir in stock, simmer 5 minutes. Stir in half and half, nutmeg, pinch of salt and white pepper. Stir in sauteed chicken and juices.

Cut baked chicory heads in half lengthwise. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce on 4 halves – top with remain halves. Wrap bacon slice around each filled chicory head – place in baking dish.

Stir egg yolk and cheese into remaining sauce – spoon over filled heads. Bake until lightly browned. Serve hot.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: my Fidonet collection

1 kg – 2,2 lb mussels
1.5 dl – 5 fl. oz. dry white wine
2 shallots, chopped
2 sprigs parsley
1 celery heart
1 onion
60 g – 1 oz. butter
1 tb Flour
2 dl – 6,6 fl. oz. milk
3 eggs
Juice of one lemon
Salt, pepper
Flour
Breadcrumbs
Oil

Scrape and clean the mussels thoroughly, then put them in a wide, deep pan with the wine, shallots and parsley. Cook over medium heat until the mussels have opened.

Drain the mussels when they have cooled down a little, but reserve the liquid. Shell them and chop them finely.

Chop the onion and celery finely and cook them gently in 30 g (1 oz.) butter until translucent. Strain the mussel liquid, add 2 tb of it to the vegetables, and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated.

In another pan, make a roux with 30 g (1 oz.) of butter and 1 tb of flour, add 1 dl (3,3 fl. oz.) of the mussel liquid and 2 dl (6,6 fl. oz.) warm milk, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sauce is smooth and thick. Add the chopped mussels, onion and celery to the sauce and beat in gradually 3 egg yolks and the lemon juice. Check the seasoning, bring gently to the boil, then turn off the heat and let the mixture cool a little.

Pour the mixture onto a cold slab or a very large plate, allow to go thoroughly cold, then cut the paste into egg-sized pieces. Beat the egg whites until very stiff. Roll each egg-sized bit of paste in your hands and shape into oval patties. Roll these in flour, dip them into the egg whites, roll in breadcrumbs, and fry in oil until golden and crisp.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).

250 g / 8 oz. dried white beans
1 onion
1 sprig savory
250 g / 8 oz. potatoes
2 cooked beets
4 kipper fillets
1 dl / 3,3 fl. oz. mayonnaise
1 shallot
1 ts french mustard
1 tb chopped parsley
4 gherkin pickles

Preparation:
Soak the beans overnight. The next day, put the beans in boiling salted water with the onion (cut in two) and the savory. When they are all cooked but still firm, drain them and remove the onion and savory. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water, peel and dice them. Dice the beets.

Cut the kipper fillets into 1-inch strips and mix them in a salad bowl with the potatoes, beans and beets. Chop the shallot, parsley and gherkins and mix them into the mayonnaise and mustard. Spoon the sauce over the salad and mix carefully.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: A Taste of the Belgian Provinces, Enid Gordon and Midge Shirley (published by The Tuesday Group, rue Frans Merjay, 1060 Brussels).

1 liter – 4 cups fruity white wine (Elzas or Luxembourg Moselle)
Juice of 2 oranges
1 dl – 3,3 fl. oz. cognac (French brandy)
3 complete plants of sweet woodruff (without roots)
1 dl – 3,3 fl. oz. champagne
1 dl – 3,3 fl. oz. curacao

Put the wine, the orange juice and the cognac in a big bowl. Add the sweet woodruff and let rest for 48 hours. Put through a sieve and add the champagne and the curacao. Serve very cold.

Remarks: 4 servings.

Source: Belgische Keuken ABC by Elisabeth Langhe

300 g coffee beans (10 oz.)
3 cups water
4 cups milk
1/2 vanilla pod
Whipped cream

Preparation:
Grind the coffee beans and make a strong coffee with the 3 cups water. Heat the milk with the split vanilla pod. Mix the sieved coffee with the milk (first remove the vanilla pod!). Let the mixture cool, transfer it to an icemaker and let the machine turn until the mixture is nearly stiff.

Serve the ice-coffee in tall glasses with a big dot of whipped cream.

Source: my collection.

Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon / 0.5 cl Campari Cordial
1 teaspoon / 0.5 cl Crème de Framboise
Alexander Rodenbach beer
Mint leaves
Raspberries

Take a champagne glass or a Rodenbach cocktail glass and add first the lemon juice, Campari Cordial and the Crème de Framboise.

Then pour in the Alexander Rodenbach beer to create a smooth, creamy head. Decorate with mint leaves and raspberry on the glass.

Serve cool.

Remarks: 1 serving.

Source: The Rodenbach Brewery.