Posts from — December 2007

1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
3 large tomatoes, peeled and seeded
2 dl – 6,6 fl. oz. cream
1 egg yolk
1 l – 4 cups water
2 glasses dry white wine
1 small glass brandy
Bouquet garni (thyme, bayleaf, 2 stalks parsley, clove of garlic)
60 g – 2 oz. butter
30 g – 1 oz. flour

Melt 30 g (1 oz.) of butter in a large saucepan and gently cook the finely chopped vegetables over a low heat, without browning, for about 10 minutes. Shell the shrimps, reserving the shells and heads. Add the shells and heads of shrimps to the vegetables, pour a liter of hot water into the saucepan, add the bouquet garni and tomatoes. Season with pepper, but no salt at this stage, as the shrimp heads and shells may be salty enough. Cover and simmer gently for one hour.

Pour the stock through a sieve, pressing the vegetables and shells with a wooden spoon to extract all the juice. Melt the rest of the butter in the saucepan, add the flour and make a roux. Stirring constantly, add the vegetable and shrimp stock in a steady stream and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Beat the egg yolk and cream together. Away from the heat, stir in the egg and cream mixture. Add the shrimps and brandy. Return the saucepan to a *very* low heat, stir gently until the soup thickens slightly and the shrimps are cooked (this should take just 2-3 minutes). DON’T let the soup boil, or it may curdle.

Makes 4 servings.

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

2 bunches watercress
1 large onion
1 leek
500 g – 1,1 lb potatoes
1 1/2 l – 6 cups chicken stock
1 dl – 3,3 fl. oz. cream
30 g – 1 oz. butter
Salt, pepper to taste

Chop the onion and the white of the leek and saute in butter in a large saucepan for 2-3 minutes. Peel and chop the potatoes. Roughly chop the leaves and tender stalks of the watercress. Add watercress, potatoes, and the stock to the saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes.

When done, liquidize, return the soup to the saucepan, season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the cream and cook for a further three minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

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

2,25 kg – 5 lb mussels
2 onions
2 shallots
1 stick celery
1 tb butter
33 cl – 10 fl. oz. bottle pale ale
1 ts cornflour
3 egg yolks
1,5 dl – 5 fl. oz cream
Salt, pepper

Scrape and clean the mussels thoroughly, removing the beards and discarding any broken or open ones. Wash them in several waters.

Chop the onions, shallots and celery finely. In a very deep saucepan, melt the butter. Add the mussels and stir. Pour in the beer, add the pepper and very little salt, cover the saucepan and cook the mussels over a medium flame until they have all opened.

Remove the mussels, reserving the liquid. Open the mussels, leaving them on the half shell, and layer them in a wide, semi-shallow serving dish.

Strain the liquid into a smaller saucepan. Mix the cornflour into a paste with a little water and add it to the liquid. Heat this to just under simmering point. Beat the egg yolks and cream and gradually beat in a little hot liquid. Pour the mixture into the saucepan, whisking all the time, until it thickens: it MUST NOT boil.

Check the seasoning, then pour the sauce over the mussels, and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

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

2 lobsters, live or freshly cooked
2 slices Ganda ham (cooked ham)
100 g – 3,5 oz. mushroom caps
2 shallots
2 tb brandy
2 dl white wine
1 dl port
Salt, pepper
2 egg yolks
2 dl – 6,6 fl. oz. single cream

Preparation:
Cook the lobsters (if they’re fresh) and let them cool a little. Split each lobster in half lengthwise. Remove the sand sacs in the heads, and the intestinal tubes. Reserve the coral and green matter in a bowl. Remove the rest of the meat and chop it fairly roughly. Break the claws, remove the meat and chop it as well. Chop the ham, mushrooms and shallots finely. Melt 35 g (1,2 oz.) butter in a large pan, put in the lobster meat and cook it for about 1 minute; then add the ham, shallots and mushrooms, and continue to cook gently for another two minutes.

Pour the warmed brandy into the pan and set it alight to flambé the shellfish and vegetables. Then pour in the wine and port, season to taste, cover and cook gently for 20 minutes.

Beat the egg yolks into the cream and add this to the reserved coral and green matter: then away from the heat, beat it into the lobster mixture, making sure that it thickens without boiling. Check the seasoning, and serve in a warm tureen with buttered noodles.

4 servings.

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

20 cups (5 pounds) all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cups (2 pounds) brown sugar
12 eggs
2 cups butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
splash or two of whiskey, rum, or scotch (optional)
Cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, and liquor (if desired). Blend in.

Now it gets to be fun. You have to work in all five pounds of flour little by little by hand. It will work in but it takes a while. You’ll wind up with a BIG mixing bowl of dough.

Refrigerate dough overnight.

Have plenty of people to help with the cooking. Lightly grease and heat the empty cookie iron over a gas burner. Start with a tablespoon and a half of dough rolled into a little “cigar” shape and vary amount to fit the size of your cookie iron. It takes from one to one and a half minutes to cook each cookie – it’s a trial and error process at first till you get a handle on the temperature of the gas burner and the heat retaining capabilities of your iron. A properly cooked cookie will be golden and after cooled, crisp. If you are using an electric iron, the temp won’t be an issue.

Remarks:
No quantities given but this should be a lot of cookies!

Source: Tara Godfrey – Posted to the Food Forum 09:23:43 12/20/2000.

4 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 lb. sweet butter, softened
4 eggs
2 tbsp. rum

Preparation:
Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Make a well in the center and put the softened butter, eggs and rum in well. Gradually mix the flour into other ingredients. Let the mixture, which will be a paste, stand at room temperature, uncovered, for 2 hours. Divide into small balls the size of 2 tablespoons, and cook them in a waffle iron. Cool on a rack and store as for cookies. (Note:
Belgians eat these like cookies instead of as a breakfast food).

Makes 3-4 dozen.

Source: Olga Drozd – Posted at the Food Forum at 18:54:14 06/18/2001.

3 lbs. pickerel, whitefish, lake herring, or bass fillets; if possible, several kinds, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups chopped celery leaves
1 tsp. salt
Black pepper
3 egg yolks
3 tbsp. whipping cream
3 tbsp. chopped parsley

Lay fish fillets in a shallow pan. Sprinkle with celery leaves, salt, and some pepper and barely cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer carefully until fish flakes. Remove fish with a slotted spoon to a dish in a warm oven. Strain fish stock into a clean saucepan, discarding celery leaves.

Beat egg yolks and cream together. Stir 1 tbsp. of fish stock into egg mixture and then blend into remaining stock. Reheat very slowly, stirring continuously. Do not boil. Adjust seasoning.

Pour sauce over fish, garnish with parsley and serve. Traditionally the fish and sauce is spooned onto thick slices of dark rye bread.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Olga Drozd – Posted at the Food Forum at 17:54:59 06/18/2001.

1 kg – 2,2 lb pork meat
2 onions, coarsly chopped
2 cloves mashed garlic
18 g – 3/4 oz. flour
salt, pepper
a good, tasty red wine
red porto
a piece of lemon peel (white part removed)
1 piece of cinnamon bark
250 gr – 1/2 lb dried prunes (put them in water first so they soften)
butter
oil

Heat the butter in a casserole with a thick bottom and fry the onions until they have browned (about 7 minutes). Heat the oil in another pan and brown the meat.

Transfer the meat to the casserole with the onions. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir for about 3 minutes.

Then pour in the wine and porto (2/3 wine-2/3 porto) so that the meat is just covered. Stir continuously untill the sauce has thickened. Add salt, pepper, 2 cloves mashed garlic, the lemon peel and the piece of cinnamon bark.

Simmer for one hour.

Then add the dried prunes and simmer 45 minutes more. Remove the lemon peel and the cinnamon bark, check seasonings and serve.

I am not sure abouth the amount of flour. But if the sauce is too thin, you can always add a portion of butter mixed with an equal amount of flour. Stir well when you add it.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: my collection.

800 g – 28 oz. lean beef
4 egg yolks
2 tb ground-nut oil
2 tb capers (preserved in vinegar)
12 small gherkins – preserved in vinegar
1 tb minced parsley
1 tb Worchestershiresauce
1 tb minced onion
Pepper and salt

The devil may know where the name filet am?ricain (as we call it in Dutch) comes from. Americans seem to be horrified to eat raw red meat. But everybody in our country loves it. As a course “am?ricain” is served with a salad and french fries (belgian fries!), but frequently the meat is served with bread or toast and then it is called “Toast Cannibale”.

Mince the meat with a mincing-machine, or still better : mince it with a big, sharp knife.

Put the meat in a bowl and mix with all the other ingredients. Use a lot of pepper. Make 4 portions and serve them cold and raw.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Dirk De Prins en Nest Mertens: “De Belgische Keuken”, Standaard Uitgeverij, Antwerpen 1995.