Belgian Recipes

150 g – 5,25 oz. goat cheese
4 slices smoked ham (from the Ardennes)
butter
1/2 crinkly lettuce
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 large, solid pear
2 tablespoons sugar
2 slices bread
2 tablespoons chives
salt and pepper

Divide the cheese into 4 parts and roll each part into a slice of smoked ham. Put some butter on the cheese rolls, then put them 5-8 minutes into a preheated oven of 355° F.

Meanwhile, wash the lettuce, tear it apart and mix with the wine vinegar. Add pepper and salt to taste and arrange on 4 platters.

Peel the pear and cut into 16 parts. Bake in butter, pour sugar over it and let colour for a while.

Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into 1/2 x 1/2 inch squares. Bake in butter until golden, then put on the salad. Put the cheese rolls in the middle of each plate and decorate with 4 pieces of pear. Sprinkle with chives and serve with a glass of white wine.

Makes 4 servings.
Source: Kreatieve Keuken

  

8 medium heads Belgian endive
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flavorless cooking oil
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut each endive in half lengthwise and set aside. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat on the stove. Add the endive in one layer and cook until the outer leaves are nicely browned, about 7 minutes. Turn endives and brown the other side, about 4 minutes. (Do this in two batches, if necessary.)

Add the broth, sprinkle with salt and cook until the liquid is reduced, about 10 minutes. Transfer the endive and its juices to a serving platter.

Makes 4 servings.
Source: Kreatieve Keuken

  

750 g – 1,5 lb mussels
1 bouquet garni
1 dl – 3,3 fl. oz. water
60 g – 2 oz. butter
1 tb brandy
6 eggs
3 tb single cream
1 tb chopped parsley
1 ts chopped chervil
1 ts chopped chives
0.5 ts chopped tarragon leaves

Scrape and clean the mussels, removing the beards and discarding any broken or open ones, and wash them under running water several times. Put the mussels in a deep, wide pan with 1 dl (3,3 fl. oz.) water, salt, pepper, and the bouquet garni. Cover and cook over brisk heat until all the mussels have opened.

Remove the mussels and shell them, reserving the flesh. Melt 30 g of butter in a frying pan and saute the mussels in it for 2-3 minutes, then flamb? with the brandy and keep warm (but take care not to cook them further). Break the eggs into a bowl with the cream, salt and pepper to taste, and whisk them lightly with a fork. Melt the remaining butter in a pan, pour in the eggs and stir with a wooden spoon over gentle heat until the eggs are set but still soft. Fold in the mussels and the chopped herbs, and serve piping hot.

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).

  

4,5 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups blanched grated almonds
1 & 1/4 cup light brown sugar; packed
1/3 cup brandy [or orange juice]
2/3 cup milk
2 sticks butter; melted

Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Add grated almonds and brown sugar. Pour in brandy or juice, milk, and butter. Mix well with hands until dough feels like clay. Shape into a roll. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Slice 1/4-inch slices and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake – 375° about 8-10 minutes. Remove from sheet immediately. Cool on wire rack.

Makes about 60 cookies. Keep in airtight container or plastic bag.

Source: my Fidonet collection.

  

250 gm flour
175 gm butter
125 gm sugar
2 eggs
25 gm yeast
salt
cinamon
candy sugar
milk

Dilute the yeast in a little warm water, and add some of the flour. Form a ball of dough by adding the rest of the flour, melted butter, spice, and salt. Dampen slightly with a little milk. Leave to rise for 2 hours, then add the sugar and leave to rise once more. Cook in a well greased waffle iron.

Source: Cuisine Traditionnelle au pays de Liège.

  

1 kg – 2,2 lb flour
75 g – 2,6 oz. yeast
5 dl – 2 cups warm milk and water, mixed
50 g – 1,75 oz. fine sugar
2 eggs
500 g – 1,1 lb butter
50 g – 1,75 oz. honey
10 g – 0,35 oz. salt
1 drop vanilla essence
3 g – 0,1 oz. bicarboate of soda
600 g – 21 oz. loaf sugar, broken

Preparation:
Mix the yeast with 800 g (28 oz.) of flour, the fine sugar, eggs and the milk and water. Leave to rise for 15 minutes, then add the butter, honey, the rest of the flour, salt, vanilla and bicarbanate of soda.

Mix to form a dough and leave to rise for 10 mins. Add the crushed loaf sugar, and divide into “patons” ( balls ), weighing from 90 to 140 g (3 to 5 oz.), depending on the size of the waffle iron.

Remarks: Yield depends on the waffle iron.

Source: Cuisine Traditionnelle au pays de Liège.

  

3 1/2 sticks of butter
2 cups sugar
7 to 8 eggs; medium or large
4 1/2 cup flour

Soften butter until nearly melted, but not quite; cool. Beat eggs. Add sugar gradually. Add butter. Add flour a little at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Refrigerate dough several hours.

Cook on waffle iron until light golden brown (not too dark!). Use a heaping tablespoon of dough on each section of waffle iron grid, or use a larger “blob” of dough in center of iron. Separate sections when cooked.

Recipe can be doubled. Galettes keep well in a covered tin.

Yield: 1 batch

Source: Kris Faria 09/24/96 in Cooking Echo

  

200 g – 7 oz. flour
8 g – 1/3 oz yeast
1 dl – 3,3 fl. oz. milk
30 g – 1 oz. butter
1 egg
0.25 ts salt

For the filling:
400 g – 14 oz. chicons (Chicory, Belgian Endive)
30 g – 1 oz. butter
100 g – 3,5 oz. cream cheese
2 eggs
1 dl – 3,3 fl. oz. double cream
Salt, pepper

Preparation:
First prepare the pastry: dilute the yeast in warmed milk and melt the butter. Sift the flour in a large bowl and add gradually the milk and yeast mixture and melted butter. Beat in the egg and salt. Knead the dough vigorously, shape it into a ball, wrap it in greaseproof paper and leave it to rise in a warmish place for 2 hours.

Meanwhile chop the chicons finely and stew them gently in 30 g (1 oz.) butter for about 10 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the cream, add the cream cheese and season with salt and pepper. Roll out the pastry fairly thin, line a pie plate or flan dish with it, and prick the surface with a fork. Spread the chicons over the pastry and pour the cream mixture over them. Cook in a moderately hot oven for 15-20 minutes or until the flan has set and browned.

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).

  

crust
1 tablespoon soft butter
200 gram chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed
1/3 cup butter, melted

Brush sides of 10 inch springform pan with soft butter to within 1/2 inch from top of pan. Combine wafer crumbs and melted butter. Press mixture evenly over the bottom and up sides to within 1/2 inch of the topof pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

filling
750 gram cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp sifted unsweetened cocoa
pinch of salt
4 large eggs
1/3 cup hazelnut liqueur
1 lb bittersweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup sour cream

Beat softened cream cheese, sugar, cocoa and salt until blended and smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in liqueur, then melted chocolate. Blend in sour cream. Pour into prepared pan, smooth top. Bake at 350F for 45-55 minutes or just until center is barely set. Cool completely on wire rack, then refrigerate overnight. Can be refrigerated for 3 days or can be held in freezer for up to 1 month.

topping
1 cup sour cream
bittersweet chocolate curls
icing sugar

To serve: run sharp knife around edge of cake to loosen. Remove pan rim. Spread top of cake with sour cream. Arrange chocolate curls on top. Sieve icing sugar over curls. Makes about 16 servings.
Source: my Fidonet collection.

  

6 tb Butter
2 tb Sugar
1/4 c Dark corn syrup
1 t Lemon rind; grated
1 tb Lemon juice
1 t Rum
1/4 ts Ginger
1/4 ts Nutmeg
1/4 ts Ground cloves
1/4 ts Cinnamon
2 c Flour

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the corn syrup, lemon rind and juice, rum, and spices and beat well. Gradually stir in the flour until the dough forms a ball. (The dough can be prepared in a food processor, using the same procedure.) If the flour has been packed closely in the measuring cup, you may find that the dough tends not to cohere into a ball. The addition of a teaspoon of two of water will correct the proportions.

Divide the dough in two and pat each piece into a rectangular shape. Wrap and chill for 1 or 2 hours in the refrigerator or place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Measure out a large piece of aluminum foil that will fit a cookie sheet. Turn its shiny side down, place one of the rectangles of dough on it, and rap it a few times with a rolling pin to soften the chilled dough a little. Cover with a piece of wax paper the same length as the foil and fasten the two sheets together with several straight pins. Roll the dough between the foil and the wax paper as thin as you can. The thinner the better and crisper. Do not attempt to work too fast, but press down heavily on the rolling pin. The rolled-out dough should almost reach the edges of the wax paper.

Lift the dough with with foil and wax paper onto the cookie sheet, foil side down. Remove the straight pins and carefully pull off the wax paper. Cut the dough into any shape you desire–squares, rectangles, diamonds, triangles–but leave in place after cutting. Make certain you cut through the dough; this will prevent excess breakage later. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned.

The ultrathin dough at the edges of the pan will brown faster than the rest. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Store in an airtight container.

These crisps are not only extremely good, but very fragile as well. Avoid excessive handling. (Note: The second portion of dough can be frozen for future use.)

Yield: 80 servings

Source: my collection