Paella

Yesterday, 12th December 2015, looked like spring and we cooked a Spanish Paella. The original recipe has been modified to our taste and you won't be disappointed.

The dish is for 4 persons.

Shopping list:

250g chorizo mild ​​sausage (diced) or more as we like it so much
300 g chicken breast (roughly chopped)
500 g freshwater giant prawns large (Gamba's)
1 large onion (coarsely chopped)
1 red pepper (diced)
1 can diced tomatoes (400 g)
200g peas (from tin or frozen)
500 g risotto rice
1½ liter chicken stock (eg. tablet)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Dry white wine


Use a paella pan or a large frying pan

How to cook the dish:
Fry the diced chorizo ​​on a low heat until they are crispy and the fat is distributed on the pan base.
Scoop the chorizo ​​to a plate and fry the chicken pieces first and then the giant prawns in the fat over medium heat until tender. Put them on a plate.
Spoon the onion and peppers by shortening, if required, 2 tablespoons olive oil and cook them until tender min.
Gently 5-10. Stir in the diced tomatoes with liquid, peas and rice.
Cook for 3-4 minutes while stirring.
And then add hot chicken stock.
Stir well and let the paella on a low heat in 25 min. until tender, stirring frequently. Peel in the meantime the shrimps.
Scoop the chorizo ​​from the rice and place the chicken and shrimp in between.
A generous splash of dry white wine.
Bring the paella spicy taste with salt and pepper and cook the rice for another 5 min.

Tip:
Some mussels can be used as well


Not everyone of fish? Bake and serve the shrimps then separately.

Banana eggs

Recently I saw a video how to make a healthy and different breakfast. Well here is the recipe.
I think it certainly would suit young children, but would be nice on a breakfast buffet for guests, with some more red fresh fruit on top.

Shopping list:

1 Banana
2 Eggs
Sunflower oil for frying

How to prepare:

Peel the banana and cut in pieces
Break the eggs and mix with the banana
If the banana is not ripe enough, then you need an electric mixer
Mix them, but keep some of the pieces
Put some oil in the frying pan
Take a sauce spoon and fry them
When brown, turn them over, just like pancakes.

Tip: I think it's even better with some sugar or caramel sauce on top, for the non-healthy option.
If you use a steel ring, heart, you can style it more than I did.

They look a bit on the dark side

Garlic sauce

Garlic sauce is very easy and tasty to make yourself in less than 5 miutes.
I have used a pot of 150 ml Greek yoghurt, pressed 2 cloves of garlic and a bunch of fresh chives. If you don't have fresh chives, you can use from frozen.
Just mixing and your sauce is ready.

Little gems salad with oranges

A tasty and fresh salad for these warm summer days.

Shopping list:    2 oranges (scrubbed)
    2 tsp mustard
    3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    2 little gem (lettuce)
    3 tbsp capers
    1 red onion (sliced)
    1 handfull parsley ((20 g), finely chopped)

Grate the orange zest of 1 orange and squeeze. Mix the zest, juice, mustard and oil until dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cut with a sharp knife, peel the orange and white of the second orange. Cut the wedges between the membranes out.Slice the gems, wash and dry them.
Spread on a plate (looks nicer than in a bowl).
Add the dressing, orange segments, capers, onion and parsley.

This video shows you the easiest way to segment an orange.
 

How to segment an orange

Simple tomato sauce

Nothing fancy or difficult. I have bought a tin of good quality pommodori tomato chunks and warmed it in a pan with some Italian dried herbs.

Italian chicken

Even in France you can fancy something Italian ;-).  Inspired by 'Keukenliefde' I have given my own twist to her recipe and it was wonderful.

This recipe is for 2 persons.

Shopping list:

2 Chicken breasts
6 Long slices pancetta (don't worry if you cannot get long ones, you just need more).
Small jar of green olive tapenade
Extra virgin olive oil
200g Cherry tomatoes, halved
Fresh green or black olives
Salami, cut into small chunks
3 Cloves of garlic, crushed
Small handful of pine nuts *
Piece of parmesan, shaves with a vegetable peeler (or any other hard cheese)
100 ml of dry white wine    
Salt and pepper according to taste (I didn't use it)
Few fresh basil leaves, rolled and cut into thin strips

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper around and cut the chicken breasts with a sharp knife three or four times. Fill the holes with the  tapenade. Grease some tapenade over the top of the chicken.
Wrap the chicken with pancetta and place the chicken in a light greased baking dish.

Divide the tomatoes and chopped garlic, the olives and salami over the chicken, drizzle all with olive oil. Pour in the wine and sprinkle the chicken finally with pine nuts and shavings of Parmesan cheese.

Bake the chicken for about 20 minutes in the oven, or until the chicken is cooked.
* The pine nuts do not have to be roasted first.

I have served this dish with fresh tagliatelle, but any pasta or (garlic) bread will do.

Stuffed artichokes

As a starter, a snack, a part of a buffet

Shopping List:
Bread (baguette or other white bread)
Tin or jar of artichoke hearts
Small can of tunaGarlic
Cherry tomatoes (or other)Olive oil
Mayonnaise
Chives (optional for garnish)
Parsley (flat) * Optional
The artichoke hearts drain it on kitchen paper
Can of tuna let it drain and mix with a little mayonnaise
Cut a few tomatoes
Cut baguette (as is the right size for the artichokes) depending on the number of artichokes.
Sprinkle the bread with olive oil, put it in the frying pan until crunchy, turn over and repeat.
Remove the bread from the pan and rub it with a clove of garlic
Place the artichoke on the baguette, open it a little and fill with tuna
Top it with the sliced ​​tomatoes
And possibly some small cut fresh chives
* If you use parsley cut it then fine and mix with the tuna.Flat parsley tastes much better than the curly one.

Turkey in a coqotte

This dish can be made in the afternoon, then you put it for 20 minutes in the oven when you want to eat it in the evening.
I have made this wonderful dish yesterday for 3 persons.

Shopping list:
400g turkey breast 
1 onion
100g mushrooms
Curry powder, to taste
parsleypuff pastry (ready)
cream
corn flour
dry white
wine
olive oil for frying
1 egg 

Preparation:

Cut the turkey into small pieces.

Cut the onion into small piecesSlice the mushrooms Fry the turkey, onion, mushrooms in olive oil Add Curry powderStir corn flour with a good dash of white wine in a cupAdd the creamAdd the corn flour mixSprinkle parsley over itYou now have a sauce with the thickness of a ragoutTurn the gas off.Fill the coqottes with the turkey mixture.Wrap the puff pastry generously over the top as a lit.Mix the egg and brush it over the pastry for the beautiful golden-brown color.On top of the pastry you can sprinkle some sea salt which gives an extra flavor.Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes.

Dutch Poffertjes

Poffertjes is a sweet dish, like little pancakes, that's typical Dutch. Even Bill Clinton ate them in Delft when he was visiting The Netherlands.

Shopping list:
250 grams of wheat flour

A special pan for poffertjes is needed

250 ml of slightly warmed milk
1 large egg or 2 medium sized eggs
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons of golden syrup

Preparation:

Sift the flour and baking powder, mix it with salt. Stir in the milk little by little. Stir the syrup and the eggs into the batter.

Heat the 'poffertjespan' so that the pan is really hot and lubricate the dimples with melted butter. Reduce heat slightly lower, at about medium heat. Enter the dimples halfway with the batter. Let the bottom brown and turn the pancakes with a fork gently.

Serve the pancakes hot with a little butter and icing sugar.

Foto's rijsttafel avond

Roedjak manis (fruit gerecht)

Eigenlijk kan je heel veel soorten fruit in dit gerecht doen. Dus even kijken wat er voorhanden is.

Voor ongeveer 4 personen is dit bijgerecht.

Ingrediënten:

1 komkommer
2 zachtzure appels
2 peren
2 sinaasappels
1 mango
1 tl citroensap
4 el bruine basterdsuiker
2 tl sambal

Alle vruchten moeten worden gesneden en allemaal dezelfde grootte hebben.
De komkommer uithollen en in stukken snijden.
Schep alles doorelkaar
Los de suiker op in 5 eetlepels kokend water.

Voeg ketjap, sambal en citroensap toe.
Schep dit over de vruchten en klaar is kees.

Tip: Presenteer het in een glazen schaal voor een mooi effect.

Sambal Goreng Telor (pittig eiergerecht) - Top gerecht!

Ingrediënten:

6 eieren
1 lombok (spaans pepertje)
1 tl basterd suiker
1 ui
2 el zonnebloemolie
2 el tomatenpurée
3 teentjes knoflook
30 gram santen (kokos) oplossen in 2,5 dl water (of kant en klare kokos saus)
1 tl laos (poeder)
1 tl sereh (citroengras)  poeder
4 tl sambal



De eieren hard koken en pellen, eventueel halveren.
Uien en knoflook fijn malen en in een hapjespan doen met een beetje zonnebloemolie totdat het bruin wordt.
Doe de klein gesneden lombok erbij (zaadjes verwijderen), de sambal, santen, laos, sereh, suiker en tomatenpurée.
Even laten koken en laag zetten, eieren erbij en nog ongeveer 5 minuten laten pruttelen totdat de saus dikker is geworden.

Schep ze over op een schaal en doe vooral ook wat saus over de eitjes.

Tip: Koop tomatenpurée in een tube in plaats van een blikje.

Foe Yong Hai

Van Keukenliefde heb ik dit recept, maar hierbij de wat aangepastere versie zoals ik deze heb gedaan.

De basis hier is voor 8 personen als bijgerecht.

Ingrediënten
Voor de omelet

• 12 eieren
• 50 g champignons, in plakjes
• 50 g wortel, geraspt of in luciferhoutjes
• 1 rode paprika, ontzaad en in smalle repen gesneden
• 1/2 prei (alleen het witte gedeelte), goed gewassen en gedroogd en in smalle ringen gesneden

Voor de saus

Ik had een pot 'sweet and sour' saus, die ik nadat de omelet klaar was er overheen heb gedaan om zich te mengen en warm te worden.Klop de eieren los in een grote kom en roer de groenten erdoor.

• Breng goed op smaak met zout en peper. Verhit een grote hapjes- of koekenpan met wat olie en schenk het eiermengsel erin. Zet het vuur laag. Bak de omelet enkele minuten totdat de onderkant gaar is, draai om en bak de omelet aan de andere kant gaar. Ik vind het zelf makkelijker en lekkerder om af en toe even zachtjes door het ei te roeren; niet te vaak, zodat je toch grote stukken ei krijgt.
  
  
  Tip:
• Wij vonden dat de groenten nog te hard waren en voor een volgende keer zouden we ze eerst even voorbakken.
  

Koe Loe Youk uit kookboek van 1988 met bijgeschreven aanpassingen = Topper!

Indonesische gehaktballen/tjes

Ingrediënten:

500 gram rundergehakt (circa 30 ballen)
10 eetlepels paneermeel (praktijk wijst meer uit)
1 ei
1 ui fijngesnipperd
2 theelepels knoflookpoeder
1 theelepel laos
1 theelepel sereh
2 theelepels '5 Indische kruiden'
3 theelepels sambal
1 eetlepel mosterd

3 eetlepels ketjap manis
Snufje zout

Meng het gehakt met alle kruiden en ingrediënten en maak er ballen/balletjes van.
Verhit olie in een braadpan en bak ze bruin op een laag vuur en niet teveel tegelijk.

Tip: laat de balletje even rusten dan vallen ze niet uit elkaar.

Saté ajam (kip saté)

Let op: de kipmarinade wordt het lekkerst als je die een nacht laat intrekken.
Denk er ook aan om de houten saté stokjes minimaal een half uur in koud water te leggen voor gebruik, anders verbranden ze.

Voor 500 gram kipfilet

Ingrediënten:


kipfilet in stukken snijden
stukje verse gember ca. 2 cm, geschild*
citroengras - poeder
2 tenen knoflook, gepeld
1/2 el sambal
1 citroen, rasp en sap
1 1/2 el palmsuiker of donkerbruine basterdsuiker
4 el ketjap

* De gember koop je vers en vries je in. Even het bruine schilletje eraf snijden van wat je nodig hebt en dan raspen en terug in de vriezer.

Alles lekker door elkaar husselen en in de koelkast laten staan.

De volgende dag rijg je de kip aan de stokjes en grill je ze. 

Als je grotere hoeveelheden moet maken, grill ze dan 's middags, doe ze alvast in een ovenschaal en dek af met aluminium folie.  Als je ze nodig hebt, met folie in de oven plaatsen ongeveer 20 minuten.  Op die manier blijven ze lekker sappig.

Rijsttafel (blog on purpose in Dutch) - Inleiding

Het afgelopen weekend heb ik een rijsttafel gemaakt voor 12 personen, heel veel werk want je bent wel 2 dagen aan het voorbereiden/koken, maar met hulp van echtgenoot is het een groot succes geworden. Twee dingen heb ik geleerd......niet alleen de helft van de ingrediënten kopen maar ook de helft van het aantal schotels maken.
Wat ook handig is, is om alvast alle schalen en dekschalen neer te zetten, er een briefje in doen welk gerecht je er in wilt hebben.

Kokkie Blanda

De gerechten waren:

Saté ajam met saté saus
Springrolls met een rode saus
Rendang
Babi ketjap
Indonesische gehaktballetjes
Koe Loe Youk
Foe Yong Hai
Sambal Telor
Sajoer boontjes
Roedjak Manis
Atjar
Kroepoek
Rijst
Noodles

Van niet alle gerechten komt een recept, maar van de lekkerste wel.

Tapas: Spanish roasted peppers

This easy Spanish "tapa" can double as a first course, or side dish. Roasted red peppers are marinated  olive oil, vinegar and fresh minced garlic. Enjoy the peppers on a slice of rustic bread, or as a side dish. Served cold, it makes a great dish for warm summer days. Covered, these peppers keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Shopping list:

• 3 Whole roasted peppers
• 2 Cloves garlic
• Spanish sherry vinegar
• Olive oil 

 

• If whole roasted peppers are not available in your supermarket, or if you prefer freshly roasted peppers, you must first roast the red bell peppers, peel and de-seed them. Peppers can be roasted in the oven or over a BBQ grill.Use a dinner-size plate or platter with a lip, so that they oil and vinegar do not spill over the side.
  If using bell peppers: Remove seeds from the roasted peppers, if any.
  Cut each pepper in four pieces and lay on a dinner plate or platter.
  
  Peel and mince garlic cloves. Place minced garlic in a small bowl and pour in a few tablespoons each of vinegar and oil. Whisk and carefully pour over the peppers.
  Serve with slices of rustic bread as a tapa or as a side dish with a meal. These peppers go well with a main course of grilled meat or fish.

Tapas: Gambas with garlic

One of the most common tapas of Spain, gambas al ajillo is quick, easy and FULL of garlic flavor. It's truly a classic tapa. Fresh shrimp, sauteed in olive oil and lots of garlic, with a touch of Spanish paprika and a splash of brandy all combine to create one of the most popular tapas. A pinch of red pepper flakes gives the sauce a slight bite. 
 
This recipe makes 4 servings as an appetizer. If preparing for a main course, double the recipe.

Shopping list:

• 500 Gr shrimp, 25 count to a pound
• 4 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 60-90 ml cognac (or substitute dry sherry)
• 125 ml virgin olive oil
• 3 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 lemon for juice
• 1 fresh baguette, sliced
  

In a sauté pan or heavy frying pan, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for about one minute or until they just begin to brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic!
Raise the heat to high and immediately add the shrimp, lemon juice, sherry or cognac and paprika. Stir well, then sauté, stirring briskly until the shrimp turn pink and curl – about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and transfer shrimp with oil and sauce to a warm plate or serve right from the pan. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle with parsley.
Serve with fresh bread.

• This recipe is prepared in Spain with the shells on or off, depending on the cook. So, if you prefer, peel the shrimp before cooking.
• If using frozen shrimp, rinse under cold water and pat dry. Allow for a longer cooking time for shrimp that are not completely thawed, and be sure to cook thoroughly.

Tapas: Spicy Spanish Pork recipe

This recipe is popular in the region of Castilla-Leon. Cubes of pork are marinated overnight in a spicy mixture of paprika, garlic and white wine. Then the pork is quickly stir-fried and served with bread and/or fried potatoes. This is a very easy Spanish recipe that can be made as a "tapa" or a main course. If you do not eat pork, substitute beef.

As tapa it is for 6 persons, as a main dish for 4.

Shopping list:

It's in the brown bowl

• 1 KG lean pork, cut into 1 cubes
• 1 Tbsp hot paprika
• 2 Tbsp sweet paprika
• 3 Cloves of garlic, diced very small or put through a garlic press
• 1 Cup white wine
• Pinch of oregano
• Pinch of salt
• French-style bread and/or fried potatoes to accompany
  
  
  
  Place cubes of pork in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle hot paprika, sweet paprika, oregano and garlic over top. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands. Add the white wine and mix thoroughly. Cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
  When ready to cook the meat, place 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan and heat on medium heat. Remove meat from refrigerator and fry in pan. Salt to taste.
  BBQ Method: To cook on the barbecue, simply slide meat cubes on skewers and grill, careful not to overcook.
  

Apple flaps

From our friend Jean-Luc we got this recipe, that even I could make. I call them apple flaps and within 30 minutes you have a nice treat.
You will get about 8 flaps, so you have to make 16 circles!

Shopping list:
1 Apple, I have used 'Pomme Canada' but every cooking apple will do
Christal or brown sugar
Cinnamon
Puff pastry (I have used the one that was already made)
1 Egg
Lemon juice (additional)


Roll out the puff pastry and cut them into circles and prick them with a fork
Put them on baking paper on a oven tray
Cut the apple into small junks and put in a bowl
Add sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice to taste

Now fill the pastry circles with the filling and cover them
Mix your egg and paint over the flaps
Sprinkle some sugar


Put it in the pre-heated oven (180 degrees) and it's ready in about 20 minutes.

Some of the meals we prepared

A you tube video with some of the meals we have prepared for guests. In the meantime enjoy pictures of Au Bellefleur, the guest rooms, the garden, the bistro and surroundings.

Just click hereunder.

Au Bellefleur