Category: all year

Baba Au Mandarine Napoléon

27 April 2024

On April 27th, we celebrate the birthday of the King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. The Dutch royal family is also known as ‘de Oranjes’, which is reflected in the use of the colour orange when referring to Dutch royalty. Actually, there is no link between the royal family and the colour. The ‘orange’ in their name refers to the French city of Orange, a Principality one of his ancestors inherited in 1544.

Over the years we prepared Orange Sabayon, Queen’s Soup, Orange and Almond Cake, Bouchée à la Reine, Orange Flan and Canard à l’Orange on this day. What better way to celebrate a birthday than baking a Baba, a flavourful and moist cake? Traditionally a Baba au Rhum (preferably with raisins or currents) is served with a syrup based on brown rum. Today we use a delicious Belgian liqueur: Mandarine Napoléon. It’s a unique mandarin liqueur, made from macerated Sicilian mandarins and cognac. It was originally created in 1892 by Napoleon’s physician. Rich, long, intense en delicious!

What You Need
  • 10 large Baba’s
    • 4 grams of dried Yeast
    • 100 ml Milk
    • 15 grams of Sugar
    • 200 grams All Purpose Flour
    • 2 Egg Yolks
    • 2 Eggs
    • 100 grams of Butter
    • 80 grams of chopped Candied Orange Peel
    • 2 grams of Salt
    • Butter to coat the moulds
    • Finely chopped Candied Orange Peel
  • Syrup
    • 500 ml of Water
    • 200 grams of Sugar
    • 200 ml Mandarine Napoléon
What You Do

The milk should be lukewarm and the butter melted but not hot. Start by combining milk, yeast and sugar. Mix well. Add the sieved flour and mix. Now it’s time to add the eggs and the egg yolks. Use kneading hooks to mix very, very well. This may take 10 minutes. The result should be an elastic, sticky dough. Add the butter, mix and then add the salt. The dough is now even stickier. Coat the moulds with butter. Add the dough to the moulds and let rise for approximately 2 hours. They should double in size. Preheat your oven to 200 °C or 400 °F and bake for 15 minutes depending on the size. Keep an eye on the baba’s, you may want to reduce the heat after 10 minutes.
In the meantime add water and sugar to a pan. Warm the mixture until nearly boiling. Stir and make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. Now add Mandarine Napoléon to taste. Leave to cool. Add an extra splash of Mandarine Napoléon to give the syrup an extra push. Allow the baba’s to cool somewhat, remove from the mould and let them soak in the syrup for a few hours, or longer. A day or two will be perfect, Sprinkle with finely chopped candied orange peel and serve at room temperature.

Baba au Mandarine Napoléon
Baba au Mandarine Napoléon

Panna Cotta with Agar

18 April 2024

A few days ago Suzanne’s Mom wrote about Piper McAloon. At 17 she became Pastry Chef at Foglia, an award-winning plant-based restaurant located in Bristol, Rhode Island. A truly inspiring story!
When asked what she is making right now, she mentioned Panna Cotta. At Foglia she makes a gluten-free version with agar. Which was something we wanted to do for a long time. We love Panna Cotta, but using gelatine (made from animals from the meat industry) is far from ideal. Agar is made from the cell walls of red algae. Popular throughout Asia and fortunately also available where we live.
We served our Panna Cotta with a coulis of red berries. Very tasty, but was it a real Panna Cotta? It didn’t seem as creamy as the version with gelatine. The texture was certainly different. The version with gelatine was smoother and firmer; more how we think panna cotta should feel in your mouth. We were happy with the result, but we’re not sure if we will use agar next time we’re preparing Panna Cotta. To be continued!

What You Need (for 4)
  • 500 ml fresh Cream
  • 1,5 grams of Agar (powder)
  • 1 Vanilla Bean
  • 30 grams of Sugar
What You Do
  1. Add the agar, the seeds of the vanilla bean and the sugar to the cream
  2. Mix very well, the agar must to be completely dissolved
  3. Bring to the boil on slow/medium heat
  4. Stir frequently
  5. Keep close to boiling for 1 or 2 minutes
  6. Continue stirring
  7. Transfer to a water bath with cold water
  8. Cool the liquid somewhat before filling the forms. This is where you need to be careful. Gelatine gels at a lower temperature than agar. You need to transfer the mixture when it’s relatively warm
  9. Use silicone molds; they work very well panna cotta
  10. Let cool and then store in the refrigerator
  11. Don’t forget to seal with cling foil, otherwise your panna cotta will absorb aromas from other food in the refrigerator. 
PS
  1. Cook the red berries in some water for perhaps 5 to 10 minutes
  2. Transfer to a sieve and use the back of a spoon to squeeze out the liquid
  3. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste
  4. Reduce the liquid somewhat
  5. Let cool
  6. Alternatively you could also start by blending the berries. This makes squeezing out the liquid easier plus you will get a richer taste and some bitterness.
Agar Agar

Ottolenghi’s SIMPLE

28 March 2024

In 2017 during the Amsterdam Symposium on the History of Food, Yotam Ottolenghi was awarded the prestigious Johannes Van Dam prize, in recognition of his contribution to the culinary tradition. The prize is named after Dutch culinary author and critic Johannes van Dam who was not only known for his reviews of restaurants but also for his massive collection of books on food and drinks. The jury, chaired by Professor Louise O. Fresco, mentioned his passion for vegetables and his talent to bring colour and flavours to his food. She also mentioned his influence on what we eat in general and how he made bold, tasty Mediterranean ingredients and food popular and accessible through his books.
Yotam Ottolenghi is a well-known and very successful chef, patron, restaurateur and cookbook author. If someone says, “This is a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi”, the suggestion is that the food will be exciting, colourful, vegetable focused, delicious and absolutely modern.
During one of the breaks, we leaved through his books. Great pictures, nice design, well written recipes and the food delectable. Perhaps we should buy one of his books?
For some reason we didn’t.

When Bernadette suggested to review SIMPLE, as part of her excellent series of cookbook reviews, we borrowed a copy and decided to make two recipes: Tofu and French beans with chraimeh sauce and Quick okra with sweet and sour dressing. The Tofu-dish is labelled with S, meaning it’s Short on Time. The Okra one is labelled with S and I, meaning it has 10 or less Ingredients and is Short on Time.

Tofu

The tofu dish is a combination of French beans, flour, tofu, sunflower oil, dill, black pepper, salt and coriander. The chraimeh sauce is made with garlic cloves, sweet paprika, caraway seeds, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, green chilli, sunflower oil, tomato paste, caster sugar and lime juice. The result is tasty and flavourful, although, honestly, we think it would be better to leave out the tofu. Then you would have a very nice side dish. The chraimeh sauce will probably combine very well with fish. The recipe for this dish was published in the Guardian.

Okra

We love okra, so we were keen to make the salad. It’s a combination of okra, olive oil, garlic cloves, red chilli, sweet chilli sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, sesame oil, coriander leaf and salted roasted peanuts. We didn’t add peanuts. The salad was very nice and balanced with lots of flavours. One to remember. This recipe was also published in the Guardian.

The Book

We enjoyed both dishes, but we haven’t bought SIMPLE for a number of practical reasons. For instance, the vast majority of the recipes requires you to preheat your oven to 180 °C or 200 °C. Not something you’d like to do on a regular basis if you cook for 2 persons as we do most days. Another practical point is the size of his books: they simply don’t fit in our bookcase. Fortunately he has published many recipes on his website and there are 60 videos available via his YouTube channel.

Should SIMPLE be on your shelf? Probably yes if you’re looking for very tasty dishes, clear instructions, inspirational combinations and beautiful pictures. But we could also imagine that you’re happy reading his weekly recipes in the Guardian! SIMPLE is available via your local bookstore or via the well known channels for 20 US$ or 26 Euro.

Yotam Ottolengi - Simple
Tofu and French beans with Chraimeh Sauce ©cadwu
Quick Okra with Sweet and Sour Dressing ©cadwu

Chicken with Morels

1 March 2024

A few weeks ago we bought the first fresh morels of the season. They looked beautiful but unfortunately, they were very bland. Not the typical pancake, buttery taste, not the intriguing aroma. Pity, but worth a try.
This week we bought some great looking dried morels at our favourite epicerie. Dried morels are as tasty as fresh morels, which makes them very different from all other mushrooms. Dried cèpes are such a disappointment. We bought 15 grams and talked about preparing veal with morels and madeira. Monsieur Max, who runs the epicerie, mentioned he preferred to combine them with chicken. Great idea, we said, let’s do that.

The dish relies on the quality of the chicken, the morels and the white wine. Ideally this is Vin Jaune, a wine produced in the Jura in the far east of France and made from Savagnin grapes. This wine is often compared to Fino Sherry, but we think it has more character and length. It also not fortified, so no alcohol was added.
We served the chicken and morels with fried oca. A combination that worked very well, because the oca brought freshness to the dish. Perhaps its oxalic acid?

Wine Pairing

We opened a bottle of Arbois Savagnin 2018. This complex, white wine is made from the same Savagnin grape and is also produced in the Jura. It comes with aromas that will make you think of nuts, curry and even umami. When tasting it, you may think the wine is off, given it is slightly oxidized. In this case it’s a good thing. Enjoy the savoury, nutty taste of the wine in combination with the various flavours in the dish.

What You Need
  • 3 organic Chicken Thighs
  • Butter 
  • 1 Shallot 
  • 15 grams dried Morels
  • 50 ml Arbois Wine
  • 50 ml Double Cream
  • 1 Egg Yolk
What You Do

Check if the morels are clean. If not, use a brush to clean them or rinse with water. Soak the morels in fairly warm water for at least 30 minutes, depending on the quality. In the meantime, finely slice the shallot lengthways. Pat the chicken thighs dry and halve. Fry the thighs in butter until golden brown, perhaps 4 minutes. Set aside and cover with aluminium foil. Fry the shallot in the remaining butter on low heat for a few minutes. Drain the morels, pat dry with kitchen paper and halve lengthways. Keep the soaking water. Add the morels and combine. Leave on low heat for a few minutes. Add the wine and leave to reduce by half. Add some morel juice and reduce. Add cream and allow to warm through and through. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, add the chicken. Leave on low heat until the chicken is done, perhaps 15 minutes. Now it’s time to taste the sauce and see if you have enough. Happy? Beat one egg yolk. Slowly add the mixture from the pan to the egg yolk (this is called ‘marrying the sauce’). Then transfer the mixture to the pan. Warm carefully, otherwise it will split. To serve, place the chicken pieces on a warm plate with some morels on top. Cover with the rich, aromatic sauce.

Chicken with Morels ©cadwu
Fresh Morels © cadwu

Oca

22 February 2024

There are so many interesting vegetables and fruits. We’re always keen to try something new, so last year when we found mashua we simply had to try it. And how about sand carrots?
This week we spotted oca at our bio-supermarket. Small red tubers from Peru. Hopefully not imported, but we bought them anyway.
Oca (Oxalis tuberosa, known as yams in New Zealand) originates from the Andes. It is grown in the highlands of several countries (Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina). Oca’s are also cultivated in various other countries, including the UK, Mexico, New Zealand and France.
Oca is a member of the family of wood sorrels and the plant has clover-like leaves. The leaves and the stems are also edible. Nutrient wise oca tubers and potatoes are very similar. The oca tubers contain a high amount of vitamin C, calcium and iron. Oca tubers can be acidic, thanks to the presence of oxalic acid. The tubers have a lovely soft, red colour. 

Oca tubers can be eaten raw, boiled and baked. We tasted a few slices of raw oca, only to find the texture not great and the taste a bit tangy, radish like. We decided to bake them in olive oil. The result was a pleasant surprise and some of the colour is still visible. The tubers tasted like a really, really good potatoes: soft and nutty.

What You Need
  • 250 grams of Oca
  • Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper
What You Do

Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F. Wash the oca’s. Don’t be tempted to peel them because the peel is very tasty. Remove small bits of dirt with a sharp knife. Wash again and dry. Add olive oil to a baking dish, add the tubers and make sure they are nicely coated. Transfer to the oven and fry for 15-25 minutes, depending on the size. Allow to cool for a few minutes before adding black pepper.

Oca (fried) ©cadwu
Oca (plant) ©Dick Culbert via commons.wikimedia
Oca (raw) ©cadwu

Flammkuchen

15 February 2024

We continue our series of very simple, tasty dishes by preparing Flammkuchen (Tarte Flambée in France, Feuerfleck in Austria). The dish originates from the Alsace. The first part of the name refers to fire and flames. The story is that bakers baked bread in wood fired ovens. The oven would initially become too hot, and the bakers had to wait for the oven to cool and reach the right temperature. The Flammkuchen would be the indicator. If it was ready within two minutes or so, then the temperature was right. If it would burn, the oven was too hot, but nothing was wasted. 

The dough of Flammkuchen is extremely simple, but also a bit puzzling. In all cases it’s flour, salt, olive oil and water. Some suggest adding egg yolks, others yeast. Adding yeast makes it into a bread dough. Doesn’t it seem obvious that the bakers would use the already prepared dough? Adding egg yolks seems odd too us. Why make a more expensive dough for a product that was to be used as an indicator only?

Back to yeast or no yeast. Which brings us to the question: isn’t Flammkuchen a kind of pizza? They do look very similar, and both are baked in a hot oven, but there are differences. Traditionally Flammkuchen are covered with crème fraîche, lardons and thinly sliced onions. The Flammkuchen should be very thin and very crispy. We think the bakers didn’t use their bread dough but made a quick, simple dough with the sole aim to test the temperature of the oven. Perhaps only water and flour?

Another difference is that Flammkuchen were not on the menu of restaurants until the 1960’s. Probably you would buy them at the local bakery or make them at home. Thanks to the global popularity of pizza, Flammkuchen have gained some visibility.

Drink Pairing

Flammkuchen are tasty, crispy, flavourful and not complex. Enjoy with a glass of white wine, with a beer, or your favourite drink.

What You Need
  • For the Dough
    • 250 grams of Flour
    • 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
    • 125 ml Water
    • Pinch of Salt
  • Crème Fraîche
  • Black Pepper
  • Mushrooms (we used Trompettes de la Mort)
  • Red Onion
What You Do
  1. Pass the flour through a sieve
  2. Add a pinch of salt and mix
  3. Add water and olive oil and quickly turn the mixture into a dough using your hands
  4. Don’t kneed too long
  5. Leave on room temperature for an hour
  6. Pre-heat your oven to 220 °C or 430 °F
  7. Roll out until very thin, 2 millimetre is perfect.
  8. Add black pepper to the crème fraîche and mix
  9. Place the dough on baking or parchment paper in a baking tray, cover with a layer of crème fraîche, add mushrooms and sliced onion
  10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or so and serve immediately.

Baking Flammkuchen on a higher temperature is preferred, but then you can’t use baking or parchment paper. Best is to use a pizza stone. The baking time will be 3 to 5 minutes on 300 °C or 570 °F.

Flammkuchen ©cadwu
Flammkuchen ©cadwu

Claudia Roden – The Book of Jewish Food, part 2

9 February 2024

As contributor to the cookbook review project by Bernadette we reviewed The book of Jewish Food, An Odyssey from Samarkand and Vilna to the Present Day. The book combines more than 800 recipes with the stories and histories that have shaped Jewish cooking over the centuries. The book showcases the diversity of Jewish food. It’s about (Jewish) culture, about how food is part of our shared culture, how we are all connected and how food can help us understand history.

We prepared Joodse Boterkoek and Aliyah, a dish that combines chicken, tomato, tamarind, basil and cilantro. We served it with polenta. Both are delicious!

We also very much liked Fish Balls in Tomato Sauce as prepared by John Rieber. The fish balls are a combination of white fish with ginger and nutmeg. The dish originates from Egypt and Morocco. It will perhaps make you think of Gefilte Fish, a traditional appetizer. The recipe is not complex and the result as prepared by John looks great. One we will be making soon!

Jo Tracey prepared a Goulash Soup with beef, sweet paprika and a touch of chilli. She writes: “I first bought the digital version of this book a few years ago but I never got around to reading it or cooking from it until now. And what a treat it’s been.” The soup is rich and one we would cook on a wintery day.

Robbie Cheadle baked a Honey Cake, made with honey, brandy, coffee, cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, almonds and sultanas. Sounds wonderful! According to Robbie: “This cake is delicious, and we all enjoyed it. The orange zest, coffee, and honey create a lovely symphony of flavors.”

Bernadette herself chose a recipe from the Ashkenazi section of the book – Holishes or Stuffed Cabbage Leaves; a dish that appeared frequently in her childhood home. The leaves are stuffed with a combination of beef, rice and onion. The sauce is made with tomatoes, lemon, ginger, apple, raisins and honey. Not the most obvious combination! The result looked absolutely yummy.

The book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden is available via your local bookstore or the usual channels for approximately 50 US$ or 40 euro. Highly recommended!

Claudia Roden - The Book of Jewish Food
Boterkoek in Pan ©cadwu
Slice of Boterkoek ©cadwu
Aliyah ©cadwu

Claudia Roden – The Book of Jewish Food, part 1

8 February 2024

The cookbook review project by Bernadette is a great way to explore cookbooks. The book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden was not yet on our bookshelf, so we bought a copy of the 25th edition for 40 euro.  Its subtitle is An Odyssey from Samarkand and Vilna to the present day. The book combines more than 800 recipes with the stories and histories that have shaped Jewish cooking over the centuries. The book showcases the diversity of Jewish food. 

The first time we saw Claudia Roden was during the 2016 Amsterdam Symposium on the History of Food. In 1999 she received the Prince Claus Award in recognition of her exceptional initiatives and achievements in the field of culture. She is author of the classic comprehensive book Food of Italy and member of the jury of the prestigious Johannes van Dam prize, awarded in 2016 to Yotam Ottolenghi. We were far too impressed to actually talk to her. A bit silly, agreed, and we will make up for it in April 2025 during the next Symposium.

The Netherlands

The Dutch Jewish community plays an important role in the Netherlands, and more specifically in Amsterdam. The community was formed in the seventeenth century by people who came from Portugal (Sephardi Jews) and from Germany and Eastern Europe (Ashkenazi Jews). In general the first group was worldly, cultured and well connected to the Dutch upper classes. The second group was poor and unskilled. They worked as market traders, food sellers (for instance pickled vegetables and salted herring with chopped onions, which is still a Dutch treat) and pedlars.

Over the years both groups influenced Dutch cuisine. According to food author and publisher Jonah Freud dishes such as Haringsalade met Bietjes (see here for our version) and Broodje Halfom (a bun with beef liver and salted beef (somewhat similar to pastrami) with white pepper) are typical examples of the Jewish influence on Dutch cuisine. Gemberbolussen (a sweet cake with ginger) and Kugel (a cake with almonds and pears) are still widely available in Amsterdam.

Two Recipes

We decided to make two recipes from the book. Boterkoek is very typical for the Netherlands. A rich combination of lots of butter, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt. Classic and easy to make. We slightly adjusted Claudia Roden’s recipe, inspired by Dutch Pâtissier Cees Holtkamp. Early on during his career he learned how to bake Boterkoek when he worked for a Jewish Bakery. 

The second recipe is for Aliyah, stewed chicken with tomatoes, tamarind, cilantro and basil. An intriguing combination and one we simply had to try. The recipe originates from the Georgian town of Kulashi. This small town was once the home of one of the largest Georgian Jewish communities.

Obviously we decided to enjoy a kosher wine with the Aliyah. We bought a bottle of Barkan Classic Merlot-Argaman 2021. The Argaman grape (an Israeli creation) is combined with Merlot. The result is an intensely coloured red wine with dark fruit, supple tannins and depth. In general, we would suggest a medium to full-bodied red wine with sufficient depth and length.

Your Bookshelf

We think this book should be on your bookshelf. It’s about (Jewish) culture, about how food is part of our shared culture, how we are all connected and how food can help us understand history. It took Claudia Roden 16 years to write it. We can only thank her for this impressive and relevant achievement.

The book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden is available via your local bookstore or the usual channels for approximately 50 US$ or 40 euro.

Recipes for Joodse Boterkoek and Aliyah on Bernadette’s website.

Slice of Boterkoek ©cadwu
Diced Boterkoek ©cadwu
Claudia Roden - The Book of Jewish Food
Boterkoek in Pan ©cadwu
Aliyah ©cadwu

Deviled Eggs with Chervil and Crayfish

1 February 2024

Deviled (or stuffed) eggs are a traditional appetizer or hors-d’œuvre, easy, tasty and always welcome. Simply cook the eggs, halve them, scoop out the yolk and mix with butter, cream or mayonnaise and add for instance mustard, or curry powder, or pickles or, well, actually, most combinations work.

The idea of deviled or stuffed egg goes back many years. See for instance this recipe from Carolus Battus (published in 1593). Or try this recipe for uova ripiene from Pellegrino Artusi (1891): boil, peel and halve the eggs. Use one anchovy per two eggs. Use a fork to combine anchovy, egg yolk, a little parsley, very little onion and butter to make a smooth paste. Stuff the eggs with the paste and cover with mayonnaise.

Artusi also described a second recipe: stuff the eggs with a mixture of egg yolk, bread (soaked in milk) and mushrooms (soaked in lukewarm water). Stuff the eggs. Arrange the eggs in an oven dish, cover with potato puree and serve warm. We could imagine topping with grated cheese and turn it into Deviled Eggs Au Gratin.

We combine the eggs with mayonnaise, mustard, chervil and crayfish. Chervil is a delicate herb. It brings a hint of liquorice or anise to food, for instance to omelettes, salads or in this case the egg mixture and the cray fish. Decorating with chervil is not only nice; it also makes the chervil more present.

Drink Pairing

Deviled eggs are flexible when it comes to drink pairing. Simply enjoy with your favourite drink!

What You Need
  • 6 Organic Eggs
  • Dijon Mustard
  • Mayonnaise
  • Chervil
  • Cray Fish
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Boil or steam the eggs, peel and halve
  2. Scoop out the egg yolk
  3. Finely chop the chervil
  4. Combine the egg yolks with a teaspoon or two of mustard (after all, they are called deviled egg), two or three teaspoons of mayonnaise, some black pepper and a generous amount of chervil
  5. Mix with a fork
  6. Taste and adjust
  7. Stuff the eggs and decorate with grayfish and chervil
  8. Keeps well in the refrigerator for a few hours if covered with cling foil
  9. Just before serving, decorate the eggs with chervil leaves
Deviled Eggs with Chervil and Crayfish ©cadwu
Deviled Eggs with Chervil and Crayfish ©cadwu

Chicken with Fennel and Sage

18 January 2024

We start 2024 with a series of simple and tasty recipes. It’s such fun to prepare delicious food with only a handful of ingredients. James Tanner is author of Takes 5: Delicious Dishes Using Just 5 Ingredients with over 90 recipes, ranging from Roasted Red Bell Peppers with Anchovies to Scones. Short shopping lists, easy recipes and tasty results: what more can you ask for!

This dish combines fennel with chicken, pancetta and sage. The mild anise flavour of the fennel works very well with the pancetta. The aromatic, slightly bitter flavour of sage is great with the chicken. And believe it or not, after having simmered in butter for some 15 minutes the dish comes together. Rich, fresh and uplifting.

Wine Pairing

A light to medium bodied red wine will be great with the dish. Unoaked, fruity, not too complex: a wine made with Pinot Noir, Tempranillo or perhaps a red wine from the Beaujolais.

What You Need
  • Organic Chicken Thighs (boneless)
  • Small Fennel
  • 6 Leaves of Sage
  • Pancetta
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Halve the thighs and fry in butter
  2. In the meantime dice the fennel
  3. When the chicken is nicely coloured, add the fennel
  4. Combine, wait for a few minutes
  5. Dice the pancetta
  6. Devein and chop the sage
  7. Add pancetta and sage to the pan and allow to simmer on low heat for some 15 minutes
  8. Add black pepper just before serving
  9. You could decorate with some fennel leaves.

PS

Takes 5: Delicious Dishes Using Just 5 Ingredients was published in 2010 and is available (probably second hand) via the well-known channels for something like 20 US dollar or Euro.