starter – Page 6 – Cook and Drink

Enoki with Eggs and Soy Sauce

1 December 2023

Enoki is one of the most popular mushrooms. It’s been cultivated for many years (or better: centuries) and it is available in Asian supermarkets as enokitake. The cultivated enoki grows in the dark, hence it being white, and needle shaped with a small cap. Wild enoki benefits from the exposure to light and becomes brown and its shape is more mushroom-like. The golden enoki we use is also cultivated.

Enoki has a pleasant texture and aroma. Its flavour is mild, a bit sweet and fruity. You can use it raw in a salad, in a soup or combine it with soba noodles. Combining it with pork is also a great idea. We decided to prepare an omelette with a light soy sauce. The result is a lovely sweet, rich and intriguing omelette.
We’re not sure if it’s an appetizer in its own right or that is should be served alongside other dishes. Suggestions welcome!

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our golden enoki with a very special wine: Sint Catharinadal Norbertus 2022. The wine is made in the Netherlands by the sisters of the Norbetine convent, founded in 1271. For centuries the sisters used the grounds for cattle and corn. Since 2017 they also produce wine, with the help of many volunteers and experts. Their motto is I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Amongst the grapes are Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Auxerrois and Gamay. We would suggest opening a bottle of their white wine. It has subtle aromas (apple, pear, melon), some acidity and its taste is very pleasant (fruit, touch of almonds).
More information (in Dutch only) on their website. The wine can be bought via Les Généreux.

What You Need

100 grams of (Golden) Enoki
2 Eggs
Light Soy Sauce (we used Tsuyu)
3 cloves of Garlic
½ red Chilli Pepper
2 Spring Onions (Scallions)
Olive Oil

What You Do

Remove the stem (bottom) of the enoki. Blanch the mushrooms for 60 seconds in very hot water. Remove and pat dry using kitchen paper. Start making a sauce with soy sauce, garlic, pepper and spring onions. Reduce. Fry the mushrooms in oil, just to remove excess water. Reduce temperature. Beat the eggs and add the mixture to the pan. Allow to become a moist omelette on very low heat. Remember not to fry it! The egg should set and become baveuse. Transfer the omelette to a plate, use a spoon to cover the omelette with the liquid and decorate with a mixture of garlic, spring onion and chilli pepper.

Cèpes, Lentils and Duck

23 November 2023

Let’s celebrate the season by preparing a very simple, tasty starter with cèpes, the all-time favourite mushroom of many people. It is great when fried in olive oil with garlic and parsley, wonderful in a risotto and equally tasty when prepared à la Bordelaise. This starter is a bit more complex. It combines the nutty, rustic flavour of lentils with the fatty richness of foie gras and smokiness. The dish is a true appetizer.

Wine Pairing

We would suggest a white wine with some floral notes and only a touch of sweetness. A pinot gris or perhaps a gewürztraminer? Sweetness will go very well with the foie gras and the smoked duck, but it’s not a great match with the cèpes.

We could also imagine opening a bottle of Arbois Savagnin 2018. This complex, white wine is made from the Savagnin grape and is produced in the far east of France, 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

150 grams of Cèpes
Du Puy Lentils (from Sabarot)
Smoked Breast of Duck
Terrine de Foie Gras de Canard
Neutral Oil (we used Avocado Oil)
Butter
Black Pepper

What You Do

Remove the smoked breast of duck from the refrigerator. Wash the lentils and cook for some 20 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. Add one or two teaspoons of oil, to coat the lentils and enhance their flavour. Add some black pepper. Clean the mushrooms and slice. Not too thin, the idea is to have a moist mushroom with a thin crust. Fry the mushrooms in butter. Plate up by making a circle of lentils and decorate with slices of smoked duck, cèpes and very thin slices of terrine.

PS

Avocado oil seems a bit exotic, but actually it has a very high smoking point so it’s great for frying and baking. When used in a salad, you will notice the oil is light and fresh.

Mushroom Season

19 October 2023

So far this year’s mushroom season has been great with lots of delicious Cèpes, Bay Boletes, Birch Boletes and Chanterelles. This Saturday we bought a very tasty autumn Truffle and a day earlier we treated ourselves to Matsu Take. Such a special mushroom. We’re waiting for the Saffron Milk Cap, Spain’s favourite mushroom, and the Caesar’s mushroom, a mushroom much appreciated in Italy.

Since it’s a great year for the Bay Bolete, we thought it would be nice to share some recipes with this mushroom. Its taste is similar to that of the Cèpes or Penny Bun. Perhaps more intense?

Pâté en Croûte

A few years ago we celebrated the mushroom season by preparing a Pâté with bay boletes. The combination of a crispy crust, a structured, colourful filling and various flavours is always a pleasure. It’s good fun to think about the ingredients, work on the construction and enjoy the wonderful aromas from your oven while baking the pâté. And the joy when slicing it: is the pâté as beautiful as you expected it to be?

A red, medium bodied wine will be a great accompaniment of this Pâté en Croûte. In general you’re looking for a red wine with aromas of black fruit, floral notes and delicate wood. The tannins should be soft or well-integrated. We enjoyed a glass of Pinot Noir from La Cour Des Dames.

Sauce

Earlier this year we prepared a rich sauce with bay boletes, sage, mustard en crème fraîche. We served the sauce with excelltn veal rib eye and turnip cabbage. The turnip brings frsshness and lightness to the dish, creating a lovely balance.
A fruity, slightly chilled red wine will be great with the dish. We opened a bottle of German Spätburgunder from the Pfalz area. Some dark fruit, strawberries, touch of earthiness, not too complex. One that supported the flavours and aromas of the dish very well.

Guineafowl

Bay boletes combine very well with guineafowl. The meat is leaner, somewhat darker and more flavourful compared to chicken. It is not difficult to prepare, but due to the low-fat content you must be careful not to overcook. In this recipe we use guineafowl supreme (the breast fillet with the skin on plus the wing bone), rosemary, thyme, pancetta and garlic.
Enjoy with a glass of Chiroubles, a cru from the Beaujolais, produced by Domaine Montangeron. The wine has floral notes, aromas of cherries and strawberries. Its colour is pale ruby. Rich, elegant and long. It brings freshness and fruitiness to the dish and is sufficiently complex to remain present when enjoying the guineafowl and the bay bolete.
In general you’re looking for a red wine with freshness, fruity aromas and complexity. Perhaps a Pinot Noir?

More recipes on our website dedicated to mushrooms.

Summer Truffle - Rippitippi / Public domain

Herring Salad

21 September 2023

In 1910 Mrs. Wannée published her Amsterdams Kookboek. A book dedicated to nutritious, easy to prepare and inexpensive food. She was teacher and director of the Amsterdam Huishoudschool, which was a school for domestic skills, aimed at training future maids and housewives. The book is currently in its 32^nd edition and has sold over one million copies. It continues to be a popular cookbook because every new edition reflects the current culinary trends. We own a copy of the 14^th edition (published around 1955?) and it clearly reflects the post second world war Dutch cuisine: very limited use of spices and herbs combined with cooking vegetables and meat for hours. We prepared Leek à la Wannée and decided it was perhaps edible in 1955 but certainly not today.

Recently we were reading the 7^th edition of the book, published around 1935. The recipes are interesting and showcase a very different Dutch cuisine. We decided to prepare a Herring Salad inspired by the 1935 recipe of Mrs. Wannée.

Wine Pairing

A nice cold beer will be great with the salad. You could also go for a white wine from the Alsace or Mosel region. Nice acidity, perhaps a touch sweet, floral and aromatic.

What You Need

1 Dutch Herring
½ Apple
½ Cooked Beetroot
1 Boiled Egg
Small Pickled Onions
Cornichons
(Olive) Oil
Vinegar
Mayonnaise
Chives
Black Pepper
Corn Salad (Lamb Lettuce, Mâche)

What You Do

Peel the apple and the beet root. Chop herring, apple, beetroot, onions, cornichons and a generous amount of chives. Chop the white of the egg, crumble the yolk. Quickly combine the ingredients, add a teaspoon of mayonnaise, black pepper, small tablespoon of vinegar and the same quantity of olive oil, mix and serve immediately on top of the lettuce. Decorate with chives.

PS

Being Dutch we love our herring. Sometimes Dutch herring is called ‘raw’ because it’s not cooked. Actually, it’s placed in lightly salted brine for 5 days so it’s fermented and not raw at all. Herring is not to be compared with sashimi.

Wannée-kookboek_7e_druk © Erik Wannee - public domain

Tataki

6 July 2023

Over the years tataki has become increasingly popular: beef, tuna, salmon, trout and even veal and deer tataki. But what is tataki actually? And what is tataki sauce?

Tataki originates from the Kōchi prefecture in Japan. The original dish is called katsuo-no-tataki. Katsuo (also known as Oceanic Bonito or Skipjack Tuna) is an important ingredient in the Japanese kitchen, for instance raw as sashimi and dried as katsuobushi (the flakes you need when making dashi).

The fish is seared very briefly in a huge rice straw fire. This way the fish becomes nicely coloured, the centre remains raw, and the flavour will be enhanced with smokiness. It is then sliced and served with a garlic, lemon (ponzu), soy and onion sauce, making Katsuo-no-tataki very different from other sashimi.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have a straw fire at home, so you need a very hot pan to sear the fish. Bonito is not widely available where we live, but tuna is a great alternative. Beef is a good idea, salmon is a possibility, veal and trout are definitely not good alternatives.

What You Need

Bonito (or Tuna or Beef Tenderloin)
Light Soy Sauce (Tsuyu)
Mirin
Rice Vinegar
Lemon
½ Garlic Clove
Sesame Seeds
Spring Onion
Olive Oil

What You Do

We added lightly roasted sesame seeds to the dish. There are not included in the original katsuo-no-tataki so feel free to leave them out.
Combine light soy sauce, mirin and rice vinegar (ratio 3:1:1), add some lemon juice and the grated garlic. The garlic must be grated; it should nearly dissolve in the sauce. Quickly sear the bonito (tuna, beef) in a hot non-stick pan with just a touch of oil. When ready transfer to an ice bath. Wait for a minute or so. Remove from the water and use kitchen paper to dry the fish. Slice, serve on a plate, drizzle with the dressing, then add thinly sliced white spring onion, then sesame seeds (if using) and finish with some dressing.

PS

And the answers are: tataki is a method to sear katsuo (or in general fish or beef) in a straw fire (or over a grill or in a hot pan). Tataki Sauce doesn’t actually exist; it may refer to the sauce that is served with katsuo-no-tataki.

Pasta with Tomato Balls

3 July 2023

Recently we reviewed Oh She Glows for Dinner by Angela Liddon as part of the great cookbook review project by Bernadette. Angela Liddons aim is to create tasty, colourful, nutritious, vegan, simple, healthy, easy to make food that you can prepare in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, her book shows that this is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, we liked her idea for a burger with tomato-based patties. We changed the recipe and turned the dish into Pasta with Tomato Balls. It’s certainly a tasty, healthy and colourful dish, but not one you can make in a few minutes.

Wine Pairing

Tomatoes come with acidity, an aspect to keep in mind when choosing your wine. Cooking the tomatoes reduces the acidity and enhances the sweetness and depth of the tomatoes. In this case you could go for a non-oaky white wine (Pinot Grigio, Soave Classico) or for a red wine with soft tannins (Chianti, Sangiovese). A glass of crisp rosé will also be fine, so the choice is yours, as long it’s not an oaky chardonnay or a tannic red wine.

What You Need

Tomato Balls
- 30 grams Brown Lentils
- Vegetarian Stock
- Bouquet Garni (Thyme, Parsley, Bay Leaf, Chives)
- 1 small Red Onion
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 40 grams of roasted Cashews
- 40 grams of roasted Hazelnuts
- 5 grams (or more) of dried Oregano
- 25 grams Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Teaspoon Tomato Paste
- Teaspoon Lemon Juice
- Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Breadcrumbs
- Olive Oil
Tomato Sauce
Orecchiette or Farfalle
Parmesan Cheese
Basil Leaves

What You Do

Start by washing the lentils. Cook in vegetarian stock with a bouquet garni. Set aside and let cool. Prepare the dried tomatoes: if they are salted, then wash them thoroughly. If they are oil-packed, drain them. Chop the red onion, the garlic clove and the dried tomatoes coarsely. Glaze the onion and the garlic in olive oil. Use a food processor to make a coarse mixture of the cashews, hazelnuts and oregano. Add the chopped tomatoes, the onion, the garlic, the tomato paste, the lentils, the lemon juice and the red pepper flakes (if using). Pulse a few times. Taste and decide if you want to add salt, pepper or lemon juice. Now it’s time to check the consistency. Is it possible to turn the mixture into balls? A bit soggy probably? Add breadcrumbs. Leave the mixture for 15 minutes. Divide the mixture in smaller portions and make balls, using your hands. Bake for a few minutes in a non-stick pan with some olive oil.
In parallel cook the orecchiette or farfalle according to the instruction on the package. Warm a tomato sauce. When all components are ready, add the pasta straight from the pan to the sauce. Add the balls and mix gently. Finish by adding some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and basil.

Asparagus Soup (Blended)

15 June 2023

Earlier we wrote about the traditional way of making asparagus soup. It starts by using the skin and woody ends of the asparagus with leek or shallot to make a stock. Then extra flavour is added (the tips of the asparagus, cream or salmon and dill) and the consistency of the soup improved, for instance by making a roux. This way you will get a nice, thickened soup with a velvety mouthfeel. It’s still a bit one dimensional so if you want a more complex soup, you need to replace the water by chicken or vegetable stock.

Another way of thickening the soup is by blending the asparagus. Unfortunately, this doesn’t help a lot since asparagus do not contain starch, so yes, the soup is tastier, a touch more structured but its consistence remains watery. What to do? Egg yolk? Corn starch? A potato? Cream? More white asparagus? A roux after all?

What You Need

300 grams of White Asparagus
1 small Shallot
Butter
350 ml Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Bouquet Garni (Parsley, Bay Leaf, Chives)
Cream
White Pepper

What You Do

First decide how you want to thicken the soup. A roux is not preferred because it will flatten, reduce the flavour plus we want a try a different approach. You could use a small starchy potato (not preferred because it will bring the typical potato flavour to the soup which is great in combination with leek but not with the subtle bitterness of asparagus), corn starch (great thickener but one that reduces flavours), egg yolk (classic, but we haven’t tried it yet with this soup) or potato starch (flavourless, simple, no impact flavour wise, only colour wise).

Peel the asparagus and cut of the woody ends. Peel and slice the shallot. Add butter to a pan, glaze the shallot. Now add the skin and woody ends of the asparagus, coat with the shallot and butter mixture and add the stock. Allow to simmer for 30 – 45 minutes. If you cook the stock too long, then it will become bitter. Pass the liquid through a sieve. Squeeze to capture all the lovely asparagus juices. Keep on low heat. Chop the asparagus, add the slices to the soup and keep the tips. After 20 minutes blender the soup. Add some cream, slice the tips lengthwise and add these to the soup. 10 more minutes later the soup is ready.

And The Winner Is…

We prefer the blended version to the roux version. The stock and the other ingredients support the asparagus flavour, making it into a tasty, light yet rich soup.

Asparagus Soup (Traditional)

8 June 2023

Preparing Asparagus soup starts by using the skin and woody ends of the asparagus with leek or shallot to make a stock. Since the stock is fairly bland and watery, you need to add additional flavour (the tips of the asparagus, cream, salmon and dill) and improve the consistency of the final result. The traditional way of doing this is by making a roux. You will get a nice, thickened soup with a velvety mouthfeel. It’s still a bit one dimensional so if you want a more complex soup, we suggest replacing the water by chicken or vegetable stock.

Another way of improving the consistency and enhancing the flavour is by adding asparagus to the soup and blending the result. In this post we will prepare the traditional version.

What You Need

The skin and woody ends of lots of White Asparagus
Shallot
Butter
Water (Chicken or Vegetable Stock preferred)
Five White Asparagus
30 grams of All Purpose Flour
30 grams of Butter
Cream
White Pepper
Pinch of Salt

What You Do

Peel and slice the shallot. Peel the five asparagus and cut of the woody ends. Add butter to a pan, glaze the shallot. Now add the skin and woody ends of the asparagus, coat with the shallot and butter mixture and add cold water. Allow to simmer for 30 – 45 minutes. If you cook the stock too long, then it will become bitter. Pass the liquid through a sieve. Squeeze to capture all the lovely asparagus juices. With the stock ready it’s time to make the (white) roux. Warm the butter in the pan, add the flour and stir. Keep on medium heat until you just begin to smell cookies. Now start adding the warm liquid, slowly at first, keep stirring and adding until you have used all the liquid. Taste, add some white pepper and a pinch of salt. Keep on low heat. Slice the five asparagus, add the slices to the soup and keep the tips. Stir every 5 minutes. After 20 minutes add some cream, slice the five tips lengthwise and add these to the soup. 5 more minutes and the soup is ready.

Fairy Ring Mushroom with Udon

18 May 2023

Spring brings us several edible or even delicious mushrooms, such as the Fairy Ring Mushroom, Morels and the Mushroom of Saint George.
The Fairy Ring mushroom is a very common mushroom in many countries. The name is not very helpful since many mushrooms grow in the pattern of a ring. The German and Dutch names (Rasen-Schwindling and Weidekringzwam) are more helpful; these refer to the fact that the mushroom grows in meadows and lawns.
It’s a small, very edible mushroom, available from early spring until late autumn. Its taste is a bit sweet and perhaps that’s why some people suggest using them to make sweet mushroom cookies. Hm, we think you can do better than that! Earlier we combined the mushroom with pork chops. Today we use the sweetness as a starting point of a vegetarian dish with udon, our favourite noodle.

Drink Pairing

Given the sweetness of the dish, the depth of the udon and the hint of spiciness (fresh ginger), we suggest a medium bodied, dry white wine. Could be a Riesling or perhaps a Grüner Veltliner. A well balanced, round sake will also be great with the dish.

What You Need

100 gram of Fairy Ring mushroom
2 Scallions
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Ginger
Oyster Sauce or Mirin
Vegetable Stock
Olive Oil
Udon

What You Do

Start by cleaning the mushrooms with kitchen paper. Remove the stems. Slice the scallions thinly, separate the white and the green. Add the udon to boiling water. The noodles will take some 10 minutes, which gives you sufficient time to prepare the mushrooms. Fry the caps in olive oil. After a few minutes, add the white of the scallions. Fry for a minute or so. Reduce heat. Add some grated ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil. To enhance the sweetness of the mushroom, add some oyster sauce or mirin. Add a teaspoon to start with. Taste and adjust. Perhaps a second one? Be careful not to overpower the delicate flavor of the mushroom. When ready, add the udon straight from the pan to the mushrooms. Combine. Leave for a minute or two. Add a bit of stock. You’re looking for generous coated udon with shining mushrooms. Just before serving add some freshly grated ginger, a dash of sesame oil and the green of the scallions.

PS

In some countries the mushroom is known as Mousseron, which sounds French, however in France the Fairy Ring mushroom is called Faux-Mousseron, to distinguish it from the real Mousseron, the mushroom we know as the Mushroom of Saint George. At least both are edible!

Petits Farcis

15 May 2023

Not only do they look delicious, but they also taste delicious: Légumes Farcis or Petits Farcis. Easy to make and always a pleasure to serve. Perhaps you can buy them ready made from your delicatessen or butcher, but why would you? Prepare them at home the way you personally prefer them, perhaps with some extra shallot, herbs or garlic.

Let’s talk a bit about the farce, the stuffing of the vegetables. It should fill the vegetable, obviously, and remain connected to the vegetable, also when cooked. Its texture must be loosely. This is where most recipes go wrong when they tell you to add panko or breadcrumbs to the farce. Follow this instruction and you will notice that during the cooking process the filling will become smaller and firmer. There you are: a meatball in a tomato. That’s not what you want. Not at all! Lesson learned, no panko, no breadcrumbs.

The meat should be nicely fat, not too finely minced and preferably a combination of porc and veal. Tasty, sufficiently fat and elegant. You could also use sausage meat. When in doubt, ask your butcher.

Wine Pairing

Keep it simple! A dry white wine, a rosé or a nice beer will be perfect. Serve what you think is best with this tasty, juicy and heart-warming food.

What You Need

Vegetables such as Tomatoes, Courgette, Red Bell Pepper
Minced Meat or Sausage Meat
Shallot
Parsley
Garlic
Black Pepper

What You Do

Finely chop the shallot, the garlic and the parsley. Additionally you could use thyme, rosemary or oregano
Combine the meat with the shallot, the garlic, the herbs and black pepper
Cut off the top of the tomato and use a knife and a teaspoon to hollow out the tomato. Keep the pulp and the seeds
Slice the bell pepper lengthwise and remove the seeds and the ribs. Discard
Cut off the top of the courgette and use a teaspoon to hollow out the courgette. Keep the pulp
Add the farce to the vegetables
Close the tomatoes and the courgettes with the caps
Transfer to a baking dish, add some olive oil, the pulp and the seeds of the tomatoes and the courgette to the dish
You could add some extra shallot.
Cook in the oven for 45 minutes (depending on the size) on 180 °C or 355 °F.
Enjoy hot or lukewarm (with some of the cooking liquid), perhaps with a simple green salad or rice.

The Art of Flavours

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

PS

Pâté en Croûte

Sauce

Guineafowl

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

PS

What You Need

What You Do

PS

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

What You Need

What You Do

And The Winner Is…

What You Need

What You Do

Drink Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

PS

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do