starter – Page 6 – Cook and Drink

Curly Kale with Confit de Canard

25 January 2024

Recently we wrote about kale-sprouts, the purple combination of Kale and Brussels sprouts. When working on the post we noticed that we actually never wrote about Curly Kale. This typical winter vegetable (also known as Boerenkool, Grünkohl or Chou Frisé) is not known for its culinary capability, although Cavolo Nero (which is a variety of Kale) has become fairly popular over the last years. Dishes like Ribollita, Minestrone or Cavolo Nero prepared with orecchiette and anchovies sound tempting.
Curly Kale is sometimes described as a super food because it contains lots of vitamines and it’s supposed to be good for your eye-sight. Reality is that it’s not simple to turn Curly Kale into something tasty. In 2015 Felicity Cloake (who writes for the Guardian) explains how to make kale crisps. She compares recipes from various authors and decides to make the perfect crisps from…. Cavolo Nero!
Curly Kale itself is typical comfort food. Served with potatoes, bacon and sausages; to be enjoyed with a glass of beer or a glass of Pinot Blanc.
Best is to eat Curly Kale after a wintery period. As soon as the temperature drops below zero, the plant will start breaking down the starch in the leaves into simple sugars. These sugars prevent the plant from freezing and the taste becomes sweeter and less bitter. A process that happens in carrots, turnips, beetroot, kale and Brussels sprouts but not in potatoes.

The traditional Dutch way of cooking Curly Kale is to add the sliced leaves with the potatoes to a pan of salted water, cook until done, drain, then mash with butter, warm milk, nutmeg, and black pepper. It is served with slices of smoked sausage. Hearty, filling and serieously heavy on your stomach.
We prefer a more modern version, highlighting the flavour and the texture of the Curly Kale.

What You Need

400 grams of Fresh Curly Kale leaves
1 small Potato
1 Shallot
1 Garlic Clove
Butter
Nutmeg
Black pepper
Confit de Canard

What You Do

Set your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F. Reheat and fry the confit de canard. Chop the shallot, finely chop the garlic, peel the potato and dice, strip the curly kale from its stems and slice the leaves. Add a generous amount of butter to the pan, gently fry the shallot for a few minutes, then add the garlic. After one minute or so add the sliced kale and allow to simmer. Add the diced potato, combine and leave to simmer for a few minutes. Add some water to the pan. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the potato is ready. Best is if the water has evaporated by this time. In the meantime, the duck should be ready. Poor the duck fat in the pan, mash very briefly (you want to keep the structure of the potatoes), add nutmeg and black pepper. The mash should be about the kale, with the onions, garlic and potato supporting it. Serve immediately on a warm plate.

The Art of Sauces: Ravigote

28 December 2023

A classic, French sauce, traditionally served with Tête de Veau, but in general great with cold meat and cold, poached fish. A very simple, easy to make sauce with just the right acidity to brighten up your cold starter. The warm version is made with a broth, the cold one with oil, vinegar and mustard, as you would prepare a vinaigrette.
No eggs?
Indeed, no eggs. If you look at the list of ingredients, you could think of Remoulade or Tartare Sauce (both mayonnaise based) or Gribiche (made with hard boiled eggs). Ravigote is different, it’s light and uplifting. Just give it a try next time you serve cold meat or fish as a starter. Forget about the mayonnaise and enjoy this delicious, flavourful sauce.
We served our Ravigote with Pâté de Tête Persillé and crusted bread.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of white Pontificis, made with Viognier and Chardonnay grapes by Badet- Clément. This is an oaked dry wine from the Languedoc-Roussillon region in France. It is elegant, with some oak, clear acidity and some bitterness. Creamy, with some vanilla, butter and perhaps tropical fruit. In general you’re looking for a white wine with clear acidity, oak and balance.

What You Need

Coarse Mustard (Moutarde à l’Ancienne)
White Wine Vinegar
Oil (Sunflower, Avocado)
3 Cornichons
8 Capers
1 Shallot
Parsley
Tarragon
Chervil
Black Pepper

What You Do

Finely chop the shallot, slice the cornichons, halve the capers
Chop the herbs
Combine a spoonful of mustard with the same amount of vinegar
Slowly add the oil until you have the right consistency and flavour
Add more vinegar to get the right acidity
Happy? Add shallot, cornichons and capers
Mix
Add a generous amount of parsley, tarragon and chervil
Finish the sauce with black pepper.

PS

The amount of tarragon depends on the type of tarragon and your personal preference. There are actually three types: French tarragon (intense and aromatic, the one to use in the kitchen), Russian tarragon (limited flavour, no complexity) and Mexican (a touch of anise, but not even close to French tarragon).

Pork with Enoki

21 December 2023

It’s nearly the end of the mushroom season in Europe. It’s hard to find chanterelle (girolle), and nearly impossible to buy fresh cèpes. The black winter truffle (Tuber melanosporum) is an exception. It’s available until March, but the price may be prohibitive. Better to focus on cultivated mushrooms, such as enoki, available at your local Asian supermarket. A delicious mushroom with 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. A few weeks ago, we wrote about an omelette with enoki and a light soy sauce. The result is a lovely sweet, rich and intriguing dish.
Combining enoki with pork is also a great idea. Feel free to adjust the recipe and make the sauce spicier or sweeter or thicker. The result will be tasty given all three elements in the dish bring some kind of sweetness.

Wine Pairing

You could emphasize the Asian influence by serving a glass of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chenin Blanc or perhaps Soave. In general you’re looking for a light or medium bodied, unoaked, dry white wine with nice acidity. Benefits are minerality and florality. A glass of Côtes de Provence rosé will also be a good choice.
If you want to focus on the flavours of the pork, we suggest a glass of Beaujolais or a glass of wine made with Grenache (France) or Garnacha (Spain) grapes.

What You Need

Organic Pork Tenderloin
100 grams of (Golden) Enoki
Soy Sauce
Light Soy Sauce (we used Tentsuyu)
Stock
Oyster Sauce
Black Bean Sauce (optional)
Red Chili Paste (optional)
Olive Oil

What You Do

Fry the pork in olive oil until pink. Turn on a regular basis. Remove the stem (bottom) of the enoki. Fry in olive oil for maximum one minute. Add some (vegetable stock), soy sauce, oyster sauce, black bean sauce and red chili paste and create a not overly sweet, intense sauce. We like some spiciness, hence the chili paste. Serve the meat on top of the enoki mixture.

Tomato and Halloumi Salad

7 December 2023

A simple and lovely salad, one that works very well as a starter with some crusted bread. Tomatoes, a touch of mint, parsley and warm halloumi. One of the first times we made this we used homegrown, ripe and tasty tomatoes. We also prepared the dish using tomatoes that were rather bland. That wasn’t much of a success.
The history of halloumi goes back centuries. Nowadays it’s a cheese made of goat’s and sheep’s milk. Sometimes cow’s milk is added to the mixture. In the EU it’s a protected product and must be produced in Cyprus. Because of its high melting point it’s ideal to grill or fry, although it can remain a bit firm and chewy. During the final phase of the production process the cheese is salted and sprinkled with chopped spearmint leaves.
Mint is also an essential ingredient of the salad. We tend to use it only occasionally because mint can be overpowering. It works very well in combination with the cheese and the tomatoes. It gives a boost to the flavours without being overly present.

Wine Pairing

A glass of rosé, a simple unoaked white wine or a beer will be great with the salad. When looking for a wine to go with a salad, make sure to think about the acidity. In general a more acidic salad requires a more acidic wine. The combination will make the wine fruiter and the salad softer. In this case the tomatoes, the dressing and the capers bring acidity. However, marinating the tomatoes makes the salad softer and emphasises the sweetness of the tomatoes.

What You Need

Six excellent, tasty, ripe Tomatoes
6 leaves of Mint
Parsley
Olive Oil
Vinegar
Teaspoon of Capers (in brine)
Black Pepper
Halloumi

What you Do

Core and slice the tomatoes. Chop the parsley and the mint. Combine oil and vinegar, add tomatoes, mix and add the herbs. Transfer to the refrigerator for a few hours. Mix every hour.
Slice the halloumi and fry on medium heat in olive oil. Turn regularly. Add the capers to the salad, mix, top with the fried halloumi and serve immediately with crusted bread.

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, they 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 or beef
Slice, serve on a plate, drizzle with the dressing
Add thinly sliced white spring onion
Drizzle with sesame seeds (if using)
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.

The Art of Flavours

What You Need

What You Do

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

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Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What you Do

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

Wine Pairing

What You Need

What You Do

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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