Category: vegetarian

Tuberous Chervil

16 January 2025

Earlier we wrote about mashua and oca, two forgotten vegetables. This week we enjoyed tuberous chervil, another forgotten vegetable, also known as turnip chervil and bulbous chervil. Popular throughout continental Europe in the 19th century, but now hard to find. The tubers we bought had a length of approximately 4 cm and a thickness of 2 cm. They are white on the inside. The tuberous chervil is very tasty, easy to prepare, and its flavour will make you think of chestnuts, without a hint of bitterness.
As more often, these winter vegetables were replaced by potatoes: cheaper, easier to handle and easier to grow.
The ‘chervil’ in the name does not mean it’s the tuber of the chervil plant (like parsley and parsley root are related). It’s included because the leaves of tuberous chervil (see picture below) look like the leaves of chervil. The two are not at all related.
According to some sources tuberous chervil can be eaten raw. We tried it, of course, and yes, edible, but not great. We prefer to turn the tubers into a purée, with cream, butter and nutmeg. We combined the purée with lamb chops and with scallops. The second combination didn’t work, as if bringing the two together diminished the individual flavours. The first combination was delicious, the sweetness of the meat with the chestnut flavour, the freshness of the puree with the fatty lamb.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of red wine from the Bordeaux region with our purée and lamb, produced by Château Picon. A very nice, affordable wine, with some dark fruit and acidity. In general, we suggest a not too complex red wine, made with for instance cabernet sauvignon and/or merlot grapes.

What You Need
  • 250 grams of Tuberous Chervil
  • Butter
  • Cream
  • Nutmeg
  • Black Pepper
What You Do

If the tuberous chervil are young and fresh, you don’t need to peel them. The ones we bought were a bit older, so we peeled them. Wash and cook for 5-10 minutes until soft. Drain. Mash using a fork, add butter and cream. Use a spoon to make the purée. The tubers love both, so you will probably need to add a bit more than expected. Keep warm on low heat, add black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Quickly fry the lamb chops, add lots of herbes de Provence or a combination of thyme and oregano and serve with the purée.

Tuberous Chervil Purée ©cadwu
Tuberous Chervil - Raw ©cadwu
Chaerophyllum_bulbosum_W ©Fornax

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

9 January 2025

It’s the time of year to enjoy simple, seasonal, rich and flavourful food, for instance spicy pumpkin soup. The trick in this case is in the coconut milk or cream. Coconut milk contains something like 15 grams of fat per 100ml. For this soup you need 25+ grams of fat per 100ml. The fat enhances the coconut flavour and it combines very well with the spicy and aromatic character of the soup (ginger, chili, djeroek poeroet).

What You Need (for 4)
  • Small Pumpkin
  • Large Shallot
  • 2 large Garlic Cloves
  • 4 cm Fresh Ginger
  • Chili Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • 8 leaves of Djeroek Poeroet  
  • Coconut Cream
  • Cilantro
What You Do

Wash the pumpkin and chop. If the pumpkin is organic, then you don’t need to peel it. Peel and chop the shallot, garlic and the ginger. Ground dried chili pepper. Gently fry the shallot in olive oil. Add chilli pepper. Add ginger. Stir, mix and add pumpkin. Stir and add garlic. Now add the vegetable stock, the djeroek poeroet and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. If the pumpkin is soft, remove the djeroek poeroet and blender the mixture. Taste and adjust. Add 6 spoons of coconut cream, 1 by 1, mix and taste. When you’re happy with the flavours, leave the soup on low heat for 15 minutes. Serve with lots of chopped cilantro.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup ©cadwu
Spicy Pumpkin Soup ©cadwu

Burdock

12 December 2024

Wintery weather in Amsterdam, cold and sunny. Time to enjoy some seasonal vegetables, such as beet root, fennel, leek, kale, turnips and Brussels sprouts. Our favourite vegetable and fruit stall on the market sells Burdock. We all know about forgotten vegetables (such as rutabaga, kohlrabi, parsnips and Jerusalem artichoke), but Burdock is not one of them. It’s an ignored vegetable.
According to chef Alan Bergo in his excellent book The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora, Burdock root is delicious with a mild and slightly nutty flavour. Native in Europe and Asia, and introduced worldwide. He offers six recipes with Burdock, using the flower stalks in summer and the root in winter. One of the recipes is for Kinpira Gobō, a common side dish in Japan in which Burdock is combined with carrots, lotus root, mirin and sesame seeds. All his Burdock-dishes look delicious. Which raises the question why we don’t eat Burdock more often. 
We prepare a Japanese dish called Ume Gobō (ごぼうの梅煮) which translates to Burdock with Plums, which is basically what it is.
We served our Ume Gobō with Tamagoyaki, which turned out to be a very tasty, uplifting combination.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of Crémant d’Alsace, produced by Arthur Metz. A very pleasant dry sparkling wine, with hints of apple, almonds and peach. Excellent combination with the Ume Gobō and the Tamagoyaki. In general, we suggest a not too complex unoaked white wine.

What You Need
  • 250 ml of Dashi
  • 1 Burdock Root
  • 3 salted Plums
  • 2 teaspoons of Mirin
  • 2 teaspoons of light, reduced sodium Soy Sauce
What You Do
  1. Wash the burdock to remove the dirt; if necessary use a knife
  2. Trim off the ends
  3. Warm the dashi
  4. Slice the root in 5 cm long chunks
  5. Quarter these lengthwise; if the root is thick, slice again
  6. Transfer the chunks immediately to the dashi to stop the root from discolouring
  7. Remove the pits of the plums and add one plum to the dashi
  8. Use a cartouche to cover the vegetables
  9. Leave to simmer for approximately one hour
  10. Keep an eye on the pan, you may have to add some extra dashi
  11. After one hour the liquid should be evaporated and the vegetables relatively soft
  12. You could cook it longer if you prefer them really soft
  13. Finely chop the remaining plums and add the paste-like substance to a bowl with mirin and soy sauce
  14. Combine until relatively smooth
  15. When the burdock is lukewarm, it’s time to add the chunks to the bowl and mix
Burdock with Salted Plums ©cadwu
Burdock with Salted Plums ©cadwu

Palmiers au Fromage

21 November 2024

It’s Friday evening, friends are coming over for dinner, a nice bottle of crémant d’Alsace is waiting to be opened, you switch on your oven, slice the dough and transfer the slices to the oven. An hour or so later you serve a glass of crémant, accompanied by crispy, lukewarm, aromatic Palmiers au Fromage. Aren’t they lovely?

What You Need
  • Puff Pastry
  • 50 grams of Butter
  • 25 grams of very, very old cheese
  • (optional) Black Pepper and Mustard
What You Do

We used three sheets (12* 12 cm) of puff pastry. Combine the sheets into one by folding the dough. You want to keep the layered structure of the puff pastry. Transfer to the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so. In the meantime, combine 50 grams of very soft butter with 25 grams of finely grated very old cheese until it’s fluffy and creamy. This may take some time! Taste and decide if you want to add more cheese, mustard and/or black pepper.
Dust your work top with flour, roll out the dough, size 12 by 36 cm. Used a brush to coat the dough with the butter mixture. Pick up the left short side of the dough and fold until halfway. Do the same with the right size. It should now be 12 by approximately 18 cm. Repeat. Probably you can’t repeat it after having folded the dough twice. If you think you can, please do so. Now brush halve the dough and fold. The result looks like a 12-cm-long sausage. Wrap in plastic foil, transfer to the refrigerator and let cool through and through.
Preheat your oven to 200 °C or 390 °F. Use a sharp knife to slice the dough-sausage, 0.5 cm is perfect. Cover a baking tray with parchment (baking) paper and bake the Palmiers au Fromage for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden-brown.

Palmiers ©cadwu
Palmiers ©cadwu

Saffron Milk Cap with Eggplant and Potatoes

17 October 2024

The Saffron Milk Cap is a popular mushroom in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Scotland, Poland, Russia and many other countries. In Spain they are combined with garlic and parsley, in Turkey with spinach to make börek or used in a rich tomato stew and in Poland and Russia they are salted with herbs such as dill and caraway. We have prepared them with red bell peppers and chorizo and squid.
We love the flavour of the Saffron Milk Cap (mild, nutty, a touch peppery) and since they keep their texture when cooked we wanted to use them in a stew. We combined the mushrooms with egg plant and potatoes. It worked very well: the aromas and taste of the mushrooms with the slight bitterness of the egg plant and the generous flavour of the potatoes cooked in vegetable stock. During the cooking process the potatoes will become more yellow thanks to the Saffron Milk Cap. Beautiful, delicious (as in Lactarius Deliciosus) and uplifting.

Wine Pairing

We decided to enjoy a glass of Chardonnay, produced by Mont Clou, Spain. The wine has aged ‘sur lie’, which means that the wine remained in contact with (dead) yeast cells, grape skin and other remainders of the grapes. The effect of this way of ageing is that the wine will become more complex and more flavourful. Champagne is an example of a wine aged ‘sur lie’.
The chardonnay from Mont Clou has aromas of ripe fruit, pineapple perhaps? Its flavour is round, soft and a touch oaky. A very nice accompaniment of the stew. In general you’re looking for a medium bodied, fruity, white wine, preferably with some oak.

What You Need
  • 150 grams of Saffron Milk Cap
  • One small Shallot
  • One Garlic Clove
  • One Potato (waxy)
  • One small Egg Plant
  • Paprika (Powder)
  • Chilli Powder
  • 250 ml Vegetable Stock
  • Parsley
  • Olive Oil
  • Crusted Bread
What You Do
  1. Slice the eggplant and quarter each slice
  2. Wash the potato and quarter
  3. Clean the mushrooms and quarter
  4. You want the eggplant, potato and mushrooms chunks to be of similar size
  5. Chop the shallot and the garlic, not too fine
  6. Fry the eggplant in a non-stick pan with lots of olive oil until golden
  7. Set aside
  8. Glaze the shallot in a heavy iron skillet
  9. When ready, add the garlic
  10. Wait a few minutes, then add the mushroom
  11. Fry for a few minutes
  12. Add the potato and fry for another few minutes
  13. Add the paprika and chilli powder
  14. Make sure everything is coated with spices and olive oil
  15. Add the eggplant and the vegetable stock
  16. Allow to cook for 30 minutes or until the potato is ready
  17. You may want to add some water and mix, so check every 5 or 10 minutes
  18. Two minutes before serving add some chopped parsley
  19. Mix
  20. Serve with crusted bread.
PS

More mushroom recipes on our mushroom page.

Saffron Milk Cap with Eggplant and Potatoes ©cadwu
Saffron Milk Cap with Eggplant and Potatoes ©cadwu

Girolle Omelette

26 September 2024

Friday morning, beginning of September, we go shopping at the organic street market in the beautiful city of Haarlem. We want to buy fruit and vegetables, cheese and obviously mushrooms. The season just started but already the stall offers lobster mushrooms, truffle, chicken of the wood, mai take, trompette de la mort, cèpes and girolles, also the grey (grise) and the yellow ones (jaune). They look perfect and we decide to buy 150 grams. Greyish cap, bright yellow stem, perfect with an omelette. We cross the street and buy extremely old goat cheese, one that matured for 2 to 3 years. Its taste is full of umami, a bit spicy and makes us think of Roquefort. It will be perfect with the aromas and flavours of the girolle jaune.

Wine pairing

The fried girolle comes with an aroma that will make you think of a forest in autumn. Its taste is complex and nutty. The rich egg in combination with the grated old cheese made us decide to drink a glass of Flor de la Mar, barrel aged Chardonnay, produced by Casa Ermelinda Freitas in Portugal. The wine aged for 4 months in barrels made of American oak. It is medium bodied, nicely oaked and comes with hints of citrus and caramel. In general, you’re looking for a lightly oaked chardonnay, balanced, fresh, not too complex.

What You Need
  • 150 grams of Girolle (Jaune)
  • 2 Organic Eggs (preferably Demeter)
  • Very Old Goat Cheese
  • Garlic Clove
  • Olive oil
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper
What You Do

Whisk the eggs together. Warm a small non-stick pan, add some butter and make sure the pan is warm through and through. Add the mixture and leave on low heat until the omelette is baveuse. In the meantime, clean the mushrooms. Perhaps you need to cut off some of the stem. Slice the mushrooms lengthwise in halve. The stem is hollow and may contain sand or other bits of the forest floor. Quickly fry the mushrooms in olive oil. Grate some garlic and add to the mushrooms. Time to plate up: the omelette, fresh black pepper, the mushrooms and some grated goat cheese, not too much, it can be overpowering.

PS

More mushroom recipes on our mushroom page.

Girolle Omelette ©cadwu
Girolle Jaune ©cadwu
Very Old Goat Cheese ©cadwu

Peaches with Lavender

19 September 2024

The cookbook review project hosted by Bernadette has come to an end, unfortunately! It was inspiring to read cookbooks from chefs that were new to us, like Patricia Wells and Nagi Maehahi. It was fun preparing dishes for our esteemed panel and sharing their views with you. Thank you so much Bernadette, for running the project!

José Pizarro - Basque

Our suggestion to the cookbook review team was a book mentioned by Sheree: José Pizarro’s book Basque: Spanish Recipes from San Sebastián & Beyond, published in 2016. It’s a beautifully designed and edited book with a range of diverse dishes, for instance Veal Chops with Black-Eyed Peas, Pan Fried Cèpes with Egg Yolk and Cream Cheese Ice Cream with Blackcurrant and Camomile Syrup. The book is recommended by Claudia Roden (‘José Pizarro is an amazing cook who has brought us the best of Spanish food’) and Rick Stein (‘José’s recipes take us to the very heart of the best Spanish cooking’).

José Pizarro was born in the Extremadura region in Spain. Currently he owns seven restaurants in the UK and one in Abu Dhabi. He published six Spanish cookery books, received various awards and is often credited with making Spanish food popular in the UK.

We decided to make two dishes from the book, Grilled Octopus with Peppers and Aubergine and Roasted Lavender Peaches with Baked Custard. As a main dish we served Pork Belly with Sherry, Chickpeas and Chestnuts, following a recipe published in the Guardian. Our panellist Jan and Anton were happy to provide their feedback.

Grilled Octopus ©cadwu

The starter: Anton mentioned the octopus was tasty, with the right texture and nicely grilled. Jan was also pleasantly surprised by the octopus and its flavours. We all felt the dish as a whole could do with a bit more flavour and some acidity. We also expected the parsley oil to bring the various components together, but that didn’t really happen.

We enjoyed our starter with a glass of Portuguese Vinho Verde, made by Cazas Novas. It comes with floral and fruity notes, has some acidity and a medium body with a good texture and a fresh aftertaste. In general, you’re looking for a wine with freshness, minerality and some acidity.

Pork with Chestnuts, Chickpeas and Sherry ©cadwu

The dish with the pork belly strips was nice. Jan would have preferred the pork to be crispy. Perhaps prepare the stew and the pork separately? Anton enjoyed the chickpeas in the rich combination with sherry, onions, spinach and thyme. Surprisingly flavourful.

The recipe suggests leaving the pot in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. The next day we decided leaving the leftovers in a warm oven for a few hours. The result was a very nicely integrated stew; a tribute to all ingredients. Next time we will prepare the vegetables a day ahead with some of the pork, perhaps allow for more time in the oven and serve with crispy fried pork.
We enjoyed the dish with a glass of Portuguese red wine, produced by Vidigal. The wine is made with aragonez, castelão and cabernet grapes. The wine has a nice red colour and aromas of fruit and herbs. Its taste is light, with some tannins and a touch of oak. In general, you’re looking for a smooth, easy to drink red wine with character.

Peaches, Lavender and Custard ©cadwu

Time for dessert. Peaches with Lavender? Four peaches and a tablespoon of lavender? Served with custard? We were intrigued.
We looked at the list of ingredients and noticed Patxaran, a sloe flavoured liqueur from the Basque country, normally served as a digestif.
Even more intriguing.

The combination of peaches, lavender, patxaran and custard was a winner. One night we served it with vanilla ice cream, which was a nice and tasty combination. We served our panel the peaches with home-made custard, following the recipe of José Pizarro. It’s a delicious combination. Rich, smooth, silky custard with uplifting, sweet and aromatic peaches. The sauce is a mixture of honey, patxaran and peach juice. Like us you would probably expect the lavender to be over the top, but it worked brilliantly. A winner! Our panel was very pleased and enjoyed the combination.
“Lovely custard, great way to prepare peaches, interesting how the lavender is supporting the fruit, present, never overwhelming, could I have another glass of patxaran?”
Of course you can!

Bernadette final review-question was: should this book be on your shelf? Our answer would be yes, because of the inspirational recipes, the use of ingredients and the beautiful pictures of food and the Basque country.

Basque: Spanish Recipes from San Sebastián & Beyond is available via your local bookshop or the usual channels for 15 euro or 40 US dollar. You can also enjoy the recipes José Pizarro publishes on a monthly basis in the Guardian.

Peaches with Lavender ©cadwu
Pork with Chestnuts, Chickpeas and Sherry ©cadwu
Baked Custard ©cadwu
Peaches, Lavender and Custard ©cadwu
José Pizarro - Basque
Grilled Octopus ©cadwu

Hazelnut & Raisin Bread

22 August 2024

Two or three times per week we enjoy the taste of fresh home-made no-knead bread. The crust, the flavours, the aromas! And how about the singing of the bread when it’s just out of the oven? Baking your own bread is such a pleasure.

Our recipe for no-knead bread is based on a recipe published by Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan Street Bakery, New York. It was published in the New York Times in 2006 and can also be found in his excellent book My Bread. The process is time consuming (it’s 24 hours from start to finish) but not labour intensive. The recipe is based on slow-rise fermentation. With only 1 gram of instant yeast in combination with 18+3 hours of rest the yeast will do a wonderful job. The dough will be perfect. And kneading, as you would expect, is not required.

Normally we bake our bread with blue poppy seed and brown linseed. Today we bake a luxurious bread with hazelnuts, raisins and cinnamon.

What You Need
  • 200 grams of Whole Grain Flour
  • 230 grams of Plain White Flour
  • 1 gram Instant Yeast
  • 70 grams Hazelnuts (peeled and roasted)
  • 130 grams Raisins
  • 2,5 grams Cinnamon
  • 4 grams Salt (this is less than usual, most recipes for bread would suggest 8 grams)
  • 345 grams Water
  • Additional Flour
  • Bran
What You Do

Mix flour, yeast, cinnamon and salt. Add water and create one mixture. Let rest in a covered bowl for 18 hours.
Soak the raisins for 10 minutes in warm water. Remove excess water. Cover your worktop with a generous amount of flour. Remove the dough from bowl and flatten somewhat. Cover the middle third with one quarter of the raisins and hazelnuts. Fold the lower third on top of the middle third. Cover with the second quarter. Fold the top third on top the the middle third. Cover the centre with a quarter of the raisins and hazelnuts. Fold the right part on top of the centre. Ad the last quarter of raisins and hazelnuts on top of the centre and fold the fold the left part on top of it. Dust with additional flour and let rest on a towel dusted with flour and bran for 3 hours. Check that the pot (and the handles!) can be used in a really hot oven. Transfer the pot to the oven and heat your oven to 235˚ Celsius or 450˚ Fahrenheit. Put the dough, seam side up, in the pot, close it and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes or until it is nicely browned. Let cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing it. Enjoy with a generous amount of butter.

Hazelnut & Raisin Bread ©cadwu
Hazelnut & Raisin Bread ©cadwu

Watercress Soup

15 August 2024

Watercress tastes fresh and somewhat peppery. In this soup we combine it with chervil and dill (hints of anise) making it an even more uplifting, delicious soup. Adding cream or olive oil is optional. Easy to make, quick and vegan!

What You Need
  • 50 grams Watercress
  • 10 grams Chervil
  • Some Dill
  • Small Shallot
  • 1 Clove of Garlic
  • 1 Small Potato
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper
  • Vegetable Stock
  • (Double) Cream (optional)
  • Excellent Olive Oil (optional)
What You Do

Chop the shallot and the garlic. Peel and chop the potato. In a heavy iron pan heat the butter, glaze the shallot and later add the potato and garlic. Allow to simmer for a few minutes. In the meantime, remove the coarse stems of the watercress and the chervil. When the potato is done, remove some of the stock and blender this with the watercress, the dill and the chervil until very smooth. Transfer back to the pan and leave on low heat for a few minutes. Press the mixture through a sieve and continue on low heat for a few minutes. You could add some excellent olive oil or some double cream. If you add cream, make sure you give the soup a few more minutes, otherwise your soup will have the typical milky taste of cream.

PS

Many recipes for watercress soup suggest smoothing the mixture (including the potatoes) with a blender. Please don’t be tempted to do so! It will give the soup a gluey texture, not nice at all. Our method is perhaps a bit more work, but the result is much, much tastier.

Watercress Soup ©cadwu
Watercress Soup ©cadwu

Oyster Mushrooms with Parmesan Cheese

25 July 2024

An easy to make and delicious vegetarian starter with only five ingredients! We combine oyster mushrooms with Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, black pepper and olive oil. The oyster mushroom is a common, edible and often cultivated mushroom. Its texture is firm, meaty and moist, its taste mild, nutty and slightly creamy. Some website mention flavours like anise and seafood, flavours we don’t recognize.

The other main ingredient is nutmeg. Its sweetness and spiciness combine very well with Parmesan cheese and the oyster mushroom. The dish looks simple and we were tempted to add some greens, but the result is intense, tasty and uplifting.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our mushrooms with a glass of white wine made with Verdejo and Sauvignon grapes byPiqueras Almansa. This is a dry white wine with lots of aroma and a slightly spicy, fruity aroma. A balanced wine that goes very well with the various flavours in this dish. In general, we would suggest a white wine with clear aromas, not too much acidity and present flavours.

What You Need
  • 200 grams of Oyster Mushrooms
  • Olive Oil
  • Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Freshly grated Nutmeg
  • Black Pepper
What You Do

Grate a generous amount of Parmesan cheese, add some black pepper and nutmeg. Combine and taste. The nutmeg should be clearly present. Add the olive oil to a heavy iron skillet, quickly fry the mushrooms, sprinkle with cheese and transfer the skillet to the oven. Allow to grill for 8 – 10 minutes. Divide in two and serve on a hot plate. You could serve it with some crusted bread.  

Other Recipes

Our favorite with oyster mushrooms is Alla Milanese. Another tasty recipe is this salad.

Fresh Oyster Mushrooms ©cadwu
Oyster Mushrooms with Parmesan Cheese ©cadwu