Tag: receipes

Bouchée a la Reine au Poisson

15 January 2026

Crispy, fluffy, flaky puff pastry and a rich, warm ragoût, what better way to turn leftovers into a tasty starter. Bouchée a la Reine: a classic in Belgium and France. Not modern at all, but such fun to serve (and eat). The Bouchée a la Reine goes back to the days of Queen Marie Leszcynska, wife of King Louis XV. The story is that she tried to win back the attention of her husband (who was more interested in Madame de Pompadour) with these delicious small pastries. She assumed they would work as an aphrodisiac. One of her chefs (Nicolas Stohrer, also founder of the oldest patisserie in Paris) is probably the creator of Bouchée a la Reine (and Baba au Rhum by the way).
Enough history: you could fill the pastry with fish, poultry, mushrooms, sweetbread, just about anything will go, as long as you use a rich roux as basis.
Our ragoût combines fish with (common) shrimps. We bought halibut, a fish with compact, firm meat and a delicate taste, one that goes very well with butter, herbs and lemon. 

Wine Pairing

It all depends on the filling of your Bouchée a la Reine. Could be a light red wine if you have some left over veal, if it’s sweetbread then a lightly oaked chardonnay is fine et cetera. In all cases keep in mind that the filling comes with a generous amount of butter. In this case we enjoyed a glass of Mâcon, produced by Thierry Drouin. The wine has aromas of green apples and citrus, with a touch of toast and some minerality. Great in combination with the rich ragoût and its flavours. Good value for money too!

What You Need
  • One small Shallot
  • 100 grams of firm, delicate Fish
  • 50 grams of small Shrimps
  • 15 grams of Butter
  • 10 grams of All Purpose Flour
  • Fish Stock
  • Chervil
  • White Pepper
  • 2 Bouchées
What You Do
  1. Dice the raw fish (bite size)
  2. Finely chop the shallot
  3. Chop the chervil
  4. Warm the fish stock
  5. Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F
  6. Gently heat butter in a skillet
  7. Add the shallot and glaze for 5 minutes or so
  8. Add the flour
  9. Softly fry the flour until you begin smelling that typical cookie aroma
  10. Start adding the warm stock, slowly at first, constantly whisking.
  11. When the ragoût is ready, transfer the bouchées to the oven and leave for 10 minutes
  12. After 5 minutes, add the fish and combine
  13. After a few minutes the fish will be cooked
  14. Remove the pan from the heat
  15. Add white pepper, shrimps and chervil
  16. Combine
  17. Transfer the bouchées to the plates
  18. Add ragoût, decorate with chervil and serve immediately
PS

Normally we make our own stock. In this case we bought fish fond produced by Jürgen Langbein. We added water (1:1) to get the right stock for the ragout.

Bouchée a la Reine au Poisson ©cadwu made with a béchamel, halibut, shrimps and chervil
Bouchée a la Reine au Poisson ©cadwu

Asparagus with Beurre Blanc

12 June 2025

Nearly the end of the asparagus season in the Netherlands so we wanted to make a very special dish. One that combines the sweetness and the bitterness of the asparagus with freshness, the structure of the al dente asparagus with a velvety, rich mouthfeel. What better sauce to make than Beurre Blanc: a remarkable light French butter sauce.

The starting point of a Beurre Blanc is similar to that of Hollandaise and Béarnaise: a reduction made with shallot, vinegar, tarragon, black pepper and white wine. Inspired by Dutch chef Erik van Loo we added some Noilly Prat to the castric.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Asparagus with a glass of white Rioja. The wine is made by Vivanco with three Spanish grapes: Viura, Tempranillo Blanco (a grape discovered in 1988) and Maturana Blanca (a local grape that goes back to 1622). The result is a bright, intense white wine with aromas of citrus fruit and green apples. Fresh, tasty and a great match with the flavours of the asparagus and Beurre Blanc.
In general, we suggest a non-oaked, fresh, dry white wine, with clear acidity. 

What You Need
  • For the Castric (25 ml)
    • 5 ml White Vinegar
    • 50 ml dry White Wine
    • 20 ml Noilly Prat
    • One coarsely crushed corn of Black Pepper
  • For the Beurre Blanc
    • 25 ml Castric
    • 60 grams of cold Butter
  • 6 Asparagus
What You Do
  1. Start by making the Castric
  2. Chop the shallot
  3. Combine all ingredients and leave to reduce by 2/3 on low heat
  4. Pass through a sieve; try to capture the juices of the shallot
  5. Set aside
  6. Peel the asparagus and remove one centimetre from the bottom
  7. Steam for 15 – 20 minutes
  8. Remove the asparagus from the steamer and allow to rest for 5 minutes
  9. Make the Beurre Blanc
    • Warm the Castric
    • Dice the butter
    • Add the butter, one by one, to the Castric
    • Whisk (either by hand or by using a hand blender)
    • Make sure the butter has completely dissolved before you add the next dice of butter
    • Whisk and repeat
  10. Serve the asparagus with the sauce on a luke warm plate
Asparagus with Beurre Blanc
Asparagus with Beurre Blanc ©cadwu