Tag: recipes

Wild Garlic

21 March 2024

From February to June, you can find Wild Garlic (Ramson(s) Daslook, Bear Leek, Ail des Ours, Bärlauch). It’s a shade-loving plant with beautiful white flowers that you can forage for in the woods or grow in your garden or on your balcony. If you decide to pick wild garlic, be careful not to pick its lookalike: the poisonous Lily of the Valley. Check if it’s wild garlic by grinding your fingers on the leaf. If you smell garlic and onion, you should be fine. If in doubt, don’t use it.
Wild garlic is much loved in Germany, Austria, France and other parts of Europe. The leaves and the flowers are edible (and so are the bulbs, but we haven’t tried these yet). Some sources mention that you should only eat the leaves before the plant starts flowering. But then you can’t combine the leaves and the tasty flowers in your dish, so we suggest ignoring that idea. The flowers are a touch sweet because of the honey. We suggest tasting the leaves and the flowers well before using. Adjust the quantities accordingly.
The taste is a bit like a combination of onion and garlic, but much greener, longer lasting and with a touch of bitterness at the end.  Works very well as a pesto, but equally nice with potatoes or gnocchi. You can also add the leaves and the flowers to a salad, but we feel the taste benefits from some warmth. Be very careful when cooking wild garlic because the flavour deteriorates quickly and at its best becomes unpleasant and onion-like. However, it’s possible to prepare a very tasty wild garlic soup.

We use wild garlic in four dishes. One is Farfalle with a wild garlic-based pesto, the second is a soup and the third is with white asparagus with morels and is published in the excellent book Mushrooms by Johnny Acton and Nick Sandler.

The cheese we use on our potato-wild-garlic-mash is Vacherin Fribourgeois. It originates from the region around the Swiss city Fribourg. It’s a semi-hard, creamy cheese made with raw cow milk. It matures for some 10 weeks in a damp cellar. Its taste is aromatic, floral, full-bodied and lasting, with a touch of sweetness, bitterness and umami. Ideal to combine with gnocchi or an omelette. Unfortunately, it’s not a widely available cheese. We bought it at one of our favourite cheese shops. You could replace it with Gruyère or perhaps Emmenthaler.

We combined out potato-wild-garlic-mash with a nice steak, but you could also serve it with an excellent organic sausage, perhaps one with sage?

Wine Pairing

The combination of the rich and flavourful mash and the red meat suggests a red wine with sufficient acidity, structure and tannins. We decided to enjoy a glass of Le Jardin de Queyron Pindefleurs 2018, Saint-Emilion, made from 78% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. It’s an elegant wine with aromas of dark fruit, liquorice and toast. The wine was a perfect balance with the various flavours in the dish.

What You Need
  • Floury (Starchy) Potatoes
  • Milk or Cream
  • Butter
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Cheese
  • Wild Garlic
What You Do
  1. Bring a pan of water with a pinch of salt to the boil
  2. Add the potatoes and cook until tender
  3. Transfer to a colander and drain
  4. Return to the pan (on low heat) and allow to dry
  5. Mash the potatoes using a fork or a potato masher
  6. Add hot milk, or cream and (melted) butter
  7. A few minutes before you serve the mash, coarsely chop the leaves and grate the cheese
  8. Quickly add the cheese, mix, taste, adjust, perhaps some more, perhaps some black pepper and then add the chopped leaves
  9. A few seconds later the mash is ready
PS

Watch this video (in English) about a communal garden in a park in Amsterdam, featuring Lynn and her beloved daslook.

Wild Garlic and Potato Mash ©cadwu
Fresh Wild Garlic ©cadwu

Small Artichokes (Carciofo Violetto)

14 March 2024

The season of artichokes depends on the variety and where you are based. In Italy it’s from mid-winter until early spring, in other countries from March to June, or September and October.
An artichoke should feel heavy, look fresh and the leaves should be closed. If the leaves are wide open, the artichoke is older and it could be dry with lots of choke (the hairs) and dry inner leaves.
The artichokes we use in this recipe are special. Not only are they vibrant purple, they are also small with hardly any choke. In Italy they are called Carciofo Violetto. Tasty as you would expect from an artichoke and easy to eat because the texture of the leaves is not stringy.

Wine Pairing

It’s not straightforward to pair artichokes with wine. According to various researchers this is due to cynarin, a chemical especially found in the leaves of the artichoke. When the wine and the cynarin meet in your mouth, the natural sweetness of the wine is enhanced, making it taste too sweet. Pair artichokes with a bone-dry, crisp, unoaked white wine with clear, present acidity. For instance, Sauvignon Blanc, Grüner Veltliner or Albariño.
The Carciofo Violetto artichoke in combination with the olive oil, Parmesan cheese and browned garlic (bitter, nutty) is less demanding when it comes to wine. We enjoyed it with a nice glass of Côtes de Provence rosé.

What You Need
  • Small purple Artichokes
  • Olive Oil
  • 2 Cloves of Garlic
  • Parmesan Cheese
What You Do
  1. Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F
  2. Cook the artichokes for 5 minutes in boiling water.
  3. Allow to cool and remove the outer leaves. Be generous, it’s better to remove too many!
  4. Halve the artichokes and place them in a shallow oven dish
  5. Drizzle with olive oil
  6. Transfer to the oven for 5 minutes
  7. In the meantime, grate Parmesan cheese, chop the garlic and mix
  8. Spread the mixture on top of the artichokes
  9. Wait for the cheese and the garlic to colour, perhaps 5 minutes
  10. Serve immediately.
PS

Other recipes with artichokes you may like:

Small Artichokes (Carciofo Violetto) ©cadwu
Small Artichokes (Carciofo Violetto) with Parmesan and Garlic ©cadwu

Marmalade

7 March 2024

We love a cup of (Russian) Earl Grey or Lady Grey. Black teas flavoured with oil of bergamot (Citrus Bergamia), which gives the tea a lovely citrusy flavour.
You could imagine how happy we were when we saw fresh bergamots on the market. Yellow, the size of an orange and very fragrant. Great to use for a tarte au citron, for a curd or for marmalade.
The juice of the bergamot is fairly similar to lemon juice. Bitter, pungent, perhaps a bit more tart. The rind is fragrant, has a powerful aroma and a (bitter) taste. Bergamot oil is made of the rind and often added to perfumes and cosmetics.

We also used the bergamot juice to make a kimizu-like sauce, served with fried fish. The result was okayish but certainly not our best idea!

What You Need
  • (organic) Citrus Fruit (Oranges, Mandarins, Lemons, Bergamots or a mix of these)
  • Sugar
  • Water
What You Do

Weigh and wash the fruit. Cut into quarters and slice the quarters into thin slices. Transfer to a pan. Add some water, bring to a boil and cook on low heat for 15-30 minutes until the peel is translucent. Now add sugar (we use a ratio fruit to sugar of 2:1, but feel free to add more sugar). Cook on medium heat until the marmalade starts to thicken. This may take 15-30 minutes depending on the fruit. Transfer to clean jars, let cool and enjoy a few days later!

Bergamot Marmalade ©cadwu
Bergamot ©cadwu
Bergamot © Jacopo Werther

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

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

Boil the eggs, peel and halve. Scoop out the egg yolk, finely chop the chervil, add 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. Mix with a fork. Taste and adjust. Stuff the eggs and decorate with grayfish and chervil. Keeps well in the refrigerator for a few hours if covered with cling foil. Just before serving, decorate the eggs with chervil.

Deviled Eggs with Chervil and Crayfish ©cadwu
Deviled Eggs with Chervil and Crayfish ©cadwu

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.

Curly Kale ©rasbak
Curly Kale with Confit de Canard ©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.