Tag: starter

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

Together: Our Community Cookbook

23 December 2024

Food is much more than just food, it’s about culture, about being with friends, family, about learning from other cultures, about talking and sharing memories, about emotions, about special days and celebrations. It brings people together and enhances our understanding of others.

We take part in Jo Stacy’s BKD Cookbook Club and this month the focus is on Christmas recipes for us all to make and share. Our choice is a recipe for a Casserole from Together: Our Community Cookbook.

The book is written by a group of residents, gathering in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London to cook food for their families, friends and neighbours. They began using the kitchen at the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre and used the kitchen for two days per week, preparing food and eating together. Gradually more local women began to join in, embracing the community and supporting their neighbours. This was the beginning of the Hubb Community Kitchen (‘hubb’ meaning ‘love’ in Arabic).
In 2018 the group published Together: Our Community Cookbook with 50 simple and tasty recipes from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and other countries.
Food that brings people together, food you prepare for your loved ones.

The book features mouthwatering recipes including Shakshouka (Algeria), Potato Fritters with Cilantro (India), Spicy Peanut Dip (Uganda), Green Rice (Iraq), Fennel and Orange Salad (Italy) and many more.

Food that helped restore hope and provided a sense of home.

Casserole

We decided to prepare Tepsi Baytinijan. To quote Intlak Alsaiegh, the author of this recipe: “Tepsi translates as ‘casserole’ and this is a traditional Persian dish of meatballs in tomato sauce with eggplant. It’s quite rich. You could make it with less oil, I suppose, but then it wouldn’t be so traditional—or taste so good.”

The dish is indeed a rich, tasty combination of small meat balls (ground beef, garlic, curry powder), fried egg plant, fried potatoes, onion, green pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste and tamarind paste, served with basmati rice or crusted bread.
The detailed recipe can be found in Together: Our Community Cookbook or on Food52.

Together: Our Community Cookbook is dear to us, because it shows us that food can unite people. Preparing food from this book will bring you closer to the hope and strength of the Grenfell community.

The book is available via the usual channels and your local bookstore. A portion of the proceeds from the sales will help the Hubb Community Kitchen to strengthen lives and communities through cooking.

We wish you Happy Holidays and a Wonderful 2025!
Mr. Cook and Mr. Drink

Together: Our Community Cookbook
Persian Casserole ©cadwu
Persian Casserole before Baking ©cadwu

The Art of Sauces: Green Sauce with Quails and Snails

1 November 2024

Many years ago we were looking for a nice restaurant in Fréjus. It was our last evening in France before returning home and obviously we were looking for something special, something typical Provençal. The area of our hotel wasn’t very promising, so we were ready to settle for pizza until we saw a small restaurant with a very interesting menu. It offered Tisane de Romarin, Cailles et Escargots and many other exciting dishes we unfortunately forgot. We entered the restaurant and had a perfect evening.
Combining quails and snails isn’t the most obvious idea, but rest assured, it works beautifully, also thanks to the very intriguing green sauce. It took us some time to recreate it, but after a few attempts we think this is the right version.
The question remains why the two go together well. Is it about fat (quails leg) and no-fat (snail)? Because both are meaty and tender? Because both love the tarragon in the sauce?
Of course, we made a note of the name of the restaurant and of course, we lost it. A pity, although preparing this dish brings us back to a lovely evening in Fréjus.

Wine Pairing

Enjoy your Green Sauce with Quails and Snails with a glass of Chardonnay with a touch of oak. The wine must be dry, mineral and medium bodied. We enjoyed a glass of Bourgogne Couvent des Jacobins as produced by Louis Jadot. The wine partly matured in stainless steel tanks and partly in oak barrels. The result is a wine that has citrus and apple aromas in combination with oak and vanilla. Great with the freshness of the herbs and the richness of the sauce. It balances very well with both the quails and the snails.

What You Need
  • 6 Quail Legs
  • Butter
  • 12 Snails (click here when you want to know which snail to buy)
  • For the Green Sauce
    • 1 Bunch of Parsley
    • 1/4 Bunch of Tarragon
    • Chicken Stock
    • Cream
    • (optional) Beurre Manié or Potato Starch)
  • Black Pepper
What You Do

Wash the snails with plenty of water. Set aside. Warm a heavy iron skillet, warm some chicken or quail stock in a pan and bring a pan with water to the boil. Set your oven to 60 °C or 140 °F.
Now it’s time to make the Green Sauce:
Blanch parsley and tarragon in boiling water for 30 seconds and cool immediately in ice water. Dry. Blender the herbs with some cold stock until you have a very smooth green liquid. Set your blender to turbo! Pass through a fine sieve and store the chlorophyll. It will remain stable for at least a day.
Quickly fry the legs in butter. Warm the snails in some chicken stock. When both are ready, transfer the legs and the snails to the warm oven. Add chicken stock to the pan. Stir. Add cream to the pan. Let reduce for 5-10 minutes or until you’re happy with the consistency. Add chlorophyll until you have the right colour and taste. Be very careful, if you overheat the sauce it will lose its vibrant green colour. Perhaps you need to thicken the sauce with Beurre Manié or Potato Starch. Add black pepper and taste. Serve the legs and the snails in the sauce. Enjoy with crusted bread.

Green Sauce ©cadwu
Green Sauce ©cadwu
PS

You could also use two quails. Remove the breasts and the legs. Use the remainder to make the stock you need for the sauce. To make the dish more refined, remove the main bone of the legs.

Girolle and Guineafowl

10 October 2024

The Girolle (or Chanterelle) season in Europe runs from late summer until late autumn. It’s a much-loved mushroom, especially the golden (common) girolle, but let’s not forget the chanterelle jaune, the chanterelle grise and the trompette de la mort. The common girolle remains tender and somewhat meaty when cooked, which makes it ideal when thinking of a rich sauce. You will taste delicate nutty, buttery and earthy flavours. Delicious when combined with the gentle flavours of guineafowl. The sauce we made is fairly simple: it’s all about enhancing the texture and the flavours of the mushroom. The parsley will bring a freshness and bitterness to the sauce.

Guineafowl 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) which is perhaps the tastiest part of the guineafowl. 

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of Le Jardin de Fleur La Mothe made by Château Fleur la Mothe with merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes. An affordable wine from the French Médoc region. The wine has a beautiful deep red colour, the tannins are balanced and the fruit nicely present, both in the aroma and the flavour. In general, we suggest a smooth, medium bodied red wine with fruity aromas. 

What You Need
  • For the Guineafowl
    • 2 Guineafowl Supremes
    • Pancetta
    • Olive Oil
  • For the Sauce
    • 150 grams of Golden Girolle
    • One small Shallot
    • One small Garlic Clove
    • Double Cream
    • Crème Fraîche
    • Dijon Mustard
    • Vegetable Stock
    • Parsley
    • Butter
    • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F
  2. Thinly slice the pancetta
  3. Open the supreme, add pancetta and then close the supreme, using kitchen twine
  4. Fry the supreme in olive oil in a heavy iron skillet until golden
  5. Transfer the skillet to the oven. The internal temperature of the meat should be minimum 70°C or 160°F.
  6. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper.
  7. Halve or quarter the mushrooms, depending on the size
  8. Finely chop the shallot and the garlic.
  9. When the guineafowl is ready, transfer the pan to your kitchen top, cover the meat with aluminium foil and allow to rest. This way the meat will be moist and not over-cooked.
  10. Now it’s time to prepare the sauce. Add butter to a warm pan, add the shallot, gently fry for a few minutes, add the girolles, fry, reduce heat, add the garlic.
  11. After a few minutes add the vegetable stock. Stir.
  12. After a few minutes add double cream, crème fraîche and some Dijon mustard.
  13. Stir well and create a thick creamy sauce. Taste and add some black pepper.
  14. wo minutes before serving add the parsley.
  15. Slice the guineafowl and serve 3 or 4 slices on top of the sauce.
Girolle and Guineafowl ©cadwu
Girolle and Guineafowl ©cadwu
PS

More mushroom recipes on our mushroom page.

Shiitake Salad

8 August 2024

We love mushrooms and are always keen to explore new recipes and ideas. This recipe for a salad is very much about the nutty flavour and the moist texture of the shiitake. An easy to make and delicious, aromatic salad with lots of umami and citrus.
We used Grains of Paradise (also known as Maniguette or Awisa). This West African spice was introduced in Europe in the 14th or 15th century as a substitute for black pepper. We like its peppery, citrusy flavour.

Wine Pairing

The fish sauce brings briny, caramel-like flavours with obviously some fishiness. The cilantro is very present with notes of citrus and pepper. The result is an aromatic, umami rich salad, best enjoyed with a glass of Pinot Blanc. We decided to open a bottle produced by Dr. Loosen. The winery was founded over 200 years ago and is well known for its Riesling and other excellent wines from the German Mosel region. In general, you’re looking for a white wine that is fruity and easy to drink, with gently acidity and some minerality.

What You Need
  • 150 grams of Shiitake
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • Olive Oil
  • Rice Vinegar
  • Thai Fish Sauce
  • Grains Of Paradise (Maniguette) or Black Pepper and Lemon Juice
  • Cilantro (Coriander)
  • Smoked Breast of Duck
What You Do

Remove the stems of the shiitake (they are chewy and fibrous). If necessary, clean the caps with kitchen paper. Slice. Finely chop the garlic. Warm a heave iron skillet, add olive oil and gently fry the shiitake. After a few minutes add the garlic. Keep on medium/low heat for a few minutes. Combine olive oil, rice vinegar and fish sauce. Ground grains of paradise and add to the dressing. The grains of paradise can be replaced with freshly grounded black pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Taste the dressing and adjust. Add the shiitake to the dressing and mix. Allow to cool somewhat. Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro. Mix again. Garnish with slices of smoked duck breast.

PS

More mushroom recipes on our mushroom page.

Shiitake Salad ©cadwu
Grains of Paradise (seed pods) ©cadwu
Shiitake ©Sharon Mollerus

Roasted Bell Peppers

18 July 2024

The recipe of Peperoni alla Piemontese goes back to 1954 when Elizabeth David published it in her (third) book Italian Food. The dish is a true classic. Super simple, tasty, uplifting and a tribute to summer.  The recipe as published by Elizabeth David was popularised by Delia Smith in her TV series and her book Summer Collection, published in 1993. A helpful video is available via her website.
Bell peppers are popular in Piemonte and it seems they were originally prepared with anchovies and parsley only. It was probably Elizabeth David who came up with the idea to add tomatoes. Later others added tuna, which we think takes away the lightness of the dish. Another option is to replace the anchovies with black olives, making it a vegetarian dish.
We prefer using sweet long bell peppers. They combine very well with the flavour of the tomatoes and the juices. Delia Smith uses quartered, peeled tomatoes which helps to brings the flavours and textures together. Our alternative is a bit more work: we use tomato confit. The tomatoes are very tasty with hints of garlic, rosemary and thyme.

Wine Pairing

Enjoy the roasted peppers with a crisp white wine or rosé. If you want to spend some money, then buy a bottle of white Piemonte wine, made with the arneis grape. The wine is made in the Roero area close to the village of Canale. A wine with a bright, intense yellow colour, present aromas of ripe fruit (especially apples), very fragrant. The taste is delicate and fruity with good acidity and a long finish.

What You Need
  • 2 Sweet Bell Peppers
  • 8 Tomato Confit
  • 4 Anchovies
  • 1 Clove of Garlic
  • Black Pepper (optional)
  • Olive Oil
What You Do

Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 350 °F. Halve the bell peppers lengthwise. Slice the garlic. Chop the anchovies. Use a shallow baking dish. Add 2 tomatoes, some garlic, some anchovies and a generous amount of olive oil (and/or cooking juices of the confit) to each halved bell pepper. Transfer to the oven. The peppers will be ready in 30+ minutes. Enjoy with crusted bread. No need to serve with basil!

Roasted Bell Peppers ©cadwu
Bell Peppers Ready for the Oven ©cadwu

Miso Sauce and Asparagus

4 July 2024

Miso is made by combining soybeans, salt and koji, a fungus that is cultivated on rice. The fermentation process may take months. Additional ingredients include (brown) rice, barley or wheat. Originally from Japan, it is now used in many other countries. In general miso is intense, salty and deep. Expect lots of umami!
In this recipe we use white miso, because of its mildness, its delicacy and because it has some sweetness. Ideal for a sauce, marinade or dressing. Red miso combines well with oily fish and hearty vegetables.
More information about miso, the manufacturing process and how to use it (including recipes by chef Nobu Matsuhisa) on the website of Hikari Miso.
When buying miso we suggest to focus on organic miso and if possible a miso with less salt. Normally miso contains 12% salt.
A starter with miso and asparagus was not on our radar until we saw the menu of Restaurant Green in Amsterdam. One of their dishes combines white asparagus with miso, wild garlic, hazelnuts and yuzu. We planned to enjoy the very last white asparagus of the season in a classic way, but why not end the season with something completely new? Unfortunately, the season for wild garlic finished a few weeks ago, so we replaced this flavourful component with chives.

Wine Pairing

A Pinot Grigio will be perfect with this dish. Light, crisp, citrus and apple. We opened a bottle of Pinot grigio produced by Zenato. An affordable wine that combined very well with both the asparagus and the sauce.

What You Need
  • White Asparagus
  • Crushed Hazelnuts
  • Chives
  • For the Sauce
    • White Miso
    • Yuzu
    • Mirin
    • Light Soy Sauce (we used Tsuyu)
    • (optional) Rice Vinegar
    • (optional) Water
    • Potato Starch
What You Do

Clean and peel the asparagus. Steam them for 10-20 minutes, depending on the size. We use our Russel and Hobbs food steamer. An essential kitchen aid for only 50 euro or US dollar. Combine 2 teaspoons of white miso with a tablespoon of mirin, a tablespoon of tsuyu and a teaspoon of Yuzu. Gently warm the sauce and thicken with some potato starch until it is silky. Now it’s a matter of tasting and adjusting. Probably add more tsuyu; perhaps add some water and/or rice vinegar. Also taste the combination with the asparagus before serving. The asparagus make the sauce milder. Serve the asparagus with the sauce. Add crushed hazelnuts. Add chopped chives.

Miso Sauce and Asparagus ©cadwu
Miso Sauce and Asparagus ©cadwu

Salad with Truffle and Asparagus

27 June 2024

Sometimes a dish is all about seasonal products, for instance the combination of white asparagus, morels and wild garlic. Sometimes it’s about a winning combination, for instance truffle and potato, or truffle and egg. This dish has a bit of both aspects because this year the end of the Dutch white asparagus season coincides with the beginning of the summer truffle season. And since both combine very well with egg, why not make an extravagant salad?

Wine Pairing

The salad has a velvety, rich mouthfeel. You will taste subtle truffle, some bitterness and sweetness of the asparagus and a hint of acidity thanks to the mayonnaise. The salad will combine very well with a Chardonnay with subtle oak. We enjoyed our salad with a glass of Mâcon-Bussières, produced by Thierry Drouin. The white wine is made from 100% chardonnay grapes and comes with a touch of oak, aromas of apple and citrus and a rich flavour with hints of toast and butter. An excellent wine and a perfect accompaniment of the salad.

What You Need
  • 3 Eggs
  • 12 Asparagus (tips only)
  • (home-made) Mayonnaise
  • 30 grams of Summer Truffle
  • 1 or 2 teaspoons of Excellent White Truffle Oil
  • White Pepper
What You Do

Cook or steam the eggs until slightly runny. We steamed the eggs for 9 minutes. Peel and leave to cool. Steam the tips of the asparagus for 9 minutes. No need to peel them. Leave to cool. Mix two tablespoons of mayonnaise with one or two teaspoons of truffle oil. Roughly chop the eggs and crunch the truffle. Gently combine the asparagus tips, the truffle, the eggs and some white pepper with the mayonnaise. Transfer to the refrigerator for one or two hours.

Salad with Truffle and Asparagus ©cadwu
Salad with Truffle and Asparagus ©cadwu

Oyster Mushroom Salad

16 May 2024

A few weeks ago, we posted a recipe for a salad with fried and marinated white button mushrooms. A rich, velvety salad with some acidity and lots of umami. This mushroom salad combines raw oyster mushrooms with radishes, sesame oil, mirin and cilantro. It’s both colourful and flavourful!
In general eating raw mushrooms is not a good idea. Some mushrooms contain mycotoxin that could be carcinogenic to humans. If you want to be 100% sure, it’s best to cook your mushrooms (and forget about this delicious salad!).
The variety we used is the Golden Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus Citrinopileatus) and its colour makes the salad even more vibrant. This mushroom is native to China, Japan and Russia. The ones we bought are cultivated. Compared to the more common grey oyster mushroom the caps are smaller in size and their taste is sweeter.
Another colourful oyster mushroom is pink (Pleurotus Djamor). Its taste is somewhat bitter. Perhaps not the best choice for a salad. If cooked well, it is supposed to taste like bacon, but by then it has lost all its colour.
Cultivated oyster mushrooms can be eaten raw. If you’re not sure, ask your greengrocer.

Wine Pairing

The salad comes with a range of flavours and obviously some acidity, which is important when choosing your wine. Perhaps a white wine with even more acidity? Or a wine that adds flavours or aromas to the dish? We decided to drink a glass of Vinho Verde with our salad, produced by Adega De Monção. This Portuguese white wine is made from Alvarinho and Trajadura grapes. Some citrus, slightly tropical, with notes of apples and pear. Tasty, elegant and refreshing. In general, you’re looking for a refreshing, easy to drink wine that has some acidity and flavours that make you think of apple, apricot or peach.

What You Need
  • 100 grams Golden Oyster Mushrooms
  • (Coloured) Radishes
  • For the Dressing
    • Excellent Olive Oil
    • Rice Vinegar
    • Mirin
    • Light Soy Sauce (we used Tsuyu)
    • Sesame Oil
  • Cilantro
What You Do

Wash the radishes and slice vertically in eight or six, depending on the size. Make the dressing. Add the sesame oil as the last ingredient because it’s very present. Combine the radishes with the dressing and the thinly sliced cilantro. Leave for a few minutes. Combine with the golden oyster mushrooms and serve immediately.

Golden Oyster Mushrooms ©cadwu
Coloured Radishes ©cadwu
Golden Oyster Mushrooms
Oyster Mushroom Salad ©cadwu

Charlotte Aux Asperges

9 May 2024

May is our peak season for white asparagus: great quality and reasonable prices. Which is very helpful because for this relatively small Charlotte you need lots of very tasty asparagus. Our Charlotte has a 16-centimetre diameter, and it requires 18 asparagus. The Charlotte has four components: the bottom made from potatoes and seasoned with nutmeg, the filling made from an asparagus mousse with ham, the side, made from halved asparagus tips and the decoration. The combination of fried potatoes, asparagus (soft in the mousse and with a gentle crunch in the tips) and egg is delicious. 

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of Pinot Blanc from the German Mosel region made by Dr. Loosen. The wine is dry and fresh with some acidity and minerality. Notes of pear, apple and citrus. It worked very well with the Charlotte. In general you’re looking for a subtle white wine, given the delicate flavors of the Charlotte.

What You Need
  • For the Filling
    • 50 grams Cream
    • 50 grams Ham
    • 13 grams of Gelatine
    • 18 asparagus
  • For the Bottom
    • 1 large Potato
    • Nutmeg
    • Butter
    • Salt
  • For the Decoration
    • Two eggs
    • Parsley
    • Black Pepper
What You Do

The recipe is for a springform with a diameter of 16 cm. The bottom of the Charlotte is a Paillasson de Pomme de Terre. See our post about Alain Passard. Peel and grate the potato. Add salt and nutmeg. Bake in a heavy iron skillet with lots of butter for 15+10 minutes until golden. From time to time you may need to add extra butter. Do this by slipping small dots of butter down the sides of the pan. In parallel peel the asparagus and cut of the tips. Steam the tips for 10 minutes. Steam the eggs for 12 minutes. Allow the tips to cool. Peel the eggs and set aside. Quarter the remainder of the asparagus and cook in water for at least 20 minutes or until very well done. Blender the asparagus chunks with some of the cooking liquid until very smooth. You will need approximately 400 grams of this mixture. Use the back of a spoon to pass the asparagus mixture through a sieve. Transfer the potato to the bottom of the springform. Coat the side of the form with neutral oil. Halve the tips and add these to the form, with the cut to the outside. See picture. Follow the instructions of the gelatine. Whip the cream until thick. Finely chop the ham. Heat some of the asparagus liquid, when warm, add the gelatine. Now it’s time to combine cream, ham and asparagus mixture. Cool the mixture and add gently to the springform. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours. Just before serving make mimosa with parsley and black pepper.

Slice of Charlotte aux Asperges ©cadwu
Charlotte aux Asperges ©cadwu
Bottom and Side of Charlotte aux Asperges ©cadwu