Bavarian Burger

The Fleischkäse is a speciality here in Germany, but can be found in Austria and Switzerland too.

It is seasoned very fine sausage meat that is baked in a large dish in the oven. Later cut cold in slabs or sliced fine as deli meat on bread. The thicker slabs get panfried or microwaved and served inside a breadroll.

But this time I used smaller pieces instead of beef patties to put them in a burger bun.

But what is a German burger without sauerkraut and onions? Or mustard?

I ssuteed 2 red onions and used honey and balsamic vinegar for the taste. The bun was buttered and went in a pan to brown the inside. Then mustard went on the bottom, the first pattie, then onions and an other pattie, saurkraut onions and Sriracha Mayo.

I liked this kind of burger. Sweet, sour, meaty and a little spicy.

Belgian creamy Chicken Waterzooi

This is a Flemish special dish from Gent. I have eaten it at the buffet at the racetrack in Spa Francorchamps.

There was no sign at the buffet about the dishes. At home I checked the 10 most popular dishes from Belgium and found it.

It is a very hearty and easy to prepare dish. I was surprised that it tasted like the food I ate at Spa. The difference was the cutting technique of the veggies. 

The kitchen crew at the restaurant used Brunoise style aka tiny cubes of veggies. I used the more simple way of chopping everything a bit coarse. But that did not change the taste, just the texture.

Recipe for 2 - 3:

5 chicken thighs boneless

Chicken seasoning

1 onion, 1 spring onion, 3 garlic cloves

2 celery stalks

1/3 of a leek

2 carrots

Salt, pepper, paprika

1 tbsp olive oil

150 ml chicken stock

200 ml double cream

2 egg yolk

2 tsp potato starch + 2 tbsp water

Bunch fresh parsley

Season the chicken thighs on both sides. Heat up the oil and brown them on both sides 5 min each. Take them out.

Pour out some of the fat. Add all the veggies and season them. Put a lid on and reduce the heat and let them cook for 6 to 8 min.

Add chicken stock and cream and get the meat back in. Cook for 18 to 20 min. Get the pan off the heat and stir in the egg yolks. On low temperature cook them and then use a slurry to bind the sauce to the consistency you like.

Chop the parsley and stir it in.

This dish is traditionally eaten with potatoes, but I choose rice instead.

Belgian creamy Endive Bake

With lots of grated Gryêre.

I call this vegetable Chicory. Endive in German is a very different kind. A huge green and yellow head of salad. Often favoured by slugs in the garden.

After coming back from Spa Francorchamps I looked through Pinterest for typical Belgian food.

What comes to mind instantly are Waffles, Fries and Chocolate. And I know beef goulash with dark Belgian beer and Moules Frites.

But that was more or less my knowledge of Belgian food. But now I have more. A list of the best 10 dishes.

Recipe for 2:

3 heads of endive/chicory

6 slices cooked ham

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup endive cooking water

100 g Gryêre 

Salt, pepper, nutmeg, vegetable seasoning, Piment d'Espelette

20 g breadcrumbs

1 tbsp olive oil

Cut off the dark end of the endive and toss outer leaves if they are bad. Put them in a pot of boiling salted water and blanche 5 min. Drain and squeeze the water out.

Tip: since they are hot, use a colander and a big spoon to press out the water. Then use tongs to hold them to cut through the middle. 

Preheat the oven 190 C.

Wrap in a slice of ham and set them in a baking dish.

Grate the Gryêre.

Use the pot to melt butter in and stir in flour to cook out. Add milk and cooking water and stir until they are no more lumps. Add 2/3 of the cheese and the spices.

Mix 1/3 of the cheese with the breadcrumbs and add olive oil. Put that on top of the endive.

Bake at 190 C for 35 min.

 

 

Carrot Orange Cake

I need to get rid of some carrots. It always a bad idea to buy them in a 3 kg bag. 

Oranges I bought in Belgium this Tuesday. They are the other item here.

It is a typical cake baked in a loaftin. Good to freeze too. Maybe it saves me time to bake something for Easter. I just looked at my calender and thought, wow Eastern is in one week!

This is a recipe from Leckerschmecker.

Recipe:

1 organic orange zest and juice

300 g grated carrots

200 g flour

100 g ground hazelnuts

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

150 g sugar

150 g butter soft and unsalted

3 eggs

Glaze:

100 g icing sugar

1/2 organic orange juiced

1 package dried orange peel

Sugar stars to decorate

In a big bowl cream butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one after another stirring in between. Add salt.

Mix flour, hazenuts, baking powder together. Zest the orange and squeeze out the juice. Grate the carrots. Get everything together until you have a smooth batter.

Butter a loaftin (25 cm) and flour it. Pour in the batter and bake 55 to 60 min at 180 C.

Let it sit in the loaftin 10 min, then turn it out on a wire rack. Let it cool down completely.

In a small bowl add the package of dried orange zest and the icing sugar and squeeze just enough orange juice in the bowl to create a thick paste. Put it on the cake and some decor.

 

Fried Chicken

A crunchy coating, but very light. 

I think I did a decent job with the chicken. It is a rare occation that I deep fry chicken pieces. For most of my chicken recipes I use my trusty Air fryer.

A bowl of mixed salad with a yogurt dressing and some Basmati rice with added ketchup were served with the chicken.

I bought skinless and boneless chicken thighs. Patted them dry and cut them in strips. I made a seasoning mix and used it on both sides of the pieces (I hate onsided seasoned meat).

A wet batter to get a crispy outside does not take a lot of ingredients. The leftover seasoning went in too, don't waste it.

I fried the chicken pieces in two batches in a wok. Depending on the thickness between 6 to 9 minutes. They rested on kitchen paper on a wire rack.

Chicken seasoning:

450 g chicken thighs bone - skinnless

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Italian herbs

1/2 tsp Tajin seasoning

Salt and pepper

Batter:

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup water

Leftover seasoning

Oil for frying

 

 

Corned Beef Hash Filipino style

This is made after a recipe from Manila Spoon, but in my own way.

It was a long time ago I had a can of corned beef. I struggled with the keything to open it. Took me a second look to turn it around and open the metal box. Getting the meat out was a problem too.

This dish is pretty basic. Not many ingredients and a shorter cooking time. The mis en place up front does not take too much time either.

Recipe for 2:

1 can Corned Beef

1 medium onion

4 garlic cloves

250 ml beef stock

1 tbsp coconut oil

8 cherry tomatoes or 2 medium ones

4 larger potatoes

3 tbsp Light soy sauce 

2 tbsp Fish sauce

Salt and pepper

Parsley and chives

Do all prepwork first. Use a wok or a high pan and heat up the coconut oil.

Add chopped onion and garlic and give it 4 minutes. The quarted tomatoes in next and 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Now add beef stock and cubed potatoes. That needs to cook 10 minutes. The corned beef is next. Since it is cooked, it just needs a moment to melt in the dish.

Add soy sauce and Fish sauce for Asian flavour. I sprinkled some dried parsley and chives on top.

Eat it with bread or rice or as it is.

Smashing a Burger on my Plancha

I bought a Plancha together with the stove when I had redone my kitchen. But I rarely use it.

But I wanted to try a Smash Burger at home. And the burgers needed space and a I needed a place to toast the buns, I took the Plancha out of storage. 

I grated a little bit of onion in the ground beef and added seasoning. Slices of a good cheese went on top both patties to melt.

The buns had a mayo spread on to toast and I only used some Sriracha Mayo as a topping together with a couple of cherry tomatoes.

The Plancha is easy to clean afterwards. Just pour a little water on the hot plate and use the tool you use for turning the meat and scrape the burned bits off the Plancha. Then put it in the dishwasher.

Ingredients:

2 burger buns

250 g ground beef

1/2 grated yellow onion

Salt, pepper, paprika

1 tsp oil

1/2 sliced yellow onion

2 slices Edamer cheese

8 cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp mayo

2 tbsp Sriracha mayo