Tuna tataki with wasabi nuts

Brush 300g tuna with olive oil, then roll trough a plate with white and black sesame seeds and furikake to cover all sides

Then panfry the tuna in a dry but very hot pan, about 40 sec per side. Cool and reserve

Puree an avocado with 1 tsp wasabi and the juice of 1/2 lime in the blender. Transfer to a piping bag

Once cool put the tuna in the freezer for 1 hour

After that the fish is much easier to slice. Let the slices get back to room temperature before serving

Halve a handful wasabi nuts. 

Start plating with the tuna. Add dollops of the avocado mousse, add some soy beans and hacked wasabi nuts. Crush a papadum and stick some pieces between the tuna to add something crunchy.

Finish with the shiracha mayonnaise

(Here homechef Huibers' original recipe in Dutch)

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Crispy basil leaves, crème fraîche and caviar

Deepfry p.p. 2 big basil leaves about 20 seconds in 125° arachide oil

Drain on kichenpaper

Serve with a small dollop  of crème fraîche and caviar

(Here Nadia Aidi's original recipe)

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Asian prawn cocktail

Peel and clean 4 Giant Tiger prawns and marinate them in 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp Tabasco sriracha, 1/2 tbsp grated ginger and 1/2 grated clove of garlic

Make a dressing from 1 tbsp mayonaise, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce and 1/2 tsp Tabasco sriracha

Start filling 2 nice glasses with pieces of iceberg lettuce, cubes of mango and avocado

Panfry the marinated prawns and cut them in small pieces, the add to the glasses.

Finish with a few drops of lime juice, the mayonaise, some sesame seeds and a few leaves of coriander

(Here Stephanie Bex' original recipe in Flemish)

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Steak tartare on double fried potato

Peel a very big potato and cut out 2  90x33x20 mm rectangles, boil them about 8 to 9 mins. in salted water. Drain and cool 

Make a kosho from the zest of 1/4 lime, 1/4 lemon, 1/4 orange and 1/2 finely hacked red chili. Weigh and add 20% salt

Deep fry the potatoes in 150°C fat, 3 to 4 mins. 

Slice 125g bavette as thin as possible, then cut in tiny cubes, then hack

Mix the meat with 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 tbsp Worcester, 1/2 egg yolk, the brunoise of 1/4 shallot and 1/4 sweet gurking, 1/4 tbsp Dyon mustard, 1/4 tbsp hacked capers. Season with salt and pepper.

Deepfry the potatoes a 2nd time, but now in 180°C fat, again 3-4 mins

Cover the French fries with the kosho, then with the steak tartare.

Finish with chives and chervil

(Here Loĩc van Impe's original recipe in Flemish)

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Tuna tataki, Osietra caviar

Brush 150g sashimi grade tuna with olive oil, then roll trough black and white sesame seeds, then panfry in a dry pan, 1 min per side

Make  a dressing from1,5 tbsp soy sauce, 1,5 tbsp rice vinegar, 2,5 tsp sesame oil and 1/2 tsp runny honey

Start plating with a tbsp wasabi mayonaise and use a fork to create ridges

Add slices of the tuna tataki and spoonfuls of Osiertra caviar

Finish with edamame and mustard cress

(Here Stephanie Bex' original recipe in Flemish)

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Crispy pancetta, creamy salsify and zesty salsa verde

Pre heat the oven to 180°C

Put 6 slices of pancetta (1 mm thick) on a, with baking paper covered, baking dish.

Cover with another sheet of baking paper, then put another baking dish on top to keep them nice and flat

Bake them golden and crispy in about 20 mins

In the meantime peel 375g salsify, cut in 5 cm pieces and keep in cold water with some lemon juice to prevent colouring

Reserve 3 pieces, then boil the rest 20 mins in salted water with some lemon juice

Whisk a marinade from 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp lemon zeste, 1,5 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper.

Cut the 3 reserved pieces of salsify in very thin slices and mix them with the marinade

Make a salsa verde from the leaves of 15g parsley and from 2 sprigs of oregano, 1/2 clove of garlic, 1/2 tbsp rinsed capers, 1 anchovy, 1/2 tbsp Dyon mustard, the juice and zest  from 1/4 lemon and 60 ml olive oil

Puree 250g boiled salsify with 13g butter, 37 ml double cream, 1//2 tsp Dyon mustard, salt and pepper

Cut the rest of the boiled salsify into thin slices

Start plating with a crispy slice of pancetta, cover it with the salsify cream and the slices of salsify, then spoon some salsa verde on top.

Repeat this and finish with the last slice of pancetta with some salsa verde on top

(A Dosia Brewer recipe in Delicious Magazine)

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"Stoofpeer' with Gorgonzola and cranberry compôte

'Stoofperen' are a typical Dutch winter fare. Rockhard pear made edible by cooking them for up to 3 hours in red wine, with brown sugar, a cinnamon stick and a star anise

Panfry (in a dry pan) 2 slices of pancetta till crispy, drain on kitchen paper

Use a fork to mix 40g Gorgonzola and 1 tbsp double cream, then warm the mix 20 sec in the microwave to melt the cheese

Cut 1 stewed pear in small cubes

Start plating with the cheese, spoon the pear on top, then some cranberry compôte. Finish with crumbled pancetta

(Here Francine's orinal recipe in Dutch)

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Lobster tail, asparagus, mayonaise blanc

Preheat the oven to 195°C

Whisk a mayonaise from 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp Dyon mustard, 1 tsp warm water, 1 tsp sushi vinegar and about 75 ml grapeseed oil

Whisk the remaining egg white in a second bowl till you can turn the bowl over while the beaten egg white stays firmly in place

Then, bit by bit, carefully spoon your mayonaise into the beaten egg white. This way you can double the amount of mayonaise without having to use more oil, which is much healthier.  Taste and season with pepper and salt. 

Peel 4 white asparagus

Butterfly 2 lobster tails. Using kitchen shears cut down the center of top of 2 defrosted lobster tails down to the base. Next grab each side of the shell and gently pry the shell away from the meat- leaving the meat at the base of the tail attached.  Lay the meat back in the shell, season with salt and pepper 

Sweat 1 minced clove of garlic in 25g butter, add1 tsp thyme leaves and 1/2 tbsp hacked parsley and a knifepoint smoked paprika.

Place the tails in an oven safe pan and brush the top of each tail with herb butter

Boil some salted water, enough to cover the asparagus, once it boils put in the asparagus. Keep on the lid. 

After 5 mins put out the heat, at that moment put the lobster in the hot oven, 8 mins per 100g

Drain the asparagus after 7 mins

Serve as shown, with some lemon pearls 

(Here the original recipe by Bo in Dutch, mayonaise blanc recipe by Janneke Muileboom)

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Cocoa dusted tuna tataki, crispy vegetables

Dust 200g sashimi grade tuna on 4 sides with cocoa powder, brush with olive oil then roll through white and black sesame seeds to cover all 4 sides

Panfry the tuna quickly in olive oil, the inside should stay raw

Mix 15 ml tamari (or soy sauce), 1/3 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp chili oil, 1/4 tsp hacked lemongrass (white part), 1/4 grated garlic, 1/2 tbsp palm sugar, 1 shredded lime leaf

Slice 6 sugar snaps lengthwise, 

Snip the brown bottoms from 30g beansprouts 

Bring water to the boil, add the peas and the taugé, take them out after 45 sec and cool in ice water. Dry and season with olive oil and chardonnay vinegar.

Serve as shown, with a tsp soy sauce pearls 

(Original recipe by Marjan van der Veer-Lugthart)

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Scallop, tamari, lemongrass, red chili, soy pearls

Mix 15 ml tamari (or soy sauce), 1/3 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp chili oil, 1/4 tsp hacked lemongrass (white part), 1/4 grated garlic, 1/2 tbsp palm sugar, 1 shredded lime leaf

Panfry 2 scallops

Serve with hacked chili pepper, lime leaf and soy sauce pearls

(Here Luke Nguyen's original recipe in Delicious Magazine)

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Scallops al nage, vongole, fennel and celery oil

Put 500g vongole in lots of cold salted water for a few hours, then rinse them under the tap and bring to the boil with 50 ml Noilly Prat vermouth, pepper, a few sprigs of thyme and a laurel leaf in a lidded pand. Drain as soon as they are all open (about 4-5 mins) but keep the cooking liquids to make a sauce.

Put 15g celery leaves in boiling water for a few minutes to soften. Rinse under cold water and squeeze till dry.

Put in the blender with 40 ml sunflower oil, season with salt and pepper and blend well. Press through a sieve to get the green oil, discard the pulp

Peel 1/2 celery stick, 1/2 shallot, 1/2 clove of garlic and 1/4 fennel bulb, then cut them in very small cubes. Season with salt and pepper and sweat them softly  in a tbsp butter and a glug of Noilly Prat

Get the vongole from their shells

Bring their cooking liquid to the boil with 50 ml double cream and reduce till you have a nice thick sauce

Cut a very thin slice of fennel into strips and marinate in a glug of tarragon vinegar, salt and pepper

Panfry 6 scallops in and oiled pan on high temperature, turn around and add a tbsp butter.

Also add some butter and a few drops of lemon juice to the sauce and whisk briefly with the stick blender 

Plate as shown, starting with the cubed veggies, then the sauce, the scallops and the vongole

Finish with the green oil. And the marinated fennel, which I forgot :)

(Here Jeroen Meus' original recipe and a video in Flemish)

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Vegetarian oyster

Mix the flesh of 1/2 avocado with 1 tsp Greek yoghurt, 1 tsp olive oil, salt and pepper

Crush 1 prawn cracker and mix with equal parts black sesame seeds and pulverised nori

Dip oyster leaves a second in boiling water.

Serve a shown. The avocado crème imitates the structure of oyster, the oyster leaf really tastes like oyster.

(Here Tim Cornille's original recipe in Flemish)

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Maryland Crab Cakes

“This is the best crab cake recipe I’ve ever tried! Absolutely delicious and loaded with all crab, hardly any fillers.”

To start, whisk together 1 egg, 1,25 tbsp mayonnaise, 3/4 tsp Dyon mustard, 3/4 tsp Worcestershire, 1/2 tsp Old Bay (a mix of celery salt, hot paprika, smoked paprika, cinnamon and nutmeg), 1/8 tsp salt, 30g celery in very small cubes and 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley in a large bowl until well combined.

Then add 225g crab meat (double-checking for any bits of shell or cartilage) and the panko. Gently fold the mixture together until just combined. Be careful not to break up the delicate crab meat too much—the lumps are the best part!

Form the mixture into 4 cakes. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour to help them firm up. Don’t skip this step—it makes a big difference in helping the crab cakes hold their shape when cooking.

Make the tartar sauce. In a small bowl, mix together 120g mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp mustard, 3/4 tbsp finely hacked gurkin, 1/2 tbsp minced red onion, 3/4 tbsp lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until smooth, then cover and chill until ready to serve.

Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and add a thin layer of oil. Once hot, add the crab cakes and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on the first side, until golden brown.

Carefully flip the crab cakes and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until both sides are golden and the centers are hot. Watch out for oil splatter!

Serve the crab cakes on 2 plates, with a bimi and the tartar sauce on the side. Enjoy!

(Here Jennifer Segal's original recipe)

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Lobster tail, celeriac beurre blanc

Hack 50g celeriac, 1/2 shallot and 1/2 fennel bulb and quarter a bulb of garlic. Panfry the veggies in some soy oil, with 3 sprigs of thyme

After 3 mins deglaze with 1 dl Noilly Prat vermouth and reduce.

Add 1 dl fish stock and 1 dl cream and boil softly for 15 mins.

Crush some black pepper corns with your knife and add to the beurre blanc

Strain the beurre blanc in a sieve 

Preheat the oven to 195°C

Butterfly the lobsters. Using kitchen shears cut down the center of top of 2 defrosted lobster tails down to the base. Next grab each side of the shell and gently pry the shell away from the meat- leaving the meat at the base of the tail attached.  Lay the meat back in the shell, season with salt and pepper 

Sweat 1 minced clove of garlic in 25g butter, add1 tsp thyme leaves and 1/2 tbsp hacked parsley and a knifepoint smoked paprika.

Place the tails in an oven safe pan and brush the top of each tail with herb butter

Put in the hot oven, 7 mins per 100g

Serve with the beurre blanc. I added some left over shrimps

(Here the original recipe by Bo in Dutch 

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Fish Fest

Quarter 400g small red-skinned potatoes, boil them in chicken stock 

Make an aioli from 4 tbsp mayonaise, 1 tbsp orange juice, 1 minced clove of garlic and a pinch of salt

Cut 2/3 fennel in small cubes.

Sweat 1 minced shallot in 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 mins. Add the fennel cubes and 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds and fry another 5 mins.

Deglaze with 60 ml Noilly Prat and let the alcohol evaporate 

Add 200 ml chicken stock and boil 5 mins, cool a bit, add 2 tbsp aioli, blend into a smooth sauce and keep warm

Cut the other 1/3 of the fennel in mini cubes, mix with 2 tbsp hacked parsley, the zest of 1/2 orange, 1/2 minced shallot and 2 tbsp orange juice. season with salt and pepper

Panfry 200g salmon, skinside down in 2 tbsp olive oil for 5 mins, then turn and do the other side 3 mins. The inside should stay nice and pink

At the same time put 500g vongole or clams in a saucepan, close with the lid and boil on a high heat till all the shells are open

Start plating with the potatoes, then spoon over the sauce. Add flakes of salmon and finish with the vongole. Sprinkle with the crunchy fennel/parsley mix

(Recipe by Hester de Goede in Delicious Magazine)

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Chicken liver paté, fermented carrot and tarragon oil

 

Finely slice 75 g carrot, cut into long matchsticks and put in a clean jam jar.

Bring 250 ml water to the boil, with 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp cumin and pour over the carrots. Close with the lid and ferment for 5 days

Blanche the leaves from 6 twigs of tarragon 10 sec, them cool in ice water, dry and blend with 40 ml grapeseed oil. Sieve and reserve

Sweat 1 small minced shallot and 1/2 minced clove of garlic 5 mins in 25g butter

Turn up the heat, add 150g cleaned chicken livers and brown them on all sides

Deglaze with 20 ml cognac and simmer for another min

Transfer to the blender, together with 20 ml double cream, 45g soft butter, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg

Blend well, then whisk airy with another 65g soft butter and transfer to a piping bag.

Take a 2 cm slice of brioche, cut out two soldiers from 2,5 x 6 cm. Brush on all sides with olive oil and toast them in a 180°C oven for about 8-10 mins. till nicely brown

Serve as shown, with drops of the tarragon oil

(Recipe by Benjamin Lins in Delicious Magazine)

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Slow-cooked oxtail tagliatelle with pangrattato

Here is another example of a boring looking but really delicious plate of food, that deserves to be on my blog

Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan-forced.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large deep ovenproof frypan with a lid over medium-high heat. Season 1 kg oxtail discs well with salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper and sear in pan on all sides until golden brown. Set aside. 

Discard all but 1 tbs fat and reduce heat to medium. 

Cook 1 minced onion, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add 2 sliced cloves of garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add 1/2 tbsp tomato paste and 1 tsp caster sugar and cook another minute. Deglaze with 100 ml white wine and reduce the wine to 50%

Add 200g crushed tomatoes from a can, 250 ml chicken stock, the leaves from 3 sprigs of oregano and the reserved oxtail, bring to a gentle boil, then cover pan and transfer to oven to bake for 2,5 hours or until oxtail is tender. 

Meanwhile, for the pangrattato, combine 50g Panko, 3 tbsp hacked parsley leaves, 20g grated Parmesan, 1 tbsp olive oil and the zest of 1/2 bio lemon  in a bowl. Spread over a baking tray and bake on a shelf below the oxtail for the last 20-25 minutes of cooking time, until golden brown. 

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add 100g tagliatelle and cook according to packet directions or until al dente. Drain pasta and stir through the braise. 

Cut the meat from the oxtail bones and put the sauce 5 mins on a high heat to thicken. Taste, season with salt and pepper and put the meat back in. Mix with the pasta.

Sprinkle the oxtail tagliatelle with a little pangrattato and serve with the remaining pangrattato alongside. Feeds 2-3

<or as an elegant small portion in a larger menu

(Here Matt Moran's original recipe for 4 pers)

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Venison, stuffed oxtail cabbage

Pre-heat the oven grill

Halve an oxtail cabbage and put under the hot grill 15 mins, then braise under a lid in 30g butter for another 15 mins

Reduce 250ml game stock with 3 junipers, then whisk in 40g butter. Finally add 2 tbsp cranberry jam

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Remove 4 of the outer leaves of the cabbage and remove the vein

Finely hack 40 gr of the pointed end, mix with chives, salt and pepper

Lightly brush 2 thick slices of brioche with olive oil and put in the hot oven for 10 mins til golden brown

Whip 50g goat butter and season with sea salt. Use a mortar to turn 1 tbsp dried pine needles into a powder

Panfry 250g loin of venison, 2,5 min per side. Cut of 50g, wrap the rest in alu foil and rest.

Mince the 50g and mix with the hacked cabbage and stuff the cabbage leave with it. Then roll up as a cannelloni. 

Torch them with a creme brûlée burner

Slice the venison, serve as shown with buttered brioche on the side, dusted with pine needle powder

(Based on a recipe by Benjamin Lins in Delicious Magazine)

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Boil 2 yellow beetroots 55 mins, cool, peel and slice

Mix 50g sour cream, 1/2 tsp olive oil, the zest of 1/4 lemon, salt and pepper. Transfer to a piping bag and keep in the fridge

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Cut a brioche in thick 5x6 cm slices. Brush them with olive oil and put in the hot oven for about 10 mins

Cover the bread with golden beet slices, then smoked eel and finally the sour cream and salmon eggs

Finish with pepper, cress and an edible flower

(Here Winnie Verswijfels original recipe in Flemish)

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