Asparagus, baby potatoes, smoked salmon, sauce Hollandaise

See my post of May 11 for the sauce recipe

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Hollandaise sauce

Here served with asparagus (al dente, cooked for 9 mins) and fillets of flatfish)

Step 1: melt 125g butter in a saucepan and skim any white solids from the surface. Keep the butter warm. 

Step 2: put 3 egg yolks, 1½ tbsp white wine, 1 tbsp tarragon vinegar, a pinch of salt and in a metal or glass bowl that will fit over a small pan with barely simmering hot water.
Whisk for a few mins,  whisk continuously until pale and thick, about 3-5 mins.

Step 3: kill  the heat and slowly whisk in the melted butter, bit by bit until it’s all incorporated and you have a creamy hollandaise. 

(If it gets too thick, add a splash of water.)

Step 4: season with a squeeze of lemon juice and a little cayenne pepper. Keep warm until needed.

Tip from John Ash: No matter how skilled you are in the kitchen, emulsion sauces like hollandaise sometimes “break,” or separate. If this happens, you can try to correct it by whisking in a teaspoon or two of boiling water, a drop at a time. If that doesn’t work, put another egg yolk in a bowl and very slowly whisk in the broken sauce. Usually, the sauce will come back together with one of these methods.

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Asparagus, Serano ham, poached egg

Start with the dressing: 50 ml olive oil, one and a half tsp honey, 10 ml white wine vinegar and 25 gr wholegrain mustard.

Boil 4 asparagus spears pp, for 4 minutes
Poach 1 egg pp (I'm not very good at it)
Serve as shown with thinly slices Serano ham

(Recipe by Matthew Tomkinson on Great British Chefs)

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Oxtail and celeriac 'lasagne' with baby spinach and horseradish cream

Lightly flour the pieces of an oxtail. Place a pan over a high heat and add olive oil. Once the pan is scorching hot, add the floured oxtail. Cook until evenly browned all over. Remove from the pan and place on absorbent kitchen towel.

Add 200 ml red wine and allow to reduce by half. Add 800 ml beef stock and the oxtail pieces. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook until very tender. This should take 3-4 hours

Once braised, remove the meat from the liquid and allow to cool. Pass the liquid through a fine sieve and then return to a pan over a high heat. Reduce until you have a thick, gravy like consistency 

Reduce the heat slightly to medium and add a dash of fresh olive oil.  Cut 2 large carrots into small cubes, slice 1/2 a celery stick, 1/2 an onion, 1 leek , 1/2 a bulb of garlic. Add 4 sprigs of thyme. and the vegetables to the pan. Cook gently until soft and then stir through a tbsp tomato purée and some flour

Pick the meat from the bones and moisten in the reduced sauce. Season to taste.

Thinly slice half a celeriac into 12 thin sheets, using a mandoline, cut into large circles and blanch in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes. Refresh in ice water

Dice the remaining celeriac and boil in salted water until tender, place in a food processor with 100 ml double cream and 1/2 tsp nutmeg and blend into a smooth purée. 

In a pan over a medium heat, sauté 500 g baby spinach in a knob of  butter until tender, season and keep warm

In a large bowl, mix 100 ml double cream with 2 tbsp  grated horseradish and add a pinch of salt and sugar. Use a hand whisk to whip until thick.

In a small bowl layer up like a lasagna:

chopped chives

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horseradish cream

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celerica disc

*

braised oxtail 

*

celeriac disc

*

celeriac purée

*

celeriac disc

* 

spinach

Serve immediately

Next time i'll make a better picture,

Recipe from Matthew Tomkinson on Great British Chefs

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Brill fillets, asparagus

                                    Just a presentation suggestion

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Scallops, ginger, seaweed

Bring 400 ml cream to the boil. Add 1 tbsp grated ginger, one and a half tsp garlic, 5 tbsp white wine and 1 tbsp oyster sauce. Reduce till the sauce thickens
Panfry 2 scallops. 1 min on each side. Serve with some sweet peas for color and a crumbled crunchy nori sheet.

My friend Haro was in Acre (Israel) and brought me chef Uri Buri's book. First I made this very different seafood recipe.

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Burrata on basil and sweet pea puree

(Per 2 pers) Boil 300 gr frozen peas for 3 minutes. Cool down under the tap. Keep 2 tbsp apart. Mix the rest in the blender with 4 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 bunch of basil, 1 garlic clove, tsp sea salt  and a tbsp lemon juice.
Serve with half a good quality buffalo burrata, some extra olive oil, basil leaves, the rest of the peas, fresh pepper and crispy bread.

(Recept Dosia Brewer)

10 mins work, perfect for an alfresco lunch in the sun:

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Chicken shawarma on homemade yoghurt flatbread

Normally this is a guilty pleasure on days I don't want to cook and buy readymade pita bread and marinated kebab meat. But homemade always tastes better, reason enough to do some more work

I started with the spicemix: 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp parsley, 1/2 tsp curcuma, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp celery salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp nutmeg mixed into 3 tbsp olive oil (as advised by Ellen Bannink of The Red Kitchen blog).

Then I cut 300 gr chicken filets in strips and marinated them overnight in the spice mix.

The next day I made Ottolenghi's           yoghurt flatbread to use instead  of
pita bread by mixing 140 g wholemeal flour with 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 140 g Greek yoghurt and
3 tbsp chopped coriander.
Then left the mix, wrapped in kitchen foil, 
in the fridge for an hour.

After that it was time to cut the ball of dough into 6 portions. Two I rolled out till 2 mm thick and panfried them in clarified butter, each side for about 2 mins and kept them warm. (The other 4 portions went into the freezer for a next craving)

Then stirfried the marinated chicken.

To serve I covered each flatbread with some shredded iceberg salad, cucumber matchsticks, roasted paprikastrips, finely sliced red onion and the chicken. Added a spoonful of Greek yoghurt and fresh coriander.

So far the healthy version

But in the end I can't resist to take the store bought bottles of Turkish shoarma sauce and garlic sauce from the fridge:

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Yellow salmon curry.

Ready in 15 minutes. Per 2 persons:

Finely cut an onion and 2 garlic cloves. Grate 2 cm of ginger. Sweat in a tbsp olive oil. Add a heaped tbsp yellow curry paste. Cook for another minute or two. Add 200 cc coconut milk. 

Cut 300 grs salmon (skin removed) into bitesized cubes. Add to the curry mix and cook for3-5 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with basmati rice, sugar snaps, courgette and beansprouts.

Or with broccoli 'rice' instead of Basmati:

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Beefstew, whole grain mustard, cloves.

Cut 800 grs of chuck (sukade lappen in NL) in bitesize (3x3 cm) pieces. Fry in 40 grs butter till brown. Take out and keep warm

Cut an big Autumn King carrot into 5x5 mm cubes. Fry 2 sliced onions and the carrot cubes in the butter for a couple of minutes.

De-glace with 500 ml red wine and 380 ml beef stock. Bring to the boil and add 2 tins of peeled tomatoes.

Cover the meat with 6 tbsp whole grain mustard and add to the pan.

Crumble 3 slices of spiced ginger bread over the stew and add 2 leaves of laurel, 5 sprigs of thyme and 6 cloves

Cover and slowly stew on a low heat for at least 5 hours.

Before serving add 6 celery stalks, finely cut, for colour and a bite.

Serve with Gratin Dauphinois and spring onions

(recipe Yvette van Boven)                           

PS In Corona times make  some extra.
To bring to the grandparents or elderly neighbours? 

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Gado gado smoked mackerel

(per 2 pers)

Start making a peanut sauce from 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 grated clove of garlic, 1/4 tsp sambal, glug of sweet soy sauce, 50 cl milk, some lime juice and some sea salt. Mix all ingredients and warm.

Then take the meat of 1 smoked mackerel.

Boil 2 eggs for 6 mins

Cut 1 clove of garlic and 1/2 red onion (in half rings) finely
Fry softly in olive oil, the add 100 gr snow peas
Cut 1/2 paksoi and add to the veggies till soft
Add 60 gr bean sprouts and fry for another minute or so.

Finely slice 1/4 cucumber.

Serve as shown, with the sauce and some cashew nuts on top.

Recipe from Paulines Keuken

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Salad of entrecote and basil

Make a  pesto from 25 gr basil leaves, 35 cc olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt.

Pan fry 200 gr steak. I like mine rare as you can see.

Fry some flatbread till gold en crispy.

Make a salad of red chicory, rucola, basil leaves, lemon juice, parmesan flakes and the basil pesto. Tear the bread.

Slice the meat and serve as shown

(Recipe Ottolenghi)

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Squid carbonara

(Per 2 persons) Cut the sacs of 2 squid into strips, like pasta. Bring 200 gr creme fraiche or cream to the boil and add 100 grated parmesan and a finely cut clove of garlic,  to make a thick, creamy sauce.

Fry some Serano ham crispy in a dry pan.

Wok the squid 'pasta' and the tentacles 1 min.

Add sauce and some parsley

Serve as shown, with an egg yolk on top.

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Sea trout, pistachio, tarragon

First get the zest and the juice of a lemon. Slice 2 shallots into very thin rings. Mix 2 tbsp juice with 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp sea salt, fresh  pepper and the shallot. Rub the salt and sugar with your fingers in the shallots and reserve.

30 mins before serving (not earlier or the fish will be overcooked by the lemon juice), cut 4 fillets of sea trout (skin removed) in small cubes and mix the lemon zest, another 2 tbsp juice, 1,5 tsp sea salt, fresh pepper and 2 tsp olive oil.

After 20 mins heat 20 gr butter with a tsp caraway seeds till frothy, caramelised and with a nutty smell.

Plate the fish, pour the brown butter over it, and finish with the sweet&sour shallots, 20 gr of pistachio nuts and tarragon leaves .

(Another Ottolengi recipe)

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Salmon, pine nut salsa

For the salsa you first need to soak 50 gr black currants in hot water, for 20 minutes.

In the meantime slice 2 stems of celery lengthwise in 3 and then cut into small cubes. Boil 50 gr of samphire for 3 mins, rinse under the cold tap to stop the cooking and drain. Zest a lemon. Soak 1/4 tsp of saffron in a tbsp hot water. Weigh 20 gr capers. Finely cut 20 gr of green olives.

Then its time to sweat the celery in 30 cl olive oil in a sauce pan and to roast 15 gr of pine nuts in a DRY pan till nicely golden brown (do not burn)

After 6 mins the celery is ready. Take off the heat and mix with the samphire, the olives, the lemon zest, 1 tbsp lemon juice, the capers, the saffron and a pinch of salt.

Lightly oil two salmon filets and panfry, skin side down, for about 3 mins. Then kill the heat and turn the fish. This side is ready in 2 mins.

Drain the currants and mix with the salsa.

Serve as shown, with celery leaves as decoration.







<The salmon should be nice and pink inside.




(An Ottolenghi recipe)

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Chocolate ice-cream, raspberries

Jacket potato, blue cheese, spinach

Pre heat the oven at 220C. Boil 2 big potatoes for 15 mins, then lightly cover them with olive oil, sprinkle some sea salt over them and transfer into the oven. You can take them out after 20 minutes, cut them in two and scoop out the contents.

Divide 20 gr butter over the inside of the empty skins, followed by  a pinch of sea salt over  and put back in the oven for 8 mins.

Roast some leftover nuts in a DRY pan.

Mash the potato and mix with 70 gr blue cheese, 40 gr butter and some cream .
Stir fry 200 gr spinach in 20 gr butter and squeeze out the liquid. Stir trough the potato mix.

Take the skins from the oven and fill with the potato mix. Put back in the oven to colour. Serve with the roasted nuts. One pp as a starter, two pp as a main

( My interpretation of an Ottolenghi recipe)

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Braised beef cheek

If  you have to economise at the end of the month this is not hardship, your butcher will ask about 9 euro per kilo and it is delicious.

Cover a 400 grs beef or veal cheek lightly with oil, some salt and pepper and grill them till nicely browned.

Melt 30 gr butter and sweat a diced shallot and 4 mushrooms. Add 3/4 liter of beet juice, 1/4 liter of beefstock, 150 ml red wine and some thyme. Then slowly braise the cheek in it for 4 and possibly 5 hours.

Take out the meat and keep warm and discard the rest and reduce the liquid till you have a nice thick sauce.

Fry some shiitake and other mushrooms in some butter.

Serve with nice salad leaves

(Recipe by Aussi chef Shannon Bennett)

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Portobello, poached egg on brioche

Cut 2 portobellos in 1 cm thick slices and mix them with 1 clove of garlic, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp sea salt and pepper from the mill.

Preheat the oven at 220C

Mix 2 tbsp olive oil with another 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1 garlic clove, 1/8 tsp chili flakes and 1/4 tsp sea salt. Cut 2 thick slices of brioche and cover them with this mix.

Bake the mushrooms in the oven for about 13 minutes, after 7 minutes put the bread in to toast.

Poach the eggs and serve with basil leaves and a spoonful of sour cream.

(recipe by Ottolenghi)

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Tofu, haricots verts, chraimeh sauce

Before you cook the beans and panfry the tofu this wonderful Libian sauce has to be prepared.

Roast 1 tbsp caraway seeds in a dry pan and use a mortar and pestle to pulverise. Then cut 6 cloves of garlic very finely. Mix caraway and garlic with 2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and fry in 2 tbsp sunflower oil for a minute. Then add 3 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp sugar, 3/4 tsp salt and the juice of a lime. Stir. Add 250 cl hot water and keep stirring for 2 mins to bind the sauce. I used some cornstarch to make it even thicker.

At the end mix beans and tofu  with the sauce and 15 grs of coriander. Serve with lime (which I did not have)

(Recipe by Ottolenghi)

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