Mushroom Bourguignon

1. 
   
   Pour boiling water over 300 g pearl onions and soak them for 10 mins. to make them much easier to peel. Then add 2 tablespoons butter or oil to a large Dutch oven or pot and set it over medium heat. 
2. When the fat is hot, stir in the onions and softly fry them during 10 mins till nice and brown, Use a slotted spoon to transfer the onions to a large bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
3. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the pan and add 250g mushrooms (such as portobello, king oysters, shiitake and chestnut, thickly sliced). Without moving them around too much, cook the mushrooms until they are brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Stir and let them brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to transfer mushrooms and onions to a large bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
4. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons butter and another 250g mushrooms, seasoning them as you go.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add another 1 tablespoon butter or oil to pan. Add a diced leek and 2 thinly sliced carrots and sauté until the leek turn lightly golden and start to soften, 5 minutes. 
6. Add 1 minced garlic clove and sauté for 1 minute longer. 
7. Stir in 1/2 tbsp tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. 
8. Stir in 1,25 tbsp flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add 2/4 cup red wine, 180 cl vegetal stock, 1/2 tablespoon tamari, 1/2 tsp thyme and a bay leaf, scraping up the brown bits at bottom of pot.
9. Add reserved cooked mushrooms and pearl onions back to the pot and bring to a simmer. Partly cover the pot and simmer on low heat until carrots and onions are tender and sauce is thick, about 40 minutes. Taste and add more salt and tamari if needed. Stir in a grated garlic clove.
10. Just before serving, heat a small skillet over high heat and add 1/2 tablespoon butter or oil. Add 100g of cleaned and sliced chanterelles and let cook without moving until they are crisp and brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt and smoked paprika.  
11. I served my Mushrooms Bourguignon, topped with fried mushrooms and parsley, with gratin Dauphinois, but you can do it over polenta, noodles or mashed potatoes. 
12. (Click here for the original NYT recipe by Melissa Clark)
    

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Pasta Alfredo

Cook 125g of spaghetti in fiercely boiling water till al dente. Drain, cool in a colander under running water, then set aside.

Cut 100g of smoked streaky bacon or thinly sliced pancetta into finger- thick pieces, then cook in a shallow, non-stick pan till crisp, adding 2 peeled garlic cloves, thinly sliced. 

Quarter 125g mushrooms, panfry them till soft and golden in butter

Put the drained pasta in a mixing bowl with 200ml of double cream, 100ml vegetable stock, the bacon and garlic, then season with salt and black pepper.

Toss everything together then transfer to a baking dish, scatter the surface with a good handful of grated parmesan and bake at 180°C/gas mark 4 for about 30 minutes till the surface is lightly golden. Serves 2

(Here Nigel Slater's original recipe)

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Roasted Rack Of Venison With Spiced Red Cabbage

Start with the sauce by browning 25g smoked bacon in 1 tbsp butter. Finely cut a shallot and 2 mushrooms and sweat with the bacon. Deglaze with 50 ml red wine and reduce as much as possible. Then add 300 ml brown game stock and softly reduce.

After 30 mins add 200 ml cream and 1 tbsp mustard and reduce for another 10 mins. till 220ml is left. Sieve and finish with 13g dark chocolate (min 60% cacao).

Then prepare the cabbage. Cut out the core and finely shred 1/2 red cabbage. Heat a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and add a generous drizzle of olive oil. Add 1/2 peeled and sliced onion and sweat for 2–3 minutes, then add the red cabbage and cook for 1–2 minutes.

Add 2 star anise, 1 stick of cinnamon and some salt and pepper and cook for another 1–2 minutes to release the flavours.

Now add the zest of an orange and sprinkle in 50g light brown sugar. Add the juice from the orange and 50 ml white wine vinegar and let bubble to reduce down. 

Pour in 300ml red wine and 100ml red port. Add 50g sultanas and leave to cook gently for 40 minutes.

Peel, core and dice a sweet apple. Add to the cabbage, toss to mix and set aside.

Meanwhile, for the venison, heat the oven to 190°C. Heat a large non-stick ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of oil. Season the venison rack on both sides with salt and pepper and place in the hot pan.

Colour the meat well on all sides, for about 3 minutes. Add 50g butter to the pan and let it melt and foam, then add some sprigs of thyme and baste the joint with the foaming butter.

Transfer the pan to the oven. Roast the venison for 15 minutes, then check; the meat should still be pink inside.

Transfer to a warm platter and leave to rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. Save any juices in the pan.

Slice the venison and arrange on warm plates with the braised cabbage and some rösti. Reheat any pan juices and drizzle over the meat.

Add a spoonful of redcurrant jelly and a sprinkling of pepper to serve.

(Here Tom Kitchin's original recipe)

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Grilled salmon, mangochutney

Mix 1 tbsp honey, the juice of 1/2 lime, 1/4 finely sliced red pepper and the hacked stems of coriander. 

Marinate 2 fillets of 125g of salmon in it for 1 hour.

Pan fry the fish a few mins

Serve with samphire, lime, coriander and a spoonful of mango chutney

(Here Jeroen de Pauw's recipe in Flemish)

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Red mullet, sauce vierge

Toast a tsp of fennel seeds in a dry pan. Set apart.

For the sauce vierge: cut another garlic clove finely and brown in some olive oil. Add more oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce and a tbsp  Ricard. 

Add fennel seeds. Keep warm.

De-skin a tomato, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes.

Fry the fillets of mullet, skin side down till crisp. Turn the heat off and then turn the fish for another 2 mins.

Serve as shown, with tarragon.

(My favourite Rick Stein recipe)

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Coconut Chicken Curry

1. 
   
   Trim 6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs of excess fat and cut into 2 cm pieces; transfer to a bowl. Add 1/2 tbsp paprika, 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt, and use your hands to mix well. Let the chicken marinate at room temperature while you prepare the other ingredients, or cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. In a large pot, heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil over medium-high. Stir in 1 finely diced onion, lower the heat to medium-low and cook gently, stirring often to prevent scorching, until tender and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. 
3. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and continue to cook, stirring often, until most of the water from the onions has been cooked out and a glossy layer of oil has risen to the surface, about 5 minutes more.
4. Add the marinated chicken and stir to release the spices into the onion.
5. Pour in 200 ml coconut milk and bring to a near boil. Let the coconut milk simmer briskly for about 4 minutes to thicken a bit. Lower the heat to medium-low and add 1 tbsp fish sauce. Stir in 160 ml water and bring to a near boil. The broth will thin out as the chicken starts to release its juices.
6. Lower to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is tender, 30 to 45 minutes. Droplets of paprika-red oil will rise to the surface. Stir in 1/2 tbsp Madras curry powder and 1/8 tsp cayenne, simmer briefly and remove from the heat.
7. If time permits, let the curry sit for at least 20 minutes before serving. This allows the chicken to soak in more flavors as the curry cools. Bring to a simmer again right before serving and taste, adding more salt or fish sauce if desired. 
8. Serve over rice or noodles (or flatbread) with stir fried spinach, coriander leaves and lime wedges.
9. (Here the original recipe by Desmond Tan in the NYT)
   
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Saddle of venison, salsify, mushrooms

Start with the sauce by browning 25g smoked bacon in 1 tbsp butter. Finely cut a shallot and 2 mushrooms and sweat with the bacon. Deglaze with 50 ml red wine and reduce as much as possible. Then add 300 ml brown game stock and softly reduce.

After 30 mins add 200 ml cream and 1 tbsp mustard and reduce for another 10 mins. till 220 ml sauce is left. Sieve and finish with 13g dark chocolate (min 60% cacao)

Peel 200g salsify and keep in cold water with some lemon juice. Then slice diagonally into 5 cm pieces. and softly boil for 10 mins. Sprinkle with thyme leaves.

At the same time panfry  200g saddle of venison, 2 min per side.

Serve as shown, with green vegetables and  gratin dauphinois

(Here the original Njam recipe in Flemish)

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Stuffed squid, baby spinach, paprika coulis

Preheat the oven at 200°C

Halve a red paprika and put in an oven dish, followed by 3 quarts of a tomato and 1/4 red chili. Slice 1/2 shallot in rings, crush a clove of garlic and add them to the paprika mix with some rosemary, a few sprigs of thyme, sea salt and a good glug of olive oil.

Put in the oven for about 25 mins.

Boil 50g rice.

Dice the other 1/2 shallot and crush another clove of garlic and sweat in olive oil in a sauce pan. Add 1 can of mackerel in tomato sauce and mix well.

Add the rice, 2 tbsp hacked parsley, the zest and juice of 1/2 lemon and a bit of salt and mix again.

Stuff this mix into 2 tubes of squid (not too full) and close with cocktail picks

When they are done get the vegetables from the oven, remove the rosemary and thyme and use the stick blender to make a nice coulis. Taste and season.

Fry the stuffed squid in 1 tbsp olive oil and a tbsp butter till nicely browned on all sides, season with salt and pepper

In the meantime sweat 200g baby spinach in a glug of olive oil with another crushed clove of garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Start plating with the spinach, with sliced squid on top. Spoon the sauce around it and enjoy.

(Here Jeroen Meus' original recipe in Flemish)

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Avocado, smoked eel, croutons, almond

Peel 1/6 of a cucumber, remove the seeds and grate the rest, sprinkle with salt and reserve.

Cut a slice of sourdough bread into croutons and fry in olive oil

Hack the flesh of a ripe avocado.

Squeeze as much liquid from the cucumber as possible. Add 1/2 tbsp finely sliced shallot, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp hacked coriander, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, the avocado flesh and the juice of 1/2 lime. Mix well. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Start plating with the avocado mix, then some watercress and basil greens, diced smoked eel, the croutons, toasted slivers of almond and leek sprouts.

(Recipe Sergio Herman, restaurant The Jane, Antwerp)

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Puff pastry pizza, red cabbage, apple and feta

Slice an onion and sweat in butter in a heavy casserole. Grate an apple and add to the onion. Then grate 1/4 red cabbage and add to the onion. 

Add a good glug of water, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 star anise, 1 cinnamon, 1 clove, a few sprigs of thyme, 2 laurel leaves, pepper and salt.

Simmer for 1 hour.

Pre heat the oven at 200°C

Cover a baking tin with parchement paper, then a 23 cm circle of puff pastry followed by another sheet of paper.

Put a 18 cm pan in the middle of the puff pastry, to keep that part down while the outside can rise. Bake for 15 mins.

In the meantime blend 70g feta with a glug of cream, 1 tsp herbs de Provence and some pepper.

Slice a second apple and fry the segments in butter and 1 tbsp sugar, not too long.

Get the pastry bottom from the oven and raise the temperature to 220°

Beat an egg and to brush over the raised part of the pastry.

Cover the rest with the feta cream. Add the red cabbage, the fried apple slices and finally 60g of crumbled feta cheese.

Bake in the oven for another 15 mins.

Serve with watercress and hacked walnuts.

(Here the video with Jeroen Meus)

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Cromesquis XL, from canard confit

One of the best French inventions is confit de canard in a tin. All you have to do to have a King's meal is to open it and put in in the oven at 60°C for about an hour, to melt the duck fat and to warm the slow cooked legs of duck.

Then use the fat to pan fry potato slices. Put the legs under a hot grill, skin side up so it can crisp nicely.

To be served with sauerkraut or red cabbage.

The good thing is that there are 4 or even 5 legs in the can. And lots of duckfat that normally will cost you €10 or more if you have to buy it in a jar.

Transfer the leftover fat to jam jars and keep in the fridge.

Get the meat from the leftover legs (discard the skin) to make these lovely XL cromesquis.

Melt 80g butter and add 100g flour. Cook for 2 mins.

Then, bit by bit, slowly add 500g cold beef stock, stirring all the time. When all the liquid has dissolved nicely, keep cooking for 2-3 mins to get rid of the taste of flour and to make the ragout shiny.

Cool down a bit, then stir in 3 leaves of gelatine. Followed by 50 ml cream, 2 egg yolks and 1 tsp Dyon mustard.

Taste and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Finally add the meat from the duck legs (ca 350g) and 4 tbsp flat parsley

Cool down and keep, what's now called salpicon, overnight in the fridge.

Next day the salpicon is stiff enough to make balls, 5 cm in diameter, slightly bigger then golf balls.

First roll them all through flour.

Then, one by one, first through egg white and then panko

I then freeze them and later, just before using them, roll them a 2nd time through beaten egg white and finer breadcrumbs before deep frying during 6 mins at 180°C.

(Here master patissier Cees Holtkamp making his famous 'bitterballen')

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Thai style pumpkin & chicken soup

Pre-heat the oven at 220°C

Halve a butternut squash lengthwise  and remove the seeds

Halve 2 onions, without peeling them

Put them on a baking tray, with a whole garlic bulb.

Sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil over them, cover with baking paper and then with alu foil.

Put in the hot oven for 45 mins, then remove the foil and paper and bake for another 20 mins to caramelise the onions and soften the pumpkin

Cool a bit and scoop out the pumpkin flesh and transfer to a big pan. Peel onions and garlic and add to the pumpkin

Add 1 l chicken- or vegetable stock plus 250 ml water.

Use the stick blender to make a thick soup

Bring to the boil.

Slice 2 chicken breasts and add to the soup, with 2 tsp fishsauce and 1,5 tbsp lime juice

Boil softly till the chicken meat is done

Mix with 3 g coriander leaves, serve in bowls and decorate with rings of green pepper and some lime on the side

(A Donna Hay recipe)

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Nigel Slater’s recipe for pappardelle, mushrooms and harissa

It won't appear on #theartofplating but to me comfort food always looks good.

Put a deep pan of water on to boil. As it boils, salt generously then lower in 125g of fresh pappardelle (or cut them from fresh lasagne leaves) and cook for 18 minutes.

Thinly slice 300g of chestnut mushrooms. Warm 6 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan, then add the mushrooms. Let them fry for 4 to 5 minutes until they start to toast, then add 2 very finely mashed cloves of garlic. Thinly slice 4 spring onions. Let the garlic and mushrooms cook for 1 minute or until the garlic is fragrant, then add the spring onions and continue cooking for another couple of minutes until soft. Stir in 3 tbsp of harissa paste.

Lightly drain the pappardelle, toss with the mushrooms and serve. Grate a little parmesan over at the table. Serves 2

Mushrooms drink an amazing amount of oil. Be prepared to add a little more as they fry. It is important to get them to the right colour – a deep, toasty brown – before you add the mashed garlic.

The twist

This is the sort of recipe that can take a bit of tinkering. Add some crumbled sausage to the pan before you add the mushrooms or perhaps a handful of chopped streaky bacon.

(Here Nigel Slaters original recipe)

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Soy-marinated cod with fennel, dill and apple

To start the dish, marinate 2 cod (or skrei) fillets in 50 ml soy sauce for 20 minutes. Remove the fish and pat dry.

Slice a fennel bulb very finely with a knife or mandoline and place in a bowl. Mix in a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped dill 

Toast a tbsp sesame seeds until golden. Cut a Granny Smith apple into thin batons and add to the fennel along with the sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 5.

Place a large non-stick pan on a high heat with a small dash of oil. Evenly sear the cod, colouring for approximately 1 minute on each side. Place in the oven for 4 minutes, then remove but keen the hot pan.

Give the fennel salad another mix and place into the centre of each plate. Place the cod on top of the salad, garnish with coriander leaves and wasabi sesame seeds, serve immediately.

(Recipe by Adam Stokes)

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Red cabbage salad with dates and feta

Use a mandoline to slice 125g red cabbage very thinly.

Add 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tbsp olive oil and use you hands to knead and soften the cabbage.

Grate a lemon. Add the zest to the cabbage, with 1 tbsp of the juice and 1 tsp ginger syrup.

Mix well

Hack 3 dates. Toast 1/4 tbsp sesame seeds. Add the dates, the sesame seeds, 1 tbsp hacked parsley and 20g crumbled feta cheese to the cabbage.

Mix well and chill

After plating put some extra feta, date, parsley and sesame seeds on top

(Recipe by Yvette van Boven)

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Watercress and celeriac soup

Sweat a sliced leek in 15g butter and a tsp olive oil till soft but not coloured.

Cut 1/3 celeriac into small cubes. 

Add 1/2 liter vegetable stock and the celeriac to the leek and softly boil for 25 mins.

Add 100g watercress and use the stick blender to finish the soup.

Taste and season with salt and pepper

Serve with goat's cheese on bread

(Recipe by Yvette van Boven)

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Small cheesecake with cranberry topping

Start with the topping. Grate 1 orange (for the filling) and press the rest. Boil 160 g cranberries in 65 ml red port, the orange juice and 130g sugar during 15 mins. Cool and keep in the fridge.

Melt 55g butter. Ground 115g cantuccini cookies in the kitchen machine, then add a bit of salt and the butter, keep the machine on till everything has mixed well.

Divide the cookie mix over 2 small (12 cm) spring forms and press with the bottom of a heavy glass. Put in the fridge.

For the filling first whisk 140g cream with 50g sugar, then with 160g mascarpone and 160g ricotta cheese.

Melt 130g white chocolate, au bain marie. Break another 70g in small pieces and add them to the molten chocolate to melt. 

Add the chocolate and the orange zest to the filling and stir well.

Take the springforms from the fridge and pour in the filling. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge for at least 4 (pref. 24!) hours.

Serve one with the topping and give the other one to the neighbours.

(Recipe by Yvette van Boven)

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Stacked omelet, smoked salmon, apple, crab and brown shrimps

Make a cocktail sauce from 2 tbsp mayo, 1 tbsp ketchup, a few drops of whisky, a bit of cayenne pepper and 1 tsp worcester sauce.

Mix 80g brown shrimps with 1 tbsp cocktail sauce.

Do the same with 100g crab meat. Taste and add some lime juice.

Use 4 cm service rings and start at the bottom with cold omelet, followed by smoked salmon, then a slice of apple, then the crabmeat.

Then do it all again: with omelet, smoked salmon, apple and finally the shrimps.

Finish with frisée and crispy croutons. Add a tbsp yogurt to the rest of the cocktail sauce and spoon it around this tower of luxury.

(Click here for Jereoen Meus original recipe in Flemish)

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Crab and Gruyere quiche, mango mayo

Pre heat the oven to 175°C and brush a 23 cm quiche tin with olive oil.

Slice 2 shallots in thin rings and sweat them in olive oil for a few minutes.

Whisk 350 ml milk with 100g flour, then (one at the time) add 3 eggs and keep whisking to make a batter.

Season with pepper and salt and with 1 tbsp hacked parsley.

Finally fold 200g crab meat, 100g grated Gruyere and the shallots trough the batter and pour into the tin.

Bake in the oven for 40 mins.

In the meantime use the blender for making the sauce from 3 tbsp mayo, 1/4 ripe mango, 1/8 tsp sambal oelek, the juice from 1/4 lemon, salt and black pepper

(Recipe quiche: Nederlands Visbureau, sauce: food and friends)

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Cider-cured Iberico chops, caramelised onions and apples and a Bordelaise sauce

1. 
   
   Start a day in advance with making the brine: dissolve 3 tbsp salt in 700 cl of warm water in a large bowl. Add 1/2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper, pour 300 cl apple cider and mix. Drop 2 Iberico pork chops into the brine and add enough additional apple cider so that the chops lurk in the liquid like frogs in a pond. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 72.
2. For the  caramelised apples and onion heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium high heat and add 2 peeled, cored and wedged apples, 1 sprig of thyme and a bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apple wedges are golden brown but not mushy, 5-10 mins. Remove from the heat and discard the herbs.
3. Add 1 tbsp olive oil add 1 tbsp butter and 3 large white onions, peeled and sliced. Then 1 sprig of thyme and another bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, frequently stirring, until the onions are soft and golden brown (20-30 mins). 

1. For the faux Bordelaise sauce pour 1 tbsp olive oil into a large saucepan, place over medium-high heat and add 1 chopped shallot and 1 chopped clove of garlic and then 2 sprigs of fresh thyme and a bay leaf. Cook until the shallots are light brown, then add 300 ml red wine and a good glug of port, lower the heat and simmer until reduced.
2. To prepare the Iberico chops, preheat oven to 200°C. Remove chops from brine and dry with paper towels. Rub them with olive oil and season well with salt and black pepper.Heat a tbsp olive oil in an oven-safe skillet and brown the chops, for 4 minutes a side. Place the pan in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes and then remove chops to a warm platter. Cover loosely with foil and allow them to rest for about 10 minutes.
3. Add 2 tbsp honey and the pan drippings from the chops to the sauce (or 2 tbsp demi-glace* if you have it). Simmer for an additional 5 to 10 minutes and then strain into a clean saucepan. Return to medium heat until warm and whisk in 3 tbsp unsalted cold butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately drizzled over the pork chops, with the onions and apple on the side
4. (A NYT recipe)
5. * I order mine from Joost & Paul
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