Beer Battered Veggies

Had this on my mind for a long time, and finally whipped up a beer batter and

fried some veggies!

It's a pretty straightforward recipe,

but I'll write it down here anyway, just in case you need a not too healthy snack idea...

first, the batter:

-1 egg (stirred)

-1 cup of beer (any kind you like)

- 1 1/4 cup of flour

- 2 teaspoons of cajun seasoning

- 1 tablespoon of oil

The seasoning doesn't really matter, you can use something else if you like,

just remember to add salt if that's not in your seasoning already.

Also, you can start by stirring in 1 cup of flour, then add enough extra flour so your batter

is slightly thicker than a pancake batter.

Now, an unappetizing batter picture for your viewing pleasure:

Second step would be to cut your veggies and heat your oil.

I used sunflower oil.

Don't have a thermometer, so I waited until I figured the oil would be hot enough,

and then tested it by dropping a little piece of vegetable into the oil,

if it sizzles and bubbles, then you're good to go!

Make sure you've cut all your veggies before you start, 

also, have a colander ready, with kitchen paper, so you have a place to let

your vegetables rest after the deep frying.

First, I did a test run with halved white button mushrooms and

thick rings of red onion;

this is what I got after about 4 minutes:

Next up was my "real" batch of beer battered vegetables,

it's three slices of eggplant at the top left, 4 slices of zucchini at the bottom left

and again a small pile of white button mushrooms (cut in half).

Btw: the sauce (in both pictures) is a mixture of 3 tablespoons of mayo, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 

some cognac and some salt and pepper.

This was a nice sauce, but any sauce would do of course,

just make sure you have some sauce for dipping!

Oh, and btw number two:

Next time I'll definitely make more onion rings and eggplant slices, those were the best!

Quick Portobello Lunch (or appetizer)

This is an easy and tasty recipe that can serve as 

a lunch or as a (large) appetizer.

per person, you'll need:

- 1 (not too big) portobello

- 1 small/medium red onion

- 0,5 tablespoon brown sugar

- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

- 2 to 3 tablespoons of pine nuts

- 1 piece of goats cheese (about 18 grams/0.65 ounces)

- 1 square of puff pastry

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- black pepper (to taste)

and 1 egg to make an egg wash for the puff pastry

made some really bad pictures, so you got to trust me that this 

indeed tastes really great ;-)

Anyway, chop up the onion(s) heat up the oil and slowly soften the onion in the oil.

Roast the pine nuts and add them to the onions, then add the sugar and the balsamic vinegar

and stir it all while on medium heat, let the vinegar evaporate (don't worry, it will not end up

as sour as it smells...that's the acid escaping your pan)

When the liquid is syrupy, turn of the heat and add a bit of ground black pepper.

Remove the stalk from the portobello and fill the mushroom with the onion mixture.

Put the goats cheese on top with a little extra ground black pepper, and let it cool down a bit while you defrost the puff pastry.

Also, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celcius.

When the puff pastry is defrosted, the oven is heated and the onion mixture is cooled down,

wrap the top of the portobello with the puff pastry and use the egg wash to make sure

it comes out of the oven nice and shiny after 20 minutes:

Hope you'll like it as much as I did! :-)

Jerusalem Artichoke Salad

First time using Jerusalem artichokes here, so ...

I pretty much threw stuff together and made a nice salad with them!

Peeling them is remarkably easy:

I baked them in the oven, after covering the slices with salt, pepper and oil:

that took 40 minutes at 200 degrees Celcius...next time, I'll bake them in a pan,

as i'm sure they'll turn out even better!

Made a dressing with:

- small diced red onion

-lemon zest

-lemon juice

-oil

-honey

-mustard

-pepper

-salt

And dressed a nice salad of escarole endive with that, 

including sliced radishes and baby roma tomatoes

Finished it with toasted walnuts,

the baked jerusalem artichokes,

and some grated pecorino romano!

Red Braised Bean Curd Sticks

I made an unofficial version of a "red braised" thing, as I lacked star anise and a cinnamon stick, but I made up for it with a pinch of 5-spice-powder (I think)

Anyway, here's my first time cooking Dried Bean Curd Sticks!
They look rather tasty inside their package and smell like fish food when you open the package, but I just needed to know what they would be liked when prepared;
luckily, I was not disappointed!

- Half a package of dried bean curd sticks
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1" piece fresh ginger, rough sliced
- ¼ teaspoon of 5 spice powder
- ½ red spanish pepper (chopped)
- water (hot)
- salt, and sugar to taste
- 1 scallion, minced

First rehydrate the dried bean curd sticks as instructed on the package. 
Then drain the bean curd sticks and cut them into 1 bite size pieces
(throw away any parts that did not soften)

Heat the oil in wok, add sugar, stir and caramelize until brown. 

Add the bean curd pieces, the wine or sherry , the dark and light soy sauce, ginger, red pepper, 5-spice-powder, and water about halfway up the bean curd. 

Bring to a boil, then braise for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, reducing the liquid to a slightly viscous sauce. 

Add salt and sugar to taste.

Top with minced scallions and serve with rice and green veggies
(for example, with white rice and broccoli…picture sadly not included)

I really liked them,

even after all the rehydrating and cooking, they were nice and chewy!

(in a pleasant way)

if you've never prepared dried bean curd sticks, I recommend you try them at least once so you know what they're like.

yum ;-)

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar

A surprisingly tasty recipe;

especially if you grew up hating brussel sprouts, you got to try this.

- brussel sprouts (150 grams per person)

- red onion (1 per person)

- balsamic vinegar (2-3 tablespoons per person)

- oil

- salt

- pepper

This recipe can easily be scaled up to the number of people joining for dinner, however, you must be able to spread the brussel sprouts in your oven so there's just a single layer.

Start with cleaning and quartering the sprouts, then toss them in an oven dish with oil, salt and pepper.

Stick them in a preheated (450F) oven, for 15 minutes. In the mean time, cut your onions (not too small, you don't want them to burn). 

Add the onion to the sprouts, toss it well and spread it all out once again. 

Then let it all sit in the oven for another 15 minutes.

You do want to keep an eye on it, as it might take 5 minutes more or less cooking time (depending on the size of the sprouts and your oven)

When it's done, sprinkle the balsamic vinegar over it and toss it wel. Add some extra salt and pepper to taste.

Great with a couple of baked potatoes with sour creme and spring onions! 

Haloumi-Veggie Burgers

These burgers are adapted from a Gordon Ramsay recipe. He adds loads of different fresh green herbs, but I just used what was in the house....which happened to be a block of haloumi cheese! 
It had been laying in the fridge for two months I think. 
So it was a perfect opportunity to give it a try.

for two burgers, I grated :

- haloumi cheese (appromimately 100 grams)

- zucchini (same amount, by volume)

- carrot (same amount, by volume)

It's important to use the same (course) grater on all three ingredients!

The grated carrot and zucchini go into a colander. Sprinkle them with salt and give it some time (5-10 minutes).

In the mean time, cut:

- 1 or 2 spring onions

- half a red pepper

-a piece of ginger

The red pepper and ginger go into a little bowl, sprinkle them with a bit of salt and sugar, then add rice wine vinegar and a bit of olive oil...give it a stir.

Now it's time to squeeze every last drop of liquid out of the carrot and zucchini...use both of your hands and make sure it's as dry as it can be, otherwise the burgers will fall apart.

When you're done, add the veggies to the grated haloumi, give it a quick stir, 

then add:

- 1 whisked egg

- about 3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Mix this up well and shape it into 2 burger patties.

Put it in your fridge for half an hour, so the patties get a little bit firmer before baking.

After that, drizzle some oil in a pan, gently add the patties and bake them on medium heat until both sides are a nice golden brown.

After plating them, scoop some of the red pepper and ginger out of the bowl (not the liquid) and lay it on top of the burgers for an extra kick.

Eat it with a nice green salad, 

or with couscous and grilled vegetables like I did.

Gnocchi in Tomatosauce…with Cheeeeese

Yes, yes, you should make the gnocchi yourself…it's quick and it's easy and it's SO much better 

than store bought gnocchi!

But I cannot be bothered today, so:

-          gnocchi di patate (200 grams per person)

-          tomato sauce with basilicum (or add fresh basilicum leaves)

-          diced onion

-          mozzarella

-          grana padano

-          bouillon cube

-          thyme

-          salt

-          pepper

-          oil

Cook the gnocchi in water with a bouillon cube or salt as per the instructions on the package.

Add oil to the pan and add the gnocchi when they're done, stir and let them brown a little….

when they look good, bake the onions on medium heat for a couple of minutes.

Then add some tomato sauce… it should be a generous amount, but you do not want your gnocchi to swim in the sauce. Add a liberal amount of pepper and salt to taste. Also other herbs like fresh basilicum or thyme could be added at this point, just taste it and make it how you want.

When it's all good to go, scoop the gnocchi in tomatosauce into an oven-safe bowl. Almost cover the surface with a couple of mozzarella slices and grate some grana  padano over the dish before sliding the whole thing into the oven
for 10 to 15 minutes at 200 C (or 400 F) 

(keep an eye on it; the whole dish is done, so you can pull the bowl from the oven when the cheese is looking good!)

Curried Noodle Soup

-          1 red onion, roughly diced

-          ½ red pepper

-          1 clove of garlic

-          ½ to 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger

-          1 tablespoon of red curry paste

-          1 bouillon cube

-          400 mL water

-          50 mL coconutmilk

-          1 red bell pepper

-          1 to 3 scallions

-          Piece of carrot

-          Egg noodles

-          1 tablespoon of olive oil

Bake the onion in the olive oil until translucent (4 minutes), then add the red pepper, garlic and ginger. Half a minute after that, add the red curry paste and give it a good stir, warm it up so you can smell it well. Then add the coconutmilk, the bouillon cube and the water. Let it all simmer for a while (10 minutes) before you add the egg noodles and boil them as instructed on the package.

In the mean time, slice the carrot and bell pepper in thin strips and and thinly slice the scallions.

Fill a bowl with the soup and arrange the fresh vegetables in the bowl

Bell Pepper Quesadilla

If you don't feel like cooking, 
this easy vegetarian quesadilla recipe might come in handy.

-          2 large tortilla wraps

-          grated cheddar cheese

-          1 red bell pepper

-          1/2 green bell pepper

-          1/2 yellow bell pepper

-          2 red onions

-          3 tablespoons of olive oil

-          1 teaspoon of corn starch

-          1 teaspoon of chilipowder

-          1 teaspoon of paprika powder

-          ½ teaspoon of oregano

-          ½ teaspoon of black pepper

-          ½ teaspoon of salt

Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the bell peppers and onions in strips and half rings. Place them in a large caserole dish. Mix up al the herbs and spices well and sprinkle the mixture over the vegetables. Add the olive oil and mix it all with your hands so everything is coated with the oil and spice mixture.

Place the casserole dish in the oven for 30 minutes (give the vegetables a stir half way through).

When the bell peppers and onions are done, heat a pan on the stove. Place a tortilla wrap in it, add some grated cheddar cheese on one half of the wrap, then some of the pepper/onion mixture and finally another layer of cheddar cheese. Fold the tortilla wrap in half and bake both sides on medium heat until the cheese has melted.

If you have more time, this can be upgraded by adding/making one or all of the following:

home made tortilla wraps

sour creme

spring onions

pico de gallo

guacamole

Champignon XXL Burger

I used the mature version of the common 

white mushroom, but this recipe can be made with 

a portobello mushroom (the mature version of the chestnut mushroom) 

just as well.

Mushroom marinade

-1 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

-1 tablespoon of soy sauce

-1 tablespoon of olive oil

-1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning

Marinate the mushroom caps for about half an hour,

Then bake it in a pan, preferably a grilling pan. Using additional oil is not necessary, as there is oil in the marinade already.

Finally, build your burger the way you would do it with a ‘normal’ burger.

I used a slice of cheddar, some red onion and a slice of tomato….oh, and a nice layer of chipotle mayo ;-)

Red cabbage salad with a ginger-tahini dressing

A very easy salad, with a super tasty dressing. 

Also easy to make ahead, or to make a larger batch of for a few days.

Ginger-Tahini Dressing:

-4 tablespoons of olive oil
-4 tablespoons of (a light colored) vinegar
-1 tablespoon of soy sauce
-1 tablespoon of honey
-1 tablespoon of tahini
- 1/2 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger

Stick all the ingredients in a small container with a lid, so you can give it a good shake to prepare the dressing.

If this makes a larger amount of dressing than you need (and it probably will), remember that it keeps really well in the fridge (for at least a week).

Red Cabbage Salad:

-red cabbage

-carrot

-scallions

Cut thin strips of the red cabbage and grate the carrot (the amounts are up to you), and mix them in a bowl with some finely chopped scallions.

Mix in the Ginger-Tahini dressing, and plate the salad.

Optional: scatter some nuts (for example: peanuts or coarsely chopped walnuts) on top. 

Curried Hummus

Kurkuma and currypowder can totally transform the average hummus recipe.

And just like 'normal' hummus, it can be made in 5 minutes

with the help of a (small) food processor.

- 1 small can of chickpeas
-1/5 teaspoon of (hot) currypowder
- 1/2 teaspoon kurkuma (turmeric)
- 1/5 teaspoon djinten (cuminpowder)
- half a spanish pepper
- 1/4 clove of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of tahini
- bit of lemonjuice
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- a bit of water

chop the chickpeas in the foodprocessor, add everything else and
and process until well blended.
In the end, slowly add some water and oil until you reach the right consistancy.
Taste and adjust if necessary

In the picture, a nice Tuscan olive oil and a sprinkle of sumac was added to the hummus,

as well as breadsticks, carrotsticks and three colors of bell pepper.