Zander is a freshwater fish with a very elegant flavor that is caught locally in the Netherlands. It is also called pikeperch or pike perch. The combination with tart apple syrup and bacon has been made famous by Jonnie Boer, … Continue reading Zander with Apple Syrup and Bacon
Amandelkrullen are classic Dutch cookies and they are very tasty. For Dutch pastry recipes, I always turn to Cees Holtkamps book “De Banketbakker”. Holtkamp is a retired famous Dutch pastry chef, of the pastry shop of the same name in … Continue reading Amandelkrullen (Curly Almond Cookies)
Pork tenderloin with a sauce of mushrooms and cream (Varkenshaas met champignon-roomsaus) is a classic example of Dutch cuisine, but I had never prepared it before. It is often made with store-bought powdered instant sauce and very old-fashioned. But it … Continue reading Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms and Cream (Varkenshaas met champignon-roomsaus)
Someone in our Dutch sous vide group on Facebook asked if anyone had ever tried to make erwtensoep (Dutch pea soup) sous vide. I had not, and my first thought was that it didn’t make any sense, because the peas … Continue reading Dutch Pea Soup Sous Vide (Erwtensoep)
Bitterballen are popular party food in the Netherlands. They are breaded and deep fried, and usually filled with a meat ragoût. I have already blogged about those here. When they are larger and have a cylindrical shape, they are called … Continue reading Shrimp Croquettes (Garnalenbitterballen)
This recipe started as a joke, but it turned out so good that I will make it more often! Dutch pea soup (erwtensoep) is a winter favorite in the Netherlands. When I found some leftover dried split peas from last … Continue reading ‘Dutch Pea Soup’ Muffins (Erwtensoepmuffins)
A frikandel is one of the most popular Dutch fast food items. They are usually produced from “mechanically separated meat”, which means any meat that can be obtained through mechanical means from a carcass after ‘regular’ butchering has finished. To … Continue reading Frikandellen (Dutch Deep Fried Hot Dog)
Duivekater is a traditional festive bread that originates in Amsterdam and surroundings and is now still popular in the Zaanstreek where I grew up (and still live), just north of Amsterdam. There are sources as far back as the 16th … Continue reading Duivekater
Many people don’t make soup anymore. They just buy a can or a package of instant soup. Homemade soup is more flavorful, contains less salt, more actual chicken meat, and no chemical flavors and preservatives. The traditional way of making … Continue reading Chicken Soup
Dutch cuisine is not known for its finesse, but more for hearty dishes like stamppot, potatoes and vegetables mashed together. One of the classic winter dishes is zuurkoolstamppot met rookworst, sauerkraut mashed with potatoes and served with smoked pork sausage. … Continue reading Sauerkraut and Potato Mash with Smoked Pork Sausage (Zuurkoolstamppot met rookworst)
Stroopwafels are a Dutch treat that is very popular both inside and outside the Netherlands. They are thin round waffles, filled with syrup that has a hint of cinnamon. They are very addictive! When a Dutchman wants to charm a … Continue reading Homemade Stroopwafels (Dutch Syrup Waffles)
This is the last post in a trilogy of posts with the recipes of the components for the dessert that I served at game & wine dinner parties over the last three Saturdays: marzipan mushrooms, almond madeleines, and in this … Continue reading Spiced Pear Ice Cream (Stoofperenijs)
Before we had refrigerators, airplanes, and greenhouses, fresh vegetables were hard to come by in winter. And so our ancestors developed many ways to preserve vegetables for the winter. Even though it is not a necessity anymore, we keep preserving … Continue reading Homemade Sauerkraut
Summer has finally started (not just on the calendar but also the weather) and that means that cakes for which you don’t have to turn on the oven are the preferred solution for dessert. Although this recipe is tagged “baking”, … Continue reading Quark Cake with Cherries (Kwarktaart met Kersen)
Limburg is a province in the South of the Netherlands that is famous for its pies, known as vlaai. I’ve already posted recipes for a version with cherries, kersenvlaai, and one with apricots, abrikozenvlaai. One of the most famous types is … Continue reading Gooseberry Meringue Pie from Limburg (Kruisbessenvlaai, Krosjelevlaai mit Sjoem)
Roze koeken are very popular at Dutch highschool as a snack after (or instead of) a lunchbox full of sandwiches. The pink glaze on top of store-bought roze koeken looks and tastes a bit chemical, and it is. But that … Continue reading Roze Koeken (Pink Glazed Cookies)
Hazelnut and coffee are a great combination, and this torte has it all: crunchy hazelnuts, crispy hazelnut meringue, and a luscious coffee-flavored buttercream. For this cake I used the recipe of the famous retired Dutch pastry chef, Cees Holtkamp. I’ve posted … Continue reading Hazelnut Mocha Meringue Torte
Kibbeling is one of the most popular Dutch fish snacks. The name has been derived from kabeljauwwang (cod cheek), although nowadays a lot of kibbeling is no longer made from actual cod cheeks but from other pieces of cod, hake, or haddock. When I … Continue reading Kibbeling (Fried Cod Cheeks)
December 5 is the date of the Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) celebration in the Netherlands. Sinterklaas is a bearded fellow dressed in red who gives presents to children. Sounds familiar? The Coca Cola company moved him to Christmas and the North … Continue reading Kruidnoten
There isn’t much Dutch cuisine to speak of, but a popular tasty dish that is available all along the coast is “schol met patat en sla”, or fried plaice with fries and salad. Plaice is a flatfish that is common … Continue reading Fried Plaice with Remoulade Sauce
Babi Panggang is Malaysian/Indonesian for “roasted pork”. So why did I spell it with only one ‘g’ in the title of this post? Because this is the Dutch version that is only known in the Netherlands (and perhaps Belgium) and … Continue reading Babi Pangang (Pork with Sweet & Sour Red Sauce)
In many workplaces in in the Netherlands it is a tradition to treat your coworkers to baked goods on your birthday, either homemade or store-bought. About a decade ago I worked with a guy called Benno and he was crazy … Continue reading Banana Eclairs (Bananensoezen)
Saucijzenbroodjes (sausage rolls) are a very popular snack in the Netherlands. They consist of spicy sausage meat encased in puff pastry and are usually served warm. I don’t like regular saucijzenbroodjes very much. I think it is something about the … Continue reading My Sausage Rolls (Mijn Saucijzenbroodjes)
Thanks to the new ‘Flashback’ feature on this blog and to the enthusiasm of Shanna of Curls and Carrots, it is time for another international food blogging project. Recently I featured Classic Dutch Pea Soup as a Flashback from two … Continue reading Pea & Lamb Soup
Today was my birthday and in the Netherlands it is customary (although not everyone complies) to treat your co-workers to cake on your birthday. This cake can be store-bought or homemade, and it’s easy to guess what I chose. I love gevulde speculaas, which is spiced sweet shortbread (speculaas or also known as speculoos outside the Netherlands), stuffed with almond paste. Speculaas is very Dutch, as it celebrates the spices that were imported by the Dutch (from today’s Indonesia) in the 17th century. It is very popular around the St Nicholas celebration (December 5). The spice mix contains many of the spices that were very exotic back then: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardemom, and white pepper. The combination with almonds works very well. Continue reading “Gevulde Speculaas (Speculoos Stuffed with Almond Paste)”
Braised beef is known as “draadjesvlees” in the Netherlands. This literally means “thread meat”, referring to the flaky structure of the meat. Good draadjesvlees should be juicy and tender, not tough and dry. This means braising it over low heat for a long time. One of the most common cuts that is used for this “sucadelappen”, which in the US is called flat iron steak. The difference is that in the Netherlands the tendon is in the middle is left in and after long braising is eaten. The braised tendon looks like candied peel, which is “sucade” in Dutch. Hence the name.
The dish I prepared can be made with or without sous-vide. With sous-vide cooking, a flat iron steak or other types of beef that are usually braised, can be cooked for 24-72 hours at 55-57ºC/131-135ºF to obtain the texture of a tender steak cooked to medium rare. I’ve very rarely used sous-vide to get the texture of a traditional braise. Exceptions have been duck confit and pulled pork. This is the first time I’ve prepared draadjesvlees sous-vide. I cooked it for 5 hours at 88ºC/190ºF. The result was comparable to a good traditional braise on the stovetop. The advantage is that there is less margin of error.
The advantage of cooking the beef sous-vide at 88ºC/190ºF is that that is also a fitting temperature for cooking the potatoes and parsnips sous-vide. Continue reading “Braised Flat Iron Steak with Parsnip Fondant (Draadjesvlees)”
This is the fourth and last installment (for now, anyway) of my series of Dutch sweets made with batter, which so fas has covered pancakes, oliebollen and appelflappen. Poffertjes are tiny pancakes made with a yeasted batter in a special pan called a poffertjespan. They are usually served with melted butter and powdered sugar. Poffertjes are something you eat mostly as a kid, as a treat from grandma. Poffertjes are prepared at home or bought from a specialized streeet vendor, a poffertjeskraam. Poffertjes should be slightly crispy on the outside and soft and airy on the inside. Continue reading “Poffertjes”
Appelflappen are almost as common as a treat for New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands as oliebollen. Appelflappen are also known as “appelbeignets”, and to make it more confusing puff fastry envelopes stuffed with apple and then baked are also known as appelflappen. Appelflappen are apple fritters: apple slices dipped in batter and subsequently deep-fried. “Oliebollen en appelflappen” is a common term for what we have on New Year’s Eve. Continue reading “Appelflappen (Dutch Apple Fritters)”
Happy New Year everyone! May you eat well in 2014! On New Year’s Eve we eat oliebollen (literally: “oil balls”) in the Netherlands. Oliebollen are deep fried yeasted batter, often filled with raisins. They have been prepared in the Netherlands … Continue reading Oliebollen
Today is Kees’ birthday. I asked him what he’d like to eat for his birthday. He said: “Pannenkoeken!” (Dutch for pancakes.) This is the same answer that most Dutch children will provide by the way 😉 Dutch pancakes are thinner than American pancakes and thicker than French crêpes. Dutch pancakes are not usually eaten for breakfast, but for dinner (for children) or lunch or dessert. They are most simply served with dark syrup (molasses) or plain sugar, with apple and cinnamon, or for a hearty lunch they are also made with bacon and/or cheese. Continue reading “Dutch Pancakes (Pannenkoeken)”
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 