One last treat

As I sit here to write this post, preparations to ring out the old year and sing in the New Year are well on their way. Some last-minute shopping still needs to be done, phone calls need to be made to wish friends and family a happy new year, texts need to be sent to those we cannot reach and the TV needs to be cursed as long-time traditions are forgotten. In other words: busy, busy, busy. Too busy to type, too busy to reminisce but I cannot help but think back about the roller-coaster ride that was 2013.

Whoever you are, wherever you are from, whatever your religious beliefs, your cultural background, your sexual orientation or the colour of your skin (no matter whether your write colour or color); the old year will have had it's ups and it's downs. The same will be said this time next year, and the same will have been said this time last year. Although the ups and downs might be different. Even the people you celebrate with or the shoulder you cry on might be different. Life moves on, as do we.

In the low countries many people will have already started the preparations for the traditional New Year's Eve treat: Oliebollen (or Dutch Doughnuts or Dutchies, as they are more commonly known in English). If you have never had the joy of eating this delectable treat, let me wet your appetite; fluffy dough balls with a filling of raisins, sultanas, currents, apple and candied peel, deep-fat fried until dark golden in colour and covered in a dusting of powdered sugar (mixed with some cinnamon or cookie spices).

Like so many other treats, oliebollen go quite a distance back in time: captured by Aelbert Cuyp in 1652. First mentioned in the Dutch dictionary in 1868. History claims that they were first eaten during Yule (celebrated between 26 December and 6 January) by Germanic tribes in The Netherlands. Perchta (a Germanic goddess) would fly through the mid-winter sky with her evil spirits. To appease these spirits, food was offered, much of which contained deep-fried dough. It was said, Perchta would try to cut open the bellies of all she came across, but because of the fat in the oliebollen, her sword would slide off the body of whoever ate them.
If you want to know how much the Dutch like their treat; every year since 1993 a national contest is held to find the best oliebol.

The recipe I am about to share is an old family favourite and has stayed practically the same since before my grandfather's time and is still made by the family (with some adjustments to fit in with preferences in taste). Back at home there were six of us. If nobody came by on New Year's Eve, we'd be eating oliebollen well into January but I have learned that downsizing the recipe is too much of a pain. Besides, when you do downsize you will find that you always have too few balls...

• Note to self: next time, make sure that there is some muscle nearby for the beating of the dough... My poor arms are killing me...
• More note to self: next time, use a bigger bowl (or 2 smaller bowls) or a bucket for the dough...
• Another note to self: get more paper towels...

Oliebollen

or Dutch Doughnuts or Dutchies

Ingredients:
For the dough:

• 1 kilogram plain flour
• 1 litre milk, lukewarm
• 80 gram fresh yeast or 14 gram dried yeast
• 10 gram salt
• 3 eggs
• a couple of tablespoons sugar or honey (optional)

For the Filling:

• Sultanas
• Raisins
• Currents
• Candied peel, cut to the size of raisins
• Cooking apple, cut to the size of raisins and sprinkled with lemon juice

• Note: the fruit is to individual taste and preference; if you don't like something, leave it out.
• Another note: for a good filling make the fruit up to 1 kilogram, for a slightly less-filled ball you can make the fruit up to 500 gram. If you don't like any of the fruit, leave it out altogether but I would advise to use some sugar and cinnamon in the balls. If you leave the doughnuts plain, try filling them with your favourite jam or preserve and freshly whipped cream or bakers custard after they have been deep-fried.

Method:
For the dough:

1. Mix all the ingredients (including spices, if using)
• If you are using fresh yeast: put it in a bowl with some of the warm milk and some sugar or honey
• If you are using dried yeast: mix the yeast into the flour before adding the liquid and salt
2. Once everything is mixed the beating needs to be done. Get some muscle in and let them beat the dough until their arms hurt. Let someone else then beat for another five minutes
• Beating is easiest with a large, professional, whisk as the little ones will not be able to stand up to the task. If you don't have a big balloon whisk, use a wooden, slotted, spoon
• It is advisable to use a bowl (or bucket) that is big enough to hold the ingredients x 2.5 as the beating needs space and the dough needs space to prove
3. Cover the bowl, or bucket, with a cloth and place in a warm (draught-free) space for 45-60 minutes, until doubled in size, or proving out of the bowl
4. Beat the air out of the dough and mix in the fruit
5. Cover the bowl, or bucket, again and leave to prove for another hour

• Note: whilst waiting for the dough to be ready, during the second proving, prepare the following:
• a thick layer of paper towels, or an unfolded newspaper with a couple of sheets of paper towel on top (if you don't like the idea of the newspaper ink)
• a couple of rolls of kitchen paper to replace the towels when they are saturated
• the biggest serving dishes you have, covered with yet more paper towels to soak up any leftover oil
• a sieve or shaker with icing sugar (optionally cinnamon or cookie spices mixed in)

To make the doughnuts:

1. Place a large, heavy-based, pan on the stove and fill about half with a tasteless oil such as sunflower or peanut oil. More traditional would be rapeseed oil but let's not waste money on non-essentials...
• Although you could use a deep-fat fryer with a heating element, I would not recommend to use this. Firstly it will take forever to get through the dough, secondly the balls will often stick to the basket and thirdly the dough might get stuck on the element, burn and leave the deep-fat fryer ready for the skip...
2. Heat the oil until a crust of bread thrown in causes little bubbles to come up around the edges
3. Fry the doughnuts 5-7 at a time, depending on the size of your scoop and the diameter of your pan
   
4. The doughnuts will turn themselves over when the bottom half is cooked through, but I usually help them out a little by turning them over myself
5. Fry the balls until golden brown, preferably slightly darker to make sure that the centre of the balls is fully cooked, but not too long as the fruit at the outside of the balls could burn
6. Remove the balls from the pan, draining most of the oil and placing them on the wad of paper towels
7. After the oil has been drained off the balls, move them onto the service platter
8. Each layer of balls gets a liberal dusting of icing sugar

If you have not used any fruit in the oliebollen, once they have cooled down completely slice them halfway open and fill with your preferred jam/preserve and some whipped cream or a thick-set custard (much like a scone)

That just leaves me the pleasurable job of wishing you

Een gelukkig, welvarend en smakelijk Nieuw Jaar!

or, in English

A very happy, prosperous and delicious New Year:

The best mistakes...

Every once in a while I will try my hand at something I have never done before. Or I return to something I haven't made in a long time. That this doesn't always work out right was proven to me over Christmas. To be honest, I wasn't going to write this post; I would like you to believe that I do not make mistakes, that I am the perfect kitchen goddess. But, I can't. Because I do mess up from time to time.

It was decided that I was going to make truffles. Chocolate truffles that is. Because it's Christmas. And because we had a surplus of chocolate. Now, I have made plenty of dark-chocolate truffles in my time; at least 20 years ago. It's a lot of hassle and usually the chocolate goes before I even have the chance of saying "Let's make truffles". We only had a little dark chocolate but we had plenty of white chocolate. And so, white-chocolate truffles it was going to be. With apricots and walnuts and marbled with dark chocolate. They were fantastic. Or, at least, they would have been if I had remembered how to make truffles...

I didn't... I forgot that the easiest way is to heat cream and let the chocolate slowly dissolve into it... And I had forgotten that white chocolate has such a high fat content that when you melt the chocolate and add in the cold cream it splits. No matter how much you stir, it splits!

What I was left with was a bowl of a semi-set, glue-y, sticky mess (lumpy because of the walnuts and pieces of dried apricot) in the middle of a pool of oil. Now, if warm eggs split you can bring them back together again by whisking in a tablespoon of ice-cold water. I knew that this wouldn't work with chocolate but I hoped that vigorous whisking with an electric hand whisk would do the job. It didn't. It was fast turning into a day of 'it didn'ts'. Leaving me feeling rather miserable. And then I remembered; heat cream, equivalent to half the content of chocolate, and - once warm - stir in the chocolate until fully incorporated. It worked... And the truffles were beautiful. Or, they would have been if I hadn't incorporated all the oil in as well.

I did... I forgot that it was the fat that had caused it to split in the first place. I didn't remember to just incorporate the solids... Although it didn't split again, I was now left with something the consistency of icing (runny-ish icing, to say the least)... My husband had a brainwave: "Stick it in the fridge and see if it will set solid". I did. It didn't... I was left with... well... with this:

It tastes great. Scratch that, it taste sublime. But it isn't set into something I can turn into truffles. It is sticky, lumpy (still the walnuts and apricots), and the consistency of your favourite brand of hazelnut-chocolate paste.

Forget everything I have just said. I am a true kitchen goddess. There is no need to cry over spilled milk, broken cake or a recipe that has gone wrong. Taste is what matters.
Are you tired of spending a mass of money on chocolate spread? Would you like to know exactly what you give yourself and your children to eat? Are you worn down by all the additives in commercially bought hazelnut spreads? Fear not, you can easily make your own and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. Better yet, rather than being stuck with milk chocolate paste and hazelnuts: by making your own, you decide what flavour to use. Everything is possible: white chocolate with walnuts, milk chocolate with Brazil nuts, dark chocolate with almonds, three-chocolate swirl. If you can think of it, you can make it.

Perfect Chocolate Spread

Ingredients:

• 400 gram of your favourite chocolate (milk, white, dark: with or without added flavours) (it can be as expensive, or as cheap, as you like)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 284 millilitre double cream (1 tub)
• nuts and/or dried fruit of your choice

Method:

1. Take a pan and fill it half with cold water and place on the stove, bringing the water to the boil
2. Place a heatproof bowl on top of the pan
• Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water but that it seals off the pan completely - you want the water to stay in the pan and no steam escaping
3. Break the chocolate into the bowl and add the cream
4. Let the chocolate melt as the cream and the bowl warm up
5. In the mean time, chop the nuts and/or dried fruit as coarsely (or finely) as you like
6. Stir the nuts/fruit (and the vanilla extract, if using) into the chocolate
7. Leave the chocolate to cool
• If the mixture is setting too solid, mix in some extra cream once cold

Flavour combinations that will work well:

• white chocolate:
• tart fruit such as apricots, raspberries, cranberries and sour cherries (all dried)
• to keep the chocolate as white as possible, try not to break the fruit as much as possible by stirring it in gently just before you leave it to cool
• ground cardamom
• any kind of nut
• milk chocolate:
• banana, coconut, raisins and tart fruits as above (all dried) (blitz the dried banana to a powder so that you don't break your teeth on it)
• any kind of nut
• for a more adult version: replace up to half of the cream with Baileys or rum
• dark chocolate
• strong flavours such as orange and ginger (both candied) but also sour cherries
• any kind of nut
• spices such as cinnamon or ground ginger
• for a more adult version: replace up to half of the cream with Cointreau, Tia Maria, rum or brandy

Try not to get too many air bubbles into your chocolate as this will decrease the amount of time you can keep it. Leave the chocolate in the bowl or scoop into sterilised jars.

You can use the chocolate spread on sandwiches or you can loosen the paste a little with some cream and use as fillings or icing on cakes and biscuits.

That leaves me just with:

Enjoy!

Lilura MacKinzie

Lil had her feet propped up on the seat before her, her head bent over her latest purchase. Long, chestnut-coloured, hair screened the world around her and the music pouring out from her headset formed a buffer to any noise. Every now and then she raised her eyes just enough to see out of the window. Not often enough as she cursed to herself, 'I missed the stop again!', and quickly pressed the bell. Stuffing her book back into her hold-all, she got up and made her way to the front of the bus. She pulled her collar up as she got off, the wind had picked up and snow was swirling around. 'We might just have a white Christmas after all', she sighed and made her way to the shop.

Dragonsfly had been open for the past year and it was everything Lil had ever hoped for. Large bay windows were filled with pillows for comfort, two sofas were standing on opposites sides of a heavy oak coffee table, the rest of the furniture was as mismatched as was humanly possible. So was all the crockery, not a single plate paired with cups or saucers. One wall was lined with bookshelves, the other wall featured a massive stove, two extra ovens and a huge fridge. Above the stove were shelves filled with jars of flour, sugar, coffee, tea, spices and herbs. A large dresser did duty as a counter. In the far corner was a little podium that currently held a massive Christmas tree and an arch led through to a large, professional, kitchen behind the shop where Lil did the main of her cooking.

Bernie was rubbing wax into the counter as Lil entered the shop. 'Good morning Bernie, been here long?', 'Nah, just got here.' Every morning the two women had exactly the same conversation and Lil smiled to herself as she made her way to the kitchen where a large pot of tea was ready for the two of them. Bernie had been working for the previous owner for the past thirty-five years when he decided to sell. Lil had been a regular in the old café, always coming in for a cup of tea before rushing off to her job in the morning and to eat a sandwich for her dinner. Mr Michaels had told her that he had to sell, business was slow with big chain stores opening up all over town and he could no longer compete with them. Lil had felt for him as the café had been his life but her old dream had taken hold again: to have her own little shop with good food and...soul. It was the only word she had for it. Something that all the bigger chains were missing. Bernie had warned her against buying the place but Lil had pushed ahead and asked Bernie to stay on as the cleaning lady. Bernie, however, was far more than 'just' a cleaning lady. She opened the shop, made sure that deliveries came in on time, did all the little odd jobs around the place and was a complete media campaign all on her own.

'Come on, Bernie, let's have a cuppa together!', Lil shouted from the kitchen as she took her apron from the hook and hung her coat in its place. She had the new book out on the big table, opened at the page that she had been reading on the bus. 'What have you got this time, dove?', Bernie sounded slightly exasperated as she sat down. 'I thought we had agreed that you wouldn't buy any more cookbooks?' Bernie was right but Lil hadn't been able to stop herself. 'It was in the little charity shop next to the chapel and it was only fifty pence', Lil defended herself. 'Besides, they are all heritage recipes.' Bernie rolled her eyes and poured the two of them some strong tea. 'Oh, before I forget, Mr and Mrs Howard have been. I got them to put it all into the cooler except for the eggs, those are on the bread box.' Jack and Rachel Howard had a small-holding and provided practically all the fruit and vegetables, not to mention all the eggs, milk, butter and young cheeses Lil needed. 'They also brought the meat order', Bernie added. 'What's on the menu today, Lil?' Whilst Bernie was speaking, Lil had walked over to the large cooler and opened the door. 'Beef stew with dumplings, chicken and mushroom pie, sausage casserole, bubble and squeak with kale and red cabbage with apple.' Lil said over her shoulder as she started to take the ingredients out. Fresh rolls, biscuits and cakes were standard and never mentioned on the menu. 'And I am going to make that recipe.' she said whilst pointing to the table. Bernie pulled the book over and quickly surveyed the recipe. 'I don't even know how you'd pronounce that, let alone what's in it. What is it?' she asked. Lil started laughing, 'Since it's Christmas, I thought I'd make a traditional beverage. It's got quite a bit of alcohol in there but it's really good. You'll love it.' Bernie chuckled, 'Going Dutch on us, or what.' Lil laughed with her, 'Yeah, time for some culture in here. Go on, you get going. See you tomorrow?' Bernie got up, 'Of course, unless someone else sees me first but I'll write the menu down first.'

After Bernie left, Lil started the stew and casserole and got the bread dough out of the cooler to make her rolls. She stuck the rolls in the ovens in the shop and walked back to make the biscuit dough. By the time the rolls and biscuits were cooling down she had prepared two apple pies, a chocolate cake and two pear tarts with cranberries. Lil looked at the clock and thought, 'Just enough time for a brew.' and she sank down on one of the chairs gratefully. Fifteen minutes later she was softly singing to herself as she walked back into the kitchen to make Advocaat. 'I should have told Bernie that it is similar to eggnog.' she thought to herself as she grabbed the cookbook from the table. A quick look at the recipe showed her that it would only make one litre. If this was going to be the success she thought it would be, that would never be enough. 'Okay', she thought, 'Let's get the juices running. All I have to do is multiply by five. I can do this.' She made a face, maths had never been her strong suit. Five seconds later she sat down at the table with pen and paper to figure out what she needed. 'Forty egg yolks? We'll be having meringues for the rest of the year.' Lil got up and brought one of the big soup pots to the stove and half filled it with water and lit the fire underneath whilst she started separating the eggs, the yolks into one of the big ten-litre mixing bowls and the egg whites into a sturdy freezer box. She quickly beat the egg yolks loose and started adding 1500 gram of caster sugar. Lil kept whisking until she could no longer feel any sugar grains and split five vanilla beans lengthwise, scraping the seeds into the egg mixture and giving it another quick whisk, before adding five tins of condensed milk and the vanilla beans. She transferred the bowl onto the soup pan and turned the fire low. As the egg mixture slowly warmed up Lil started adding one litre of brandy whilst constantly whisking until the mixture started to thicken. As soon as it did, Lil removed the bowl from the heat and poured the mixture through a sieve into an empty bowl to let it cool.

Once the advocaat had completely cooled and stiffened up she would serve it in small glasses with freshly whipped cream, dark chocolate shavings and a couple of gingerbread biscuits.

Time to impress...

Croque-en-bouche. St. Honoré cake. Both are made with one of the most delicious treats I can imagine: Profiteroles, or cream puffs, or choux à la crème...

Officially, a croque-en-bouche (or croquembouche) is a tower of choux pastry balls piled into a cone and bound with threads of toffee and is traditionally served (in France and Italy) at weddings, christenings, first communions and Christmas. St. Honoré cake (so named for the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, Saint Honoré) is a gorgeous creation of puff pastry and profiteroles, filled with Crème Chiboust (pastry cream, mixed with whipped egg whites or double cream).

Profiteroles come in all shapes and sizes: the dainty little ones that are used for the tower, larger for the cake, oblong for éclairs, gigantic for the Bossche Bol (named after the city Den Bosch in The Netherlands) and every size in between (depending on how greedy you are).

Traditionally, profiteroles are filled with whipped cream or thick-set custard (pastry cream or crème pâtissière) and decorated with chocolate, caramel or icing sugar. Times have changed since the creation of the cream puff and fillings such as ice cream (mainly in the USA) or savoury fillings such as cream cheese are also used.

If you were to believe my husband, profiteroles are impossible to make. And I know that he is not the only one to think so. Yet they are not as difficult as you might think. And you don't need more than a pan, a wooden spoon, a cocktail stick, two bowls and two spoons or a piping bag with nozzle. Oh, it might also be handy to have a baking tray and some baking paper/parchment.

The hardest part of making profiteroles is deciding what you are going to fill them with, how you are going to decorate them and not eating the lot of them once they're ready...

Profiteroles

Ingredients:

• 120 gram plain flour
• 100 gram unsalted butter
• 4 eggs
• 300 millilitre water

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C and line two, large, baking sheets with baking paper or parchment
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl, from a height to get as much air into the flour as possible
3. Put the butter and water into a (small sauce) pan and bring to the boil
4. Add the flour and stir until it comes away from the sides of the pan in a ball
5. Take the pan from the heat and leave to stand for a couple of minutes
6. Gradually add the eggs, one at a time, stirring constantly and making sure the egg is fully incorporated before adding the next egg
• You should end up with a stiff, smooth and shiny paste
7. Either spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a 1 centimetre plain nozzle and pipe walnut-sized rounds, set well apart, or spoon the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets in little (still walnut-sized) blobs
• After you have done all the piping; wet your index finger with a little water and smooth the top of each ball/blob. Make sure to keep wetting your finger after each one
• Make sure to leave some space between the rounds/blobs as the mixture needs room to spread a little
• For éclairs: pipe the mixture into 10 centimetre long strips (cut the end of the length of pastry of with a wet knife)
8. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (20-25 minutes for éclairs, the balls will have risen and have a lovely golden colour
9. Remove the trays from the oven and (with a cocktail stick) prick a little hole in the bottom of each puff
• This will allow the steam to escape
10. Place the trays back in the oven for about two minutes to crisp up (five minutes for éclairs)
11. Remove from the oven and place on wire rack to cool completely

Now you are ready for the most difficult part: Traditional or Modern? Sweet or Savoury? Below are some options...

• Traditional (sweet)
• 800 millilitre double cream
• 400 gram good quality dark chocolate
• 50 gram butter
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup or honey
• Pour 200 millilitre of cream into a pan and whip the rest until just peaking
1. Add the chocolate, butter and syrup/honey to the cream in the pan and gently heat until the chocolate is melted
2. Spoon the whipped cream into a piping bag with a 5 millimetre star nozzle
3. Pipe the cream into each puff via the bottom (where you pricked it with the cocktail stick) and fill the puff until the cream just comes out at the bottom
4. If you don't have a piping bag, slit the puffs slightly open at the side and spoon the cream in
5. Arrange the puffs on a serving plate, stir the sauce and pour over the profiteroles. Serve immediately, with the rest of the sauce on the side

• Croque-en-bouche
1. If you really want to impress try this one; there are special moulds you can buy but with some ingenuity and a steady hand you don't need to go to that expense. Saying that, it will be slightly more difficult to get the straight sides...
• Make the profiteroles as above and fill them with cream (see Traditional)
• Make a caramel by melting sugar over medium heat until it turns a dark golden colour. Take the pan off the heat as soon as the sugar turns golden
• Do not stir the sugar as this will cause the sugar to crystallise; a gentle swirling motion of the pan will suffice if you are afraid of burning the sugar
• On a piece of parchment paper, draw a circle which will guide you when making the tower, and turn the paper over
• Place one circle of puffs on the drawn circle
• Take extreme care when using the caramel as this will cause major burns: Dip the bottom of one puff into the caramel (just enough to give it a thin coat) and place the puff partway onto two puffs slight more toward the centre of the tower
• Keep 'glueing' the puffs onto each other, making the circle smaller as you work upwards
• Place the last puff right on top and decorate the tower as desired

• Savoury filling
1. As there is no sugar in the pastry, cream puffs are easily changed into a savoury snack
• Make the profiteroles as above
• Whip cream cheese (any flavour you like) until it is soft and resembles softly whipped cream
• Fill the profiteroles with the cream cheese
• You can add flavourings to the cream cheese as you like, try for instance: smoked salmon, chopped finely, with dill or garlic and herbs.

Your only limitation is your imagination

As they say in France

Bon Appétit

Nelson Mandela; the world was a better place

On 5 December 2013, the world lost one its most beautiful people. Nelson Mandela left this world a slightly darker place and he, and his work, will be sorely missed by many people. 

He stood for something, was willing and able to speak about this and had the courage to fight for it: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” "When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace." So, dear Mr Mandela, rest in peace.

In 1992 interviews were being held to a personal chef. The interview contained just one question: 'Can you cook our home food?' She could and she got the job. Xoliswa Ndoyiya has cooked him the foods that he so much loved ever since as it turns out that Mr Mandela loved his food but most of all he craved the food he had grown up with. One of his favourite dishes is one I share with him: Braised Oxtail. Incredibly moorish, good value for money and a proper winter-warmer. Give it a try, the recipe is easy to follow.

Braised Oxtail

Ingredients:

• 6 ½ pounds oxtail, excess fat removed
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon barbecue spice
• 5 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• ½ pound green beans, sliced
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 packet oxtail soup powder
• Salt and (white pepper), to taste

Method:

1. Put the oxtail in a large pot and add just enough water to cover
2. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook until the water has evaporated
• The meat will start to brown in its own fat
3. Add the paprika and barbecue spice together with enough water to cover the oxtail
4. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat until the oxtail is tender, about 2 hours
• Keep checking that there is still enough liquid to cover the meat, adding more water when necessary
5. Add the carrots, beans, potatoes and soup powder and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes
6. Season and serve

As they say in Afrikaans

Eet smaaklik

Or, in English

Enjoy

We can all use them, from time to time

Cookery shows on TV; you either love 'em or hate 'em. On the whole, I love them. It gives me great ideas for recipes, although I never follow them to the letter. As with all my recipes, they get adjusted to my own preferences and availability of ingredients. At the same time, however, there is something that thoroughly annoys me about them. Cookery shows want to help people cook certain food, eat better, waste less, eat healthier and so on. And so they fill you up with recipes and how to cook the dishes. That's all fine by me, what annoys me is that they don't tell you the numerous amount of hints, tips and tricks they have (there are some exceptions, but these just confirm the rule). And believe me when I say, chefs have practically a trick for everything they do. From chopping veg to juicing fruit, from rolling out pastry to seasoning food. And for everything in between...

Some of these hints, tips and tricks are being taught in college but mostly they are picked up when working in a professional kitchen. And I am going to share what I know with you, so 'Keep calm and Be a Chef'. That last part is a bit of a lie, by the way. As was pointed out to me by my husband... More accurately would be 'keep confidence and be a chef'. Which brings me to the best tip I can ever give: 'keep calm and hire a chef'...

I will add to the list below on occasion, so if ever you are stuck, come back here and see if I have a hint, tip or trick ready for you. Or leave a question in the comment section and I will come back to you. Any hints, tips and tricks you have are more than welcome too.

Hints, Tips & Tricks

Pastry:

1. The easiest way of rolling out shortcrust pastry is, probably, to roll it out between baking paper:
• This is great because you avoid using flour. Any additional flour will make your pastry taste less buttery, and most importantly there's no need to clean up any floury mess afterwards. Also, if you happen to be making pastry on a hot day and it's becoming too soft to roll out, you can simply slide the pastry into the fridge for 10 minutes to rest instead of having to scrape the soft pastry off the work surface. The golden rule when making pastry is to handle it as little as possible, otherwise it goes rubbery and tough. Using the baking-paper tip will certainly help achieve the perfect pastry
1. Cut off a piece of baking paper and place this on your work top
2. Place the pastry on top and cover with a second piece of baking paper
3. Roll the pastry out to the required size and preferred thickness
• Don't have baking paper? Cling film works equally well but sticks slightly more to the pastry
• Another great thing about this is that it makes lining a baking tin so much easier:
1. Peel of the top layer of the baking paper and lift the pastry (with the remaining bottom piece of baking paper underneath) onto 1 hand
2. Flip the sheet over, on top of the prepared baking tin (so that the pastry is inside the tin)
3. Gently ease the pastry into all the nooks and crannies (with the paper still on top)
4. Gently peel of the remaining paper and bake or fill as normal

Tomato-based sauces and soups:

1. Tinned tomatoes
• Using tinned tomatoes for a soup or sauce? Try adding a pinch of sugar to take away the acidic flavour. Use the sugar as a seasoning, so don't go overboard...
2. Fresh tomatoes
• Need to peel and finely chop fresh tomatoes?
1. Cut a tomato in half
2. Grate the flesh through the large holes of a vegetable grater until you get to the skin (hold on to the skin to keep it intact before discarding it)

Seasoning:

1. The reason most restaurant food tastes better is the correct use of seasoning. Chefs use salt, pepper and spices throughout the cooking process and season at every stage. Jacob Kenedy, Chef patron of Bocca di Lupo in Soho, once said: 'To live a long life, use less salt. To live a happy one, use more. Salt is the West's MSG – it gives food more flavour. "Correct" seasoning, to a chef, is as much salt as you can possibly get into the dish without it tasting too salty.'
• To achieve this, add (especially) salt at the beginning of the cooking process and then at every next step (with the exception of stocks destined for reduction). Make sure to taste before you add salt and add only a pinch at a time, tasting as you go 
• If you happen to over-season, you can try to bulk the dish out by adding something (barley to a soup, for instance), or to balance the salt with acid (a squeeze of lemon or dash of vinegar), or to kill it with fat (fat mutes flavours – so add butter or oil).

Tenderise (tough) meat:

1. To tenderise meat you can bash away at it with a 'meat tenderiser' or cover the meat with a piece of cling film and bash it with a heavy-based pan (brilliant if you want to work out some frustration, but you need to be careful as you don't want to wind up with pulp).
2. There is another option. You can use acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, or kachri powder to tenderise meat. However, you should use either option sparingly, as it can leave a slight tangy taste if used excessively.

Juicing fruit:

1. To get the most juice out of oranges, lemons and limes, try warming them up slightly:
• Place the fruit in direct sunlight for half an hour or stick them in the microwave for 5 seconds on high

Stock:

1. Stocks are great to have on hand as they can be used as the base for soups, sauces and gravy. There is nothing wrong with using a stock cube but making your own needn't be difficult:
• Take lots of kitchen vegetable trim (celery, fennel tops, onion, garlic, carrot peelings) and place in a pot with all your bones
• Cover with water, then cling film and tin foil it
• Cook overnight at 140°C in the oven or cook on top of the stove for at least 3 hours
2. Want a clear stock?
• By cooking it in the oven (as above) all the impurities, that you would usually remove through skimming, stick to the bottom and sides of the pot
• If you have cooked the stock on top of the stove things become slightly more laborious but not more difficult:
1. When you put the pan on the heat, avoid boiling the liquid and do not stir (if you can). If you do have to stir, use a balloon whisk and try not to disturb the ingredients too much
2. During the cooking process, skim off the foam that forms on top (with a slotted spoon)
3. Leave the stock to cool completely: the top of the stock will look clear as all the heavier particles sink to the bottom of the pan (this will happen quicker if you haven't stirred)
4. Ladle the clear liquid gently into a jug or a clean saucepan without disturbing the sediment
5. Chill it until any fat has set into solid clumps
6. Remove as much fat as possible
7. Pour your stock into a large, shallow freezer safe container
8. Line a perforated tray, flat based colander, drum sieve, or other drainage utensil that has a flat base with cheesecloth or a clean fine-weave tea-towel or dishcloth (ideally, the container that you freeze the stock in should fit into the sieve or perforated tray lying flat)
9. Place this onto another catchment container underneath (the container underneath the sieve or tray should be wide and deep enough to gather the fluid without spillage)
10. Remove your stock ice block from its original container and place into the lined drainage tray or sieve
11. Cover with cling film and put aside, preferably in the fridge overnight if you have time
12. Allow the block to melt and the stock will filter out, leaving ice and the fine particles that would make it cloudy in the cloth
• For an even richer stock, follow from step 7 onwards for a second time
3. Freeze stock into an ice-cube tray. Whenever you need to add a bit more flavour to a soup, sauce or gravy, take out an ice-cube and add it to the pan. Let it dissolve, give it a quick stir and taste to make sure the seasoning is 'just perfect'

Ginger:

1. The easiest way to peel ginger is to use a teaspoon. This might sound silly but if you use the edge of the spoon (like with a knife) you can scrape the skin off the ginger very thinly without having to cut off all the knobbly bits (this saves you loads of time and ginger)

Spices:

1. If you, like me, use a lot of spices, it is cheaper to buy whole spices and grind them yourself as and when you need them. The flavour of the spice stays very vibrant for a longer time then with ground spices and you can crush just the amount that you need. The best way to grind them is the old-fashioned way; with pestle and mortar.
2. For the best flavour in your dish, add a ground spice at the end of cooking (to give it a little lift) or you can add them in whole at the beginning. Or toast ground spices in a dry frying pan until they become fragrant before you add the rest of your ingredients (make sure not to burn the spices as they will become very bitter)

I hope these hints, tips and tricks will come in useful. Let me know how you get on...

But most of all, no matter what you are making:

Enjoy

Warming the cockles

Yesterday, with temperatures steadily dropping to below freezing, I thought it was time to start looking at some recipes to warm up the days and nights, the hands and the cockles.

My favourite drink and pud came straight to mind: Mulled Wine and Sticky Toffee Pudding. Both have their own winter-warmer qualities; warming spices in the wine, rib-sticking rich pud with dates and toffee sauce.

However, my mind kept wandering through recipes of old; Beef Stew with Dumplings, steaming-hot (Chunky Vegetable) Soup, piping-hot Pies, Hot Chocolate, Devil's Coffee (if you ask me really nicely, I might just share the recipe for this). But none of them really hit the spot. And my mind kept returning to the wine and pudding. This was going nowhere, fast. My mind does that sometimes, getting fixated on something that is absolutely no use to anyone.

It was getting ridiculous though; "What's for tea tonight?" "Sticky Toffee Pudding." "Really?" "That, or Mulled Wine." "Great. I opt for the wine." It just would not leave me alone. But I knew that I didn't fancy either of them. Those two didn't hit the spot either. We ended up having Spaghetti Carbonara. Not quite warming the cockles but it was very tasty. And yes, it is our go-to meal if we cannot decide on tea...

This morning, however, the thought of wine and pudding was still not leaving me alone and I decided to follow the train of thought my brain was taking. It turned out that in the back of my mind doors were being opened and shut and my brain was coming up with all sorts of recipes that were being dismissed instantaneously. Until it found one it liked. Am I the only one who's brain does that? Thinking of things on its own accord? Without even asking if this appropriate? But I (or my brain, rather) have come up with some brilliant recipes this way. And so, this morning I gave in and did as my brain asked me to do: I made Sticky Mulled Wine Pudding... Okay, that name needs some work but it does say exactly what it is. Sticky Pudding with Mulled Wine. And, it might not have the best of names, it was totally scrumptious. Laugh at me all you like, I will share this recipe with you in the hope that you will see past the name and try it.

Sticky Mulled Wine Pudding

Ingredients:
For the cake:

• 100 gram light brown muscovado sugar
• 175 gram self-raising flour
• 125 millilitre cold Mulled Wine
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50 gram unsalted butter (melted)
• 200 gram dried cranberries

For the sauce:

• 150 gram dark brown muscovado sugar
• approx. 35 gram unsalted butter (in little blobs)
• 500 millilitre Mulled Wine, brought to a simmer

Method:
For the Sticky Mulled Wine Pudding:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C
2. Butter a 1½ litre capacity pudding dish

For the cake:

1. Combine the light brown muscovado sugar with the flour in a large bowl
2. Pour the wine into a measuring jug, beat in the egg, vanilla and melted butter and then pour this mixture over the sugar and flour, stirring - just with a wooden spoon - to combine
3. Fold in the cranberries
4. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pudding dish
• Don't worry if it doesn't look very full: it will do by the time it cooks

For the sauce:

1. Sprinkle the dark muscovado sugar on top of the batter and dot with the butter
2. Pour over the simmering wine (yes really!) and transfer to the oven

For the Sticky Mulled Wine Pudding:

1. Set the timer for 45 minutes, though you might find the pudding needs 5 or 10 minutes more
• The top of the pudding should be springy and spongy when it's cooked; underneath, the butter, dark muscovado sugar and boiling water will have turned into a rich, sticky sauce

Variations:

• This will work equally well with mulled fruit juice, but you might want to use less sugar in that case
• For extra crunch, try adding a handful of roughly chopped pecan nuts to the batter
• For a pretty, pink-purplish sauce try using soft white sugar
• Use the same soft white sugar in the pudding for a light-coloured pudding
• You can make the pudding in advance and prepare an icing from icing sugar and a little mulled wine
• Decorate the 'cake' as desired with the icing

Once you've stopped laughing,

Enjoy

Sometimes nothing else will do...

What is your favourite pie, tart or cake? Is it a traditional Victoria Sponge? Chocolate cake? Carrot cake? Do you prefer an Upside-Down cake? Or are you more a type for Cheesecake? Cupcakes? Angel (or Devil's) Food Cake? Brownies? What about an impressive Pavlova? Treacle Tart? A posh Tarte Tatin? Banoffee Pie? Fruit Crumble?

I like love all of the above but what about a perfectly ordinary Apple Pie? Crispy, sweet, pastry stuffed to bursting with fresh, tart, apples. Baked in the oven to golden perfection and served with either custard or ice cream. Nothing fancy, nothing posh, but sometimes nothing else will do.

Apple Pie is near enough ancient, dating back to the 1300s (in the UK) when the apples were mixed with saffron, figs, spices and pears. In The Netherlands the recipes started around the same time but have little changed since 1514. America and Canada had to wait for apple pie until the 1700s when planting of European apple varieties in the English colonies took place to become fruit-bearing apple trees, to be selected for their cooking qualities, as there were no native apples. Apple pie in The Netherlands was so important that in 1626, the Dutch Golden Age, it was captured in a painting...

The major difference between English and Dutch Apple Pie is the fact that the Dutch do not cook their apples prior to filling the pastry. This creates a firmer texture, a higher pie and (I think) a better apple flavour. (But the main benefit of not cooking the apples prior to filling the pie has got to be the amount of time saved, not to mention less pots and pans to clean...) Another difference is the lid of the pie: the English usually cover the pie with a full pastry lid where the Dutch prefer to create a pastry lattice so that some of the filling is on show.

Growing up, we had a massive garden with a couple of apple and pear trees. My mum had one rule when it came to those trees: we didn't pick the fruit until after her birthday mid-September. Our haul of apples each year was usually significant and my mum would use them for apple sauce or compote and, of course, apple pie. Fancy as Apple Charlotte or Tarte Tatin, or simply as a traditional apple pie with loads of cinnamon and sultanas. The most requested pie for any of our birthdays? Apple pie, regardless whether the birthday was in April, June, September, November or December... Fashionable or not, I will gladly make, bake, slice and eat Apple Pie... Sue me... Or ask me real sweetly and I will bake one for you...

(Dutch) Apple Pie

Ingredients:
For the pastry:

• 2 eggs
• 500 gram self-rising flour
• 300 gram cubed ice cold butter
• 175 gram brown sugar
• A pinch of salt
• zest of ½ lemon

For the filling:

• 300 gram sultanas
• 2 tablespoons brandy (or cognac or rum)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 kilogram tart apples
• 75 gram brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons 'speculaas kruiden'
• 1 tablespoon corn flour

Method:

For the Pastry:

1. Whisk the eggs loose
2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl
3. Add the cold butter and work this into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs
4. Add most of the egg (keep about a tablespoon of the egg behind to brush the pie with later), the brown sugar, salt and lemon zest
5. Knead the dough until the dough comes together into a ball and set aside for 20 minutes
6. Grease a large springform cake pan (24 cm x 6.5 cm/10" x 2 1/2")
7. Cover the bottom and sides of the dish with 3/4 of the dough

For the filling:

1. In a small bowl, steep the sultanas in the brandy for at least an hour
2. Peel and core the apples and cut them into bite-sized pieces
• Mix the apples with the lemon juice to prevent them from 'browning' to quickly
3. Mix the sultanas, brown sugar, cinnamon and spices in with the apples
4. Sprinkle the corn flour over and mix well

To make the pie:

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C
2. Add the apple mixture to the pie dish and firmly press down
3. Use the rest of the dough to make the lattice topping
• Arrange some strips one way and some strips the other way, press to fix it to the sides and fold the dough back in towards the pie. It should not be hanging over the pie dish, otherwise it will stick
4. Brush the pastry with the egg wash
5. Place the pie in the centre of the oven and bake for approximately 1 hour
6. Allow the pie to cool in the springform and then carefully turn out

Tips and Tricks:

• I don't bother to roll the dough out and cut it as it is pretty sticky and causes a mess. I simply wet my hands and shape it by hand, pressing the dough into the pie dish in a uniform thickness. As for the lattice-work, I shape them by hand into longish sausage shapes, which I press flat onto the pie. The pie will rise and hide a multitude of sins

Variations:

• If you don't have 'speculaas kruiden', you could use mixed spice or pumpkin pie spices instead, or you can simply stick to the original recipe and use 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon. I do love the depth of flavour that the speculaas kruiden seem to add. You can also make your own speculaas kruiden
• In stead of using corn flour in the apple filling, try using 1 tablespoon custard powder
• Both corn flour and custard powder will take some of the liquid of the apples and prevent 'soggy bottom' syndrome in your pie
• Try replacing half of the apples for pears
• Leave out he sugar as the pears will act as a natural sweetener
• Another way of preventing 'soggy bottom' syndrome is to add some ground almonds or almond paste
• Once you have placed your dough in the pie dish, add a thin layer of the almond paste or ground almonds, add the apples and finish as above
• For an alcohol-free version, try soaking the sultanas in some tea or apple juice

As we say back home

Eet smakelijk

Or, in English

Enjoy