Back to the Past

One of my favourite things to do on a cold, but dry, crisp winters day is to go out for a walk in the woods. The best thing about it is, probably, coming back home into the warmth and wrapping myself in a blanket on the sofa and my hands around a steaming bowl of fresh soup. But even now in summer, with temperatures soaring, I do like a bowl of soup. Fair enough, the bowl of soup contains different ingredients but the principle is the same: stock, vegetables, protein, starch. Perhaps a noodle soup with ginger, spring onions, bean sprouts, chili and chicken. Or maybe a chilled pea soup with lovage and creme fraiche (I know, mom, who ever thought I would eat pea soup...) or a light fish soup with haddock and sweet corn.

What ever soup it is I am making, I do prefer to make a soup with homemade stock. Using a stock cube might seem a like good, quick and easy option but I find they usually lack flavour and just add a lot of salt. Of course, there is something to be said for low-sodium, free-range stock cubes but they are more often than not very expensive.

It used to be common for people to make their own stocks but these days people think it is difficult and time-consuming. But it doesn't have to be. In principle, making your own stock is not more difficult than bringing a pan of water to the boil and letting it simmer and not more time-consuming than cooking your average meal. The benefit of making a big pan of stock is that you can freeze it. It does lose some of its taste but not massively so and if you reduce the stock to concentrate the flavour it is actually a very handy thing to have in the freezer. Besides, stock will last three to four days in the fridge, after which time you can bring it back to the boil and keep it for another 3-4 days, practically indefinitely.

There are various options for stock but the two main categories are: Fond Blanc (white stock) and Fond Brun (brown stock). For white stock you use raw bones and for brown stock you use... You guessed it, roasted bones.  Chicken bones are mainly used for white stock and veal or beef bones are mainly used for brown stock but Fish and Vegetable stock are also white stocks. (Bones,) vegetables and water in a pan + simmering = stock. The vegetables you use for making stock is called mirepoix and consists (usually) of onion, leeks, carrot and celery but for a white stock you would mainly use the white parts of vegetables.

The most time consuming of all the various options for stock is brown stock as the bones need roasting and are then simmered for several hours to get the deep brown colour. The quickest to make are fish and vegetable stock as they only need about 20-25 minutes. 

Brown Stock

Ingredients:

• 500 gram beef of veal bones
• Mirepoix
• 2 chopped carrots
• 2 diced onions
• 2 chopped celery sticks
• 1 tablespoons tomato paste
• Enough water to cover the bones
• Bouquet Garni (herbs and spices tied in a cloth for ease of use)
• Dried thyme
• Parsley stems
• Bayleaf
• Peppercorns
• Cloves

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C
2. Place the bones in a heavy bottomed roasting pan. Drizzle them with a bit of vegetable oil if you like
3. Roast the bones for about half an hour
4. Add the mirepoix to the roasting pan and continue roasting for another half an hour
• Toward the end of the roasting, add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste or dilute the paste with a little water and brush the bones thinly with this before you start roasting them
5. When the bones are thoroughly browned, remove the roasting pan from the oven and transfer the bones to a heavy-bottomed stockpot
6. Add enough cold water to the pot to completely cover the bones, about 1 litre per 500 gram bones
7. Bring the pot to a boil, then immediately lower the heat to a simmer
8. Skim off the scum that rises to the surface with a slotted spoon
9. Add the roasted mirepoix to the pot along with the Bouquet Garni; tie the sachet string to the stockpot handle for easy retrieval later
10. Continue to simmer the stock and skim the impurities that rise to the surface
• Liquid will evaporate, so make sure there's always enough water to cover the bones
11. After anywhere from 4 to 6 hours, once the stock has developed a rich brown colour, remove the pot from the heat
12. Strain the stock through a sieve lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. Cool the stock quickly, using an ice bath if necessary

Some hints and tips when making brown stock:

• The best bones to use for making stock are ones with a lot of cartilage, such as the so-called "knuckle" bones in the various leg joints. The bones of younger animals also have more cartilage, which is why veal bones are so desirable
• Always start with cold water when making stock. It will help extract more collagen from the bones, which will produce a stock with more body
• Don't let the stock boil, but rather keep it at a gentle simmer with bubbles just breaking the surface. Also, don't stir the stock while it simmers. Just let it do its thing. All you need to worry about is skimming the scum off the top, and possibly adding more water if the liquid level drops too low

Glace de Viande

Glace de Viande is the fancy name for brown stock that has been reduced to an almost syrupy consistency and is used to fortify sauces. A spoonful of glace de viande is a great way to add flavour to other dishes. It stores well in the freezer, so in a pinch you can add water and turn the glace back into stock again.

Here's how to make it:

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the stock (see above) to a boil and then lower the heat to medium
• As the stock simmers, you may see scum or other impurities rise to the surface. Skim these impurities off with a ladle
2. Once the stock has reduced by a little over half, pour it through a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into a smaller pot
3. Lower the heat a bit and continue reducing, skimming as needed
4. The glace is finished when the liquid has reduced by about three fourths and the glace is thick and syrupy
• When you stir it, the glaze should coat the back of your spoon
5. Let the glace cool, transfer it to a container with a lid and refrigerate or freeze

It might seem all a bit daunting, but I promise it is well worth having stock to hand like this. Whether it is to make a soup or light broth, a sauce or as a base for a stew, stock is versatile. Whatever you use your stock for:

Enjoy!

Summertime, and the livin' is easy

Gone is the time for hearty stews and stodgy pies. It's too warm. Too humid. But hey, it beats freezing temperatures and rain... Still, the last thing I want to do is stand in a kitchen for hours trying to come up with a meal. I want something quick and easy. And it has to be fresh and light. Something that screams 'Summertime is here!'. The livin' is easy, fish are jumping (preferably onto my plate) and cotton is high fashion in high temperatures...

The first things that spring to mind are barbeque and salads. I love to bbq. But... our back yard has a 45º slope; not ideal when trying to cook something over hot coals... Salads are perfect. Every colour of the rainbow can find it's way onto your plate: Red tomatoes, Pink radishes, Purple beetroot, Blue cornflowers, Green cucumber, Yellow peppers, Orange carrots. And you can be as adventurous as you want with the starch: potatoes, couscous, bulgur wheat, quinoa, rice, pasta, noodles. The same goes for protein: beef, pork, chicken, poultry, eggs, cheese, fish, tofu. You can add crunch in the form of nuts and seeds or fancy croutons. And the dressings... The same vegetables, protein, starch and crunch can taste completely different depending on the dressing you use... From 'simple' vinegar and oil to 'fancy' soy sauce and sesame oil, the options are near endless.

But, today I don't want to talk about salads. Let's face it: there is only so much 'rabbit food' you can eat. Even if it is summer and the rainbow has found it's way onto your plate... And the oven will never be able to replace the bbq, no matter what anybody says. But, every now and then, I do fancy something 'proper'. Something to fill my belly, not too healthy but high in flavour and satisfaction. But it does have to be easy and it would be even better if it can be made in advance so that I only have to heat it up come tea time.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

• 700-800 grams ground beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 240 millilitre ketchup
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 200 grams cheese (grated or sliced)
• 6 slices of toast or 3 bread buns

Method:

1. Cook the ground beef with the onion and the salt in a shallow frying pan
2. In a saucepan, mix together the ketchup, sugar, mustard, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce and cook over low heat for 15 minutes
3. Drain the fat from the beef and add the meat to the sauce
4. Leave to simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time
5. Serve on toasted bread or buns, topped with cheese

So there you have it, quick and simple. Easily made during the weekend, stuck in the fridge or freezer and simply reheated when you want a slightly more filling meal during the summer. Serve with coleslaw, fries and pickles.

Enjoy

I know, it's a bit cheesy...

After a couple of gloriously sunny days, the heavens opened yesterday and my backyard looked like an aquarium: loads of plants, all standing in 3 feet of water... I just needed to add the goldfish...

The temperature has dropped slightly and, with every drop of rain, the 'closeness' slowly dissipated. And so did my lethargy. When the temperature is too high I don't fancy eating or cooking/baking. As a matter of fact, I don't feel like doing much of anything until the temperature drops below 20ºC. And so, I had a crazy run of baking: wholemeal bread with rye flakes, rye flake buns, cheesy rye flake buns, chocolate chip cookies, mini fruit and walnut scones, fresh garlic bread... I think I might have gone a bit overboard...

As England was playing last night (gotta pretend that I am keeping up with the World Cup...) I was looking for a nice snack as the match started at 11 p.m. The night before we had 'kroketten' as Spain was trying to hold back The Netherlands (what a marvelous score, 1-5). So, for yesterday, I wanted something typically British but also something typically me. A cheese board is too simple, although tasty, and pasties are too heavy for this type of weather. What is a girl to do???

Eventually my brain started spouting out all kinds of typically British fare: crumpets (really??? as a snack???), Broccoli and Stilton soup (it's not that cold), Welsh Rarebit (not quite the kind of snack I had in mind). That was cheese twice... I love cheese, so does hubby. I might be onto something here... The UK has some lovely cheeses but 'plain and simple' cheddar does remain one of my favourites when it comes to snacks. Don't get me wrong, baked camembert with raw vegetables and boiled new potatoes to 'dip in' is good. So are breaded brie bites with jalapeño relish. But, sometimes, nothing beats 

Ooey-gooey baked cheddar cheese dip

Ingredients:

• 1 punnet grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 340 gram cream cheese, I used plain but you could choose a flavoured version)
• 225 gram mozzarella, torn into little pieces or freshly grated
• 225 gram extra mature cheddar, grated
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
• 4 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
• ½ tablespoon freshly chopped oregano leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC
2. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spread the tomatoes in a single layer on the sheet
3. Sprinkle the olive oil, salt and pepper over the tomatoes and place in the oven to roast for 20-25 minutes
• the skins on the tomatoes will start to split
4. Whilst the tomatoes are roasting, mix the cream cheese with 200 grams of the cheddar and mozzarella and the parmesan
5. Add the herbs, garlic and the roasted tomatoes and mix well
6. Transfer the cheese mixture into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the remaining cheddar and mozzarella on top
7. Bake the cheese for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbling

Serve with a little sprinkling of parmesan and crusty bread, fresh veggies, crackers, boiled new (or baby) potatoes, or whatever you fancy.

Perhaps I should have gone for cheddar and Wensleydale with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, or English mustard and ale: the Italians beat the Brits 1-2... Oops, my bad... Still, I can only tell you to...

Enjoy

Too good to be true

Every now and then you come across a recipe that is so good that you just cannot believe it. It is everything a recipe should be: easy to follow, easily available ingredients, perfect for when living on a budget and the result is so tasty that you just keep going back for more. The other day, I found just such a recipe.

I had bought two tins of apricots but hadn't really thought about what to do with them. In principle, all they are good for is serving them with some yoghurt but, for some reason, it made hubby think of upside-down cake. If I am honest, it is not my favourite cake and I was... hesitant... to use them in that way. But it did make me think about baked apricots, which is something I like to do with fresh apricots that aren't quite ripe enough to eat out of the hand. I just didn't have any almond paste... Or vanilla... What I did have was loads of cream... And walnuts...

And so I went looking for a recipe that could combine these three random ingredients: apricots, walnuts and cream. I didn't quite find what I was looking for so I 'adapted' an old French recipe for Apricot Clafoutis. Traditionally, a Clafoutis is a baked French dessert of black cherries (stones and all), arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. Over the years, many different varieties of fruit have been used but the best fruit to use is 'stone' fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, and so on. Technically, when you use a different variety of fruit the dish is not a Clafoutis but a Flaugnarde. But that just doesn't sound as nice...

Remember how I said that a good recipe is not only tasty but also contains easily available ingredients and can be made living on a budget? This entire dessert costs £1.50 for four to six people. And yes, I do realise that some of the ingredients, such as the vanilla, are not necessarily things that you would call 'cheap' but ...a little goes a long way; in most recipes you will only use about a teaspoon. Another option is to buy some fresh vanilla pods, use the seeds for one dish but stick the pods themselves into a jar of sugar: vanilla flavoured sugar that will last as long as you keep the pods in the jar, even if you add more sugar... This way you can use the sugar every time a recipe asks for vanilla...

But, like I said, I didn't have vanilla, nor did I have the desire to go out in the rain to get some. Instead, I decided to crush up some walnuts that I had lying around and use those to flavour the custard.

Apricot Clafoutis

Ingredients:

• 250 gram fresh, ripe, apricots (halved and pitted)  or 1 tin of apricot halves, drained
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 25 gram plain flour, sifted
• 50 gram caster sugar or 50 gram vanilla sugar (then don't use vanilla extract)
• 150 millilitre double cream
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract or 50 gram vanilla sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and lightly grease a shallow, ovenproof, dish with a little butter. The dish should be large enough to fit the apricots in a single layer
2. Place the apricots cut-side down in a single layer in the dish (there should be a little space between them)
3. In a bowl, whisk the egg, egg yolk and the flour together
4. Whisk in the caster sugar (or vanilla sugar)
5. Add the cream (and vanilla extract if using) and whisk thoroughly to form a smooth custard
6. Pour the custard over the apricots so the tops of a few are just visible
7. Place the dish on the top shelf in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed up and golden brown in places
8. Remove the dish from the oven and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes

Dust the cooled down Clafoutis with a little icing sugar and serve with a little lightly whipped cream or creme fraiche.

If you don't have apricots (or don't like them) try one of the options below:

• (black) Cherries and Kirsch
• Toss the (pitted) cherries with 3 tablespoons of Kirsch and 2 tablespoons of sugar and leave for 30 minutes. Strain the cherries and whisk the Kirsch in with the eggs. Place the cherries into a buttered dish and pour over the custard (you still want to see some of the cherries). Bake immediately for 30-35 minutes
• Plum and marzipan (or almond paste)
• Halve the plums and remove the stones. Place a dot of marzipan or almond paste into the hollow of each plum before placing them cut-side down into the dish. Pour over the custard and bake for 30-35 minutes
• I like to add little dots of almond paste on top of the custard, before it goes into the oven
• Plum and (plum) Brandy or Kirsch
• Halve the plums and remove the stones. Place the plums cut-side up in a single layer in a buttered and sugared dish, pour over the batter and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of Brandy or Kirsch. Bake immediately for 30-35 minutes
• Fruit and ...
• If you don't want to use vanilla (or like me don't have any), try flavouring the custard with some nuts that are crushed very finely or some spices or ...
• Apricots and walnuts or almonds
• Cherries and macadamia nuts or hazelnuts
• Plums and pecans or almonds
• Cherries and cocoa powder and/or cinnamon
• Plums and ginger

You know what they say:

Bon Appetit

Or

Enjoy

Crisp and Golden.

Crisp on the outside. Soft on the inside. Golden colour. Tantalising scent. As simple or elaborate as you fancy. But always oozing something delicious as soon as you cut into it. Whether as a snack or as part of a 'light' meal with a salad: a toastie is a great way to eat a sandwich. If I'm honest, it's the only way to eat a sandwich. Let's face it, a ham-and-cheese sandwich might be good but when the ham is nice and warm and the cheese is oozing in just the right way that same sandwich becomes great. The same goes for a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich (even better with some chocolate paste), although that might not be the healthiest sounding option...

I have a motto when it comes to food: every food item has something good in it, if you look close enough. Let's take for instance one of my favourites: chocolate. Everyone will tell me that, when eating something chocolate-y, chocolate is not good for you. Let's face the facts:

1. chocolate it made of cacao beans: we all know that beans are good for you
2. added to the beans is sugar, which is made from beets: beets is a vegetable, need I say more?
3. fat is added to make it creamy; we need some fat in our diet

This might be a slightly distorted view of things but, hey, it works for me: I eat as much chocolate as I like, absolutely guilt-free... But it works for more than just chocolate; it works for everything. There is just one golden rule: I wouldn't eat broccoli all day, every day, so I don't eat chocolate all day, every day. Moderation is the key.

At the moment I have a thing for a brie-and-cranberry toasted panini. It used to be bacon-cheese-soy-sauce-and-egg on brown bread. Before that there was ham-cheese-tomato-onion-and-chilli-sauce on white bread. It's also been camembert-walnuts-and-honey (I might just go back to that one in a bit, on good wholemeal bread). Or I might just try an American 'classic': The Reuben; (turkey) pastrami with sauerkraut and swiss cheese (Emmentaler to you and me) on rye bread. It does have a ring to it.

The fun thing about toasties is that you can go as wild as you like. A friend of mine loves (more like, is addicted to) cheese and baked beans... Every now and then she will spice it up a bit and puts a slice of ham with it. When she goes wild, she really lets go, doesn't she? A colleague of mine likes cheese with mayo, pickled onions or piccalilly. My husband prefers a proper Monte Cristo (ham and cheese, to you and me) and peanut butter with banana (preferably fried in a pan with some butter). What is your favourite?

For me, the bread used for a toastie is as important as the filling. I never use fresh bread, it has to be at least two days old. And I prefer not to use white bread unless it is for a Monte Cristo or a Croque Monsieur. Most of the times I wind up using the same wholemeal bread (because it's right there) but I prefer to match my bread with the fillings that I fancy. The sweet, nutty flavour of rye bread goes wonderfully well with french cheeses such as brie and camembert but is also lovely with goats cheese and blue cheese... Sorry, I got distracted by the idea of a goats-cheese-apple-and-walnut toastie on rye... Or blue-cheese-and-grape on rye... Seeded breads go well with strong meats such as salami. 

If I fancy something sweet white bread will do but even then I prefer wholemeal or seeded bread. But if it's decadence I'm after it can only be a sweet bread (or bread made with enriched bread dough) such as brioche. Peanut-butter-and-apple (or banana), brown-sugar-apple-and-cinnamon, chocolate-paste-banana-and-pecans. But there is a bread that is even better for a decadent, sweet, treat. Banana bread... Think about it... Picture it in your mind... Want it... Can you taste it? Banana bread is even great with savoury fillings, think for instance bacon-and-maple-syrup, blue-cheese-and-walnuts (or pecans).

There is one more bread that needs a mention here: sourdough. The slightly tangy flavour is perfect with strong cheeses but can also be a great substitute for a Reuben and white sourdough bread is ideal for a Croque Madame: ham-cheese-lettuce-and-egg. Because of the slight tang, sourdough is also very good with sweet fillings; pick any of the variations above or make your own version.

The recipe for any and all toasties is the same:

• two slices of bread, whatever you fancy
• filling to your taste, as much or as little as you like
• a little (or a lot) (peanut)butter, chocolate paste or sauce
• a hot grill, griddle pan, frying pan, toastie maker (such as breville), panini grill

1. cover one slice of bread with butter or sauce
2. place the fillings on top
3. cover the second slice with butter or sauce
4. place the sandwich under the grill or in the pan (or whatever else you are using) and fry until golden and the filling is piping hot

Eat as is, with a nice dipping sauce (I love french mustard with a cheese toastie) on the side, with a steaming bowl of soup, or with your favourite (fruit) salad.

Of course, you don't have to use bread. Using flour tortillas with similar fillings will make a lovely change; just let the cheese melt in between two tortillas in a dry frying pan, turning the tortillas over so that both sides become lovely golden and crispy...

You know what they say:

Enjoy

Nothing too posh, please

As I wasn't born in the UK, I missed out on some wonderful foods growing up. For instance crumpets and potato cakes but also spam fritters, treacle tart and 'fly pie'. And I have had to do without toad-in-the-hole, Yorkshire puddings and the illustrious dish called wigwams (a pile of cheese-y mash with three sausages (placed upright around the mash to form a teepee) with a 'moat' of baked beans in tomato sauce). Life just isn't fair sometimes...

What I did grow up with though are frikandellen, kroketten and stamppot. The Dutch (and Belgians) have a love for the deep-fat fryer, although I had never even heard of a deep fried mars bar and have yet to taste this concoction... We do, however, deep fry cheese souffles (although they are not the kind that you would normally bake in the oven) and egg fried rice. When people ask me if I miss anything from back there, frikandel and kaassoufflé are my first answers. But that is only because I still haven't been able to find a good recipe to make them at home.

Stamppot (which is basically a type of bubble and squeak) is something that I make quite regularly and my husband loves it, especially when made with Brussels sprouts or curly kale. But it's kroketten that I got him hooked on. The French call them croquettes, very posh for something very simple. Meat, poultry, vegetables, cheese or even fish in a very thick white or brown sauce (Béchamel, Velouté or Espagnole) encased in breadcrumbs, fried until golden and crispy.

There are some conflicting stories going round as to where the kroket originates but clear is that it was used as a way of getting rid of leftovers and were often served as a starter to a meal. Later they also became popular at parties in the form of golf ball sized bites, called bitterbal. The base for the kroket is always the same; a very thick 'ragout' made of either Béchamel, Velouté or Espagnole and a filling. The filling itself, as you can imagine, can be as diverse as you want it to be. This is perfect as you can adjust the filling to likes and dislikes but also in regards of cultural, religious or self-imposed dietary restrictions.

Beef Kroketten

Ingredients:

• 600 gram cooked beef (either from making stock or use the beef from your favourite beef stew)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• ½ liter stock or milk
• pepper,salt, mace, nutmeg to taste
• flour
• eggs or egg whites
• (toasted) breadcrumbs
• Oil (or fat such as lard) for frying

Method:

Chop the meat very finely or pull apart with two forks

• I prefer to use homemade beef stew that I cook for so long (3-4 hours) that the beef falls apart when pressed with a fork or spoon
1. Melt the butter on medium heat and add the flour as soon as the butter stops foaming
2. Stir the flour and butter on medium heat until it turns a golden colour (3-4 minutes) (this makes a roux) and add the stock or milk
• I prefer to use the liquid that is left over from the beef stew, with some water or stock added to make up the volume
3. Whisk the sauce for about 2-3 minutes to cook out the flour and add the spices and the beef (this makes a ragout)
4. Leave the ragout to cool completely
• To make the kroketten it is easiest to do so when the ragout is very cold so I tend to make the ragout at least a day in advance
• You can keep the ragout in the fridge until needed but can also be frozen for a later date
5. Once you are ready to make the kroketten, prepare three bowls (or soup plates):
1. (seasoned) flour
2. lightly beaten eggs or egg whites
3. breadcrumbs
6. Lightly flour your hands and form the ragout into sticks of about 10 by 3 cm
• If necessary, return the formed kroketten to the fridge as it is easier to bread them when they are cold
7. Cover each kroket in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs making sure to cover the kroketten completely otherwise the ragout could leak out during the deep fat frying
• Try using one hand for the flour and breadcrumb and the other hand for the egg
• You can repeat this step for a thicker, crispier crust and to ensure that the kroketten won't leak during frying
8. Place the breaded kroketten in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up
9. Heat the fat to about 180^oC
10. Fry the kroketten, in batches, for about 4 minutes until golden brown
11. Remove the kroketten from the pan onto some paper towels to drain any excess fat

The list of fillings you can use is only limited to your own preferences and imagination but here are some ideas:

Meat kroketten: You can use any soup meat (beef, chicken) but also veal or lamb, and lovely kroketten are made with sweetbreads.
Cheese kroketten: use milk in making the roux, replace the meat with cheese and season to taste with white pepper, nutmeg and parsley. I like to grate about 400 gram of the cheese into the sauce before cooling and add the leftover cheese once cold. You can use almost any cheese you like (Gouda, Stilton, Roquefort, Cheddar), but I find that very old or dry cheeses like Parmigiana Reggiano or old Pecorino are better when you combine them with other cheeses.
Fish kroketten: Use fish stock, and herbs like dill or chives.
Game kroketten: For these you use a brown roux: Let the butter colour slightly more before adding flour, keep the fire higher than when making a blond roux, cook the butter/flour paste a little longer. Use more butter/flour than for a blond roux, 70 gram each for a half litre of liquid. Use good (game) stock for the sauce.
Vegetable kroketten: Make a blond roux with milk or vegetable stock, add blanched vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, peas). You can add some cheese and herbs to taste. Mushroom kroketten are better with a ragout made with meat stock (or the liquid that dried mushrooms have been steeped in).

Have fun making your own variations and enjoy with your choice of condiment; mine is very traditional: mustard.

As they say in The Netherlands

Eet smakelijk

Or, in just plain old English

Enjoy

MIY

Whenever in the past I wanted to lose weight I was told to stop eating cheese because it contains too much fat. A better alternative would be low-fat cheese, if I was really opposed to cutting cheese out of my diet all together. But, that means eating processed food (remember my article from the third of April?) and eating a lot more of it to at least give the idea of eating something full of flavour. The problem, you see, is that to remove fat from cheese it requires a lot of work and in the process you lose texture and flavour. I tried it. I loathed it. And went back to proper, I-don't-care-if-it-is-bad-for-your-health-and-waistline, full-fat cheese. And then I wrote the article on processed foods...

A dear friend of mine asked me about cutting processed foods as much as possible out of my diet. More precisely, she asked me if I had finally given up on cheese as this is a processed food as well, and one that is not easy to make yourself... Not a fair question, I thought, as life would be not worth living without cheese (in my humble opinion). She had a point though, making cheese at home isn't the easiest as you need all kinds of equipment, the right environment and rennet (a complex of enzymes found in the stomach of baby mammals that allows them to process mother's milk, which is used to coagulate, or thicken, milk during the cheesemaking process). But, I thought, it wouldn't be impossible. After all, it has been done for millennia... Even the ancient Egyptians had tomb murals depicting the activity. And, until the industrialisation, cheese has been made in homes and farms all over Europe and the Middle-East.

And then I remembered a venture in making my own cheese several years ago. I love cheese on all of its guises; from very young through to 3-year-matured, from cheddars to blues, from soft to hard, and everything in between (except low-fat). But one of my favourites has got to be the herbal fresh cheeses such as Boursin. They are, however, extremely expensive for what they are (anywhere from £4 to £18 per kilo); thickened milk with herbs... I love these kind of cheeses because of their many uses: be it on toast or crackers, as a dollop in soups, as a quick stir-in-sauce for pasta. Years ago I had a blast at making it myself. I drained thickset yoghurt overnight and stirred in salt, herbs and garlic. It worked a treat but was slightly more sour than the well-known fresh cheeses and not everyone was as enamoured with it as I was. The result was that I stopped making it. Until now, that is. Because I have an easy recipe to make one kilogram of fresh cheese for less than £2... And that will taste like the real deal... And that you can adapt to your own preferences and requirements... Life is sweeeeeeet!!!

Fresh Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 litre whole milk (unpasteurised would be best, so if you know a local farmer...)
• juice of 1 lemon, or little splash of a neutral vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 200 gram buttermilk

Method:

1. Pour the milk into a large enough pan and heat slowly on low heat
2. Slowly stir the milk until little bubbles appear at the sides of the pan, making sure the milk doesn't boil
3. Turn off the heat and pour the lemon juice or vinegar and the buttermilk into the milk
4. Leave the milk for about ten minutes

• the milk will start to separate into curds and whey
5. Pour the whey and curds into a sieve, lined with a tea towel and placed inside a bowl to catch the whey
6. Leave the curds to stand for half an hour until they whey has drained off and only the curds are left
7. Pick up the four corners of the tea towel and tie them together of the handle of a wooden spoon
8. Place the tea towel with the cheese into a high bowl (for instance a large mixing bowl or the jug of the blender) making sure the towel does not touch the bottom of the bowl and let the wooden spoon rest on the rim
9. Leave this to stand for several hours for all the remaining liquid to drain out of the curds
10. Remove the cheese from the tea towel and place in a dry tea towel
11. Place the cheese into a bowl and leave to rest in the fridge, overnight would be best
12. Remove the tea towel and serve

Herb cream cheese

Ingredients:

• One recipe of cream cheese, as above
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped finely, to your taste
• 4 cloves of garlic
• a drop or two of olive oil
• a drop of honey

Method:

From step 6 above

1. Add a little salt and pepper, 3 tablespoons of finely chopped herbs, 4 cloves of minced or pureed garlic, a couple of drops of olive oil and honey and stir this into the curds 
• Be careful with the amount of salt you add: start with a little and keep tasting to make sure the flavour is to your liking
• The more garlic you add, the more pungent the flavour (and smell) will be so add this to your liking, or leave it out
2. Follow from step 7 above

As stated earlier, you can make this with Greek yoghurt: Spoon 1 tub of yoghurt into a tea towel and follow from step 7 above, adding the ingredients after it has been left to drain overnight. You will need a little more olive oil because this has a risk of becoming slightly too dry otherwise.

For those who are lactose intolerant, you could use sheeps or goats milk or kefir in much the same ways as above.

As you Make It Yourself, you can change the flavours of the cheese to your liking, requirements and desires. Try for instance:

• Smoked Paprika and very finely chopped Shallots
• Honey and Thyme
• Herbes de Provence and Garlic
• Lemon and Chives (can only be kept for a day or two)
• Coriander and very finely chopped Green Peppers
• Chilli Pepper and Horseradish
• Mint and Rosemary
• Anchovy, Olives and Capers (leave out the salt)
• Garlic and Parsley
• Cinnamon and grated Apple (can only be kept for a day but is perfect on fresh toast)
• Ginger, Coriander and Black Pepper
• Carrot Cake (grated carrot, chopped walnuts and raisins)
• Wild Garlic and Thyme Flowers

The list is practically endless (which is perfect as there are so many uses for cream cheese) and is only limited by your own imagination. I do type that sentence a lot but that is the principle of cooking: You can make anything your imagination lets you.

So, next time you are invited for a dinner party and are trying to think of what to bring for the host but don't want to bring the obligatory bottle of wine, bring them some MIY cream cheese... Use half the recipe, place the cheese (when you come to step 10) inside the tea towel into a nice little bowl, leave it to rest overnight, remove the tea towel and place the cheese back into the bowl and press it gently down with the back of a spoon. Cover the bowl with some clingfilm, a nice piece of checkered cloth and tie with a ribbon...

Now all I need to do is think of something to eat with my cream cheese, because I've been told I am no longer allowed to just use my fingers...

Enjoy

The base is red.

Sauces are so important in our meals; they provide a different consistency, flavour, colour and smell. And I wanted to share with you some knowledge about these sauces, how to make them, their variations and what to eat them with. As there are five 'mother' sauces and more 'small' sauces than I care to count this was going to be quite a project. But one I really wanted to do as I cannot imagine life without some of these wonderful concoctions. Don't get me wrong; I haven't written down all the sauces in the world, not even all the sauces in one single 'cuisine'. What I have done was provide you, I hope, with the most used sauces in most restaurants, varieties are created on an ongoing basis and with the five mother sauces now in your possession, I am sure that you yourself will be able to add to the ever-growing list.

I started this project five days ago with an article on the first of the five mother sauces, Sauce Béchamel or white sauce. A day later I wrote about the second of the mother sauces, Sauce Velouté. Two days ago I was all about the third mother sauce; Sauce Espagnole. Yesterday was devoted to the fourth mother sauce; Sauce Hollandaise. And today I finally come to the last of the mother sauces; Sauce Tomate. You will already have guessed the main ingredient in this sauce; tomatoes. Although we recognise tomato sauce on pasta and pizza, there are a few more steps involved in this mother sauce to create its full flavour.

First you have to render salt pork and then fry some aromatic vegetables. Then you add tomatoes, stock and a ham bone, and simmer it in the oven for a couple of hours. Cooking the sauce in the oven helps to heat it evenly and there is a limited chance of burning... The sauce can be thickened with roux, as was done traditionally, but the tomatoes will act as a thickening agent themselves when cooked long enough (the same as with jams and chutneys). The original recipe contains salt pork, a ham bone and chicken or veal stock but you can leave out the bone, replace the salt pork with 60 millilitre olive oil and replace the stock with vegetable stock.

Sauce Tomate

Ingredients:

• 60 gram diced salt pork
• 500 gram diced onion
• 240 gram diced carrot
• 240 gram dice celery sticks
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 800 gram (2 cans) crushed or chopped tomatoes, including the liquid
• 950 millilitre veal or chicken stock
• 1 ham bone
• Salt and sugar to taste
• Herb sachet
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 fresh parsley stems
• 8-10 crushed black peppercorns

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150°C
2. Tie the sachet ingredients into a cheesecloth sack using a piece of kitchen twine
3. In a heavy, oven-safe casserole pan, render the salt pork over low heat until the fat liquefies (or heat up olive oil)
4. Add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic and fry for a few minutes until the onion is translucent but not brown
5. Add the tomatoes, the ham bone, the stock and the sachet, bring to a boil, cover, and transfer the pot to the oven. Simmer in the oven, partially covered, for two hours
6. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the sachet and ham bone and blend the sauce in a blender or food processor until smooth, working in batches if necessary
7. Season to taste with salt and a small amount of sugar — just enough to cut the acidity of the tomatoes
• If you are not serving the sauce right away, keep it covered and warm until you're ready to use it

The recipes below are all based on half the amount of sauce of the recipe above.

Spanish Sauce
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, fry 250 gram chopped onions, 125 gram chopped green pepper and 1 minced clove of garlic until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 250 gram sliced mushrooms and continue to fry until the mushrooms are soft. Add a half recipe of Sauce Tomate, bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and Tabasco and serve.

Sauce Creole 
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, fry 200 gram chopped onions, 125 gram chopped green pepper, 200 gram chopped celery and 1 minced clove of garlic until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add a half recipe of Sauce Tomate, 1 bay leaf, ½ teaspoon dried oregano and the zest of 1 lemon. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (to taste) and serve.

Portuguese Sauce
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, fry 200 gram chopped onions until they're translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 475 gram peeled, deseeded and finely chopped tomatoes (concassé) and 1 minced clove of garlic and continue to fry until the tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add a half recipe of Sauce Tomate, bring to a simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Sauce Provençale
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, fry 200 gram chopped onions until they're translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 475 gram peeled, deseeded and finely chopped tomatoes (concassé), 1 minced clove of garlic and 2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence. Continue to fry until the tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add a half recipe of Sauce Tomate, 2 tablespoons capers and 2 tablespoons chopped black olives, bring to a simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

The mother sauce and its four small sauces are each perfect with pasta and the mother sauce itself can also be used as the base for pizzas. Sauce Provençale is perfect with grilled chicken and fish but any of the sauces can take the place of another: it is all up to your own taste and preference.

This is the last article about the five mother sauces; I hope they will be helpful, whether you have been cooking for years or are just starting to cook. Each of the sauces can be adapted to your own tastes and preferences and most of them can be adapted for special diets but, let's face it, a sauce will always be to enrich a meal so making them fat free is nigh on impossible: you need the fat for flavour and texture.

Sauce Espagnole and Sauce Tomate keep well in the freezer and only need reheating and a good stir once hot. Sauce Béchamel can be frozen but needs a little bit more elbow grease once defrosted, meaning that you will have to whisk it whilst reheating. Demi-glace (made from Espagnole) can be frozen or kept in the fridge where it will solidify slightly, which means you can literally take out a tablespoon to add to soups, stocks and gravies as and when needed. Sauce Velouté can be frozen but, like Béchamel, needs a little more work whilst reheating. Sauce Hollandaise needs to be eaten as soon as possible after it is made and does not keep well in either fridge or freezer.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this 'project' as much as I have had creating it. Until the next time and the next project?

Enjoy

The base is yellow.

Three days ago, I wrote about one of the five mother sauces, Sauce Béchamel or white sauce. Two days ago I wrote about the second of the mother sauces, Sauce Velouté. Yesterday I wrote about the third mother sauce; Sauce Espagnole. Today is the turn of the first mother sauce that is not based on roux but uses egg yolks as the thickening agent. The liquid is melted butter. They might not be the healthiest of sauces but I couldn't imagine a world without Eggs Benedict! I am, of course, talking about Sauce Hollandaise.

Hollandaise is an emulsified sauce (an emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that would ordinarily not mix together, like oil and vinegar), and uses clarified butter because whole butter, which contains water and milk solids, can break the emulsion. Clarified butter is just pure butterfat, so it helps the emulsion remain stable.

To clarify butter:

1. Gently melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat. As the butter melts, you'll see a layer of foam rising to the surface. The bubbles are the butter's water content boiling off, and the white residue is the milk solids separating out from the butterfat and water
2. As the butter continues to simmer, use a ladle to skim the foam and milk solids from the surface of the liquefied butter. Note the clear, golden liquid underneath the foamy residue. This is different from the technique for making ghee, in which the milk solids are allowed to settle to the bottom and turn slightly brown
• Keep a separate bowl for the milk solids you skim off — it's fantastic on popcorn! You can also add the leftover milk solids to mashed potatoes or as a topping for vegetables. They're also be delicious over pancakes, waffles or French toast
3. In a few minutes you'll have skimmed off most of the milk solids, leaving just the pure, yellow butterfat

Some people are not comfortable eating Hollandaise as it contains egg yolks. Although the egg yolks are heated through, you might want to use pasteurised egg yolks which are now available in most supermarkets. I, however, do not worry too much as the yolks are cooked over a pan of simmering water. It's best to serve hollandaise right away. You can hold it for about an hour or so, provided you keep it warm. After two hours, though, you should toss it — both for quality and safety reasons. Serve the sauce with poached eggs, vegetables or poached fish.

Sauce Hollandaise

Ingredients:

• 240 millilitre clarified butter, warm but not hot
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (1 small lemon)
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• Salt, to taste
• White pepper or cayenne pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Heat an inch or two of water in a saucepan over a medium heat
2. Mix the egg yolks and the cold water in a glass or stainless steel bowl (not aluminum)
• Whisk for a minute or two, until the mixture is light and foamy. Whisk in a couple of drops of lemon juice, too
3. The water in the saucepan should have begun to simmer. Set the bowl directly atop the saucepan of simmering water
• The water itself should not come in contact with the bottom of the bowl
4. Whisk the eggs for a minute or two, until they have thickened and are a very pale yellow
5. Remove the bowl from the heat and begin adding the melted butter
• Add the butter slowly at first, just a few drops at a time, while whisking constantly, if you add it too quickly, the emulsion will break
• Place the bowl on a damp tea towel to keep the bowl from moving
6. Continue beating in the melted butter
• As the sauce thickens, you can gradually increase the rate at which you add it, but at first, slower is better
7. After you've added all the butter, whisk in the remaining lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper (or a dash of Tabasco sauce)
• The finished hollandaise sauce will have a smooth, firm consistency, similar to mayonnaise. If it's too thick, you can adjust the consistency by whisking in a few drops of warm water

All the recipes below are based on the full recipe above, unless stated otherwise.

Sauce Béarnaise (typically served with grilled steak)
In a saucepan, heat 60 millilitre white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons chopped shallots, ½ teaspoon crushed black peppercorns and ½ tablespoon tarragon to a simmer and reduce until the mixture is nearly dry. There should be about two tablespoons of liquid remaining. Remove from heat and transfer to a glass or stainless steel bowl (not aluminum). Add 4 egg yolks to this bowl and whisk for a minute or two, until the mixture is light and foamy. From here on in, the process is the same as with Hollandaise. Once all the butter has been incorporated into the egg mixture, strain the sauce into a new bowl, stir in 1 tablespoons chopped chervil (or parsley) and ½ tablespoon tarragon. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper (or a dash of Tabasco sauce). The finished Béarnaise sauce will have a smooth, firm consistency. If it's too thick, you can adjust the consistency by whisking in a few drops of warm water.

Sauce Dijon (serve with vegetables, fish or grilled chicken)
Make a Sauce Hollandaise as above. Once all the butter has been incorporated into the egg mixture, add 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard and whisk this into the sauce.

Sauce Foyot (perfect with grilled steak)

Melt 2 tablespoons Glace de Viande (meat glaze, see here on how to make it) in a pan over low heat. Make a recipe for Sauce Béarnaise (as above). Stir the melted meat glaze into the Béarnaise.

Sauce Choron (with grilled steak)
Make a recipe for Sauce Béarnaise (as above). In a small saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of tomato paste until it just starts to change colour. Leave the tomato paste to cool, then mix the tomato paste into the Sauce Béarnaise.

Sauce Maltaise (cooked asparagus and broccoli)
Make a recipe for Sauce Hollandaise (as above). Once all the butter has been incorporated into the egg mixture, whisk in 60 millilitre of blood orange juice and 1 teaspoon of orange zest.

Sauce Mousseline (this is sometimes called a Sauce Chantilly and can be used for seafood, vegetables and poultry)
Make a recipe for Sauce Hollandaise (as above). Whisk 120 millilitre double cream till it forms stiff peaks and fold this into the Hollandaise.
You can replace the salt and pepper with 1 tablespoon caster sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract to make a Sauce Mousseline that can be used for desserts. For a lighter version of both versions of the sauce, you can replace the cream with an equal quantity of whipped egg whites.

Seven sauces, with a variety of uses (including desserts). More variations to the sauces can be created by adding herbs or spices. The best tip when making Sauce Hollandaise, and its small sauces, is to take it slow and not to worry too much. As long as you make sure that the boiling water doesn't touch the bowl, and that the clarified butter isn't too warm, your egg yolks will behave like a dream but if you find that your eggs are scrambling after all, try adding a tablespoon of ice cold water; whisk like mad as you add the water, this might just bring it back.

Tomorrow I will post the last mother sauce, so stay tuned and, most importantly

Enjoy