Reminscing, Part II: Culinary Tour of Belgium, France and The Netherlands

My in-laws were kind enough to care for our dog, cat and vegetable garden while we were on vacation for 3 weeks, so a fancy-type feast was in order to show our thanks. Since our trip was to Belgium, France and The Netherlands, I made a dish from each place. From Belgium: a traditional fish stew with an ultra-light, but creamy base. From France: a potato gratin with Camembert and bacon, based on a peasant-style crepe we ate for lunch. From The Netherlands: Dutch apple pie, of course.

Waterzooi: I pulled the basic recipe from the Belgian cookbook I bought, and just altered a few things along the way for my own tastes (I also doubled it for our crowd). We ate this at a tiny restaurant in Brussels called La Villete, that specialized in traditional Flemish food...highly recommended.

2 Tbsp butter
4 leeks (cleaned and chopped)
2 large shallots (chopped)
1 large carrot (chopped)
3 cups fish stock or seafood stock (I used a mix of both)
1 cup white wine
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Pinch of saffron threads (if you have it - won't kill it if you don't)
Salt & pepper to taste
1.5 to 2 pounds of white fish, cut into chunks (I used cod - shrimp or scallops would also work, clear out your freezer)
1 cup light cream
3 egg yolks

First, melt the butter into a soup pot or dutch oven on the stove, then add the leek, shallot and carrot, cooking until just softened. (Hint: I used my food processor to do all of my chopping at once). Next, add the wine, stock, bay leaf, thyme and saffron, then simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Test it at this point for seasonings - mine required a lot of salt and pepper. Now, add your fish, and simmer another 10 minutes (uncovered) until it is just cooked through. While it is cooking, whisk together the cream and egg yolks, then temper the mixture by adding a ladle-full of the hot soup to the cream/egg mix, while whisking, to bring the temperature up. Do this a few times, so the egg mixture warms up a lot, but gradually (so that when you add it to the hot soup, it doesn't scramble the eggs). Add the cream/egg mix to the soup, and continue to simmer just until it is fully warm - do not allow it to come to a boil, or the cream will curdle. Time to eat!

Norman Potatoes: we had a lovely crepe dish at a roadside cafe near Pointe du Hoc, where the crepe was topped with ham, potato chunks, and melted Camembert cheese. I've recreated that here, minus the crepe.

4 slices bacon, chopped
3 baking potatoes, sliced
1/2 cup light cream
1 package Camembert cheese

In a casserole dish, put a thick layer of potato slices, then a handful of the chopped bacon. Continue layering like this until the dish is nearly full. Pour the cream over the potatoes, then top with Camembert (I just tore it apart in chunks and covered it as completely as I could). Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. That's it! Add a side salad and your meal is ready. It was all delicious, and made the perfect background for travel tales.

Time for dessert! We had a wonderful apple pie at a cafe near our apartment in Amsterdam, that I would like to eat again...frequently. I used a standard pie crust recipe (first time I've made my own - it was AWESOME), and combined a few internet recipes for the apple filling.

Crust:
2 sticks of butter
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
Ice water (start with about 1/2 cup)

Here's the trick: cut up the butter into small pieces, then put it in the freezer for 20 minutes. It has to be COLD for this turn out flaky. When ready, put the flour, salt and butter into a food processor, and mix until it looks like wet sand. Then add the ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, and pulse until it sticks together in 1 lumpy mass (it won't be well mixed - you want the butter chunks). Put equal parts of the dough into containers (I used zip-loc bags), and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. They can then be rolled out on a floured surface. Place one in your pie pan, cutting any excess away from the edges, and cut the other into strips - these can be placed in a lattice pattern across the top once filled, and brushed with whipped egg whites so they turn brown and flaky.

For the filling:
4 apples (I used 2 Granny Smith and 2 Fuji) - peeled, cored and sliced THIN (I used the food processor)
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (1/4 tsp if using ground)

Mix sugar, flour and spices together, then toss with apples. Layer the apples into the pie crust, then sprinkle any leftover dry mix over the top. Attach pie crust strips as noted above, then bake in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Easy as...(wait for it)...PIE! Ha! Honestly, it's a lot easier than I thought.

The feast was awesome, and lots of fun. Thanks again family for taking care of our furry kiddos, and for letting us relive our adventure one more time. Sigh...I guess it's really back to reality now. After one more slice of pie of course...

Flemish Stew

I've just returned from vacation in Belgium, France and The Netherlands, and have come to this conclusion: The Flemish are my culinary kindred spirits. Their cuisine is based on meat, potatoes (mostly french fries), cheeses, waffles, seafood and beer - and it hasn't changed much in centuries. And BOY is their beer tasty. Like ALL of it. I wanted to learn to make some of the foods I'd enjoyed, so I purchased a lovely book called "Everybody Eats Well in Belgium" by Ruth Van Waerebeek with Maria Robbins. One of my favorite dishes was the traditional Flemish Stew (over french fries of course), and here is the version from that book, which came out really well when I tried it on Friday night.

-2 pounds beef stew meat (I bought a roast and cut it into chunks myself - I sometimes find the pre-cut meat too tough after stewing)
-1.5 large onions, thinly sliced or rough-chopped
-2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
-1/2 stick of butter
-1/2 cup flour
-2 bay leaves
-1.5 Tbsp brown sugar
-1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (red wine vinegar would also work)
-Salt & pepper
-12 oz of Belgian beer: I used Allagash Belgian-style stout for strong flavor - a Dubbel (brown/bruin) would do as well...for lighter beer flavor try a Tripel-style (blond). A good American substitute would be either New Belgium's 1554, Sweetwater's Georgia Brown, or a Sam Adams Black Lager.

Start by seasoning the flour with about a tsp each of salt and pepper, while about half of the butter melts in a large saute pan.

Dredge the meat lightly in the flour, shake off excess, and brown on all sides in the butter. Do this in batches (don't overcrowd the pan) - too many in the pan at once changes how they cook. Replenish butter as necessary - it will turn brown as it absorbs meat bits - this is good. Place finished meat into a stew pot or dutch oven.

Once meat is finished, brown the onions in the same butter - you want them soft and translucent, but not burned. Once complete, place these in the pot with the meat.

Add all of the beer to the saute pan, bring to a boil. Scrape all of the buttery/meaty bits from the pan into the liquid and add the bay leaves and thyme, then pour all of this over the meat/onions. Cover the pot, bring the mix to a simmer, and leave it for 1.5 to 2 hours, until meat is tender and stew has thickened.

Just before serving, add the brown sugar and vinegar, simmering for another 5 minutes. Also taste it at this point, and add any salt/pepper as necessary. I did find it needed extra salt, but then it was perfect.

The stew is served in Belgium over a serving of french fries (I used store-brand frozen steak fries, crisped in the oven for 20 minutes), with salad on the side. With a cold beer to drink, this meal is just about perfect.

I expected to love the scenery, culture and beer in Belgium, but falling in love with their food was a surprise - I just didn't know much about it, honestly. Discovering the world through food and connecting with people over shared tastes and meals is one of my favorite parts of traveling. I am so thankful to have had these experiences, and to be able to recreate that feeling at home through food whenever I want.

What are some of your favorite food/travel memories? It's never to early to start planning the next trip...