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...

Weeknight Fish Love

This is the easiest thing I've made in months, and it was SO incredibly flavorful.

Whitefish filets (I had Swai because it was on sale)
Salt & pepper
Ground Coriander
Ground Cumin
1 Mango
1Tbsp fresh cilantro

Season both sides of the fish with all 4 seasonings. Just a few sprinkles of each. Put the fish in a pan and saute until flaky. Meantime, cut up the mango into chunks and mixed it with the chopped cilantro. THAT'S IT. And did you notice? The few calories you'll get from the fish itself and the mango chunks are it. This could not be better for you.

I used the Indian-style spices because I keep those on hand, but substitute whatever you like. It also goes perfectly with any side. I had some store-bought naan, so I warmed that up, and it was the perfect compliment.

Total cooking time: about 10 minutes. Just another reason to LOVE fish.

Valentine's Day

Hal and I celebrated our 10th V-Day this year. I can't believe it's been 10 years since we celebrated by meeting at a Macaroni Grill restaurant halfway between Athens and Hiram, where the two of us were living. Boy, I don't miss the long-distance relationship. Instead, I still love every minute of being married and sharing my life and home with Hal. I like to think of Valentine's Day as a good excuse to make sure to slow down and spend time together, even on a weeknight. I like to make a nice dinner, and just hang out with my husby - my awesome Valentine.

This year, I made sea scallops, dusted with flour and seared in a garlic-infused olive oil that my mom gave me (Sweetwater Growers in Canton, GA is also a good source...and they ship easily). For sides, I made individual potato gratins from a Melissa d'Arabian recipe, and prosciutto-wrapped plums stuffed with Gorgonzola. I intended to use figs or baby pears, neither of which I could find, so I thought I'd try plums since they are a good size too. I put them in the oven for about 5 minutes to crisp up the prosciutto and melt the cheese - yum! I think the key is not to use TOO much Gorgonzola, and maybe next time I'll add a drizzle of honey. The potato gratins, which involve layering potato slices, scallions and shredded swiss in the cups of a muffin tin, then drizzling with lite cream and baking, I must say were a bit of a disappointment. The cream sort of congealed a bit, and the flavor was just a little bland.

To make up for that, I made Molten Spiced Chocolate Cabernet Cakes that I found in a McCormick ad a while back. These were terribly easy, and very delicious. We each finished about half of one, since they were so dense, but they were really lovely! I was glad the liquid center and cakey outside worked so well. Give these a shot - it only takes a few minutes to make up the batter, which can be done ahead, and about 15 minutes to bake. I cut out a paper heart, put it on top, and dusted powdered sugar all over before removing the heart. They were as cute as they were yummy.

I hope you too had a Valentine's Day filled with love and good food, whether with family, friends, or the man you've loved dearly for the last 10 years.