Greek lasagna

One of the things I enjoy doing is reading the supermarket discounts and create dishes with those ingredients. As potatoes and bratwurst where one of the discount offers, I didn't have to think that hard. I was going to make a stew with sausage in beer, accompanied by potatoes, whether boiled/mashed/baked/au gratin, potatoes it would be. Though apparently the bf is not a big fan of mashed potatoes.. How is that even possible. It's mashed potatoes, there's nothing to not like there.

Anyway,  I grabbed my purse and my bf and dashed off towards the supermarket, meanwhile trying to convince the bf that mashed potatoes can be really tasty, and fun, because of the gravy volcano and whatnot. He didn't seem very impressed. All of a sudden he stopped and gave me the sort of grin that made it clear he was thinking about other foods then mashed potatoes, or any kind of potatoes, for that matter. "You know, I have a sudden craving for lasagna". Oh god, I knew it was going to be a long shopping session, because I started out with a plan and now the plan had been overthrown it was free for all in the food-related parts of my brain (i.e. most of it). Lasagna is great, obviously, but I just can't make a simple lasagna. I want to make it properly, with a ragú sauce that simmers for at least 3 hours. And since it was already 6'o'clock, that just wasn't a good plan. But it was going to be a challenge to get the lasagna plan out of his head. Damn it, now I was getting that craving too, especially with grilled aubergines in between the layers..

Hold on. Somehow, some little dots in my brain were connecting aubergine, potatoes and minced meat together into a bright, blinking neon sign that read 'MOUSSAKA'. Dear lord, my brain is a genius. I was going to make moussaka. Turned out it was a good thing too, changing our food plans, as the supermarket was clean out of bratwurst. And I discovered the bf had never(!) eaten moussaka before, he didn't even know what it was. So obviously I had a mission of revealing the glorious world of moussaka to him. Though trying to explain it wasn't so easy, the best I could come up with was "Er... it's sort of a.. greek lasagna?".

My apologies to Greece and Italy, no insult intended there in any way.

Since the bf still has the idea in his head that he sort of dislikes aubergine, he was a bit hesitant towards my suggestion of moussaka. But after assuring him that he would definitely like it, he caved.
Unfortunately they didn't have any minced lamb at my supermarket, but beef or pork (or a combination) will do just fine as well!


Greek lasagna, aka Moussaka. (serves 4, or 2 lucky people for two glorious days)

Ingredients:

• 400 grams (14 oz.) minced meat, any kind you like. (I used beef)
• 3 or 4 large potatoes, peeled, sliced and parboiled
• 2 or 3 large aubergine, sliced and salted (to drain excessive water)
• 1 large or 2 medium onions, finely diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• 500 mL (18 fl oz.) passata di tomata
• 1 glass of red wine
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• Grated cheese, preferably kefalotiri, but since you probably won't be able to find that, parmesan or pecorino will do just fine.
• Freshly ground pepper and seasalt

For the bechamel:

• 50 grams (1.8 oz, or half a stick) of butter
• 50 grams (1.8 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 400 mL (14 fl oz) warm milk 
• 25 grams (1 oz) grated cheese
• 1 egg or 2 egg-yokes. 
• a pinch of nuttmeg
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

Start of by heating a grill-pan, and drying off your aubergine slices. Spread some olive oil on both sides of the slice, and when the pan is hot, start grilling them in batches. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180 ^oC (356 ^oF). You can bake your potato slices in batches in a pan, or you can bake them all at once in the oven (which is what I did), just until they start to look crispy. 

Now onto the meat sauce. Heat a glug of olive oil, and when it's hot, add the onion, garlic and oregano. Turn the heat down to and let it all simmer until the onion is translucent. Now turn up the heat, and add the meat, immediately breaking it up with a wooden spoon, browning it properly. When your meat is browned, pour in the glass of red wine, pour another glass, and have yourself a sip. You've earned it already!
when most of the wine has evaporated, add the passata, cinnamon and cumin. Stir well, turn down the heat, and let your sauce simmer. Make sure to occasionally stir it again, so it won't stick to the pan. Keep tasting (don't 'taste' all the sauce, you want to keep some for the actual dinner) and adjusting, adding salt and pepper, maybe some more cinnamon or cumin. Just whatever you like.

When your sauce is almost ready, start the bechamel. Warm the milk, in a microwave or a pan, it doesn't matter. Just make sure the milk is warm, but not boiling. Melt the butter, and in batches, add the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon or a whisk, make sure all the flour is merged with the butter. Next, gradually add the milk, stirring continuously until you have a smooth mixture. Add the seasoning, and stir again. Taking the pan of the heat, add the cheese and the egg(yokes). Stir vigorously, and taste to see if it needs a little more seasoning.

Next you bring it all together in a roasting pan. You could layer the Moussaka like a lasagna, but I decided to keep it simple. So first, pour in all the sauce. Next, layer your potatoes. I just did one layer but then again, my roasting pan was quite large, so for a good sauce/vegetable ratio I had to keep it with the one layer. Then add your aubergine slices (same story as with the potatoes, but this is free for interpretation).
Finish off with the bechamel sauce and the rest of the grated cheese. It should look something like this:

Ready to be baked into heaven!

Place your dish in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the cheese is nice golden layer. Let it cool for a little bit before you cute it, so the bechamel can set properly. It's a lot easier to cut it then (something I remembered while I was cutting it, unfortunately).

Looking good there..

 As I was taking it out of the oven, the bf was already lingering around in the kitchen, because it smelled just amazing. And seeing the golden cheese/bechamel layer he was already convinced he would like it.

It got the thumbs up!

After actually tasting it, he was in aw and said he loved it even more than lasagna, and that was just a bit with all aubergine. Needless to say, his first moussaka experience was a great success!

Obviously just one piece isn't enough. 

This time when I say, stay tuned because soon there will be a new post, I really mean it. And it's going to be a special one, involving me skinning and preparing a monk fish! Quite an accomplishment, as I haven't been able to eat fish for at least 5 years..

So anyway, stay tuned, and keep reading & cooking!

Apology soup

After a rather busy and hectic school-year/summer, and starting yet another study (in Utrecht this time), I feel almost ashamed to return to my blog after such a long leave of absence..
So much has happened, so much has been cooked (and eaten) and somehow I've never been able to find the time to write it down. I am so so so sorry you guys!

'Nuff said. Bach to the important things in life, like food.
First of all, omygosh I'm sort of famous. Or at least, that's how it felt to me!
The Mexico Daily shared my blog-post about Enchilada's, naming it one of their 'top stories'.

My first steps into world-fame!

Ahh It's happening, I'm being discovered, my blog will be famous and so will I and I'm starting my own cooking-show and writing my own cookbook and oh... wait, no, that's not happening. I'd have to actually write a blog for something like that to happen..
I've been complaining to my boyfriend that I don't like the fact that I post so little lately, so he left me today with the task of writing two blog-posts. So you guys are in luck!

If you have read previous posts of me, then by now you should now how affectionately I feel about soup. Therefor my first recipe will be a soup recipe, as a sort of 'I'm-sorry-I'm-never-writing-anymore' apology. Hence the name: apology soup.

And have no fear, because soup-season is here! It's the crazy dutch fall weather again, one moment you're practically swimming because the streets are overflowing with rain and in desperate need of hot cocoa and a blanket, preferably while watching Breaking Bad (oh wait, that's over with, *sob*), and the next you're frantically searching your room for some item of summer-clothing left in your already winter-stocked closet because it's just so goshdarned hot again. It's like this season is a bi-polar teenage girl who is refusing to take her medication because that's just not cool.

Whether the weather (no pun intended) is hot or cold, you can never go wrong with soup. I was scouting the fridge at my bf's place for possible soup ingredients and stumbled across a bunch of carrots. Hmm.. I've actually never made carrot soup before, so therefor it seemed like a good idea to give this a try. As I was seasoning it with curry, it occurred to me that some coconut-milk might actually give this a nice flavor. And thus was born:



Carrot-Coconut soup  (Apology soup)

Nothing says 'I'm sorry' like a good bowl of steaming hot soup.

Ingredients:

• A bunch of carrots. Seriously, I did not count them but just a nice bunch will do. Peeled and sliced
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• Aprox. 0.5 liter (about 2 cups) of chicken stock (or vegetable stock for the vegetarian version)
• One 14-ounce can of coconut milk
• Some curry and cumin powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preperation:

Start of by heating a good glug of olive oil in your favorite soup pan, and simmering the carrot, onion, garlic and ginger in there. Once it starts heating up nicely, add the curry and cumin powder, stir, turn down the stove, put on the lid, and let the veggies sweat for some time until the carrot is all tender and the onion is translucent.

Once this has happened, turn the heat back up, pour over the stock, and bring to a boil with the lid on. I actually discovered I poured in too much water, and the whole thing was getting a little to thin for my taste. But, I came up with a rather nice solution, so if this happens to your soup, you could try it: Peel and dice up one or two potatoes. Add them to your soup, and let the whole thing cook through for about 20-30 minutes. After that, blitz everything in your food-processor or using a (hand-held) blender. And tadaa, your runny soup is smooth and creamy, all thanks to a simple potato. But back to the recipe!

Take your lid off and let your soup cook through with the lid off, reducing the amount of liquid and increasing the flavors. Pour in the can of coconut milk, stir, and bring it to a boil again. 

Turn the heat down and let it cook for another 20 minutes or so. Taste. add salt and pepper, stir and taste again. Serve it up in bowls with some freshly squeezed lime juice and finely chopped cilantro. Though I did not have the latter when I made it, it tasted great with just the lime juice and some garlic bread for dipping. 

Vibrant colors to accompany those vibrant flavors.. Enjoy!

I hope you will accept this soup recipe as my apology and keep reading and cooking!

Easy, cheesy, mexican food

With all the sunny days we've had lately (I know, sun in the Netherlands? It's a freaking miracle!), I didn't get around to cooking as much as I've wanted to. Most days were filled with barbecue's or simple salads. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, who doesn't love barbecuing?
However, this week the weather suddenly realized that this wasn't the south of France but, in fact, the ever cloudy lowlands of Holland, and it quickly readjusted itself to it's familiar state of grey sky, constant drizzles or just downright gushes of rain, and heavy winds. This called for something a bit more warming and filling than salads or barbecue.

So I consulted the bf for his cravings, food-wise (sidebar: this is a new bf. Well, not so new for me anymore but I haven't mentioned him in my blogs, until now). Anyway, the 'new' bf isn't that much of a food fanatic. I mean, I know I'm a bit of an exception for my age, but he is another kind of extreme. Before we met, there were a lot of foods he'd never tried (for example: asparagus, aubergines, artichoke, courgette, fennel, mushrooms, blue cheese, risotto and some other things.). Obviously, once he started dating me, that didn't last long. Luckily (for both of us), so far, he has liked or loved everything I've made so far. So when I ask him what he wants to eat, he usually just replies with "whatever you feel like. I'm sure I'll love it anyway!".
Though the thought is sweet, it's definitely not helpful whatsoever.

Anyway, my mind was kind of void from any food ideas. Until I remembered that the last few times we were extremely lazy and decided to order in, we wanted to order Mexican food but failed to do so, for some reason. Hmm Mexican.. that could be good. My usual go to dish whenever I cook Mexican is burrito's, but I felt like changing it up a bit. So I decided to make enchilada's, which are basically burrito's smothered in a spicy sauce and topped of with cheese. What's not to love?

After my usual ritual when I decide to cook something I've never cooked before, reading recipe after recipe and then deciding 'sod it, I'll just wing it in the kitchen', and a very long grocery shopping session (who knew the miscellaneous aisle could be so fun?), I cooked up something that I was rather proud of actually. I must say, even though Mexican food is supposed to be spicy, the enchilada sauce came out really spicy. The bf was complaining about his tongue being on fire, but to be honest, he's just not used to spicy foods. At all. A few pepperoncini's and he's burning up already.. Kind of a food pansy, right? (if he's reading this: just kidding honey!).
Anyway, I ended up sweetening and diluting it a bit, because it turned out to be just a little to spicy for myself as well. But that might depend on what kind of chili powder you use. But just to be sure, fair warning: taste (and adjust) your sauce before you cover your burrito's in them!


Enchilada's, Maren style (serves 3 or 4, depending on your appetite)

For the sauce:

• 500 ml (approx. 18 oz) tomato sauce, or passata di tomata
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar, for a little sweetness to go with the heat
• juice of 1 lemon, for a little tanginess

For the Enchilada's

• 6 tortilla's. You could make them yourself, but store-bought is sooo much easier
• 500 grams (approx. 18 oz) ground beef. You could use turkey, pork, or half&half as well.
• 1 can (14 oz.) of refried beans
• (fresh) cilantro stalks, finely chopped
• 2 red onions, finely chopped
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• freshly ground black pepper and sea-salt
• 1 red pepper (the cayenne kind, not the bell peppers), deseeded and finely sliced
• OPTIONAL: 1 small can of corn

Garnishing:

• (fresh) cilantro leaves, chopped or torn
• sour cream
• grated cheese

Preparation:

Start with the sauce: heat up some oil in a heavy bottomed pan, and add the spices and garlic to it. Stir for a bit, until the garlic starts to gain a little color and the spices start to smell really good. Deglace this mixture with the tomato sauce, you could add a little bit of water or stock to 'smoothen' the sauce a bit. Stir well, so all the spices all completely dissolved into the tomato sauce. Then, while adding the sugar, turn down the heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stir, taste, adjust to your liking, and set aside.

Next, preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). In a reasonably sized skillet, heat up a good glug of olive oil. Add the cilantro stalks, onion, garlic and pepper and let it simmer until soft (preferably with a lid on, otherwise just turn the heat down to a minimum). Next, add the ground beef and brown on a medium heat. When thoroughly browned, add the refried beans (and optionally the corn). Make sure it warms all the way through, while stirring so everything is evenly mixed. Prepare your tortilla's by baking them in a frying pan, heating them in the oven or popping them in the microwave.

Divide the beef-mixture between the tortilla's, accompanied by some grated cheese, and roll them burrito-wise. Place them in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle on some cheese, ladle over the enchilada sauce, and top of with some more cheese (Maybe I should've mentioned this before, but this dish isn't exactly diet-friendly).

Put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted but still soft. 

I wish pictures came with a scratch and  sniff  feature, because oh my how delicious this smelled..

Enjoy with some sour cream, freshly chopped cilantro leaves, or as I did, with a small chopped salad with tomatoes, spring onions, avocado, cilantro, lemon juice and olive oil. This will get you hearty, cheesy enchilada with sweet and spicy sauce, topped of with some fresh and tangy salad.. Simply delicious!

..And it tasted even better, yumm!

Nothing else left to say, but: enjoy! 

A woman, an oven, and aubergines

I am so, so sorry for my lack of blogging lately. My life is just a whirlwind, and it just doesn't seem to slow down. I am completely loving the study I started last September, but it takes up a LOT of time!

Anyway, back to food! I belive I've mentioned Melanzane a few times before, as one of my all time favourite dishes (but honestly.. grilled aubergine and cheese, what's not to love?). And at last I've had the time to cook it again, and, more importantly, take pictures of it so I can finally blog about it.
Have I mentioned my love for aubergines (or eggplants) before? If not, I love, love, love, love, LOVE them. As a child I disliked them, but mostly because some of my friends did and I didn't want to be the odd one out. By the time I reached pre-pubescent age, my mother convinced me to like them via her ratatouille. Not so long after, I started loving them. And even shorter after that, I just adored them. Plainly grilled and drizzled with a little olive oil and some seasalt, or quicjly baked with some dried organo, or wrapped in aluminum foil and tucked slowcooked between the coals of your bbq.. I love absolutely every way of preparation.

So when a few years back I discovered Parmigiano di Melanzane, I was instantly smitten. Rich tomatosauce, lovely grilled aubergines, creamy mozzarella, hearty parmensan and the sweetness of fresh basil.. oh my goodness I was in foodheaven. It is actually meant as a side-dish, but I just double the amount and serve it as a main course. And everyone who has ever tried it, even those who claim to dislike aubergine, couldn't resist the succulent deliciousness that is Melanzane. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself!

Parmigiano di Melanzane (4 persons)

• 3 large aubergines, cut lengthwise
• 2 x 400 grams (14 oz) cans of plum tomatoes
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• 1 heaped teaspoon of dried oregano
• a large handful of basil, stalks finely sliced and leaves torn or sliced into little pieces
• 2 bulbs mozzarella, preferably buffalo, torn into pieces
• a large handful of parmensan cheese, finely grated
• freshly ground seasalt and black pepper
• OPTIONAL: one pepperoncini, finely sliced

First, sprinkle the aubergine slices with salt. This will extract any redundant fluids from the slices and cause them to char nicely. Make sure you let them rest long enough, then, pat the slices dry with paper towels and repeat on the other site. Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF).

In a large saucepan, heat a big glug of olive oil, and add the onions, garlic and basil stems. Quickly fry these on high heat, turn down the heat, add the oregano (if used, the pepperoncini as well) and slowly let it all sweat for a while until the garlic starts to color and the onion becomes translucent.

Next, add the plum tomatoes. Break them up with a wooden spoon, turn the heat down to a simmer and let the sauce bubble for a bit.

Meanwhile, heat up a grill-pan on high heat and make sure it is completely covered in olive oil. When the oil starts to smoke, add the aubergine slices. If the pan is hot enough, it won't take long untill theyh are properly grilled/charred. 

After you've grilled all the slices and the sauce is ready (make sure you taste it for the necessarily salt and pepper addition).

 In an oven dish, start with a layer of aubergine slices

  then spread some tomatosauce (making sure you cover the aubergines)

 sprinkle it with some parmensan and basil, and repeat.

Look at those tasty colours!

After ending with the original layering (aubergine-sauce-basil/parmensan), top it of with the mozzarella pieces.

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes, and serve with a fresh green salad and some nice Italian wine. Enjoy!

Just looking at this picture makes me hungry again.. hmmmm....

Winter, for real this time!

So, the winterweather has finally caught up with the Netherlands: at the moment it's full on winterwonderland here. Well, the Dutch version of it anyway. That means 20 cm snow max, public transportation in a state of panic, and we all know it won't be long until the crispy, clean white snow will turn into a grey, wet slush.
Nevertheless! It's really winter now and that means my stew-cravings are rising up. Now I could have gone with some golden oldies from the dutch cuisine, but I was in the mood to try something new.

Dashing through the snow and the supermarket, I was pondering what exactly I was in the mood for. Cassoulet, perhaps? Beef stew? Chicken stew? Lamb stew? Vegetable stew?
Wandering aimlessly through the aisles, I suddenly bumped into the canned foods. And like it was meant to be, my eyes fell upon the one canned good that I'm always in the mood for: lentils.

You may remember the lentil soup recipe I posted in April: since then I haven't really eaten them anymore, for no particular reason I can think of. Whatever reason, it's been too long, so lentil-stew it was going to be!

I decided to go with a Spanish-influenced stew, so I thought of adding chipolata sausages (if you can find merguez, use those!) and a bold Spanish wine (tempranillo, or rioja. Mind you, not too young).
I wasn't really sure how to make a lentil-stew, as I never have before, but as most (if not all) of my food, I decided to just wing it. And with the result I got, I'm glad I did

Look at those lovely lentils, simmering away..

Spanish-style lentil stew (serves 4, or 3 very hungry people)

•  2 cans of 400 grams (14 oz.) blonde lentils, drained
• 500 grams (18 oz.) passata di tomate
• 1 or 2 (or 3) glasses of wine. Whatever's left in the bottle can be served with the meal. Or during the making of the meal, of course
• 1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 or 4 bay leaves
• 100 grams (4 oz.) baconstrips, in thin slices
• 4 chipolata or merguez suasages, cut into bite-sized pieces
• a few stalks of (flat) parsley, leaves and stalks separately chopped 
• OPTIONAL: pepperoncini, for a little kick
• and obviously some freshly ground salt and pepper

First, heat a little butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, and once melted, add the bacon strips and sausage pieces. Once browned, remove them with a skimmer onto a plate, so the wonderful flavours of the bacon and sausage will remain the butter.Next, add a little olive oil, and add the carrot, onion, parsley stalks, garlic and optional pepperoncini. Turn down the heat, put the lid on, and let the veggies sweat for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent and the carrot is soft. Add the lentils and coat them with oil.

Turn up the heat, and add 2/3 of the wine. Let evaporate for a little while, and add the passata. Stir well, until the then add the bay leaves, the remaining wine,and some salt and pepper.
Now transfer the pan to a simmerplate on your smallest burner on your lowest heat, and let simmer for approximately 45-60 minutes, until it has reached the desired consistency. Don't forget to stir and taste every now and then!

Garnish with the chopped parsley leaves, accompany with some freshly baked (or warmed up) bread, and a simple green salad. Enjoy!

Succulent, hearty and soo good. Just what you need in these cold times!