Beer-battered fish & mussels with coleslaw

I love battered deep-fried fish ("kibbeling"). Unfortunately, most of the places you get them from are either very bad, or very inconsistent. So I was already thinking a while about making it myself. And then I saw an episode of the Hairy Bikers the Best of British in which they made beer-battered scampi and mentioned that it would be the perfect batter to fry all sorts of things in. And the fish was even in the discount!
And then my boyfriend mentioned that he wanted a Leon de Bruxelles in our neighbourhood, to be able to eat mussels as fastfood. So I though, I can make battered mussels as well!
And so it happened that we had a big plate full of battered fried fish and mussels, with dipping sauces (aioli works very well!) and coleslaw. And we were very happy with it. The batter is indeed perfect as the Hairy Bikers already said, it is easy to make, it fries very well and is nice and crisp. Definitely something I will make again, and great to vary with different things to batter.

Beer-battered things (a lot)
Adapted from BBC Food - The Hairy Bikers Best of British
firm fish fillets (salmon, panga), cooked mussels
4 tbsp plain flour
½ tsp fine sea salt

75g cornflour
200g plain flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
330ml bottle of real ale (we used Grolsch beer)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Oil to fry in


For the batter, mix the cornflour, plain flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and stir in two-thirds of the ale. Beat with a large metal whisk to make a smooth batter. Gently whisk
in the remaining ale and the vinegar. Set aside.
Fill a deep-fat fryer or a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan two-thirds full with vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 190C/375F.
For the fish/mussels, put four tablespoons of flour in a large, plastic food bag and season with salt. Add the fish/mussels, one at a time, and shake to coat in the seasoned flour.
Stir the batter and then dip one piece of floured fish/mussel into the batter until thoroughly coated. Remove with tongs and gently place it in the hot oil. Repeat the process with a further 3-4 pieces of fish, or 8-10 mussels and add to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes until golden-brown and crisp.
Remove the scampi and drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm. Bring the oil back to temperature, and cook the remaining fish/mussels.

Coleslaw (2 big portions)
1/3-1/2 white cabbage, very finely schredded
1/3 big carrot, cut in julienne
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1/8 tsp mustard (adds depth, not mustard flavour)
splash of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything. Keeps very well, so can be prepared in advance.

Green coconut fish curry

I had some fish and some coconut milk leftover in the fridge, and I am going through a curry phase, so the obvious thing to make was a fish curry. For inspiration I looked on the BBC food website and chose this recipe from the many recipes that were available. The spice combination seemed nice to me and I had the ingredients already on hand or could buy them at the supermarket.
The trick of leaving the chillies whole is a very nice one. I am not very heat proof, so adding chilli in a dish is easily too much. When I add chopped chilli it is either too hot, or don't have the nice taste of chilli in the dish. By leaving the chillies whole, you do get the taste but much less heat (although the dish is still quite spicy).
We added snap peas, because they work very well in curries like these, and we could get hold of them cheap. But you can use other vegetables as well, like courgette and paprika, or serve a side salad, or a nice fruity dessert. 
The dish was quite mediocre. It was tasty, I enjoyed eating it, but I probably will not make it again. So the hunt for a good green curry recipe goes on...

Green coconut fish curry (serves 4)
From BBC Food (Anjum Anand-Indian Food Made Easy)

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
4 cloves
6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 large piece cinnamon stick
1 small onion, finely chopped
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and quartered
2 large garlic cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
300 ml coconut milk
2-4 green chillies, left whole
salt, to taste
100 ml water
10 curry leaves
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp garam masala
500g salmon or firm white fish fillets, cut into large pieces (I used panga)
2-3 tsp lemon juice
50g fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
Optional: 200 gram snow or snap peas

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the mustard  seeds, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and stir fry for 20  seconds (be careful, the seeds might pop). Add half of the chopped onion  and fry for 4-5 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, place the remaining onion, the ginger,  garlic, ground coriander and 100ml of the coconut milk into a  blender or food processor and blend to a smooth purée (I used a pestal and mortar, great way to relieve stress).
Add this mixture to pan along with the whole green  chillies and salt, to taste. Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat  for 12-15 minutes, giving the pot an occasional stir.
Add the remaining coconut milk, the water, the  currry leaves, black pepper and garam masala and the fish and leave to  cook undisturbed for about 3-5 minutes, until the fish is opaque and  cooked through. At the last minute add in the peas, to cook slightly/warm them up. They only need very short cooking!
To serve, stir in the lemon juice and coriander.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then pour into bowls and  serve with rice.

Baklava

I love baklava. It is a sweet pastry from phillo, filled with nuts and syrupy goodness. And when you make it yourself it is even more tasty than the stuff you can buy. But you will need quite some time for this, especially if it is your first time working with phillo, it can be quite annoying stuff and making the layers will take some time. Make sure to keep the phillo sheets covered with a wet tea towel, otherwise they will dry out and completely disintegrate.

Baklava

300 g nuts, finely chopped (needs to be fine, otherwise the baklava will collaps; you can use mixed nuts or only almonds or walnuts)

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

22 sheets phillo (depending on the size of your oven dish/the phillo sheets)

150 g browned butter

250 ml water

360 g sugar

2 tbsp honey

juice of 1/2 lemon

piece of lemon peel

2-3 small cinnamon sticks

Mix the water with the sugar, honey, lemon and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Put aside to cool.
Mix the nuts with the sugar and the cinnamon to prepare the filling.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Brush your oven dish with the browned butter. Put a phillo sheet in, brush with butter and put the next sheet in. Make a stack of 10 phillo sheets in this way. Spread half of the nut mixture over, put 2 sheets of phillo brushed with butter on top and spread the other half of the nut mixture on the sheets. Then put another stack of 10 buttered phillo sheets on top.

Precut the whole thing into diamonds, because it will be very difficult to do so after baking. Sprinkle a bit of water on top and bake 25-30 minutes until golden. Pour over half the syrup you prepared earlier, let stand until it is soaked in, pour over the other half of the syrup and serve when everything is absorbed. 

Cheese cookies

An easy savoury snack, perfect with a glass of red wine. You can use any kind of cheese you like, but make sure it is good cheese. If the cheese isn't nice, the cookies will not be nice either, the cheese is the main flavour. The recipe states paprika as herb, but you can vary with cayenne pepper, freshly ground black pepper, Provençal herbs, anything you like and suits the cheese.

Cheese biscuits

125 g cold butter

100 g cheese

salt, paprika

150 g flour

Throw everything in a food processor and mix until just forming a ball. Or rub the flour with the butter till coarse breadcrumb consistency, mix in the rest and form a ball. Make a sausage of it, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 190C. Cut not too thin slices from the sausage and arrange on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. You want the cookies slightly golden on the edges, don't let them brown or they will get bitter. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before serving.

Green bean salad two ways

I think salads are very versatile dishes, that are healthy too. And most of the time they are also very fast to prepare. Quite often they are a meal on their own, or they become a meal when adding a little bread, or a dessert.

Green bean potato salad (2 mains)
500 gram potato (large: peeled and cubed; small: scrubbed and halved)
400 gram green beans (fresh or jarred/tinned)
1 apple, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons yoghurt
splash of lemon juice
splash of Worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper, garlic powder
150 gram cooked ham, chicken or bacon, cubed
2 eggs

Cook the potatoes. When using fresh green beans, cook them. Cook the eggs (medium/hard). Mix the mayonnaise, yoghurt, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and garlic powder to a dressing. Add the cooked potatoes, green beans, apple and meat, mix. Serve immediately or leave to cool. Serve with quartered cooked eggs.

Green bean salad (2 side dishes)
Adapted from Guy Savoy
400 gram fresh green beans, halved and cooked
100 ml creme fraiche
1 shallot, minced finely
few sprigs of chives, chopped
splash of lemon juice
salt, pepper
Optional: feta or fresh goats cheese

Mix everything.Stores very well, so can be prepared early. It is suggested to serve the salad cold, but I like it better when lukewarm.

Updated food links

I updated my favourite food links. Check them out for new inspirational websites!

Whole grain not so chocolate chip cookies

A while ago I wrote about incredible whole grain chocolate chip cookies. And I still think they are the most incredible, fantastic cookies ever. I even think that I have not been so obsessed with a recipe like this before, and I have been obsessed with food a lot, so that says something. Recently, when I wanted these cookies but did not have any chocolate, I decided to make them without chocolate. And they still turned out very delicious, the basic cookie dough is just that good! Really, make these cookies!
I also would like to try out some new variations, I bet these cookies would also be nice with other types of chocolate (maybe white), and nuts.

Brussel sprouts with garlic oil

As I mentioned before, I don't like plain boiled vegetables. But I need to eat them, because vegetables are healthy and I cannot eat the same 4 kinds of vegetables all the time. So I am always thinking about ways to make vegetables more fancy. And this is one of them.
Many people detest Brussel sprouts. I also did not like them for a very long time. Until I found this recipe. Important with Brussel sprouts is that you really don't want to overcook them. They will get mushy and even more bitter than they are already are, and they loose their taste. So cook until just tender. And then the best part: you fry them in garlic oil. In this way they get nice scorchy bits on the outside and the garlic makes them taste much better. It will get even better if you add in some carrots for added sweetness and some bacon, because bacon will make anything better.
I usually prepare garlic oil myself, because it is incredibly easy, I can make it super strength and it is cheaper than buying it. It is a great addition to dressings and it is an easy way to give a dish a hint of garlic. If you are not garlic-proof as I am, reduce the amount of garlic, or roast it first for a milder flavour.

Garlic oil (150 ml)
150 ml of oil (I use olive oil)
1 bulb of raw garlic

Peel the garlic. Use a garlic press to mush the garlic. Put it in a clean bottle or jar and add the oil. Let stand for at least a day before using.
Because of the antimicrobial properties of garlic, I don't expect this to spoil fast.

Potato salad and broccoli with feta

Potato salad is one of my favourite fast meals, especially in summer, because there is not much cooking involved and it is very nice to eat lukewarm. And if you use cubed cooked potato instead of the fancy small potatoes in their skins, it is even a very budget dish. I usually eat it as a main dish, but you can also serve it as a side-salad at a barbecue or take it to a potluck.
The dressing for the potatoes is basically the mayonnaise-yoghurt dressing that I also use in other salads and as a dipping sauce, it is a very versatile dressing because it works with almost anything, and because of the addition of yoghurt it is more light and fresh than most of the mayonnaise based dressings.
The feta crumbled over the plain cooked broccoli is a way to make the broccoli nicer. I don't like plain vegetables very much, they are just plain and boring if I don't have anything to combine them with. So a bit of feta fixes this.

Potato salad (2 main courses)
500 gram potato (big: peeled and cubed; small: scrubbed and halved)
100 gram bacon
2 eggs
3 medium sized gherkins, finely diced
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons yoghurt
splash of lemon juice
splash of Worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper, garlic powder
Optional: onion, finely diced (raw or cooked); mustard

Cook the potatoes. Fry the bacon. Cook the eggs (not too soft). Mix the other ingredients into a dressing. Add the bacon (and if you like, the bacon fat) and the potatoes when they are still warm. In this way they will absorb the dressing, which is very nice. Peel and chop up the eggs, mix in with the rest. Serve immediately or leave to cool.

Coconut-chocolate "milk"

Did you know that high fat (25%) coconut milk will get frothy if you heat it? Well, I didn't, until I prepared chocolate "milk" with coconut milk instead of ordinary milk. I melted about 30 gram chocolate, added the coconut milk and put it in the microwave to heat it, and then it got all foamy. It is really nice! The chocolate milk is really rich and chocolaty and the foam gives it a mochaccino (cappucino with chocolate milk instead of ordinary milk) effect. I think it would also really be lovely to add some espresso to it, to get a real mochaccino. The coconut milk gives it a slight coconutty flavour, but it is definitely not overwhelming. But take care, it is really filling! It took the two of us to finish the mug on the picture, for me alone it was just to much.

Sandwich

I am Dutch, so I eat a lot of bread. Where it is normal to eat a hot meal twice a day in many cultures, in the Netherlands almost everyone lunches with bread. When I take lunch to the university, I usually take simple whole grain bread with cheese and with almond butter, because it is easy and it stays tasty in my lunch box. But in the weekends, or when I lunch at home during the week, sometimes I make my sandwiches a bit more elaborate.
I love the fact that sandwiches are so versatile! You can make them hot or cold, with any type of bread, any topping/filling you like, savoury and sweet. But remind 1 thing: on hot savoury sandwiches cheese of course is essential :-) Hot sandwiches you can make in a frying pan, but for this you need quite a bit of fat (butter, olive oil, garlic oil, bacon fat) to prevent it from burning. An alternative is a tosti-iron (tosti is the Dutch word for hot sandwich) or an electric grill/panini-maker/something like that. Below I will give some suggestions for good combinations.

Hot:
- ham and cheese
- bacon and cheese
- salami and cheese (especially nice on Turkish or other Arabic flat bread)
- sambal, houmous, lemon juice and a little bit of cheese, molten under the grill

Cold:
- smoked meat (rookvlees) and egg
- bacon, lettuce and tomato
- ham, mustard and lettuce
- smoked salmon, herbed cream cheese and rucola

Sweet:
- nutella and banana (hot)
- croissant/brioche, real butter and real chocolate (thin sheets especially to put on bread)

Open sandwich (toasted plain whole grain bread) with garlic mayo, salt, pepper, cucumber, tomato and canned tuna.

Grilled sandwich (white artisan bread) baked in garlic oil with salami and gouda cheese.

Whole grain chocolate chip cookies

These are the best chocolate cookies ever! They have very healthy ingredients, but don't taste healthy at all. They taste like very, very nice chocolate cookies. And the best thing: do you know the feeling that you get when you eat to much cookies? That stuffed, slightly dizzy and nauseated feeling? And still be hungry/get hungry again after half an hour? Not with this cookie. They are very satisfying to eat, fill you up nicely and you will stay full for quite some time. No feeling of guilt after eating cookies any more, because this is about as healthy as you can get for healthy, tasty indulgence!
The cookies are best if you rest the batter as long as you can, at least 1 hour and up to 24. In this way the flavours can work in to each other and the moisture can be absorbed by the grains. But if you are short on time or just impatient, you can also bake them immediately, they still taste very good. The original recipe suggests to bake them ever so slightly underdone, so that they are nice and chewy. I prefer to bake them a little longer, so that they are nice and crisp. It just depends on whether you like chewy or crisp cookies.
The cookies store quite well in an airtight container. I found that the longer baked cookies were nicer the next day than the shorter baked ones, but again I think it depends on what you like. So try it out for yourself!

Whole grain chocolate chip cookies (9-12 cookies, depending on size)
Slightly adapted from Cookie and Kate

1 1/6 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon and/or vanilla
75 gram butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup raw sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup rolled oats
135 gram chocolate chips (I use a mix of chopped dark and milk chocolate bars, if you want to be really healthy use the darkest chocolate you can get/like)

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon/vanilla in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the two sugars. Mix in the egg and scoop the dry ingredients from the other bowl trough. Take care not to overwork! It will be a very stiff dough. Then mix in the oats and chocolate. Cover and leave to rest (put it in the fridge if you leave it for a longer period).
Preheat the oven at 190C. Line a baking tray with baking paper (or a silicon mat). Scoop generous tablespoons of the batter on, and flatten them a bit. They will spread, so don't put them to close to each other. I find that the amount of dough that this recipe makes produces 9-12 cookies (depends on how generous your tablespoons are) and that they will fit precisely on 1 baking tray.
Bake the cookies for 12-16 minutes (time depends on your oven and the amount of chew/crisp you like). Leave them rest on the baking tray for 5-10 minutes to firm up, then transport to a rack to cool further. This is really important! If you try to take them from the baking tray immediately, they will fall apart. And if you don't let them cool on a rack (or something else that lets the air circulate around) the bottom of the cookies will be very soggy.
Eat when cooled.

Tandoori and butter chicken

As I wrote before, I like Indian food a lot and Butter Chicken is one of my favourite curries. But, the recipe that I posted before, wasn't the one. So I tried another one, and served it with rice, raita and home-made naan.
For this recipe you need two days. The first day you prepare the tandoori chicken, the second day the butter chicken. I made a double batch of tandoori and ate half of it as diner at the first day, and stored the other half in the fridge for the butter chicken. The tandoori is very easy to make, but marinating it takes quite some time. The butter chicken is very fast to make, because the sauce is very fast and the chicken is already cooked.
I liked the taste of both dishes very much, so much that I already prepared it 2 times again since the first time I tried. I think that there is some room for improvement, but that will be the change from a very good to an excellent dish. So do give it a try!
I used chicken thighs with the bone in for this dish, because they are cheap and have a good flavour. But you can also use breasts, legs, drumsticks, or even a whole chicken chopped in pieces.

Tandoori Chicken (2 persons + for 2 persons butter chicken)
Adapted from Seasaltwithfood
1 kilo of bone-in chicken thighs
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup thick yogurt
1 tbsp garlic, minced very fine
1 tbsp ginger, minced very fine
½ tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp dried fenugreek leaf powder (these are also known as dried curry leaves)

Coat the chicken with the lime juice, red chili powder and salt (first one in the list). Let marinate for 1 hour.
Mix yoghurt, garlic, ginger, salt (second one in the list), garam masala and fenugreek, coat the chicken with this mixture, marinate for at least 3 hours.
Heat up the grill, sear the outside of the chicken, then scoop the marinade over that was still in the bowl, let cook on lower heat until cooked through while occasionally turning the pieces. Serve hot. Additional serving tips: lime wedges, thinly sliced red onion and chopped coriander.


Butter chicken (2 persons)
Adapted from Seasaltwithfood
the remaining tandoori chicken
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 can of (chopped) tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced very fine
1 1/2 tsp ginger, minced very fine
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup cream (or a mix of cream and yoghurt, or crème fraiche)

Sauté the onion in the oil until soft. Add the tomatoes, sea salt, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the oil floats to the surface (about 5-10 min). Mix in the garlic, ginger, and all the spice powders. Give it a quick stir and add in the chicken. Cook the chicken for about 3 to 4 minutes, to coat the chicken evenly with the sauce. Then add the butter and stir until it melts. Pour in the cream, give it a quick stir and remove the pan from the heat (to prevent splitting).

Custard meringue pie

I always see this nice meringue tarts and pies on television when watching Masterchef or other cooking shows, and I always wanted to make something like this myself. And I have to say, it is harder than it looks. I can make a good Italian meringue, it did brown very nicely under the grill, but the crust did not work out that well and my pastry cream was too runny (with 10 gram of flour). But still, it was a very nice tart and next time I make it, I am sure it will be better.

Custart meringue pie (12 cm form)
1/4 recipe sweet shortcrust pastry (I made 1/2 a recipe and froze 1/2 of that)
1 recipe pastry cream
1 recipe Italian meringue

Prepare the pastry, line the tin and blind bake as specified in the recipe. Let cool.
Meanwhile, prepare the pastry cream and let cool in the fridge (in this way it sets better/faster).
When ready to prepare the pie, let the pastry cream come to room temperature and prepare the Italian meringue.
Preheat the grill.
Scoop the pastry cream into the pastry shell, pipe the Italian meringue on top and bake it in the oven. Make sure that you watch it at all times! The meringue can go from pale to burned very quickly, and this usually happens when you think that you can do something else in the same time and therefore just look away for 3 seconds from the oven. It would be a pity to burn the meringue after all this work, so just keep looking into the oven!
Serve immediately.

Poached pears

A very simple way to eat more fruit. I think that they are a perfect refreshing side dish, but also serve very well as a simple dessert after an indulgent meal. I made a big batch this time, because it is pear season, and froze 3/4 of it for later use. I used a variety that needs to be stewed for quite a while before tender and keeps its form well, Gieser Wilderman. You can off course use another variety, but take care to adjust the cooking time!

Poached pears
Family recipe
1 kg pears
piece of cinnamon and/or bit of lemon peel (I never add these, I like my pears plain)
50 gram sugar

Peel the pears, quarter them, remove the core and cut in pieces. Put them in a pan with a little water, add the cinnamon and/or lemon peel and sugar, bring to the boil and put a lid on the pan. Cook for 30-45 minutes (or until soft), or in the case of stewing pears that will turn red, cook for 3-4 hours until red. I always use the shorter cooking time, I think that you cook to much flavour and texture away if you cook them for longer. Don't throw away the cooking liquid! I like it as it is, but you can also reduce it to make a syruppy sauce, or bind it with a little potato starch or maizena.

Variations:
- add in a bit of berry juice or wine to achieve "artificial" red colour
- cook in red wine with some cloves instead of cinnamon/lemon
- add chai or gluhwein spices to the poaching liquid.
- use apple instead of pear. When using cooking apples you will get apple sauce (stir well to get smooth), when using eating apples you will get poached apples (that you can mash up a bit for chunky apple sauce). You can also add some raisins.