Chinese roast pork

The first time we ate Chinese roast pork, we were in a Chinese restaurant. Well, that's pretty predictable. Looking around, we seemed to be the only European guests. All the others were Chinese and I didn't know what they were eating but it looked delicious.

When we asked the waiter for the same menu as the other guests he reacted detached. That menu was only for Chinese guests and we wouldn't like it.

It didn't take much time to confince him that we would really like to try. That was our first acquaintance with the Kantonese kitchen and we fall in love immediately. One of these dishes was Chinese roasted pork.

Chinese roast pork
1 pound pork (one piece)

Marinade
1 tbsp. dry sherry
2 tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. hoisin sauce

Syrup
4 tsp. clear honey
4 tsp. boiling water
4 tsp. sesame oil

Cut the meat in broad stripes. Put the meat in a bowl with the marinade and cover the bowl. Leave it in the fridge for one night.


Take the meat out of the fridge and leave it for an hour at roomtemperature. Preheat the oven to 425 dgr. F. (220 dgr. C.). Place the meat on an oven rack and put the rack in the middle of the oven. Roast the meat 20 minutes, turn the meat and roast it again 20 minutes. When necessary, lower the temperature to prevent burning.

Take the meat out of the oven and glace it with the syrup while it's still warm. Cut the meat in slices and eat them warm or cold; just as you like it.

(adapted from the series Compact boeken)

No low-carb diet for me

A slice of good quality bread with cheese has always been a treat to me. As a child, I'd rather skipped my diner instead of my breakfast or lunch. This hasn't changed. What did change was the kind of breads I like. Instead of the white bread I used to love, I nowadays prefer the bread with coarse grains and seeds in it.

After trying out the basic Hearth Bread of Rose Levy Beranbaum a few times, I've ad spelt and flaxseed to give it the taste and texture I like most. I was very surprised by the taste and texture of this bread. It kept soft and nice for 4 days.



When you make the sponge the evening before the baking, it gets time to ferment in the fridge while you're asleep.

Rose's Hearth Bread with spelt

Sponge
156 gr. bread flour
36 gr. whole wheat flour
1.25 gr. (3/8 tsp.) instant yeast
9 gr. (1 1/4 tsp. clear honey
322 gr. water at room temperature.

Flour mixture
100 gr. whole spelt flour
190 gr. bread flour
2 tbsp. flax seeds
1.6 gr. (1/2 tsp.) instant yeast
10 gr. (1 1/2 tsp.) salt

Put al the ingredients for the sponge in a large bowl and whisk it till it's a smooth thick batter. This will take about 2 minutes. Combine all the ingredients for the flourmixture, except the salt, and cover the sponge with it. It must be completely covered. Cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge or a cold shed.

During it's stay in the cold, the yeast starts to work very slowly and the sponge works itself from downunder to the upperside of the bowl. In the meantime the flavour of the bread is developing. And you know what? At this moment you haven't got to do anything but dreaming of delicious wel-risen bread. Who says breadbaking is tough labour?

The next day, take the bowl out of the fridge or shed and leave it for an hour at roomtemperature. Mix the sponge and flourmixture just enough to make a moist dough (2 minutes), cover it and leave it to rest (autolyse) for about 25 minutes. Now add the salt and knead the dough in 7 minutes. It still is a bit sticky but that's allright. Put it in a large oiled bowl, cover it and leave it (at roomtemperature) till it's doubled in size. This will take about an hour.

Take the dough out of the bowl and lay it on a floured counter. Flatten it just a little bit with your hands till it's the shape of a rectangle but don't slam it; it's not necessary. Give it a businessletter turns and leave it to rise in the oiled bowl again. This time it needs less time to double in size (30 - 45 minutes).

Turn the dough out onto a floured counter again and shape it into the form you wish. I prefer forming the dough into a ball and leave it to rise in a well floured banneton. Cover it and leave it 45 minutes to rise almost until doubled. In the meantime: pre heat the oven to 476 dgr. F.(250 dgr. C.) Turn the dough onto a baking sheet and slash it with a sharp knife or razor blade. Bake for 10 minutes at the lowest level and lower the temperature to 425 dgr. F. (220 dgr. C.).

(adapted from The bread bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum)

Bread Baking Babes january 2009

The Croissants Cronicles part 2

Day 2

The croissants have been in the fridge for a whole night and I don't see much difference in size. I'm afraid that means we have to wait a little longer before I can put them in the oven.

After an hour in the warm kitchen they've risen (still not doubled) and they deserve a second coating with egg before being baked. In the mean time I've preheated the oven at 390 dgr. F. (200 dgr. C.).


After 15 minutes the croissants look beautifull golden brown and the house smells delicious. The taste; buttery and very nice. The texture: flaky but still a tiny bit doughy on the inside.


Maybe we've been to impatient or the temperature of the oven was to high. There is still one tray left so I'll take another chance later and let you know if there's any difference. And now, after all those croissants, it's time for a long stroll with the dog.

The Croissants Cronicles

Making croissants has been on my to-do-list for a long time. Well, not any longer because gues what's the challenge of the Bread Baking Babes for this month? Yes, making croissants. Reading their experiences makes me aware this is a technique that demands concentration and time and perhaps also a little luck? Just the activity for a saturday.

As a warming-up I read the recipe of Michel Roux described by Linda Collister and read that he uses just a little bit more milk and more butter with the same amount of flour.

A search on the internet caused more confusion; the one recipe uses lukewarm milk, the other cold and so on. I think I'll just try one recipe, the recipe of Lien, and see what happends.

Day 1
300 ml.milk
500 gr. flour
2 tsp. instant yeast
1 tsp. salt
50 gr. sugar
250 gr. butter, unsalted and cold
1 eggyolk with a pinch of salt

Like Lien describes, I stir the milk through the flour and allow it to rest 30 minutes. It looks like a unfinished thick batter.

Add the yeast, sugar and salt and knead very shortly till you get a sticky dough. I kneaded this 2 minutes as Michel Roux advised. Neglecting the uncomfortable feeling that this dough needed more kneading, I allowed it to rest 6 hours in the fridge.

Between a double folded sheet of baking parchment I rolled out the butter (till the size I needed) after slamming it softly with the rollingpin. After this, the dough was taken out of the fridge. It still hadn't doubled in size but I've planned to give it a nights rest after forming the croissants. That will give the dough enough time.





The butter was incorporated into the dough and treated like this video on You Tube. Make sure to seal the edges to keep the butter in it. Between the 3 folding sessions it was left 30 minutes in the fridge.





After the last pause it was ready to make the croissants. I've rolled it out, cut it in triangles and formed the croissants. Oh joy! This I liked!


Well, it's saturday evening and I'd like to serve the croissants on sundaymorning so I've brushed them carefully with the eggyolk with salt and putted them in the fridge. And now.......just wait till tomorrow and see what's happened. Hope they will grow nicely while I'm asleep. Yawn.

Confession

(Nederlandse vertaling over een paar dagen)
OK; I'm an addict. There.....I've said it.

All the symptoms are there; cravings, excitement, a lack of self-control etc. All but one; I don't feel ashamed afterwards or guilty. No, I just feel great.

My addiction started from the very moment I learned to read and it lasts till now. As a young child I read everywhere even while travelling by bike through Rotterdam. It was pretty dangerous but I just coul'dn't stop reading.

And now, as an 'adult' there are obligations and work and less time to read. But the cravings are still there and triggered by every bookstore or library. Although I've noticed a slight change since the last year; the internet and more specific: the weblogs. All those wonderful weblogs with information and recipes from all over the world. And what's most important; it's growing bigger and bigger all the time.

No, the internet doesn't replace books for me; I still love the smell of paper and the feeling of a book in my hands and the fact that you can read anywhere you want. For me, the internet means just an enormous source of recipes and being able to communicate with many friendly bloggers.

One of the recipes I've found on the internet a few months ago is the Struan bread (Peter Reinhart); a Celtic harvestbread. The first time I baked this bread I was surprised by the structure and the taste. Since then, I've made this bread once a week and after a few minor adjustments it's one of our favourite breads.

Variation on Struan bread

Soaker
3 tbsp. polenta
3 tbsp. rolled oats
2 tbsp. coarse or broken rye
1/4 cup water

Dough
1 cup whole spelt flour
2 cups bread flour
1 tbsp. flax seed
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. instant yeast
3 tbsp. cooked brown rice
1 1/2 tbsp. clear honey
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup water

Mix the ingredients for the soaker, cover and leave it to soak for at least half an hour. Mostly I just allow it to soak overnight.

Choose a large bowl and combine the spelt, bread flour, flax seed and the salt. Stir it thoroughly to prevent the salt coming directly in touch with the yeast. Add the yeast, brown rice, honey and the soaker. Stir in the buttermilk and the water and knead the dough in about 10 minutes. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with a lid of plastic wrap and allow it to rise until doubled in size (75 - 90 minutes).

Remove the dough from the bowl, shape it and place it in a banneton or bread pan. Cover it and leave it to rise until doubled in size for the second time (70 - 90 minutes). Preheat the oven at 425 dgr. F. (220 dgr. C.). Turn the loaf onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven. Turn the heat down to 350 dgr. F. (180 dgr. C.) and bake the loaf in 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Honey........................we do need bigger chairs!!!

Syllabub

(scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse vertaling)

When only looking at the word 'syllabub' and pronouncing it, you just know it must be fluffy and airy। And believe me, it is. This is a wonderful recipe for making ahead and impressing you guests.

Limoncello syllabub
2 limes, zested and juiced
75 ml limoncello
300 ml double cream
100 gr. caster sugar
12 amaretti biscuits

Mix the limoncello, limejuice and zest। Pour the cream in a big bowl and whip it with the sugar. Take it easy and don't whip it too fast. When it's starting to thicken, drizzle the lemonmixture and whisk until incorporated.

Pour the syllabub in 4 - 6 (depends on how greedy you are) glasses and leave them in the fridge for one night or at least 4 hours। Crush the amaretti and sprinkle over each dessert.

(foodmagazine Delicious april 2007)


Nederlandse vertaling

Als je alleen het woord 'syllabub al ziet en hoort, kun je vermoeden dat het licht en luchtig is. En dat is het ook; tenminste.......luchtig. Dit is nu net hét toetje om de avond van te voren te maken en vervolgens indruk op je gasten te maken.

Limoncello syllabub
2 limoenen, geraspt en geperst
75 ml. limoncello (Italiaanse citroenlikeur)
300 ml. slagroom
100 gr. basterdsuiker
12 amaretti koekjes

Meng de limoncello met de limoenschil en het sap. Klop de slagroom zachtjes in een grote kom tot ze dikker begint te worden. Voeg nu, al kloppend, scheutje voor scheutje het limoncellomengsel toe. Zodra alles goed gemengd is, en lobbig, is het klaar.

Verdeel de syllabub over 4 tot 6 glazen en zet ze een nacht in de koelkast (of minstens 4 uur). Verkruimel de amaretti en strooi ze over de syllabub voor je het gaat opdienen.

Multi grain bread

(Scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse vertaling)


No, this is not a post about feeding birds or cultivating your own vegetables. Although, I would like having an enormous allotment garden.

No, with this mixture I made the soaker for a very tasty bread; the Tyrolean Ten-Grain Torpedo. Well, it became a nine grain torpedo because I didn't use the soy nugget granules and I didn't miss it. And to be honest................ would you miss just one grain among nine others? Yes!

When you're blending all those lovely grains and flakes you already smell the toasted coarse buckwheat and from that moment on you know how the bread is going to taste; wonderful. It's the one grain you can't skip!

To make this mixture you need equal volumes of:
coarse buckwheat,toasted
pumpkins seed, toasted
sunflower seeds, toasted
polenta
barley flakes
flaxseed
millet
steel-cut oats
cracked wheat

The recipe comes from the book Bread Bible of Rose Levy Beranbaum and it starts with making a sponge and a soaker.

Tyrolean Nine-Grain Torpedo
Sponge
100 gr. bread flour
0.8 gr (1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
1/2 tbsp. honey
177 ml. water at room temperature

Flour mixture
200 gr. breadflour
2.4 gr. instant yeast (3/4 tsp.)

Grains
100 gr. nine-grain cereal mix
100 ml. hot water
1 1/4 tsp. salt

Start the night before baking with making the sponge and the soaker. For making the sponge, place the flour, yeast, honey and water in a bowl and whisk (2 minutes) until it gets the consistency of a thick batter.

Combine the breadflour and yeast for the flour mixture. Spoon this in top of the sponge and cover it completely. Cover the bowl and leave it for an hour at roomtemperature before leaving it for a night (8 to 24 hours) in the fridge or cold shed.

In the mean time you make the soaker by combining the hot water and the grain mixture (don't add the salt yet!). Leaf it for cooling down till room temperature and leave it in the fridge of cold shed as well.

The next day the sponge is bubbling through the flour mixture. Take the soaker and the sponge out of the fridge or shed and set them aside for an hour. After this you can mix the dough and knead it 7 minutes.

The dough will be very sticky and leave it to rest for 20 minutes. Add the salt and the grain mixture and knead for another 3 to 5 minutes. At this moment the dough will be just slightly sticky (tacky). Add water or flour if needed.

Grease a big bowl and place the dough in it and allow it to rise until doubled in 1.5 tot 2 hours. Scrape the dough out onto a floured counter and give it 2 businessletter turns and round the edges. Place it back in the bowl again and leave it to rise until doubled in 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Shape the dough into a torpedo-shaped loaf (batard). Set in on a baking sheet and leave it to rise for another 40 to 50 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 450 dgr. F. (230 dgr.C.). Dust the top of the bread with rye flour and make three deep diagonal slashes wit a sharp knife or razor blade. Place the bread in the oven, on a baking stone if you're so lucky and bake it for 25 tot 30 minutes. Cool the bread on a iron rack.
Nederlandse vertaling:

Nee, schrik niet; dit wordt geen bericht over het voederen van vogels of het kweken van groenten. Hoewel ik heel graag een grote moestuin zou hebben.

Dit mengsel vormt de basis voor de soaker van een heerlijk brood; het Tiroler negen-granen brood. Eigenlijk is het een tien-granen brood maar ik heb de sojabrokjes weggelaten en eerlijk gezegd mis ik ze niet. Het graan wat je hier niet weg kunt laten is de geroosterde boekweit (kasha) vanwege de specifieke geur en smaak. Ruik er in de winkel maar eens aan want dan weet je meteen hoe het brood gaat smaken.

Om dit mengsel te maken heb je gelijke delen nodig van het volgende:
geroosterde boekweit (kasha; verkrijgbaar bij natuurvoedingswinkels)
geroosterde pompoenzaden
geroosterde zonnebloemzaden
polenta
gerstvlokken
lijnzaad
gierst
havervlokken
gebroken tarwe

Het recept lijkt veel tijd te kosten omdat je er een avond van te voren mee start maar je bent er uiteindelijk steeds maar even mee bezig. Houd er rekening mee dat ik met Amerikaanse eetlepels en theelepels werk waarvan de inhoud groter is dan onze Nederlandse.

Tiroler negen-granen brood

Sponge
100 gr. broodmeel
0.8 gr. instant gist (1/4 theelepel)
1/2 eetlepel honing
177 ml water; kamertemperatuur

Meelmengsel
200 gr. broodmeel
2.4 gr. instant gist (3/4 theelepel)

Granenmengsel
100 gram gemengde granen
100 ml. heet water
1 1/4 theelepel zout

De avond van te voren: Meng de ingredienten voor de sponge in een grote kom en mix dit gedurende 2 minuten tot er een mooi dik beslag ontstaat. Meng vervolgens de ingredienten van het meelmengsel en schep deze in een laag over de sponge heen. De sponge moet helemaal bedekt zijn. Zet de kom afgedekt een nacht in de koelkast of de koude berging.

Maak tegelijkertijd de soaker door alle ingredienten hiervoor (behalve het zout) te mengen. Laat dit een uur afkoelen en zet het vervolgens een nacht in de koelkast of een koude berging.


De volgende dag:
De sponge is inmiddels door de bovenste laag van meel en gist heen gebroken; dit was ook de bedoeling. Laat de soaker en de sponge een uurtje met rust om op temperatuur te komen. Mix de sponge met de bovenste laag en kneed het 7 minuten. Je hebt nu een behoorlijk plakkerig deeg dat je vervolgens 20 minuten even met rust laat.

Voeg nu het zout en het granenmengsel toe en kneed nog ongeveer 3 tot 5 minuten. Het deeg is nu nog een beetje plakkerig maar niet zo veel als eerst. Als het toch te plakkerig is voeg je wat extra bloem toe en als het juist te droog is, wat extra water.

Vet een grote kom in met olie en laat het deeg hierin 1.5 tot 2 uur rijzen tot het verdubbeld is in omvang. Als de omgeving erg koud is, is hiervoor meer tijd nodig.
Stort het deeg op een bebloemde aanrecht en duw het voorzichtig uit tot een rechthoek. Vorm het door twee keer een envelopevouw te maken en rond de hoeken af voor je het terugdoet in de ingevette kom. Laat het nu weer 45 tot 60 minuten rijzen.

Vorm het deeg tot een torpedovorm (batard) en laat het op een deegmat 40 tot 45 minuten rijzen. Laat de oven ruim van te voren voorverwarmen tot een temp.van 230 graden C. Bestuif het brood met grof roggemeel. Maak met een sherp mes of een scheermesje drie diagonale sneden in de bovenkant.

Bak het onderin de oven, of op een baksteen als je zo gelukkig bent. Na 25 tot 30 minuten is het brood klaar. Laat het volledig afkoelen op een rek voordat je het aansnijdt.

As kids grow older they'll increase the distance to the elderly nest. At least, my kids do. But during their little excursions they're still thinking of home.


While standing on one of the platforms of the Eiffeltower, a few lovely espresso cups caught the eye of our youngest and he thought of me.

Isn't that nice? Instead of buying a little souvenir for himself, he bought them for me. And now they've got their own place on my espresso machine and seem to be the perfect background for madeleines.

Madeleines don't need a lot of ingredients and effort but you've got to start an hour and a half before you actually want to start baking.

Madeleines
90 gr. butter of good quality
1 tbsp. clear honey
2 eggs
75 gr. fine sugar
90 gr. flour; Italian 00
dusting sugar

Melt the butter and leave it for cooling down. Just before you're going to make the batter, mix the butter and honey. Beat the eggs, sugar and a pinch of salt with the electric handmixer till the batter gets the thickness of mayonaise. This will take 5 minutes.

Sift the flour above the batter and spoon the flour very carefully through the batter. Add the butter-honey mixture and stir it thoroughly but carefully. Leave the batter in the fridge for a rest.

After an hour, you can take the batter out of the fridge and leave it for 30 minutes at roomtemperature. The batter has become thick and foamy.

Preheat the oven till 410 dgr. F.(210 dgr. C.). Butter the madeleine molds. Fill the molds with just one tbsp. of batter. Bake the madeleines 5 - 10 minutes. How long it exactly will take depends not only on your oven but on your molds as well. Silicon molds take longer than iron molds. Leave them on an iron rack for cooling down and dust with sugar.

(by the book How to eat by Nigella Lawson)

Oeps, did it again

Sorry, but another recipe of Linda Collister. I just love her books and had planned to try out a few recipes in december. This recipe was our favourite. You don't need much knowledge of the swedish language to understand that the name of the bread means 'friendship'. Not to be confused with the friendshipbread of the Amish.

When you have a crush on bread with all kinds of grains in it and with a very specific taste, you'll love this bread. At least; we do.

It's a Swedish recipe and (according to the book of Linda Collister and Anthony Blake) it's an old northern recipe.

To make this recipe, I've been searching for the broken rye and wheat. According to the recipe the breads rise just one time. But curious as I am, I wanted to see what happens with a second proof. So I've tried both and there was just a minor difference. Next time I'll take more time for the second proof. This bread tastes terrific with cheese.

Vänskapsbröd

Soaker
85 gr. broken rye
85 gr. broken wheat
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. cumin seed
115 gr. dried cranberries
50 gr. raisins
65 gr. flax seed
40 gr. wheat germ
400 ml. lukewarm water

50 gr. dried instant yeast
500 ml. lukewarm water
1000 gr. wheatflour

Start an evening ahead and soak the broken rye, broken wheat, salt, cumin seeds, cranberries, raisins, flaxseed and wheat germ in the water.This mixture is called a soaker.

The next morning: add the yeast to 500 gr. of the wheatflour . Pour the water into a big bowl and add the soaker. Add the wheatflour with the yeast tot the big bowl and add the other 500 gr. wheatflour al last. Knead the dough till you get a soft and sticky dough. At this point you can divide the dough into four pieces. The kneading becomes less heavy. Knead each piece another 5 minutes. The dough will stay a little bit sticky.

Put the dough in bannetons or make a tight ball of each. Leave them on a warm place for proof till they've doubled in size. Now you can bake them in the oven, like the original recipe describes, or give them a businessletter turn for a second proof.

Anyway; both choices seemed good. Pre-heat the oven at 475 dgr. F. (250 dgr. C.). Turn the breads on a bakingsheet or baking stone and put them in the oven. Lower the temperature at 450 dgr. F. (220 dgr. C.). Bake the breads in 20 minutes till they're light brown and sound hollow. Leave them for cooling down at a wire rack.

(by the book Country Bread by Linda Collister and anthony Blake)

Easy peasy

Some recipes are just so simple and the result is so delicious!

Take this recipe of Bara Brith; you don't need butter, it doesn't have to rise and there's almost no chance of failure. You can change it by choosing special teablands or combinations of dried fruits. I added a left-over of candied orangepeel and a few dried cranberries.

Bara Brith is traditionally Welsh and it means 'speckled bread'.

Bara Brith

175 gr. currants
175 gr. sultanas
225 gr. light muscovado sugar
300 ml. strong hot tea
275 gr. selfraising flour
1 egg, beaten

Use a loaf tin (900 gr.)

Start one night ahead and soak the dried fruits with the sugar in the strong hot tea.

The next morning; pre-heat the oven to 300 dgr. F. (150 dgr. C.).
Add the beaten egg and the selfraising flour to the fruits and teamixture and mix it thoroughly. Turn the mixture in the loaf tin (with greased greaseproof paper) and level the surfase. Bake in the oven for about 90 to 100 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch. Leaf it for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out and leaving on a wire rack. Slice it like bread and butter it if you like.

(from the book: Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book by Mary Berry)

So quiet.............................

Times are changing

According to the famous painting of van Gogh we're potato eaters. Well, we do love potatoes but not as much as the Dutch were used to in the past.

Thankfully our menu is now a days much more varied and besides potatoes there are rice, pasta, couscous etc. Next to all those substitutes the're also more methods of preparation than boiling. At this moment our favourite method is roasting the potatoes with rosemary and oliveoil in the hot oven. It is so simple I almost forgot to share this tasty recipe.

Roasted potatoes with olive oil and rosemary
750 gr. potatoes; skinned and cut in wedges
1 tbsp dried rosemary
3 tbsp. olive oil
sea salt

Wash the potatoes and dry them very well otherwise they don't become crispy. Preheat the oven 400 dgr. F. (200 dgr. C.). Pour the olive oil in a shallow but big ovendish. Add the potatoes and the rosemary and mix it with your hands. Take care that all the potatoes are covered with the olive oil. The potatoes must be spread in one layer. Bake them golden brown and crispy in the middle of the oven in 35 - 45 minutes. Serve them with sea salt.

Sausage making

Scroll naar beneden voor de Nederlandse vertaling.

Making my own sausages. Now and then I'd been thinking about it but nothing more than that. Till last year; as a birthday present I got the equipment for grinding meat and stuffing the casing.

After discovering a friendly butcher willing to deliver the casing, I made my own sausages for the first time. Making them seemed to be surprisingly easy and a lot of fun. It takes just one lazy sunday afternoon to fill the freezer with tasty sausages with the amount of fat and the kind of meat you prefer.


You can choose all kinds of spices and herbs for seasoning and you can choose whatever meat you want. Italian, Mexican or Greek sausages.........you name it!
The most important rule is to keep hands and equipment very clean and the meat (stuffing) very cold to prevent spoilage.

Luganega

• 130 cm. hog casing


• 1600 gr. lean pork butt


• 250 gr. pork fat


• 1.5 tsp. salt


• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest


• 1 tsp. grated orange zest


• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper


• 0.5 tsp. ground coriander


• 0.5 freshly grated nutmeg


• 1 clove garlic, minced


• 0.5 tsp. ground chili flakes


• 125 cc (ml.) dry vermout


• 90 gr. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Run cold water over the casing to wash off the salt and hold them open under the nozzle of the faucet to run water through it.

After this, soak the casing 30 minutes in cold water with a tbsp. white vinegar. In the meantime you can cut the meat and fat as well, into small cubes. Put the meat 30 minutes in the freezer; this will firm them up.

Grind the meat and fat. When using a heavy-duty mixer with a grinder attachment or a hand grinder you can choose for the fine disk.

Combine in a large bowl the meat mixture with the seasoning and the vermouth. I prefer mixing with my hands. Cover the mixture and put it in the freezer again for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile you can prepare the casing by sliding it onto the oiled sausage funnel. Make a knot at the end of the casing.

And now, the show begins. Don't bother the looks of it but stuff the mixture in the casing. You can actually do it on you own but the first time a helping hand is nice. When you're on your own: by laying your thumb on the fennel you're able to control the thickness of the filling.

When the casing is filled or there's no mixture left, you can twist off the sausages at the length that suits you. Prick a little hole in air pocket to prevent spoilage.

Don't they look nice?

Leave them uncovered for 3 hours in the fridge and I'm warning you: your fridge will smell wonderful. Freeze them or eat them within 2 - 3 days. These sausages can be cooked, broiled, barbecued or baked in the oven. They're very tasty combined with pasta and risotto.

(Adapted from the book: Home sausage making by S.M. Peery & C.G. Reavis)

Vertaling

Het leek mij altijd al wel wat; je eigen worst maken. Maar daar bleef het dan ook altijd bij. Tot voor kort. Het afgelopen jaar werd ik onverwacht heel erg verrast met een Kitchenaid en een paar maanden later kreeg ik met mijn verjaardag de hulpstukken voor het malen van vlees en het vullen van worst

Daarna heb ik nog wel even moeten zoeken naar een vriendelijke slager die de varkensdarmen wil leveren. Gelukkig vond ik deze dichterbij dan ik verwacht had. Mijn advies: zoek een slager die ook zelf slacht want dan is de kans groter dat hij onbeperkt over varkensdarmen kan beschikken. Sindsdien maak ik zelf verse worst. Het lijkt veel moeilijker dan het is en een luie zondagmiddag levert een flinke portie verse worst en een hoop plezier.

Het mooie is dat je zelf bepaalt hoeveel vet en welke kruiden, specerijen en vleessoorten in de worst gaan. Italiaans, Mexicaans of Grieks.................... alles is mogelijk. Het belangrijkste is, hoe saai het ook klinkt, hygiene; schone handen, schoon materiaal en gekoeld vlees kunnen groei van bacterien voorkomen.

Luganega

• ongeveer 130 cm varkensdarmen; gepekeld;


• 1600 gr. mager varkensvlees; hamlappen;


• 250 gr. varkensvet; bij voorkeur rugspek;


• 1,5 theel. zout;


• 1 theel. geraspte citroenschil;


• 1 theel. geraspte sinaasappelschil;


• 1 theel. vers gemalen zwarte peper;


• 0,5 theel. gemalen koriander;


• 0,5 theel. gemalen nootmuskaat;


• 1 teen knoflook; geperst of geraspt;


• 0,5 theel. gemalen chilivlokken;


• 125 ml. droge vermouth;


• 90 gr. verse geraspte Parmezaanse kaas.

Spoel onder de koude stromende kraan het zout van de darmen af. Laat het kraanwater ook zachtjes door de darmen heen spoelen door het begin open te houden onder de kraan. Zelf gebruik ik hiervoor een koppelstukje van de tuinslang dat ook gewoon in de vaatwasser kan.

Voeg aan een bakje koud water een eetlepel witte wijnazijn toe en laat de darmen hier nog 30 minuten in liggen. In de tussentijd kun je het vlees en het vet in blokjes snijden en 30 minuten in de vriezer leggen. Hierdoor wordt het iets steviger waardoor het malen gemakkelijker gaat en het blijf langer koel tijdens de bereiding.

Maal het vlees en het vet met de fijne schijf van de vleesmolen of de Kitchenaid. Meng in een grote schaal het vlees en de andere ingredienten met de hand. Dek de schaal af en zet het weer 30 minuten in de vriezer.
Nu je toch even niet verder kunt, heb je mooi de tijd om alles klaar te zetten. Smeer het worstvulstuk in met een klein beetje plantaardige olie en schuif de darmen er overheen. Maak een knoop in het uiteinde.



En nu is het dan eindelijk zover. Je kunt nu de worstjes gaan vullen door met de ene hand de vulling in de machine te stoppen terwijl je met de andere hand de worstjes vormt. Het kan handig zijn om de eerste keer wat hulp te krijgen zodat je je helemaal kunt concentreren op het vormen van de worstjes maar je kunt het ook heel goed alleen doen. Door de duim op het vulstuk met de darmen te drukken, bepaal je het tempo waarmee de darmen van het vulstuk worden geschoven.



Tegen de tijd dat alle vulling op is, heb je een grote worst die je in kleine worstjes kunt verdelen. Met slagerstouw kun je ze afbinden en vervolgens prik je een klein gaatje in de stukken waar veel lucht zit. Het leuke is dat je ze zo lang kunt maken als jou uitkomt.

Laat de worstjes onbedekt 2 tot 3 uur in de koelkast staan en bewaar ze in de vriezer of eet ze binnen 2 tot drie dagen. Ze zijn heerlijk bij de risotto, op de barbecue of bij de past met tomatensaus.

Just a few more days and the holidays are over. It's been two weeks of staying up till night, relaxing, reading, long strolls with our dog Jente and of course cooking and blogging.

From next monday on I'm living the life of a 'working girl' again. That means early rising, traffic jam, long meetings but also............... laughing with collegues, meeting new contacts and learning new skills. If only a day had more than 24 hours!

But still a few days left with enough time for trying out new recipes. One of those recipes is the Italian bread of Maurice Chaplais (Country Bread by L. Collister and A. Blake). Served with olives and roasted vegetables it's a perfect meal.



Now, I'm looking at the picture Mob Dick will be a better name for this bread.


Italian Bread

• 450 gr. breadflour


• 1 tsp. salt


• 15 gr. vegetable fat


• 7,5 gr. instant yeast


• 330 cc. lukewarm water


• 1,5 tsp. dried herbs de Provence
  
  

Additional

• 30 gr. sundried tomatoes


• 15 gr. pine nuts


• 100 gr. Cheddar cheese, grated

Put the flour, salt, herbs de Provence and yeast in a big bowl. Rub the butter with your fingertips into the flour. Add the water and knead till you get a soft but not-sticky dough. Add water or flour if it's necessary. Knead it approximately 10 minutes and leave it to rise in a greased and covered bowl. This will take 30 till 60 minutes. In the meantime: soak and drain the tomatos and cut them in little pieces.

Add the tomatoes, nuts and cheddar to the dough and fold it als long is needed to spread them evenly through the dough. Put the dough in a floured banneton or form it to firm ball. Leave it one hour to rise until doubled in size. At the end of the rising time, you can preheat the oven at 400 dgr. F. (200 dgr. C.). Bake the bread in 25 - 30 minutes and leave it on a wire rack to cool down. You can eat this bread when it's still warm and the next day it's still very tasty.