Grilled Pepper Poppers #90

We had a nice cold weekend,so I had to try HOT grilled pepper poppers....
It was really great.....and so easy to make.
When I was walking to the butcher I saw a store were they sold big green peppers...Great, now I have the pepper's,500gr minced meat,Grana padano cheese,bacon,2Tbsp brown sugar an onion (diced) 2 gloves garlic (crushed) 1 egg and some bread crum.(blend everything).
Let's make the poppers...
Slice off the top of the pepper and add some cheese at the bottom of the pepper,stuff it with the minced meat mixture, and wrap the bacon around the popper.
Prepare the grill for indirect grilling.Add the poppers on the grate,and add some cherry wood for the smoke...leave it on the grill for about an hour or so..
We had some rice and salad on the side...
Enjoy..

Winter BBQ tenderloin #89

Two Weber's, -5 degrees,good friends,fireplace,wine. and a nice piece of tenderloin.served with BBQ fries and a fennel salad.
There was no soccer today,so I had all the time to prepare all the goods.
The tenderloin was rose/medium with only salt & pepper to taste on a hot grate for 2 minutes each side.
For the fennel you use the wok on the grill. We grilled it with some balsamic and minced bacon..keep it warm in the stove.
On the other Weber we grilled the big bbq fries. But first Precook the potato's for about 5 minutes.Make quarters of the potato's and put them in a large bowl with olive oil,onion garlic rosemary,fresh pepper and salt to taste.then grill them direct on the grate for about 5 minutes each site.On the other grill we had the tenderloin's just added with salt & pepper to taste.Grill them on high fire for about 2 minutes each side for a rose tenderloin...they were awesome,just as the potato's and fennel..
For desert we had a mango ice cream and a after eight ice cream from a recipe from Nigella Lawson
(I changed the pomegranate for mango and after eight)....It was fabulous..Use 1 mango,blend it add sugar ,500Ml double cream and 175gr icing sugar,(Use 250 Ml for the mango and 250 Ml for the after eight) put it on a fridge for 4 hours...
We had a very enjoyable evening with a lot of wine (Valpolicella Campagnola)

Rice,mango,chicken #88

Well,we had a quick meal tonight,A 20 minutes meal...It was awesome!! You need 2 mango's , 250gr rice,500gr chicken breast,2Tbsp soy,1Tbsp honey,1tsp 5species powder,1 onion,2 gloves garlic,1 paprika (diced) and a handful cashew's.
Marinate the chicken breast in the soy,honey and 5 species.Cook the rice as described in the package.
Peel off the skin from the mango,and slice it.
Put the onion,minced garlic and the chicken in the wok.If the chicken is almost ready,add the mango and cashew nuts.Let it simmer for about 5 minutes...there you go..dinner is ready in 20 minutes.
Enjoy with a red wine..

Satay #87

After a long hard week of visiting doctors,therapist,and shrink's with my wife,it was time to relax and have an hour or so for myself.Cooking a nice meal, drinking a glass of wine and putting on the grill.I'm still thinking of ,and searching for something "how to deal with MSA" Damn I can't clear my mind...If somebody know something about MSA,please let me know!!
Ok back to the fun thing this weekend...Weber time! Rice and string beans.First chop of the ends of the string beans (400gr),and cook them in water for about 5 minutes.
In the meanwhile heat up a cast iron wok pan.
Wok the string beans with "sajoer"An Indonesian paste.Put the beans in the oven (80 degrees) to keep them warm.
Make 250gr rice. Marinate 2 chicken breast with 2Tbsp soy sauce,honey to taste,1tsp chili powder and 1 tsp coriander seeds.
We also had satay from pork tenderloin.
Make sure you had a alufoil strip under the wooden skewers!!.
Wok 250gr tauge,250 gr chinese cabbage and 1fresh pepper for about 5 minutes, add the rice and heat up for a while.In the meantime the satay is ready too.
Serve with prawn crackers and seroendeng.

Cooking pear ice cream #86

Last week I had planned to make ice cream..
It's so easy,the only thing you need is a freezer,250ml whipped cream,200ml yoghurt,80gr sugar,7gr vanilla sugar.
Mix the yoghurt,sugar and vanilla sugar in a bowl. Make the whipped cream separately.
Make the cooking pears as described here
Let them cool down and blend them.
Add the whipped cream and the cooking pears to the yoghurt mix.Blend it till you've got a smooth cream.
Put the mix in a container and place it in the freezer..stir every hour a few times till it's hard.
Take it out of the freezer half an hour before use...
Enjoy..

Winter squash "challenge" 01-2011

The first "challenge" of 2011 is done!!.Winter squash,ground beef,quinoa and pears.For the pears I had a great idea... It won't fit in the winter squash,so I made a cooking pear ice cream.
Tonight we made a winter squash with ground beef (250gr),mixed with quinoa and stuffed with ricotta.
Cut the Winter squash in 2 half's take off the seeds (Save them if you like) Sprinkle a little bit oil,pepper and sea salt on the winter squash.In the meantime prepare the Weber for indirect grilling.Put the 2 half's on the grate and close the lid.wait until the Squash is soft,and take it out.Save the shell!! you need it..
Prepare the ground beef (minced) in a cast iron skillet,with an onion (diced),and a glove of garlic (crushed).
Make the quinoa as described on the package.
Mix the ground beef,winter squash and ricotta in a large bowl and put everything in the 2 half's that you have saved.Add some Grana Padano (or other cheese) on top,and put it on the grill for about 30-45 minutes till the cheese is melted..

Additional participants in this month’s Ingredient Challenge include:

Robyn Medlyn of Grillgrrrl – ENTRY HERE

Robyn Medlin is the “grill girl” behind grillgrrrl.com. Her focus is on healthy, simple and creative recipes on the grill. She encourages women to learn to grill as it a great way to create healthy, flavorful dishes without all the fuss and clean up in the kitchen. This “grill girl” holds quarterly “Women’s Grilling Clinics” as a way to encourage women to not be intimated by the grill. As a McCormick’s flavor correspondent for their “This Week in Grilling Campaign”, Robyn shares fun, tropical video recipes documenting her grilling adventures from her backyard in Sunny, Hollywood, Florida.

The BBQ Grail ENTRY HERE

The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed on Alltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.

Chris of Nibble Me This – ENTRY HERE

The Nibble Me This website was created to share Chris’ misadventures in live fire cooking. ”I have no culinary training….I’m just entertaining myself with fire and food”.

Paul Haight of No Excuses BBQ – ENTRY HERE

The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author’s goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control…

Pulled pork #85

Pulled pork,slow cooking,2Kg fine Boston butt,rub,mop sauce,grill,cherry wood and 8 hours time, This is basically what you need for a very nice sandwich.
Start to marinate the butt whit a rub you like,I used the one with chili,paprika,sea salt,brown sugar and a little bit Bacardi Rum.
Massage the butt with it and leave it for a few hours in the fridge.
In the meantime prepare the grill for indirect grilling and prepare the mop sauce.We had the tomato ketchup with chili, rum and brown sugar.
Make sure the heat is around 120 degrees.Put the "butt" on the grate.Turn the 'butt" every hour,and add some cherry wood at the same time.After 6 hours mop every hour..The bark is getting very dark,don't worry... it's normal.
If you reach the core temperature of 90-95 degrees,you can take him of the grate and wrap him in alufoil. Put the beans in a cast iron skillet and bake the beans on the grill.
Now sit back relax and enjoy your sandwich with this superb pulled pork...don't forget the wine;-)

Chipirones & Fennel #84

Last week I was thinking of our time in Spain,and the wonderful tapa's we ate at the nice bars and restaurants.The most delish chipirones we ate at Bar Gelpi in Callela de Palafrugell.
Now it was time to bring the summer memory back to the Netherlands.
At the local fish market I could get a bunch of chipirones/babysquid.
Make a batter with flour,water,salt & pepper to taste.
Put the squids in the batter and fry them till they are gold brown (3-5 minutes) Serve with fresh lemon and sea salt.
We had a nice warm salad with fennel,gamba and a balsamic dressing from the grill.Off course we had the original patatas frittas con aioli as a side dish.
For the aioli use 1 egg yolk,pepper,salt and 2 cloves garlic 50ml olive oil and 100 ml sunflower oil. Make sure the egg and oil are on room temperature!!. Mix the egg yolk,salt and pepper a little...add the oil slow with the egg yolk and mix untill you have a nice creamy aioli.
It was a very nice adventure,and brings back the good times from Spain in my memory..

Enjoy

Brussels-sprouts guest blog

Last week I was asked by Rebbeca from Chow and Chatter to write a guest blog with a typical "Dutch" recipe.

In the Netherlands we eat a lot of potatoʼs with all kind of vegetables, like
fennel,cauliflower,leek and off course Brussels-sprouts.

Now this is a typical “Dutch” healthy dish.Itʼs full of vitamins.

I made a nice stew of the Brussels-sprouts with potato and bacon.

Ingredients for 4 persons.

500 gr Brussels-sprouts
500 gr potatoʼs
250 gr bacon
1 tsp nut meg
sea salt to taste

Method:
Cut off the end of the sprouts,and peel off the brown leafʼs and rins them in clear
water.
Peel the potatoʼs and cut them in 2 parts.
Cook the potatoʼs with a pinch of sea salt.
Do the same with the sprouts.
Make sure that you cook the sprouts not too long....if you do, the sprouts are gonna
smell awefull (sulfurous odor).(Thatʼs why children mostly not like sprouts)
In the meanwhile bake the bacon.
Put everything together in a large bowl and mix well...

Enjoy.

With special thanks to Rebbeca for asking...
Please visit her site as well.Chow and Chatter

Boris home made pesto..#83

Boris wanna make his favorite lunch today,mozzarella,tomato,cucumber and home made pesto.
This morning he asked me how to make pesto,do we have the ingredients...Lets see..Yes we have pine nuts,we have Grana padano cheese,we have oil,we have garlic and we have fresh basil..(add pepper and sea salt to taste) Ok put all the ingredients in the blender and mix well.While blending, add some olive oil and keep on mixing.Put it in a jar and store it in the fridge till lunchtime.
Do the pesto on a sandwich with some mozzarella,cucumber,tomato add a pinch of salt to taste and enjoy...

By the way look at those little fellas while eating a sandwich...it's so cute to see...