Steamed mussels with fries (moules frites)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Steamed mussels are considered the 'National dish' of Belgium, they are always accompanied by the famous Belgian Fries.

Ingredients (2 people):

•   1 Kg mussels.
•   2 onions.
•   2 celery branches.
•   4 blades of thyme.
•   2 bay leaves.
•   2 or 3 White wine glasses.
•   60 grams of butter.
•   Salt.
•   Pepper.

Method:

1-   Clean mussels.
2-   Cut onions into thin slices.

3-   Cut celery into pieces (including Green part).

4-   Melt butter in a saucepan.

5-   Add onions and celery until they become transparent.

6-   Add mussels and stirr well, mussels will start to reléase their juice.

7-   After 3 minutes , add wine , bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper.
Mix well.

8-   Once mussels are open, they are ready to be consumed.
Serve them accompanied by fries and buttered bread to dipp into the sauce.

My Comments to the Recipe

When I was in Belgium a could try mussels and fries, it just was the same recipe I have presented, celery has a peculiar taste, you shouldn't get rid of it, it provides the real taste of belgian mussels.

Mussels are soft and delicious.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

 

Belgium

Belgian endive with ham au gratin

                                                                               Receta en Español

Endive is known as 'Belgian White Gold'.

Endivie does not grow wild in nature, its natural form is chicory, which has green leaves and is quite bitter.

The discovery of the way of growing was made by Belgians, it dates from the time when Belgium was formed.
In 1830, during the Belgian revolution, a farmer from Schaerbeek, Jan Lammers, watched skirmishes near his farm, he decided to leave; to protect his products , he covered them with ground.Among his crops he had chicory, widely consumed in Belgium at the time.After a few weeks, when the farmer returned to his farm, he was surprised by the fact that chicory had grown with white leaves , and its taste was less bitter, this new chicory was called 'witloof' (White leaf in Flemish).Years later,Frans Bresiers, the head of the Belgian National Botanical Garden, made a few tests and grew the endive the way we know it today.Belgium is the country in the world where endives are eaten in greater quantity, Today I present you a very popular Belgian recipe, endices wrapped with ham and cheese bechamel ,really delicious!.

Ingredients:

•   8 endives.
•   8 ham slices.
•   400 ml milk.
•   2 cloves of garlic.
•   4 tablespoons flour.
•   150 grams of butter.
•   300 grams grated cheese (better if gruyère).
•   1 teaspoon of sugar.
•   Salt.
•   Pepper.
•   Nutmeg.

Method:

1-   Clean endives and take out the outer leaves, cut the base.

2-   Chop finely garlic cloves.

3-   Melt 50 grams butter in a saucepan medium heat.

4-   Add endives to the pan, add sugar, put the quantity of water you need to half cover the endives.

5-   Cook covered at medium heat for 15 minutes. Five minutes after starting cooking add the garlic.

6-   Stirr regularly , after 15 minutes endives will be slightly caramelized:

7-   Place endives on an absorbent paper , let them dry for 30 minutes. (Keep the liquid of cooking the endives in the saucepan).

8-   In another pan we prepare the bechamel sauce, melt 100 grams butter at high heat, add flour . Once butter is melted put aside and let the mix get slightly red.

9- Add milk little by little and stirr quickly with a wooden spoon.

10- Add 300 ml of the remaining cooking water (if you have less quantity add that quantity) keep stirring.

11- Set at low heat , add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

12- Add half of the cheese and let it melt , keep stirring until the mix  becomes thick and creamy.

13- Roll up each endive in a ham slice, put the rolls in a oven proof plate.

14- Pour bechamel over the rolls.

15- Preheat oven at 210ºC and place the plate into the oven. Cook for 20 minutes  , heat above and below.

16- After 10 minutes of cooking we add over the endives the remaining cheese , let cook in the oven for another 10 minutes.

17- Serve hot accompanied by fries or  mashed potatoes.

My Comments to the Recipe 

cheese bechamel is delicious , it provides softness to the endives, they can be a Little bitter but the taste is wonderfull thanks to all the ingredients of the plate.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Sources:
http://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_ainsi-naquit-le-chicon?id=5568513
http://www.supertoinette.com/fiche-cuisine/251/naissance-et-culture-de-l-endive-ou-chicon.HTML

 

Belgium

Belgian fries

                                                                                                                      Receta en español 

Belgians are proud of their fries, there are a lot of places on the streets where you can buy these belgian 'delicatessen' , they can be accompanied by different sauces.

The origin of their recipe is uncertain, French and Belgian people claim to be the creators of the fries.

Belgian people place the origin of the recipe in Namur, inhabitants used to fish in the river Mosa, where they could find little fishes that they fried.

One year, middle XVIII century, Winter was too severe and the river was frozen. There was no way of fishing, so locals decided to cut potatoes the same length as little fishes and fried them.

They use a special method of cooking potatoes that makes them crispy outside and soft inside.

This is the secret of their method:

Ingredients:

•   Potatoes.
•   Sunflower oil. (In Belgium they use beef fat).
•   Salt.

Method:

1-   Wash, peel and cut potatoes into long strips about 1 cm thickness:

2-   Put oil at medium heat in a deep saucepan, the quantity of the oil must be enough to cover the strips of potatoes.

3-   Put potatoes into the saucepan and fry them during 8 minutes, until they become soft. Add salt at this point:

4-   Put the fries in a plate and let them cool.

5-   Put the oil at high heat, take a little quantity of fries and let them fry during 2 minutes, they become golden, put them in a plate and do the same with another little quantity of fries.
This second frying makes the fries crispy outside, keeping its softness inside.

My comments to the Recipe

I have tried fries in Belgium and I can tell that the fries made this way are even more delicious. If you use a frying machine it is easier to know the exact temperatura of the oil. The first frying must be done at 140ºC and the second frying must be done at  170-180 ºC.
I have used sunflower oil because olive oil has a stronger taste that can vary the result.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

 

Bélgica