Shrimp & Noodle wok

Hey!

don't you wok away!

I know I promised you a BBQ recipe, but I seem to remember something about putting on a wok recipe. So first things first.

If you want to read about the other article about the wok, read it here.

The recipe I'm going to give you, is one I made ages ago. I wrote it down and recently found it back!

For this recipe I used a pre-made mix of spicy vegetables. If I would use fresh veggies I'd take carrots, capsicum (or paprika), leek and a hot pepper. Chop those finely, add some soy beans and *tadaaaam* your veggies are ready to wok.

Also... I wok "by feel" so I don't really know the exact quantities. Next time I prepare this (might be tonight), I'll update it and try to add measurements.

But here are some warnings: DO NOT use to much fish sauce, this sauce doesn't really have a nice smell, but it makes your dish taste great. As long as you don't overuse it!

DO NOT overuse on the sesame-oil, because this oil has a really strong taste.

Try to balance all the different tastes in your dish. That is the key to cooking by feel.

Shrimp & Noodle wok

Ingredients: (for 2-3 people)

• shrimps (about 6 to 8 per person)
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 capsicum (paprika), chopped
• 1/2 leek, chopped
• 1 hot pepper, chopped
• about 2 hands of soy beans (I haven't got a clue how many grams that is, I just take two hands out of the bag)
• thai fish sauce
• soy sauce
• lime juice from 1 lime
• wok oil (spicy)
• 1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tsp lemon grass (for this recipe I use pre-grated)
• sesame-oil
• egg-noodles
• water or vegetable broth

Preparation:

Cook the water or vegetable broth. When it has reached it's cooking point, turn off the heat, add the noodles and let them swell (for the time they need: consult the wrapping).

Heat the wok oil in your wok and shortly stir fry the vegetables. Add some fish sauce, lemon grass an soy sauce and stir fry some more, they still need to be crunchy! Now take the noodles and add them to the wok. Give it a stir for about one minute and set aside.

Heat some sesame oil in your wok (use the same wok, you don't need to clean it first). Stir fry the shrimps with the ginger. Sprinkle with lime juice from 1/2 lime. Take out the shrimps and keep the liquid aside.
Divide the vegetables with the noodles into two bowls and add the shrimps. Mix the remaining lime juice with the cooking juice from the shrimps and sprinkle over the bowls. Garnish with cilantro.
ENJOY!

June 14, 2013

BBQ Sauce

Sun is shining

the weather is sweet!

When the sun starts shining there is always that one song that pops into my head: Sun is shining from Bob Marley. The other thing that pops into my head is: BBQ time!!!!

Barbecue is something everyone loves. And a barbecue sounds easy... light a fire, put on a grill, throw on some meat, scorch it and eat it. And that, my friends, is grilling! Even if you do it on a thing called a barbecue, you are grilling. Barbecuing is something different, a barbecue needs time!

If you want to have a decent bbq you need to invest some time in it. Like I said, it is not about throwing on some meat, grill it for 5 minutes and done.

The word barbecue apparently derives from the french words "barbe"(beard) and "cul"(ass) or "queue"(tail), depends on how old your audience is when you tell the story! This is because when families or villages had a feast they put a sheep, pig or any other animal on a stick and slowly let it grill along the fire, the stick went in through the mouth and came out through the... well you know, hence the word barbecue.

But back to cooking. Like I said, a bbq needs time. Why? Because the slower you cook your meat, the softer and tastier is will be! Of course steak and sausages can be grilled a la minute, but I'm talking about barbecuing whole turkeys, a nice mutton leg, a 5kg sirloin or a rack of ribs! These things need time. The good thing about slow-cooking meat on your barbecue is that you'll have a nice smoky taste.

Let's recap: grilling is on an open fire, no lid and the meat is directly above the heat source. Barbecuing is more time-consuming. And your meat needs to be close to, but not directly on top, of you heat source, in a closed environment (a bbq with a cover i mean!). 

So if you are a real grill- and bbq- lover, the Oklahoma grill is a  perfect thing to have.

When having a barbecue it is best to start lighting your fire a few hours before you've planned to eat. When your fire is hot, put on your meat and cover it. But make sure your meat is NOT directly on top of the fire! A perfect way to do this, on a smaller bbq with lid is to put an aluminum tray on top of the the coals under your meat so the heat and smoke will come from the sides and the top (because op the cover). For a smoky flavor you can marinate wood chips in whiskey or something like that, or you can buy wood chips for smoking in your store and put them on the hot coals.

For sirloin, sausages, fish, ... the ideal temperature is about 150°C to 165°C. If you want to have it more smoked you should keep the temperature around 95°C to 100°C, this is perfect for preparing turkey, chicken, ribs, and so on. But keep in mind that it will take a few hours before the meat is ready!

How you prepare your meat is up to you! You can season your meat with salt, pepper and other herbs, marinade it or just have it nature.

Personally, I like to marinade my meat before cooking it. It gives the meat such a great taste!

And since marinating is the first step of preparing a bbq, I will give you a recipe for a BBQ sauce which, besides dipping your grilled meat in, is also perfect for marinating!

Next time I'll give you a recipe for a nice piece of meat on the barbecue!

BBQ Sauce

Ingredients: (for approximately 1l)

• 2 chopped onions
• 3 to 4 cives of garlic
• 5 big juicy tomatoes
• 4-5 tbs oliveoil
• 1 dl worcestershire sauce
• 1 dl whiskey
• 4-5 tbs maple syrup
• 40gr mustard
• 4 dl ketchup
• 1 tbs tabasco (add more or less according to taste) or freshly chopped red peppers
• 1 lime (for it's juice)

Preparation:

Stew the onions, chopped garlic and chopped tomatoes for about 15 to 20 minutes. If you are using freshly chopped red peppers add them to stew with the other vegetables.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together, and after 15 to 20 minutes add them to the vegetables.  Let it stew again for 20 to 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if you want (I don't do that anymore).

You can either serve this sauce hot or cold. If you want you can mix it, siefe it or leave it like it is (which I like to do).

This sauce goes perfect with grilled meat or fish, with deep fried snacks, french fries, ... or serve it with our eggs and bacon at breakfast.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

June 04, 2013

Long time ago

The future

will bring more food!

I have to apologize because it has been a while since my last post!
This is because I am really busy at the moment. I am sorry!
But DO NOT WORRY!! More recipes are about to come soon!


Here is a sneak peek of what can be expected:

• Sausage with beer sauce
• Mussels asian style
• Simple red curry
• Ceasar salad
• ...and much more!

Oh yeah... although we won't have the summer we've all wanted to have here in Belgium (the forecast says it is going to be the worst summer in 200 years!!), we take out our BBQ from the moment there is a little sunburst through the clouds. So BBQ recipes are to be expected!

See you soon!

June 02, 2013

Greek style chicken burger

Burger baby!

But a healthy one!

I love hamburgers! I'm not talking about those spongey burger-like things you find at McDo or anything like that. What I'm talking about are home made burgers. Yeah... Cheese burgers, bacon burgers, fish burgers, chicken burgers... as long as it is homemade.

You can't deny a homemade burger always tastes better. You can put on whatever you like and make it as big as you like, the sky is the limit!

Unfortunately your belly won't like it if you eat burgers everyday because you'll end up looking like Bibendum, commonly know as the Michelin Man.

If you feel like having a burger try having a "healthy" one. Use chicken or fish instead of beef. Always use red sauces... the are mostly healthier than other sauces; ketchup is better than mayonnaise. Stay of the bacon and the extra cheese, I know... it is soooo good on a burger, but than again: Bibendum!

I'm not saying you have to say goodbye to the "old-school" burger loaded with cheese and bacon. But diversify a little to keep it healthy.

Here is a recipe from... I honestly do not remember, which I personalized. Try this on your next BBQ and I bet your guests will want that recipe!

I hope you will enjoy it!

Greek style chicken burger

Ingredients: (for 4 burgers)

Burgers:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 onion
• 2 gloves of garlic
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried hot pepper, chopped
• salt & pepper
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Roman salad (1 leaf per burger)
• 8 slices of artisan bread
• Olive oil

Greek Sauce (Tzatziki)

• 100gr yoghurt
• 50gr feta cheese (this is not used in traditional Tzatziki, but I like it)
• 50gr cucumber in small pieces
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbs dill & parsley, chopped

Preparation:

Mix the yoghurt, garlic and feta with a mixer. Pour in a bowl, add the cucumber, lemon juice and herbs. Stir and put aside (refrigerated).

Time to prepare the burgers! 

Cut the chicken, onion and garlic into small pieces. Put them in a blender, add the herbs, season with salt and pepper and mix everything to a smooth mixture.

Take the mixture and shape into 4 hamburgers (don't make them to thick, because chicken has to be well cooked before consumption!). Heat the grill or your grill pan and grill the burgers on both sides until they're done.

Sprinkle some olive oil on the bread and toast on the grill.

Put a salad leaf on a slice of bread, put on a slice of tomato, top with the burger some tzatsiki and another slice of bread.

Serve with some extra tzatziki on the side.

Enjoy!

May 24, 2013

Asparagus flemish style

Tasty...

White & green gold!

In Belgium we are in the middle of the asparagus season which, this year, goes from the end of march until the end of june. The vegetable we know is actually the young sprout from an asparagus plant. In the north-west of Europe the white asparagus is mostly cultivated, the green asparagus is usually cultivated towards the south of Europe in countries like Italy. They can be a quite expensive vegetable, because of the intense labour it takes to cultivate.
Both white and green asparagus are a delicacy. For my recipe I use white ones, but you may as well use the green ones.
A dish almost every self respecting Belgian has eaten, besides french fries, is "asperges a la flamande". Asparagus flemish style is a really easy dish that basically consists of four ingredients: asparagus, butter, eggs and parsley.
It is a dish I really love... the only downside is that asparagus make your pee stink, this is because of the sulphur containing substances in this vegetable.

White & green asparagus

Asparagus flemish style

Ingredients:

• 16 large white Asparagus (8 per person)
• 4 eggs
• 1 handfull parsley, chopped
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg
• 100 gr butter

Preparation:

Put the butter in a pot and heat it on a very low fire. The butter must slowly melt which will cause to clarify the butter. Clarified butter is a clear milk fat you get when you separate the milk solids from the butterfat. The "bad" fat will sink to the bottom and you'll remain with a clear substance.

At the same time start boiling your eggs for about 9 minutes.

While your butter is clarifying and your eggs are boiling peel your asparagus by holding the top and use a vegetable peeler to peel the outer skin off.

Take a big casserole with cold water, add the asparagus and salt, and start heating up to cooking point. When the water reaches cooking point, turn off the fire and let the asparagus rest for 5 minutes.

Lay your asparagus on a heated plate and top them with the hard boiled eggs you crushed with a fork. Add the parsley and spoon some clarified butter on top.

Another way is to mix your eggs, butter and parsley in advance and top the asparagus with this mixture.

Enjoy!

May 19, 2013