Be Spiced!

Simple kitchen to enjoy life. Food I make in my own kitchen, for myself, for my family, for my friends. Food to make the life better, to enjoy it. _____________________ "Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es." - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante, 1826 “He showed the words “chocolate cake” to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations. “Guilt” was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response of French eaters to the same prompt: “celebration.” ― Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food _______________________

[bespiced]

Source: http://9gag.com/gag/aOvQ7yD

[bespiced]

Spicy Cajun Pasta Sauce

Groceries:

500 gram ground beef

1 onion

2 tomatoes

200 gram broccoli

3 teaspoons (10 gram) Cajun mix (I used a ready herbs & spices mix)

300 ml vegetable broth (can be made from vegetable stock cube) 

2 teaspoons of salt soy sauce

Pasta of choice (I went with wholegrain penne)

Optional: 

100 ml of milk or sour cream

How to:

Cut the onion into small pieces. 

Wash and cut the broccoli in smaller pieces

Wash and cut the tomatoes into small pieces.

Set up pasta for cooking.

Fry the minced meat. Add onions and fry them with the meat for a minute.

Add tomatoes and broccoli. Fry it all together for few minutes.

Add the spices, mix through the meat and vegetables.

Add the broth and stir thoroughly. 

Taste. If it's too spicy for you, add milk or sour cream. 

Cook for about 5 minutes and serve.

Enjoy your meal!

[bespiced]

Ketjap & Honey pork fillet 

400 gram pork fillet strips

sweet soy sauce

teaspoon of honey

250 gram vegetables (I used a mix of: red bell pepper, green bell pepper, spring onion, bean sprouts, onion and white cabbage)

100 ml water

I served it with brown rice.

Let the meat marinate in about 3-4 spoons of sweet soy sauce for 15 minutes.

In the meanwhile get your rice cooking. Brown rice takes about 15-20 minutes to be entirely done.

Fry the meat in wok until it stops foaming. Don't add oil! 

When all meat is done (no pink parts visible) add veggies and wok it all together for another 10 minutes. 

Add water to create a bit of sauce and fry on high flame for another 5 minutes.

Serve the rice and meat together. 

[bespiced]

Chocolate & Banana Sorbet (Without using ice cream machine)

Groceries:

500 gram banana’s

100 ml hot water

65 gram sugar

Tablespoon of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of your favourite liquor OR syrup

Tablespoon of chocolate powder

The how to:

Solve sugar in the hot water. Stir until sugar dissolves. Let it cool off.

Puree the fruit with a fork. Mash it! You can also use a mixer. 

Mix together the syrup and mashed fruit, lemon juice and liquor (or syrup) in a bowl (the one you will use to freeze it). 

First let it chill in the fridge and then put it in the freezer.

Stir every 2 hours if possible, making sure to scrape the ice and stir it thoroughly.

Wait until it freezes completely (usually after 12 hours).

Enjoy!

You can use this receipt with basically ANY fruit. Keep in mind though, more juicy fruit will produce more sorbet so remember to use the right container/bowl ^_^ 

[bespiced]

Grocery list:

Eggs

breadcrumbs

beef (stewing beef type)

cheese

spices & herbs (I used Provencal mix)

Oil/butter

toothpicks

Beat two eggs on a flat plate.

Mix breadcrumbs and spices&herbs on another plate.

Flatten the meat more by using meat hammer. 

Slice the cheese and put a thin layer of it on the meat (see picture!)

Fold the meat together, making sure the cheese is inside and doesn't stick out. Close the meat together with toothpicks.

Now dip/roll/cover the meat with egg first, and then with the breadcrumbs mix. 

Heat oil/butter in a small frying pan and fry the meat! make sure to often turn it. I fried mine for 20 minutes each.

Serve with potatoes and a salad. Don't forget to take out the toothpicks! :) 

[bespiced]

Summer/Spring Crudités, side dish

Groceries:

Jar of pickles (sweet/sour type, "cornichons" ) don't drain them!

4 tomatoes

jar of mayonnaise (or salad mayonnaise, or yogurt mayonnaise).

1 onion

black pepper, salt

How to:

Clean and cut the onion into small pieces. The smaller the better.

Slice the pickles in length twice, quartering them. Now cut them into smaller pieces. 

Wash the tomatoes and cut them into as small pieces as possible.

Throw the veggies into a bowl.

Add teaspoon of salt and a pinch of pepper and stir it all together.

Add 3-4 dinner spoons of mayonnaise and add 4 dinner spoons of the pickle water to it. 

Stir it all together and put it in the fridge to cool for about 5-10 minutes.

If required you can always add more mayonnaise for more creamy taste.

Enjoy!

Best served with meat from grill or barbecue. 

[bespiced]

Simple snack or addition to dinner:

Steamed broccoli with fresh cut onions and fried sunflower seed, sprinkled with fresh lemon juice.

[bespiced]

Homemade spaghetti

tea spoon = tea sp.  table spoon = tbl sp. gram = gr milliliter = ml

Groceries:

600 gr minced meat (I use mixed minced meat, pork & beef)

can of peas (above I used peas & small carrots)

3 tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

onion

leek

1 small garlic tooth

1 red bell pepper

parsley, basil, rosemary, bay leaf, paprika, pepper, celery seed

water

oil

Prepare:

cut up the onions and leek in small pieces

slice the tomatoes and red bell pepper as small as possible. 

chop up the garlic!

The How-to

Remember, spaghetti sauce is to be served with spaghetti pasta! This is a very close recipe to classic spaghetti bolognaise.  

Take a frying pan (big!). Heat some oil in it. 

Throw in the tomato paste and fry it until it will turn dark shade of red. 

Now fry the minced meat in it. (For me the scent was already delicious...)

Add the peas (and carrots) to the meat WITH the water from can. This will give the sauce a slightly more sweet taste then usual. 

Now add parsley, basil, rosemary, paprika, pepper, celery seed.

Add the veggies. 

Add about 300 ml of water and stir everything. Add the bay leaf now. 

Let is cook for 20 minutes while stirring. 

If the sauce will turn too thick for your tastes, you can always add more water. 

[bespiced]

Classic Chicken with a Twist

tea sp. = tea spoon tbl. sp. = table spoon

Grocery list: 

500 g chicken (breast, white meat !)

pasta (mmm... fusili)

2 tomatoes

small onion

150 ml bullion (I used a bullion cube and solved in water)

oil

plain flour

First of all, I marinate the meat. Clean the chicken meat: wash it in vinegar (removes icky invisible things!) and wash it in water. Then cut it up in small pieces.

For meat:

4 tbl. sp. oil

1 tbl. sp. ketjap manis

dried:  1/2 tea sp. rosemary 1/2 tea sp. basil 1/4 tea sp. oregano 1/4 tea sp. celery leaves 1/4 tea sp. parsley 1/4 tea sp. paprika 1/2 tea sp. ginger (powdered) 

1 tbl. sp lemon juice

Mix the above in a bowl and add meat. Stir it through properly and leave it covered in fridge for about 20 minutes. 

Let's get cook on! 

In the meanwhile set up your pasta for cooking, clean and peel the onion, chop it, and chop one of the tomatoes too. In the same time I cooked some water in my electric kettle and solved the bullion cube in 150 ml of water. 

After 20 minutes you can bake the meat. Heat some oil in frying pan and add onions. Stir frequently untill they turn gold. Then add meat and fry it for about 5 minutes on high fire. Then turn it down to medium fire, stir, and add chopped tomatoes. Stir again. Keep stirring untill the meat is cooked and blush it with the bullion, stir again.

Mix in a cup 100 ml of water with 2 tea sp. of flour, stir and make sure there are no clumps. Add it to the chicken. Keep stirring now and let it cook untill the water is a bit gone and the sauce thickened. 

Finally, serve it over your pasta with the sauce and the other tomato cut in quarters. 

I like this dish because there is no extra salt added, and the only taste is of herbs and meat itself. Sauce is a basic sauce that takes on a lot of scent and taste of the meat and herbs as well.

[bespiced]

Sweet honey sauce

This can be used as a side sauce or as dip. Perfect for sweet water fish.

Mix: 1 table spoon of sesame oil 2 table spoons honey 1 table spoon ketchup 1/2 table spoon of sweet soy sauce (ketjap manis)

[bespiced]

Pasta Sauce: 'Shrooms & Ham

First, create the Basic Cream Sauce using 250 water (bouillon) and 250 ml milk. Add the herbs from the list below to the sauce and half tea spoon of mustard. Use only pinches of paprika, curry, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Add table spoon mix of chives, basil, celery seed, coriander and oregano.

Groceries:

1 garlic

small onion

mushroom mix 400 gr

ham 200 gr OR salmon 200 gr OR Atlantic Seabob shrimp 200 gr

herbs: chives, oregano, basil, celery seed, coriander, paprika, curry, cayenne pepper, black pepper

butter

your favourite pasta (I used fusili)

150 ml water

150 ml milk

How to: 

Clean (wash and brush) the mushrooms and cut them in slices.

Peel the garlic (use single tooth) and cut it into pieces.

Peel onion and chop it into small pieces.

Melt butter in frying pan.

Fry the mushrooms untill they turn brown and add garlic. Stir and fry again. (That scent! <3 )

Blush the shrooms & garlic with sauce and stir it through. Bring it to cook for about 2 minutes on low heat. Add the meat/fish.

Add milk and water. Stir thoroughly. Cook for another 4-5 minutes on medium heat, keep on stirring else it might easily burn.

Give it a final stir and serve. 

The way of serving above is mine, on top of the sauce I added basil for decoration.

[bespiced]

Oven baked potatoes & veggies

I will add a picture as soon as I will make it again. Forgot to take the picture and nommed it all... 

Groceries:

2 red bell peppers

3 big carrots (winterpeen)

mushrooms (small variety)

around 5-7 Roseval potatoes (red skinned potatoes)

herbs of choice (I went for chive and dill)

olive oil

oven

c

asserole dish or oven pan with handles

OR

5-7 large normal potatoes

To Do:

Wash and peel the carrots and cut them in 4 pieces in length. Chop those pieces into smaller parts, about finger length.

Clean the peppers and chop them into 4 pieces, cutting up those in smaller parts too. Not too small though... 

Clean (wash them with a brush) your potatoes and quarter them. Meaning, cut them in 4 parts. No peeling!

Wash and clean your mushrooms, don't cut them up.

Pre-heat oven 200°C or 392°F. Convection oven or a fan assisted oven work best with this, but a normal will do just fine. 

Mix the carrots, peppers and potatoes together in the casserole dish, add olive oil (a lot, enough to make sure the dish is fattened and the food is covered with it properly).

Put the dish into the over for 15 minutes.

Take it out, mix the food altogether again and put it back in for another 15 minutes.

Take out, mix the food again, add mushrooms and herbs. Add a bit of olive oil again and mix it all. Put it back into oven for 30 minutes.

And that's all! 

Enjoy your food! 

[bespiced]

The Veggie Mix (Mexican-like style)

I'm a big fan of vegetables and these I serve quite often. I make them in a light spicy sauce.

They are easy to make them on your own but often you can find this mix in your local store in the frozen section.

Groceries:

Vegetables:

corn (small young corn, whole)

leeks

brown, white and green beans

onions (cut in rings)

red bell peppers

Other:

tomato puree

garlic powder

water

flour

parsley

chili peppers (dried or fresh or powder)

vinegar

paprika powder

optional: milk

How to:

Clean and slice your veggies.

Cook them together in one cooking pot. 

When cooked, drain the water and let them steam off for a bit.

Put them on fire, add onions and fry them a little bit.

Add fresh water, make sure there is a small layer of water covering them.

Add chili peppers, garlic powder and parsley. Stir and add half of teaspoon of vinegar.

Add tomato puree and stir it together, making sure everything is mixed well.

When the water is boiling, solve in about 50 ml of water, 2 teaspoons of flour. Mix it well, make sure there are no lumps! Or at least as little as possible... 

Add the flour & water to the veggies and bring them all to boiling. You will now notice how everything is thickening. That's because of water & flour.

Add any other herbs if you want, but taste often. The taste should be tomato-red bell pepper, with hint of onion and a tad spicy. If it's not spicy enough for you, you can always add more chili peppers. BUT always taste first! Chili peppers are very spicy, and for this reason I rather use the dried chili peppers which I cut in pieces.

You made it too spicy? Add 100 ml of milk to make it less spicy.

Keep stirring, as it's easy to burn this side-dish.

When the sauce is thickened enough to stick to the vegetables, it's done!

[bespiced]

Mashed Potatoes (Puree)

Simple homemade mashed potatoes don't require much work and it's always obvious on what you eat. These can be served with any kind of meat (not fish!) and even without sauce if you add herbs.

Needed:

crumbling type of potatoes for the amount of people you are preparing (Eigenheimers, Irenes or Doré, Bintje are the type of potatoes you can use best)

water

cooking pot

milk

butter

optional: herbs & spices

The how to:

Peel, wash and slice the potatoes. 

Potatoes go into the pot, add water to the point the potatoes are covered with a layer of water only and cook them.

Potatoes are ready when you can prick through them with a fork with ease. 

Cooked? Good. Drain the water from potatoes.

Now let the potatoes steam a bit, to remove the left over water in them. Give it about 5 minutes.

Add a teaspoon of butter to the potatoes.

Using a fork or a masher, mash the potatoes. 

Add 100 ml of milk and mash them again thoroughly. 

Optional: add now chosen herbs. I used rosemary, dill and nutmeg powder. Remember to mash again to spread the herbs through the puree.

If the puree is too watery, add a teaspoon of breadcrumbs and mash again.

Enjoy :) 

[bespiced]

Basic Cream Sauce

This sauce can be used as a basic addition to anything. Also as a base for a lot of sauces. 

Groceries:

Butter 

125 ml water

Vegetable bouillon cube

125 ml milk

Plain flour

Cooking pot

The How To:

Solve the bouillon cube in boiling water. 

Add butter to the pot, heat it on low fire, let the butter melt.

Add 2-4 teaspoons of flour to the butter and mix it thoroughly. I prefer to do this with a fork. This creates roux. 

Blush it down with the bouillon and bring it to cooking on a medium fire. Keep on stirring.

Add milk and bring to boil again. Keep stirring.

As soon as it's boiling you can add favourite spices, herbs of vegetables to create your own sauce.

Cook it for about 2 minutes and take it off the fire. 

Plain sauce can be served to anything, from pasta to meat and potatoes.

[bespiced]

Kopytka (Potato dumplings)

Ingredients for about 4 servings:

1 kg of potatoes ( after peeling = 1kg )

1 egg

200g plain flour + more for dusting

oil

Preparation:

Peel and cook in salted water . Cool slightly and crumble them into a bowl. If you own a mincing machine, use it. Allow to cool completely.

Add the flour and egg .

Knead quickly to smooth dough, the dough should be slightly sticky. It's better to not add extra flour, because the small amount of flour creates fluffy and soft dumplings. However, if the dough will be very lumpy, you can add a little more flour, but in moderation.

Put the dough on the counter (or pastry board) sprinkled with flour.

Divide it into 6 parts. It's easier to make dumplings when the parts are smaller.

Roll every part into a finger thick roll, make sure it's well covered in the flour. It should NOT stick to the board.

Flatten the roll slightly and cut into diagonal pieces, roughly the size of thumb (~6 cm).

In the meantime, boil a large pot of water. Salt the water well. When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat so that the water keeps on boiling (bubbling).

Dumplings should be cooked in portions to be served. Gently put one for one, dumpling into the water, mix with a wooden spoon once to avoid it sticking to the bottom. You can also add a little bit of oil to the water to prevent them from sticking to each other.

Cook briefly, from the moment the dumplings will come up to the surface, about 2-3 minutes.

Pull out with a slotted spoon and serve immediately.

This is a basic recipe for potato dumplings. They can be eaten as a separate dish for example, topped with fried onion , bacon, melted butter or your favorite sauce, or as a supplement to roast or stew instead of normal potatoes.

If you want some dumplings the next day, then move them (cooked) into a greased bowl and sprinkle with oil. Make sure all are covered with a layer of oil. Cover them and keep them in refrigerator. The second day is best to heat them in a frying pan.

Country of origin: Poland

[bespiced]

Needed: 

Suflower oil, olive oil or butter

50 ml water

125 gr of (smoked) bacon or ham, cut in stripes

250 gr of mushrooms of choice, sliced or chopped

1 onion (medium size), chopped

400 gr small potatoes 

Spices & herbs: oregano, basilicum, dill, rosemary, celery leaf, red pepper powder

Large and deep frying pan

Let's turn the heat up:

Chop the onions and mushrooms.

If the potatoes aren't precooked, cook them.

Heat up the oil in the frying pan.

Fry the onions. The onions should float in the oil.

Add the bacon and stir the onions through bacon. Wait 'till the oil is everywhere except in the frying pan... 

 Keep stirring until the bacon will be slightly gold coloured/brown. 

Add chopped mushrooms and stir again. Let it cook for about 2 minutes.

Add potatoes and stir it all together. 

Fry it for about 5 minutes on medium fire (setting 5 on my induction cooking).

Add water and the herbs & spices and stir again.

Let it cook (keep stirring!) until the water is gone and the potatoes almost fall apart.

This is my favourite easy dish basically. Tastes heavenly when hot, and amazingly enough, also when it's cold.

Want to serve it fancy? Buy fresh celery, shape the food in round shape on plate, put the fresh, minced celery leaf on top and serve with red wine.