Vellutata di zucchini e patate

Who told you this soup can only be prepared in winter? I will give you this recipe for a light and delicious zucchini that we eat in summer. To add it to the end of the Parmesan cheese makes it even more delicious.

What you need

• 5 medium zucchini (roughly sliced)
• 3 small potatoes (halved or quartered)
• 1/4 white onion (roughly sliced)
• 1 tbsp soup herbmix (like Vegeta)
• 500 ml of water 
• 100 ml of cream
• Grated old cheese or emmenthaler
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper to taste
  

How to prepare it

1. Heat a large pan with water (just to cover the vegetables).
2. Add the courgettes cut into pieces, the potatoes peeled and cut into pieces, the Vegeta herb mix  and the quarter of white onion cut.  
3. Cover and cook over low heat for about 40 minutes.  
4. Add the cream and old cheese.  
5. Use the blender to create a cream. 
6. If too dense, add little water until you reach the most liked texture.  
7. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, add the black pepper.
8. Serve hot.

Toast with stewed octopus

 What you need:

• 1/2 kg octopus, cleaned
• 1 lemon, zest and juice only
• 2 garlic cloves, bashed
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 dried red chilli pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, thickly sliced
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• 180ml red wine
• 3 ripe tomatoes, cut in cubes
• 2 tbsp good quality tomato puree
• 3 tbsp fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped
• bread to serve

How to prepare it:

1. Clean the octopus and bash it with a meat hammer, to tenderise the octopus.
2. Rinse well under cold water and pat dry. 
3. Cook a pan of water and drop the (parts) of the the ocopus in for 10 seconds. Repeat 3 or 4 times. Let it cool down a bit.
4. Cut the meat in 4-5cm pieces and place the octopus into a freezer bag with the lemon zest, juice, garlic and thyme and mix until well combined. Chill in the fridge to marinate for one hour.
5. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onions, red chilli and fry for five minutes, or until softened.
6. Stir in the marinated octopus and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the bay leaves and red wine. Bring to the boil and cook until the volume of wine has reduced by half.
7. Add the tomatoes, tomatoe puree and return to a simmer, then cook gently for 1-1½ hours. The ocotpus is finished when very tender. 
8. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. 
9. Stir in the parsley.

Smoked salmon and miso soup

Miso (みそ or 味噌) is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and koji (the fungus Aspergillus oryzae) and sometimes rice, barley, or other ingredients. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called misoshiru (味噌汁), a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining worldwide interest.

Typically, miso is salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory.

What you need

For the salmon

• 200g smoked salmon fillets, skin on, and free of bones
• 4 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 50 gr sesame seeds 

For the miso soup

• 250g udon noodles
• 1.5 litre water
• 50ml mirin
• 50ml dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white miso
• 3 spring onions (julienned)
• 1/2 turnip (julienned)
• a few strips wakame seaweed
• two hands Swiss chard broken into separate leaves
• few coriander leaves, to garnish

 How to prepare it

1. 1. Cook the noodles according the package and rinse them in cold water. It is best to set aside in iced cold water.
   2. For the salmon mix the mirin and sesame oil.
   3. Mix well with the salmon and set aside for 30 minutes.  
   4. Heat the water in a pan and add the mirin and soy sauce. Add the sliced spring onions, turnip and wakame seaweed. Simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the Swiss chard and leave for 2 minutes.
   5. Preheat a pan for the salmon. Dip the salmon in the sesame seeds (both sides).
   6. Heat the salmon skin-side down in the hot pan for 2 or 3 minutes and turn for 1 minute.
   7. To serve the udon noodles spoon over the hot broth and add the salmon on top.
   8. Garnish with the coriander to serve.

Salmon Fish Curry

This is an easy Indian Fish Curry dish


What you need for the spice mix:
- 6 dried chillies
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp garam massala
1/2 tsp ground tumeric

What you need for the sauce:
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 1 ripe tomato, chopped
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 6 green chillies
- 8 garlic cloves, chopped
- 5 cm fresh ginger, grated
- 125 ml tamarind puree
- 3 tbsp coconut cream
- 1 kg salmon cutlets

Step 1:
Roast the chillies, cumin, coriander and mustard in a dry hot pan. Then grind it to powder. Add the garam masala and ground tumeric.

Step 2:
Heat the heavy based frying pan, large enough to lay the cutlets in one layer (so, not as on the picture) and add the oil. Add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown. Add the tomato, chopped onion, garlic, ginger, end green chill. Stir fry stir it for 20 minutes.

Step 3:
Add the spice mix and the tamarind to the pan and bring it to the boil. Add the coconut cream and stir well. Season with salt. Add the salmon and bring slowly to the boil. The sauce is a bit thick and needs to be hot. Simmer for 5 minutes and then carefully turn the cutlets around and cook for another 5 minutes. The sauce must be thick.

Enjoy you dish!!!

Surinamese Masala Chicken Roti

This very popular recipe was taken from India to Surinam (South America) and later to the Netherlands by workers. This great meal you have to eat and feel by yoiur hands.

To make the roti sauce, you will need:
6 chicken legs
1 dl oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves
30 gr massala
black pepper (freshly grounded)
1 tsp cumin seeds (freshly grounded)
2 tomatoes from a tin (or fresh)
3 dl chicken stock
4 potatoes
1 or 2 Madame Jeanette peppers
1 small onion (chopped)
1 garlic clove (chopped)
a bunch of asparagus beans (cut in peaces of about 7 cm)
4 eggs (soft boiled)

Preparation of the roti sauce:
Step 1: Fry the chicken in the oil until brown.

Step 2: Leave one third of the oil in the pan and add de onion, garlic, massale, cumin and black pepper. Keep on stirring. Cook it for three minutes in the hot pan.

Step 3: Add the tomatoes and cook for for 2 minutes. Keep on stirring. Then add the chicken stock. Turn the heat on low. Add the potatoes and the uncut Madame Jeanette peppers. Put the lit on and and simmer for 45 minutes. 10 minutes befor the end, add the soft peeled and boiled eggs. If you want you can fry the eggs in a bit oil until browned befor you add them to the sauce.

Step 4: Take a pan and heat 3 tablespoons of oil and cook the onions and garlic. When glazed, add the long beans. Fry for two minutes and add a bit of water from time to time. This way the beans are done quicker.

To make the roti, you will need:
500 g self-raising flour
3 dl water
15 g salt
75 g yellow split peas
1 el cumin (grounded)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 Madame Jeanette-pepper


preparation of the roti
Step 1: Knead the flour with water and salt into a elastic dough.

Step 2: Cook the split peas in 25 minutes untill they are just getting soft and let them steam. Add the cumin, garlic, pepper and chop it fine in a blender into a powder.

Step 3: Make 12 equal balls from the dough and form a pit and fill the pit with de split pea mix. Close it and make a ball again.

Step 4: Roll the balls on a floured base and make a thin roti.

Step 5: Put a very thin layer of oil in a medium hot pan and bake the roti's untill browned on both sides.

Funghi trifoliate - Mixed mushrooms

The trifoliate mushrooms are part of the culinary tradition of the Piedmont region, and they are a very easy to prepare, very tasty, delicate and light contour that can be combined with different dishes and courses.

What you need

• 400 gr mixed mushrooms
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove (chopped)
• 1/2 red chilli (chopped)
• 1 tbsp parsley (chopped)
• 1 tbsp majoram leaves
• 6 slices of bread

How to prepare it

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, fry the chopped garlic and chilli for one minute, then add the mushrooms and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, or until cooked
2. Stir in the parsley and marjoram and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Meanwhile, toast the slices of bread on both sides.
   Spoon over the mushrooms and serve hot.

Oven baked eggplant and sweet red pepper

This is a wonderful in between delicatesse.

What you need

• 1 large eggplant
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 sweet red pepper (de-seeded and cut in half)

For the sauce:

• 50g walnuts (chopped)
• 40g  walnuts in honey(chopped)
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• ¼ tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tsp walnut oil 
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander (chopped)
• goats cheese (crumbled)

How to prepare it

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut both the aubergines in sideways and score the flesh in a criss-cross pattern. Brush the flesh liberally with the oil then sprinkle with some salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Place on a baking tray, flesh-side up, and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the flesh is cooked through and turns a dark golden-brown.

Step 2. Together with the eggplant, put the sweet red pepper in the oven.

Step 3. Take a small bowl and make the sauce. Mix together the walnuts, honey walnut , vinegar, chilli, walnut oil, parsley and half the coriander. 

Step 4. Take the skin from the roasted pepper,

Step 5. Put the sauce over the aubergines as soon as they come out of the oven and leave to cool completely. Put the remaining coriander and the goats cheese on top.