Chicken Siam

serves 2 - 3

Ingredients:

* Rice

* 1 zucchini

* 2 red paprika's

* 2 garlic cloves

* 1 onion

* 100g cashew nuts

* 200ml coconut milk

* 400g chicken

* 4 spoons salted soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon white pepper

* 1 teaspoon cayennepepper

* 1 spoon lemon juice

* Salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut the paprika in strips and the zucchini in cubes. Finely cut the onion and garlic. Cut the chicken in strips, or cubes, whatever you prefer. Meanwhile boil the rice.

Heat up oil in a saute pan or wok, and add the onion, garlic and chicken. Stir-fry until the chicken is gold-brown. Now add the zucchini and paprika and stir fry for about 5 minutes. Add the cashew nuts and stir-fry for about one minute. Now add the coconut milk, soy sauce, peppers, lemon juice and the salt. Mix until blended and turn the heat on low. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce has the thickness you prefer. By now the rice should be done too.

Serve immediately with rice.

I hope you like this recipe, and see you again next time.

Yours truly,

Mike

Curly kale mash with smoked sausage

serves 1 - 2

Ingredients:

* 500g potatoes

* 150g curly kale

* 1 smoked sausage ( or 2 small ones)

* 1 spoon of butter

* 50ml milk
* salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Yet another typical Dutch dish. As winter approaches I tend to fall back to the old traditional dishes, like mash, and since this is one of my favourite mash, I'm sharing it with you.

Peel the potatoes and cut in 4 pieces. Place in a pan, and add water until the potatoes are just a bit under water. Start to boil and once it boils lower the heat to medium and add the kale. Place the sausage on top, close the lid, and let it boil for 20 minutes.

When everything is boiled, removed the sausage and keep apart. Remove the plastic from the sausage. Now pour all the water out of the pan. Add the milk, butter and pepper and salt if you like and mix well by using a masher.

Serve with the sausage cut in slices, or like I did, right next to it.

I hope you like the recipe, and hopefully until soon!

Yours truly,

Mike

Ras El Hanout chicken wraps

serves 2 - 3

Ingredients:

* Wraps
* Salad
* 400g chicken breast
* Ras El Hanout spice mix
* Oil
* 1 small red onion

* 2 garlic cloves

Preparation:

Mix 3 - 4 spoons of oil with the spice mix in a bowl. Cut the onion in half rings and finely chop the garlic. Cut the chicken in small cubes. Mix with the marinade and leave alone for 5 minutes. Heat up a saute pan with 1 spoon of oil and stir fry the chicken until half done. Add the garlic and onion and stir fry until the chicken is done.

Heat up the wraps, and put 1 to 1,5 scoops of chicken on the wrap. Finish the wrap with a bit of salad to your liking. I used lettuce, tomato, feta cheese, and alittle bit of garlic sauce for the taste.

It's a very simple recipe, but so delicious!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Yours truly,

Mike

Raw endive mash

serves 2

Ingredients:

* 500g potatoes

* 500g endive

* 300g smoked bacon cubes

* Milk

* Pepper to taste
* Salt to taste

Additional:

* Butter

Preparation:

Finally a traditional Dutch dish! One of my personal favourites too. Never knew how to make it exactly without having a dull taste, up until this day! And this day I will share it with you.

Peel the potatoes and cut in quarters. Put in a boiling pan and fill with water until the potatoes are just under water. Add some salt to taste. Boil until they are soft, checking every now and then by using a fork. Meanwhile heat up a skillet without oil and fry the bacon cubes until they start to get crispy. Too crispy isn't good, but too soft isn't either, you should get them just right. A good indicator is looking at how they colour. Once they are done, turn off the heat and leave them. Don't throw the fat away.

Once the potatoes are done add some milk and mash the potatoes with a masher. Add more milk if necessary. Now add the bacon with the fat and mash until mixed. You could also add butter to make it  jucier, but I didn't do this because I added the fat from the bacon. Add pepper and salt to taste if you like. I recommend not to use too much salt as the bacon is salty enough. Add the endive in batches and keep mashing until mixed evenly.

Serve with a meatball, sausage, or any other juicy piece of meat that you like.
I hope you like this recipe and hopefully until next time.

Yours truly,

Mike

Pasta Martain

serves 2 - 3

Ingredients:

* 450g frozen spinach
* 400g chicken breast
* 125ml creme fraiche
* 2 hands of cashew nuts
* 1 large onion
* 4 garlic cloves
* Salt to taste
* Pepper to taste
* Pasta

Preparation:

This is a recipe of a colleague and good friend of mine.
Finely cut the garlic and cut the onion in any size you prefer. Cut the chicken in cubes. Heat up a saute pan and stir fry the garlic and onion until soft. Meanwhile boil the pasta. Now add the chicken and season with pepper and salt. Stir fry until golden. Turn the heat to medium and add the nuts, stir fry for about 1 - 2 minutes. Now turn the heat to low and add the spinach until it melts. Once that's happened add the creme fraiche and stir well. Your dish is done! Serve with any pasta of your preference.

I hope you like this recipe, because I sure did! Simple but great taste!
See you next time!

Yours truly,

Mike

Japanese curry and chicken katsu

serves 2

Ingredients:

* 1 cup of rice

* 200 g chicken breast 

* 1 large carrot

* 3 small red onions

* 5 garlic cloves

* 1 egg

* 4 spoons of flour

* 2 spoons of panko breadcrumbs

* Salt to taste

* Pepper to taste

* 600ml chicken stock 

* 1 spoon of curry powder

* 1 teaspoon of garam massala

* 1 bayleaf

* 1 spoon of honey

* 6 teaspoons of soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon ketchup

* 1 teaspoon Worcester sauce

* 25g butter

Preparation:

Prepare the chicken stock if you need to. I used 1 stock cube and boiled water.

Cut the onion in halves and finely cut the garlic. Cut the carrot in half and cut in 0,5 cm slices.

Heat up a saute pan with oil and stir fry the onion and garlic until soft. Meanwhile add the butter and stir until dissolved. Add the carrot and turn the heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Now add 2 spoons of flour and the curry powder. Mix well and cook for one minute. Now gradually stir in the chicken stock until everything is combined. Stir well and add the honey, the bay leaf and 5 teaspoons of soy sauce. Mix well and close the lid. Let it boil for about 20 minutes.

After 10 minutes you can cook the rice

Meanwhile we're going to work on the chicken. Clean the chicken breast and cut in halves. Seperate the eggyolk from the protein and beat up the protein with a whisk until stiff. Add the eggyolk and beat until mixed. Prepare two plates, one with the rest of the flour, and one with the breadcrumbs.

Heat up a skillet with enough oil to fry the chicken with. Turn to medium heat.

Cover the chicken with salt and peper to taste on both sides. Now place the chicken in the flour, cover both sides, then dip in the egg, make sure to cover both sides as well and finally dip them in the breadcrumbs, also covering both sides. The skillet should be hot by now. Place the chicken in the skillet and stir fry both sides until brown.

For the sauce, mix the ketchup with the Worcester sauce and the soy, adding pepper to taste and mix well.

Place the chicken on the plate, cut in small pieces, add the red sauce.
Add the rice, and the curry and you got yourself a fabulous dish!
I hope you like the recipe, and I hope to see you soon again.

Yours truly,

Mike

Grilled blade chop

serves 2

Ingredients:

* Salad of choice

* Vinegar 

* Basil

* 2 blade chops

* 4 garlic cloves
* 1 big onion

* Oregano

* Salt

* Pepper

* Oil

Preparation:

This is a dish my mom taught me. I tried it today and it tastes fabulous!

Finely cut the garlic. Chop the onion in large pieces. Take an oven dish and smear with oil. 

Now marinade the blade chops with salt, pepper, oregano and garlic to taste on both sides. Place in the oven dish. Put the onion in the open spaces between the meat and cover everything with a bit of oil.

Now put the ovendish in the oven on the grill stand for about 30 minutes. Flip the blade chops halfway.

For the salad, use anything you like. I used a mixed salad and added tomatoes to them. Make a dressing out of vinegar, (olive) oil, salt, pepper, and basil to taste.
Serve with bread or fried potatoes.

I hope you enjoy this simple, but absolutely stunning recipe. It's definitely worth a try!

Bon apetite!

Yours truly,

Mike