Garbanzos en salsa

serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

* 600g canned chickpeas 

* 1 package of tomato frito (passata)
* 125ml sweet white wine
* 3 middle sized onions

* 250g smoked bacon cubes
* Parsley
* Hot sauce to taste

Preparation:

Heat up a saute pan and stir fry the bacon until they start to colour. Add the onions and stir fry until the onion goes soft. Now add the chickpeas and stir well. Fry for about 2 - 3 minutes more and then add a handful of parsley.

Now add the tomato passata, and blend. Add the wine. Mix well and let it cook for about 7 - 10 minutes more, or until you are satisfied with the thickness of the sauce. At this point you may also add the hot sauce if you like it.

Serve with bread, or rice, or like I did, without.
I hope you like this recipe and I'll see you again soon!

Yours truly,

Mike

Orange chicken

serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

* 500g chicken breast

* 1 egg

* All purpose flour

* Salt & pepper to taste

* Oil
* Boiled rice, cooled down
* 100g ham in cubes

* 1 omelette in strips

* Fried rice herbs ( or make your own as I did in: this recipe )

* 1 leek

* Spring onion for decoration

* Sesame seeds for decoration

* 250ml chicken stock
* 1 spoon sriracha sauce
* 1 spoon sugar

* 1 spoon orange zest

* Juice of one large orange
* 2 spoons of vinegar
* 2 spoons of soy sauce
* 1 spoon of ginger powder

* 1 spoon of garlic powder

* 0,5 spoon of white pepper

* 1 spoon of caster sugar

* 1 middle sized onion

* 2 garlic cloves

* 1 spoon of water

Preparation:

Finely cut the onion and garlic. Cut the leek in half rings. Cut the chicken in cubes of 2 - 3 cm.

Beat the egg in a large bowl, Add a spoon of oil and a spoon of water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now add flour, and beat until you get a smooth batter. It should not be too wet, or too dry. Mix the chicken cubes in the batter and make sure you covered them all. They should not stick together, if so, add more flour. Leave alone.

We will prepare the orange sauce now. Start by putting 250ml of chicken stock in a sauce pan. Add the soy sauce, the vinegar, the garlic powder, the white pepper, the ginger powder, the sriracha sauce, and the sugar. Mix well with a whisk. Use a rasp to get the orange zest, and add this too.
Now get the juice from the orange, and put it in the sauce pan as well. Softly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally so the sugar won't burn. Make sure you get a nice syrupy substance. Take off the heat, keep stirring for 2 - 3 minutes and let it rest.

Heat up a wok and stir fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the leek, omelette and ham and stir fry for about 2 - 3 minutes. Meanwhile heat up a frying pan and deep fry the chicken until crispy.
Now add the fried rice herbs to the vegetable mix, and blend well. Add the rice, and scoop over until everything is blended perfectly.

When the chicken is done, let it rest on a plate with a paper towel underneath so the fat can drip off, making it crispier. Now take a bowl, add the chicken and the sauce and mix well. You should use as much sauce that it covers everything perfectly, as we don't need leftovers. Blend well.

Put the fried rice on a plate, with the chicken on top. Decorate with sesame and spring onion.
Congratulations, you've just made orange chicken!

I hope you like this recipe, and I'll see you again next time!
Yours truly,

Mike

Dad's calamares fritos con patatas bravas

serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

* 4 large potatoes

* 500g squid

* 1 cup all purpose flour
* Salad of choice
* 2 spoons of mayonaise

* 1 spoon of paprika powder

* 0,5 spoon of garlic powder

* 0,5 spoon of water

* 0,5 spoon of hot sauce

* Salt and pepper to taste

* Lemon (juice) to taste

* Oil to deep fry

Preparation:

Peel the skin of the potatoes and cut in cubes. Let them rest in a bowl with water to get rid off the starch. Clean the squid if necessary and cut in rings of 1 cm. Make sure the squid is dry by using a sieve and/or dab with a paper towel. 

Meanwhile prepare the salad of choice, if you want one with the dish. I used lettuce,cucumber and tomato with a dressing of salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil and basil.

Now prepare the bravas sauce by combining the mayonaise, paprika powder, garlic powder, water, hot sauce, and salt to taste. Mix well and taste, you can always add more ingredients if necessary.

Mix the flour with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, and put it in a large bow, or plastic bag. Now put in the squid and mix until everything is covered in flour completely. 

Heat up a saute pan, or deep frying pan and deep fry the squid until golden. Do the same for the potatoes.

Once everything is done, cover the potatoes with the bravas sauce, and the squid with a dash of lemon juice. Serve the dish with a nice salad for maximum pleasure.

I hope you like the recipe and see you again next time.
Yours truly,

Mike

Bop's spaghetti stroganoff

serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

* 2 red paprika's

* 1 spoons of paprika powder

* 200g ham cubes

* 1 middle sized onion

* 250g mushrooms

* 2 spoons of (fresh) parsley

* 250ml cream

* 150ml water

* 1 beef stock cube

* 4 garlic cloves

* 1 spoon tomato puree

* salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

Finely cut the garlic and onion. Cut the paprika in strips and the mushroom in 4 slices. Heat up a saute pan and stir fry the vegetables for about 1 - 2 minute, then add the paprika powder. Stir fry for about 2 minutes more and add the ham. Mix well until everything is covered with the paprika powder. Now add the stock cube, the tomato puree, the cream and the water. Mix well and let it boil. Now put the parsley in and mix well again. Turn down the heat and let it simmer until the spaghetti is done.

Add salt and pepper to taste, mix well again and serve hot.

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

Yours truly,

Mike

Homemade Whopper

serves 1 - 2

Ingredients:

* A handful of lettuce

* 1 tomato
* 1 onion

* 2 buns

* 350g minced beef

* Pickle slices

* Tomato ketchup

* Mayonnaise

* 0,5 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon Worcester sauce

* 1 spoon tomato ketchup

Additional:

* Cheddar cheese

* Breadcrumbs

Preparation:

Cut the onion in rings, the lettuce in strips and the tomato in slices. Cut the buns in half.

Mix the minced beef with the salt, Worcester sauce and the spoon of tomato ketchup. If the beef is too moist, add some breadcrumbs. Make 2 burgers from the beef.

Heat up a grillpan, and grill the buns on the flat sides for 2 - 4 minutes. Now remove and add the beef. Leave for 2 - 3 minutes and change the side. Now add the onions on the sides of the pan.

After another 2 - 3 minutes the burgers are done. Remove from the heat and place the burgers on the bottom of the buns. If you have cheese, put the cheese on top of the burger. Now add the pickles, tomato ketchup, onion rings, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise and finally the top of the bun, in this order.

Serve with (homemade) fries and a soda.

I'm sure you will never visit Burger King anymore!

Yours truly,

Mike

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