Bigos (Polish hunter's stew)

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Typical of a hunter's stew, there is no fixed recipe. Bigos is a national dish of Poland and the Ukraine, but is also eaten in Latvia and Belarus. Bigos is a cabbage and meat stew.

This is my version:

Basic vegetables:
Sauerkraut.
A small white cabbage, shredded.
Onion.
Garlic.

Meat:
Smoked pork belly, cubed.
Ham (Polish shop), cubed.
Kiełbasa sausage (Polish shop), whole.

Meat is an important aspect of this dish. You can use any kind of meat or meat leftovers. Traditionally this would be a hunter's stew so game works well, but pork is also very tasty. I wasn't sure what kind of sausage to use, so I went to a Polish shop in Amsterdam and was sold the sausage below and a cut of ham. The pork belly is Dutch 'gerookt ontbijtspek'.

Other ingredients:
Dried Boletus edulis (Dutch: eekhoorntjesbrood).
Dried prunes, chopped.
Apple, cubed.
Tomato, cubed.
Small can tomato puree.
White wine, a glass. If you make the version with game instead of pork use red wine instead of white wine.

Spices:
Bay leaf.
Allspice (=piment), freshly ground.
Black peppercorns.
Juniper berries.
Caraway seeds.

First shred the cabbage and simmer for one hour in water. Drain and preserve the water.

Fry the smoked pork belly in some butter or oil. Remove the pork belly and use the fat to sauté the onion and garlic. Add the rest of the meat except the Kiełbasa (in this case just the ham). Then add all the other ingredients and return the pork belly to the pot. I also added the soaking water of the mushrooms. If you need more liquid use the water used for simmering the cabbage. Add the Kiełbasa on top. The bigos I had in Poland was rather dark in colour, so I added a small can of tomato puree. Simmer for at least three hours.

Cool, store the bigos in a cold place, heat again, cool, heat and eat on the third day. Well, if you're patient enough. Serve with rye bread and mustard.

Brussels sprouts & Marsala

Clean, then boil Brussels sprouts for 5-6 minutes. I used 500 gram. Do not overcook Brussels sprouts. Overcooking releases the sulphur smelling glucosinolate: sinigrin.

In the meantime: fry 100 gram diced pancetta in a little oil for a couple of minutes. Add 20 gram butter & cooked chestnuts. When the butter has melted add 50 ml. Marsala and cook until the butter and Marsala form a thick sauce.

Mix the drained Brussels sprouts and a handful of parsley with the pancetta-Marsala-sauce and serve.

Snert

The Dutch like to think erwtensoep is a typically Dutch dish, but this split pea soup is popular in Germany [German: Erbsensuppe] and Poland [Polish: zupa grochowka] as well.

You will need:
500 gram split peas.
A piece of pork hock or ham hock [Dutch: hamschijf], about 500 gram, or two pig's trotters. Note: hamschijf is neither smoked nor cured.
100 gram streaky bacon [Dutch: zuurkoolspek], salted but not smoked, preferrably with rind.
One smoked sausage [Dutch: rookworst].
2 large onions, chopped.
1 large carrot.
2 leeks.
1 celeriac [Dutch: knolselderie].
2 potatoes.
1 bunch of leaf celery.
Pepper and salt according to taste.
2 litres of water to start with.

Serve with Rye bread ('pumpernickel') and slices of 'katenspek' (lightly streaked pork, first boiled and then smoked black).

How to make split pea soup
Start the day before. Wash the split peas, add 2 litres of water and bring to a boil adding the meat, excluding the 'rookworst'. Remove the thick layer of foam, which will form. Discard the water. Add clean water and bring to a boil again.

Cut the celeriac, onion and potato in small cubes; the carrot in 'half moons'. Cut the leeks 'cross wise', like a feather stick. Add all vegetables (but not the leaf celery) and simmer for 1,5 tot 3 hours.

Remove the meat and cut in small pieces and remove the bones. Pork hock contains an amazing amount of fatty skin. Perfect for an hungry 19th century farmer, maybe not so great for a 21st century city dweller. Discard some of the fat. Return the boiled meat to the pot.

Add the 'rookworst' and a handful of chopped leaf celery. Season with salt and pepper and leave overnight.

Paddestoelen met Westmalle Dubbel

Mushrooms stewed in Westmalle Dubbel Trappist beer. I made this recipe for the group on one of my trail running weekends in the Belgium Ardennes.

400 grams mixed mushrooms (button mushroom, oyster mushroom, shiitake), cut in smaller pieces.
100 gram smoked ham. Use a high quality ham, like jambon d’Ardenne which has an appellation d’origine contrôlée.
4 tablespoons butter.
sprig of thyme.
1 bottle Westmalle Dubbel Trappist beer.
2 cloves of garlic, finely cut.
1 smal onion, finely cut.
1 tablespoon chives.
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or cooking cream.

Heat the butter. Add the mushrooms and toss over high fire. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and smoked ham, simmer for a few minutes.

Add cooking cream, season with salt and pepper, garnish with chopped chives. Serve with toast and Westmalle Dubbel.

Freshly shelled peas

If I had my own garden I would certainly grow my own peas. They are in season in August, and so are button (pearl) onions. Shell 500 gram peas. Cut smoked bacon in cubes. Peal button onions. Fry the button onions in two tablespoons of olive oil until slightly brown. Then add two tablespoons of water and simmer the onions with the lid closed for 5 minutes until just tender. 

Add another two tablespoons of olive oil, garlic (sliced) and the bacon. Fry for a couple of minutes. Add the fresh peas, salt and plenty of black pepper and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the parsley two minutes before the end of cooking. 

Norway lobster

Caught on September 24 2009 at GPS-coordinates: 55.35.000 N, 005.50.000 E (45 meters deep, 265 km from the Dutch coast line) by the PD 126 Andrea. Eaten on September 26 2009.

Court-boullion for crustacea

Ingredients:
3,5 liters water
1 fennel bulb
1 onion
4 sticks of celery
mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon whole black pepper
2 bay leaf
fresh thyme (3 twigs)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
300ml white wine.

Boil everything for 20 minutes without the wine. Take from fire, add the wine and cool for 2 hours. Strain through sieve.

Cut the lobster in half lengthwise. Spoon the content from the head and prepare a Pernod-olive dressing: 

2 small shallots
Fresh dragon (1/2 tablespoon)
Fresh parsley (1/2 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon soy sauce
6 tablespoons olive oil
1,5 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons Pernod
Salt & pepper

Mix the Pernod-olive dressing and the content of head. Warm Norway lobster in the oven for a few minutes and serve with the dressing.

Fried (small) fish

in

It's best to use really tiny fish. The smallest fish I could find were anchovy. There are a little too big to eat whole so you have to clean them (remove stomach and head).

I bought 500 gram, which is way too much for one person. Try 250 gram per person.

After cleaning, dry the fish and sprinkle with salt. Keep cold. Mix 40 gram very fine flower, 40 gram corn flower and some parsley. Alternatively: add some cayenne pepper. Coat fish with flower mixture.

Fry in very hot oil for 2-3 minutes. They should be crispy. Drain on kitchen paper. One recipe says to fry them for 1,5 minute, drain and then fry again for 1,5 minute. I'm not sure if this is really necessary. 

Garnish with persillade (parsley and garlic mixture) and lemon wedges. Serve with ice cold beer.

Below is the same recipe with smelt (Dutch: spiering; Osmerus eperlanus). No need to clean this little fish. Eat them whole.