It’s officially summer time, and if you’re lucky that means vacations! I thought I’d start a little summertime series (of an indeterminate number of episodes) based on places I’ve traveled. A little travelog in food, if you will. And today’s destination is … Bruges, Belgium!
Why would you go to Belgium? It doesn’t have an Eiffel Tower or a Parthenon or a Prado (Brussels does have the capital of the EU, but I’m not sure that should rank up there as “tourist destination). What if I told you that Belgium in general and Bruges in particular may just be the ultimate foodie destination? We’re talking about a national cuisine that prominently features chocolate, waffles, french fries and beer! Bruges has both a chocolate museum and a french fry museum? What can be better than that?
If you can’t make it to Brugge this summer, you can bring a little bit of Brugge home. One of my favorite traditional Flemish dishes is Waterzooi, which translates to “watery mess” but is so much better than that. It’s the easiest thing in the world to put together — chicken, layered with vegetables, poached in wine and broth, then thickened with egg yolks and cream (hey – there’s no butter! That means it’s healthy, right?) but the sum is so much more than its parts. The flavor is intense and delicate at the same time, with the savory leeks and carrots enhancing the meatiness of the chicken. The stew is comforting, but not nearly as heavy as you’d expect, given the egg yolks. My toddler loves it. How much more do I have to say to sell you on it?
Entries Tagged as 'cream'
In Bruges — Waterzooi de Poulet
June 25th, 2009 · 10 Comments · Entertaining, Main Dishes, Poultry, Recipes, Summer, Travel, weeknight dinners, Winter
Tags: Belgian·chicken·cream·Entertaining·Gluten Free·Stew·Travel
Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
April 14th, 2009 · 17 Comments · Autumn, Entertaining, Main Dishes, Recipes, Vegetables and Sides, Vegetarian, Winter
I suspect that the time for writing posts about butternut squash and eating things made with butternut squash is quickly drawing to a close. You all want asparagus and rhubarb and meyer lemons and things that taste like spring and warm weather. I understand this impetus, I really do, but I could not sleep at night thinking that you all would have to live another six to nine months without this recipe in your lives. It is just that delicious. It is more than the sum of its parts. It is what food is supposed to taste like. What this means, of course, is that you should make this right now. Well, you can finish reading this post, if you REALLY need to, but then run to the oven. Chop chop!
Tags: butternut squash·cheese·cream·Gluten Free·hazelnuts·Thanksgiving·Vegetables·Vegetarian
An Alternative for St. Patrick’s Day — Dublin Lawyer
March 15th, 2009 · 7 Comments · Entertaining, Main Dishes, Quick, Recipes, Seafood, Spring
If your market is anything like mine, you may have noticed (from the displays of Guiness, Cabbage, and “Kiss me I’m Irish” aprons) that Tuesday is the feast of the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, or as many call it in the U.S., St. Paddy’s Day (quick aside from my dad’s arsenal of bad jokes: What’s Irish and stays out all night? Paddy O’Furniture. HA!). My husband and I both count some Irish heritage in our generally Western European mutt backgrounds, but neither of our families are of the “Boo Ya! We’re Irish!” varieties, despite the fact that both of us have Irish names. And yet we celebrate St. Patrick’s day, without fail, and now you can too.
The obvious menu is the one the market sells — Corned Beef, Cabbage, maybe some mashed potatoes. But much as I love corned beef, and I have definite opinions on how to prepare it (crock pot with a bottle of beer, on low for 8-10 hours), and serve it (with Colcannon and hot English mustard), and what to drink with it (I say dark ale, the husband is a Guiness devotee), but I thought I’d present you with something a little different, in case you don’t like corned beef, or don’t eat red meat, or it’s 6 pm on March 17 and you haven’t started cooking, or you’ve already seen sixteen trillion recipes for corned beef all over the blogosphere). And the one that caught my eye (natch) was Dublin Lawyer.
It really couldn’t be simpler — it has four ingredients and takes about 10 minutes to make and yields an elegant dish with a lovely presentation. In other words, I would eat before you hit the bars for the traditional green beer.
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