English > Recipes > Archive by category 'The Netherlands'

Fall Food: Hutspot / Hotchpotch

By
Inge
 – August 29, 2010Posted in: The Netherlands

HutspotFrom July to August 28, 1672 Groningen was under siege: the prince-bishop of Münster, Bernhard von Galen had surrounded the city to reclaim what he considered to be rightfully his. Until this day, the city of Groningen celebrates the Relief of Groningen at August 28.

Since today was also a rainy day, more like Fall then like Summer, I decided to make a traditional Dutch meal that’s normally associated with the Relief of Leyden (1573/1574). After the Spanish soldiers left, the hungry burghers found fires with hotchpotch cooking over it abandoned by the Spaniards. At least, that’s how the story goes. They probably used parsnip (sweet potato) instead of our modern potatoes but apart from that the recipe has been unchanged. Normally people who celebrate the Relief of Leyden on October 3 will eat herring on white bread and hotchpotch. Here is how you make the hotchpotch:

Ingredients:

  • 300 grams / about 1.5 cup carrots (peeled and cut into 1/4″ slices)
  • 300 grams / about 1.5 cups onions (peeled and cut into rings)
  • about 2.2 lbs potatoes
  • a bit shortening / lard
  • milk
  • coffee milk
  • chuck roast / beef shoulder chops (the cheaper option would be meatballs)
  • salt, pepper, sugar to taste
  • gravy

Directions:

Peel the potatoes and put them in a large pot. Make sure they’re about 3/4 immersed with water. Add a bit salt to make the water boil faster. Prepare the meat by seasoning it with salt and pepper. You can roast it or bake it. If you make Dutch meat balls, this is how it is done:  1 pound ground beef, 1 egg, some salt and pepper are mixed in a bowl. Then breadcrumbs are added until there’s one big ball. Divide it into smaller balls which are fried in a sauce pan with butter.

Peel the onions and the carrots and cut them into coarse pieces. Add this to the potatoes. Cook for about half an hour until it’s done. Drain the pot with the water.

Add a lump of shortening and mash everything. Add a bit milk and mix everything together until a lumpy mixture. Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Serve with gravy, meatballs or chuck roast / shoulder chops.

Eet smakelijk.

Variation: For the “original” version use parsnip instead of potato.

Popularity: 6%

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Real Dutch Pancake Recipe

By
Inge
 – February 23, 2010Posted in: The Netherlands

Shrove Tuesday I saw on Twitter that today marks the “International Pancake Day”. At least according to IHOP. I don’t need to go to IHOP to get the best pancakes in the world, since I rely on my trusty Dutch recipe:

Ingredients:

  • one cup of buckwheat flour
  • one cup of self rising flour
  • 3 or 4 medium sized eggs
  • a dash of salt
  • about 2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar
  • milk
  • shortening (for baking)

Directions:

Sift the dry ingredients in a deep bowl. Add milk until you get a nice smooth batter which shouldn’t be too thick. It’s best to add most of the milk, and add a bit later to get the right viscosity.

Add the eggs one by one. And then a bit more of the milk to finish it. The batter should have about the same viscosity as syrup, not too liquid, but most certainly not too thick. Dutch pancakes are thin, like crepes.

Take a pan and bake the pancakes on both sides until golden brown. The Dutch have a variety of toppings. You can add molasses, sugar, jelly, cheese, champignon ragout, anything you like.

Since it’s Lent right now, I didn’t make bacon pancakes. But if you want to try that, you need to put a thin slice of bacon in the pan before pouring a soup spoon full of batter in the pan before baking golden brown on both sides. Bacon pancakes taste best with molasses.

Popularity: 21%

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Red Cabbage With Apples, Dutch Style

By
Inge
 – April 5, 2007Posted in: The Netherlands

Ingredients:

  • 1.1 lbs. / 500 grams red cabbage (cut in small strips)
  • 2 sour apples (like Golden Reinette)
  • ± 2 oz. / 50 grams raisins (Sunmaid)
  • ± 1 oz. / 25 grams butter
  • a dash of cinnamon powder
  • a dash of ground cloves
  • salt
  • vinegar or lemon juice
  • optional: red wine to taste

Directions:
Cut the cabbage in small strips and cook it in a pot together with the apples in only a little bottom of water. When it’s cooking, add the spices and the salt. Cook for about 45-50 minutes. At the end, about 10 minutes before the cabbage is ready, add vinegar (or lemon juice). When the cabbage is done you can add wine to taste. It’s also possible to use steamed pears instead of apples. Serve with boiled potatoes and simmered veal.

Tip:
For me living alone, one whole red cabbage is way too much to eat. So what I do is take a part of it (usually a quarter), and use it to cook right away, the other 3/4 of the cabbage I cook for 40 minutes without spices, drain it and let it completely cool off. I divide it over three small bags and freeze it. The cabbage can be prepared later on a small fire in 10 minutes, adding all the spices and apple like I normally would do.

Popularity: 1%