Tag Archives: dinner

Homemade burgers

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Nothing beats a good home made burger. You can pick the best meat and spice it just the way you like it. The same goes for all the other components, when you make burgers at home, get the best ingredients your money can buy. Burgers are actually a very honest recipe, where all the individual ingredients should shine.

Another advantage with making burgers at home is that it is good family fun. I like to make a platter with all possible toppings and sauces, and everyone builds their own favorite burger.

For all you busy parents out there: you can make your patties in a day in advance and keep them in your fridge. You can even prepare all the veg, and store these in an air tight container or a ziplock bag. When you want to eat your burgers all you still need to do is fry the patties.

Burger

Burgers ( for 4 burgers)

  • Patties:
    • 500 gr. minced beef
    • 1 tsp HP sauce
    • Salt & pepper to taste
    • 1 tbsp oregano
    • Optional: 1 tsp of paprika
  • 4 burger buns
  • Slices of good cheese, cheddar or dutch cheese will do
  • Ketchup and mustard to taste
  • Onion, sliced in rings
  • Tomatoslices
  • Crunchy salad leaves
  1. Combine the pattie ingredients in a bowl and mix gently with your hands. As this is beef, I recommend tasting to test if your have seasoned it properly.
  2. Devide the mixture into 4 portions and mould these into burger patties. They should be less than 1 cm thick and match the size of your buns.
  3. Now you can let your burgers rest in the fridge for 15 minutes to 24 hours. I like to coat my patties with a thin layer of oil to prevent them sticking to the plate. I cover the plate with cling film.
  4. When your table is set and your side dishes are ready, fry your burgers in a pan or griddle on high heat. Thanks to the layer of oil, you don’t have to add oil to your pan.
  5. You can test how well done your burger is by pressing it in the centre, when it is more firm, it’s more cooked. I recommend experimenting a little here and find out what your favorite cooking time is.

We like having oven baked chips with our burgers.

Need a good vegetarian alternative? My beetroot burgers taste just as good on a burger bun.

Breadsticks

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This iBreadstick3s the perfect thing for dinner parties. It makes a great side dish with starters like soup or salad. It is also a great way to finish pastry leftovers.

I like to serve bread sticks in a pretty glass, which makes them a decorative item as well.

You could also serve these tasty sticks with a good dip.

To make the bread sticks, simply brush strips of puff pastry with egg, then sprinkle with pepper, salt and any toppings you like, such as grated cheese, seeds and spices such as paprika, thyme or rosemary.

BreadStick1

Read more soup recipes or salad inspiration.

Chicken fingers

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ChicknChipsIn our family, we love making our own fast food. Our favorites include hamburgers and chicken fingers. This is an easy way to make the most tender chicken breast you will ever taste!

Chicken fingers (2-3 portions)

  • 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch wide, long strips
  • Chicken marinade
    • 1,5 cups of buttermilk (or watered down yoghurt)
    • 1 tsp sweet paprika
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • salt & pepper to taste
    • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  •  Crust:
    • 200 grams bread crumbs
    • 1 tsp sweet paprika
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1 tbsp sea salt
    • 1 tsp pepper
  • 200 ml of sunflower oil for shallow frying
  • Dip:
    • 1 cup of sweet chili sauce
    • handful of koriander, finely chopped

ChickenFingers

  1. Cut your chicken, and mix with the marinade ingredients. Marinade the chicken for 30 minutes to 24 hours in the fridge.
  2. Combine ingredients for the crust.
  3. Prepare your chicken fingers:
    • Shake each finger off.
    • Place in your crust mix, you will find the buttermilk acts as the perfect glue for the crust.
  4. Warm up your oil. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C (the perfect temperature for making chips in your oven!).
  5. In small batches, fry your chicken fingers, turn the chicken fingers after they have brown on one side. Take your fish fingers out of the oil, in a dish in the oven.
  6. Combine the ingredients for the dip.

Read more chicken inspiration, and the recipe for chips.

Fabulous five: oven dishes

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I love making oven dishes for my family. Here are some of the reasons why:

  • They fit in my busy schedule. You can often assemble the dish in advance, store it in your fridge or freezer, and warm and crisp it up in the oven when you want to eat it. This means I often make multiple oven dishes in the weekend which can be warmed up after a busy day in the office.
  • They are healthy. For my oven dishes I use lots of fresh veg and homemade sauces. All I do is warm the ingredients up. Oven baking a dish filled with fresh ingredient, in my mind, is a lot better than a microwaving or frying instant meals.
  • They are easy to prepare. Once your oven dish has been made, any family member that knows how the oven works can prepare dinner. While the dish cooks in the oven, we have time to relax or play, or the rest of the family can drive home from work.

These are our family favorites:

  1. Traditional lasagna with bolognese sauce and a bechamel and crusty top
  2. Moussaka – our tasty vegetarian version
  3. Spinache lasagnespinach
  4. Gnocchi bake
  5. Shepards pie – I like using leftovers from a stew and covering this with a layer of mashed potatoes.

 

Gnocchi bake

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This dish may take you 40 minutes to make, but it is less than 10 minutes work to prepare. You can even create the whole bake a day or two in advance. Which means any person who can operate an oven can finish the dish when you want to eat it.

Gnocchi is a kind of pasta made from potatoes, which gives them a great chewy texture. I like making this pasta myself, but this dish is my “go to” when I want an easy meal.

If you have little oven dishes. You could also make individual servings.

I like to serve a green salad with this dish for some extra veg.

Gnocchi bake (3 portions)

  • 500 grams of gnocchi (1 pack)
  • 400 grams of my no fuss tomato sauce
  • 100 grams of cheese, pick your favorite melting cheese: grated Dutch cheese, cubes of blue cheese and/or mozzerella
  1. Boil the gnocchi for a couple of minutes, your gnocchi is cooked when it floats on the surface.
  2. Strain the gnocchi and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
  3. Mix the gnocchi and tomato sauce.
  4. Top with cheese.
  5. Now your bake is ready for the oven, or for your fridge.
  6. Bake in the oven at 220 degrees C for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Find more oven bakes here or more Italian dishes.

Winter omelet

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We love having curly kale in the winter. This healthy veg is full of flavor and nutrients. The other day I had some leftovers, which inspired me to create a tasty lunch. This omelet tastes great warm or cold. Making it an easy treat to bring for your worklunch as well.Omelet2

When I finished cooking this dish, I was worried that this healthy creation would have no flavor. However, the strong flavors of the kale, artishoke and feta come together beautifully. It is also very filling, making it easier for me to stick to my new years resolutions. My colleagues had a taste, and insisted I share the recipe, luckily it is surprisingly easy!

Winter omelet (2 – 3 portions)

  • 150 grams of finely sliced curly kale (could be replaced with cavolo nero or spinach)
  • 200 grams of (tinned) artishoke hearts, in wedges
  • 100 grams of feta
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp soft curd cheese, known as “kwark” in Holland
  • 1 tbsp of oil for frying

Omelet1

  1. Blanch your kale for one minute in boiling water.
  2. Drain and cool your kale.
  3. Mix the kale, eggs and soft curd cheese and season to taste.
  4. Heat a frying pan and add your oil. Get your pan as hot as possible.
  5. Add your mix and lower the heat right away.
  6. Spead the artishoke pieces over your omelet and push them in gently.
  7. Crumble your feta over your omelet and push in gently as well.
  8. Cover and fry on a low heat until your egg has set.

Enjoy your omelet with a salad and a glass of white wine!

Read all my recipes here!

Winter sprout quiche

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I love eating Brussel sprouts and now I am happy to tell you about a new way to enjoy this winter vegetable, in a quiche. The bitterness of the sprouts is such a great combination with the egg and the cheese! The whole family polished their plates the day I cooked this quiche.Spruitenquiche2

Sprout quiche

  • 1 recipe of short crust pastry or a ready made puff pastry
  • 200 gram of boiled sprouts
  • 1 onion, finely sliced and gently fried till tender
  • 100 gram of small bacon cubes or a handfull of pine nuts for vegetarians
  • 150 gram of grated cheese (cheddar or young Gouda)
  • 3 eggs
  • 150 ml of cream
  1. Pre-bake your quiche base for 10 to 20 minutes until just cooked at 210 degrees C.
  2. Spread your ingredients on your pizza base and fill your pie with a mix of eggs and cream.
  3. Bake at 220 degrees C for 20 degrees or until golden.

spruitquiche1

For more quiche inspiration, look at my asparagus quiche or spinach quiche. This quiche taste great with a simple tasty salad. For more sprout inspiration, look at the sprout cappuccino.

Simple pizza alternative

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FlammKuchen2If you love pizza, you will love this recipe! You use the same recipe for the base, but the topping is completely different. This German dish is popular with my son and his daddy. We may have stumbled on a new family favorite (after pizza that is).

This dish makes a great dinner if served with a tasty salad but it also makes a great party snack or a simple lunch.

Flamm kuchen (3 medium pizzas)

  • 1 recipe of pizza dough
  •  Sauce, mix:
    • 250 gram Quark (or ricotta if you can’t buy this ingredient)
    • 100 gram creme fraiche
    • Pinch of nutmeg
    • Salt and pepper
  • 200 gram bacon in thin strips
  • 1 onion finely sliced
  • Optional: a few handfuls of grated cheese

  1. Warm the oven up to 240 degrees C.
  2. Roll out your pizza dough and prick holes in the bottom with a fork. (this prevents it from rising to high in the center)
  3. Spread a generous amount of sauce on the dough.
  4. Sprinkle the bacon, onion (and cheese) on top.
  5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

For a vegetarian option you could top your flamm kuchen with blue cheese, union and artichokes. Look up our favorite pizza recipes here.

Broccoli feast

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I am always looking for a way to make broccoli more interesting. Somehow this veg does not apeal to me, but I love it with cheese! This recipe makes my life easy. Especialy because I can do all preperations the day before. All I need to do when I get home is heat the dish in the oven.brocolli1

We like eating this simple broccoli casserole with roast potatoes and maybe a salad on the side. As the sauce is so rich, we like having this broccoli feast as a vegetarian dinner. As a variation to this dish you could mix in cauliflower or maybe .

Broccoli feast

  • 1 head broccoli, broken into florets
  • For the cheese sauce:
    • 1 onion, finely sliced
    • 30 grams butter
    • 30 grams flour
    • 150 ml white wine
    • 150 ml milk
    • 150 ml stock
    • 1 tsp mustard
    • 2 cups of grated cheese, I like old Gouda or a gruyere for this dish
    • salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg
  1. Boil your broccoli until tender. Rince with cold water to stop the cooking process. Place the broccoli in an ovenproof dish and set aside.
  2. Gently fry the onion in the butter intil soft.
  3. Add the flour. Stir this mixture on a low heat for at least 2 minutes.
    Do not skip this stage to prevent a grainy, floury taste.
  4. Add the liquids gradually, while mixing and incorporating into a thick sauce.
  5. Stir in 1 cup of the cheese and the mustard.
  6. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
  7. Pour your sauce over the broccoli and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
    (You can prepare this dish a day before and keep it in the fridge.)
  8. Preheat your oven at 220 degrees C. Bake your broccoli for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Brocolli

Simpel Starters : Brussel sprout cappuccino

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SpruitjesCap1I learnt this recipe at a cooking workshop. It was such a simple recipe, but it is a major showstopper for dinner guests. It celebrates the flavor of the sprout, complementing it with fluffy cream, crunchy salty bacon and zingy fresh spring union. It’s secret for me is the diversity in flavors and textures.

What I like most of all is that this luxury treat is easy to make for any starting cook.

For a vegetarian option replace the bacon with homemade garlic croutons.

You can serve this starter in a cappuccino cup, or a stylish glass cup.

Sprouts

Brussel sprout cappuccino (serves 4)

  • 250 gr brussel sprouts
  • 500 ml vegetable stock
  • 150 ml (whipping) cream
  • 75 gr bacon cubes
  • 2 spring unions

Clean your sprouts. Boil the sprouts in the stock for about 10 minutes, until tender. Turn of your heat. Place a lid on the pan while you prepare the other ingredients.sprouts2

Fry your bacon cubes until they are crispy while the sprouts are cooking. Slice the spring union in thin slices. Divide the bacon cubes and spring unions over your cappuccino cups.

Whip the cream into stiff peaks.

Blitz the sprouts and vegetable stock until smooth.

Add a spoonfull of whipped cream to the smooth sprout soup. Add the soup to the whipped cream and fold the mixture in until combined.

Gently spoon your fluffy soup in each cup and let your guests dig in.