Brabantse witlooftaart (Belgian endives' tart)

For ➍*
2 onions, peeled & chopped finely
5 stalks witloof/endives**, cut into 4, lengthwise***/****
150 g bacon, cubed
2 eggs
5 cl milk
100 g Gruyère (or Emmental) cheese, grated
1 pack puff pastry
nutmeg
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 200°C. 
Beat the eggs and season to taste. Add the milk and half the cheese.
Line a baking tin or dish with baking paper. Put the pastry in, puncture with a fork.*****
Spread the the vegetables into the tin, crossing the witloof leaves. Put the bacon on top. Pour the egg mixture over.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Put in the oven for 40 m.
Serve with a small green salad.

*For a smaller tart (for 2 or as a starter or snack), use 3 endives, 75 g bacon. Use the same amounts for the sauce and cheese.

**Use the best quality witloof available, avoid hydroculture witloof. 
***If wanted, you can add 2 stalks blanched celery (or leek), cut into small pieces.

****If wanted, you can stew the vegetables for 1 or 2 m with  a little bit of butter.

*****If wanted, pre-bake the pastry.

Fazantenfilets op zijn Brabants (Flemish pheasant fillets with endives)

For ➍
4 pheasant fillets, skinless
4-6 endives, finely cut
2-4 tbs fond
cream
savoy or turnips mash

Brown the fillets in a well heated pan. Lower the heat and cook the fillets for 5 more m.
Meanwhile sautée the endives in a little butter in another pan on medium heat. After 5 m, add the fillets and the fond. Cover and cook for 5 more m. Add the cream and thicken the sauce for a few m.
Put the fillet on a plate with some sauce.
Serve with a mash of savoy or turnips.

This a simple and quick version of a tradtional Brabant recipe. Read the similar elaborated recipe with guinea fowl.
Read the braising endives without water tip.
Read the cooking endives @ microwave tip.

Parelhoen met witloof & Trappist (guinea fowl with endives & beer)

For ➍
1 guinea fowl (1.5 kg)
salt & pepper
50 g bacon, cubed or sliced
50 g butter
10 shallots, sliced
3 dl Belgian beer, white or blond, blond Trappist recommended*/**
1 ts thyme
3 juniper berries
2 sprigs parsley
1 ts sugar*
6 endives***

Rub the guinea fowl with salt and pepper.
Heat the butter in a pan and bake the bacon for 5 m. Remove the bacon and brown the guinea fowl in the fat. Remove fowl and brown the shallots.
Add beer, thyme, laurel, berries, parsley (and sugar*). Mix.
Add bacon and heat the mixture.
Add the guinea fowl and let it stew on low heat for 45 m.
Heat some water to cook the endives for 10 m.
Add vegetables to the guinea fowl for the last 10 m of the cooking.
Remove the fowl and vegetables. Thicken the sauce, push through a chinois.
Cut guinea fowl into pieces. Put a piece on a warm plate with some sauce and with vegetables. Serve with boiled potatoes*** and blond Trappist beer.

*When using white beer or blond Trappist, don't add sugar. Blond Trappist should be a triple, like Westmalle or Leffe. When Belgian beers are not available, use pale ale instead...
**Add 10 cl fond de gibier to make a smoother sauce.

***Do not use hydroculture endives for a better taste. To have a smoother sauce, cut 1 additional endive into small chunks and put in the sauce from the start.
***Or serve with parsnip mash.

Trappist monasteries were founded by the Cistercian monastery of La Trappe in medieval France. Of the world's 171 Trappist monasteries, only 7 produce beer. 6 of them are in Belgium, brewing the highly valued Trappist following strict prescriptions.
Read the cooking fowl tip. Try the quick version. Read a classic recipe to braise the endives.
Read the braising endives without water tip.
Read the cooking endives @ microwave tip.

Overijsese plattekaastaart (Belgian cheesecake)

For ➑
20 g yeast
15 cl milk
1 egg, beaten
250 g flour, sifted
50 g butter, softened or melted
4 sweet apples, peeled & sliced*
100 g sugar
250 g cream cheese**
2 egg yolks
vanilla sugar
50 g speculaas***
25 g almonds, shaved
3 tbs cream
salt

Mix yeast with milk. Knead with flour, butter, egg and butter into dough. Cover with a wet towel and let rise for 1 h.

Put sliced apples in a skillet, add a few spoons of water and cook. Add 25 g sugar and let cool.*

Mix cheese**, 75 g sugar, egg yolks, vanilla sugar, almonds, speculaas***, cream and a pinch of salt until creamy.

Butter a cake tin, and cover with the dough. Let rise for 45 m.

Preheat oven to 225°C.

Cover the bottom of the dough with apples*. Pour in the mixture. Bake for 30 m or until golden brown. Let it cool.

Serve with a white beer or a half-sweet white wine.

*A variation can be made with rhubarb.

**Use a low-fat cheese instead.
***Speculaas are Belgian candy cookies. Subsitute with bitter-tasting cookies.

This recipe for plattekaastaart comes from a small village near Brussels, Overijse.