Risotto with mushrooms, shrimps & saffron

For ➍
250 g mushrooms
300 g carnaroli rice
1 onion
1.3 liters vegetable stock
40 cl white wine
2 tbs butter
250 g North Sea shrimps
1 ts saffron threads
lemon juice

Fry the chopped onion in tbs of butter, add the risotto rice and stir carefully.
Add wine and let cook briefly.
Add the vegetable stock and saffron and cook about 17 minutes over medium fire.
Cut the mushrooms. Cook them in 1 tbs of butter and a hefty drop of lemon juice.
When the rice is al dente, add the mushrooms and shrimps.
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Read tip for a quick risotto.

Waterzooi met griet en witloof (Flemish fish stew with endives)

For ➍
2 carrots, cut into small cubes
1 leek, into small cubes
6 endives
50 g butter
1 l fish stock*
1 kg mussels**
400 g fillet of brill (or lemon sole)
2 egg yolks
2 dl cream
juice of ½ lemon
3 tbs chopped parsley
pepper & salt
100 g North Sea shrimps

Cut 4 endives into small cubes. Stew the vegetables in ¾ of the butter. Pour over the fish stock and let simmer for 20 m.
Cut the 2 other endives in half and simmer in the remaining butter.
Prepare the mussels and remove them from the shell. Beat the egg yolks into the cream and set aside. Cut the fillets into strips and poach them for 2 m in the soup. Scoop them out and divide among 4 warmed plates.
Do the same with the vegetables from the soup, baked chicory and mussels.
Add the egg mixture to the soup and bring to the boil, stirring. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and parsley.
Season with salt and pepper.
Pour into the plates with the shrimp.

*Use less to have a less 'supy' dish.
**Omit and replace with more fish.

Gerookte tomaat-garnaal (smoked tomato with shrimps)

For ➏
2 tbs of wood chips
250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
pepper & salt
2 scallions, chopped
100 g sour cream
1 lime, zeste
olive oil
250 g shrimps
1 head little gem lettuce, finely chopped

Place a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom of a cooking pot. Sprinkle the wood chips over and cover again with a sheet of aluminum foil followed by a (cake) grid. Carefully place the cherry tomatoes on the rack and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover the cooking pot with a lid so that no smoke can escape. Place the pot on a high heat until the smoke circulation starts. Then turn the heat down and let smoke for 4 to 5 m. Carefully remove the tomatoes from the pot and let cool for a while.*
Mix the scallions with the tomatoes and spread in the glasses or jars.
Mix the sour cream with the lime zest, some olive oil, pepper and salt and mix with the shrimp. Put the shrimps on the tomatoes.
Finish with the finely chopped little gems.

*Use grilled cherry tomatoes instead.

Risotto with gray shrimps, watercress & lemon

For ➍
300 g grey North Sea shrimps
1 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1½ vegetable stock cubes
300 g risotto rice
1.5 l water
60 g Parmigiano cheese
3 lemons
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 bunch of watercress
pepper from the mill & salt

Put a pan on the fire with some olive oil and simmer the shallot and garlic. Add the rice and fry a little further on a low heat. Bring the water to a boil and dissolve the bouillon cubes. Add the stock little by little to the risotto, wait until the stock is fully absorbed by the rice before adding new.
When the rice is done, add the butter and let it melt. Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons and pour into the risotto, season with salt and pepper and mix. Finish the risotto with the Parmigiano cheese, the watercress and a lemon wedge.
Serve with the shrimps.

Read how to make a quick risotto.

Zomersmeus (mashed potatoes with tomatoes & North Sea shrimps)

For ➋
handfull basil, chopped
125 g cherry tomatoes, halved
⅓ lime, juiced
10 cl sour cream
250 g unpeeled North Sea shrimps @ room temperature
2 big potatoes, unpeeled* & washed
½ kg coarse salt
olive oil
pepper

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C.
Put the coarse salt in a thick layer on an oven plate.
Wash and dry the potatoes. Place the potatoes on the salt layer. Cook them cook in the oven for about 30-45 m.*
Meanwhile, peel the shrimps.
Remove the potatoes from the oven.
Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a (stew) pan over a low heat. Do not let the oil get too hot. Halve the baked potatoes and spoon out the mash.
Put the potatoes in the pan with oil and crush it with a fork. Make sure the potatoes do not bake. Season with pepper and add the sour cream, lime juice and possibly a small splash of water.
Stir the cherry tomatoes and the chopped basil leaves in the potatoes just before serving.
Divide the potatoes over the plates. Sprinkle the shrimps over the potatoes.

*Or just cook or steam  the (peeled) potatoes until soft with a bite in a traditional way.

**Or slice a coeur de boeuf tomato. Sprinkle with olive, salt & pepper.

This is a summery variation on a classic Flemish dish smeus.

Witloofsoep (endives' soup]

For ➍
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek (white only)
15 endives, chopped (reserve some tips)
1.5 l chicken stock
2 laurel leaves
1 bunch thyme
salt & epper
100 g North Sea shrimps, peeled
50 g butter
20 g croutons
parsley, fried

Sauté the onion and the leek in butter. Add endives, stock, thyme and laurel.
Cook on low fire for 1 h.
Put some shrimps, croutons,endives' tips and parsley in each plate. Add hot soup.

Garnalenomelet (Omelet with North Sea shrimps)

For ➍
4 eggs
10 cl soy cream
1 tbs fish stock
125 g peeled shrimps
2 tbs chopped chives
soy butter

Beat the eggs with the soy cream and fish stock.
Mix in the chives.
Bake the omelet into a pan with some soy butter.
Brown, bake @ns broil for 3 m on a low heat.
Sprinkle the shrimps and some extra chives on the omelet.
Serve as a breakfast with some rocket. Add extra fibers by eating fruit.

Fennel soup

For ➏
2 ts fennel seeds
1 star anise or aniseed
50 g butter
1 kg fennel, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
1 small potato, finely sliced
2 tbs Pernod*
75 cl warm chicken stock**
10 cl double cream
salt & cayenne pepper

Place the fennel seeds and star anise in a muslin bag and tie it up to make a bouquet garni. Set a large pan over a medium heat, melt the butter and cook the sliced fennel, onion and potato with the bouquet garni, stirring constantly, for about 10 m, until slightly softened.
(Add the Pernod and bring to the boil for a couple of m to reduce it.)*  Add the warm stock to the vegetables, then simmer for 10 m. Remove the bouquet garni. Pass the soup through a blender or in a food processor. Return the soup to the pan, add the cream and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.***
Serve with toast.

*Optional.
**This will result in a rather thick creamy soup. Add more for a more liquid soup. To make a velouté, e.g. to serve with lamb cuts, reduce quantity of liquids.
***Sprinkle some North Sea shrimps on the soup when served.

Toast with scrambled eggs, North Sea shrimps & goat's cheese

For ➍
4 thick slices of bread
6 eggs
0.5 dl cream
½ bunch of chives, chopped
25 g butter
200 g peeled North Sea shrimps
100 g fresh goat cheese
black pepper & sea salt

Toast the bread slices.

Beat the eggs, the cheese and the cream. Mix in the chives and season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Pour the egg mixture and cook stirring constantly until the eggs form a smooth paste.

Remove the pan from the heat immediately and stir in the shrimps.

Spread on toast, garnish with goat cheese and serve immediately.

Preistoemp met kabeljauw (leek mash with baked cod)

For ➍
4 pieces cod fillet
100 g shrimps* (optional)
mash:
4 stalks leek
1 kg potatoes (f.i. Bintje)
1 25 cl bottle white beer
1 large onion
a few bay leaves
few sprigs fresh thyme
sauce:
150 g fresh butter, ice-cold
pepper & salt
1 shallot
1 25 cl bottle white beer
a dash of cream
juice of ½ lemon

Peel the potatoes. Boil them in salted water.
Cut the onion. Saute in a covered pot with a knob of butter, without browning.
Cut the leek stalks into small pieces. Add to the pot with onions.
Make a bouquet garni: tie some bay leaves and some thyme sprigs together with kitchen twine. Add to the onion and leek mix.
Pour 25 cl beer in the pot. Let it simmer for 15 m on low heat.
Remove the bouquet garni from the pot with braised leeks. Drain the cooked potatoes and stir in vegetable mixture. Respect a mixture of ⅔ vegetables and ⅓ potatoes for a smooth mash. Add pepper and salt.
Meanwhile prepare a beurre blanc butter sauce**. Chop the shallot finely. Place a small saucepan over a medium heat. Cover the bottom with white beer. Add the shallot and a dash of lemon juice. Let the beer boil briefly.
Cut the refrigerator cold butter cut into cubes. Add a dash of cream to the pan and let the sauce reduce until ⅓ of the volume. Pour the sauce through a sieve been cooked so that the shallot pieces can be removed. Add them to the pot with leeks. Over low heat, whisk the sauce, gradually add the cold butter lumps. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Melt a knob of butter in an ovenproof pan over medium heat. Season the fish with some pepper and a pinch of salt. Fry the pieces of cod on both sides, so they get a golden crust.
Spoon a little bit of the drippings over the fish. When the fish is colored, put the pan in the preheated oven.
Let the cod cook for 7 m. Spoon some dripping between the pieces.
Serve each piece of cod with a portion of mash. Spoon some of the butter sauce over. white beer.
Add a serving of hand-peeled shrimps.*

*Optional.

**Or make a simple melted butter sauce with shallot and butter.

Try a leek mash with salmon and shrimps.

Preistoemp met zalm & garnalen (leek mash with salmon & shrimps)

For ➍
4 salmon fillets 150 g
100 g North Sea shrimps
4 stalks leek (white only), minced & washed under streaming water
100 g butter*
400 g potatoes, peeled
nutmeg
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 160°C.

Blanche the leeks in boiling water for 1 m. Put into cold water. Drain the leeks.*

Cut the potatoes in 4. Boil them in salted water for 15-20 m. Drain. Mash the potatoes. Add a knob of butter. Add nutmeg, salt & pepper. Add the leeks. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, slowly cook the salmon fillets in the oven for 20 m in a buttered pan.

When ready, put leek mash on a plate, add a fillet, and sprinkle some shrimps on the mash.

*Alternatively, bake the leeks in some hot butter. Add less butter to the mash.

Try a leek mash with cod.

Omelet met garnalen (Belgian shrimps' omelet)

For ➊*
3 fresh eggs
50 g peeled North Sea shrimps
butter
salt & pepper

Break eggs into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and whisk the eggs with a fork.
Melt butter in a saucepan on high heat. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and fry. Stir with a fork in the middle so the eggs will cook quickly. Turn the heat to low. Sprinkle the shrimps in the center of the omelet. Leave to cook slowly.
When eggs are almost solid, fold the edges towards the center and turn the omelet upside down.

*When cooking omelets for more persons, use separate pans or keep omelets warm.

North Sea risotto

For ➍
500 g North Sea mussels, cleaned
200 g North Sea shrimps, cooked & shelled
1 small onion
1¼ l fish stock
15 g butter
2 ts olive oil
400 g risotto rice
pepper
100 g pesto*

Chop the onion very fine. Bring the broth to a simmer.

Heat 15 g of butter with the olive oil. Fry the onion 10 m at a very low heat without browning.

Add rice, reduce heat slightly, stir until the grains glisten.

Add the stock, stirring the risotto and cook for 20-25 m over low heat until the liquid is used. Stir occasionally.

For the last 10 m, add the mussels and allow them to cook until the shells are open. Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir the shrimp and pesto through the risotto. Let the risotto rest with the lid on the pan for 3 m.

Serve the risotto in warmed deep plates. A green salad will suit it well.

*Replace with freshly chopped flat parsley.

Read quick risotto tip.

Tomate crevettes (tomato with shrimps)

For ➍*
4 firm red tomatoes or 2 coeurs de boeuf
200 g North Sea shrimps**, shelled & cooked
4 tbs mayonnaise, fresh if possible
juice of ¼ lemon
4 sprigs of parsley***
salt & pepper

Dry the shrimps. Sprinkle with lemon juice, salt & pepper****.

Drop the tomatoes 15 s in hot water and remove the skin. Halve the tomatoes, carefully spoon out the the liquids and inner meat. Put the tomatoes with the hollow side down on a plate in the refrigerator and let drain for 15 m. Keep some of the tomato juice. (Make a simple coulis from the sieved juice, by heating it until most liquid has gone. Put in refrigerator to cool.)

Chop the parsley***.

Mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice**** and tomato coulis avoiding getting too liquid. Add the parsley****. Add the shrimps (keep a few to decorate the dish) and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon shrimp mix in the tomato halves.

Serve 2 tomato halves (1 coeur de boeuf) per person*, with some lettuce or some tomato coulis. Rye bread is a good companion.*

*As a starter. Serve 4 tomato halves per person as a main course. Serve with Belgian frites.
**The North Sea small grey variety.
***Replace with shredded coriander.
****Choose either for adding the lemon juice to the shrimps or the mayonnaise.

One of the most popular Belgian dishes with very rare North Sea shrimps. It first appeared at the new sea resorts on the Belgian coast in the middle of the 19th century. Shrimps were abundant and easy to collect without boats, fishermen on horses simply dragged trawling nets along the shore, as it still done in Oostduinkerke. The dish was probably inspired by traditional tomato & prawns recipes from the French Mediterranean coast.
Try a low-fat version without mayonnaise.

Low-fat tomate crevettes (tomato with shrimps without mayonnaise)

For ➍
4 firm red tomatoes or 2 coeurs de boeuf
150 g North Sea shrimps*, shelled & cooked
2 eggs
35 g butter
1 tbs milk
juice of ¼ lemon
4 sprigs of parsley
salt & pepper

Dry the shrimps. Sprinkle with lemon juice, salt & pepper.

Drop the tomatoes 15 s in hot water and remove the skin. Halve the tomatoes, carefully spoon out the the liquids and inner meat. Put the tomatoes with the hollow side down on a plate in the refrigerator and let drain for 15 m. Keep some of the tomato juice. (Make a simple coulis from the sieved juice, by heating it until most liquid has gone. Put in refrigerator to cool.)**

Chop the parsley.

Break the eggs, beat them with a bit of milk.

Heat the butter. Let it foam. Add the eggs and scramble them with a wooden spoon.

Take the skillet off heat. Add the parsley and shrimps (keep a few to decorate the dish) and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon shrimp mix in the tomato halves. Decorate the plate with some of the tomato coulis.**

Serve 2 tomato halves (1 coeur de boeuf) per person*, with some lettuce or some tomato coulis. Rye bread is a good companion.*

*The North Sea small grey variety.
**Optional.

Oostends vispannetje (North Sea fish gratin)

For ➍
200 g salmon fillet
200 g Dover sole fillet
200 g North Sea shrimps, peeled
4 dl fish stock
75 g butter
75 g flour
5 cl dry white wine
4 dl cream
125 g white button mushrooms, sliced
150 g Gruyère cheese, grated
salt & pepper
parsley

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Cut the fish into chunks. Poach the fish in the stock until half cooked (about 4-5 m). Take the fish out of the stock.
Thicken the stock a further few m.
Melt the butter. Stir with the flour to a blond roux. Mix the roux and the thickened stock.
Melt a little butter. Sauté the mushrooms. Add the cooking liquids to the stock mix.
Add the white wine and cream. Thicken to half the quantity. Season with salt and pepper.
Take from the heat. Add the grated cheese and shrimps.
Arrange the fish in a buttered ovenproof dish. Pour over the sauce. Sprinkle some grated cheese over it.
Put in preheated oven and broil for 4 m. Finish with some chopped parsley.
Serve with bread or mashed potatoes.

*Alternatively:
1 fillet of cod, approximately 125 g, 1 fillet of sole, 22 scallops, 50 g peeled grey shrimps, 8 large mussels, 5 cl white beer (blanche de Namur, Brugse Witte of Hoegaarden), 5 cl double cream, 5 cl lobster bisque, 30 g Gruyère, salt & pepper.
Cook mussels and remove from the shell. Cut scallops into slices 3 mm thick. Place cod and sole fillets in an ovenproof dish.
Pour in beer, cream and lobster bisque. Add salt and pepper.
Cook in oven preheated to 180°C for 10 m. After 10 m, add shrimps, scallop slices and mussels. Sprinkle with grated Gruyère and broil under the grill for a few m.

Belgian homemade cocktail sauce

For ➍
5 tbs mayonnaise
3 tbs tomato ketchup
1 tbs whisky

Mix ingredients.

Serve with prawns.

Cocktail sauce was named after the prawns cocktail it was meant to accompany. In the USA, cocktail sauce is basically ketchup with prepared horseradish, augmented with hot sauce like Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. It is also served with fresh oysters. This mayonnaise and ketchup mix mix can be found in France and UK influenced countries. Belgium is the only country where whisky is added to cocktail sauce.
Try it as a quick sauce for a classic prawns cocktail.

Oeufs à la Meulemeester (Brussels' eggs & shrimps)

For ➋
4 fresh eggs
125 g North Sea grey shrimps, peeled
10 cl fresh cream
25 g grated cheese (Emmenthaler or Gruyère)
20 g butter
25 cl white beer of Hoegaarden
1 tbs Ghent mustard *
1 tbs chervil
salt & black pepper

Butter 2 small gratin dishes.

Slightly heat the beer to let evaporate the alcohol. Add shrimps and let stand for 1 h. Separate beer and shrimps.

Bring water to the boil and cook 3 eggs for 7 m. Meanwhile, separate yolk from the other egg and beat it.

Cool the boiled eggs with water and peel them. Slice them into delicate rounds.

Meanwhile, heat the butter. Add the beer, the cream and the yolk. Mix well. Add mustard and chervil. Add salt & pepper.

Preheat the grill to maximum heat.

Spread the shrimps in the dishes. Cover with sliced eggs, pour sauce over them, cover with grated cheese and a few pieces of butter.

Grill for 10 m.

Serve with some rye bread, a small salad and a wine vinegar vinaigrette.

*Or a good Dijon mustard.

Father and son Meulemeester are characters from an immensely popular Brussels' theatre comedy Le Mariage de Mademoiselle Beulemans (Young Lady Beulemans' marriage). Her parents are wealthy Brussels' brewers, hence the beer reference, and she falls in love with the wrong (French) man instead of the young Meulemeester. From its start around the Brussels World Exposition of 1910, the play in authentic Brussels' dialect, mixing French and Flemish, stayed popular into the 60's, when it was still performed at the Brussels' Théâtre des Galéries and was made into a popular movie several times. (The picture shows a fragment of the 1960's version poster.)
The name could also be derived from a Flemish dish in the Bruges' countryside, near the port of Zeebrugge, where it is still served today in several variations, then meaning eggs in the miller way.
Read more North Sea grey shrimps dishes: baked endives with shrimps, tomate crevettes, kerremelksmeus.

Baked endives with shrimps

For ➍
8 endives
2 shallots
laurel
butter
3 tbs cream
3 tbs white wine
200 g old cheese
200 g North Sea shrimps
chives

Chop shallots and endives. Heat butter in skillet, add shallots, endives and laurel. Cook for 5 m.
Pour in the white wine. Add cream and some pepper. Reduce until half.
Put in an oven dish,
Scrape cheese over the dish. Put a few m under the grill. Decorate with shrimps and chives.

Sixties' shrimp cocktail

For ➋
10 jumbo prawns cleaned, peel intact
½ ts coarse salt
1 tbs melted butter
½ lemon, rasped & juiced
100 g plain bread crumbs
20 g prepared horseradish
10 cl cream
¼ ts salt
¼ ts cayenne pepper
15 cl sour cream
1 tbs chopped parsley
2 leaves of lettuce hearts

Preheat a grill pan over medium high heat. Loosen shells of prawns and butterfly them cutting down the vein line of the back of the prawns. Toss prawns with coarse salt.

Combine melted butter with lemon juice and zest.

Cover prawns with lemon butter and set on hot grill. Grill prawns 3 to 4 m on each side, until pink and firm.

In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, horseradish, cream and salt. Let the cream soak into the bread crumbs for 2 m. Loosen bread crumbs with a fork. Stir in cayenne and combine with sour cream. Spoon equal amounts of sauce into ramekins on individual plates or a dip bowl in the centre or a large platter. Arrange 5 grilled prawns on a leaf of romaine lettuce.

Serve shrimps with seafood forks alongside dipping sauce.
Or shred a leaf of lettuce, put in a cocktail glass, add dipping sauce and arrange (at least 1) shrimp(s) on the rim of the glass or on top of the dipping and lettuce.

The origin of the shrimp cocktail goes back to the late 19th or early 20th century. Contemporary American cookbooks confirm that the combination of shellfish (most typically oysters) and a spicy tomato-based sauce (usually ketchup spiced with horseradish, Tabasco and cayenne) served in tiny cups as appetizers was extremely popular in the early part of the 20th century. Most of the times, it was just a way of presenting the food with a dipping sauce. So-called cocktail appetizers were extremely popular during the 1920s, the decade of Prohibition, when these appetizers were served in cocktail glasses, originally meant to hold alcoholic beverages.
Although it probably existed before, the idea of the shrimp cocktail was launched to a large audience by the New York Times Christmas dinner suggestion in 1926, making it more a starter than an appetizer by adding more ingredients like lettuce.
It became extremely popular during during the 50's and spread to Europe in the 60's, as a fashionable sign of the new prosperity.
Try a Belgian variation by replacing the sauce with Belgian cocktail sauce. (Shrimps might be steamed.)