Lam met lamsoor (Dutch lamb with sea spinach)

For ➍
600 g leg of lamb, without bone*
olive oil
½ bulb of garlic, crushed
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
20 spring onions**
200 g sea spinach
a handful of fresh mint
100 g butter
pepper***

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Heat the olive oil and brown the meat. Add pepper, thyme, rosemary, crushed garlic and wrap in aluminum foil. Put in the oven for 40 m for rose meat (or slightly more for well-done). When the meat is ready, let it rest for 10 m on a plate.
Meanwhile, cut the spring onions in length. Melt 50 g butter and sauté the spring onions and the sea-spinach**** for 4 m.
Chop mint. Melt 50 g butter and add mint for 1 m.
Remove foil from meat, remove thyme, rosemary and garlic. Cut into slices.
Put on a plate with sea spinach. Spread a little mint butter on the meat.Serve with boiled spring potatoes.

*Or use 12 rib chops. Add pepper, thyme, rosemary, crushed garlic to some oil. Cover the meat and let rest in foil for 30 m.Bake in oil or butter for 4 m a side.
*Instead, use 4 large slices of leg of lamb. Add pepper, thyme, rosemary, crushed garlic to some oil. Cover the meat and let rest in foil for 30 m. Bake in oil or butter for 3 m a side.
**Use shallots instead. Or mix of white onion and chives.
***Do not use salt as the sea spinach is naturally salted.
****Wash as quickly as possible in a colander under cold running water. When the sea spinach is washed in too much water, some of the salty taste is lost.

Sea spinach, also called sea beet, is similar to normal spinach but a bit bitter and more salty. This is the ancestor of the garden beetroot and is also related to spinach. It was first cultivated about 2000 years ago in the Middle East as a vegetable.
It can be found near the sea side on shingle beaches and cliffs as well as other coastal habitats. Due to the salty taste, it is an excellent companion to meaty fish, but can be served as a delicacy on it's own.
In Holland's Zeeland province, (where it's called 'lamsoor' ('lamb's ear'), it is served with lamb as above.
On the Belgium coast, in the Zwin reserve, it's called 'Zwinneblomme' ('flower of the Zwin', and in France its purple flowers made it 'lavande de mer' ('sea lavender').
Read more sea vegetables recipes.

Zeeuwse mossels (Belgian or Zeelandic mussels)

For ➋
2 kg North Sea mussels with shells
2 carrots, sliced
1 leek, sliced
2 onions, sliced
salt & pepper
50 cl blond beer*
1 tbs parsley
20 g butter
1 tbs water

Rinse the mussels. Discard all open mussels.

Take a large recipient, put it on heat. Melt the butter. Sauté the leek, onion rings, carrots and parsley with 1 tbs of water. Add mussels. Add pepper. Add beer.

The mussels are ready when they open their clams. Discard all closed mussels immediately.

Serve with rye bread and butter (or, in a Belgian way, with frites and a good blond beer or a fresh pinot blanc).

*In Holland , you could buy the special mussel-beer. Or use Belgian pils(ener) like Maes or Stella Artois. Replace with water (or half of it), if you must. You could use a Belgian white wheat beer or a Luxembourg pinot blanc white wine. Use a Belgian lambic (old gueuze) beer for a fresh taste. Obviously, have a lambic to drink as well.

For a very long time, until the separation of the Low Countries in the 16th century, Zeeuws Vlaanderen, now part of the Holland province of Zeeland, belonged to the county of Flanders, and has remained culturally close to its former neighbour. It is the center of a weird Belgian mussel cult, as most Zeeland mussels are exported to Belgium. (Due to extreme pollution, it was impossible to breed the historic North Sea mussel on the Belgian Coast until recent years.). Wherever they come from, moules aux frites, mussels with frites, is a Belgian national dish.
La grande casserole de moules ('The great mussels' pot'), consisting of a painted mussels' pot and real mussels' shells, is one of the iconic works of Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers of the influential post-war Groupe Surréaliste-Révolutionaire. A widely publicized public fund-raising was organised to prevent the work being sold to an American museum. It is now exposed at the Ghent museum of modern art SMAK. A variant of it, Casserole et moules fermées ('Pot with closed mussels'), has been acquired by the London Tate Gallery.
Read more gueuze and Belgian beer recipes.

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.