Smoked trout with oyster mushrooms

For ➋

200 g smoked trout / or trout fillets*

½ bunch chives

piece of ginger / 1-2 ts ginger powder

150 g rice

150 g oyster mushrooms

2.5 tbs sunflower oil

4 tbs soy sauce

½ tbs chili sauce

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Cook the rice according to the package instructions.

Peel the ginger and cut into 3 cm matchsticks. Place the fish on a piece of aluminum foil and distribute the ginger over it. Fold the package closed and place on a baking sheet or rack. Cook the fish for 6 to 8 m in the (preheated) oven.*

Slice the oyster mushrooms.

In the meantime, fry the oyster mushrooms in half of the sunflower oil for approx. 3 m. Mix with half of the soy sauce and the chili sauce and fry for another 1 m.

Finely chop the chives. Place the fish on a plate and scatter the chives over it. Heat the remaining half of the sunflower oil in a small pan until the oil starts to smoke. Pour the hot oil, along with the rest of the soy sauce, over the chives on the fish. Serve the fish with the oyster mushrooms and some rice.

*Or rub the trout fillets with a light seasoning made from ½ tbsp oil and 2 ts ginger powder. Microwave for 1 m in a closed container.

Cod with spinach, shallots, smoked salmon & Blanche du Hainaut

For ➋

800 g cod fillets 

4 tbs olive oil 

15 cl Dupont Blanche, Hainaut white beer

500 g spinach 

4 shallots, chopped 

100 g butter 

100 g smoked salmon, cubed

400 g potatoes 

1 bunch of chives 

25 cl fresh cream 

1 egg

Bake the cod fillets slightly in olive oil. Bake for 10 m in the oven at 180 ° C. 

Deglaze with white beer and simmer for 1 m.. 

Meanwhile, stew the spinach leaves cooked and shallots briefly in 50 g of butter . Add the smoked salmon into cubes increased. 

Boil and mash the potatoes. Add a bunch of chopped chives and warm cream to the puree.  Mix well and season with salt and pepper, then add the egg and 50 grams of butter.

Serve.

Caprese skillet eggs

For ➍
2 tbs olive oil
60 g (½ cup) chopped onion
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
½ ts salt
½ ts pepper
4 large eggs
120 g (½ cup) shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
5 (¼ cup) mixed chopped fresh basil, oregano & chives*
toasted sliced pane Pugliese or ciabatta

Heat oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 3 m. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have softened and released their juices, about 5 m.
Use a spoon to make 4 wells in the tomato mixture and crack an egg into each one. Cover pan and cook until whites are firm and yolks are just starting to set, about 2 m.**
Sprinkle with cheese and cover again to melt cheese slightly, about 1 m. Add some freshly baked bacon or ham if wanted.
Sprinkle with herbs and serve with toast.

*Use a mix of basilicum pesto (and fresh basilicum) instead.
**Use poached eggs instead.

Fiskisupa (Nordic fish soup)

For ➍
700 g cod fillet
1 kg mussels
2 celery stalks
3 leek whites
¼ celeriac
2 onions
5 dl water
1 dl white wine
30 g butter
1 bay leaf
some sprigs of chives
pepper & salt
150 g samphire
5 dl chicken broth

Chop the leeks, cut the peeled celeriac into small cubes and chop 1 onion. Fry them 5 m on medium heat in a stew pan with the melted butter.
Add the stock, the water, the bay leaf, pepper and salt.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 m on low heat. Let rest 5 m, remove the bay leaf and mix finely.
Meanwhile, clean the mussels and put them in a small casserole with chopped celery and 1 chopped onion. Put the lid on the pan and cook the mussels on a high heat, until they open (± 5 m). Shake the pot occasionally. Pour the cooking liquid into a decanter, and pour it slowly into the soup.
Put the samphire and wine in a small sauté pan. Put the chopped cod on top of it, put the lid on the pan and heat gently. Remove from the heat as soon as the wine is boiling and leave to rest 5 m. Season with pepper and salt. [Just before serving, add a lick of cream and give another twist to the pepper mill.]*
Arrange the pieces of fish with the samphire and the mussels in deep plates, pour over the hot soup and serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped chives.

*Optional.

Lamb steaks with chats & Brussels sprouts

For ➍
600 g chat potatoes*, halved
350 g Brussels sprouts
40 g butter, chopped
8 trimmed lamb steaks
1 small onion, chopped
6 cl white wine
12.5 cl beef stock
1 ts Dijon mustard
1 tbs chives, chopped

Boil potatoes and sprouts, separately, in medium pans of boiling water, uncovered, until tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, melt half the butter in a large frying pan, add the steaks and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until cooked as desired. Remove from the pan, cover to keep warm.
Add onion to the same pan, cook, stirring, until softened. Add wine to the pan, then add the stock and mustard and simmer, uncovered, until hot.
Toss remaining butter and chives through the hot potatoes.
Serve lamb with the sauce, potatoes and sprouts.

*Or small new potatoes.

Radicchio salad @ microwave

For ➋
40 g blue cheese
40 g chive oil
25 g hazelnuts, peeled
10 g chives
120 g radicchio, half of a head
olive oil
salt
50 g buttermilk

(Optional: Place blue cheese in the freezer. While this step is purely aesthetic—frozen cheese will curl prettily when it is peeled—the freezer is a good place to store blue cheese so that it's always ready for salads and such.)
Make the chive oil with blanched fresh chives, blend them with oil, strain through a sieve.
Heat oven to 165°C.
Spread hazelnuts on a sheet pan and toast until golden brown, about 30 m.
As the hazelnuts toast, agitate the sheet pan every 5 m for even browning.
Remove hazelnuts from oven and transfer to a large zip-lock bag. Lay the bag flat on a work surface and smooth it so that nuts spread out in an even, single layer. Roll a rolling pin over the bag, repeating until hazelnuts are crushed into small crumbles.
Mince the chives.
Wash radicchio and pat dry with a paper towel. Remove any damaged or wilted outer leaves. Cut radicchio into quarters.
Dress each piece with a generous amount of olive oil.
Place radicchio in microwave-safe dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
Cook on high for 40–50 s. Puncture plastic with a knife to allow steam to escape.
Remove from microwave. Radicchio should be warm and wilted, with just a little crunch remaining.
Cut white core from the radicchio and assemble leaves in a serving bowl. Dress with salt, minced chives, buttermilk, and chive oil.
Just before serving, sprinkle hazelnuts over salad and shave or crumble blue cheese on top.

Quick prawn curry

For ➋
250 g large prawns
20 g butter
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 ts curry
2 witloof endives, sliced
2 tbs of chives

Wash and dry the prawns.
Heat the butter and garlic. Add the curry.
Add the prawns. Bake 2-3 m on each side.
Add the sliced endives. Cook for 1 m longer. Add a dash of whiskey, bourbon or pernod, if wanted, or lemon juice.
Sprinkle with chives. Serve with garlic bread.

Bouillabaisse de poulet aux légumes (Provençal chicken stew)

For ➍
4 chicken breasts
1 carrot, chopped
1 fennel, chopped
1 leek (white), sliced
4 tomatoes
1 jet of pastis
1 capsule of saffron threads
½ chicken stock cube
2 potatoes with firm flesh
5 cl olive oil
pepper & salt
1 baguette
chopped chives
fresh rouille

Heat 5 cl of olive oil in a casserole. Add the chopped and sliced ​​vegetables; sauté for 10 m over moderate heat (vegetables should be transparent without losing their colour).
Wash and chop the tomatoes. Sift tomato juice over vegetables, squeeze the pulp to extract the most juice.
Season with salt and pepper. Add pastis and saffron. Add 0.5 l of water. Melt the stock tablet; bring to a boil, cover and cook at a rolling boil for 5 m.
Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes 0.5 cm. Add the potatoes to the other vegetables and cook 10 m, uncovered.
Poach the chicken breasts in the sauce for 20 m. Do not boil but maintain just below boiling point.
Meanwhile, prepare the rouille.
Cut the baguette into slices and brown under the grill.
Divide the chicken breasts on plates. Surround with the vegetables and the sauce. Smear the rouille on the rust baguette pieces and arrange them around the chicken pieces. Garnish with chopped chives.

Rouille

For ➍
for the rouille:
1 egg yolk
1 tbs harissa*
2 cloves garlic
10 cl olive oil

Beat the egg yolk and harissa.
Add olive oil in small nets until a good consistency of mayonnaise is reached. Mix in the finely minced garlic and continue beating until you get a smooth, thick rouille.
Serve with bouillabaisse.

*Replace harissa by fresh peppers, chopped.

Mousse de poireaux (leek mousse)

For ➍
3 leeks with 2 cm green, sliced
25 cl stock
chive, sage, marjoram, rosemary, finely chopped

Boil the stock. Add herbs and leeks. Boil for 5 m. Push through a sieve to extract all the juice.
Puree the leeks in a blender.
Mix a little of the cooking liquid and cream with the leeks.
Keep the rest of the cooking liquid aside.
Serve with fowl like pheasant.

Gazpacho of lettuce, garden peas & chives

For ➍
2 onions
25 g butter
1 lettuce
450 g green peas (frozen)
75 cl water
1½ chicken stock tablet
25 g chives

Chop the onions. Heat the butter in a large pan and fry the onion 3 m. Remove the leaves of lettuce. Wash and dry them and cut into strips.
Put the peas, lettuce, water and stock cubes in the soup pot. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 m on low heat.
Keep some chives for garnish. Cut the rest of the chives.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the chives and puree in a blender. Season with pepper and salt.
Let the soup cool for 30 m to room temperature. Cover and put in the refrigerator for 3 h.
Garnish the soup with the  chives and serve with sliced cereals bread.

Toast with mushrooms, leeks & fried eggs

For ➍
2 tbs canola oil
500 g mushrooms, mix recommended
2 leeks, white & light green parts, sliced into 0.6 cm thick
salt & pepper
4 tbs butter
1 tbs sherry vinegar
4 tbs chopped herbs (rosemary, parsley, chives...)
4 thick slices sourdough bread, toasted & buttered
5 cl heavy cream
Tabasco sauce
1 lemon, halved
4 eggs

Heat the oil. Add the mushrooms. Season with salt. Cook and stir until lightly browned. Stir in 1 tbs of butter along with the vinegar and herbs.
Put the bread slices on plates. Add the mushroom mixture.
In the same pan, melt 2 tbs of butter over medium/low heat. Add the leek, season and stir until soft, 7 m. Add the cream, bring to simmer and cook for 1 m. Season with Tabasco and lemon juice. Spoon over the toast.
Heat 1 tbs of butter over medium/low heat. Crack the eggs in the skillet and season. Cover the pan, so the whites will set faster. Remove the egg when the whites have set and the yolk is still runny. [Work in batches or use different skillets].
Place the eggs on top of the toast and serve.

Try the traditional toast champignon.

Witloofsalade (vegetarian endives' salad)

For ➍
8 endives
30 g chives
20 g mustard seeds, marinated in vinegar or balsamico
a handful of green herbs
20 g mustard
10 g salt
3 g white pepper
1 tbs vinegar
12 tbs g grape pit oil
6 tbs water

Mix all ingredients,except the endives and the mustard seeds, into a rather firm vinaigrette. Cover the chopped endives with it. Add the mustard seeds.
Serve.

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.

Roast beef with yogurt sauce

For ➍
1 kg beef
shichimi togarashi
salt
for the yogurt sauce:
125 g sunflower oil
45 g egg white
30 g sushi vinegar
5 g yuzu (or lime) juice
50 g yogurt
10 chives

Sprinkle the beef with the shichimi spices and salt. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 h.
Fry the meat nicely brown in a little oil.
Cook the roast in the oven at 120°C until it has a core temperature of 46°C. Use a thermometer. Allow it to cool.
When the roast beef is cold, cut into thin slices.
For the yoghurt sauce, in a blender mix the egg white with the sushi vinegar, yuzu juice and yogurt.
Then pour in a thin stream oil there, so you get a thick cream.
Cut the chives very finely and mix it with the yoghurt sauce.
Serve the meat with yogurt sauce.

The shichimi togarashi ('seven flavours pepper') originates from Japan. It was created in the 17th century by herb dealers in Tokyo. It is also called nana-iro tõgarashi or yagenbori, as with most spice mixes everyone has there own version and the ingredients may vary. It might include red chillies, orange peel, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, sansho pepper, ginger and nori. It might be used as a rub marinate, as in this recipe, or added to stews and noodles.

Omelette roulée au fromage (French omelet)

For ➊
2 tbs light olive oil
1 tbs cold butter, finely chopped & then frozen*
3 large eggs**
salt & ground black pepper
2 tbs shredded Gruyère cheese***
2 ts fresh, finely chopped chives****

Add the olive oil to a skillet and heat it over medium-high heat.

Whisk the eggs** until they are frothy. Stir half of the butter into the eggs.

Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Swirl it with the oil until it melts and becomes cloudy and bubbly.*****

Pour the eggs into the hot skillet and cook, moving a fork quickly through the eggs in small circles and zigzags until the eggs are approximately 80% cooked through. Smooth down the top surface of the eggs with the back of a large spoon or a small offset spatula.

Season the eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the shredded cheese and chopped herbs on the eggs and cover with a lid. Turn off the heat and allow the omelet to continue cooking for 2-3 m, depending on how firm you want your eggs.

Tilt the skillet to the side a bit and, using a rubber spatula, carefully ease the omelet out of the pan and onto a warmed serving plate. Gently roll the omelet into the traditional tube shape.

Cut into thick slices. Serve with crispy bread and a (rucola) salad. Pour a glass of fruity Bourgogne Aligoté, or, in summer, a spicy rosé Provence wine. A Merlot will do as well.

*Put in the freezer for 10 m.
**Traditional recipes use 2 eggs and 1 yolk.
***Use fresh goat cheese instead. Or don't use cheese. Add some more herbs.
****Use fresh mint sprigs instead.
*****Traditional recipes recommend to heat the oil in a skillet for 2 m, then remove the oil with kitchen paper.
******Serves 2 as a starter.

Crab & cucumber salad

For ➋
1 cucumber, sliced, peeled & seeded, sprinkled with salt
1 can of crab meat, drained
1 tbs of freshly shredded chives
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 ts nut oil
1 tbs rice vinegar
a pinch of chili powder

Let cucumber stand in a drainer for 30 m and let fluid drip away.
Combine oil, vinegar and chili.
Add crab meat, chives and garlic.
Rinse cucumber with water and pat dry. Add cucumber to the crab mixture.
Refrigerate for 1 h.
Serve with lightly toasted nutty bread.