Miso Brussels sprouts

For ➋ 

500 g Brussels sprouts 

150 g black rice 

3 tbs white miso 

2 tbs maple syrup 

1 tbs mirin 

2 ts sesame oil 

3 ts black sesame seeds 

6 radishes 

5 cl rice vinegar 

2 ts coconut blossom sugar 

pinch fleur de sel 

Clean 500 g Brussels sprouts. Cut them in half lengthwise. 

Boil 150 g of black rice according to the directions on the package. 

In a small bowl, beat 3 tbs white miso, 2 tbs maple syrup, 1 tbs mirin and 2 ts sesame oil until smooth. 

Add 3 ts black sesame seeds and mix well. Mix this marinade with the Brussels sprouts. 

Divide them over a baking tray covered with parchment paper. 

Bake 20 m in a preheated oven at 220 °C. 

Meanwhile make the sweet and sour radish. 

Cut 6 radishes into very thin slices, preferably with a mandolin. Beat 5 cl ml rice vinegar, 2 tsp coconut blossom sugar and a pinch of fleur de sel together until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the radishes and mix well. Let this marinate for 10-15 m. 

Serve the rice on a plate, top with the Brussels sprouts and radishes and drizzle lightly with the sweet and sour marinade.

Curcuma latte

For ➊ large cup
30 cl vegetable milk (f.i. rice-coconut milk).
1 ts maple syrup or other vegetable syrup
1 ts turmeric (curcuma)*
½ ts of ginger powder
¼ ts vanilla flavour or vanilla powder
¼ ts cinnamon powder
pinch of pepper**

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan.
Put this on a medium heat and keep stirring until the latte warms up and begins to foam. Avoid boiling the milk.
The latte is now ready to serve.

*turmeric is the ground root of the plant. Curcumin is a main ingredient.
**ensures that the turmeric is absorbed better

Modern gimlet

For ➊
6 cl gin
1 cl lime juice*
1 cl simple syrup (1:1, sugar:water)
lime wheel for garnish

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
Add ice and shake until chilled.
Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. (Add a splash of soda, if wanted).
Garnish with a lime wheel.

*Before fresh juice was standard in cocktails, Rose’s Lime Cordial was the traditional substitute for simple syrup and lime juice. Some still insist that a gimlet is not a gimlet without Rose’s, but we prefer to use fresh citrus whenever possible.

This cocktail was created for English sailors as a way to prevent scurvy. It used Rose’s Lime Cordial, lime juice mixed with syrup, to add vitamine C. This preventative drink turned out to be delicious as well. Modern Rose’s Lime Cordial is a much sweeter concoction than the original and should be replaced by fresh juice. Replace the sugar in the syrup with stevia, if wanted.

Paloma

For ➊ drink
4.5 cl reposado tequila (or any good quality blanco)
juice of half a ruby grapefruit
1.5 cl of agave syrup or sugar syrup*
7.5 cl club soda
a squirt of fresh lime juice (optional)

Pour some kosher salt on a plate. Rub half of rim of a highball glass with grapefruit wedge; dip rim of glass in salt..
Mix the grapefruit juice, tequila and sugar syrup until well mixed.
Pour over a tall glass filled with ice and top up with soda water. You could add a squirt of lime juice. And rim the glass with salt.**

*To reduce your sugar intake, simply leave the sugar out. It's less sweet but delicious.
**Combine grapefruit juice, lime juice, and sugar in glass; stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in mescal, add ice, and top off with club soda. Garnish with grapefruit wedge.
***Replace the fresh grapefruit and soda with sparkling grapefruit lemonade.
***Or have a related Margarita.

Little is known about the historical origin of the Paloma, the most popular tequila-based cocktail in Mexico. Some believe that it is named after La Paloma ('The Dove'), the popular folk song composed in the early 1860s. Diffords guide states it was created by the legendary Don Javier Delgado Corona, owner and bartender of La Capilla, in Tequila, Mexico.
More Paloma recipes @ https://www.liquor.com/slideshows/paloma/#gs.PclY1XI

Roast chicken with dates, olives & capers

For ➍
8 chicken legs, drumstick & thigh attached, skin on (2 kg net)
5 garlic cloves, crushed
15 g fresh oregano, torn, plus extra for garnish
3 tbs red wine vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
100 g green olives, pitted
60 g capers, plus 2 tbs of their juices
70 g Medjoul dates, pitted & quartered lengthways
2 bay leaves
12 cl dry white wine
1 tbs date syrup or treacle
salt & black pepper

Place the chicken in a large, non-reactive bowl and add all of the ingredients, apart from the wine and date molasses, along with ¾ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Gently mix everything together, cover the bowl and leave in the fridge to marinate for 1 to 2 days, stirring the ingredients a few times during the process.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Spread out the chicken legs on a large baking tray, along with all the marinade ingredients. Whisk together the wine and molasses and pour over the meat. Place in the oven and cook for 50 m (or up to 70 m, depending on the meat pieces' size), basting 2 or 3 times, until the meat is golden brown on top and cooked through.
Remove from the oven, transfer everything to a large platter, sprinkle over some freshly picked oregano leaves and serve.

This Ottolenghi favourite was inspired by the 1980's recipe for Chicken Marbella, a popular dish on Jewish pass over meals. Created in NYC, it blended influences from North Africa and Spain, as well as the mixing of poultry and fruit from Persia and the Middle East.

Boulets liègeoises Lequet (Liège meatballs)

For ➓ meatballs
1 kg of minced pork & beef [avoid to mince the meat too finely].
2 eggs
15 cl milk
½ onion
300 g bread crumbs (or chapelure)
beef fat

1 liter of sauce:
100 g onions
100 g sugar
10 cl white vinegar
400 g Sirop de Liège [*never use a syrup with other ingredients than apples and/or pears]
salt & pepper
½ bay leaf
1 l water
200 g of white roux

Mix the ingredients for the balls. Roll balls with your hands. Dip the balls in beef fat at 160°C for about 15 m. [Caution: do not use the same grease for the frites].
For the sauce, mix all ingredients. Cook 45 m. When the sauce comes to a boil, lower the heat and wait 10 m. Remove the sauce from the heat, and bind with the roux. Pour the balls into the sauce. [The sauce is less liquid on the second day and often better].
Serve with real frites, fresh mayonnaise and a blond Belgian beer.

This is the way Café Lequet serves its famous boulets. Some cooks prefer to cook the balls in the oven. Try this with this sauce with some flour added.

Boudins d'Amay (Belgian pudding sausages with sweet potatoes, turnips & parsnips)

For ➍
4 boudins blancs de Liège (white sausages with pork meat, bread and marjoram)
4 boudins noirs (black pudding sausages) with raisins
4 parsnips
4-6 sweet potatoes
3-4 rutabaga/swedes (purple turnips)
1 tbs honey
4 onions
2 ts sirop de Liège
4 garlic cloves
3 ts mustard
4 ts cranberry jam
fleur de sel
Espelette pepper
olive oil
butter

Dip the unpeeled parsnip in salted water and boil for 15 m. Cool in ice-water, rub the skin off.
Cut the parsnips into thick slices and brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, and toast the slices on both sides on a grill. Drizzle with (mandarin) oil and give them a whirl with the pepper mill.
Meanwhile put unpeeled sweet potatoes, in an oven @ 200°C. Roast for 45 m.
Put 4 unpeeled onions in the oven and let them yarn. Peel the sweet potatoes, rub the sweet potatoes with olive oil and a little sesame oil, sprinkle with fleur de sel, a little Espelette pepper and honey. Put the sweet potatoes in a baking dish with butter and bake them a little more.
Peel the onions, arrange them with some crushed garlic cloves in a baking dish. Peel the rutabaga turnips, cut into cubes. Fry them briefly in olive oil and add them to the baking dish. Brown a little butter and spread over the turnips. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and pepper. Put the baking dish in the oven for 40 m @ 180-200°C. Toss a few times.
Mix 3 ts mustard with 4 (or more) ts of cranberry jam.
Slice black pudding sausages with raisins and white Liege tripes. Fry in foaming butter.
Arrange the sweet potato, roasted parsnips, turnips on the warmed plates. Dress the turnips with a spoonful of syrup of Liège. Put the sliced sausages next to a generous serving of the mixed mustard. If desired, garnish with parsley and sesame seeds.

*Alternatively, clean and slice the vegetables. Steam for 20 m and grill them lightly.

*Or peel the vegetables, cut  into small parts, preheat an oven to 200°C, put the vegetables on baking paper (each in  small group of its own), spray with olive oil, bake them for about 25 m. Dress the vegetables with honey, mustard & jam, butter, as indicated in the recipe.

Caffè shakerato

For ➊ glass
6-8 ice cubes
1-2 ts simple syrup**, or to taste
1 dash liqueur, such as rum, sambuca, or Amaretto (optional)
2 shots freshly made, hot espresso

In a cocktail shaker*, add the ice cubes, simple syrup, liqueur**** (if using), then finally the freshly made espresso. Put the lid on and shake vigorously for 10 to 15 s. The shaker should become ice cold and the mixture should become a light caramel-colored froth. 
Strain the liquid into a chilled martini glass, ensuring no ice cubes end up in the drink.
If desired, garnish with a coffee bean or a dusting of cocoa powder—or go for it and top with whipped cream.

*If you don't have a cocktail shaker, improvise with a jar with a screw top lid. You can also make this in a blender and you'll end up with a super frothy cocktail-like drink that will feel like you're drinking a caffeinated cloud.
**Boil one part sugar with one part water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Store in a jar in the refrigerator for a week.
***Spice things up by spiking the coffee with a dash of something alcoholic. Try rum, sambuca, or amaretto. Or add some vanilla extract or a twist of lemon zest for something different.
Add it to the shaker before the hot coffee, which must always come last.

Maple & Dijon salmon

For ➋
500 g salmon in 2 fillets
1 tbs whole grain Dijon mustard
1 tbs maple syrup
½ tbs rosemary, minced
1 lemon zested
¼ ts salt
2 ts olive oil

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, maple syrup, lemon zest, rosemary and salt.
Drizzle the salmon with the olive oil and then rub the oil onto the salmon to ensure it's evenly coated. Salt and pepper both sides of the salmon.
Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Heat an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add the salmon and then carefully spoon the mustard sauce over the salmon, trying not to spill any onto the pan.
Put the pan in the oven and bake until the salmon is cooked to your desired doneness.
Serve with grilled fennel.

See fish cooking time table.

Sauce à la Liègeoise (Liège syrup sauce)

For ➍
4 onions chopped
3 tbs sirop de Liège*
50 g butter
1 tbs flour or cornstarch
salt & pepper
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 ts marjoram

Melt the butter in a skillet and sauté the chopped onion, 1 to 2 m. Add 5 ml water and cook 5 m on medium heat, while stirring (onions should not brown).
Mix flour and 20 cl of hot water.
Pour over onions and cook 2 to 3 m.
Add the sirop and spices.
Mix well and simmer 20 m on low heat to make the sauce thick and shiny.
Serve with boulettes à la Liègoise.

*Another Belgian fruit spread, based on pears, might do.

Café Lequet serves its meatballs with a slightly different sauce.
The sirop de Liège is a highly concentrated fruit syrup, made from fruit from the the massive fruit plantations in the Limburg and Liège provinces. The Meurens company in Aubel, near Liège, has produced fruit syrops since 1902 in the rural tradition of the Pays de Herve. The final recipe was developed in 1937, and registered in 1947 as le vrai sirop de Liège, the box showing the blossoming pear trees of Aubel. The sirop is made of pears, apples and dates, 400 g of fruit for 100 g of syrup, 700 g for the version with no sugar added.

Fresh mint syrup

For 25 cl syrup
200 g sugar*
25 cl hot water*
bunch of mint leaves, freshly chopped*

Put chopped mint leaves in hot water. Add sugar.

Let stand for 30 m.

Squeeze and remove the leaves.

Cool for 1 h.

*Use same proportions for more or less syrup. The syrup will be good for several days when put in a closed container in the refrigerator.
It can be used in drinks or on ice-cream.