Konijn met kriek (cherry beer rabbit)

For ➍
1 rabbit, cut in pieces
50 cl very good kriek-beer
1 roughly chopped onion
2 carrots
2 chopped celery stalks
2 laurel leaves
1 sprig of thyme
10 grains of white pepper
25 cl dry white wine
50 cl can of cherries (griottes)
100 g roux

Marinate the rabbit and vegetables, pepper in the beer. Put a night in the refrigerator.

Drain the ingredients and save the liquid.

Melt a chunk of butter. Brown the pieces of rabbit. Set aside.

Roast the vegetables. Add white wine. Add salt and pepper.

Add the marinade and bring to boil. Add the rabbit and let simmer (for about 30 m).

Take the rabbit out, keep warm.

Bind the sauce with the roux. Add the pieces of rabbit to the sauce and the cherries.

Serve with boiled potatoes.

Belgian kriek-beer is created from gueuze with sour cherries. Avoid cheaper and sweeter brands. Read Anglerfish in gueuze for more information on gueuze.

Risotto with roasted pumpkin

For ➋
500 g pumpkin (or butternut squash)
2 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper
½ onion, diced
150 g Arborio rice
pinch saffron (optional)
10 cl white wine
60 cl chicken (or vegetable) stock
2 tbs butter
50 g Parmigiano, freshly grated

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Peel the pumpkin, halve it and remove seeds. Cut into 2,5 cm cubes. Place squash in roasting dish, toss with 1 tbs olive oil, 1 ts salt and ½ ts pepper. Roast until tender and golden in spots, about 25 m. Toss once to ensure even roasting.
Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.
In saucepan, heat 1 tbs olive oil, add diced onion and saute until translucent.
Add rice to onion and oil mixture and stir until the grains are coated. Add the wine and let it reduce slightly. Add 20 cl of stock, along with the saffron. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the stock is absorbed, 10 m. When the stock is almost gone, add some more. Repeat the process.
When the liquid is absorbed, remove pot from heat, stir in butter and cheese. Toss in roasted squash. Add salt and fresh pepper to taste.

Read the tip on making a quick risotto.

Schwe payon hinjo (Burmese pumpkin soup)

For ➍
1 tbs peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
750 g pumpkin (or other winter squash), peeled, seeded & cubed
1 l chicken stock (or, traditionally, water)
salt & pepper
50 g basil leaves, finely sliced*

Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Lightly sauté the garlic for 3 m, until it is fragrant. Add the cubed pumpkin and stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 25 m, until pumpkin is tender. Purée in a blender, solids first, until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. When ready to serve, stir in finely sliced basil and ladle into bowls.

*Use Thai (sweet) basil, if possible.

This pumpkin soup is a classic Burmese dish, that can also be served as a drink with other Burmese dishes.
Banknotes are from the democratic Union of Burma, ended in 1962 by a military regime.

Teppan yaki (Japanese grilled steak, prawns & vegetables)

For ➍
4 sirloin steaks (total 500 g)*
1 ts salt
1 ts freshly ground pepper
2 ts oil
4 large prawns
1 tbs sake**
2 green peppers
6 spring onions
2 cloves garlic
3 tbs soy sauce
1½ ts sugar
1 tbs chicken stock
frying oil

Trim excess fat from steaks. Sprinkle both sides with the salt and ½ of the pepper.
Peel the prawns, leave the tail, devein. Wash under cold water. Pat dry.
(Slice on underside to make butterflies.)*** Sprinkle with the sake**.
Quarter the green peppers, remove stem and seeds. Chop 3 of the onions (green included). Chop the garlic.
Mince 3 onions. Mix together 2 tbs of soy sauce, sugar, chicken stock and minced onions. Divide into 4 dipping bowls.
Heat oil in a pan. Keep heat high. Add the steaks and fry quickly until done.* Remove the steaks. Toss in the garlic, 3 chopped onions, and the prawns. Add 1 tbs of soy sauce, and ½ ts of pepper. Cook until prawns are done (probably 4 m, for medium sized prawns, 7-8 m for large ones)***.
Serve steaks, prawns and vegetables on warmed plates with dipping bowls. Add some rice.

*Cut into bite-sized pieces if you want. Reduce frying time. Normally, when full sized, 2,5 cm thick steaks would take 12-14 m to be medium fryed. Reduce to about 5 to 6 m. (Rare would be 8 to 10m, and 3 to 4 m.)
**Or dry sherry.
***Optional. Cooking time should be reduced by ⅓ when butterflied.

'Teppan' is an iron plate in Japanese, and 'yaki' means grilled. Though now considered as a typical Japanese dish, it was only developed after WWII to offer foreign visitors (and occupying American soldiers) something like a western meal with some Japanese influences. In the early 60's, it moved to the USA, and more often than not became a spectacle of high flames and burnt meat. The recipes vary from marinated beef to anything grilled.
This variation has a nice contrast in taste and texture between the elements, and nothing more than a good thick pan is needed. You can marinate the beef in the soy sauce before grilling, but it will spoil the beef a bit.

Crayfish & endives @ microwave

For ➊
175 g cleaned fresh crayfish*/***
15 g butter
1½ tbs cognac
3 tbs cream
6 leaves of endives**
salt & pepper

Melt the butter in 45 s on high. Add the crayfish for 2 m on high.***

Put the crayfish apart. Add salt and pepper, cognac and cream to the butter. Heat 4 m on high.

Add crayfish and endives to the sauce and heat for 30 s on high.

Serve with a slice of lemon and fresh toast. Or serve small portions as an appetizer.

*You can use tiger prawns instead.
**You can use Roman lettuce instead.
***You can use pre-cooked crayfish instead. Omit the baking.

Radiatori col tonno (pasta with tuna)

For ➋
250 g radiatori pasta
150 g canned tuna, drained
50 g Parmigiano cheese, grated
20 cl cream

Heat the water. Plunge in the radiatori and cook for 20 m (or until al dente).

Flake the tuna and mix with cream. Heat for 3 m. Add the cheese and let it slightly melt.

Mix sauce with radiatori. Serve warm.

*Alternatively, use 20 g butter, mix it with a fork with the tuna and cheese into a crumbled sauce. Add it to the warm radiatori and let it melt slightly.

American avocado pie

For ➑
22 cm digestive biscuits crust
2 avocados, peeled, pitted & pureed
10 cl lemon juice
10 cl sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 175°C.

In a bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted margarine. Place mixture in a 22 cm pie tin and press firmly into bottom and sides of pan.

Bake for 8 m.

Let it cool.

In a medium bowl, combine avocado, lemon juice, and condensed milk.

Blend well and pour into graham cracker crust.

Chill before serving.

Garnish with whipped unsweetened cream.

*Americans make it with (sweet) graham crackers. You could use petit beurre biscuits instead.

American biscuits pie crust

For ➑
16 digestive biscuits, crushed
55 g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 175°C.

In a bowl, mix together digestive biscuits crumbs and melted margarine. Place mixture in a 22 cm pie tin and press firmly into bottom and sides of pan.

Bake for 8 m.

Let it cool.

*This crust can be used for several pies. The filling is simply poured in the crust, and put in the refrigerator for several hours. Try American avocado pie.

Spaghetti con vongole (spaghetti with small clams)

For ➋
100 g spaghetti
400 g cooked vongole meat (small clams)
4 tbs olive oil
1 chopped garlic clove
5 stalks of dried chilies
2 ts coarse black pepper
fresh coriander leaves
1 small glass of white wine*

Bring water to the boil. Drop in the spaghetti. Cook al dente.

In a small pan heat the olive oil. Stir in the garlic, chilies and pepper. Do not brown the garlic. Mix in the vongole with some of the cooking juice.

Add a small glass of white wine*.

Mix the spaghetti and vongole.  Shred the coriander leaves for decoration.

*Use half a glass of white vermouth instead.
**Use half quantities for a starter.

Another recipe for spaghetti alle vongole in bianco. Try the similar Spanish version.
Read more spaghetti & linguine recipes: a quick spaghetti, spaghetti with scallops & tomatoes, scallops & rucola spaghetti, spaghetti alla carbonara, spaghetti with vegetables, shrimps fra diavolo, raw tomato spaghetti, spaghetti with oil & garlic, spaghetti alla puttanesca, Palermo spaghetti with tomatoes & mint, American-Italian spaghetti with meatballs, vermicelli with parsley sauce, shrimps & Brie linguine, butter & tomato pasta sauce, lemon pasta with sea spinach.

Quick couscous @ microwave

For ➋
100 g couscous
¼ ts allspice
1 tbs olive oil
25 cl water
¼ ts freshly ground pepper

Combine couscous and oil in microwave proof casserole and stir until all grains are coated well. Stir in pepper and allspice,if desired. Microwave,uncovered on high for 1 m. Stir well. Pour in water and stir. Microwave, uncovered, on high until water is absorbed and grains are tender, 2 to 3 m. Add 1 tbs if necessary.

Use for a quick bite or let cool to serve as a salad with cold vegetables (and some cold chicken).

Parfait glacé Dessert 58

For ➍
200 g chocolate bar Dessert 58**
2 eggs, yolks & whites separated, room temperature
25 g powdered sugar
2 dl cream***
3 tbs warm strong coffee

(Cut out 4 chocolate elephant vignettes to decorate the parfait. Set aside.)
Break the chocolate tablet(s) into small chunks. Prepare a bowl for a bain-marie. Heat the water. When warm, put the warm coffee in the bowl, add the chocolate chunks and melt them with the coffee. Let cool a bit.
In a clean bowl, beat the sugar and yolks until foamy white. Mix with the chocolate.
Beat the egg whites and spoon through the mix.
Whip the cream*** until almost stiff and spoon through the mix.
Fill 4 glasses with the mixture and put 3 h in the freezer.
Remove 10 m before serving and add the vignettes.

*Based on a recipe from the Belgian Côte d'Or website.
**A good milk chocolate bar with a good praliné filling might do the trick, but not the magic.
***Reduce amount of cream to have a less creamy texture and a richer taste. You can save the cream to serve with dessert.

Dessert 58 is a speciality chocolate bar created by Belgian chocolate manufacturer Côte d'Or in 1958 to celebrate the Brussels World Fair. Rich milk chocolate enrobes a creamy mixture of, originally, hazelnuts and almonds. Nowadays, the Dessert 58 is made with almonds and cashew nuts.
The illustration shows an early wrapper for Dessert 58, with a modern logo.
The Côte d'Or elephant trademark is a reference to the African Golden Coast, now Ghana, where much of the cacao beans were imported from in the 19th century. In 1870 Belgian chocolatier Charles Neuhaus started a chocolate factory in Brussels, depositing the name in 1883, selling the factory and the name before the end of the century. The elephant logo was created in 1908, with palms and very non-Ghanaian pyramids. Côte d'Or is now part of the Kraft group.
A parfait, French for perfect, is a frozen custard dessert made with eggs, sugar, whipped cream and flavourings such as a purée, liqueur, coffee or chocolate.
Try another Côte d'Or chocolate inspired dessert: ice-cream (crèpes) with chokotoff sauce.

Tuna fish sandwich

For ➊
1 small can tuna (in water), drained
2 tbs carrots, finely chopped
2 tbs celery, finely chopped
1½ tbs coriander, finely chopped
1 tbs mayonnaise
½ ts wasabi*
½ avocado
2 slices toasted bread

Put the carrots and celery in a bowl with the tuna. Add the chopped cilantro.

Add the mayonnaise and the wasabi.

Toss together to combine. Set aside.

Slice half of the avocado into strips, lengthwise.

Arrange all the slices of avocado on one of the bread slices.Spoon the tuna mixture on top of the avocado slices and top with the other piece of toast.

(Slice in small bite sizes to use as fingerfood.)

*Optional. Use horseradish instead.

Quick aïoli (Provençal garlic sauce)

For ➍
1 large egg*
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ts Dijon mustard
25 cl extra virgin olive oil
2 or 3 ts freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Combine the egg, garlic, and mustard in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. With the motor running, add the oil in a thin stream.
Add the lemon juice and pulse again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve aïoli on sandwiches or as the base for salad dressings. Stir in minced fresh herbs and use as a dipping sauce for raw vegetables or fried calamari.

*Discard the egg-white to get a less fluid sauce.

This is closer to a mayonnaise than the classic aïoli, made in a mortar, without any egg but the egg will get the emulsion easier (as will the mustard). Keeps for 2 days tightly sealed in the refrigerator.
Though claimed by the French as Provençal, the same mixture appears in Spanish Catalonia and Italy. Read the related Italian oil & garlic sauce recipe.
Aïoli refers also to a complete dish, composed of a mixture of cooked vegetables (carrots, potatoes, green beans, artichokes), hard-boiled eggs (and poached cod). The aïoli is served separately.
Try a Catalan version.
Read more Provençal recipes: fresh tuna & salade niçoise , salade niçoise dressing, old-fashioned salade niçoise, tartine niçoise, Saint-Tropez (Provençal) chicken.

Tonno all'Etrusca (Etruscan tuna fish)

For ➍
4 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
½ red pepper, skinned & seeded, cubed thinly
30 cl canned tomatoes, crushed
4 fresh tomatoes, skinned & seeded, sliced thinly
7 dl fish stock
5 tbs pitted (Italian) black olives, chopped
4 tbs capers, drained
4 tuna steaks, 200 g each
(salt &) freshly ground black pepper

Mix oil, garlic, onion and red pepper and cook for 5 m over medium heat. Add tomatoes, stock, olives and capers and cook on medium heat for 30 m or until thick.
Add the tuna steaks and cover the pan. Cook for 5 to 10 m, depending on thickness. Turn steaks after half the cooking time.
Add (salt &) pepper.
Serve steaks, and spread sauce over them.

Serve with oven-warm Italian bread.

*Serve sauce with  a good pasta, or grilled chicken.

Etruscans have laid the base of Tuscan cuisine (or at the very least giving their name to the region...) This, of course, is based on a modern recipe, tomatoes not being part of the Italian diet before the 16th century.
Read more 'Etruscan' recipes: Schiacciata con l'uva (Etruscan grape-filled bread).

Mumbai seekh kabob (a Mumbai street sandwich)

For ➍
600 g ground lamb or beef
2 ts fresh ground garlic
1 ts fresh ground ginger
1 ts salt
2 tbs plain yogurt
½ ts cayenne pepper
5 sprigs coriander, finely chopped
1 onion, peeled & finely chopped

With moistened hands, combine and mix all ingredients.

Wet hands. Take a small amount of meat mixture and wrap around a skewer. Keep adding and shaping meat mixture around the skewer into a 25 cm long kabob*. Continue this process until all of the meat mixture is used. Broil for 10 m, turning to brown all sides.**

Garnish with tomato wedges and onion rings. For a spicier taste, add a finely chopped green jalapeno pepper.

*Or roll into meatballs. The meatballs can then be served inside a freshly roasted bum, with some tomato, onion and pepper.
**Or put it in a tandoori oven.

Served in a bun, this is one of the favourite snacks sold in the Muslim streets of Mumbai. At home, it can also be served with spinach.
Add a kind of pesto sauce by crushing an onion, some cardamom and coriander in a food processor.
Picture shows Kalbadevi, one of the most populated sections of Mumbai around 1890.