Side dishes

Feta and tomato stuffed Portobello with garlic butter

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For this post, I looked for inspiration in the refrigerator. The most inspiring I could find was a Portobello. A bit pathetic for a guy that is running a food blog won’t you say?
You must make the most of what you have, I said to myself. So I sat down and tried to imagine an incredibly delicious recipe with portobello as a base ingredient. After one hour I gave up. But I had to do something.
Portobello

So I turned to Pinterest.

I found a recipe for Caprese stuffed garlic butter Portobello. It looked delicious. You fill a Portobello with garlic butter, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella, and on top of that, you add some basil and balsamic glaze.

A perfect appetizer. Few ingredients and easy to do. Now I just had to put some personal touch to it. Finding inspiration is one thing, stealing a recipe is something completely different. Something I would never do. I can copy a recipe, but in that case, I always give credit to the source.

But I realized that this would be a different recipe when I looked for mozzarella in the fridge.

I had none.

All I could find was a piece of Feta cheese. Quite a disappointment. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Feta cheese. It’s unbeatable in many recipes. But for this recipe, you want something that melts and gives that fat, delicious, cheesy taste.

Mozzarella is king when it comes to delivering that. Feta cheese has one major problem. It doesn’t melt.

I started looking for a replacement, but all I could find was a standard child-friendly-put-on-the-sandwich cheese.

Too boring.

I realized that I had to go with the Feta cheese. It might not be that bad after all.

Feta cheese

Feta cheese has a tangy, quite salty, and a bit sour taste. Even if I think it becomes a bit milder when heated, it needs to be balanced with some sweetness. The balsamic glaze adds some sweetness, but I wanted more. So I decided to add some muscovado sugar to the tomatoes.

But first things first. As mushrooms go very well with butter and garlic, these two ingredients were a must. I spread some chopped garlic over the Portobello and added plenty of butter. Over that, I placed a halved cherry tomato. On each piece, I added some muscovado sugar. The muscovado sugar may be optional, but I do encourage you to try it. It’s loaded with flavor that will lift this dish to a higher level.

Almost ready for the oven

Mozzarella and basil are the perfect combinations. Like yin and yang, salt and pepper, Han Solo and Chewbacca, and pizza and beer. It’s more or less a symbol for Italian food. Feta cheese and basil are not. It’s not bad, but I think you can find better combinations. Like thyme or oregano. I chose thyme. Mostly, because I have a surplus of fresh thyme in my garden.

Feta cheese and thyme will give this dish a more Greek touch, which is not bad at all. I love Greek food. But the balsamic glaze is more Italian, so let’s call this a Mediterranean dish.

Drizzle some olive oil

On top of everything, I drizzled some olive oil and a pinch of salt. But be careful with the salt as the cheese is quite salty. After 10 minutes in the oven, it was ready.

Feta and tomato stuffed Portobello

The result exceeded my expectations. There were many flavors that complemented each other. Sweet, sour, salty, garlic, and the somewhat softer flavors from butter and mushroom. As mentioned before, a perfect appetizer together with a glass of Beaujolais.

Feta and tomato stuffed Portobello with garlic butter and thyme

Oven grilled Portobello stuffed with feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, garlic, butter, and thyme. Served with arugula salad and drizzled balsamic glaze.
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Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 20 mins
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Portobello mushrooms
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 cherry tomatos
  • 4 tablespoon butter
  • 4 teaspoon muscovado sugar optional
  • 3 oz feta cheese
  • thyme fresh
  • 4 teaspoon olive oil
  • Balsamic glaze to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 480ºF / 250ºC
  • Remove the stem from the portobello. If necessary, clean them with damp paper towel or brush them with a pastry brush. NEVER rinse mushrooms with water. Place them "cap" side down.
  • Distribute the garlic and butter in the mushrooms. Top with a halved cherry tomato and crumbled feta cheese. Add some muscovado sugar on each tomato halfe.
  • Add some fresh thyme on top and drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over each mushroom.
  • Grill in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
  • Serve with arugula (rucola), and some extra thyme. Drizzle some balsamic glaze and add salt if required.
Keyword side dish, starter
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Seafood

Fish soup with saffron

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Fish soup saffron

If you think about it, fish soup is an incredibly handy dish. With a few ingredients, you can make a hearty everyday meal. But if you just add some more ingredients like scallop, shrimps, or maybe some fresh clams you will get a feast. It’s almost like buying a new car. By adding equipment, you can get a more luxurious (and expensive) version of the standard car as you first thought about buying. It’s the same when you get home from the fishmonger. It was a little more expensive than you intended. Scallops and langoustine are not exactly cheap. But so hard to resist.

When you read this recipe, you can see it as a suggestion. You decide what ingredients you want depending on what type of soup you prefer. Use the following basic ingredients. Fish broth, garlic, fennel,  leek, tomatoes, saffron, and cream. They will give you a base that you can use to create you own magical fish soup.

Soup base

First of all, peel and seed the tomatoes and cut them into small pieces. If you don’t know how to peel a tomato, you can read about it here.

Tomatoes

fennel seed

Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add saffron, fennel seed, flour, and fish broth. Let it boil on low heat for 15 minutes. Add tomatoes and cream and bring to boil. That’s it. Now you have your soup base. From here on, you can create pretty much what you want. Or you can get some inspiration from the following suggestion.

My favorite type of fish for soup is cod, salmon, haddock, and if I can afford it, halibut. I cut the fish into big cubes with sides about an inch long. Shrimp is a must for me. I’m also very fond of clams. Sometimes, when I want to make the soup to something extraordinary, I may include scallops or langoustine. And finally, I always serve this soup with aioli. Trust me. Don’t exclude the aioli. Without aioli, it’s not fish soup.

Shrimps for Fish soup with saffron

Clams for Fish soup with saffron

 

The fish should be added the very last minutes together with whatever you have chosen from the sea. All seafood has that in common. It becomes gummy if you cook it too long. As soon as the fish is added, you have to be careful with the spoon. Don’t stir more than necessary, and do it carefully. You don’t want all these meaty fish cubes to fall apart. Served with some aioli of course, and a piece of sourdough bread, this is a meal for kings and queens. A bowl full of sunshine. A dish that can convert the most hardened fish haters.

But whatever you do, don’t forget the aioli.

Fish soup with saffron

Fish soup with saffron

 

“Only the pure of heart can make good soup.”
Beethoven.

Fish soup

Fish soup with saffron

This fish soup with flavors of Provence is a real crowd pleaser. Served with some aioli of course, and a piece of sourdough bread, this is a meal for kings and queens.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 small leek sliced
  • 1 clove garlic chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seed lightly grinded
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 gram ground saffron
  • 3 tablespoon Wheat flour
  • 4 1/2 cup fish broth
  • 3 fresh peeled tomatoes chopped
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 1 lb fish Cod, salmon, haddock, halibut roughly chopped
  • 3/4 lb shrimps unshelled
  • 3/4 lb clams in shell
  • lemon juice to taste
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Heat up the olive oil and fry the leek and garlic for a minute. Add saffron, and fennel seed. Sprinkle with the flour and stir. Add fish broth and let it boil for 15 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes and cream and bring to boil.
  • Add the fish and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes. If you use raw shrimps and clams you add them together with the fish. If they a pre-cooked, add them just before serving. Taste and flavor with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
  • Serve with aioli and your favourite bread.
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Side dishes

Homemade potato chips

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Potato Chips

Potato Chips

Warm deep-fried homemade potato chips that have only been allowed to cool for a minute or two. Test it. But I warn you. You should be aware that those you buy in the store will always appear as inferior copies.

It’s many years ago since I tried to make chips for the first time. I was a teenager, and not many things were impossible. Making potato chips was not one of them. How hard could I be I asked myself. You just need to slice a potato thin and deep-fry it. After the first attempt, I realized that it might not be that easy after all. The first batch looked simply delicious. Maybe a little bit too dark in color, but not that bad. But when I tasted them I realized they were a failure. They were soggy in the middle, and nobody likes soggy potato chips.

Chips
I wanted this
Chips unblanched
But I got this. Yuck.

So I tried to fry them a little bit longer. Now the chips were dark brown. But still a bit soggy. The third attempt ended in a batch of burned chips. At last, they were not soggy. But they tasted awful, so I had to throw them away.

After that, I went to the supermarket and bought a bag of chips instead. I couldn’t help thinking about why the big chip manufacturers could make perfect chips when I failed completely. I got the answer a few years later when I accidentally got employment as an engineer for a company that manufactured machines for … that’s right … chips production.

The problem is sugar.

All potatoes contain sugar. And the sugar content increases if the potatoes are stored cold, which is usually the case to prevent the potatoes from sprouting. The chips manufacturers know that so they always blanch the potato slices before deep-frying them.

potatoslices

The blanching process removes some of the sugar which will make the potato slices more resilient against the high temperatures.
But how does this blanching process work then?
It’s very simple and something you can easily do at home.
You need a large pot filled with water, a thermometer, and a ladle or a large spoon. You heat up the water to 185 °F/ 85 °C. Add 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar. Slice the potatoes. A thickness between 1/8 – 1/16 is preferred. Test which thickness you like best. After that, you pour the potato slices into the hot water and stir with the ladle for 3-4 minutes. The sugar in the potato slices will leak out in the hot water. Some of the starch will also gelatinize, which will give the potato chips a better structure.
After that, just take up the slices with a slotted spoon or similar and let them dry on paper towels.

Deep-fried, NOT oven-baked.

The potato slices are now ready to be fried. And we’re going to boil them in oil. No baking in the oven, or any other healthy options. Potato chips are supposed to be unhealthy. And don’t even try to convince me that oven-baked chips taste just as good. They don’t.

The deep-frying process is quite straight forward. You heat up oil to about 360 °F / 180 °C. Add the slices to the oil but be careful. Don’t add too much or the oil may boil over. Needless to say, oil this hot can cause severe burns.
Now you just have to boil the chips until you don’t see any bubbles anymore. Press the slices under the surface to be sure there is no moisture left. All water has to be boiled out of them.

Frying

Remove the chips from the oil when they are ready and let them drain on paper towels. Add salt and preferred spices immediately. All that remains now is to open a bottle of beer and enjoy your chips. For you will love them. I promise.

Homemade potato chips

 

Murder is like potato chips: you can’t stop with just one.

Stephen King
Homemade potato chips

Potato chips

The best potato chips are those you do yourself. You can't fail with this fool proof recipe. No more burnt or soggy chips with this method.
5 from 1 vote
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Servings 2 people (maybe)

Ingredients
  

  • 4 big potatoes
  • 1/4 gallon vegetable oil Canola, sunflower, corn or any other oil suitable for deep-frying.
  • 2 tablespoon vineagre

Instructions
 

  • Fill a large pot with water. Add Vinagre and heat to 185 °F/ 85 °C. Slice the potatoes to your preferred thickness. Normal thickness is between 1/16 - 1/8. Rinse the slices in plenty of water.
  • Add the slices to the hot water an stir with a large spoon for 3-4 minutes. Let the slices drain on kitchen towels.
  • Heat the oil to 365 °F/ 185 °C. Add potato slices in small batches and boil until there are no bubbles. Be careful. Hot oil can cause severe burns.
  • Remove the chips and let them drain on paper towels. Add salt and maybee some black pepper or any other preferred seasoning.

Notes

Blanching works great for your home-made French fries as well.
 
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