Marinated spicy chili chicken served with bok choy & potatoes & some latest awards!

I so love this spicy chicken marianted in oregano, ground coriander, dried chili flakes, lemon juice, Evoo & chicken stock. It sounds good, doesn't it?

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Recipe: For 2 persons

Ingredients:

chicken fillets, about all together 250 a 300 gr, no skin, cleaned & cut into smaller pieces

** For the marinade:

3 teaspoons of ground coriander seeds!!! ( no fresh coriander!! )

1 teaspoon of dried chili flakes

5 sprigs of fresh oregano, only the leaves, washed & pad dry on kitchen paper

80 ml of lemon juice

80 ml of a fruity EVOO ( Extra Virgin Olive Oil )

125 ml of chicken stock

sea salt, I use Maldon

grinds of fresh black pepper

** For the rest:

1 bag of bok choy, well washed & cleaned, the bottom cut off & cut each leaf into 2, steamed, sea salt & a few grinds of black pepper added.

boiled potatoes, to serve

Method:

1. First, make the marinade. Take a large non metallic bowl & place all the ingredients of the marinade in it. Mix well. Add some sea salt & a few grinds of black pepper according to taste. Mix well. Pour the marinade into a large Zip lock bag & add the chicken pieces. Mix wel to coat. Close the bag. Now, with your hands on the outside of the bag, massage the meat for a few minutes with your hands. This helps to penetrate the marinade into the meat. Place the bag into a fitting bowl in case of leakage. Place into thre fridge for at least 1 hour. I marinated the chicken for 3 hours! That makes the meat all tender & moist.

2. 30 minutes, before you are going to prepare dinner, take the bowl out of the fridge.

3. In the meantime, boil your potatoes. Drain well. Keep warm. Heat a large non stick baking pan on a medium high heat. Lift the chicken pieces out of the marinade, but KEEP the marinade!!!

Add a bit of EVOO to the hot pan, when hot & sizzling, add the marinated chicken pieces. Fry until golden & cooked through. This will take about 4 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan & keep warm. Place them in aluminium foil & wrap tightly. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes so that the meat will be juicy & tender! Add the marinade to the hot pan & cook until it has thickened a bit.

4. Serve the chicken pieces on a plate. Pour the sauce over it. Serve with boiled potatoes & steamed bok choy.

Enjoy!

Now for something completely different!

Recently, I recieved the same 2 georgous awards!

Your blog is over the top award!

What a feasty & beautiful award this is!! I recieved this beauty from Simone ( Junglefrog ) @ Junglefrog cooking, my foodie friend from The Netherlands. She is a keen & wonderful photographer & likes to cook real & delicious food!

I also recieved this from my friend Angel@ Angel in the kitchen. She lives in North Dakota & recently became a mum. Her cooking is down to earth, easy yet so tasty & apart! Thanks again, Ladies!

So, here is the questionaire:

1. Where is your cell phone? switched off, in the cupboard

2. Your hair? Dark brown

3. Your mother? My best friend

4. Your father? A retired teacher English, Dutch & philosophy. An eternal student

5. Your favourite food? For the moment: Game like venison in a delicious game red wine sauce served with braised parsnips & a potato & jerusalem artichokes mash!

6. Your dream last night? Travelling with my husband to & in Australia & meeting up & cooking up a storm with Bill Granger! oooh yes!

7. Your favourite drink? At the moment: Codorníu Cava, Vintage 2007 Brut!

8. Your dream/ goal? Living comfortably with my chronic pain

9. What room are you in? the kitchen/living room

10. Your hobby? Entertaining, cooking, baking, blogging, meeting & having new friends through blogging, learning about food & other cultures from people all around the world. Experiencing new foods & cooking & baking with them! Going to museums, expositions about photography & architecture, travelling, history in general, I am studying Spanish & I am in my second year!

11. Your fear? ???

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? In my own house, with my husband & a lovely garden with flowers & home grown vegetables

13. Where were you last night? In my appartment with my husband

14. Something that you aren't? concentrating on one thing

15. Muffins? yes, but only the healthier ones, like the recipes on my blog

16. Wish list item? More Silicone mats & Bundt silicone mats, ...

17. Where did you grow up? In Brustem, a quiet village near Sint-Truiden in Limburg, Belgium in a house with a large garden. My father has a vegetable patch & fruit trees.

18.Last thing you did? prepared lunch & ate it

19. What are you wearing? an oiled blue skirt & fitting outfit with a large necklace, lovely ear rings, black stockings & black heeled shoes

20. Your TV? old

21. Your pets? none

22. Friends? a few good ones

23. Your life? Lovely!

24. Your mood? Happy but tired

25. Missing someone? My dead grandmother

26. Vehicle? A second hand Nissan Micra

27. Something you're not wearing? No

28. Your favourite store? the cookshop International Cooking & tea shop & sweet shop: A. M. Sweet

29. Your favourite colour? Yellow & mild red!

30. When was the last time you laughed? Just 10 minutes ago

31. Last time you cried? A few days ago

32. Your best friend? My man: Peter!

33. One place that I go to over & over? the Brussels markets, the supermarkets & culinary shops , chocolatiers, like Corné, Neuhaus, Wittamer, ...

34. One person who emails me regularly? Nadine

35. Favourie place to eat? My most lovely experience in a 2 Michelin starred restaurant was in Beluga, in Maastricht, The Netherlands! The chef Hans van Wolde rocks! Here is their website: http://www.rest-beluga.com/ & of course other grand restaurants & at home too!

That's it folks! Thanks for reading! Now, I want to give this beauty of a fine award to these lovely persons: ( in no particulary order )

1. Lisa Michelle @ Parsley, sage, desserts & line drives

2. Michelle @ Chocolate & marmalade tea

3. Sylvia @ La vida in Buenos Aires

4. Lorraine aka NotquiteNigella in Sydney , Australia

5. Janet @ Gourmet traveller 88

6. Koko @ Kokos Kitchen

So, enjoy those awards, my friends!

Sophie's festive speculaas

Recently, I recieved the Moose cookie cutter & the Maple leaf cookie cutter from my friend,Koko from Kokos kitchen. We swapped gifts.

The cookie cutters made beautiful cookies! Thanks again, Koko! I will use them a lot!

Here is one of many favourite cookie cutters: a knight on his horse!

Do you know this famous Belgian man? Yes, It's Manneken Pis! Click on the link to find out who he is!!

Speculaas (Dutch pronunciation: [spekyˈlaːs], Flemish speculoos, French spéculoos) is a type of shortcrust biscuit (cookie), traditionally baked for consumption on St Nicholas' Eve in the Netherlands (December 5) and Belgium (December 6).

In recent years it has become available all year round. Speculaas are thin, very crunchy, slightly browned and, most significantly, have some image or figure (often from the traditional stories about St. Nicholas) stamped on the front side before baking, the back is flat.

Speculaas dough does not rise much.

Normally, Sinterklaas comes in Belgium, in the night of 5th december to 6th december. On the evening of the 5th of December, the children put their shoes next to the chimney. They lay sugar beets or carrots for the Saints horse. They also present food or drinks for Sinterklaas near the chimney because he must have been hungry during the night because he works a lot & he rides his horse & goes alongwith the dark men on the top of the roofs on everybody's houses. He gives mandarins, sweets & speculoos. Normally, he also gives presents to the children.

Dutch and Belgian versions are baked with light brown (beet) sugar ( cassonade sugar ) and baking powder. You can also use dark cassonade sugar so that the speculaas is more darker in colour. Normally, we use speculaas spices, a blend of spices because it is more easier to use. We can buy that in 20 gr sachets in Dille & Kamille. That is a cook shop , their shops are located in many cities in The Netherlands & in Belgium. Their website is www.dille - kamille.be

You can read it in French & in Dutch.

Most Speculaas versions are made from white flour, brown sugar, butter and spices. Some varities use some almond flour and have slivered almonds embedded in the bottom.

Spices used in speculaas spices are cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, piment, ginger, cardamom, mace & coriander. We buy them in 20 gr sachets, ready to use. I have 1 recipe with not every spice in it, but you can make your own speculaas mix with:

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon,

1 tablespoon ground cloves,

1 tablespoon ground ginger,

1 tablespoon ground nutmeg &

1 tablespoon ground cardamom.

Mix all the spices well together & place in a fitting bowl & screw the lid well on. Shake well until all combined. Use 2 teaspoons.

Enjoy!! It works really well!!!

There are several interpretations for the origins of the name Speculaas. It may derive from Latin speculum, which means mirror, and refer to the fact that the images are cut as a mirrored bas-relief into a wooden stamp which is then used to decorate the Speculaas. Another explanation of the name refers to the Latin word speculator which, among other meanings, could also refer to a bishop or St Nicholas' epithet "he who sees everything". Specerij the Dutch word for spice is another possible origin.

I love this yummie recipe for home made speculaas. These are crunchy speculaas & a bit soft in the middle.

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Recipe: for about 65 speculaas, small to medium sized inclusive 2 larger Moose

Ingredients:

500 gr organic white flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

250 gr lighter brown cassonade sugar ( kinnekes suiker )

200 gr light salted butter, softened

2 organic eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons of speculaas spices / bought or home made ( see note: above )

Method:

1. Take your Kenwood or Kitchen aid & put the K-paddle in.

2. In a large bowl, sieve the flour & sieve the baking powder. Set aside.

3. Put the softened butter in the fitting bowl together with the sugar. Mix it until it all is well combined.

4. Add the beaten eggs & mix well.

5. Add the speculaas spices & the sifted flour and baking powder. Mix until it all is well combined.

It is now brown in colour. Place the mix onto a floured silpat with floured hands & mix well until you have a thick dough, for about 1 to 2 minutes. The dough will be very sticky. Place cling film all over & place into the fridge, on a plate, for at least 1 to 2 hours to stiffen up. You can also leave it overnight in the fridge. I never do. I can't wait that long!

6. Preheat your oven to 175°C, ( 347 F ) if you are using a normal oven. 150°C ( 302 F ) fan oven, for 15 minutes. Take 2 oven racks out of the oven & lay silpats on them. I use a fan oven.

7. Take your dough out of the fridge, open the cling film & slice 1 big piece, 1/3 th of the dough. Place the other dough back into the clingfilm & place into the fridge until you want another piece to work with. So, that the dough will stay firm. Now, lay your silpat in front of you on the table. Flour well. Flour the rolling pin & roll the dough out to 0,5 cm thick. With your favourite cookie cutters, cut out cookies & reuse the dough again & again until it is all used up. Do flour your Silpat from time to time, because you don't want the dough to stick. Place onto a silpat on an oven rack, well spaced apart, about 1 inch ( 2,5 cm ) apart & bake for about 13 to 15 minutes until browned & cooked through. In my case, it took every time 15 minutes. Take out of the oven & place onto wiring racks to cool down completely. Do the same to the rest of the dough.

8. When the cookies are completely cold, place into cookie boxes to store or give them as presents.

These are crunchy cookies & a bit soft in the middle.

Enjoy with a good cup of coffee or an excellent cup of tea!

These treats make excellent food gifts!

Sophie's cranberry & ginger tea & my 1st blog anniversary!

I love making this delicious cranberry & fresh ginger tea. It is truly festive,...

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Recipe: For about 3 larger mugs

Ingredients:

700 ml of cranberry juice/ I use Ocean spray

6 to 8 cm fresh ginger root, peel removed with a vegetable peeler, cut up into pieces

1 to 3 tablespoons of white fine sugar / I used 2 tablespoons

the juice of 1 orange

1 lemon, thinly slicedinto rounds & cut into 2 , so that you have wedges

1 tea bag of Earl Grey tea ( Twinings ): 5 minutes soaked in 1/2 cup of hot boiling water: 4 tablespoons

Method:

1. Take a cooking pot & pour the cranberry juice in it. Bring to the boil.

2. When boiling, add the ginger root pieces & let them boil for about 10 minutes in the juice.

3. Adjust the heat, add the sugar & 4 tablespoons of the Earl Grey tea. Mix well & let it simmer for 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved.

4. Pour the tea through a fine sieve & pour into serving cups. Add 1 tablespoon of the orange juice to each cup, mix with a spoon & top with a lemon wedge.

Enjoy!!! This is just lovely!!!

Now, tomorrow is my 1st Blog anniversary!! Has it really been 1 year already???

Ooooh Yes! This has been a learning experience! What first started with my view on cookery books & recipes, has turned out with creating mostly my own recipes. I have been enjoying it from the beginning, all thanks to you, my lovely readers!

I think the Blogger's world is something special! I have made such good friends with all of you from various parts of the world!

So, a huge thank you to all of you!!

Caramelised onions & Brussels sprouts soup

This is one lovely soup. It is from Sophie Grigson!!! She is a very well known English cook. I am a real fan of her recipes & writing. I have 2 books of her.

This is a caramelised onion & Brussels sprouts soup. It takes a lot of time to make but it is so worth it.

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Recipe: For 6 persons, each 1 bowl

Ingredients:

450 gr white onions, peeled & finely chopped ( weighted when peeled )

450 gr Brussels sprouts, cleaned, washed , bottom cut off, cut into 2 horizontally ( weighted when cleaned )

1 tabelspoon of raw, cane sugar

1100 ml of vegetable stock

5 long sprigs of fresh thyme, no sprigs, only the leaves, washed, pad dry on kitchen paper

sea salt

finely grinded black pepper

30 gr baking margarine

Method:

1. Take a large cooking pot or the pot from the steam cooker. Add the baking margarine & let it melt on medium heat. Add the chopped onions & let them fry on the gentle heat, with the lid on, for about 20 to 30 minutes until the onions are very soft & tender.

2. Sprinkle the sugar over the onions & cook, without the lid for an extra 10 -15 minutes until the onions look nearly as jam. Stir from time to time.

3. Add the thyme leaves & the Brussels sprouts. Stir well.

4. Add the stock & season with a bit of sea salt & 6 or more grinds of black pepper. Now, put the lid of the steamcooker on top & cook for 5 minutes on medium heat until the sprouts are tender & until the lid sizzles a lot. Turn the heat off & set the steam free. If you don't have that, cook the soup for about 10 -15 minutes until the sprouts are just al dente, tender but they don't fall apart!

5. I purée, liquidise the soup for 3/4, so that there are still pieces of onion & Brussels sprouts floating in the soup. Taste the soup. Add sea salt & pepper if necessary! The soup has to taste fab!

6. Serve in soup bowls & enjoy!!!

You might like:

1. Brussels sprouts with garlic, onion & soy cream

2. Belgian Brussels sprouts stoemp with sausages

Ricotta dessert topped with Licor 43 marinated kaki's

Kaki is the word in Dutch & in English they are called Japanese Persimmon fruit.

What are kakis? Persimmon fruits?

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Recipe: For 2 persons

Ingredients:

200 gr of sheep's ricotta ( this is a fresh & low fat ricotta )

15 gr of icing sugar

2 ripe but not over ripe, kaki's or Persimmon fruit, cleaned, washed & pad dry on kitchen paper, cut into little chunks, not too large ( the hard white bits on the interior removed )

Liqueur Licor 43 ( this is a bright yellow, Spanish liqueur with 43 flavours in it. ): 2 tablespoons ( each tablespoon =15 ml)

Method:

1. About 3 hours before you are going to devour the dessert, marinate the kaki chunks into 2 tablespoons of the Licor 43. Mix carfully well. Place them in a fitting bowl. Place a lid on top & place into the fridge. I marinated the kaki's 2 to 3 hours in the Licor 43.

2. In another bowl, mix the sheep's ricotta with the icing sugar. Loosen everything with a fork or a spoon. Mix well. Divide between 2 serving desserts bowls & place clingfilm over the top. Place into the fridge, until 15 minutes before serving.

3. 30 minutes before eating the dessert, take the bowl with the marinated kaki's out of the fridge.

4. Now, remove the clingfilm & compose the desserts. Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the marinated kaki's on top of the ricotta.

Serve at once! Enjoy!

Beetroot risotto with ricotta & parmesan

A few evenings ago, I made this lovely beet risotto.

After cooking, when the risotto was done, I added ricotta & parmesan through the risotto, off the fire. That gives a rose bubblegum colour to the risotto & it doesn't look nice but its taste is wonderful!!! So, give it a try!!!

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Recipe: For 4 persons

Ingredients:

400 gr small to medium sized beets, cooked for 35 -40 minutes or more depending on their size, in boiling water, well drained, peeled with gloves on, diced into chunks.

2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled & finely diced

3 tablespoons of a fruity EVOO

1 large onion, peeled & finely diced

1 liter chicken or vegetable stock/ I used chicken stock, kept warm

300 gr risotto rice / I used Arborio rice

100 ml white wine / I used Wine Chateau Genoels - Elderen, Chardonnay white 2006 ( that is a top Belgian wine!!!)

50 gr freshly grated Parmesan cheese

170 gr fresh sheep's ricotta

Method:

1. Take a large cooking pot, add 3 tablespoons of the fruity EVOO. Heat up on medium heat.

2. Add the chopped onion & garlic cloves. Fry for about 4 to 5 minutes. Then, add the rice & stir around the pot for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cut up cooked & peeled beet chunks. Stir continuly. Add the wine. Stir non stop. When the rice has absorbed the wine, gradually add the chicken or vegetable stock, bit by bit, until every time the rice has absorbed the stock. This will take about 20 to 25 minutes. When the rice is ready, taste if the rice is oke.

3. Now, off the fire, add the ricotta & the Parmesan. Stir well. Taste. It has to taste fab!

4. Serve at once & enjoy this lovely meal with your other loved one, with a good glass of the same wine at the table!

You might like:

1. Beetroot soup

2. Grilled salmon with a wasabi dressing, baked potato wedges, balsamic & fresh oregano marinated beetroots on a bed of watercress

3. Ras El Hanout roasted carrots, red onions & beets

4. Nigella's chocolate rice pudding

5. Cardamom risotto brûlée

6. Oven baked vegetable risotto

Maple & cognac marinated pork chops, served with a parsnip & potato mash, some latest awards & the pay it forward package!!

I love this lovely & delicious recipe. It is easy too. This is a true fall recipe. Parsnips are just coming in season. Parsnips are very underestimated vegetables in Belgium.

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Recipe: For 2 persons

Ingredients:

2 thicker pork chops, cleaned, no bone & no fat

** For the marinade:

120 ml of cognac, I use Courvoisier cognac

60 ml of maple syrup

1 heaped tablespoon of Dijon mustard

3 fat garlic cloves, peeled & finely cut up

sea salt

grinded fresh black pepper

** For the parsnip & potao mash:

600 gr of potatoes, peeled , washed & cut into 4

400 gr of parsnips, peeled, washed & cut into smaller pieces, the hard wooden nerve on the inside, cut off

sea salt

grinded black pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

a splash of heated milk

a bit of baking margarine

Method:

1. Take a large Ziploc bag. Clean your pork chops & cut away the fat. Score your pork with 3 or 4 semi cuts/ don't cut the pork through,...you just want the marinade to soak in your pork. Place the pork chops in the bottom of your Ziploc bag.

2. Make the marinade. Take all of the ingredients for the marinade & place them into the bag. Add some sea salt & a few grinds of black pepper to taste. Mix well with a spoon. Close the zip from the bag & place into a fitted bowl in case of leakage. Place into the fridge for at least 4 to 12 hours! I marinated for 7 hours.

3. When you want to make dinner, take the pork chops out of the fridge. Lift the pork out of the marinade & save the marinade. Boil the potatoes until al dente & cooked through. Drain well. Mash. In the meantime, boil the parsnip pieces until al dente in boiling acid water. That prevent the parsnips of becoming brown. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes. Drain well. Mash together with the potatoes & add some heated milk, baking margarine, sea salt, grinded black pepper, some freshly grated nutmeg. The mash has to taste fab!

5. Now, fry the pork chops in some baking margarine, until rosé on the inside. Adjust the heat if necessary because the meat will caramelise & can burn easily!! This will take about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Wrap the pork chops in aluminium foil to rest for 5 minutes or so & to keep them warm. So, that the meat will be juicy & tender. In the meantime, boil the marinade until it is a bit thicker. If it is not the right consistency, add 1 tablespoon of maïzena express. (this is cornstarch )Let the sauce boil for 1 minute to thicken & whisk well because you don't want any lumps!

6. Plate up, with a medium cooking ring on the middle of the plate & fill up with mash. Level the top with a knife & remove carefully the ring. Slice the rested meat in thinker slices & place round the mash. Laddle the sauce around & on top of the meat & enjoy!!

Now, some latest awards!

Recently, I recieved 2 awards!

I got the friendship award from my friend, Rebecca @ Chow & Chatter. She has a cool foodblog. She is a true Brit, lives in the USA & has a lovely Indian husband & a little girl.

She cooks, bakes mostly healthy but with an Indian twist from time to time,...Go check her out!

I will give this award to:

1. Kerstin@ Cake, batter& bowl, she cooks & bakes mostly healthy but with a twist!! MMMM,...

2. Recipegirl @Recipe girl: absolutely never fail recipes!! I learn a lot!

3. Jessica & Lon &@ Foodmayem, from New York, New York! They inspire me all the time & they teach me a lot of new food products, techniques, etc.!!

4. Michelle @ Chocolate & marmalade tea. She has become a true friend in every way,..we completely understand each other & her food is great! She writes with enthousiasm!!

5. Sophie@ Les bonheurs de Sophie who lives in Luxembourg. She cooks & bakes healthy but so apart too! Every recipe is made witout cow's milk but with sheep's milk or goat's milk!

I also recieved this One lovely blog award from my friend, Kristen @ Passion4eating

She mostly cooks & bakes healthy food. I learn a lot of her.

I will give this award to:

1. Ellie @ Almost Bourdain. Her food is international. Cool food!

2. Christie @ Christies corner. I just love her excellent recipes! Her pictures are excellent too!

3. Esme @ Chocolate & croissants. She makes lovely food!

4. Gloria @ Canela's kitchen recipes. She makes fab food & real foodie desserts!

5. Angel @ Angel in the kitchen. She cooks & bakes with enthousisasm & I love her food!

Now, for something completely different!

A while ago, I recieved a pay it forward package from Lorraine aka Not Quite Nigella from Sydney, Australia.

I will have to do the same to 3 other persons. They will have to do the same,etc.

You, my foodie friends, told me in that post if you would like to do the same to 3 other persons.

I chose these 3 persons:

1. Jamie @ Life's a feast, who lives in France.

2. Kat @ Food good to eat who lives in Talinn, Estonia.

3. Christine @ Christine cooks who lives in Trinidad, California, USA

Could you 3 leave me a message @ sboven@belgacom.net

That is my email, with your full names & adresses, please.

Thanks!! I love to hear from you 3 soon!!

Bye bye for now & enjoy your awards!

Greetings,

Sophie