Foaming Hollandaise

Hollandaise sauce is not as difficult as you might think to make. The below recipe is pretty fool proof in that you will fold in egg whites at the end so this will give the sauce a light, airy & foaming texture.

The main reason why I have chosen the below Hollandaise recipe is for the principle reason that it only requires half the quantities of egg & butter that other recipes use. For me this is of huge importance as I always have my hollandaise with poached eggs so it is way too much eggs for my liking.

Also this Hollandaise will keep in your fridge as it is possible to re-heat it the following day. Very simply re-heat it in a bowl over simmering water.

How to Poach an Egg

How to cook the perfect poached egg is something I have been trying to master for years. I now have the final piece of the jigsaw in place when I got the tip to use a frying pan instead of my normal saucepan I always used previously.

Its now time to share my thoughts on how to cook the perfect poached egg:

Steak Mushroom & Onion Pies

Finally the search for a suitable meat pie casing has come to an end. I combed many a website for the perfect one but in the end I found a very large muffin baking tray, it worked perfectly. The beauty of this method is that you can buy sheets of frozen pastry (flaky puff pastry) that fit perfectly into each meat pie so that all you need to use is different meat sauces as the pastry is easily available in your freezer. You want to find a pastry that is butter based & not oil/yeast based, this pastry will give the pie a beautiful flaky texture.

Previously I have made a Chicken & Leek Pie during the World Cup Kitchen but this time I wanted to make a more traditional meat pie filling. I went for a Steak Mushroom & Onion Pie. The key when making the meat sauce is: more time the better. In the recipe I say cook it for 2.5 hours but the longer the better. Turn the sauce temperature right down and let the sauce stew away would be the best philosophy. Let the mixture cool completely before you add it into the Pastry casings.

Baileys Banana Smoothie

There are 2 things Rox loves and that is Baileys & Banana. So I combined her 2 loves to make a very tasty Baileys Banana Smoothie.

The trick to impress is to melt your chocolate and swirl around your cocktail glass. Place it into the freezer so the chocolate will set. Whizz everything together in a blender and it is all super quick & very tasty!

Chicken Mushroom & Onion Quiche

   

Quiches are super versatile you can really combine any ingredients you like with your egg mixture and make whatever combination you choose. What use to put me off in the past to making them, was the hassle of making the pastry but now with frozen pastry readily available and super cheap you really have no excuses any more.

The Quiche below is a personal favourite of mine, I like to flash fry my chicken slices and then slowly cooking my onions before I add the mushrooms, garlic, chilli & cooked chicken. I will carmelise the mixture with some brown sugar and let cool before adding it in the part cooked pastry with your egg/cream mixture.

One serving will give you 6 very heathly slices

Why not try it? 
 

Potato Gratin

Potato Gratins are always a personal favourite of mine. But I never quite knew how to make the perfect one…normally I would par-boil my potatoes, then finely slice them and place the cream sauce in the middle of the dish with more potatoes & cheese on top. It solved the gratin fix but I was not really happy with my efforts.

It all changed when I found this recipe. With this recipe the potato will cook in an even amount of cream & milk with a whole onion & some crushed garlic for flavour. The simplicity of the dish is in allowing the natural flavours to release while you cook them in a saucepan, before transferring to the oven to brown.

I like to use as many combinations of grated cheese as I have in my fridge on top to compliment all the flavours within the gratin.

Hot Whiskey (Hot Toddy)

With the change of season we all know the sniffles and aches are going to start. If you feel either coming on, a hot whiskey is a great way to make you feel better. Just remember to not over indulge as then it defeats the purpose of having one.

Many people use brown sugar as the sweetener but I like to use Honey as it will also help if you have a sore throat.

Spicy Steamed White Fish

The below recipe is super easy & very healthy as steaming food is perhaps the most healthiest way to cook, as the food will retain the majority of its nutrients. 

This fish below will go beautifully with my Egg Fried Rice recipe.

Egg Fried Rice

I discovered this recipe one night when eating Teppan’yaki. The key to this recipe is ensuring your rice is completely cold. 

What I like to do, is the night before cook up extra rice and keep half of it for the next night and make this egg fried rice.

Red Snapper on the BBQ

Cooking fish on the BBQ is so easy as you essientially will steam your fish in tin foil and all you need to prepare is the fish and the marinate. When cooking place the fish a hot BBQ, the coals should be burned through and the heat should be consistent throughout the process.

Check out this whole Red Snapper recipe for a Summer dinner on a BBQ. As with most of Food Devil dishes it is actually not that hard at all..

Tomato Chutney

I absolutely love chutney. The below recipe is really great as you can tailor it to your own taste. I like my chutney to have a spicy kick so I add some devil eye chillis to it. Others prefer a milder sweeter chutney so no chillis are added but sultanas instead.

Like with anything you do, practice makes perfect and once you make this I think you will always have some in your fridge as it will lighten up the dullest of sandwiches.

Greek Salad

After a short break after the World Cup Kitchen I am back with a very nice and tasty salad that is really versatile. It can be eaten as a lunch, with a BBQ, by itself as a dinner or to compliment your meal if you feel like something light & tasty.

The Dressing in the salad gives it a very tasty kick and it is all super easy to put together.   

Day 24: Calamari with Aioli Vs Bitterballen/Kroketten

Day 24: World Cup Final

Spain 1 The Netherlands 0  

Spain are World Champions

3rd Place playoff
Germany 3 Uruguay 2

For the final meal of the World Cup Kitchen I have decided to also have a food match between something from the 2 cuisines. Like the football match itself Spain would always be the favourites and like the match itself Spain did indeed win 1-0.

For the Dutch I tried my best to replicate the Dutch favourite: Bitterballen & Kroketten. Personally I am not a huge fan of either and cooking it has not overly changed my opinion but try them yourselves if you like, perhaps they might be for you?

On the Spanish side I went for Calamari. Given what our tentacled friend in Germany, Paul the Octopus said I felt drawn to Calamari with some lemon wedges. Calamari are of course squid but I am sure you will forgive me on this one. The secret to tasty calamari is to soak them overnight in milk and they turn out absolutely perfect.

Day 23: Jagerschnitzel with Bacon Mushroom Gravy

Day 23: Semi Finals

Spain 1 Germany 0

With its origins in East Germany this particular schnitzel is always served with a mushroom sauce. What is really interesting with this schnitzel dish is how the spices are mixed with flour and the egg emulsion is egg, milk & mustard. All combined with your breadcrumbs & pork offer you something very tasty 

Day 22: Pollo En Escabeche

Day 22: Semi-Finals

Holland 3 Uruguay 2

 

This is a very interesting dish, it is an authentic Uruguayan recipe for marinated chicken. It uses a combination of 2 parts vinegar and one part olive oil, so you could argue that it is more of a pickled chicken than marinated chicken.

Very simply you just brown your chicken pieces (I used de-boned thigh pieces) then you add in your onions, carrots, garlic & herbs/spices and mix together your vinegar & olive oil and simmer for 1 hour or until the chicken is done. You let the chicken completely cool and then you can eat it in a Salad or in a sandwich.

Its all very tasty and something I certainly never tried before, so why not try it!

Day 21: How to cook the perfect Steak

Day 21: Quarter Finals
Germany 4 Argentina 0
Spain 1 Paraguay 0

If Argentina are in a World Cup and you are doing a food related blog you simply have to do Steak for the Argentinian team. If you want to enjoy a steak you got to know how to cook it properly!

Some time ago I spent quite some time finding out how to cook the perfect steak…. steak was always a big let down when I use to cook it….never really got it the way I liked it but I now have it sussed so will break it down what you need to do and how you cook the perfect steak.

Day 20: Pannekoeken (Pancakes)

Day 20: Quarter Finals
The Netherlands 2 Brazil 1
Uruguay 1 Ghana 1 (Uruguay win 4-2 on pens)

Pancakes are most certainly not Dutch in their origin but when you live in a country with no apparent food culture you got to go with what you can get. The Dutch do however love their Pannenkoek especially at Dinner time, with Pannenkoek houses very popular offering a wide range of both sweet and savory options on pancakes.

Day 19: A Marinated Salmon Salad from Japan

Day 19
Paraguay 0 Japan 0 (Paraguay 5-3 on pens)
Spain 1 Portugal 0

For the World Cup Kitchen today it was an easy choice. I decided to go for this delicious Japanese Salmon salad. I had played with the idea of sushi but I will hold that one off for another day. The salad today can be eaten for a lunch or a light dinner. When buying your salmon for the best results try to buy a high quality piece of Salmon.

The centrepiece of this salad is the marinated salmon pieces which are marinated in a delicious Lime/Sugar/Soy/Sesame Oil marinade and is served with bean sprouts, grated cucumber & red chilli.

It is deliciously light and can be assembled quite quickly. When marinating the salmon try to leave it for at least 2-3 hours for best results.

Day 18: Slovakian Goulash Soup

Day 18
The Netherlands 2 Slovakia 1
Brazil 3 Chile 0

 

I have just returned from a weekend in Budapest and I had the below soup or a variation of it every day for my lunch. I know the paprika is Hungarian but the Goulash is also a very popular dish in Slovakia.

The rule of tongue with this soup is to really let the beef simmer away for as long as you can, as the longer you leave it the more tender it will become.

Day 17: Fish & Chips

Day 17
Germany 4 England 1
Argentina 3 Mexico 1

So England are out, but not without giving us one of their true classic dishes. Fish and Chips are enjoyed the length and breath of the country but as always whenever I take over a traditional dish I have a habit of tweaking it with other cuisines and using ingredients that you would not use traditionally.

Here I use a Beer batter that uses a Belgian dark beer (Trap Trip Dubbel). Also when making the batter I separate the egg and whisk up the egg white and fold this in just before you use the batter. This process makes the batter light and fluffy. 

Also when I am making my chips I do them the Belgian way, very simply half way thru the cooking process you want to remove the chips from the oil and dry them completely. You then place them back in to cook, the end result gives you the perfectly cooked chip that is crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked in the inside.