Speculaas

 

Speculaas is a type of shortcrust biscuit, traditionally baked for consumption on St Nicholas' Eve in the Netherlands (December 5). In recent decades 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.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
a pinch of baking powder
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
some milk to soften the dough
2 teaspoons of speculaaskruiden*
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup almonds: blanched and slivered. Keep some almond halves for decorating

Directions:

Knead all ingredients into a soft ball, except the almonds for decorating. Roll out on a floured board to 1/4 inch thickness and stamp out shapes with different butterprints or make a 'gingerbread doll' or cookie. Bake about 25 minutes in a moderate oven (350° F / 180° C), or until an even dark brown.

*Speculaaskruiden:

You can buy them ready-mixed in the Netherlands or you can try making your own.

They consist of:

• cinnamon
• powdered cloves
• nutmeg
• powdered coriander
• allspice
• aniseed
• powdered ginger
• powdered cardamon
• mace

The proportions are a matter of taste, as are the spices you use, and each baker has his own "secret" blend. The trick is to be careful with the very strong spices, and leave out the ones you don't like!

You can eat it on your bread ass well with some butter.
 

Marsepein

At dec. 5th we celebrate 'sinterklaas'. Its most of all for the children, with lots of special sweets and presents. 
If you want to know more about sinterklaas (or sint nicolaas) check wikipedia 


Mix 250 grams of ground almonds with 400 grams of sieved icing sugar. Knead the almonds, castor sugar and 3 or 4 tablespoons rose water into a supple dough. Wrap in plastic or aluminum foil and allow to rest in a cool place overnight. Make figurines of the marzipan.
Most common is little balls, coverd with cacao (we call it marsepein-aardappeltjes *marsepein-potatoes*)

If you wish, you can color the marzipan with food coloring.

Pepernoten

Recipe for Saint Nicholas candy, if you want to know more about Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) please check here

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. water
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of speculaaskruiden*
a pinch of salt

Directions :

Knead all ingredients into a soft ball. Butter two baking sheets. Form about ninety marble-sized balls and place them on the sheets. Flatten each ball slightly. Bake about 20 minutes in a moderate oven (350° F / 180° C), they will be dark brown, very hard and crunchy when cooled.

*Spices used for Speculaas: 15 gr cinnamon, 2 gr cloves, 2 gr nutmeg, 1 gr white peppercorn, 1 gr ginger powder, ½ gr cardamom seeds (from the green pods). Grind in a coffee grinder or mortar.

Wentelteefjes

Ingredients:

8 slices day-old white bread
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
salt, to season
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 ounces butter (more if needed)
extra icing sugar, to serve (confectioner's sugar)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

In a bowl, whisk the milk with the lightly beaten eggs, a pinch of salt, the icing sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.
Remove the crusts from the bread, and lay the slices in a shallow dish.
Pour the milk mixture over the bread and let stand for 30 minutes.
Melt the butter in a skillet and fry the bread slices on both sides until golden, being careful they don't break.
Serve immediately, sprinkled with extra icing sugar and cinnamon. 

Bitterballen

Bitterballs are typically Dutch, we eat them almost every party in what we celebrate.
Think of a birthday, a wedding, a bachelor party or just when you come to visit each other. Also when you go out to find them in a bar, or after a football game in the canteen.
So we Dutch take every opportunity to eat bitterballs.

Ingredients :

500 grams of beef
200 grams butter
50 grams of flour
3 beef bouillon cubes
nutmeg
3 dl lukewarm water
3 eggs
1 pack of roughly breadcrumbs
Oil to fry the bitterballs in

Directions : 

Cut the beef into small pieces.
Melt the butter in a pan and fry the beef until nicely browned.
Add the water and heat it, when it is hot enough add the bouillon cubes.
Stir well and put the lid on the pan, let the meat simmer about 3 hours.
Stir about once every half hour through the beef and make sure you put it on a low heat so the beef does not burn.

Take after 3 hours of simmering the beef with a slotted spoon from the pan and place it on the cutting board.
Now draw the beef with 2 forks apart.
When the meat has completely taken apart, (very fine threads of beef) add the meat to the pan where the fragrant broth is still standing.
Increase the heat slightly ..
Season to taste some nutmeg.
Take a cup of the flour and stir it slowly through a bit of lukewarm water until a smooth liquid paste is created.
Slowly pour the paste to the beef and stir well so that no clumping occurs. It is now a ragout.
Turn off the heat and let the ragout cool, when cool enough, put the ragout in the refrigerator and let it stand there for one day.
The butter solidifies again in the ragout and that's important to make the bitterballs.

The next day it's time to form the bitterballs.
Put 3 plates ready on one plate  whisk 3 eggs, on the other breadcrumbs and put  on the last plate a little flour.
Get your fingers through the flour, get some  ragout out of the  pot and make a ball of about 4 to 5 cm.
Roll the ball in the breadcrumbs, then roll through the egg and roll once again through the breadcrumbs.
Repeat these steps until there is no more ragout.
You bitterballs are now ready to be fried or to be frozen.
You can keep the bitterballs in the freezer for a while.

Take for 1 person about 5 bitterballs and fry them in oil at 180 degrees for about 4 to 5 minutes.
Do not fry to much bitterballs at once.

Serve the bitterballs with some mustard or mayonnaise.
Enjoy a typical Dutch delicacy.

Oliebollen

Oliebollen (ball-shaped fried pastry with raisins) are a typical Dutch treat, tradionally eaten at new years eve.
There are several theories about the origin of the oliebol. One of them is that the ancient Frisians and Batavians ate them as a sacrifice to the German goddess Perchta. Perchta was believed to cut open the stomachs of ‘bad people’. They believed that her sword would slip off their bellies because of the greasy oliebollen they ate. The period in which this goddess of vengeance was supposed to operate, was from the 25th of December until the 6th of January, also known as ‘Joeltijd’. That’s probably why we eat it at new years eve.
Much more can be told about Perchta and the Dutch traditions that originate from her, but I’ll stick to the oliebol here.

Ingredients:

200 grams of hydrated raisins
4 dl of lukewarm milk
1 sachet of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
500 grams of flower
2-3 teaspoons of salt
1 egg
oil to deep-fry


Directions:


Mix the yeast with the milk and sugar and leave it for about 10 minutes.
Sift the salt with the flower.
Make a ditch in the middle of the flower and break the egg in the ditch.
Add the mixed yeast to the flower and beat it with a mixer for several minutes until the dough falls of the mixer in pieces (if necessary add some tablespoons of milk).
Add the raisins and mix them through the dough.
Cover the dough and leave it to rise for about an hour.

Heat the oil until it’s hot enough (throw in a little piece of the dough. When it come floating up to the surface, the temperature is right).
Use two oiled tablespoons (or a spoon that’s used for scraping ice-cream) to put a ball of dough in the oil.
Turn them around after 3 minutes and fry them for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Depending on the pan you’re using fry 5 to 8 balls at a time. The oliebollen need some space to ‘swim around’.
Serve with powdered sugar.

Hutspot met klapstuk (hotchpotch with boiled meat)

In winter many people make 'stamppot' (mashed potatoes with vegetables) and one of the favorites is hutspot. I don't like carrots so its not something I make very often, I prefer 'boerenkool' (Farmers cole) or 'zuurkool' (sauerkraut). 
But because in most countries boerenkool isn't available I chose a stamppot with ingredients thats sold world wide (I think). 

Ingredients:

4 cups (1 L) water
2 tsp (10 ml) salt
2 lbs (1 kg) fresh brisket of beef
2 lbs (1 kg) medium-sized carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch (1 cm) dice
3 lbs (1.5 kg) boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
3 cups (750 ml) coarsely chopped onions
Freshly ground pepper to taste 

Directions:

Bring the water to a boil in a heavy 3 quart (3 L) casserole. Add the salt and the meat and bring back to a boil, skimming the surface of the water to remove the scum and fat that rises to the surface. Partially cover the pot, reduce the heat, and simmer for 2+1/2 to 3 hours. Check the water frequently; it may be necessary to add more in order to keep the meat immersed. Add the diced carrots and continue to simmer for 30 minutes, then add the potatoes and onions. Simmer uncovered until the vegetables are soft and the liquid is almost all evaporated.

Remove the meat from the casserole and set aside. Using a wooden spoon, mash the vegetables to a puree in the casserole. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer the puree to a heated platter, forming a mound in the center. Slice the meat across the grain and arrange around the vegetables. Serve at once, accompanied by spicy brown mustard and a good quality dark bread. Serves 4 to 6.


I was born in Apeldoorn, in another part of the country. Overthere they add a few kidneybeans to the recipe but thats just local.