Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook

by Van Waerebeek-Gonzalez, Ruth; Robbins, Naria; Robbins, Maria

• ISBN13: 9781563054112
• ISBN10: 1563054116
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-01-08
• Publisher: Workman Pub Co

Summary

It's a country that boasts more three-star restaurants per capita than any other nation--including France. It's a country where home cooks--and everyone, it seems, is a great home cook--spend copious amounts of time thinking about, shopping for, preparing, discussing, and celebrating food. With its French foundation, hearty influences from Germany and Holland, herbs straight out of a Medieval garden, and condiments and spices from the height of Flemish culture, Belgian cuisine is elegant comfort food at its best--slow-cooked, honest, bourgeois, nostalgic. It's the Sunday meal and a continental dinner party, family picnics and that antidote to a winter's day.

In 250 delicious recipes, here is the best of Belgian cuisine. Veal Stew with Dumplings, Mushrooms, and Carrots. Potato and Leek Stoemp. Smoked Trout Mousse with Watercress Sauce. Braised Partridge with Cabbage and Abbey Beer. Gratin of Belgian Endives. Flemish Carrot Soup. Steak-Frites. Belgian Steamed Mussels. Belgian Steamed Mussels. Cognac Scented Flemish Waffles. And desserts, some using the best chocolate on earth: Belgian Chocolate Ganache Tart, Lace Cookies from Brugge, Almond Cake with Fresh Fruit Topping, Little Chocolate Nut Cakes.

As Belgians explain it, since one has to eat three times a day, why not make a feast of every meal? 57,000 copies in print.

Table of Contents

Europe's Best-Kept Secret	ix
Appetizers, Salads, and Small Plates	1	(50)
A cool herring salad at a summer picnic, a slice of deeply flavored pork liver pate with prunes on a winter's eve, creamy country cheese packed with garden-fresh herbs anytime---these are just a few of the dishes that serve as starters for a lingering evening meal or snakcs for a lazy Sunday afternoon
Soups	51	(34)
Today, as they have for centuries, hearty broths simmer through the night over wood-burning stoves in deep rural Belgium. Come morning, they'll find their way into soups resplendent with the season's bounty: tangy potato buttermilk soup, heady with freshly grated nutmeg, bold tomato soup laden with tiny delicately spiced meatballs, and deep green spinach soup laced with sorrel
Fish and Shellfish	85	(24)
No matter where you are in Belgium, the sea is never far. And in this fish-lover's paradise, seafood is celebrated---from the national dish, steamed tender mussels served with crispy Belgian fries to juicy eels basking in a luxurious lemony cream sauce to firm fresh herring baked en papillote with herbed butter
Poultry and Game	109	(36)
In days gone by, a humble stewed hen was the centerpiece of the frugal Belgian farmer's Sunday meal, while extravagant city dwellers dined lavishly on crisp roast chickens. At either table, it was a feast. Some other notable bird preparations: partridge and red cabbage simmered in rich, dark ale and poached chicken blanketed in a lemon veloute sauce
Meat	145	(28)
Long a mainstay of the national cuisine, meat is still king of the Belgian kitchen. In a manner befitting royalty, robust, succulent cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and vension are stewed in hearty red wine, roasted with pungent mustard, and sauteed with piquant gin and juniper berries
Cooking with Beer	173	(24)
Belgian beer has all the nuances and nobility of its Gallic counterpart, wine. When paired with luscious honey-toned fruits or intense caramelized onions, beer lends a bittersweet quality to soul-warming dishes: comforting tender meatballs braised with endives in blond beer, rabbit sauteed with cherry beer and tart dried cherries, beef stewed in red currant jelly and dark beer
Vegetable and Fruit Side Dishes	197	(32)
Honest, homey techniques celebrate fresh fruits and vegetables---with pleasingly complex results: Sweet young Brussels sprouts are bathed in a simple brown butter. The noble Belgian endive is braised with lemon and sugar. And crisp autumn apples are simmered into the ultimate comfort food: applesauce
Potatoes	229	(18)
Whether they're fried, baked, boiled, pureed, stuffed, or gratineed, potatoes are a staple of any Belgian meal, be it casual or formal. Here are crisp Belgian fries---the national snack---and golden potato croquettes. Also, the Belgian variation on the universal favorites---mashed potatoes and stuffed baked potatoes
Waffles, Pancakes, and Breads	247	(20)
In Belgium, any celebration calls for crunchy, freshly baked, feather-light waffles---dusted with plenty of powdered sugar. And during the coldest stretches of winter, pancake festivals soothe with the promise of the coming sun. Here are waffles filled with sourcherry compote, buckwheat pancakes topped with bubbling Gruyere, and yeasty bread with a crunchy sugar topping for afternoon tea
Desserts	267	(46)
Light, lacy butter cookies from Brugge, dense, nutty, spiced beer cake, a tart overflowing with summer's ripest fruits---and, of course, chocolate in all its splendor. Rooted in medieval times, these traditional Belgian desserts---perhaps the most beloved aspect of Belgian cuisine---indulge the national sweet tooth
Basics	313	(6)
Fresh Tomato Sauce, Bechamel Sauce, Homemade Mayonnaise, Spiced Vinegar, and more
Conversion Chart and Index	319