Foodsterbox

I received my first Foodsterbox today in the mail and boy was I happy. I can't remember how I found out about this, in some blog I think, but I immediately liked the idea when I first read about it.

Sign in on their site and after you chose your type of subscription(1x,3x or 6x months)  you'll get your box each following month.

Now I particulary like the idea of getting something in the mail that you like/love but without knowing what it is. It's never the common goods you'll find in your local supermarket but more authentic sought out foodies stuff.

My box had the following:

* A box with 3 different chocolates on a stick to make hot chocolate
* A jar of dried Goji berries
* A jar of kiwi-apricot-pineapple preserve, made in Belgium
* A jar of grilled seeds,nuts,flowers and onions to garnish salads,soups, etc.
* A tube containing 2 vanilla pods - allready took a sniff and the fragrance was pretty intense!!
* A bag containing the ingredients to make a savoury chocolate and pineapple rice pudding. Just needs milk.

Nice idea and can't wait for next month's box!!

www.foodsterbox.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Foodsterbox?fref=ts


Kev

Bia Mara - Fish 'n chips with a twist

Bia Mara is a recent fish 'n chips store in the heart of Brussels offering fish 'n chips with a 'twist'. You won't find the common known thick battered fish and greasy, once fried chips here but a tasty interpretation of this classic.
Fresh cut, well seasoned fish filets fried golden in a panko crust. Served with plump crispy fries and a sauce of your choice. You can choose between haddock, salmon, mackerel, prawns or the catch of the day and if fish is not your thing then go for the chicken or the veggies. Pick a sauce; tartare, garlic-truffle(highly recommended!!!),lemon cajun,.... and have your chips/fries dusted with a seasoned salt (sounds odd doesn't it?) of your liking.

I had the panko crust fried red gurnard filet with tartare and garlic-truffle sauce and the chips with seaweed salt and it was delicious.

The fish had a good crunch but was still moist on the inside and that garlic-truffle sauce was simply divine! The chips were really plump but nicely cooked, crispy out/fluffy in. A slice of lemon to get a tangy kick to the fish and that's it!! Yummylicious!

Interior design is simple, mostly grey with some accents. Tables in clear wood. Urban and hipster proof! The service is friendly and welcoming.

Shortly after my first visit I returned with my wife to find the store closed and was spoken to by the owner(I think) who said that they were closed due to problems with the delivery of fresh fish. Now that is something that makes my belief/trust in this place grow. Instead of searching for a fast solution and getting some fish elsewhere and having the risk of serving lower quality they decide to keep the place closed and keep standards high, even with the loss of income. That's a decision that calls for support and I will certainly return on a next occasion!

And as they say it.....Eat more fish!!!!!!!!!

http://www.biamara.com/brusselswho.html
http://www.facebook.com/BiaMaraBrussels

Kev

@Keepontoasting - food truck

A typical American/New-york style of eating has finally come to our capital. For people on the run, hungry but with limited time this is ideal and still offers a great 'gourmet' meal instead of a greasy snack at your local friterie. Not that there is anything wrong with that but it was time for some variation.

Young chef Jean-Baptiste Nyssen -with credentials from some established restaurants, he even worked under Yves Mattagne- is the driving (pun intended) force behind this new eatery. He offers a gourmet version of the classic Croque-monsieur in 4 different preparations;

• Croq-Belge : Passendale cheese, Ganda ham, braised endives and a touch of nutmegg on white bio bread
• Croq-Italian: Mozarella, Italian ham, grille eggplants, basil pesto on oregano bread
• Croq-French: Emmental cheese, chicken breast, spinach on honey and rosemary infused bread
• Croq-Indien: Fresh Tandoori cheese, sweet&sour carrots, raisins, nuts, cilantro on curry&cardamon spiced bread

All the croques are fried on the plancha with use of weights to press them down and thus baking them golden and crunchy. You'll spot no ordinary croque-monsieur fryer in this truck

I had the Croq-Belge and I found it very tasty with the savoury endives and the melted Passendale cheese. I had only one remark and that is that I would opt for another more savoury Belgian cheese than this somewhat bland tasting Passendale. Perhaps a Chimay??

The croques cost 5€ each and for an extra 2€ you'll get a nice,small dessert as well. Today the dessert was a rice pudding with speculoos/biscoff flavour.

Great idea by this ambitous chef and I will surely return @keepontoasting .

http://www.facebook.com/keepontoasting
http://www.keepontoasting.be/

Kev

Split pea soup - winter soup

It's that time again....Temperatures are dropping and getting closer to the freezing point, wind is getting harsher and rain seems to be here all day. Time to make split pea soup, a thick, hearty soup/meal that'll get the coming winter out of your head. This soup can be served as a meal with some bread, there's quite some meat in it.

Ingredients:

• 500gr. split peas
• 200gr. thick,smoked bacon. Cut in chunks
• 1 cooked smoked sausage; +/- 250gr. Cut in rings
• 1 small, smoked ham hock
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped in rings

Melt a big knob of butter in a large pan and fruit the onions. Clean the leeks under running water and add it to the onions. Let it fruit together with the onions for a minute or 2. Add the split peas. Normally you should let the peas soak in water overnight but I just add them to the soup and let all that simmer for about 2 hours, comes out nicely.

Submerge completely, ham hock also

When you've added the peas to the pan you put as much water in the pan untill all is submerged. Put in the ham hock and the bacon, bring to a boil and let it simmer for 2 hours.

Take out the ham hock and most of the bacon, not easy but you don't need to get it all out, leave some in the pan. Mix the soup untill you get a thick silky soup. Taste and season with pepper and salt.

Cut up the ham hock in bitesize pieces and add to the soup again together with the bacon. I usually let this rest overnight to get an even more intense taste.

You'll notice that this will turn into a thick, puree-like soup after a night so you'll need to add hot water to make it more liquid. 

Add the sliced smoked sausages, let it warm up for another 8-10 minutes and serve with some golden croutons.

You'll be warmed up under a minute! ;)

Enjoy,

Kev

Organs and stuff @Viva m'Boma

One of the most lively neighbourhoods in Brussels when it comes to restaurants is the St.Catherine area, around the place Sainte-Catherine and surrounding streets. Situated in the heart of Brussels it offers a taste for every hungry soul. Whether  you're craving Indonesian, Vietnamese, Italian, Thai or French dishes, gourmet dining  or just a plat-du-jour you'll surely find it here! Choices enough!

One of the restaurants that's been here for a couple of years now(6 - 7?) is Viva m'boma. They started back then with a menu offering the not so popular or more forgotten cuts/pieces of meat, in specific organ meat.

Nowadays organ meat has won popularity again and the resto is widely known for this.

The interior is beautiful, dominated by white and black accents, making you think you're entering a Brasserie in Paris. Nice white tiles on the wall and a view into the kitchen in the back.

On the menu:

• Poached  veal brain with tartare sauce
• Pig's trotters
• Sweetbreads
• Kidney's
• Cow's udder
• Oxtail with creamy mash

It might not be everyone's cup of tea but it surely is mine.If you're not into organs, there's allways something on the menu for the more 'difficult' people ;)

The chef really knows how to prepare these delicate dishes, serving them with plenty of taste. The veal brain I had for instance was poached to perfection and served with a freshly made tangy tartare sauce that gave it just the kick it needed.

The main dish I had  was the plat-du-jour, a generous serving of 2 slabs of juicy meatloaf with a potatoe and endives mash...Delish!!!

I had to skip dessert due to the generous serving and sticked to a coffee. Oh well, there's allways a next time!

Enjoy,

Kev

Café-restaurant de la forêt -Overijse/Jezus-Eik

If you're looking for some easy, good value for money brasserie food and you happen to be in the neighbourhood of Overijse/Jezus-Eik/Tervuren then this is the place to go. Offering a wide variety of brasserie classics as there are; cheese croquettes, mushroom toast, eels in green sauce, côte a l'os, dame blanche and many more...

+ an often changing suggestion board.
















Toast Champignons - baked mushrooms on toasted bread

Escargot a la bourguignon - Snails in a garlic sauce

Delicious Mort Subite Geuze on draft -  Ideal to work up an appetite!

 Entrecôte nature bleu chaud - medium rare prime rib

 

The waiters are allways friendly and will adress you in 'Brussels', a language somewhere between French and Dutch. Athmosphere is lively and decoration is authentic brasserie style, don't expect  any Pinto here!

Golden brown crispy french fries with Vol-au-vent and my daughter's smile ;)

 And don't leave without having some nice dessert like ;

Profiterolles with chocolat sauce

Cheesecake with speculoos and red fruit coulis

Warm apple pie with vanilla icecream

Prices are all reasonable for the good quality you get so please,......

Enjoy,

Kev

Mussels in white wine sauce

Lovely mussels recipe and a typical Belgian/dutch way of serving them. Good quality seafood, some vegetables, seasoning and a splash of wine....that's all it takes!!

This is a dish for 2 persons, so about 1.5kg per head. We're big mussels eaters but you can count about 1kg. per person normally!

Estimated preparing time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 3kg. of mussels
• a big glass of dry white wine, +/- 20dl
• 2 big onions, cut in rings
• 3 celery stalks, chopped roughly
• 2 carrots, chopped in thin rounds
• 1/2 bush of flat parsley, chopped up
• 2 chillis, chopped finely and deseeded
• a pinch of dried chilli powder
• salt and pepper
• 6 spring onions, chopped roughly
• handfull of cilantro, chopped finely   Keep this aside together with the spring onions

Prepare the mussels in 2 pots, so divide them in 1.5kg servings. Divide the greens and wine in 2 equal amounts.

heat up some olive oil in the pots and throw in the onions, carrots, celery, parsley and chillis.

Add the mussels, dried chilli powder and the white wine and turn up the heat. Put the lid on the pot and let this cook for 5-8 minutes, add the spring onions and cilantro and season with salt and pepper, shake well and serve!

Enjoy,

Kev