JENNI - OFF TOPIC everyone hug Jenni

September 11, 2005

Hi Jenni,

I only joined the group today and I must admit that I was really impressed with all the files. I enjoyed browsing through all the recipes this morning and have already selected a few "must try" recipes from the files.

I suppose I should start by introducing myself. I'm Marie, 59, and I am an expat Australian now living in Holland. My husband and I are both vegetarians, Hans for about 45 years and me for just over 20 years.

If I might jump in and share a recipe, here is my first contribution (sorry about making more work for you Jenni LOL)

We were house-sitting for friends a couple of years ago and you won't be surprised to know that I had fun browsing through their recipe books, including some very old Dutch ones. Dutch cooking tends to be of the very simple, hearty variety and nearly all meals here contain potatoes in some shape or form. A very typical Dutch meal is stampot (literally 'stamped' or 'mashed' pot). This consists of a huge pot of potato mashed together with another vegetable such as kale, sauerkraut, red cabbage/apple mix, carrot/onion mixture etc. The whole lot is then doused in gravy and served with smoked sausage (fortunately for us there is a very good vegetarian smoked sausage ("rookworst") available). Anyway, back to my story about our house-sitting. I found this recipe in one of Yvonne's old books and it sounded quite an interesting combination so we tried it the next day and really enjoyed it. It is very much a 'winter warmer' dish. Zeeland is the most south-westerly of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. Despite the country being so small, each of the 12 provinces has several regional specialties and this one is from Zeeland.

POTATO DISH FROM ZEELAND (translated by yours truly, so apologies in advance for any blunders!!)

serves 4 hungry people

1 kg (2.2 lbs) potatoes (peeled)

3 medium onions

3 tart cooking apples

4 tblsps (4 oz) butter or margarine (I usually use less, especially if I am using cheese to top the dish)

cornflake or other fine, dry crumbs (sufficient to give a good covering to your dish)

curry powder (to taste)

salt and pepper

tomato sauce/ketchup (optional)

grated cheese (optional)

Boil the potatoes whole. Peel and core the apples. Peel the onions and cut into rings. Melt about 1 1/2 tblsps of the butter/margarine in a frying pan/skillet. Add curry powder (amount according to your taste) to the butter/margarine and cook briefly before adding the onion rings. Cook until the onions are light brown. Slice the apples and potatoes (try to make apple and potato the slices more or less the same thickness). Grease an oven-proof dish and layer the potatoes, apples and onions in the dish. Repeat layers, finishing with a layer of potato. Season each layer with a little salt and pepper. If liked, add a little tomato sauce to the dish before adding the final layer of potatoes (I actually add a little before each layer of potatoes so it gives a more even spread of flavour). Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the dish and dot with knobs of the remaining butter/margarine. You can also sprinkle the top with a little grated cheese if liked.

Cook at 200 deg C/400 deg F for 30-35 minutes

And, as they say before every meal in Holland, "eet smakelijk" (enjoy your meal - literally translated it means 'eat with taste' )

Cheers from Marie in Holland

-

PuterWitch

Sunday, September 11, 2005 6:09 PM

OFF TOPIC everyone hug Jenni

Just wanted to ask everyone to reach out and give Jenni a warm group hug.

She has been working her cute buns off for us filing each and every recipe that we post so that we always have it to view in the future.

Without her Donna and I would be going crazy...... ok, Donna and I would be going crazier.....

Thanks so much Jenni for all you are doing for us, you truly rock all who have rocked.

BIG HUGS!!