ALIKREUKEL ON THE BRAAI

Collect at low tide. Ten alikreukels may be collected per person per day providing that they measure no less than 64mm in diameter. Drop alikreukels into a pot of boiling water and cook for 20 minutes. Remove flesh from the shell. Remove the trap door disc and cut off the stomach intestine. Slice very finely using a sharp knife or you may prefer to mince the flesh. Both ways may be prepared as follows:

Alikreukel in white wine

Heat a little olive oil or butter in a pan. Add some finely chopped onion and crushed garlic. Cook gently until onions are transparent. Add the alikreukel and sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring. Add a squeeze of lemon and a little white wine, freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. Serve on rice.

Alikreukel on the braai

Put the shells with trapdoor turned up on the grid. They will stew in their own juices and should be ready after 20 minutes. Pull flesh out of their shells and clean as indicated above. Slice the flesh and serve with lemon or dip into garlic butter or mayonnaise.

C0DFISH FILET AU BORDELAISE

Ingredients

4 codfish fillets of 160 gram
300 ml red wine
6 onions

Utensils

1 gratin pan
1 sauce pan

Preparation
Peel and cut the onion in thin slices.
Put them in a container with the red wine and cover the pan with film for cooking.
Cook in the oven for 15 minutes at 900 watts.
When they are cooked line the codfish fillets up in a pan.
Cook it in the oven for 5 minutes at 180 watts.
If you wish to serve the fillets with sauce, at the end of the cooking, reduce the red wine in a saucepan and add a little bit of cream.
Before serving, sprinkle the plate with a pinch of chopped parsley or chives in thin slices.
Besides the onions, you can garnish this dish with carrots, rice or boiled potatoes.

STUFFED CALAMARI OR SQUID TUBES

PREPARING CALAMARI OR SQUID

Rinse in cold water. Draw back rim of body pouch to disclose the pen. Hold the tip and gently pull free. Discard. Hold body pouch in one hand and with the other hold head below eyes. Gently pull apart. Rinse pouch and gently pull away lining membrane. Cut off tentacles, slicing just below the eyes. Discard the head. Skin pouch by slipping a finger under the skin and peeling it off. Cut fins from both sides of pouch and skin them. The beak like mouth lies inside the rim connecting the tentacles. Squeeze mouth out of rim with fingers and discard. There are four edible parts of a squid or inkfish - the tentacles, the pouch and two fins.

STUFFED CALAMARI OR SQUID TUBES

For this dish set the bodies aside once the squid has been cleaned, or buy ready-cleaned calamari tubes. Tentacles and fins can be used in the stuffing but must be finely chopped. 
Saute finely chopped onion in olive oil. In a separate pot, cook chopped spinach until tender. In a bowl combine onions and spinach with breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, oregano, an egg, salt and pepper. Mix together for the stuffing. Stuff the squid tube with this mixture. Fill each squid tube loosely as they will shrink during cooking and may split. Secure the opening with a toothpick. In the meantime saute some more chopped onion in a deep pan in olive oil until transparent. Lay the stuffed squid on top and add a glass of dry white wine and a handful of chopped parsley. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes. Remove squid to a plate. Reduce the liquid until onions are syrupy and spoon over tubes. Small stuffed squid or calamari tubes are ideal as a first course. Serve large ones as a main course with rice.

SABOYAN GRATIN

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes

1 reblochon

125 g smoked bacon

1 garlic glove

100 ml chicken broth

Pepper and nutmeg

Utensils

1 grain plate

1 sauce pan

Preparation

Peel the potatoes and cut them in slices.

Peel the garlic clove and chop it.

Mix the potatoes, garlic, bacon, pepper and a pinch of grated nutmeg in a gratin pan.

Add the chicken broth.

Put reblochon on top of it, cut in half.

Cook in oven for 30 minutes at 170º/600 watts.

Note

Serve the unique plate with a salad. You can replace the reblochon with raclette or a camembert if you wish to change the region.

MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH-STEAK

The toughest meat becomes tender when cooked this way.

700 g steak, cut into thin slices

Salt, black pepper and a pinch red pepper

140 g unsifted cake-flour

2 big onions chopped

25 ml olive oil

750 ml water

50 ml tomato sauce

50 ml Worcester sauce

25 ml cornflour

25 ml sauce powder

1 cube beef extract crumbled

Flavour meat with salt, black and red pepper. Chop all the flour with the side of a saucer into the meat slices. Fry onions in oil until tender. Dish layers of meat and onions into a deep casserole. Mix rest of ingredients and pour on top. Put lid on en simmer for about 3 hours in oven at 150° C.

4-6 portions

YOGURT AND ORANGE RINDS GATEAU

Ingredients

3 eggs

80 g sugar

1 yogurt

150 ml peanut oil

100 g + 10 g flour

10 g butter

1 pinch of salt

½ bag of Alsacienne yeast

 1 orange

Utensils

1 big bowl

1 whisk

1 saucepan

1 little cake pan

Preparation

Preheat the oven to convention 180ºC.

Cut the orange rinds and dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds.

Mix the eggs and sugar in bowl, then add the yogurt.

Add the oil, flour, a pinch of salt, yeast, and the rinds little by little.

Butter and flour the pan.

Fill the pan and put it in the oven for 25 minutes at convention 180ºC.

At the end of the cooking, check the cooking point with a tip of a knife ( must be dry). Let the gateau cool before serving.

Note

In order to obtain a marbled gateau, at the end of the preparation, add some black chocolate chips.

MOELLEUX AU CHOCOLAT

Ingredients

50 g sugar
90 g + 10 g butter
40 g + 10 g flour
125 g chocolate
4 eggs

Utensils

2 big bowls
4 small molds

Preparation

• Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bowl in the oven in microwave (360 watts) for 60 seconds.      Stir in the middle of cooking.  
• In another bowl, break the eggs and mix them with the sugar.
• Add the chocolate to the eggs and mix vigorously.
• Add the flower little by little.
• Butter and flour the molds.
• Pour mix in the molds and put them in the oven for 8 minutes at convention 180º C.
• Serve immediately so that the heart of the cake is quite fluid.

Note

You can add orange rinds, splash of mint liqueur or a pinch of spices, etc. to this type of dough before cooking it.