JANUARY - Holland

Red River Pumpernickel Bread

In Germany this bread would be called black bread (schwartzbrot). The recipe comes from KLM Airlines. I clipped it out of the paper many years ago. It's really easy to make and very healthy.
SERVES 16 , 1 loaf (change servings and units)
Ingredients
1/2 cup molasses (or malt extract)
3 cups hot water (just below boiling point)
3 cups four-grain cereal (I used Red River Cereal which has 3 grains)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. In your 2 cup measure, measure the 1/2 cup molasses and pour it into the beater bowl.
2. Now in the same measuring cup (to rinse out the molasses) measure the almost boiling water and add it.
3. Mix together the red River Cereal, whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt and add them to the molasses mixture.
4. Beat hard for 2 minutes.
5. Cover very well and let stand 2 hours or overnight. No need to refrigerate.
6. Grease, paper line and butter a 9 x 5 x 3" loag pan.
7. Turn in batter and smooth top.
8. Bake at 275 F for 1 hour then reduce temperature to 250 F for 1 more hour (2 hours total).
9. During last hour slide a foil oven protector below to be sure it doesn't overbrown.


Lentil Soup (Linzensoep)

Ingredients
500 grams lentils
100 grams bacon or salted pork
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 slices white bread
100 ml milk
200 grams lean ground beef
1 small leek
2 large onions
6 carrots
3 potatoes
2 parsley with roots salt, pepper and nutmeg
bread crumbs
20 grams margarine
1 bay leaf mace
1/2 chili pepper

Directions
Rinse the lentils and wash them thoroughly. Put the bay leaf, chili pepper and mace in a piece of linen cloth and tie it shut for a bouquet garni. Cube the bacon/pork and fry it slowly in a large pan. Cube the whole wheat bread, slice the carrots and leek into thin rings, peel and dice the potatoes. Cut off, but keep the top of the parsley, wash the roots thoroughly and add bread, carrots, potatoes and parsley roots to the frying bacon.
Sautee the vegetables with the bacon and add the lentils and 200 ml slated water. Drop in the bouquet garni and cook the mix for 1 hour. Cut off the crusts of the white bread and soak the remainder in milk. Squeeze out the milk and mix the bread through the ground beef, together with some salt, pepper and nutmeg. Divide the ground beef into quarter-sized balls and roll those through the (fine) bread crumbs. In a frying pan, heat the margarine and fry the ground beef balls. Take them out and drain them on absorbent paper. Finely chop the parsley.


Kroketten (Croquettes)

Ingredients
600 gram cooked meat, chicken or beef (from making stock or broth)
To make the roux:
1 onion, chopped
60 gram butter
60 gram flour
½ liter stock
pepper,salt, mace, nutmeg to taste
For the breading:
flour
eggs or egg whites
toasted breadcrumbs
Directions
Preparation in advance: 
Chop the meat very finely. 
Make a roux with butter, flour and stock, but start with sauteing the onion. When the sauce is ready, add meat and spices. Let the ragout cool completely. Keep the ragout refrigerated until use, or freeze it.
Preparation:
Keep the ragout in the refrigerator until just before making the kroketten. Use your hands to form either sticks (about 10 by 3 cm/4 by 1.25 inches) or balls (diametre 4 cm/1.5 inches). Don't make them too large, or they'll have to be deepfried too long. If necessary, return the formed kroketten to the refrigerator.It is easier to bread them when they are cold.
For the breading, take three soup plates, put flour in one, stirred eggs or egg whites in the the second, and bread crumbs in the third plate. One by one, cover the kroketten with flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Mind that the kroketten are covered all over, otherwise the ragout may leek out when you deep fry them. Return the kroketten tio the refrigerator for thirty minutes.
Heat oil or whatever you use for deepfrying to 180EC/355EF. Fry the kroketten to a golden brown, about four minutes. Drain on paper towels.
To serve:
Serve them really hot. In the Netherlands they are eaten as snack or appetizer, or as the main course with french fries and apple sauce. Or serve them the old-fashioned way, as a first course.
Typically Dutch too is serving mustard with bitterballen and kroketten.


Cucumber Salad

Ingredients
2-3 large cucumbers
8-10 ounces white vinegar (Japanese seasoned sushi vinegar can also be used)
3-5 tablespoons sugar
1-2 thinly sliced onions
Directions
1. Wash and peel cucumbers.
2. Slice or cut in rounds as thin as possible cukes & onions.
3. Place in bowl and cover with vinegar.
4. Add 3-5 heaping tablespoons of sugar, Mix well.
5. Chill and serve.
6. This is better if you let it sit in the fridge covered overnight. Actually. if allowed to mellow for 2 or 3 days -- in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator -- JAR TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 1 day & turned right side up the next.


Speculaas or Dutch Windmill cookies (Ginger bread cookies)

These are very popular spice cookies in Holland, especially for Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas Day, December 5). The sweet spice flavor is wonderful. The prep time includes refrigerating the dough overnight.
48 cookies (change servings and units)
Ingredients
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup slivered almond
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions
1. Combine sugar and milk in a bowl.
2. Stir until smooth.
3. In another bowl, sift the dry ingredients and blend in the butter until the mixture is like cornmeal.
4. Add the sugar and milk mixture and the almonds.
5. Mix well.
6. Wrap in foil, or wax paper and refrigerate overnight.
7. Roll out the dough pretty thin.
8. Use Christmas cookie cutters (or a windmill or other shaped cookie cutter if it isn't Christmas).
9. Dust the cutter well with flour to be sure it doesn't stick.
10. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10- 12 minutes.
11. Remove and cool.

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