UEFA Euro 2024 Special - Netherlands

Vegan Bitterballen with mustard and Boerenk Stamppot

 

Vegan Bitterballen

 I used the recipe from https://greenbowl2soul.com/vegan-dutch-bitterballen/ to make these super vegan bitterballen with mustard ...  super tasty and a great as a snack; was randomly chomping on these for the next couple of days.

Ingredients

Ingredients for the mushroom and aubergine balls

• 2.5 cups finely chopped aubergine
• 2.5 cups finely chopped mushrooms
• 4 garlic  cloves (minced)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Salt to taste

Ingredients for the Roux

• 4 tbsp margarine
• 0.5 cup of gram flour
• 1.75 cups vegetable stock
• Generous shake of ground nutmeg

Ingredients for Coating

• Cup of gram flour
• Cup of breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup water
  

 

 Instructions

1.  Finely chop the mushrooms and aubergine.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped mushrooms, aubergine, minced garlic, thyme, pepper, and salt. Cook for around 12-15 minutes or until the moisture of the mushrooms evaporates and the aubergines are also cooked. Take off the heat and keep the mixture aside.
3. Melt margarine in a pan. Add gram flour and keep stirring until the flour is no longer raw. Add vegetable stock, ¼ cup at a time while stirring continuously. Add nutmeg. Keep stirring and cooking until the mixture is smooth and thick.
4. Add the mushroom, and aubergine mix to the gram flour mixture and mix. Check and adjust the seasoning. Let the mixture reach room temperature. Transfer the filling to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours or until the mixture solidifies.
5. Mix water and gram flour in a bowl to make a slurry. In two other separate bowls put flour (I used gram flour) and bread crumbs (I used gluten free bread and crumbled up and baked for about 15 minutes in the oven). Make an assembly line by first putting the flour bowl, then a bowl of  flour slurry, and finally the bread crumbs bowl.
   
6. Take a small portion of the mushroom and aubergine filling in your hand. Roll between your palms to make a ball. Roll the ball first through flour then, gram flour slurry, and finally bread crumbs. Keep aside on a plate. Repeat the process with the remaining filling.

7. Put the balls in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.
8. Deep fry the balls until they turn golden brown. I used an air fryer but they could easily be fried in a shallow pan as long as you turned frequently. 

9. Serve hot with mustard sauce.

 

Boerenkool Stamppot

I decided to turn to this Dutch classic of potatoes and kale which made for a very comforting one pot meal. 

Servings 3

Ingredients

900g potatoes
180g kale
2 tbsp plant-based margarine
50 mL plant-based milk
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place 2 large baking potatoes that you have stabbed with a knife into a preheated oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6 for 1¼-1½ hours.  You can cut the time down by microwaving the potatoes for about 15 minutes and then transferring to the oven.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the kale and discard the stems.
3. Chop the leaves quite finely, into bite-size pieces and blanch in boiling water for about 5 minutes.  Drain the kale and keep aside.
4. Once the potatoes are cooked (you can test the softness by placing a knife in) pull them out, cut open and scoop out the cooked potato into a bowl.
5. Add the chopped kale to the bowl and mix in.
   
   
   
6. Add margarine and plant based milk to the potatoes and kale in the bowl. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Add a little milk first, then more as needed.
7. Mash with a potato masher, and add more milk and/or margarine to control the texture. 

 

Score: France 0  Netherlands 0

Football Score :2 (Some chances on goal but really a very defensive and boring game ) 

Food: 3 (The bitterballen were great with the mustard sauce and the Boerenkool Stamppot was very satisfying but perhaps not fresh enough for a summer's evening, even if it is an English summer. )