Warm up with stew

Stew is true winter comfort food if you ask us. What could be better than warming up with a hearty meal at the end of a long, cold (and dark) day. The nice thing is that you can vary endlessly with stew. For this blog we have been inspired by blogs of well-known food bloggers and we give it our own twist. Enjoy your meal!

Sprouts stew from Leuke Recepten

Not everyone is a fan of Brussels sprouts. Often the large sprouts taste like dirt. Therefore, it is better to take small sprouts. They are less bitter and are perfect for a nice stew. Like this one from leukerecepten.nl. The preparation time is about 30 minutes.

What do you need for 3 persons?

• 500 grams sprouts
• 600 grams of crumbly potatoes
• 1 splash of milk
• 1 knob of butter
• Walnuts (about two handfuls)
• 2 apples
• 100 grams of bacon (if you are vegetarian you can choose the veggie version)
• 1 pinch of thyme
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 100 grams of goat cheese (if you are not a fan of goat cheese, use grated old cheese)
• Salt and pepper.

How to make it

• Boil the potatoes in about 15 minutes until tender.
• Cook the Brussels sprouts for about 10 minutes.
• Peel and dice the apples.
• Put a frying pan on the stove and fry the bacon strips until slightly crispy.
• Add the diced apples and thyme to the bacon and fry briefly.
• Drain the potatoes and sprouts and return them to one pan. Mash them with a masher.
• Add the dash of milk and the butter. Also add the pinch of nutmeg.
• Spoon the apple-bacon mixture with the goat (or aged) cheese into the mash and season with salt and pepper.
• Finally, add the walnuts. If necessary, save some nuts and cheese to sprinkle over the dish when you serve it.

Chicory stew with bacon and aged cheese by Brenda Kookt

As a child I was horrified by chicory. Especially the way it was prepared at our house. The chicory was cooked and put on your plate in a paste of cornstarch. Brrrr. Chicory with ham and cheese from the oven was quite an improvement and this version from Brendakookt.nl is also very tasty! The preparation time 20 minutes

What do you need for 3 persons?

• 500 grams of crumbly potatoes
• 3 chicory stumps (or 2 large ones)
• 1 winter carrot
• half a tablespoon of mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 30 grams butter
• 100 grams (veggie) bacon
• 2 stalks of spring onion
• 50 grams old grated cheese
• dash of olive oil for frying
• salt and pepper

How to make it

• Boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes until tender.
• Scrape the carrot, cut into cubes and cook in a layer of water for 10 minutes until tender.
• Cut the chicory into quarters, remove the bitter core and coarsely chop the chicory. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan or wok and fry the chicory in it. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.
• Brown the bacon in another frying pan (without butter or oil).
• Cut the spring onion into rings.
• Drain the boiled potatoes and collect the cooking liquid in a small bowl. Mash the potatoes, add butter, mustard, grated cheese and salt and pepper.
• Add a little of the cooking liquid (about half a glass) and stir it into the mashed potatoes. (Determine if the puree is creamy enough, or if you need to add a little more of the cooking liquid).
• Stir the fried chicory, diced carrot, rings of spring onion and fried bacon into the puree. Enjoy your meal!

Hutspot from Lekker en Simpel

After a bleak day there is nothing better than a real old Dutch hutspot with carrots and onions. Very easy and delicious with a piece of (vegetarian) smoked sausage or a meatball. Just a traditional recipe in between from Lekkerensimpel.com. The recipe takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

What do you need for 3 persons?

• 750 grams of crumbly potatoes
• 750 grams carrots or carrots
• 1 large onion
• 25 grams of butter
• 50 ml milk
• salt and pepper

How to make it

• Peel the potatoes and cut the potatoes into roughly equal-sized pieces.
• Cut the onion into half rings.
• Peel the winter carrots and cut into smaller pieces.
• Put the potatoes in the pan, then the carrots, then the onion.
• Fill the pan with water and cook for about 20 to 25 minutes with a pinch of salt.
• Pour off the water and mash the stew with a potato masher. It is okay to leave some bits in.
• Stir the butter and milk through the stew and season with salt and pepper. Serve with a smoked sausage or (vegetarian) meatballs.

Tips from Lekker en Simpel

• Tip 1: Replace the onion with a chopped leek and add some herbs to the stew, such as parsley.
• Tip 2: Fry the onion in a pan with a little butter or oil instead of boiling it.

Hot lightning with apple from BettysKitchen

Hot lightning is another classic. It is a real stew, but just a little bit different because no milk is used but the moisture comes from apples (or even pears). This liquid stays hot much longer and that is why this stew is called “hot lightning”. So be careful! But it does get you nice and hot. This is the recipe from BettysKitchen.com. The preparation time is about 35 minutes.

What do you need for 3 to 4 persons?

• 1 kilo floury potatoes
• 400 grams sour apples (e.g. Goudreinetten)
• 400 grams sweet apples (e.g. Gala)
• 1 large onion (or 2 medium-sized onions)
• knob of butter
• pepper and salt

How to make it

• Peel the potatoes, cut into wedges.
• Peel the apples, remove the cores and cut into cubes.
• Peel and halve the onion, then cut into wedges.
• Place the potatoes in a large pan. Place the apples on top of the potatoes and cover with the onion. Then fill the pan with water so that everything is just submerged. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring the pan to a boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
• Prick the potatoes towards the end of the cooking time to see if they are done, and otherwise let them cook for a few minutes longer. Remove a good glass of the cooking liquid from the pan, then drain the potatoes.
• Use a masher to mash the potatoes, apples and onions into a stew. Then add a generous tablespoon (or more) of butter and mash well. Together with a dash of the cooking liquid, you’ll make the hot stew a little more creamy. Enjoy your meal!

Sauerkraut stew from Lekker en Simpel

Sauerkraut is great for making stew. This recipe from LekkerSimpel.com can be made by anyone. The preparation time is about 30 minutes and at the end we give some tips of our own to make the sauerkraut a little less sour.

What do you need for 2-3 people?

• 500 grams crumbly potatoes
• 300 grams sauerkraut (from the barrel at the greengrocer or from a bag)
• Half an apple
• 1 smoked sausage
• 2 tbsp creme fraiche
• Splash of milk
• Half a teaspoon paprika
• Half onion
• pepper

How to make it

• Peel the potatoes and cut large potatoes in half if necessary.
• Put on a large pan of water and cook the potatoes and sauerkraut for about 20 minutes.
• For the last 5 minutes, add an onion cut into rings if necessary.
• Meanwhile, peel the apple and cut it into small cubes.
• In the meantime, warm the smoked sausage.
• Drain the potatoes and sauerkraut and mash with the creme fraiche, milk, paprika and a pinch of pepper.
• Also add the apple pieces and mix together.

Tip: Is sauerkraut too sour for some family members? Then add banana and/or pineapple. By doing this, you don’t immediately give a twist to the dish, you also immediately make it a lot sweeter.

Red cabbage stew with hachee by Francesca Kookt

Another delicious winter classic: red cabbage stew with hachee from francescakookt.nl. Making hachee is quite a job. So prepare it a day in advance. It often tastes even better a day later and your preparation time is only 25 minutes.

What do you need for 4 persons?

• 50 grams extra butter
• 700 grams steak, room temperature and coarsely chopped
• 4 onions, coarsely chopped
• 400 ml hot water
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• Half tsp allspice powder
• Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon apple syrup
• 2 slices gingerbread
• black pepper
• sea salt
• 900 grams floury potatoes, peeled
• Splash of milk
• 500 grams cooked red cabbage

How to make it

You prepare the hachee as follows. Keep in mind that the preparation time is 3 hours.

• Put a frying pan on the fire and melt 50 grams of butter.
• Brown the meat all around and then remove it from the pan.
• Add the onions and braise them for 5 minutes with a pinch of salt over medium-high heat while you keep stirring.
• Scoop the meat back into the pan and add water, bay leaves, cloves, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, allspice powder, a splash of balsamic vinegar and the apple syrup. Stir through, reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 2 hours with the lid on the pan until the meat has softened.
• After 2 hours, remove the lid from the pan and check if the meat is tender. If necessary, you can let it simmer a little longer. If the meat is good, crumble the gingerbread slices over the pan and season with black pepper, salt and, if necessary, a dash of balsamic vinegar. Stir through and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered, over medium-high heat. The gingerbread will cause the sauce to bind by itself.

Prepare the stew as follows. The preparation time for the stew is approximately 25 minutes.

• Boil the potatoes in a little water for 20 minutes.
• Drain and return them to the pan.
• Pour in a splash of milk and a few lumps of butter and mash to a puree.
• Stir in the cooked red cabbage and season with ½ teaspoon nutmeg, black pepper and salt.
• Serve the red cabbage stew with the hachee and sprinkle with some chopped parsley. Enjoy your meal!

Special kale stew from Lekker en Simpel

We all know kale stew as grandma used to make it. LekkerSimpel.com gives it a slightly different twist. In two different ways even! They add paprika and spring onion in this recipe. It takes about 30 minutes to make this recipe.

What do you need for 2 people?

• 200 grams of kale
• 500 grams peeled and halved crumbly potatoes
• 125 grams (vega) bacon strips
• 1 smoked sausage
• 1 bell bell pepper
• 2 spring onions
• Splash of milk
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper

How to make it

• Fill a pan with water and cook the kale with the potatoes for about 20 minutes .
• Warm the smoked sausage according to the instructions on the package .
• Chop the bell bell pepper and spring onions .
• Fry the bacon strips crispy in a frying pan without oil.
• When the potatoes and kale are cooked, add the milk and black pepper and mash.
• Add the paprika, nutmeg, bacon strips and spring onion and mix well. Enjoy your meal!

Spicy kale stew from Lekker en Simpel

Another delicious variation on the classic kale stew is the spicy kale stew from Lekker enSimpel.com. It takes about 30 minutes to prepare this dish.

What do you need for 2 people?

• 500 grams crumbly potatoes
• 300 grams of kale
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red pepper
• 200 grams of minced beef (you can roll it or make meatballs out of it)
• 3 tablespoons ketjap manis
• Cube of butter
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Optionally some fried onions

How to make it

• Peel the potatoes and boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes.
• Chop the onion and finely chop the garlic and red pepper.
• Pour a dash of oil in a pan and sauté the onion with the garlic and red pepper.
• After 2-3 minutes, add the minced meat and fry the minced meat until loose with a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Then add the kale and soy sauce manis.
• Fry this for another 8-10 minutes and then turn off the heat.
• Meanwhile, drain the potatoes and mash them with a little butter and cooking liquid.
• Also add the minced meat and kale mixture and mix well.
• Serve the spicy kale mash with fried onions.

Tip: You can also add a spoonful of sambal. Enjoy your meal!

Credits photos: www.canva.com