Aubergine mousse

preparation time: 40 minutes
cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 aubergines
1-2 cloves of fresh garlic
lemon juice, olive oil,
salt and freshly grounded black pepper
handful of parsley and handful of coriander leafs, finely cut.

Cook the undamashed aubergines in abundant water during half an hour. When they are soft, plunge them in cold water, and cool down a bit longer. Scrape the pulp from the skin and put this in a foodprocessor. Add the other ingredients and mash to a smooth saus. Serve on toast or as a side dish with a main course or a salad.

Pimiento asado

preparation time: 1 minute
cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
4 Paprika’s

Put the paprika’s under the grill en let the skin burn, turn them regularly. When all sites are black put the paprika’s in plastic bag and let cool down. Now it is easy to peel the skin from the pulp. Use the pulp in a sauce or a salad.

Tomate Salsa Prisa

preparation time: 3 minutes
cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
6 tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper
some fresh herbs, like parsley, basil, chives- finely cut
parmesan or old cheese grated

Cut the tomatoes in chunks and put them in the food processor, add all other ingredients, except the cheese, pureé until smooth. Pour the salsa in a saucepan or a bowl and heat either on the hob or in the micro-wave. Serve on pasta cooked andante and sprinkle with cheese.

lasagne potato - avocado - aubergine

preparation time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 15 minutes
makes: 4

Ingredients:
1 medium sized aubergine,
2 equal sized potatoes,
2 ripe avocados
2 tbsp. of sour cream,
some drips of lemon juice,
salt and pepper,
1 clove of garlic from the press,
freshly cut chives.

Cut the aubergine in centimetre (1/2 inch) thick slices. Sprinkle salt over them and leave for half an hour, to get rid of the bitter tasting juice. Wash and dry thoroughly. Fry under the grill on both sides. Cook the potatoes almost tender. Cut in centimetre (1/2 inch) thick slices, bake brown in some butter in a frying pan. Purée the avocado with the sour cream, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic. Smear a layer of avocado purée on a potato slice, cover with aubergine, again a layer of purée, potato, purée, aubergine. Make for each plate a 'lasagna' of several layers. Topple with some avocado, sprinkle the chives over it.

Mushroom mousse over cous-cous

preparation time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 10 minutes
makes: 4

Ingredients:
600 gr. (1,5 pound) of oyster mushrooms, chanterelles, shiitakes and/or others.
For the marinade:
2 tbsp. extra virgen olive oil,
1 tbsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper
For the béchamel sauce:
50 gr. of butter,
50 gr. of flour
5 dcl. of milk (or half the amount of cream, if you like it rich).
a piece of old cheese, grated,
1 onion in neat slices,
1 red pepper cut in strings
400 gr. of cous cous.
parsley finely cut.

Clean the mushrooms with a soft brush or rinse in water and dry thoroughly. Cut or tear into smaller pieces. Make the marinade. Shuffle through the mushrooms and leave to rest for an hour. Make the béchamel sauce. Melt the grated cheese through it. Fry the onions, the strings of red pepper and the marinated mushrooms for 3 to 4 minutes, stir through the béchamel sauce. Add some milk when it is to thick. Taste and flavour with more salt and pepper.
In the meantime you make the couscous, according the directions for use. Decorate each plate with some lettuce or nasturtium leaves. Use a cup to form a nice rounded heap of cous-cous on the middle of the plate, ladle some of the mousse over it. Sprinkle red pepper powder and parsley over it.

Vegetarian lasagna

preparation time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 1 hour to 45 minutes
makes: 4

Ingredients:
12 pre-cooked lasagna sheets.
For the Italian tomato sauce:
2 onions,
1grated carrot,
1 bay leaf,
a few sellery sticks and leaves,
1 teasp. of brown sugar,
6-7 garlic cloves, finely sliced,
1 tin of tomato puree or dried tomatoes,
2 glasses of red wine,
2 tins of tomatoes or fresh tomatoes,
1 cube of vegetable stock,
salt and pepper.
For the Cheese sauce:
50 gr. (2 ounces) of butter,
50 gr. (2 ounces) of flour,
1/2 a litre (1 pint) of milk,
150 gr. or 5 ounces of blue cheese,
salt and pepper.

First we make the Italian tomato sauce:
(Thanks to Frances Roughly, who advised me on this recipe. The sauce is a good base for many soups, sauces, etc. Make more in advance to store in the freezer).

Fry the onions in olive oil, add the grated carrot and the bay leaf, simmer for half an hour. Add tomato puree or dried tomatoes, the garlic and sugar. Simmer for another 20 minutes. Add the 2 glasses of red wine. Cook till the oil runs (becomes visible on the surface). Add the tomatoes, 1 cube of vegetablestock, and taste before adding more salt and pepper. Cook about five minutes more.
Cheese sauce: Make a roux of the butter, flour and milk, add the blue cheese, stir untill a smooth paste.
For the lasagna:
Gease a big earthenware oven dish with olive oil and make layers: tomato sauce - lasagna sheets- cheesesauce - lasagna sheets - up till about 4 layers. Decorate the top with tomato slices and grated cheese. Put in a pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes on 180 °C or 390 ºF. Cover the first half of the time.

Green crumbs

preparation time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 45 minutes
makes: 4

Ingredients:
For the crumble:
an old dry piece of bread
a handful of nuts and oats,
100 gr. (4 oz) of wholewheat flour,
some sprigs of herbs, like sage, thyme and rosemary,
150 gr. (5 oz) of butter,
a piece of dried out or old cheese.
For the vegetables a combination of:
1/2 a green and 1/2 a red pepper,
2 tomatoes,
1/2 a courgette,
1/2 an eggplant
1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic
or a combination of:
quarter green or white kale,
2 carrots,
1 piece of brocoli,
1 onion

Mix the ingredients for the crumble in your foodprocessor to a lightly sticky crumble. Grease an oven dish with oil and place the choosen variety of raw, sliced vegetables. Pour a glass of white wine or sherry, and some olive oil over the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Distribute the crumble regularely over the vegetables. Put in a pre-heated oven at 180 º Celsius or 390 Fahrenheit for 30 - 40 minutes. Cover the first half of cooking otherwise the crust will burn!

Spicy rice

preparation time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 5 minutes
makes: 4

Ingredients:
200 gr.or 6 ounces of cooked white rice,
a handfull of nuts,
extra virgen olive oil,
dried fruit, like figs, dates, apricot, plums, raisins,
2 garlic-cloves,
coriander leaves or seeds, parsley leaves
some cayenne pepper and/or a few drips of tabasco,
soy sauce.

Mix in your foodprocessor or blender the nuts, dried fruit, garlic, coriander and parsley leaves, seeds, the cayenne pepper and a few drips of soy sauce. Spoon lightly through the rice and bake in a wok or frying pan. Serve with any dish or as a salad.

Nutty dressing

preparation time: 5 minutes
cooking time: none
makes: 4

Ingredients:
olive oil,
16 unpeeled garlic cloves,
16 almonds,
16 sage leaves,
sprouts.

Put in a frying pan some oil, when hot, fry the garlic cloves in their skin, add the almonds after 5 minutes, fry a little longer, add the sage leaves for the last 5 minutes. The garlic will get soft while the almonds and the sage will get crisp. Add some sprouts in the last minute. Use as a dressing on salads, rice and potatoes instead of meat.

Sweet-Sour of green tomatoes

Ingredients:
3 kilo of small green tomatoes
2 liter (4 pints) of good quality vinegar
3 kilo of sugar
1 teaspoon of gingerpowder
12 cloves
12 peppercorns
12 gr (0,5 ounce) of cinamon sticks.

Never cook in an aluminum pot

Bring sugar, vinegar and herbs to a boil. Prick the tomatoes with a needle several times.
Add to the boiling liquid after 15 minutes. Leave them simmering together for another 15 minutes. Turn off the fire and let it cool down for 24 hours. Boil again and let them simmer for 10 minutes, cool down; repeat again the next day. After the 3rd time seperate the tomatoes from the juice. Bring the juice to a boil and let it reduce to a thick syrup. Don't let it burn or cook too long. Add the tomatoes again for another 5 minutes and put the hot sweet-sour in sterilized glass-pots. After closing put them upside down for some time to get the pots vacuum. Clean the outside, label and store in a cool room. Serve as a side-dish with meat.

Orange garlic sauce

preparation time: 10 minutes
cooking time: several times 15 minutes
makes: 4 jars of half a litre

Ingredients:
6 to 8 cloves of garlic,
1 teaspoon salt,
1 onion thinly sliced,
1/2 a cup of sour orange juice, (press half an orange and half a lemon, or lime, together)
1/2 a cup of good olive oil
a lot chopped parsley.

Use a mortar and pestle to crush the cloves of garlic, make with the salt a thick paste. Place this in a bowl and mix with the onion and orange juice. Heat olive oil in a pan and add this garlic mixture. Stir in the parsley. Stir and cook over medium high heat for a few minutes. The sauce keeps for weeks when refrigerated. Serve on grilled eggplant or plain vegetables. Or as a sauce over grilled chickenbreast or beefsteak.