Italian. Bread. Garlic. Rosemary.

Every now and then I have an Italian food craving. This time it’s bread. Salty flat bread with lots of olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs from my balcony. FOCACCIA.

Secret ingredient: your imagination (imagine early summer in Florence, Tuscane, Italy. At a local bakery, large trays with freshly baked bread. Behind the counter 4 Italian mama’s, one is slicing a nice piece of focaccia and put it in a paper bag which is immediately drenched in olive oil from the salty focaccia. You take it outside, enjoy the bread on a sunlit bench on the local square.)

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 250gr strong flour (durum wheat)(I used Italian bread/pasta flour ‘De Cecco’ Farina di Grano Duro. Ideale per Pasta e Pane.)
• 1 tsp salt
• 7 gr (1 sachet) of dried active yeast
• 200gr water
• 1 tsp olive oil
• more olive oil to coat
• sea salt flakes (I used Maldon)

Topping: Fresh oregano, rosemary, garlic and organic green olives. (But you can use anything you like)

Directions:

Preheat the oven: 220 degrees Celsius.

1Put the flour on the working surface. Make a well in the middle and add 1 tsp of olive oil, salt and yeast.

2When everything is combined, knead the dough for about 10 to 15 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Put it into a bowl dusted with flour or oiled.

3Leave for half an hour to an hour in a warm place and covered till the volume has doubled in size.

4Take the dough out and put it gently in a baking tray.

5Gently push the dough to cover the whole tray.

6Drizzle olive oil on the bread (be generous) and push the slices garlic, chopped herbs in the bread.

7Let this proof for another hour

Untill it looks like this.

8Drizzle again some olive oil on top and sprinkle on some sea salt flakes (be generous too)

Bake it in an preheated oven 220 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes.

Secret ingredient: Time and patience.

Secret thingy: To check when it’s perfectly baked (applies to all bread actually) take it out the tray and tap on the bottom, it should be rock hard and sound hollow.

Beef. Beer. Chocolate.

December, that time of the year: cold and rainy outside. Today I saw rain, hail and wet snow nearly at the same time. What’s better than a slow cooked beef stew as the ultimate comfort food?

Will the poor herbs on my little balcony garden survive this weather?

Yield: 2 to 3 servings

Basic ingredients:

• 600g beef brisket (or beef chuck)
• 2 mid sized onions
• 1 glove of garlic
• 2 carrots
• 1 bottle (250ml) of dark ale (I used a dutch beer ‘Brand Dubblebock’, a typical autunmbeer with a rich flavour)
• 1 fresh bay leaf (dried bay leaf is not a problem)
• 1 teaspoon of all purpose flour (or one slice of bread)
• 1 dash of vinegar (I used organic white balsamico vinegar)
• 1 beef stock cube (or your own beef stock)
• salt and pepper

Secret ingredient:

• 2 pieces of dark chocolate (I use one with 63%cacao)

Directions:

1Brown off diced onions and chopped garlic in some oil (I used olive oil) in a casserole. Add bay leaf.

2In a other sizzling hot pan, add oil and sear the beef brisket (cut in large chunks) both sides.

3Put the beef in the casserole with roughly chopped carrot.

4Add the all purpose flour (or bread), dash of vinegar and salt and pepper.

5Warm and reduce the beer a little in the pan where the beef was seared (don’t waste those little sticky goodness!).

6Add the reduced beer to the casserole with the beef, onion and carrots. Fill up with luke warm beef stock (dissolve the stock cube in warm water) till the meat is just submerged (so it depends on how large your casserole is).

7Last but not least: add the 2 pieces of dark chocolate and let everything simmer for about 2 till 3 hours.

After 2,5 hours

Another secret:

Do not let the stew boil. The best way to do that is cook it in the oven (140 degrees celsius). Since I don’t have the luxury of possessing a real oven, I use this trick: when the stew begin to boil, turn of the gas for 20 minutes. The residual heat will cook the meat in a gentle way. After 20 minutes turn on the gas again, when it boils, repeat the previous step. This process requires a little attention, but you will get the most delicious, comforting, tender meat.

Serve with creamy mashed potato.

Bon appetit