Belgian Food Weekend - Day 1
My Belgian food and beer themed weekend ... I'm a first-time poster so hope this comes out right!
Being an avid watcher of F1, I always like to plan my meals and beverages around whatever country the race is in on a particular Sunday. This weekend being Belgium, and having had quite a few culinary experiences in the country, we were spoilt for choice. So decided to make a whole weekend of it food-wise.
Not to mention the many Belgian beers of course ... I'm by no means an afficionada, but I do have rather a lot in stock from various trips to the country - including some rare-ish bottles of Cantillon picked up at the brewery itself in Brussels. So, planning what beers to have when, and with which food, also formed an essential and enjoyable part of the build up to the weekend.
Big kudos to davecar for his most excellent cooking skills - I think he ended up making nearly all of the dishes so far, with a little prep help from me in parts - but hopefully I'll be cooking more tomorrow.
So, to start the weekend's proceedings, we had for dinner on Friday night:
Starter: oyster beignets
This is something we'd had when out to dinner once before, and davecar was inspired by the fresh oysters on sale at Waitrose to attempt this at home, with some panko breadcrumbs. Simple and very delicious, we teamed them with Stouterik, a Belgian stout from Brussels. This had liquorice notes but wasn't too overpowering.
Main: Moules marinere with frites and haricots verts au beurre
davecar has perfected his moules technique, preferring to steam them a bit in the liquor of wine, butter, onion, garlic & parsley - they were plump and delicately flavoured. Tried out a new wine to cook & drink with these, a McLaren Vale Voignier Marsanne - which was fruity with a dryish finish, and went perfectly. The beans were cooked in the way I'd had them served when eating in Vincent in Brussels - steamed then sauteed with butter, onion & garlic.
Later on: Reblochon and Carre de l'Est cheeses
Belgian cheese being rather hard to get hold of in England, we were happy enough with these fine French offerings, from the cheese shop at Marylebone station. These brought out buttery notes in the above wine, and after we shared a Noel de Silenrieux - which was nice enough but I was expecting more of a spicy/liquorice note from a winter beer.
Being an avid watcher of F1, I always like to plan my meals and beverages around whatever country the race is in on a particular Sunday. This weekend being Belgium, and having had quite a few culinary experiences in the country, we were spoilt for choice. So decided to make a whole weekend of it food-wise.
Not to mention the many Belgian beers of course ... I'm by no means an afficionada, but I do have rather a lot in stock from various trips to the country - including some rare-ish bottles of Cantillon picked up at the brewery itself in Brussels. So, planning what beers to have when, and with which food, also formed an essential and enjoyable part of the build up to the weekend.
Big kudos to davecar for his most excellent cooking skills - I think he ended up making nearly all of the dishes so far, with a little prep help from me in parts - but hopefully I'll be cooking more tomorrow.
So, to start the weekend's proceedings, we had for dinner on Friday night:
Starter: oyster beignets
This is something we'd had when out to dinner once before, and davecar was inspired by the fresh oysters on sale at Waitrose to attempt this at home, with some panko breadcrumbs. Simple and very delicious, we teamed them with Stouterik, a Belgian stout from Brussels. This had liquorice notes but wasn't too overpowering.
Main: Moules marinere with frites and haricots verts au beurre
davecar has perfected his moules technique, preferring to steam them a bit in the liquor of wine, butter, onion, garlic & parsley - they were plump and delicately flavoured. Tried out a new wine to cook & drink with these, a McLaren Vale Voignier Marsanne - which was fruity with a dryish finish, and went perfectly. The beans were cooked in the way I'd had them served when eating in Vincent in Brussels - steamed then sauteed with butter, onion & garlic.
Later on: Reblochon and Carre de l'Est cheeses
Belgian cheese being rather hard to get hold of in England, we were happy enough with these fine French offerings, from the cheese shop at Marylebone station. These brought out buttery notes in the above wine, and after we shared a Noel de Silenrieux - which was nice enough but I was expecting more of a spicy/liquorice note from a winter beer.