Our favourite recipes
Dutch apple pie
Dough:
250g flour; 150g butter; 125g sugar; one egg (beaten); vanilla sugar (about a teaspoon or a small bag); salt (pinch)
Filling:
500g apples (tangy and firm, eg Bramley); sugar; cinnamon (or try mixed spices)
You'll also need a springform (22-25cm in diameter and approximately 5cm high), a rolling pin and a brush
Peel the apples and cut them into small cubes. Add sugar and cinnamon to taste, and leave this to 'marinate' for a while. Bear in mind that as the sugar and cinnamon are absorbed, the apples will become sweeter, so sometimes it's best to taste the apples after a while to check whether they need more sugar.
Put the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and cut it into little squares with two knives. Add half the egg. Knead it together until the dough is consistent and you can roll into a neat ball. Cover and leave it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Grease the springform. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll about two thirds of it out with the rolling pin. (Put a little flour on your work surface and rolling pin to stop the dough sticking to either.) Line the bottom and sides of the dish with the dough. Add the apples. (Note that, while 'marinating', they lose a lot of liquid - you want to add some, but not all of the liquid. If you add all of it, the bottom will end up too soggy.*) Roll out the rest of the dough and cut it into strips. Place them criss-cross over the apple filling, and press them onto the dough on the sides. Brush the top of the pie with the rest of the egg.
Bake at 180-200º Centigrade for about 50 minutes. Maybe check after around 45 minutes to see how it's doing. If it's a nice golden brown, and you think it's done, take it out. If you'd like leave it in for longer but you're concerned that it might burn, cover it with tin foil. When you take it out, carefully go round the edge with a knife to loosen the pastry from the springform. Open the springform, and leave the cake to cool. (You can eat the cake warm, but do leave it to cool for at least 30 minutes.)
Enjoy!
*Tip: Add surplus liquid to apple sauce. Very tasty!
Gazpacho
Ingredients
(serves 4)
1kg tomatoes (preferably plum)
Half a small onion (approx 60g)
1 small green pepper
1 small cucumber (the small chubby Spanish type)
1 small cup of olive oil
2 dessert spoons of vinegar
200g of slightly stale bread, soaked in water
Small portions of diced tomatoes, red and green peppers, cucumber, onion and bread or croutons to sprinkle on top.
Put the tomatoes, onion, pepper, cucumber, vinegar, oil and bread into a liquidizer. If you want to dilute it, add a glass of water. Tip: If you want to go for a tangy garlic taste, add a small amount of fresh garlic to the mixture before liquidizing.
Put the mixture into a bowl, add salt and pepper and leave the gazpacho to chill for at least an hour. If you want to eat it straightaway, you can always put some ice cubes in to cool it down. Gazpacho is a summer dish which is meant to hydrate and cool down your body, so the colder the better!
Serve the gazpacho in soup bowls, with the portions of diced tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion and croutons on the table, so that everyone can add them to their bowl as they wish.
Tips: You can also sprinkle on some diced serrano ham or hard boiled egg. And be sure to use only quality ingredients!
