return my mojo !

two sauces: mojo rojo & mojo verde
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

A couple of years back I visited the island of La Palma, of the Spanish Canary Islands. It is the place which features as an island of doom in a Discovery Channel programme, because a large chunk of this island will supposedly break off somewhere in the future and splash into the sea, causing a giant tsunami to flood the whole East Coast of America.

However until it does (and nobody knows when this natural disaster will strike), you can enjoy the island's sunshine, their special potatoes, and their two kinds of mojo. Mojo is Spanish for sauce: they have a red and a green version, which is on every restaurant table. The combination with potatoes is great, especially if you serve a white fish or some chicken on the side. The mojos are really garlicky, giving a great kick!

When I went home I bought a jar of green sauce, which was in my fridge for ages. Not because it didn't taste good - it tasted too good, and I was afraid of losing that flavor if I finished it completely - I took a small spoonful every time.

To make these potatoes with sauces you will need: 1 kilo of small potatoes, white wine vinegar, nora peppers (chile de anchos will do too), garlic, olive oil, salt, paprika and a handful of chopped fresh coreander (cilantro).

Put the unpeeled potatoes in a wide shallow pan and fill with 2/3 of salted water, as salt as 'your tears'. This is 35 grams of salt to 1 litre. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15-20 mins until nearly dry.

Meanwhile, put half a bulb of garlic in a kitchen blender. Whizz. Then add 200 ml of white wine vinegar to combine. Devide this mixture into half. One becomes the green mojo (mojo verde): add 100 ml of olive oil, half a tablespoon of cumin and a handful of chopped coriander.
The other half gets spiced up by adding the red pulp of 3 soaked nora peppers - in just-boiled water for half an hour, then scrape out the softened inside -, a dash of paprika and also 100 ml of olive oil. This is the mojo rojo.

When the potatoes have cooked for 15 minutes and they are nearly dry (pour off excess water if this is not so), sprinkle with more salt and roll in the pan until covered with salt. Then turn off the heat and cover with a tea towel. This will cause the salt to crystallize and the potato skins to wrinkle, so the potatoes look like they were dug out of a volcano; serve with the two mojos on the side.

tomato sauce

tomato sauce
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

One of the joys of coming home is to have this first meal. I always crave for the simple, and usually I end up eating my first meal of pasta with a tomato sauce. I could even do without the tomatoes and then only use anchovies, pepper and some garlic. Of course there is a chunk of Parmesan in the fridge.

Marcella Hazan taught me to make the most simple of tomato sauces. You never have to buy a jar again! Take one tin of plum tomatoes (0.20 euro, I stock up on these), add a large lump of butter, a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, and half an onion (unsliced). Simmer for about half an hour or more. You can add more flavors, like a bit of chopped garlic and a sprig of parsley - but tomatoes, half an onion and butter are the main ingredients. Then mash the tomatoes - I use a potato masher for this - until the sauce is quite chunky. You could put it in a food processor to get a more smooth sauce.

Cook your preferred pasta ( I think I had linguine) and coat it with the sauce, put on a large heap of grated Parmesan and sprinkle on some dried chili flakes and some freshly chopped parsley.

Now try not to think about wonderful Chinese meals.

walnut sauce

walnut sauce by kattebelletje.

Although everyone is complaining about global warming and the loss of our true Dutch winters (if ever we had them), winter is far from over. We are stuck with a chilly, overcast, misty haze and a temperature of around 5 degrees Celcius, which chills you to the bone. The only thing I would like to eat are spicy chicken variations or comfort food, like mashed potatoes or so. A bean mash is also nice: it is hearty, healthy and feels good for you.

Prepare one by mashing up the contents of one large tin of white butter beans with a fried onion. Add pepper, salt and a huge amount of butter for that true mash-feeling. WIth it I made fresh wild spinach, sauteed and then chopped and sauteed again with butter and a little cream. For a nice colorful touch to this meal, I made red charred peppers in a 200C hot oven. Leave for 15 mins or until blackened; leave in a tight plastic bag to cool (15mins), then the skins come off easily. Put on a plate and pour on some olive oil.

First I thought I wanted home made pesto to go with the bean mash, but since I felt too lazy to go to the store again for basil, I decided I could do without, and opted for walnut sauce. For the sauce, you need: 100 grams of (peeled) walnuts, 50 grams of pine nuts, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons of yoghurt and olive oil. Soak the walnuts in hot water, then peel off the brown skins. This is quite a chore, but it relaxes me. Put on some music and enjoy the zen-like state preparing food can give you... When done, mash them with mortar and pestle together with a clove of garlic, the pine nuts until you have a thick paste. Add the yoghurt, then pour on olive oil to combine. It will be quite thick, taste for salt.

Strangely enough, the walnut paste tasted the nicest with the chopped and sauteed spinach, but it was also good with the beans and the red peppers. One almost forgot there was no meat in this whole meal: I grilled some slices of haloumi cheese for extra bite.

Yinyin sauce

yinyin sauce by kattebelletje.

I can't help myself, ever so often I just NEED to eat jiaozi, Chinese dumplings. Or the fried kind, called guotie or potstickers. I put in the usual chopped pork, chinese cabbage, ginger, soaked dried shiitake mushroom, shredded spring onion and soy sauce and sesame oil for the filling, but added an extra leaf or two of the cime di rape I had a couple of days before. That made it really tasty!! I fried them in a pan but they stuck a little to well to the bottom.

Anyway, I made a salad like I had in Beijing: with a sauce of vinegar and sugar, plus an extra tablespoon dark Chinese vinegar. I soaked the cucumber in this vinaigrette for half an hour and added shredded lettuce and fried peanuts. Now for the jiaozi-sauce, I was taught this by a Chinese friend who cooks extremely well, and my family has called this sauce 'Yinyin sauce' ever since.

First make a hot sauce by putting dried chili pepper flakes, white sesame seeds, a little salt and a handful of huajiao (Sichuan pepper) in a fireproof bowl. Heat oil until really hot and pour carefully on the mixture; it will look like it will explode and a lot of hot steam escapes. Careful! When cooled off, you will have a dark red spicy oil. For the Yinyin sauce, mash 2 cloves of garlic, add 4 tablespoons or so of sugar, add as much dark Chinese aromatic vinegar until all the sugar is absorbed - stir, then add soy sauce and 3 or more tablespoons of the hot chili oil. Taste for spicyness and adapt to your liking. It tasted extremely well with the just fried potstickers and the salad will cool you off. Powerful.