20101207 Old-fashioned Dutch Dinner

We had an old-fashioned Dutch dinner tonight - a one course meal with potatoes, cooked vegetables, and pan fried meat. And we follow the de Waard family tradition to serve the meal with lots of "boterjus", the excessive fat from cooking the meat with lots of butter. To be precise, we arrange the cooked potato, vegetable, and meat on a plate and then pour the boterjus all over the potato and vegetable. The key to a good old-fashioned Dutch dinner is timing - be sure you time it right, so everything is cooked and served at the same time! This is what my husband craves when he is recovering from a cold, because he finds this a "healthy" diet.

INGREDIENTS
MEAT
4 pork bellies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp sugar

POTATO
500g starchy potatoes
butter
sour cream
garlic powder
salt and freshly ground four-season pepper

VEGETABLE
400g snijbonen, finely sliced (I don't know its English name)
1L chicken stock

METHOD
METHOD - VEGETABLE
1. Bring the chicken stock to the boil. Add the snijbonen and cook for 18 to 20 minutes. Drain well and serve.

METHOD - MEAT

1. Mix the spices in a small bowl, and use your fingers to rub the spices into the pork bellies.

2. In a large pan, heat a knob of butter (more if you want more boterjus) and cook the pork bellies over medium heat for 20 minutes.

METHOD - POTATO

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, and cook the potatoes for about 20 minutes. Drain well.

2. Mash the potato with a knob of butter. Season with sour cream, garlic powder, and salt and pepper; and serve.