Waterzooi Food

CHICKEN WATERZOOI

Steps:

• Preparation for the stock: Place the chicken in a pot of water, covering the chicken entirely. Add 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 1 onion, cut into approximately 1-inch pieces. Add parsley, thyme and a bay leaf and poach until chicken is cooked. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
• Cut the remaining carrots, celery, onions into 1-inch sticks and place them in a saucepan with water to cover. Cut the leeks into 1-inch sticks, slice the mushrooms and add to saucepan. Parboil vegetables in salted water. Take out the chicken when poached (no red color must be seen under the skin) and discard vegetables from stock. Strain the chicken stock through a fine sieve. Take the skin off of the chicken and cut chicken into 8 pieces. Put the chicken and the parboiled vegetables into the stock. Mix the egg yolks with the cream and add to the stock. Add the lemon juice and butter. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Serve in soup plates with boiled potatoes or white steamed rice.

TRADITIONAL FLEMISH WATERZOOI RECIPE

Steps:

• Boil the potatoes in salted water until cooked.
• Heat the butter in a frying pan.
• Add the celery, carrot, and onion and cook the vegetables for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are soft and glazed.
• Now add the leeks and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the stock to the vegetable mixture and allow it to infuse for 3 minutes.
• Gently poach the fish fillets in the broth for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the mussels after 1 minute.
• Remove the seafood from the pan once the mussels have opened and set aside. Strain the stock into a saucepan.
• Set the vegetables aside to use later.
• Whisk the egg yolk with the cream in a bowl.
• Put the stock back on the heat and, once it reaches boiling point, add the cream and egg mixture to thicken the stock and create a sauce.
• Now mix well with a whisk and make sure the sauce does not come to the boil again.
• Add the peeled shrimp and half the chives and stir.
• Place the fish pieces in a serving bowl along with the vegetables and potatoes.
• Pour the sauce over it.
• Garnish with the remaining chives. Tip: Most mussels sold in the Netherlands today have already been cleaned and debearded. If your mussels haven't been cleaned, simply use a knife or wire brush to scrape off any barnacles on the shells. Debeard the mussels by pulling off any strands. Place the mussels in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cool water. Discard any that have broken shells. Tap the open mussels on a hard surface and if they do not close within a few moments, throw them out too. About the book: Werken met Vis by Dutch sustainable seafood champion Bart van Olphen offers guidance in choosing, cleaning, preparing and cooking a wide range of sustainable (European) seafood varieties with traditional recipes from the Netherlands, Belgium, and beyond. Title: Werken met Vis By: Bart van Olphen Photography: Daniel Patriasz Design & Illustrations: Tijs Koelemeijer Language: Dutch only Publisher: Carrera Publisher's Site Price: €34,90 ISBN: 9789048816217

WATERZOOI OF CHICKEN

Steps:

• Remove excess fat from chicken cavity. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Place 1 bay leaf, 2 sprigs parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon thyme in cavity. Season with salt and pepper.
• Melt butter in heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent (but not browned); about 5 minutes.
• Place the chicken, breast side up, in the Dutch oven, on top of the onions. Add chicken broth (and water, if necessary) to mostly cover the chicken (by about two-thirds). Cover and simmer gently over low heat for 30 minutes.
• Skim the suface to remove any foam and fat. Add the carrots, leeks, and celery. Add the remaining parsley sprigs, thyme and bay leaf. Cover, and adjust heat to maintain a slow simmer for another 30 minutes.
• Add the potatoes and continue to simmer until potatoes are done and chicken is very tender, about 20 or 30 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Remove chicken and transfer to a large plate. Use a slotted spoon or similar tool to remove parsley and bay leaves from broth. Let the chicken rest until it is cool enough to handle, then just use your fingers to remove the skin and peel meat from the bones. Discard skin and bones. Continue to use your fingers to shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.
• Place Dutch oven with broth (which has cooled a little) over medium heat. While that's heating up, beat the cream and the egg yolks together in a bowl. Now, take a ladleful of hot broth and slowly add to the egg yolk mixture, while stirring. This tempers the yolks. Then, slowly stir the tempered egg yolk mixture into the larger pot of broth and vegetables. Do not boil or the egg yolks might curdle. Add the chicken. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
• Serve in bowls, making sure everyone gets equal amounts of chicken, vegetable and broth. I serve a with a hearty loaf of hand-sliced bread.
• Note: Waterzooi can be prepare almost entirely in advance, and the flavors are actually enhanced by sitting overnight in the refrigerator. The day before you plan to serve the dish, prepare the recipe through Step 5. Let cool completely and refrigerate the broth and vegetable separately from the chcken. The following day, before serving, reheat the chicken in the broth. Prepare the egg yolk and cream mixture and proceed with the last steps of the recipe. (The chicken may remain in the broth.).

WATERZOOI (VATERZOY)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium -high heat and quickly brown the chicken pieces. Remove and set aside.
• In the same pot, saute the leeks, onion, celery and salt until the vegetables are tender crisp. Return the chicken to the pot and add the water, bouillon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is tender.
• In a small bowl or cup, combine the flour and lemon juice; pour into the pot and stir.
• Beat the cream and the egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of the hot liquid; stir into pot. Heat through, but do not allow to boil as the cream will curdle. Sprinkle in the parsley before serving.

WATERZOOI

Steps:

• In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter over low to medium heat.
• Sauté leeks, potatoes, celery, carrots and onion for 3 minutes. Set aside.
• In a Dutch oven, place the chicken legs and bouquet garni and pour the broth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce the heat, cover and continue cooking over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the reserved vegetables.
• Cover and continue cooking for 15 minutes over low heat.
• Remove the bouquet garni.

BELGIUM CHICKEN WATERZOOI

Steps:

• Stock: Place the chicken in a pot of water, covering the chicken entirely. Add 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 1 onion, cut into approximately 1-inch pieces. Add parsley, thyme and a bay leaf and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium low and cook until chicken is cooked, about 20-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
• Cut the remaining carrots, celery, onions into 1-inch sticks and place them in a saucepan with water to cover. Cut the leeks into 1-inch sticks, slice the mushrooms and add to saucepan. Parboil vegetables in salted water about 15 minutes. Take out the chicken when poached (no red color must be seen under the skin) and discard vegetables from stock. Strain the chicken stock through a strainer. Remove the skin from the chicken and cut chicken into 8 pieces. Put the chicken and the parboiled vegetables into the stock. Mix the egg yolks with the cream and add to the stock. Add the lemon juice and butter. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Note:
• I cook the second set of vegs. in the chicken stock to give more flavor. You could use canned chicken broth too.
• Serve in soup plates with boiled potatoes or white steamed rice. Enjoy!

BELGIUM WATERZOOI BELGIAN (GENTSE WATERZOOI)

Steps:

• FOR THE WATERZOOI: Rub the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Butter the bottom of a large, heavy casserole with 2 tablespoons of the butter. Layer it with the onions, shallots, leeks, celery, carrots, and parsley roots. Lay the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables. Pour the wine and chicken broth over everything, season with salt and pepper, and bring to just below a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer very gently, without letting the broth come to a boil, until the meat on the chicken nearly falls off, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove the chicken and set aside or bone it, if you desire. Continue to simmer the remaining ingredients until the parsley roots are soft, another 30 minutes.
• In a medium size bowl, beat together the egg yolks, heavy cream, the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and a few tablespoons of the broth from the casserole. Remove the parsley roots and pass them through a food mill or mash them. Stir them into the egg mixture. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the stew, whisking all the time so the eggs don't curdle. Add the parsley and lemon juice and stir. Ladle the broth over the chicken pieces and serve immediately. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
• CHICKEN BROTH:.
• This is a nice homemade broth that can be used for recipes calling for chicken broth. For duck broth, replace the chicken bones and meat with a duck carcass and for rabbit broth, replace with rabbit bones. For recipes calling for a rich chicken broth, first roast the chicken bones in a 425°F oven until golden before proceeding with the recipe.
• Put all the ingredients, except the salt and pepper, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and skim off the foam from the surface until no more appears. Partially cover the pot and simmer over very low heat for at least 6 hours.
• Pour the broth through a strainer (a chinois, or conical strainer, would be ideal) and discard all the bones, vegetables, and bouquet garni. Now line the strainer with cheesecloth and pour the broth through again. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place the broth in the refrigerator until the fat congeals and remove. The broth can kept, refrigerated for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 6 months. Makes 3 to 4 quarts.
• Real Stew.

WATERZOOI AU POULET (BELGIAN CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Place all the vegetables into a large saucepan, place the chicken on top of the vegetables then add the broth.
• Season with salt and plenty of pepper, bring to the boil then reduce the heat, partially cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.
• At the end of the cooking time, place the egg yolks in a small saucepan over a medium heat and cook, stirring with a wooden fork or spoon until lightly scrambled.
• To serve - transfer the eggs to a large soup tureen, pour the soup broth, vegetables and pieces of chicken into the eggs stirring constantly. Garnish with chopped parsley.