Gert de Mangeleer, chef of three Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan in Zedelgem, Bruges has just released his collection of recipes to share in a book called Unplugged in English. Originally published in Flemish, the book is now also available in English.
“This is the first book in which I collected many of my favourite recipes. I never was really into sharing my recipes until now because my style of cooking evolves too much for that. Nor did I want to give people the impression that they could easily recreate the dishes we serve at Hertog Jan at home. Because they can’t. I cannot even do the things I do in my restaurant at home, because I neither have the kitchen equipment nor the team for it,” he says in the introduction to the book.
Instead the book is accessible and presents a series of the tastiest dishes the Belgian chef has prepared for his family and friends in recent years.
He says he gets inspiration for his dishes everywhere he goes and that is very visible in the book where you will find a great array of different dishes that you can try at home all inspired by Gert’s travels to Asia, Southern flavours as well as the artisan way inspired by his Belgian roots.
From chicken yakitori, to tempura, dim sum to news and even steamed buns, these Asian staples are all made accessible by Gert in this recipe book. He also shares recipes like tomato and mozzarella bloody mary consomme, iberico ham croquettes, chickpea, fresh chorizo and pulpo stew and so much more. He also gives you tips about certain ingredients as well as where you can buy them in a section under each recipe called good to know.
The book is available from Gert De Mangeleer’s or Hertog Jan’s website. The launch price, valid until 21 November is EUR25.
Here Gert De Mangeleer shares two of his favourite recipes from the book for you to try at home.
Chinese-style Steamed Turbot
There’s nothing as easy and as tasty as a whole fish. Serve it at table, in front of your friends by cutting trough the fish along its spine. Gently fold open the fish with a fork and knife and remove the spine. Looks and tastes quite sensational too.
40 minutes preparation
What you need for 2 to 4 people
- 1 Turbot of 1 kilo (whole, gills removed and gutted)
- 30g fresh ginger
- 100g peanut oil
- 50g light soy sauce
- 6 spring onions
- 20g coriander leaves
- Coarse salt
- Additional necessities
- Steam oven or steam basket
- Cooking thermometer
How to make it
Slice the ginger into 1mm slices and then finely julienne it. Thinly slice the spring onions into rings. Place the turbot on a large dish and steam at 100C.
Depending on how powerful your steamer is, it will take about 10 minutes to steam a 1 kilo turbot.
Make sure the meat is still slightly glassy and translucent. (The fish will continue to cook while resting and as you continue to prepare the dish).
Drain the steaming liquid from the dish and season the turbot with coarse salt. Sprinkle the julienned ginger over the entire fish. Heat the peanut oil to 150C and spoon it over the ginger. The idea is that you should hear the julienned ginger hiss. Drizzle the soy saucer over the turbot and garnish with the spring onion and the coriander.
Good to know
Gutted – remove all the innards
If you don’t have a steamer, you can also use bamboo steam baskets. Or you can use a raised rack in a baking tray. Pour hot water into the baking tray, place the fish on the rack and seal with aluminium foil. Slide into the hot over.
Stuffed Moroccan Bread with a yoghurt dip
The perfect bread to put on the table with other snacks and share with your guests. Serve it with hummus and a couscous salad or quinoa salad for a more Moroccan-style meal. Or enjoy it for tea.
Preparation
2.5 hours to knead the dough, let it rise and bake
1 hrs to prepare the filling and the dip
What you need for 2 breads
For the filling
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 of a long, red pepper
- Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
- 2 large red onions
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 green courgette
- 15 gr fresh coriander
- 15 gr mint
- 500 gr mixed mince meat – lamb mince also works here
- 4.5 gr Ras el Hanout
- 3 gr ground black cardamom
- 9 gr cumin
- 1.5 gr pimentos de la Vera, hot smoked
- 4.5 gr coarse salt
- Olive oil
For the Bread
- 250 gr pastry flour
- 170 gr water
- 2.5 gr fine salt
- 3 gr dry yeast
- Some olive oil
- Course salt
- Cumin
For the Yogurt Dip
- 250 gr Greek yoghurt
- 4 fresh spring onions
- 10 gr fresh coriander
- 1 lime
- 1/4 of a clove of garlic
- Some olive oil
- Pinch of salt
Additional necessities
- Sieve
- Food processor
- Moist towel
- Parchment Paper
- Rolling Pin
How to make it
For the filling
Finely slice the ginger, garlic and red peppers. Peel the onion and mince it. Cut the bell peppers and the green courgette into small dice. Finely chop the fresh mint and the coriander. Sauté the minced meat until nice and crispy in some olive oil over low heat. Drain in a sieve and reserve the fat. Put the reserved fat in a frying pan, in which you sauté the garlic, the ginger and the chilli pepper until glassy. Add the bell pepper and courgette and continue to sauté. Drain in a sieve. Mix the sautéed vegetables with the minced meat, the spices, the green herbs and the salt.
For the bread
Mix the water and the flour with the fine salt, the dry yeast and a bit of olive oil. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes with your food processor until you obtain a nice homogenous dough. Cover with a moist towel and let rise until the dough has doubled in volume (This takes about 1.5 hours) Divide the dough into four equal parts. Roll into little balls. Then roll out each ball with your rolling pin between parchment paper until you obtain a nice round shape, that is about 2 to 3 mm thick.
Take one part of the rolled-out dough and heap part of the filling on it. Make sure the filling is about 2cm from the edge and just under 2cm high.
Place another part of the dough on top of this. Roll up the sides and make sure to seal them properly. Brush the top of the bread with olive oil, season with coarse salt and sprinkle over some cumin seeds. Bake in a pan and use copious amounts of olive pool so the outside is nice and crispy.
Then bake in an oven at 200C for another 15 minutes.
For the yoghurt dip
Finely slice the spring onions.
Finely slice the coriander
Mix the Greek yoghurt with the finely-sliced spring onions and coriander.
Press the quarter clove of garlic and add it, along with the zest and juice of one lime.
Season to taste with salt and a pinch of olive oil.
Good to know
Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice mix of about 20 different spices. You can sometimes find this spice mix in supermarkets and catering supply stores as well as in shops that sell fresh North Africa’s products.
Pimentos de la Vera is a typically Spanish spice. The powder is made of dried red paprika peppers. There are various versions from mild to spicy. You can find it in Spanish shops, some supermarkets and catering supply stores and at La Buena Tierra.
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