Dutch Recipes

The Dutch are not known for there food but are know for their dairy products especially cheese like Gouda.  I decided to try some Dutch recipes before I left. Surprisingly, both recipes turned out pretty good.  The Oliebollen is traditionally eaten on New Years Eve. The donutes, (Oliebollen) make a lot so you might want to cut the recipe in half. 

Dutch Leek Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 lbs potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 lbs leeks, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 TBS finely chopped green chilie peppers
• soy sause to taste
• 1 8 oz. package shredded Cheddar  chesse
• 6 oz cooked ham, cut into thin strips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Bring large pot of slafted water to a boil and cook potatoes until tender but firm.  Drain potatoes and transfer to a medium bowl.  Mash togerther with milk.
3. Place leeks in a  medium saucepan (The recipe calls for 2 lbs but we only used one leek and it was a lot) with enough water to cover and bring to a boil.  Cook 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.
4. In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook and stir the ground beef until evenly brown.  Mix in the onion, red bell pepper and green bell pepper.  Season with green chile peppers (we just used chile powder) and soy sauce.  Continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.
5. In a medium baking dish, mix mashed potatoes, leeks, and ground beef mixture.  Sprinkle with Cheddar chesse and top with ham.
6. Bake 25 minutes until cheese is melted.

Oliebollen 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs (7-8 cups) wheat flour
• 4 cups water
• 1 oz salt
• 2 oz sugar
• 3 oz packaged yeast
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• lemon juice
• raisins
• chopped apples
• oil for deep fying
• powder sugar

Directions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water.
2. Add the flour to yeast mixture (I just used regular all purpose flour)
3. Add the salt, sugar, cinnamon, a few drops of lemon juice, raisins and apples. Mix well
4. Set aside to rise for 45 minutes
5. Heat the oil to about 350 degress.  Form balls using an ice cream scoop (greese the scoop first) and then deep fry the oliebollen-usually a few at a time, for about 6 minutes each.  You might have to dunk or turn them half way through.  (At first I had the oil too hot and it was cooking the outside too fast and buring it before the inside was complete cooked. Once I turned the oil down to medium heat they were better.)
6. Drain on absorbant paper towl and liberally sprinkle with powder sugar.