Grandma's meatballs

How is it, that your grandma's cooking somehow always tastes better than your own??
Anyway, this is how my grandma used to make her classic meatballs...

What you need (for 6 large meatballs):
800g ground beef
2 eggs
breadcrumbs
salt & pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
ground paprika
200g butter

Melt the butter in a large pan. In a bowl, mix the ground beef with the eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and paprika and shape into 6 balls. Fry the meatballs in the pan until browned, then add water and let them simmer for a while, with the lid partly covering the pan.
Serve with potatoes and veg, or sliced on a sandwich.

Grandma's Nasi Goreng

In the late 40's, my grandfather served in the military in the Dutch East Indies. He very much enjoyed the local cuisine and after he returned home and my grandparents got married, my grandmother would often make Indonesian dishes like this Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice). If my grandmother would leave the stove unattended, my grandfather and the kids would sneak into the kitchen and steal bites from the pan, impatient to wait for dinner :-)
I made a vegan version of this family favourite.

What you need (1 large pan, approx. 5-6 servings):
500g white rice
175g faux chicken pieces, diced
2-4 tsp sambal oelek (chili paste), according to taste
3 onions, diced
1 garlic clove, minced (or 1 tsp garlic paste)
1 tsp vegetable stock powder
4 tsp salt
1 tsp ketoembar (ground koriander)
1 tsp djinten (ground cumin)
vegetable oil

Boil the rice. Heat some oil in a large pan and sauté the onion, garlic, sambal oelek, salt, soc powcer, ketoembar and djinten until nicely browned. Add the diced 'chicken' and cook a few more minutes. Add the cooked rice and mix well. Turn off the heat, cover ad let it sit for approx. 10 minutes, giving the flavours a chance to mix. Serve as is or as a side dish with other Indonesian dishes such as tempeh pangang or 'chicken' satay.


Try this:
- serve with peanut sauce.
- serve with atjar (Indonesian pickled vegetables).
- sprinkle fried onions or chopped, roasted peanuts on top.

Grandma's braised beef and onions (hachee)

Perfect winter comfort food.

What you need (approx. 5-6 servings):
750g beefsteak, cut into cubes
1kg onions, cut in half and sliced
100g butter or margerine
80g flour
2 bay leaves
some cloves
vinegar

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the onion and beef, and pan fry until the onion has softened and the beef has browned. Add sufficient water to cover the beef and add the bay leaves, cloves and a splash of vinegar.
Simmer for approx. 2 hrs.
In a dry pan, cook the flour whilst continually stirring, until it's nicely browned (don't let it burn!). Add some water to make a sauce and add this to the stew. Stir until mixed evenly and the liquid has thickened.
Serve with your choice of (mashed) potatoes and cooked veggies.

Grandma's soup

I have very fond memories of this soup. My grandma often used to make this on the weekends or for family get-togethers such as birthdays when a lot of family members would stay for dinner.
And I'm proud to say, that after having been her son-in-law for nearly 40 years, my dad finally managed to make this soup taste nearly as good as my grandma :-)

What you need (for 1,5l):
200g beef for stews, cut in small cubes.
200g ground beef
1 bag of ready-chopped soup vegetables*
2 nests of vermicelli noodles
4 beef stock cubes.
1,5l water.
Maggi seasoning sauce to taste

Cook the cubed beef in the water for a few hours until tender. Scoop the meat from the pot and set aside. Save the meat stock.
Make small meatballs from the ground beef. Cook them in the meat stock.
When the meatballs are almost cooked, add the vegetables and cook until tender (approx. 20 mins). Crumple the vermicelli noodles over the pan into small bits. Add the stock cubes and stir until they have disolved. Add the cooked beef cubes and cook for a few more minutes.
Serve with bread (for dipping!) and season to taste with Maggi seasoning sauce.

* contents will vary depending on where you live. The type that I use contains finely chopped leek, carrot, broccoli, white cabbage, selery and cauliflower and is sold in bags of 200-300g depending on the brand.

Tip: the soup is even better the next day when it has thickened...

Grandma's macaroni

This is how my grandma and my mom make macaroni. Really easy and yummy.
I more or less guessed the quantities, but it's enough to make a large pan: ideal for putting some portions in the freezer for days when you don't feel like cooking or don't have time to make dinner.

What you need:
300g lean ground beef
1 bag ready-chopped soup vegetables*
1 box of macaroni (approx. 500g)
salt & pepper for seasoning
tomato sauce of your choice

Heat a non stick frying pan (no need to add extra oil or butter), cook the beef with a little salt and pepper until it's brown. Drain most of the fat and set aside.
Cook the macaroni according to the instuctions on the box. Drain when done and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking.
In another pan, cook the vegetables for about 15 mins in plenty of water with a pinch of salt. (I always test a piece of carrot to see if they're done, I like them soft and cooked instead of crunchy). Drain the vegetables and mix them, along with the beef, through the macaroni.
Serve with your choice of tomato sauce (my favourite is old-fashioned ketchup but you could use any type of pasta sauce).

* contents will vary depending on where you live. The type that I use contains finely chopped leek, carrot, broccoli, white cabbage, selery and cauliflower and is sold in bags of 200-300g depending on the brand.

Tip: don't throw out the water in which you cooked the veggies but use the stock as a base for soup or to cook rice in for some extra flavour. You can freeze it if you don't use it right away.

Grandma's poundcake

What you need (1 loaf)
- 200g self-raising flour
- 200g white caster sugar
- 200g butter (room temperature)
- 4 eggs
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- pinch of salt

Cream the sugar and butter with a handmixer. Add 1 egg at time and mix until incorporated before adding the next egg. Sift the flower, salt and vanilla sugar in a separate bowl and gradually add to the butter mixture. Mix at high speed until the batter looks white and creamy.
Preheat the oven at 200C. Grease a loaf tin and pour in the mixture. Bake for approx. 60mins, until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Or try this:
- make cupcakes instead of a loaf. Bake for approx. 30 mins.
- mix cocoa powder through (half) the batter to make a chocolate or marble loaf.
- top the batter with apple slices mixed with cinnamon.

Red pears

We don't have many holiday traditions in our family, but the one thing we do each year is serve these pears at our Christmas dinner, no matter what else is on the menu :)

What you need:
- cooking pears, peeled, quartered, core removed (we always use Gieser Wildeman pears)
- red wine
- sugar
- cinnamon stick

Put the pears in a pan with a little bit of water, a good splash of red wine, a few tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil and let them gently simmer for a few hours until the pears are nice and red. Serve chilled.