Andijviestamppot (endive mash potatoes)

Now that the days are getting shorter and the temperature is dropping slowly it’s time to get ready for the winter. Can you believe it’s almost end of September? I still remember when we said goodbye to 2010 and welcomed 2011. And now in about 3 months another year is gone!

As much as I enjoy spring and summer, winter has a special place in my heart. I just love stews and Dutch mash potatoes with smoked sausage. And of course pea soup! I can’t wait to make that again.

Today I’m sharing a very easy Dutch mash potato dish. All you need is:

-          potatoes

-          bacon bits

-          endive

-          sausages

-          one bouillon cube

-          salt and pepper

After all these years I’m still amazed by how easy Dutch food is and how great it tastes. Maybe also because it takes so little effort to make it.

This endive was about 800 gram and I really wanted to use it all, but it was too much.

Although I cut and washed it all I ended up only using half. The other half is waiting in my fridge.

I was lucky that my sister already pealed the potatoes so all I had to do was to cut them in small pieces and boil them with one bouillon cube. This cube would give it plenty of flavor already so I didn’t had to add any extra salt.

While waiting for the potatoes to cook I fried the sausages and the bacon bits. You can use whatever sausage you like or have at hand. It normally goes with some rookworst (smoked sausage) but it taste great with “fresh” sausages as well.

There are 2 ways of making this dish. When the potatoes are done you can add the endive and let it “cook” together for a minute or to and then mash everything up. Or you can add the endive to the hot potatoes and mash them together. Either way I recommend you to drain the potatoes and keep the juice so you can add that later. Endives will release some juice as well and otherwise it will become endive soup. I happened to me once and although it still taste good, it doesn’t look too appealing.

After the potatoes are mashed and the endive is incorporated it was time to add the bacon bits. They were nice and crispy and salty so extra salt was definitely not needed.

Dinner was done in less then 30 minutes! The hubby sliced the sausages, pretty huh? We both loved this dinner! Highlight were the bacon bits so don’t skip on those!

On a different note:

Over the last few days I’ve been receiving some awards that I haven’t been able to thank for yet. But I haven’t forgotten about it.

So this is a BIG thank you for Ridwan from Ridwan’s Kichen / Asian-spice mix for sharing these awards with me. Although we are new foodie friends I’m always on the lookout to see what he’s cooking now. I’m keeping a close eye on this guy; he’s Indonesian and I’m hoping he’ll share some of the delicious dishes from his birth country.

And then sweet Parsely Sage from The Deep Dish. I think we’ve started reading and commenting on each others blog about the same time so we go wayyyy back =)

This lady lives in the Cayman Island and shares awesome dishes from Caymanian and Caribbean cuisine. Reading her blog makes you want to move to the Cayman Island right away.

Girl, HUGE thank you for thinking of me!

Awards!

I couldn’t believe it this morning. I had an email from Purabi from Cosmopolitan Currymania saying that she was passing on the “Blog on Fire Award” and the “Sunshine Award” she received from Okielicious from A Little Lunch and Wan Maznah from Cooking-Varieties. I was so excited! I have never received an award before and the first one is always a little bit more special, just like a first kiss, a first bite of chocolate or any other first time.

So I would like to thank Purabi for these awards and I am so pleased that she thought of me while there are so many great bloggers out there. I haven not had the chance to visit all the other blogs she listed except for Nami’s “Just one Cookbook” but I am honoured to be listed with them.

Part of accepting these awards is to pass it on to 10 other bloggers so here they are in random order:

- Maya from Foodiva’s Kitchen

- Parsley Sage from The Deep Dish

- Ann from Cooking Healthy For Me

- Lindsey from Lindselicious

- Gina from SPCookieQueen

- Russell from Chasing Delicious

- Adora from Adora’s Box

- Hester from Alchemy in the Kitchen

- Christiane from Taking on Magazines aka The Mom Chef

- Mario from Mangia with Mario

I love to read these blogs as they are so well written and/or contain gorgeous pictures. All these bloggers are so talented and inspire me every day. So these awards are for you!

For as 10 random facts about me:
* I love to travel, but nutting beats being home.

* Although my blog’s name is fuzz free food, I can sometimes be very fuzzy about  ingredients. If I am cooking a dish I can go all over the place to get the right ingredients.

* I am more a savory person then a sweet person. 

* Monday morning is my “bad” mood morning. I don’t get to be cheery until after lunch. I guess the weekend still had to wear out. 

* I love my hubby more then any food in the world.

* I don’t have any problem eating the same dish for a couple of days.

* You can always wake me up for a pasta dish.

* I love it when people invite me over for homemade food. Because I know how much effort it takes I appreciate it more then eating out.

* I love to make friends online…I actually married one!

* One day I will find the courage to leave my safe job and do something with my food “fetish”.   

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog as much as I am reading yours!