Bao Bang Bang, Brussels

Sometimes I think I know food… and sometimes it is proved that I have barely scratched the surface of deliciousness…. and this is just one of those times!

M and I were in search of nourishment last week, we had been eyeing out a chicken place on Vleurgat (Ixelles), but it has either been closed or being set up for an event (the latter was our experience on this particular evening), so we meandered down Bailli to find that it was too early for Dim Sum… and on we walked until we passed Chatelain and into the quaint, simple but homely restaurant called BAO BANG BANG.

I had no idea what a Bao was… so M did a quick google search and we were eager to try out these Taiwanese soft, steamed buns filled with goodness. Apparently, it is considered street food and once the bao is garnished, it looks like the tiger jaw shaped around the filling.

Service was really friendly. Ambiance is relaxed but warm, homely and stylish. It was only 7pm, one were one of the only tables seated, but once we left at 8pm, it was half full…

I ordered a beer, while M opted for a glass of white wine.

Food wise – it was cheap and cheerful and we both ordered 2 dishes (one item each from their Boa section and one item each from their “Side dishes”) – lets just say that we did NOT go hungry! Portion sizes are generous at these prices!

Duck Bao: 6,50€: M says it was amazing…

Pork Bao: 6€… crispy pork belly with Hoisin sauce, carrots, cabbage, peanuts, coriander… OMG (I originally wanted to order the pulled pork Boa but it was not available… I wasn’t upset… it just gives me an excuse to go back!)

Kimchi Ball: 6€… again M was in heaven!

Rice Burger: 6.50€. Crispy crumbed chicken breast sandwiched between 2 “sticky rice” buns and 2 gorgeous onion rings, plus a homemade mayo….

Would I return? Absolutely….

BOA BANG BANG

address: Rue de L’Aqueduc 155, 1050, Ixelles, Brussels, BELGIUM
telephone: +32 2 538 85 58
website: http://www.baobangbang.be
Opening hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12h00-14h30; 19h00-22h30

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Courgette Ribbon Salad

As mentioned earlier, I have signed up to something called “Sleekgeek 8 week challenge“, which means that I have been trying to be more imaginative with regards to meal planning, colourful plates and cooking etc.

On a recent trip to Stonemanor (a grocery shop in Brussels specializing in British products), I stocked up on my favourite English food magazines… including a new one that I found called “Food to Love” magazine. Within this magazine, I found a recipe for a chargrilled courgette ribbon salad with green olive dressing. I didn’t make the dressing and rather added a sprinkle of feta and some toasted pine-nuts on top of the cooked courgettes.

Make again? I already have 🙂

Courgette Ribbon Salad

2 large courgettes
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
sprinkle of feta
toasted pine-nuts

• using a mandoline, vegetable peeler or sharp knife, slice the courgette lengthways into thin pieces
• Toss with olive oil and season
• Cook the courgette on a heated grill or a grill pan for 1 minute on each side (cook in batches)
• Place on a plate, sprinkle with feta and toasted pine-nuts

 

What is a “Buddha” bowl?

If you love instagram like I do, then you wouldn’t be able to scroll past the foodie accounts without encountering at least one “Buddha” bowl picture.

They might also have been called a glory bowl, grain bowl, sunshine bowl, hippie bowl or macro bowl… but as far as I am concerned, it is essentially a *deconstructed salad in a bowl*.

There is no rule written in stone on how to construct the bowl, but it essentially consisted of a little bit of this and a little bit of that, focusing mainly on vegetables (raw or cooked), a bit of grains (if you so wish) and some protein (although 90% of the bowls seem to be vegetarian and thus featuring tofu, beans, etc… it hasn’t stopped anyone from adding some form of fish or lean meat.)

There is also some disconnect on where the name came from and what it actually means with some definitions of a Buddha bowl indicating that the shape of the round bowl reflects the round belly of Buddha or (my personal favourite story) is that Buddha walked around with an empty bowl at the beginning of the day and each of his neighbours provided a spoonful of what they were eating – thus by the end of the day, he had a bowl full of food (with a little bit of this and a little bit of that).

Whatever definition or story you like to believe – I don’t really believe it matters but I do think that it looks pretty… so here is my deconstructed salad (aka “Buddha Bowl”) => corn, red kidney beans, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and some sliced cooked chicken breast with a squeeze of lemon juice.

 

Chilli Con Carne

Nothing says comfort quite like a warming bowl of Chilli right? And helping me to eat “clean” without breaking the bank is Colruyt (a Belgian retail store that offers good quality, fresh ingredients with a no fuss attitude).

Can you believe that I had never eaten (or even had the inclination to even try) a bowl of Chilli before I moved to Brussels 10 years ago? But one fine (rainy Belgian) day, my Spanish friend, Sonia, had invited a few of us around for a meal and produced this magnificent meal and I was hooked.

I begged her for the recipe, which she kindly provided and I have been making it regularly ever since. The below has some minor adaptions to the original recipe that she gave me but in essence has not been altered too much!

Chilli con Carne

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon paprika
1Tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves – crushed
2 red chillies, chopped
500g mince (I use a combination of pork/beef)
tin of tomato paste
500ml Passatta
425g tin of red kidney beans (I like to use the variant that is already in chilli sauce)
1 green pepper – diced
200g tin of sweetcorn
250ml stock (I prefer to use chicken stock)
1 teaspoon brown sugar

1. Heat frying pan over a medium heat
2. Add cumin, allspice, chilli flakes and paprika and *dry fry* for about a minute to release the flavours
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and spices and cook for 2-3minutes
4. Add garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute
5. Add mince and cook on a high heat for 4-5minutes until the meat has browned
6. Add the tomato paste, passatta, beans, green pepper, sweetcorn, sugar and stock
7. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until the sauce has reduced and thickened.

Top with some diced Avocado, cream cheese or a sprinkle of grated cheese… the choice is yours!

Ginger Chicken Stir-fry

The following recipe is from the South Africa Quick n Easy Chicken Recipe book (and I have had it for years!!) … and it truly is so quick and easy – not to mention tasty, proving that eating clean doesn’t have to be boring or bland! I added the vegetables to the recipe to bulk it up.

I have recently joined an online community called SLEEKGEEK in the hopes of getting fitter and healthier (notice that I don’t say that I have joined a club to lose weight, although, should this be a by-product of a lifestyle change, I will definitely not be complaining!).

This online community focuses on encouraging people to get healthy… by providing the support, motivation and recommendations on how to achieve goals (whether it be to lose weight, get fit or to revamp your lifestyle).

My cousin (Eric) is one of the co-founders and our entire family has been so incredibly proud of his transformation! He lost 30kg 3years ago and has maintained the loss, while living a healthy, active and “normal” life. By normal – I mean that he does drink alcohol, he does eat cake, pizza, burgers, etc… but he manages his lifestyle sustainably and therefore has turned into a bit of a *Brad Pitt* Adonis looking bloke – sorry ladies, he is currently in a relationship!

This introduction to SleekGeek is the reason why some of my forthcoming recipes are going to be on the healthier side than my normal cake and treats kind of posts… please bear with me, I promise that I wont blog about anything that I wouldn’t normally eat and enjoy! And there will of course be the normal blog posts about cake and restaurants in the coming weeks too.

Ginger Chicken Stir-fry

350g chicken breasts, chopped
1 Tablespoon corn flour
2 Tablespoons soya sauce
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoons grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup of broccoli, chopped
1 cup of white button mushrooms, chopped
1 cup of carrots, chopped

• Place chopped chicken into a bowl
• Mix corn flour and 1 tablespoon of soya sauce together and pour over chopped chicken and leave to one side
• Mix together vinegar, sugar and fresh ginger in another bowl
• Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok
• Brown chicken and then add the ginger sauce and vegetables, as well as an additional tablespoon of soya sauce
• Cook for a further 5-10minutes until vegetables are done

3 portions; Total Calories: 978 (326 per portion)

Easy Rocky Road

Leftover Easter chocolate and leftover wine are myths in our house… except that having a toddler in the house means that the amount of chocolate available around the Easter season had increased (even for me!).

Monkey is 2,5 years old and although we only gifted her one (Peppa Pig) chocolate Easter Egg… I had purchased more goodies for our Easter table (for the adult guests) and of course… this meant more chocolate in the house after the celebratory luncheon. I do tend to “over cater”….

I was flipping through Jamie’s America cookbook and kept coming back to his Rocky Road recipe… typically a type of biscuit/chocolate hybrid with nuts, marshmallows, etc etc… so good….

Rocky Road

400g chocolate
Handful of pretzels
Handful of mini marshmallows
Handful of pistachio nuts (roughly chopped)
100g raisins
leftover mini eggs

• Melt the chocolate over a water-bath
• Stir in chopped nuts, marshmallows, pretzels, etc. leaving a handful to one side for decorative purposes
• smooth the mix over a grease-paper in a baking tin and then “decorate” with your remaining ingredients
• Leave to cool/set (I put mine in the fridge for 20minutes before breaking or cutting into chunks)

Blueberry Courgette Bread (SRC)

As many of you might remember from previous blog posts – I used to belong to a *Secret Santa* type of blog swap called Secret Recipe Club (SRC) but the concept was disbanded a while back due to a number of reasons.

The great news is that they decided to re-install an annual event… so this year, I got to review the blog called Troyers Loving Life. And as I read the “about me” page, I was convinced that Kirstin was talking about me when she described herself and her favourite things (clean house without having to clean it; cooking; reading and her connection to God). She is mom to 2 daughters and has been married for 26 years (#marriagegoals as we will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary this year!). I also got sucked into her home renovation posts from 2008…. probably because (kindred spirits again), we bought an apartment in 2017 and had it fully renovated before moving in… kitchen; bathrooms, walls being knocked down and new walls being built. An exciting and nerve wracking time all rolled into one!

I loved scrolling through her recipe list and drooling over different recipes like her Watermelon-Strawberry juice with Basil (but as watermelon isn’t in season, I had to veto this one); Cauliflower cheese bread which is Gluten Free and is earmarked for another day; but eventually decided that I wanted to recreate her Blueberry and Zucchini Bread recipe.

When I told HIM about this recipe, he was completely baffled … even until he took his first mouthful, he was still hesitant. But in the end, it received his stamp of approval along with mine and our 2,5year old toddler.

Would I make it again? Yes… I love how moist the bread is and although you see flecks of green, it is easy to forget that this has a vegetable in it!

One point to note is that in the Kirstin’s original recipe, she makes it into 2 loaves while I made 1 large loaf meaning that cooking time increased from 50min to 1hr20min.

Blueberry Courgette Bread

3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups courgette (grated)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen blueberries

• In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, vanilla & sugar
• Fold in the courgette
• Beat in flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon
• Fold in the blueberries
• Pour into a greased loaf tin
• Bake for 1hour 20min at 180C (or 15-20minutes if you are making into muffins)

GåRD Nordic Kitchen in Brussels

Last year, I was contact by a PR agency to see if I would be interested in visiting Gård Nordic Kitchen in Brussels. Normally, our restaurant reviews are by our own unannounced visits and we mostly only share a review about experiences that we enjoy – so this was one of the exceptions to accept a dinner invitation with the sole-purpose of preparing a review (and as we agreed, we would only write about it if we truly enjoyed it).

Well – we had to change the date a few times due to personal reasons (work schedules, death in the family, etc)… but finally we had the babysitter booked and HIM/I headed out for a *date night* one cold and snowy Saturday in March.

I hadn’t realized that the restaurant was at the entrance to the Courtyard by Marriott Brussels EU, but upon entering, you don’t feel like you are in a hotel, but rather that you are in a funky, inviting restaurant/bar. I particularly loved the open gas fire place and was exceptionally happy that we got a table right next to it (especially since we also had the window next to us overlooking the melting snow after a mini storm in Brussels the previous day).

Plus they have this amazing blue/white tiled big dining table which looks like it could be perfect for a big group of people (family/corporate/friends/etc)…and obviously insta-perfect!

In true Nordic fashion, the décor is functional but modern. No table clothes but decent fabric napkins!

After ordering a bottle of red wine, we shared a starter of Beetroot with figs & chestnut and a touch of Liège syrup (14€). Unfortunately, they had run out of figs but the 2 beetroot types was delicious and the goats cheese with toasted chestnut was a delightful salty compliment to the sweet beetroot taste.

For Main course, HIM ordered the Duck Filet dressed with a wild berry sauce and potato gratin (25€). He asked for it to be cooked well as he is not a fan of pink/bloody meat in any format… and they managed to cook it well without impacting on its juiciness and taste! HIM was very pleased!

I had had the Entrecote with homemade Andalouse sauce and fries (22€).

nothing says *happiness* like crispy Belgian Fries…..

With our bellies full, we were not even tempted by their dessert menu and opted to walk a bit before taking the Metro home.

Would I return? yes… it has the same laid back feel as the Vini Davini restaurant at the bottom of the Jam Hotel in St Gilles (which serves Italian food) but offering a different cuisine! It is a good location for EU employees due to its proximity to their offices, as well as for those tourists visiting Brussels, where they can be assured of a good meal at their hotel after a day of exploring the city. Win win

Gård Nordic Kitchen (Brussels)

address: Rue Joseph II, 1000, Brussels, BELGIUM
telephone: +32 2 893 0170
website: http://www.gard-nordickitchen.com/brussel/
email: brussels@gard-nordickitchen.com
Opening hours: BREAKFAST: Mon-Fri 06h30-10h00; Sat-Sun: 07h00-12h00; LUNCH: Mon-Fri: 12h00-14h00; DINNER: Mon-Sun: 17h00-23h00 plus the Bar is open from 11h00-01h00 each day.

Disclaimer: I feel it is very important to disclose that we were guests of the restaurant, although our server was not aware that we were guests/bloggers and we paid the bill at the end of our experience (and were re-imbursed afterwards). I do promise that this a 100% accurate review of our experience.

Ancho Mexican Restaurant in Brussels

M and I recently had  a mid-week girls night out… HIM was working and I had booked the babysitter for Monkey (who had already been put to bed :)). It was such a lovely outing to catch up over delicious food (without miniature interruptions) and something that I look forward to reinstating in the months ahead!

M had been itching to try out a Mexican restaurant called Ancho close to Place Stephanie and I was of course happy to oblige (especially since it was a 5minute walk from our apartment).

After ordering a beer, I checked out the multi-lingual menu and we decided to share a portion of Nachos Gourmand (11,90€ = corn chips topped with meat, beans, sour cream, cheese sauce, pico de gallo and guacamole). I have to confess that my exposure to Nachos is limited but I had expected “melted cheese” on top, not sure if that is the South African interpretation… but nonetheless theirs was very tasty and we managed to finish of the dish successfully!

M ordered Pork Tacos as her main (9.50€ for 2 or 11,90€ for 3) with an extra portion of guacamole (1.50€) and enjoyed every mouthful.

I had a “bowl” (9,90€)… essentially you can choose your base (burrito, nachos, bowl or salad) and then your topping (beef, chicken, pork, steak (extra 1€), vegetables, etc); your rice (lemon & coriander or cucuma); your beans (white or black); topped with pico de gallo (spicy or not) and finally sauce (sour cream, red salsa, green salsa or their homemade sauce). Again… guacamole was 1,50€ extra….

My bowl consisted of chicken, lemon/coriander rice, black beans, spicy pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole… and was delicious however not spicy at all (for my palate)… so I utilized the table sauces to add an extra zing….

All in all – we left with full bellies and big grins….

The restaurant itself was not very full (but it was a Monday evening and rainy at that), but the number of bicycle and motorbike delivery men traipsing in to collect orders was phenomenal!! I think we counted over 11 in the space of 90minutes! So clearly people in Brussels prefer their Mexican chow in the comfort of their own home! Décor wise – it is simple but modern with spots of colour (mustard… which is my go-to favourite winter colour to wear at the moment so I felt like I completely blended in to my surroundings).

Staff were friendly, efficient & multi-lingual, but pretty much left us to ourselves once we had ordered and they had delivered the food. Making it feel very much like a fast food establishment rather than a fully-fledged restaurant. (Not that this is an issue at all… just don’t expect attentive waitrons)

Would I go back? Most probably….

FYI – there are 2 branches… one in Waterloo and one in St-Gilles. We visited the latter!

ANCHO

Address: Rue Jourdan 14, 1060, Saint-Gilles, Brussels, BELGIUM
Telephone: +32 2 463 2246
website: http://www.ancho.be
Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 11h30-14h30 & 18h00-22h00; Sat: 11h30-22h00 & Sun: 11h30-14h30 (Brussels) & Sun: 17h30-22h00 (Waterloo)

Banana Bread

There are always bananas in our house – either green, yellow or turning a nasty shade of brown. There are always frozen bananas in our freezer which are perfect for smoothies or fake ice-cream. And I regularly bake a banana bread with the excuse that I am using up the over-ripe bananas…. any excuse really 🙂

I have no idea where this recipe came from as it is in my hand-written recipe book… which probably came from my mothers hand-written recipe book. But origins aside – it is an absolute winner! Quick, easy and tasty.

Banana Bread

150g butter
cup of sugar
2 eggs
cup of mashed banana
1 banana sliced length ways
60ml plain yoghurt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (or baking soda)

1. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, mashed banana & yoghurt together
2. Sift in Flour, bicarb & baking powder
3. Beat on a low speed
4. Pour into a greased loaf tin
5. Arrange sliced banana on top
6. Bake at 180C for 50-60min