Mishmash (Stamppot) recipes from Holland's cold season.

Stamppot or Mishmash, Hodgepodge, Hash, et cetera (English, literally: 'Mash Pot') is a traditional Dutch dish made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several other vegetables, sometimes also with pork. Most often actually. It was the staple answer to, "What do we do with all these potatoes, gourds and winter crops?"

Note that the Dutch preparation instructions can be found on the enlargeable image file, below the image you'll find the English. These are fairly standard Dutch approaches, although they are a dynamic culture, unlike the complaints of Virginia Wolf about English. If I fry anything, I normally do not waste my olive oil. The Dutch also have a strong aversion to anything chard, while a few black spots don't bother me. They also like it fatty foods; butter, non-lean meat, diary products. That last comment will probably be met with the classic argument that hamburgers are fatty, but not our food.

Endives & Blue cheese Mash
(Witlofstamppot met blauwe kaas)
~ Endive is also a common name for some types of chicory (Cichorium intybus). Now the Dutch will laugh at that, because the word Andijve is reserved for another plant.

Ingredients
1200 grams of starchy/soft potatoes, peeled and cut into even pieces.
600 grams of endives
200 grams of Gorgonzola cheese in blocks
200 grams of walnuts
100 milliliters of whipping cream (note, if you think of this as a sweet U.S. version, you need Crème fraîche or even Sour Creme instead).
75 milliliters of water.
25 grams of butter
3 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
1 staff of thyme
1/2 block of vegetable bouillon
2 tablespoons of dry white wine or white basilica vinegar
3 tablespoons of liquid honey
salt

Place the potatoes in a large pan of salted water and bring to a boil for total of 20 minutes.

Meanwhile fry the shallots slowly in the butter until browned. Add to the shallots, your bouillon cube, about 75 milliliters of water, vinegar or wine, and thyme. While cooking this for about 5 minutes stir your honey in.

Fry the walnuts in a dry pan, dicing them when roasted. Halve the endives, removing the hard core and cut into strips. Drain access water from the potatoes, keeping some in a bowl for later mixing. Reserving about a modest handful of your endives. Mix the rest of the endives and whipping cream into the potatoes and cover it to cook about 1 minute. Stir it again until it's a creamy mash.

Add the cheese, walnuts, that small handful of reserved endives. Serve with the honey sauce aside.


Kale, Chorizo & Bell Pepper Mash 
(Boerenkool met Chorizo en Paprika recept)

Ingredients
2 red bell peppers
1 bulb of garlic wrapped in foil
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 chorizo sausage in cuts (medallions)
1200 grams of potatoes
500 grams of chopped kale
salt

Place your oven on the highest level. Grill the Bell Peppers and garlic for about 20 minutes in the oven. Place the peppers in a covered container to cool before peeling them and cutting into strips. Simply press the garlic cloves out from their skins add two tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of salt.
Fry the chorizo slices the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil until they are a bit crunchy. Remove them from the pan and try to keep them warm.
Place the potatoes in a large pan of water and bring to a boil for total of 20 minutes. Remove the cover 10 minutes in to toss your raw kale atop the potatoes and let it steam. Finally drain off any extra water, keeping some in a bowl for later mixing.
The residual oils from the chorizo pan with your peppers can now be added to the potatoes and kale before mashing the contents. For final presentation, pour your heated garlic and olive oil over the top and garnish it with your chorizo cuts.