Lowlander Cooking: Hotchpot with potato, wintercarrot and onion.

This is freestyle cooking, the way I like it. No exact science, but a challenge to add your own kind of extra to it. So, no precise weights and measures, but gut feeling. This meal could be called typical Lowlander Cooking. When autumn comes families in Nederland, aka The Netherlands, are going for the traditional hotchpot. At least with potatoes. Yes, we are the people who are the potato eaters, made famous by the painting, titled 'potato eaters', by Vincent van Gogh. The hotchpot that I'm going to present to you today is being called 'Hutspot' by some. Although in the southern lowland, Belgium, 'Hutsepot' is more like a true mix of several vegetables, potatoes and meat. But I'm going for the hotchpot version with potato, wintercarrot and onion.

No meat, vegetarian in da house

Because we are a family with a vegetarian and two flexitarians (sometimes meat), most of the times the main meal is without meat. Although this time baked some sausages and for the vegetarian I baked meat replacement sausages. But that's an extra, your free choice already starts here, scary aye? Okay, first the ingredients, hope you are familiar with the metric system, otherwise this is a nice chance to study it.

• First potatoes, 2,5 kilogram of the, a bit floury type
• Wintercarrot about 800 gram and onion about 200 gram, total of 1 Kilogram.
  I used the already precut package.
• About a handpalm full of salt, adjust to your own taste.
• Some margerine, a few gram, to your own preference.
• Soja saus, Ketjap Manis, about 125 milli-liter, not more than 150 ml.
• Sambal Badjak, this is baked sambal (chili paste), not extremely sharp, very nice, about a desert spoon full.
  If you like it hot, add more, if you don't want too much 'Oemph', use a tea spoon full.
• Honey, the smooth kind, about a table spoon. More if you like it sweeter, less if you don't.

You can change this in ratio to each other of course...

You need about a 7 liter size frying pan

A frying pan with a least 6 liter capacity, but even better 7 liter. And you'll need a masher, for when the hotchpot has been cooked.

Small pieces cook faster

First peel the potatoes and cut them in small pieces. Small blocks are cooked faster, so it's more practical that way.

Hotchpot, it's all cooked together

Now put the wintercarrot and onion on top, most of the time I take the biggest onion parts out.

Seasoning is simple

Go easy on the salt, because Ketjap Manis, aka Soja saus, is salty too.

Now an EurAsia touch

This is not typical Nederlands, but more Asian style, putting in Soja Saus, aka Ketjap Manis.

Wot!? Chilli paste, in Hotchpot...?

Yes, another Asian suprise touch: Sambal Badjak (Indonesian), aka baked chili paste. Actually I use it a lot, with all kinds of cooking. It tastes great in Soup, but also in Italian food. It has got a less 'Oemph' than other chilli pastes, so you can still taste the other ingredients.

Sweet like honey

Carrots are a bit sweet already, although wintercarrots are not that sweet. About a tablespoon of honey should do the trick.

Butter and water added

Then add some margerine, a few grams, remember it is cold outside, you need more fat to stay warm. And then pour hot water in, just up to the level where the onions are. Because I want to get it on the table as fast as possible I use hot water.

Then cook it for a while

You could set a timer to 20 minutes, but form my experience I know that it normaly takes far less. After about 13 minutes you could try a piece of potato, carefull, it's hot. Maybe it needs a few more minutes, but it should not take more then 20 minutes.

Let's make something extra

For this you will need tiny mushrooms, they are going to be fried in a simple dish-gravy

Oil them little ones

Put some olive oil on the mushrooms, it will hold the seasoning nicely.

Season them the way you like

My family likes bifteki, a Greek kind of seasoning, very tastefull. Also tastes great on fried potatoes, for instance, but a kind of curry would do also of course.

Let's fry them while the hotchpot is cooking

I use different kind of oils, Olive oil can overheat easily, but when you put sunflower oil in the saucepan it can get much hotter. Also a little margerine is added to put over the hotchpot later.

Now the hotchpot must be ready

If you try a potato and it is not glazy anymore, good cooked and still a byte to it, then it is time to drain the cooking fluid. But leave a little in, or your hotchpot will get very dry. Add a bit butter too and get mashing until you think it is okay. Maybe stirring a bit with wooden spoon, just to top it of.

Vega and meat sausages ready? Diner!

And there you go, Hotchpot with potato, wintercarrot and onion. With fried small mushrooms bifteki seasoned. Served with vega or meat sausage and dinner-gravy.

Have a nice meal, or like they say here: "Smakelijk eten!"

NOTE: In Nederland it is safe to pour water straight from the tap, this might not be the case in your country, please do it the way that you are used to and that is safe.

PS If you like a culinary challenge yourself, why not join the SteemIt one? Click here for the active ones. Or look at @englishtchrivy her blog for the latest culinary challenge.

image and photos cc-by-sa @oaldamster

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