Restaurant review: l'Amour Fou

Last Saturday my brilliant friend Sarah suggested we went to L’Amour Fou ("crazy love") for cocktails and burgers. Despite living and working quite near this Ixelles institution for years, I’d never been.

Sarah had been there before however, and suggested we started off with some raspberry mojitos and guacamole, and who am I to object? I’m quite fond of mojitos and these gems didn’t disappoint. The guacamole was served with some delicious and crunchy homemade tortilla chips.

Sarah had the Gringo burger (beef burger, salsa, iceberg lettuce, jalapenos, cheese, tomato, guacamole, onions, coriander) and I had the fish burger (battered and deep fried fish, tartar sauce, rocket, grilled courgettes, sauce vierge). Sarah’s came with some sweet potato wedges while the fish burger is served with chips. Everything we had was home made, including the burger bread. The food was delicious – Sarah is a former food blogger, fellow foodie and certainly knows what is good.

The fish burger from l'Amour Fou

We shared a portion of the fondant au chocolat for dessert, which was an amazingly rich, moist, chocolately, spongy slice of deliciousness.

Reservations are necessary on Saturdays, the bill came to around €70 for the two of us (including a soft each too), and the service is fast, friendly and attentive.  Definitely a recommendation!

www.lamourfou.be

Chaussee d’Ixelles 185

02 325 73 53

Pork and fennel tray roast with lemon and coriander

I’ve made this three times now, and this is the first time I’ve been quick enough to get a photo before it’s devoured! It’s really simple, and the kind of dish you can pretty much prepare, pop in the oven and leave there while you potter around. From fridge to table, it takes an hour.

Roast pork and fennel with lemon and coriander

The recipe comes from the May 2012 edition of delicious magazine.

For four people:

2 large red-skinned potatoes cut into chunks (new potatoes are in, so I used 3-4 per person)

2 fennel bulbs, sliced into eights

3 red onions, quartered

Olive oil

2 pork fillets (I used 600g), trimmed and cut into 8

Paste

2 preserved lemons, rinsed and dried and cut into pieces

A dribble of olive oil

Garlic cloves (I love garlic, so I use lots)

Chili – whatever amount you like, either flakes, dried or fresh

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 tablespoon of honey

chopped coriander

Heat your oven to 180°.

Put the potatoes and fennel into a pot of salted water, bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Drain well and put into a roasting tin together with the onions and the olive oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

While all that’s going on, either blitz all the paste ingredients in a blender or chop up finely and mix together (second option = less washing up). I always add a crumbled stock cube too, and of course a little salt and pepper.

Rub the paste all over the pork pieces and leave aside.

When your veg have hit the 20 minute mark in the oven, tumble the pork pieces on top and return the lot to the oven for another 20-25 minutes, until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are soft.

As I’d some parsnips in the fridge this week I used these too. I just boiled them with the potatoes and fennel first. Yum.

Photos are en route (probably tonight).

Friday favourites - homemade burgers

Mmmmmm. You just cannot beat tucking into a good, juicy burger, topped with cheese or other yummy goodness. You can buy some good ready-made burgers in Jack O’Sheas (these are the best ready-made burgers I’ve found here) but for the best (and you deserve the best, right), pick up some veal and pork mince in the supermarket.  You’ll need around 400g for five or six burgers.

400g minced veal and pork

one egg

one onion, finely chopped

a couple of garlic cloves, minced

a good handful of breadcrumbs

a good teaspoon of Thai curry paste, tomato puree, sundried tomato paste, a touch of chili powder or any mixed paste that’s lurking in your fridge

one or two finely chopped anchovies

chopped coriander or parsley

Burgers. Cooking. 

Take out a good frying pan and put over a strong heat on your hob. Roll up your sleeves and wash your hands. Remove all your rings unless you want to spend the rest of the week picking bits of mince out from between the claws.

In a large bowl, mix everything very well with your hands. Shape the burger patties – you’ll get five or six from this lot depending on how big you want them.

Seal the burgers on the very hot frying pan, for a couple of minutes on each side. Then, reduce the heat and continue cooking – you’ll need to cook them for about 10-15 minutes in order to get them cooked all the way through, depending on how thick they are.

Once done, serve the burgers in bread rolls with whatever you like – slices of cheese (try slices of compte or passendale or whatever is in your fridge. Blue cheese is delicious!) – long-forgotten ends of jars or whatever else is available.

We recently got a chipper, and are experimenting with making the perfect chips at home. When and if we achieve this holy grail, I’ll report here.