The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting bleak and chilly. Although the leaves on the trees become more colorful than the rest of the year, they don’t seem to bring much joy. Storm damage, increasing corona figures, stricter measures, … One or more of these factors do have a certain influence on our lifes. Here too we are not spared. Time for some comfort food! The ideal consolation moment of the day to process the daily burden together and bring it to a good end. Those who know “Hete Bliksem (hot lightning)” undoubtedly know that the dish meets the comfort food requirements. This version of “Hete Bliksem” with Krisprolls crumble is the perfect dish to wrap up the day in a good way, despite some setbacks.
Disclaimer: post sponsored by Krisprolls and may contain affiliate links. All opinions expressed are personal and sincere.
Life is not always rosy. At times it may even fluctuate between the plague and cholera, you have the feeling that certain things just may not work out. Parties, for example, are not awarded to our youngest son. After about his first five years of life, he never got the chance to celebrate his birthday properly. Either he stayed in the hospital himself or unexpectedly fell another important people in his life needed to be hospitalised with urge… We had put all our hopes in his first communion celebration. Unfortunately, corona blew all hopes away. Festivities were postponed until the 10th of October. That made everything clear until it was decided to tighten up the measures just before the new date of his first communion… (tomorrow…) No parties allowed were more than 4 people or attending. Conclusion… That’s not a party… Hard to explain that to a 7 year old who is still in the mourning process for his 2 deceased hamsters which both my sons took such good care of.
You can’t do much more than comforting the young ones at such moments. The combination of doing nice things, making room for grief and above all making good food they enjoy brings in a way some peace and quiet. Hete bliksem and by extension everything with applesauce and minced meat scores fantastic with our children. Although puree is also on this list I had the idea for a long time to add a crispy touch in the form of a crumble. When Krisprolls asked me if I wanted to develop some dishes for them, this idea soon came up. Time to bring out the skillets and test this recipe.
Hete Bliksem is one of those dishes that has served as a comfort food dish for a couple of centuries. It now has several variants and depending on the country in which it is prepared various names appear (in Germany for instance it’s called: “Himmel und Erde”). Where exactly the name comes from in Dutch is not so clear. Yet there’s a theory leading to the high amount of moisture in this dish. Moisture retains the heat leading to some piping hot food when served from the skillet. Hence the name Hot Lighting (or in dutch: Hete Bliksem). In my region we eat hot lightning without onion, and the blood sausage has been replaced by minced meat. Traditionally, puree is the top layer of this oven dish. For the occasion I replaced it with a crumble of krisprolls with cheddar cheese and herbs.
Was this a success? “Seriously dad… That’s so good! The best Hete bliksem ever!”. Although they may be pleasers at times, they’ll rarely ask for more food if it doesn’t taste 100% to them. Signing that they couldn’t get enough of it says a lot more than their words. What’s more, I also have to say that the dish exceeded my own expectations. Both in terms of taste and the addition of the Krisprols crumble in this dish were pleasant surprises. A simple dish that put a smile on the children’s faces. The power of comfort food was evident. Philosophically, this also seems the essence of life to me: “Creating moments of happiness, both on good days and on those days where everything goes wrong”. Enjoy your meal and take a moment to forget all your worries!
Hot Lightning (Hete Bliskem) with Krisprolls crumble
Ingredients
- 500 gr. Mixed minced meat
- 2 tbsp rub
For the crumble
- 30 gr unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp rub
- 130 gr Krisprolls
- 70 gr grated cheddar cheese
- 1 pinch nutmeg
For the rub
- 2 tbsp paprika powder
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 0.5 tbsp ginger powder
For the apples
- 3-4 Large apples in fine slices
- 1 dash of brown rum
- 1 dash of cider vinegar
- 2 tsp of sugar
Instructions
- Place one of the skillets on a hot BBQ (+-210°C) so it can preheat.
For the apples
- Cut the apples into fine slices and place them at the bottom of a skillet.
- Drizzle with the rum and cider vinegar and sprinkle the granulated sugar over them.
- Place the cold skillet on a hot BBQ (210°C) and caramelize the apples.
For the crumble of Krisprolls
- Crumble the Krisprolls and mix the butter under the crumbled Krisprolls together with 2 Tbsp of spices/rub, an extra pinch of nutmeg and the cheddar cheese.
For the minced meat
- Mix the spices for the rub by hand.
- Add the minced meat to the red-hot skillet and fry until tender.
- Add the 2 tbsp spice rub and bake for another minute.
- Place the minced meat in the skillet on top of the apples.
- Add the crumble of krisprolls on top of the minced meat and place it back on the BBQ until the crumble has become crispy (+-15 min).