eggs in onion sauce | Lien Van Bussel (1924-2022)

photo 1976, Lien with her little granddaughter Gwendolyn Rutten.

This is a recipe from the days of the mill (early 20th century). A hearty meal with simple ingredients that belong to farm life. Angeline Van Bussel (Lien) is a miller’s daughter from Elen (Limburg). Together with her husband Fonny she ran a butcher’s shop in Waterschei for many years. Later she followed her only daughter to Aarschot, where she has now lived for more than 40 years. Lien was born in 1924 and will therefore turn 97 this summer.

Ingredients: 1 to 2 hard-boiled eggs per person, 2 onions, 50 g flour, 50 g butter, 1/2 litre buttermilk, pepper and salt.

Optional: 
1 salted herring per person and, for the children… apple sauce.

Preparation:
Finely chop the onions  and sweat them in the butter. Do not let them brown, just let them turn translucent.
Add the flour and let it cook, stirring constantly so that the mixture does not brown.
Add the buttermilk  and let it simmer until it reaches the desired thickness. Season with pepper and salt.
Serve with boiled potatoes.