Cooksterella

Sprouts like you've never had them

2012-01-31T20:04:00.003+01:00

I for one used to hate brussels sprout. The only way I'd eat them as a child was covered in stacks and stacks of apple sauce. Not anymore though. I've discovered that they are indeed a little green gem and super versatile. Don't click away just yet!

Looking through Donna Hay's new cookbook (yes, there it is again!) I found this recipe that instantly (like many of her recipes) became a new favorite in our family. I think that ever since reading it for the first time (just a few weeks ago) we've made it at least half a dozen times. And guess what our little one yelled out enthousiastically when I asked her is she wanted seconds? Yaaaaaaay mommy. I guess that says it all. Try it and let me know how you like it!

For 2 people (and one little person) you'll need

500 grams of sprouts, clean them and quarter them if they are big
oregano (I used dried)
300 grams of orecchiette pasta (or any other smaller pasta you like)
thumb piece of pancetta, about 150 grams, diced. Don't use bacon if you can avoid it, you really want that pancetta flavor!
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
150ml cream
salt & pepper

Fry your diced pancetta in a little olive oil and set aside. Cook the pasta al dente, drain and return to the pan to keep it from getting too cold.

In the mean time heat a pan with some olive oil and slowly fry the garlic on a low heat for about a minute, you don't want to brown it. Add the quartered sprouts and oregano and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, or until tender. Don't overcook them though, you want some bit left to them. Add the fried pancetta to the pan once the sprouts are ready.

Add the lemon juice and cream and add the pasta and warm through. Season to taste.

I really hope you'll like it and will make it again and again like we do!

Lemon yogurt cake

2012-01-24T20:39:00.004+01:00

Now that we've finally settled into our new house I'm also back to baking and cooking. And hopefully also back to updating Cooksterella more regularly. But this comeback recipe is bound to be as much of a new favorite with you, as it has become with us. The easiest cake to make, with the best taste ever! It's from the latest Donna Hay cookbook, that has instantly become my new favorite cookbook.

You can bake this cake in a fluted ring, like the original recipe says to. But if you don't have such a tin, you can bake it in a regular loaf tin. In that case you'll need to double the baking time to. Check with a clean skewer after 35 minutes and keep checking it, until it is cooked through.

Oh and do make the frosting. Yes, you can eat the cake without it and it is tasty that way. But the crunch of the frosting is what makes this cake so extra yummy!

For the cake you'll need
180 ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
280 g thick natural yogurt (don't use any of that non fat yogurt!)
385 g caster sugar
300 g self-raising flour

For the lemon frosting
120 g granulated sugar
60 ml lemon juice (about one lemon)

Preheat your oven to 180C. In a bowl mix the oil, eggs, rind, lemon juice, yogurt and sugar and whisk to combine. Sift over the flour and stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a well greased 24cm fluted ring tin and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. While the cake is still hot remove from the tin and place on a plate.

To make the lemon frosting, gently stir together the sugar and lemon juice. Spoon over the cake that is still warm and allow to set. If you want to freeze the cake, do so without the frosting!

Quick & easy potato, leek & blue cheese soup

2011-11-23T14:35:00.007+01:00

What do you do when you've bought 5 big leeks and didn't really think through what you were going to make with them? You go through every single cookbook you've got, looking for 'leek' in the recipe index! Luckily, I have quite a few cookbooks :-) and Rachel Allen's "Home Cooking" had a recipe for a soup that combined everything I had in the fridge.

The leeks go really well with the cheese. And the blue cheese flavour is really subtile and yummy! And, as I like best, it's dead easy to make in advance. Just reheat it on the day you're going to use it. If you're going to freeze it, I suggest you add the cheese and cream after defrosting and reheating.

For a good liter of soup you'll need
2 big leeks, trimmed, sliced and washed (don't use the dark green bits)
2 potatoes (or 4 small ones, like I did)
2 tablespoons of olive oil (or use 25g butter, like the original recipe)
2 bay leafs
liter of chicken (or vegetable) stock.
100-125g blue cheese (I used Cambozola, but Gorgonzola or Danish blue would work too, use a little less of those as they are quite a bit stronger in flavour)
big tablespoon of sour cream (or regular cream if you prefer)
salt & pepper

Heat the oil and add the leek, potato and bay leaf. Put a lid on the pan and sweat those off for about 10 minutes on a low heat. Add the stock, turn the heat back up and simmer everything for another 10 minutes until the potato and leek are soft.

Add the cream and cheese and with a hand held blender, blend the soup (or use a liquidiser if you have one). Season to taste (go gently on the salt, as the cheese is quite salty already)

The soup can be served eiter as a main course with nice crunchy bread. But would work really well as a starter too. Either way, enjoy!

Poached drunken pears

2011-11-16T13:36:00.006+01:00

One of the beautiful things of this season is the abundance of fruit. Newly harvested apples and pears, that are a treat to eat as they are or to use in the kitchen. There is a special type of pear that is perfect for poaching. And nothing is more suitable for this colder, but beautiful autumn weather than poached, drunken pears. To eat with a piece of grilled game. Or to have for dessert. As they are, or with some custard.

And the best thing about it? It's dead easy. Once you get to simmering point you step away from the stove and leave them be. 2,5 hours later your house will smell devine and you'll have the best poached pears ever!

For 4 people as a side dish you'll need:
1 kilo pears (I used Giezer Wildeman)
0,75 l of port
0,5 l of wine (you can also use more wine than port, it doesn't really matter which type of wine you use, as long as it's a red wine)
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
good tablespoon of honey
grapefruit and clementine peel (one each) or use orange and lemon

Peel the pears, but leave the storks on them. Together with the port, wine, honey, cinnamon, cloves and fruit peel bring them to the boil and turn the heat down to a very low simmer.

All you need to do now is wait and turn the pears every now and then. You can poach them for as long as you like, or until they are soft. You don't want to overcook them, a bit of bite to them is best in my opinion. I left them for about 2,5 hours.

After they are done there are two things you can do with the sauce. Leave it as it is or thicken it a bit. I did the latter and used two slices of 'ontbijtkoek' to bind the sauce. I crumbled the slices, added them and reduced the sauce just a bit, to intensify the flavour.

If you have sauce left, you can freeze it and use it the day you are for example having a piece of game, but don't have the time to whip up a sauce. Or use it when you serve the pears for dessert. You can drizzle the sauce on some custard or on a scoop of ice cream.
Enjoy!

Fish curry with a twist

2011-10-26T20:06:00.004+02:00

Now I am not a star in making curries. To be honest, they scare the crap out of me with all their spices and unknown ingredients. But with my new resolution to cook from one of my many cookbooks at least once a week and try something new, I thought I'd go out of my comfort zone and make a fish curry.

I used a recipe from Simply Bill, by Bill Granger which I slightly adepted. Especially the combination of sweet potato with fish sounded really special. But also, it's not hard to make. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can! Go to the market, get your greens and fish there, the fresher the better and try it. I loved it! Even our 16 month old daughter loved it and I'm pretty sure it will become a regular on our menu.

For 4 people you'll need
2 tablespoons sun flower oil
1 onion, sliced
2 gloves of garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons red curry paste (I used Patak, mild curry paste)
125ml coconut milk
400ml chicken stock (from a cube is fine)
500-750 g of white fish in cubes (I used halibut, but cod or panga will work too)
250-300g green beans, trimmed
250g cherry tomatoes
350g sweet potato, peeled and diced

Heat the oil and on a low heat soften the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the curry paste of your taste (if you like it a bit spicier add 3 tablespoons) and fry for another minute.

Now add the coconut milk, stock, sweet potato and beans and bring everyting to the simmer. Leave to simmer (without a lid) for 15-20 minutes until the beans and potato are tender. The potatoes will be softer than the beans, leave a bit of bite to the beans.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook some rice, to accompany the curry later on. While the rice is cooking add the tomatoes (I chopped them in half, but you can leave them whole if you want) and the fish and with a lid on leave for about 5 minutes until the fish is cooked but still firm. You can leave it longer, but the fish will flake somewhat and become a tat dry.

Serve the curry with the rice of your choice and sprinkle on some coriander if you like.
Enjoy!

Blackberry & Apple jam

2011-10-04T11:42:00.003+02:00

One of the things on my wishlist was to go pick our own fruit in one of the local orchards. This weekend the weather was just perfect for it, so off we went. Our little girl came along and loved the fact that she could sink her teeth straight into the fruit, literally. We both went a little wild and ended up with 10 kilos of both apples and pears. Now we love our fruit, but this might have just been overdoing it a little.

So expect a lottle of apple and pear recipes in the next few weeks, while we make our way through them. One of them is a keeper straight away though. I made this jam with the blackberries we picked earlier this summer and that were waiting in the freezer to be used. In a matter of minutes you have got yourself fresh, not too sweet jam that can be used for more that a yummy sandwich. Here's how to make it!

For about 5 jars
1,25 kilos of fruit (I used 600gr blackberries/625gr apples)
500gr sugar specifically for making jam (I used Van Gilze, but check your supermarket)

Clean the fruit and peel and core the apples, then grate them finely
Put the fruit into a large pan and add the sugar. Bring this to the boil.
Once it really boils, so even after you stir it, count to 60 and your jam is done!

The important part now is to get it into clean, sterilizes jars. I usually do it the easy way and clean them in the dishwasher. You can also do it the old fashioned way and boil them in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes.

Either way, fill the jars, put a lid on them and put them upside down for 5 minutes. This will seal them. This way you can keep them for about 6 months, unopened. After the 5 minutes leave them to cool, until you label them and store them somewhere dark. You need to use up your jar rather quickly once you've opened it, even though it keeps in the fridge for a little while. But with the level of yumminess, that shouldn't be a problem! *)

*) they make for great gifts too by the way!

Linguini with meatballs in tomato sauce

2011-08-15T16:22:00.005+02:00

Over the past couple of weeks we've been cooking twice as much. Friends of ours just had a baby boy. And it's become a tradition that the first couple of weeks we cook for them (like we did when they had their first boy and like they did when we had our little girl) It's one of the best gifts you can give a new parent while you try to settle into a new routine. But you don't want to be stuck in the kitchen twice as long, so it's time to get creative with what you would normally make.

This recipe which I adepted from two seperate Jamie Oliver recipes, I made when I was working from home. This way I had time to reduce the sauce while I worked. You can easily double the recipe and freeze half for later use. And if you don't have to feed two families you have plenty to stick into the freezer. Serve with your choice of pasta!

For 4 grown ups and 2 kids you need
500gr minced meat (I used half lamb/half beef)
big dollop of dijon mustard
1 tbsp of dried oregano
half an egg yolk (or use the entire egg yolk of a small egg)
half a tbsp of dried thyme
half a tbsp of dried basil
1 teaspoon of dried rosemary

for the sauce
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tin of plum tomatoes (400g)
1 tin of sifted tomatoes
3 tomatoes, deseeded and roughly chopped
handful of fresh basil (optional)
2 balls of mozzerella
2 handsfull of grated parmesan (or use Emmenthal like I did)

Mix the minced meat with the mustard, herbs, plenty of salt and pepper and the egg yolk. Use you hands to get everything well incorporated. Heat a good amount of olive oil and fry the meat balls until golden brown.

While these a getting cooked fry your onion and garlic, without colouring them too much. If you want you can add some vegetables at this point. I used half a large bag of frozen Italian veggies. If you end up with to much liquid drain the mixture once the vegetables are warmed through. Than add the tomatoes and fresh basil, season and bring to the boil. When it starts to boil lower the heat until the sauce is bubbling and leave it to simmer for a long as you can. This way the sauce reduces and gets more flavour. You can leave it to simmer between 30-45 minutes. The longer you leave it the thicker the sauce gets. In the meantime preheat your oven too 200C

Add the meatballs to the sauce and pour into an oven proof dish. Add slices of mozzerrella and sprinkle generourly with the cheese of your choice. Heat the dish in the oven until the mozzerella is melted and the cheese is golden brown. Serve with your choice of pasta!

Lemon & Thyme loaf

2011-08-10T09:45:00.004+02:00

That new Hummingbird book is going to be the death of me and my waistline one day because there are just too many fabulous recipes in there waiting to be made. And we all know I don't need an excuse to bake, so last week I attempted this recipe that sounded so intruiging. Lemon & Thyme. The recipe said to use lemon thyme, but I don't think we get that in the Netherlands and there was regular thyme in my fridge, so I used that instead.

Not sure if that is where it failed, but the end result was more a lemonny taste and hardly any thyme flavour. I am going to try and get some lemon thyme and make it again, because I would love to taste the difference. Nevertheless we ended up with a very jummy and moist cake. The syrup that goes over the cake really adds to the flavour, so don't forget to make it!

For the loaf
190g soft, unsalted butter
190g flour
zest of 2 lemons
3 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme leaves
190 caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt
25ml sour cream (I used cream fraiche instead)

for the syrup
40g caster sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme leaves
40ml water

preheat the oven to 175C and grease a cake tin with butter and dust with flour.

Slowly mix the butter with the lemon zest, thyme leaves and sugar until everything comes together. Than whisk on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so that all ingredients get well mixed.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. (This helps to make the cake lighter) and add this in two batches to the butter/egg mixture, mixing it together lightly. Spoon in the sour cream and pour the batter into the cake tin.

Bake for 40-50 minutes. To test if it is cooked insert a saté skewer into the middle of it. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. While the loaf is in the oven you can make the syrup. For this, all you need to do is get all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring it to the boil. Reduce by half, until is becomes a syrup. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven pour it over it, making sure it is evenly spread.

Now allow it to cool in the tin, before you take it out and leave it to cool completely. If you have a few slices left they can easily be frozen. Enjoy!

Vegetable pancakes

2011-08-09T12:52:00.010+02:00

The other day I realised I had way to many veggies in my kitchen to ever get used up before they would go bad. It's times like these when you can get creative and come up with new recipes by looking at other recipes. I wanted my daughter to eat something healthy but also wanted to make a little extra so I could freeze it for occassions I don't have that much time on my hand.

Cue in a baking tray, lots of summer vegetables and an oven and away we went. I roasted the vegetables for a good 45 minutes, to make sure they were nice and tender but not too soggy. From the baking tray I put them straight into my food processor and whisked them. I do like to leave some texture so don't whisk them into a puree. If you like you can add a touch of olive oil.

I took out half of the mixture and left it to cool. In little containers I frooze a couple of spoons full per portion to be used later, for instance with some couscous to make a meal out of it for the little one.

The other half I mixed with some pancake batter I whipped up earlier. Take 200g flour, one egg, a pinch of salt and 400 ml of milk and mix until smooth. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes and than add the other half of the vegetable mixture. For flavour I also added some fresh basil and a handful of freshly grated parmesan.

Now all that was left to do was make the pancakes. And you make these like you would ordinary pancakes. So a hot pan, a touch of sunflower oil and a good ladle of the batter. You can make them as thick or a thin as you like. Wait til you flip them over until the edges have dried, this indicates they are nice and golden brown underneath. Use up all of the batter and any pancakes that don't get eaten can be frozen indivually for later occassions.

A great way to get your kids to eat their dose of veggies, but also a nice grown up choice for lunch! You could also make these with frozen veggies or the fresh vegetables of your choice.

Apple and Walnut Cupcakes

2011-08-01T21:26:00.004+02:00

After my recent weekend in London I came back with not only a trolley full of food but more importantly, the new Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. Bakebook is more like it. It is full of the most lush recipes for cakes, cookies and muffins. With a picknick I was hosting it was the perfect opportunity to try out a few recipes.

The basic recipe for the cake is solid and fool proof. However, I added a few more walnuts, 50 grams really is too little to taste them properly. As for the icing, the quantity in the book was waaay more than needed. I like frosting, but not that much. If you like a lot of frosting on your cupcake, double the recipe. But most of all, they were absolutely delicious! Have a go at them yourself!

For 12 cupcakes you need
80g unsalted butter, room temperature
280g caster sugar
240g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1,5 tsp ground cinnamon
240ml of milk
2 large eggs
2 apples, I used Granny Smiths
150g walnuts, chopped

for the frosting
300g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter, softened
125g cream cheese (no light version!)
ground cinnamon for dusting
a few halved walnuts for decorating

Preheat the oven to 200C and get your muffin tin out and lined with cases

Beat together the sugar, butter, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until you get breadcrumb type of mixture.
Mix the milk with the eggs and pour 3/4 of it into the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed to combine. Increase the speed to medium until you have a smooth and thick mixture. Add the remaining milk and keep mixer on medium speed until your batter is smooth. Peel and core the apples and chop into pieces and add to the batter, along with the walnuts.

Fill the cases up to 2/3. You might be left with some batter, but you can keep it in the fridge to bake the rest later. Or use a second tin if you have one.
Bake the cakes for 18-20 minutes. Allow them to cool in the tin, before you transfer them and leave them to cool completely. They need to be totally cooled off before you frost them!

For the frosting mix the sugar with the butter until sandy and no lumps of butter are left. Add the cream cheese and mix until the frosting is smooth, light and fluffy. Spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Smooth and swirl the surface with a (palette) knife. Dust with the ground cinnamon and decorate with half a walnut.

Keep in the fridge until you are ready to serve them to prevent the frosting from dripping!

Rhubarb muffins

2011-06-20T19:47:00.004+02:00

Rhubarb is one of those summer fruits that we usually only have in one way, as a compote. And as lovely as that is, I didn't want to spend a long time waiting for it to be ready. So I searched online for other ways to use this pretty pink fruit. And on a blog I found this great recipe for rhubarb muffins.

Next month I'm organising a Twitnick for my Twitter followers, so I thought I'd give these a test run. And oh dear lord, are they ever going to be part of Twitnick! They are fabulous. The tartness of the rhubarb, with the crunch of the crumble. Just jummy! And as always with muffins, dead easy to make so give them a go yourself!

for 12 muffins you need
175g caster sugar
250g rhubarb, finely chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 ei, beaten
1 tbsp vanilla extract
125ml buttermilk
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp bicarb of soda

for the crumble
50gr granulated sugar
50g flower
25g oats
1 tbsp cinnamon
50g soft butter

Mix the rhubarb with the sugar and put to aside. Preheat the oven to 200C.
To make the crumble mix all the dry ingredients and mix in the butter with your hands to make sure everything is well mixed. You should end up with a crumbly mixture.

To make the muffins mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a seperate bowl mix the wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, vanilla and oil) and add them to the sugar/rhubarb mixture. Now add the dry ingredients and mix but be sure to not overmix. The mixture can still be somewhat lumpy.

Fill your muffin tin (that you've layered with paper cups or greased with butter) for 2/3 and end with a good layer of crumble mixture.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Take the muffins out and leave to cool on rack.
A treat for breakfast or with a fresh cup of coffee!

Beetroot salad

2011-06-14T19:39:00.005+02:00

One of those vegetables that I love, but don't really know what else to do with other than roast or boil them. On my quest for new recipes on bbcgoodfood.com, this was another one of their recipes I found and changed to my personal taste.

Be sure though when you deal with peeling and grating the beetroot that you either wear gloves or wash your hands the instant you're done. If not, you'll have nice pink hands for a little while after ;-)

for 2 people
2 (uncooked!) beets
2 eating apples
bag of rocket
75g toasted hazelnuts, chopped roughly
1,5 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (or use red wine vinegar)
1 tbsp olive oil
small piece of feta cheese

Cut up the apples into tiny strips and combine with the lemon juice. Grate the peeled beets and mix with the apples. Put the rocket into a large bowl and pour the apple/beet mixture onto it. Pour over the molasses/vinegar and the olive oil. Season to taste. Add the toasted hazelnuts and feta cheese and mix it thoroughly.

Serve with some boiled new potatoes and a piece of grilled chicken or fish.

Salmon and coucous but not like you've had before

2011-06-13T19:04:00.004+02:00

I'd been lacking inspiration lately when it came to cooking. Like many times before when I need inspiration I go to Goodfood.com and always come up with new ideas. Like this recipe. I immediately thought it an interesting combination, and I always do like couscous. It's healthy, it's quick and easy to make.

I made it tonight and it's going to be one of those many favorites of ours. Very interesting flavors. You'd think it would be too sweet because of the honey and cinnamon. But the yogurt with the harissa gives it that extra kick, so don't leave that out!

For 2 people
100g couscous
2 tbsp sultanas
small bunch coriander , chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon , plus a large pinch
200ml hot vegetable stock
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
2 salmon fillets
1 heaped tbsp harissa paste
tub Greek yogurt
Mix the couscous, sultanas, most of the coriander, 1 tsp cinnamon and some seasoning in a bowl. Pour over the hot vegetable stock and set aside for 5 mins to soak

Combine the pinch of cinnamon, honey and oil. Sit the salmon in a baking tray, spread over the honey mixture and season. You can either grill the fish or fry it in a pan, which ever way you do it don't overcook the salmon. You want it nice and pink in the middle.

Meanwhile, mix together the harissa and yogurt. Fluff up the couscous with a fork and serve with the fish and yogurt. Garnish with some coriander and have with your choice of vegetables.

Tiramisu with a Twist

2011-05-29T08:07:00.004+02:00

One word of warning before you read this recipe. Make sure you a) have a simple main course when you plan to eat this and b) that you have at least 10 people at your table to share this with. I cannot be held responsible for any gained weight if you don't keep these two criteria in mind :-)

Anyway...

Massive ammounts of soaked lady fingers in strong espresso coffee. A good slug of your choice of alcohol and rich, rich mascarpone cheese with more alcohol. I really don't think I need to say more do I? The original recipe is from Jamie Oliver, but I gave it a little twist. See which one you prefer

Serves 12 (easily halved)
250g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) (I used up the milk chocolate I had left in the fridge from Easter, it sets after cooling but taste wise it's okay)
• 50g butter, diced
• sea salt
• 175g lady fingers
• 400ml good hot sweetened coffee (I used Nespresso coffee)
• Vin Santo or other sweet dessert wine (I used Tia Maria)
• 4 large eggs, preferably free-range or organic
• 100g caster sugar
• 750g mascarpone
• tin of Amarena cherries (drained)
optional; cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate (au bain marie) and add the butter and combine.
In a large dish arrange the ladyfinger (first layer) and drizzle with the coffee (use about half). Pour some of the Tia Maria into the melted chocolate and drizzle the chocolate over the soaked lady fingers and leave to cool.

Seperate the eggs, yolks in one bowl, whites in another. Whisk the yolks with another drop of Tia Maria for about 5 minutes on the highest speed of your electric mixer, until they are pale and fluffy. Mix in the mascarpone until you have a smooth mixture.

Clean the whisks of your mixer and in another clean bowl mix the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they have firm peaks. They should stand up when you take the beater out of the bowl. Now carefully spoon in the egg whites to the mascarpone mixture. Don't over mix!

Spread an even layer of the mixture onto the chocolate. At this point I add the Amarena cherries and just scattered them evenly on top of the mascarpone. Add another layer of lady fingers (that you have previously soaked in the remaining coffee) and scatter the remaining cherries on top. Finish with one final layer of mascarpone and dust with cocoa powder.

Leave for at least 2 hours (or overnight) in the frigde to set before serving. Enjoy!

Quiche with fennel, roquefort and sun dried tomatoes

2011-04-26T17:36:00.004+02:00

We've been having amazingly sunny days the past two weeks, with temperatures way above normal. So the perfect reason to try out some new, summer inspired recipes. I always have a big stack of recipes I tear out of magazines and this is one of them.

Luckily I made it in time, because it takes a bit of time to prepare. But make it a day in advance and you're even happier the day you want to serve it because not only are you done in a flash (just get it out of the fridge to room temperature) but it will taste even nicer!

For one quiche you'll need
(serves 4 people as a main, or 8 as a lunch dish)

Frozen dough for savory tarts and quiches, tawed (you can of course also make your own, but this will do just fine
1 egg white (keep the egg yolk!)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 fennel bulbs, outer skin removed and chopped
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
100 ml milk
125ml creme fraiche
180g roquefort, crumbled
6-8 sundried tomatoes, chopped

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Get a quiche tin and arrange the dough so you have a base for the quiche. Get a fork and prick the dough all over. Cover with baking paper and fill up with macaroni (blind filling is what this is called in official terms) and bake for 30 minutes.
In the meantime heat the olive oil and on a low heat cook the fennel til soft, this should take about 25 minutes depending on how finely/roughly you chopped your fennel.

While this is all cooking and baking mix the egg and egg yolk with the milk. Than mix in the creme fraiche and season with pepper (not too much salt, the cheese is salty enough).

Get the blind baked quiche out of the oven, get rid of the filling (you can use this again for another time, so don't throw it away) and the baking paper and brush the bottom with the egg white.

Take the fennel off the heat and mix it with the crumbled roquefort and tomatoes and than add the egg mixture. Pour the mixture into the base of your quiche and bake for another 30 minutes on 190C, until golden brown.

To get the full flavor, leave the quiche to cool before you serve it with a nice green salad. And of course it would be even better if you could eat it el fresco!

When life hands you lemons, make muffins!

2011-04-06T17:06:00.002+02:00

Not that life is handing me lemons at the moment, quite the opposite actually. But when I had a lemon muffin the other day I was surprised by the freshness of it. I had expected it to be quite sour, but as you will find out when you make these they are tangy in a good way.

I found this recipe at joyofbaking.com (one of my favorite baking sites!) and altered it a bit, because I didn't have any yogurt or sour cream in the fridge. Also, I baked them for a bit longer than the original recipe. And next time, I'll probably also add a drop of lemon juice to the batter to get a touch more of that great lemon flavour. Let me know how you like them!

For 12 muffins you need
260g flour
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
115g soft unsalted butter
200g sugar
2 large eggs
zest of one lemon, finely grated
240ml yogurt or sour cream (I used 125ml creme fraiche and 115ml of milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze (they really do taste nicer this way)
60g icing sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)

Preheat your oven to 200C.
In a bowl mix the flour, poppy seeds, salt and baking soda.

In your kitchen machine (or with a hand held mixer) beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix thoroughly.
With a silicon spoon stir in the lemon zest, yogurt and vanilla until incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture but make sure to not over mix otherwise they won't rise properly. You want the flour to just be incorporated and soaked up by the liquid ingredients.

Get a muffin tin and line it with muffin cups (or grease the holes with soft butter and sprinkle with some sugar, this will help release them after baking). Spoon in the mixture, but don't fill up the holes too much.

Bake for a good 25 minutes or until they are beautifully golden. While the bake mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice and heat for a few minutes over a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Once the muffins are out of the oven glaze them with the back of a spoon while they are still warm. Once they cool the glaze will also and leave a nice shine and lemony taste on top of the muffins.

I dare you to wait until they are cooled off completely before you taste them. I failed my own dare is all I can say :-)

Potato pancakes with smoked salmon

2011-04-04T13:10:00.003+02:00

Hosting Twinner last month I got a personal gift from all the people that attended. One of them brought his favorite starter. Not only did I get the recipe, but he also brought the ingredients so I could make it. Which I did. And liked! So I have to share it with you all.

It looks really fancy, but it's dead easy to make. All you need are good quality ingredients and the skill to crack open a quails egg without breaking the yolk. But other than that, anyone can do it. So give it a go!

For 4 people you'll need
2 large potatoes (or 3 small ones, like I used), peeled and grated
1 big shallot (or 2 smaller ones) finely chopped
one egg
4 pieces of good smoked salmon
4 quails eggs

After peeling and washing the potato, grate them (you don't want them to finely grated). Add the finely chopped shallots and season with pepper and salt. Mix in an egg. Heat some olive oil in a pan. With a spoon take some of the potato mixture, put it in the pan and flatten with the back of the spoon to form a pancake. Fry over a medium heat until you can flip it to fry the other side. This will take a total of about 5 minutes. You want the pancake to be golden brown and cooked.

While the pancake is frying heat another pan, add a touch of oil and with a really sharp knife, carefully open the quails eggs one by one. You want the yolk to stay intact. They don't need long to fry, a couple of minutes or so.

Get your potato pancake onto a plate, top with a slice of salmon and finish with the fried egg. Serve straight away!

I'm thinking next time I might spice up the potato pancakes a bit with maybe some chopped chives or a touch of cayenne pepper. Let me know if you know of any other good variations!

A great (salsa) dip for nachos

2011-03-21T21:05:00.005+01:00

I was challenged by one of my Twitter followers not too long ago to cook for a bunch of them. And as we all know, I looove a challenge so I accepted. A lot of others joined in, so by the next day I had agreed to cook for 10 of them. Now luckily I keep this blog of all my favorite recipes, so I had enough inspiration to get a menu together. It featured a lot of my favorite dishes.

I also discovered a few new recipes. This is one of them and I just *have* to share it with you all. It's simple, it's delicious and it's even better the day after you make it. So grab yourself a bag of nachos, open up a bottle of wine (or a beer for that matter), kick back, relax and enjoy!

What you'll need
400g of surimi (crab sticks)
bunch of coriander
jar of jalepeño peppers, use a good teaspoon, sliced finely
jar of crushed ginger (oil based), use a good teaspoon (you could probably use fresh ginger as well)
one spring onion, sliced finely
2 ripe tomatoes, skin taken off and seeds taken out and cute in to chunks
few drops of Tabasco (to taste)
Bag of nachos

Slice the surimi finely and add the chopped coriander, peppers, ginger, spring onion and diced tomato. Mix well and season with salt and pepper and a few drops of Tabasco.

Scoop the salsa with the nachos and enjoy.

Yes, it really is that simple!

Nigel Slater's sticky ribs part II

2011-03-08T15:33:00.004+01:00

Finally!! After making this recipe at least a gazillion times and forgetting to photograph it (they are just TOO good to not eat straight away!) time and time again I put up notes so I wouldn't forget when I made them again this weekend.

Don't they just look delicious?!?

Oat and raisin cookies

2011-03-04T20:02:00.008+01:00

Now that the little one can entertain herself somewhat I've got time again to bake. And loving it! And with a big team of new colleagues I've got a completely new target audience to share the results with. And they loved these cookies when I brought them to the office earlier this week.

And I love them because they are quick and easy to make and because of the oats you don't feel completely guilty for having more than one. (yes I can think up an excuse for anything!) You can either make an entire batch or use up half the dough and freeze the rest for later use. Which ever way you choose your house will smell utterly delicious in a flash!

For about 50 (medium sized) cookies you need
270g butter, room temperature (or stick it in the microwave for 20 seconds)
160g caster sugar
160g soft dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
380g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon grounded cinnamon
110g rolled oats
220g raisins (don't use currants, they are too sharp in taste)

Preheat the oven to 175C

Put the butter and both sugars in a freestanding electric mixer (or use a handheld electric whisk) and cream until light and fluffy. One by one add the eggs and scrape any unmixed ingredients into the mixture. At slow speed add the vanilla extract.

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt, bicarb and cinnamon. Now add the oats and mix well. Pour this mixture into the butter mixture and whisk until well mixed. Stir the raisins in with a wooden spoon until evenly mixed in.

Get a baking tray and line it with baking paper. Roll little balls (golf ball size) of the dough and flatten between your hands. Leave enough room between the cookies, as they will expand while baking. Bake for 13-15 minutes, depending on how golden brown you want them. Take them of the baking tray and let them cool on a wired rack so they can firm up.

They will be crunchy on the outside and still a bit chewy on the inside. Best eaten as fresh as possible with a big pot of your favorite tea.

*) recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook

Nigel Slater's sticky ribs

2011-02-20T17:20:00.001+01:00

I have made this recipe numerous times, each time having my camera ready to photograph the end result. But they are SO good that by the time I remember I still have to photograph them, they were eaten. So the only photographic evidence is the raw ribs in their marinade. I guess that says enough about how delicious they truly are :-)

I make the marinade in advance and toss it in the freezer, with the raw ribs in it. That way not only do the ribs get extra long to marinade. It also means that on a weekday all I have to do (after having thawed them in the fridge over night) is turn on the oven, toss the ribs on a baking tray and go about my business for the next 30 minutes. I love fuss free dinners and this is one that is delicous on top of it all as well.

What you'll need for 4 people (or two portions for the freezer)
1,5 kg meaty ribs (I've used both pork and lamb, either one is delicious. It even works on chicken wings)
6 tablespoons of runny honey
3 big tablespoons of oyster sauce
4 gloves of garlic
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes (or crush one dried chili)
4 whole star anise
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix the honey and oyster sauce and add the chopped garlic to it, along with the chili, star anise, salt and pepper. Toss the ribs in the marinade and set aside for as long as you've got. The longer the better (or at this point I toss everything into freezer bags and freeze them for later use)

Preheat the oven to 200C and roast the ribs, on a covered baking tray, for about 30 minutes (check regularly to make sure they don't burn) and turn them every now and then. They are ready when the meat is tender, yet not falling from the bone and the ribs are glossy with sauce.

I've served the ribs both with a stir fry and rice (or noodles) But they are also great with mashed potatoes and some red cabbage.

Either way, I'm sure you'll be making them as often as I already have!

Cucumber and dill soup

2011-02-13T19:42:00.005+01:00

I first had this (cold) soup at my friend C's. She's an amazing cook and this recipe was given to her as well. Now it is one of our all time favorites to make for lunches and/or tapas style dinners. And especially on hot summers days it is an absolute delight to have.

There are a few variations for this soup. You can either add some brown shrimp or (like we did today) some chopped smoked salmon. But I bet it would be great with some smoked haddock as well. It's a shame that haddock is so rare in the Netherlands. If you try a variation that I didn't mention and it works, please let me know. Because I'm pretty sure today wasn't the last time I made it!

Enough for 4 people for lunch (or 8 in tapas style)
1 cube for chicken stock
100 ml hot water
1 large cucumber
1/2 liter yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
1 clove garlic
1 spring onion
125 grams brown shrimp or smoked salmon
bunch of dill

Mix the water with the chicken stock cube. Peel the cucumber, half it length wise and deseed. Half the cucumber has to be chopped in little cubes, the other half can be chopped roughly. Keep the cubed cucumber in a sieve.
Add the roughly chopped cucumber to the chicken stock, along with the yogurt and roughly chopped garlic. With a hand held blender mix until smooth.

Chop 2/3 of the dill finely and add to the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill until use, but for at least an hour.

To serve get small glasses and fill the bottom with chopped spring onion, the cubes of cucumber and some shrimp/salmon. Top the glasses with the cold soup and garnish with some dill.

Shrimp croquettes

2011-02-13T16:43:00.004+01:00

In all fairness, these are eaten more in Belgium than in the Netherlands. But whatever country had them first, they are to die for!
Very light, very tastful little buggers, that can be eaten as a snack or for lunch with some fresh bread.

For about 15 miniature croquettes you'll need
90 grams butter
70 grams plain flour
300 ml fish stock (from 1 cube)
2 sheets of gelatine
200 grams brown shrimp, roughly chopped
good pinch of cayenne pepper
2 egg whites
Panko bread crumbs (or regular bread crumbs)
some additional flour

Melt the butter and add the flour. Stir to make sure there are no lumps and cook for about 5 minutes over a low heat. Gradually add the fish stock while whisking to get a smooth texture. Leave to cook for another 5 minutes. In the meantime soak the gelatine.

Take the mixture off the heat. Squeeze out the water and add the gelatine to the mixture. Stir to incorporate it into the mixture. Season with the cayenne pepper and add the chopped shrimp. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes, than transfer to the fridge to cool for another 2-3 hours.

Roll the mixture into croquettes shape. Whisk the egg whites on a plate, get another plate for the bread crumbs and one more for the flour. Roll the croquettes into the flower first, than dip them into the egg whites and finish by coating them with bread crumbs. Use one hand for the egg part and one for the flour/bread crumbs. That way you don't have to wash your hands in between!

Fry them in batches of 5 at a time for 4-5 minutes, until they are golden brown

Spanish style croquettes

2011-02-12T21:45:00.009+01:00

We had our annual walking dinner tonight. A get together with all of our neighbours to kick off the new year. We all make a course of the dinner and we eat each course in another house. So the aperitif part of the night will be with our downstairs neighbors and the main course in someone else's apartment. A great way to spend some time with each other.

We were in charge of the main course this year, along with two other neighbors. And for the first time ever I made croquettes. In the Netherlands croquettes are part of our culinary culture. Most of them are made with leftover meat. The good ones are made with veal. But there are many varieties possible. Tonight I made Serrano ham croquettes. So delicious! They do require a bit of work. You do need a fryer for this. And no, they are not diet worthy. But they are sp worth the effort. Give them a go and serve them as part of a tapas buffet, like we did. Or make bigger ones for lunch.

For about 25 tapas style croquettes you need

4 tablespoons olive oil
80g butter
about 12 tablespoons of flour
500 ml milk
150 gram Serrano ham, sliced and cut into cubes
2 eggs
panko bread crumbs (or use regular bread crumbs)

heat the olive oil in a non stick pan and add the butter. After the butter has melted add the flour and make sure you stir with each tablespoon of flour you add to avoid lumps. If you think the mixture is still too thin add tablespoon flour extra. You want a thick enough consistency, but it doesn't need to be thick as a roux.

Gradually add the milk, while you keep stirring all the time to get a smooth mixture. The sauce will thicken throughout this process. When all the milk is incorporated take the mixture off the heat, add the sliced Serrano ham and season with black pepper and salt.

Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish and leave to cool (and further thicken) in a cool place for 30 minutes before you put the dish into the fridge for at least 2 hours. (longer is even better)

To make the croquettes take a spoonful of the mixture and between wet hand roll into the shape of a croquette. If you make little balls of them, they become 'bitterballen' and they will go really great with drinks. When you've finished shaping them get two plates. On one plate you put the bread crumbs and on another plate you beat the two eggs together.

At this point turn on your fryer to get to a temperature of 180C.
Dip the croquettes into the egg with one hand. With your other hand coat the croquettes with the bread crumbs. Don't be shy using the bread crumbs. Continue until all your croquettes are coated with bread crumbs.

When the oil is hot enough fry them in batches of no more than 5 at the same time. They are ready when they are golden brown and come to the surface. You can keep them warm in a preheated oven. Serve them straight after frying if you can. Or keep them warm until you are ready to serve.

Spinach & goats cheese mash

2011-02-08T17:49:00.011+01:00

We've had a sunny day today, for the first time in a long loooong time. Enough sun to not make a really wintery mash for dinner. But one that says bring on the longer days while you're at it.

And with a little help from the supermarket it can also be made really fast. If you have more time you can make the mash yourself and buy your spinach fresh from the market. But these days, for me, it's all about eating fresh in a flash!

Here's what you'll need for two grown ups
bag of spinach (about 200g)
jar of sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
piece of soft goats cheese of your choice, roughly chopped
frozen mashed potatoes (or make your own)

Defrost the mash overnight and heat according to the instructions. Drain the tomatoes and roughly chop them. Chop or crumble the goats cheese and leave in the fridge while you make heat up the mash.

Once the mash is ready and hot, mix in the spinach. The spinach will wilt from the heat, so don't panic when it looks like you have more spinach than mash. Then add the tomatoes and goats cheese. Season to taste and serve straight away!

Spinach salad with orange dressing and grilled haloumi

2010-12-13T19:19:00.006+01:00

Yes, I know we're deep into winter. And most of us probably feel more like eating warm and hearty food rather than a salad. But I want to feel like Spring just a little bit these days. And if I can't get it weather wise, I might as well try and get that feeling food wise.

This salad will go great with a big chunck of grilled meat, if you're into that. Or have it with some oven baked fish if you like. It also is great just as it is, with some fresh bread.

Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main course with bread
50 ml orange juice
Juice and zest of half a lemon
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 oranges
200 grams haloumi cheese
75gr young fresh spinach
1 red onion, in rings
50 grams black olives

Warm the orange juice and reduce to half in 3 minutes
Cool to room temperature and stir in the lemon juice, zest and oil
Cut the orange with a sharp knife in to thin slices (take the skin off first)
Cut the cheese into 1 cm thick slices and grill in a hot griddle pan (takes about 3 mins)

Put the spinach in a large bowl and cover with the dressing and than the onions. Cover with orange parts, olives and the cheese. Season with fresh pepper

Make your cake and eat it too!

2010-10-01T14:43:00.006+02:00

What better reason do you need to make a cheesecake than knowing it isn't as bad for you as you at first might think. When I think cheesecake I think of heavy, baked cakes that just by looking at them go straight to my hips. Not with this cheese cake though. Less than 300 calories per piece. And even if that is still 300 calories, it is waaay less than any other cheesecake. So in a way you are cheating yourself out of a good cake feast by not making and eating it. Makes sense huh?! ;-)

Okay, so now we've got the guilt part out of the way, let's talk about making it. When I first read the recipe* I was a bit hesitant. It seemed difficult. Using gelatine and having to firm up in the fridge. It turned out much easier than anticipated. The end result? A light, fresh tasting cheesecake that I will definitely make again.

For 12 pieces
3 eggs
175g + 2 tablespoons sugar
75g flour
25g corn flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
850g tinned apricots, drained
8 leaves of gelatine
750g of lean quark
1 sachet of vanilla sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice
300 ml cream
1-2 tablespoons icing sugar

Line a springform pan with baking paper and preheat your oven to 175C (150C for a hot air oven). Seperate the eggs and beat the whites with a pinch of salt. While you beat them gradually add 100g of sugar. Beat until the whites have firm peaks. One by one now add the yolks and mix them in.
Mix the flour, corn flour and baking powder and sieve the mixture into the mixture, lightly folding it in. (you want to keep a light batter). Pour the batter into the springform and smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for a good 20 minutes. After baking leave it to cool completely

(My cake didn't rise as much and the top wasn't as smooth as I had hoped. But don't let this stop you from finishing your cake! I just got creative and used icing sugar on the finished cake to cover up my mistake :-))

Drain the apricots and soak the gelatine in cold water. Mix the quark with the vanilla sugar, lemon juice en 75g sugar. Squeeze the soaked gelatine and in a pan dissolve it over a low heat. Mix in 3 tablespoons of the quark mixture and stir until it has absorbed the gelatine. Only than add that mixture to the rest of the quark and mix thorougly. This has to sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes until it starts to firm up.

In the meantime whisk your cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar to soft peaks and carefully fold it into the now firmer quark mixture. Through the middle, cut the cake into two (use a really sharp knife for this, as you don't want to tear up your cake halves). Re-adjust the ring of your springform pan around the lower half of your cake, so that it will hold the quark mixture while it firms up. Add one third of your quark mixture to the bottom half of the cake. Place the apricots on top of this mixture and use as many as you like. Pour the rest of the quark mixture on top. If you like you can again add some apricots, but that isn't necessarry. Finish my placing the other cake half on top.

You really need to leave this in the fridge for a good 4 hours. Even better yet, leave it there overnight. By morning you will have a gorgeous, firm, cheese cake that looks even prettier if you dust it with some icing sugar.

And the best part? You can enjoy it guilt free!

*) recipe originally featured in Foodies, a Dutch culinary magazine

Apple chutney

2010-10-01T14:29:00.004+02:00

The past week has been mostly perfect Autumn like. Crisp and colder days, but sunny and mostly blue skies. These are the kind of days that I don't mind Summer being over. It also gives me the opportunity to get in the mood for more Autumn like food. In the Foodies (a Dutch culinary magazine) of this month they had a great selection of seasonal food that instantly tickled my tastebuds. And now that the little one has started daycare and I still have some vacation time left there is plenty of time to try out some new recipes.

This chutney is a basic chutney recipe. Mixing sweet and acidy flavours with fruit. After having made it I could immediately picture myself adding some extra flavours that would probably work really well too. Like using dried cranberries instead of the raisins. Or adding a couple of pears, to intensify the fruit flavour. Or even adding some chopped, toasted walnuts. That's the beauty about cooking. You make it, you taste it and than you play with it!

Makes 2 large jars
2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 good pinches of curry powder
2 good pinches of cayenne pepper
350 ml apple juice
75 ml cider vinegar
275gr brown sugar
2 bay leaves
6 eating apples (I used Elstar), peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
100g raisins

Fry the chopped onion in the olive oil on a low heat (you don't want to colour it) add the spices and give it a good stir. Mix in the apple juice, vinegar, sugar and bay leaves and bring to the boil to disolve the sugar.

Add the apples and raising and leave to cook on a low heat until the apple is soft, but not yet cooked to pulp (you want some bite left to it).
Pour the mixture into clean jars (either sterilized in the dishwasher or cooked clean for 5 minutes in boiling water) turn the lid on them and put them upside down to cool. This way they will keep for a good 2-3 months in a cool and dark place (cupboard). Refridgerate after opening.

The chutney goes really well with patés, hard cheeses, ham or grilled pork.

Tomato soup with all the trimmings

2010-09-18T21:34:00.005+02:00

A while back I made this soup from the Dutch Delicious magazine and the minute I tasted it, I was sold. A new favorite to add to the long list of favorite recipes. This is one of those recipes that you will make over and over again. Not only because it's really simple (and fast!) to make. But most of all because it is so darn tasty and full of the good stuff!

Try and get organic meat for the meatballs. It will cost you a little extra, but it really is worth it in my opinion. (leave the meatballs out and use vegetable stock and you have the perfect vegetarian dish).This recipe will make you a really big pot of soup, so you can easily freeze half of it to have later this year on one of those cold Sunday afternoons. Enjoy!

For 4 people, as a main
300g minced meat (I used a combination of organic beef/pork)
40g butter
30g flour
1 onion, chopped
tin of tomato puree
tin of diced tomatoes (400g)
2 vegetable or beef bouillon cubes
about 600g ready cut vegetables for soup
100ml cream (optional)
salt/pepper

Season the minced meat to taste and make little meat balls, sized like a walnut.

Heat the butter over a low heat in a large pan and add the onion, fry for 5 minutes but don't let the onion brown. Add the flour and stir in so it soaks up all of the butter, leave it to cook for a minute or so. Then add the tomato puree and also fry that for a good minute.

Turn the heat to medium and gradually add a liter of cold water while you whisk to make sure the soup stays smooth and without lumps. Now add the tin of tomatoes, the bouillon cubes, meat balls and vegetables and bring the soup to a gentle simmer. Leave it to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season to taste. If you like a bit of kick, add a few drops of Tabasco.

When ready to serve add the cream if using and serve with some crusty bread

It's been a while

2010-09-14T11:39:00.002+02:00

I do apologise for not updating Cooksterella these past months. As I mentioned in June we were awaiting a vey special delivery. In the end it took some what longer that expected and it wasn't until the 6th July that we welcomed our baby girl.

These past 2 months have been extremely busy with adjusting to our new lifes and getting to know our little girl. It has also meant hardly any culinary activities but living of trusted and quick recipes and a lot of food from the freezer (thank god for stocking up!).

Slowly now I'll be posting new recipes, but it will be a while before I'm fully back in swing. So be patient just a little longer and I promise it will be worth the wait!

Waiting for a special delivery!

2010-06-18T10:15:00.002+02:00

Since I'm due any day now, my cooking and baking activities have been reduced to a bare minimum. Which also means I won't be posting here as much as before. Once our baby girl is born and we're back to a some what normal routine you can be sure I'll be back here as well!

In the meantime, why not try a recipe that's in the archives?
See you soon!!

Green asparagus & lemon risotto

2010-06-10T09:32:00.004+02:00

There are some recipes that instantly tickle your tastebuds, the minute you read the ingredients list. On lovely Spring or Summer days you want to eat something light and fresh and not too heavy. Risotto normally isn't one of those dishes, except when you make it with lemon and green asparagus! Thanks to the Dutch Delicious magazine there is now a fool proof recipe that anyone can make. I didn't adjust it at all, it's perfect the way it is.

Yes, risotto takes a bit of time. But what is more therapeutic than stirring liquid into rice and having it turn out this gorgeous?! And really, all in all, if you prepare things in advance, you're done in less than 45 minutes. The reward is a fresh, light, creamy risotto that will surprise not only your tastebuds but your guests too! Go give it a try, you won't be dissapointed!

For 4 people you'll need
1 onion
50g butter
330g risotto rice
250ml white wine
1L vegetable stock, from a cube is fine
1 bunch of green asparagus
zest and juice of 1 lemon
80g grated parmesan
salt & pepper

Chop the onion and melt the butter in a non stick pan. Fry the onion in the butter on a low heat for about 5 minutes, until soft. Turn the heat to medium high and add the risotto rice, stir to cover in the onion and butter mixture. Then add the wine, stirring until all the liquid is evaporated.

Now comes the Zen part. Ladle by ladle, add the vegetable stock, one ladle at a time, stirring until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice before adding another ladle. To get all the stock into the rice you need about a good 20 minutes of patience. Set your mind to daydreaming while you stir and enjoy the experience.

While you're stirring and in your Zen state of mind, cut 2 cm of the bottom of the asparagus and cut the rest of them into 2 cm chuncks. Blanche them in salted water for 2-3 minutes. Make sure you don't overcook them, you want some bit left to them!

When all the liquid is absorbed by the rice, add the parmesan and lemon juice & zest and stir until combined. Add the asparagus and taste if it needs more seasoning. Don't use too much salt, as the parmesan is quite salty itself. Leave to rest for about 5 minutes before you serve the risotto. Buono appetito!

Biscotti heaven - chocolate & hazelnut

2010-06-01T08:54:00.010+02:00

I have recently fallen in love with baking biscotti cookies all over again. They are one of the most fool proof cookies to make that will impress anyone who tastes them. After initially making banana/almond ones most of the time I thought it was time to venture out and be a little more adventurous. In those cases there is only one website that does it for me: www.joyofbaking.com

An abundance in recipes for the home baker and more than one biscotti recipe can be found there. Like this one, for chocolate and hazelnut biscotti. Reading the ingredients list you can already smell what your house will smell like once you make them. And again, there isn't a simpler way to make a cookie with a wow factor like this one!

Makes about 30 biscotti
150 grams white hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
120 grams semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
210 grams firmly packed light brown sugar
230 grams all-purpose flour
30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Droste)
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (I used one Nespresso cup, Arpeggio)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 175C.

Toast your hazelnuts on a sheet of baking paper in your preheated oven for a good 10 minutes until they have slightly coloured. Leave to cool, transfer to a kitchen towel and with a rolling pin beat the crap out of them. What better way to get rid of stress than bashing hazelnuts huh?! ;-)

Lower the oven temperature to 150C.

In a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, mix the coarsely chopped chocolate and brown sugar until the chocolate is very fine.

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand held mixer, beat the eggs and vanilla extract until combined (about 30 seconds). Add the chocolate/sugar mixture and the flour mixture and beat until a stiff dough forms. At the end add the hazelnuts and mix them through.

With floured hands (this is essential as the dough is quite sticky!) divide the dough in half. On a floured surface roll each half of dough with your hands into a log about 25 cm long and 5 cm wide. Transfer the logs to your baking tray that you used earlier to toast the hazelnuts. Don’t lay them together to tightly as they will spread during baking.

Bake until almost firm to the touch, about 35 - 40 minutes. Take them out of the oven, but don’t turn off your oven just yet! Place both logs on a wire rack and let them cool for 10 minutes.

Using a serrated knife cut the dough into slices 2 cm thick on the diagonal. Arrange the slices cut-side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake until crisp and dry, about 15 minutes longer. If you like your biscotti crunchy you will bake them, one side at a time, for 15 minutes on each side. If you like them somewhat softer reduce the baking time to about 12-13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

In an air tight container these will last a good couple of weeks. But I really wonder if in fact they will last that long...

Pollo Tonnato - a twist on a classic Italian dish

2010-05-20T08:49:00.005+02:00

If you can’t have medium rare cooked veal because of a pregnancy (like me) or you just don’t want to spend that much money on meat there is now a really good and tasty alternative to the classic Vitello Tonnato dish. I made this a while ago, after seeing the recipe in the Dutch Delicious magazine. And I think this is one of those recipes that will become a favorite for a long time coming. It’s not hard to make, takes very little time and it has that wow-factor, both in taste as in presentation. You can impress your guests without too much effort. And don’t we all love that?!

You can serve it as a starter or as a main course. Just adjust the portions you serve. This recipe is enough for 2 people as a main and will leave you with some extra sauce, that we particularly like to have as a accompanying dip along with some Turkish bread. If you want to serve it for 4 people, just add two chicken breast and get some extra rocket. There will be plenty of sauce for all of them. I’m very curious to hear what you all think of it!

For 2 people you need

2 chicken breasts

1L chicken stock (from a cube is fine)

125ml white wine (I didn’t use this and it still tasted really good)

125ml mayonnaise (or 10 tablespoons) I used lemon mayonnaise, but you can use regular as well and just add a tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tin of tuna in water, drained

1 tablespoon of capers, rinsed

1 bag of rocket (75g)

Handful of black olives, slices

Some cherry tomatoes (optional)

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar

In either a food processor or with a hand held blender mix the mayonnaise with the tuna, capers, 2,5 tablespoons of the chicken stock and lemon juice (if using) until you have a smooth sauce. Taste and season if it needs some black pepper. Leave in the fridge until ready to serve.

Heat the rest of the chicken stock (and wine if using) until it comes to the boil and add the chicken breast. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for 5 minutes, turning occassionally. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken breast for at least another 10 minutes, so they are thoroughly cooked through. If you are using big chicken breast this may take a little longer.

To serve dress the plates with the rocket, olives and tomatoes and sprinkle with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Slice the chicken breasts and arrange on the rocket. Spoon plenty of the tuna/mayonnaise mixture on top of the chicken breast. Garnish, optional, with some parsley and extra capers and/or olives. Serve with fresh (Turkish) bread. Enjoy!

Raspberry cheesecake brownies

2010-05-16T11:42:00.004+02:00

There are those times you see a recipe, but are intimidated by the amount of work you think it takes. Until you see someone else making it and you think, if they can do it, why can’t I?!?

This is one of those recipes. I had seen it in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook before, but was scared to try it. After making it I realized it isn’t any work at all, it just takes some time. And most of that time is for the overnight cooling of the baked goodies.

Especially when you see, and then taste the end result you will be so pleased with it (and yourself) that this will definitely become a new favorite for when you want to impress people and make them think you’ve spent ages in the kitchen.

For the brownie layer you’ll need

200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces (I used 70%)

200g unsalted butter, room temperature

250 icing sugar (I used regular granulated sugar)

3 eggs

110g flour

For the cheesecake layer you’ll need

400g natural cream cheese

150g icing sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

For the cream topping

300ml whipping cream

100g icing sugar

150g fresh raspberries, plus extra to decorate

(if you are using frozen raspberries like I did make sure you thaw them overnight and get rid of the liquid to avoid a runny cream. Also, don’t use the frozen ones to decorate but get fresh ones)

You can substitute the raspberries for any other berry that’s in season

For the brownie

Melt the chocolate either au bain marie or on a low heat in the microwave.

Mix butter and sugar either with a handheld mixer, or (even easier) in a kitchen machine until they are well incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time. Gradually beat in the flour, mixing well after each addition. Turn the speed up and mix for a little while longer to get a smooth mixture. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Pour into a baking tray, that you’ve lined with greaseproof paper and smooth the top.

Preheat your oven to 175C

For the cheesecake

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract and beat on a slow speed until smooth and thick. Add one egg at a time, while still mixing. The mixture should end up smooth and creamy but don’t over mix, or the cheese will split.

Spoon the mixture on top of the brownie and smooth the top. Bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Or until the top is firm to the touch and light golden around the edges (centre should still be pale). Leave to cool completely, then cover and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but better still overnight. (this is why it’s better to prepare this part of the dish the day before you want to serve it!)

For the cream topping

Just before you are ready to serve your treats you make the cream topping. If you want to make it before hand, make sure you have enough space in your fridge to keep your brownies, otherwise the cream will become warm and run off the brownies.

Put the cream, sugar and raspberries in a freestanding electric mixer with a whisk attachment (or use a handheld mixer) and beat until firm, but not stiff.

Take the brownie/cheesecake out of its baking try, cheesecake side up. Spread the cream evenly over the top of it. Cut into pieces, as large or as small as you like, and decorate with the remaining raspberries.

Serve after a dinner party with a nice, strong espresso. Or during the day with some tea. Whenever you’re going to eat it, I’m sure this is not the last time you’ve made these!

Fresh pea salad

2010-05-11T11:03:00.004+02:00

Sometimes it's the simplest things that are the best. And what's so nice about this dish is that you can either use fresh peas or frozen ones. If you can, do try and make it with fresh ones, you will be so well rewarded. Not only is the shelling of the peas therapeutic and more Zen than anything I can think of. The taste you get from using fresh peas is just simply the best!

Fresh peas aren't in season for too long, so if you do find yourself needing to get frozen ones for this salad, try and get the organic ones that are somewhat larger than the regular frozen ones. You want as much pea flavor as you can get.

I love this salad eaten luke warm, but even cold and taken to work as a lunch treat works really great! Go and give it a try!

For 1 person you'll need
250grams of fresh peas, shelled (or use 150g frozen peas)
couple of sprigs of fresh mint shredded, to taste
about 1 cm of good feta cheese, crumbled
freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
freshly grounded black pepper and sea salt

This is probably the easiest recipe you'll ever read!
Blanche the peas in boiling water, literally for minutes and drain. Toss all other ingredients in with the peas and mix. Get a fork and dig in straight away!!

This is what Spring tastes like to me; crunchy, salty, fresh and ow so delicious!!

Asparagus soup

2010-05-04T11:55:00.006+02:00

There are a couple of things that are a dead ringer for Spring being there. Fresh (Dutch) strawberries, blossom on the trees, longer days but most of all white asparagus! Not as common in the rest of the world, where green asparagus are more mainstream. But in the Netherlands they are called 'white gold' for a reason.

As soon as asparagus season starts (usually end of April until end of June) my sweetie looks at me with begging eyes to please, please, puh-lease, make his (and my) favorite asparagus soup. I use a recipe that I found a couple of years ago in the Silver Spoon and that I've been making ever since. The key to this soup is simplicity. Let the asparagus do the talking. I'm sure that if you try it you'll have to agree with me that this is the best asparagus soup, ever!

Makes 1 liter (easily doubled)
1 onion, finely chopped
50g butter
2 tablespoons flour
100 ml white wine
1 liter vegetable stock
600g of asparagus (either white or green)
optional: couple of tablespoons of cream

Clean the asparagus and chop the tips of and keep those. Cut up the rest of the asparagus in to chunky bits. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the onion. Fry for a good 5 minutes on a low heat, until soft. Add the chopped asparagus and fry them for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the asparagus mixture and stir to coat them. Pour in the wine and stock and bring to the boil.

Turn the heat low and leave to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring regularly. Season with salt & pepper. Use either a food processor or a hand-held stick blender to blend the soup.
If you are going to freeze the soup after this, add the asparagus tips to the containers without cooking them first and don't add the cream just yet.

To serve to soup straight away cook the asparagus tips in some boiling water for 2 minutes and add, with some cream, to the hot soup. Serve with crusty bread.

Roast cauliflower, chorizo & chickpea soup

2010-05-02T10:07:00.005+02:00

There are those times when a foodie friend points you in the direction of a recipe that you can instantly taste and want to make. Julia showed me this particular soup at the Gourmet Traveller site and I knew the moment I read the ingredients list I had to make it! It has everything in it that you'd want from a hearty, 'meal in its own' dish and it's a combination I wouldn't have thought of but that really works.

It makes plenty to stick some in the freezer for later days. Just be sure to eat it within 3 months, as there is dairy in the soup and that tends to keep for less time than regular soups.

I've adjusted the original recipe just a bit, so here's what you'll need for about a liter of soup
1 large cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus extra to serve
170 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 chorizo, thickly sliced and than cubed
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
750 ml chicken stock (from a cube is fine)
375 ml milk
1 tin (400g) of chickpeas, drained
1 tbsp red wine (or sherry) vinegar, or to taste
To serve: finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 220C.

Combine cauliflower, thyme and 100ml oil in a bowl, season to taste, spread in an even layer on an oven tray and roast until golden and tender (a good 20 minutes). In the meantime scatter the chorizo on a separate tray, drizzle with 20ml olive oil and roast until crisp and golden. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Keep the oil that will come out of the chorizo!

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large (soup) pan over medium-high heat and add the onion and garlic. Stir occasionally until soft (takes about 5-6 minutes). Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and then add the milk and cauliflower mixture (reserve a little for garnish). Get a hand-held blender and blend until smooth. (I like mine with just a a little texture left)

Stir the chickpeas and sherry vinegar in to the soup and season to taste. I liked it with quite a bit of freshly grinded black pepper. I also added the oil that came from roasting the chorizo, for some extra kick.

Serve scattered with the reserved cauliflower, chorizo cubes, extra thyme and some lemon zest.

Cinnamon Swirls

2010-04-19T11:39:00.009+02:00

Sometimes you read recipes that you have to make. Instantly. This morning, while reading one of my favorite baking blogs, Bakerella, I had one of those moments. I could smell the cinnamon while reading the recipe and quickly had a look in my cupboard to see if all necassary ingredients were available. With a little help from my downstairs neighbor/friend C. (what a day to run out of cinnamon!!) I quickly started preparing.

This recipe takes a little time, there is a lot of waiting. Now normally this is not something I am good at, but ow dear it is so worth the wait. So make these when you have enough time and you will be well rewarded!

For about 20-25 cinnamon swirls you will need *)
475ml milk
100g sugar
120ml of sunflower oil
1 sachet of dry yeast (7g)
765g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1,5 teaspoon of salt
95g more flour
100g butter, melted
190g sugar
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

Warm the milk with the oil and sugar until boiling point. Turn off the heat and leave to cool until lukewarm. This should take about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally while its cooling to prevent the skin from setting on the milk. When the mixture has cooled add the yeast and wait for another minute.

Add the 4 cups of flour to a mixing bowl and incorporate the liquids until you have a dough. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for an hour in a warm place.

Add the last 1/2 cup of flour, baking powder, soda and salt and mix with your hands until incorporated. Put the dough in the fridge while you prepare the cinnamon coating.

Melt the butter (keep some to brush your baking tray with), leave to cool somewhat. In the meantime mix the sugar with the cinnamon. Flour your work surfcase generously and tip the dough on the work surface. Roll the dough into a rectangular shape and brush with the melted butter (or just tip all the butter onto the dough and spread it, waaay easier!) Sprinkle with the sugar/cinnamon mixture until the entire dough is covered.

Preheat your oven to 200C

Now comes the fun bit! Roll the dough towards you. I ended up cutting the dough halfway because otherwise the swirls would have been really thick. Once everything is rolled cut into 3 centimeter pieces and transfer to a baking dish that has been brushed with some of the melted butter. Needly tuck the swirls next to each other.

I had some dough left once I filled up the tray. Thanks to Bakerella's tip I used silicone muffin cups to use of the rest of the dough. No need wasting perfectly good dough, right?!

Bake the swirls for a good 20-25 minutes and just wait for the smell to creep though your entire house. I decided not to ice the swirls. Bakerella has a really fabulous icing on her blog. But who knows, next time?!

*) I've converted the ingredients list from American cups to grams and milimeters. If you prefer cups I recommend your read the original recipe at Bakerella.com

Baking for Easter - part II

2010-04-03T17:28:00.004+02:00

The nice thing about having fruit in the freezer is that you don't have to wait for it to be in season, but you can use it anytime you feel like it. Reading this Bill Granger recipe for a blueberry crumble cake made me run straight to the freezer to see if I had some left in there. Luckily I did!

So after thawing them overnight I could get started right after I had put the raspberry scones in the oven. What better way to make use of an already preheated oven, right?!
The end result is a really moist cake with a tangy fruit bite and the lovely texture of the crumble on top. Perfect to end our Easter dinner tomorrow night, alongside an espresso. Of course, since I can't wait that long to try it, I already had some with our afternoon tea :-)

For the crumble you'll need
160g dark moscovado sugar
45g flour
40g oatmeal
75g cold butter, cubed

Rub all the ingredients together until you have a crumble, that isn't too fine. Leave in the fridge until needed

For the cake
360g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
125g soft butter
210g granulated sugar
3 eggs
250ml sour cream
250g blueberries (if frozen, thaw overnight)

Preheat your oven to 175C

Mix the flour with the baking powder and some salt in a bowl.
In a seperate bowl cream the sugar with the eggs until pale and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one by one. Then, gradually mix in some of the flour mixture until incorporated and add 1/4 of the sour cream and mix. Repeat until both are all used up and all is incorporated thorougly.

Pour the mixture into a springform that has been lined with baking paper and spread out evenly. Top with the blueberries and finish with the crumb mixture.

The cake needs about an hour in the oven. Check after 50 minutes by pricking it with a skewer in the middle. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is done. If not, leave it for another 10 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes. Release the tin and leave to cool for another hour. Best served at room temperature. Enjoy!

Baking for Easter - part I

2010-04-03T14:08:00.005+02:00

Other than the obligatory chocolate easter eggs there's not much of a baking tradition in the Netherlands when it comes to Easter. But with the new (Dutch) Delicious delivered I was inspired enough to finally put my bakers hat back on. It's been a while since I last baked. Bill Granger provided both the inspiration and the recipe. And this batch was made in literally less than half an hour. How's that for fast food?!

Scones are not part of Dutch eating culture, but they are one of my favorites. Because they are so versatile. You can bake them sweet or savory (with cheese!). The ones below are with raspberries. Not something I would have thought of myself. But the tartness of the raspberry works really well with the light sweeter texture of the dough. I used frozen (and thawed!) raspberries since fresh ones aren't really in season yet, but I can't wait for the summer fruit to arrive and make them again.

For about 8-10 scones you'll need
250g plain flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
100g cold butter, in cubes
2 eggs, mixed
125ml cream
100g raspberries (either fresh or from the freezer, in that case defrost first)

Preheat your oven to 200C and cover a baking sheet with some baking paper.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and some salt in a kitchenmachine and mix briefly. Add the cubed butter and with the pulse button mix again until the mixture is crumbly. This literally takes seconds.

Tip the mixture into a bowl and with a table knife mix in the eggs and cream. Don't overmix it! Add the raspberries with your hands and gently fold through (yes, this gets messy, don't wear anything white!)

Tip the dough onto a floured work surface. There are different ways to work now. Either shape the dough into a solid cirkel and cut in 8 pieces, than transfer to the baking sheet. Or make, like I did, individual scones that you arrange on the baking sheet. Don't make them too big, as they will rise while baking!

Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Serve warm with either some good butter or if you can get your hands on it, some clotted cream

A meal in its own - lentil soup

2010-03-15T15:06:00.006+01:00

It's been a while since I was inspired by a Jamie Oliver recipe. But this particular one had my taste buds drooling the instant I read it.

Easy, filling and easy to freeze. Three criteria I like when cooking ahead of time. Also a great bonus about this recipe is that it is easily turned into a vegetarian dish. Just leave out the lardons and you're good to go!

Makes a good 1,5L
pack of lardons
2 red onions, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
3 sticks of sellery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
olive oil
teaspoon of dried thyme
dried red chili, crumbled
200g dried lentils
3 stock cubes, I used mushroom
1,5L water
1 can of canneloni (or white) beans
optional: 50g dried wild mushrooms

Get a large pan and heat some olive oil. Fry the lardons until golden. Add the thyme, chili, onion, carrot, sellery and garlic and give it a good stir. Fry this for a good 10 minutes, but don't let the vegetables get too soft. You want some bite left to them!

Add 1,5L boiling water, the stock cubes and the dried lentils (and if using the dried mushrooms) and bring to the boil. Turn the heat low and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes (or until the lentils are cooked, but still al dente). Add the beans and leave to cook for another 8 minutes *). If you think the soup is still too thick, add some more water.

Season with plenty of fresh black pepper and if needed some salt. Ladle into bowl, sprinkle with some good olive oil and garnish with some parsley. Serve with crusty bread.

*) If you make this ahead of time don't cook the soup the extra 8 minutes after you've added the (cannelini) beans. You will get them cooked when you reheat the soup. You don't want to overcook them!

Broccoli, mushroom & tomato tart

2010-02-22T14:56:00.008+01:00

Sometimes it pays to prepare food in advance, to stick in the freezer for those days when you are rushed or simply not in the mood to cook a fresh meal. But what you do want is a nutritious meal, even on those days when you are pressed for time. It's for those days that this savory tart (or quiche if you will) is the perfect food to have in your freezer. If you are smart, you can also make it really easily and quickly, so you don't need much time to prepare to gain a few days of food comfort.

The filling for this tart can vary with the season. In winter I tend to use broccoli, mushrooms, easy veg that is widely available, but still has a lot of vitamins. In summer you could use lighter veg like courgette, fennel, asparagus, etcetera. Either use meat (ham, salami) or fish (prawns, cod) to add some protein to the dish. Just use your imagination, see what taste you feel like and just give it a try!

For one pie you'll need
tart tin (diameter about 22-24 cm)
ready bought short crust or puff pastry (of course you can also make it yourself, but this is much easier and just as tasty!)
4 large eggs
150 ml cream
broccoli (as much as you like, about 200g), cleaned and cut into florets
250g mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
thick piece of salami (or use ham or lardons), cut into cubes. Want to make it vegetarian, just leave out the meat or fish and maybe add another type of (blue) cheese for extra flavor
some fresh (or dried) thyme
150g strong flavored grated cheese (I used gruyere)
optional; handful of toasted pine nuts

before

All you need to do
Grease your tin with either some oil or melted butter. Roll out the pastry (if you've taken it from the freezer thaw it properly) and line the tin with it. With a fork prick some airholes in the bottom of the pastry.

In a wok or large frying pan heat some oil and quickly stirfry the broccoli and mushrooms for no longer than 5 minutes, you still want some bit to your broccoli. Season with some thyme, salt and pepper. Leave to cool.

Beat your eggs together with the cream and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooled vegetables and mix. Pour this mixture into your prepared pie tin and place the tomatoes all across the mixture. Finish with the grated cheese and pine nuts if using.

Place into a preheated 200C oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes until golden. Make sure that you allow some time for the pie to set, before serving. Serve with a nice green salad.

after

If you want to freeze your pie, leave it to cool completely and cut into wedges before freezing. When you want to serve it, make sure to thaw it overnight in the fridge. You can serve it either cold or warm. If you want to serve it warm reheat the pie in a moderate oven for approx. 10-15 minutes.

Potato bread with sauerkraut, sausage & creme fraiche

2010-02-08T11:15:00.009+01:00

Not only have I been remaking a lot of the dishes I posted here the past couple of months. But because of my pregnancy I've also had a shift from culinary inspired food, to the most basic, taste lacking dishes one could think of. I'll spare you the details....

Luckily though, now that I'm halfway it seems my inspiration is coming back to me, to recreate recipes that I come across. Like the one I found in Foodies, a Dutch cooking magazine. The original recipe uses chorizo. However, I'm using a typical Dutch sausage called rookworst, that is just a match made in heaven with the sauerkraut that is in this dish. And since it is still full on winter, there is no reason not to try this recipe!

For 8 slices you'll need
400g potatoes, peeled and grated
400g plain flour, some extra for dusting
7g dry yeast
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 rookworst (or use 150g chorizo)
3-4 spring onions
750g sauerkraut, drained
250ml creme fraiche
baking paper

Grate the peeled potatoes on a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the liquid. Mix with the flour, salt and yeast and add the egg and a 100 ml of lukewarm water.
With a mixer and dough hooks mix the ingredients roughly. Tip the mixture on your work surface that you dusted with flour and use your hands to bring the dough together. If it's too dry add some more lukewarm water. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with a towel and leave to rest for 45 minutes in a warm place (for example on the radiator)

In the meantime slice the springvonions, sausage and leave the sauerkraut to drain in a sieve, pressing out the extra liquid. Cover a baking tray with some baking paper.

Now that the dough has risen take it out of the bowl, again on a floured workvsurface and work through it a couple more time. Add some more flour if the dough is too sticky. Roll the dough, on the baking tray, until it's about 1 cm thick and leave it to rise again for another 15 minutes. While it rises preheat the oven to 200C (hot air oven 175C). Mix the creme fraiche with some salt and pepper.

Cover the base of the bread with the creme fraiche (you will probably have some left, we will use it later, so don't throw it away). On top of that put the sauerkraut, the spring onions and the sausage. Put the baking tray in the oven and bake the bread for 45 minutes. If it starts to color too fast, cover with aluminum foil for the remaining 15 minutes.

Slice the bread and serve with some of the left over creme fraiche and a dollop of Dijon mustard. Enjoy!

Salmon & spinach fish pie

2010-01-08T12:22:00.009+01:00

Winter foods don’t all have to be heavy dishes that fall into your stomach like a ton of bricks. There are lighter recipes, that still give you that warm and fuzzy feeling. And the best part of this one (that I've adapted from a recipe I found in one of Ainsley Harriots books) is that it’s super healthy (lots of Omega 3 and iron) and you can chose to either make it with fresh ingredients or use frozen ones. I used everything from the freezer, because the weather was just too awful to go outside and get fresh stuff.

Another big plus is that you can make it in advance and just pop it in the oven when you get home. While you kick back and relax, your super yummy dinner is getting ready to warm your body, mind & soul!

For 4 people you’ll need
4 pieces of salmon (with frozen salmon, thaw them before using)
600ml milk
Good pinch of dry dill
Pack of frozen leaf spinach (defrost and squeeze out the liquid)Don’t use any of that creamed spinach stuff. Not only is it yucky, but you’ll get your sauce later
40g flour
35g butter (some extra for greasing)
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard (or any other sharper mustard)
Mashed potato (again either use fresh or frozen, but have enough for 4 people)

To get things going
Warm the milk with the dill and place the salmon in the pan, completely covered by the milk. Poach the salmon until tender. This shouldn’t take any longer than a couple of minutes. You don’t want the fish too dry. Take the salmon out of the milk and leave to cool on a plate. After it has cooled flake the salmon into bite size pieces. Pass the milk through a sieve and keep the liquid for later use.

Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour, make sure to start stirring immediately. Cook the flour/butter mixture for a couple of minutes, stirring to keep it from burning. Slowly add some of the milk, while whisking to avoid lumps. Keep on doing so, a little milk at a time, to make your white sauce. Don’t panic if the sauce isn’t forming instantly. It will take until the last bit of milk to be silky smooth. Cook the sauce over a low heat for 5 minutes to thicken and reduce a bit. Season to taste with some black pepper, salt, maybe some more dill and a pinch of grounded nutmeg if you please.

To get the dish together get an ovenproof dish and grease with some butter. At the bottom put your thawed and squeezed spinach. Drizzle with some of the sauce (about 1/3) than add the flaked salmon and spoon the rest of the sauce over the fish. Finish the dish with a thick layer of mashed potatoes. Spread the top evenly and then fluff it with a fork to get a nice crunch while it’s in the oven.

Either you put it straight in a preheated oven at this point (30-35 minutes on 200C) or you leave it covered in the fridge for later us. In that case you warm it in the oven at the same temperature, for about the same time. Enjoy!

Hearty winter food - sauerkraut mash from the oven

2009-12-29T11:20:00.009+01:00

When days are colder the need for hearty winter food grows for me. A typical winter dish we eat quite often in the Netherlands is a mash with sauerkraut. Now sauerkraut can be quite, ehrm, sauer. This dish however is a milder version. Especially nice for those of us that get reflux from cabbage like vegetables.

The use of sour cream softens the sauerkraut and gives it a nice and creamy taste and texture. Of course no sauerkraut dish is complete without the use of lardons and a big juicy 'rookworst'
You can make this dish in advance and finish it off in the oven on the night you want to eat it. Any left overs are even better the day after!

serves 4 more than generously
1,5 kg potatoes
milk & butter to make the mash
500g sauerkraut of your choice, I used wine sauerkraut
125ml sour cream
250g lardons
1 rookworst
breadcrumbs (from a pack is fine)
bit of butter

Peel and cut the potatoes and cook them for as long as they need to be soft enough to mash. With some milk and butter mash the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. While the potatoes are cooking heat the sauerkraut with the sour cream over a low heat until hot.

Fry the lardons, without using any extra oil!, in a large pan. When crisp drain the lardons on a sheet of kitchen paper. When all this is done preheat your oven to 200C

Now start combining the mash (save about 1/3 of the mash for later) with the sauerkraut. When combined add the lardons and mix again, until incorporated.

Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish and spread evenly. Add sliced pieces of rookworst and cover with the remaining mash. Cover with bread crumbs and add some bits of butter to get a nice crunch. Put the dish in the oven for about 20 minutes until everything is piping hot. The last 5 minutes turn on the grill to get a nice golden crust.

Serve with mustard and some pickles if you like and enjoy!!

Rocky Road, Christmas style

2009-12-23T15:47:00.008+01:00

I'm a big Nigella Lawson fan. That's no secret. I love the way she talks about food, the food she makes, her books, her cooking shows. The works! Just this Monday I was watching Nigellas Christmas and I saw her making Rocky Road.

This type of chocolate bar is not really known in the Netherlands, but I was heavily intrigued by it. How much yummyness can you get into one piece of chocolate? A lot apparently. So as you can figure out yourself, no, it isn't the most health conscious recipe. But what the heck. It's that time of year to indulge and treat yourself. You know you want to....

For about 36 pieces you'll need
350g good quality (70%) chocolate, into pieces
45g golden syrup (or use honey like I did, about 3 tablespoons)
125g soft butter
150g Brasil nuts, chopped
150g glace cherries, roughly chopped
couple of marshmallows, cut up
200g amaretti cookies, smashed up in a bag with a rolling pin into tiny pieces
brownie tin, 24 cm diameter

Melt the chocolate, au bain marie, on a low heat until fully melted. Add the honey and the butter and stir until completely dissolved.

In a separate bowl mix the nuts with the cookies, marshmallows and cherries.

When the chocolate mixture is finished pour this with the rest of the ingredients and mix together really well. Make sure everything is coated with the chocolate.

Line the brownie tin with some baking paper and pour the mixture in. Press firmly to make sure everything sticks together. Transfer to the fridge to firm up. This will take at least 2 hours. After this time you can take the chocolate out of the tin, remove the baking paper and cut up into bite size pieces. If you want, you can dust with some icing sugar for some extra festiveness.

* * * Merry Christmas everybody! * * *

Mini blueberry cheesecakes

2009-12-14T14:37:00.005+01:00

It has been a while since I bought an English Good Food Magazine. But the ones I got in the UK last month have given me plenty ideas to cook and bake from. So much so that, with the help from my friend H. who sends them to me, I renewed my subscription. And luckily so, because in the January issue I came across this recipe for individual cheese cakes.

The original recipe uses digestive biscuits and cranberries. I made a variation on this and turned them into ginger and blueberry cheese cakes. Equally as delightful I think and gone within the weekend. The two that were left were taken to work by Jazz, much to the happiness and frustration of his co-workers. So it is for them that I put up this recipe. Give them a go guys, I'm sure your families will thank you for them :-)

For 12 individual cheesecakes you'll need

250g biscuits, I used ginger snap biscuits

100g butter , melted

600g soft cheese (like Philadelphia)

2 tbsp plain flour

175g sugar

dash vanilla extract

2 eggs , plus 1 yolk

for the ripple

400g blueberries, fresh or frozen

100g icing sugar ,

plus extra for dusting

First make the ripple by putting the blueberries and icing sugar into a pan and cooking down over a medium high heat for 10 minutes until the berries collapse into a thick and sticky sauce. Turn off the heat and leave to cool.

Heat the oven to 180C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 muffin cases. (I use silicone ones)

Crush the biscuits in a plastic bag (great way to get rid of any stress) or whizz in a food processor, then mix with the melted butter. Divide between the muffin cases and press down firmly with your fingers.

In a separate bowl, mix the soft cheese with the flour, sugar and vanilla extract, then gradually beat in the eggs and yolk until smooth. Ripple the berry mix through the cheese, being careful not to over-mix. Spoon the mix into the cases and smooth the tops with the back of the spoon.

,br.Bake for 30 minutes, leave to cool, then chill in the fridge until completely cold.

You could either serve these for afternoon tea or as a dessert with some ice cream and some extra of the blueberry ripple.

More Christmas fun - cranberry & peanut chocolate rocks

2009-12-13T11:53:00.006+01:00

In the Netherlands we call these chocolates 'peanut rocks' (pindarotsjes). Because that is what they are, little rocks of peanuts covered in chocolate. How ever, most of what you buy is made with inferior milky chocolate and just tastes really plain.

So when I came across this recipe last year I made a batch for Christmas, to treat my co workers and they went down like a storm. The best part? Dead easy and super fast to make. The end result is literally minutes away!

For about 30 chocolates you'll need

275g 70% good quality chocolate, cut into pieces

250g dried cranberries

250g unsalted peanuts

sheet of baking paper

Melt the chocolate either in the microwave (4,5 minutes on 650W) or au bain marie over a pan of simmering (not boiling!) water. Chuck the cranberries and peanuts into the melted chocolate and stir until all is covered in chocolate.

Get a piece of baking paper and spoon tiny dollops of the melted chocolate mixture onto the baking paper. Work quickly, because at some point the chocolate will start to cool off. Continue to do so until all your mixture is gone.

Once the chocolate has set, transfer the chocolates to a dish and put it in the fridge so the chocolate can firm up.

Getting ready for Christmas - cranberry compote

2009-12-09T10:44:00.004+01:00

I love preparing food in advance for Christmas. Even more so I love making food that I can give to others. This is one of those things that you can make well in advance, put in a pretty jar, make your own label and give as a gift around Christmas.

It's really simple to make (had you expected anything else?), makes your house smell wonderful and is also rather tasty and versatile. You can serve it with pheasant for your Christmas dinner. Or with some matured cheese along with a nice glass of port. Or even on a cheese sandwich. Give it a go and let me know what you think!

makes about 800ml in total

75ml red wine vinegar

40g chopped fresh ginger

3 onions, chopped finely

1 cinnamon stick

zest of half a lemon and an orange

dried pepper

300g cranberries (fresh or frozen)

2 pears, peeled and cut in tiny pieces

125g dark brown sugar

125g raisins

bring the vinegar, ginger, onion, cinnamon stick, zest and pepper to the boil and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Add the cranberries, pear, sugar and raisin and cook for 30 minutes, stir occasionally. Take out the cinnamon stick and pepper and season with salt and pepper.

Fill four sterilised jars with the hot chutney. Close and turn them, leave that way to cool. This way the chutney will keep in the fridge for at least 14 days. If you want the chutney to last longer bring a large pan with water to the boil. Put the jars (normal way up) in the boiling water and leave them there for 45 minutes. You have than pasteurized the chutney and can even keep out of the fridge for about 6 months.

Another classic - Tarte tatin

2009-11-30T12:08:00.003+01:00

There is a reason why certain dishes are classics. Like the mushroom soup I posted earlier, this one is also another classic. Tarte Tatin is the french interpretation of apple pie. Only in this case it's upside down apple pie. Because you start with the top and end with the crust. Only to flip it over once it's baked. Sounds difficult? Not at all!

And with a few basic but good ingredients you'll have a hot and yummy apple pie on the table in less than 45 minuted. Just make sure that when you flip the tarte tatin you've got the baking tray well and truly covered. You don't want to spill any of those lovely caramel juices!

All it takes
6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (not too thinly)
125g sugar
200g unsalted butter
6 sheets of puff pastry, defrosted if frozen
Baking tin (diameter 24-26 cm)

Preheat oven at 220° C

Melt the butter and sugar over a low heat, careful not to burn it. Pour it into a baking tin while its still warm. Arrange the apples on the sugar/butter layer. Add cinnamon to taste. Cover with the sheets of pastry and bake for about 20-30 minutes. It's ready when the sugar/butter mixture bubbles and the crust is golden brown.

Take out of the oven, cover with a plate and carefully turn over. Serve warm with either cream and/or ice cream if you're serving it as dessert.

Classics - Mushroom soup

2009-11-26T21:50:00.007+01:00

There are a few dishes that everyone, no matter where you live, has a memory of. To me one of those dishes is mushroom soup. My mom used to make it using a package from either Knorr or Honig and added loads of fresh mushrooms to it. I myself can survive on mushroom cup-a-soups for lunch for days.

So I thought it would be a challenge to make this classic soup from scratch. In Foodies, a Dutch cooking magazine that I got a subscription on for my birthday, it had a recipe that appealed to me straight away. I, of course, made a few adjustments to the original recipe but the end result was a really big pot of fragrant and yummy mushroom soup that I can't wait for you to try!

For about 1,5 - 2 liter of soup you'll need
40g dried porcini (or use dried wild mushrooms like I did)
400g potato, peeled and cubed
2 onions, cut up roughly
750g of mixed mushrooms (I used 100g shitake, 250g chestnut and 400g white mushrooms), cleaned and half cut up roughly, the other half cute into slices
2 tablespoons of olive oil
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
salt & pepper
optional: cube of mushroom stock
150g herb cream cheese (like Boursin)
3 spring onions (or 1 big shallot, like I did)
optional; big clove of garlic
tablespoon of olive oil

for the cheese biscuits you'll need
100g finely grated Parmesan
few sprigs of fresh thyme
sheet of baking paper

Soak the dried mushrooms in 1,25L hot water for about 30 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a large enough pan and fry the onion and the roughly cut up half of the mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes and the soaked mushrooms, including the liquid and bring to the boil. Cook, with a lid on the pan for about 20 minutes. Taste for flavour. At this point I found the taste a little to bland and added a cube of mushroom stock that was dissolved in a glass of hot water.

Stir in the herb cream cheese and blend the soup to desired thickness with a hand held mixer or use a blender. Season to taste.

In a pan heat some oil and fry the sliced mushrooms for about 7 minutes, along with the spring onion or shallot. I also fried some garlic with this mixture to give it a little extra kick. Add the fried mushrooms to the blended soup.

To serve with your soup you can make some cheese biscuits. This is really easy.

Preheat your oven to 175C and put a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray. Make layers of the grated Parmesan, either strips or circles, and add a few leaves of fresh thyme.

When the oven is hot put in the baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool. With a spatula carefully remove the cheese biscuits from the tray and serve with your soup!

Simple but brilliant - wild rice & mushrooms

2009-11-24T10:52:00.006+01:00

The simplest dishes sometimes are the best. All it takes are good quality ingredients and a little tender, love and care. This dish has both.

The wild rice was a gift from a friend of mine from the US, but I'm sure that any well stocked supermarket has it these days. The recipe was inspired by an American cooking magazine, but I left out half of the original ingredients. Just because these simple but brilliant ingredients don't need much tralala. They are great on their own!

For 2 people
300g wild mushrooms (try and avoid the plain white mushrooms, as they don't bring much taste)
fresh sage, roughly chopped
frozen peas, as many (or as little) as you like (about 150g)
handful of pecans (or use hazelnuts or almonds if you don't have pecans)
wild rice for 2 (amount according to the packet)

The wild rice takes a long time to cook, so make sure that after you wash it you have enough time to cook it. It will need about 45 minutes.

In the meantime prepare your mushrooms. Don't wash them, but clean any dirt on them with some kitchen paper. Cut them up roughly.

When the rice is nearly done heat some butter in a pan and fry the mushrooms for about 3 minutes. Add the nuts and sage and fry them with the mushrooms for another 3 minutes. Finally add the peas and warm through. Season with salt & pepper. Serve with the wild rice and enjoy!