Right,
so it's been one year since I last updated. Speaking of bad blog management. Anyway, to pick up where I left: let's start talking about cooking!
I've recently landed a volunteer job at the local art house film theater , and the day after tomorrow their annual dinner party is going to take place. Of course, I'll be attending. Everyone will bring a different dish and looking at what we'll eat is making me hungry. Black bean soup, salads, cakes, you name it, it's there. Of course, since I've only just started working with them, I want to impress my co-workers. So I've came up with a brilliant idea. I will be making A Cheesecake (capitals intended). And not just some cheesecake, no, it's going to be a strawberry sundae cheesecake.
I dug up the recipe in a cook book my boyfriend once bought me while scaveging in New York. It's title; I love Cheesecakes, by Mary Crownover. Basically, I love it. If possible, I'd use it every week, but then I wouldn't be able to impress anyone with my fabrications any more.
So my plan is to make it tomorrow evening. Of course, you will be treated to pictures. An actual slice will cost you a flight ticket to the Netherlands and considerable time. To tease you a little, here's a description of how it's supposed to look like.
Its crust will consist of chocolate filled cookies crushed with a mixture of butter. The filling is going to be made out of cream cheese, vanilla extract, cocoa, strawberries, and some lemon to add a pinch of sour.
The topping will be made of whipped cream and whole strawberries dipped in chocolate.
:D
I am looking forward to tomorrow!
dinsdag 22 juni 2010
donderdag 2 juli 2009
An oven & steamed broccoli!
I will start a new quest from today on. In the apartment I used to call my home we had a very nice oven: in fact, I may even call it the best electric oven I ever used in my entire life. I absolutely love baking cakes and I like the occassional deep fried pizza as well (a shame, I know!) so an oven is absolutely a must-have. So flash forward to when I moved into my new place. A somewhat larger (though messier) kitchen, gas instead of induction, and a microwave I can actually get along with. But no oven! Gah! Apparently, one of the former inhabitants of this apartment brought along a very fine oven that was used often by the housemates as well. But when she moved out she took the oven with her. Probably because it was a very useful oven, and an oven I would have loved to be able to use today. No oven dishes, no pizza... :(
So I am thinking of buying myself an oven. I just had a tax return so I might pull it off with that money, though I actually wanted to buy a new computer as well (luxury choices, how I hate those). I imagine the kind of things I would be able to do with my very own oven. Roasted shrimps? Baked salmon with a little bit of lemon? Potatoes and garlic with some more lemon? And the cakes! Especially the cakes I could make!
For now, however, I had to stick with just plain old boring cooking. Aside from the sumptuous dinner Sir G. & I had last Tuesday, I ate some jalapenos flavored beef (with coriander, some jalapenos) with lemon flavored risotto & broccoli steamed in garlic oil on Monday & the same jalapenos flavored beef but this time with a Japanese version of potato salad yesterday (= Wednesday).
The broccoli in garlic oil was one of my own ideas. For this, you need broccoli, some olive oil, some garlic, and some salt. Chop the broccoli while the water boils. Salt the water, then cook the broccoli for about three to four minutes. Heat the oil in a pan, put some chopped garlic in it and let it simmer for a while before throwing the broccoli in the pan and closing the pan off with a lid. Steam for about four minutes and you're done.
Now you're probably wondering why I cooked the broccoli first: well, I honestly had no idea what I was doing, and I thought that while experiments are great, you at least need to make sure the food is well heated to prevent bacteria from spreading. Sometimes when I only steam vegetables such as broccoli I seem not to take enough time, and it is still raw on the inside. So if I can prevent this by cooking it first, why not do exactly that? I hope that if anyone reads this they actually try to prepare this because I thought it was great! The garlic oil adds a little spice to the broccoli and if you finish it with some pepper it's even better.
Until next time!
So I am thinking of buying myself an oven. I just had a tax return so I might pull it off with that money, though I actually wanted to buy a new computer as well (luxury choices, how I hate those). I imagine the kind of things I would be able to do with my very own oven. Roasted shrimps? Baked salmon with a little bit of lemon? Potatoes and garlic with some more lemon? And the cakes! Especially the cakes I could make!
For now, however, I had to stick with just plain old boring cooking. Aside from the sumptuous dinner Sir G. & I had last Tuesday, I ate some jalapenos flavored beef (with coriander, some jalapenos) with lemon flavored risotto & broccoli steamed in garlic oil on Monday & the same jalapenos flavored beef but this time with a Japanese version of potato salad yesterday (= Wednesday).
The broccoli in garlic oil was one of my own ideas. For this, you need broccoli, some olive oil, some garlic, and some salt. Chop the broccoli while the water boils. Salt the water, then cook the broccoli for about three to four minutes. Heat the oil in a pan, put some chopped garlic in it and let it simmer for a while before throwing the broccoli in the pan and closing the pan off with a lid. Steam for about four minutes and you're done.
Now you're probably wondering why I cooked the broccoli first: well, I honestly had no idea what I was doing, and I thought that while experiments are great, you at least need to make sure the food is well heated to prevent bacteria from spreading. Sometimes when I only steam vegetables such as broccoli I seem not to take enough time, and it is still raw on the inside. So if I can prevent this by cooking it first, why not do exactly that? I hope that if anyone reads this they actually try to prepare this because I thought it was great! The garlic oil adds a little spice to the broccoli and if you finish it with some pepper it's even better.
Until next time!
woensdag 1 juli 2009
Out for dinner again!?
Yes sir! My dear boyfriend, sir G., took me out to dinner yet again. I am such a lucky girl. And one prone for some weight gain too, after the number of courses I tasted yesterday. We made a reservation at the same Italian restaurant we went to last week for their themed dinner party and it was absolutely lovely!
First, we started with an appetizer of beans with pecorino cheese, served with a glass of prosecco and strawberries. The cheese was of really good quality and it was a perfect match with the beans. Our starter consisted of three smaller dishes. We had a roasted bean and tomato soup, with a tomato stuffed with rice, and a fig with parma ham. Served with it was a glass of dry white wine. The soup was absolutely lovely and I loved the combination of the fig and parma ham. I wasn't sold on the stuffed tomato, though. Overall, a good starter.
Then we had two seperate pasta dishes. Course #3 (because I do count the appetizer as a course since it was quite a lot) was a papardelle with a kind of stew. It tasted familiar so I am sure I have the name of the particular dish stored somewhere. It was delicious, I can tell you!
Course #4 was a variation on the classic spaghetti carbonara. It was a little salty, because the cook had used pecorino cheese in the sauce instead of an egg. Even though, it was still nice and I finished my plate with delight.
The main course was a lamb chomb, with roasted potatoes with rosemary, spinach with raisins and pine nuts, and saltimbocca. To complement it, the main course was served with a bardolino.
After this, both sir G. & I were feeling a little overwhelmed. So the sorbet with limoncello that came after the main course was a welcome diversion from the feast we had just consumed.
To complete the meal, we had almond cookies with fresh food and a dessert wine that luckily wasn't as sweet as I had expected.
We both felt very happy after dinner, so we took a nice walk home, talking to each other and looking at random bunnies playing in a field, and a strange cat that kept staring at us. How I love life at moments like these!
First, we started with an appetizer of beans with pecorino cheese, served with a glass of prosecco and strawberries. The cheese was of really good quality and it was a perfect match with the beans. Our starter consisted of three smaller dishes. We had a roasted bean and tomato soup, with a tomato stuffed with rice, and a fig with parma ham. Served with it was a glass of dry white wine. The soup was absolutely lovely and I loved the combination of the fig and parma ham. I wasn't sold on the stuffed tomato, though. Overall, a good starter.
Then we had two seperate pasta dishes. Course #3 (because I do count the appetizer as a course since it was quite a lot) was a papardelle with a kind of stew. It tasted familiar so I am sure I have the name of the particular dish stored somewhere. It was delicious, I can tell you!
Course #4 was a variation on the classic spaghetti carbonara. It was a little salty, because the cook had used pecorino cheese in the sauce instead of an egg. Even though, it was still nice and I finished my plate with delight.
The main course was a lamb chomb, with roasted potatoes with rosemary, spinach with raisins and pine nuts, and saltimbocca. To complement it, the main course was served with a bardolino.
After this, both sir G. & I were feeling a little overwhelmed. So the sorbet with limoncello that came after the main course was a welcome diversion from the feast we had just consumed.
To complete the meal, we had almond cookies with fresh food and a dessert wine that luckily wasn't as sweet as I had expected.
We both felt very happy after dinner, so we took a nice walk home, talking to each other and looking at random bunnies playing in a field, and a strange cat that kept staring at us. How I love life at moments like these!
woensdag 24 juni 2009
Move
So I haven't been a very faithful blogger, mostly because I had trouble getting myself a new place to live and actually moving in and getting stuff together. But it looks like I am all set now to continue talking about food!
In the mean time I've been so very lucky to go out for dinner no less than three times, and I only had to pay for it once. ;) The first time, my boyfriend invited me to dinner in a Mexican restaurant. Now there are Mexican restaurants and Mexican restaurants and this one was a mediocre one. I know of an exceptionally good restaurant in Den Bosch, but we wanted to keep it close to home so we ate out here in N. We both had roasted chorizo for our starter and it wasn't very good. The sausage itself was dry and I had to chew pretty hard to get through it. And it wasn't particularly large either. Normally, in case of fat sausages such as chorizo, roasting it would only enhance the flavor and make it rather crispy.
For main's, I had enchilada's (cannot remember what G. ate, but like me, he didn't finish his plate). The cheese used for the enchiladas was a rather cheap mozzarella. Usually, when I eat Mexican, I prefer a more ripe cheese such as a good cheddar. The beef the enchilada's were filled with was rather tasteless. Served with it were black beans and a salad with jalapenos. We left without opting for a dessert.
Then the second time, my mother invited me to dinner in a sweet little Italian place. It was a very pleasant surprise! For starter's I had shrimps in a tomato sauce. It seemed relatively easy to make. I tasted olive oil, basil and canned tomatoes. Perhaps grilling the shrimps in some olive oil and then make the sauce with some olive oil, garlic, a small onion, canned tomatoes, then mash it and put the basil in it? Idea idea!
For the main course I had ravioli (and it was freshly made!) filled with ricotta and spinach. To top it was a creamy cheese sauce. Jum jum! Then for dessert I had this huge bowl of vanilla ice cream, with chocolate sauce and advocat. (or whatever you call it in English :) )
The food was actually so tasty and relatively cheap that I decided to take G. with me to that very same restaurant, yesterday. First we had a nice glass of wine, with some olives and bread with tomato salsa. (The bread is roasted, then some olive oil is dripped on it, and they add a mixture of chopped red onion, chopped tomato and sometimes sliced fresh garlic) For our starter's he had a very simple shrimp salad. I ordered an antipasto plate with many delicious kinds of salami and Italian smoked hams. It was served with some additional olives and a rather mild, white, firm cheese. I tasted it somewhere before and I am now constantly thinking of it, trying to remember what it was called!
Then G. went all 'crazy' and ordered pizza carbanora. I had veal in gorgonzola sauce with mushrooms. Can I just say I love veal in gorgonzola sauce? The texture is just divine and! The sauce wasn't too heavy and tasted just right. And G. enjoyed his pizza.
For our dessert we both had a 'sorbetto': lemon icecream (I think?) mixed with club soda and limoncello. I topped it off with a decaf espresso.
We had a really great time and are opting to go to the same restaurant again next week! In fact, they are organising a Roman themed dinner, the menu looked so delicious, and we have too much money, so we made them save us a spot. :D I am already excited for it!
In the mean time I've been so very lucky to go out for dinner no less than three times, and I only had to pay for it once. ;) The first time, my boyfriend invited me to dinner in a Mexican restaurant. Now there are Mexican restaurants and Mexican restaurants and this one was a mediocre one. I know of an exceptionally good restaurant in Den Bosch, but we wanted to keep it close to home so we ate out here in N. We both had roasted chorizo for our starter and it wasn't very good. The sausage itself was dry and I had to chew pretty hard to get through it. And it wasn't particularly large either. Normally, in case of fat sausages such as chorizo, roasting it would only enhance the flavor and make it rather crispy.
For main's, I had enchilada's (cannot remember what G. ate, but like me, he didn't finish his plate). The cheese used for the enchiladas was a rather cheap mozzarella. Usually, when I eat Mexican, I prefer a more ripe cheese such as a good cheddar. The beef the enchilada's were filled with was rather tasteless. Served with it were black beans and a salad with jalapenos. We left without opting for a dessert.
Then the second time, my mother invited me to dinner in a sweet little Italian place. It was a very pleasant surprise! For starter's I had shrimps in a tomato sauce. It seemed relatively easy to make. I tasted olive oil, basil and canned tomatoes. Perhaps grilling the shrimps in some olive oil and then make the sauce with some olive oil, garlic, a small onion, canned tomatoes, then mash it and put the basil in it? Idea idea!
For the main course I had ravioli (and it was freshly made!) filled with ricotta and spinach. To top it was a creamy cheese sauce. Jum jum! Then for dessert I had this huge bowl of vanilla ice cream, with chocolate sauce and advocat. (or whatever you call it in English :) )
The food was actually so tasty and relatively cheap that I decided to take G. with me to that very same restaurant, yesterday. First we had a nice glass of wine, with some olives and bread with tomato salsa. (The bread is roasted, then some olive oil is dripped on it, and they add a mixture of chopped red onion, chopped tomato and sometimes sliced fresh garlic) For our starter's he had a very simple shrimp salad. I ordered an antipasto plate with many delicious kinds of salami and Italian smoked hams. It was served with some additional olives and a rather mild, white, firm cheese. I tasted it somewhere before and I am now constantly thinking of it, trying to remember what it was called!
Then G. went all 'crazy' and ordered pizza carbanora. I had veal in gorgonzola sauce with mushrooms. Can I just say I love veal in gorgonzola sauce? The texture is just divine and! The sauce wasn't too heavy and tasted just right. And G. enjoyed his pizza.
For our dessert we both had a 'sorbetto': lemon icecream (I think?) mixed with club soda and limoncello. I topped it off with a decaf espresso.
We had a really great time and are opting to go to the same restaurant again next week! In fact, they are organising a Roman themed dinner, the menu looked so delicious, and we have too much money, so we made them save us a spot. :D I am already excited for it!
vrijdag 22 mei 2009
Salad for lunch
Yesterday I found myself without bread for sandwiches on a national holiday. Of course, all the shops were closed so I couldn't run to the supermarket to fetch me something to eat either. I didn't starve to death because I did have a few things left in the fridge, but no Hollandse broodjes kaas for me.
Basically, old farmer's wisedom says children grow strong and tall on Dutch cheese sandwiches {Hollandse broodjes kaas} ;). Dutch cheeses are certainly the most delicious kinds of cheeses in the world in my humble opinion. They taste fine on every hour of the day {and night, if you fancy a midnight snack}. The opposite is true for French cheeses. Somehow I can only eat those after 12 in the afternoon, but that's another story.
Now and then I get very nostalgic, and it is at that time that I want to eat cheese sandwiches. But yesterday I didn't have any sandwiches {or cheese, lol} at the crucial moment. So instead I made myself a salad. I do all my grocery shopping for the rest of the week on Monday. The reason I do this is a very pragmatic one, it is to prevent myself from going over budget. I write down what ingredients I have left in my cabinets, and then see what I can make out of it for the rest of the week. Usually, I don't pay more than 20-25 Euros for five days worth of food (that is breakfast, lunch, fruits and dinner, I almost never eat snacks). I thought I might as well eat a salad for dinner on Wednesday, but I had left overs to eat from Tuesday that evening, so all the ingredients of the salad were awaiting me in my fridge.
First I baked out some chopped mushrooms in melted butter in oil with some thime. I cooked 2 eggs {remember the eggs? I have to finish them before May 25th!} for ten minutes in boiling water. I then sliched the eggs, washed out the greens for the salad en mixed the eggs and mushrooms with it. To finish I used some red port dressing I bought at Oil & Vinegar. It was a great lunch, I tell you that! And then to think the mushrooms and eggs were actually left overs {remember my miserable omelet? yeah, that one, yeah}! I made a picture I might post later to show you. Nothing wrong with a luke warm salad. I'd suggest you try it!
Basically, old farmer's wisedom says children grow strong and tall on Dutch cheese sandwiches {Hollandse broodjes kaas} ;). Dutch cheeses are certainly the most delicious kinds of cheeses in the world in my humble opinion. They taste fine on every hour of the day {and night, if you fancy a midnight snack}. The opposite is true for French cheeses. Somehow I can only eat those after 12 in the afternoon, but that's another story.
Now and then I get very nostalgic, and it is at that time that I want to eat cheese sandwiches. But yesterday I didn't have any sandwiches {or cheese, lol} at the crucial moment. So instead I made myself a salad. I do all my grocery shopping for the rest of the week on Monday. The reason I do this is a very pragmatic one, it is to prevent myself from going over budget. I write down what ingredients I have left in my cabinets, and then see what I can make out of it for the rest of the week. Usually, I don't pay more than 20-25 Euros for five days worth of food (that is breakfast, lunch, fruits and dinner, I almost never eat snacks). I thought I might as well eat a salad for dinner on Wednesday, but I had left overs to eat from Tuesday that evening, so all the ingredients of the salad were awaiting me in my fridge.
First I baked out some chopped mushrooms in melted butter in oil with some thime. I cooked 2 eggs {remember the eggs? I have to finish them before May 25th!} for ten minutes in boiling water. I then sliched the eggs, washed out the greens for the salad en mixed the eggs and mushrooms with it. To finish I used some red port dressing I bought at Oil & Vinegar. It was a great lunch, I tell you that! And then to think the mushrooms and eggs were actually left overs {remember my miserable omelet? yeah, that one, yeah}! I made a picture I might post later to show you. Nothing wrong with a luke warm salad. I'd suggest you try it!
woensdag 20 mei 2009
Omelet
I hate to admit it, but even though I think I am pretty good at cooking, I suck at making omelets. I had this great idea to make myself an omelet yesterday since I had about six eggs left which I could only use until the 25th. I am not a big egg eater so I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, the project utterly failed.
I found a recipe in one of the few books I own myself, I guess you could roughly translate it as farmer's omelet. You were supposed to cook some chopped potatoes, then bake out some bacon, leave the grease in the pan, then bake the potatoes in it, throw the bacon back in with some peas and herbs and pepper and bake it just a little further before adding the egg. (Which you had to, by the way, mix with some milk beforehand) Piece of cake, right? Well, not for me. Perhaps I am a little too impatient. The recipe mentioned baking the egg at low temperature so I did. But the egg never got firm enough and I was hungry so I just grated the whole shebang out of the pan and ate it like that. I have a picture somewhere of the 'omelet' still in the pan (I took it when I still believed I could actually make this omelet thing work) so I might post it later so you can see that it actually did look like it would work (and taste nicely!) . Sigh*.
Maybe a cooking course would do the trick?
I found a recipe in one of the few books I own myself, I guess you could roughly translate it as farmer's omelet. You were supposed to cook some chopped potatoes, then bake out some bacon, leave the grease in the pan, then bake the potatoes in it, throw the bacon back in with some peas and herbs and pepper and bake it just a little further before adding the egg. (Which you had to, by the way, mix with some milk beforehand) Piece of cake, right? Well, not for me. Perhaps I am a little too impatient. The recipe mentioned baking the egg at low temperature so I did. But the egg never got firm enough and I was hungry so I just grated the whole shebang out of the pan and ate it like that. I have a picture somewhere of the 'omelet' still in the pan (I took it when I still believed I could actually make this omelet thing work) so I might post it later so you can see that it actually did look like it would work (and taste nicely!) . Sigh*.
Maybe a cooking course would do the trick?
donderdag 14 mei 2009
7-up
I've learned something today: if you are nervous, do not drink 7-up, because it will make you burp. The burping was probably not the reason why I didn't end up being accepted into a new house {searching for a new place to live here} but it more or less points at the kind of state I was in. I don't like being confronted with five or six people shooting questions at me. Especially not when I constantly feel like I need to repress the burps. :D
So now I feel a little down. The only thing that keeps me from becoming really moody is the thought of cheesecakes. Yum. I really feel like making myself {ok, and my friends} one. Here's the deal: my birthday was a good 6 weeks ago, but I still haven't celebrated it properly, while it was my 21st. Important number! A few days ago one of my friends proposed to celebrate it together. She turned 21 about three weeks after me. We have a few common friends so it could work. If we would do this, I would be making a cheesecake, and she a carrot cake. Dreamy! It would probably be the best birthday party ever.
Ever since I turned 18, I've prepared all the food for birthdays myself. It sometimes involves cooking five course meals for 25 people. With cakes. The strange thing is: I actually enjoy it. I actually enjoy standing in the kitchen from two days in advance, and to stress out over really trivial things like burned chocolate. It's a big relieve from everyday stress.
So, I wonder, would it be a good idea for me to start making a cake right now? It's more likely I won't {it's 23:28 here} but tomorrow is another day. Without the 7-up, of course.
So now I feel a little down. The only thing that keeps me from becoming really moody is the thought of cheesecakes. Yum. I really feel like making myself {ok, and my friends} one. Here's the deal: my birthday was a good 6 weeks ago, but I still haven't celebrated it properly, while it was my 21st. Important number! A few days ago one of my friends proposed to celebrate it together. She turned 21 about three weeks after me. We have a few common friends so it could work. If we would do this, I would be making a cheesecake, and she a carrot cake. Dreamy! It would probably be the best birthday party ever.
Ever since I turned 18, I've prepared all the food for birthdays myself. It sometimes involves cooking five course meals for 25 people. With cakes. The strange thing is: I actually enjoy it. I actually enjoy standing in the kitchen from two days in advance, and to stress out over really trivial things like burned chocolate. It's a big relieve from everyday stress.
So, I wonder, would it be a good idea for me to start making a cake right now? It's more likely I won't {it's 23:28 here} but tomorrow is another day. Without the 7-up, of course.
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