Not to panic!

I am going to tell you a story. A story that involves a lot of pictures. I have to warn you, these pictures may be damaging to your facial/belly muscles, the ones that enable you to laugh.

A word of advice here.
1) Boiling liquids and glassware are not a suitable couple, but you knew that already, I know I did. Some time ago. Back of my mind.
2) When in panic, push camera button first. Like I learned years ago. See above.

Yesterday I had this flowing feeling going, you know when you clean the kitchen, do the floors, shop groceries, tidy the pantry (!), clean the fridge, have a satisfying phone conversation, decide to cook up a storm. I made sauerkraut, cooked bacon bits, peeled potatoes, made a wonderful pineapple surprise pie, made apple sauce, defrosted the last bit of stewmeat to make a Greek Stifado, made a satisfying ground beef/peanut sauce to freeze and use later…. Well you know…flooooow!
All was well.
Took a kid to the hairdresser, had dinner, got two of the kids to soccer practice. Husband returns from work, walks in the door, says: wow, this smells good! That was my stifado simmering away…
All was well.


So this stifado had to simmer and than the liquid needed to reduce. A lot. Say from 2, 2.5 liters to 1, 1.5. Now, of course you can trust your gut feeling but you may also think hey, why don’t I measure this carefully so I know I’m allright. I never, ever measure. At best I do the wooden spoon handle trick where you put the spoon in upside down and take measure. Good method. Strongly advised. By me. Since last night 11.30.
Suspence getting to you yet?

I strained the beef and vegetables, reduced the sauce (wonderful aroma I can tell you!), eyed the pan, concluded it was down enough. Hesitated..I wanted so much to do this right. Decided to measure. My pyrex measuring bowl was in the dishwasher. Grabbed a lemonade pitcher instead. Started to pour in the boiling sauce. Heard a loud, loud crack. Saw the pitcher split.
Watched half of my precious sauce spoil all over the kitchen counter.
In my drawer.
On the stove.
Froze.

Said some very nasty words. Top of my voice. Another loud crack. My nerves.
Grabbed camera.

Spend the next half hour scrubbing floor, stove kitchen counter, emptied drawer, cleaned some more.

You know what? I did reduce the sauce to exactly the right amount. I knew that.




I rescued half of it. Recipe will follow. When I am sufficiently recovered from shock.










An hour ago....see the sparkle?

Salsa Verde or Persillade

(scroll down for the english version)

Flink bosje peterselie blaadjes ca 25 gram
klein handje basilicumblaadjes
70 gr pijnboompitten
5 kleine augurkjes
10 groene olijven zonder pit
2 teentjes knoflook, heel fijngesneden of geperst
3 el wijnazijn/citroensap
ca. 100 ml milde olijfolie
zout en peper

Mix alle ingredienten behalve de olijfolie in een keukenmachine of blender. Voeg geleidelijk in een dun straaltje de olie toe terwijl de machine draait, voldoende om een romige massa te krijgen. Op smaak brengen met zout en peper.
Je kunt deze saus gebruiken zoals je kruidenboter gebruikt, in de koelkast is hij tot zeker een week goed houdbaar.

We hebben deze saus gegeten bij gegrilde witvis (botervis) en dat was erg lekker alhoewel het best een stevige smaak is. Nog lekkerder vonden wij de combinatie met gepofte aardappel. Het romige pittige van de saus combineert erg goed met de hete aardappel.

----------------------

A persillade is originally a combination of garlic and parsley, crushed untill you get a past-like consistency, whereas salsa verde is usually based on green tomatillos or parsley combined with cilantro, minced onion and lime juice. This salsa has a bit of both. A mix of persillade, salsa verde and pesto maybe. Very good with white fish, grilled or steamed but equally good, or maybe even better when combined with baked potatoes, or oven roasted potatoes. This will give you a jar of salsa verde which will keep in the refrigerator for a week at least.

You'll need:

25 gr of parsley leaves (preferrably flat leaved)
hand full basil leaves
70 gr pine nuts
5 small ghurkins
10 green olives pitted
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 el cider vinegar/lemon juice
ca. 100 ml mild olive oil
salt and pepper

Pulse all ingredients except olive oil in your food processor or blender. Add olive oil in a slow trickle untill you become a smooth, creamy paste. Add salt and pepper to your liking.

We had this accompanying grilled white fish but we liked it even more spooned on a hot baked potatoe! Enjoy!

Cabbage rolls / Koolrolletjes

Stuffed cabbage rolls

1 lg. head green cabbage, ugly leaves removed, peel and set aside 15 or so of the good leaves. chop a part of the lighter core in very thin stripes and use in filling.

Filling:
1 large minced onion
1 tbsp. oil
350 gr ground beef

1 cup/handful chopped cabbage
1 large carrot, in very thin stripes
fresh koriander
1.5 ts cumin seeds (roasted in a dry skillet)
1 red bell pepper
pepper/salt

1 egg, (whisked with a fork)
1/2 cup left over breadcrumb filling (see this recipe) *

Sauce (optional):
2 tbsp. oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. whole wheat flour
2 c. fresh or canned tomatoes, chopped
1 cup tomato juice/vegetable stock
pepper/salt

To make the filling, saute onion in oil, add ground beef, vegetables, and seasonings. (any crunchy vegetable will do, like celery or leek, chopped.). Stir with a fork and saute for 5 minutes. Turn of the heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. When the mixture has cooled sufficiently, add egg and breadcrumb filling, stir and set aside. (Egg and breadcrumb will keep the filling together when steamed or baked).

To make sauce, saute onion in oil until soft. Stir in flour and cook 2 or 3 minutes. Gradually add tomatoes or stock and flavour with pepper and salt, stirring constantly. Lower heat and let simmer for another 30 minutes.

Blanch the reserved outer leaves for 3-5 minutes in boiling water. Drain on a towel and remove core with a sharp knife.

Place 2 to 3 tbs of the meat mixture on the broad side of the leaf. Roll sides of leaf over stuffing; roll up from thick end of the leaf and tuck in the sides as you roll. You can prevent unrolling with a toothpick.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, if you wish to bake the rolls and combine stuffed rolls and sauce in a large baking dish. Spoon sauce over the bottom and place the stuffed leaves seam-side down over the sauce. If I have a lot of rolls, I prefer to bake them in batches, I like to have them in a single layer in the sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 30-45 minutes. Remove toothpicks and serve with sauce.

This time I steamed mine seam side down over boiling water, and omitted the sauce, instead served these in neat slices (toothpicks removed!) with white rice and little dipping bowls of soy sauce mixed with wasabi.

Usually I stir fry cabbage and hide it in a asian inspired dish combined with chicken or shrimp because this family has a severe dislike of cabbage... This time they welcomed the rolls and one of them said: Mam, I don't even notice the flavour of this green lettuce! ....
Wow, isn't that fun honey?

I must admit that they skipped the soy/wasabi and preferred a sweet chili sauce ;) instead.
Another recipe of steamed cabbage rolls you will find here. (Dutch).

Reminder: have you showed your kitchen cabinets yet? Join in a little bit of fun and recognition....

Pantry Pantings/Duik in je kast (2) An Event!

Let's make this official shall we? A one time event... a meme... whatever you call it. I never hosted such a thing before so the mistakes are all mine, and I hope you'll help me where I go wrong.
So for those who may be interested, a one time blogging event called Pantry Pantings. I like to see your stash!

I would like to receive an email or the link to your post by February 5th and do a round-up in the week following. Tell us about -and show!- your pantry, your hidden drawers, your secret or not so secret places where you have your cooking/baking supplies.

If you don't have a blog and you would like to participate you could email yr picture(s) and remarks and I'll try to include them as well. Mind, I'm not much of a computer wizzard but I promise I'll try my best.

Now, you saw a small part of my thoroughly cleaned basement before (I cheated) but I'll show you the dirty details now...

First picture above is upon entering the basement. Looking good, no problem. Down the steps you'll see the tidied part (previous post) and then.. turning clockwise..these are my baking supplies


Turn a little, still clockwise and there's the odd bits and pieces, glass, jars, detergents, romertopf, boxes with cookie cutters, waffle iron, unused cutting boards....









Getting worse... obsolete Ikea colander, cardboard box with Tupperware look-a-likes, gourmet set, shopping bag with table linen, shopping cart.... Shoe polish box thing..

And then.....you've almost made a full turn now.... be prepared....

There you are..... shocked? We missed two old-paper rounds, forgot to take it out...and this is what you accumulate in a month or two... Ahum, the empty bottles are sufficiently hidden behind the papers.

Well, I've showed you mine....would you show me yours?

Pantry pantings / Duik in je kast

You know my pre-occupation about making lists? I looooove to make lists. To-do lists, chore-lists (yes, that's a different one), birthday wishes lists, what to bring lists, do-not-forget-lists, and of course grocery shopping lists which I always seem to leave on the kitchen table. In every pocket in every coat I own you'll find lists. Sometimes you'll end up with stuff you already had stocked up on....and some more.

It doesn't help that we have a basement in this house which is ideal for stocking purposes. Which brings me to the following:

Show me yours and I'll show you mine!

A little variation of "show me the contents of your purse and I'll tell you who you are". A compulsive, impulsive hunter-gatherer you say? Mwaaah you're close!

This is the corner of our basement filled with all kinds of food. I won't show you the rest of the basement which is a junkyard of baking supplies, candles, glasses, earthenware, table linen. Haven't organized that yet.












Anyone else willing to show? Truth or dare!! Let me know!

Arden at Uit de keuken van Arden started all this by cleaning out her pantry, and posting recipes with the treasures she found.

Het is allemaal de schuld ;) van Arden, zij ging haar voorraadkast checken en verzamelde wat nodig gebruikt moest worden. Ze verzon er recepten bij en maakte een post. Bij deze een blik (!) op mijn voorraadkast. Eigenlijk heb ik helemaal geen voorraadkast. Toen we dit huis dreigden te gaan kopen zag ik gelijk mogelijkheden voor de kelder. De vorige bewoners gebruikten de kelder voornamelijk als opslagplaats voor schoenen geloof ik, maar ik voorzag eindeloze planken met voorraad...

Dat is aardig gelukt kan ik je vertellen, helaas is het zo dat hoe meer ruimte je hebt, hoe meer spullen je gaat opslaan. De kelder staat inderdaad vol! Vol met voorraad, wijn, frisdrank, bakblikken, schalen, potjes, kandelaars, kaarsen, tafellakens, vazen, schoonmaakspullen en natuurlijk de oude kranten die we geheid vergeten op tijd aan de straat te zetten en de lege flessen.... Ik verbeeld mezelf dat ik fit blijf door talloze keren per dag die trap op en af te denderen. Jahaa, keep on dreaming.

Ik ben natuurlijk wel zo flauw geweest even op te ruimen voordat ik jullie een kijkje liet nemen, en het viel me alleszins mee, nog niet eens veel over de datum, er kwamen geen "lijken" uit de kast vallen. (Sjonge, ik moet nodig boodschappen gaan doen.) Je hebt de inhoud van mijn voorraad gezien, én.... wie ben ik? Ik zal je een beetje helpen....ik had het uitgevonden kunnen hebben.

Een kleine variatie op: "laat me de inhoud van je tas zien en ik vertel je wie je bent"

Wie doet er mee? Laat het me weten, maak ik een lijstje...!

Worteltjestaart en SAS-dag

Komt een konijn bij de bakker en vraagt: heeft u ook worteltjestaart...?

Stel dat één van uw basisschool kinderen thuiskomt met deze mop dan weet u alvast wat u moet antwoorden: ja, lekker!

Recept:
4 eieren
300 ml plantaardige olie (ik heb half en half appelmoes en olie gebruikt)
2 tl vanille extract
300 gr suiker

240 gr cake meel
1.1/2 tl bakpoeder
2 tl baking soda (natrium bicarbonaat=dubbelkoolzure soda*)
1 tl zout
1/2 el kaneel

250 gr geraspte worteltjes

80 gr geraspte kokosnoot**
100 gr walnoten in stukjes**
150 gr ananas uit blik, fijngesneden**

Eieren mixen in een grote kom, terwijl je blijft mixen giet je langzaam de olie/appelmoes erbij. Dan in gedeeltes de suiker en vanille erbij. Blijf kloppen tot het mengsel licht van kleur wordt, het wordt nu dikker en schuimig, en neemt toe in volume. Afhankelijk van je mixer kan dit best even duren....

In een andere kom alle droge ingredienten even met een garde door elkaar roeren zodat alles goed gemengd is. De inhoud van deze kom gaat bij het eimengsel. (Je mag nu echt stoppen met mixen), pak een stevige lepel en roer door elkaar tot een smeuïg geheel.

Wortels, en jouw keuze aan toevoegingen doorroeren. Dit dikke beslag kan nu vervolgens in de vorm gegoten worden. Let op: het is echt véél beslag. Ik maak hiervan óf een grote vierkante springvorm, óf een normale maat cakevorm plus brownievorm. Kijk even wat je prettig vindt, de normale regels voor cakebeslag gelden ook hier, vullen voor 3/4. Misschien vind je het leuk om, naast 1 cake, nog wat muffins erbij te maken. Kan allemaal.

Bakken in een voorverwarmde oven op 165C, tja voor hoe lang? Dat ligt helemaal aan de vorm die je gebruikt. Houd voor de grote vierkante bakvorm 45-50 minuten aan. Voor ronde, kleinere springvormen 30-35 minuten. Muffins de gebruikelijke 20-25 minuten. Testen kan altijd, de ouderwetse breinaald of je saté prikker.

Je hebt nog nooit worteltjestaart gegeten, kent alleen de mop, bent een beetje bang voor de reacties en eigenlijk wil je weten hoe dat nou smaakt, zo'n worteltjestaart?
Echt erg lekker! Qua uiterlijk een beetje kruidkoek-achtig, maar waar een kruidkoek vaak vast en massief is, is deze luchtig en smeuïg. Zo'n cake die ergens op tafel staat, en waar je stukjes vanaf blijft snijden....nog eentje en nog eentje...

* baking soda kun je kopen bij de apotheek o.a. van het merk Gimborn in een groen kartonnen doosje, vraag naar dubbelkoolzure soda/zuiveringszout/natrium bicarbonaat.
** Qua toevoegingen kun je alle kanten op, de laatste keer heb ik alles erin gegooid: én chocolate chips én walnoten én ananas én kokosrasp ... Lekker!!

Voor het geval je op dieet bent, dan heb je toevallig toch vandaag gewoon een SAS-dag?
(Schijt Aan Sonja)

Storm!

Roept een moeder in de ruimte: ik hol nog snel even naar de supermarkt, even melk halen.

Kinderstem uit de kamer: wat zeg je?

"ik ga even melk halen"

Andere kinderstem: wat ga je doen mam?

met iets meer nadruk "melk halen!"

Twee kinderstemmen tegen elkaar: wát zei ze nou?

Moeder roept ietwat geïrriteerd: hondedrolletjes halen voor in de magnetron.

Driestemmig uit de kamer: oooh, oké

Bij het weglopen hoort de moeder nog gemompel: zei ze nou iets over honden?

Mám, krijgen we een hond?

Ik ben blij dat het hard waait, kun je zo lekker tegenin lopen gillen. Niemand die je hoort. Soms heb je daar niet eens storm voor nodig. Huiskamer met kinderen is ook goed.

Bij deze.

Queen of Coconut Cakes (2)

This is one I did before, but the recipe was in Dutch only. I've had a few requests to enter it in English too so here it is. (And readers, I'm sorry, I think you would have wanted this recipe earlier, but just pretend it's Christmas okay? Look at it from the bright side, you'll have plenty of time to tweak and practice, after all it's going to be Christmas soon!)

This is a classic, first made by Paul Prudhomme, consisting of three layers of golden cake, filled with coconut cream and covered with a luxurious cream cheese frosting…. This is the one I made, based on a recipe found in Sheila Lukins USA Cookbook:

You’ll need:

Filling:
300 ml double cream
190 gr crystallized sugar
2 tbs coconut cream (coco lopez)
1 tbs maizena
1 tbs milk
125 gr butter, room temperature
90 gr coconut flakes

Cakes:
375 gr cake flour
1 tbs baking powder
salt
375 gr crystallized sugar
4 eggs
190 gr. Butter, room temperature, in small pieces
250 ml milk
1 tbs vanilla

Frosting:
170 gr cream cheese
125 gr butter, room temperature
salt
450 gr powdered sugar
3 tbs milk
1 tbs vanilla extract

Syrup:
250 gr crystallized sugar
250 ml water
vanilla
45 gr coconut to decorate

Filling: In a heavily bottomed saucepan cook cream, sugar and coconut over medium heat until soft boiling point. In a separate bowl combine maizena and milk, stir. Add the mix to the hot coconut mixture in the pan, cook for approx. 3 more minutes to let the mixture thicken. Take care to whisk continuously. Add butter and coconut flakes, stir to combine and leave it to set in the fridge (at least 2 hrs).

Cakes: Sift flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a wire beater mix eggs and sugar for 1 minute on medium speed. Add butter, milk and vanilla in parts and mix for another 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the flour and continue mixing for 1 minute.

Divide the batter over three prepared cake tins (buttered and lightly floured) and bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven (175C). Test with a.

Frosting: Cream cream cheese and butter till fluffy (mixer on medium). Add salt, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and beat until smooth. Set aside.

Syrup: In a heavily bottomed saucepan combine water, sugar and vanilla and bring to a rolling boil, cook for three minutes, stir once in a while. Use the syrup to seal the top of your cake layers. This is far more syrup than you need so take care not to drown your cakes!

To assemble your cake: well, I think you can figure this out….
Build layers of cake with the filling in between and finish by artfully applying the cream cheese frosting in a smooth layer or spike it with the back of a metal spoon. I haven’t tried piping this frosting but I think that can be done as well.
Decorate with coconut flakes and use your imagination for other decorations, suited for the occasion!

Tweak no.1: For my Dutch readers; as I stated in the original Dutch recipe, the cream cheese frosting is a bit much for our taste, I suggest you bake this cake, use the filling and substitute the cream cheese frosting for a mascarpone/powdered sugar mix, flavoured with orange or lime. In handling not very different but I think our Dutch palate will be more pleased with it.

Tweak no. 2: Using smaller cakes I substituted the coconut-cream filling for a lime-quark based bavaroise. I liked the combination of a lighter, tangy spread with the soft, fluffy crumb of the cake.

Italian shaped dinner rolls

You know what comes to mind? Puff the magic dragon! Do you think magic dragons were born out of dough? Let's make some.

You start by making a biga, I used Beth Henspergers two-week biga by mixing:
1.2/3 cups warm water (360 gr)
1/3 ts yeast
3.3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (490 gr broodbloem) and let it rest for at least 6 hrs on your countertop. Make sure you use a big enough pot, it will easily triple/quadruple. Store in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.

I didn't use it as planned (it was out, untouched for four days in my cool kitchen annex) and so refreshed it with 3 heaped tbs flour and 3 tbs water, stirred this in and used the next day to make a

Dough using:
400 gr flour
180 gr biga
130 gr milk
100 gr water
2 ts salt
1 ts yeast


This dough is very supple and elastic, wonderfully soft like a baby's bottom. First rise 1.1/2 to 2 hours. Turn the dough out onto your floured work surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Deflate with very gentle hands and pat into a rectangle. Make a log by rolling/folding the dough onto itself, make sure you create surface tension. Seam side down, cover with teatowel and let rest for another 30-45 min.


Sprinkle with some more flour, you will want your dough to be more or less covered in flour







All puffy and floury. Start cutting the dough with a sharp knife (not on your Silpat mat!!) or like I did with a stopping-knife. Don't slice or saw, just press down making clean cuts. These cuts will open up and give your rolls a real upward push. (Like English muffins)



Try to make your rolls not too thin, aim for kind of square instead, they will get so much oven spring that they are likely to keel over on their sides if too small.
This amount of dough will give you approx. 10 rolls.


Bake in a preheated oven (425F or 220C) until gold and crusty for about 22-28 minutes. I baked mine on a baking sheet with lining but I can imagine the effect when baked on a baking stone.
Please mind: always check on your dough, given amounts of liquid may vary according to the flour used.

Coq au vin

in this case transgendered to Poule au vin.
Upon reminiscing devilled eggs and salmon spread, this classic also came to mind, think retro! One of the dishes I used to make when the kids were small and we had friends with kids over for dinner. Easy on the palate, everyone is allowed to use their hands, kids eat chicken and no sauce, adults can have seconds and sauce, easily made in large quantities, almost all of the job can be done the day before, it'll only get better and, as an extra bonus; you will have a large amount of gorgeous rich dark sauce to set off any vegetable stew during the coming days.

As good as it is, it went back in the books as being a done-that, been-there kind of dish. Hmm, time to dust the large dutch oven and cook up a wonderful batch of chicken in the pot.

This time I used:

-olive oil
- knob of butter
- 250 gr (1 cup) pancetta or bacon, cut in small strips
- 5 chicken thighs
- 10 shallots, peeled and halved
- a medium carrot, diced
- two or three celery stalks, strips
- 4 garlic cloves (flattened with a broad knife)
- thyme and rosemary (two or three each, use fresh!)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 bottle Lambrusco*
(don't ask, it was there to be used but I advise some full-bodied red wine)
- 2 tbs cognac
- 250 gr button mushrooms
- salt and pepper

beurre manié: 1 heaped tbs soft butter mixed with 1 heaped tbs flour

*note: I substituted some of the wine with mushroom stock made from cubes I brought home from Italy

Put the bacon, together with the oil and butter, into a Dutch oven (Creuset/Cousances, something thick-bottomed cast iron) and let cook over medium heat. Stir every once in a while, the stripes need to lose fat and get golden brown. Lift with a slotted spoon into a bowl and set apart. In the reserved fat in the pan, sweat your carrot and celery for 5 minutes or so.
Leave this in, and place the seasoned chicken parts on the bottom of the pan, don’t stack! Brown the pieces carefully, these too need to get a nice brown colour, don’t overdo it, you don’t need chestnut, honey will be fine!

Slotted spoon again, lift all chicken and veggies out and loosen all the flavours stuck to the bottom of the pan by browning the onions slowly. They will loose some liquid and thereby making a marriage of flavours, add garlic as well. Return chicken, vegetables and bacon, place herbs here and there, and finally pour in the wine (stock) and cognac. See to it that the chicken is covered in liquid. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down, cover (but not completely) and let simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the meat. Adding the mushrooms 15 minutes before end of cooking time.

I like to reduce the sauce and make it somewhat thicker and I think, more flavourful. So lift out the chicken, turn the heat up and let reduce to let’s say 3/4 of the amount. You could thicken the sauce by adding the beurre manié but watch out for lumps. Always “make a family” by adding spoonfuls of liquid to the bowl with beurre manié, stirring to even out lumps and then add to the sauce. Whisk and let cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Return chicken or spoon over chicken on the plate. Enjoy!
Lovely with mashed potatoes, some greens, good bread and or a decent salad.


I know, I know, this looks....umpffg! How on earth can you make this look good on photos?


We had some great potatoe/sprout mash with this. Our annual Brussels sprout feast? Check!

Mustard and Leek soup

that could be called Vichyssoise, but is not! Why, you ask? You don't, you just read do you?
It is for a reason, should you want to know.

1) it's not cold.
2) it's not about using only the white parts of the leek.
3) my chicken stock wasn't light (as in almost no color) but nicely colored.
4) I used carrot to make a brunoise
5) and I added mustard

Omit the above and act like Anthony Bourdain and you'll have great looking Vichysoisse.
However should you follow my recipe which you will obviously prefer, you'll get a beautiful bowl of steamy creamy soup.

Recipe:

knob of butter
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
6 medium leek, use the white and the lighter green part, thinly sliced
4 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbs sharp mustard
1 tbs honey mustard
250 ml light cream
chives
pepper and salt
chicken stock, I think I used 1-1,5 ltr

Clean and cut the vegetables, reserve the white part of one leek sliced very thinly to add to the plates/bowls just before serving.
In a large soup pot melt the butter over low heat, making sure it is not browning, add the carrot and half of the leeks, stir with a spoon to make sure the vegetables have a coating of butter. Let it sweat for 5 minutes or so, just giving fragrance not coloring! Add rest of leeks and the potato slices and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir to mix.

Time for the chicken stock now, I must admit I added as I saw fit and that means no exact measures, but you will stir and add, and maybe add some more. I use the "feel" of my stirring spoon to know if it needs more stock. Bring to a boil. When there is a nice rolling boil, reduce heat to a slow simmering. Again, use your feel to know when the potatoes and leeks are ready, they should be soft and tender. Close to 25 to 35 minutes cooking time.

I used my Magimix to puree the soup in. If you are using a blender, make sure you'll do this in small portions. (I once found myself covered in banana-goo-milkshake and thát was cold.... need I say more?)
When you're done it's back to the soup pot, on low heat whisk in cream, and add mustard. Stir to mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste. You could add some more bouillon now, should you feel the soup is too thick for your taste.

Last additions: just a spoonful of cognac will add a little depth to the flavour and of course prior to serving sprinkle with freshly cut chives. Whoops, I am leaving out the thinly sliced white leek... add that as well! I like a bit of crunch in this. Enjoy!

PS: Since this isn't much of an effort, you will have time to bake a beautiful loaf of bread, one with a crackly crust that sings once it's done and out of the oven.... I know I did!

En...dit is mijn bijdrage voor de door Aldo van Dining & Wining uitgeschreven receptenwedstrijd. De links van de deelnemende blogs worden deze keer verzameld door Gerrit-Jan van Eetschrijven.

Epiphany or Driekoningen

"Drie Koningen, drie Koningen
Geef mij een nieuwe hoed
Want mijn oude die is versleten
Mijn moeder die mag het niet weten
Drie Koningen, Drie Koningen,
Geef mij een nieuwe hoed!"

This is the song children sing in some areas in the Netherlands and Belgium on the sixth of January. For me, born and raised in a non-religious family in a city near Amsterdam and moved to Brabant almost 17 years ago, it was quite a surprise to answer the doorbell and find three children dressed as kings with lanterns singing this song. Finished singing they looked at me expectantly... what to do? Luckily we (in some cities in the western part of Holland) are used to celebrate Sint Maarten where children make the rounds and ring doorbells, sing songs in return for candy. (Think trick or treat at Halloween). So I knew what was expected. Later on I heard that some people give money as well....

I think I probably have mentioned Carnival before... something I didn't grew up with either... and for years did my very best to get used to. My husband is very much involved in this circus.... being part of the organising committee. Did I say very much involved?
So last Saturday a quarter of the population of tiny town could be found dressed as kings, ringing doorbells and singing to the rest of tiny town....waving lanterns and collecting-boxes, collecting money to fund the celebration of Carnival for the children and elderly here in tiny town. (I once found 6 Kings on my doorstep accompanied by a sheep!) Waving is not only the appropriate word for the lanterns and boxes as the habit is that you'll invite the Kings in for a drink... (For your information that evening the sheep was left outside while the Kings had their jenever..) Some of the Kings are known to "wave" their way back to the community centre to deliver their treasures.

And in the aftermath....there is scrubbing the shower (committee members are painted black to resemble Balthasar) and doing laundry...

Large amounts of velvet robes in baroque colours are hanging from every line I have.

To quote Mel Brooks: It's good to be the King!

Pletzlach or Flam pletzel

Sometimes you read blogs and get inspired, sometimes you get inspired, read blogs and discover that the blogosphere is munching on onion covered yeast bread....

I had this one bookmarked with a bright orange post-it for ages (see, getting all defensive) and finally made a batch this weekend and in preparing the post discovered that flam pletzel and pletzlach are one and the same. Remembered Lindy (Toast) did a pletzlach post, saw Rebecca Pelz's recipe pop up in the NY Times (don't get your hopes up, this bread involves kneading and rising and rolling....) and the Wednesday chef.

But my description of who is baking pletzlach around the globe can never top "Mom" at Eat who says in this post: " I’m visualizing hordes of goyim across the blogosphere baking yeast-raised Jewish specialty breads, like these pletzlach, and causing Passover-observing Jews to choke on their matzoh."
Yeah that's me, the goy I mean! Especially when you read the recipe and see that I added some pesto on top. Gasp! There is no excuse for adding pesto other than the nearly finished big tub still resting in the fridge from eh.. last year's extravagance. And the best excuse of all: it is gooood! Do I hear someone choking? For the recipe I read Maggie Glezer's book: "a Blessing of Bread", we had to get to know each other but we're getting along fine now I sorted out the differences in flour/liquid measurements.

Basically you'll need one recipe risen challah dough, which is punched down, divided into pieces, shaped into rounds and covered to have their second rise.
Roll the rounds to flat disks (10-15 cm) with a rolling pin, cover and let rise again till puffy, they will get twice as thick, very airy and soft. Each rise will take about 1 hr (or 1.1/2).

Finally you'll get to garnish: top with very finely chopped onion, sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper and poppy seeds. In this case I omitted the salt and smeared a scant teaspoon of pesto on top prior to adding the onions and poppy seeds. Maybe you'll need to press the onions with your fingers to prevent bald pletzels and blackened onions on your bakingsheets...
Bake in a preheated oven (375F- 180C) 25-35 minutes depending on size and oven.

This is the dough I used:

nearly 2.1/2 ts yeast (yes Dutch fellowbakers, indeed it is a lot!)
270 gr bloem (2 cups ap flour)
270 gr volkoren (2 cups whole wheat)
3 tbs olie (3 tbs vegetable oil)
2 ts zout (2 ts salt)
dash of pepper
250 gr + 3 el warm water (1 cup warm water)

Using your hands, bread maker or stand mixer to make a dough that is supple and soft, using whole wheat means you'll have to knead thoroughly to get the desired softness. Follow up with the directions mentioned above.

Eat as you like, with a bowl of heartwarming creamy soup, slice into wedges and enjoy with some wine, or sneak some in your son's lunchbox... They will reheat easily in the oven sprinkled with some water.

Salmon spread

Just one more time? The last bit of hip hugging dishes? Since this salad is traditional fare on New Years day in our family since oh, I think maybe the seventies. I remember my mom added deviled eggs as a garnish and those are definitely seventies! (You know the filled egg halves on their special plate?) Now I know how old you are...we had a green one.

This easy to assemble, easy-going salad feels at home with all kinds of toast, bread, dark rye, crunches or by itself on a small platter. In a luxurious mood or bigger company you can add all kinds of seafood and crudité to garnish. Don't forget to decorate with swirls of squeezed ketchup from a tube, definitely 70's.

Don't forget to watch the Wiener Philharmoniker performing the New Years concert, and of course the ski jump competition at Garmisch Partenkirchen while your munching on the last oliebollen! Lien from Notitie van Lien shares the same memories, she posted her recipe too ánd in English as well. Our recipes are more or less the same, here's mine:

Body:

- 600 grms potatoes, boiled and crudely mashed with a fork
- 1 small onion, tiny cubes
- 3 pickle spears, cubed
- 500 gr salmon (tinned), picked -bones!-
- half of a large apple (golden delicious/granny smith), small cubes
- quarter cucumber, deseeded, small cubes
- 2 eggs, boiled
- capers (love the salted ones, see above picture)

Sauce:
- approx. 1.1/2 cup of equal amounts mayonnaise and thick yoghurt (or mascarpone/sour cream)
- 2 tbs dill tops
- 1 tbs paprika powder
- 1 ts ground chili flakes
- dash of worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbs sharp mustard
- 2 tbs ketchup
- pepper and salt
maybe you would like to add a little bit of the pickle juice to moisten the spread, it's all up to you.

Assembling is easy, mix the ingredients of the sauce in a bowl (make sure you have a bigger one than the small yellow one I was using, hehe). Then, in a separate bowl you first mix the potatoes with some of the sauce to moisten it, then carefully mix in the rest of the "body" ingredients. You can add more of the sauce along the way, try to get a feel of how moist you like to have the end result.

Almost there, ready to garnish...

About being Martha..

Looking back, just the last few weeks...

Decorated the house, sent the cards, baked the cookies, kneaded the bread, made wreaths, wrapped the presents, hauled the groceries, cleaned the house, but no, I can't make it snow!



A simple welcome for guests on our front door.

Another wreath

A moment of peace captured in pixels. Not cluttered for once and only briefly..







Timo's class school dinner: "cooking with stars"
There were 6 of them, each had their own designated kitchen counter area, but hey, it is far more interesting to watch the others.
Dividing and weighing dough for their christmas dinner rolls.

And finally baked oliebollen, enough to feed an army, but that is only what I think...they will all be eaten by family, friends and guests by the first of January.

Which is traditionally greeted with the New Years concert, ski jumping at Garmisch Partenkirchen and a buffet with all "left overs" and the family recipe of salmon spread.