a new year

Our house is finally back together! Yesterday we made a 3 course meal with a spinach salad contribution from Marcel, a delicious nutty moussaka from Alexander, and I made my first scones ever, lemon cranberry scones, out of "fresh" cranberries left over from Thanksgiving. Marcel whipped the rest of the cranberries into a sauce for on top of the scones. I guess one perk of being unemployed (and all three of us are) is that you have time to cook.

Afterwards, some of us went to see the Monday night sneak preview at the film house. The movie was Un prophète, a good movie, but incredibly hard to watch. I squirmed through the whole movie. Tonight I'm going to check out the Money Fix, which is being screened by Transition Towns Rotterdam. Next week IFFR starts!

Life etc, moving to Rotterdam!

After a few days of anxious waiting, we got the house in Coolhaven. I'm very excited to move, but it seems like we first have to complete an endless amount of paperwork. I'm guessing that it will take us another week before we get the keys to the kingdom. I already packed some bags and have been rearranging furniture in my head.



View Larger Map

I will miss my roommates, and I'm sad that I will have to say goodbye to this great blackberry patch I only recently discovered with Inga and Alexander. The result was 3 occasions for blackberry-pie-bars: cooking with Inga, for Peet's 60th, and for my roommates.


I recommend this recipe from Buns In My Oven

Other than that, the weather has been extremely nice for the past couple of days. On Tuesday, I finally fixed my bike and biked to Rotterdam with Inga and Yulia for a yoga class. It's good to be friends with architects :] Wednesday, I tagged along with Yulia, Onno and their friend, Kamala on an evening trip to Wijk bij Duurstede. We walked around the old city center and ate Chinese food on the floor of an empty 500 year old house. The house was amazing, with nicely proportioned rooms, a charmingly overgrown garden, a small gnome sized window overlooking the garden from upstairs, and thick clay walls keeping out the summer heat. We stayed there until it got dark, scaring ourselves with ghost stories. I will post some more pictures, if I get them from Yulia...



Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede: the only one in the world that you can drive under and located on a dijk, according to Onno

This weekend Marcel is coming back from Columbia, and we'll be going to Solar Festival in Roermond. I'm excited for my first camping-style festival. In exchange for tickets, we'll help with building up the Pleereef and we will be required to wear ridiculous/awesome outfits. We leave tomorrow morning by bus...

April is the cruelest month

breeding spargel out of dark land...

Dutch people are obsessed with asparagus during asparagus season, and rightly so...because it is delicious. The difference is that they mainly eat white (spargel) versus green or other types of asparagus. For me the jury is out which one is more delicious. The green variety is generally more flavorful but I like the chubby succulent and translucent quality of white asparagus. They are totally different animals in any case.


Photo I took from the internet.

There are many ways of eating asparagus, and I have eaten it twice now this year. Michiel made a delicious version featuring asparagus with butter sauce, egg, ham, and potatoes on the side. mmm. The other day, I tried making asparagus with anchovies with Jorn. I love anchovies and became interested in using them in food after Inga made me anchovies and runner beans once. Also they remind me of going to Spain, tapas, trying different brands of anchovies out of tins.

Here is the recipe I modified from the UK Times. I think this recipe is for green asparagus.

I left out the lemon zest, parsley, and parmesan because I didn't have any. Also, I peeled the asparaguses so that they would be tender. The end result was pretty delicious, but I have to practice either peeling the asparaguses better or steam them for longer.
It turned out really delicious, though I need practice steaming asparaguses.

Finally, a detail that I have not observed for myself but is a source of complaint and comment for others. As Marcel Proust says, "[asparagus] transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume." Asparagus doesn't make my pee smell! Well according to Wikipedia it does: "all individuals produce the odorous compounds after eating asparagus, but only about 40% of the population have the autosomal genes required to smell them." Damn those nonexistent autosomal genes!

In other news. I brought some MSG back from California and stole a Chinese recipe book from my grandma's house which was stolen from my mother's house. Now I can't wait to try some Chinese cooking. More updates on this to come.

Rotterdam Market and Mussels

Naomi visited me last week marking the, ashamedly, first time I have gone to the Rotterdam market since moving to the Netherlands. On market days (Tues, Thurs, Sat), the giant square at Rotterdam Blaak is filled with hundreds of stands. There we acquired fish and several second hand granny sweaters each.

Today, I went to the Rotterdam market again together with Inga, and some others. We bought some mussels for dinner.

A Mussel Recipe (from Inga's mom)
mussels for 3-4 persons (~2kg)
4-6 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 shallots finely chopped
2 sliced tomatoes

1 bunch chopped coriander
2 cups creme fraiche
1 chopped leek

1. Sautee shallots in olive oil with garlic
2. Add the mussels with ~1/2 liter of water (?)
3. Steam the mussels
4. Remove the mussels onto a serving plate
5. From the left over water, add the creme fraiche, leek and tomatoes
6. Heat and reduce
7. Add coriander and serve on top of mussels

Lasagna and other cooking adventures

This previous week has been the week of lasagnas. I went from a sometimes almost never eater of lasagna to the "chef" or "sous-chef" of three different lasagnas. In general I find oven dishes mysterious, maybe due to my stir-fry Chinese food background. Also, I never had the ambition to try to learn any oven dishes in particular, liking my relatively 1:1 ratio of action time to cook time. Lasagnas belonged in the realm of Lynn, who I associate with lasagnas.

The first lasagna happened because Floris felt like eating "healthy." We made an oven full of lasagna out of ground beef, carrots, onions, and spinach. The result was simple but delicious. We cleared off the whole lasagna amongst the four of us and packed down some dessert as well. I felt inspired to make lasagna again in the future. It was much easier than I had anticipated or imagined.

The second lasagna was made for 11 people at JVB 15 on a Sunday. I needed to feed my sister who was visiting with her friend Emily, so I volunteered to cook with Joost for all the hungry Sunday bums. We made veggie lasagna out of tons of vegetables. I didn't like the result that much as it was less a lasagna than a oven fantasie (don't ask) with lasagna leafs and béchamel on top.

The third and final lasagna came about when Vaniek, who was present for the first lasagna, wanted to eat another one when I happened to be making dinner for a friend and had no idea what to make. I think that this is by far the most successful of my creations so far and I will post it here. This is a recipe I modified from an Epicurious recipe for Wild Mushroom Lasagna, by substituting porcini mushrooms for portabella mushrooms and adding spinach. From this recipe I also learned how to make béchamel sauce from scratch (which is surprisingly easy!)

Lasagna Recipe (for 4)
béchamel sauce from scratch or from a box

mushroom tomato sauce
2 cups chopped portabella mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 (14- to 15-oz) cans diced tomatoes in juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 clove of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

lasagna noodles
parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions
1. Make the mushroom sauce by cooking the onions first in oil, and then adding the mushrooms. Add the tomato sauce plus the basil and garlic after awhile. Simmer.
2. Boil the lasagna noodles for 3min until soft and run under cold water.
3. Preheat oven
4. Spread 1 cup béchamel over buttered/greased lasagna dish saving some for the top layer. Arrange lasagna noodles over first layer. Spread mushroom tomato sauce layer and sprinkle with cheese. Repeat layering and on the last layer spread the remaining béchamel on top and sprinkle cheese.

In the future I will not be so hesitant to make oven dishes, but this is definitely the first of many small steps. I will still always think of Lynn when I eat/make lasagna, which is definitely a good thing.

Other cooking related things:
I made a successful chocolate mousse for meisje's avond last week after one failed attempt. My wrists still remember stiffening countless egg whites. Daniel and Jorn both thought I would fail, but helped me tons :D

I bought some Dutch cookbooks in the second hand shop today including: Wijn Etiquette (no translation needed), Fish, Crustaceans, and Shellfish from the French Kitchen, Soup as a Meal, and My First Cookbook for less than 3 euros! Now I can learn and practice the most important parts of Dutch...

Now I am happily looking forward to Christmas dinner at JVB 15 and Easter morning with Naomi who is visiting starting Friday!

Inga and Jamie Oliver

Inga came over two days ago and taught me how to make a delicious snijboonen (runner beans?) and anchovies pasta. The recipe is memory modified recipe from one time she was watching a Jamie Oliver show while vacuuming. After some searching, I think I may have found it. The trick is to melt the anchovies into the oil, which infuses the pasta and runner beans with delightful anchovy flavor.

Inga's recipe (for four or more*):
2 cans of anchovies
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
250 grams of runner beans
500 grams pasta
enough tomato sauce/cans/tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cut the runner beans into thin diagonal strips (0.5-1.0 cm wide). Finely chop the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a pan, when hot, add anchovies and garlic. Stir in the anchovies until they mostly dissolve.
3. Add the tomato paste and stir well.
4. Add the runner beans and bring them to a boil within the tomato mixture.
5. Serve over pasta.

*With the four of us, I still had enough leftovers for 3.5 breakfasts/lunches

tiramisu

I was sitting in the kitchen yesterday when I saw the words "3D tiramisu" scribbled on the Volkskrant. I asked Boris what that cryptic message meant. He explained that there was an article in the food section on how to make tiramisu that involved less work and less waiting. I commented that tiramisu doesn't involve THAT much waiting, which in turn made me reflect on how far I have progressed in life.

I realized that when I was younger I never had any patience at all (and I still don't, really). In real life that translated into others perceiving me as a blunt, impatient, and often rude person. I am still seen this way today, but to a much lesser degree. I still remember an incident when I stormed out of the dentist's office vowing never to go back after an hour of waiting, even though the dentist was our neighbor and a good friend.

In terms of cooking and hobbies, that meant that I hated making or doing anything that involved waiting for an extended amount of time (15min+). This hatred extended to making jello, my favorite Chinese almond jelly, baked goods of all kinds, and resulted in a lot of failed experiments in growing plants.

Nowadays, I have a live avocado plant, even after 6 months, and though I still don't l-o-v-e oven dishes, I don't really mind them. I think it's a positive reflection on course through life. Every day small steps in good directions. Maybe one day soon I will even enjoy waiting, but I won't hold my breath.

--
3D(ip) Tiramisu for 2:

-30g dark chocolate (at least 70%)
-125g marscapone
-2 tablespoons marsala wine
-1 tablespoon powdered sugar
-6 savoiardi (or lady fingers)
-2 glasses of hot espresso
-2 tablespoons cognac

Chop the chocolate so that you still have some to chew on (???). Add the mascarpone, marsala, and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix well. Add the chocolate through the mix. Deal the savoiardi over three dessert plates and set a bit of marscapone nearby. Divide the cognac over two glasses and pour the espresso in. Set the glasses on the plates and begin to dip (?)

*okay, I will get this checked by a Dutch person. I'm not sure about the translation. does 1eetlapel=1tablespoon?

pheasant + dimsum

A few nights ago I prepared pheasant for the first time in my life. Michiel was on his way to Rijswijk to buy one and I came with him for a mini adventure, deciding at the last moment to also buy two for experimentation (on Meike, Katrin, Dries, and Jorn). The way was 45 min each way and we even took a little ferry for one leg of the journey for 2 eurocent each. It was a good thing we decided to bike!

To prepare the pheasant, I wrapped it in bacon and stuffed a lot of garlic and bay leaves up its butt before I realized there was an opening near the neck. We also made some mashed potatoes (aardappel puree) and stir fried veggies on the side. hmmm...though I had high hopes, it didn't turn out as deliciously as I had wished. However, the gravy we produced was pretty awesome. The meat was very gamey, which I don't mind, but the meat was dry and kinda tasteless. I think next time the bird should only be put in the oven for 30-45min.

The next day I made soup with Jorn from the leftovers and it turned out really well. We dumped in "asian spices" from the C1000, some chinese kool?, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. The whole thing was totally consumed by nightfall.

Additionally, because Lanna and Erika were in town this weekend, I took them to dim sum in Rotterdam Saturday morning. We went to Dong Hai, a place recommended by Yu Fang. It took us awhile to find the place, though it was only across the street from Tai Wu, another joint I'd been to previously. I just asked random Asian people on the street, and eventually found it. It was slightly embarrassing when I found myself asking a Chinese man where Dong Hai was, to have him point to a sign right in front of us with the name written in Chinese (then you know it's really authentic?).

A good sign walking in was there were no white people to be seen in the whole place and that the menu wasn't in picture format. The downside was I didn't know what/how to order. We tried to explain what we wanted in a mixture of broken Chinese and generalisms. Anyways, the food was pretty good; much better than Tai Wu. I miss having dim sum carted out on trolleys where I can point to what I want. The benefit of Tai Wu was the color plate images for each dish.

I have to say I am still looking for that perfect place for dim sum for brak Saturday and Sundays.

dim sum reviews (so far)
1. Dong Hai, Rotterdam - 7.0
2. Tai Wu, Rotterdam - 5.0

to try
1. Qi(2) Ling(2) Ge(2), Den Haag
2. Huang(2) Shang(4) Huang(2), Rotterdam
Growing list of some more dim sum/Chinese food recommendations from Yu Fang and other Chinese people.


Note: Have to remind Lanna to buy me dim sum flashcards. Next time I will know how to read everything on the menu.

encounters of the dutch kind: hutspot

I had my first experience with hutspot recently. According to J.C. Diehl, hutspot is the most Dutch thing you can eat. Serendipitously, just as I had learned of this mashed potato-carrot concoction, we happened to make it for dinner, and it all happened because of Daniel's refusal to eat the bratwurst I brought back from Germany with just normal mashed potatoes (even though it was Sunday and the last supermarket had been closed for 5 minutes already at 6:05).

Our salvation came when we called Inga to eat with. She had carrots! As it turns out, a lot of onions, butter, and creme fraiche can make boiled potatoes and carrots go a long way. Jorn found this great recipe online, and the result was delicious even though everyone kept warning me hutspot was gross. The bratwurst was also soooo smaaaaaklijk, much better than the kind you can get here.

I put the candles I got from Pielter's wedding to good use, and we ate by candlelight. When we fed some to Bas, he told us that this was easily in the top five hutspot experiences of his life (out of 50+ times).

Recipe (source) boil carrots, potatoes in the meat stock. Add fried onions and everything else except the meat, mash mash. Ready the wurst and serve on the side.



Ingredients
1 kg kruimige (??) potatoes
750 gram carrots
500 gram onions
1 meat bullion tablet
20 gram butter
125 ml creme fraiche
thin sausages or spicy wurst
20 gram butter - fresh ground pepper

note: before I arrived in the Netherlands, I never liked potatoes much except in the fried variety...but now i know better (potatoes?)