Chufi

aww thank you very much! I have to say that since I became seriously interested in food, the focus soon shifted to the english language. Translated cookbooks are simply not as good (funny things happen to the ingredients. For instance, they will translate 'butternut squash' as 'pompoen' which means 'pumpkin' which is ofcourse not the same!) So most of my cookbooks are in english, the websites about food I visit are in english. I think my creative thinking about food is done in english.... sometimes I talk to myself in english, while I'm cooking! This does worry me sometimes (especially when I sometimes even dream in english!)

back to report on dinner. When I asked Dennis (the husband) what he would like for dinner he said: meat. Now we don't eat a lot of meat.. in fact meat scares me a bit. I roast a chicken, I make a meatloaf, I fry some bacon - but large pieces of meat to roast or even panfry, make me nervous. Anyway... I did buy two nice pieces of fillet steak and here are the other things that would end up in tonights dinner: some left over mushroom pate, some leftover gravy, an aubergine, a portobello, a scrap of parmesan, a couple of jerusalem artichokes, some herbs, some cream: I always listen to music when I cook and in the background you see Emmylou Harris' cd Spyboy, todays soundtrack. I like to have a drink as well as music, here's what I had: it's a strange kind of german jenever, it was a gift. It's very strong (35 %) and has a strong taste of juniper. We keep the bottle in the freezer as well as the little glasses we drink it from. Beside it is the platter of griddled aubergine and portobello. with a garlic/lemon/oliveoil/marjoram dressing. End results: The filletsteaks were nice but not as meltingly tender as I wanted them to be. The sauce (made with the mushroompate and a bit of marsala) was fantastic. There was also a gratin of jerusalem artichoke.. mmm I love jerusalem artichoke. I could have made a dinner just out of that gratin. While everything elkse was cooking, I remembered that I had some mussles in my fridge that were probably going to die soon unless I killed them. So I killed them, in a pan with some white wine, a chopped tomato and some leeks: I took them out of the shells, stored them in the cooking liquor. These are going to be part of tomorrows dinner in a yet undetermined way.

well, I understand that the blog has to be strictly food-related, but maybe I'll sneak in a picture of them when they are sharing my breakfast one day

that's some excellent dutch spaghettti!

The cheese stall: (I buy a dutch blue cheese and an organic, unpasteurized emmentaler). I also get some nice sourdough bread and jerusalem artichokes (which are hard to find over here except at organic shops & markets) Time for a chat, the paper and another coffee. I'm also hungry so I have a grilled ham&cheese sandwich, and a glass of organic applejuice. Then we go to a shop where you can buy grains, pasta, pulses etc. in bulk, which is quite unusual over here. I love the way this shop looks, it's like a candystore! I get dried flageolet beans, cranberry beans and red rice. Across town, I stop at another market (my regular one, the Albert Cuyp market) to get some cheap herbs and vegetables: and my last stop is Casa Molero, a shop that specializes in 'Productos Ibericos'. They have a huge variety of sausages, hams, and all other kinds of spanish and portuguese foods. I buy a couple of chorizo sausages, the soft kind that you have to cook before you can eat them, both dulce and picante actually, my final stop is at the supermarket to get groceries like milk, pasta etc.. but that's not very interesting. This was a fun morning of shopping. I have to admit it was not exactly budgetfriendly, which is why I don't go to the farmers market every week . As much as I would like to buy only organic food, It's just too expensive. However, things like the pulses, the dried mushrooms etc. will last a long time. The cheese was definitely the luxury item of the day! Now, I have to go and clean up the mess that was left behind after the winetasting party we had last night. Maybe when everything is cleaned up, I'll give you a tour of my kitchen!

Well, it's hours later and I returned from a very succesful shoppingtrip that took me all over Amsterdam. But before I did any shopping, I did what I do almost every day that I'm off work: I went for a walk in the Vondelpark, and had a coffee in Het Blauwe Theehuis (the blue teahouse) afterwards. This is the Teahouse: In summer, this place is always buzzing with people and the terrace gets very crowded. In the winter they put heating devices on the terrace so you can still sit outside - especially on a lovely day like today: Then I go and pick up my friend Suzanne to go to the market together. She's having breakfast when I arrive and she serves me a cup of tea and half a minneola (and a whiff of Dune): This is the Noordermarkt, held every saturday on a church square in the middle of Amsterdam. It's a farmersmarket with lots of organic stuff. The mushroom guy (I buy some portobello and a bag of dried shii takes)

Hi everybody! Breakfast on this sunny Saturday morning is a small bowl of milk & granola: When I am not Chufi, I am Klary, and I live with my husband and 2 rats in Amsterdam. I work parttime and when people ask what I do on the days I don't work, my answer is: I'm always busy with food I'll be taking you on a tour around my favorite shops and foodplaces this week. Ofcourse I'll get some cooking and eating done as well! I hope my english will hold up. If you don't understand me, please say so and I'll try to explain! off to the shops now, see you later

I had some eggwhites left over (with traces of yolk in it so no good for meringue) and I made an eggwhite omelet for breakfast. After seeing many health-conscious people order this in movies and tv shows, I wondered if I would like it. Now I know.. I don't.

Buddha amacha tea with very dark, bitter chocolate.

I had some unexpected honey-pleasure today (now that sounds weird. never mind). I had a leftover little tart shell from the chocolate tarts I made yesterday. I also had some of the honey orange glaze that I used to brush the chocolate tarts. The glaze was equal parts of marmelade and honey, warmed up until melted. I put a dollop of cold creme fraiche in the tartlet shell, and topped with a tablespoon of the marmelade-honey mixture that was just barely warm. It was sooo good.. so much better than the tarts I made yesterday. This would be a perfect after dinner sweet!

a bowl of full fat creamy joghurt, topped with a juicy navel orange cut into small pieces, and this topped with a couple of tablespoons of crunchy granola. I like the very basic kind of granola with not too many dried fruits or nuts in it.

I want those green chile eggs! And that view afterwards! This blog feels like a vacation...

ohh Guiness! Love that! Did you have them from a bottle or the real thing from draught? With that lovely thick creamy layer on top? edited because I forgot to add my own most delicious thing of the day: The pear I had for breakfast, that was just at that absolutely most perfect stage of ripeness. Eaten over the sink with the juice dripping down my arm.

It depends. With elaborate dinners that I plan for guests, the planning comes first - then the cooking - then the eating. I LOVE that stage when you are planning a big dinner and you are thinking about it all day.. on the way to work you suddenly know that tarragon is the herb that should go in the stew and everything is just perfect in your head. Shopping is always part of the planning for me because I change my plans according to what I find in the shops or markets. The eating of a dinner like that is almost always an anticlimax. The joy of that dinner for me is not in the eating, but in watching others eat. With simple food, that does not need a lot of planning (like a bowl of pasta, a roast chicken, or even a very good cheese sandwich) I can enjoy the food much more. Also I sometimes feel that the way I can enjoy my food the most, is to eat alone.

There are already some suggestions in various threads in this subforum. But here are some of my suggestions: Pulpo has a very nice 3-course dinner for 26 euro. It is not in the centre (about 10 minutes by streetcar from the Leidseplein). Morlang also not too expensive, but creative cuisine. Right in the centre on one of the canals. One of my favorites for a romantic dinner: A la ferme French country cooking with organic produce. very good french food but quite expensive (about 50 euro for 3 courses): Van Vlaanderen, Weteringschans 175, Rembrandtplein, Amsterdam phone (020) 622 82 92 And finally one of the best Italian places in the city (with prices to match, but it's worth it): Segugio enjoy your stay!

yes you do! I'm the girl from Amsterdam who wants your plates, remember?? percyn - you say you had to 'reconstitute' the polenta. What do you mean by that? do you cook it in advance? please enlighten this polenta-lover.. Our dinner yesterday: very homely comfortfood. Cottagepie with a sweet potato & leek topping, with some stirfried cabbage in the background: Today we had a simple pasta dish that turned out very good: orechiette with a broccoli-anchovy chilli pepper sauce. And for dessert these little tarts, made of shortcrust pastry, filled with chocolate creme patissiere, topped with bananas that were brushed with a honey orange glaze. I don't usually make these fiddly desserts just for the two of us but I am trying out recipes for my husbands birthday party. The verdict: they were good, but not good enough!

when nothing makes you happier than good food and nothing makes you crankier than bad food.

the fresh brown bread with butter and aged cheese I had at a friends' house for lunch today.

Now that is very interesting. I always thought that one big dessert was more impressive than individual ones. Also I like the fact that people can have the kind of portion they like: small portion, large portion, second helpings. But maybe I need to re-arrange my thinking on this! There is definitely something special about an individual portion that is made and plated just for you. Oh boy.. a whole new world of possibilities and choices is opening up... I was thinking of rhubarb merigue pie. Now that would look nice..all these little merigue pies.. aww.. thank you... I will definitely document the countdown to this dinner as well as the dinner itself! it will make the preparations even more fun! edited because my english is not what it should be today!

percyn I just cannot stop looking at that picture. Wow... how do you make mushroom polenta? I love polenta.. love mushrooms.. I want mushroompolenta!!

thanks for this wonderful blog, I really enjoyed it! Very jealous of your herb garden.. not to mention the fact that you have a pineapple plant..

are you a psychic? when I was 18, I acted in a play wearing ... nothing but plastic wrap. REALLY. Anyway. Now that I am 35, I feel it is a safer bet to rely on my cooking skills to make a lasting (good) impression!

Okay so I have been thinking and I have a few ideas. One thing that has to be on the menu, are blini with smoked salmon, sour cream and chives. I made hundreds of them for a wedding in december and they were devoured by the guests. I think they will make an elegant first course. Then, I am thinking some sort of salad between the blini and the main course. Something crisp, clean flavours. No fish or meat. Cheese maybe?? Main course. For meat, I am thinking veal. I think it's about 10 years since I did veal for this dinner, so it's time for a comeback. Also I am thinking about my very special and delicious potato gratin with dried porcini and parmesan. The gratin has a very deep and strong flavor so I think the veal should not be done with any strong flavors. I was thinking braised veal with white wine, a little tomato and tarragon maybe? Any other ideas for veal? A kind of stew or braise that could be prepared ahead? As another side dish: I saw Jamie Oliver roast rome butternut squash with smoked paprika on television yesterday. That looked great. And then maybe a green vegetable to go with it. Now dessert always is the hardest to decide. Like I said I want the dessert to be the grand finale.. Something that makes the guests go WOW. Little ms Foodie those pears definitely look wow! Except I already did poached pears a couple of years ago, so can't do those. The best dessert I ever did for this dinner was a giant Baba au rhum, served with dried fruits that were stewed in a rum syrup, and lots of whipped cream. Right now this Zabaglione Torta is tempting me. But I am worried it might be too creamy (after the sour cream with the blini, and the cream in the gratin). What do you think? When I look at this menu now, I feel there are some good things there, but as a whole it is defintely not exciting enough. edited to add: I like the idea of a theme, the hard thing would be to choose a theme. (no apples - husband does not like apples )

As a student, I used to stir a tablespoon of tahini paste and a tablespoon of honey into a bowl of joghurt. Mix until well amalgamated (sp?) I have not had this for 15 years but for some reason, your post made me think of it and now I want it! No tahini in the house though.. It's great to discover new foodstuff. I remember a couple of years ago I discovered a tin of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce on the shelf in one of my ethnic foodshops. For the next months, I put those things into everything, I was totally addicted to that new smoky, fiery flavor.

Oh yes. The River Cafe Chocolate Nemesis.. I have had people begging me to take it out of their sight because they could not resist yet another slice yet were already suffering from a severe chocolate overdose! It is very very rich and very very delicious.