Chufi

Spent a lovely evening at cocktailbar Vesper last night. They've been open since February, so I'm not sure why this was my first visit, but anyway it won't be my last. Bartender made me a couple of lovely drinks after I told him what kind of flavors/ spirits I like. Highly recommended.

Chic geek, the only thing I ever had here was a sandwich, so I can´t really vouch for the food, but they do have both oysters and Eggs benedict on the menu (they call them ´poached eggs on toast with hollandaise´) Dauphine

here´s a quick question that´s been bugging me. If a mole does not have poblano peppers, can it still be called Mole Poblano, as in, ´from Pueblo´? or is it just ´mole´ without the poblano peppers? Recipes for Mole Poblano have been popping up on Dutch foodsites, without the poblano peppers of course. Before I start criticizing people for their choice of words I want to make sure I´m right. Thanks.

Great thread ladies. Lovely to see how eG and loving food brought you together! Brings back memories of the good old eG foodblog days. Kerry - those turtles are too cute!

So, how was Amsterdam? where did you eat?

Bumping this up because I have 3 people coming over for dinner on Thursday, 2 of them have never been to my house, so I need to impress them.. Am going out tomorrow AND Wednesday, so no time to prep, and shopping will have to get done in my lunch hour on Thursday. Oh and yet another caveat: we will only have about an hour or so for dinner, after that there are other things programmed. So, no first course, just a main and a dessert I can serve later. What are your standby's for quick and easy yet impressive midweek entertaining?

For an authentic Dutch lunch head to Van Dobben and have a broodje kroket ar halfom (liver and beef, eat it with lots of mustard). Whatever you do, stay away from d'Vijff Vlieghen. Another uniquely Dutch thing is ofcourse a herring sandwich. Best hangover cure I know, should that be applicable If you like pastries, bakken met Passie is a very nice patisserie in the Pijp area. Check out Biercafe Gollem (various locations, one in the Pijp) for sampling great Dutch and Belgian beers. have fun!

Just made a reservation for lunch for next month, when we'll be in London for a couple of days. Am very excited!! Quick question: how formal is it? As far as dress code is concerned?

Mole. With all the frying and pureeing and sieving, this is one of the most labor intensive things I've ever made. Also, it's really suitable for making in huge quantities. And it's one of the best things ever to have in your freezer! Check out the eG Cook-Off for recipes.

Congratulations, you did a wonderful job. If there will be a next time, you will benefit from everything you've learned!

Thanks guys! While the pork sounds delicious, I did something very similar for another party (same crowd) not so long ago... I've browsing a lot of recipes and this recipe for braised lamb shanks caught my eye. I think I'll make it with lamb shoulder instead of shanks, because browning and braising 22 shanks seems a little too ambitious. For sides I was thinking a pot of white beans.. because I like beans with lamb. Except, my husband is not a big fan of beans... I need something green there though. First course will be from Paula Wolferts Cooking of South West France. There's a recipe there for salmon rillettes that I've made often, in the book she pairs this with a tomato artichoke salad, black olive tapenade and grilled bread. I never made all those things together but it sounds like a good combination and something that will look interesting when plated (different colors, textures etc)

I've cooked for large and very large groups a couple of times and this is always my biggest challenge: timing. Something that is simple to do when you do it for 4 people is still simple to do for 100, but it takes a hell of a lot more time. One more piece of advice: instruct your helpers and servers well and don't be afraid to be bossy and to take charge. Nothing worse than a bunch of 'helpers' standing around not really knowing what to do because you did not tell them. You can only do so much in advance, when it comes to serving time there will be a huge rush of activity (and adrenalin!) and this needs to be well organized. But you will feel soooo good about yourself afterwards Tired, but good.

I made my very first chicken and dumplings today. I was inspired by this thread to make something I had never tasted before! It came out great.. it looked very unappetizing I have to say, and when my husband took his first bite of dumpling he said "those are really gummy potatoes" but he kept eating and we loved it! I used leftover meat from a roast chicken, and based my recipe very losely on this one which is maybe the same as the Cooks Illustrated one mentioned upthread? sorry about the duplicate pics, i can´t seem to get rid of the huge ones!!

It's that time of year again!! I'm planning another birthday dinner. I think there will be about 18 guests this year. It's becoming a big challenge to think of interesting flavors and new things to cook. Most guests have been here for 15 years in a row.. and even though I don't think they would mind being served something for the second time, it's much more fun for me to make something new. So, I'm thinking of making a Goulash with dumplings. This recipe looks good, although I think I'd want to add some fresh herbs (chives?) to the dumplings. That said, I'm open to suggestions for other make ahead, braise/ stew kind of dishes, that can serve a crowd, and that look appetizing (the reason I like the idea of dumplings is that I think it will make a stew look better). We had chicken last year so I'm thinking beef or pork this time. For dessert I'm making Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Guinness cake but probably with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting instead of the ganache. I could use some ideas for an interesting starter and for things to serve with the goulash! The starter can be assembled at the last minute as long as components can be made ahead. Thanks!

I love bad coffee. I happily drink the bad coffee at the office, and instant coffee at home. I just can't be bothered to make my own stock (except when I have a chicken carcass after roasting a chicken). So it's cubes most of the time for soups and stews. I don't care much for truffles. My guilty pleasure is eating canned split pea soup (they sell them in 1-person-portions here) for lunch. Doesn't taste anything like the real thing, but I like it for what it is.

For future reference: I ended up using guinea fowl (I wanted duck, but the duck legs did not look too good at the store). Browned in a frying pan first, then braised slowly in the mole until really tender. It worked, the guinea fowl just has a little more character than chicken and matched the sauce very well.

hi deensiebat, the index to the recipes on this thread is here on my blog. I hope you find something there for your party. Otherwise, anything with Gouda cheese would be appropriate!

In 2010, I will eat mostly organic meat, sustainably caught fish. I'm already doing ok here.. but I cave, a little too often, forn cenvenience sake or because I just 'feel like steak' and the only steak to be found is non/organic. I will make.. I liked that ' one new soup a week' idea upthread so I'll steal that! I will find more time to cook time consuming things. I will read my old cookbooks, and be surpirsed by them, and cook from them. and to add.. I will have more people over for casual dinners, not the kind you plan weeks in advance, but the kind where you say 'I have a big pot of soup, why don;t you help me eat it?´ I will also be a better (ie, more regular) foodblogger. I will make an index for the recipes on my blog. I will go to Paris in the spring and stuff myself with Pierre Hermé´s macarons.

I made a very good batch of mole last week. We had some with chicken (simmering chicken pieces in the mole until done) and we had some with back beans. I have a lot in the freezer, and I'm thinking about other meats to use with the sauce. I'm not sure if this was mentioned somewhere, but would any kind of game work? Venison maybe? And what would be the best way to put the 2 together - braise the venison separately and then combine with the mole, or simmer the meat in the sauce? and another thought.. would duck work?

I'm feeding my extremely unadventurous relatives this year - there'll be 8 of us, and it's been a challenge to think of a dinner that's not completely boring for my husband and me, and still ok for them.. nibbles with drinks (although they don't drink, I will probably need to) crackers with cheese and pate, devilled eggs, nuts. Then we'll start with a salad with panfried zucchini, wild smoked salmon, and a lemon caper dressing. Chicken braised with shallots, bacon and mushrooms and a lot of sage.. braised red cabbage roast brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar and almonds potao-celeriac gratin dessert will be storebought macadamia brittle ice cream with little pancakes and poached pears. It all sounds pretty dull to me but I know they'll think it's really exotic...

I cook for 3 reasons: because I want to eat well because I love the creative process of thinking about food and experimenting in the kitchen because nothing beats feeding the people I love food that makes them happy.

short ribs are not a Dutch cut of meat so they will be very hard to find.. that said, I know Slagerij Zuid in Albert Cuypstraat )if you´re coming from Ferdinand Bol straat - on your left) has something that looks very much like the short ribs I´ve seen in American cookbooks.

I was there Sunday and really enjoyed it.. seems great for take out, but it's also a nice to eat there. No alcohol, but the lime and pomegranate 'liquado's' they made for us were really good, zingy and fresh. I had a burrito with carnitas and tomatillo chipotle salsa, my husband had the special which was a chicken and roasted red pepper fajita. I especially enjoyed the black beans in my burrito. We also shared a tostada with chorizo. They make the chorizo themselves. Service was really friendly. A very nice, fresh, fast, healthy-feeling dinner

Recently we've been inviting 'new' friends to dinner. Mostly it's the first or second time they come to our house and I make something not too complicated because the evenings are more about getting to know eachother than about dazzling and impressing our new friends. Today I was thinking that for these occasions, it might actually be fun to do things together in the kitchen.. to break the ice, to have some hands on action. The only thing I could think of so far is gyoza or some sort of dumplings.. The stuffing and folding could be fun. I think ravioli or something would be too complicated, because I always make such a big mess when I make my own stuffed pasta... Any other ideas?

Overall I prefer savory foods to sweet, but not for breakfast.. although my favorite breakfast is not really sweet either. Yoghurt with some tart rhubarb compote and a bit of granola, or yoghurt with a cut up orange or some other acidic fruit. I like to eat things that taste clean and fresh and that wake me up.. I can't eat anything too greasy or sugary first thing in the morning, so no pastries, muffins, or pancakes for me. The exception is my favorite lazy sunday morning breakfast: a soft boiled egg, a piece of buttered toast, a couple of slices of aged Gouda. But even that has to be balanced with a large glass of orange juice (preferably mixed with fresh lemon juice!) I guess I'm the 3rd category: I like my breakfasts sour