Chufi

I made these scallops in Lapsang Souchong broth last week. The recipe is here (thanks Abra!), except I made it with a bit more liquid because we were having it as a soup and not as a dish with rice. It was really good and made me wonder why I don't use tea as an ingredient more often!

wherever that is, it looks like my kind of place, I want to go there! so I'm looking forward to that blog!

I need HELP - I can't stop baking!! I made the chocolate chipcookies today. Slightly less chocolate, because I did not have the right amount. And I added some peanutbuttercups. Very, very good.

Thanks SushiCat.. no secret, I used an eggwash made with 1 eggyolk and a bit of water! Wouldn't know how to make them stick otherwise )

I made my best bread EVER today. Not that I've baked that much bread. But this was so good I could not stop eating. After dinner I was still tearing off pieces of bread, and eating them with butter and a bit of fleur de sel and a drizzle of honey. Oh so good! Semolina olive oil bread I had it with Moroccoan spicy meatballs and eggs

that's what I thought! Ooh, I can't wait! Everything looks so beautiful, colorful and delicious. I can't imagine what you must have thought of Holland and all it's grey, bland food when you first came here! And also, I can't imagine what Framboy will think when he comes to Malaysia! He'll be in food-shock for sure!

Kim Shook, we will need a full report with pictures of that feast! We had salmon braised with carrots and shallots in red wine, with wilted spinach and roast potatoes.

I'm not aware of a steamed fishmousse as a traditional Dutch dish. There is salmonmousse, most often made with canned salmon which is pureed with mayonaise and set with gelatine. But that doesn't sound like the thing you mean. I've seen a couple of recpes for a fishpate made of pureed fresh fish, mixed with cream and eggs and then cooked in the oven in a waterbath. But they all vary widely in flavorings etc. so I could't say that one of them was a traditional Dutch recipe. But, I did not grow up in a fish-eating family (meat every day ) so I might just not know about it! I'll look a bit firther and if I find more info I'll PM you.

SugarGirl, that cobbler looks great! Must make that before the pink rhubarb season ends! I made the split level puddings yesterday and the salt & pepper cocoa shortbread: I put some whipped cream on top. the puddings were delicious. I made the full recipe but used the chocolate mix to fill just 4 ramekins (and still thought there could have been more chocolate). My vanilla pudding layer was a bit lumpy, but I think this was from boiling it a bit too hard (I had a pregnant dinner guest and wanted to make sure the eggyolk was fully cooked). The shortbread was very good, very dark and chocolaty and the salt and pepper made them interesting.

soft white sugar (basterdsuiker) is a typically Dutch thing. It's finely ground sugar with glucose added, which makes it slighly moist (and soft). We have it in 3 varieties, white as seen in the picture, lightbrown and darkbrown. The brown wanes are often used for baking. Oh, I hope you will! You'll love it! Well, I'm really not a confident baker (I mean I bake, but it always makes me a bit nervous, and I have had many baking failures..) but this book is simply wonderful. I don't think I'll need another baking book for the rest of my life! I used basmati too. That trick with the cold water sounds fun, I'going to try that sometime! Ah, I wish! I won't let him (except softboiled eggs & tea )

Before I forget! Anyone interested in visiting Amsterdam, there's a very nice thread on the Elsewhere in Europe forum: Foodlover's guide to Amsterdam And if you're planning a visit, please send me a PM. I'd be happy to advise, tour the markets with you, or just meet for coffee and some food-talk! Eden: there's a discussion about the soft Duch sugar somewhere but I'm too tired to look it up right now. I'll get back to you tomorrow or, if the blog's closed by then, I'll send you a PM. For any questions I missed.. my apologies!

You might get lucky some day not a drop of rain Then you're too long on the town leave your trumpet on the train And then there's only doubt until you're on your feet again There's only up or down Patty Griffin, Up or Down Or. translated to this week: one may have all sorts of plans for food adventures, and then a virus attacks and all you really want to do is curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea and a pack of tissues. I did not get to do all I had planned this week, but between coughs and sneezes I still had fun and I hope you had too! I made gnocchi, I fried up some sweetbread, I baked more in one week than usually in a month, I visited a booze museum, I had duck quesadilla's and mangorita's, I made my first baked cheesecake, I cooked Indonesian. I did not make my asparagus risotto! maybe it will appear in the Dinner thread some time soon... Goodbyes always make me a bit sentimental. Thank you all for sharing this special week with me, for your kind words, encouragements, recipes and inspiration! See you around the boards!

Dinner report! here are the eggplant slices. Baked in the oven instead of fried, which certainly makes them much less greasy. Then drizzled with a pomegranate/lemon juice/olive oil/garlic dressing.. and sprinkled with mint and pine nuts (pinenuts are not in the recipe but made a nice addition) The poached chicken legs are skinned and boned, and then smothered in a sauce of ground walnuts, toasted flour, and chickenstock, flavored with allspice and pepper. I made this yesterday and reheated it today. It may not look very pretty but I LOVED the flavor. Very rich and complex sauce, creamy and and delicious! cucumber dill salad roasted red pepper frittata with parsley and parmesan. This was supposed to be the appetizer with drinks, but I ended up putting it on the table with the rest of the food and it blended right in. potato-rice pilaf. This was outstanding. And this comes from someone who does not even like rice that much! The rice is parboiled and then spread on a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, all is steamed together until the rice is very tender and the potatoes crusty brown. The whole thing is turned out on a plate. There's a lot of butter involved and it's simply gorgeous. I'll be making this one again. Not difficult and it looks very impressive! Everything on the table and on the plate: Dessert: the split level puddings from Dorie Greenspans book. A layer of chocolate ganache, topped with vanilla pudding. I added a layer of whipped cream! I also made the salt & pepper cocoa shortbreead from the same book. You're not supposed to prick them but i mixed up 2 recipes! Bite

well, my tour for tomorrow was cancelled so don't expect an update soon! I think it's becoming clear that I can't really rely on this company to promote me. It seems I have to start thinking of ways to do this myself...

Or, start by reading this thread: A Year of Italian Cooking One of the best threads on eGullet ever, where Kevin 72 cooks his way through Italy in one year. This thread was the mother thread to the regional threads that MarkinHouston mentions. Witty, inspiring, with beautiful pictures. It completely changed my view of Italian food and taught me so much about the importance of regionality in this cuisine!

the flavor isn't that strong, just mildly herby. The cheese is a young Gouda. There's also a variety which includes garlic, but I don't like it that much, the garlic is too overpowering. Other flavorings that have become popular for young -and semi-aged Gouda cheeses the past years are corianderseeds, potatoskins and chives. Tonight's dinner comes entirely from Paula Wolfert's Cooking from the Eastern Meditteranean. I'm making Circassian Chicken, Lebanese potato-rice pilaf, an auberginesalad with pomegranite dressing, and maybe another salad. dessert is 2 items from Dorie Greenspan's book. Somebody help me.. I can't stop baking from that book

Lunch at my parents house. Chicken soup bread, cheeses, cold cuts.. half-om: sandwich with larded pig's liver and pekelvlees (salted, boiled beef) nettle cheese and beschuit (rusks) with strawbries and soft white sugar

I don't know whay it is about women and offal! For me it has a lot to do with the richness. I can enjoy a bite or 2, and then it seems my body is teling me that it's enough. I make my rhubarb in the micrcowave now! So easy. Just cut into chunks, add a bit of sugar and a splash of orange juice if I have it. Microwave on high for a couple of minutes, check on it, maybe microwave some more. Then I simply store it in the dish it was cooked in. I don't really have an opinion about Rem Koolhaas, or any contemporary Dutch architecture for that matter. Working in an architecture firm for years hasn't really changed that I must say. I think I am one of those people who accept the surroundings, the city landscape, as it is.. I hardly ever find a building ugly. Some buildings are more beautiful than others ofcourse! But in a city like Amsterdam, i mostly love the variety - modern glass/steel buildings and the old canalhouses and everything in between. cheeses: one is Blue Wolvega, from Friesland - one of the few Duch blue cheeses. The other is a young Gouda, a Boerenkaas, which means it's made on farms instead of factories, small-scale, from raw milk. Middle eastern is correct! savory please! I've had so much sweet stuff this week, far more than is usual for me.

Here's what made myself last night before going to bed: lemon juice, honey and hot water. It's what my mother used to make for when I was sick. Happy Mother's day to all mothers everywhere! we're off for our Mother's day visits. See you later, I'll be back and answer the questions.

Ann, those prawns are so beautiful. You can tell they are really fresh.. I don't think I've ever seen a prawn here that hadn't been frozen.. I wish I could taste yours! Bruce I'm craving fried rice now and I don't even like rice that much! I made gnocchi today, which is a true milestone, because I've never been able to get them right and I was about to give up. details here in my blog

Um...I have a hard time believing that you ever forget to bring lunch to work! ← well sometimes I make my nice little lunchpacket and then leave it on the kitchencounter! But it does not happen often. The sausages came from Rijks, the butcher at the Noordermarkt. I'm going to bed early! Tomorrow is Mother's day, so we're doing a little tour of the mothers. Both our parents live close by.. so it's coffee with one mum and lunch with the other

That sounds very interesting! We sure have enough tea in the house to use some for cooking

We're having the last bit of the cheesecake for dessert. Oh and I did some prep for tomorrow's dinner: chicken before and after poaching Toasted flour Whatever will this be?

I've been wanting to make gnocchi for a long time. I love the word gnicchi, I could say it all day long! Anything ith such a cute name MUST taste good. I've never tasted real gnocchi, anywhere. They are an ideal of gnocchi, firmly lodged in my food-brain. Potatoes, I love potatoes. Little clouds of potatoes, what's not to love? Oh, I made some. I tried, about 6 times. But they never came out right - they eitehr dissolved in the cooking water or were stodgy and gluey. And then I gave up. A couple of months ago Shaya, the Queen of Gnocchi, sent me a detailed description of her method. I tried again. No success. I was about to give up forever, when I realized that I had been doing everything right except the way I mashed my potatoes! Then, luckily, I got a potatoricer as a birthdaypresent. So today I attempted gnocchi, again. Potatoes, riced! One of Shaya's instructions is to rice the potatoes directly onto a cloth, and knead the dough inside the cloth. gnocchi, shaped.. ... and boiled, and tossed with melted butter and parmesan: The rest of dinner: a sausage sampler from the organic butcher: cumin-lamb, garlic and pork salad: mache, raw baby turnips, a bit of belgian endive and a tomato. Dressing: garlic, walnut oil, mustard All together on the plate (Italian foodpurists avert you eyes ) Wine: So, onto the gnocchi verdict.. I think I had success! Dennis loved them and said he could not think of anything that should be different about them. But I thought they were maybe a touch too fragile.. but maybe I was just being overly critical.. they were actually pretty good, not glue-y at all, very smooth-textured and light yet quite firm. I made GNOCCHI!

Hiroyuki - I am honored! That looks really good!