Chufi

In the Netherlands, we eat out of the wall

Reading this blog has been like curling up on the sofa with a favorite magazine. A theme, and a lovely theme at that, but 3 different approaches - different enough to keep us interested and surprised! Thanks for inspiring us to make SOUP, and thanks for reminding me that when it's +4 C in Amsterdam, I really can't say that I'm cold! I can't imagine dealing with the kind of cold that you have been describing. Thank you, Susan, Pam & Judith, for this week. Be well, be warm!

You can buy the miniature versions in The Netherlands too, I like them better actually, because I'm fond of the slightly crunchier edges. Also, the small ones are a good excuse to eat more than one..

we need more pictures of handwritten lists on eGullet! I was enjoying snowangels lists on the soupblog, and now I see this one! Lists give you such an interesting little peek inside the head of the home-cook.. see how the mind is organized.

Fried avocado? How did that taste? I'm with you on the frying though. Anything fried is good! So, yesterday I bought an oven thermometer. We've lived in this house, and I've had my oven, for 10 years. Today I find out that when my oven tells me it's 150 C (300 F), it is actually 200 C (about 390 F)!! No wonder I've burned so many cakes over the years! And, no wonder I can turn out a pretty good pizza - because my domestic oven will heat to about 310 C! (590 F )! At least if I can trust this oven thermometer... Anyway, first time baking something while I actually knew what temp I was cooking with.. chicken, leek and mushroom pie. Salad of cooked carrots, celery and cucumber, dressed with verjuice and walnutoil.

Ha! That's what I did tonight! equal amounts of the verjuice and walnutoil, a little bit of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper en some finely chopped parsley, used to dress some cooked (cold) carrots. It was a delicious vinagrette and very different from what I usually make. chefJB, the sauce for scallops sounds wonderful.

Franci, they look wonderful! I can almost taste them!

looks wonderful! what's in the kimchipuree besides kimchi, and how do you serve it with the roasted sprouts and bacon? hot, cold, as a condiment? the rest of the dinner also looks amazing! I wish there could be an Amsterdam eGullet potluck one day!

I picked up a bottle of verjuice yesterday. I'd never tasted it before, and bought because I've read about it and was curious. It's much less acidic than I expected - delicately sour, very fragrant and light. Because it's not as assertive as I'd thought (I was thinking of using it as a more flavorful sub for lemon juice) I am now thinking how to use this without drowning that delicate flavor? I used some to deglaze a pan after frying some meat yesterday, but then the verjuice flavor completely disappeared. My bottle cost about 7 euro, it's made in South Africa by the Verjuice Co.

snowangel, my guess is you're making potstickers! Judith, you're so brave to hand-roll your noodles! Your soup looks lovely. I love a chard soup with potatoes, onions, a bit of canned tomato, and spicy sausage (I use chorizo), and then an egg yolk cracked in just before serving because I'm addicted to the combination of chorizo, potato and runny egg yolk. picture here

Question: any showstopping Veneto-desserts I should know about? I'm still looking for dessert for my husbands birthday dinner in a couple of weeks. It will follow lasagna!

Fegato alla veneziana... doesn't that sound better than liver and onions? Sounds only slightly better.. this dinner was basically a present for my husband who loves offal.. I don't ... At least I got the kick out of it to be able to contribute something to this thread!

I found other recipes on that same site Michelle linked to, that seem to be the recipes Abra made from Georgian feast (down to the "apricot leather" in the cilantro sauce), might be useful or those of us who don't have the book.

please, do ignore me . You don't have to make Dutch split pea soup, you know! The carrot/fennel with dill sounds good. Is it a pureed soup or with chunks of vegetables?

Dutch split pea soup. This is the first time I managed to take a picture of this soup that looks remotely appetizing! (well, at least I think it does.. ) And oh boy, was it delicious!

snowangel your bread is just gorgeous, and like I said before, your son gets handsomer with each blog! where will it end! ? Pam that borscht with the lovely marrowbones looks so good. And I do love your pictorials with all the little pictures. judith I am so sorry that you are sick and not able to enjoy the blog fully! Feel better soon and hopefully some nourishing soup will help..

sure you can add the smoked meat at the beginning - smokey = good It's just that with this particular soup, for me, it has to be a sweet mellow soup with the flavor contrast of the pieces of smokey meat - it has to taste like my mother used to make it, you know snowangel, I'm seriously bread impaired myself, and mastering bread is one of my resolutions for 2007 (it was, however, also one of the resolutions for 2006 ) Your pics are an inspiration... Do you recommend that book for an absolute beginner?

I finally made Shaya's sambousak.. they have a curried chickpea filling.. delicious!! on the plate with lamb sausages sauteed with red peppers and garlic, and a potato/cucumber/feta/mint salad.

An aged cheese like that is often called 'brokkelkaas' in The Netherlands which translates as 'crumblecheese'. It is, indeed, almost impossible to slice or cut. Just break it apart like parmesan. Or try to shave thin shavings of it with a cheese shaver like this Then, take a slice of crusty bread, liberally spread with good unsalted butter, and pile with the cheeseshavings. My favorite lunch!

Well, I have to confess it's not really that cold here in Amsterdam, but by some weird coincedence, I do have my annual batch of Dutch split pea soup simmering on the stove right now! I hope to get some more great soup ideas from this blog!

those buns look so good. Daniel what is 'fresh cinnamon?' Freshly ground?

I'm still inclined to blame my lemon, because the braising liquid was sour and bitter (more sour than bitter though) before adding the picada. Maybe next time, as an experiment, I might add the lemon quarters to the marinade without simmering them with the rest of the marinade first.

Thanks guys! Shaya the dressing is 2 tbsp gochujang, 1 tbsp soysauce, 1 tbsp mirin, a bit of rice vinegar, 1/2 tbsp sesameoil, and some toasted sesameseeds (and a little bit of water to losen it up) dvs I'm sorry no real recipe.. I just mixed ground pork with garlic, ginger, a bit of soysauce, a bit of sesameoil, scallions and chives until it 'looked right'

So what do you all think of lasagna? I think that spinach lasagna with real ragu would be spectacular.. but what to serve before and/or after.. It does appeal to me though because it can be made ahead (and it's cheap ) And yes, I'm also still thinking aout the Sicilian swordfish pie. But I guess that if we have that, we won't have any pasta.. Anyway, I could use some ideas for antipasti. Abra, I'm very interested in your Georgian feast. Please report!

Thanks to this thread, and I have to say especially because of ChryZ's wonderful pictorials, I've been trying my hand at Korean food lately. Bibimbap was already on my repertoire since the cook-off, but now I've been trying other things. Tonight I made mandu, Dak Gochujang Bokum (used ChryZ's recipe from upthread) and a cold buckwheat noodle salad from a little Korean Cookbook I bought. I posted pics here on the Dinner thread. Everything was wonderful. I've also searched every Asian store in Amsterdam for jajangpaste.. I need to make that noodle dish! It's the most delicious looking food I've seen in a loooong tme. So far, no luck. Maybe I should order from Korea ?