Chufi

I made the "casserole of duck breasts with potatoes as prepared in the Bigorre" tonight. I think this is one of the easiest dishes in the book. I bought a large duckbreast today, not really knowing what I was going to do with it, browsed through the book and realized I had everything else for the recipe already in my fridge. Despite this 'simplicity', it's a gem. Really really good. Potatoes browned in duckfat, now there's nothing wrong with that, but the juices of the duckbreast seeping into it while it finishes cooking on top of the potatocake, make it really special. I also made the celeriac/applepuree. Now I have a question about that. I cooked the celeriac and apple in milk as stated, but the acidity from the apple (I think) caused the milk to curdle and when I drained the pan there were lots of big and small curds. I picked out the largest ones (and ate them, very good actually, apply/celeriacy curds! ) but the small ones were still visible even after pureeing. It did not affect the taste but it looked a bit weird. Did I do anything wrong?

Well, while I do have my favorite fishmonger here in Amsterdam, I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a good one nearer to where they are staying... Maybe just ask the locals? (not on eGullet I mean, the actual locals ) If you end up doing your Christmas shopping in Amsterdam, let me know and I'll give you specifics about my fishguy.

I'm such a cookbook-nerd that I think I know where you've read this.. Paula Wolfert quotes Thomas Keller in the Slow Meditteranean Kitchen, page 212...

An extra wee bit of butter can never be wrong I remember your stovepipe pies! They are so cute!

Klary, if I make this recipe using 3 lbs. of beef, would you recommend increasing the amount of butter? I've made this twice before using a chuck roast of that size but, for the life of me, I can't remember if I increased the butter or not! ← The important thing is to be able to brown all the beef in a single layer.. I'm guessing that will be very hard if you have 3 lbs? Browning in batches will take forever (I don't think it says so in my orginal post, but I adapted the recipe in RG to 'brown the meat very slowly for at least 10-15 minutes') so maybe you'd better start off with 2 pans, basically doubling the recipe, and then putting it all together to braise?

I'd try De Bierkoning in Amsterdam. They claim to have the world's largest collection of beer for sale.. now I don't know if that's true, but I do know it's a wonderful shop with an amazing variety of beers.

Lori, thank you so much for this report. It does confirm my suspicions that the recipe I put up earlier, needs tweaking! So, the reduced amount of yeast is good, I think. It just means the bread has to rise a bit longer. the fact that you needed so much more flour, does surprise me. I know all flours are different, but a whole cup extra is a lot! But your dough does look just like it should, nice and moist. Gingerjam as a substitute is a great idea. Now, as for the baking.. you think it should have baked longer, maybe at an even lower temp? I guess I need to make it again...

Because I have plenty of other things to do, I spent the last half hour with Mr. Google. So here's what it is: banana passionfruit (ofcourse), aka curuba. Where does that word caramba come from? marketing strategy? wiki on banana pasionfruit

Has anyone ever seen or eaten this fruit? The label says Caramba, the box they were in said from Brazil. Googling brought up a lot of 'Ay, Caramba' references, but none of those gave me any info about this fruit They're the size of a small pickling cucumber, light to dark-green. The pulp tastes like passionfruit, but much tarter. I like the flavor, but the seeds are very hard which makes them a bit unpleasant to eat.

FWIW, I stopped in DiBruno's on Chestnut on Thursday. The "10-year aged gouda" they sell is from Noord Hollander. AFAICT, this cheese is imported to the US by Cheese Land, Inc., of Seattle--the Cheese Land web site address is printed on the Noord Hollander label--but there is no evidence of this cheese's existence on that web site. ← update: I've been e-mailing back and forth with DiBruno's. They told me they age the Gouda in their own cellars. When I asked for the name of their Dutch producer/supplier, no more e-mails. I have also contacted Cheeseland. Haven't heard from them yet.

Lori, it's here. I did not add it to RecipeGullet yet because when I made it, I felt it was just a bit too yeasty for my taste. I used 2 packets of instant yeast for the 500 grams of flour. I've been meaning to make it again with only one packet and see if I'd like that better, but I haven't yet. I'd be very interested in your feedback, if you make this, could you make notes as to what you change or feel should be changed, then I can put the 'definitive' recipe in RG. Thanks!

remember these? it is the season again! I can't believe a year has passed since I posted those. The smell of speculaas is wafting through the streets of Amsterdam again. It's November, it's cold and grey out, and time to bake! I've (finally) added the recipes for gevulde speculaas and speculaaskoekjes to Recipe Gullet. No speculaas spices and you don't have the inclination to make your own? I'll happily send a small packet of spices to anyone who wants to make these cookies. Just PM me. edited to add: thank you, rachel, for your very kind words!

everything looks gorgeous and you must have been the cutest tourist couple in Italy! I think this dish: is the pork coddled in olive oil with Tuscan white beans from Paula Wolfert's Slow Meditteranean Cooking.. in case you want to recreate it at home!

Gevulde speculaas This is a traditional Dutch cookie, cloesely associated with the feast of Sinterklaas on December 5th. From early November onwards, the wonderful smell of spicy cookies is coming out of all the bakeries. To make these cookies you need the special spicemix, speculaaskruiden. You can make your own, the spices that should be in there are: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, aniseed, coriander, cardamom, in a ratio: cinnamon 3 : cloves 2: nutmeg 2: ginger 1/2: aniseed 1/2: coriander 1/2: cardamom 1/2. Or you can PM your Dutch eGullet contact (that's me) and she'll be happy to send you some! 300 g flour 150 g butter, softened 150 g soft brown sugar 1 T speculaas spices, to taste 1 tsp baking powder pinch of salt 1 T milk 250 g almond paste (see below) grated rind of half a lemon 2 T cream or milk beaten egg to glaze almond halves to decorate To make the almond paste, grind 125 grams of blanched almonds together with 125 grams of fine sugar until you have a coarse paste. Mix with 1 egg and keep in the fridge. Make a dough by mixing the first 5 ingredients together, adding some milk if you have to, to make it come together. Divide into 4 equal parts. Mix the almond paste with the lemon zest and the cream until you have a spreadable mixture. Roll out two parts of the dough into a narrow rectangle. Put unto a buttered baking sheet (or one lined with baking parchment). Spread the almond paste on top. It will still be pretty stiff. Carefully spread it over the pastry with the back of a spoon, wetting it to keep the paste from sticking. Roll out the other 2 parts of the dough and place on top. Press the edges to seal and trim all around with a knife. Press the almond halves on top and glaze the two logs with the beaten egg. Bake at 180 C / 350 F for 20- 30 minutes. Cut into small pieces (it's very rich) to serve. note: instead of making two logs, you could make one big square ‘cake’. Or make it in a round tin, or (as Abra did) littel individual cakes made in miniature muffin tins. Keywords: Brownies/Bars, Snack, Cake ( RG1859 )

Speculaaskoekjes This is a traditional Dutch cookie, cloesely associated with the feast of Sinterklaas on December 5th. From early November onwards, the wonderful smell of spicy cookies is coming out of all the bakeries. To make these cookies you need the special spicemix, speculaaskruiden. You can make your own, the spices that should be in there are: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, aniseed, coriander, cardamom, in a ratio: cinnamon 3 : cloves 2: nutmeg 2: ginger 1/2: aniseed 1/2: coriander 1/2: cardamom 1/2. Or you can PM your Dutch eGullet contact (that's me) and she'll be happy to send you some! 250 g flour 150 g soft butter 125 g dark soft brown sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1 T speculaas spices beaten egg, to glaze slivered almonds Mix all ingredients except the egg and almonds into a dough. Leave this to rest in the fridge overnight, to allow the flavors of the spices to develop. Next day, roll out thinly and cut into any desired shape. Put on a buttered baking sheet, brush with egg glaze, and sprinkle with the almonds. Bake in a preheated (180 C) oven for about 15 minutes. note: the cookies in the picture are really thin. For a more traditional shape, roll out slightly thicker. this recipe differs slightly from the recipe in the thread. It uses a bit less spices and I have added baking powder to make them a bit lighter. Keywords: Easy, Cookie ( RG1858 )

Wendy, I've been waiting for this! will there be pictures of your tour of the Parmigiano cheese factory?

Mei, this has been great fun. It's great to see you enjoying yourself, with your hostfamily, farmboy, and all the things Amsterdam has to offer I hope the rest of your stay here will be wonderful! Maybe we can meet one day before you go home!

wikipedia on rabbit wikipedia on hare edited to add, divina is blogging this week, check out her blog in General Food Topics here!

divina, how wonderful. I am so in the mood for Tuscan food! happy blogging! I have some questions right away What's your background in Italian cooking? Are you italian, or is that you 'adopted' nationality, and what kind of culinary training did you have before opening your Cooking School?

Does anyone know why it's called gizzard and not just stomach? (they're called kippenmaagjes - chickenstomachs in the Netherlands)

Dinner: pappardelle sulla lepre. Homemade pasta! I pretty much did what divina described above. Flavorings were juniper, thyme, rosemary, fennel seeds, nutmeg. Braised the meat in red wine and porcini stock until really tender. A tiny bit of lemon zest at the end. Oh, and I forgot to buy celery, so I added some chopped up celeriac. I have to admit.. I was sorely tempted to add cheese. I do love pasta with a meatsauce and cheese! But, I let Dennis taste the sauce, and his verdict was: no cheese! The man can't cook, but he sure has a good palate and he was so right. The cheese would have really drowned the beautiful complex flavor of the sauce. The sauce is actually a kind of chopped up game-stew, with the deep and sweet and mellow flavors of fall.

Thanks divina! the hare ( 1 huge leg) is simmering away as we speak and I did it almost as you decribed (before reading your post!). The house smells great No liver though. btw wouldn't hare liver be better than the rabbit liver? assuming one could get that?

I'm planning to make pappardelle alla (sulla?) lepre tomorrow. Recipes online seem to vary quite a bit. Does anyone have a good one? Oh, and should I serve with or without parmesan?

Mei, this blog is so much fun! Interesting that the Coop is so expensive, the one I go to here in Amsterdam is much cheaper than the Albert Heijn. What does Farmboy eat, if he has no kitchenware?

Everything he said. And there's that great toko in Amstelveen that I wrote about upthread, but for a 48 hour stopover that's probably not too convenient.