Chufi

I find that another great way to cut down on costs, is NOT to cook from recipes. This requires a certain skill, improvisation, and fantasy. But I find that when I pick out a recipe in the morning, and go to the grocery store after work armed with my list, I have to buy lots of stuff just for that particular recipe. And sometimes, yes, because I am pretty unorganized, I buy things that I later find, are already in the house... So, during the week I almost never cook from recipes except when I find a recipe that will suit what's already in the pantry/fridge. I go to the store and buy some things that look good (like Carrot Top, I usually start with a vegetable) . Browsing new cookbooks, and magazines, where I am lured into experimenting with new recipes, is for the weekend when I am willing to spend both more time and money on cooking.

I think that was this one cook from the pantry

Mei, do you ever go shopping in Amsterdam, we have some pretty nice toko's here, they might have stuff you're looking for! I am so glad that you are going where no other Dutch blogger (= me ) has dared to go.

So, I cooked from Claudia Roden's Tamarind and Saffron. stuffed onions. A large onion is boiled, then the layers are seperated and stuffed with ground meat that is flavored with parsley, cinnamon, allspice. The bundles are then simmered in a tamarind sauce, and briefly browned under the grill. They were fantastic! I will make these again.. they are not too fussy yet look very special.. and the flavor combination of the rich meat stuffing with the sweet and sour sauce is truly wonderful. Spinach and bean omelet, very simple but lovely: Dessert: saffron rice pudding. This is basically rice simmered with water and sugar, thickend with cornstarch. Flavorings: cardamom, saffron, raisins, pistahcios. It's a bit weird. Kind of gluey textured.. For the onion recipe alone, I am grateful Daniel started this thread But that aside, I don't think this is a book to hang onto. It has many recipes that are in Roden's other books. And besides, I have the Dutch version, which is very badly translated, which annoys me!

Mei, thanks for the picture of Nelis' ijsssalon, I used to go there all the time when I was young , Weesp is a nice bikeride away from the Amsterdam suburb where I grew up. and mmmm, borstplaat... I'll be posting a recipe for that in the Dutch cooking thread soon!

Okay so I asked Dennis to stand in front of the shelves and pick a book, with his eyes closed, because he has no idea what's on there First he picked Penelope Casas Foods and Wines of Spain, which I have cooked from many times, so I asked him to pick again, and he picked Claudia Roden's Tamarind and Saffron. I've had this book for a year and never cooked a thing from it. Somewhere this week I'll cook from it! Great thread idea Daniel!

I'll play! Infact, I'll go downstairs now and pick a book. It'll be hard to make it truly random, because my cookbooks are on shelves in the kitchen, and I sort of know what is where. back in a minute...

Mei, that applepie looks great! It's a really good idea to sprinkle sugar on top.. I never do that because my husband doesn't like crunchy sugar and the disposable piedish is very smart, less washing up that way.. now where is that blush smilie when you need it... ah there it is! (rachel, the link to the Dutch Cooking thread is in my signature)

Sharing is just not a very Dutch thing. People are not used to it and I think they find it confusing. Dinner is the food on your plate, period. Not somebody elses food.. This is ofcourse, like everything else, slowly changing with the rising popularity of tapas/mezze restaurants. There, it's much more common to order a bunch of dishes and share. But Chinese/Indonesian food has been around forever, and the people who eat there, are usually not the most adventurous eaters anyway, so they tend to stick to their old habits.

it's just very nice to have a blog, for once, that takes place in my 'real time' !

Ooohh this is so exciting, a Dutch foodblog! (yes I know Paris, Oberhousen, and Budapest are in this blog, but I'm sure you'll understand that the Dutch part is particularly interesting to me ) Weesp is such a lovely little town! And that's a very cool kitchen! Oh and I'd love to hear what you think about Dutch food.

IlCuoco, maybe you can start a seperate thread about Utrecht? It would be nice to have some good Utrecht recommendations.

The Dutch love their food to touch. They even made up a slang verb to describe the way they most love to eat: prakken Picture a plate with a meatball, boiled potatoes, steamed brussel sprouts, A small pool of gravy. Typical Dutch everyday fare. Now take knife and fork and break up your potatoes. Cut up your meatball. Put your knife down, and use your fork to mash everything together (= prakken). Add more gravy as needed (it is always needed). If there is another side dish, such as stewed apples, a cucumbersalad, etc., it's okay to mash this in, too. Use your fork to shovel this mixture into your mouth. One of the very first things I knew when I was growing up, was that this could not be the right way to eat

I also made the Madeleines from Dax this weekend. I made the recipe as written, (even managed to remember to start the batter the day before) except I added some orange zest to the batter together with the orangeblossom water for a more pronounced orangeflavor. Served with slow-cooked quinces (from Wolferts Slow Meditteranean Cooking). Very good. Pictures here in the Dinner thread

I made the slow-cooked quinces yesterday. They were amazing. I put some of the peel and cores on top of the quinces (quartered instead of halved because I had already quartered them before I had read the recipe). I also put a chopped apple in, as suggested in the note. They were in a low oven for about 4 hours, instead of the suggested 5-7 hours, because I needed the oven (on a higher temp) for something else, but they were so meltingly tender and gorgeously red that I don't see how a couple of more hours could have improved them. This is the best way of cooking quinces I have ever used. Isn't it amazing how those drab looking pieces of fruit turn from this to this in a couple of hours? No foodcolouring, no Photoshopping I served them sprinkled with pistachios for color contrast, with Madeleines from Dax from Wolfert's Cooking of Southwest France, and honeyed creme fraiche.

I like Caulils, it's a nice litle shop. They also organize winetastings, which a friend of mine is always raving about, but I haven't been to one yet myself. As for the flour, try Delicious Foods on Westerstraat 24. I love this place, they sell all sorts of grains and pulses etc. in bulk (unusual in Amsterdam), they have this device where you can make your own peanutbutter, lovely homemade pastries, etc. and they sell a variety of flours from the Soezie range. About a year ago they were even selling sourdough starters, not sure if they still do that, but this place is worth a visit if you're interested in baking, just have a chat with the very friendly and knowledgeable owners.

I swear I read that entire menu twice and never saw the cassoulet ! I went to Klokspijs this summer, and it was pretty bad, he reviewed it just last week and gave it I think 9 out of 10 ... I was at Reibach this Tuesday, and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't very good, and most certainly not worthy of his rave review.. He must have had something different to eat... o'r maybe I am just too critical

Cassoulet is not on their website menu.. I suppose the window menu is more recent, but still maybe wise to check if they have it, if you're going for cassoulet especially! It got a good review from Johannes van Dam, not that really means anything, I've eaten in 2 places he gave 9 out of 10 recently, and thought they were pretty bad.

Welcome to eGullet Gilb3ert! Where in the Netherlands are you? Do share some of your favorite places to eat with us!

Oh my goodness. That is so beautiful! I could just look at that view all day, with some charming server bringing me breakfast, coffee, lunch, drinks & dinner! Oh and some of those sweets from that first tray s'il vous plait..

Ofcourse, you never know, but I would highly doubt that you can eat a good cassoulet in a restaurant somewhere in Amsterdam. Maybe in someones home I've never eaten it, and never seen it on any menu. French restaurants are popping up like mushrooms all around the city (Dutch expression, don't know how this translates), Flo, Cote Oest, French Cafe, but none of them have cassoulet on the menu. Duck confit: I assume Fred & Yolanda de Leeuw has it, and I think I saw some at Poelier Jonk in de Haarlemmerstraat just this week. The poultry guy in the van Woustraat, recently retired and very much missed had it, not that that's of any use to you now...

Lovely, Megan. I am so looking forward to the rest of your report, and the French part as well! It's great to have you back.

... when you're looking forward to Megan's trip report more than to another round of your friends' boring beach-vacation pictures

I also thought it looked very Dutch! and I know I am not the next blogger I think BonVivant NL lives in the southern part of the Netherlands.. bordering on Belgium and Germany... that might explain the 3-country part.

yes, you can make a very good appeltaart with jonagopld apples. let me know how it turns out!