Chufi

Thanks Brian for the updates. I had my first dinner at Blauw aan de Wal a couple of weeks ago (after having my eye on it for years), I thought it was pretty good - the food was simple, not too fussy, high quality ingredients - we also had some good wines by the glass. I also thought that the service was truly excellent, of a standard you don't often find in NL! I like the Koffie Salon too. Koffie salon

here´s what I use in my Dutch speculaas recipe: "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. You can add some white pepper if you like it really spicy." coriander seed hadn´t been mentioned yet I think.

The latest on this is that we're probably looking at Thursday! I'm going to do everybody a favor and stop posting updates until there's an actual airing, after which there should be a link to the video available. ← did this ever air and is it available online somewhere?

Soup seems to be the classic way to use it. I love it with eggs - in omelets or quiche. I made these litle tarts recently: sorrel tarts (Dutch text, but if you like the look of them you could put the recipe through Google translate).

another tip is to really get aquainted with your camera. I think all digital cameras now have various ways of adjusting light, white balance etc. Changing these settings can make a dramatic difference in the way the color and loight of your pics come out. Also, get a small tripod - this will allow you to shoot with as less light as possible. But again, for this, you have to figure out how to set your camera. I feel that most people will only use one or two settings of their camera and then say `my camera´s no good´ Play with it, try out all the different settings until you find the one that suits the light situation in your kitchen/dining room best.

hi chic geek welcome to eGullet and to this thread.. would love to hear some Amsterdam recommendations from you, this thread could use a little more action !

interesting.. I guess that means there is no Dutch translation then. I´ll have to ask some native Dutch speakers about this!

I´ve been thinking about the therm comfort food, mostly because I´ve been trying to find a translation (into Dutch) that satisfies me. The literal translation would be ´troost eten´, food that comforts you. But for some reason this feels like a description that is too narrow, in the sense that it means ´food to eat when you are in need of comfort´(ie when you´re sad or down or depressed). I always understood the English term comfort food as something with a broader meaning: food that makes you feel good, food that´s homely and simple and not too challenging on the taste buds. It makes you feel good, but does not require that you felt bad when you started eating. Am I wrong about this English meaning?

Hi Kip, sorry for not replying sooner. re pizzeria Yam Yam: the last time I was there was January, and I still love the place, even if the pizza isn't as transcendental as it used to be. But I'm not really sure if it's worth the trip if yu're not stayin near that area. I was at Bordewijk last week and had a fabulous dinner, so a return visit there is highly recommended. Another place that might be interesting is Turkish restaurant Levant, Weteringschans 93. It's slightly more fancy than Orontes (ie, white tablecloths) and the main courses are a bit more creative and original. I had 2 dinners there recently that were both excellent, and if you're looking for a restaurant to spend an evening I highly recommend it. For upscale Indonesian, I've heard good things about Blauw (Amstelveenseweg 158) but haven't been myself. For excellent Japanese: Zen Japans Delicatessenhuis, Frans Halsstraat 38 (don't confuse it with the other Japanese restaurant also on this street, Otaru). Zen is teeny tiny, nothing fancy, and only open till 8, but it's a gem. For shopping: visit Marqt Have fun!

it looks great. I found the recipe here. Now 2 questions: could I really make this on Friday and serve Sunday.. or would I be better off making the dough on Friday and freezing it, then assembling and baking on Sunday? Could I freeze the dough for 2 days or would it be too hard to grate? sorry if these are stupid questions.. with baking, I need all the help I can get

I'm looking for a recipe for a cake or bar cookie or pastry that I can make on a Friday night, leave at room temp (no room in the fridge or freezer) and then serve on Sunday night. It needs to be relatively simple to make and if it could have rhubarb, that would be awesome (it's for my birthday party, which is themed: Klary's favorites ) I thought about brownies, but, silly as it sounds, I'd rather not do chocolate this time. any ideas appreciated! oh and should serve about 25....

Has anyone seen the published version yet and what do you think? The idea behind this book very much appeals to me, but at the same time I'm sceptical in the same way as many posters upthread. Would love to hear from people who have read the actual book.

Pod them, blanch for about a minute, and pod again. Puree the beans with good olive oil and fresh mint, add pecorino and you have maró - a Ligurian fava bean spread that is one of my favorite things to eat. Spread on bread or crackers, or thin with pasta cooking water and serve as a sauce for pasta. See here.

I made pozole for the first time this week. Not only was it my first time making it, it was also my first time eating it - so I have no clue if it tasted 'right' , all I can say is that it tasted absolutely fantastic, one of the best things I've eaten in a loooong time. I used Rancho Gordo's hominy, given to me by a friend, and besides that red chiles and chicken. The broth was flavored with a tiny bit of cumin and allspice, and plenty of Mexican oregano. I made it on Tuesday, we had it for dinner on Wednesday, and I'm very much looking forward to the leftovers tonight. Pictures are here on my blog. I used about one third of the packet of hominy and I'm so glad I can make this dish 2 more times!!

Rhubarb: the first 3 days When it has just arrived, I want to enjoy as it is - experimenting will come later. So I make a simple compote. I had some pink grapefruit juice in the fridge so I used that as a liquid. I´ve made rhubarb/grapefruit jam in the past, but had forgotten how good this flavor combination is. The compote is eaten with something soft and creamy. The perfect breakfast: rhubarb, granola, joghurt: dessert #1: a simple vanilla pudding topped with rhubarb and toasted almonds dessert #2: coconut panna cotta with rhubarb (for this one, I added some more grapefruit juice to the compote to make it almost soupy).

nakji - I wish I could send you some! I can't imagine what seven years without rhubarb feels like! kerry - rhubarb curd sounds delicious. I might play with that later this week... a rhubarb strawberry macaron sounds really good, although to be honest, I prefer rhubarb on its own or paired with something that's also a bit tart, like raspberries or grapefruit. peter.. colourful and sour coming up soon. Stay tuned....

Bumpbumpbump!! few things make me more excited than the season´s first rhubarb. Last weekend I was in London, and at the Borough Market I spotted the first rhubarb I´ve seen this season.. beautiful big piles of pinkpink luminous rhubarb: I was sooooo sad I couldn´t buy some and cook it. But, fortunately, I had lunch at Hereford Road where, on the day of my visit, there was a dessert of rhubarb jelly and rhubarb sorbet on the menu: Back in Amsterdam.. I had to look for a bit, and go to several markets and stores, but finally found some rhubarb today. Those first precious stalks will just be a simple compote, to have with joghurt tomorrow morning for my favorite breakfast. After that, it´s time for experimenting. Anyone else cooking with rhubarb yet?

sorry for being very late with my reply. Yes, koffiemelk is evaporated milk. if you see something labelled koffieroom, know that it's not the same as koffiemelk (and not evaporated).

I just had dinner with a group of 14 in a London restaurant, not fancy, but fancy-ish.. When I called to make the reservation they said they could put us in their private dining room which did not sound like a lot of fun to me, so we decided on having two separate tables right next to each other, in teh regular restaurant. I thought that was a pretty brilliant solution for group dining .. after all, you´re never gonna be able to talk to 14 people at once anyway, a table of 7 feels so much more manageable, and by the time dessert came around, some of us had switched places so we did feel that we´d ´seen´ everyone in the group.

just put the bottle in a bowl of hot water (replenish with hot water if necessary when the water cools before the honey is liquid again).

oh, definitely streamlining! As I read back in this thread, I see that I made much more work for myself in previous years - more courses, lots of home made appetizers, 3 different cakes for dessert (what was I thinking??) This was the most relaxed dinner ever (for me) and still some people said it was the best You know, many of these friends have been coming to this birthday dinner for 16 years now (which means I´m getting old...) and I really feel there´s no need to impress them anymore. Just be together, and eat good food.

that´s it - and some chives. Very nice and light.

eVITAERC - welcome to the Dinner thread (and to The Netherlands ) I haven´t posted here in a while, but yesterday was the annual dinner for my husbands birthday - cooked all day to make a Middle Eastern dinner for 15 guests. The two best things were the Chucken Musakhan (sumac marinated chicken, roasted on a bed of flatbread and onions) ... and the dessert: Mascarpone vanilla ice cream, basbousa (semolina cake) and poached quinces with quince wodka syrup.

there were supposed to be 18 people, but we had 3 last minute cancellations due to illness, so we ended up with 15 at the table. I have just enough table ware, silver ware and glasses for that.. we only had to rent an extra table, some chairs and table cloths.

I´m almost too embarassed to post this but, in the spirit of truthfulness, and trying to be faithful in following up on questions asked, I present you the final plated dessert. Yes, that picture is deliberately vague. Because, you see, in the end, the plated dessert yesterday looked almost exactly like the one in the first picture upthread. It´s not that I did not listen to you all. I made mascarpone ice cream and served that instead of the plain mascarpone, and I made candied pistachios for a textural contrast. But visually.. I had great plans but when it was 11 pm, time for dessert, and I´d had a glass of wine or two or three, I retreated to my comfort zone and did what I always do. So, sorry about that. But it tasted really really great.