Chufi

Marlene, I am waaaaay behind with putting recipes up in Recipe Gullet.. but the recipe is here in this post upthread

Suzilightning how ingenious to make butter braised beef without the butter. I'm glad it still tasted good! I agree with you, if you have good beef, this is the dish to show it off. With not so good beef, you will definitely know it's not so good That's a lovely pancake Ashiana! By coincedence, I was at an old-fashioned pancakerestaurant today (in the woods near Laren, about half an hour's drive from Amsterdam, where our royal palace is located) and had a very large, very delicious bacon & syrup pancake. Kouign Aman, I'm glad you like the beef. Cooking it in the oven would be fine, just (like you said) make sure it stays at a gentle simmer. The oven isn't much used in traditional Dutch home-cooking, except for baking. Roasts are for instance very uncommon. But there's no reason why you shouldn't do it in the oven if that's more convenient. I can't believe people go on cooking Dutch food and keeping this thread alive, when I am far from active on it! thanks everybody

Diane Seed has a lot of great risotto recipes in her book 100 Italian Rice dishes.. here are 2 intriguing ones.. a Rose Petal Risotto, made with roses, rose wine, and rosewater.. it was reportedly served to D'Annunzio and Eleonora Duse in the 1930s... the other one that I noticed is a sweet one, a souffleed orange risotto with orange, almonds, orange peel and orange liqueur.

I made a chocolate risotto once that was a bit weird, but very tasty.. like the ultimate comforting chocolate rice pudding. I make a lot of savoury risotti.. might be interesting to look into sweet ones. There have to be more!

My butcher had piles of suckling lamb when I was there last week. Isn't it weird how things that are readily available in one place, are very hard to get somewhere else? (Considering none of us are in Lazio )

I've never seen the baby ones. I don't know what it is.. I like a lot of kitchen chores that take lots of time.. like shelling peas or making ravioli or whatever.. there's just something about tackling those bulbs with a knife and then all the debris you're left with.. makes me wish I had a little kitchen helper to do it for me Ah well I'll stop whining about it now! Your pasta dish with the artichokes and fennel looked really good...

I love eating them, but I have to confess I find cleaning them a real bore. So I don't eat them as often as I'd like! I had big cooking plans for this month. I was going to cook a big Roman dinner together with a friend of mine who is a) a really good cook, and b) knows Italy very well especially Rome, since he spends a couple of months a year there. Now it turns out he is spending most of April in.. Rome, which is fine for him (Easter in Rome!) but does get in the way of our cooking plans. So, if we do get round to cooking the big dinner, it will probably be May byt he time we do it. Ah well. I will try to do something on my own though. I might even tackle some artichokes. They were down to 90 eurocents a piece at the market today.. so no excuses..

Alinka, I'm sorry.. I just get carried away by the rhubarb.. had another bowl of compote for breakfast this morning, then went to the market and bought some more.. The compote I make is really very easy. A lot of recipes tell you to bake it in the oven but I just can't be bothered to turn on the oven for this.. I just put the pieces in a pan, making sure there at least 3 layers of rhubarb. Toss with sugar.. you really have to experiment with how much sugar you like.. I like my compote very tart.. Also toss in some orange zest. a little orange juice or just some water. Not much just a tablespoon or so for every pund of rhubarb. Then cook over low heat, shaking the pan but not stirring. This way, the bottom layer of rhubarb pieces dissolves into a sauce, while the top layer sort of steamcooks and keeps it's shape. (for the crumble, as shown on the Dessert thread: just put raw rhubarb, tossed with sugar, into a pie dish and top with you favorite crumble mix. Something with almond or oats in it is good)

not really.. but.. you had all that for breakfast ??

Rhubarb and muscat wine jelly (Nigella Lawson recipe from How to eat): edited to add: I have been eating rhubarb practically non-stop for the past days. I have a large bowl of rhubarb orange compote in the fridge (just pieces of rhubarb stewed with orange zest and a little bit of water until soft but still holding their shape) and I'm eating it for breakfast, lunch and dessert So I can really use these ideas to bring some variation to my rhubarb-eating!

They look gorgeous Michelle! I am honored that they will be on your Passover table Great idea with the chocolate, I'm gonna try that myself soon!

Made gnocchi alla Romana yesterday. I was surprised how easy they were. and very tasty smothered in all that butter and Parmesan! I had no clue how large or how thin they should be. Is this about right?

Do you have a lot of non-Jewish customers? Maybe not to buy 'kosher for pass-over" things ofcourse, but other items? Just because they like them?

Wow, Tammy that's an amazing dinner! Very impressive! The vegetarian course with the mushrooms and lentils looks so good. How did you get it like that? was it molded and turned out? and one more question.. how did you make the port-glazed walnuts?

That color is, indeed, scary. I'm pretty sure Nigella wouldn't agree with that. Not that that matters... I went to a sushi workshop the other day. Everybody was so serious and respectful of the whole sushi ritual (you know, fanning the rice and stuff like that) that I could not help myself and made this sushi easterbunny: It doesn't look inedible (and it was, in fact, perfectly edible), still I feel that every sushichef would cringe upon seeing it

it's rhubarb season! I love rhubarb. I adore rhubarb. I could go on rhapsodizing about rhubarb for hours Instead I'll show you my breakfast: Rhubarb & orange compote and strawberries with thick creamy joghurt. I'm making a large batch of that compote again today. So that, with some joghurt and granola, will be my breakfast for the rest of the week!

I got one a couple of years ago, i had to feed the starter every couple of days milk, sugar and flour. No eggs, but I remember being worried about all that milk left out and about (it was the middle of summer and very hot weather and I was supposed to keep it at room temp.) I baked some great breads with it, but yes the main problem is to give away the portions, especially since I got it from a friend, and our circle of friends was well taken care of by the time I had some starters to give away

The sun was just setting, and shone through the glass pie plate. It was beautiful.. I was sorry my guests did not get to see it. It's not often a dish lives up to it's fancy cookbook-name.. Tonight: rhubarb crumble. Ah, the first rhubarb of the season. I adore rhubarb, both in the early days when it's rosy-pink, and later in the season when its greenish and coarser flavored. But the first of the year is always special.

Yay, new converts! When I get tired of roasting it just as it is, I often do a spicy version with a mixture of cumin, coriander seeds, cardamom and chili flakes. This is great in a salad with chickpeas, drizzled with sesame oil. Hmm.. must make that this week!

Hi Pam! I really enjoyed your blog last year and look forward to spending Passover with you! You are very brave to blog (again) at such a busy time. I'm sure I'm not the only one to feel honoured that you are willing to donate your time so generously.

Here's the Dutch pastry mergpijpje (little marrowbone) that filipe's traestamme reminded me of. These are mass-produced ones from the supermarket, but you can imagine that with good cake, fresh cream, real marzipan and quality chocolate, these can be delightful! Unfortunately you don't often see them at good bakeries, they are thought of as rather old-fashioned.

I think that would be an excellent idea. I even think there might be a pastry here that is just that. But the name escapes me for now!

I was eating one of these this weekend.. and as I was walking the streets of Amsterdam, munching away, dipping crunchy golden fries in unctuous, slightly tangy , thick and creamy mayo, I thought of this thread. Okay. Maybe not better than. But as good as.. yes. Or at least very, very, very close.

Krispychecks, it looks really really pretty with the swirl of sugar and cinnamon. I am so glad you liked it! And how dedicated of you to give it a second try after you threw the first one out. When that happens to me, I usually don't bake for a week

oh, what fun! How long will you be staying? Please be aware that Queensday this year is not celebrated on the official date (the 30th) because that's a Sunday. So all festivities will take place on Fridaynight (aka as Queensnight) and Saturday 29. I wouldn't say it's a big food day in the sense that it's a foodfestival. For many people, it's nothing but a beer festival - they will start drinking on Fridayevening and won't stop until somewhere around noon on Saturday. The centre of the city can get really crazy with crowds literally blocking the narrow streets, drinking and singing and dancing. Many restaurants and bars have a special Queensday set-up, with beertaps outside, barbecues etc. There are usually several stages set up in the centre, with live performances, music etc. What I like most about this day is the fact that the whole city becomes one big fleamarket. From midnight on Queensnight, and the whole Queensday, you can set up your stall and sell whatever you like. Old clothes, books, kitchenware, or home made food. Or you can sell jokes, fortunetelling, riddles, performances, anything goes! The Vondelpark is dedicated to kids: only children are allowed to sell stuff there, and it's pretty cute to see them selling there somewhat burnt brownies and old toys. When we get a bit closer to the day, I'll try to find out what sort of festivities are planned and PM you. Also, I'll let you know where I'll be with my stall of second hand cookbooks, so you can come visit me if you like!