Chufi

Ling, I hope I will eat half as good when I'm in Seattle this fall! That caramel icecream is on my list.. Dessert yesterday was as pretty as it was delicious: Translucent Apple Tart. The recipe is both in Nigella Lawsons How to eat and in Jane Grigsons Fruit book. The filling is simply 60 grams of melted butter, 60 grams of sugar, 1 egg and a grated apple. As you can see it really was translucent! And really good, a very light and delicate flavor. We had it with vanilla whipped cream but I actually think it would have been even better unadorned.

Just pulled mine out of the oven after being inspired by the pic of these last night. I followed the recipe to the letter, but still had some problems. I had to bake about 7 minutes longer. Taste was great but I think i should have returned the dough to the fridge to firm it up more, they melted out more than the ones in the picture. ← someone else had the same problem, but other people made them and they did not spread.. I wonder what causes that?

Trattoria YamYam is a little Italian restaurant just outside the city centre. I've been coming here for many years for 1 thing only: their famous pizza YamYam, with ham, mascarpone and trufflesauce. I have ordered other stuff from time to time and it was good, but it's this pizza that I really have to have every couple of months. I've just found out that this summer, they'll also be open for lunch, and I'm already having visions of Vondelpark picnics with a slice of pizza... They are located on the Frederik Hendrikstraat 88. You can see their menu here (in Dutch and Italian). They serve great pizza from a woodburning oven, fresh pasta, and simple meat and fish dishes. you can see the oven in the middle of the back wall. Yesterday we had: Fennel salami, Pecorino Sardo, and a spinach dish that they serve as contorni, but we had it before our pizza And the pizza: They are always very busy, reservations are recommended especially in the weekends. edited to add: I forgot about their must-have dessert.. coffee granita with whipped cream.. The granita has a very intense bittersweet coffeeflavor, mellowed by heaps of softly whipped cream

Also, the night before this festival, is when the festival actually begins.. So by 11 am, many people haven't been to bed, are walking the streets, and are craving something spicy/fatty for breakfast..

We're talking about the biggest national festival of the year.. Queensday.. when a lot of the 'normal' rules don't apply.. As far as I know, the only thing that's not allowed, is for individuals to sell alcohol or to have perishable foodstuffs.. so I can't have a cooler full of raw burgers and a barbecue.. but I can sell cooked burgers.. makes no sense, I know.. but that's Amsterdam...

I need some ideas for food that can be prepared ahead, at home, transported to a place close to home ( a couple of blocks away) and then sold (and eaten) on the street. It's for a festival where most foodstuff on sale is of the brownies and chocolate cookie kind, and the savoury stuff is mostly hotdogs and fries. So I'm looking for something savory yet healthy, flavorful and interesting. It has to be cheap to make otherwise I'll make no profit Another rule is that is has to be something you can pick up with one hand and eat on the go. Yet another rule is that ideally, it should be prepared the evening before, and taken to the venue very early the next morning (in a cooler) My ideas sofar: wraps with roast chicken and tarragon mayo wraps with marinated tofu, grilled aubergine and corianderpesto. I'm sort of stuck on the wrap-thing. I would like to do something quiche-like but I'm afraid it won't be sturdy enough. all ideas welcome!

Brooklyncook, I'm glad you had a good time! Please report about the places you went to, and what you ate? I'd love to hear!

Sounds like a great meal Tammy! the almond cake is interesting. I like the idea of browning butter before adding it to the batter. But I can see that it was a lot of work! I hope it was appreciated!

there are many examples of Dutch pastries in the Dutch Cooking thread.. here's one that is really delicious: Gevulde koeken, buttery pastry with an almond paste filling

Apart from the filling, which looks dark and chocolaty, it looks very much like the Dutch pastry mergpijpje (literally, marrowbone) which is a thin sheet of marzipan, rolled up, the ends dipped in chocolate, with a filling that is part cake, part cream. So I'm very interested to know what this is and where it's from!

Do you have a broil feature on your oven? Maybe that would work. ← Yeah, I like that idea of just broiling the top crepe...and if you keep one in reserve, it doesn't matter if the experiment goes awry... ← okay that's an even better idea.. I though of putting the whole thing under the grill, but ofcourse it makes much more sense to grill just the one crepe.. I wish it wasn't 4 weeks until my birthday, I want 20-something crepe cake NOW!

No, Klary, salt water. Caught on lines during the snoek season. ← Interesting (and confusing) because the Dutch word snoek means pike!

I don't have a blowtorch (I wish..) but I'm still going to make this thing! I'm thinking it will still look great sprinkled with coarse sugar crystals!

Isn't snoek a sweet water fish? Is it the same as pike?

Hi cakewench, good to see you again! I would love to hear about some of your favorite places. If we agree on Taart van mijn tante.. what places do you go to when you crave good cake?

Hi Timo, that's great that you're coming to Amsterdam to celebrate your birthday! I'm sure you can find lots of ideas for places to eat on this thread and threads that are linked to. For your birthday dinner: you might like to check out restaurant Greetje. It opened october last year and has gotten some very good reviews. I haven't been there myself though.. The menu features all kinds of old fashioned Dutch dishes, some done with a little French twist. The cuisine is pretty unique in Amsterdam. (You can look at the menu on their website, it's in English) If you have any other questions, either before or during your stay, be they food related or not, please feel free to contact me! have fun on your birthday!

I was sick this weekend and to cheer myself up, I sent my husband to the kitchen supply store to buy me a madeleine pan. Ever since Megan started showing us her beautiful madeleines, they were on my wish-list! So I made them last night for a dinner party. My guests are both Proust fans and of the 4 people at the table, 3 had read the entire A la recherche du temps perdu from start to finish (yeah, I'm the one who hasn't ), so I thought madeleines would be a nice choice for dessert. I served them with orange cardamom creams and it was delicious! Mine were kind of evenly brownon one side, and evenly yellow on the other (non-ridged) side, Megan how do you get yours to have those lovely dark edges?

I met someone at a dinner party the other night who makes his own licorice (drop). I'm thinking of doing a report about one of his sessions (for the Dutch Cooking thread), I'll let all you licorice fans know when it's up

Gerhard, this is a great blog.. I love your writing and your sense of humour, and the way you describe your life. The ocean views are spectacular and just what you need after a disappointing piece of monkfish! I confess I had to do a Google Image search for warthog.. that's a scary looking beast! I also loved the story about your staff, and how you trained them. The fact that they are so committed to your business says a lot about your qualities as their employer, I think.. they are lucky to have you.. There's a pretty good South African restaurant here in Amsterdam, I've eaten there a couple of times, crocodile, impala and springbok.. and bobotie ofcourse.. and melktaart, mmm...

That looks so good! How long does it keep? I'm thinking this would be great for my birthday dessert-table.. but I would have to be able to make it a couple days in advance..

they are similar to the greens on a bunch of radishes (would you call that radish greens?) which is no surprise considering radishes and turnips are related!

Wow, that's a wonderful, elegant, and very tasty looking dinner! And to do all of that in 2 hours, taking pictures as well.. fantastic job! I could never do that! very interesting the way you did the sprouts.. I've never seen that before, just using the leaves..

I'm going to break my own rule now about not writing about places I haven't been, but this one seems like something you will enjoy brooklyncook: Moeders Rozengracht 251, Jordaan, Amsterdam Telefoon (020) 626 79 57 / Fax (020) 626 79 57 keuken open 17.00-23.00 Website www.moeders.com Best known for simple Dutch fare: stamppot (potatoes & vegetable mash), braised beef, meatballs & gravy, etc. If you end up there, I'd love to hear what you think!

Henry that's an awesome dinner! I can imagine you needed to recuperate a bit after that.. Please feel free to change your plans, we want to see you eat but most of all we want you to enjoy yourself!

Stamppot. You thought you'd seen them all? You're wrong Here's another one: stamppot raapstelen, made with turniptops. Bunches of turnip tops appear at the market late February, early March, and are the first messengers of spring. Their flavor is light, fresh and delicate, and they make a great spring-stamppot. they are so pretty! the leaves are very delicate and bruise easily. You often see bunches of tired, wilted Raapsteeltjes for sale.. but these were in great condition. Mix them, shredded, into the mash Like other stamppot, this is often served with fried smoked bacon, but because the flavor of the greens is so fresh and fragrant, I prefer it with lighter stuff. I often serve it with fish, it's great with pan-fried sole or plaice. Today I had it with a light lamb stew, picture here in the Dinner! thread