Chufi

Peter really does get cuter with every blog!! His smile makes me smile as I'm reading this blog, procrastinating and yet again not cleaning my desk. I have never smoked and thus never quit, but I am very very good at beating myself up about almost everything that I want to do but don't. It really wears you out and is absolutely good for nothing. Keep going everybody, trying to do something good is heroism in my book, and you are the only ones who can define 'success'. Smoking less can be the success, thinking about the dynamics of smoking, as Susan and Marlene have described so eloquently here, can be the success. Awareness can be the success. Maybe you won't quit 100 % now, but I'm pretty sure one day you will, and doing this blog will have played part in that process.

Hi Klary. Nice to see this thread back again. Do you mean that tulband is baked on birthdays as part of the festive table (and not the birthday cake itself)? Is there a traditional Dutch birthday cake? I'd like to hear about that. ← yes, the tulband would have been 'extra'. It was also traditionally served at Christmastime. Nowadays, there are not many people who would make tulband - let alone serve it at their birthday! But the traditional Dutch birthday cake was, and still is, a simple layered spongecake with a filling and frosting of whipped cream, the sides of the cake covered in flaked almonds, maybe with fresh sesaonal fruits on top.

When you poach the quinces, did you add the seeds to the poaching liquid? They are loaded with pectin, I'd think enough to make things gel quite well (maybe even more than you might want!) ← yes, I always make a syrup first by cooking the peels and pips in some water, then strain, and cook the pieces of quince in this syrup.. I think I was just not patient enough and spread the jelly on the tart before it was really cold, so that's why it spread so much. edited to add: Ling , your puff pastry looks gorgeous.. and isn't it fun to make?

I was hoping I would not have to 'fess up.... but I tried to make the cake yesterday and completely ruined it - my fault I am sure - did not have bundt pan so thought I might be able to make a tube pan work. Unfortunately, the only tube pan I own is one that is designed for both the microwave and conventional ovens and hence is some sort of plastic - the cake did not rise. Thanks for the experiment and I will be looking for a bundt pan in the next little while so I can try again. ← oh I am so sorry.. you know mine did not rise that much.. after all there's nothing in it to make it rise but the beaten eggwhites. Maybe if you added some baking powder or used selfraisingflour? A tube pan should work, after all it's the same shape? I'll make it again soon and try it with the baking powder. I won't put the recipe in Recipe Gullet for now!

I don't see why that wouldn't work. It is moist yet light and I think the texture wouldn't suffer too much... but I've never tried freezing it myself.. would you like me to test freeze a slice for you? I could report back tomorrow.. ← I just ate a slice that I froze yesterday, and defrosted this afternoon. Tastes good! (Don't know how weeks in the freezer would affect it ofcourse.. )

I don't see why that wouldn't work. It is moist yet light and I think the texture wouldn't suffer too much... but I've never tried freezing it myself.. would you like me to test freeze a slice for you? I could report back tomorrow..

not exactly, as I travelled to Dublin especially to see her I'm a really big fan, also travelled to London last year to see her. Anyway, it seems she likes Ireland, so I really hope she'll be playing in Dublin somewhere in the near future again .. so I can hop on a plane, see the show and have some oysters & Guinness as well! and dinner at Mint! (phew, I did manage to get back to food.. )

Tulband - Dutch candied fruit cake Tulband means turban in Dutch and I guess that has something to do with the shape of the mould that this cake is baked in. I think this mold is known as Bundt pan or Gugelhopf mould in other countries. This cake was the obligatory festive cake in my mother's family. It was always there, on every holiday and for every birthday. The best thing about it (for me as a child) was that it wasn't served as a sweet with coffe or tea, but served at the broodmaaltijd - (the meal that consists primarily of fresh bread, cold cuts and cheeses, traditionally this would be eaten in the evening, while the warm dinner was served at midday). So you could have a slice of this, thickly smeared with butter, instead of your cheese sandwich Today was the first time I made it myself. I actually thought about it because I had some angelica lying around that I did not really know what to do with. Then I spotted the bright red candied fruits at my market and I thought of the jewel like flecks of candied fruit in tulband. Here it is! 120 grams flour 100 grams softened butter 100 grams sugar 100 grams candied fruits and peel, (any mix will be good, but make sure it's colorful - this cake is supposed to end up looking slightly tacky ) grated zest of half a lemon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) pinch of salt 5 large eggs, seperated. extra butter and flour for the tin 1 tablespoon of flour for the fruit First prepare your tin. Butter and flour it very carefully, make sure every little crevice is greased and floured. This cake has a tendency to stick.. I remember this from when my mother made them regularly.. Preheat your oven to 350 F / 180 C. Mix the candied fruit with the tablespoon of flour in a sieve. Repeat a couple of times. This will stop the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cake. Cream the egg yolks with the sugar and when they're nice and light, add the soft butter. Mix it in but don't mix too much. Fold in the flour, add the salt, mix gently, and then mix in the lemon zest, candied fruit and vanilla. Beat the eggwhites until stiff. Gently fold them into the batter. Pour into the tin, tap it on the counter several times to make sure the batter is evenly distributed (my cake ended up a little lopsided so I guess I didn't do very well here). Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, start checking after 30. The cake should be lightly browned. Let cool in the tin for 5 minutes then carefully turn out. Oops.. I told you this has a tendency to stick. But if you carefully remove the stuck bits you can usually plaster it back together. Dust with icing sugar. Eat as it is or spread with butter.. very good with a strong cup of tea. edited to add the salt...

I made this tart yesterday.. I am quite proud of it because i sort of made it up myself. It's a shortcrust shell (baked blind), filled with lemon/amaretto/vanilla pastrycream, topped with vanilla poached quinces and quince/red wine jelly. It was very good.. the only thing wrong with it was that I had liked the jelly to be more, uhm, jellied.. it was too runny. But still delicious

I applaud you all for doing this with the whole world of EGullet watching over your shoulder. You are an inspiration - and I don't just mean the food! That said - I want one of Dave's cocktails, Susan's elk burgers, and char sui, Marlene's steak, Dave's chicken, and Diana's banana/macadamia muffin! All the food looks so good!

I'm just back from 2 days in Dublin and I thought I'd report on what I ate! Coffee and pastries at the Chapter House, this is the cafe of the Writer's Museum (and right next door to restaurant Chapter One). One of the few nice places I saw in this area (Parnell Square, I was staying in a hotel nearby), even if you're not visiting the museum, a nice place for coffee and a snack. Coffee and pastries at Maison des Gourmets: this is a lovely place.. great coffee, lovely sweets, and a very nice calm atmosphere in the tiny cafe upstairs. I also bought some cookies etc. for later in the day and they were excellent as well. Oysters & Guinness at Davy Byrnes pub, very good stuff and it made us feel very 'Dublin' Dinner at Odessa. This very disappointing. Starter (salmon tartare) was ok but boring, main course was plain weird and unattractive: an overcooked red onion/blue cheese tart served on top of a stew of potatoes, beetroot and spinach, this stew was swimming in an extremely sour sauce so the tart was soaked in this sauce as well. I would not really recommend this place. Lunch at Avoca, this was wonderful, a really nice place to relax after shopping, busy yet relaxed. My food was good and all the food I saw other people eat looked great as well! I also had dinner at Wagamama which was chosen mainly for convenience and location, food was ok as usual, I would even say it was better than at Wagamama in Amsterdam (I always eat the same dish there and this one had decidedly more prawns, chicken and vegetables than I usually get!) oh yes.. and pints and pints of Guinness at Whelan's, where we saw the lovely Patty Griffin give the most amazing concert. A very nice pub that I would recommend even if you're not going to a show, friendly people and nice atmosphere. I had a great time and hope to come back some day!

All of them refer to using the fork in left hand, which I presume is assumed by the texts as the off-hand. This text explicitly states that the knife is kept in the dominant hand: http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/Lifesty...ble_manners.htm So after you finish your steak are you expected to continue eating with the fork in your off-hand, or do you switch back? ← well, I'm no expert on etiquette, but here's what I see most people do over here: keep knife in right hand, fork in left (assuming you're right handed) through out the meal. You use the fork to keep the steak/meat/ whatever in place while cutting off a piece with your knife. Then you either spear the piece of meat on your fork (allthough I seem to recall that this is not in the best of manners) or you use the knife to position the piece of meat, maybe together with some sauce/side dish, on to your fork. Lift fork with lefthand to mouth and put food in mouth.

amccomb, I just browsed through the thread and read the recipe, that really does look very impressive, but I think attempting that cake would send me to the madhouse.. it souds very delicious but way too complicated for my humble pastryskills!!

It seems like you all are reading my mind. Unfortunately, in some cases, my husbands mind is slighly different from mine. This means that a) he voted against chocolate as the main player in the dessert sorry Ling your ideas for the fancy tiramisu were just mouth watering!! b) he does not like dessert with apple. So Michele, no apples in the sleeping bag.. However.. Fennel was on my mind. I'm definitely doing fennel somewhere in this meal. I've been thinking about tortellini di zucca, but was worried that with that amaretti flavored filling, this might be too "weird". Maybe I'll do a pumpkin/mascarpone/ricotta filling, without the amaretti, and serve with a sage butter which is one of husbands favorites. For dessert, I am now thinking about a hazelnut cake (the Piemontese one from Rodens book), sandwiched together with a zabaglione cream filling. Chocolate curls on top (I have to sneak in chocolate somewhere..) As for help on the day: lots of people always offer to help me with the cooking but I don't want them to. I always feel it's more stressfull to have someone extra in the kitchen that I have to explain everything to, than to do it all by myself. When the dinner is happening, I always have some people who are helping me plate & serve though. I love how this is all slowly coming together. I'm going to be sooo organized this year!!

A couple of quick thoughts: a great way to cook fish fillets without any added fat, is to wrap them in parchment or aluminum foil with herbs and a splash of white wine or lemon juice. Bake in the oven. A favorite of mine for cod, or hake, is to make a good-flavored tomatosauce ( I do use some oliveoil for that, but if this to be completely without fat, I guess that could be done), put the cod steaks or fillets in a baking dish, pour over the tomatosauce (black olives are a nice addition) and bake until done. Sprinkle with lots of fresh parsley.

there are 2 recipes for paella by Penelope Casas on this site http://www.tienda.com/recipes/mains.html

Adam, what do you mean, Dutch herring dishes? I would love to hear more about that. Or do you mean fish recipes in general, well, I would love to hear more about that too. ← Dutch recipes in general. I haven't got the book I need at the moment, but I will get in during the week and let you know what the recipes are. ← that would be great Adam. Growing up as a butcher's daughter, I was never really educated in the fish department, as you can see in the Dutch Cooking thread! maybe you can help me fix that. I can make some Dutch potted herring maybe!!

Darcie, for some reason I had in my head that your birthday was not until this Sunday, now I see that it was past Thursday so I did not congratulate you on the Day! To make up for it, congratulations in Dutch ... hartelijk gefeliciteerd!!!! I'm sorry to hear about the cat.. I'm sure that whatever happens, it'll have a loving home with you. I hope all works out well and that you'll be able to have a great baking session. I'm really looking forward to those cakes (especially after seeing that very professional looking wedding cake!)

I don't know what the word brandal means, it's not Dutch, I always assumed it was Indonesian. 'Sambal' is sort of synonomous with chilipaste over here (I know that's not what it means) , and you can buy all sorts of different ones. I currently have in my fridge: sambal oelek, chilipaste from raw chilipeppers, sambal djeroek, chilipaste with limejuice and limeleaves, sambal brandal, this is a fried paste of chilipepers, sugar and terasi. sambal peteh, chilipaste with peteh beans I like the fried sambals because they are less hot but have (in my opinion) more flavor.

Since the guestlist is up to 22, I think I'll be wrapped up in kitchen foil, saran wrap and dishtowels, right until 5 minutes before the first guests arrive

Ok, sooooo.... husband is all for the Large Fish!! So it looks like that's going to be the main course. Talked to the fishmonger today and he will debone it (them) for me. I'm thinking that with that dish, the whole dinner could be Italian. Start with antipasti, some good sausages, hams etc, and some vegetable dishes like marinated aubergines, roasted peppers, and a spinach dish because these are all my husbands favorites. Then, a homemade stuffed pasta. Ravioli or tortellini.. I can make them a week before and freeze them.. then I only have to cook them on the night and serve with a simple sauce and grated cheese.. What kind of filling would be good, before the fish? would a meat ravioli with some sort of tomatosauce be too heavy? Side dishes for the fish. I'm thinking fennel, because my husband loves it. Any other suggestions would be welcome. Dessert, could be anything. As this dinner is fairly light - well, lighter than former years with all those rich braises and creamy gratins I always did - I think dessert can be rich and extravagant. Still thinking about that. I like the sound of this. I't not so much about impressing the guests with new and creative stuff, but more about cooking simple food and doing it well. I like that. Thanks everybody for your help sofar!

Adam, what do you mean, Dutch herring dishes? I would love to hear more about that. Or do you mean fish recipes in general, well, I would love to hear more about that too.

Maybe Dutch potted herring does not refer to herring, potted the Dutch way, but to : Dutch herring, potted. Potted fish is not a traditional Dutch way of preparing fish. I don't know if in the 19th century, The Netherlands were as famous for their herring as they are now.

Nathan, what a gorgeous dinner.. the pork looks so beautiful, pink and juicy with the black lines of the truffle slivers running through it.. sigh.. I am really jealous of your truffle dinner but happy that you shared it, if only visually, with us.. I'm going out of town for a couple of days and won't be cooking anything Piemontese anymore before the month is over, but I'm in for the next round! I'll be telling my friends I'm in an Italian cooking club and they have to eat Italian for a while Thanks Kevin & Hathor, it has been wonderful!

Andrea, that beetroot goatscheese pizza looks fantastic! How did you come up with the idea to have something souffle-ing on your pizza ??