Chufi

the dinner is a week from Saturday - and because I'll be very busy the next weeks, I already have every course planned. I must say that I had more fun thinking about and planning this meal than I had for a long while, planning dinners with meat! I won't post the dishes now because there's a good chance that one of the guests will be reading this thread and I don't want to spoil it for him but if it all works out I'll post afterwards. Meanwhile, I've been cooking some great everyday vegetarian dishes: a saute of brussel sprouts with oystermushrooms and cashewnuts (ok we had this with some chicken but as I was eating it I felt it would have been great just on its own, maybe with some pasta or lentils); and a pumpkin barley soup. Pics here and here on my Dutch blog.

I´m heading to Tallinn in 2 weeks. Would love to hear any up to date tips and recommendations! For all categories: coffee/pastry places, lunch recommendations, places for drinks/cocktails, simple fare, fancy dining, and anything in between. Me and a fellow eGulleter will be there for a week, so we have a lot of eating to do...

Mmmm, soup. I made a pretty good soup just this afternoon: pumpkin and barley. The liquid is a light vegetable stock from a cube, and besides pumpkin and barley there´s a handful of chopped spring onions and a handful of bokchoy greens I found in the vegetable drawer.

For me personally, there is defintely a pre and post eGullet era in my life. I've learned so much, and met some wonderful people. My wish for the next era is, that more people from all over the planet will join - and by that I mean Swedish people from Sweden, South African people from South Africa, etc. - to make this even more a truly international database of food knowledge.

Apples. Arrabiata sauce for pasta. Andouille sausage. I could cheat and add some Dutch words... but I won´t, cause nobody would understand me

I´m hoping to resurrect this thread. While I cook a lot of vegetarian dinners, they tend to be of the "it´s just the 2 of us I´ll just make some pasta with loads of vegetables" kind. I have a big dinner party coming up that has to be all vegetarian, and while I´m actually looking forward to this challenge, I could use some ideas for showstopping vegetarian dishes. Who has made something awesome without meat or fish lately? And ofcourse, while we´re at it, please post your everyday type vegetarian dishes, too.

I´ve said this on other threads, but to me this is still the best tip for economizing: shop in your own pantry/fridge/freezer. It´s amazing how many meals you can make from what you already have. Don´t go to the store, not even for 1 item. I find that if I go to the store for ´just a pack of butter and a pound of beef´ I´ll end up will all sorts of other things in my cart, and I end up spending way more than I wanted to. When I go shopping for the weekend, I only plan Saturday´s dinner. I know that without buying anything in particular for Sunday, I´ll be able to make a great dinner that day from what I still have (and most of the time, on Monday too!)

if you put the clingfilm into the ramekin, and break the egg into it, you don´t even have to wash up the ramekin!! I poach eggs like this all the time. I usually brush the clingflim very lightly with a little oil to make sure the egg doesn´t stick to it.

Hi Marcel and welcome! I´ll try and answer your questions. I don´t have any Dutch stroop in the house right now, but I think this might be what you had: stroop Ontbijtkoek can have a little ginger in it, but if it has a lot of ginger it will be called gemberkoek. My recipe is here: Kruidkoek (called Kruidkoek - spice cake because it has a lot of spices!) There´s a big difference between the factory produced sausages (I´m assuming that that´s what you can order online) and ´real´ rookworst from a butcher who makes his own. (btw wurst is German for sausage, worst is Dutch). A rookworst from a good butcher should look something like this picture on my Dutch blog). Definitely a lot coarser than the mass-produced ones, but not with huge chunks of fat. Hope this helps!

No snow here, but it is freezing (literally) and I´m making Chicken Noodle Soup with lots of ginger, chiles, garlic and coriander.

In 2009, I will eat everything I want, sometimes in moderation, sometimes not. I will keep trying to only eat things that give me joy, happiness, and fulfillment in every possible sense. I will make more time cosuming things like stocks and braises. I will find a way to make round meatballs instead of ones with flattened sides. I will learn something every time I'm in the kitchen. I will teach at least ONE of my friends not to store their tomatoes in the fridge. Although I've been trying to tell them for years... no one listens..... I will read more books that are not about food. I'm craving good novels.

Ashiana, I've never seen them at supermarkets. I got mine at a bakery, where they just sold me a bag of their bulk supply. Maybe your mother could try that too... have her ask for 'zachte (soft) kandijsuiker voor suikerbrood'. She could also try health food stores. But make sure she doesn't buy the rock hard 'kandijsuiker', that won't work in the sugarbread (I'm assuming that's what you want to make?) Goodluck!

hathor, thanks for putting Friuli on the map for me, here and on your blog. It looks beautiful and is now very much on my list as a possible travel destination for 2009!

celery and blue cheese soup. edited to add: Jane Grigsons recipe is here

I´ve used coconut milk instead of cream sometimes. (added coconut milk to the custard base which was made with eggs and whole milk).

Philip, great news. but... where is it??

Spanish potato tortilla on bread, is a very common sandwich in Spain.

For some inane reason, in the City Paper column recipe, I added sliced kielbasa along with the ham hocks to the finished soup, topped the bowls of snert off with grated aged cheddar and served it with horseradish on the side. I think the kielbasa was in homage to my mother's lentil soup which was packed with sliced frankfurters, but I haven't done that lately. No idea where the cheddar or horseradish came from. Nowadays I add a couple of sliced carrots to the onions and celery stalks sauté and guiltlessly use a Cuisinart. I'll probably toss in some kielbasa to this weekend's batch. Sounds kinda good. ← I´m sure that´s a great soup, but it´s not really a traditional Dutch split pea soup. Snert needs celeriac, and has no garlic or butter. If you simmer the soup long enough (4 hours) and have the vegetables diced up small enough, there´s really no need to puree this soup. Here´s my family recipe as posted on the Dutch Cooking thread: Dutch split pea soup and see here for a picture that looks better than the one on the Dutch Cooking thread.

The pork coddled in olive oil from Paula Wolfert's Slow Meditteranean. Serve it in small buns (homemade?) with tarragon mayo. There's fennel seeds in the pork dish, and that goes so well with the tarragon mayo.

also, check restaurant website Iens for what recently opened in Amsterdam

Hi Steve, more on the restaurants later, but if you´re into kroketten and fast food, I recommend a visit to the newly opened snackbar Natuurlijk Smullen... an organic fastfood snackbar. I haven´t been myself, but hope to get there next week. As for living in Amsterdam and working in Hilversum: I know people who do it the other way around, and distance-wise it´s certainly doable! Depending a bit, ofcourse, on how far your trip to the trainstation will be.

I had a jar of pumkin seed paste hanging around (think tahin, but made with pumpkin seeds instead of sesame). yesterday I roasted some butternut squash, let the pieces cool, en then made a dressing with the pumpkin seed paste, balsamic vinegar, walnut oil and honey. Oh wow was that good!!!

It's true that they aren't eaten out of hand, but that they are always used pre-ripe is most definitely NOT true. ← In Surinamese stores in The Netherlands, you will usually find 3, or even 4, boxes of plantains next to eachother, in various states of ripeness - from hard and green to soft and black.

Maybe I've learned that lesson years ago, but it's a lesson all too easily forgotten. Thanks for reminding me.

my favorite place for cheese is still Kef They´re not big, they don´t have everything, but what they have is all extremely good. Very nice and knowledgeable owners who love their business. Go in the afternoon, sit down and have a glass of wine and some cheese while chatting with the other customers. A gem.