koen

My inner vegan made celeriac schnitzels last week:

Hi! I really like the book. I actually ordered after "getting a bit stuck" with side dishes. I discovered that I had developed a certain repertoire that I kept using. This book really overdeliveres for me. There's just so much inspiration coming from it. Almost every recipe in there is a combination of textures/flavors thats relatively unique. And once you tried it, my brain goes like "ah if this works, this might also work. And why not swap this for that? And why don't we also try it that way". Last week I made these schitzels out of celeriac, with mandarines and a sauce with horseradish, all loosely based on one of the recipes coming from the book. Add some salad, and BOOM! Weeknight dinner.

This morning's breakfast, with overcooked egg, and a breakfast we had recently had at a local coffee bar, which was tremendously good (might go there tomorrow morning as well haha)

Overlighted picture with Thai curry soup and condiments. Based roughly on this recipe: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chicken-khao-soi

One of my favorite spaghetti recipes. Sauce of mushrooms, olive oil, onions, bit of garlic processed with ricotta in a food processor. Throw back in the pan, add cooked pasta, some sauteed mushrooms for texture and some Italian dried ham. This stuff is good.

Recently bought Six Seasons as a present for myself. Had some leftover tomatoes that needed to be consumed. Salad was with well seasoned chickpeas, grilled tomatoes with sumac and cumin and drops of yoghurt, with some sumac as well. Past weekend I prepared my first crab! Taste was delicious, it was quite some work though.

Wanted to try a new carrot salad, just grated and then seasoned with some good quality olive oil and shredded basil. Was craving for grilled lamb, so that was there as well served with some potatoes.

I was looking for some inspiration for side dishes (especially vegetables). Since I find them the hardest to be creative and non repetitive with, which actually is weird since you've got a lot more options (flavors and textures) than with meats and staples. Anyway, I ordered the Six Seasons book, and On the Side by Ed Smith. I can pick them up Saturday already, so that's quite fast. If anyone has more tips for must-have veggie or side dish inspiration books, please let me know!

For sweets sichuan pepper and strawberry is a quite odd, yet good experience.

First attempt at making Rendang! EDIT (result): Above a simple bowl of rice, with some Atjar. Sadly, no greens to fancy it up a little. However, not dissapointed by the end result, although the Misses was complaining that I left the Madame Jeanette infuse a bit too long haha.

Hi, I'm going in July. Also looking for nice bites. Got anymore recommendations? Jakob, have you got anything to add to the list after you've been there? Would like to hear from you!

The speculoos spread is indeed a new thing in the Netherlands and Belgium, but speculaas cookies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculoos) have been eaten on sandwiches for decades!

I guess it's wine and views

Hmm, I can find myself in the poor college student part

Hi all, Thank you for your information! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow (I return "home" and the books are waiting for me). I will post the first experimentations in this thread, just to keep you updated!

Hi, I ordered this book and its companion: The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef, both by Bo Friberg, and was wondering if anyone has experience with the books? I've bought them because I wanted to gain a better understanding and more comprehensive knowledge about pastry (especially the dessert side) and thought that this would be a good starting point. Please share your thoughts about the books and any advice on desserts! With kind regards, Koen

Wow, I was lured to the topic by the confections of RobertM, and I have to say that those are the most impressive I've ever seen!

I bought the book in december 2011, and although I have never really exactly reproduced one of the recipes, it is the best source of inspiration I could imagine. The book (which is a LOT thinner than the Silver Spoon) contains over 5000 "recipes", and gives a lot of variations on "classic" dishes. If you are considering buying it, keep in mind it is published as a reference work, not an actual practical-everyday-cookery book.