eG Foodblog: Chufi - Old Favorites and New Adventures

[Chufi]

So, amapola guessed my identity, I should have remembered that there are actually Amsterdam residents on this site. Welcome to my foodblog!

When snowangel asked me, I hesitated at first. I’ve done 2 blogs and have shown you many of my favorite foods and favorite places in Amsterdam. Will I have anything new to tell and show you?

I hope the ‘new adventures’ part of the title is going to provide some entertainment. I’m going to try to eat/buy/cook something competely new and unfamiliar every day, or go someplace I’ve never been. Besides that, here are a few things that are scheduled for this week:

Tomorrow we’re having dinner with 4 people, 3 of them I’ve never met, the other one only once. Is that adventurous or what? Can anyone guess who they might be?

Thursday is a very special day, because it’s our wedding-anniversary. I’ll be making Dennis a special dinner, with a couple of items that I don’t like, have never cooked, but that he loves. I won’t tell you what they are because he’ll be reading along and it has to be a surprise!

Sunday we have some friends coming for dinner, one of my old friends from University and his girlfriend who is pregnant. I still have to find out about her food dislikes and what she will/won’t eat at the moment.

Adventures aside, I am very much a creature of habit and that won't change during this blog. I’ll still take you to some places that have featured in previous blogs, and I will eat some things I love and eat often. Like rhubarb...

I promised snowangel there’d be rhubarb! I made this compote yesterday and this was breakfast: yoghurt, granola, rhubarb.

I adore rhubarb and eat a lot of it while it is in season. Here's what the rhubarb looked like in march, when it first came to the market:

and here's what it looked like yesterday:

darker, thicker, and coarser in texture and flavor. But still wonderful I love the bright tangyness first thing in the morning.

Dennis had a bowl of buttermilk and granola, which is what he has had for breakfast almost every day for the past 14 years, so I won't mention that again this week

I'll leave you while I go on a couple of errands. Questions, assignments and suggestions very welcome! To keep you entertained, here are the fridge-shots (I've done 2 blogs but never showed you the fridge )

[mizducky]

Hey, Chufi, great to see you blogging again!

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I think I recognize some Lee Kum Kee labels in there ...

[Domestic Goddess]

Yay! It's Chufi's turn again. I am so looking forward to this blog. That rhubarb pic is beautiful. Would believe that I've never tasted rhubarb?

[SuzySushi]

Yay! Chufi! I'm so glad you're blogging again. You're always both entertaining and informative!

Are these people you've never met related to your new culinary tour business? Staff, or perhaps clients?

[ludja]

Yay! Chufi! I'm so glad you're blogging again. You're always both entertaining and informative!

Are these people you've never met related to your new culinary tour business? Staff, or perhaps clients?

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and/or visiting eGullet members from abroad or the Netherlands?

[hathor]

A Chufi blog is ALWAYS a treat!!

Your refrigerator looks so organized. I try, and I try..... sigh....

Have you ever tried rhubarb in a savory manner? Maybe as a side with meat...maybe duck? Duck meat is so rich, the tartness could be refreshing. I mean while you are having adventures this week....

edit to add p.s.: that spring rhubarb photo with the roses in the background is just gorgeous!

Edited May 7, 2007 by hathor (log)

[jumanggy]

That's an impressive collection of hot sauces/pastes! Now I'm really excited about your upcoming anniversary dinner!

[ChryZ]

Hm ... jajang, gochujang, various lee kum kee sauces.

Did you broke into my house and stole my stuff?

Looking forward to follow this blog from the very beginning.

[amapola]

Chufi, I'm really looking forward to your blog! I wasn't around eGullet yet when you did your first two but I read them both and enjoyed them very much. It's wonderful when someone takes you along on a trip into an unknown world but it's also very special when you get to see your own familiar surroundings through the eyes of someone else.

And now I wil cook some rhubarb compote in honour of you

[Chufi]

I think I recognize some Lee Kum Kee labels in there ...

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yes, I like them and trust them. When I have to choose between some unknown brand or LKK, I choose LKK!

Are these people you've never met related to your new culinary tour business? Staff, or perhaps clients?

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No!

and/or visiting eGullet members from abroad or the Netherlands?

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you're getting warmer...

Have you ever tried rhubarb in a savory manner? Maybe as a side with meat...maybe duck? Duck meat is so rich, the tartness could be refreshing. I mean while you are having adventures this week....     

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Yes, I have tried that, though not with duck. Hmm.. gives me something to think about...

Hm ... jajang, gochujang, various lee kum kee sauces.

Did you broke into my house and stole my stuff?

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You know, I only learned about sriracha, and various other sauces through eGullet. 4 years ago the door of my fridge just held a jar of Indonesian sambal, lots of mustard and mayonaise! And ChryZ, it was your picture of jajangmyon that sent me on a quest to find that Korean black bean paste!! That's what I love about eGullet - it has taught me so much!

Edited May 7, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

I forgot about the freezer. I won't show you pics of the freezer drawers, because they are filled with unlabelled containers (I'm really, really bad at labelling). But this is the most important drawer:

Korenwijn, or Corenwijn. A type of Dutch jenever, in my opinion, the best. This one has aged 6 years and it was issued in the Rembrandt-year last year, which is why it says Rembrandt on the label. We keep the glasses in the freezer too.

Spices, herbs, flours, grains etc.

Vinegars, oils, cooking wines etc.

I know I should not keep them so close to the stove, but I almost never use the 2 burners right next to them.

Oh and my babies would like to meet you I've only had them a week and they are really still babies.. I need to spend a lot of time with them to socialize them.. one of them is bold and curious, but the other one is pretty scared and shy.

Meet Yuki (in the back) and Dozo:

[Dasha]

Woo hoo! I LOVED your first two blogs and I'm really excited about having you blog again!

I love the universality of food. Here I am, thousands of miles away from Amsterdam, and yet half the stuff in your fridge is what's currently sitting in mine...

Edited May 7, 2007 by Dasha (log)

[Chufi]

I had a meeting in the center of Amsterdam early this morning and on the way, I took this picture (an Amsterdam blog should have a canal, right?)

As you can see, it's raining. After 6 weeks of glorious sunny warm weather, the weather turned around this weekend and now it's grey and wet! Well, the farmlands and gardens really needed the rain, and I figure this way it'sll be more fun to stay indoors and cook!

I came across a little market where this lady was selling asparagus. It's really white asparagus season here now. These looked great, fresh and juicy. Fortunately we have a good friend who visits the asparagus-growing regions regularly, and he always brings us huge bunches of just-dug-up asparagus They've spoiled me for anything you can buy!

My favorite bakery. You have to love a bakery with Bert and Ernie on the facade!

I also did some grocery shopping for this evening, more about that later.

Came home and had lunch.. a grilled cheese sandwich with young Gouda and rookvlees, which is lightly smoked lean beef. A favorite cold cut with anyone watching their fat-intake (not that I'm doing that, at least not this week ) because it's very lean but still nice and savory.

I'm loving Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours! I got it last week. I might do some baking this afternoon...

[Chufi]

Dennis is working from home today too which means he makes me tea.

There are 2 things in the kitchen I don't do and that I let him do: making the soft-boiled eggs for our Sunday breakfasts, and making tea.

He stopped drinking coffee about 10 years ago and consequently, became obsessed with tea! Here's part of his current collection:

He just made a pot of this:

which unfolds into this:

It looks beautiful but I did not care much for the taste. My current favorite is this tea:

It's extraordinarily floral and fragrant, but without the sort of 'perfumy' scent that you sometimes get with jasmine tea (although I do love jasmine tea). A friend brought it from Paris, but we have since found a shop in Amsterdam that sells it too, although not in such a beautiful box

[Shaya]

Chufi what a treat it is to see you here! I love the feeling you evoke with your photographs - you give such a strong feeling of the European atmosphere of your city. The canal photo is beautiful and I just love seeing the roses in the background of your rhubarb.

You also know how to make a sandwich look so tempting; I think it's the hearty bread that looks so good to me.

Your little market asparagus stand makes our white asparagus look like woody twigs. Just the pinkish color on them makes me envious. Will you be receiving a delivery from your friend this week? What do you like to do with them? Last night I made a creamy asparagus soup for our appetizer. It calls for making a stock first, using the woody ends and some aromatics (butter, leeks, thyme, parsley, celery...) then cooking the stalks with some more butter, leeks, celery and potatoes, then adding the stock for cooking liquid. Then I puree it; it yields a very flavorful and sweet soup, and the kids seem to eat it happily; I can certainly say asparagus soup would NOT have been on my list of foods to eat when I was their age!

Here's a toast to you and new adventures.

[snowangel]

Klary, when Dennis gave up coffee, did you give it up as well?

Rhubarb in savour dishes. Molly Steven's All About Braising has a recipe for brisket with rhubarb and honey that is just wonderful.

[Chufi]

Shaya, we had an asparagus delivery last week. You can see pics on my Dutch foodblog here (although to be honest the picture of the raw asparagus is of last year, because I forgot to take a picture this time, but they looked exactly the same).

We ate 2 pounds, and I have 2 pounds in the freezer. My friend says this works quite well, but I've never tried it. I might try to do something with them this week! I was thinking of asparagus risotto maybe?

[Chufi]

Klary, when Dennis gave up coffee, did you give it up as well?

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Oh, no! I love coffee! I'm really bad at making it though. I usually have coffee elsewhere. My favorite way to start the day is get to a coffeehouse early, drink coffee, read the papers and think about all the little projects I have going on

Coffee at the office is so bad though, that I try not to drink it except the first cup I really need to get going.

[amapola]

Shaya, we had an asparagus delivery last week. You can see pics on my Dutch foodblog here (although to be honest the picture of the raw asparagus is of last year, because I forgot to take a picture this time, but they looked exactly the same).

We ate 2 pounds, and I have 2 pounds in the freezer. My friend says this works quite well, but I've never tried it. I might try to do something with them this week! I was thinking of asparagus risotto maybe?

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I have frozen asparagus several times, with great results. I freeze them peeled because I have found that the best thing is to put them straight from the freezer into the pan, if you first defrost them they go all limp and soggy. An asparagus risotto sounds delicious! Also, frozen asparagus are really good stir-fried, for example on a bed of cruncy salad leaves, with a good tangy vinaigrette and lots of cracked black pepper.

On which market did you find the lady with that beautiful display of asparagus? I am not so fortunate as to get premium quality deliveries so I'm always on the lookout for a good source nearby...

[Megan Blocker]

Oh, YAY! I love a good Chufi foodblog. Those photos of the canal and the white asparagus are stunning.

I'm sending you sunshine from New York, Klary!

ETA: I love the little clear cap on your Sriracha bottle. Mine doesn't have one - I don't think any of my bottles (I buy the giant litre-sized ones, which last me a loooong time) ever have. I WANT one, since the top tends to leak little bits of hot juice. Hmmmm...

[Chufi]

I have frozen asparagus several times, with great results. I freeze them peeled because I have found that the best thing is to put them straight from the freezer into the pan, if you first defrost them they go all limp and soggy.

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that's what my friend instructed me to do! I'm glad that will work!

On which market did you find the lady with that beautiful display of asparagus? I am not so fortunate as to get premium quality deliveries so I'm always on the lookout for a good source nearby...

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She was at the 'lapjesmarkt', the market on Noordermarkt. On Saturday they hold the farmer's market there, and on Mondays it's clothes, fabrics and secondhand stuff. And this lady with the asparagus! She was sort of selling the vegetables from a truck, so I don't think she's a regular there.

I have 2 logs of cookie dough chilling in the fridge, and I now have to go and do some other, non foodrelated stuff.

Meanwhile, a question: who knows what this is? It will feature in tonight's dinner. I have never bought it or cooked it, though I have eaten it. The cuisine it belongs to is one I hardly ever cook from!

Edited May 7, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Alinka]

Looking forward to your blog, Klary! What a neatly stocked refrigerator...

[Margo]

Hooray! I hoped it was Chufi for self-interested reasons--I'm visiting Amsterdam for the first time at the end of June, so I'll be taking careful notes about what to do and see!

Re. your fridge shot: Love the half-shelves in the back, what a great idea. I always lose things back there, especially on the top shelf where my condiments live, and end up opening still another jar of capers when I already have three hiding from me.

Asparagus and rhubarb are such a treat, harbingers of spring.

[Nina C.]

Chufi! So glad to see you blogging again! And your adventurous week sounds exciting. I've been trying to do that once a week with the farmers market, but lately work and social demands have kept me from getting there.

Meanwhile, a question: who knows what this is? It will feature in tonight's dinner. I have never bought it or cooked it, though I have eaten it. The cuisine it belongs to is one I hardly ever cook from!

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They don't look fuzzy enough, but are they fresh green almonds?

[lucylou95816]

Chufi, I have always enjoyed your Dinner posts, and have read your past two blogs. Looking forward to the adventures of this week.