eG Foodblog: Chufi - Old Favorites and New Adventures

[MarketStEl]

I bought these today because they were so pretty.

And these are...?

They do look cute.

More pink: rosé beer    I bought this because I saw it advertised and was curious.. all for the blog you know    It was pretty awful.. very sweet, like boozy lemonade, but not in a good way!

←

Any self-respecting gay man could have warned you about drinking a beer that calls itself "the fruity pink"!

Pink is for chi-chi "martinis," not beer. Pink may be for wine, sometimes, especially if the pink is a retro-'50s-chic box (who cares then that the wine inside is mediocre?). Pink is never, never for beer.

It could have been worse, though: You could have been blogging in March and stumbled across someone engaged in the bizarre American practice of coloring the beer green for the 17th.

[yunnermeier]

Dinner looked wonderful! I was going to guess markemorse earlier when you hinted about at an egulleter but I wasn't sure if you both are friends in real life too!

[Pan]

[...]I do have a cup measure, and a set of measuringspoons. I have it memorized how much a ' stick' of butter weighs, and I have a conversion chart hanging on the wall in my kitchen.

I do prefer to weigh though! But at least it's better now that I know that a cup is not the same as a Dutch coffee cup. You can imagine my first baking experiments from American books were a disaster.. 

←

Are Dutch coffee cups smaller or bigger than standard American 6-ounce cups?

[mizducky]

Oh boy--lots of fun stuff to catch up on...

I think I forgot to wish you congratulations on your annivesary. So ... mazel tov!

Now for some other comments, in no particular order ...

The rats (and their eating habits) are just adorable. Random still-sort-of-food-related tangent: I took the little nephews last week to a kid's science museum, which had a feature called Rat Basketball. Some staffers had painstakingly trained a pair of rats to dive through wee basketball hoops for food rewards. They had trained them to grab the little basketball (actually, the ball from a roll-on deodorant vial) in their mouths by coating it with peanut butter. It was very silly, but very dear.

Oh yeah--duck confit quesadillas. All of that dinner looks fabulous, but somehow the quesadillas are really turning my crank.

Re: asparagus--stumbled on this link, which gives a nice layperson's account of the organic chemistry behind the stinky pee phenomenon, and the genetics behind both producing it and smelling it.

Oh and I could use an adventurous recipe for scallops. I tend to simply panfry or grill them and serve them on some salad leaves... but would like to do something different this week. For a first course, so it has to be light and preferably not with a very creamy sauce. Spicy is ok!

←

Scallops make wonderful ceviche (Latin American dish--raw scallops "cooked" by a lime juice marinade).

[Chufi]

Good morning!

Last night at dinner I suddenly felt that painful sharpness in my throat that is the forebode of a really bad cold! So I'm going to take it easy today, I really don't want to get sick this week.. too many fun things planned!

I slept late, a bit troubled by dreams of aliens who left medicine for my sore throat on the nightstand. Maybe that's a known side effect of mangorita's?

I ate so much last night that I'm actually still not hungry! I will have a little bit of rhubarb for breakfast in a little while though.

[Chufi]

How about this Scallops with Shiitake in Lapsang Souchong Broth?  I've had it bookmarked forever to try, and it sounds very Dennis-y as well.

←

That does sound Dennis-y! I think it will either be this, or ceviche. Thanks for the link!

Hello, Klary! I have been too, too busy to be much immersed in the egullet world lately, but somehow I'll just have to find some time to read your blog. The sandwich photo got to me -- I miss all that lovely thin-sliced dark European bread. I took myself right to the fridge hoping we had some leftover deli meat to make a puny Americanized twin of your beauty, but no. Instead, I came across some Manchego cheese and recreated a simple salad we had awhile back at Jaleo, a tapas restaurant in Washington, DC. It is just sticks of apple and the cheese, drizzled with olive oil and garnished with a sprinkle of sliced scallion. I've been munching on it as I've read through the first two pages of your blog, musing at how your Dutch beef and cheese sandwich brought me to a Spanish cheese and apple salad! Blog on.

←

Lori, I've missed your posts! How nice to see you here. Manchego with apple sounds really nice!

Chufi, in honor of your third foodblog, I think I'll have some herring some day during this week.

Do you ever eat herring roe (kazunoko in Japanese) in your country?

←

I have no idea if we can get that here! I have to ask my fishmonger!

Wow, nice dinner!  What makes that mangorita so very green?

←

Blue Curacao + yellow mango puree = vibrantly green drink! IlCuoco told the story of the origin of this drink.. the colour is supposed to resemble the color of the ocean in a bay somewhere in Mexico.. if I remember this correctly.. and that's where the drink was invented.

I bought these today because they were so pretty.

And these are...?

They do look cute.

Pink is for chi-chi "martinis," not beer. Pink may be for wine, sometimes, especially if the pink is a retro-'50s-chic box (who cares then that the wine inside is mediocre?). Pink is never, never for beer.

←

Those are baby turnips!

I love rose wine.. but this beer was just too much. I tink it's another one of those alcoholic drinks marketed for (young) women. I'm probably simply too old for it

Are Dutch coffee cups smaller or bigger than standard American 6-ounce cups?

←

A regular Dutch coffee cup (not a mug, but the kind that comes with a saucer, which is the kind I used to think they meant) will only hold about half an American measuring cup.

[Shaya]

What a fabulous dinner, Chufi. The duck confit sounds amazing. I love your photography of the flame hitting the creme brulee.

Blue Curacao + yellow mango puree = vibrantly green drink!

And those drinks, ah, that would be right up my hunny's alley. I have vivid memories of a martini party years ago, and let's just say he and the bottle of Blue Curacao were rarely parted! What else is in these drinks - is there tequila?

Have Dennis make you some healing tea and get rid of that cold fast. There is too much fun to be had.

[amapola]

Oh! That dinner makes my mouth water... Quesedilla's with duck confit... Ginger creme brulee... *sigh*

I'm sorry to hear that you are coming on with someting nasty, probably the change of weather has something to do with that. I hoop it doesn't get worse, a diet of rhubarb and herbal tea should help

[markemorse]

Geez, Klary...hope you're not actually sick. Just a false alarm let's hope.

thought i'd add my 2 cents about dinner here....

so, the goal of the night was to give Chufi some "adventurous" food/cooking experiences...it was originally designed to be a grill/BBQ night on our roof, but the weather turned wet (our first rainy days in weeks), so we ended up cooking inside.

unfortunately, the one dish that was supposed to be a no-brainer ended up a bit weird: the bacon-wrapped tequila shrimp is something that we've made a few times to great success, but last night's rendition was rather anemic and bleh: though they looked beautiful, the shrimp shrugged off its marinade like it had other plans for the evening, and I inadvertently sabotaged Klary's mayonnaise by suggesting an all-olive oil version...it was a bit too in-your-face (I take sole responsibility for this, Klary!). in fact, i would continue to sabotage Klary throughout the evening (see plantain photos)...c'mon, she wanted "adventure", right?

but it was all smooth sailing from there. actually, the plantains came out totally great. as did everything else, frankly. Klary's palm heart salad was a nice cooling breath of minty-limey goodness (if you haven't tried these before you should), and her ginger-lime sugar cookies were a perfect complement to the creme brulees. in fact, um...my breakfast is consisting of me dipping Klary's ginger-lime shuga cookies in leftover ginger-lime creme brulee. this tastes pretty good.

Edited May 9, 2007 by markemorse (log)

[Chufi]

Thanks guys. I'm definitely not 100 % myself.. I went on my shopping trip and forgot my camera! Unfortunately Dennis is at work so who will make me tea now

Anyway, here's some of what I bought:

Can anyone guess what's in the whitish packet in the down-right-corner? It's my mystery ingredient for dinner tomorrow night. It scares me

Lunch: I found a hardboiled egg, and with a bit of mayo and some chives this became eggsalad. On toast with some of the rookvlees

Guilty pleasure: daytime tv (or rather dvd, in this case ) I'm currently addicted to the BBc adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House. 1 episode lasts 25 minutes, perfect to accompany lunch!

[Chufi]

Blue Curacao + yellow mango puree = vibrantly green drink!

And those drinks, ah, that would be right up my hunny's alley. I have vivid memories of a martini party years ago, and let's just say he and the bottle of Blue Curacao were rarely parted! What else is in these drinks - is there tequila?

←

There was definitely tequila! maybe IlCuoco can chime in and give the recipe?

so, the goal of the night was to give Chufi some "adventurous" food/cooking experiences...it was originally designed to be a grill/BBQ night on our roof, but the weather turned wet (our first rainy days in weeks), so we ended up cooking inside.

←

This really worked! I was thinking about this today, flavor is such a subjective thing. Pesto is no longer a strange or exotic flavor to me, while I'm sure it was way back when I first tasted it. I'm used to Italian, Japanese and Thai flavors. Yesterday's flavors, especially the sauce for the pork and the creamy beans, and the barbecue sauce on the shrimp, were really unfamiliar and new flavors to me. These are things we don;t grow up with and that are not commonly found in restaurants etc. over here.

It's great to be able to discover new things all the time!

[IlCuoco]

Mangorita recipe; basically I adapted it from a Chris Schlesinger book but changed the mix a bit so it reminds me of my bay in Mexico (Ensenada) rather than his....

Puree a mango

Combine Tequila and blue curacao in a ratio of about 4 to 1

Add a bunch of limes (if making by the pitcher, I add about 6, maybe 7)

add mango puree (and mango juice or OJ if you have some) to get that nice sea green color. I'll use a mango or two for a whole pitcher so just eyeball it for individual drinks. The final drink should taste of lime, mango and with tequila in the background. Serve on the rocks or frozen. Very tasty and dangerous on a hot day.

I like to rim the glasses in a mixture of salt and sugar but that's just me.

[lucylou95816]

The mangorita's sound great! Is it foie gras in the picture?

[Chufi]

The mangorita's sound great!  Is it foie gras in the picture?

←

No it isn't! That would be equally scaring though!

[markemorse]

Oh wow, that jerk pork looks fantastic! Tell us more about it please! Cut, seasonings, cooking method???

Basically a 3kg boneless pork shoulder baked for 3 hours in a low oven...all the dirty details can be found here...

mem

Edited May 9, 2007 by markemorse (log)

[Dianne]

I love your blogs, klary. It looks like maigret of duck to me. Get well soon.

[ChefCrash]

The mangorita's sound great!  Is it foie gras in the picture?

←

No it isn't! That would be equally scaring though!

←

I say duck breast.

[Pontormo]

Klary, I do hope you're feeling better, especially by tomorrow.

And Mark, once we've travelled around the globe a bit, I hope Snowangel will persuade you to take up Klary's torch. What a meal---yes, especially the quesadillas and salsa that matches IlCuoco's striking drinks.

[bavila]

Love your blog, Klary, and all your beautiful food. If I can find some local rhubarb (a little late here), I'll have to try some compot for breakfast.

And duck confit in anything is a winner in my book.

Can anyone guess what's in the whitish packet in the down-right-corner? It's my mystery ingredient for dinner tomorrow night. It scares me 

I'm going to say sweetbreads! They scare me too.

[Abra]

It looks like duck breast to me too, but I can't imagine Klary being scared by that. So I'll guess pork belly, with sweetbreads coming in next. Somehow the texture doesn't look quite right to me for sweetbreads, although maybe it's cryovaced and they're compressed.

And if it is sweetbreads, don't be scared - they're delicious!

Edited May 9, 2007 by Abra (log)

[Lochina]

Mangorita recipe; basically I adapted it from a Chris Schlesinger book but changed the mix a bit so it reminds me of my bay in Mexico (Ensenada) rather than his....

Puree a mango

Combine Tequila and blue curacao in a ratio of about 4 to 1

Add a bunch of limes (if making by the pitcher, I add about 6, maybe 7)

add mango puree (and mango juice or OJ if you have some) to get that nice sea green color. I'll use a mango or two for a whole pitcher so just eyeball it for individual drinks. The final drink should taste of lime, mango and with tequila in the background. Serve on the rocks or frozen. Very tasty and dangerous on a hot day.

I like to rim the glasses in a mixture of salt and sugar but that's just me.

←

IlCuoco, I'm assuming you add the juice of the limes, or do you add them sliced?

[Chufi]

Sweetbreads it is!

I've made tomorrow's dessert, a marbled cheesecake, and it's cooling now. It was exhausting to make, although I do not blame the recipe but only my condition. I'm really not feeling too well. So the plans for asparagus risotto went out the window, and I made a simple pasta with pancetta, onion and belgian endive. Now I'm going to curl up on the sofa with a cup of green tea (Dennis is making some right now), see another episode of Dickens, and go to bed early. Hopefully I'll wake up with more energy!

[Rehovot]

Great writing and photography, Chufi! I'm enjoying this blog as much as your previous ones. A question for when you're feeling better: one of the photos shows a package of Philadelphia cream cheese. Is it quite easy to find in Amsterdam, or do you go an imports shop for it?

Get well soon. Dickens (and Jane Austen) is a good cure.

[Kerry Beal]

Edited to remove guess of sweetbreads which I now see has alreay been identified. Must stop jumping around the posts.

Edited May 9, 2007 by Kerry Beal (log)

[heidih]

By the time you read this I hope it is the next morning and you are recovered. Interesting how tea is often the drink of choice when we are feeling poorly. I must comment on your simple pasta- it looks so comforting. Did you just cross cut the endives and saute them along with the onions? Thank you for "blogging on" in spite of your temporary illness.