eG Foodblog: Chufi - Old Favorites and New Adventures

[Chufi]

Here's what made myself last night before going to bed: lemon juice, honey and hot water. It's what my mother used to make for when I was sick.

Happy Mother's day to all mothers everywhere!

we're off for our Mother's day visits. See you later, I'll be back and answer the questions.

[Shaya]

Here's what  made myself last night before going to bed: lemon juice, honey and hot water. It's what my mother used to make for when I was sick.

That's exactly the remedy my Mom taught me. My Dad's remedy - which he taught me when I was a lot older - was a hot brandy.

[Chufi]

*What is it about women and offal--I know, I know plenty like and love innards to eat.  Are there men out there who feel equally squeamish? 

Final note: I vaguely recall you bake your rhubarb compote.  Or thought you do.  At any rate, I had forgotten about the method I tried again this week.  The texture's superior to results when compote is prepared on top of the stove.

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I don't know whay it is about women and offal! For me it has a lot to do with the richness. I can enjoy a bite or 2, and then it seems my body is teling me that it's enough.

I make my rhubarb in the micrcowave now! So easy. Just cut into chunks, add a bit of sugar and a splash of orange juice if I have it. Microwave on high for a couple of minutes, check on it, maybe microwave some more. Then I simply store it in the dish it was cooked in.

Can I throw in a side question here?  What's your opinion of Rem Koolhaas?  I was able to tour his stunning Seattle Public Library on my recent visit there (chronicled on the Pacific Northwest board).

Edited to add: Forgot to ask:  What varieties of cheese are those?  One appears to be a blue cheese.

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I don't really have an opinion about Rem Koolhaas, or any contemporary Dutch architecture for that matter. Working in an architecture firm for years hasn't really changed that I must say. I think I am one of those people who accept the surroundings, the city landscape, as it is.. I hardly ever find a building ugly. Some buildings are more beautiful than others ofcourse! But in a city like Amsterdam, i mostly love the variety - modern glass/steel buildings and the old canalhouses and everything in between.

cheeses: one is Blue Wolvega, from Friesland - one of the few Duch blue cheeses. The other is a young Gouda, a Boerenkaas, which means it's made on farms instead of factories, small-scale, from raw milk.

As far as what you're prepping for dinner, it looks like there's saffron in your poaching broth, which leads me to think Middle Eastern, Moroccan or Spanish. (really narrowed down, huh?) But the toasted flour is throwing me off.  Some sort of dry roux?  There's a Filipino desert called polovoron that calls for toasted flour.  I'm stumped.

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Middle eastern is correct!

What sort of tea recipe would you like to have?  Milk Chocolate Torte with Assam Tea Ganache?  Something savory?

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savory please! I've had so much sweet stuff this week, far more than is usual for me.

Edited May 13, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

Lunch at my parents house.

Chicken soup

bread, cheeses, cold cuts..

half-om: sandwich with larded pig's liver and pekelvlees (salted, boiled beef)

nettle cheese

and beschuit (rusks) with strawbries and soft white sugar

[Smithy]

Nettle cheese! I really must round up some nettles sometime and try the tea, and try tasting nettles. What is the cheese around the nettle like (gouda, cheddar, whatever), what does the nettle taste like, and what's the combination like? One of my favorite cheeses, unfortunately from an artisan dairy that's changed hands and operating methods, used to be cumin cheddar. Wow, that was good cheese.

Chufi, would tonight's Middle Eastern chicken be cooked in a tagine?

[Chufi]

Nettle cheese!  I really must round up some nettles sometime and try the tea, and try tasting nettles.  What is the cheese around the nettle like (gouda, cheddar, whatever), what does the nettle taste like, and what's the combination like?  One of my favorite cheeses, unfortunately from an artisan dairy that's changed hands and operating methods, used to be cumin cheddar.  Wow, that was good cheese. 

Chufi, would tonight's Middle Eastern chicken be cooked in a tagine?

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the flavor isn't that strong, just mildly herby. The cheese is a young Gouda.

There's also a variety which includes garlic, but I don't like it that much, the garlic is too overpowering.

Other flavorings that have become popular for young -and semi-aged Gouda cheeses the past years are corianderseeds, potatoskins and chives.

Tonight's dinner comes entirely from Paula Wolfert's Cooking from the Eastern Meditteranean. I'm making Circassian Chicken, Lebanese potato-rice pilaf, an auberginesalad with pomegranite dressing, and maybe another salad.

dessert is 2 items from Dorie Greenspan's book. Somebody help me.. I can't stop baking from that book

Edited May 13, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Abra]

I've had that nettle cheese, and really wished for a more pronounced flavor. On the other hand, the potato skin gouda is one of my all-time favorites. And we recently has a wedge of Graskaas that was fantastically good.

For a tea treat, how about this? It give you lots of flexibility, since you can use it with fish or meat. Adapted from Cooking with Tea

Tea Rub

4 T black tea

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp whole coriander seeds

1/4 tsp black peppercorns

1 T brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Grind all together in a spice grinder or by hand with a mortar and pestle. Oil fish or meat of your choice and pat rub on - let stand about 15 minutes to form a crust. Pan sear or oven roast.

I'll be interested to hear how this comes out, if you try it. The book mentions using Kenya, Kanyam Nepal, or Ceylon Uva tea, but since I've never seen any of those, I wouldn't hesitate to use whatever tastes good. I thik I'd also brew up a bit of the chosen tea and use it as a liquid to make a little pan sauce after the fish or meat is cooked.

[SeaGal]

Tonight's dinner comes entirely from Paula Wolfert's Cooking from the Eastern Meditteranean. I'm making Circassian Chicken, Lebanese potato-rice pilaf, an auberginesalad with pomegranite dressing, and maybe another salad.

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I love this cookbook and have cooked many times from it. Now I understand the toasted flour! Her pilaf recipes are all so good, but I've never tried the one with potatoes. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.

[Chufi]

Dinner report!

here are the eggplant slices. Baked in the oven instead of fried, which certainly makes them much less greasy. Then drizzled with a pomegranate/lemon juice/olive oil/garlic dressing..

and sprinkled with mint and pine nuts (pinenuts are not in the recipe but made a nice addition)

The poached chicken legs are skinned and boned, and then smothered in a sauce of ground walnuts, toasted flour, and chickenstock, flavored with allspice and pepper. I made this yesterday and reheated it today. It may not look very pretty but I LOVED the flavor. Very rich and complex sauce, creamy and and delicious!

cucumber dill salad

roasted red pepper frittata with parsley and parmesan. This was supposed to be the appetizer with drinks, but I ended up putting it on the table with the rest of the food and it blended right in.

potato-rice pilaf. This was outstanding. And this comes from someone who does not even like rice that much! The rice is parboiled and then spread on a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, all is steamed together until the rice is very tender and the potatoes crusty brown. The whole thing is turned out on a plate. There's a lot of butter involved and it's simply gorgeous. I'll be making this one again. Not difficult and it looks very impressive!

Everything on the table

and on the plate:

Dessert: the split level puddings from Dorie Greenspans book. A layer of chocolate ganache, topped with vanilla pudding. I added a layer of whipped cream!

I also made the salt & pepper cocoa shortbreead from the same book. You're not supposed to prick them but i mixed up 2 recipes!

Bite

Edited May 13, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Eden]

What is "soft" white sugar? a different grind, or is domething done to it? I love simple fruit on toast desserts!

Your cold remedy is similar to the one I grew up with except that my mom would put a splash of Brandy in there too. As an adult I learned to also add a little cayenne pepper or a dash or two of tobasco sauce - it tells the germs you're tougher than they are so they abandon ship Of course Mom's chicken soup is the number one best rememdy so here's hoping that does the trick and you're feeling better.

ETA: wow that dinner looks fabulous - must pull out the wolfert book more often!

Edited May 13, 2007 by Eden (log)

[Chufi]

You might get lucky some day

not a drop of rain

Then you're too long on the town

leave your trumpet on the train

And then there's only doubt

until you're on your feet again

There's only up or down

Patty Griffin, Up or Down

Or. translated to this week: one may have all sorts of plans for food adventures, and then a virus attacks and all you really want to do is curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea and a pack of tissues.

I did not get to do all I had planned this week, but between coughs and sneezes I still had fun and I hope you had too!

I made gnocchi, I fried up some sweetbread, I baked more in one week than usually in a month, I visited a booze museum, I had duck quesadilla's and mangorita's, I made my first baked cheesecake, I cooked Indonesian.

I did not make my asparagus risotto! maybe it will appear in the Dinner thread some time soon...

Goodbyes always make me a bit sentimental. Thank you all for sharing this special week with me, for your kind words, encouragements, recipes and inspiration! See you around the boards!

Edited May 13, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

Before I forget! Anyone interested in visiting Amsterdam, there's a very nice thread on the Elsewhere in Europe forum:

Foodlover's guide to Amsterdam

And if you're planning a visit, please send me a PM. I'd be happy to advise, tour the markets with you, or just meet for coffee and some food-talk!

Eden: there's a discussion about the soft Duch sugar somewhere but I'm too tired to look it up right now. I'll get back to you tomorrow or, if the blog's closed by then, I'll send you a PM.

For any questions I missed.. my apologies!

[lucylou95816]

Thank you Klary for doing this foodblog even though you were under the weather. Your desserts certainly looked wonderful, as everything else.

[little ms foodie]

I like that kneading in a towel thing!  Can you post the rest of Shaya's recipe?  I usually stick to ricotta gnocchi to keep them light, but I'd love to master the potato ones.

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Abra - I just sent you a pm with the details. Hope it works for you!

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me too please???

[helenjp]

I'm enjoying another "trip" to the Netherlands, thank you Chufi! (And even hope to visit next year???).

I agree with the "could eat it every day" comment on your lunch - bread, cheese, and apples...sound wonderful! Hope they made your cold feel a bit better too.

Thanks for the "ricing" tip for gnocchi, and I'd really appreciate Shaya's recipe too - so relieved to hear that making gnocchi wasn't just my nemesis!

Going to come back and re-read your blog at leisure, too.

[Smithy]

I love Circassian Chicken. The recipe I've generally used comes from The Sultan's Table. I'll have to try the Wolfert version for comparison's sake. That treatment of eggplant is one I've done often, but your presentation is sooo much prettier than mine! All of it looks wonderful. At my best I don't turn out spreads as lovely as yours. This weekend, with nothing worse than seasonal allergies to slow me down, I'm especially impressed with your work. You've done more than I could in a normal week, and you've been feeling miserable besides!

So, no apologies! Thank you for a lovely blog, and for being such a stalward trooper in the midst of the cold! Thanks also for some fabulous demonstrations! I've been telling myself that I do NOT need any more cookbooks for a while, but now I'm thinking "well...maybe it wouldn't hurt to get the Dorie Greenspan book..."

[Hiroyuki]

Goodbyes always make me a bit sentimental.    Thank you all for sharing this special week with me, for your kind words, encouragements, recipes and inspiration! See you around the boards!

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Thank you. I have fully enjoyed your special week.

[Shaya]

That's a great looking dinner. We would love the eggplant in our house. The chicken is so unusual, I've never seen anything like it. It sounds tasty though.

Your rice dish is a Persian one my Grandmother made for me when she wanted to treat me and I still make it often when I'm in the mood for those amazing potatoes. We always use basmati for these dishes in our family. What sort of rice did you use?

Also, we always cook the basmati in the way you describe (with or without potatoes) by par-boiling and then steaming. My Grandmother also showed me another trick, which is to add one or two cups of cold water to the pot after the rice has boiled for about 3 minutes; for some reason the work the rice has to do to come to the boil again causes the rice to double in length. It's amazing.

[SuzySushi]

Thank you, Klary, for picking up the baton (or wooden spoon) even though you were feeling under the weather! The week went by all too quickly, and what marvelous meals and excursions you shared with us! Hope you're over your cold soon!

[Anna N]

Klary: I can't believe it's over so soon. Thanks for hanging in there with your cold and everything. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Abra]

That was a beautiful dinner, Klary! I love that book and do use it, but haven't made a single one of the recipes you did for us here, so now I will for sure.

It's been fun to hang out with you this week, but not as much fun as if you would take a sabbatical here. I still vote for you to spend a year with us here! Oh, do I get to vote?

[purplewiz]

Dinner report!

here are the eggplant slices. Baked in the oven instead of fried, which certainly makes them much less greasy. Then drizzled with a pomegranate/lemon juice/olive oil/garlic dressing..

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Eggplants keep going on sale and I keep running out of good ideas for what to do with them, and then your blog comes along with this! What a great idea! I'll have to give it a whirl.

Thanks for the virtual adventure this week...I've been reading along but haven't had time to comment so I wanted to make sure to do so now!

Marcia.

[Marigene]

Thanks for the wonderful blog, Klary! It was fun anticipating what you would be cooking each day and loved "visiting" all the places you take for granted.

[Pan]

Thank you, Klary, for picking up the baton (or wooden spoon) even though you were feeling under the weather![...]

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Indeed! I have to admit that I would have cancelled the blog, under similar circumstances. Of course, I'd probably be having a lot of delivery and certainly wouldn't be cooking elaborate meals while ill!

Take good care of yourself, Klary. And maybe let Dennis cook a little more?

[Chufi]

What is "soft" white sugar?  a different grind, or is domething done to it?  I love simple fruit on toast desserts!

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soft white sugar (basterdsuiker) is a typically Dutch thing. It's finely ground sugar with glucose added, which makes it slighly moist (and soft). We have it in 3 varieties, white as seen in the picture, lightbrown and darkbrown. The brown wanes are often used for baking.

I'm enjoying another "trip" to the Netherlands, thank you Chufi! (And even hope to visit next year???).

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Oh, I hope you will! You'll love it!

I've been telling myself that I do NOT need any more cookbooks for a while, but now I'm thinking "well...maybe it wouldn't hurt to get the Dorie Greenspan book..." 

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Well, I'm really not a confident baker (I mean I bake, but it always makes me a bit nervous, and I have had many baking failures..) but this book is simply wonderful. I don't think I'll need another baking book for the rest of my life!

Your rice dish is a Persian one my Grandmother made for me when she wanted to treat me    and I still make it often when I'm in the mood for those amazing potatoes.  We always use basmati for these dishes in our family.  What sort of rice did you use? 

Also, we always cook the basmati in the way you describe (with or without potatoes) by par-boiling and then steaming.  My Grandmother also showed me another trick, which is to add one or two cups of cold water to the pot after the rice has boiled for about 3 minutes; for some reason the work the rice has to do to come to the boil again causes the rice to double in length.  It's amazing.

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I used basmati too. That trick with the cold water sounds fun, I'going to try that sometime!

It's been fun to hang out with you this week, but not as much fun as if you would take a sabbatical here.  I still vote for you to spend a year with us here!  Oh, do I get to vote?

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Ah, I wish!

Take good care of yourself, Klary. And maybe let Dennis cook a little more?

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I won't let him (except softboiled eggs & tea )

Edited May 14, 2007 by Chufi (log)