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eG Foodblog: Chufi - Shopping and cooking in Amsterdam


Chufi

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Chufi, just came across your blog and I am enthralled. It's wonderful. I have never been to Amsterdam and your pictures definitely make me want to visit. Thank you for taking the time to blog.

Barbara Laidlaw aka "Jake"

Good friends help you move, real friends help you move bodies.

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Thank you all for your nice comments on my food! I have to say that tonight's dinner was one of those lucky coincidences where you produce a great dish wihout having put much thought or planning into it. I had the cod, I just added some things that I saw when I opened the fridge, and the result was great!

Any way, I thought I would share some food-facts-of-life with you all.

My husband is fond of joking about the fact that when he met me, 13 years ago, I could not cook. He likes to think it was his good influence that improved my culinary tastes and skills! He is probably right though. He does not cook ( I won't let him into the kitchen, I mean there's only so many meals you can cook in your lifetime, why would I give some of them up to him?) but he can eat! which is a talent in its own right I think. We have a lot of different interests but eating at home, and to a lesser extent, eating out, are some of the things we really enjoy doing together. Good food makes us happy!

Anyway.. 13 years ago, I did not have a single cookbook and now I have this:

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I know this collection is nothing compared to others (if I read the Cookbooks - how many do you own thread) but I am proud of my collection and I love browsing through my books, rediscovering old favorites, and being inspired.

Food was not very interesting or creative when I grew up, and I often wonder how it came about that I learned how to cook and how I developed a certain style. I think that's a very interesting topic, I might have to start a new thread on that some day! I have very strong likes and dislikes for food, not necessarily for ingredients but for certain styles of food or certain cuisines. I am open minded and like to think I would try anything once, but that means eating it, not cooking it.

I still feel I have a lot of things to learn. One of my New Years resolutions was to make more things that I "always wanted to make but never dared to". Sofar this has resulted in baking my own sourdough bread, making ravioli, and roasting a leg of lamb. Future plans include: boiling a live lobster, more roasting of large joints, learning how to poach an egg, making beef stock, oh the list goes on and on.

Oh, and wine. I know nothing about wine. Dennis knows about wine - we even have a wine cellar, although it's in the attic :biggrin:

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So, most of the time, I am in charge of buying the stuff for "daily" use, and he buys the bottles that have to be shut up in the wine cellar for the next 10 years. It's one of my goals to become more knowledgeable on this subject, and especially about pairing wine with food.

While typing, I drank a glass of limoncello (brought to me from Italy by a neighbor). I'll finish with telling about some of my plans for the rest of the week:

tomorrow a friend is coming over for dinner which means a meal a little more elaborate then if it were just the two of us.. I might even make dessert!!

On Wednesday I hope to visit a frites shop. No specific dinner plans for Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, Dennis is taking me out for a surprise date.. :wub: .. I told him this date better involve some good food since it's the last night of my blog.. but he says I don't have to worry about that. So that will be a surprise for you as well as for me!

Edited by Chufi (log)
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Such a fun blog! It looks like Spring has already arrived in Amsterdam. And that spice store really had me drooling. I'm hoping you'll make some typical Dutch treats and give us the recipes.

Rats drinking a smoothie. I'll show that to my husband the next time he accuses me of spoiling our pets!

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Such a fun blog!  It looks like Spring has already arrived in Amsterdam.  And that spice store really had me drooling.  I'm hoping you'll make some typical Dutch treats and give us the recipes.

well it was freezing today. That sun is deceptive!

typical dutch treats.. I don't know. There are some typical dutch sweets but they are mostly holiday stuff (Sinterklaas & Christmas)

Then there is stamppot ofcourse, which is, I think, uniquely Dutch. It is a dish where potatoes are mashed with enough of another ingredient to transform them from a side dish to a main dish. The most famous one is made with curly kale. It's eaten with bacon and smoked pork sausage. When properly made, it's a good dish - very comforting, soothing winter-food. But I wouldn't call it a treat!

Oh wait.. I just thought of an oldfashioned dutch pudding. Might make that tomorrow.

Rats drinking a smoothie.  I'll show that to my husband the next time he accuses me of spoiling our pets!

no sugar added, just milk, mango, banana and oatmeal, so it was as healthy for them as it was for me!

Edited by Chufi (log)
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chufi!

excellent blogging so far - i'm wholly entranced.

one of my fondest amsterdam food memories was at a little israeli falafel shop. the other was at a very local bar filled with old men who sang to me. :wub:

thank you for taking the time to invite us into your life for a week. i'll be waiting anxiously for updates!

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

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breakfast this morning was a bowl of joghurt, granola & minneola (my current favorite citrus fruit :laugh: ). Also in the picture is the lunch I took to work: a cheese/rucola sandwich, energybar, apple and banana:

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morning coffee at the office, from my Zabar's mug. I got the mug on my first visit to New York, last October. We had breakfast at Zabar's every day during our stay!

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Chufi, I've just noticed that you're doing a blog!

Wow! That's the same veg stall I shop at at Albert Cuyp, the same spice market I go to, and one of the same kikker glasses that I use. :laugh:

AND you like Morlang! I love that place, though I don't quite feel trendy enough to be seen there too often. The food is excellent.

Where did you get that lovely brown rice?

:wub:

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Chufi, your blog is brightening an incredibly boring workday. I'm now dying to go to Amsterdam - the closest I've been is Ghent (of course, I'm dying to learn to speak Dutch, too, like my dad does).

Hmmm...I wonder if the ferrets would enjoy a smoothie? A chicken smoothie, maybe - otherwise they might look at me like "Mom...what, you're nuts or something?" :laugh:

K

Basil endive parmesan shrimp live

Lobster hamster worchester muenster

Caviar radicchio snow pea scampi

Roquefort meat squirt blue beef red alert

Pork hocs side flank cantaloupe sheep shanks

Provolone flatbread goat's head soup

Gruyere cheese angelhair please

And a vichyssoise and a cabbage and a crawfish claws.

--"Johnny Saucep'n," by Moxy Früvous

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Tonights dinner: curried parsnip soup, lamb meatballs, rucola salad, red rice salad, semolina pudding.

The red rice somehow made me think of middle eastern flavors, so I made lamb meatballs with seasonings adapted from a Claudia Roden recipe. In the bowl with the mince are: finely chopped onions, parsley, chopped pinenuts, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, salt & pepper. Glass of wine for the cook and today's soundtrack: Patty Griffin, Impossible Dream:

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we started with the parsnip soup.. very good, quite spicy, but with a lovely round flavor and smooth texture:

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I cooked the rice the way it was suggested upthread (by behemoth if I'm correct). When it was cooked, I mixed it with sauteed leeks and garlic, lots of chopped coriander, olive oil and lemon juice, and left it to cool. On the plate with the meatballs and rucola:

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Also on the plate is some (not home made) pumpkin chutney that went surprisingly well with the meatballs. I liked the rice. It has a chewy texture and an earthy, nutty flavor that goes well with meat and spicy food. I think it would also go well with goats cheese.. or something smoky.. smoked meat, or a spicy chorizo.

Dessert: baked semolina pudding. Just out of the oven:

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and in the bowl with blackcurrant sauce (from the freezer, made last summer by my aunt) and pouring cream:

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My friend brought these cute after dinner chocolates, filled with different liqueurs:

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one of the same kikker glasses that I use.  :laugh:

Where did you get that lovely brown rice?

:wub:

:biggrin: yes those kikker glasses.. I have maybe 10 different ones and my husband teases me about them.. but I like them! there's a different one for every mood!

The rice comes from a shop called Delicious Food (why oh why do the Dutch feel the need to give their shops English names?) it's on the Westerstraat near the Noordermarkt.

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Chufi, your blog is brightening an incredibly boring workday.  I'm now dying to go to Amsterdam - the closest I've been is Ghent (of course, I'm dying to learn to speak Dutch, too, like my dad does).

I'm so glad. All I could think of during my own work day, was that I wanted to go home and blog! it's so addictive!

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I still feel I have a lot of things to learn. One of my New Years resolutions was to make more things that I "always wanted to make but never dared to". Sofar this has resulted in baking my own sourdough bread, making ravioli, and roasting a leg of lamb. Future plans include: boiling a live lobster, more roasting of large joints, learning how to poach an egg, making beef stock, oh the list goes on and on.

JIC you haven't seen the eGullet Culinary Institute, here are some courses which should be of interest to you:

All About Eggs -- Poaching Eggs and the followup Q&A
Stock 101: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Sourdough Bread
Stuffed Pastas

Well, there's more, but I have to go make dinner. So, here's a link to the eGCI index.

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Chufi,

Thank you for doing this. I forgot how much I love Amsterdam. In the 1990s I visited 6-8 times in 5 years! I used to have a friend who lived in Eindhoven. It's lovely to be nostaglic!

Liz

Liz Johnson

Professional:

Food Editor, The Journal News and LoHud.com

Westchester, Rockland and Putnam: The Lower Hudson Valley.

Small Bites, a LoHud culinary blog

Personal:

Sour Cherry Farm.

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chufi/klary

so wonderful. the pictures, the food. perhaps erwtensoep? then you can also post in the soup blog :biggrin: .

(sorry my entire familiarity with dutch and freisen food is through romance novels by the late betty neels - your pictures now add more vividness to when i read her books. thank you, thank you, thank you)

do you cook any regional specialities? or are you now being influenced by access to the broadband world?

Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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Just in case Chufi's gone to bed already...rucola is German for arugula. Maybe it's the same in Dutch.

thanks for helping me out with the time difference! The Dutch word for Rucola is actually raketsla, which means rocket lettuce. But Rucola is the most commonly used word for it.

I'll post the pudding recipe later.

Edited by Chufi (log)
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perhaps erwtensoep?  then you can also post in the soup blog  :biggrin:

I made erwtensoep in December, and for some reason (maybe because that's how my mom did it) I only make it once every winter. But fortunately, I took pictures! :biggrin: they are here (post # 48 on the page)

(sorry my entire familiarity with dutch and freisen food is through romance novels by the late betty neels - your pictures now add more vividness to when i read her books.  thank you, thank you, thank you)

do you cook any regional specialities?  or are you now being influenced by access to the broadband world?

There are some great classics (erwtensoep for instance) but many of them are very seasonal, like Oliebollen (sweets made at New Years). Other things, like apple pie, braised beef, bean soup can hardly be called uniquely Dutch, even though we make famous versions of it. I do like to make these dished sometimes but to me the most wonderful thing about cooking is the endless possibilities that are out there. I mean really endless! Just when you think you are sort of stuck in a cooking rut, you discover a new ingredient or even an entire new cuisine that keeps your meals interesting for months!

Edited by Chufi (log)
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