Dried Date Cake; No Bake Treat

Sometimes you taste something and immediately want to know the recipe. That happened a few weeks ago when I was having lunch with a friend at Bagels & Beans; a Dutch franchise formula lunch and coffee room.
A very successful concept where they serve delicious bagels, homemade cakes plus freshly squeezed juices , coffee and loose leaf teas. Most of it organic and fair trade.
(They also have an English menu online and in all their shops)

Anyway, it was not one of their bagels I was so excited about; it was their date cake.
A sweet and sticky cake, with the natural sweetness of the dried dates (plus some extra sugar and caramel syrup ;-))

I was already busy investigating the ingredients while eating it and was really surprised to find the original recipe on the Bagels&Beans website! I wish it was so easy to find these kind of recipes from more restaurants.

I used the original Bagels & Beans recipe with instructions from the Dutch food blog OverEten.com.
I halved the quantities and instead of a normal caketray i made it in a well greased small, round quiche tray (20 cm). And served it, cut into small pieces, as friandise with coffee and tea at my dinnerparty. It;s a perfect recipe to make for a lot of people.

Dried date cake cut into pieces in quiche tray before serving

Before serving it at the dinnerparty I tested the cake on my family. Let me tell you; they normally don't eat dried dates. My family is of the kind that likes to eat the familiar cakes and pies over and over again. Like Dutch apple pie or my grandmothers Cheesecake ( in Dutch: Monchoutaart).But even though they looked a bit strange when I presented the pieces of dried date cake; everyone loved it!

My grandmother just couldn 't stop eating. Same as my colleagues from work, who I brought the leftovers. They immediately asked for the recipe. And I was very pleased to hear already two of them made it themselves successfully.

This is definitely one of my new favorite recipes and I'm very happy that Bagels & Beans shared this recipe online.

For the Dutch version of this recipe in PDF click here.

Dried Date Cake
www.bagelsbeans.nl

For about 8 'pie' pieces or approximately 30 little pieces

Ingredients:

• 250 grams dried dates, pitted and chopped (weight after pitting)

• 125 grams of butter + extra for greasing the tray

• 75 grams dark brown sugar (in Dutch: basterdsuiker)

• 25 grams chopped walnuts

• 75 grams Maria biscuits, chopped into small pieces in a mortar

• ½ egg (M), beaten

• 1 tablespoon caramel syrup (Monin or ( for Dutch readers) Douwe Egberts)

• Flaked coconut

Important: make sure to have pitted and chopped the dates before you start; it is a sticky job.

1. Grease a small quiche tray (20 cm) with butter.

2. Melt the 125 grams of butter on the lowest possible heat.  Do not let the butter brown!  When the butter has melted  add the sugar in parts and stir constantly with a small whisk. Make sure it does not stick on the sides. It has to remain a liquid mass. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.

3. Beat the egg with a fork and add it only to the butter-sugar mixture as this is no longer really hot anymore, otherwise the egg solidifies immediately and you get pieces of egg in your cake. Pour it in gently and stir constantly. Put the pan back on the heat and continue to stir until completely incorporated.

4. Add 1 tablespoon caramel syrup while stirring.

5. Add dates, keep stirring and boil for 1 minute.

6. Then add the biscuits and walnuts and remove from heat. Stir until everything is mixed well.

7. Put the mixture into the quiche tray and press it flat with a spoon. The cake should be 1 ½ cm  thick. Make sure everything is evenly distributed.
Let cool about 1 ½ hours in the refrigerator before you cut it in pieces.

8. Sprinkle the cake with coconut flakes before serving.

Easy to make 1 to 2 days in advance; keep in refrigerator.

Thai Red Chicken Curry with Cashews

As a foodie I like to try new recipes all the time. But I also really cherish my favorite recipes which I make over and over again for years and are always a succes.
One of our favorite weeknight meals is Thai red chicken curry with cashew nuts. I think I once found it in the Dutch Delicious magazine, but I'm not sure because of the many magazine clippings I collected.

It has been modified slightly because there were just a few vegetables in the original recipe.
I added  green beans and some extra pepper. 

It's quickly finished with noodles that only need to be soaked in some boiled water.

Once all the ingredients are prepared it's a quick and tasty weeknight meal. With a little heat from the curry paste and a crunch from the cashews.
I think the Mae Ploy curry pastes taste so good that, especially for a weeknight meal, it really doesn't make sense to make the paste from scratch.

My favorite brand of Thai red curry paste

Thai red chicken curry with cashew nuts

Main course for 2 persons

Ingredients:

-          1 tablespoon groundnut or sunflower oil

-          1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (I use Mae Ploy; see picture)

-          1 large red pepper, cut into thin strips

-          300 grams chicken breast, cut into strips

-          200 grams of green beans, halved and + / - cooked 7 minutes

-          1 clove garlic, minced

-          1 tablespoon oyster sauce

-          1 tablespoon fish sauce

-          1 tablespoon brown sugar

-          2 spring onions, chopped

-          50 grams (roasted, salted) cashews 

-          150 grams of noodles or white rice,  to serve

1) Cook the green beans (if not already done) and keep the cooking water for the noodles to soak.

2) Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the curry paste and chicken about 2 minutes.

Add the peppers, garlic and green beans and stir-fry briefly.

3) Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar and let simmer on low heat for about 4 minutes.

4) Add the spring onions and fry for 2 more minutes. Soak the noodles in the boiled water according to package directions.

5) Sprinkle with cashews just before serving.

Serve with noodles, white rice or fried noodles.

The Perfect Dinner Party with Friends!

It was a LOT of work. It was so much planning, preparing, grocery shopping and cooking that I actually reconsider my idea of starting a living room restaurant! But OMG it was also so much fun!!!

I had celebrated my Bachelor of Law graduation with family by throwing a BBQ. But to celebrate with friends I decided to invite the 11 most culinary ones for a dinner party in our living room. Unfortunately the friends who love cooking, eating and wine as much as we do were on holiday, but there were still 9 amazing friends with a good appetite left!

Preparing Lemon Cheese Cake desserts with white chocolate in glass ramekins

Recently I wrote a post with 5 tips for throwing a stress free dinner party. Well, after last weekend I have some more tips! Especially for throwing a dinner party for more people.  It turned out there are other things to think about when you host 8 or more guests, instead of the 'normal' 4 or 6. 

When I googled on Internet I found dinner party do's and don'ts like; 'create a playlist', 'learn the art of conversation' and 'send formal invitations'. Those were not the tips I was looking for...

Table ready for our guests to arrive

It turned out that my most important advice for people who are planning a big dinner party is:
Make sure you have enough space in your refrigerator! 
Because I really hold on to rules number 4 and 5 (plan ahead and start cooking in time) I composed a menu with almost only dishes I could prepare a day or a few hours in advance.
That was a good thing, because at the evening of the dinner party I did not have to stress at all about getting courses ready on time. But off course all the pre-made dishes had to be stored cool. As soon as I started shopping for all the groceries, on my 3-page long(!) shopping list, I realised there was not enough room in our fridge for all the food. Not to mention the many bottles of wine and beer that had to be served chilled!

All dishes and the ingredients needed

Which brings me to the second extra tip when throwing a dinner party for a big group, but also for dinner parties in general:
Be creative! 
I put a part of the stuff I didn't need in the fridge at my work and another part in the fridge of our neighbours. We also borrowed a little extra refrigerator from my parents and used a camping fridge plus a coolbox with ice packs.

Another thing I had to be creative with was how to bring a lot of glasses, from the amuse bouche and the cocktails, to our guests while I only had one serving tray. For that I put a kitchen towel on an oven tray and that worked perfectly as a serving tray.

The third thing which is really handy if you're planning a dinner party for a lot of people; make a list of all the things that need to be done. If possible even write the time schedule with it. I'm convinced I would have forgot to heat the oven if I had'nt looked at my schedule that night.

Time schedule

And the last tip:
Be flexible, and don't be afraid to change the menu or just leave something out if you discover you don't have time for it or just doesn't fit.
I really wanted to have a dish with fresh figs, because their in season now. So I planned on serving fresh figs with blue cheese and prosciutto on a crostini with the aperitif. But last minute I skipped them from the menu because it meant keeping an eye on the oven during the time everybody arrived.

And a few hours earlier, while the  menu's were already printed and on the plates, I decided to skip the chicory with serranoham from Ottolenghi. Let me tell you; nobody even noticed!!!

The dinner was a big success! Even though just a few of our friends met each other before, everybody was talking and enjoying the food and wine.

The final result! 

Although I normally like to plan a dinner around a theme I decided to skip it because the most important thing was that it had to be easy to make for 11 persons.
But in the end I discovered I accidentally did have some sort of theme; Lemon! Except from the amuse bouche all the courses, including the cocktail, had some lemon in it.
And because I like to do things properly I especially bought some coffee and tea with a lemon link in it ;-)

Curious about the whole menu? Here it comes! The Persian grilled chicken was really popular, followed by the Kisir and the amuse bouche. Unfortunately I totally forgot to make pictures of all the dishes because I was so busy organising everything. Recipes will be published in next posts!

Aperitif

Pistachios, Remeker cheese and dried sausage from butcher shop Le Jeune

Beer! (Amstel Radler/ Duchesse de Bourgogne/ Ename Abbey Double)

***

Amuse bouche

Parmesan Foam / acidic cherrytomatoes / basil oil (inspired by the signature amuse bouche from Beluga chef Hans van Wolde)

Toast with Fiorito Frizzo Cocktail and Strawberry/Lemonsoda Mocktail

Tilburg Sourdough bread with butter (grass/goat), salt, olive oil

***

First course

Salad with smoked salmon and Middle Eastern dressing

White wine: Domaine Gibault Sauvignon Blanc

***

Main course Israeli mezze:

Ottolenghi's marinated aubergines

Kisir (Turkish bulghursalad)

Dina’s carrot salad with honeyroasted pecans

Persian chicken wings from the BBQ

Lamb Meatballs with tahinsauce

Red wine: Oratoire Saint Vincent Côtes du Rhône

Rose wine: Domaine de Gournier-Mourvedre

***

Dessert

Lemon Cheesecake (inspired by Gu)

Dessert wine: Muscat de Beaumes de Venise

***

Coffee or tea with friandises

Homemade dried date cake/ Helva/ Chocolate coffeebeans

Tea: loose leaf Verveine

Coffee: Freshly ground coffee from Finca el Limoncillo (Nicaragua)

Liqor: Sabra

All wines (except the Muscat) were ordered at Vindict wineshop who also adviced about the winepairing with the food.

The Persian grilled chicken wings on the BBQ

Persian Grilled Chicken Wings

It seemed so easy; post one blog each week on Wednesday. But last week I had a very bad cold and felt horrible. And with posting a new blog every week the problem is not just to have a topic. I like to have a recipe with it, a recipe that I tried and tested before off course. Plus self made pictures to accompany the recipe and make the story more visible.
But sometimes our plates are already empty before I realise a photo of it would have been nice!
And last week I did not feel like cooking at all; a real sign of being sick for a crazy Dutch foodie...

The weekend before I felt miserable we had a great BBQ with a few of our neighbours. It's a tradition that was started 4 years ago by my Iranian neighbours when they moved to our street. A typical gesture of Iranian hospitality we came to know!

It has been more than once that they brought us some delicious Iranian/Persian food. And our favourite is their grilled chicken with crispy skin and really fluffy rice (which I found out after I Googled it is known as Zereshk Polow) One time it happened that I was at their door around dinner time and my husband en myself were immediately invited at the dinner table. Our neighbours told us it's Iranian hospitality to always have an extra plate at the table for unexpected visitors! It's this kindness and hospitality that makes us want to travel Iran in the near future. I think it must be a wonderful Foodie Destination, with extremely friendly people, to explore.

It took me some time do discover the 'secret' of our neighbours delicious grilled chicken wings (or drumettes to be more precise). One of the reasons I guess was their way of speaking Dutch and me not speaking their Persian language known as 'Farsi' ;-)

First of all there is the special BBQ with skewers they use. (see pictures below) I guess in Iran it's common to buy that kind of BBQ but in the Netherlands he had it custom made.

Persian chicken drumettes on skewers

The second 'secret' of the crispy chicken skin is to grill it as far as possible from the charcoals.
Slow cooking on the BBQ. This way they will be done but not burnt.

Grilling chicken on skewers at my neighbours Persian BBQ

For a while I thought he used a marinade for the chicken pieces, until I found out that it was not really a marinade like I know it. But when I asked my neighbour last weekend again to explain me how he marinades the chicken this were his words; 'just some salt & pepper and a bit of saffron for the color'. And then, at the last minute just before I was about to leave, he said: 'but what's really important is the onion'.
The onion???
I had never seen any onion with the crispy chicken drumettes from their Persian BBQ before. It turned out that he 'marinated' the chicken drumettes overnight with some salt, pepper, saffron and finely chopped onions.

It found out that it's a commonly used method for Persian chicken kebabs (Jujeh Kebab) and off course there are many variations possible. Eugenia from the blog Culinaria Eugenius  advises to pulverize the onion instead of chopping it. While Sanam from My Persian Kitchen and  Laurie from Laurie Constantino both add some yoghurt to the (grated) onion and use chicken breast instead of chicken wings or chicken drumettes.

Chicken wings and drumettes marinating with onions overnight in the fridge

It was the first time I heard of this and off course I had to test it immediately as soon as I felt better this weekend.  Even though we don't own a Persian BBQ with skewers it worked out perfectly on our normal BBQ! 
I'm not sure what kind of chemical process  takes place with the onions and the chicken, but the chicken skin was as crispy as when our Iranian neighbour grills it!

Persian chicken grilling on our  'normal'  BBQ

The only thing I have not figured out yet is the amount of salt and pepper I have to use, because the taste was a bit to bland at our first attempt.
Update 10/09/2013: I made it again and wrote the exact amounts of salt and pepper I used in the recipe.

Here is my version of my neighbours Persian grilled chicken:
For the Dutch recipe you can click here.

Persian grilled chicken

For about 4 persons as part of a  BBQ or as a main dish with other side dishes

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo chicken wings or drumettes (our neighbour uses drumettes, we also like the wings so we mix)
• approximately 160 grams of finely chopped onion
• a pinch of saffron
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper & 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Grind the saffron with a mortar and pestle and mix with the chicken pieces and chopped onion in a plastic bag. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Refrigerate overnight! Or at least for a few hours before grilling them.

3. Heat the charcoals for the BBQ. Place the chicken pieces ( without the onions!) on the uppermost grill of the BBQ or on skewers and roast slowly until golden and crispy.

Enjoy! 

5 tips on how to throw a stress-free dinner party!

Dinner parties are really popular nowadays. With the economical crisis there is no better option to enjoy delicious food and wine for a fraction of the price you will pay in a good restaurant. Off course it does requires some time shopping for quality ingredients, menu planning and cooking.
For most people throwing a dinner party yourself can cause a lot of stress, which is really not necessary.

I had to remind myself to that lately. Because ever since I graduated I have been thinking about starting a supperclub (aka 'underground restaurant' and in the Netherlands as 'huiskamerrestaurant'/ livingroomrestaurant). Because I find it a bit scary to start that out of nowhere I decided I first join as a host for EatWith. And before I actually go online and welcome travellers at our dining table, I thought I will test myself cooking for more than 6 people by inviting friends for dinner.
Finishing my study sounded like a great occasion to invite them over for a dinner party at the beginning of September to celebrate.

Once the invitations were sent and I had positive responses from 9 of our best friends the planning started. That went from bad to worse because I want to make everything from scratch. And for me one of the most important things about throwing a dinner party is that I can sit down with my guests and enjoy the food, the wine and the conversations.
It was only last week, with 4 weeks left for 'The Big Dinnerparty', that I realised I was writing a post about tips on how to throw a stress-free dinner party.
Time to remind myself on that tips and publish it!!!

1) Only invite people who enjoy good food and wine! 

Why would you bother stressing and showing off for people who don't even appreciate all the effort you put in throwing a nice dinner party? If you invite over family or friends who don't care about a fancy dinner than just make something simple to eat, have a few bottles of wine and beer on hand and enjoy each others company.

2) Make something you have cooked before

The benefit of making a dish you have cooked before is that you know that it's good. (why else would you bother making that recipe again!) If you do plan on making a new recipe at your dinner party, try testing it before the big date. You will be much more comfortable on the evening itself if you know it worked before.

3) Plan ahead! 

Not just with shopping but also with thinking about what you're gonna cook.
What I do as soon as I planned a dinner party with friends, is put a post-it in my agenda at that weeks page. Whenever I think of an ingredient, wine or recipe that suits the people or evening I have in mind I write it down. I know I'm a bit old fashioned but I still use my paper agenda instead of the one in my smartphone. But I guess Evernote could do a good job here to.  This process can start weeks in advance and sometimes changes until the last minute. But most of the time it gives me some air when I can look at the notes I made.

Another plan ahead thing here is the season. For example; if you want to make something with asparagus or fresh figs you have to be sure you can buy it in that season. Or have a backup dish in your head.
I experienced this recently when I thought rhubarb was already available. After visiting 3 supermarkets and 2 vegetable shops I realised it was not and had to think about another dessert 1 day before the dinner...
The big piece of almond cake from David Lebovitz which I had left in the freezer came in really handy here!

4) Start cooking in time

Start at least one hour earlier than you think you need. Things can go wrong. I always realise I miss one or two ingredients last minute... In that case my husband still has time to rush to the supermarket ;-)
It's also really nice if you have time left to take a shower and change clothes before your guests arrive.
So make sure the bathroom is clean and the table is set before you even start cooking.

Off course it is also really stress reducing if you plan a mostly make ahead menu with only one or two items that have to be made at the last moment. Even better if you have time to make some dishes the day or evening before.

5) Let loose and enjoy! 

Finally, as tip number 5 I would like to quote Megan Gordon from her piece on The Kitchn who says to: Let Loose: "For me the most important part of a dinner party is letting myself relax. At a certain point, a few minutes before everyone is to arrive, there's not much that can be perfected. It is what it is and everyone will be gracious and happy to be in one another's company. Join them. After all, isn't that the reason you're throwing the party in the first place?" 

Off course these 5 tips can be used for any dinnerparty, especially also for Christmas dinner planning. 

I can only agree to this. 

Here is my recipe for a stress-free start of your dinnerparty with an easy cocktail:

Prosecco with amaretto & raspberries

Inspired on a welcome drink I had at restaurant Tuinhuis Culinair in Tilburg, Netherlands

Ingredients: 

• Amaretto 
• Prosecco
• Fresh raspberries. 

Divide a small dash of amaretto in champagne glasses; not to much or it will be very sweet. 
Top it off with prosecco and a few fresh raspberries. 

Serve with straw. 

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Confessions of a Cookbook Addict

OK I admit; it's not just a hobby anymore it's more like an addiction. A cookbook addiction.  
I'm not sure if there is a treatment for that… 
But as long as I can afford it I don't think it's such a big problem. 

Except maybe a space problem in our house. For now they are scattered around the house; the living room, the kitchen, the study and even the bedroom!  

My last money at the end of the month is more likely to be spent on a new cookbook rather than new clothes or something for the house. And when we were backpacking in Peru last year and I discovered there were already two volumes of  Tony Custers 'The Art of Peruvian Cuisine', each volume about 2,3 kilo grams in weight, I could not resist buying them both.  A bit crazy, I know.

Fortunately I'm not the only one; many foodies are suffering from this addiction. 

Some of them even devoted a whole blog to it! Like Diary of a Cookbook Addict with lovely posts about her favourite cookbooks written by a Philly native who moved to Dublin. Unfortunately she stopped posting since this year. 
Then there are the other foodbloggers like myself who made confessions on their blogs; Anja & Ianna from the Dutch foodblogs Brutsellog & Beginspiration blame blogging about recipes as the start of their cookbook addiction.

And Dana from The Kitchn even gives some tips on things you can do if you're starting to feel out of control. But I'm not at that point, not yet! 

Although I can't find any actual numbers at the above mentioned blogs;  freelance journalist Dionne Christian admits she has 148 cookbooks in an article about why we're addicted to cookbooks in The New Zealand Herald. I counted mine; 198 cookbooks + so many issues of cooking magazines I don't even start counting them. But that's nothing compared to the cookbook collection of Tonny Eyk, a Dutch pianist, who according to Bouillon magazine owns a cookbook library with 1500 cookbooks! 
A cookbook library; I need a bigger house for that ;-)

Although my cookbooks are not organised by logical order; they are more or less divided into the following categories:

Books I cook from a lot or are frequently consulted; I keep this in my kitchen cabinet.

The 'big' books; either in weight or from big chefs; they are standing on a bookshelf in the living room.

Below it are the culinary novels; with my absolute favourite 'Cooking for Mr. Latte' from Amanda Hesser 

A big part of my cookbook collection I keep in my study...

Then there is always a pile of cookbooks or culinary novels on my bedside cabinet. Along with some culinary magazines and  'normal' books.

Most of my recently bought cookbooks are kept on a sidetable in the livingroom for a while, so I can look for new recipes while sitting on the couch in the evening.

And last but not least the 'cookbook' I use most; a collection of all the recipes I made over and over again in the last few years. I type them in Word and reprint it at least once a year. It's full of recipes from my cookbook collection, recipes I found on Internet, recipes from magazines and from family and friends. 

All updated and provided with hand written notes. When we bought our kitchen a few years ago I insisted on a cookbook holder so I have them on eye level all the time I'm cooking :-D

There was a time that I made the promises to myself that I actually have to cook 1 recipe from each copy, or else I would have to sell them. Well, let's just say I do use most of my cookbooks a lot but I have not gotten around to make anything from 'A day at El Bulli', the amazing cookbook 'Puurst' from *** restaurant Librije in the Netherlands which won the Gourmand World Cookbook award 2013 in the 'best chef' category or from *** Chef Gordon Ramsey. These are more for inspiration and new ideas for dishes I make in a simplified way.

On my wish list are Ottolenghi's Pleny,  Mastering the Art of French Cooking from Julia Child, Nigel Slater's Kitchen diaries and many, many more.

I'm really curious how many cookbooks other crazy foodies have, what's their favourite cookbook and what's on their wish list! Leave a comment to let me know :-)

Restaurant Beluga in Maastricht

I have been lucky enough to have eaten in a few of the worlds best restaurants. Lunch at D.O.M in Sao Paolo, dinner at Astrid y Gaston in Lima, both of the *** restaurants in the Netherlands, Oud Sluis & Librije, and the Tasting Room in Franschhoek, South Africa. But my all time favourite isn't ranked in the Worlds 50 best restaurants list nor does it has 3 Michelin stars.  

Although I really don't understand why not. It makes me wonder how these inspectors rate the restaurants they visit. Because it's just impossible to compare a high rated restaurant in, for example, South America with a not rated restaurant in the Netherlands.

I was not planning on writing restaurant reviews on this blog, but I make an exception for my favorite restaurant EVER. It's Beluga in Maastricht; a burgundian city in the south of the Netherlands. It has 2 Michelin stars and chef Hans van Wolde is cooking just the way I like it. Not too much meat and almost no intestines. Lots of  fish & other seafood. A major role for vegetables and light and tasty dressings instead of those with cream. 

The reason I prefer Beluga over many other fine dining restaurants, besides the food, is the relaxed atmosphere. That starts in the lounge where you are welcomed to have a pre-dinner drink, accompanied with at few amuse bouches.

Vegetarian amuse bouches

Amuse bouche: 10 preparations with local Limburg 'grotchampignon' aka Champignon de Paris

The chef himself comes around to say hi, personally hands over the menu and discuss the menu options. I've been here 8 times so far and he has done that every time. In contrary to some other chefs who walk around in their restaurant to meet the customers, he's the only one who does it with a natural flair.

After that you are guided to the comfortable chairs and couches in the restaurant which make you want to sit back and relax. Which is what they are meant to be for. Once at the table Hans van Wolde's famous Chef's special signature amuse is served; Parmesan, basil and tomato. This looks like a famous and simple combination, but is wonderfully prepared with very strong flavours. The Parmesan always as a foam, the basil sometimes as ice, the tomato I've seen liquid and crispy (like on the pictures below)

Previous presentation of Chefs special; Parmesan, basil and tomato

Latest presentation of the Chef's special amuse bouche; Parmesan, basil and tomato

It's the combination of the high quality food, perfect matching wines, the relaxed atmosphere because of the informal yet amazing service, from the minute you walk in that make it worth every Euro you spent. 

It didn't really came as a big surprise in these economical bad times, but it still was a little shock to read that Beluga decided to make a big change! They are changing the concept, NOT the quality of the food or service, which makes it accessible for more people. Less amuses bouche, less expensive menu options and less exclusive dinnerware. It sounds good to me! 

We have enjoyed quite some of their 4-course Pleasure and Business lunch deals; a great deal where you're welcomed with a glass of  Cava and about 4 or 5 amuses, then 4 courses including matching wines and coffee or tea with friandises to finish with. And all of that for the price of € 90,-! Compared to other 2-star Michelin restaurants that was a really great deal. There are still 2 months left to make a reservation for this offer on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Matching sweet wine with dessert and specially for Beluga brewed beer with verbena to accompany the cheese

But I'm sure the menu in the new concept from October 1st, when the name of the restaurant will be Beluga Loves You, is gonna be great as well. They have posted a preview on their website which except for some dishes also reveals the coming of an 'upper top table'; on a stage over the stairs!

Because my husband only had experienced lunch at our visits together we decided to have a 'Last Supper' in Beluga old style and chose the full 10- course tasting menu. Plus the wine accompaniment!
I would be a very bad restaurant critic because I forget the exact ingredients of all the different dishes. Especially after some wine ;-)
But to give an impression of the fabulous food, here are some pictures I made during our visit last Friday.

Hans van Wolde's signature dish: Lobster Chicory Tarte Tatin. 

Lobster - avocado - americain - anchovy

Turbot - cauliflower- almond

Veal neck - foie gras - garlic plant- rhubarb

Hit me dessert; passion fruit

Beluga restaurant is a reason in itself to visit the city of Maastricht, either if you live in the Netherlands or as a tourist. But it is also one of the oldest cities in Holland with a beautiful centre worth visiting. Maastricht is known as a city of indulgence and culinary highlights. There are excellent restaurants and eateries, vineyards close to the city and an extensive range of great quality regional products and dishes. 
Any foodie should not miss out on Maastricht!

I will definitely pay a visit again as soon as possible to find out about the new Beluga Loves You.

Watermelon Daiquiri; Summer in a glass!

Ever since we came back from our 8 month trip to South & Central America last year we have been wanting to make cocktails at home.
Before that we actually never really drank cocktails; I prefer wine with food and my husband can appreciate both wine or a good beer. In South America that was not a problem; especially Argentina and Chili have great quality wines. But when you're travelling on a budget, once moving north to Central America we started drinking cocktails since they were cheaper than wine or beer! So while back home in the Netherlands we would never think about ordering a cocktail in a bar or restaurant, at the end of the trip we were enthusiastic cocktail drinkers.

It took us about a year before we gathered the basic stuff we needed; a cocktail shaker, cocktail glasses and a blender which can also crush ice.  No more excuses for not making these delicious drinks by ourselves.

We started with the Daiquiri; a mix of light rum, lemon juice and a sweetener like sugar or syrup.
Sitting at the bar of El Floridita in Havana, known as 'the cradle of the Daiquiri' (in Spanish: "la cuna del daiquiri"), it looked very simple. The bartenders were making all the different orders really fast without measuring. They make them so often that they know it by heart and told us they use an average of 40 bottles of Havana Club 3 years old every day. ( Bacardi is not sold in Cuba today, although the Daiquiri probably was born with that brand of rum).

Pictures of the El Floridita bar in Havana Cuba

There are a lot of variations on the original Daiquiri recipe and we are still in search of our own perfect mix.
With the beautiful summer weather of the last few weeks we started experimenting with the strawberry Daiquiri and the Watermelon Daiquiri. 
Especially for the last one there are tons of different recipes to be found on the Internet.

I was first triggered to make a watermelon Daiquiri after seeing Annabel Langbein making a big can of it on an episode of The Free Range Cook. She mixes the pieces of watermelon, lime juice and sugar in a blender and then pours it in a can with ice cubes. 
A Nigella Lawson recipe brought me on the idea of freezing  watermelon cubes and then mix all the ingredients in a blender. This is a great way but you really need a good quality blender for it to crush the frozen watermelon. 
Then there are a lots of recipes which use already crushed ice. 

From all of the above mentioned methods I prefer Nigella's way because there is no more ice needed to cool the drink. If you do use extra ice it immediately weakens the flavour of the rum.
But if you don't own a special blender to crush the frozen cubes, you can mix all the ingredients together and then put the mixture in the freezer for a few hours. This method takes a bit longer but also makes it perfect to prepare these summer cocktails in advance! 

Frozen Watermelon Daiquiri

I wrote down the recipe the way we like to make it, but you really have to adjust to taste! So add more sugar if you like it more sweet, or a bit of rum for a stronger alcohol flavour.

Ingredients for Watermelon Daiquiris

Makes 2 cocktails

Ingredients:

• 350 grams watermelon (without the seeds)
• 60 ml white Havana Club rum 3 years old 
• 60 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar (this dissolves easily)

Extra equipment: blender or mixer

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and put it in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

Dutch pancakes; budget dinner for one

Although I love cooking most of the time; I can't deny that I like it more if I can share it.
Most of the times that's not a problem; my husband is an enthusiastic and not so fussy eater.
But sometimes he must work overtime and let me know at the last minute... Whenever I cook just for my self I like it to be quick and tasty, so I often make Nigella Lawson's Lemon Linguine, Spaghetti Carbonara (without the heavy cream) or her Pea Puree with salmon. 
I can see a Nigella pattern here ;-)  
And I even admit throwing a frozen supermarket pizza in the oven occasionally! 

But tonight I did not feel like anything from the above. And because my husband is not a big fan of pancakes it was the perfect opportunity to bake them just for myself. It's a childhood favourite and I'm still happy to eat them for breakfast, lunch or as a main meal any time of the year.  While in wintertime it's a tradition to eat them after 'snert' (a thick typical Dutch pea soup). I remember my grandmother baking big piles of pancakes while the large pot of snert was simmering on the stove. She kept them warm by putting them on a plate on top of a pan with simmering water. 

Baking Dutch pancakes 

Dutch pancakes (pannenkoeken) are much thinner and larger than the American pancakes. The basic ingredients are always flour (plain, self-rising or both), milk, salt, and eggs. The addition of buckwheat flour is traditional but according to Wikipedia much less common nowadays. Although it looks like there is some kind of revival of the use of buckwheat flour because it's more healthy and ranks low on the glycemic scale. Wikipedia wrote a nice little piece about Dutch pancakes. 

Pancakes in the Netherlands are pretty popular; we even have lots of pancake-restaurants where you can order them with tons of different fillings. Plain ones are commonly eaten with sweet toppings like icing sugar (powdered sugar) or 'stroop'; treacle or syrup. A popular savoury filling is bacon & cheese. My 'secret' ingredient when making pancakes is to add a pinch of cinnamon to the batter. This even works with savoury fillings.

Pancake batter with cinnamon

If I make them as breakfast I use Jamie Oliver's 1tweetrecipe: 'Perfect pancakes: 1 egg, 1 cup self-raising, 
1 cup milk, pinch of salt. Whisk. Pour into a hot frying pan. Flip!' I get 3 pancakes from this recipe.

Today I made a bit more because I also love to eat them cold the next day (sprinkled with icing sugar and rolled up to be eaten by hand).
This recipe is adapted from an old fashioned and much reprinted Dutch cookbook; the Margriet kookboek:

Dutch pancakes

adapted from Margriet cookbook

Makes about 8 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 250 grams self-raising flour ( or substitute up to 50% with buckwheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg (large)
• 450 ml  milk
• Butter 
• Cinnamon
• Savoury and sweet ingredients as you like

1. Mix the self-raising flour with the salt.

2. Make a well in the middle, add the egg and half of the milk. Make a smooth batter of it, starting in the middle and mixing with a whisk. Add in the rest of the milk while stirring. Flavour with a pinch of cinnamon.

3. Leave to rest for half an hour if possible. 

4. Heat a small amount of butter in a frying pan, making sure it's hot before you pour in enough batter to just cover the bottom of the pan. (if you want to use bacon fry it first then add the batter)

5. Bake the pancake on medium heat until the top is dry.

6. Flip the pancake and cook the other side till golden.

7.Keep warm while baking the other pancakes. Fill as you like with sweet or savoury ingredients.

Rolled up Dutch pancake with 'stroop'