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pax_athenaI know, cooking posts in such a quick succession! But I just need the creativity outlet that cooking gives me. Plus I am making photos of a lot of the staples that I cook for the first time here in Leiden, things that I do not photograph when I cook them the second or the twentieth time. Although the definition of "staple" is an interesting one once you hit a certain number of recipes - my "yummy" folder alone contains 90 PDFs and there are tons and tons of dishes that I don't have a written recipe for, from pancakes to plov (in two rather different variations), from baked fish to endless variations on "classic" salads. So even a staple can sometimes only return onto the menu after a year. Or have to wait until I'm in a country that has a certain ingredient readily available.
Anyway, less talking, more food. As always: if you are interested in a certain recipe, let me know, I am glad to either provide a link or to try to write it down:
Grapefruit cake that I made with N. It was nice and moist (this was the first time I soaked a cake with extra juice - I was hesitant but it worked greatly) and all around delicious. Having a loaf pan is a great thing.
Potatoes & sweet potatoes au gratin with minced meat and feta. I love the dish but I dislike warmed up potatoes the second and third day, so I don't make it often, usually waiting until I forget how much I dislike the next day warmed up version.
Another loaf cake. Or rather a fruit&nut bread. It was nice fresh - and it is amazing when frozen and then warmed up. I was not sure whether this one is a keeper until I got it out of the freezer.
Pancakes. My favorite ways to eat them is, by the way, with a filling made from quark, honey and walnuts or/and berries. This was the breakfast for when a good friend was staying over.
I make this sooo often especially when it's cold outside - shortly baked carrot and broccoli with a bit of Parmesan. Such a perfect super light winter dinner or a hot snack.
Roasted veggies (cauliflower, carrots, parsnips) with orange, pumpkin seeds, dried figs and quinoa with a tahini dressing. This veered away from the original recipe pretty quickly and turned out to be an amazing meal that can be enjoyed both when the veggies are still hot from the over and the next days, when they are cold. A bit of work but very much worth it, especially when one makes a batch for a few days.
Yoghurt based "blinchiki" aka mini-pancakes. Not the best ones I've made but I had half a liter of yoghurt that needed to be used somehow before I left yet for another work trip. Great to freeze and then thaw for breakfast at work.
I know it does not look good but it's actually an amazingly yummy potato and lentil curry. A staple. Yum.
Cauliflower and parsnip soup (with bread with liverwurst on the side). Meh. Will not repeat.
Pasta with tuna.
New blender! I think this is something like a smoothie? It had half a banana, a frozen kiwi and milk in it.
Salmon on red cabbage. Yum, both hot and cold. The recipe was a rec fromobsidienne. And I found out the hard way when making this at ♥'s place that very good salmon is the key here - luckily, it's easy to get here in the Netherlands but as far as he goes, I may not be able to convince him to try the recipe again.
Self-made fruit yoghurt, this time with frozen kiwi and frozen mandarins and a bit of honey. I can totally see myself eating a ton more of this during summer. Smoothies are not really mine, still, but fruit yoghurt? Yeah!
My staple tomato and bell pepper oven bake.
Soda bread. It was cool making one but I did not like it enough to repeat it.
My favorite butternut squash soup. I made enough for 6 portions (2 mid-sized squashes) and just ate the last of them out of my freezer this week. Soooo good.
Zucchini curry. This time with a lot of water/juice so it was almost soupy. Another absolute staple. (Although zucchini seem less easy to get here then they were in the USA. I mean they exist but seem quiet a bit more expensive in winter. Although perhaps I should just not use zucchini in winter, it's really not their season.)
Egg, eggplant, bell peppers and cheese bake. The recipe sounded great the recipe was ... bäääääh. It made six portions and froze well. I ate two, made my way halfway through the third and decided to throw it away. (A pity, I want more recipes that freeze well.)
Aubergine bake with minced meat-tomato sauce. Sosososo good. I think the recipe made three portions but I had a hard time to stop myself after eating one and a half to keep enough for the next day at work.
My friend F. taught me how to make gnocchi - I may never ever in my whole life eat store-bought gnocchi again, I've been absolutely spoiled now. I want to make a bigger portion at some point soon and freeze them for later use.
Dutch baby - my Dutch friend spent some time laughing at the name but then we all absolutely loved it. And uhm, those are six portions but the three of us ate it all up. After we had the gnocchi. And it was so good that I don't feel a single bit bad about it.
Oven baked potatoes, sweet potatoes and bell peppers with feta. Simple, easy, warm, yummy.
Pasta in cottage cheese sauce. This is one of those perfect 5 minutes dinners - easy to make, yummy, on the healthy side (cottage cheese is a good way to get your proteins).
Semolina pudding with apples. (Yes, I loved semolina pudding as a kid - but only the version that my mother or grandmother made and that I ate hot. I still hate the cold version, it reminds me of awful kindergarden and school food that I luckily almost never had to eat.)
Sushi hand rolls. Another really cool lunch. And I will forever be thankful to that sushi restaurant in San Diego that introduced me to the idea of fresh mango in sushi. I haven't seen in on the menu in many other places but it's a must when I'm making any kind of sushi myself. So good. And it works especially well with friend salmon in soy sauce, such a wonderful counterweight of taste.
Anyway, less talking, more food. As always: if you are interested in a certain recipe, let me know, I am glad to either provide a link or to try to write it down:
Grapefruit cake that I made with N. It was nice and moist (this was the first time I soaked a cake with extra juice - I was hesitant but it worked greatly) and all around delicious. Having a loaf pan is a great thing.
Potatoes & sweet potatoes au gratin with minced meat and feta. I love the dish but I dislike warmed up potatoes the second and third day, so I don't make it often, usually waiting until I forget how much I dislike the next day warmed up version.
Another loaf cake. Or rather a fruit&nut bread. It was nice fresh - and it is amazing when frozen and then warmed up. I was not sure whether this one is a keeper until I got it out of the freezer.
Pancakes. My favorite ways to eat them is, by the way, with a filling made from quark, honey and walnuts or/and berries. This was the breakfast for when a good friend was staying over.
I make this sooo often especially when it's cold outside - shortly baked carrot and broccoli with a bit of Parmesan. Such a perfect super light winter dinner or a hot snack.
Roasted veggies (cauliflower, carrots, parsnips) with orange, pumpkin seeds, dried figs and quinoa with a tahini dressing. This veered away from the original recipe pretty quickly and turned out to be an amazing meal that can be enjoyed both when the veggies are still hot from the over and the next days, when they are cold. A bit of work but very much worth it, especially when one makes a batch for a few days.
Yoghurt based "blinchiki" aka mini-pancakes. Not the best ones I've made but I had half a liter of yoghurt that needed to be used somehow before I left yet for another work trip. Great to freeze and then thaw for breakfast at work.
I know it does not look good but it's actually an amazingly yummy potato and lentil curry. A staple. Yum.
Cauliflower and parsnip soup (with bread with liverwurst on the side). Meh. Will not repeat.
Pasta with tuna.
New blender! I think this is something like a smoothie? It had half a banana, a frozen kiwi and milk in it.
Salmon on red cabbage. Yum, both hot and cold. The recipe was a rec from
obsidienne. And I found out the hard way when making this at ♥'s place that very good salmon is the key here - luckily, it's easy to get here in the Netherlands but as far as he goes, I may not be able to convince him to try the recipe again.Self-made fruit yoghurt, this time with frozen kiwi and frozen mandarins and a bit of honey. I can totally see myself eating a ton more of this during summer. Smoothies are not really mine, still, but fruit yoghurt? Yeah!
My staple tomato and bell pepper oven bake.
Soda bread. It was cool making one but I did not like it enough to repeat it.
My favorite butternut squash soup. I made enough for 6 portions (2 mid-sized squashes) and just ate the last of them out of my freezer this week. Soooo good.
Zucchini curry. This time with a lot of water/juice so it was almost soupy. Another absolute staple. (Although zucchini seem less easy to get here then they were in the USA. I mean they exist but seem quiet a bit more expensive in winter. Although perhaps I should just not use zucchini in winter, it's really not their season.)
Egg, eggplant, bell peppers and cheese bake. The recipe sounded great the recipe was ... bäääääh. It made six portions and froze well. I ate two, made my way halfway through the third and decided to throw it away. (A pity, I want more recipes that freeze well.)
Aubergine bake with minced meat-tomato sauce. Sosososo good. I think the recipe made three portions but I had a hard time to stop myself after eating one and a half to keep enough for the next day at work.
My friend F. taught me how to make gnocchi - I may never ever in my whole life eat store-bought gnocchi again, I've been absolutely spoiled now. I want to make a bigger portion at some point soon and freeze them for later use.
Dutch baby - my Dutch friend spent some time laughing at the name but then we all absolutely loved it. And uhm, those are six portions but the three of us ate it all up. After we had the gnocchi. And it was so good that I don't feel a single bit bad about it.
Oven baked potatoes, sweet potatoes and bell peppers with feta. Simple, easy, warm, yummy.
Pasta in cottage cheese sauce. This is one of those perfect 5 minutes dinners - easy to make, yummy, on the healthy side (cottage cheese is a good way to get your proteins).
Semolina pudding with apples. (Yes, I loved semolina pudding as a kid - but only the version that my mother or grandmother made and that I ate hot. I still hate the cold version, it reminds me of awful kindergarden and school food that I luckily almost never had to eat.)
Sushi hand rolls. Another really cool lunch. And I will forever be thankful to that sushi restaurant in San Diego that introduced me to the idea of fresh mango in sushi. I haven't seen in on the menu in many other places but it's a must when I'm making any kind of sushi myself. So good. And it works especially well with friend salmon in soy sauce, such a wonderful counterweight of taste.
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