Tonight is the night! Tonight we leave for Bali!! 10 glorious days of sun, fun, beach, sea and God knows what more! I am so excited! Of course I'm also stressed out, because it means saying good bye to my girls... But I'm reeeeeally trying to focus on the fun part.
This is our first real holiday together since, oh approximately 8 years, when our first girl was born. Of course we go on minibreaks a couple of times a year, but the longest was 3 night and 4 days. Which I already found very hard... You know what's funny? Occasionally....sometimes......okay, okay...quite regularly...you wish you could put the kids in a big black hole... I mean, I love my kids but they can be really annoying. But the moment I have to leave them behind, even if it's just for one night...I miss them like crazy.
Okay, enough blabbering. Let's get to work! I found another great recipe by Pioneer Woman. I keep forgetting to take pictures, but you can find what it looks like over here.
She calls it Apricot bars, but I personally think it's too sweet to be a bar. I think it's more a mix between a crumble and a really big cookie. But names aside... it just tastes good! Needless to say they vanished from my kitchen real fast! And I can't blame everybody else....I think I ate most of it...It happens okay? I just couldn't resist it!
Oh, and the recipe calls for an 8 inch square pan, but I just used a brownie pan, which worked excellent. And you can replace the apricot with other flavors. I'm already contemplating what flavor to use next time!
Recipe
Apricot bars
Yield: 24
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 stick butter, not too cold
10-12 ounce apricot preserve
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Mix all the ingredients except the apricot reserve together. Press half the mixture in a buttered 8 inch square pan, or something similar.
Spread the apricot preserve on top of the mixture.
Put the second half of the mixture on top of the apricot preserve. Try to press or pat the top as much as you can, but not too hard because you don't want to squeeze out the preserve.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes until it's light brown.
Let cool completely before you cut it into pieces! And I really mean it, because as usual I had a problem with waiting until it was completely cool and when I started cutting, it fell apart! So, again, don't be like me!
Oh and since I plan on spending the next 10 days in total bliss, I won't be posting!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Shrimp curry
Last weekend I made a shrimp curry, to be specific a Mauritian prawn curry by the lovely Nigella Lawson. The recipe is from her book Forever Summer.
Because of the girls I didn't want it to be too spicy, but as the recipe only needs half a teaspoon of chili powder I thought it was safe to make. I have to admit that I have never made a curry before, but as I had most ingredients already I thought I'd give it a try.
Besides having never made a curry before I also had never cooked with curry leaves before, hence my mistaken opinion of this dish being not too spicy....
Apparently curry leaves make a dish spicy... and not just spicy but very hot if you throw in a lot more than the prescribed tablespoon. Of course I figured this out right at the end when the dish was finished.....
The curry was lovely, the flavors great but as was expected the girls didn't eat a lot...
They only ate white rice and sweet-and-sour cucumber. Off course this enabled them to eat a really big bowl of the chocolate mousse, so I didn't hear too much complaints!
Recipe
Mauritian prawn curry
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon kurkuma
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chilipowder
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
a piece of fresh ginger (about 4 cm or 1 1/2 inch)
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
salt
2 tablespoon of peanut oil (or something similar)
1 can of chopped tomatoes (400 gram or 8 ounces)
peel (zest) and juice of half a lemon
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tablespoon curry leaves (fresh or dried)
750 gram (1 1/2 pound) shrimp or prawn
grated nutmeg
a handful of cilantro
3 or 4 green chili peppers
Instructions:
Put the kurkuma, coriander, cumin, chilipowder and mace in a bowl. Grate the ginger and garlic cloves with a microplane and add to the spices. Add a little water and stir to create a paste.
Chop the onion and bake in the oil until soft. Add the spices-paste and stir-fry for about a minute.
Add the tomatoes, fill the can with water and add that also.
Add the lemonjuice, cinnamonstick and curry leaves and let this mixture simmer for about 30 minutes so the curry gets thicker and the spices more flavor.
Just before you want to eat add the shrimp to the sauce and cook until done. Taste the shrimp to make sure they are well cooked.
Pour the curry in a shallow bowl and add the grated nutmeg and lemonpeel. Put the cilantro on top.
Cut the chili peppers in half lengthwise and arrange them on the curry.
Off course, I left out the chili peppers completely because it was already a little bit too spicy!
Oh and you can make this sauce in advance and just add the shrimp when you want to finish the curry. It just gives the flavors more time to develop!
Because of the girls I didn't want it to be too spicy, but as the recipe only needs half a teaspoon of chili powder I thought it was safe to make. I have to admit that I have never made a curry before, but as I had most ingredients already I thought I'd give it a try.
Besides having never made a curry before I also had never cooked with curry leaves before, hence my mistaken opinion of this dish being not too spicy....
Apparently curry leaves make a dish spicy... and not just spicy but very hot if you throw in a lot more than the prescribed tablespoon. Of course I figured this out right at the end when the dish was finished.....
The curry was lovely, the flavors great but as was expected the girls didn't eat a lot...
They only ate white rice and sweet-and-sour cucumber. Off course this enabled them to eat a really big bowl of the chocolate mousse, so I didn't hear too much complaints!
Recipe
Mauritian prawn curry
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon kurkuma
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chilipowder
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
a piece of fresh ginger (about 4 cm or 1 1/2 inch)
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
salt
2 tablespoon of peanut oil (or something similar)
1 can of chopped tomatoes (400 gram or 8 ounces)
peel (zest) and juice of half a lemon
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tablespoon curry leaves (fresh or dried)
750 gram (1 1/2 pound) shrimp or prawn
grated nutmeg
a handful of cilantro
3 or 4 green chili peppers
Instructions:
Put the kurkuma, coriander, cumin, chilipowder and mace in a bowl. Grate the ginger and garlic cloves with a microplane and add to the spices. Add a little water and stir to create a paste.
Chop the onion and bake in the oil until soft. Add the spices-paste and stir-fry for about a minute.
Add the tomatoes, fill the can with water and add that also.
Add the lemonjuice, cinnamonstick and curry leaves and let this mixture simmer for about 30 minutes so the curry gets thicker and the spices more flavor.
Just before you want to eat add the shrimp to the sauce and cook until done. Taste the shrimp to make sure they are well cooked.
Pour the curry in a shallow bowl and add the grated nutmeg and lemonpeel. Put the cilantro on top.
Cut the chili peppers in half lengthwise and arrange them on the curry.
Off course, I left out the chili peppers completely because it was already a little bit too spicy!
Oh and you can make this sauce in advance and just add the shrimp when you want to finish the curry. It just gives the flavors more time to develop!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Chocolate Mousse
Who doesn't love chocolate mousse? I know a lot of people in my house who do! So chocolate mousse is a regular at our house.
Usually I make a different chocolate mousse than the recipe below. The one I usually make I call Death by Chocolate. This one however is a lot less heavier, a bit sweeter and nice and creamy. And very important: it's extremely easy to make!!
As is the case with all chocolate mousse recipes this one also contains raw eggs, so it's not suited for everybody.
Recipe
Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients:
225 gram (1 1/4 cup) bittersweet chocolate (use a high %)
70 gram (5 tablespoons) butter
3,5 dl (1 1/2 cup) whipping cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Amaretto (can be a different liqueur like Tia Maria)
2 tablespoons honey
Instructions:
Melt the chocolate and the butter au bain marie (or with a double boiler). Put the bowl with the chocolate-mixture aside.
In a different bowl whip the cream until it has soft peaks, but is not complete stiff.
In a third bowl beat the eggs and honey with a mixer until it is fluffy. Gently fold in the Amaretto, melted chocolate and honey, being careful to keep it is light as possible.
Pour the mixture in pretty glasses or just in a large bowl and try not to eat half of it already!
Put it in the fridge for at least 1 hour, so it can firm up.
Enjoy!
Usually I make a different chocolate mousse than the recipe below. The one I usually make I call Death by Chocolate. This one however is a lot less heavier, a bit sweeter and nice and creamy. And very important: it's extremely easy to make!!
As is the case with all chocolate mousse recipes this one also contains raw eggs, so it's not suited for everybody.
Recipe
Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients:
225 gram (1 1/4 cup) bittersweet chocolate (use a high %)
70 gram (5 tablespoons) butter
3,5 dl (1 1/2 cup) whipping cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Amaretto (can be a different liqueur like Tia Maria)
2 tablespoons honey
Instructions:
Melt the chocolate and the butter au bain marie (or with a double boiler). Put the bowl with the chocolate-mixture aside.
In a different bowl whip the cream until it has soft peaks, but is not complete stiff.
In a third bowl beat the eggs and honey with a mixer until it is fluffy. Gently fold in the Amaretto, melted chocolate and honey, being careful to keep it is light as possible.
Pour the mixture in pretty glasses or just in a large bowl and try not to eat half of it already!
Put it in the fridge for at least 1 hour, so it can firm up.
Enjoy!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Trying to make a dutch oven bread
Yesterday I tried to make a dutch oven bread. And lets put the emphasis on TRIED shall we?
See, the problem was, I made soup for dinner, but I forgot to get some French bread to accompany the soup. So I figured I could try out a recipe I found for a dutch oven bread with herbs. The recipe sounded really easy and delicious. There was just one teeny tiny problem.... I had just run out of bread flour, but as the recipe said it could also be made with all-purpose flour I thought.... why not?
Why not? I'll tell you the reason why not! Because it doesn't make a bread...that's why not! It starts out as a dough, which looks like it's going to make a great bread. It rises just like a bread should.... and when you put it in the oven it bakes like a bread. It looks like a bread, so you think everything is fine! Great! I just made a lovely bread with all-purpose flour.
But then you take it out of the oven and you notice that something is missing.... you see.... it doesn't SMELL like a bread and that should have warned me...but unfortunately it didn't.
I put the bread on the table, cut everybody a piece and THEN I tasted it. And you know what.... It doesn't taste like bread either... Absolutely not. It tasted like something else entirely. I don't even have words to describe it.
So if you ever think: Oh I can replace the bread flour with all-purpose flour. DON'T DO IT. BACK AWAY FROM THE ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR!!!!
Good! Now run to the store and buy some bread flour. It's what I'm going to do!
See, the problem was, I made soup for dinner, but I forgot to get some French bread to accompany the soup. So I figured I could try out a recipe I found for a dutch oven bread with herbs. The recipe sounded really easy and delicious. There was just one teeny tiny problem.... I had just run out of bread flour, but as the recipe said it could also be made with all-purpose flour I thought.... why not?
Why not? I'll tell you the reason why not! Because it doesn't make a bread...that's why not! It starts out as a dough, which looks like it's going to make a great bread. It rises just like a bread should.... and when you put it in the oven it bakes like a bread. It looks like a bread, so you think everything is fine! Great! I just made a lovely bread with all-purpose flour.
But then you take it out of the oven and you notice that something is missing.... you see.... it doesn't SMELL like a bread and that should have warned me...but unfortunately it didn't.
I put the bread on the table, cut everybody a piece and THEN I tasted it. And you know what.... It doesn't taste like bread either... Absolutely not. It tasted like something else entirely. I don't even have words to describe it.
So if you ever think: Oh I can replace the bread flour with all-purpose flour. DON'T DO IT. BACK AWAY FROM THE ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR!!!!
Good! Now run to the store and buy some bread flour. It's what I'm going to do!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Easiest dessert ever!
Tonight I made the easiest dessert ever. I make this whenever I don't have any other dessert on hand and the kids are demanding something sweet after dinner!
Ingredients:
Bananas
Chocolate
Instructions:
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or au-bain marie.
Meanwhile, cut the bananas in slices. I usually take 2 or 3 bananas for the four of us, depending on the size of the bananas.
Put the slices on a big plate and pour the melted chocolate over the slices.
Give everybody a fork and let the war begin!
Ingredients:
Bananas
Chocolate
Instructions:
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or au-bain marie.
Meanwhile, cut the bananas in slices. I usually take 2 or 3 bananas for the four of us, depending on the size of the bananas.
Put the slices on a big plate and pour the melted chocolate over the slices.
Give everybody a fork and let the war begin!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Spicy molasses cookies
I just love food blogs. I have a bit of a cookbook addiction and combined with an unlimited supply of recipes at food blogs I can happily spend an entire day just reading, drooling over and occasionally actually cooking the recipes I find on the internet. Yesterday I found a recipe for Spicy molasses cookies on the blog of The Pioneer Woman and I decided to try and recreate it. Oh and if you're not familiar with her blog. I sure can recommend it! She adds great play-by-play-photos with EACH recipe! Amazing. Check it out here.
The reason why I say try and recreate it, is because, as the name suggests, it contains molasses and molasses is a product unknown in The Netherlands. We do, however, have something resembling molasses, so I used that instead. Also, the recipe needs Crisco and that again is something unknown here. But I just used butter. You can never go wrong with butter!
And I have to say, the results was quite good. I think they could have been in the oven a little shorter. I had them in for 9 minutes (but with hot air circulation) and they were a little dark around the edges, but the taste had not been compromised! They are still delicious! They remind me of gingersnap.
Spicy molasses cookies
Recipe
Yield: 36
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Crisco (or butter)
1/4 cup molasses (or something similar)
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra sugar for coating
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 190°C (350°F).
Mix the sugar, shortening, molasses and egg together until well combined.
Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and salt together, then add to the molasses-mixture and mix until it is well combined and a dough.
With your hands roll walnut-sized balls of the dough. Coat each ball with sugar (just roll it around in a small bowl with sugar).
Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 9 minutes. Keep an eye on the cookies. You want the cookies to crack, but you don't want the cookies to brown!
Now stand back and be amazed by the fact that these might be the best looking cookies you ever made (at least that was the case with me).
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Sweet and sour cucumber
The sun is shining here and it looks like it's going to be a beautiful spring day, so I'm going to keep it very short today. I'm going to do some work in the garden and later on my eldest girl has to swim for her final diploma. Very exciting! Hopefully all goes well!
Sweet and sour cucumber is probably one of the easiest sidedishes in existence. I serve this whenever I cook Indonesian, like nasi goreng or Bali chicken. It works great with a lot of Asian-style dishes with rice.
Recipe
Sweet and sour cucumber
Ingredients:
1 cucumber
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
Instructions:
Combine the vinegar and sugar in a bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. I'm usually to lazy to stir until all the sugar is dissolved, so I stir a little, then add the cucumber and stir from time to time a little. Works very well!
Cut the cucumber lengthwise in half and cut both half's in thin slices. Add the slices to the vinegar-sugar mixture and let this "marinate" for approximately 1 hour. Stir from time to time.
Voila, your sidedish is ready. Oh, when serving, you don't want the vinegar-sugar mixture to end up on your plate, so with a spoon take out some of the cucumber and let the fluid drain a little, then put the cucumber on your plate.
Have great day!
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