tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50072215659526880632024-03-12T21:32:12.603-07:00sweet & spicyIjeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-50976809469278506402012-09-16T23:02:00.002-07:002012-09-16T23:02:48.236-07:00Homemade lasagna à la Ijeoma<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lasagna time! My most favourite dish ever and always an excuse to eat too much. Since I still work - and have to eat alone most of the time - I insisted on making this in the weekend so that I could be there too. </span><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMs9e94POhkTyFmTZERmrodeCc9NDEci8buhv-q8sVEzssHFCPT9Tvvqf3P3yHIpyW8M1J6P0WYJSI8z2Sipr4AGskBGsb0gkuHrflRAWlFlRKLQaTY4aSvjv6caruf1w0jwoYnBZdfLQ4/s1600/DSC05248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMs9e94POhkTyFmTZERmrodeCc9NDEci8buhv-q8sVEzssHFCPT9Tvvqf3P3yHIpyW8M1J6P0WYJSI8z2Sipr4AGskBGsb0gkuHrflRAWlFlRKLQaTY4aSvjv6caruf1w0jwoYnBZdfLQ4/s320/DSC05248.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I took this recipe from my mum, ages ago. The base is still the same, but I made some little changes which makes it better (in my humble opinion :p).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's really different from the prepacked lasagnas you can find in any supermarket: there's not a lot of bechamel sauce to make the lasagna totally bland, it's full of vegetables and it's totally fresh!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 4-5:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 kg carrots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 zuchinis</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 3 bell peppers (red, green, yellow or any combination you like)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 large onion</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 4 cloves of garlic</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 500 grams of minced (pork-veal) meat</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 teaspoon of cumin powder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 tablespoon of herbes provençales</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 teaspoon of oregano</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- chilli flakes to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 small cans of tomato paste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 200 grams Emmental cheese, grated</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 100 grams Parmigiano Reggiano</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 tablespoon of butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 tablespoon of flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 500 ml milk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- lasagna sheets (about 9)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cut all the vegetables, the onion and garlic in small cubes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Fry the onion and the garlic in it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Add the minced meat and stir continuously so that it doesn't get burned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now stir in the carrots. Put the lid on the pan and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Add the peppers and leave them again with the lid on top of the pan. They have to have gotten tender.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put the zuchini in with all of the herbs and the tomato paste. Make sure all is spread out evenly in the pan. Let simmer with the lid on for another 30-45 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make a bechamel sauce with the butter, flour and milk. Season with the nutmeg, pepper and salt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now make the lasagna by layering the vegetable-meat sauce, the bechamel sauce, the grated cheese and sheets of lasagna (about 3 per layer). End with cheese so that the lasagna can get a nice crispy crust on top of it. Put enough sauce on the sheets of lasagne as they won't get tender when they're not wet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serve in large enough portions (see picture ^^), you'll see that you just can't stop eating anyway ... </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWSWXGwGk-d2M4cPuPhsIVqaYN-GTdtYNeYxV5iAKqxZrhlgUnaBXrNOjKyXvxlZiAQNf1Xc-fXgMr3ctAaB-xUyYW9Z2lo2M4H66Lwxxd1Gg4_1JMZVbMKwnF2mjIETfLfKz9rkwd9Ju/s1600/DSC05249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWSWXGwGk-d2M4cPuPhsIVqaYN-GTdtYNeYxV5iAKqxZrhlgUnaBXrNOjKyXvxlZiAQNf1Xc-fXgMr3ctAaB-xUyYW9Z2lo2M4H66Lwxxd1Gg4_1JMZVbMKwnF2mjIETfLfKz9rkwd9Ju/s320/DSC05249.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is simply too delicious to throw away the left-overs. Keep them aside and rehaet them in the oven. The taste is even better after a day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We were only three this time. My sister wasn't at home, so we just divided the slightly smaller lasagna between the three of us. A lot! (I dicided to take a long walk with our dog to reduce my guilt about overeating :) )</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">P.S.: mushrooms in it are also a very nice option! Fry them a little and put them in the vegetable-meat sauce or make them as a seperate layer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Buon apetito!</span></div>
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Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-9763866264667034722012-09-11T08:52:00.002-07:002012-09-11T08:53:13.819-07:00How do you translate 'vispannetje' properly? 'Little pan of fish'?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I bought nearly 3 kg of fish filets for my birthday party. Problem was the organisation of cooking for over 30 people in our small kitchen, so we changed plans. The fish, however, was already in our freezer and we now have these fish-dish-nights to eat our stock. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You have to be creative for doing this: my dad loves fried fish, my mum doesn't like fried fish, my sister usually hates fish and I love to eat fish in all sorts of ways as long as there is enough variation. A little too many different tastes to please all. But we try to do as good as we can, don't we? ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tonight it's a Belgian classic: <i>vispannetje</i>. It can be literally translated as little fish pan, but that sounds a bit ridiculous. Just keep in mind it contains fish and sea fruit, is prepared in the oven and tastes lovely.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMZq4JNAQryryirILtVOAjZAlRm2IsiYYQU4BLUvwSZz3J2xQTNgM9ywsOgAP-cuW80wQVUHryoVlCrAKAJmUYfUG19f1BgwWca0i0SEqMIAv7l3PQvZ-k2Rf1wjaiNTa3CybKtH0cr0H/s1600/2011-12-09+01.10.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMZq4JNAQryryirILtVOAjZAlRm2IsiYYQU4BLUvwSZz3J2xQTNgM9ywsOgAP-cuW80wQVUHryoVlCrAKAJmUYfUG19f1BgwWca0i0SEqMIAv7l3PQvZ-k2Rf1wjaiNTa3CybKtH0cr0H/s320/2011-12-09+01.10.36.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I thought my brother-in-law Jasper was coming over for dinner, I substituted the mushrooms by leek (as he doesn't like mushrooms at all), but it turned out he only came to visit and was gone before we ate. Anyway, it'll be vispannetje without mushrooms ... Leeks taste really nice in this dish, so don't think it's only second choice!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 3 or 4 small leeks OR 250 grams of mushrooms (cut in rings or slices and fried (optionally) fried in some butter*)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 carrot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 500 grams fish filet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 200 grams mixed sea fruit (mussels, squid, shrimps, ...)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 3/4 cube of fish stock</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- spoonful of butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 400 ml of milk </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- salt and pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 100 grams grated Emmental cheese</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- handful of breadcrumbs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- dill</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grease a large ovenproof dish and scatter the leeks/mushrooms, the sea fruit and the fish in it. Scatter the chopped dill over all of this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now cover the dish with the cheese and the bread crumbs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make a light béchamel sauce with the butter, a little flour, milk, and the fish stock. Make it not too thick. It should be much more liquid than solid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pour the sauce over the rest of the ingredients. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczV_BYHhRYvd6xG8m9Sta9Qvz_53rGHOHV_QlsipCujS10kP4oJIYOmkUok5Fg3VmjTzIDt-62rnH9htSm4qlauEA5JBH91_J3ijQQEoofB8QddbAp3m9qfRU14yB7jHCcycOqRWo0S1Y/s1600/2011-12-09+00.14.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczV_BYHhRYvd6xG8m9Sta9Qvz_53rGHOHV_QlsipCujS10kP4oJIYOmkUok5Fg3VmjTzIDt-62rnH9htSm4qlauEA5JBH91_J3ijQQEoofB8QddbAp3m9qfRU14yB7jHCcycOqRWo0S1Y/s320/2011-12-09+00.14.02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put the dish in a 250°C oven and let it all bake for 30-45 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">* You don't really need to prefry the leeks or mushrooms, but for some people the strong taste of leeks is better baked off. The only thing you need to make sure is that they are covered by the sauce while baking in the oven. They'll get tender there too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serve this with mashed potato or a carrot-potato mash. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9b7alykCDiGYAGC3bIyXc3PhTlpQGHgDnBxXy4VMY-ON205TCONJEhr3nFBWscmsZ5yPyIghnw1jsGQUilxVn-LeTN-pbLi6dsphYVQiKdO7Rg2xL-CAp8syesFNh9ch8YeSlMUDFsq6Z/s1600/2011-12-09+01.12.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9b7alykCDiGYAGC3bIyXc3PhTlpQGHgDnBxXy4VMY-ON205TCONJEhr3nFBWscmsZ5yPyIghnw1jsGQUilxVn-LeTN-pbLi6dsphYVQiKdO7Rg2xL-CAp8syesFNh9ch8YeSlMUDFsq6Z/s320/2011-12-09+01.12.05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smakelijk!</span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-31968471252118632212012-09-09T09:31:00.003-07:002012-09-09T09:31:46.101-07:00Vegetarian enchiladas<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I came home today after babysitting and the weather - 27°C in the shade - made me change the plans for tonight. Instead of the minced meat ready in the fridge, I took out minced quorn and I made vegetarian enchiladas. The minced meat is for a chillier day, today we want exotic food! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've made enchiladas before and posted them on the website too, but these are different: they're veggie in disguise and they're filled with a <i>chili con carne sauce</i>. It's the first time I've tried to make something with minced quorn, so it's a risk. I hoped the quorn wouldn't be too dry. To make sure, I made extra tomato-pepper sauce so that it would compensate a little.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 6 tortillas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 can (200 grams) sweet corn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 can (300 grams) kidney beans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 small can (150 grams) white beans in tomato sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 150 grams minced quorn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 teaspoon of cumin powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 teaspoon of oregano</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 onion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 cloves of garlic, minced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- tomato-pepper sauce (as in the enchilada recipe some time ago)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 200 grams of cheddar: half for in the enchiladas, half for topping them</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make the tomato-pepper sauce first. Set aside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fry the chopped onion and the peppers in the olive oil. Add the quorn and the garlic to this and a little of the tomato sauce so that it gets some liquid. Stir from time to time until the peppers are tender. Spice the mixture with cumin, pepper, salt and oregano. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrASid00gq6UfDuZhvLH46EKC6YrXVg6-RYuNOg4xLYLq0Mew6p4OrE5EvsjmZIyVlKNv3bhJ-b9eNWkVhVWweWkAacGS01PcKFzvVuKP_tWw9pVamhorWqRs-q9oHGicSvD-gOgTm3XZ/s1600/2011-12-06+19.09.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizrASid00gq6UfDuZhvLH46EKC6YrXVg6-RYuNOg4xLYLq0Mew6p4OrE5EvsjmZIyVlKNv3bhJ-b9eNWkVhVWweWkAacGS01PcKFzvVuKP_tWw9pVamhorWqRs-q9oHGicSvD-gOgTm3XZ/s320/2011-12-06+19.09.16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Add the beans and the corn and stir quickly. Make sure the beans don't get crushed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Set aside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take the tortillas and after making a small layer of cheese, spoon the chili mixture over 4 of them. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtgYsBwmt7P6NfLuj669jFLuFnF1BzCO1k99unIE3yfoIqEDnY9Dx0Hu35TamEi5aMv2d5r0lv84w9KEkmRkfjTL_9GKrcQgoJ_n2NZvBSavnnT-hv9FkVlHuDLNQCRH-s7rVL8gFKGGG/s1600/2011-12-06+19.22.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtgYsBwmt7P6NfLuj669jFLuFnF1BzCO1k99unIE3yfoIqEDnY9Dx0Hu35TamEi5aMv2d5r0lv84w9KEkmRkfjTL_9GKrcQgoJ_n2NZvBSavnnT-hv9FkVlHuDLNQCRH-s7rVL8gFKGGG/s320/2011-12-06+19.22.04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cut the remaining 2 in half and put each half on one of the other (filled) tortillas. Now flip the sides of the lower tortilla so that you have a large roll.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put the rolls (open side down) in a greased oven tray. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cover the rolls with the sauce so that nothing remains uncovered. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour at 200°C. The cheese should've gotten golden brown in colour and the excess liquid from the sauce should have evaporated.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8vYha9JZG-oakciA_yEakLMTF79S_ihcMMEDf5DETLc01WhyphenhyphenOU_BdgRgk3goiNFjjDw6Q0th22VJ7SU8KqtQMI-VBx4skn_EXdwc8FQfy_qY5KUFi5QGUmnNS2aJAiJZFNHKGpp00f3v/s1600/2011-12-07+01.13.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8vYha9JZG-oakciA_yEakLMTF79S_ihcMMEDf5DETLc01WhyphenhyphenOU_BdgRgk3goiNFjjDw6Q0th22VJ7SU8KqtQMI-VBx4skn_EXdwc8FQfy_qY5KUFi5QGUmnNS2aJAiJZFNHKGpp00f3v/s320/2011-12-07+01.13.12.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">the enchilada served with some left-over corn, tomatoes <br />and cilantro for extra veggies</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The verdict? My sister liked it very much, she said she wouldn't have known it was meatless if I hadn't told her. The taste is good. The quorn is slightly dry, but that's also the case with 100% pure beef mince (because it lacks the fat), so if you're not used to the juicy pork mince you'll be just fine! :D</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Buon apetito!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-49118457744895353812012-09-06T02:49:00.002-07:002012-09-06T03:24:32.836-07:00Indian style dinner with everyday dal<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm working nowadays. Just for the Summer, like most students, to earn a little more (pocket) money. I do reception work at my mum's work. She works nights for an institution that takes care of mentally disabled adults. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My work is quite varied: answering incoming and outgoing calls, typing and posting letters, doing some administration, openening gates, ... I like it quite a lot. It's not boring and I come across people all the time so that I 'm never lonely, even though I have to spend the hours in a fish bowl-like office ^^</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I have very irregular hours, I mostly don't eat dinner with the rest of the family. I have to cook my own stews. That might seem lonely, but that's also good for trying out something new.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today it's Veggie Day for me. And what cuisine is known for it's splendid vegetarian kitchen so much as the Indian? I browsed through the recipes and found this <i>gharki dal </i>recipe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a lentil stew with lots of spices and can be served as a hearty side dish or even as a full meal with basmati rice. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(the author calls it 'everyday lentils', but for me it's much more)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It looks quite boring because it's a porridge-like dish, but the taste is quite unlike it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As you see, the dal really needs a lot of different aromas - 11 - but they're essential to the end result which is delicious!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The tomatoes I've added to the recipe weren't there originally, but to me they add some more colour and I'm also a fan of having as much vegetables (with all their vitamins) in my food. But if you want to leave them out, that's also no problem because the dal is great in itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 1:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 55 grams red lentils</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 250 ml water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/4 teaspoon salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/4 ground turmeric</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/5 teaspoon nigella seeds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/5 teaspoon fennel seeds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/5 teaspooncumin seeds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/5 teaspoon mustard seeds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/5 teaspoon fenugreek leaves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 clove of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/5 teaspoon hot chilli powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 5 cherry tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 tablespoon of chopped up fresh cilantro</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put the lentils, the tomatoes you've cut in four and the water with the salt, turmeric and ginger on the fire. Let the lentils simmer on medium heat for about 25 minutes until they're tender. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crush all the other spices - apart from the cilantro - and the garlic until the aromas come off. Add them to the lentils on the fire. Stir regularly while the dal simmers for another 10 to 15 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now cook the rice according to the instructions on the package. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serve the dal with the rice and the fresh cilantro.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Watch out with the chilli powder if you are not a fan of real hot food! I like it very much, but you might be surprised by the heat of just the pinch you put inside ... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Enjoy!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-20214835602211352132012-09-01T23:12:00.004-07:002012-09-01T23:14:05.842-07:00Roquefort, chicory and Italian ham quiche<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Quiche wasn't my first love. It took many, many years for me to like the taste of eggs, (bacon) and cheese in combination with the pastry. I don't know why this was. I think it might be because of a bad memory to this combination of tastes which I kept on recalling whenever the aroma came to me, or just an unhappy coincidence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, I recovered from this strange ailment and started really liking all sorts of quiches ... on a few conditions. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have to say I'm still a little picky: I dislike puff pastry, so any quiche made with it doesn't get my full consent, and no bacon for me (I substitute it with all sorts of ham: Serrano, Ganda, cooked, ...).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The thing is that a quiche, to be good for me, should contain at least some vegetables too. I'm totally hooked to greens, from fruits through all sorts of vegetables. A day without them isn't a good one!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This one I'm making combines the sharp and salty taste of the cheese and ham with the bitter chicory and the mild cheese and eggs. And the rest of my veggies come alongside it to make it all the better ^^</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 3-4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 roll of pastry (pick any kind you like, it's up to you whether it's more puffy or crumbly in texture)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 3 chicories</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 100 grams roquefort</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 3 eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 150 ml milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 100 grams Italian ham</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- black pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- handful of cut up chives</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- extra cheese if you want</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Steam or fry the chicory until ready. Make sure it's as dry as possible. When baking, the fluid in the chicory will come out and make the whole quiche wet so that it won't set. If needed, squeeze the excess liquid out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unroll the pastry (or make you own pastry) and put it in a with non-stick paper lined round baking tin. Make little holes in the pastry with a fork.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Slice the chicory and the ham, break the roquefort into small pieces and scatter all of these onto the pastry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Beat 2 eggs and the white of the third a little, pour in the milk and mix. Grind some black pepper into this mixture and mix in the chives. Don't add any salt because the cheese and the ham are more than salty enough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pour the milk-egg mixture onto the rest of the ingredients of the quiche.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you like extra cheese, you can top this quiche with gruyère, emmental or another cheese you like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brush the pastry with the egg yolk that remained. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bake in a preheated oven of 180°C until the substance has set and gotten a golden brown colour. Also put on the heat on the underside of the oven so that the pastry gets baked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I serve this with a salad which I've pimped with some fried bacon (for mum and dad) and some apple (for me).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for the potato-bacon salad (for 2-3):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 100 grams salty bacon pieces</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 6 small potatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- black pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- some rosemary</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- tablespoon of raisins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- lettuce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- cucumber, tomato, ... or any vegetable you like</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- handful of pinenuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- neutral oil for frying</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Soak the raisins in a little water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Heat a skillet with a little bit of oil. Put in the bitezsize-cut potatoes, the bacon pieces, ground black pepper to taste and the rosemary. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fry gently on medium heat so that the potatoes are ready in the end but the bacon hasn't blackened. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brown the pine nuts by putting them on a fire shortly while stirring continuously. They start giving off a fantastic aroma once they've browned enough. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Boil the eggs 10 minutes and peel the shell off. Cut them in quarters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cut the vegetables and dress them onto the plates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Drain the raisins, scatter them over the vegetables. Put the potato-bacon mix and the pine nuts onto the salad and serve the boiled egg alongside it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nothing remained of both the quiche and the salad!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bon appétit!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-44766915124415956462012-08-30T00:25:00.001-07:002012-08-31T10:46:07.115-07:00Vol-au-vent with chips, all homemade!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is a classic dish. Very few restaurants don't serve this and I don't know anyone who doesn't like the taste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When we were a lot smaller and I didn't cook yet, we never had this homemade. we always bought it in the shop, in these vacuum-sealed packages out of the freezer. The substance was thick and jelly-like. We liked it just because we didn't know anything else. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was only about 8 years ago, when I first took the challenge to prepare it all by myself, that I wondered why we never did that before ... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since that day, I always prepared it and I haven't heard any complaint. Haha!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is a little more elaborate, but when you're having vacation, you don't really mind about having a little more to do in the kitchen. Besides, my sister has to be spoiled as she has to get through resits this month. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 4-6 chicken drumsticks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 400 grams minced chicken</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- breadcrumbs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 litres of water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- carrots, leek, celery for the stock </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- bouquet garni (bay leaves/thyme/rosemary)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- spoonful of pepper corns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 250 grams mushrooms, sliced (optional)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 100 ml milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- parsley for serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Along with chips (homemade) and puff pastry cups.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:<br />Cut the carrots, leeks and celery in large chunks. Add them to the water, the bouquet garni and the pepper corns. Put on the fire. Once the water has come to a boil, put the chicken in. Let it all simmer on medium heat for at least 45 minutes or until the meat comes easily off the bones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take the chicken out but don't pour away the stock, you'll be needing it later on. When they've cooled down enough, you can tear off the meat (throw away the bones, but I tend to make our dog really happy with the skins of the chicken when making this!).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAWeTCRBbdlwgVR4R4FjlM1d5lWA9-OP5uL2y26H5P_fmGbaQMNDhdTaTwRMFQXlCiwM1BAFZrNS-b1JG-yEG4G2GQ6gqP0pdtwZNt4uNCzUznIhVAGHcfvtGZK5Ypk4J6JSly7akbyKE/s1600/2011-11-26+16.05.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAWeTCRBbdlwgVR4R4FjlM1d5lWA9-OP5uL2y26H5P_fmGbaQMNDhdTaTwRMFQXlCiwM1BAFZrNS-b1JG-yEG4G2GQ6gqP0pdtwZNt4uNCzUznIhVAGHcfvtGZK5Ypk4J6JSly7akbyKE/s320/2011-11-26+16.05.33.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mix the egg, salt, pepper and enough breadcrumbs to get an easy to handle mixture, to the minced chicken. Make small balls with this. The smaller they are, the longer it takes to roll them, but the result will be tastier looking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Boil the meatballs in the chicken stock. Once they come to float, they're ready. Take them out of the stock and keep aside.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now make the sauce: Melt a spoonful of butter in another pot and add the same amount of flour to it. Stir continuously as this mixture easily sticks. Now pour in the milk. keep stirring quickly, béchamel sauce binds very quickly!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pour in a ladle of the chicken stock (only the liquid, no chunks) in the pot. Stir again. When the sauce begins to thicken, add some more stock. You should have about half to 3/4 of a litre of sauce in the end (approximately, no scientifically proven measurement!).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_so99IYoZzo-peSM2j4ckDNNhcQN8w1A_hHCi6mgths88C2hc24Uvvl9bjtDYg23Q8lX0zZpECXjvZ2eHnLoauXofZI7moI61znCEU5kptVhDKMHNKkOU6mp6k2aq97M8_OH15hIv97f/s1600/2011-11-26+16.34.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM_so99IYoZzo-peSM2j4ckDNNhcQN8w1A_hHCi6mgths88C2hc24Uvvl9bjtDYg23Q8lX0zZpECXjvZ2eHnLoauXofZI7moI61znCEU5kptVhDKMHNKkOU6mp6k2aq97M8_OH15hIv97f/s320/2011-11-26+16.34.29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now you can spice up the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can add the sliced mushrooms, the meatballs and chicken meat also. Stir carefully and set aside. This is much better prepared a few hours in advance, the taste gets much better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What with the left over stock? Don't throw it away yet! It's really good for soup. I made tomato soup with it for example:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNP5R8lp2L_wDZUVuhAtkuSRGu5Mm2hXs0tmXhy5I7nksyn16uipbZcORYkgo34JD232LTxO41LmL8hL2RQx5GaBrR7TUloL_63JDtQSQwbjN5mVhNQjZMTSIebADMZzEjO_giNlW17iJ/s1600/2011-11-26+16.46.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNP5R8lp2L_wDZUVuhAtkuSRGu5Mm2hXs0tmXhy5I7nksyn16uipbZcORYkgo34JD232LTxO41LmL8hL2RQx5GaBrR7TUloL_63JDtQSQwbjN5mVhNQjZMTSIebADMZzEjO_giNlW17iJ/s320/2011-11-26+16.46.03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To serve, you bake off the puff pastry cups and fill them with the sauce. Decorate with a little cut up parsley.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIUxH1zJLgJ5IUDxLxGrHIB0JhCk-BkVS-LmPv37FN2D-cdyB8drqrKXEUvdv3mpyZuDnpxAEoC6fUjNAVlEJ5gk6E86Cf3arSglWuxhziV75K0XiIBixBd5gisnC8NTcjXqmAXKQ4e-5/s1600/2011-11-27+00.16.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIUxH1zJLgJ5IUDxLxGrHIB0JhCk-BkVS-LmPv37FN2D-cdyB8drqrKXEUvdv3mpyZuDnpxAEoC6fUjNAVlEJ5gk6E86Cf3arSglWuxhziV75K0XiIBixBd5gisnC8NTcjXqmAXKQ4e-5/s320/2011-11-27+00.16.14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make homemade chips and a salad, and you're ready to dig in!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smakelijk!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-3732576163249697922012-08-28T05:06:00.003-07:002012-08-28T05:06:56.119-07:00Apple pancakes, Ijeoma style<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This afternoon I'm away 'till after dinner. So if I wanted some warm food at home, I had to take care of it by myself. For some reason, I had a huge craving for pancakes*. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvK4J-elCT45Qxkrr1gJMrsJsuFN7l7W4T3nVrE1MAotoAaY3P4ZH8CLz0UFNL3k8Z6hfmB-GhqYs4gAeJ92p46WjWIuUNDyz9ByugvK_GOStQd3GHvbqz33xtNpC3NfW2D8OJesI77Ms/s1600/2011-11-24+20.34.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvK4J-elCT45Qxkrr1gJMrsJsuFN7l7W4T3nVrE1MAotoAaY3P4ZH8CLz0UFNL3k8Z6hfmB-GhqYs4gAeJ92p46WjWIuUNDyz9ByugvK_GOStQd3GHvbqz33xtNpC3NfW2D8OJesI77Ms/s320/2011-11-24+20.34.40.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">* In Belgium, we usually mean crêpes when we say pancakes. </span><br style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">They are thin, larger and less fluffy than the American ones.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was lunchtime, and I started baking, and I shared the dough that I made for at least 8 pancakes with my mum and grandmother (who came in at just the right time ^^).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As there were these good apples, I made apple pancakes. And I added some cinnamon powder to the dough to match the flavour of the apple. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 8 large apple pancakes:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 200 grams flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 500 ml milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- pinch of salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 or 3 large apples</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- icing sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- blueberry jam</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make the dough for the pancakes by putting the flour and the salt in a bowl. Mix these well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then add half of the milk and an egg. Stir carefully so that all the flour gets wet. This makes lumbs less likely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Add the rest of the milk and the second egg. Keep stirring until the dough is as smooth as possible. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mix the cinnamon powder to the dough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peel the apples and slice them thinly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Heat a low-rimmed skillet and add some butter to it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bake the sliced apple pieces (enough for one pancake, not all of them at once!) until just tender.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqo3DmGCzb3wdny_VhvadZ6b4grGOeoRgRVWwzF7IaNluCssMGyqrZN0DufgZDUzmu6kqBGCIU-zjs6esKbuZ4kzjaTEvSQFapVvo-cx0ntEzGDQB5Mz5K186JpgA9uNxjCsUU5DkkjSl/s1600/2011-11-24+20.15.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqo3DmGCzb3wdny_VhvadZ6b4grGOeoRgRVWwzF7IaNluCssMGyqrZN0DufgZDUzmu6kqBGCIU-zjs6esKbuZ4kzjaTEvSQFapVvo-cx0ntEzGDQB5Mz5K186JpgA9uNxjCsUU5DkkjSl/s320/2011-11-24+20.15.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pour the pancake dough onto the apples in the skillet. Now you should wait until the downside has browned and dried enough before you turn the pancake upside down.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicErC2MYZcuW8dddqyR9sGc2R5tdntXovMGMhQJot1T08MjeqpMiLRXgat0PhT6p0eSc9FYQhZHsConj1q_Se6xjEWevIwMYfuT103RU-06ofVGD2ab161jzawZQGpamFAmlDa1jpVXptf/s1600/2011-11-24+20.29.08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicErC2MYZcuW8dddqyR9sGc2R5tdntXovMGMhQJot1T08MjeqpMiLRXgat0PhT6p0eSc9FYQhZHsConj1q_Se6xjEWevIwMYfuT103RU-06ofVGD2ab161jzawZQGpamFAmlDa1jpVXptf/s320/2011-11-24+20.29.08.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When the pancake is ready, put it on a plate and serve with dollops of blueberry jam and lots of icing sugar.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51OQYD3NfTpKCVn4-jvbYiKBFOzmM39lRQybSGTURm_Wuf5IdNXPz0nRUIcYB38aIanul6UDtXNUVCKQ4HmaXeU310ASYKNum1xXeWSdUAYvV5eoAnwXlQU0ATOXclku7YaEZmcaG3sgh/s1600/2011-11-24+20.34.18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51OQYD3NfTpKCVn4-jvbYiKBFOzmM39lRQybSGTURm_Wuf5IdNXPz0nRUIcYB38aIanul6UDtXNUVCKQ4HmaXeU310ASYKNum1xXeWSdUAYvV5eoAnwXlQU0ATOXclku7YaEZmcaG3sgh/s320/2011-11-24+20.34.18.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is such an easy thing to make, and even though it costs next to nothing to prepare it, it can compete with any pastry!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smakelijk!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-37278042547469931792012-08-24T23:04:00.001-07:002012-08-25T11:50:47.170-07:00Wholesome vanilla-chocolate buns<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Remember my post on my birthday party? The one for which I baked 7 different kinds of bread? Well, it wasn't fully to my my sister's consent. The reason for this was that there was nowhere a chocolate bread to be found ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She's a chocolate addict. Not so much as in her childhood, during which she couldn't take her hands of anything containing chocolate (even though she was allergic to the thing!), but still enough to be disappointed about having to eat all sorts of bread without that specific ingredient. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To make things up with her I decided this morning to bake chocolate buns for her. I woke up as early as 5 a.m. this morning, for I don't know what reason. So as I knew the others wouldn't get up for at least 3 hours, I had enough time to spend some time in the kitchen making the buns.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CKJYDnX8q_LvB7OCZEUiC6Sii-DnBEVjLkcFcJdeZRG5gvtPFLFRMbXbWkyftuJnmuaOIuApDkudqTVKf0jkItlT4tEggbElWVRRZxggvZViq0Gqc-vZKif23FjuNc0DJctWGD1keTa0/s1600/2011-11-21+15.46.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CKJYDnX8q_LvB7OCZEUiC6Sii-DnBEVjLkcFcJdeZRG5gvtPFLFRMbXbWkyftuJnmuaOIuApDkudqTVKf0jkItlT4tEggbElWVRRZxggvZViq0Gqc-vZKif23FjuNc0DJctWGD1keTa0/s320/2011-11-21+15.46.33.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'd just made up my mind about this when I found out that the plain flour was all finished. But there are always solutions to these kind of problems: a combination of whole wheat flour and vanilla flour would do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 4 buns:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 70 grams whole wheat flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 50 grams vanilla flour (custard powder)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 large tablespoon of vanilla sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 3,5 grams instant yeast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 40 grams lukewarm milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 25 grams butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 100 grams chopped plain chocolate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 egg yolk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- powdered sugar for serving (optional)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mix the milk, egg and the yeast. Mix in another bowl the flour, the custard powder, the sugar and the salt. Mix both mixtures with eachother and knead the butter in. Knead at least 5-10 minutes so that the dough comes together nicely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Knead again and add the chopped chocolate now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Knead again and divide it in 4 pieces. Shape them whatever way you like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let the dough rest for 45 minutes. Spread some egg yolk onto it so that it will get nice and shiny in the oven.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bake the buns for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 190°C. Raise the temperature to 210°C and bake for another 10 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take out of the oven and let cool. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serve with some powdered sugar on top.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At least my sister can't blame me for not thinking about her this morning! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have a nice meal! :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">P.S.: they're nice but to be eaten in small amounts. That's because the whole wheat flour doesn't rise as easily as white flour ;)</span><br />
<br />Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-85033137057829843642012-08-18T09:01:00.000-07:002012-08-18T09:01:17.508-07:00Smoked salmon wraps with a big salad<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hot, hot hot. I'm just sitting in the garden reading one of my books. From time to time my mum or sister shouts to get my attention: 'Sunscrean!' or 'Shadow!' or 'Don't forget to drink!'. When I'm reading, nothing can get me out of my comfortable chair ... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But I don't forget to eat. Most people lose appetite, but that doesn't happen to me I think. The only thing is that I really want to eat fruits, lots of them. I don't feel like eating anything else. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For dinner, I didn't want anything cooked. Just raw vegetables and - as it was a long time ago - smoked salmon. To make the dish complete I had tortillas and a tzatziki-like dill and cucumber sauce.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's ready in a blink of an eye. So you'll be free to read, play, enjoy ... or do anything else you want this Summer's day :D</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 1:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 small or 1 large tortilla wrap</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 5 cm of a cucumber</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 small pot of plain yoghurt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- some crushed garlic cloves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- teaspoon of dill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- ground pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 70 grams (2 slices) of smoked salmon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- lots of raw vegetables for your salad! (I had cherry tomatoes, beetroots and carrots)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- chives for serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peel and cut the cucumber in very small pieces. Add them to the yoghurt, the garlic, the pepper and the dill. Set aside in the fridge until you need it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuwoi3k0kUCEMPRbVzemyeIrmtjUAzZgIAxnVKfk6gwVW53YyDwmY-BzGnwUHVdcIgWZbyYLmQkP1A_CPtijgvvC6LcSf3t0UtVsGYdGPNRFX1RajFQVQcc9I00jPsuSAspyDla_lWh7H/s1600/2011-11-14+23.44.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuwoi3k0kUCEMPRbVzemyeIrmtjUAzZgIAxnVKfk6gwVW53YyDwmY-BzGnwUHVdcIgWZbyYLmQkP1A_CPtijgvvC6LcSf3t0UtVsGYdGPNRFX1RajFQVQcc9I00jPsuSAspyDla_lWh7H/s320/2011-11-14+23.44.01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make a salad and dress it on your plate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make the wraps by putting the slices of smoked salmon and the sauce on the tortilla(s). Roll them up and you're ready to serve. Sprinkle the chives on the salad. It gives an extra garlic-like taste to the vegetables.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnx4P76x53oBqmTXrKtwSoiQpRU1bq_zhMCwdhRWaIYzuYeoRsUrukOTE54t3leGfytTOpy4nQv2KzIe5OszJVtDNAGlwXOP7M9T88xDjpVp1_0DZjvjNr2WxycwGzxNunP2sS5J7SLq_0/s1600/2011-11-15+01.08.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnx4P76x53oBqmTXrKtwSoiQpRU1bq_zhMCwdhRWaIYzuYeoRsUrukOTE54t3leGfytTOpy4nQv2KzIe5OszJVtDNAGlwXOP7M9T88xDjpVp1_0DZjvjNr2WxycwGzxNunP2sS5J7SLq_0/s320/2011-11-15+01.08.37.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Great!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-72535876240919961342012-08-17T14:10:00.000-07:002012-08-17T14:10:01.294-07:00Pretending you're in Zanzibar with pilau!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Summer's heat is melting everything and everyone that dares to come out. Temperatures will rise even higher this weekend, and it made me think of a wonderful destination: Zanzibar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've lived in Tanzania (Arusha) for three years for my dad's work. I was 12 when we moved there, and that was the exact age I became a regular cook at home. I experimented a lot, with some of the most disastrous cakes you can ever imagine and 'accidents' such as a full deep frier falling down which flooded the whole of our kitchen with oil ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luckily I also made some good to excellent things. Otherwise my parents would never allow me to continue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Each year - around my birthday - we had our little holiday on the island Zanzibar. There we enjoyed the arabic tinted kitchen and especially lots of fish. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2r4MsYtbkbYxx7r_hptnOYCAAR6yDKRSuy3R5NlbW0zRbl51SOVLqaTdUtdkvjUVD36RiCvWzIl-QlkfE8tPT4RCbYvZP4IH1N63lltAyLIh88cItt7dcFX0bWQNIoMTzxQVH0IoCbjP7/s1600/DSC05194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2r4MsYtbkbYxx7r_hptnOYCAAR6yDKRSuy3R5NlbW0zRbl51SOVLqaTdUtdkvjUVD36RiCvWzIl-QlkfE8tPT4RCbYvZP4IH1N63lltAyLIh88cItt7dcFX0bWQNIoMTzxQVH0IoCbjP7/s320/DSC05194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I very much liked the fish pilau at Dolphin Restaurant in Stone Town. It was a very old building with loads of cracks and an African grey parrot that could talk to the customers and broke down the ceiling. I have such good memories of those holidays!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When we left for Belgium, I missed the spicy dishes a lot. It took me a long time for finding out where to get the right ingredients, let alone to find the correct recipes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After endless searches on the internet, I found something that sounded about right to me. It's this recipe I took as base for my own Zanzibar pilau.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I meant to make it for the four of us, but after serving it seemed as if I had still enough for at least one or two more people. So keep in mind, when you decide to prepare this for 4 people, that you reduce the amounts :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 5-6:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- teaspoon of cumin seeds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- teaspoon of black pepper corns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- teaspoon of ground ginger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- half a teaspoon of salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- cinnamon stick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- ground cinnamon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 5 cloves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 10 cardemom pods</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 5 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 300 grams rice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 250 grams tomatoes, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 apple or handful of raisins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 900 ml of fish stock (1 and a half cube in the water)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 400 grams (or more if you like) of white fish, diced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 onion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- for serving: a little parsley and slices of lemon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Heat the stock with all of the spices. Once it all cooks, keep aside. Heat a pan and fry the onion, chopped garlic in it with a little olive oil.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Add the fish and turn them around quickly. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYalBOfobh2ocJMV4rn8u6w_gywC7fVT2QWienJleIEZIysJSD0ZTMNYgdjTrAtQMCL_RWPCR2m5C23nqg3yxh-1Hmd9vWdKNWwIQUUwuXVaggogY34dTUfYX7om3h08V4KvTpg5_ib-IK/s1600/DSC05192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYalBOfobh2ocJMV4rn8u6w_gywC7fVT2QWienJleIEZIysJSD0ZTMNYgdjTrAtQMCL_RWPCR2m5C23nqg3yxh-1Hmd9vWdKNWwIQUUwuXVaggogY34dTUfYX7om3h08V4KvTpg5_ib-IK/s320/DSC05192.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now take all onions, garlic and fish out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put the rice in the same pan and stir so that all the rice can get covered in the olive oil.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pour in two thirds of the stock-spice mixture. Spice things up with salt and some extra pepper (if you like it hot). Let all of it now simmer with the lid on. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Add the apple and/or the raisins and the tomatoes to the rice. After a few minutes, you can add the fish, onion and garlic too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFxurw2N7c-td_dVMcyYyjWc8oIKTrzcx6f2cnhwY-7S9ry4tng0UcJDVZdC-9qlPE_IUTreadWmTG0aggvy3HmvzVRbxGaOWMCecLdKQ9MffeXanC5eH2yDFyOKzCvhgQOvj14y59Qj8/s1600/DSC05193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFxurw2N7c-td_dVMcyYyjWc8oIKTrzcx6f2cnhwY-7S9ry4tng0UcJDVZdC-9qlPE_IUTreadWmTG0aggvy3HmvzVRbxGaOWMCecLdKQ9MffeXanC5eH2yDFyOKzCvhgQOvj14y59Qj8/s320/DSC05193.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check with a fork from time to time so that you can add more of the stock-spice mixture when the rest is soaked up. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When the rice is done, put the pan with the lid in a preheated oven at 200°C. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's ready when the rice is dried up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chakula tamu!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-31516704064604883762012-08-15T21:57:00.002-07:002012-08-16T09:36:43.001-07:00How to prepare chicken as if it were ossobuco ...<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm going to babysit this afternoon. The whole afternoon, so no time to cook tonight. As my parents both have to work and my sister has to study for her exams, I decided to make something I could do in advance. A kind of stew or something alike.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've always looked at recipes for ossobuco, liking them but never tried or tasted them. When I went for the weekly shoppings, I thought of taking ossocuco home. But as luck isn't very reliable, the shop didn't sell ossobuco (neither the veal nor the turkey kind).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I took home chicken insead. I reconed that if there is turkey ossobuco, chicken pieces - parts of another kind of bird - should do the same trick.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFjheFzCXDJD4s0TGPFJVmMWjBuqd4iffIlPZ3C_B-8HD815HTpWdgoZsANKkoW_3shmj40ovCyAsBY-npRpWxv0oTo5qj8O6QGrZRATA_-NhaJI55qKs6_73CiaZQFzNw5opJhZYjV5F/s1600/2011-11-13+02.12.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFjheFzCXDJD4s0TGPFJVmMWjBuqd4iffIlPZ3C_B-8HD815HTpWdgoZsANKkoW_3shmj40ovCyAsBY-npRpWxv0oTo5qj8O6QGrZRATA_-NhaJI55qKs6_73CiaZQFzNw5opJhZYjV5F/s320/2011-11-13+02.12.22.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the rest, I just follow the same steps as if preparing the real thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 4 large or 8 smaller chicken pieces (with bone)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- a few sticks of celery</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- a few carrots</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- large onion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 200 ml white wine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 can (400 grams) peeled tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 small tin of tomato purée</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- a little flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- salt and pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 4 bay leaves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- teaspoon of thyme</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 350 grams of tagliatelle</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- zest of 1 lemon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- handful of parsley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 clove of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cover the chicken in a thin layer of flour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Heat the oil in a pot (large enough to place each piece of meat next to eachother) and fry the chicken so that it browns on each side. Spice things up with pepper and salt. Take the chicken out of the pot and add all of the diced carrots and celery and the chopped onion and garlic. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmciK8IILqgwdYzqLVO2bvUT62MPfRpAWl5p5y4_VFmdWMc6fEp7fYL95OhR6RSNhy3phuoRS1317QvALv-HgyVAD7cI8W5Tl8q9b-cWP23nVx-jlUk4SMXL_ISpyGGowYTXNXU_b8g6S/s1600/2011-11-12+03.52.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmciK8IILqgwdYzqLVO2bvUT62MPfRpAWl5p5y4_VFmdWMc6fEp7fYL95OhR6RSNhy3phuoRS1317QvALv-HgyVAD7cI8W5Tl8q9b-cWP23nVx-jlUk4SMXL_ISpyGGowYTXNXU_b8g6S/s320/2011-11-12+03.52.07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once they have sweated a little, put the chicken pieces on top of it all. Add the wine, the tomatoes, tomato purée and the herbs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lower the heat and let all of it simmer for 2 to 3 hours.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY6pBFZYDnJdwTb-ui3l6_1WbjTWQHecsfW1_kNKXTr2dlHfInBYTiCkDUQPcLCHfGV9rfjy_VjnvZMRmQ8XY-HDMrc5xQ2vAukauOtPS16gkoiE3jbgggTFph6EU2YRJR9MZFSFvRgKL/s1600/2011-11-12+03.59.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY6pBFZYDnJdwTb-ui3l6_1WbjTWQHecsfW1_kNKXTr2dlHfInBYTiCkDUQPcLCHfGV9rfjy_VjnvZMRmQ8XY-HDMrc5xQ2vAukauOtPS16gkoiE3jbgggTFph6EU2YRJR9MZFSFvRgKL/s320/2011-11-12+03.59.54.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before serving, taste whether it needs more pepper or salt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I made the whole thing in advance. By doing it the night before, I didn't have to hurry to the kitchen in the morning before leaving for the babysitting, and the tastes would be able to combine more beautifully!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To serve, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.<br />On the plate, put some of the pasta, a piece of chicken, the sauce and sprinkle it all with a mixture of the crushed garlic, the lemon zest and the chopped parsley. These last things form the so called 'gremolata'.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamFThIAgrNeBdzpkMqxxUBXL3F_yUot5r5G_UUjPJnj1zvUXqNs3dxnKFAZlAu6dcj9Odod_QQ2WhlYHAPDxY5c2o8QWiBcu0X_oHMOOfZDI02V6FTBJUH4FVwfK9ji99hxM0vhbyU5CW/s1600/2011-11-13+01.41.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamFThIAgrNeBdzpkMqxxUBXL3F_yUot5r5G_UUjPJnj1zvUXqNs3dxnKFAZlAu6dcj9Odod_QQ2WhlYHAPDxY5c2o8QWiBcu0X_oHMOOfZDI02V6FTBJUH4FVwfK9ji99hxM0vhbyU5CW/s320/2011-11-13+01.41.53.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Appetitoso!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-88430358174120951272012-08-14T09:17:00.004-07:002012-08-14T09:17:52.233-07:00Teriyaki chicken legs and vegetable stir fry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What to eat? What to eat? <br />When Summer comes and temperatures rise to nearly 30°C, the great hunger people have during the cold Winter times seems to disappear. A great no go for the hearty Belgian dishes with lots of pork, beef and potatoes floating in heavy sauces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For me Summer means you have to look at more exotic kitchens to get your inspiration. People there always have these kind of temperatures, so their food fits the season, I recon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I still had an unopened bottle of teriyaki sauce and chicken legs, the choice was evident: teriyaki chicken. To be served with lots of fresh vegetables and ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Something new for me: rice noodles (mihoen). I saw it in the supermarket, on my search for a side dish to my teriyaki chicken legs and stir fry vegetables. </span>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclFx0wMiPD6NElvOtrquiGkQX91dweZW54WCDdR-WfnM2tjoSvRfhvVRUmyiyza2NfpLQ_P2xKTDoPcBtyFySgkof-gD0eUBhi5yGMhm7qxoMeifyJjZJeo0PH5-iR19iuW2IgoDYiU0P/s1600/2011-11-11+01.24.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclFx0wMiPD6NElvOtrquiGkQX91dweZW54WCDdR-WfnM2tjoSvRfhvVRUmyiyza2NfpLQ_P2xKTDoPcBtyFySgkof-gD0eUBhi5yGMhm7qxoMeifyJjZJeo0PH5-iR19iuW2IgoDYiU0P/s320/2011-11-11+01.24.29.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 4:<br />- 4 large chicken legs<br />- teriyaki sauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- neutral oil </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- ground ginger</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- pepper/chilli</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 400 grams mixed vegetables like carrots, leeks, soy sprouts, ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 250 grams rice noodles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- soy sauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- chicken stock </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rub the chicken legs with the teriyaki sauce, some ground ginger and some oil. Put them on an oven tray and let them stand for about 3 hours in a 150°C oven. They will brown evenly if you turn them around 3-4 times during cooking. If they're becoming too dry, rub them in with the juices in the tray or with a little extra oil.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnzy-XOJ7AKKktueQ-kuA5fh5jOrs-0Z8pV0XFN8YAcT_WIWDpfMesC6bhqF92_y4jvNWAqYTK-hx6TdBX2-6abFnM2I3g5gjdwVfQz1jgfams-y7Qza8YJHlIe3pXpkrx3X35-Aw4CVk/s1600/2011-11-11+00.55.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnzy-XOJ7AKKktueQ-kuA5fh5jOrs-0Z8pV0XFN8YAcT_WIWDpfMesC6bhqF92_y4jvNWAqYTK-hx6TdBX2-6abFnM2I3g5gjdwVfQz1jgfams-y7Qza8YJHlIe3pXpkrx3X35-Aw4CVk/s320/2011-11-11+00.55.47.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put some oil in a frying pan and fry the vegetables you have cut in matchstick-size pieces shortly. Add some soy sauce and ginger to taste. Be careful with soy sauce as it may be too salty in the end (I used reduced salt soy sauce).<br />Prepare the noodles as mentioned on the package. Use the chicken stock for extra taste.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Drain the noodles and add them to the vegetables. Stir quickly so that the tastes combine (I didn't do that - forgot! - and the noodles were kind of bland. But if you forget too, just turn all things round on your own plate: more messy but alike). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_PtD87AV0ZLah5-_u67K8ZjaDE7UDHyir8DZrhyqSdVAqIP1TRXqzG2234MOHGcvo1RqU2GdyyCM48C-hynfZ9YFDWZ2z9VxgFLxUTayvsjeVCEY1i11iY79mhn-MEbpeA6ggmPF0MJJ/s1600/2011-11-11+01.09.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_PtD87AV0ZLah5-_u67K8ZjaDE7UDHyir8DZrhyqSdVAqIP1TRXqzG2234MOHGcvo1RqU2GdyyCM48C-hynfZ9YFDWZ2z9VxgFLxUTayvsjeVCEY1i11iY79mhn-MEbpeA6ggmPF0MJJ/s320/2011-11-11+01.09.23.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-29747137312647883812012-08-10T07:11:00.001-07:002012-08-11T22:21:26.046-07:00Chicken enchiladas with guacamole<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After a long period of '<i>boerenkost</i>' (my dad's favourite food: daily meat, vegetables and potatoes, can be translated as 'farmers' food') I felt it was time for something else. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm a fan of all sorts of kitchens, especially spicy kitchens. Mexican is one of them. I love the use of cilantro, and the Mexican kitchen is full of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today it's chicken enchiladas I'll make. It's my own adaptation of the dish so please don't blame me for messing with the recipe!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuh7nqBz9VYom-c-q2jK4zirhiQ8cr8lUiqYllPf2svY0nhx_amoPJpEFSkuxzUPmmqNvuQxuWbF22mK652T3ks5JWq9q4_0cQVLk9RLtPV3DvF0mgATmVQR5TlAKbbqRld2u5HhYoGm5/s1600/2011-11-07+01.06.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuh7nqBz9VYom-c-q2jK4zirhiQ8cr8lUiqYllPf2svY0nhx_amoPJpEFSkuxzUPmmqNvuQxuWbF22mK652T3ks5JWq9q4_0cQVLk9RLtPV3DvF0mgATmVQR5TlAKbbqRld2u5HhYoGm5/s320/2011-11-07+01.06.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for enchiladas (4):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 4 large or 8 small tortillas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 4 chicken fillets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- chicken herbs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- chilli flakes or harissa to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 cans of peeled tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 large sweet red bell peppers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1/2 teaspoon of oregano</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1/2 teaspoon cumin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 250 grams grated cheddar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- hot chilli powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- fresh cilantro for serving</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bring the peeled tomatoes, the chopped garlic, the chopped peppers and the herbs to a boil in a large pot. Let it all simmer for at least half an hour or until the flavours have combined and the peppers have become soft. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Blend the sauce a little so that the largest chunks are gone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cut the chicken into small cubes and rub them in with some of the chicken herbs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat a skillet and fry the chicken in some olive oil.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now take a tortilla, dip one side of it in the sauce, fill it up with some of the chicken, another little bit of sauce, a bit of the grated cheddar and - if you like it hot - some hot chilli powder.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Roll the tortilla up so that you get a large roll. Place it in a greased oven tray and cover the wrap with sauce and some cheddar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You do this for each of the tortillas, until all ingredients are finished.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put in a 200°C oven for about 45 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Before serving, sprinkle with some fresh cilantro for colour and extra taste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for guacamole (4):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 avocados</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- juice of 1 lime</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 2 large tomatoes, peeled and deseeded</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 small onion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- handful of fresh cilantro</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- tabasco (if you like it hot)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cut the avocados in half. Take the stone out by putting a knife in the middle of it and pulling the knife with the stone on it out. Don't throw away the stones!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Use a spoon to take all the flesh out of the avocados. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mash the avocado with a fork.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cut the garlic, tomatoes and the onion in very small pieces. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Add them to the avocado.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spice things up with lime juice, salt, pepper, tabasco and cilantro.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put the stones of the avocados back in so that the nice green colour stays.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sublime!</span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-86397559297264381272012-08-10T07:01:00.002-07:002012-08-10T07:14:36.167-07:00Chocolate chip cookies with a twist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWqlr1PQuFcg7P7-g9C7G_m9dKsEH_CjHExO5dhmnAdpEA3mjns6FknDb1CERL-ioEp-5lmZKpVSOJonnRK8KAlKiS74XqkyzL2x4HWBc3AohQZYjjyrWi6h_a-VlNyhu8KKahDNAgML4/s1600/2011-11-06+22.22.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWqlr1PQuFcg7P7-g9C7G_m9dKsEH_CjHExO5dhmnAdpEA3mjns6FknDb1CERL-ioEp-5lmZKpVSOJonnRK8KAlKiS74XqkyzL2x4HWBc3AohQZYjjyrWi6h_a-VlNyhu8KKahDNAgML4/s320/2011-11-06+22.22.23.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's good outside so I decided to take my book out in the garden to read it there. I didn't think it would get that hot in the sun, though. I really had to get inside before getting a sunburn. But what to do when you have time off and you can't do what you had in mind? Right: you get creative in the kitchen :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Creative to do what I wanted to do (baking chocolate chip cookies) without the necessary ingredients (no vanilla extract, no plain chocolate, ...). Substitutions would have to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 8 large cookies:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 105 grams butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 120 grams white chocolate with rice crispies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 50 grams milk chocolate with hazelnuts (like the one from Côte d'Or)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 60 grams white sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 160 grams flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In a small pot, melt the butter and the white chocolate. Take off the fire once they've combined and add the sugar and the egg. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then put the flour and the baking powder in. Mix well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When your dough is cooled off, you can throw in the hazelnut chocolate you've cut or broken into small pieces. Stir again so that the chunks are all over the dough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Line a baking tray with some non-stick paper and make 8 large heaps of dough, evenly spread out over the tray.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put in a 230°C preheated oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The cookies are still gooey when ready. They set and get crispy when cooled off completely.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkKR4bmqrx7-chdkCl8oQnsVc6QzguR0A1f0ncyKO4bZfcLQvU1P87ypk3GK_4AAvVwwzBO4Ydq4Vo_RMNnG5RfqSgCDWO7BzyyhkADsYxBBz0Ik-B-Rlb3Hl8LrPva5VZ9qi05N3zD6V/s1600/2011-11-06+22.22.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkKR4bmqrx7-chdkCl8oQnsVc6QzguR0A1f0ncyKO4bZfcLQvU1P87ypk3GK_4AAvVwwzBO4Ydq4Vo_RMNnG5RfqSgCDWO7BzyyhkADsYxBBz0Ik-B-Rlb3Hl8LrPva5VZ9qi05N3zD6V/s320/2011-11-06+22.22.11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My parents' found them delicious. My mum really liked the nutty taste. She thinksI used the real nuts ;) </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My dad didn't say anything but just ate 2 large ones in about five minutes time!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJRo9p6HsABePA8Urx3iXeniRaUnSo2n6uF0YPBmP7fHBhyStVoKIR5VVTlb9br9w-GDBF9Hxh3lElpbIzCDKgws5RMO9UVqczTvq3JldjR2qn8pxM9O0S0vQ1ojAV9GAfyoqU1Cvrie-/s1600/2011-11-07+00.16.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJRo9p6HsABePA8Urx3iXeniRaUnSo2n6uF0YPBmP7fHBhyStVoKIR5VVTlb9br9w-GDBF9Hxh3lElpbIzCDKgws5RMO9UVqczTvq3JldjR2qn8pxM9O0S0vQ1ojAV9GAfyoqU1Cvrie-/s320/2011-11-07+00.16.39.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">my sister and one of the cookies ...</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-87975364587101173202012-08-06T00:15:00.000-07:002012-08-11T11:39:45.472-07:00Birthday party!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Friday I turned 22 years old. Yesterday, the 5th of August, we celebrated. I invited quite some people but I didn't think everyone would be able to come. 35 people came and with the ambition to prepare all the food by myself, it was the largest party I organised yet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Originally - that is before I knew that many people could come - I wanted to do a Middle and South American night. I looked up recipes from all over the continent, from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, ... But as we didn't have pots large enough for the crowd, I switched plans for something less complicated. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was to make a buffet of different kinds of bread and side dishes to go along with them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To serve with the coffee, I made biscuits and as dessert I made fresh pineapple and chocolate ice cream.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The ice cream was a total experiment: I never made it and we don't own an ice machine. When I told my uncle I made my own ice cream he laughed and said 'Yeah, that won't be much of a success ...!', but when he tasted it he was delighted. Haha! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Top-down, left to right: buttermilk-poppyseed bread, walnut bread, <br />multigrain bread, Colombian torta de choclo, raisin bread and saffron bread</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Loved making all of it, but it took a full day and a half to do so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Especially the saffron bread was liked by everyone. Therefore I put the recipe on the blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for a large saffron bread:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 700 grams white flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 450 ml lukewarm milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 gram saffron powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 3 tablespoons sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 teaspoon salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 7 grams instant yeast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 25 grams butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 large egg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 egg yolk</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put all the flour, the salt and the sugar in a large bowl. Mix well so that the salt and sugar have been taken up completely. Make a hole in the heap of flour and place small chunks of butter around the hole. Pour in the yeast, milk and egg in the hole. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now start kneading with your hands. It's quite a sticky kind of dough, but add a little more flour if you're unable to shape the dough. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put the ball of dough aside in a warm enough place for at least 1,5 hour. Cover the bowl with a clean towel to prevent it getting in touch with too much cold air.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Knead the dough again for a couple of minutes. Now you can shape the dough to your liking. I made a round bread yesterday, but any shape is possible (but make sure it's shape is not too uneven so that it can bake properly without getting burned a a side while the other side is still raw!).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Set aside for another 1,5 hour. In the meanwhile you can preheat the oven at 230°C. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take the egg yolk and spread it on the risen bread with a brush. The yolk will make your bread look nice and shiny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put in the oven for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 200°C and bake for another 25-30 minutes. The bread is ready when it's golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a bread that has a hint of sweetness so it's delicious with both salty things like cheese as well as with sweet jams, chocolate, ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smakelijk!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I must say that the party was a succes for me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I loved it and I have to thank all my friends and family for coming! I'm sorry I didn't have the time to talk to everyone properly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-16499556682054445422012-08-01T09:08:00.003-07:002012-08-01T09:15:01.947-07:00Fish on the BBQ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Barbecue today, according to me just the way a hot Summer's day should end. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My parents are meat lovers, so they had a good steak and pork ribs. I looked in the freezer for some inspiration and found fish fillets. Now the problem was what to do with them. Plain is nice, but then you don't have BBQ every night, right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In our house there are always oranges around. For my glass of fresh orange juice, my daily morning shot of vitamin C to start off ;) </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That was ingredient one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Second were fennel seeds. As I' was the only fish eater today, I didn't have to care about the others that don't like the taste of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A little olive oil, salt and red pepper finished my marinade.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ingredients for 1:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 white fish fillet</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- juice of 1/4 orange</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- red pepper to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- salt to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- dash of fennel seeds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- 1 tablespoon olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Take a piece of tin foil large enough to wrap the fish later on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put the fillet on it and cover it with all the other ingredients.<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Close the foil to make a package, fish <i>en papillote</i>. A quarter of an hour on the roster and ready to serve. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why make something difficult when you can do it easy? At least you have the rest of the time off to relax. Never waste a good Summer's day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The fish and the marinade is very light. So i</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">t's a good recipe for people that don't feel like dining heavily.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Of course that depends also on the side dishes ... ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-25793862060079236412012-07-31T09:33:00.004-07:002012-07-31T09:33:30.758-07:00Back from Ireland<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hello everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've been away for a while for the Summer vacation. I'm still a student - not for long now because next year June I hope to complete my Master of Political Sciences - and the Summer is really the ONLY time of year I can get away for longer than a day. That is if you don't have to resit exams of course!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I went with two of my best friends, Johannes and Emily, to Ireland. We explored the West coast in the County Clare. Our aim was to hire a car, but unfortunately the car hire companies don't trust students with licences younger than two years ... We only found out about that a day before we had our flight to Dublin, so we improvised a bit and were able to catch a train to Ennis the same day our plane landed. After a few hours by train, we arrived and our trip could start for real.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not having a car on hand, we decided to hire bicycles instead. At least we didn't need to prove our skills beforehand to the shopkeepers ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Taking your holiday in Ireland is a risk. With on average nearly 300 days of rain a year, it's a miracle to not get wet, especially on bikes. But the near impossible happened: we had the best week of the year yet with blue skies, a lot of sun and 20°C! (that couldn't be compared with the much higher temperatures of +30°C in my home Belgium at the same moment, but who cares?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ireland is a wondrous destination. I can recommend it to you all. I'm a nature lover and the nature is everywhere. There are also numerous ruins of monasteries, castles, churches, high crosses ... so that people interested in history and culture have everything they need.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We stayed at a cottage we rented for the holiday. A super nice woman called Brenda Reilly took the greatest care of us, with even a delicious welcome pack on the first day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyway, after such a holiday, I'm totally re-energated and ready for another year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today it was the first day of me cooking at home since Ireland. I had this strange craving for pizza for a while, so I made my healthy home made version of it again. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I made a mainly vegetable with a little ham one for me (round) and a partly meat-partly fish one for both of my parents (the elongated ones due to not enough space on the tray).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The dough and the tomato sauce is the same as for the other pizza I once made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Toppings round pizza:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/2 roasted yellow bell pepper</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 50 grams ham</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- diced mozzarella cheese (as much as you like)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- grated gruyère cheese (again, as much as you like)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- fresh basil leaves</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- chilli flakes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Toppings for one of the elongated pizza's:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/2 roasted yellow bell pepper</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 25 grams ham</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 25 grams salami </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/2 tin crab meat</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 6 anchovies</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 or more olives, halved</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- fresh basil</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- mozzarella cheese</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- grated gruyère cheese</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- chilli flakes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On the pizza's for my parents, I divided each pizza in half approximately and topped each half with either meat or fish. the other ingredients were put on both parts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They really liked theirs, and I liked my - slightly lighter - version also greatly!</span></div>
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<br />Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-58000397411766276112012-07-16T07:10:00.000-07:002012-07-16T08:35:09.364-07:00Egg plants have returned<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We haven't used egg plants for ages, here at home. The reason is simple: it's not a much liked vegetable by the majority of my house mates (my dad and my sister because of the taste, my mum by lack of ideas what to do with them). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But ... I saw them lying in the supermarket, next to the zuchini's and the tomatoes, and I got the feeling I should do something with them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My first idea was to make a tajine, named after the Moroccan dish prepared in the beautiful terracotta pots. So I took out the tajine from the cupboard and dusted it off. It became evident why it wasn't used before when I started cooking in it: the house smelled of burned oil because of a large tear in the tajine's bottom!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My beloved egg plant and the other vegetables already frying in it were immediately rescued into the safety of another pot. There they cooked further. My idea of making tajine wasn't a success, but the result is quite alright :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 8 pieces of chicken</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 400 grams canned and peeled tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 egg plant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 red pepper (sweet)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- chilli flakes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- black pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- shoarma spices to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- teaspoon of cumin powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- half a can (small) of tomato paste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 star anise</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 200 grams cousous (semolina)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- fresh parsley for serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cube the egg plant and cover with some salt. Let stand for about half an hour until the saps come out. Rinse the cubes and dry them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat the pot and pour in some oil for frying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Add the diced pepper and the egg plant to the pot. Also add the whole cloves of garlic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once they're covered with a little oil and have fried a while, pour in the canned tomatoes. Cover with the lid and let simmer on medium heat for about half an hour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now put the chicken on top of the vegetables. Season the dish with star anise, cumin, shoarma spices and chilli flakes. Also put in the tomato paste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put the lid back on and let simmer another hour, turning around the chicken from time to time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Taste and season to taste with salt and pepper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Serve with the couscous (semolina) and some fresh parsley.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Enjoy!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-27301154509852167382012-07-15T09:19:00.000-07:002012-07-16T06:46:41.077-07:00Pasta con pesto, a little pimped<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I didn't know how many persons would come for dinner. My sister and her boyfriend are leaving for the Summer holidays to the South of France, and they might or might not dine with us tonight. I thought of something which can be made easily for 3, 4 or 5 people without problem and it was <i>pasta con pesto Genovese</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm a huge pasta fan. You might have noticed as three out of the last four posts involved pasta. I could eat it every day if my dad wouldn't mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just the pesto along with the pasta is good, but it lacks some vegetables and colour for me. So I pimped the dish a bit to suit my taste :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also traded half of the basil for rocket. It's both goof on its' own, but why not taking both, then?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 400 grams pasta (such as tagliatelle)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- handful of fresh basil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- handful of fresh rocket (rucola)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 80 grams pine nuts, lightly roasted in a hot skillet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 200 grams parmigiano reggiano</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 8 cherry tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- bruschetta herb mixture (I use the one from Oil & Vinegar)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and put them on an oven tray with their rounded sides down. Sprinkle them with the bruschetta mixture. Put them in a 150°C oven for at least one hour. Take care the herbs don't burn, that taste isn't very good.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grate the cheese. Put it in a pot but keep some aside to serve.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pull the basil and rocket into smaller pieces and put them in the same pot. Keep a few leaves apart for serving.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put the garlic, the salt, pepper and the pine nuts in the pot and start crushing all the ingredients together. Pour in enough olive oil to make a thick liquid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cook the pasta according to the package and drain.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Serve the pasta with a few spoonfuls of pesto, some dried cherry tomatoes, some leaves of basil and grated parmesan cheese.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heavy but sooo good ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Buon appetito!</span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-59533590905734001152012-07-14T08:59:00.000-07:002012-07-14T08:59:06.288-07:00Konijn met pruimen (rabbit with plums)<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today real Belgian classic cooking: rabbit in a sauce of red wine, onion and dried plums - or <i>konijn met pruimen</i> as we call it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's more of a Winter's dish, but the weather permits cooking like this these days. It's actually pouring rain all day. We have these glass doors across the back of our house, facing the garden, and we can't see anything but rain splashing down. Belgian weather it is!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 whole rabbit in pieces</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 onion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- bouquet garni (bay leave, thyme, rosemary, ... bound together)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 75 grams bacon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 12 (or more if you like) dried plums</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 75 cl red wine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- salt and pepper to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Maizena express (or something the like)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fry the rabbit pieces with the bacon in a pan. Season it with pepper and salt. Take them out of the pan and fry the onion and the garlic in the same pan. Put the fried ingredients together in a large enough pan or pot and pour in the wine and add the bouquet garni. Put on the lid and let it all simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes.<br />Then add the dried plums. Let them simmer along for another half hour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Take the pot off the fire and let it stand for a few hours (the longer the better). The taste will be better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thicken the sauce of the rabbit with some Maizena.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's wonderful with pears cooked in red wine scented with vanilla sugar and a cinnamon stick. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 4 pears, cut in half lengthwise</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 4 tablespoons vanilla sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 cinnamon stick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 50 cl red wine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- about the same amount of water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bring the pears and the rest of the ingredients to a boil and let them simmer until the pears are tender. They'll have taken up all the flavour and colour from the wine, cinnamon and sugar.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I served it all with fresh chips. It's so much better to make your own chips. The chips you buy in the supermarket - frozen and prefried - doesn't ever get the right taste. In Belgium we are known for our chips, and this is the right way to prepare the chips:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 kg potatoes, peeled</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- oil for frying</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- salt for serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- sauce (mayonaise, ketchup, ...)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cut the potatoes in sticks of about half a centimeter on each side. Rinse them under some cold water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat the frying pan at 140°C. Put the potato sticks in the hot oil and let them simmer for some minutes. You have to stand close to check whether they're ready (when they are tender inside (check with a fork or knife!) but still whitish in colour). Take them out and let them cool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat the oil now at 175°C. Put the chips you've fried already once in the oil for the second time. This time they're supposed to get their right colour. Once they're golden brown, take them out and serve them with salt and a sauce you like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you do your chips this way, you'll never want the frozen kind again!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Smakelijk!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-31762698014762108862012-07-13T10:55:00.002-07:002012-07-15T09:25:32.531-07:00Tagliatelle with tomato-rocket sauce<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've just finished two weeks of doing the animation at children's camps. they were an fantastic two weeks, with lovely children and amazing themes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The last week was in the theme 'Cups, cakes and whoopies'. We baked - chronologically - apple cupcakes, chocolate whoopie pies, black and white biscuits, ham and cheese quiche, cakepops and chocolate chip cupcakes. I basically spent half the time in the kitchen with 17 6-8 year olds, and half the time we played around or made things out of clay, crayons, papers, etc. ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today I was honoured to hand them all a diploma of topchef! They were delighted to hear they received one. My signature on it made it all look very 'real' ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I came home around 6 pm, and knowing I had a weekend off duty, I was bursting with energy. Preparing dinner didn't take long. I longed for pasta, and just took all that was left over from the past week: rocket, cherry tomatoes, basil and some parmesan cheese.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was only me, so the recipe is this time for 1 person!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 1:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 65 grams tagliatelle</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 8 cherry tomatoes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- handful of fresh rocket (rucola), pulled in smaller pieces</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- handful of fresh basil, pulled in smaller pieces</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- teaspoon of dried oregano</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- dash of salt</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- half a teaspoon of sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- chillie flakes or black pepper</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 20 grams parmesan cheese, grated</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Put all ingredients for the sauce (everything except the tagliatelle and cheese) in one small pot and put it on high heat. Crush the tomatoes so that the juices can be released. The sauce has to simmer on low heat for around 20 minutes.<br />Cook the pasta according to the package. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Turn it all around so that the pasta takes up some of the sauce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Serve with the cheese.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A very easy recipe for those days you don't have the time to spend hours in the kitchen, but very tasty and healthy anyhow!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-33078389785720112822012-07-07T10:02:00.004-07:002012-07-15T09:25:56.487-07:00Pasta with chicken livers and pepper sauce<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's been a very busy week. I've been monitoring a children's camp the past five days. The theme of the week was 'animals', and I was in charge of twelve 6 to 8 year olds, which were adorable. We had a falconer visiting us, who showed us falcons, owls, buzzards, an eagle and a vulture. The children and I were delighted, but who wouldn't be?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The coming week will be camp again, this time in the theme 'cupcakes'. This title is not covering all we will be doing. We'll be doing all sorts of baking activities such as preparing cupcakes (of course, hence the title), making quiche, cake pops, biscuits and whoopie pies. Lots to look forward to!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today is the first day I can cook again after all this busyness. It'll be pasta with a sauce of peppers and cilantro and chicken livers. Liver isn't everyone's favourite, but I can assure you it's very good. You have to try it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 450 grams chicken livers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 300 grams pasta</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 peppers (red and yellow)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 400 grams peeled tomatoes (canned)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 small can of tomato paste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- crushed chillies (flakes)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- powdered ginger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- fresh cilantro</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 100 grams grated cheese</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a pot and add the garlic which you've cut into small pieces and the peppers, diced. Once they've fried for a while (make sure to stir a lot), you can add the tomatoes and the tomato paste. Let it cook for a few minutes on high heat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Season with salt, pepper, a little cilantro and the chilli flakes. Lower the heat and let it all simmer for about an hour.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the mean time, you can cut the chicken livers into smaller, bite-size pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat some olive oil in a non-stick skillet on the fire and fry the pieces of liver in it. Once they're done (you can check by cutting a piece in half), powder some ginger on top of the chicken livers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Add the chicken livers to the sauce and let them simmer along for a while, so that the sauce can take up the flavours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cook the pasta until tender. Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce and the chicken livers, season to taste and serve with some grated cheese.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have a nice meal!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-26475205636109895992012-06-29T02:20:00.003-07:002012-06-29T02:20:50.351-07:00Easy peasy cupcakes!<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A barbecue at home, finally! Downside was the fact that for this first barbecue of the season, I wasn't home. It was a high school class reunion that interfered. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The class reunion was delightful, by the way. We laughed a lot at the stories we recalled and the situations we'd been into since. It's been 4 years since we graduated, and this was the first time we met up with most of our former classmates. Last reunions were always a meet-up of a few 'die-hards' :P</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The barbecue was postponed earlier (see last post) and it
was said to be the last day of good weather. No time to loose then!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My mum and dad were both working, my sister had her
boyfriend over and I was just at home until leaving for the class reunion at 5
pm. 'Just at home' meant that I was the only one who could do the preparations
for the barbecue. <span lang="FR-BE">A barbecue I
couldn't even attend, but then: who cares?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="FR-BE"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After
making some salads, I decided that a dinner party without dessert couldn't be
complete. And because there would be two young children of 7 and 4 years old, I
thought cupcakes would do the trick. They're small enough for a children's
tummy, they can be any taste you like and they're so easily decorated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="FR-BE"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The base
for my cupcakes was a recipe for Madeira cake. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="FR-BE">I prepared
the dough and filled the tray, and then I found out that the dough wouldn't
cover the usual 12 small cakes. </span>11 is a very odd number indeed, but look
on the bright side: there is always one cupcake for you to taste without ending
up with an uneven number on your table! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 11 cupcakes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 115 grams butter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 100 grams sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1/2 bag (7 grams) baking powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 75 grams flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 50 grams vanilla pudding powder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 small eggs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- decoration like icing sugar, chocolate, sprinkles,
brésilienne nuts, ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Stir the butter and the sugar until you get a smooth
mixture. It's supposed to be creamy. Then you can add the eggs, one at the
time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Add the dry ingredients and stir until you get a thick
dough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spoon the dough with a teaspoon (about 2-3 teaspoons for
each cupcake) in the tray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 25 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cool and decorate as you wish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As you can see, I prepared different sorts of cupcakes too.
I divided the dough in three portions and added a few drops of almond essence,
a few drops of vanilla essence and raisins, and one teaspoon of cocoa powder
and chunks of white chocolate respectively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Were they good? Well, I can tell you that all of them were
gone when I returned home from the reunion. That's proof enough when you know
there were only 7 people dining here and there was loads of food ...</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-53510986080204418802012-06-27T09:01:00.001-07:002012-06-27T09:01:06.960-07:00Pollo con le olive thanks to a loving grandmother<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We were going to have friends over for a barbecue today. Were because I just received the message from my mum that the people we invited postponed their visit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A pity, because it's just marvelous weather: finally the sun broke through the clouds and we actually get temperatures higher than 20°C all day!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But in life you don't have time to regret for long: it'll be <i>pollo con le olive</i> instead. A dish originally from Siena, Italy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The inspiration comes out of an old cook book I got from my grandmother just yesterday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My sister and I felt like making a bicycle tour, and we could visit our grandparents in the meanwhile. It's been a long time since we've been there because of school, exams, ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They were very happy to see us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My grandfather began talking about the TV he has in his room - the TV that was formerly ours, by the way ^^ - and how it could be put on and off, how to change the channels, et cetera. We felt that he liked us being with him, even though he didn't have much to say himself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My grandmother made us tea and put a whole table full of biscuits and chocolates, in case we were starving. I just love her!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When we were just about to leave, they both insisted we took a look at some things they liked us to have. I was shown a whole stack of cook books (my grandmother knows I love cooking. I learned to love it because of her, so it's a common interest). My sister had to look at a rather nineties-looking raincoat, which she had trouble with declining.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My eyes immediately fell on this Italian cook book which mentioned classic dishes. taking it with me wouldn't harm and the fact that I chose it made my grandmother happy too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 1 whole chicken of about 1,5 kg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 5 fresh sage leaves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 150 grams black olives</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- extra black olives for serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- olive oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 5 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 800 grams peeled tomatoes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- French loaf or rice for serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cut the chicken in several pieces (the legs, the wings, the breast pieces). Sprinkle them with pepper and salt. Wash the sage leaves and dry them with a towel. Cut the sage leaves and the garlic in very small pieces.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the sage and garlic.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrzQAoarhUQpjWSiK5GYut6rsyx2ooUm4RxkR-VZ6dViD8mNbdNvb7ZrYZXqdiY1iWi_AnPaMsqlVTanSVcPoK7OSa-TaNQ_wt58qj2WoTJAOhvJ92uT9jUos-7vnOJ2GHbbXCzkTiR8y/s1600/DSC05061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrzQAoarhUQpjWSiK5GYut6rsyx2ooUm4RxkR-VZ6dViD8mNbdNvb7ZrYZXqdiY1iWi_AnPaMsqlVTanSVcPoK7OSa-TaNQ_wt58qj2WoTJAOhvJ92uT9jUos-7vnOJ2GHbbXCzkTiR8y/s320/DSC05061.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then add the chicken pieces. When they have browned on all sides, pour in some of the wine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now put the tomatoes in too. When the tomatoes have cooked along for a while, you can pour in the rest of the wine. Cover the skillet with a lid and let it all simmer for at least 15 minutes on low heat. That's what the recipe says, but I doubted the chicken would be ready in only half an hour. I put it on the fire for about 1 and a half hour. In that way the sauce will be much more tasty, I reconed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I guess my skillet was slightly too small for the chicken in it, quite messy looking! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cut the olives in half and remove the stones. Stir them under the sauce of the chicken. Simmer with the lid on for again 15 minutes at least. My cutting in half of the olives wasn't very successful: the stones were unremovable unless I cut round them ;)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtaTL8nXH1It0J6d9u4K71hlUDMamluNoQBMoUyivg_pSDpRKXjOGsdoPivUHrlknLilFp095PHGOjPgus8Co2_g4Obckq1j-PHvZ1Ca4AX0AmhrymTwO5HAUk2uSnOTfuXciEmuYwGWfz/s1600/DSC05063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtaTL8nXH1It0J6d9u4K71hlUDMamluNoQBMoUyivg_pSDpRKXjOGsdoPivUHrlknLilFp095PHGOjPgus8Co2_g4Obckq1j-PHvZ1Ca4AX0AmhrymTwO5HAUk2uSnOTfuXciEmuYwGWfz/s320/DSC05063.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Serve with the French loaf or rice and some left over olives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was delicious. It was the very first time I used sage in something I prepared, and it made it really good! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Buon appetito!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5007221565952688063.post-85673104513642553582012-06-25T08:38:00.001-07:002012-06-25T08:39:33.701-07:00Chicken stir fry (or was it quorn stir fry?)<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After a very busy week during which we had to go dine out - no complaints at all about that part! :p - we finally have a home cooked meal again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today we have our weekly veggie day, a tricky one this time because I mean to trick my dad by telling him it's chicken stir fry instead of quorn stir fry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He dislikes the meat replacements like quorn and tofu. He rather eats eggs if he really has to have something vegetarian. To avoid nasty glances, I hope he'll believe me. Upside is that chicken is not very distinct in taste, and the oyster sauce tends to be the dominant taste. We'll see ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This recipe was originally with scampi and rice, but this is my variation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ingredients for 4:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 2 cloves of garlic</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 350 grams quorn cubes (mine were specially for stir frying, but others would be fine as well)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 500 grams of vegetables such as sugar snaps, broccoli, carrots, ... (or a mixture of them)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 300 grams egg noodles</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- 75 ml oyster sauce </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- oil for frying </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- pepper and salt to taste</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- chilli flakes if you like more spice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- fresh chive for serving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Clean the vegetables and cut them in bite-size pieces. Blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes or until they are done but still crisp.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Prepare the noodles as mentioned on the package. You will usually have to soak them in a hot liquid like water or stock for a while.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Heat a skillet on high heat. Pour some oil in for frying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Add the garlic, which you've cut in very small pieces, to the hot skillet. Add the quorn cubes as well. Let them brown for a bit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Throw the vegetables in and stir the ingredients around quickly. Pour the oyster sauce onto them and stir again. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The noodles can be added now. They cannot be stirred for long as they will get too soft when heated too long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have a nice meal!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">P.S.: my dad wasn't fooled. We kept on insisting it was chicken, but he merely said 'very strange chicken, this is!' Haha. Anyway, he kind of liked it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Ijeomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709358994318979noreply@blogger.com0