Shrimp salad

It has been too hot for any “real” cooking the past week, which explains the lack of posting. We have been eating easy dishes, reheating leftovers or freezer stock or went for takeout. This was actually our dinner from last Sunday: retro shrimp salad! Easy as anything. The recipe is my mother in law’s and has been in the family for ages. 

Retro Shrimp Salad
for 4 people

Ingredients
500 gr of small cooked shrimps, Crangon Crangon they are called, so Wikipedia tells me.
2,5 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I use yoghurt mayonnaise, it is lighter, you can mix 2 tbsp of mayonnaise with half a tbsp of yoghurt for the same effect)
lemon juice, a squeeze to taste
freshly chopped chives, to taste but I like LOTS of it
a pinch of dried garlic powder or a bit of finely chopped fresh garlic
sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

To serve: little gem lettuce and slices of toasted bread

Method
1. Mix the mayonnaise with the salt and pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice and chives, taste to check the seasoning and stir in the prawns.

2. Serve with toasted bread and little gem lettuce. 

Fuss free cooking - ideal for hot weather. 

Untitled

Today we went to Amsterdam, my boyfriend followed a Dr Sketchy’s Workshop at the local American bookstore’s Urban Art Festival with Molly Crabapple and a lovely model, Lotta from Utrecht. I decided to test my new camera and catch up with a dear friend.

We had lunch at the Esprit Caffe at Spui Square, I had a lovely bagel with smoked chicken, cream cheese, avocado, tomato and red pesto, my boyfriend had the USA burger with cheddar, red onion, salad, ketchup and tomato (which he put aside :)) our friend had the Bombay Express, a ciabatta with tandoori chicken, tomato, cream cheese, coriander, salad and a curry sauce. It all looked and tasted amazing. 

For a light dinner we went to Wagamama and had some starters: deep-fried prawns in panko breadcrumbs. served with a spicy chilli and garlic sauce. garnished with lime, steamed and grilled gyoza filled with chicken, vegetables and shrimp and fried chicken with thyme served with a garlic, chilli and soy sauce. We had green tea beer and ginger ale with it. Lovely food on a lovely day!

She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine!

http://lucylou.livejournal.com/561084.html

We’ll be making Lucy’s Tilapia Taco’s next week!

Home-made pizza

Tonight is pizza night! I have been craving for pizza this entire week. For myself I’ll make a vegetarian one (not that I don’t eat meat, I just like the traditional combination of mozarella, basil and tomato so very much). My Hungry Boyfriend will make himself a pizza with chorizo, red onion and old Gouda cheese - which is also very yummy so I may as well make part of my pizza with chorizo as well.

As it is extremely hot these days, we will not make the dough from scratch, I’ll use a ready-made storebought dough instead. Usually we do try to make our own, but we have a tiny - but well- equipped - kitchen and it is a challenge to roll out dough and find the room to really knead it. So whenever my parents in law invite us over for dinner we tend to suggest either a barbecue (no garden or balcony so not an option at home) or pizza. They have a lovely big kitchen with a huge heavy wooden butcher’s chopping board in the centre which is wonderful for all your dough rolling and kneading needs. I want a butcher’s chopping board as well! They bought it from their organic butcher when he closed his shop. One of their best buys ever. 

If you do feel like making your own, I highly recommend this recipe from Jamie Oliver: 

Jamie Oliver’s pizza dough
makes 6 to 8 medium-sized thin pizza bases
This is a fantastic, reliable, everyday pizza dough, which can also be used to make bread. It’s best made with Italian Tipo ‘00’ flour, which is finer ground than normal flour, and it will give your dough an incredible super-smooth texture. Look for it in Italian delis and good supermarkets. If using white bread flour instead, make sure it’s a strong one that’s high in gluten, as this will transform into a lovely, elastic dough, which is what you want. Mix in some semolina flour for a bit of colour and flavour if you like.

Ingredients
1kg strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour
or 800g strong white bread flour or Tipo ‘00’ flour, plus 200g finely ground semolina flour
1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
650ml lukewarm water

Method
1. Sieve the flour/s and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.

2. Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

3. Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands – this is called knocking back the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in clingfilm, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If using straight away, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas – this amount of dough is enough to make about six to eight medium pizzas.

4. Timing-wise, it’s a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20 minutes before you want to cook them. Don’t roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours, though – if you are working in advance like this it’s better to leave your dough, covered with clingfilm, in the fridge. However, if you want to get them rolled out so there’s one less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the dough out into rough circles, about 0.5cm thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted tinfoil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with clingfilm, and pop them into the fridge.

Do not overload your pizza, less is more! You will keep a nice crispy bottom this way. Soggy pizza is the worst! Also, if you use fresh tomatoes, like I do, you should really pat them dry before putting them on your pizza base, this prevents sogginess as well.

Buon appetito! 

Lemony Chicken Burgers

Sometimes you just don’t feel like putting a lot of effort in your food. On those days an easy, healthy dish with only a few (pantry) ingredients is nice to have. 

For this chicken burger you only need chicken (minced, if available, otherwise you put it in the foodprocessor or slice it as finely as you can), rice wine, sesame oil, spring onion, soy sauce, lemon juice a bun, some sauces and lettuce and / or tomato. It’s as easy as that! You can make them on the griddle pan or on the barbecue, if the weather permits. You griddle pan will become a mess, I must warn you, but these burgers are definitely worth it. 

Lemony Chicken Burgers
Ching He Huang in China Modern

Ingredients
3 small chicken breasts
2 large spring onions, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp rice wine
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp brown sugar
1 dash of soy sauce
1 dash of sesame oil
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 white buns, for hamburgers, topped with sesame seeds
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp ketchup, chilli-tomato
1 baby gem lettuce, shredded
1 tomato, sliced

Method
1. Finely dice the chicken for the burgers and combine with the spring onions, lemon juice, rice wine, cornflour, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and seasoning. Shape the mixture into two large patties and put them in the refrigerator - if you have time - for an hour or more so they can firm up a bit.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a griddle pan over a medium heat. Fry the chicken patties for about 3-5 minutes on each side - they should be light brown and tender. Remove from the pan and keep warm. 
3. Spread the buns with some mayo and chilli ketchup, put some lettuce leaves on the bun and place your burger on top of the lettuce. Add some slices of tomato if you like.

 

We also mixed in some chopped coriander leaves, this time, which adds a lovely extra ‘herby’ depth. I also often use my lemon black pepper, which adds some extra zing on top of the lemon juice.I topped my burger with a tiny bit of Sriracha sauce.

A satisfying, easy and healthy burger! I am sure you will find yourself making these often - they are also great for picnik or lunch sandwiches or just for a snack.

Liege waffles (with pearl sugar)

Belgian waffles are amazing. Especially the variety with the crispy pearl sugar which gives the soft, slightly chewy waffle a nice crunch. I always wanted to recreate them myself, but never found a recipe that sounded easy enough. I think I found it this time!

Note that the batter has to rest for 30 minutes in total!

Liege style waffles (Belgian waffles with pearl sugar)

35 min | 30 min prep | Serves 4

Ingredients

1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 cup softened butter
1 cup pearl sugar

Method 
1. Mix yeast, water, sugar and salt, and let develop for 15 minutes.
2. Place flour into a large bowl. Make a well, pour in yeast mixture, and begin to knead.
3. Continue to knead, add eggs, one at a time, and add soft butter, 2 tablespoons each addition, mixing well.
4. Let dough rest in bowl until doubled.
5. Gently mix in pearl sugar.
6. Let rest for 15 minutes.
7. Heat waffle iron. When hot, butter waffle iron, pour in 3 tablespoons dough per waffle.
8. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until waffles lightly brown on top.Serve warm or room temperature.

Enjoy!

I remember my father really loves these with warm cherries and some cream. :-)

Untitled

What is your favourite way of keeping your recipes organized? I need tips and tricks! I have huge amounts of scraps of paper with handwritten recipes, or cut-outs from magazines and don’t know what to do with them!

Feel free to take a picture of your recipe book, binder or card index to get me inspired :)

Spice blends

My mother in law brought me a seriously spicy piri piri spice blend. Even pointing at it made my eyes water. It tastes delicious, however, when you mix just a pinch of it through your ground beef or sprinkle it over some baked chicken. Spice blends are wonderful to spike up a relatively simple (or easy) dish. This made me remember a conversation I recently had with a colleague, she told me her (Greek) boyfriend never really liked spicy dishes, but when she made gyros and only sprinkled some cumin and coriander over the meat, it rocked his world. It is that easy to perk up a dish!

In the Middle East a herb called za’atar is used to perk up a common pita bread: the bread is dipped in olive oil and za’atar mixed with sumac, salt and sesame. This herb was already known and used in ancient Egypt as remains of one of the varieties of the herb was found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. And who can ever doubt a pharaoh?

As za’atar is probably not readily available everywhere, I’ll give you some other well-known spice blends you can easily make at home.

Ras el hanout is a well-known spice blend commonly used in Moroccan dishes. Many different versions exist, as the name already reveals: “best of the shop”. This is a streamlined version:

Ras el hanout

Ingredients
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Method
Combine the spices in a pestle and mortar and start grinding. Sieve your mix into a seperate bowl now and then and put the coarse pieces back into the mortar until you have a fine powder. 

The Indian spice blend Garam Masala is also very easy to make, as with Ras el Hanout many different versions exist. It is merely a matter of taste. This recipe by Camelia Punjabi is a wonderful basic blend.

Garam Masala

Ingredients
6 grams of cinnamon sticks
6 grams of cloves
6 grams of black peppercorns
the seeds from 1 black cardamom seed or from 4 green cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon of fennel seed
1 bay leaf or 1 curry leaf

Method
Heat a frying pan on high heat and toast the spices for 30 seconds or until fragrant (it will smell heavenly, believe me!). Put everything into a pestle and mortar and grind until powdered. You can store the garam masala for 3-6 months in a tightly closed jar.

Easy standby dishes

Finally Summer arrived! I am happy about it, but since I am terrible with heat, I have not been very inspired when it comes to food. Luckily I have some nice standby dishes that will perk up any easy meal, go great as side dishes with a barbecue or just make you feel comfortable. 

One of my favourite sandwich fillings is egg salad. It is very easy, healthy and satisfying. This weekend I made the extremely easy version. 

Easy Egg Salad

Ingredients
4 hardboiled eggs
5 tbsp of mayonaise (I use yoghurt mayonaise, if you don’t have that, add 2 tbsp of low fat yoghurt to 3 tbsp of mayonaise)
1 tsp of Dijon mustard (or any other mustard you like)
2 tsp of curry powder (or to taste, depending on the spiciness of your curry powder)
1 tsp of paprika powder
1 pinch of onion powder
1 pinch of cayenne pepper for a kick 
freshly ground black pepper
ground salt to taste
lots of chopped chives 

Boiling the eggs
I would say: boil the eggs the way you usually boil them.
Personally I have 2 methods, one before my Perfect Egg Timer and one since.

At first I boiled my eggs the way I learned from my mother, which is how she learned it from her mother, etc etc: bring the water to the boil, carefully put in the eggs and let them boil for 8 minutes. I let them boil for 5 minutes for still slightly runny eggs - not recommended for this recipe, but just to be complete. Run cold water over them (in the Netherlands we call that “scaring the eggs :-)) and let them cool down before peeling them.

The method with the Perfect Egg Timer is: fill a pan with water, put in your eggs and the Perfect Egg Timer and wait until the egg-timer says they are in between medium and hard. Take the eggs out of the pan, scare your eggs and let them cool down. 

Method
1. Peel your eggs and cut them into cubes, do not mash them finely - we like to have some texture. Put the cubed eggs aside in a bow.
2. In another bowl mix the 3 tbsp of mayonnaise with 2 tbsp of low fat yoghurt. 
3. Add the curry powder, paprika powder, onion powder, salt en pepper and mix well. 
4. Sprinkle in  the chives and give it all a good stir. 
5. Add your cubed eggs and mix carefully. Taste to adjust the seasoning. 

— You can of course build upon this recipe. I usually also add chopped cherry tomatoes, some slices or cubes of boiled potato and chopped spring onions, you could add finely diced cucumber or really anything else you like. You can also vary with the seasoning, add some dill or celery. 

For extra nice sandwiches I also fried a chicken breast with my Norwegian shish kebab spice mix, which has coriander, paprika, chilli, cinnamon, cumin and garlic. Very nice with some salad and a tiny bit of Thai Sriracha sauce.

Another one of my easy favourites is tuna salad. This, again, is the very easy version. Feel free to build upon it and add whatever you like!

Easy Tuna Salad

Ingredients
1 tin of tuna (I usually use tuna in water, but you could use the one in oil)
2,5 tbsp of yoghurt mayonnaise (or 1tbsp of low fat yoghurt mixed with 1,5 tbsp of mayonnaise)
a squeeze of lemon juice
1 small tbsp of ketchup
1 onion, chopped
freshly ground black pepper
some salt

Method
1. Drain the tuna and squeeze a little lemon juice on top. 
2. Mix the yoghurt mayonnaise, the ketchup, the freshly ground pepper, a pinch of salt and the chopped onions. Combine this with the drained tuna

— To spike this up, add some Italian herbs and 2 sun dried tomatoes, soaked in boiling water for 3 minutes and finely sliced. In the Netherlands they actually have ready-made packets of tuna mixed with Italian herbs and sun dried tomatoes, you could use those and mix them with the onion, ketchup and mayo. You can also replace the “normal onion” with a spring onion and add some pickled capers for a zesty tang.

Enjoy!

Indian night

Tonight there are Indian dishes on the menu. We’ll make samosas filled with spiced potatoes and peas and chicken tandoori. I have high expectations about the samosas. I’ve been wanting to make them ever since I saw some made during Masterchef - they looked so extremely delicious and I absolutely love curried potatoes. I also hope this will be a recipe to get my boyfriend to eat more potatoes and vegetables in general… 

Samosas have a long history, they probably originated in Central Asia before the 10th century. They are believed to be an innovation of the pies that were first created by the ancient Egyptians some 4000 years earlier and were passed on around 600 BC to the Greeks and Romans. 

There are many different versions of samosa, some deep fried some baked, the dough and the filling also differs from region to region. I use Anjum Anand’s recipe with filo pastry and a filling of spiced potatoes and peas. 

Potato and pea samosas
By Anjum Anand from Indian Food Made Easy
Preparation time: less than 30 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins to 1 hour
Makes 20

Ingredients
3 tbsp vegetable oil
half a tsp mustard seeds
60g chopped onion
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
60g frozen peas
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
one fourth tsp red chilli powder
half to three quarter tsp garam masala
1-2 tsp dried mango powder, to taste
salt, to taste
splash water
600g/1lb 5oz potatoes, peeled, boiled until soft and crushed into large lumps
4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
packet ready-made filo pastry
5 tbsp melted butter, for brushing
2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional) (you can also use poppy or nigella seeds)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a small non-stick pan and fry the mustard seeds for about ten seconds, or until they begin to splutter.
2. Add the onion and ginger and cook for 2-3 minutes over a high heat. Add the peas, stir well and add the spices, mango powder, salt and a splash of water. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the potatoes and coriander and cook for 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
4. Unroll the pastry and cover with cling film and a damp tea towel. Peel off one piece and keep the rest covered so that it doesn’t dry out. Lay the pastry sheet flat on a clean surface and brush with melted butter. Fold in one third of the pastry lengthways towards the middle. Brush again with the butter and fold in the other side to make a long triple-layered strip.
5. Place one rounded teaspoon of the filling mixture at one end of the strip, leaving a 2cm/1in border. Take the right corner and fold diagonally to the left, enclosing the filling and forming a triangle. Fold again along the upper crease of the triangle. Keep folding in this way until you reach the end of the strip. Brush the outer surface with more butter. Place onto a baking sheet and cover while you make the rest of the samosas. Sprinkle over a few sesame seeds, if using.
6. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and crisp, turning halfway through the cooking time.
7. To serve, place the samosas onto a large serving plate with a bowlful of chutney.

As I still have a jar of tamarind paste going to waste in the refrigerator, I decided to make tamarind chutney to go with the samosas. We both love tamarind but don’t use it often enough, there are too many good recipes around!

Tamarind and jaggery chutney
By Anjum Anand from Indian Food Made Easy
Preparation time: less than 30 mins
Cooking time: 10 to 30 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients
three quarter tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp tamarind paste (available from Asian supermarkets)
3-4 tbsp jaggery (palm sugar), chopped
half a tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch salt
70ml water
6 mint leaves, shredded (optional)

Method
1. Heat the cumin seeds in a frying pan and dry fry for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant and golden-brown. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and grind to a powder.
2. Put all of the ingredients into a small pan and mix until well combined. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened. Set aside to cool.
3. Serve as a dip with samosas, chaat or dhokla. (This chutney will keep in the fridge for 4-5 weeks.)

We also made chicken tandoori skewers (so it was not a vegetarian night :-)) 

Chicken tandoori skewers

Ingredients
400 g chicken thigh meat
500 g yoghurt
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp Garam Massala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
the juice of 1 lemon
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 heaped tbsp of grated root ginger
1 lemon (to serve)
some skewers that have been soaking in water for an hour (I always forget this, so I thought I’d add this step ;-))

Method
1. Clean the chicken (I always do this, I cut of the “funky” bits), slice it in long, broad strips and put it in a bowl.
2. Add the yoghurt and the spices, the garlic, ginger and the juice of one of the lemons, mix well. Put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours / overnight.
3. When ready to bake, preheat the over to 230 degrees celsius.
4. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and thread the chicken on the skewers.
5. Put the chicken into the oven and bake for 6 to 8 mins until the meat is cooked.
6.  Serve with rice and a wedge of lemon.