Every realtionship has it's ups and downs

Today was trying-the-new-kitchen-day. My love has a new home and thus a new kitchen, with a real oven (instead of a microwave) and four hobs (instead of two, I am used to). He wanted to try to make the deluxe chicken shoarma sandwich, I wanted to make blueberry muffins and we needed some vitamines so I made a pesto bell peper salad.







We went total nuts in the supermarket, that I was very tired when we where home, so I warn you, this is not a succes story. The muffins totally failed, as I used 500ml milk in the cake batter, instead of the 50 ml pack told me. Baked them anyhow, but it was not near the muffins I hopes for. I hope cookie monster has enjoyed them... To what you can learn from my mistake: if you experiment, try to keep at least the quantities right...

The pesto bell came out as I planned it. As you can tell also by my other blogs, I like to make a salade as it can be very easy but more sophisticated then the everyday boiled vegetables. The salade of today is perfect if you are not in the mood for raw food, but still want a salade. This recipe is a side dish for 2 persons. 

Ingredients: 

2 or 3 bell peppers (three colors is best for the look of the salade)

4 tb olive oil

100 gr cherry tomatoes (optional)

30 gr small purple olives

2 tb pesto

1 bol of buffelo mozzarella (buffello is really worth the extra penny)

Slice the bell pepers in thin stripes and grill or wok them a little (leave a little of the bite). Halve the tomatoes and put them in the grill or wok pan with the bell pepers for max 3 minutes. Put all in a salad bowl. Stir the pesto and the olives in it. Slice the mozzarella in blocks and mix it in the salade. If the veggies are still warm the mozzarella will get even softer (but not too warm that it melts completely). Done and serve with a sprig of fresh basil. 

When serves with warm ciabatta bread, maybe one bell peper and some extra tomatoes and olives, you can also eat this as a main course. 

But as I told, we had chicken shoarma sandwiches. For I was soo buzzy with my failing muffins and the salade, I have no idea how he did it, but they were gorgeous. Maybe I can make and share his recipe one day. 

This picture is part of the gallery 'famous chunkies' painted by Alex Solis

http://cargocollective.com/oddworx/Famous-Chunkies

Coffee cult

Today I had so many deadlines and appointments, I lived on caffeine.. Just like my favorite comedy characters in Gilmore Girls, Lorerai and Rory.












I am very curious though about the whole coffee(shop) cult that evolved in the Netherlands (and in many places I guess). Drinking coffee has become so hip and part of the hipster lifestyle, you should almost be ashamed of yourself if you can not think of something else then a regular cappuccino to order. And after 12!? Never ever drink cappuccino after 12. You insult the Italians, the motherland of the coffee. I mean, if you are soo repulsed by a black filter coffee or a espresso of good quality, at least order a flat white, right?

The most curious part is that this lifestyle is part of the new spiritual/mindfulness/follow your passion and the rest will fall in place/seize the day lifestyle, which argues that you should live with what you have, not upload your energy with a shot espresso... See?









However today it fitted right in my schedule. To hell with all inconsistencies of the coffee cultre. Today I needed coffee and sugar. Because boy I tell you, most 'special coffees' contain so much suger, you should be ashamed of thát! When you walk past a Starbucks, consider for a moment, do you smell coffee or sugar?


My favorite the 'special' coffees is the Spanish latte of the coffee company. ... Or maybe the bambino?
Spanish latte is a latte (1 part espresso, 1 part hot milk and 1 part milk foam, yes I know my barista basics), with two suger shots: vanille and cinnamon. Delicious and it really tastes like Spain.
On the other hand there is the bambino, which is more an Italian type of coffee. One part espresso, 2 parts hot chocolate and whipped cream on top. Very comforting.

When at the university, I am condemned to the most lousy coffee machines. Here I prefer also the combination of sugar and coffee (yes in that order), but then the Austrian version: the wiener melange (coffee-taste-a-like with a lot of chocolate-taste-a-like sugar.

All in all, a very international day. Santé!

Chilling soup basics

Today, a funny photo, as I made just simple kale soup with a salade (cucumber and tomato's, feta, parsley and a little salt, peper, olive oil and balsamic). Not much to talk about, although I used a recipe for the kale soup which was kind of useful.

Just remember, if you make any soup the basics are very easy. Fry one union and a clove of garlic, after that put the veggie's in. One minute later put the bouillon in and let it boil for at least 15 minutes. The longer a soup boils, the better the tast develops. Season as you like, but the union, the bouillon and the garlic and the veggie's themselves usually give enough flavor themselves.

Today special tip: you can almost never mess up your food if you use dairy butter or today it was fresh cream. It makes it fat and creamy. Use not too much, just a little for the tast.

This photo I found on my favorite Facebook page: a different type of art. Unfortunately I couldn't find the artist of the creation.

Roti in Hollandse studentenkeuken

Bij mij in de buurt vond ik de perfecte toko. Buiten wappert de Surinaamse vlag, de verkoopster is een Indiase dame die haar man en zoon in de winkel aanstuurt, belt en tegelijkertijd met jou afrekent en je recept tips geeft als je er om vraagt. Ik noem de winkel liefkozend 'mijn turk'. Een groot assortiment aan groente voor de helft van de supermarkt prijs, koolhydraat typen van allerlei van overal (noodles, rijst, aardappelen, couscous), kruiden en ... rotivellen. Die hemelse rotivellen waren voor mij de reden om roti te leren maken. Met behulp van de Indiase dame en het internet ben ik er vrij handig in geworden.

2 a 3 porties, grove gok eigenlijk, ik eet er soms dagen van, soms vind ik het zo lekker dat ik het in een avond op eet.

Ingrediënten
300 gr kipfilet
1 ui
2 teentjes knoflook
1 blokje kippenbouillon (+0,75 liter kokend water)
1 klein blikje tomaten puree
300 gr kousenband (lijkt op en moet behandeld worden alsof het lange sperzieboontjes zijn, zei de Indiase)
6 middel grote aardappels
3 hard gekookte eieren (gepeld)
rode peper
2 el kerrie massala (gewoon gele kerrie werkt ook prima)
 olijf olie

Snijdt de ui in snippers, pers de knoflook en snijdt peper in mini stukjes. Snijdt de kip in blokjes van 2cm. Schil de aardappelen en snijdt deze in blokken van ca 7cm.
Fruit de ui, peper en knoflook in de olijfolie. Voeg als de ui glanst de kip toe en bak tot die gaar is.
Doe de kerrie en de tomatenpuree erbij en laat het een paar minuten intrek-bakken.
Bak de aardappelen en de kousenband erbij.
Doe na een paar minuten water en de bouillon blokje (verkruimeld) erbij en breng aan de kook.
Doe na 10 minuten de gepelde eieren erbij.
Laat het lang pruttelen (nog 10 minuten in ieder geval, denk aan ongeveer 20 min) tot alles geel is, de aardappelen uit elkaar vallen als je erin prikt. Het water moet grotendeels verdampt zijn en tot een drappige gele smurrie geworden zijn. Als het nog op soep lijkt moet je het even flink opkoken en laten indampen.
Verwarm de roti vellen in de magnetron vlak voor je opdient.

Doe de roti prut op je bord, vel ernaast en eet het door een stukje vel te steuren en daarmee je eten te pakken.

Persoonlijk vind ik het lekkerder, en meer lijken op de Surinaamse afhaal-roti, als je er geen tomaten puree bij doet. Onthoudt ook, te veel kerrie kan eigenlijk ook niet. En het is lekker als je er een thee lepeltje (of 2) sambal in doet (voordat de bouillion erbij gaat).

Smaak voor overdaad

Mijn lieve vriendje heeft een bijzondere aanleg voor het genieten van het leven en vooral van eten. 

Dit is zijn ideale toetje: 

- muesli (of cruesli)

- yoghurt

- vanille vla

- cornflakes

- slagroom er over

- topping van hagelslag

Super lekker, maar ook super vet, maar eens in de zoveel tijd geef ik me over aan zijn smaak voor overdaad.