I made this dish before my resolution to keep the lactose on a minimum. Although I used goats cheese this still contains lactose or so my dietician told me.
But still this was Delicious. I bought some organic portobello’s, the largest I could find. Cleaned them, drizzled them in a good olive oil and let them grill in my oven for about 15 minutes.I sprinkled some dill and tarragon on there too.
After that I put some ‘real’ (bought at a farm, so no supermarket weirdness) goats cheese and filled the portobello’s with it. Topped of with some honey and dill. Put these lovely darlings in the baking tray and add some vegetable stock about a finger or half way up the mushroom sides. Stick it in the oven at 220 C for about another 20 minutes.
I served them with a light risotto with some greens and again a bit of the goats cheese. The portobello are really meaty, the even have the same colour as lightly grilled meat and the texture is succulent. love it!
Enjoy :)
whenever I’m in the mood for a snack but have nothing in my pantry I grab my can of popping corn and go wild. You just pour a little vegetable oil in a medium to small sized pan with a thick bottom, enough oil to just cover the base of the pan. Put the pan on medium heat and throw one kernel of corn in there to check when the oil is hot enough. If the corn-pellet has popped lower your heat a little to keep the oil at a constant temperature. If you let the oil get to hot it’ll burn the kernels or the already popped corn.
When your oil is hot pour in the corn (again enough to just fill the base, remember they increase in volume like mad) and cover your pan with a lid or some aluminium foil (if you use foil make it so it bulges, the popcorn will need room). Within seconds the corn will be popping. Wait until the popping is less frequent, shuffle your pan a bit and when you think it’s about done empty the pan in a bowl covered with paper towels. Sprinkle with a lot of sea-salt or coarse salt and Enjoy!
Last night though, I was in the mood for something more interesting. and I made a little test bowl of popcorn with fig-balsamic vinegar. It was divine. Just sprinkle it on top of your just popped popcorn in a bowl and mix around (don’t let it get to wet!) and again: enjoy!
I want to try out more of these popcorn flavours, maybe with fresh herbs or chilli powder to give it a bit more kick. I’ll keep you updated!
I think I’ve always felt that my relationship with cheese had a certain forbidden feel to it. And last year I found out why; I’m Lactose-intolerant. And although I was diagnosed only last year, I know I’ve had it all my life. I wasn’t to fond of milk and other liquid dairy but I absolutely LOVE cheese. This presents a problem. Hard cheeses are not that big of a problem but the soft ones, the ones I like best, do give me some trouble.
I won’t go in to detail about the reactions my body has when it encounters lactose (my boyfriend always calls me a walking nuclear weapon) but it is a discomfort. If you have any questions about this you can always message me. But the resolution I’ve made this weekend is that starting last Monday I’m going lactose free as much as possible for at least one week. I already cut out most of the dairy but since I’m a vegetarian it’s a bit hard to cut out the cheese as well. That’s why I’m going to get some advice from a dietician about supplements and stuff. I’ll keep you updated on how this is working for me.
One of my long time desires was mastering the art the poached egg. I love the runny centre and the lightness of the egg itself. But somehow it never really worked. I got tips involving vinegar in the water, stirring the water and letting the egg fall in the little tornado and that it’ll only work with fresh eggs…I tried….but it just didn’t look right. Until my cooking friend Anna showed me how it’s done with a ‘normal’ (not fresh) egg and no additives whatsoever. Turns out I gave up to easily.
All you need is a pot of just boiling water (not really bubbling since that will tear apart the egg-white) and an egg.
I’ve been reading Julia Childs book My life in France and it’s is just a wonderful book to read. I especially ordered the edition which doesn’t have Meryl Streep on the cover. Although I loved the movie, when you read a book about someone who co-wrote it herself I find it strange that someone else would feature on the cover.
But the book is absolutely marvellous, she takes you with her on her journey to France, Germany and Norway and ultimately back home again where her and Simca’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking is published and a real hit. She ultimately did the tv-show The French Cook on Bostons WBGH channel. When you look at the first episode and read the book it’s just a wonderful look into the 50s and 60s.
One note I would like to make is that in 60 years of cooking programs…nothing has changed. The camera angles are the same, the kitchen set-ups are the same, the preparations are the same. Incredible! just watch this show and read the book so you’ll have the right person in mind when you read about her.
Enjoy!
My mini herbgarden is getting some where. In the making some fresh Thyme, Selery and….I forgot the third one….:)
FINALLY! I MADE COOKIES! Crunchy, lemony sablés and they are marvellous!
I’m so happy and proud, it’s like graduated! It has been a fight for years. It didn’t even make a difference if I was aided by a professional cookie-baker. It always came out not quite right. And this time, they were superb.
All credits go to Orangette since I found the recipe on her blog. Her Meyer Lemon Sablés looked good, the recipe is quite easy and even with regular lemons it’s still a tasty treat! 
I love a holiday were yellow and green are the main colours to decorate your home with. And so I love Easter. We love to indulge ourselves with a big brunch.. We got ourselves some excellent fresh bread from the organic bakery on the other side of town. Doesn’t this picture just make you want to dive in and feast?
And with these lovely loaves comes a variety of toppings and my personal, traditional favourite:
Coddlers!
My mom had these (and still does) and only made eggs with them at Easter time. So first thing I did when I had my own little kitchen was search high and low for these wonderfull porcelain cups to cook my eggs in. And I found them at the biggest fleamarket in Utrecht! I found 4 actually (I thought why not grab everything I can get!
for my 100th post I’m going to introduce you to Cookiepolooza #1. As I announced earlier on this blog I was planning to bake loads of cookies to break my spell. I seem not able to bake cookies…This frustrates me. And so I asked a cookie-related book for my birthday and got this:
The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook
It contains recipes of pure bliss (at least the pictures make me drool) about cupcakes, layercakes, whoopies and cookies. Although the cookies were a real minority it still makes me want to bake!
The season has started again! We, the Dutch, love our asparagus. 
We love asparagus-soup, asparagus with a ham wrapper (there are still a lot of non-veggies in this country), grilled, cooked, asparagus with oil, with egg, with anything!
I love them as well but I prefer the green ones over the white ones. I think they have a better bite and don’t have to be cooked for that long. When you don’t feel that inspired but want to eat a bit more up scale add my breadcrumb recipe! Make a large batch and freeze any leftover breadcrumb. It’s a must in your freezer since it perks up every vegetable dish and if you have unexpected dinner guests you’ll impress them instantly.
Cook your asparagus to a soft crunch (about 5-8 minutes), put them in a large dish, sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture and maybe some little nobs of butter on top. leave in the oven at 220 for about 15 minutes and enjoy! I’ll follow up on this post with a more original recipe soon!
This, my friends, is my #1 go-to soup of all times. It’s full of flavour and so easy you cannot but laugh at the recipe. Incredible but true, this creamy soup is actually a vegan recipe. So here goes:
we need:
I’m at work, a job that I love, but all I can think of is reading my new cookbook and cooking magazines. But when I go home I’m to tired to focus and so just choose to watch television. Which is my own fault, I know.
But still this is a good thing. The last couple of weeks I’ve been less motivated to cook and make new things so I fell back on my usual recipes. But spring is in the air, the house is clean, I’ve got new stuff to work with
like my new pestle and mortar and Baking Book (which I will be posting about this weekend after cookiepolooza). So I can’t wait untill the weekend begins! Maybe I’ll think up some new ingredients to use and of course I will be posting about this.
There is one desire in my life that has been there for a while now: Baking Cookies. For some strange twist of faith I seem to be incapable of this rather basic skill. I thought of giving up but this year I got a new baking book for my birthday and since than I have been eyeing it, hoping that I might break the curse.
I’ve blamed several tools and ingredients for my inadequacy (oven, whisk, bowl, eggs, flower) but time ticked on and tools changed, the only constant factor was…me! So now I’m going to dedicate myself to baking cookies. This weekend there’s going to be cookiepalooza at my house!
somebody got any tips?
