Bouillon B Baard

Bakker Baard (Baker Beard) is a new phenomena in Amsterdam. Made baking Clafoutis his specialty. Tasted his Pies for the first time at a party a couple of months ago and thinking about them since I was very happy to hear he opened his own place at the Westergasterrein. We had some potato soup with Garlic Clafoutis, Pear Clafoutis with  pepper and chocolate and one very, very good very, very fresh pear juice. hmmmm. We had to go but I'll be back really soon for a Clafoutis plate, with three different Clafoutis the ladies next to us had - and a pear juice, and maybe a garlic Clafoutis and...:)

http://web.me.com/bakkerbaard/Bakker_Baard/wie_is_Bakker_Baard.html

Deer Stew with Parsnip and Jerusalem Artichoke puree (Hertenstoof met Pastinaak en Topinamboerpuree)

Again a night of Cooking from De Krat. Tonight I'm using some ingredients for the very first time, one of the reasons why I have De Krat in the first place. Ingredients from De Krat I'm using tonight: Venison, Parsnip, Jerusalem Artichoke, Chicory, Mushrooms and Apples.

For the stew: (based on the recipe delivered by De Krat)

400 gr Deer

100 gr Mushrooms

1 shallot & 1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 table spoon of thyme leaves

50 gr butter

40 gr bacon

350 ml stock

50 ml red wine vinegar

100 ml red wine

2 cloves & 1 bay leaf

Pinch of Chili Pepper

1 table spoon of dessert wine

Fry the bacon in half the butter, add shallot, garlic and thyme and bake for about 5 min until its soft. Fry the Deer until its brown in a Casserole in the rest of the butter, than add the onion mixture. Turn the heat high and add the vinegar, let it boil for a couple of minutes. Add the red wine and also let this boil for a while. Add 3/4 of the boiling stock to the pan, together with the Bay Leaf and Cloves. Let it softly boil for 1 hour, stir every now and then and add some stock if necessary. Than add the Dessert Wine and Mushrooms and cook for another 15 minutes. Season with some salt and pepper if necessary.

Side Dishes: 

Jerusalem Artichoke Puree - Peel 500 gr of artichokes, boil them for about 15 minutes. Mash together with a teaspoon of mustard and a tablespoon of creme fraiche, salt&pepper and some fresh thyme. If Necessary add some cooking cream to make it smoother.

Parsnip - Peel them, cut them in pieces of about 5 cm long and put them in water with lemon. Cook for about 15 minutes, drain, add salt pepper and olive oil.

Chicory Salad - Peel and chop 1 apple. Mix it with 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon of mustard, some olive oil and some lime juice, salt&pepper. Put in a couple of sliced pickled onions and 2 stumps of chopped chicory.

Salad with Bloater and Red Cabbage (Salade met Bokking en Rode Kool)

De Krat Brought me some nice Bloater this week. Best thing for a salad: smoked Fish. Since De Krat also contain some Red Cabbage, Nice apples and something I don't remember the very difficult name of, but it was Japanese and can be used as a salad.

Needed:

2 bloaters

400 gr Japanase vege (or something like it, like raw spinache)

1/2 a reed Cabbage

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

1 big apple

8 small pickled onions, in quarters

2 spring onions, thin slices

1/2 lime

1 tbsp olive oil

for dressing the Cabbage: 1 tbsp Mayonnaise, 1 teasp mustard, 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar and a drip of honey. Salt&pepper

Cut the Cabbage in thin Slices. Peel the apple and cut 3/4 into chunks and 1/2 into thin slices. Mix the ingredients for the dressing. Mix the Cabbage with the pickled onions, apple chunks and dressing and put aside. Clean the Bloaters. Put the spinach on two plates, squeeze 1/4 of the lime and sprinkle the olive oil above. Put the Cabbage salad  on top. Than the Bloaters, sliced Apple, Avocado and spring onions. Finish with the rest of the Lime juice, Salt&pepper.

Little Sis

And then after another hike and getting very lost in the forest, little sis had made you her wonderful pumpkin-vanilla-soup with lots of real vanilla. Hmmmmm

Bilderberg

needing a little escape from the city and wanting to visit little sis who's living in Arnhem: spend the night in Wolfheze and take a long hike through the surrounding forest: two birds with one stone :)

Old School Saturday Night Dinner

On Saturdays my dad would start peeling potatoes at five o'clock to be made into home made fries.  

He still does this if we come and visit on Saturdays because he knows how much we love it. Always proudly explaining what kind of potatoes he used this time. For the sake of vegetables he always makes a salad with it, if possible with homegrown vege from my mothers yard.

Picking Apples at De Olmenhorst

For my sisters birthday I gave her a so called adoptive tree. It's an apple tree you can adopt to stimulate the organic apple production. The idea is that they hang a sign on a tree with your name and when the apples are ripe you can go and harvest your own tree.

It was a surprisingly sunny and warm day for the time of the year when we went to harvest. Also the last day of the self-picking season, so a lot of festivities like pony riding and archery.

We went to pick our 25 kg of apples, ate some lovely apple pie, bought some fresh goat cheese at the farm shop and mainly had a very fun day and some fresh air. They almost every weekend have some special activities and you can of course just go for their lovely high tea which is what I'll be doing somewhere in the spring

http://www.olmenhorst.nl/

Cafe de Paris in Hamburg

If you are in Hamburg and your have the time you have to have breakfast at Cafe de Paris, and be early because they're waiting in line. We went there on a business trip and made the stop on our way to the train station. Because we knew we had to travel for a long time and the curry wurst in the refreshment room is NOT something you want to eat for a second time, we went for the full breakfast including a glass of champagne.

It takes all the way to Amsterdam. Very nice, with breakfasts from all over the world in a place that looks like your in Paris. 

http://www.cafeparis.net

Braised Lamb Shank (gestoofde lamsschenkel)

My little brother is coming for dinner and he just loves braised meat. Luckily for him De Krat has brought me some Lamb Shanks.

2 lamb shanks

1 tbsp flour

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, choppes

1 clove of garlic, sliced

100 ml red wine

150 ml stock

1/2 can chopped tomatoes

2 sprigs rosemary

Coat the lamb shanks in the flour. Heat the olive oil in a casserole on high heat and fry the shanks brown. Take them out of the pan and saute the garlic and onion until they're soft. Put the shank back in the pan and add the wine, stock, tomatoes and rosemary and bring to a boil. Put a lid on, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour until the meat comes of the bones easily.

Take the shanks from the pan, let the sauce boil without a lid for 10 more minutes until it thickens. Shanks back in the pan, if necessary season with salt & pepper and it's ready. We ate it with some mashed potatoes and green salad. Very yummie.

Muiderslot

Just outside of Amsterdam is the old town of Muiden with it's very own Castle: Muiderslot which you can also visit. Stroll around the gardens, surrounding grasslands and have a cup of coffee watching the boats waiting in the sluice.  

Twiske

Wanting to get out of the city and go for a stroll among the goats and cow's? Twiske is the place to go. You can reach it by bus or by bike, it really is a nice ride if the weather is good. Only half an hour or so by bike from the ferry behind central station. It's a nice place to walk around and have a cup of coffee and if the weather is really nice you can take a swim in one of the lake and have a pick nick in the grass.

We unfortunately choose a rainy day for our walk, so got soaked, didn't see that shower coming. Nevertheless, wasn't cold so getting wet wasn't that bad.

Roof Terrace Wasp

Fifteen Amsterdam

It's important to once in a while take take some time together and bring the little one to grandma ans grandpa. Time for mummy and daddy to go out. We start our evening with some beerd at Brouwerij 't IJ, one of my all time favorites. A small brewery in an old mill. On a warm day like today the terrace is packed, they only sell beer and some small snacks like peanuts or some cheese and close at 8 o clock. That a good thing because we are already late for our reservation at Fifteen (and a little bit lightheaded after to of the heavy IJ beers) 

At fifteen we're warm welcomed by the hostess and shown to our table. Which I find very odd because it's a very slow night and I really don't understand why she's not letting us pick our own table. Now we're in the middle of a huge space, surrounded by empty tables. The girl that serves us tonight is very sweet, still learning but that's ok. I start with a salad of buffalo mozzarella with beets and a very nice balsamic vinegar. Very good, this starter alone would be a reason to come back, Very fresh and soft mozzarella, nice and fresh dish. The Vitello Tonato of Men is also very nice, with some grilled fresh Tuna added besides the Tuna mayonnaise, but I'm just not a big fan of putting endangered species on a menu. 

For the main we take some pasta's. I'm having the linguine with mussels and tomatoes, the dish is nice, but this plate is undoable. It's just not possible to eat normal from this soup bowl shaped plate. The Tagliatelle with Rabbit Men is having is delicious, will be trying to make some nice pasta with stew myself. 

Deserts are not good. Very salty and not very tasty. I will certainly visit fifteen again for the nice starters and mains, but will never order a desert here again, just a cup of coffee

 www.fifteen.nl

Mussel Days Zierikzee

Every August we are celebrating the start of the new season for Mussels and Oysters in the Southern region thats called Zeeland. This is the part of the Netherlands I was born, so it of course is a special place for me. This year we visited Mussel Day in Zierikzee, a small harbor town on the top island of Zeeland. They celebrate the start of the new season and at the same time ask Poseidon to look over their fishermen by saving him from an island. Eight ships sail out and everybody is welcome on board. The Mussel princes is on the first boat and that the one to save Poseidon.

Afterwards you can eat loads of Mussels for a very low price, yummmm. Next year we'll be visiting the Oyster days :)

Tagliatelle with Purslane (Tagliatelle met Postelein)

2 hands full of Purslane (washed and dried)

200 gr Tagliatelle

100 ml Cooking Cream

50 gr Butter

Zest and juice of 1 Lemon

2 table spoons of chopped Parsley

100 gr Parmesan


Cook the Tagliatelle according the instructions. Heat the Cream slowly in a big pan. Add the Butter, Zest and Lemon Juice, keep stirring till the butter is completely melted and than turn of the fire. Add the Tagliatelle and the Purslane to the warm cream, stir, cover with the Parsley and Parmesan and ready!

Chicken from the oven (kip uit de oven)

One of my favorite, very simple, chicken recipes. Just put the chicken legs in a pan with some potatoes (not peeled, just cut in pieces), cherry tomatoes (cut in half), cloves of garlic (about 8) and a whole lot of fresh basil. Salt, pepper and olive oil on top:

Shove it in the oven for 1.5 hours on 180 C. Stir the tomatoes every half hour and voila:

Very nice with some green bean salad and fresh bread

Blauwe Theehuis Vondelpark

One of the best spots in town on a day the sun comes out. Or actually any day is doesn't rain. For a croissant and coffee breakfast in the morning, a sandwich in the afternoon or a piece of their lovely apple pie. Don't mind the dogs running around.

Salad with Mackerel

In "De Krat" of last week we had a very nice smoked mackerel from Franks Smokehouse. We didn't eat much at home this week so we didn't have a chance to eat it until this Sunday (while the new "De Krat" has already arrived) Also lettuce, tomatoes and fresh basil from De Krat, Crazy Citrus dressing by Bio Bandits (very nice!!!) as well from a couple af weeks ago. So all I added myself where some nice black olives and radiches.

Geitenboerderij Ridammerhoeve

In the middle of the "Amsterdamse Bos" you can find the wonderful goats farm De Ridammerhoeve. A perfect place to visit with kids, but also wothout or woth really small kids it's a nice please to visit. 

You're allowed to just walk among the goats, cuddle them en bottle feed them before you go and admire pig Yolanthe and all of her newborn piglets or get a goats cheese tosti to accompany your goats milk cappuchino

La Cave Insolite

The nicest little wine shop just around the corner of our house. The lovely lady behind the counter deserves more customers than she gets. So much knowledge and service on the nice little da Costaplein, where the neighborhood come together under the big trees to let their children play. Every now and then they have a wine tasting for the neighbors to come to know each other and also of course the perfect wines La Cave sells.

IJmuiden

To clear your head after a day behind a computer. A long stroll with the dog (IJmuiden is one of the few Dutch beaches dogs are allowed unleashed all year long) No sunworshippers here, just people that love to be active on the beach. And than take place at the the terrace of the Beach inn (not for people who don't like dogs), eat some fish, drink some beers and watch the sun sink into the sea...

Little sis' birthday

And she cooked us up a really nice meal, including oysters, mussels in a Thai soup, lam chops with a apricot couscous and a red fruit tiramisu for a desert. Hmmmm, little sisters learned how to cook reaaaaaallly nicely 

De nieuwe meer

Just outside the city, on your way to Amstelveen there is the forest of Amsterdam "Amsterdamse bos". There loads of activities here: canoeing, running tracks, visit the goat farm, swimming pools for children etc, but it can mainly be a place to relax from the business of the city, especially if you have a dog. 

On nice and sunny Sundays it can be really busy in the forest so we take a D-tour and walk along the "nieuwe meer". Dogs can run and swim freely while not bothering anyone.

Visiting Grandma in zeeland

Always favorite: changing the city for a trip to the homelands of Zeeland. Hope to ever have a little place here to visit every now and then for I don't come here enough. A little oasis: grandma's garden with flowers everywhere, together with here home grown veg en fruit.

Italian Salad

A salad to kick off from the last couple of weeks: balsamico, olive oil, tomatoes, olives, pecorino, parmezan, pine nuts and of course some basil

Ancona

Rain is coming

The Beautiful city of Gubbio

Never been there before, never heard of it, but really worth a visit. Build onto the mountain in several terraces, overlooking the surrounding area, it's just magnificent view. When visited at nighttime, for a stroll after dinner, it's like walking through an Italian film set. 

Secret Agriturismo

The town of Gubbio is our next stop. Haven't able to find an agriturismo we decide to take a drive through the area to see what we might stubble upon. And we luck out! Unfortunately we can't remember the name of the fantastic agriturismo anymore. A small sign in between the sunflowers leads us there, and there at the end of a small road it is: the secret agriturismo. Six small rooms in little houses, A swimmingpool, a pond for fishing, loads of fruit trees, all Italian people, little kittens running around...like a small oasis. Next morning we have to drive through, but we hope to visit this lovely place again in the future.

La Casa delle Rose di Maria

After two night at Castelnuevo del Garda we decide to drive through to the area of Arezzo. We've been here two years ago and would really love to visit the beautiful town again (and see if the beautiful ring at the antiquarian, which unfortunately wasn't so) We stay the night in a little village in the hills outside the city at la casa delle rose di Maria. The agriturismo is adorable, Maria embroidered every pillow slope, towel or sheet. Maria herself: adorable as well. She knows we understand very, very little Italian: doesn't stop her from talking Italian nonstop :) Breakfast is at Maria's own dining table. While she entertains out little one, we enjoy all her home made jams, pies and breads.

We try to book an extra night, unfortunately not possible. Maria is already booked for the following night.

Agriturismo ca'Vecia

After the touristy business at Lago di Garda, we searched for a more quiet place to say in the mountains surrounding the lake and found agriturismo ca'vecia. A lovely host who makes you feel welcome, a garden for the guests to use, dog friendly, no tourists but Italian. SO lovely we decides to stay an extra night. Didn't even go out for dinner, just went to the local supermarket for some grilled fish, veg, bread and wine. Ate it at one of their outside tables, with a view at the surrounding vineyards.

Punta san Vigilio

Supposedly one of Lady Di's favorite places for a holiday. The super deluxe hotel was a bit out of our budget, but anyone can drink a coffee at the little restaurant at the sea. Beautiful view at the lake, wonderful homemade cookie with the coffee, so also ordered the home made raspberry pie, hmmmmmm.

Lago di Garda: San Vigilio

We usually go to Lago di Como in the fall, so Lago di Garda in the high season...we had to get used to it...a LOT of tourist and way to much Duchies. Was hard to find any Italian speaking person walking around. Nevertheless we found a very nice restaurant at the very end of the boulevard. Had some Campari Soda with a beautiful view at the lake and then ate some fish caught at the lake that very day. Yum. Ristorante Vittoria is definitely one to visit when in San Vigilio. And then get the F out of there if you want to enjoy Italian life.