Frambozen cheesecake

Wow, ik ga over in het Nederlands. Ik ben namelijk niet meer zo internationaal. Ik woon weer lekker in Amsterdam en kook het liefst voor mijn vrienden. En die spreken voornamelijk Nederlands - dus dat Engels is eigenlijk overbodig. Jammer dat de rest van de wereld mijn kookperikelen niet meer zal kunnen volgen, maar zo'n enorm verlies zal dat nou ook weer niet zijn. They'll live.

Het allereerste recept dat ik in het Nederlands met jullie wil delen is een cheesecake recept. Het komt van de site www.bbcgoodfood.com, en ik heb het iets aangepast. Het is lekker lekker lekker!! En snel klaar, en niet moeilijk. Wat wil je nou nog meer. Ps. de foto is genomen met mijn telefoon, onder het motto beter iets dan niets.



Frambozen cheesecake

stap 1 - de bodem

12 Digestive koekjes (of andere koekjes)
75 g boter
springvorm

* verwarm de oven voor op 180 C
* smelt de boter in een pannetje
* maal de koekjes (zie tip onderaan)
* doe de gemalen koekjes in een kom en voeg de gesmolten boter toe
* roer tot het gemengd is, en doe de massa in de springvorm
* druk het aan met de bolle kant van een lepel
* zet de vorm in de oven, en haal 'm er 5 minuten later weer uit. laat dan afkoelen.

stap 2 - de vulling

3 pakjes Philadelphia roomkaas naturel (185 g per bakje)
100 ml crème fraiche
2 eieren en 1 eidooier
2 eetl bloem
160 g fijne suiker
250 g frambozen
+ frambozen ter decoratie (optioneel)

Doe de roomkaas en crème fraiche in een grote kom en roer dit los met een (electrische) garde. Voeg de eieren één voor één toe, en klop tussendoor steeds weer alles door. Voeg daarna ook de bloem en suiker toe en klop tot er geen klontjes meer zijn. Je mag best wel even kloppen (1-2 minuten). Roer er dan de frambozen door.

Schenk deze roomkaasvulling over de afgekoelde bodem en zet ongeveer 30 minuten in de oven. Het is klaar als de bovenkant goudbruin is. In het midden mag het nog wel een beetje 'wobbly' zijn. Laat de taart afkoelen, en zet 'm dan nog een uurtje in de koelkast.
Versier met extra (verse) frambozen.

tips:

* Het malen van de koekjes: dit kan in de vijzel of in de keukenmachine. Je kan ze ook in een plastic zakje doen en er met iets zwaars op slaan.
* Je kunt een 20 cm springvorm gebruiken, dat heb ik gedaan. Als je die niet hebt, maar wel eentje van 24 cm is dat ook prima. Dan wordt de cake gewoon wat platter, ook prima.
* Bij de AH hebben ze doosjes frambozen van 250 g in de diepvries.
* Cheesecake is de volgende dag bijna nog lekkerder, dus dit is een handig toetje dat je van te voren kan maken
* Gebruik bevroren frambozen en laat ze niet ontdooien voor gebruik. Hierdoor vloeit de rode kleur minder door de cheesecake. Voeg wel een paar minuten extra aan de baktijd toe.

I recently moved to a new neighbourhood and already I have discovered two small shops where I plan to go every Saturday from now on.
One shop is a bakery. I saw a small crowd inside, which made me curious. It smelled lovely in there and it was very warm from the ovens burning. On the counter there were different cakes and breads, it was difficult to choose. Best of all: the ingredients are all ecological.
And the other day I was pleasantly surprised to find a Moroccan supermarket, with all types of vegetables including rare ones, like Jerusalem artichokes (NL: aardperen). It also had a butcher's counter, where I bought some lamb. And I made this:



Middle Eastern lamb stew (serves 4)

1 kg lamb (lamb shoulder, or leg of lamb without the bone), cut in large chunks
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons ras-el-hanout (Moroccan spice mix)

* put the lamb meat in a bowl and add oil and spices
* stir so all the meat is covered, and place in the fridge overnight

next day:
1.
equipment: a casserole (NL: stoofpan) with a lid

* preheat the oven to 150 C
* heat some olive oil in the pan, and fry the meat. it's very important to only fry a few chunks (depending on your size of pan, around 6-8 chunks) at a time so they get nice and brown
* put the chunks you have fried in a bowl, and continue to fry all chunks of meat

2.
olive oil
2 large white onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic
water
2 bay leaves (NL: laurierblaadjes)

* put the onion in the pan you used to fry the meat. fry on a low heat for 5 minutes
* add garlic and continue to fry for 1 minute, then add the meat. cover with water and put in 2 bay leaves.
* bring to a boil and place in the oven and leave it there for 2 hours

3.
100 g dried plums, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons of honey

* place the pan on the stove again, and stir in the plums and honey
* continue to cook for half an hour, without the lid
* serve with for example couscous and grilled vegetables

This stew was really even better than I expected, and I would really recommend it.

Apple and almond cake

That was a while ago! I'll just pick up where I left off, get straight to it. Because it's not as though I haven't been cooking, au contraire. This morning I even went a bit overboard: two cakes and a Middle Eastern lamb stew.
I'll share with you first the sweet. This cake is a bit juicy, it has apples in it, and nuts. Lovely combinations. The top caramelizes a bit, creating a nice crunch.



Apple and almond cake

125 g butter from the fridge
150 g selfraising flour
150 g caster sugar (NL: fijne kristal suiker)
40 g almonds with the skin on, chopped
40 g almond flakes
2 small apples, core removed, unpeeled and cut in cubes
1 large egg, whisked separately

* preheat the oven to 180 C
* place the butter and flour in a kitchen machine and mix until it looks like crumbs
* transfer to a large bowl and stir in the sugar, nuts and apple
* stir the egg into the mixture
* make sure you only stir enough to mix all the ingredients: don't stir too much
* place the mixture in a cake tin
* bake for around one hour
* let it cool in the tin

The recipe was inspired by Liz Franklin's Bread and Cake. She used pecan nuts instead of almonds, which sounds just as delicious. I think you can use any nuts you have at hand.

Serve the cake as dessert or with a cup of coffee.

Sea bass on a bed of fennel and tomato

Time for some fish. Almost every Saturday I make my way to the market, and I love it so much. There is a great market closeby (Ten Kate market), with a nice mix of fruits, vegetables, weird stuff and fishfishfish. The fish is fresh and surprisingly cheap. Really uncomparable to the stuff you can get in the average supermarket here - where it's prepackaged and overpriced.
Last Saturday the fish stand had sea bass on offer. I bought a nice two person-sized one and continued my round past different stalls, buying different vegetables and fruits. At home I searched the internet a bit, and decided to make the following: (and it was FABULOUS!)



Sea bass on a bed of fennel and tomato (serves 2)

500 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 cm slices
olive oil
1-2 fennel bulbs (top and bottom cut off), sliced (NL= venkel)
2-3 tomatoes, cut into wedges (NL=partjes)
4 anchovy fillets (in oil, from a jar of can)
4 cloves of garlic, cut into large chunks
300 ml water + bouillon cube
bunch of fresh dille
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 sea bass (about 300 g), cleaned but with head (NL=zeebaars)
2 lemon wedges

* preheat the oven to 200 C
* boil the potatoes for 7 minutes and drain
* rub some oil in an oven dish and spread out the potatoes, making 1 layer
* put the fennel, tomatoes, anchovies, garlic pieces, some dille (not all of it) and the oregano on top of the potatoes
* boil the water and dissolve the cube in it with a fork
* pour the bouillon over the vegetables and place in the oven for 25 minutes
* rinse the fish under the running tap (NL=kraan) and pat dry with some kitchen towel
* make 5-6 undeep incisions into the skin on both sides of the fish, rub some olive oil onto it and sprinkle salt and pepper outside and inside of the fish
* put 2 lemon wedges and some dille in it's stomach opening
* place the fish on top of the oven dish and bake for 20 minutes more

Cauliflower soup

So, it's been a while. A long, long while. My life has changed radically. The cute little house in the forest is still there...but I'm no longer in it. At least not permanently. It will now be a place to hide from the big, bad Amsterdam.
Yes, I've moved back. I found a job and a house, and I'm enjoying the buzz of the city once again. Looking out of my window I no longer see deer jumping around, it's just the neighbors across the street closing their curtains. It's a different life, completely. Not so much time for blogging anymore! But, now that everything has settled down a bit, I think I'll start again. Even if it's just as a notebook for myself.
Today I will start with a recipe I got from my mother-in-law. It's delicious, fresh and very pure. It sounds a bit complicated, but actually it's quite simple. Just try it!
I'll serve it tonight on my Easter dinner, followed by lamb, spring vegetables and a dessert.



Cauliflower soup (serves 4-6)

1 cauliflower (NL=bloemkool, S=blomkål)
1,25 L water
1 large tablespoon of butter
1 onion, chopped
1 sellery stick, chopped
2 tablespoons of flour
100 ml cream
50 g grated pecorino and some extra to serve
nutmeg (NL=nootmuskaat, S=muskot)

step 1
* cut the cauliflower in half. divide in two parts, and cut one part in nice florets, without the green
* bring 1,25 L water to the boil in a large pan and add the florets. boil for around 5 minutes, until just tender
* when that's done, take out the cauliflower with a (slotted) spoon and put it a bowl to use later. don't throw away the water!

step 2
* cut up the other half of the cauliflower, including the green, in large chunks
* take a large pan and fry the onion and sellery in butter, until soft and shiny
* add the unboiled cauliflower and greens, and 2 tablespoons of flour and keep frying for a minute, while stirring
* add the water you used to boil the cauliflower in and cook for 20 minutes

step 3
* purée the soup and add 100 ml of cream, the pre-boiled florets and 50 g of pecorino
* taste, and add salt and pepper
* serve with freshly grated nutmeg and some extra pecorino or parmezan

I changed the recipe a little bit - originally it has carrot instead of sellery, and parmezan instead of pecorino. All variations taste good. What I especially like about this soup, is that it's creamy but still has texture, and that it's very pure in flavour. Vrolijk Pasen!

Fred's brownies

When I was working in Amsterdam at the local television station, I had a sweet colleague from the US. Once he treated the whole floor to brownies and a huge New York cheesecake. Both were delicious. On request he gave me the recipes, and just now (years later) I finally made the brownies. Why did I wait that long? They were yummy yummy yummy. So please try them if you are in the mood for something very chocolaty, fudgy, smeary and yet crunchy.



Fred's brownies

230 g butter
225 g dark chocolate (70% cacao), roughly chopped
125 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
380 g sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
140 g walnuts, roughly chopped

* preheat the oven to 175 C
* grease a baking pan that is around 25x30 cm (or a little bit bigger or smaller) and then line it with two sheets of baking paper. also grease the top layer of baking paper. the paper can stick out some centimeters on the top to prevent the brownie mixture to overflow
* melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave at 350 watt, stirring each 30 seconds until completely melted
* in a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt
* in another, large bowl, whisk the sugar with the eggs and vanilla extract until fluffy and white
* pour in the melted chocolate/butter mixture while stirring, and then add the flour mixture. continue stirring from the edges of the bowl to prevent lumps
* when all is mixed, stir in the chopped walnuts
* pour the mixture into the baking pan and place in the oven for around 40 minutes, the top should be shiny and edges should curl up a little
* let it cool down completely on a rack (yes, this is the hard part!), be patient.
* flip it over carefully and remove the paper. cut into squares and enjoy.

The brownies will taste even better the day after, so make them in advance, or try to save some for the next day.

Thanks Fred!

Ratatouille - French zucchini and tomato stew

Excuses, excuses. Plenty of those. I do apologise for my absence the last month. I will not bore you with the reasons, but instead treat you to a new recipe. A very summery dish this is, and while eating you will think you are somewhere in France. I do anyway.
You can eat ratatouille, of course, the day you make it. I usually eat it with some wild rice.
But make sure to make some extra ratatouille and eat that the next day. Preferably lukewarm on a piece of French bread (baguette). Let it stand for 10 minutes and enjoy. I read this tip on another blog somewhere and I can really recommend it.
By the way: buy your zucchini on the small side. They usually have more flavour than the larger ones.
The recipe for this ratatouille is without aubergine. My man doesn't like it, and I'm not too fond of it either, so I skip it even though it's quite a traditional ingredient for a ratatouille. If you do like to put in some, well, then be my guest.



Ratatouille (serves 4, or two times two)

olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped or finely sliced
3-4 zucchini (NL: courgette), halved and cut in 1-cm slices
10 tomatoes, coarsely chopped or 2 cans of tomatoes
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 glass of white wine
2 bay leaves (NL: laurier, S: lagerblad)
1 teaspoon of dried French herbs
salt and pepper

* heat the oil and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots
* let this soften up for 10 minutes - it should not get brown, just soft
* add the zucchini and fry for 2 minutes
* add the tomatoes and sugar and turn the heat up
* break the tomatoes by cooking them on a high heat while stirring often
* after 5 minutes you can lower the heat and add the wine, bay leaves and herbs
* leave to simmer for 30 minutes or longer, with the lid of the pan halfway

Another serving alternative: add some fried sausages, cut in slices and boiled potatoes to turn it into a more meaty and hearty stew (S: Fransk korvgryta).