"What I Cooked Today" Day 45

Today Jochem and I sped from work to Amsterdam to spend a night at the NH Schiller Hotel, Jochem's soon-to-be internship hotel. We were invited as mystery guests to rate the hotel. It was pretty nice to enjoy Jochem's 'connections' so soon in the game! We visited the Anne Frank House where I had actually never been before (I know, shame on me). We had dinner at the hotel and followed the Dutch election results from the bath tub. But, as you can guess, we did no cooking. While wandering the streets of Amsterdam we did, however, find something that I thought was really cool: a Burger Bar. While you wait a very quiet Asian man prepares freshly minced meat into a tasty hamburger while you choose from an array of bread and toppings. There's even water and soap because you know you''ll spill! I believe it's a chain, which kind of bums me out, but other than that I thought it was awesome! Look at the massive amount of mayonnaise with the fries!!!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 44

Today I made dinner for Jochem, who's in denial about suffering from massive amounts of pain due to his wisdom teeth having been pulled at the hospital today. Since chewing appeared to be somewhat problematic, I made something that would be easy to consume: chicken tandoori. Chicken tandoori is still one of my favorite dishes, although probably more because of nostalgia than because of anything else. It comes in one of those premade packages that you have to add a couple of fresh ingredients to, and I know from personal experience that it tastes nothing like the real chicken tandoori that I always order at my two favorite Indian restaurants downtown. But this was the first recipe I ever mastered. My then boyfriend taught me how to make it when I was a 17-year-old student still living in Almelo. This was in 2001, and for years it was the only thing I could cook, so I would often make it for friends and family (my family has become so sick of it that I'm afraid I've spoiled them as far as Indian food is concerned for the rest of their lives). But I still love it. It's a real comfort food to me and, in light of the more culinary activities I've been doing lately, really easy to make as well. Over the years I've become quite the chicken tandoori expert by tweaking the recipe - a little more water here, a little less creme fraiche there, and there you go! I've also started using tofu instead of chicken because we only buy organic meat and organic chicken has to be one of the most expensive things out there (so next time you see chicken filets on sale in your local supermarket, know that they are most likely not the happy kind of bird). Jochem hasn't been very happy with this decision, but today it came in handy because of his inability to chew. Today he could just swallow the thing!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 43

Today Jochem and I returned to some of our own cooking. We decided on a simple pasta dish which was kind of a pasta carbonara with a twist. We cooked tagliatelle with broccoli and a sauce made from creme fraiche, cheese and egg yolk. We finished it with fresh oregano, fresh basil, spicy olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Delish!

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 42

Today I won't cook either, but for very good reason. At least I think so. My parents are coming over from Almelo to take Jochem and me to Amsterdam to have dinner at Fifteen to celebrate that I am now with job. Since Fifteen is one of my favorite restaurants, I couldn't be more thrilled!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 41

Today I did not cook. Jochem traveled to Brabant (basically another country) to spend the day with his friends. I don't blame him because said friends have a pool and since our teeny tiny balcony doesn't even fit a bucket to put your feet in, he couldn't be spending this day any better. I had a great day though. Jochem and I woke up early and made our weekend sandwiches with bread, loads of butter, fried eggs and lots of cheddar (besides the British, no one would eat this for breakfast every weekend besides us). I had my Spanish coffee in my pajamas on our balcony. Then we had an appointment at JoHo, our travel guru/agency, to talk shots for all of the trips we'll be taking in the future. We got a lot of useful information and two shots each - one for Hepatitis A and B and one for DTP ((Diphteria, Tetanus and Pertussis). It was all fun and games until the doctor told me that I was really stupid for not getting myself to a hospital after getting bitten by a stray cat in Istanbul. Since it was hardly a scratch and I washed and disinfected my hands and my Rough Guide said that only paranoid people worry about rabies in Istanbul, I figured I was out of harm's way. But apparently that was stupid. Since the cat bit me in my hand and I was in Istanbul three months ago I would've been crazy or dead by now had the cat had rabies, but that was scary for a little bit. Anyway, afterwards I bought some goodies because, hey, I have a job now and that means that I can treat myself to nice things. Then we had lunch at a downtown terrace. I just got home and plan to spend a couple of blissful hours on our balcony reading and drawing with the charcoal I just purchased. Then at 7 I'm having a simple dinner with my sort of boss and then we're going to the Studiekring's annual party. Enjoy this sunny day!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 40

Today we cooked something that is quickly becoming one of my favorite dishes. We reran part of Jochem's birthday dinner by preparing köfte kebabs made from lamb, including roasted tortillas, pistachio nuts and creme fraiche and a spicy salad with red onion, parsley and mint. It is so delicious like you won't believe! I must admit that I have been a bad cook this week. I've been extremely busy finishing my master's and Jochem did most of the cooking. So honor to him for making such a great Friday night dinner!

Source: Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 39

Something bad happened. Yesterday Jochem and I cooked a wonderful dish. One of our favorite dishes in fact. Thai curry with lemon rice. We often make this dish whenever we want to impress our guests or whenever we feel like something exceptional. It is a wonderful mix of fresh ingredients, lots and lots of different herbs and spices and coconut milk. You can make it with meat or fish, but we prepared it with roasted bell peppers. However, yesterday Jochem and I were so busy entertaining our guests, Jochem's ex-stepmother Joke and her boyfriend Kees, that we actually forgot to take a picture! And since it really is very good food, we didn't have any left-overs, except for some sad left-over curry sauce in tupperware. We were kind of bummed out when we found out, but rest assured that we will make this curry again fast enough and then we will definitely take a picture.

Source: Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 38

I must admit that Jochem did most of the cooking today, since I was too busy having Coronas in the sun (see: previous post). But he did good! We had vegetarian quesadillas for dinner with olive tapenade, creme fraiche, grated cheese, tomatoes, chilis and roasted courgette. It was 8.30 when Jochem was finally done cooking and I'd had such a long day at work and was so ravenous after all the beer that I breathed it in!

The Simple Life

When you're not thinking about the future (or at least pretending to be) your mind has room for more mundane things. Although I was too busy at work to join my colleagues when they went to have a drink in downtown Culemborg, I did enjoy a cold Corona with lime on our teeny tiny balcony while listening to Chris Rea. And then I had another one. But I wonder: should I be worried about the fact that my neighbor, the same sorority girl who got me hooked on the Amélie soundtrack one year ago, is playing the Spice Girls' second album as we speak? Because I kind of am...

"What I Cooked Today" Day 37

Today Jochem and I cooked something simple. I was working on a massive research report till 7 PM and Jochem wasn't home until 7.30. We made omelets with potato, served on ciabatta with tomato salsa with basil and mint. Add a big spoonful of creme fraiche and you're good to go!