"What I Cooked Today" Day 55

Today was brutal. I had to work from 9 till 6. Giving exam training. On a Saturday. Good news for me: free pizza with colleagues. Bad news for you: boring blog. Must. Sleep. Now.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 54

Of course Jochem and I had a ton of food left over from yesterday and we used it to make ourselves a little Friday night dinner. We put the salsa from the gorditas into some tortillas with creme fraiche, gaucamole, coriander, lime juice, spicy olive (me), Mexican chili sauce (Jochem) and grated cheese.

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 53

Today I cooked for Jochem and 10 colleagues. I met my colleagues in August when we all started our internship at the same high school. Over the months we've grown quite close and what better way to celebrate this friendship than with food? I had cooked for my colleagues once before in December and that time I made a really big deal out of it with a long table and 8 courses. Tonight I kept things a little bit more informal by cooking lots and lots of Mexican food. It cost me half a day's work, one cut in my left ring finger and a couple of hurt eyes (chilis, argh!), but I believe it was a success. After we returned from our laser quest (which is FANTASTIC fun by the way!) I presented them with three courses, all of them coming from the book which they had given me the last time I had cooked for them.

For starters I cooked gorditas (Spanish for: little fat girls) with salsa. The salsa consisted of feta cheese, red apple, tomato, spring onion, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed and coriander sprinkled with lime juice.

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver



As a main dish I had bought a bunch of tortillas and prepared three different fillings, one with meat, one with fish and one vegetarian option, namely minced pork and green chili, grilled mackerel and courgette salad and homemade tomato sauce. Of course all of it was offered with lots of creme fraiche, homemade guacamole, grated cheese and fresh herbs.

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver



For dessert Jochem and I had made a mole chocolate cake the day before. It took hours to prepare, but it was worth it since it was one of the best chocolate desserts I have ever made. We served it with whipped cream and mole spices.

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver



KWC!!!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 52

Today Jochem and I made tofu tandoori again. Whenever we buy tofu we always buy it in bulk because it's cheap as chips at the little Asian store downtown. It was good to have a simple dish for dinner, because I was home late due to traffic and we spent the better part of our evening preparing dessert for my colleagues who are coming over for dinner tomorrow. But more on that later...

"What I Cooked Today" Day 51

Today I cooked a lovely dinner for Bic, Mag and myself (Jochem had dinner with Eyal in the Hague to celebrate the finalization of their final project, which is like a bachelor's thesis for Hotel Management). I made a quiche with mushrooms, onion, garlic, spinach, cream, tomatoes and grated cheese. This recipe was inspired by one of my lovely colleagues who convinced me to make a quiche, which I had actually never done before. Her and me have been working together for almost two years now; first during our masters and now during our educational internship. She's a great colleague to have and she manages to make my mundane days a little more colorful, what with her fancy clothes, food embellishments, dance marathons and Lush anecdotes. She's kind of like me in the "I'm a twentysomething and don't know what to do with my life" kind of way, even though we are radically different in most other ways. Still, it'll be weird not to work together next year. Anyway, she introduced me to this great dish but in the heat of the moment, while I was transporting the quiche to Bic's place, I forgot to bring our camera so I don't have a picture! You'll have to wait until the next time I make it, I'm afraid...

"What I Cooked Today" Day 50

Today Jochem and I cooked a pasta dish with tinned tuna. I try not to eat tinned tuna too much because I keep being told tuna will soon be extinct, which is a real bummer because it's cheap as chips and I love it - it reminds me of the tinned tuna, mayonnaise and tomato sandwiches that my mom used to make for me and my brother during summer holidays in Spain. So, occasionally, like today, I make it despite its obvious political incorrectness. This pasta is made with red onion, mushrooms, garlic, ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and spicy olive oil.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 49

Today Jochem and I finally cooked green chili. The first time we made this dish was for Anna and Ashwin in Brussels and it's been one of our favorite dishes ever since. It is a mix of minced pork, green bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, green chilis, garlic and sage. Serve it on roasted tortillas with creme fraiche, green salad leaves, spring onion, mint and chili sauce. The best part of this dish is the combination of spicy minced meat, light cream and fresh greens. Great food for lazy spring Sundays!

Source: Jamie's America by Jamie Oliver

"What I Cooked Today" Day 48

Today I had a long day of work after a long week of work and afterwards Jochem and I had to travel to Tilburg for Marije's 26th birthday party. So, we decided to cook something simple: new potatoes with red onion, green peas and grated cheese. Jochem loves this dish because it really tastes like real butter. I love any dish that is easy to make and tastes wonderfully fresh. Plus: it's a good vegetarian alternative to any filling dish!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 47

This whole green chili business is getting ridiculous. Jochem and I have been trying to make it for almost a week now, but something always comes up. And today was no exception. I didn't make it home until 6.45 PM this evening - a personal record. I figured that Jochem would be at home by 7, as always, which gave me 15 minutes to clean up. But at 7 he calls me to tell me that he won't be there by 7 because he just left school at 7. What a perfect way to start one's weekend! I thought, knowing that it would take him an hour and a half to come back. Being extremely tired from work and in no mood to cook by myself, I got some 'patat met' and a 'broodje kroket.' So there!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 46

I always feel a little sad when I have to return to REAL LIFE after having escaped it for a while, so when I got home from Amsterdam while Jochem had returned to the Hague to start work again, I felt very uninspired to cook something original. I decided to leave the green chili until tomorrow evening and pimp pizza for tonight. I bought two basic pizzas with tuna and added mozzarella, red onion, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and spicy olive oil. I also made something for my 4 HAVO students, because tomorrow's our last English class together. I made a mix of toffee cupcakes with dates, apricots and raisins with vanilla icing, and so-called chocolate rocks with a mix of dried nuts and fruit. I just hope they'll like it...