"What I Cooked Today" Day 323

Today Jochem and I made ourselves a red bell pepper omelet with potato skins (leftover from making gnocchi on Saturday) for dinner. Simple, but very good!

Source: Jamie Magazine Issue 15 January 2011

"What I Cooked Today" Day 322

Just before spring, right before going out of season, we had us some Brussel sprouts! I'm afraid that the picture doesn't do the meal justice, though.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 321

I felt pretty crappy today, so while Jochem traveled south to visit family, I spent most of the day home alone doing my usual biking, yoga and Lonely Planet-reading activities in order to make myself feel better. I also had some time to watch the news, catch up on Wie is de MOL?! and read Committed. It was nice. Food-wise, though, today was bit of a mess. I didn't use any recipes or had any preconceived notions of dinner whatsoever, but instead ended up scrambling bits and pieces of leftover ingredients together in order have, you know, something to eat. Nothing worth writing home about. I did, however, experience the pleasure of fresh tomato fried in garlic and olive oil, so at least there was one highlight.

"What I Cooked Today" Day 320

Today we had one of our notorious dinner dates! This time we went to Amersfoort, where our hosts Erik and Marjolein prepared the most amazing fish curry (I swear to God, Jochem almost died from pleasure!). Note to self: from now on, ALWAYS add sugar snaps to my curries!



Michiel and Marije made a wonderful nutty dessert that was both crunchy and smooth.



We ourselves had another go at gnocchi. It was quite a nerve-racking experience for me and it was still not as light as I think it should have been (how do those Italian mammas do it?!), but overall I thought that it turned out well. We served it with a simple pesto, a little Parmesan and basil and some lemon juice. By the way, doesn't 'gnocchi' start to sound like an awesome name for a pet?

Source: Jamie Magazine Issue 12 August/September 2010

"What I Cooked Today" Day 319

Today our friends came over to our place for dinner. We served them fresh pappardelle with a creamy bell pepper sauce along with some leftover chicken from yesterday that we had prepared in the oven. For dessert we had more grasshopper pie.

Source: The Silver Spoon / Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson

"What I Cooked Today" Day 318

The longer I keep this blog, the more my posts become collages of nights spent with friends. Aren't food and friends intertwined, after all? On my day off I went to Amersfoort to have dinner with my friends. The meal was centered around a grasshopper pie, around which we quickly materialized an oven dish with potatoes, red onion, chicken and sausage as well as three different dips for our doritos. These dishes were either inspired by Laura Zavan's My Little Italy (in the case of the dips) or Nigella Lawson's Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home (in the case of the oven dish and the grasshopper pie). Enjoy!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 317

Today Jochem's mother came over for dinner. Both of us had to work late and neither of us had time to do groceries, so we served her some leftover soup with toasted bread, plus our last slice of chocolate cake for dessert. Luckily, she liked it!

Source: Jamie Magazine Issue 15 January 2011 / Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson

"What I Cooked Today" Day 316

The other day I realized that those lovely winter vegetables that I actually adore but never seem to use very often are almost out of season in the Netherlands. The next time that they will be in season I will be somewhere in South East Asia, probably not eating potatoes. So we got some red beets for dinner today: pretty AND delicious!

"What I Cooked Today" Day 315

Today Jochem and I made a simple pasta and lentil soup from southern Italy accompanied by plain crostinis and some Parmesan cheese. So simple, so good.

Source: Jamie Magazine Issue 15 January 2011

"What I Cooked Today" Day 314

An impression of today (after the much-needed sleeping in, having breakfast, updating the internet, cleaning, doing laundry, biking, doing yoga and taking a shower (what else are Sundays for if not to run errands?)):

It was sunny, so we took a long walk around our beautiful neighborhood.



We made a quick stop at De Bakkerswinkel where we sat outside in the sunshine and read our books (The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert, respectively).



We had a quick snack (black coffee with French chocolate cake for Jochem and latte machiato with a coconut brownie for me).



After another long walk we ate way too much at De Kust. A shrimp 'kroket' for me (for those non-Dutch readers (if any): I'm sorry, but there's just no translation for this weird yet delicious staple dish of the Dutch culinary world).



Gnocchi for Jochem (told you he was mad for it!).



Pappardelle for me.



Sardines for Jochem.



Finally, we all went to bed early where Manchego and I passed out during Oliver's Twist.



Great day.