An Apple Pie for Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I never celebrated Thanksgiving, just because we never celebrate it in Holland. It was a very exciting day. A few days of prep and a full day of cooking prepared a feast for 60 something people.

Just like always, my cousins prepared an almost outrages feast. We had three turkeys, a prime rib and many many sides. Salads, shrimp rolls, corn bread, beans, squash, mash, corn, rice, pork verde, salsa, stuffing. With a great bar on the side and a huge dessert table, filled with pies, fruits, cakes, cookies and asian desserts.

My first Thanksgiving, Woodland Hills California
One of the Turkeys, the venue and the beginning of the dessert table

For years and years my mom makes apple pies for every occasion. Birthdays, friends coming over, holidays. So when my cousin visited us many years ago, of course there was an apple pie. My cousin and her hubby loved it. When my brother and I spend our summer in 2008 in LA our family requested self baked Dutch apple pie. My brother and I slaved away and found the best recipe.

In the summer of 2012 when I visited the family again, my friend and I made an apple pie for Independence day. Tweaking with the recipe and adding some strawberries and almonds, with a American flag decoration.

4th of July Dutch Apple Pie

This time was my first time baking with some assistance of my two nieces. They love to cook an bake and want to help with everything in the kitchen. The helped me peel the apples and mix the apple mixture. We all had a blast baking. After the house filled itself with the warm cinnamon and apple smell, my cousin and I went out shopping. When I came back, one of my apple pies was picked. My other cousin and the girls just couldn't wait to taste the pie!

Dutch Apple Pie
for the crust
5 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
2 1/2 sticks of butter, cold and cut in cubes
1 lemon, zest
2 large eggs, beaten
Splash of milk

Sieve the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and work it in. Rubbing the butter between your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. At this point you can add some flavorings, so you can add you lemon zest.

Add the eggs and milk, work it into the mixture gently until you have a ball of dough. Try not to overwork the pastry to much. Flour the ball, put in a bowl and cover. Put in the fridge for at least half an hour.

for the filling
5 big apples
1 cup of sugar
2-3 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 cups of raisins, soaked in hot water
1 lemon, zest and juice

Your choice of apples is very important for your pie. In Holland I would always recommend Goudreinetten. In the US I bake with Granny Smiths, but don't always like the tartness. So this time I used Fuji. It works out quit well. Most important is a firm apple, with a mild sweet-sour taste.

Peel and core the apples. Cut into cubes and mix with the lemon juice. This will stop the apples from browning. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon, zest and raisins. Until all the apples are coated. Taste, if your not happy with the taste add some more sugar or cinnamon.

I don't like raisins, so I always leave them out. You can add other fruits or nuts to make up for it, or just have a plain apple pie. I like to mix in blackberries, they will give your apple pie a purple filling. Or raspberries, for a pink filling. To get some crunch you can add almonds or walnuts.

for the assembly
Butter, for greasing
Sugar, for sprinkling the top
Baking tin
Rolling pin
Flour, for dusting
Beaten egg, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C on baking. Grease the baking thin with butter and dust the inside with flour. This will make a non stick layer. Take 2/3 third of the pastry. Dust the surface and roll the pastry to under 1 cm thickness. Cover the bottom and sides of the tin with the pastry. Using a fork make holes in the bottom, this will help crisp up the bottom.

When the tin is totally lined with pastry, make sure there are no cracks. Add the apple fillings and make it even. Now get the rest of the dough and roll it out. Make strips around 2 cm wide. Lay them crisscross over the apple filling. Until you used all your dough and you have a pattern.
If this is tricky or you want kids to help, just let them roll the pastry into thin strips. And lay over the pie in the way explained above.

When done, brush the pastry with egg and sprinkle with sugar. This will help the coloring and makes your pie lovely golden brown. Put it in the middle of the over for an hour. Until the house starts smelling like baked apples. When done, let it rest outside the oven for at least half an hour.

After the big success of the apple pie yesterday,

my cousin requested another apple pie for the second day of Thanksgiving

To spice things up, I made a raspberry apple pie

Note: The biggest problem that I have in the US while baking apple pies, is the amount of liquid in the pie. After baking the apples release their juices and it stays in the pie. It doesn't solidify after cooling, so I normally pour most of the juice out of the pie.

Serve it up in slices, both warm and cold very tasty. Great with a scope of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

"Chinese food" according to Alison Gold

Alison Gold, an 11 year old American blond curly girl, loves Chinese food. Patrice Wilson, a Nigerian man, fell in love with Chinese food when he was 7.  Put them together and "Chinese Food" happens.

Chinese food is a big thing over in the US. Easy, fast and somehow traditional. Well if you look in the right places. So I'm going to check it out, again. I'm setting off to California. Visiting my Chinese family and celebrate Thanksgiving, Sinterklaas, Christmas, New Years and my birthday with them! The last week I've been preparing like crazy, buying gifts, doing laundry, packing my suitcase. It slowed down the amount of posts. I'll keep on blogging from there, hopefully every day. First things first, the flight and the jetlag. So in the meantime, enjoy this great American vision on Chinese food! 

Enjoy!

Sweet coconut and Mediterranean Vegan Scones

I really like scones, I could eat them all day. The only thing I don't like about them is the dairy component. Maybe you have read it before, but I'm not a big fan of dairy products. I don't like milk, yogurt and the whole works. For me the idea of drinking another species maternity milk is just not ok.

Ever since I was little I wondered if it was good for you. The documentary 'Forks over Knives' also looked into it and gave remarkable results. Saying that milk from animals is not good for you. I can tell you all about it, but the movie just does it better. 

For that reason I'm always looking for other alternatives for these products. For a lot of my baking I already found ways of getting around the dairy products. But for scones I just never got around the milk and butter. Until I found a recipe for vegan scones. I started to play with it and the end result was incredible. No dairy, no sugar, just whole food and delicious.

Before and after baking, a mix of savory and sweet scones

Vegan sweet coconut scones
Makes 15-20 small-medium size scones
For this sweet scone I use Coconut blossom sugar, a sugar made out of the flowers of the coconut. In comparison to other sugars it is scores low in glucose, is packed with vitamins and minerals and is unrefined. Making it a healthy sugar that gives us a lot of slow energy!

For the milk substitute, I used rice-coconut milk adding to the coconut flavor. There are also nut, bean or other vegetable milks. Almond milk, hazelnut milk, soybean milk, rice milk, etc. These milks are all available in green shops, but are also getting more availible in supermarkets. You can also make it yourself, like my recipe for DIY almond milk (scroll down in the post).

For the flour you can use any kind you want. Because you add baking powder you don't need a raising flour, like in the traditional scone recipe. So go traditional and use all propose flour, or mix it up, going 50/50 with some spelt flour, of go wholewheat flour.  Of course, going wholewheat is healthier because of the fibers.

Sweet coconut scones with rhubarb jam

2 cups of flour, plus extra for dusting
3/4 cup of shredded coconut
2 tablespoons of coconut blossom sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup / 4 teaspoons of solid coconut oil
3/4 cup of milk substitute, plus extra for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix in the coconut and sugar. Rub in the coconut oil evenly with your fingers. Slowly mix in the milk, working the dough as little as possible, until you have a dough that barely sticks together.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface. Knead the dough slightly until it is easy to handle and smooth. Roll out to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or use a cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. It might take some time to brown them, so for the last five minutes place in the top of the oven.

Star-shaped sweet coconut scones

Best served warm, after resting for at least 5 minutes on the balking sheet. To stay in the vegan and healthy vibe, serve with good quality and low in sugar jams. 

Mediterranean Scones
Makes 15-20 small-medium size scones
Pay attention to your coconut oil, because this is a savory scone you don't want the coconut flavor to come through. Check if you have a neutral tasting coconut oil!

2 cups of flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup of black olives, chopped
1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 cup / 4 teaspoons of solid coconut oil
3/4 cup of milk substitute, plus extra for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour, salt, pepper and baking powder. Rub in the coconut oil evenly with your fingers. Stir in the olives and tomatoes and slowly mix in the milk, working the dough as little as possible, until you have a dough that barely sticks together.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface. Knead the dough slightly until it is easy to handle and smooth. Roll out to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or use a round cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. It might take some time to brown them, so for the last five minutes place in the top of the oven. Best served plain and warm after resting on the baking sheet.

Savory scones in a round flower shape

These vegan recipes for scones are great for everyone who loves scones, but wants it just a bit healthier. Only plant-based products, less fat, less or no sugar and delicious. Time to organize a tea party and share your home made scones with friends and family, enjoy!

Traditional sweet & new-fashioned savory Scones

For me scones are proper British delights. Something you would get in the afternoon with a high tea or cream tea. I always figured it was somehow like a pastry, but apparently it is more like a bread or cake. Many years ago some friends of our family went on a hiking trip in England. When we visited them to see the pictures, she came out of the kitchen with a big plate of self-made scones, clotted cream and English jam.

Years and years went by, never wondering about scones. Never trying them in my visits to England. During one of my cookbook browsing sessions I came around a recipe for savory scones. I thought I would give it a go and was pleasantly surprised!

Feta, olive and tomato scones
Makes 8 -12 scones

400g/14oz of self-raising flour
85g/3oz butter
50g/1 1/2 oz of pitted black olives, chopped
50g//1 1/2 oz of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
85/3oz grams of feta cheese, crumbled
200ml/7fl oz of milk, plus extra for glazing
Pinch of pepper and salt

Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour, salt and pepper into a bowl and rub in the butter evenly with your fingers. Stir in the olives and tomatoes. Then stir in just enough milk to make a soft, smooth dough. While kneading, work in the feta.

Roll out on a floured surface to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or use a round cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Best served warm, after resting for at least 5-10 minutes. Spread with butter, with cheese or plain.

Savory feta, olive, tomato scones on the left and traditional lightly sweetened scones on the right,

great with Port Salut (French cheese), butter and blackberry jam

After making the first batch I was hooked, it was so easy to make! After a lot of savory scones I wanted something sweet. The week before I spend a long weekend in Tours, in the center of France. I was visiting one of my good friends who I met in China. On my last day there I asked her to take me to a supermarket to buy my grandparents some Bonne Maman. The best jam and marmalade there is in the world! While looking for a apricot jam for my grandparents, I came around great flavors. Ending up with hands full of jars. Back at home I selected the flavors of jam I wanted to keep and which to give away. I love blackberry jam, so after a week looking at the jar I figured that the jam would be even greater with a scone!

It became necessary to make plain or lightly sweetened scones. I found this great traditional recipe, just as easy as the savory one!

Traditional scones
Makes 8-10 scones

225g/8oz of self raising flour
Pinch of salt
55g/2oz of butter
25g/1oz of caster sugar
150ml/5fl oz of milk
Optional for glazing: 1 beaten egg, or just some milk

Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter evenly with your fingers. Stir in sugar and just enough milk to make a soft, smooth dough.

Roll out on a floured surface to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or go traditional and use a round cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk or a beaten egg. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Let them rest for some minutes, then serve up warm. Traditional with clotted cream and jam, but butter or marmalade are also lovely. 

Result of one of my baking frenzies at night. A baking spread of banana oatmeal cookies, 

pretzels and savory and sweet scones.

These great recipes are easy to make and always a great success, but highly addicted! So if you make them before the lunch, you might not have any after. Enjoy!

Powerfood, the newbies and oldies

Since some years it starting to pop up in the supermarkets, powerfood. But what are they, these power foods? Supposedly they are foods packed with high levels of heart disease-fighting nutrients and the fewest number of calories. Also known as super foods. This marketing name is prohibit to use in the EU if there is no specific medical claim supported by credible scientific research. So then we use the term functional foods, what originally comes from Japan. But basically it all covers the same ground, Functional, Power or Super food.

The power foods are expending. Every now and then new sorts of power foods are coming on the market. Showing that it is, in fact, a marketing tool. But there lies some sort of truth in the whole power foods. They are high in vitamins, minerals and low in calories.

For me it started with Coolbest's Power Fruits, the pomegranate, acai berry and cranberry juice. I'm a sucker for pomegranate juice, so I went crazy for the stuff. But always wondered if it is really good for you. My mom gave me this article she came around in a magazine, about these powerfoods. It made me dive into the world of powerfood and discovered that I already use a lot of them! Enough talk, lets get into it. Let me show you some of the powerfoods I already use. Some more as golden oldie, other more as newbies that are recently getting more popular.

Chamomile and Goji berry tea from China

Newbie Goji Berry
This little fruit is packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. These sweet fruits are big players in the Chinese medicine. They should help the libido, enlighten your mood, slow down aging, lose weight, fight acne and is good for you organs.

In China the goji berry is used in many medicines, but also in the kitchen. To make smoothies, soups and teas. I remember this berry from my time in Chongqing, it will appear in bottles of my students. Or in the tea I would order at some cafe's. The first time I saw it was in the Moonbar in the Sichuan Art School district of Chongqing. One of my friends ordered a tea and got this lovely chamomile flower tea with goji berries. I was intrigued, it looked so pretty. The taste was subtle, soft and just a bit sweet. Back in Holland I missed the pretty little orang-like bulbs in my tea. So I went out and found the dried variation in many shops and markets.

Golden Oldie Oatmeal
Everybody knows oatmeal. I always figured that it was healthy for you, but how it was presented to me as a kid made it very unattractive. Oatmeal is so healthy for you because of the high fiber, good for your cholesterol and lowers your blood sugar after eating. I never cared for muesli or porridge, so never ate oatmeal. Until I found this great oatmeal recipe, for sugarfree cookies. Since then I'm going crazy for these cookies. Interested? Check out the 'Going bananas for oatmeal cookies' post!

Newbie Quinoa
The marketing around Quinoa peeked just before 2013, making it one of the newest so called superfood on the market. These seeds are not really grains or other related to the grass family, but more to beetroots and spinach. High in protein, vitamins and minerals, gluten-free and tastes great.

I love to make salads with quinoa or even lasagna kind of structures. Great with fresh herbs and other vegetables and seasonings.

left: Tumeric seasoned quinoa salad with pumpkin, mushrooms, zucchini, cucumber and baby lettuce leaves. Sprouts on top, olives on the side. right: Tumeric and curry seasoned quinoa with grilled bell peppers, wild peaches and haloumi cheese topped with fresh herbs like cilantro.

Oldie Walnuts
As long as I can remember I'm crazy about walnuts. I would sieve through my grandparents mixed nuts and eat all the walnuts before anyone else had the chance. These healthy nuts are rich in omega 3 fatty acids and supposedly will improve the elasticity of your blood vessels. I use walnuts for almost everything, as a snack, in salads, pies, cakes, cookies, you name it!

It has been a long time since I gathered for walnuts. But when I was visiting my aunt in the south of Holland near the sea, she told me about the walnut tree outside her studio. So for three days my friend and I picked all the fallen and sometimes almost fallen walnuts. On the third day we split our stash in three, ending up some kilos of walnuts per person. After drying for some time on the windowsill, I ended up with this lovely bowl of walnuts. 

Newbie Coconut Oil
The first time I used coconut oil was at a friends house. The moment the solid oil hit the warm pan a tropical scent filled my nose. I love coconut, the fruit, the milk, the water. The coconut is an interesting fruit. The water is very healthy for you, low in everything and very thirst-quenching, but the meat of the fruit is full with saturated fats. The milk and the oil of the coconut are harvested from this meat. Making coconut milk and oil high in saturated fats.

Because of this the coconut and his oil was always overshadowed with horror stories. The coconut oil and his saturated fats raise the cholesterol levels, what is known as unhealthy. But the coconut oil mostly increases the good HDL cholesterol. Another great fact is that the digestion of the oil is faster then other oils. Therefor it produces energy fast.

The burning point of the oil is very high and therefor great for frying and baking. It is a great alternative to other oils but also to butter and other fat agents. I use it for baking, instead of butter. For example in the 'no-bake chocolate coconut cake' or the oatmeal cookies I mentioned above. Available in Asian markets and organic shops, with and without scent.

Oldie Olive Oil
Not much to say about this one, rich in vitamin E and healthy fats. 

Newbie (Raw) Chocolate
The darker the better, the higher the percentage of cacao the least of other fillings there are. Making it high in antioxidants, lower in fat and sugars. Even more purer is the raw chocolate version, leaving more antioxidants in tact.

When I'm baking I always use dark chocolate. For one it has less fillings, so less fat, less sugar. Second, the taste is richer and therefor better in baked goods. And third, if you're a conscious baker and make a lot of vegan kind of goods, the dark chocolate is the only one who doesn't have any animal-based ingredients. A great way to use dark chocolate it by making one of my raw chocolate cakes. No added sugars, rich and showcases the chocolate at his best!

Oldie Raspberry

Raspberries are the only berries who are packed with ellagitannines, a antioxidant. They help protect your body against illnesses and slow down aging.

Every since I was young we would pick raspberries, we had a big plant at the back of our garden. Every summer me and my brother would pick them and eat this lovely red delicious bulbs. When there in season their lovely and sweet. Recently you can also buy them out of season, mostly frozen, a bit sour, but great in smoothies and pies.  

up: Raspberry, part of Berries, diagram and papercut, 2013

down: Japanese raspberry, part of Berries, diagram and papercut, 2013

right: My brother and me picking berries in our childhood garden, somewhere in the early or mid '90s

This was just a brief introduction to powerfood. There are of course many more of these powerfoods, like cranberries, acerola berries, sardines, acai berries, blue berries, wheatgrass, flax seeds, chia seeds etc. For now only some facts and ideas from me, recipes with these powerfoods will be arriving on this blog shortly. Until then, enjoy the ideas and recipes I already posted!

"Forks over knives"

After talking about cutlery yesterday and knives the day before, I'm staying in the cutlery section just a bit longer. 'Forks over knives' a documentary I saw for the first time in 2011, just after it came out. Is a documentary about how food can be our medicine. It proclaims that we have never been this sick, obesity, heart diseases, cancer, the whole works. And even with the technology and knowledge the medical world has now, they can't heal us.

'Forks over knives' shows how changing your eating habits and your food can make you better. Reverse the done damage and in a long run prevent diseases. Just by changing your animal-based foods into plant-based foods. The animal-based food contains everything that comes from an animal. The obvious one is of course meat, but also eggs, milk and other diary products. The plant-based diet contains everything that comes from plants, vegetables, grains, fruits, nuts and all that you can make from that. In other words, vegan.

'Forks over knives' clip from the documentary, 2011

Since I saw this movie the first time, I now watch it once or twice a year. Honestly I have to say, I don't like the official trailers. They are to American for my taste, scaring you with numbers and facts about diseases and deaths. My advice, don't watch the official trailers, watch the clip I choose. Or even better the whole movie. 

What makes the documentary so interesting for me, is their research on the American foods next to the Chinese. On how the US has a animal-based diet and is struggling with all these diseases. Where every person eats a big piece of meat for dinner, eggs for breakfast, milk with their lunch. Next to the Chinese plant-based diet. Where a whole family will share a small piece of meat, drink soy or nut milk and protein in the form of tofu. I grew up in a world where both diets are practiced. Depending on the nationality of our meal. But we would never eat a lot of meat.

If cutlery defines eating, and eating defines us, than our choice of cutlery is crucial. Forks for a plant-based diet and knives for a animal-based diet. But who ever eats just with a fork or just a knife? Don't you mostly use them together? I believe we humans are omnivores, we are made to eat everything. So just a plant-based or animal-based diet is not in our nature. There should be a healthy balance between the two. I think almost everyone who eats meat, eats to much of it. The solution will be, use chopsticks. Go Chinese! Not going plant-based all the way, but cutting down on meats and other animal-based foods, we would all be healthier, definitely.

'Forks over knives' made me think and contemplate about my own food, changing my diet little by little every time I watch it. Watch the movie, not to change your life, but as food for thought.

How cutlery defines eating, how eating defines us?

Yesterday was about knives, today about cutlery. All over the world we use some sort of cutlery. Different sorts of eating tools like spoons, forks, knives, chopsticks, hands, mouths.

Every country and culture has his own eating habits. His own etiquette, rules and traditions on how to eat your food. I never really looked into it, but I think the world has three main eating habits and matching cutlery. The first one is prehistoric, using your hands and mouth. The other one is using some sorts of knives, forks and spoons. And the last one, using chopsticks. A basic, a Western and a Eastern approach on cutlery.

Cut·ler·y noun, drawing and diagram, 2012

The cutlery we use has a great influence on how we eat, and the other way around.
When we use our hand and mouth we will sip with sound. Cut our food with our teeth or tear it apart with our hands.
When we use chopsticks we would bring the food into our mouths by manipulating the food between two sticks. Cutting, tearing with our teeth and sticks.
When we use spoons or knives or forks, we make everything bite size.

I guess the spoons, forks and knives are the youngest of cutlery. Perhaps the most refined, because these are the only ones who will do almost all the work for you. You just need to chew and swallow. 

 (my) ways of eating, video still, 2012

I got intrigued by these different ways of eating, all the etiquette, traditions and rules about eating.  As a young girl I was taught to eat soup with a spoon and make no sound. But I would see my dad and uncle gobble and loudly sip there soup, placing their mouths on the bowl and shove all the food inside their mouths using their chopsticks. It was such a difference, totally opposite, but in the end has the same result.

I grew up eating with chopsticks at home and other cutlery outside the house. Although my chopstick grip isn't traditional or great at all, it works. Ever since I was young I noticed that eating with chopsticks wasn't the status quo. Because every time friends would stay over for dinner, my dad or brother needed to teach them how to use chopsticks.The reason why I knew how to eat with chopsticks was because of my dad. A connection to the Eastern way of eating.

My mom taught me to eat with my mouth closed, don't talk with food in your mouth. That was all inappropriate, bad habits. But looking at my Chinese family all of these rules weren't obeyed. Making the differences between European and Asian eating habits visible.

All of this makes me wonder about how we all eat, but all have such different ways. How much your upbringing influences your eating habits. And even your definition of food and eating. I guess it shows how our childhood and upbringing forms us, defines us and makes us who we are, in one way or another. Don't you think?

A (wo)man without a knife is a (wo)man without a life

Almost every time I cook at someone else's home I have one problem. Where is a good knife? I'm shocked on what I find in the drawers of kitchens. I've come around a lot of blunt knives in my years. Most of the times the blade isn't bigger then 4 cm long and around 1 cm high. It doesn't cut through anything, except your fingers.

When I cut my nail and finger with a serrated knife, 2012

Picture by Emy Spekschoor

I think it is a Dutch thing, to only have small knives, preferably blunt. Probably because the only thing we have to cut for a dutch dinner is vegetables and potatoes. I'm talking about the potato knife, 'het aardappelmesje'. The names says it all, it's called after a potato, so it is for potato?

As my graduation project for the School of the Arts Utrecht (HKU) I researched the kitchen. The utilities, the ingredients. The differences between the Eastern and Western kitchen. I made drawings of these ingredients and utilities, researched them, used them. Ending up with almost botanic renderings of these ingredients and utilities. Explaining them with diagrams that show their heritage, their origin, my memories and ideas. Maybe you have seen some of these drawings already on my blog. The pencil drawings of produce, with diagrams next to them. Grasping some collected information.

Kni·fes, drawing and diagram from artistbook 厨房 Kit·chen, 2012-2013

Bread knife, cutting knife and freeze knife

Now getting back to knives. I think the knife is one of the most important tool you need in the kitchen. So to have a great one is necessary. It all comes down to choosing your knife thoughtfully. The first question you need to awnser is, why do you want to use the knife? Do you want to spread something, cut something or peel something.

Sometimes the purpose for the knife is in the name. Think about the potato knife I mentioned before. There are a lot of these knives, cheese knives, bread knives, tomato knives. So you can choose your knife based on their name. That is one way, another one is looking at what you wanna cut. Is it slippery, or firm, frozen, smooth? Does it need a serrated or smooth blade? Do you need to use a lot of power to cut? What size doe you need?

Kni·fe, drawing and diagram, 2012

Showing from left to right; Dutch potato knife, Dutch peeler, German knife, French cheese knife, Brazilian steak knife, Dutch cutting knife, German tomato knife, European butcherknife, Chinese butch and cutting knife, European bread knife, European cutting knife, German freeze knife, German cook knife

The size of your knife is related to the size of your cutting board. If you do it that way you will never run out of space on your board. Plus it is saver for your fingers. So look at your board, place the knife diagonal on the board. There should be around 3-5 cm from the corners it is pointing to. Then you have the best size knife for the board.

At home we have and always had big cutting boards and so, big knives. Or the other way around, depends on how you look at things. Since I was young I learned how to work with big knives. So I never was scared of knives. I guess it is a Asian thing, because Asian love big sharp knives. From a young age my parents, my nieces and nephews parents teach their kids to use big knives. 

left: Me (age 5?) cutting cucumber with a big knife, childhood kitchen Houten, somewhere in the '90s

right: niece (age 6) and nephew (age 9) cutting cucumber with big Asian knives, Carlsbad camping trip 2012

I guess that because of this it becomes normal. Making us used to these knives, making us somewhat spoiled to have big and sharp knives. I guess that is why all my friends are scared of the big knives. They never grew up with those knives, they're only used to the small potato knife.

In my opinion you just need 6 knives and your set for life! A small knife (1), somewhat like the Dutch potato knife. Just for peeling and cutting small vegetables or fruits. They are dirt cheap and get blunt fast,  so replace every other year or so. You need a big butcher or cutting knife (2), I would prefer a Asian one. But you can also get another one. If you go Asian, buy one in an Asian market, preferably from Thailand or Taiwan. The knives from there stay sharp for a long time and the quality is just better. Next up is something in between, preferably with a long blade (3). And when you're at it, buy this model even bigger in size (4). So coming to the last two, both serrated knives. Get a good bread knife (5), always useful and get a tomato knife (6). The tomato knife will do wonders, because it will cut through anything the others will have problems with.

Kni·fe, drawing and diagram from artistbook 厨房 Kit·chen, 2012-2013

Dutch potato knife and Chinese butch and cutting knife

When you have the knife you need, you need to take care of your knife. Keep it clean and sharp. Sharpening is especially important for smooth bladed knives. Take it to a shop where they sharpen knifes or sharpen it yourself. Using a sharpening stone. You make smooth gestures, going along the blade in one swift. You might need to remove some burrs. 

Coming to the cutting part, just remember this. Cut away from yourself. You don't want a knife in you body. Be careful, keep you fingers out of the cutting range. But most important, don't be afraid of the knife. Because when you're scared of cutting yourself, you probably will, self for filling prophecy. 

I hope you will find the best knife for your cutting, that you will experience the difference if you use a great knife. Let it enrich your cooking days! Enjoy (careful) cutting!

Shredding potatoes, traditional Chinese and modern takes on potato

The Solanum tuberosum, or better known as potato. In Holland the potato is the main carb component of dinner. The potato is what rice is for Asia, what pasta is for Italy, what bread is for France. Growing up the potato was a vegetable. More because we would eat Asian food, not dutch.

In Holland we would make boiled potatoes, or fries. Make a mash and mix it with other vegetables. Very heavy rich flavors and good food for hard labour. When I was in Chongqing, my colleagues will order for all of us in the canteen. Among the dishes, a potato dish called 炒土豆丝. Translated it means, shredded fried potato. So you can imagine what it could be. Thinly sliced or shredded stirfried potato.

Chinese shredded potato next to (sweet) potato and mango salad

Traditional dish as an inspiration for a modern version. 

It always tasted very clean and fresh. I started to make it myself in my small Chinese kitchen. Trying to figure out how to make this potato dish. Since then I made the dish more often. Back in Holland I was inspired to take it to another level, adding more flavor. I made this lukewarm potato and sweet potato salad, mixed with mango and herbs. Both dishes are great, so here they are.

In California I first came around sweet potatoes. Fries, pies, baked, boiled, mashed. Similar to all the applications of a normal potato. It made me wonder about how the potato and sweet potato are related. Because the texture of the raw potatoes, the skins felt so different. I found out, they aren't family. In no way related at all.

Diptych drawing and papercut about the potato and sweet potato plant and vegetable, 2013

青椒炒土豆丝 'Chinese shredded potato'
2 small-medium size potatoes
1/2 a green pepper
or 1 green onion or scallion
1 tablespoon of white vinegar

Clean and peel the potato. Cut into slices smaller then 1/2 a cm. Then cut strips in the same size. Rinse the potato well and let it leak. Put a skillet on high heat, add around 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Sunflower or canola will be fine. When the pan is hot add the potato and let it fry for some minutes, tossing every now and then. In the meanwhile clean and cut your pepper of onion. Add these to the potatoes and add a slash of water. Season well and let all the moisture evaporate. Taste to check if it is cooked, if not add another splash of water. Just before done, add the vinegar, this will let the potato stay crisp. If done, serve up warm.

Shredded (sweet) potato and mango salad
2 small-medium size potatoes
1 small-medum size sweet potato
1/2 a ripe mango
1 lime
Bunch of fresh herbs, like cilantro, mints or scallions
Optional: 1/2 a red chilli

Clean and peal the potatoes.  Cut into slices smaller then 1/2 a cm. Then cut strips in the same size. Rinse the potato and let it leak. Put a skillet on high heat, add around 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Sunflower or canola will be fine. When the pan is hot add the potatoes and let it fry for some minutes, tossing every now and then. Add the juice of 1/2 a lime. Season well and let all the moisture evaporate. Taste to check if it is cooked, if not add a splash of water. If done, take them out of the skillet and set aside.

Now cut your mango into strips similar to the potato. Clean the chilli and herbs, cut them if necessary or to our liking. Toss the mango and herbs with the potato. When combined garnish with some cilantro leaves and lime wedges on the side.

up: Purple potato and white sweet potato mango salad with herbs and lime on the side

down: Potato and orange sweet potato mango salad

Great as sides for your meal, great with rice or as a springroll filling. Serve warm to lukewarm. Enjoy!

Raw Chocolate cake

Yesterday evening my little brother and I spend our evening baking. After days of rain and cold weather we decided to stay inside, get out all the baking equipment. We decided on tweaking a no-bake chocolate cake recipe I tried out around a week ago. I found it to heavy, so was wondering about making it softer and healthier. My little brother is a chocolate monster, so he had no problem helping me out, being able to eat the mixture when I wasn't looking. 

The original recipe asks for same amounts of chocolate and butter. The idea alone makes me gain pounds and pounds! So I was looking for alternatives. I came up with two different cakes, with different butter replacements.

Note: This is a great recipe for a vegan chocolate cake! Make sure you buy biscuits and chocolate that are dairy free. 

No-bake chocolate coconut cake
serves 12
200 grams of dark chocolate
100 grams of solid coconut oil
80 grams of dates, soaked, pitted and chopped
80 grams of walnuts, chopped
200 grams of wholemeal biscuits
2-3 tablespoons of grated coconut

Melt the chocolate and coconut oil au-bain marie. Line a 22 cm round cake tin with baking paper. Crush the biscuits into crumbs and bigger bits. Now mix the biscuits, the dates and walnuts together. Mix until they are evenly spread. Slowly add them to your melted chocolate mixture, stir till combined. Spoon the mixture into the tin, cover and leave in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours at least.

I use coconut oil as a butter substitute. Cutting the amount in half, making it less fat. I'm not using extra sugar, because I think the dates will sweeten it up. So less fat, no added sugar, heatlier cake! The chocolate and coconut oil will harden in the fridge and will make the cake heavy and packed.

 

Raw chocolate tofu cake
serves 12
It sounds silly, chocolate and tofu in a cake. In comparison to the no-bake coconut cake it is even healthier. Because the tofu will replace the butter or coconut oil and makes it almost fat free! The tofu and chocolate will harden in the fridge. The mixture will stay a bit moister and has more a texture and heaviness of a chocolate mousse.

200 grams of dark chocolate
200 grams of silken tofu
80 grams of dates, soaked, pitted and chopped
80 grams of walnuts, chopped
200 grams of wholemeal biscuits

Melt the chocolate au-bain marie. Line a 22 cm round cake tin with baking paper. Crush the biscuits into crumbs and bigger bits. Now mix the biscuits, the dates and walnuts together. Mix until they are evenly spread.

Now break up your tofu, using a fork or a food processor, blender. Add the tofu to the chocolate, mixing it in while it is still heating by the au-bain marie. You need to heat the mixture a little, the tofu is cold an will cool your chocolate. Making it hard to work with. Heating the mixture while stirring will make it easier and keeps the chocolate from hardening already.

Slowly add the biscuit, date, walnut mixture to your melted chocolate mixture, stir till combined. Spoon the mixture into the tin. Use clean hands to push down the mixture and make a smooth top. Cover and leave in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours at least.

After the cakes are set, you can cut it in thin slices. The cakes are both very rich in flavor, so a little will be enough. Take your pick and enjoy!

Curry up your life

We can all buy a jar of currypaste, coconutmilk, put them together with vegetables and meat and your curry is done. Easy, cheap and tasteful. Even I started out that way and still I use the premade paste. It's just easier and always successful.

For years and years I didn't know the differences between a lot of curries. I mostly ate Thai or Southeast Asian curries. I knew they made curries in India, but in my opinion the only difference was they will add dairy instead of coconutmilk. During my visit to New York in the summer of 2012, I had my first Indian dinner. In a nice traditional Indian restaurant somewhere in Brooklyn. Since then I'm wondering about their cuisine, wondering about other kinds of curries. Going outside of my comfort zone.

This post is not about making the complicated and intriguing already premade and easy to buy curry pastes. This is about taking a whole new look on the curry, with different nationalities, flavors and star-players for your curries.

Sindhian Indian Lentil curry
for 2-3 persons
125 grams of red or yellow lentils, washed and soaked for 1 hour
5 cm of fresh ginger, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of tumeric
1 big tomato, chopped
2 teaspoons of cumin
6 curry leaves
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Optinal: a bunch of fresh cilantro

Rinse the lentils, put in a big pan together with the ginger, chilli, tumeric, cumin, tomato and garlic. Add 250-300 ml of water and bring to a boil. Tear the curry leaves and add to the pan. Simmer for around 20-30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked and yellow. The substance will start to be more creamy when the first lentils start to fall apart.

When chilled down the curry will become thicker. Chop the cilantro and add as a garnish. Serve warm, best on rice.

Beetroot curry, lentil curry served with poppadums, pickled vegetables and sauce.

Sri Lankan Beetroot curry 
for 4 persons
600 grams of beetroots
3 tablespoons of coconut oil or other vegetable oil.
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 cinnamon stick, smashed
12 curry leaves
1-2 green chillies, chopped
1-2 onions, chopped
2 gloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon of currypowder
1 teaspoon of cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon of tumeric
1 can of chopped tomatoes
Squeeze of lime
Optional: 200 grams of carrot

Peel the beetroots and carrots. Cut them in 7-8mm thick slices, then cut them into 7-8mm strips. Heat the oil on medium high heat, in a high frying pan or a wok. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, the cinnamon and curry leaves, saute until the mustard seeds stop popping. Add the chilli, onion and chilli and saute until soft, it will take around 5 minutes. Add the curry powder, cayenne powder and tumeric. Saute for a few seconds, then adding the beetroots, carrots, tomato and a teaspoon of salt.

Cover and let it braise for 15 minutes, on medium high heat. Stir regularly, until the vegetables are just cooked and still a bit crunchy. Add some water if you feel the vegetables are sticking to the bottom of the pan. When done, turn of the heat and remove the cover, add a squeeze of lime and serve.

Both curries are great flavored and giving everybody a new view on lentils and beetroots. Great with rice and crispy poppadums. (Poppadums are Indian (mostly lentil flour based) crisps. Pop them in the microwave for 30-40 seconds, or heat in a dry skillet.) These warm curries will heat up your life and dinner. Suitable for rainy and cold Dutch autumn days like today, to warm you up. Enjoy!

Bún or DIY Springroll-rollfeast IV, the leftovers

Maybe you have read my posts about DIY Springroll-rollfeast or Banh Trang. About making your own springroll feast. But maybe you haven't. So this post can be read as a post about the leftovers or as a new recipe.

So to get you into it, imagine you made a Banh Trang feast. Your friends left, the table is cleared and you're cleaning up. In the many plates or bowls filled with fillings you still find some leftovers. What to do with these leftovers, trowing them away seems like an option, but somehow you end up keeping them in the fridge.

 'Bo Bún', beef ricenoodles

Cooled rice noodles with a beef mince pancake
Mom's pickled veggies, fresh mints, cilantro and green onions

with Nouc Mam Cham

The next day you open the fridge and see the few small containers with the leftovers. What to do with these? Throw it away? You saved them already, but it isn't enough to make a big meal out of it, or is it? 

My mom taught me never to trow away food. So as long as I can remember, we would save every leftover, how big or small it was. We would spruce them up and have them for lunch or even breakfast. So we would do the same with the leftovers from the Banh Trang.

 Vegetable Bún

Cooled rice noodles with vegetables

Mai Pickled veggies, fried onions

with Nouc Mam Cham

There are two ways to deal with Banh Trang leftovers, you can roll again. Or you can use them for another Vietnamese meal, Bún. Bún is one of the Vietnamese names for thin rice noodles. So the main component is rice noodles, this can be a leftover or you can just make some new. Bún is a great dish, combining warm and cold, soft and crispy and full of flavors.

Shrimp Bún

Cooled rice noodles with garlic shrimp

Fresh bean sprouts and lettuce, a fried egg

with Nouc Mam Cham

The golden rules for the Bún
Combine warm and soft vegetables or meats
with crispy nuts, herbs and vegetables
on a bed of rice noodles,
drizzled with sauce.

Assembly is very easy. Put the rice noodles in a big bowl, add some warm vegetables, tofu, egg or meats, some crispy vegetables, pickled vegetables or herbs. Or other crispness like peanuts or fried onions. Now drizzle with a sauce, like Nouc Mam Cham (Vietnamese fishsauce) or Nouc Tuong Ngot (Hoisin-peanut sauce), chillisauce or hoisin sauce.

A great way of sprucing up your leftovers. This great almost noodle salad can be one of the best lunches or dinners you ever had. Light but full of taste and texture. So get your chopsticks into it and enjoy!

 'Bo Bún', beef ricenoodles

Cooled rice noodles with a beef mince pancake
Mom's pickled veggies, fresh mints, cilantro and green onions

with whole peanuts and Hoisin or Nouc Tuong Ngot

DIY springroll-rollfeast III, vegetarian/vegan fillings

I talked about the basics and rolling your own Banh Trang. I talked about some sauces to dip your Banh Trang in. Now it is time to look at the many other fillings.

You can fill the wrapper with meats, vegetables and other protein. There are a lot of ways of filling and mixing and matching all these lovely fillings. For now I will talk about the vegetarian or even vegan fillings. Think about great vegetables, seasonings, eggs and tofu. 

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Veggie fillings
Bell pepper and zucchini styrfry
1 red bell pepper
1 zucchini
Salt and pepper
1-2 tablespoons of soysauce
Optional: 1-2 spring onions, thickly sliced

Clean and cut the bell pepper and zucchini into diced strips. Oil up a skillet or wok on high heat. Stir fry the bell pepper and zucchini for 2-3 minutes and season well. Add the spring onions, soysauce and a splash of water, cover and let the steam of the evaporating water cook the vegetables. This will take 2-5 minutes. Try and taste, it should be just cooked, so it is still crunchy.

Green beans with sesame seeds
250 grams of green beans
Optional: 200 grams of green asparagus
2-4 tablespoons of black and white sesame seeds
1-2 tablespoons of soysauce
1-3 tablespoon of sesame oil
Pepper and salt
Zest and juice of half a lemon

Clean the green beans. When using the asparagus, clean and cut into the same size as the beans. Blanch the beans and asparagus in salted water for around 2-5 minutes or until they are al dente. Now heat the sesame oil in a wok or big skillet. Stirfry the beans and asparagus for a few minutes. Season well and add the soysauce, cover, let it steam for 1-3 minutes. Take off the heat and place in a mixing bowl. Add some teaspoons of lemonjuice, the zest and the sesame seeds. Toss around, mix and serve.

Steamed cabbage
200 grams of Chinese cabbage
200 grams of another kind of cabbage
1-2 tablespoons of soybean paste
1/2 a chilli
2-3 cm of fresh ginger

Cut the cabbage into strips, somewhere between 0,2-1 cm. Wash thoroughly. Cut the ginger jullienne and chop the chilli. Heat a wok or high frying pan, heat some oil. When hot add the chilli and ginger, sautee and add the cabbage. Stirfry for some minutes, until the cabbage has wilted a bit. Add the soybean paste and if necessary a splash of water, mix and cover. Let it steam for a few minutes.

Pickles veggies
If you didn't read it before or didn't get to look at it, check out the post about these lovely sweet and sour raw veggies. So check out the post; "Pickled veggies according to Mom and Mai".

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 Protein fillings
Rocking Tofu
Check out the post "Dad and Mai secrets for making rocking tofu". Where I tell you all the secrets about tofu and seasoning. Three great seasonings for tofu, all suitable as a filling.

Omelet
For all the vegans out there, this is the end of you. But for those who aren't, the fun keeps on coming. This is about making the perfect omlette, that is still lovely and fluffy on the inside. Depending on how many people you are making this, 1 per person should do the trick.

Amount of eggs similar to amount of people
A splash of water
Salt and pepper

Oil a skillet and set on high heat. In the meantime, whisk the eggs with a little bit of water and season well. When the pan is sizzling hot, pour in the eggs, you should hear it sizzle away! Cover the whole base of the pan. Immediately reduce the heat to low, as low as you can go and cover. Now your egg will steam and cook at the same time. It will take around 3 minutes to be ready. Take out and let it rest for a while. When cooled down a bit, cut into strips.

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This recipes are just to give you some ideas. The best thong about this feast is, you can make whatever you like and add it to the table. So now you are really ready to make a great feast. Use my posts about the basics, the sauces and add these fillings. Time to invite your friends and get cooking, enjoy!

The soup files - White pumpkin soup

I'm a sucker for soup. Ever since I was little I went crazy for all kinds of vegetable soups. As a young child I was already very independent. Supposedly I always ate my soup by myself, with my hands. Covering myself with the soup, from head till toe.

Me eating soup with my hands, age 3

Autumn is going on for some time already. The wind is heavier and starts to bite. The rain pours down more often. The leaves fall down. So the more heavier and more earthy vegetables and flavors are coming around. More mushrooms, pumpkins, root vegetables and winter cabbages are getting available in stores.

A few weeks ago my mom and I went to the local farmer. Outside of the farm shop there was a big crate filled with pumpkins. Orange, green and white pumpkins. Giant orange pumpkins, green musk pumpkins and white pattypans. Normally we always have orange pumpkins, but this time we bought a white pattypan. When I cut into the pumpkin I was very surprised. Maybe I was a bit ignorant, but I never thought of the fact that when it is white on the outside it also should be white on the inside. Fairly surprised I started to collect all the ingredients for my pumpkin soup.

Normally I make a easy orange pumpkin soup. Just pumpkin, onion, stock and cilantro. For some months I was thinking about making a more complex pumpkin soup, more Asian inspired, using flavors from southeast Asia. Because the pumpkin was white, I gave myself a challenge. Making a white pumpkin soup. The idea of a white pumpkin soup made me very excited. What a surprise would it be, telling my family and friends we will eat pumpkin soup, and then they will get a white soup. I already imagined all the confused faces.

White pumpkin soup
1 white pattypan pumpkin
1 onion
3 gloves of garlic
3-5 cm of fresh ginger
2 tablespoons of oil
1 liter of stock, chicken of herb
250-500 ml of coconutmilk
1 stalk of lemongrass
6 curry leaves
1/2-1 green chilli

To dress up the soup:
1/4 daikon
1 onion
200 grams of raw shrimp
A hand full of fresh cilantro

Clean and cut the pumpkin. I use the pumpkin skin on, but you can also peel it, but when using the skin wash it thoroughly. Chop the ginger, garlic and onions. Warm a soup pan on medium heat. Put in the oil, when hot add the onion, ginger and garlic. Sautee and after 2-3 minutes add the pumpkin. After 2-5 minutes add the stock. Pound the lemongrass, so the flavors of the core will come out. Add the lemon grass, curry leaves and chilli. The lemongrass, curry leaves and chilli can stay whole, because it is only in to infuse the soup. Let it cook for around 10 minutes. Pour in half the coconutmilk. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Then taste, season if necessary. Check if the pumpkin is cooked through. If not, cook until the pumpkin is done. If you want to make it milder you can now poor in the rest of the coconutmilk. If you like the flavor, leave it like this.

Take out the chilli, lemongrass and curry leaves, set aside. Now blits the soup, I always use a hand blender, making it easier to just blits in the pan. Blits until the soup is smooth. If you find the soup to thick, add some water. Bring back to a simmer.

At this point the soup is already great and yummy. But if you want to go the extra mile you can dress up the soup. Chop an onion, dice the daikon and add to the soup. Let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes. In the meanwhile clean and peel your shrimp. Let it marinade in pepper and salt, you can spruce it up with a teaspoon of fish sauce or soy sauce. Heat and oil a skillet, panfry the shrimp in a few minutes. Add a splash of water or a squeeze of lemonjuice in the pan. When done, take out of the pan and set aside. Chop the cilantro stalks, leaving the leaves whole.

Going back to the soup. Check if the daikon is cooked. Take out the lemongrass, chilli and curry leaves. To serve, ladle in the soup. Place some shrimp in the middle, add some cilantro and it is good to go! Enjoy!