Marco surprised me tonight with a stir fry for dinner. He altered the receipe slightly, adding rice and a bit of chicken to change it from a side dish to a full meal:
Garlic, chili and broccoli stir fry
Yum!
Food
Lebkuchen (Or: A German Christmas cookie)
Over the weekend Marco and I visited the Fred, a shopping area close to (but not quite in) Scheveningen. The name comes from the Main Street it is on, or Frederik Hendriklaan.
One of the stores we visited was Simon Lévelt. We were able to pick up a package of lebkuchen, a traditional Christmas cookie in Germany.
Yum! Made with lots of tasty spices (cardamom, aniseed, ginger, etc.).
Gather round to bake your own pizzas (Or: Pizzaretta oven)
Marco and I received a pizzarette oven as a Christmas gift from his father and his father’s wife. How awesome! It is similar in concept to the gourmet sets that I wrote about a few days ago. This particular set was a four person set (4 mini pizzas can be cooked at the same time). On Saturday Marco and I used it for the first time.
A look at the tables – complete with the mini oven and the toppings ready to go
You assemble the pizza on the provided spatulas and then set it in the device to allow it to bake.
A close-up look (no tools needed for assembly)
Small pizza with jalapenos, paprika, onions, and cheese
Small pizza with paprika, ham, bacon, cheese and chili rings
Small pizza with sun-dried tomatoes and cheese
We made more than enough mini pizzas on purpose, so now we can also enjoy the pizzas again tonight!
Categories: Food
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2015 holiday decorations in The Hague (Or: ‘t Goude Hooft)
Earlier in the month I was walking around the Grote Kerk area in The Hague when I came across holiday decorations at one of The Hague’s more popular restaurants, ‘t Goude Hooft. (Full disclosure: I’ve never been to this restaurant. I only know it as the restaurant where all of the outside seats face outwards, to view the trams and people walking past. It’s slightly eerie.)
You know you’re in The Hague (or the Netherlands in general) when you have advertisements at the bottom of the photo imploring bicyclists keep the entrance to buildings free/accessible. It is quite crowded in that area.
How to “gourmetten”, Dutch style (Or: New Year’s Eve 2015)
A lot of Dutch have a New Year’s Eve tradition of dusting off their gourmetten sets to grill up mini meats, fish and vegetables, similar to the New Year’s tradition of consuming oliebollen. I’ve written about it a few times, but here’s a look at how it went this year.
First we start with a clean set. This set in particular is good for 3-4 people and has 8 pans underneath for extra grilling potential:
Here is a look at the underside so you can see the pans:
And a look at the meat we grilled up:
Dutch supermarkets sell a lot of gourmet mini sets with items that are pre-cut and otherwise packaged in small containers (meats, sauces, peppers, onions and similar). They are frequently sold as “buy 2, get 1 free”.
The gourmet set in action:
And the most awesome thing ever? Grilled pineapple at the bottom (which I have never had until Marco and I went to Rodizio).
And also underneath – shoarma and mushrooms. Yum. Not shown – bread with a choice of garlic butter, aioli and sweet paprika sauce.
Until next year!
New Year’s Eve (Or: Waiting in line for oliebollen)
Similar to a post I did last year – here’s a look at the line of people waiting for oliebollen on New Year’s Eve. Oliebollen is a sort of doughnut covered in powdered sugar.
Waiting for Godot (and oliebollen)
And be a look at the stand itself (voted #1 this year in The Hague):
This was around 12pm – Marco said the line was about twice as long (by the library) around 2pm. Crazy. This year they even had a street organ playing music for those waiting, which was a nice touch.
Fine jaarwisseling! Happy New Year!
Eggnog for the holidays (Or: An American tradition)
A few weeks ago Marco and I went to Kelly’s expat store for eggnog. This is a traditional drink which is served in Canada and the United States during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. It’s a milk drink with egg mixed in. You also have some types with alcohol mixed in as well.
We actually picked up this carton for one of my friends, my “taalcoach” (language coach) from SamenSpraak. I’m actually not a fan of eggnog but maybe he will be!
Would you like a bit of dessert with that? (Or: Spekkoek and ice cream)
Tonight for dessert Marco, Roger and I had this:
Spekkoek (a multi-layed Indonesian cake) with chocolate ice cream, coconut milk ice cream, whipped cream and coconut shavings on top of the cake. What makes this dessert notable is that you cook each layer separately, one at a time. Hours to bake but minutes to eat!
Chocolate and other sweets (Or: A visit to Plasman in The Hague)
I visited Plasman last week. It’s a bakery/lunch cafe in the Statenkwaartier neighborhood of The Hague. A lot of international companies and expats can be found there.
Of course since it is almost time for Sinterklaas they make their own fancy versions of chocolate letters. Each child receives a chocolate letter depicting the first letter of their name. So I have seen my fair share of chocolate N’s over the last few years.
They also have cakes:
A look at another case:
And a close-up of the macaroons, a small circular cake that comes in many different forms based on the country of origin:
Quite colorful!
Escalope of salmon with basil (Or: Yes, Marco; Yes, Marco; Yes, Marco)
On Saturday, Marco, Roger and I cooked one of the recipes from Marco Pierre White‘s book “White heat”. He is a renowned chef from England. This post’s title comes from the fact that he is a drill sergeant in the kitchen and likes to repeat his statements at a rapid fire pace (cook faster, cook faster, cook faster!) and the only accepted answer is “Yes, Marco; Yes, Marco; Yes, Marco”. You can imagine how my husband (Marco) loves to use this to his advantage.
We cooked Escalope of salmon with basil. It is as you might expect a salmon dish with a basil sauce:
The sauce is made from shallots, vermouth (a wine also known as Noilly Prat), fresh basil, fish stock, cream and butter. Yum.
Categories: Food
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Life in the Hague 