A Lot of Ingredients

Delicious Pad Thai with chicken I had the other night.

Pad Thai is definitely on my top 3 list of Thai dishes I like to eat.  If I'm being honest, it's really more like top 2 because I always go back and forth between that and a Thai curry and I usually pick the curry but sometimes wish I had gotten the Pad instead.  Thai food has quickly risen as one of my favorite Asian cuisines in recent years because is based on balance.  Each recipe, if done correctly is supposed to have a balance between the 5 taste buds; sweet, salty, sour, spicy and bitter.  And I was reminded of this all over again after returning home from a simple day and a half holiday, where we decided to grab some quick Thai food in Haarlem and then go home and unpack.

Because of this concept of balance a lot of recipes in Thai cuisine have more than just a few ingredients.  In fact, Pad Thai alone can have between 15-20 different ingredients to make it taste just right!  My life has a lot of ingredients, how can I always keep the same balance Thai food does? Is is possible?  We all know the changes my life has recently encountered but a lot of people don't know that I am also basically a step mom and that is definitely a whole lot more ingredients than anyone could ever be expected to balance.....on top of my already constant juggling skills.  Part of this juggling is that I am not their mother, I never will be their mother, I will simply be their friend when they get into trouble or better said when they call me cause they need help getting out of said trouble.  But nobody really pulls you aside in gym class to tell you how hard being a step parent is.....you are constantly walking on eggshells for them, for your partner and their other real parent.  So how you do you keep the spiciness in balance with the sweetness and the bitterness in line with the salty and the sour?  I'm learning through cooking these kinds of Asian dishes just how it's possible if you keep everything in check because the last thing I ever want is to be the evil and wicked step mother.

Recipe: Salmon & Herb-Rice Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Spaghetti

A quick snapshot from the table as they were being passed around during my first cooking class the other day.

Recipe: Salmon & Herb-Rice Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Spaghetti

Serves 4

16 zucchini flowers

125 g. (2/3 cup) basmati white rice

250 ml (1 1/3 cup) hot water

1 filet salmon baked and crumbled

5 tablespoons basil chopped

½ tablespoon parsley chopped

½ tablespoon dill chopped

5 tablespoons butter

¼ cup grated zucchini

1 lemon juiced

¾ cup parmesan cheese grated

4 servings spaghetti (or other pasta of your choice, but I like spaghetti for this.)

First turn on the oven to 175 C (350 F) and once hot, place the salmon in to cook with salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil.  Cook until just pink inside, about 10-15 minutes, depending on size. For whenever you have a dish with pasta always have the water for the pasta on the stove simmering and ready for an instant boil.

Next heat up 250 ml water in another small pot for the rice.  Once boiling, add salt and then the rice.  Cook for 15 minutes.  Then immediately when done and still warm add 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon butter, ½ of a tablespoon of each of the herbs (saving the remaining basil for the sauce), 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a few good turns of fresh black pepper.  Mix together and set aside.  Once the salmon is done break it up into small pieces in your hands and add to the rice gently mixing it in.

Next to make sure your flowers aren’t filled with dirt, you can wash them but be very careful.  You must dip them in water gently in a large sink or bowl filled with cold water….BUT if the water is too warm or it splashes too hard it will break them and they will wilt, making them hard to stuff.  Once they are ready and dry, lay them all out on a foil lined baking sheet and with a small spoon fill the flowers as full as possible without them spilling over or out.  Then lay them on the baking sheet in 2 rows.  Once they are all stuffed, drizzle a little more olive oil, about a handful of the parmesan cheese and some salt & pepper over the top and then bake for about 15 minutes. 

While that is in the oven turn your simmering water up to a boil and drop in the pasta.  Spaghetti usually takes around 12 minutes so it’s perfect for the time the flowers will be in the oven.  But read your package of pasta to see what is recommended.  While that is cooking melt the rest of the butter (4 tablespoons) on low adding the rest of the basil leaves to infuse the butter. When the pasta is done add it to the pan with the butter seasoning it very liberally.  Then add the lemon juice and the remaining parmesan cheese, mix gently but well and serve with the zucchini flowers on top, of course with more cheese if you wish OR a couple spoonfuls of red marinara sauce to brighten the dish as well.  Yum!

*Sometimes when I make a dish like this I make it without the pasta and I make zucchini "spaghetti" instead to keep it even more healthy and texturally interesting......if you are interested in that additional recipe let me know people!

My "Perfect Recipe for Writing"

How is it that I used to be busier as a chef in Paris than I am now, yet I always managed to post blogs everyday?  In fact, I even had a backlog of posts ready to be up and running and now I struggle with writing even one.  In the beginning when my life changed I was still in Paris and it was an amazing feeling that inspired me all day long.  Then other people who didn't approve of it kind of broke or stole my mojo and ever since I haven't been able to be consistent or even write like before.  When this happened I had already decided to move to Holland where I fell into a rather substantial depression from loneliness and I still couldn't write even though I was so in love and inspired by cooking all the time, which was and still is my "perfect recipe for writing".  It just hasn't ever been like it once was.  So why?  And can I fix it like you fix any bad recipe?

I used to see food and while simultaneously being in love, I rather simply found a link or something inspiring within the both of them, then I would write about it (or vise versa).  Now I cannot seem to "bridge that gap" anymore.  It feels forced when I do.  But then the other day when teaching my first official cooking class at Landje van De Boer I realized that I may be teaching new things to people in these classes but ironically I am learning all over again from scratch just like some of my "students" how to do something so simple.  Cook easy, stress-free meals.  That was my problem, my meals.....better yet, my life wasn't stress-free so I was blinded by it and unable to see the links I once saw everywhere.  I can see them peeking at me around corners and it's beginning to feel normal again and when I look back and see it's only been 6 months, I feel more at ease knowing this is all normal when you move to a country where you have no friends, family, work, don't speak the language, had the stress I had from the choice I made and the list goes on. 

SO........I am taking this moment to be proud of myself for achieving something in the amount of time I had and now I write to you from Holland with friends, family, work, speaking beginning level Dutch from an awesome 3 1/2 year old teacher, and though the stress from my choice will never go away, it can be covered up by a happy house filled with great food, laughter, music, friends and most of all love.

*Recipes to come......here's a photo preview

Lunch in Amsterdam

We walked about the city today and found ourselves standing in front of a tapas bar on the Haarlemmerstraat in Amsterdam. Naturally I said to my father, "Tapas?" He said,"Yea, why not?". It was an interesting mix of 2 different platters, one cold and one hot.  There was a feta salad, proper Spanish tortilla, bruschetta, olive & sun dries tomato tapenades, bread, braised chicken wings, spicy beef, mushrooms, chorizo, calamari and gambas!!!  It was yummy for an afternoon lunch.

Things I Ate in France

Wel, I didn't have much cell reception while staying in a beautiful villa just outside Bergerac, France...but while it was certainly hot as can be, the food was yummy and just what I expected!  Here are a few photos of our food adventures.....

an apéro of foie gras with caramelized shallots, sea salt & pepper! YUM.

 

Roasted potatoes tossed in a grlic aïoli sauce.

Beet salad with young fresh goat cheese, red onions & basil in a balsamic vinaigrette.

Iceberg salad with heirloom zebra tomatoes in a herb cheese vinaigrette.

Roasted veggies

Peach tart with almond powder.

Breaded-baked goat cheese salad with tomatoes and sliced potatoes in simple honey-vinaigrette.

Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, but it was a pan fried shrimp, bay scallops & Rouget (fish) with fresh linguini in an herb butter sauce.

Côte de boeuf with roasted veggies and fried potato croquettes. 

Recipe: Plum Tart with Almond Powder

Recently my parents have come into town and a friend-colleague of mine at Landje van De Boer decided to give this recipe that I had passed on a try.....it turned out so great I had to share!  My parents and I were so lucky to have gotten even one slice of it!  It's perfect for summer and as I head into the Bordeaux region of France to eat more great food for a small vacation in the sun with my love, my parents and a whole lot of great friends waiting there to welcome us with wine and cold beers, you can bet there will be blogs to come!!!!!!!!!

Plum Tart with Almond Powder
Serves 8 people:
• regular pastry dough or pre-packaged puff pastry
• 100 g butter room temperature is best
• 150 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 30 g flour
• 90 g of almond powder
• 11-12 ish small plums (peeled or unpeeled...no biggie) cut in half

1 Preheat oven to 220 ° C (430 ° F).

2 Mix in a bowl the sugar and eggs, then add the flour and ground almonds. Add butter and mix.

3 Place the puff pastry into the mold gently pushing it into the corners

4 Pour the contents on the puff pastry.

5 Peel the plums (or not if you don't want to), cut them in half and place them on top of the filling, pushing them in a little bit.

6 Bake for 30 minutes.

Unmold the tart if you did it in a silicone mold, otherwise leave it in the mold to cool.

Haarlem Culinaire

Some super fresh Oysters from a local shop in Ijmuiden.

Last night was a really cool event here in Holland called Haarlem Culinaire.  It's a great event with music showcasing the local food in small bites.  The music was supposed to be Big Band, which excited me to no end and the food was also delicious to boot!  We danced, we ate, we avoided the mini rain storm that lasted about 5-10 minutes, we laughed and we all around enjoyed ourselves.  I even took the time to teach my friend Oliver how to dance!  It was a great event with a lot of happy people so if you are in town for it, GO!

An utterly delicious Seared ahi tuna with a seaweed salad in a wasabi cream sauce, my fav!

We ran for cover from the rain with some cool cocktails, beer and wine.

And then finished with a mini hamburger slider with cheese and a pickle.