Delicious 'Huge- Ass' Cookies

I picked up Vegan with a Vengeance again the other day. Not because I'm forgoing all animal products again, but because I do love this book! Isa Chandra Moskowitz has a way with words- much like Nigella, but on a totally different level. She makes me laugh a lot and whereas cooking with Nigella feels like cooking with my big sister, cooking with Isa feels like cooking with a super cool friend!
Anyhow, I decided to give her (or Terry's ?) Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter- Oatmeal Cookies a whirl recently and I'm happy to say they didn't disappoint. The recipe is for twelve 'huge- ass' cookies but I got about 25 out of the recipe because I made them a little smaller and thicker. Perhaps that's also why they didn't turn out as 'crunchy' as I expected. I totally loved their peanut buttery taste and the hearty bite courtesy of the oatmeal.
In an effort to be a good girl, I froze most of the cookies. Sadly, that hasn't worked. These last few days I've been eating an awful lot of frozen cookies...

Here's the recipe:

Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 12 huge- ass cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two cookies sheets. Toss together the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, peanut butter, sugars, soy milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. The dough should be very firm and moist. Pack a 1/3-cup measuring cup with dough, pop out and roll the dough into a firm ball. Flatten just barely on a prepared cookie sheet, spacing the dough balls well apart. Lightly grease the bottom of a glass; press the cookies to flatten to a 1/2-inch thickness. Bake for 12-15 minutes till cookies have puffed a bit and are lightly browned. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before moving off the cookie sheet. You can also make normal- size cookies using 1-2 tbsps of dough instead, baking these 8-10 minutes.

PS: I'm throwing in some chocolate chips next time!

Ciao Libella!

On Saturday, my friend Yolanda and I checked out the Libelle Summer Week. For those of you living outside of The Netherlands, this is an annual fair organized especially for the ladies. There's always lots to do- all sorts of workshops ranging from beauty to food to well- being, plenty to taste and plenty to see. This year the theme was 'Mediterranean'.

We had a great time shopping, watching Flamenco dancing and talking about clothes during the fashion show. There was also lots of wine to taste, and taste we did! Never mind the fact that the tasting took place before we were scheduled to participate in a shiatsu workshop! That's a whole other story!

The weather was beautiful so we agreed on taking a picnic lunch. Around noon we found a shady place on the sand (the event took place on the beach) and enjoyed the following:

-savory cake with chorizo, sun- dried tomatoes and mixed seeds (inspiration from Chocolate & Zucchini)
-mixed salad
-fresh strawberries
-a small bottle of rosé (our second)

We also enjoyed some vegan chocolate cupcakes with pink vegan buttercream frosting. I had these left over after making them for an assignment.

We returned home exhausted but giddy from all the day's excitement!

Here's the recipe for the savory cake: (an adaptation of one found in Chocolate & Zucchini)
Tomato & Chorizo Loaf
Serves 8-10

-100g all- purpose flour
-50g whole wheat flour
-1 tbsp baking powder
-3 eggs
-good pinch of sea salt (I like sel gris from Guerande)
-1 tsp whole pink peppercorns, ground in pestle and mortar
-4 tbsps olive oil
-150ml whole yogurt
-125g dried Spanish chorizo
-about 8 sun- dried tomato halves
-100g mixed seeds of choice
-bunch of parsley
-1-2 tbsps sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 180. Line a 24 x 12 cm loaf tin with baking paper. Mix flours and baking powder. In another bowl, whisk eggs, salt and pepper. Add oil and yogurt and whisk again. Sift flours and baking powder over the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon till just combined. Fold in the rest of the ingredients. Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool on a rack before serving.

We Love Rhubarb

When the first stalks of rhubarb appear at my local market, I immediately know it's spring. I love its bright color and tart flavor, not so much in baked goods, but in jams or compotes. This rhubarb- strawberry compote is becoming a very popular dessert at my house. And the wonderful thing is that it goes down a treat with my family. Hans, who always maintained that he "hated" the stuff, happily polishes off his little bowl! Kirstie hasn't complained yet, as you can see from the picture.
Serve it with a little Greek yogurt and you have a refreshingly light way to end almost any springtime meal.

Rhubarb- Strawberry Compote
(makes about 750g)

-500g rhubarb, sliced
-60g light brown sugar
-40g fine sugar
-2 tbsps grapefruit juice
-100g strawberries, sliced

Put all the ingredients (except the strawberries) in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat immediately and allow to cook on a medium heat for about ten minutes or until rhubarb begins to soften. Stir continuously. Add the strawberries and allow to cook for a further five minutes. Transfer to sterilized jars.

Heavenly Outdoor Meals

The weather has been continuously gorgeous here, which means that our dinner table has been abandoned for our wooden picnic table out in the garden. During the week I usually take whatever I cooked outside, but come the weekend, most of our cooking is actually done outdoors. We pour ourselves a glass of wine, throw open the door and kitchen windows facing the garden, play some nice tunes and get busy with the preparations of a lovely dinner. While Hans gets the barbecue going, I'll do things like marinade the meat, chop some veggies and debate what I will serve for dessert. Our meals are usually very simple but they always manage to turn out delicious.

The photos you see here are a perfect example of one of our typical weekend meals: spatchcocked chicken marinated in lime juice, olive oil, garlic and salt & pepper, grilled asparagus dressed with nothing more than a pinch of fleur de sel and some extra virgin olive oil, baguette with butter and a bottle of wine. And for dessert- strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar.

This is what I call a heavenly meal- and the wonderful thing is that the summer hasn't even started!

A Sweet Friendship

A few months ago, I received an email from a girl named Yolanda. She contacted me after reading one of the articles I had written for Expatica. We both happen to live in the same city and we are both Colombians, so she mentioned that perhaps we could meet up for a chat sometime. I was quite taken aback, yet at the same time it felt like I knew her. And that was only through that first email.
A few days later we met and ever since then she has become a little ray of sunshine in my life. Always smiling, always cheerful and always ready to lend an ear. Yolanda keeps thanking me for my friendship and for teaching her a lot about food and cooking, but I always tell her that I am also very grateful for being able to call her my friend.
Today she went out for a day in Den Bosch and on the way back, she called to ask if I was home because she wanted to stop by. I have never been to Den Bosch but I've always told myself that if I'm ever there, the first thing I'll do is look for a bakery. Den Bosch is the hometown to one of my favorite treats- Bossche bollen (Dutch eclairs). If they're good from a shop or a local bakery imagine getting them from a bakery there!
Well, half an hour later Yolanda showed up and out of her pink tote she pulled out a little bag and handed it to me. My heart smiled. I knew exactly what was in there. Yolanda remembered my love for Bossche bollen and was sweet enough to bring one back for me. The fact that I had a ragù going on the stove and that dinner was just an hour away didn't stop me from shooting a picture or two and immediately digging in. It was sinfully good- everything I'd imagine times ten. And not just because of the taste, but because of the sentiment that came with it.

Annual Asparagus Fair!

When I found out that there was an annual asparagus fair being held in the south, I didn't hesitate to immediately organize a day trip! Imagine that, a fair dedicated to what we know here as "white gold"! It made perfect sense to me though, considering the fact that asparagus is huge here in The Netherlands. The start of asparagus season (around the end of April) is a much anticipated event and even the end of the season is celebrated with a farewell mass at St. Jan Church in Den Bosch on the 24th of June. The Netherlands can even boast an asparagus museum and an asparagus association.

After a gourmet breakfast of bacon and eggs à la Hans (gotta enjoy those days off!), we jumped in the car and started on the two hour drive into Limburg. The first part of the trip was pretty standard, not much to see, but as we drove into Limburg I noticed how different the area was from the rest of The Netherlands. I immediately felt as though I were in another country, and in fact I almost was. The asparagus fair was held in Arcen en Velden, a beautiful town just a stone's throw away from the German border. It was evident in the architecture, the bilingual street signs and even the language.

When we entered the fair, we were greeted by an asparagus farmer giving a demonstration about the cultivation and harvest of the crop. I have mentioned before that I am a big supporter of farmers who love their trade and watching this man talk about what he loves most was a wonderful way to start our adventure. After that Kirstie was recruited to help sort asparagus- a job she very diligently took on! We spent the rest of the day looking around the many stalls and of course, tasting!

Lunch was a bowl of asparagus soup- perfectly creamy and mild- and a baguette filled with asparagus spears rolled in cured ham- an unusual but surprisingly delicious combination! As we sat at the sunny cafe enjoying our lunch, I felt a huge sense of joy- something that probably only other foodies would understand!

We left, pleasantly exhausted and looking forward to our next asparagus meal, which of course, would be washed down with a bottle of the wine we purchased at the fair. It looks like we're definitely getting the most out of these delicious months!

Click here for more pictures of the the asparagus fair and our trip to Limburg!