Awareness...

We (and I don't mean just myself, but most of us who have the privilege of not having to wonder where our next meal will come from) are very, very spoiled. So spoiled that we sometimes forget that there are villages which can actually eat for one day with what we pay for our fancy bread or gourmet salt. While I am at a restaurant, sitting back with crossed legs and a happy heart looking through the wine list, do I think about those who aren't as lucky as I am? Does it even cross my mind when I make a simple meal at home for my family? Honestly and shamefully, not really. Am I grateful for what I have? Very much so.
I am not writing this to make you (or myself) feel guilty, but rather to remind ourselves that gratitude is a very noble thing to have. I was watching a Dutch program yesterday where three rich ladies were delivering boxes of food to the poor. It was confronting to realize that none of those people probably gave a hoot about using the right kind of fancy vinegar in a dressing or whether or not their meat was organically raised within a ten mile radius. And here I am, with a fridge and pantry full of things I sometimes have the arrogance to forget about. 
That's why today's recipes were made with things I had luxuriously neglected and failed to use. Like the bag of carrots I was on the verge of feeding to the goats and the packets of yeast I had hidden away at the back of the cupboard. I wasn't trying to make a point. I was just giving myself a gentle kick in the butt to use up what I had before going out and mindlessly buying more.
The carrots made a lovely side dish. I baked them with thinly sliced red onions, fresh thyme and a tangy, sweet dressing. The bread that was served with dinner, wasn't bought at the fancy bakery. Instead, I did something I hadn't done in a very long time. I baked my own. 
Here are the recipes:


Focaccia with Rosemary and Sea Salt
Makes 2 breads

500g all-purpose flour
1 small envelope of yeast (7gr)
1 tsp salt
150ml hot water
150ml cold water
50ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
a few sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
sea salt flakes (I used fleur de sel)


Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the water and oil in a jug and add to the dry ingredients. Stir well with a wooden spoon. I used my Kitchen Aid to make the focaccia, but a little musle will do just fine. If you are also using a standing mixer, add the water slowly, while the motor is running instead. Knead the dough on a cool, well floured surface for 5 minutes (2 if using a standing mixer). Wash your bowl, dry it well and coat the inside with a little olive oil. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to the bowl. Cover the bowl with a cloth and place in a warm, draft-free area. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour and 30 minutes. After this, punch down the dough and knead it again for about a minute. Divide the dough in half and roll each half to a circle of about 23cm. Place the dough on a baking sheet covered with baking paper, make dents using your fingertips and sprinkle with the rosemary and the sea salt flakes. Cover again and allow to rest for an additional 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C and bake the focaccia in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. After that, place the baking sheet in the top of the oven and allow to bake for an additional 3-5 minutes. Once the focaccia is out of the oven, drizzle with a little more olive oil. Save the other bread for the following day's meal or cut it into small pieces and serve as an appetizer with some tapenade. Of course, it can also be frozen.


Sweet Carrots with Red Onion, Thyme and Balsamic Vinegar
Serves 4

900g carrots, sliced
1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
small bunch of thyme, leaves removed
3 tbsps mild olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp orange juice
sea salt and freshly- ground pepper, to taste


Preheat the oven to 190C. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, salt and pepper. Add the carrots, onions and thyme. Toss well to coat. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, stirring a few times during the cooking time. The carrots go beautifully with grilled fish or chicken.

Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Sage, Caramelized Onions and Bacon

What's not to love about pumpkins? I love their bright color, their versatility (you can use them in sweet and savory dishes) and it's also fab that they just happen to be pretty healthy! Pumpkins are chock-full-of fiber, beta-carotene and B vitamins. Their seeds provide zinc, protein, iron and plenty of good fats, so when you buy a pumpkin, it's like getting two treats in one!
Unfortunately, my family isn't as enthusiastic about pumpkin as I am. Especially Kirstie. When she saw me buying the pumpkins at the local harvest fair this weekend, she was already complaining and making sure that I knew she did not agree. Hans isn't particularly fond of pumpkins either (he doesn't necessarily hate them) but he trusts my culinary skills and happily eats what I make. 
Before you think I am a meanie mommy for bringing something into the kitchen which I know my daughter will hate, let me just say that I strongly believe it takes a while for a child to learn to accept a food. At least ten tries, maybe even more. By giving in and saying she doesn't have to eat something I make, I feel as though I'm cheating her and not giving her (or the food) a fair chance. She doesn't have to finish everything on her plate, but she does have to try. And, no way in heck will I cook separately for her! 
Well, Kirstie happened to lick her bowl clean yesterday. A nice, hearty bowl of bright orange pumpkin soup! Hans loved it as well and I'm sure you will too. I've made a similar pumpkin soup before, but with this one, I decided to roast the pumpkin instead, which means a longer cooking time, but only as far as roasting the pumpkin is concerned. Once that's done, it's just a matter of scooping it out of its skin, adding it to a pan with gently sweated onions, red chillis and finely chopped sage, and then letting it cook for just ten minutes in some chicken broth. 
The sage in this recipe, by the way, comes straight from my garden. That little sage plant which we bought in the spring has done a marvelous job at growing beautifully green, aromatic leaves. It requires very little attention, so if you're just getting started with growing your own herbs, this might be a good one to start with.

But back to the soup...
It makes a lovely first course to a seasonal dinner, but you can also serve it as a main dish like I did. Just make sure you have some bread, a cheese board with some chutney and perhaps a plate with assorted cold meats.
Bon Appétit!


Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Sage, Caramelized Onions and Bacon
Serves 3

1 kilo pumpkin (I used two small ones), halved and deseeded
4 cloves of garlic, bruised 
mild olive oil
2 large, red onions, sliced
1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
8 medium-sized sage leaves, chopped
1/2 red chilli pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
800ml good chicken stock
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
6 slices of bacon


Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the pumpkins in half and place them on a lined baking sheet. Place the bruised garlic in the centers of the deseeded pumpkins. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and plenty of freshly-cracked pepper. Roast the pumpkin for 45 minutes. After that, make sure to let them cool before you get on with the rest of the recipe.
While the pumpkins are roasting, get your caramelized onions going. Warm up 4 tbsps of olive oil, add the sliced onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook them first over a medium-high fire and then reduce the heat. Let them cook for about 40 minutes, stirring every now and them.  Once they are to your liking, drain them on paper towel.
For the soup, in 1 tbsp of olive oil, gently sweat the white onion, chilli and sage for about 5 minutes. Scoop out the cooled pumpkin flesh and add to the pan. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the pan as well. Cover with the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper and allow to cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes. In the meantime, fry the bacon, drain and crumble. Once the soup is cooked, blitz it so that it's nice and smooth. 
Serve the soup with the caramelized onions and the bacon. Garnish with a pretty sage leaf and enjoy!

Decadent Salad to Celebrate a Sunny Autumn

Could you believe that we actually enjoyed an alfresco meal by the waterside yesterday evening? I'm finding it hard to believe myself, but I went ahead and even had a pastis as an apéritif, something I usually do only when the weather is what I would call ' French'. And it looks like someone up there is looking at us poor Dutchies with eyes of mercy because the weather forecast is promising more of this fab weather for the week ahead! Must be our reward after a miserable summer...
My plan for today was to make some pumpkin soup with the two cute, little pumpkins I bought at the organic harvest fair yesterday, but now that I see how happy the sun is, I'm more inclined to make something more fitting- like a fresh, tasty, yet autumnal salad. And this one just happens to be one of my favorites! I love blue cheese and pears, and the addition of tasty morsels of crispy lardons, makes this salad decidedly decadent. 
Bon Appétit!


Decadent Autumn Salad with Blue Cheese, Pears and Lardons
Serves 4

250g lardons
½ romaine lettuce, shredded

½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 large, red onion, halved and each half very thinly sliced
150g blue cheese (bleu d’Auvergne), crumbled
1 large, sweet pear, cored and chopped
80g walnuts, roughly chopped

For the vinaigrette
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 tsp Dijon mosterd

sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste


Fry the lardons in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until they are browned and crispy. Drain them and set aside. Whisk the ingredients for the dressing in a large bowl. Add the two kinds of salad to the bowl and toss so that everything is coated with the dressing. Divide the dressed salad among four plates. Top with the onions, cheese, pears, lardons and walnuts. Serve with some bread and enjoy!

Mementoes of Summer

I woke up yesterday with one thought on my mind- heading to the market and buying loads of goodies to make jams and chutneys. At this time of year, there's nothing better than taking advantage of nature's bounty by canning it up in pretty, little jars- just like our grandmothers used to do. It's like saving all the gifts of the summer season as tasty mementoes- the kind you can savor well into those chilly months ahead.
I did my market shopping early and I was very greedy. In fact, I dare say I bought more than I could can in one day. 

And this is what happened later...

Canard, Canard! How I Love Thee!

If there is one food I love, no... make that one food I adore, it's duck. I could eat duck for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I would never got bored. And yes, I know duck isn't exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but as far as I'm concerned, I'll die happy if it's from indulging in too much duck! Let's not forget about that French paradox though. Duck fat is healthier than butter or oil and so are the glasses of Bordeaux I wash it down with! 
Truth be told, I only indulge every once in a while, in France perhaps more frequently than I should. If I see confit de canard or magret on the menu, the choice is easy. In the Netherlands, good duck is not something we have readily available, so what does a duck lover do? She brings back tins of confit de canard from La Belle France, of course!

These tins of preserved duck are surprisingly good and can generously feed a family of four, perhaps even with leftovers. The great things is that you can easily get a great dinner on the table in little time and with almost no effort. 

Just add some potatoes (a classic combination would be pommes sarladaises) and a side of vegetables or salad (some bitter leaves dressed with walnut oil and a dash of vinegar would be perfect). Then open a bottle of manly, red wine (my choice would be a Saint-Émilion or a Cahors) and dinner is on-the-table!
So how do you prepare these tasty, fatty little duck legs? First you'll need to immerse the can in a bath of hot water for about fifteen minutes. That way the fat softens and you can remove the legs in one piece. Wipe some of the fat off of the legs and pop them in a 200C oven for 20 minutes. After that, increase the heat to 220C and give them another 10 minutes. For a really crispy skin, you'll want to pop them under the grill for a final five minutes.

Should you have leftovers, they're great in a salad, and...here's the neatest part- save the duck fat! It's the best thing in the world to fry potatoes in!
Bon Appétit!

Latest Writings...

The last couple of months have been pleasantly busy for me. I've signed up new students for my cooking lessons, hosted some lovely culinary walks in Amsterdam, had a fabulous time with wonderful people in France, cooked and developed new recipes (I can smell chutney as I write)...and I've been published in three magazines in the south of France.
The first two magazines are the Languedoc Sun and the Provence Sun.

In the Languedoc Sun, you can find my article about la rentrée on page27, and in the Provence Sun on page 24 and 25. 
For the Quercy Local, I wrote a small piece about one of my favorite regional treats- Agen prunes! I hope you'll enjoy the recipes! They're on page 42 and 43.

Daube de Boeuf

The autumn is really starting to set in. I notice it in the trees that are changing colors, in the crisp chill in the air and definitely in the way I want to cook and eat. Out go the light, wussy salads and in come the heavy boys! Oh yes, this is a beautiful season, but also a dangerous one. All those gorgeous, thick soups and hearty stews! Well, as you probably know by now, I like to live on the edge. So bring on those comfortingly calorific meals!
Today's dish is a rich stew from the south of France. It is one of those French recipes that everyone makes in their own way and everyone is always so inclined as to claim that theirs is best. Me being no exception. 
The stew gets its name from the pot it was originally cooked in, the daubière, a deep, round earthenware beauty which I am ashamed to say, I do not own yet. Instead, I make my daube in my much-loved, red Le Creuset casserole. So if you don't have a daubière yet (or a Le Creuset), don't let that stop you from making this rich, succulent stew. Any heavy-bottomed casserole will do just fine.
Some cooks will marinate the meat over night and if I have time (or remember), I will usually do the same. Truth be told though, unless I'm planning this for a dinner party, I rarely remember to marinate the meat. If the urge for this dish hits, the meat will have to do with just a few hours of marinating time, and honestly, it works just fine.
My version has the rind of a tangelo, which I find adds more depth and sweetness than that of an orange. I also add in a can of chopped tomatoes to give the stew more body and flavor, and my own garden-picked bouquet garni (rosemary, thyme and bay leaf). 
Serve this rustic, French dish with a good loaf of bread, some fluffy mashed potatoes or maybe even some hot, buttered noodles. I like to serve the dish with the same wine I used in the recipe, in this case, the spicy Côtes du Rhône Villages by Louis Bernard. 

Bon Appétit!


Daube de Boeuf
Serves 4


500g beef chuck, in large chunks
mild olive oil, to brown the meat, plus 1 tbsp for the marinade
bouquet garni (I used rosemary, thyme and bay leaf)
a piece of tangelo rind 
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
300 ml red wine
sea salt and freshly-ground pepper
80g lardons
2 tbsps flour, seasoned with a little salt and pepper
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
a can of chopped tomatoes
a good handful of black olives

Combine the beef, tbsp of olive oil, bouquet garni, tangelo rind, carrots, onion, red wine and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cover and martinate for at least three hours. More is not a problem. Overnight is even better! When you are ready to cook, remove the beef cubes from the marinade and dry them off with paper towel. Coat them with the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess. 
Cook the lardons in a large, dry frying pan for about three minutes. Remove them and add to the pan you will be using to cook the stew. Without cleaning the frying pan, add some olive oil and start frying the beef cubes in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan and adding them to the pan with the bacon as you go. Once your beef is browned, add the marinade to the frying pan and let it bubble for a minute or two, scraping up any brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Add the marinade to the meat and bacon along with the chopped tomatoes and the garlic. Season with a little more salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Immediately reduce the heat, cover and gently cook for 3 hours. At the end of the cooking time, add in your olives and cook for another five minutes. Enjoy!

A Dutch Book Based on a French Cookbook

For those who adore the French kitchen (not the fancy stuff, but the typical dishes that are cooked by real French families), the book, Recettes Pour Bien Vivre, is a delight to behold. There's absolutely no haute cuisine to be found here. Just hearty French classics that call for plenty of butter and generous dollops of full-fat cream. Yum! Now that's something you have to love!

The story behind the book is filled with the kind of French nostalgia that makes my Francophile heart skip a beat. An old, abandoned French house was sold and some of the objects left behind were bought by antique collectors. One of them happened to be a culinary journal dating back to around 1870. The recipes in this stunning journal were recorded in beautiful handwriting and its pages were decorated with elegantly penned illustrations. Who the author is, remains a mystery. We do know, however, that he dedicated his recipes to a certain Marie Potié. As luck would have it, the journal made its way to the Netherlands where Dutch chef Manfred Meeuwig decided to translate it and give it a second life.
Meeuwig did a marvelous job at bringing the work back to life along with the help of stylist Marjolijn Vonk and photographer Sigurd Kranendonk. The result is a trip back to a time when life was good and waistlines didn't matter. Leafing through Recettes Pour Bien Vivre makes one yearn to visit the French countryside and stop along the way to eat things like a chunky terrine de campagne served with cornichons and thin rounds of bread. Forget the grand cru this time. These are the types of meals that demand to be washed down with a simple vin de table.
The book is divided into cold and warm starters, mains with fish and meat, sides and desserts. Highlights include classics like rillettes de porc, oeufs en meurette, bouillabaisse, quenelles de brochet, boeuf bourguignon, pomme dauphines, crème brûlée, tarte au citron and mousse au chocolat. Because the recipes sometimes lack precise explanations (for example, there is no oven temperature for the gâteau au chocolat), the book is probably not aimed at beginners. But, what it lacks in preciseness, it makes up in pure, unadulterated  joie de vivre. This is what the real French kitchen is all about!
Here is one of the many recipes I made. A fabulous tarte aux poires!

Recetttes Pour Bien Vivre, Franse Klassiekers Voor Nu, (Manfred Meeuwig, Marjolijn Vonk and Sigurd Kranendonk). Published in the Netherlands by Terra in December 2010.