I Bet They'll Like These Oatmeal Muffins!

Every time I sit down with a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, I can't help but wonder how on Earth people can manage to hate something so delicious. There's so much to love about oatmeal- it's warm, comforting, versatile (I have about a billion and one variations), filling and let's not forget, healthy. Oats are known to lower your cholesterol, therefore reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Oats also reduce the risk of cancer and even improve mood. I've tried getting Kirstie to become a fan of oatmeal, but unfortunately, she has trouble getting through even the tiniest of bowls. Hans is worse. The poor man has a hard time sitting across the table from me when I'm eating my 'slop'.
Clever as I am, I came up with a delicious muffin recipe to trick those two into eating at least a little oatmeal, and while I was at it, I saw nothing against adding a bit of flaxseed as well, which like oats, also has many health benefits. To make things even sweeter without having to add a lot of sugar, I decided to use some sugar- free, thin- cut marmalade which had been lurking about in the fridge. This addition also meant that I could use less oil. But you know, who am I kidding! I made these muffins because I knew they'd be darn good!

Here's the recipe:
Oatmeal Muffins They'll Love!
Ingredients:
*200g whole wheat flour
*50g white flour
*2 tsps baking powder
*1/2 tsp baking soda
*150g oatmeal
*60g flaxseed
*1 egg
*50ml sunflower oil
*150g thin- cut marmalade
*200ml buttermilk
*80g unrefined cane sugar

Preheat oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with liners. Sift flours, baking powder and soda into a bowl. Add the oatmeal and flaxseed and stir to combine. In a jug, whisk the egg, oil, marmalade, buttermilk and sugar. Add this to the dry ingredients and fold in gently until combined. Spoon into muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Nigella's Fudge, a Little Tweaked

I've never made fudge before but after watching Nigella make it earlier this week, I knew it wouldn't be long before I had a batch or two in my house. She made it seem so easy. Just throw some chopped chocolate, a can of condensed milk, a bit of butter, some nuts and a pinch of salt in pan, stir a little and that's it! Nigella suggested the fudge would make lovely Christmas presents but after having my first taste this morning (yes, you read correctly...this morning), I have no choice but to keep all 64 chocolaty little squares safely in my house- in case I have unexpected visitors, of course.

I've never been a big fan of pistachios so I opted for some roughly chopped almonds instead and also decided to toss in a bag of dried cranberries which was left over from the chutney I made last weekend (Nigella's Christmas Chutney, to be precise, which by the way, I can't recommend enough). The results were truly awesome. Thick, rich chunks of fudge speckled with bits of almonds and tangy, bright red, and very Christmassy cranberries. I strongly suggest you go make this- now.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge (or Chocolate Almond and Cranberry Fudge)
*350g dark chocolate
*1 can (397g) condensed milk
*30g butter
*pinch salt
*150g pistachios (I used 150g almonds and 125g dried cranberries)

"Put the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter and salt in a heavy- based pan on a low heat, and stir to melt.
Put the nuts into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin, until broken up into big and little pieces. (I did this very democratically with my mezzaluna)
Add the nuts (and the berries) to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
Pour and spatch this mixture into a foil tray 23cm square, smoothing the top. (I used a baking tray of the same size and lined it with baking paper)
Let the fudge cool, and refrigerate until set. (I did this overnight). You can then cut it into small pieces approx. 3 X 2.25cm. Cutting 8 X 8 lines in the tin to give 64 pieces best achieves this.
Once cut, it can be kept in the freezer- no need to thaw just eat straight away.
Makes 64 pieces of rich fudge."

Sinterklaas!

The Feast of Saint Nicholas: Jan Steen, 1663-65, oil on canvas, 80 x 70.5 cm, Het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

I woke up this morning as excited as a child and full of expectation- Sinterklaas is coming tonight! I heard that his bag was going to be pretty filled this year so to thank him, and his Piets of course, I decided to start baking right after breakfast. By now, the spicy aroma of fresh baked speculaas and pepernoten has spread throughout the whole house. Lovely! It has made me think of one of my favorite paintings, "The Feast of Saint Nicholas" by Jan Steen. What I love most about this painting is the way Steen brings the party to life by showing us children who have gotten presents in their shoe as well as those who didn't. It shows us a basket full of traditional Sinterklaas treats like speculaas and pepernoten and we see singing taking place next to the chimney. There's more to the painting though, and that's where it gets interesting.

Look at the child in the center and how she's holding a doll. Is that a doll though? No, it's probably a statue of Saint Lucia, the young martyr and bearer of light (notice her crown of light and the red martyr's cross the child is holding). But what does Saint Lucia have to do with Sinterklaas? Well, for one, Saint Lucia was said to bring food to the poor. Notice the basket filled with baked treats on the left hand corner and also the pepernoten scattered all over the floor.

Behind the girl is a boy, possibly Jan Steen himself, and he doesn't seem very happy because unlike the girl, he only got a branch in his shoe (notice the older girl behind him who smirks as she holds up his shoe). There's a Sinterklaas song which goes "wie zoet is krijgt lekkers, wie stout is de roe", or "if you're good, you get sweets, if you aren't, you get a branch". Obviously this boy was not that nice, yet grandma gives a sly smile in the background as she calls him- maybe he'll get something after all. But there might be more to this boy. In the 17th century, The Netherlands was a Protestant country, not because the majority of the people were Protestant (actually, only ten percent were Protestant!), but because it was the official religion. Catholics were not allowed to practice their religion publicly (they had to build secret churches) and therefore Catholic holidays such as The Feast of Saint Nicholas, were not allowed by law. The boy who only got a branch is wearing the simple black outfit of a Protestant, yet the girl who happily clutches her "doll" is wearing a Catholic dress and carrying Catholic attributes such as the statue of Saint Lucia and a cross. Did Jan Steen imply that Catholics were "good" and therefore got rewarded while Protestants got punished? Could be.

There's loads of symbolism in this painting, too much to get into, but what I love most is the way the traditions of Sinterklaas are so vividly painted. Traditions that have pretty much remained the same. My favorite detail is the group of children on the right hand side who are singing up towards the chimney- exactly what my family and I did yesterday!


Off to eat some speculaas as by now the smell is driving me crazy and forcing me to put an end to all the arty talk!

Soul- Warming Soup

Lately, I have gotten into the habit of welcoming Kirstie home for lunch with a bowl of freshly- made soup. It's usually a very simple lentil or bean soup made with some stock, a bit of veggies and a few spices. Nothing more than that. Sometimes though, I get the urge to be a little more creative, like today, when I suddenly remembered a bottle of tomato juice that had been lurking about in my pantry for some time, and I also decided to use the three boniatos I purchased over the weekend. What I want most at the this time of year are thick, comforting soups, the type that fill your tummy and warm your soul- and that is exactly what this creamy, velvety smooth soup did. I topped each bowl with a little crème fraîche and some chopped parsley. My blissfully happy moment of the day was sitting at the table with my gorgeous girl while eating that bowl of soup.

Here's the recipe:

Soul- Warming Soup
*3 ribs of celery
*2 big carrots
*1 onion
*3 cloves of garlic
*2 tbsps olive oil
*500g red lentils
*750ml tomato juice
*850ml vegetable or herb- flavored broth
*1 tsp mace
*2 tsps ground cumin
*1 tsp ground coriander
*1 tsp chili powder
*2 tsps brown sugar
*3 large boniato sweet potatoes, about 600g, cubed

Finely chop the celery, carrots, onion and garlic. I did this is the food processor. Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the veggies on a gentle fire for about 5 minutes. Add the lentils and stir well. Add the tomato juice, the stock and the spices and cook on a medium fire for about 15 minutes. Add the chopped boniatos and continue to cook for a further 45 minutes. Puree the soup and serve with crème fraîche and some chopped parsley.

Makes about 10 servings

Pumpkin Love

Slowly but surely, I am turning my husband and daughter into pumpkin lovers. They "oohed" and "aahed" when they tasted my pumpkin muffins and I pretty much got the same reaction after they had a slice of my latest pumpkiny treat- a warmly spiced pumpkin loaf with tiny chips of pure chocolate! I made this one last Friday and froze it so that we could enjoy it for Sunday brunch together with my mother- in- law who was visiting for Thanksgiving. Just before serving it, I quickly popped it into the oven along with some rolls I had also baked for that purpose. It smelled pretty darn good when I set it on the table, but before they asked me to cut them a slice, they questioned what it was made of. My answer was simple, "first taste it". Well, it went down pretty well because even my pumpkin hating husband declared it "really good"!
And it was good! So good that I'm already looking forward to making another loaf.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Loaf with Chocolate Chips

*125g butter, softened
*125g unrefined brown cane sugar
*2 eggs
*225g flour
*1 ½ tsps baking powder
*½ tsp baking soda
*¼ tsp salt
*1 ½ tsp cinnamon
*1 tsp ginger
*200g pumpkin puree
*2 tsps rum extract
*100g pure chocolate chips
*50 ml milk

Preheat oven to 180C and line a loaf pan with baking paper. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger over the eggs, butter and sugar. Fold this in and then add the pumpkin puree, the rum extract, the milk and the chocolate chips. Incorporate well. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Makes about 10 slices

Giving Thanks

It's on days like today that I really miss being back in Jersey. I remember what a typical Thanksgiving day would look like and I can't help but get a little nostalgic. My dad would wake up early, really early, so that we could go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We saw it live almost every year and even though it was always a long, cold wait, it was wonderful. Not so much the parade, but the festive mood, the crowds and of course the feeling of family and warmth.

Even though I moved to The Netherlands, I never gave up my traditions. We celebrate the 4th of July and Thanksgiving, and Kirstie believes in Santa Claus. I think it's important for her to grow up knowing about my culture and the things I grew up with. So today, although I'm not celebrating (that will be on Saturday), I've entertained myself with some baking. I've baked some bread, some cornbread and some breakfast rolls. But let me tell you about that cornbread though.

I've never been such a fan of cornbread. Mainly because I find it too dry and pretty tasteless. Usually it's the butter that sort of makes it edible for me. Perhaps a slice of cheese on top of that as well. I did a little experimenting in the kitchen today though and finally came up with a recipe I loved. I spiced the bread with a little dried thyme and also added a bit of evaporated milk. The results were really moist and flavorful. It was such a treat to pick up Kirstie for lunch and come back to a house filled with wonderful smells. In a way, it even felt a little festive. Even though I baked it to use in the stuffing, we had some for lunch with a pat of lightly salted butter.

Tomorrow I'm baking a pumpkin pie and making my cranberry sauce. The festivities are not the same as I remember but that doesn't really matter in the end. I'm creating my own traditions and passing them on to Kirstie. And for that I'm very grateful.

Here's the recipe for the bread:

Cornbread with Thyme
*100g white four
*1 tsp salt
*1 tbsp baking powder
*150g fine cornmeal
*2 tsps dried thyme
*3 tbsps unrefined cane sugar
*2 eggs
*175ml milk
*50ml evaporated milk
*70g melted butter, cooled

Preheat oven to 200C and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Add the cornmeal, the thyme and the sugar. Stir well and make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients. In a jug beat the eggs with the milk, the evaporated milk and the melted butter. Carefully incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry making sure not to stir too roughly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and cool slightly before serving. Makes about 10-12 slices.

Incredibly Moist and Lightly Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

My list of favorite foods definitely includes pumpkin. It's a versatile ingredient, has loads of taste, a velvety smooth texture and it's high in beta- caroteen. What's not to love? Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd serve something with pumpkin at least once a week, but because I pretty much stand alone as a pumpkin fan in this family, I have to restrain myself. Therefore, I'm constantly on the look- out for pumpkin recipes that look promising, or in other words, recipes which I think (ok, maybe hope) my family will like. Last weekend for example, I tried a creamy casserole with potatoes, pumpkin and fresh corn. Went down ok, but I didn't get any applause.

Things might change after dinner tonight when I present them with my latest creation- the most incredibly moist, lightest and spongiest muffins ever! And, they're made with pumpkin! The wonderful texture is mainly due to the sifting of the dry ingredients and to the banana which I threw in for good measure. It not only served to replace some of the fat, but it also made the muffins even airier. Another wonderful addition was two tablespoons of rum- flavored golden syrup- my latest find and secret addiction. I came across this 'limited edition' variety last week and nearly pounced on a few bottles, only to go back a few days later for more. It will add such a festive touch to my pancakes and ice cream this upcoming holiday season. But if you can't find it, I'm sure this recipe will be just fine with the normal stuff.

Incredibly Moist and Lightly Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
*250g flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp baking soda
*1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
*1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
*1 tsp ginger
*pinch of salt
*1 egg
*100ml milk
*3 tbsps sunflower oil
*3 tbsps blackstrap molasses
*2 tbsps Rum and Festive Spice Golden Syrup
*70g unrefined cane sugar
*220g peeled and seeded pumpkin, cut into small chunks
*1 medium banana, about 130g

Boil the pumpkin chunks 15 minutes or until soft. Drain, mash and set aside to cool. Mash the banana and set aside. Preheat oven to 180C. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt into a bowl. In a jug, whisk the egg, milk, oil, molasses, golden syrup and sugar. First whisk in the banana and then the cooled pumpkin puree. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and carefully fold in until combined. Spoon the mixture into a 12 hole muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes. I can totally picture eating these warm, split down the middle, filled with a scoop of ice cream and drizzled with that delectable golden syrup!

Spice Infused Poached Pears

For dessert tonight, I decided to treat Hans and I to something really exquisite, yet very easy- I poached two peeled Gieser Wildeman pears for about one and a half hours in 200 ml red wine, 50 ml crème de cassis, 300 ml water, 3 bruised cardamom pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, one star anise and 2 teaspoons brown sugar. The smell of the pears cooking was extremely aromatic and thoroughly promising. I couldn't stop lifting the lid so that I could get an even better whiff of everything slowly simmering away in that little pan.

After the pears were cooked, I removed them to a plate and reduced the syrup for about 35 minutes. They were then served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a nice drizzle of warm syrup. It was a delicious and very seasonal dessert.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

After Mara's thread about some of her favorite kitchen items, I decided to follow her lead. Here are some of my own favorites.


First off, my baby pink bowl. I use this one for everything. Baby pink is one of my favorite colors. I find it very soothing.Hans gave me this last year for Sinterklaas. Because I'm his "kitchen princess" and because I make "buckets" of tea, so he thought this would come in handy.
My retro kitchen calendar. Yes, that's my friend Remy from Ratatouille who's hanging out there!
I bought this bundt pan at a vintage shop. Personally, I think any cake in this shape is bound to taste good!
Quiche pan in one of my favorite colors...yep, pastel pink!
My red LeCreuset casserole. Along with my Jamie Oliver risotto pan, it's one of my most used kitchen items. I love LeCreuset and have asked Sinterklaas for a red tarte tatin pan from this brand. I hope I've been a good girl.
A beautiful little tea bag holder in the shape of a cupcake. Isn't it cute? It was a present from a lovely gal, Anna.
My gorgeous red cake stand. A present from Hans. I love fire engine red and have a lot of this color in my kitchen.
Such a beautiful colander! Another present from Hans, and also in red.
Cookie tin with a 1930's woman. I love to use this tin to store dainty little cookies. Don't you just love her hat?


Thanks for this idea, Mara. It was a lot of fun!

Baking for the Sint

Tomorrow will be a big day for Kirstie, and yes, I admit, for me as well. Right about now, Sinterklaas is on his way to The Netherlands. He left Spain on Thursday and will be welcomed at the harbor tomorrow by thousands of cheering kiddies. To get into the spirit, Kirstie asked me to help her bake some speculaas from a recipe she found in one of her Sinterklaas books. We read the recipe together, I set out the ingredients and helped her with the oven and that was it! I think she did an excellent job! So, tomorrow we'll be all ready for the big arrival, with a bag full of cookies, to keep us warm of course.

Here's the recipe:

Speculaas (Dutch Spice Cookies)
*200g butter, softened
*250g brown sugar
*2 tsps speculaas spices (these are usually only available in The Netherlands but you can make your own by mixing 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp mace, 3 tsps cinnamon and a pinch of pepper)A1 tsp nutmeg
*2 eggs
*500g flour
*1 tsp baking powder

Put the butter in a bowl and cream it with the sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Add the spices and sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Knead everything with your hands and form into a ball. Refrigerate overnight. Remove dough from fridge 1.5 hours before using it. Preheat oven to 175C. Roll out the dough and cut out shapes. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Colombian Inspirations

A few weeks ago I got an awesome surprise. One of my culinary favorites, Patricia McCausland- Gallo, left a comment on my blog. My very first post was about my Colombian roots and in that post I mentioned her lovely book, The Secrets of Colombian Cooking. Actually, her recipe for arepas was the very first one I posted on my blog. I picked up the book again last week and began reading some more about my birth country, the one I left when I was just a baby. Although I did grow up with staples of Colombian food, I never really had anyone to teach me how to make those traditional dishes. My memories include looking over my mom's shoulder to see how she would make areaps or watching my aunt stirring natilla or frying batch after batch of buñuelos on Christmas eve, but that was about it. Thanks to Patricia's book, all those recipes are no longer a mystery.

Inspired by Patricia's stories and her flair with Colombian food, I decided to get into the kitchen and do a little experimenting of my own. The last time I had an arepa, was almost eight years ago when I visited my parents back in New Jersey. My mom prepared them for breakfast the way she traditionally would- grilled and served with cheese and scrambled eggs. I loved them and licked my plate clean, but Hans, on the other hand, had a bit of a hard time. I never held it against him though. Arepas are little corn cakes which can be a bit on the tasteless side, although there are many variations which have more flavor, like arepas de chocolo which have a delightfully sweet, roast corn flavor. I knew that if I was going to attempt serving Hans and Kirstie arepas, somewhat close to the ones I remembered having for breakfast, they should have a bit more taste. Still, I didn't want to go too far off track (well, maybe I did in the end) so I came up with the following recipe inspired by one I saw in Patricia's book. They were so incredibly good that at the end of the meal, Hans asked why I only made three- after he admitted that he was a bit worried when he saw what I was making!

Here's the recipe (and yes, I know it's not 100% Colombian!)

Arepas My Way

*220g fine yellow cornmeal (used for polenta)
*185ml hot water, but not so hot that you burn your fingers!
*30g soft butter
*1 tsp salt
*100g shredded mozzarella cheese
*1 tbsp butter, for frying

Mix the cornmeal, salt and butter in a bowl. Add the hot water slowly while mixing with your hands. Start kneading the mixture in the bowl and continue until it comes together. Add the cheese and continue to knead. Divide the dough into five balls and form each ball into a disc of about 9cm in diameter. Put the arepas on a plate and refrigerate 30 minutes before frying them. When ready to fry, melt the butter in a pan and fry the arepas on a medium- high heat for 4-5 minutes per side. During the frying, press down on them every so often with the back of a spatula so that they brown nicely. Serve warm, alone or with scrambled eggs. I especially love them with eggs scrambled with spring onions and cherry tomatoes!
Makes 5 arepas.

Boo!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy Halloween! We are quite stuffed from a horrendously delicious meal and are now getting ready to curl up on the couch to watch a horror movie with a bottle of wine. So, I'm keeping it short. But if you want to read more about what we ate, be sure to check out my latest contribution to Expatica!


Wishing you a frightfully delicious Halloween!

Favorite Muffins

I can't think of a bigger indulgence than warm, fresh out of the oven muffins on a chilly Autumn morning. Especially during weekends, there's nothing quite as rewarding as hopping out of bed and diving into my kitchen to whip up a batch of 12 spongy, golden little treats. The smell that permeates through the house is enough to get everyone upstairs out of bed and hurrying to the breakfast table. Who can possibly resist a basket full of muffins along with some jams, butter and coffee? It always feels like such an achievement to get a gorgeous table set first thing in the morning on a Saturday, when in fact, it couldn't be easier!

I have a few recipes I love. My Health- Freak Muffins have been quite a success for example. They're filled with fruit and veg and although that's about as healthy as they get, I get a warm feeling inside when I pop one of these into my bag in the event of a train delay. Then there's my carrot muffins which have become a regular on our road trips out of the country. I remember baking them last summer at 5 AM (I'm not kidding you) before we left for France. Other popular recipes include Nigella's Chocolate- Chocolate Chip Muffins which have made me look like quite the domestic goddess in the eyes of my in-laws and my corn- thyme muffins, always appreciated with a bowl of chilli.

When it comes to quick breakfast muffins though, I almost always opt for the Orange Breakfast Muffins in Nigella Bites. They're so fragrant and beautiful with the little flecks or orange zest. I love to split them open while they're still steaming so that the butter immediately seeps into them. Then a good spoon of sourish blackberry jam and my weekend is off to a good start.

Here's the recipe:

Orange Breakfast Muffins
*75g unsalted butter
*250g self-raising flour
*25g ground almonds
*half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
*1 teaspoon baking powder
*75g caster sugar
*zest of 1 orange
*100ml freshly squeezed orange juice
*100ml full-fat milk
*1 egg
*12-bun muffin tray lined with 12 paper cases

Preheat the oven to 200?C/gas mark 6. Melt the butter and set aside. Combine the flour, ground almonds, bicarb, baking powder, sugar and orange zest in a large bowl. Measure the orange juice and milk into a jug and whisk in the egg and then the cooled, melted butter. Now pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing with a fork as you go. The batter will be lumpy but that's as it should be: you want everything to be no more than barely combined. The whole point of muffin mixture is that it must never be overworked. Spoon out the mixture equally into the muffin cases and cook for 20 minutes. Remove, in their paper cases, to a wire rack and let cool slightly (but not completely) before devouring. Makes 12.

A Little Halloween Fun

Last week Kirstie and I went shopping together and came across some fantastic Halloween cookie cutters. Usually I just bake a cake (Nigella's Ghoul Graveyard Cake, to be precise), but how could we possibly resist the prospect of an afternoon spent baking and decorating witches, pumpkins, bats and ghosts.

Here's what we did!

Express Happiness

When I first started to watch Nigella Express, I wasn't that amused. The idea of "express" food didn't really appeal to me, seeing that I'm one to carefully plan my meals and I try to be very conscious of what I eat. Not that I'm the poster girl for healthy eating, as you've probably noticed from some of my previous posts. Yes, I know Nigella's recipes aren't meant to be health food, but I was under the impression that the whole series and book were going to be nothing more than artery- clogging, calorific, fast foods. Anyhow, I've seen all the shows so far and must now confess that there were quite a few recipes which really wooed me- the Caramel Croissant Pudding and the Breakfast Bruschetta come to mind. I couldn't resist. The book arrived Friday and since then I have totally and truly fallen in love with it, and with Nigella. I love her now even more than I did before. And perhaps this is the time for me to say how big a role she's played in my passion for food and in seeing it as something to be relished. Since becoming a Nigella fan, I no longer look at food in terms of "calories", and I think that's a good thing.

Nigella seems to enjoy her life. She's passionate (something which tends to annoy people) and she doesn't give a flying hoot about fitting into what society prescribes as acceptable. It's so refreshing to see a woman comfortable in her own skin. That's what makes her beautiful, and that's the reason why so many people have something to say about her. In a world where many have forgotten to really take pleasure in life, Nigella tells us it's OK to enjoy. Life is so short, sounds like a cliché perhaps, but something she knows all too well.

After reading the whole book, I can happily report that not all of the recipes are rich or fattening. There are quite a few lovely salads, lots of things with avocados, berries, pomegranates, salmon, beans and all those other things we consider "good" foods. So in fact, I feel there's been a lot of fuss over nothing. I can't say I'm completely clean here. Like I said, I wasn't really amused with Express in the beginning. It was only after reading the book, and trying to catch what she was trying to say between the lines (enjoy things!), that I changed my mind. Let me just clarify one thing- Nigella hasn't given me a reason to pig out now. She never did. I still plan careful menus, eat organic, hate convenience food and avoid fast- food like the plague, but there's always room in my life to bake a cake or eat a whole bar of chocolate all by my lonesome without feeling guilty. I woke up Sunday morning and the first thing I reached for was my book. In the recipe for Sweetcorn Chowder with Toasted Tortillas, she writes: "[...] I know that "guilty pleasures" exist, but I have never understood the point of feeling guilty about pleasure. Rather, I see plenty of reasons for feeling guilty about failing to take pleasure in things." These words are poetry to me. I live by them and I think there would be a lot more smiling in the world if others did as well.

So what have I cooked so far? Well, I started off our weekend by making the Home- Made Instant Pancakes, served with caramelized apples and a good swoosh of rum (yes, rum at breakfast). Kirstie loves pancakes so the fact that I have two jars full of this stuff makes her a very happy girl. I'm happy as well. Like Nigella, I love a well- stocked pantry. Keeping this mix stored away in old- fashioned jars just feels so darn good! Lunch was the fabulous Chef's Salad. To add a little pizazz I served it with some cream cheese stuffed peppadews and some chilled white wine. And dinner- amazing! Ever since giving up our vegetarianism (for a host of reasons), we have been experimenting with fantastic cuts of meat. The really good kind and only from animals who had a happy life. The times we do eat meat, we make them count. We went and bought a fresher than fresh chicken, one which I even had to finish plucking myself (haha! I bet you're shocked!). I fixed us a dinner which made us laugh and giggle as though we'd walked out of a coffee shop- and no, we don't go to coffee shops, the Dutch kind. Candles were lit, Kirstie helped me set the table and I even put out little bowls with rosewater and rose petals so that we could de- grease our fingers with ease. We feasted on Brandied- Bacony Chicken served with the Potato and Mushroom Gratin and a simple watercress salad. Dessert was the Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Sundae. It was a feast to remember. When we blissfully plopped ourselves on the couch Hans asked, "Was this Thanksgiving?" It certainly felt like it! Sunday morning's breakfast was the Go Get 'em Smoothie (slightly modified with soy milk and cocoa powder) and meanwhile I had the Lazy Loaf going in the oven. Super healthy stuff!! We enjoyed it this morning with jam and a little butter. I also made the Jumbleberry Crumble yesterday with whole wheat flour instead of white. It was gorgeous served warm from the oven with ice cream and just like with the pancakes, it feels good to know I have the contents of a fantastic dessert sitting safely in my freezer ready to go in just minutes.

I have one word- balance. The rest of the week includes plenty of tofu, steamed veggies, beans and brown rice. Nigella Express isn't a license to kill yourself with cholesterol. It's a wake- up call to not kill yourself worrying about whether or not you should give into something gorgeous. And that shouldn't only apply to food.


For some photos of this weekend's feasts, click here: Nigella's Treats

Linda's Cookies, and Love

I'm a big Beatles' fan. Actually, Hans and I met because of The Beatles and our wedding song was All You Need is Love. Aside from The Beatles though, I've always been a fan of Linda McCartney. She was so much more than 'the wife of', she was also a talented photographer and did a lot for animal rights- something very close to my heart. In January of 2000, Paul donated over $2,000,000, for cruelty- free breast cancer research. Linda was a great cook and her cookbooks include some of my favorite recipes, like these oatmeal cookies which I baked a few nights ago in her honor. They are easy to make, relatively healthy and truly delicious.

Linda McCartney's Oatmeal Cookies
*50g soft margarine
*125g light brown sugar
*1 egg
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1/2 tsp rum extract (optional)
*50g flour
*1/2 tsp salt
*1/2 tsp baking powder
*1 tsp cinnamon
*175g oatmeal
*125g raisins
*2 tbsp chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. In a large bowl beat sugar and margarine until well mixed. Add egg and vanilla and beat again just enough to mix well. Sift flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add to egg/sugar mixture and stir well. Add oatmeal and raisins and mix well. Arrange tablespoons of mixture , not too close together, on a baking tray lined with baking paper. You might have to use your (moistened) hands a bit. Bake at 180 for about 15-18 minutes. Let cool on rack for another five minutes.

PS: Check out this link to see what was played at our wedding. This was made by Hans. All You Need is Love

Hazelnut Harvest and Intensely Rich Brownies

When people visit us, they always mention how much they love our garden. I remember when we first moved into the house and how the space outside was nothing more than a bare piece of land with a few tiny trees. Over the years, Hans has done a wonderful job at turning that space into our own little paradise. Today it's looking quite full and lush with beautiful flowers in hanging baskets, thick lavender bushes, other potted herbs and even a small pond. Last spring we added an apple tree, a cherry tree, various pepper plants, tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries. After ten years of living here and all the time we spend outdoors, you'd think we'd know everything there is to know about this beautiful space. That's why our surprise was huge when we recently discovered a hazelnut tree growing in a distant corner!

A few weeks ago, Hans and Kirstie harvested the first kilo of nuts and yesterday I finally decided to use some in my brownies. Sure, it sounds quite idyllic to do this instead of buying a bag of nuts, but let me assure you that cleaning hazelnuts is one tedious job! It took us about an hour of sweat to produce 150 grams of hazelnuts! Still, I'm not complaining. After tasting my thick, densely fudgy brownies with the addition of our own home- grown nuts, I realized that all that peeling was well worth the effort. A few handfuls of tangy dried fruits were also thrown in this time for a burst of zesty flavor.

Here's the recipe:

Intensely Rich Hazelnut and Fruit Brownies
*250g butter
*300g pure, dark chocolate
*5 eggs
*300g unrefined cane sugar
*2 tsps vanilla extract
*fat pinch of salt
*200g flour
*150g whole hazelnuts
*180g mixed dried fruits (I used a mix of cherries, cranberries and blueberries.)

Preheat oven to 180C. Melt butter and chocolate au bain marie. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla till thick and creamy. Add the chocolate while beating. I did this with the help of my Kitchen Aid. Fold in the flour, salt, nuts and fruit. Pour batter evenly into a 32.5 x 22.5-cm (13 x 9-inch) baking tray and bake for 20- 25 minutes. Allow to cool 20 minutes before cutting into bars. Makes about 28 brownies.

Uncomplicated Beauty

After our Sunday stroll through the forest in Baarn, not far from Groeneveld Castle, I was inspired to take us back to France. The trees were already in all their autumn glory, tinted in warm shades of red and yellow, and the sky was clear and sunny. I wondered how impressive the vineyards would be at this time of year and the thought alone told me it was time to finally open that bottle of Bourgogne-Hautes Côtes de Nuits Rouge. If there was ever a wine that deserved beautiful simplicity, than it was certainly this one!

In a way, I felt a little sad opening the bottle. I remembered the lovely conversation I had with the vigneron in Nuits- Saint- Georges who sold me the wine. It's funny how someone I met and talked to for just moments caused such a huge impression on me. What I loved most about this man was his passion for the wine. He spoke about it as though it were one of his children, giving me instructions as to how I could best care for it and of course, how to enjoy it. Even the way he wrapped up the wine was a pleasure to watch.

We enjoyed the wine at a perfect 16C along with some cheeses and some thin- crusted pain de campagne smeared thick with my latest find- lightly salted and wonderfully creamy beurre d'Isigny from Normandy. The wooden packaging with its green checkered accents was enough to tell me how good this butter would be. Because good bread and butter need nothing more than a hot, clear broth, I made a pot of my mushroom soup with cognac. It's a simple recipe. Just perfect broth slowly simmered with 500g sliced chestnut mushrooms, 1 sliced leek, some shallots and 60ml cognac.

For dessert I whipped up a very fuss- free tart. The pastry came from Nigella's recipe for Blackberry Crostata in How To Be A Domestic Goddess. It's one of the easiest pies simply because there's no blind baking involved! I topped the pastry with crème fraîche flavored with a touch of honey and then layered on some pear slices which I had sauted in butter, star anise and a little rum. A sprinkle of lavender finished off the tart before it went in the oven. We enjoyed it warm with the last of the wine.

There's nothing like uncomplicated beauty to let a good wine shine.

Here's the recipe for the tart:

For the pastry:
*60 g flour
*30g fine cornmeal
*1 tbsp sugar
*1/4 tsp salt
*50g cold butter, in small chunks
*15g margarine, in small chunks
*3 tbsps ice water

For the filling:
*100ml crème fraîche
*1 tbsp honey
*1 1/2 pears, halved and sliced, not too thinly
*2 tbsps butter
*1 tbsp rum
*2 star anise
*3/4 tbsp lavender

In a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients. Add the fat and pulse again until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the water and pulse a few more times. Take pastry out of processor and form into a fat disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Saute your pear slices in the butter with the anise on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the rum and increase the heat. Saute for 3 more minutes. Whisk the creme fraiche with the honey. Preheat oven to 190C. On a floured surface, roll out you pastry to a disk of about 25cm in diameter. Smear the crème fraîche on the pastry leaving a free edge. Top with the pears and sprinkle with the lavender. Roll the edges slightly towards the filling. Bake 30 minutes at 190C and then give it another 15 minutes at 220C.
Serve warm.

Putting My Pears Out of Their Misery

Have you ever felt sorry for a piece of fruit? I have. Even though I'm a fruit fanatic, I too am guilty of letting a pear sit in its bowl a tad longer than it should. I blame my market visits for that. Before every trip, I tell myself to stick to my shopping list and not come home with enough produce to feed all of Europe, yet I always succumb to the call of the market man who wants to sell me two kilos for the price of one!

This morning I felt particularly sorry for the last two pears in my fruit bowl. They had been exhibiting the classic signs of distress for a few days already (brown spots) so I took it upon myself to put them out of their misery. As I peeled off their skins, the juices dripping over my hands making an incredible mess, I thought about their ultimate fate- drowning in a bath of chocolate batter!

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Pears

*125ml walnut oil
*150g caster sugar
*3 eggs
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*350g flour
*2 tsps baking powder
*1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
*60g good-quality chocolate powder
*pinch of salt
*2 very ripe pears, cleaned and chopped into small chunks
*powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Sift the dry ingredients and fold them in. The batter will appear too thick. Add the pears. You'll see that this will give the batter that extra bit of moisture it needs. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for one hour on the lowest rack of your oven. Let cool 15 minutes before turning out. Serve with powdered sugar.

Food Career??

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Yes, John. You were right, of course.

Funny how up until a few months ago I was convinced that art would become my work. But as it turns out, food has blissfully taken over my life. So much that I'm dreaming up recipes in the middle of the night or trying to come up with interesting work-related ideas. Aside from my cooking classes, I've met with two editors in the past week, had a meeting with a client I am catering for (French dinner!), and am now a food writer for an online expat magazine! And there's still proposals coming my way! It's all very exciting and I'm especially enjoying meeting so many interesting people, in the food business and otherwise.

Perhaps only a start, but I've always believed that with hard work and motivation, you can get anywhere. Off to pour myself a well-deserved glass!

PS: For those interested, click on the following link to read my article and get the recipe for the pie in the picture! Dutch Apple Pie, featured on Expatica