Quinoa

Now there's a first time for everything. Today was my first time to sample some quinoa. N is still sick, so I decided to make some just for myself. I used beef stock to cook it in, and added some red bell pepper and feta cheese to spice it up. On the side a lamb burger to go with it.

It was a disappointment.

I read about it being compared to couscous or rice. I don't even like rice, but I know I'd pick rice over quinoa now. Maybe I didn't get the cooking method right, but the quinoa was still too tough. I also made the mistake of using one cube of beef stock (originally intended to be used with 1/2 L of water) on 200 mL of water to cook the quinoa in, resulting in way too salty stuff. I let it simmer for a quarter, with the lid on the pan just like I ought to.

The lamb burger was nice though.

KFC

Great was the day when the Colonel's descendants in all their wisdom bestowed upon us humble Groningers (inhabitants of Groningen, The Netherlands) our very own KFC restaurant. It truly made us wipe away a tear from our eye, we were touched in our hearts by the mere thought of being able to enjoy deep fried chicken goodness.
Well, A and me anyway. Nobody else around us seems to either care or even like it at all. N hates the fries (I guess she has a point, they tend to be more soggy). K doesn't know what's so special about it. Another K and H, whom I once took in the car back on our way home after a long day, found out several important pieces were missing from their order (like, 6 pieces of chicken or something like that). They only found out after I dropped them at the railway station. Of course we didn't ask for a receipt so there was no way of pointing out missing stuff to the KFC employees. H tried mailing the Dutch KFC headquarters, but apparently never got any response.

Well, all the more chicken for A and me! And great chicken it is. Because, let's face it, it's not the sides you're going to the KFC for. Fries? Nah. Drinks? Pepsi, no Coke. Okay, corn on the cob is a great side. But in the end, the chicken is the reason.

Today, N got home sick. I guess she has an ear infection. I made her some ramen with edamame, but then I was left with the question of what to have for dinner myself. Or, should I say, which fastfood joint I'd go to? There are two options if you're by car: McDonald's or the KFC. Since I went to the Mac the last time (see previous post) I decided to go to the KFC this time.
There are some advantages to taking your meal home, over eating at the restaurant itself: you can have your own sauces with your meal! That means, yes, having chili sauce with your chicken, and, no, not paying extra for mayonaise to go with the fries (Yes, we do that in Holland. Get over it). And, in case someone left the napkins out, you can just clean your hands (and face) anyway.

Amazingly, everything was in order this time when I ordered the Variety meal (somewhat different from the Variety box meal in the USA). It even included some napkins (which lately seem to be left out more and more). The Variety box included three hotwings, two strips and one smallish wing-thigh part thingy. There was a small pack of fries, some coleslaw and a 0.4L drink. I ate it all. It made me a happy Kurger.

Wasabi peas

If you're into wasabi, like me, you should really give these little green guys pictured above a try. I first learned about them on the Delicious Days blog. How great my joy was when I learned I could purchase them over here, too.
They're everything you're expecting wasabi covered snacks to be. Don't be tempted to gobble up more then one or two at a time, or eating a handful in rapid succession - unless you'd want your nasal passages to clear up, just like when using the regular green paste.

These peas are perfect proof that you don't need sushi to enjoy your favorite self-torturing pleasure. They come in a tall resealable 280 g can and cost me € 2,75 (found here). Peas out!

Unlimited Spareribs

Last night we celebrated G's bachelor's party. We had a great day! Toured the canals on a boat with (loads of) beer. Loads of beer obviously needed accompaniment of Endless Amounts of Meat (EAM). One of the restaurants in our city luckily happens to provide for something like that: Unlimited spareribs eating for just € 14,10. Alas, I was too hungry (and too drunk I guess) to remember taking a picture of the first plate of ribs I started with. So, to have proof of having eaten EAM, I decided to take a picture of the bucket filled with the remains of multiple plates of ribs. Even though I was wise enough to skip on the sides, I just couldn't eat more than one plate and an additional half piece. Well, nevertheless it provided sufficient foundation for a subsequent night of partying.

For today, I'll just try recovering from my hangover…

Nachos Todos deconstructed

Nachos todos are great! Even though making them requires little effort, it’s even simpler to make some deconstructed nachos todos. Chop up an onion, fry with 150 grams of ground meat, half a tin of corn and some jalapeño peppers (plus salt and pepper). Serve with nachos, some diced tomato and cilantro, sour cream and taco sauce. Easy peasy, done in under ten minutes! Serves one (Me! Yaay, yum!)

Asparagus

The Dutch pride themselves on their white asparagus. All over the world people seem to enjoy the green type (or sometimes even the purple type), but in Holland there’s an entire cultus-like tradition surrounding the white asparagus. Somewhere in May or June, the asparagus is ready to be harvested.

The harvesting is a meticulously timed process. The asparagus gets its white colour from growing underground. As soon as it will shoot out from the ground, it will start to go green, thus losing its delicate flavour. Harvesting the asparagus has to be done just before this shooting out. That’s usually a matter of hours. A lot of seasonal workers, commonly from Poland, are involved in getting all the asparagus out in time.

Because of its delicate flavour and the fact that the white asparagus will only be available for 2-3 months (the asparagus season), the Dutch have nicknamed it the Queen of Vegetables. Traditionally, it is served with cooked ham, boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and hollandaise sauce (how appropriate). Whenever the season comes around, N prepares this seasonal meal a few times. Or, should I say, it’s one of those few times per year I let her cook :). She makes an excellent hollandaise. Usually, we save some of the asparagus stem parts for soup.

When you’re in Holland during the asparagus season, be sure to sample some! Most restaurants will serve special seasonal menus involving asparagus.

Corn Cookies

Having more than half a can of tinned corn kernels left, I decided to make some corn cookies. They're originally from Indonesia, where they are supposedly called frikandel. They ought to be made with corn, eggs, flour, a chili pepper, celery and some leeks. I didn't have all those ingredients at hand (and also N doesn't like hot food) so I left out the chili and replaced the celery by some basil leaves and the leeks by a diced onion.

For the batter, I drained off the corn. Then I mixed one egg with the corn, added two tablespoons of flour, added the diced onion and shredded basil leaves and some freshly ground salt and pepper. The batter didn't turn out to bind its constituents that well, so I added another egg which in turn made things a little too soggy - so I added some more tablespoons of flour until the batter was somewhat sticky.

I heated up a generous amount of oil (the cookies basically need to be deep fried). I scooped in three spoonfuls of batter and let them bake on both sides for three minutes each.

A first taste test revealed they were quite tasty. The batter gave 6 cookies, of which I put two in the freezer for later use and the rest in the fridge to be eaten at lunch or whenever I feel like snacking. Downside of it all was that there were these heavy, deep-fry fumes. But who cares, if you get to have these great snacks :)

Sunday Dinner

Sunday dinners usually allow me to spend a little more time on preparing the meal. This sunday, I made the dish above (or below, but it doesn't really matter of course, because they're different photos from the same dish).

I preheated the oven to 50^oC (122^oF) and put a steak in, and let it there for about half an hour. Meat apparently tends to cook at 50-60^oC (122-140^oF), but cooking at too high a temperature supposedly makes the collagen contract and thus squeezes out all the meat's juices, giving you a tough piece of meat. Therefore, cooking at a low temperature maintains the tenderness. However, it will take longer for the heat to reach the core of the meat, so you'll need to cook your meat longer. After cooking in the oven I fried the meat for exactly one minute on each side and let it rest five minutes, wrapped in tin foil.

I cut the meat to 2 mm slices and served them on top of a pile of fried mushrooms, which were put on top of a heap of napa cabbage (raw), mixed with some tinned corn kernels and a dressing of chili sauce and pickle juice (the acidity of the pickle juice cut nicely through the sugary richness of the chili sauce, and the heat of the chili saus gave it all an extra zest).

I drizzled two tablespoons of chimichurri on top, which I had made two hours in advance, using parsley, cilantro, two garlic cloves, balsamic vinegar and oregano perfumed olive oil. On top of that a nice hand of alfalfa.

Alongside it I scooped some leftover couscous salad, which was previously made with stock welded couscous, fried bacon rinds, garlic and herb olives, parsley, cilantro, deseeded, skinned and diced tomatoes and diced cucumber.

I must say, it was a nice experiment which turned out pretty okay. N. loved it and it looked quite good. Surprisingly, the flavours mixed quite well. The acidity and heat of the cabbage/corn contrasted the hearty flavour of the beef and mushrooms, which in turn were complemented by the freshness of the chimichurri and the alfalfa. A lot of raw vegetables made sure it was a healthy meal, together with the fact that we shared just one steak amongst the two of us - something which I never thought would do for a meatlover like myself :)

Pigs in the blanket

Recently, I found out about Serious Eats, or more specifically their Photograzing section. It's a great way to spend your pastime with food related items.

One of these photo's linked to My Kitchen Snippets' Pig In The Blanket recipe. They looked great, so I wanted to make them too, having recently bought some frozen hotdogs at Ikea. Not wanting to spend that much time on making dough (I tend to hate making dough in general anyway) I decided to use some ready-made puff pastry from the freezer.


I thawed the hotdogs in the microwave, and let the puff pastry thaw by themselves (it usually takes a mere 5 minutes).

I put one hotdog diagonally on a square puff pastry sheet and cut off two of its angles. I attached these cutoffs to the diagonal sides.

Next, I made 5 cuts on each side.

Then, I braided them.

I brushed them with egg wash and baked them for 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 225^oC (473^oF). They came out not as nice as the ones from My Kitchen Snippets, but N liked them very much.

Ciabatta Grande Salsa

What better way to start a blog which is anagrammically named after a well-known hamburger fast food chain, than with a review of one such burger?

Today, I tried the Ciabatta Grande Salsa - a McDonald's special burger, temporarily available in McDonald's restaurants in Holland. Like its name implies, there's a special ciabatta-like bun, encasing a nice big (grande) patty of meat, topped with a slice of cheddar cheese, tomato slices, lettuce diced onions and two sauces: salsa (duh) and some white sauce which I couldn't quite figure out (...nooo... not that, you perverts).


The last two times I ordered something at McDonald's, I took the Big Mac. I was a little disappointed, because it had so much sweet stuff on it, you couldn't actually taste any meat anymore. So, now I felt like ordering a burger that had a little more meaty taste.

The Ciabatta Grande Salsa complied with that. The patty delivered a nice punch of meat and the rest was, well, bareable. I was a little afraid before ordering, that the ciabatta bun would have a hard crust. Fortunately, it didn't, making the burger easier to eat. Of course it was some kind of blasphemy to call it a genuine ciabatta bun, but at least it was shaped like it and its flavour hinted somewhat at what you'd expect a ciabatta bun to hint at. There was too much sauce in my opinion, but the addition of tomato made it all in all a nice burger with a recognizable McDonald's flavour to it.