Matcha pannacotta

Wake up, look at the alarm. Damn, it’s only 3 am… Too early… Go back to sleep. Wake up, look at the alarm… Hmmm, 5.30 am. That is late enough, isn’t it? I would jump out of my bed and run excited to my parents bedroom. Screaming something like ‘It’s my birthday, it’s my birthday!’ The tradition was that we would all go and sit on my parents bed (we actually all fell through the bed at one such occasion. Apparently the bed was not build for 6 people) and that’s when we would get presents. And let’s face it; birthday = presents, right?

Usually my parents – knowing us all too well – would give us a strict timeline. Do NOT wake us up before 6 am! But excitement and enthusiasm usually got the better of us so we would always be waaaay too early. Claiming we hadn’t seen that it was only 5.30! So my birthday was always fun and I loved it. Loved being the centre of attention. I’m not really sure when that all changed but I do think it was pretty early on. By the time I was 15 or 16, I no longer thought that birthdays were fun. O yes, the getting presents was fun, but I happened to have friends who did not get along together very well, so what was the point of celebrating when I could only invite one half of my friends?

Happy birthday girl at 4!

These days, birthdays are well, just another year older, really… Getting close to my fifties is somewhat daunting I have to confess. In case you were wondering, today is my 49th birthday. I sometimes still feel that there must be some kind of mistake made. That I wasn’t born in 1963 but rather much later. I don’t feel 49 (of course I have no way of knowing how one is supposed to feel at 49!) and I’m frquently being told that I don’t look 49 either. (I’ve had to show some sort of ID a few times to actually proof that I was that old..lol) But the truth is, that I am and o well, I do feel my age too from time to time.

When I’ve had a really busy day I can feel my bones and muscles protesting (doing a little more sports would help!) but overall, I think I cannot complain. Today is going to be a typical birthday for me; hiding in plain sight for friends and family… We never have a party and if we can, we try and get out of the country to celebrate somewhere else. Or we go out for a nice dinner. Just the two of us and sometimes with a few friends, but that’s it. Enough party for me!

Now on to the subject of matcha. I’d had seen matcha featured in many blogposts over the years but I’d never managed to actually find that elusive green powder and when I finally found a source for it, it turned out they ran out of it, the time I was there to get it. Luck was not on my side. I probably have looked in the wrong placed to, but that’s a whole other subject.

Matcha

I mentioned something on a blog post and sweet Kate from Serendipity send me an email asking if she could send me some of the matcha? I was delighted she would take the trouble to send it to me and a few days later I had two packages of matcha in my mailbox. One was bright green and from Japan, the other was a much duller color and apparently from Belgium. Interesting how those two would react!

Now ofcourse I wanted to make something that would highlight that fantastic green, so my first thought was to make a matcha pannacotta. I had found just the recipe for it, so I set about it. Having made a zillion pannacotta’s before I didn’t think much about it, poured the finished product into the molds and into the fridge.

But then something interesting happened; the substance split. I’ve never had this happen before and while the pannacotta’s are still delicious and if turned over they still hold their shape, it’s interesting to know why this happened.

Holding it's shape but barely

I used double cream and milk for this… You can read what I’ve done in the recipe below. If you’ve got any thoughts on why the mixture split, please let me know! I have a feeling that it wasn’t warm enough as you can still see the little powder dots everywhere which I think is not what’s supposed to happen…

Matcha pannacotta

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves:	6
Prep time:	20 minutes
Cook time:	4 hours
Total time:	4 hours, 20 minutes
Allergy:	Milk
Meal type:	Dessert
Misc:	Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Region:	Worldwide
From book:	Panna cotta by Camilla Saulsbury

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons matcha powder
• 2 cups double cream
• 1 1/4 cup full fat milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3,5 sheets gelatin (or 2 tbsp dried)

Directions

Put the double cream, milk, seeds of the vanilla bean and sugar in a small saucepan and heat until close to boiling but not actually boiling. Take of the heat. Soak your gelatin leaves in cold water for 5 minutes.

Put the matcha into a cup and add one cup of the hot mixture slowly into the powder while vigorously whisking. Once combined add the matcha mixture into the cream mixture.

Add the soaked gelatin (squeeze out the moisture) into the warm cream and whisk until dissolved. Pour the cream into your ramekins, glasses or other molds. Leave to stand in the fridge for at least 4 hours before unmolding. For unmolding you can dip the ramekins into hot water (making sure the water does not get into your molds ofcourse) for a few seconds and then turn them onto a plate and lift the mold.

Related Posts:

• Cinnamon/amaretto pannacotta with poached pears
• How not to style your pannacotta
• Yeasted Meringue coffee cake; Daring Bakers march 2011
• Lemon buttermilk pannacotta
• Delicious panna cotta

Delicious couscous salad with puy lentils

I can feel myself slipping.. Slipping into the muddy waters of the overweight and out of control people… Slipping because… well, because food is just too damn tasty… and I have little to no self-control. A pretty cupcake makes me drool, when I see a gorgeous photo of a tiramisu I want to make it too and yes, I even start to have serious cravings when I see a pretty salad. And I am weak… So weak… If you’ve paid any attention to the little weight counter on the right you’d already noticed it went from -10 pounds to -7 pounds. A clearer sign you could not get!

I found out I gain weight when I’m really busy. No time to eat properly so I snack. I come home and don’t feel like cooking, so I make bad choices. As soon as things quiet down a bit I become a better me again. But then last night we signed the contract for our new kitchen, plus Tom and I were having our 20th anniversary (and no, we’re not married..) so a celebration was in order. And in our household, a celebration means wine.. Lots of wine. You get the picture!

I guess it’s the continuing story of our life; ups and downs.. But enough faffing around, time to get back on track again. And join the ranks of ..slightly less obese people.. I’ll get there. It might take some time, but in the meantime, I get to share these gorgeous salads with you. This one takes a bit of effort. It’s not done within half an hour, so there is some planning needed in order to get the best results, but if you take that time you will not be disappointed. It features very healthy ingredients such as puy lentils and couscous, tomatoes and arugula so what’s not to like? In the meantime; I do need some buttkicking done, please…

Mediterranean couscous and lentil salad

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves:	4
Prep time:	10 minutes
Cook time:	30 minutes
Total time:	40 minutes
Dietary:	Vegetarian
Meal type:	Lunch, Salad
Misc:	Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Region:	Worldwide
Website:	Epicurious

Ingredients

• 1 cup puy lentils
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup Couscous
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove (large, minced and mashed into a paste with 1/4 tsp salt)
• 1/2 cup fresh mint (finely chopped)
• 1 bunch arugula (rocket) (stems discarded and leaves washed well, spun dry and chopped)
• 2 cups vine ripened cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 1/4lb feta (crumbled)

Directions

In a small saucepan simmer lentils in water to cover by 2 inches until tender but not falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes, and drain well. Transfer hot lentils to a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Cool lentils completely, stirring occasionally. In a saucepan bring water to a boil and add couscous and salt. Remove pan from heat and let couscous stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and cool completely, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl whisk together garlic paste, remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, remaining 3 tablespoons oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir lentils and dressing into couscous. Chill salad, covered, at least 3 hours and up to 24. Just before serving, stir in remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Related Posts:

• Orzo with feta, tomatoes and dill
• Couscous salad with roquefort and corn
• Quinoa, feta and walnut salad
• Goatcheese salad with walnuts and pear
• Greek salad

My version...

Let’s just do another easy one, I thought to myself when going through one of Donna Hay’s cookbooks. It should be a simple recipe but enough of a challenge in getting it right. Well… if only I had thought about that a little better.. I failed, I failed miserably in recreating the original that you will see below. It seemed fairly straightforward but the trick in this particular image is not so much the recipe as that is real simple, but the angle of the photo.. You’ll see what I mean soon! In the meantime we are already on the 6th version of the Donna Hay Styling and Photography Challenge and I loved all the entries from last month! I would say spread the word..

Photo; Con Poulos

Above you can find the challenge recipe photograph by Con Poulos. it’s from the cookbook Seasons and let’s face it; it doesn’t scare you just by looking at it, does it?  But wait until you analyze this a little further. First of all there is the issue of the size of the props. If you compare the size of the bottle with the size of the bruschetta then it can’t be very big and they appear fairly close together. The tricky part for me however is that the bread in the foreground is big. There is a lot of focus on that plate of food so it is prominently featured in the frame. However I tried to place it and however I changed my lenses I could not – for the life of me – get it right. I’ve tried a wide angle and going in really close but that didn’t give me any blurred background. I tried placing the plate in front and the bottle in the back and using a telelens (which makes objects appear closer together) but then I only got a small piece of the bottle in the frame. I tried so many things I forgot to pay attention to the actual position of the bruschetta but ok…

Plate is too small in the frame here

My plate is probably bigger too or maybe the bread in the original is bigger. It’s shot on a round table and I didn’t have a round table obviously but still I just failed completely in getting it right. I know you are all eagerly awaiting the next challenge so postponing it until I got it right was not an option so you’ll have to do with my failed attempt. Can’t wait to see what you come up with! And please, please let me know how you did it.

Wrong again

I tried it with a smaller plate above (only had a little christmas plate at hand..lol) but again not good! The light in the original is coming from above right and is mildly strong. I had a beautiful clear day and so much light that it was a bit too much but I gave up and just did my own version, which you see as the first picture. Rather different but still with the same elements mostly.

I will try again but also curious what you come up with! Good luck on the challenge! You’re gonna need it (or maybe it is really simple and it is just me..lol)

Feel free to change the recipe to suit your needs and/or allergies/preferences. If you’re vegetarian you can use maybe some slices of eggplant or courgette and if you’re glutenfree, change the bread etc. All options are allowed! The rules are below the recipe.

Bruschetta with mozarella, prosciutto and rocketpesto

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves:	4
Prep time:	None
Cook time:	None
Total time:	None
Meal type:	Appetizer, Bread
Region:	Worldwide
From book:	Seasons

Ingredients

• 8 slices bread
• 1 clove garlic (halved)
• extra virgin olive oil (for sprinkling)
• 3-4 pieces bocconcini (in small slices or you can use regular mozarella)
• 8 slices prosciutto
• black pepper (coarsely ground)

Arugulapesto

• 1 handful basil
• 2 handfuls arugula (rocket)
• 1 handful basil
• 40g pine nuts (roasted)
• 20g grated parmesan
• 1/4 garlic clove
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil

Directions

For making the arugula (rocket) pesto put arugula, basil, pine nuts, parmesan and garlic into a foodprocessor and puree roughly. While the motor is running add the olive oil and mix until it is a thick, rough substance. Don't make it too fine. Chunks are ok to have.

Heat a gridlepan and bake both sides of the bread golden brown and crispy. Rub this with half a clove of garlic and sprinkle with some olive oil.

Put some of the slices of mozarella on the toast and liberally cover with the pesto. Top this with a slice of prosciutto and finish with some salt and pepper.

• Once a month (on the 3rd of the month) I will give you a recipe plus the accompanying photo out of the Donna Hay magazine. I will try to make it seasonal but can’t promise anything.
• You have that same month to produce your post. You can post it any day you like just as long as you finish it before the end of that month at the latest.
• You have to  produce that recipe, alterations to the recipe are allowed to make sure any dietary restrictions are met. But only minor changes!
• You have to cook and STYLE the recipe trying to replicate the photo as best as you can. If you think you can do a better job then the original photo, by all means feel free to make your own changes to the styling.
• Shoot the dish and then write a blog post about it. It would be great to add notes on how you took the photo and how you styled the dish,  so that other people can learn too.
• Link back to this months blog post about the challenge and link back to the Donna Hay Challenge page here
• Leave a message on the post that is up here for that month, saying that you completed the challenge and link to the post on your site so others can find it too.
• If you want to use the original photo in your blog post as well as the recipe be sure to link back to the Donna Hay website plus the photographers website. They will both always be mentioned in the monthly challenge posts.

Each month a winner will be picked who will be featured in the Hall of Fame page. If you like you can add a badge to your site saying that you are taking part in this competition. The badge is featured below and should link back to this page.

Above all this challenge is about having fun styling and photographing a dish by taking Donna Hay as our great example. You can join all months or whenever you feel like joining in. Using an example of the great photographers that Donna works with, I always find that it is a good learning experience to see how did they light the scene, where does the light come from and how did they manage to make it look so beautiful. Try and analyze all of that and then come up with your own version.

While taking food photos is all about finding your own style and certainly not copying anyone else, it does help to analyze how your hero’s do their job. It’s about learning to light and style a scene properly. In no way am I trying to suggest you copy another person style. Find your own unique style! This challenge is just a tool to help you along the way..

Related Posts:

• Sage and prosciutto corn cakes – Donna Hay Styling and photo Challenge #4
• Donna Hay styling and photography challenge #1
• Apple and caramel dumplings, I think
• Gnocchi with garden peas
• Trapani rigatoni and limoncello trifle

Onion quiche with cheese

Very slowly but surely there is some white fluff coming out of the sky. It’s not a lot but it’s cold enough for the white stuff to remain. The day has been grey and very overcast. Certainly not ideal for taking photos so that’s a bit of a nuisance really… Yes, ladies and gentlemen by the look of things, it appears we ARE finally getting something resembling a winter. If I’m totally honest I am ready for spring. I mean, I love winter, I really do, but then I like winter to appear when it is supposed to. For me that is around Christmas. And not at the beginning of February when all I can think of is spring! But if nature has proven anything lately then it is the fact that it cannot be controlled. So winter it is then. At least it is good for getting rid of some of the mosquito-eggs (I hope).

We have this thing here in Holland called De Elf Stedentocht. It’s a skating race across eleven cities (cities = steden) for a distance of around 200 km. It’s held on natural ice only, so that means that we have to wait for the weather gods to be with us, in order for the ice to be thick enough to hold masses of people at the same time. The last time it was held was in 1997! So you can see that it is rare for the ice to be of good enough quality. Every year, usually around this time, we do have some frost and as always there is this buzz going around for people that maybe this year we will be having the tour… Willem-Alexander, our crown prince even participated last time so you see, it’s a big deal here..

Ten yrs old.. getting skating lessons..

I’ve never been really good in skating… I found this picture of me at the age of 10 trying to do some skating..:) I’m the clumsy one on the left holding my friends hand and that’s my little brother behind her keeping an eye on things… I used to fall on my face quite a bit and I guess I never really learned it properly. See those skates by the way? Those are called Friese doorlopers and  you can tie them under your regular shoes. This particular water (slootje) we are skating on was behind my parents house, as we were overlooking farmland.

Onion quiche

Now when it’s cold and dark outside, you want something warm and comforting, right? This particular quiche is perfect for that. it’s incredibly easy as it uses ready made croissant dough. The onions are slowly cooked in some dark beer giving it a hint of sweetness. We loved it! I used port salut in the recipe as I know Tom hates stronger cheeses (he hates all cheese but as long as it’s melted on something and not too strong he’s ok with eating it) but I would recommend using something with a bit more flavor. Blue cheese combined with regular cheese would be fantastic too. Recipe from Delicious Magazine

Onion-cheese quiche

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves:	4
Prep time:	30 minutes
Cook time:	35 minutes
Total time:	1 hours, 5 minutes
Meal type:	Lunch
Misc:	Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot
Region:	Worldwide
From magazine:	Delicious magazine

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 750g onions (in half rings)
• 100ml dark beer
• 1 can croissant dough (Here you can buy these in tins which have enough dough for 6 croissants. not sure how that would be in other countries)
• 100g ham
• 4 eggs
• 150ml double cream
• 3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley (plus a little extra for garnish if you want)
• 200g abbey cheese (for instance port salut or any other good cheese you want, rind removed)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onion rings and bake for about 8-10 minutes until they are nice and soft. Don't let them get too brown though! Pour the beer in and keep cooking until there is no moisture left in the pan. Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Roll the dough out and line a 10 x 30 cm tin with it or a round tin with a diameter of 24 cm. Make sure there are no holes in the dough. Line the bottom with the ham. Whisk the eggs, mix with cream, parsley and add pepper and salt to taste. Add the onions into the tin. Pour the egg-cream mixture over it and put the cheese on top in slices. Bake the quiche in the oven for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown and cooked. Sprinkle with a little extra parsley.

Note

While the recipe states that the qty's are for a tin of the size I have you I found there were far too many onions, so I actually made two out of the qty given. One of 10 x 30 cm and one round one. Which is fine but just thought I mention it!

Related Posts:

• Spicy cake with persimmon
• Greek salad
• Nectarine frangipane flan with verjuice glaze
• Lamb’s lettuce salad with feta and tomatoes
• Tarly salad with orange hazelnut dressing – living leaner

Pin It

Quick and healthy..

O god no… I can hear you think… not yet another salad!! Yes, sorry, it is another salad.. Isn’t January the official salad month? The month where half the nation wants to lose a little here and a little there so turns to ‘boring’ salads? Now let me correct that immediately; salads are amazing, salads are so versatile you could eat salads for the rest of your life and never have the same one twice.

True, when I was growing up, my conception of salads was also quite boring; iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, throw in a boiled egg for good measure, make a dressing from one of those little bags they sell in the supermarket (it’s called salad dressing, add 2 tbsp of mayo and 3 tbsp of water and voila, you have a dressing) and if you go really wild you might add a few pieces of ham. That was my salad growing up. That was – I fear – the only salad mum ever used to make.

Essential; a good homemade dressing!

When I left the house to go study as a nurse (yes, yes… that’s how my working life started!) at the age of 19 we had to live in a ‘sisterflat’ where all girls had there own tiny room (2 by 3 meters) and a kitchen that wasn’t worth mentioning. The only cooking equipment we had was an electrical plate and that’s all we had to prepare a healthy meal. Ofcourse the idea was that all girls would eat the hospital fodder.. Something we weren’t all that keen on, so we did try to cook a little bit. For years I was under the solid impression that salad was the above described uninspired meal.

There are still a lot of people out there who have the same strange ideas about salads. Let me tell you people; salads are amazing! I never eat iceberg lettuce anymore; it’s banned where-ever we can. It’s boring and tasteless and why bother if there are so many different and tasty varieties out there that are preferable in any given situation?

This salad came together from random ingredients I had in the fridge and needed to use. It’s simple and the delicious dressing makes this salad a winner, any time of the year. I’ve used a special sweet muscat vinegar for this dressing that was kindly given to me by Didi from Made In Spain (she has some amazing Spanish articles in her webshop, check it out) and it really complemented the dressing and the salad!

Lamb’s lettuce with feta

Print recipe

• Print with all photos
• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves:	1
Prep time:	10 minutes
Cook time:	None
Total time:	10 minutes
Dietary:	Vegetarian
Meal type:	Lunch, Salad
Misc:	Serve Cold
Region:	Worldwide
By author:	Simone van den Berg

Ingredients

• 100g lamb's lettuce
• 50g feta
• 1 small handful tablespoon sunflower seeds (roasted)
• 3 tomatoes (cut into quarters)
• croutons (from 1-2 slices of stale bread)
• 1-2 tablespoon grated parmesan
• 1-2 tablespoon Olive oil

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons homemade ketchup with bellpeppers
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon sweet muscat vinegar

Directions

Cut the tomatoes, wash the salad and roast the sunflower seeds. Make the croutons by cutting the bread into small cubes, put these in a bowl with some olive oil and grate some parmesan cheese on top of it. Mix and then roast these in a hot frying pan until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a kitchen towel

Arrange all the separate ingredients together on a plate and put all the ingredients for the dressing together in a bowl or small jar. Shake or stir well to combine, taste and add seasoning where needed

sprinkle some of the dressing on top of your salad and enjoy!

Related Posts:

• Greek salad
• Quinoa, feta and walnut salad
• Tarly salad with orange hazelnut dressing – living leaner
• Mediterranean couscous and lentil salad
• Lettuce, chicory and apple salad