Amsterdam was great! We had a long weekend with family, stayed on David's dad's barge in the centre of the city and mooched around. Once again, we were charmed by the city's beautiful, individual architecture and inspired by the lack of health and safety! Highlights included a little parade of foodie shops (corner of utrechtsestraat and prinsengracht), Rijksmuseum (go early and avoid the queues, or buy tickets online / at the tourist office and join the 'fast entry' queue), having a drink here and there around the city and watching the Dutch world go by.
We moved the barge out of the city to Kudelstat (near Aalsmeer) where it is normally moored; this involved the usual adventure (!) but we arrived safely in time for our meal at 'The Old Boot'. The latter is a tiny, homely restaurant serving great food at reasonable prices and without any english translations on the menu - refreshingly not catering to the otherwise ubiquitous english tourists. All very welcome! We ate and drank our fill (dishes included beef stew with Guinness, Lamb satay, a trio of mushrooms) and walked back to our barge. Hector slept soundly throughout!
On Monday morning, we left the rest of the party and went into Aalsmeer (most famous as the home to the Dutch flower auction) to have a coffee and to catch the bus to the airport. Having bought some delicious cheese (1 year old goat's cheese and another local aged cow's milk gouda) in de Osdorper cheese shop (Zijdstraat), we headed for ab Muller bakery. Quite the spot to while away a bit of time, admire the Dutch pastries (almond cakes require more than admiration!) and wait for the bus. 198 and 188 take you directly to Schipol and go four times an hour.
The Dutch were unerringly kind, helpful and good-humoured!
PS We have identified a suitable bike carrier for Hector - a 'bobike mini+' - it dominates the streets of Amsterdam and not a cycle helmet in sight!
PPS Supper tonight was an old staple, roast peppers stuffed with lamb (serves 2):
halve two peppers (red, yellow or orange best but green will do), remove the seeds and pop them in a 200 degree oven for 15 minutes whilst you make the lamb stuffing. Fry a red onion with a clove or two of garlic depending on your predilection for garlic. When the onion is cooked add 250gms lamb mince, 1 tin of tomatoes, a glug of tomato ketchup, a few drops of soya sauce and about the same amount of Worcestershire sauce. If you have some red wine open, I'd add a couple of glugs of that. Let all that bubble away on a reasonably high heat until all the liquid has been absorbed by the lamb and it has caramelised (should take about 15 minutes). Stuff the peppers with the lamb and bake in the oven for another 15 minutes at 175 degrees until the lamb is crispy and the peppers really soft and sweet. Eat with a big green salad and a hunk of bread. The minced lamb can be used in all sorts of ways: tomatoey shepherd's pie, sauce for pasta, stuffing for lasagne / canneloni, on its own as a kind of mince-stew (!) and the list could go on!
Monday, 19 April 2010
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Ode to fish
Greetings!
It has been a while, but we have been busy...
First things first, we had a really great meal at Verveine in Milford on Sea, Hampshire (also a fishmongers up until 9pm, the restaurant is tucked away behind the fish shop). The chef, David, is very talented. From start to finish the food was innovative, generous and bursting with flavour. So often a dish sounds mouthwatering on the menu, but the reality leaves you slightly disappointed. Au contraire at Verveine. From beautiful 'clam' like amuse-bouches of two homemade chips clamped around mackerel pate, to the mini milk bottle of bailey's and chocolate served with the coffees, the taste buds were tickled. The menu centres around a blackboard menu of fresh fish priced by the kilo and a choice of four types of sauces / accompaniments. You pick the fish and the sauce according to what you fancy. The desserts are listed as flavour combinations, each of which has an 'element of surprise'. I was sceptical at the lack of definition of what we were going to have, but I was bowled over by our communal choice, and I am not a big pudding fan. It was clever, delicious food served by informed, fun staff in a simple restaurant with great atmosphere. And all at a reasonable price! When can I go back??!
We have also been cooking fish at Eden Villa! Inspired by Sophie Dahl (I did not think a lot of her new programme), Halibut has been flash fried skin side down in olive oil for 2 minutes, before being flipped over and roasted in the oven (200 degrees) for 10 minutes. Serve it on a bed of portabello mushrooms, which have been fried in olive oil and then tossed in a blast of lemon juice. But the secret weapon is quite simply watercress and spinach mixed with some creme fraiche and half a lemon's worth of lemon zest. Very yummy!
The other recent discovery is a caramelised garlic and sherry vinegar sauce (an adapted Moro recipe), which can accompany any fish really although we had it with hake steaks. Thinly slice three or four cloves of garlic horizontally, and then vertically to form matchsticks. Fry this gently in olive oil until it is brown making very sure you don't burn it! Once it has a bronzed hue, add about three or four tablespoons of good sherry vinegar, and turn up the heat! At this point, I threw in a couple of generous glugs of sherry (this was my addition and I think the alcohol gives a bit of depth and sweetness to the sauce - marsala or even wine would do). Reduce the sauce until you arrive at your desired consistency - probably a good five minutes - add some salt and pepper and drizzle it over your fish! Add some simply boiled new potatoes drizzled with butter (or a good olive oil), a green salad and you have yourself a pretty perfect meal.
Off to Amsterdam tomorrow for four days...more later!
Have fun with the fish and eat at Verveine!
It has been a while, but we have been busy...
First things first, we had a really great meal at Verveine in Milford on Sea, Hampshire (also a fishmongers up until 9pm, the restaurant is tucked away behind the fish shop). The chef, David, is very talented. From start to finish the food was innovative, generous and bursting with flavour. So often a dish sounds mouthwatering on the menu, but the reality leaves you slightly disappointed. Au contraire at Verveine. From beautiful 'clam' like amuse-bouches of two homemade chips clamped around mackerel pate, to the mini milk bottle of bailey's and chocolate served with the coffees, the taste buds were tickled. The menu centres around a blackboard menu of fresh fish priced by the kilo and a choice of four types of sauces / accompaniments. You pick the fish and the sauce according to what you fancy. The desserts are listed as flavour combinations, each of which has an 'element of surprise'. I was sceptical at the lack of definition of what we were going to have, but I was bowled over by our communal choice, and I am not a big pudding fan. It was clever, delicious food served by informed, fun staff in a simple restaurant with great atmosphere. And all at a reasonable price! When can I go back??!
We have also been cooking fish at Eden Villa! Inspired by Sophie Dahl (I did not think a lot of her new programme), Halibut has been flash fried skin side down in olive oil for 2 minutes, before being flipped over and roasted in the oven (200 degrees) for 10 minutes. Serve it on a bed of portabello mushrooms, which have been fried in olive oil and then tossed in a blast of lemon juice. But the secret weapon is quite simply watercress and spinach mixed with some creme fraiche and half a lemon's worth of lemon zest. Very yummy!
The other recent discovery is a caramelised garlic and sherry vinegar sauce (an adapted Moro recipe), which can accompany any fish really although we had it with hake steaks. Thinly slice three or four cloves of garlic horizontally, and then vertically to form matchsticks. Fry this gently in olive oil until it is brown making very sure you don't burn it! Once it has a bronzed hue, add about three or four tablespoons of good sherry vinegar, and turn up the heat! At this point, I threw in a couple of generous glugs of sherry (this was my addition and I think the alcohol gives a bit of depth and sweetness to the sauce - marsala or even wine would do). Reduce the sauce until you arrive at your desired consistency - probably a good five minutes - add some salt and pepper and drizzle it over your fish! Add some simply boiled new potatoes drizzled with butter (or a good olive oil), a green salad and you have yourself a pretty perfect meal.
Off to Amsterdam tomorrow for four days...more later!
Have fun with the fish and eat at Verveine!
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