Crackers, because I can

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Yep, making crackers, because they are easy, and fast, and taste so much better fresh from the oven and I know what’s in them. And they happen to be vegan.

Crackers, Grommit!

Crackers, Grommit!

Ingredients:

  • 200 gr flour
  • 120 ml room temperature water
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Make them:

  1. Mix all ingredients together (by hand with a fork or with a kitchen robot – you might want to double or triple the recipe in the later case). Knead a couple times by hand to form a nice smooth dough. Form a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and stick in the fridge for at least an hour, up to a day.
  2. Let dough come to room temperature for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180°C & line 1 baking tray with baking paper.
  3. Roll the dough about 3mm thin (this is easier between cling film or silicon baking mats). Prick all over with a fork. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut into squares about 5cm in side. Brush with water & sprinkle with some sea salt / dried herbs of your choice (sprinkling optional). Move to lined baking trays.
  4.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden.
  5. Let cool on a rack slightly before tucking it, lest you burn your mouth!

Mushroom & Tofu Sang Choy Bau

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Today’s dinner brought to you inspired by a recipe that I read somewhere, and with the “40 days without meat”1 campaign in mind.

Mushroom & Tofu Sang Choy Bau

Mushroom & Tofu Sang Choy Bau

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

  • 1 250 gr block firm tofu
  • 10 gr / ~ 1tbsp sesame oil
  • 500 gr mushrooms, clean & sliced
  • 1 orange (or yellow) bell pepper, diced
  • 3-4 spring onions, sliced
  • 1 small tin (70gr) tomato concentrate
  • 1 tbsp mushroom “oyster” sauce (or the real thing if you’re not vegetarian)
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sambal oelek
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 pack (150 grams) straight-to-wok noodles

How to:

  1. Wrap tofu in a couple paper towels and press dry with hands. Cut in 1.5cm cubes. Heat up a non-stick pan on medium, once it’s hot, add the tofu cubes, and let them cook without touching them for 4-5 minutes, until golden, then turn, and repeat until all sides are golden and slightly crunchy.
  2. Heat up oil in a wok. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until tender. Add the bell pepper & half the spring onion, and cook for a couple of minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the tomato paste, mushroom “oyster” sauce, soy sauce, sambal oelek & garlic powder with 3-4 tbps of water, enough to make it pourable (might need to add some more water). Add to the mushrooms and cook 2 minutes. Add the noodles, stir and cook for another couple of minutes.
  4. At this point, all sides of the tofu should be golden. Add tofu to the mushroom mix. Stir to coat.
  5. Sprinkle remaining spring onion on top before serving.

Bon appetit!

What have I been up to

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The last five months have been rather quiet around these parts, and it’s not for lack of things happening, but exactly the opposite. There has been so much going on that I haven’t had the time to write about our vacation or post a recipe (or even a picture) here.

First things first. I graduated! It took 14 years, two countries and a change of degrees, but I am officially an Engineer. Official title being Master of Science in Civil Engineering. Fancy, ain’t it? In order to achieve this, of course, I had to finish my master’s dissertation, write a whole book on it, and defend it in front of my promoter & advisers, plus an infiltrate (foreign doctorate student) that was happy my defense was in English and not in Dutch so he’d be able to follow along. A few weeks later I got to wear a graduation gown and cap and throw said cap in the air for the pictures :)

And then we worked hard for three weeks to get our house(!) in order so we could move in. That meant very long days sanding and prepping walls and ceilings, painting and more painting, installing flooring and bathroom furniture and a whole lot of cleaning. Also getting the kitchen installed (snafu from the company: our counter was requested without a hole for the induction stove, we’re now waiting for it to be replaced).

We then had a fun 1st of November. Epic moving weekend! We managed to move everything with the help of friends & family, and we’re now getting slowly into the hang of (new) things. There are still a few things to finish around the house but it gets done bit by bit.

And finally, the job search for me. Looking for a position as an in-office engineer, doing calculations & stuff. There are many positions for construction managers, but not that many for designing engineers it seems. So the search goes slower than I wish. I have also had my fill of “your profile is very interesting for our company, but we don’t have a matching position at the moment” replies. When they called me!

Anyway, that has been the last five months of my life. Time has flown by and I hope next year I have (make) more time for posting here.

Cinnamon oatmeal cake

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It’s Jan’s birthday, and the birthday boy deserves a birthday cake. I gave him three options to chose from: lemon curd filled lemon cake, chocolate cake or cinnamon oatmeal cake. He chose the latter, because it sounded “weird”. So I adapted a recipe from Dessert for two a little bit, and here we are!

Cinnamon oatmeal cake with salted caramel sauce

Cinnamon oatmeal cake with salted caramel sauce

Cinnamon oatmeal cake

(adapted from Dessert for two)

Ingredients

  • 15 gr oats
  • 60 ml hot water (straight from the kettle)
  • 85 gr salted butter (or use unsalted and add a pinch of salt)
  • 35 gr dark brown sugar (cassonade)
  • 30 gr cane sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 100 gr all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line a 15 cm spring form with parchment paper and grease. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl / ramekin, add oats & hot water and set to soak.
  3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar very well. Then add the egg and mix (it’ll split, it happens).
  4. In a smaller bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda & baking powder. Add dry ingredients and soaked oats (and if there is liquid left, the liquid) to the creamed butter mix, and stir until combined.
  5. Transfer batter to lined spring form. Bake in oven on center rack for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  6. Remove cake from oven, let it cool for 5 minutes before removing from spring form.

Salted caramel sauce

(adapted from Cookies & Cups)

Ingredients

  • 25 gr butter
  • 75 gr cane sugar
  • 100 ml cream (20% fat)
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. In a big microwave safe bowl melt the butter. Then add the sugar and cream and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Microwave on high (750W) for 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir.
  3. Microwave again for 1 minute, until bubbly and slightly thickened. Remove from microwave, add salt & vanilla extract and mix well.
  4. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cashew nut dip / spread

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Cashew nut dip

Cashew nut dip

Ingredients:

  • 120 gr roasted cashew nuts, soaked in water for 3-4 hours & then drained
  • 4 spring onions, white parts only
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 tsp freeze dried shallot
  • 3 tbsp (10 gr) nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbps (20 gr) olive oil
  • 60-100 ml water

Make it:

Put all ingredients in a food processor (starting with about 50 ml water). Process until creamy, adding water if necessary. Scrape the sides of the bowl often to obtain a nice creamy dip. Add more water if you want to turn this into sauce for nachos.

 

Egg filled portobello burgers

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Portobello burger with salad in the background

Portobello burger with salad in the background

Ingredients (for one burger):

  • 1 portobello (about 10-12 cm in diameter, or 70-80 grams in weight)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tbsp grated cheese (mozzarella is a good option) or a slice of cheese to top it all
  • salt & pepper
  • one pita bread that fits the portobello
  • fixings to taste: mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles….

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Oil an oven proof dish that fits the portobelo(s).
  2. Put portobello(s) in the oven dish, underside up. Season mushroom lightly with salt and pepper.
  3. Season beaten egg with salt and pepper, and pour it inside the mushroom cap, trying to not spill. Top it with the grated cheese (as much as the cap can hold, do not overfill since it will bake over otherwise) or wait with the cheese for now.
  4. Put dish with mushroom(s) in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the egg has set. If using sliced cheese, top the mushrooms with it for the last 5 minutes, to allow it to melt.
  5. Pop the pita bread in a toaster until warm, crunchy and puffed. Let cool enough to handle. Slide burger into pita pocket and add desired toppings.
  6. It is handy to use a toothpick to keep the burger in place while eating it!

I like to serve the burgers with a big salad: mixed greens, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, and vinaigrette dressing. Feel free to serve whichever way you usually do with burgers.

Spicy coleslaw

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Lately I’ve been in a rut when it comes to cooking. It didn’t help that for two weeks it was too warm to consider turning the stove on (less so the oven), so we ate mostly salads. And then I had to start studying for (second chance) finals. And I was tired, and fed up, and didn’t have any imagination whatsoever to think up new exciting recipes. Or to look through my cookbooks to plan something different.

But today I felt like something different. Jan had been asking we had pitas (which translates into pita bread pockets filled with vegetarian gyros and vegetables / salad). To make it a big different, we decided to make coleslaw instead of the usual salad. And since we like to live on the edge, we made a nice spicy coleslaw. Here is the recipe so you can enjoy it too.

Spicy coleslaw

Spicy coleslaw

Ingredients:

  • 1 head white cabbage (I used pointed, but feel free to use plain ole round), approximately 860 grams
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • 2 l water
  • 3 medium carrots (~175 grams)
  • 3 tbsp (45 gr) mustard
  • 3 tbsp (45 ml) red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
  • 1 tbsp (20 gr) agave nectar
  • 2 tsp (15 gr) sambal oelek
  • freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

  1. Cut cabbage in quarters, remove core, and slice thinly into ribbons (or shred with a kitchen robot if you have one, I don’t). Put the cabbage in a big bowl, make a brine with the salt & water, and pour over cabbage, making sure cabbage is submerged. Leave cabbage to pickle for about 30 minutes, stirring a couple of times to make sure all cabbage gets a salt bath. Once the time has passed, drain cabbage (discard brine) and rinse under tap water.
  2. Meanwhile, peel the carrots, and grate them (using the big side of a box grater, or shred them with said kitchen robot).
  3. In a small bowl, mix mustard, vinegar, olive oil, agave, sambal oelek & freshly ground pepper until it forms a nice emulsified dressing.
  4. Mix cabbage & grated carrot in big bowl. Pour the dressing over it and toss until veggies are all covered in dressing. Cover the bowl and let rest for at least and hour before serving.
  5. Leftovers keep well in a closed container in the fridge for a few days.

Makes: 8 servings (~150 gr / serving)

Nutritional info:

Calories: 62
Protein: 2 gr
Fat: 2 gr
Carbs: 10 gr

Strawberry tiramisu for a summer birthday

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It’s that time of the year again, when Jan celebrates his 18th birthday! This year it was really warm the days before, so neither of us felt like me turning on the oven to bake something. Luckily the supermarket publicity came to the rescue with a nice summery recipe that required no oven! It did require some stove top time, but not too much. And so, the strawberry tiramisu became this year’s birthday dessert.

Strawberry Tiramisu

Strawberry Tiramisu

Ingredients

  • For the coulis:
    • 250 gr strawberries
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • For the cream:
    • 4 eggs
    • 50 gr powder sugar
    • 500 gr mascarpone
  • For assembly:
    • 300 gr ladyfingers (the cookies)
    • 500 gr strawberries, clean, hulled & sliced

Instructions:

  1. Make the strawberry coulis: clean, hull and quarter strawberries. Place in a sauce pan with lemon juice, heat gently for 10-15 minutes, until the fruit collapses. Using an immersion blender, puree the strawberries. Sieve the sauce using a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Add enough water to obtain 250-300 ml of sauce.
  2. Make the filling: separate egg yolks from whites. First, whip up whites until firm peaks form (or if you’re so inclined, they hold when you upturn the bowl above your head!). Then (don’t bother cleaning the whisk) mix the egg yolks with the sugar until white and volume is two-three times the original. Finally mix the mascarpone on its own (to soften) before adding the egg yolks and mixing thoroughly with whisk. Switch to a rubber spatula to softly fold in the egg whites in three times.
  3. Assemble the dessert: dip lightly the ladyfingers in the strawberry coulis and arrange one layer on the bottom of a serving dish. Spread with half of the mascarpone mix, then place half of the sliced strawberries on top. Place another layer of dipped cookies, then mascarpone and finish with strawberries.
  4. Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight before serving.

Makes: 6 servings according to the original recipe, but make that more like 12-14 servings.