Oh wow! Thanks for sharing that article op.
So evocative, reminded me of when I lived in the Netherlands and spent weekends leisurely and avariciously browsing the stalls of the market in the nearby town.
Trestles groaning in protest at the heaving weight of ample fruits and vegetables picked that day from the farms we passed on the bus on the way there. A kaleidoscope of colour, all so fresh they were bursting with youth.
Cheese stalls there were always at least 3 with every cheese you can imagine, from the mild creamy varieties my then husband was fond of on crisp bakes to the seriously stinky mould ripened and blue cheeses again from the local farm made to a family recipe and only sold in that locale.
There was one particularly excellent bread stall which as well as beautifully dense, dark rye bread of course sold Dutch oven loaves and what I would call morning rolls, batch rolls lightly crusty on the top but soft and yielding in the centre which at one point we’d buy 2 dozen a week! They certainly didn’t go to waste it was the one time my ex was more than happy to take packed lunches.
The pastry stall was separate to the bread stall and so devilishly tempting. Fruit crowns, ginger rolls (like cinnamon rolls but MUCH sweeter and with of course added sweet ginger), appelflap (like a much better version of an apple turnover) and...
The piece de resistance for me
stroopwaffle - caramel filled thin wafery waffle delights which we learned you don’t eat straight away but have with a huge mug of coffee or even better hot chocolate, in the restaurants and cafes the drinks come steaming hot, far too hot to drink but you’re not supposed to, instead you place a stroopwaffle on top of the drink and the steam from the drink warms it melting the caramel, relax chat with your companion/s, read a book and let the drink work away, then once warmed carefully remove from the top of the mug and break in 2 over the saucer as the caramel will ooze unctuously from the treat, dunk very briefly in your drink and devour!
Oh I do miss living and eating overseas.
That recipe looks pretty good. My love for ghoulash goes back to a primary school friend who had a Hungarian mother and I was served her ghoulash on more than one occasion and it was absolutely amazing. Not hot spicy but with a warmth and depth that is really satisfying.
I’m just wondering what I could use in place of the pork as quorn is too delicate for the slow cooking required to absorb the flavours. Maybe root vegetables?
I love watching Nigel slater he clearly genuinely loves food - not true of all tv chefs I feel. Nigella clearly does, James Martin I think does, I’ve a soft spot for nick Nairn as he’s from my neck of the woods, hairy bikers I like though they can err into hard to get ingredients. But Phil vickery, delia and Anthony Worral Thompson leave me cold I’m afraid. I know the sainted delia is adored but she seems to me to enjoy the technical side more than the eating.
Written before you mentioned delia - sorry. I know loads of people love her I just can’t take to her, I’m sure her recipes are good.
Last few days I’ve had a good sort out and tidy up. I’ve sorted all my “Tupperware” —takeaway containers” so I’ve only kept the ones I know have lids and instigated a system of keeping on top of the lid situation. Reorganised my cupboards and pan drawer, done that huge pile of dishes so everything is clean and ready to go inc new sieve and whisk, inventories and organised my Tinned goods according to date, created storage for sauce sachets out of an old grape punnet and an old mushroom punnet (cleaned of course) and washed 3 used jars for future use after the jam & semidried tomatoes situations where a jar would really have been best. Not planning on making jam again as it wrecked the pan but I will definitely make semi dried tomatoes again they were lovely. And I just figure jars useful to have. Unfortunately I’ve sod all storage at the moment so they’re in the fridge! 😂
Last nights curry is freezing, I’ve not added extra spice yet I’m planning to do that once defrosted so the spices cook in properly. Will be adding much more spice and even for me the amount I used wasn’t nearly enough - ah well learning curve. When I’ve figured out how much is necessary I’ll let you know.
The breads all look absolutely stunning I am in awe. This is not my area of skill at all I last made bread as a teen I think? Possibly made as a newlywed in efforts to impress husband and in laws 😂
My ex mil is a wonderful cook - and again like my mum and grans just works totally on instinct. But she doesn’t really do sweet things as ex fil diabetic.
She was very open to doing veggie things for me, at first when meeting her I was like “oh just get me some ready meals or I’ll have whatever you’re having just without the meat”
But she was having none of it and even bought a veggie cookbook and made some lovely dishes. Although I don’t think fil was happy at being served veggie food on some occasions when we stayed with them if she’d made eg a veggie version of shepherds pie which is hard to make a small portion of or portion and freeze.
Don’t miss the ex but I miss her.