I might as well confess…

Posted on by
2

that once every few weeks I sneak into my local Dixy Chicken and let myself go.

I eat and eat and eat those greasy fries and chicken, and every time I promise myself to never again enter a Dixy…but it’s no use.

It’s just so cheap and greasy and I’m not ashamed to admit that I like the taste too!

I thought I might as well come clean here as I did on Twitter today, when one of my fave foodbloggers eat like a girl  asked her followers what their guilty pleasure was. Of course I fessed up about my craving for greasy chicken although a bit terrified of what others might think and well because it is sort of a secret.

This confession will probably haunt me for the rest of my life and maybe you’ll never again take me seriously as a foodie but hey as Niamh Shields said to me today: ‘Everyone is allowed one guilty pleasure’, and this is mine!

Now naturally I’m interested in your guilty pleasures so let’s hear them! Don’t be shy ;)

 

 

Soto Ayam Chicken Soup

Posted on by
2

Soto Ayam or Saoto soup as it is known in Suriname is Indonesian for Chicken Soup.

Divine chicken soup to be correct and this has got to be one of my favourite dishes in the world. I used to make this every Sunday until my husband put a stop to this. Most of the time I make a pot for myself, and whenever I have an upset tum this is the only thing that gets me through the day.

Also good for sweating out colds, have a hot cup of soto ayam with loads of sambal and you’ll feel better in no time!

Ingredients for a big pot of soup

2 l water

2 Indonesian bay leaves (salam leaves)

1 big onion, chopped

5 cm ginger root, thinly sliced

5 cm galangal root, thinly sliced

2 large chicken stock cubes

salt

black pepper

5 black pepper corns

2 lemongrass stalks

2 chicken leg quarters, rinsed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start by bringing the water to a boil in a large soup pot. Then add all the ingredients to the water, cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the chicken is done.

Remove the chicken from the soup and let it cool off. Skim fat from the broth. Also scoop the rest of the ingredients out of the pot, leaving nothing but the broth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shred the chicken after it’s cooled off, heat oil in a pan and bake the chicken shreds until golden brown.

Soto Ayam is served with shredded chicken, potato chips (available at the supermarket), fried shallots, beansprouts, cabbage (thinly sliced), a boiled egg, cooked rice, sambal and I finish it off with some chopped coriander. Put these ingredients in individual bowls.

The idea is that everyone puts their desired amount of all the ingredients in a bowl, the reheated soup is then poured over it, sambal added to taste and you’re ready to enjoy what I think is the best soup ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’d like to make my favourite sambal, go to any Chinese, Thai or Indonesian toko (I go to those in China Town) and buy a bottle of sweet Kecap Manis.

Finely chop 3 cm ginger root, 2 garlic cloves and 1-2 Scotch bonnets. Pour a cup of Kecap Manis into a pan and add a cup of tea (yes tea!) and bring to a boil. Add the ginger, garlic and Scotch bonnets and stir. Add 1-2 ts sugar and slowly boil the sambal until it is slightly thicker.

I’m having soto ayam today and I seriously cannot wait for dinner tonight!

 

 

 

 

 

I heart Amsterdam

Posted on by
1

It’s been nearly a year since we moved from Zaandam, a small town near Amsterdam, to London, my favourite city in the world.

It’s been awesome and I’ve grown even more fond of London since living here.
Therefore I thought I wouldn’t be impressed by Amsterdam, when I went back last week. But I was wrong, so wrong, because now I see Amsterdam in a different light. It’s the place where I’ve lived 11 years of my life, the place where I met my husband, where I learned to cook and went to uni, but above all Amsterdam is the place where my friends and family live. The people I love and miss so dearly sometimes.

Amsterdam is my first love (citywise then ;) ) and will always be.
Amsterdam is also the place where I can find all the ingredients to make my favourite Surinamese dishes and off course I brought loads back to London.

Like my favourite hot kecap manis from Helen which I use to marinade chicken and meat, as a dip sauce or as a basic ingredient when I’m making stir fry dishes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ate fresh herring with onions and pickles at the herring stall on Albert Cuyp Market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday night I had dinner at Indonesian restaurant ‘Kantjil en de Tijger’ in Amsterdam and I’m still dreaming of the bami Kantjil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course I had a Surinamese roti with vegetable and chicken curry, one of my absolute favourite dishes in the world! The best roti is obviously the roti made in Suriname, but Rooprams in Amsterdam is the best roti shop in the Netherlands! I even brought P some roti cause if I didn’t he wouldn’t let me in the house. That’s how crazy he is about this roti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought ginger cheese, my absolute favourite, at famous cheese shop Reypenaers in Amsterdam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday I had a food stall on the Dutch Underground Farmers Market in Amsterdam which was absolutely lovely! I met some wonderful new people and I saw all my Twitter friends again.
A lot of them were selling their home made xmas cakes, cookies, raw food truffles, vanilla sea salt, pulled pork wraps, emapanadas, pork and fennel bangers and loads and loads more absolutely delicious stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was really impressed by famous Dutch foodwriter Gert Jan Groothedde’s margarita ice cream with a salted shortbread cookie and his Xmas eggnog ice cream. It was too good ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off course I took pictures of everyone’s stall but mine, but I had a great evening, wonderful response to my baguettes filled with Pom, pickles and hot sauce, which was sold out by 10.30pm.

I had a great, but very short, 5 days in Amsterdam and I cannot wait to go back. I cried my eyes out when my plane departed.

But I’ll be back in 6 weeks time for an insect dinner party where the main ingredients will be cockroaches, worms and larvae. Yum!

The Underground Farmers Market in Amsterdam

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been busy lately. Busy looking for a new home (which I already found, thank the Lord), busy looking for new markets to set up my stall, busy writing my thesis, entertaining guests from Amsterdam and now I’m leaving for Amsterdam tomorrow too.
I’ve been asked to take part in the Underground Farmers Market in Amsterdam huzzah!
That means I’ll be having a long weekend filled with food, food and food!!! And oh yes friends and family too.
I seriously cannot sleep, that’s how excited I am ;) Thinking whether I should dig in to a kroket, bitterbal or haring first.
See you guys next week!

Food from Ghana: Red Red

Posted on by
Reply

Spinach and Agushi’s Ghanaian food stall has got to be one of my favourite stalls in London.
After tasting their food once I was hooked for ever.
Look, I like the whole ‘meat in a bun’ craze that’s been going on in London recently, with Kimchi Burgers and barbecued rib meat in rolls, but I have to confess that deep down inside I’m a rice and peas kind of girl.
I think it’s in my genes cause my grandmother once told me that the slaves who were brought to Suriname by the slave traders where from Ghana.
And if I trace my father’s family tree all the way back it starts with one woman, a slave girl who was believed to be Ghanaian.
Anyway I’m trying to explain that this love for Ghanaian food may not be something out of the ordinary.
I tried making some Ghanaian soulfood myself this week, one of my favourites called ’Red Red’, a famous bean stew.
Traditionally it is made with dried shrimp or saltfish, but I opted for the vegetarian version.
I went to Ridley Road Market in Dalston and bought myself some plantain, black eyed beans, ginger, tomatoes and paprika. And of course red palm oil,

essential in this dish, it gives it a distinct smell and flavour and its red color too.
My Red Red didn’t turn out as red as Spinach and Agushi’s, wonder if that is because I didn’t use tomato paste.
Despite that the taste is brilliant!

Ingredients

250gr black eyed beans, drained
1 bottle of red palm oil, sold at African/Caribbean and most Asian shops accross London
1 onion, in thin slices
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
5-10 cm fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 fresh tomatoes, or half a tin of tomatoes
1-2 bouillon cubes
1 red paprika, sliced
1 Scotch bonnet
salt
black pepper

Heat the palm oil in a skillet, on medium heat. Fry onion, garlic and ginger golden brown. Add the tomatoes, bouillon cubes, paprika and Scotch bonnet. Simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add the beans and simmer for 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with rice and fried plantain.

Fried plantain
1-2 plantains, cut into slices and deep fried.

I used dry beans by the way which need to be soaked overnight and then cooked before using them to make Red Red. It’s easier using tinned beans.

Through the Kitchen Window

Posted on by
Reply

Has got to be one of my favourite (cook)books.

Everytime I read it I get caught in Susan Hill’s magical world of seasons, the gorgeous recipes and the beautiful illustrations by Angela Barrett. And everytime I wish it was me living in that gorgeous country house.

Susan Hill describes what goes on through the seasons in an English kitchen almost poetically. From garlic and onion soup to cure winter ills, to Christmas dinners and Summer Picnics, Sloe and Damson Gin, spring cleaning tips and ideas, this book is amazing!

Curl up in your favourite chair with hot chocolate and enjoy it.

Through the Kitchen Window was first published in 1984. I bought my copy on Amazon.

 

 

 

Sip it while it’s hot

Posted on by
Reply

Warm cloudy apple juice with spices. This has to be my favourite drink, followed by gluhwein which I’m also absolutely crazy about.

Perfect for those rainy days, those windy days.. ah what the heck, I drink it every day!

All you need is:

a liter pack of cloudy apple juice

2 cardamom pods, crushed

2 cinnamon sticks

2 cloves

Heat the apple juice with the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves but make sure it doesn’t boil.

Adding honey to sweeten it is possible, but I prefer not to.

Pour it into your favourite mug and sip it while it’s hot!

Chicken Livers Sambal

Posted on by
Reply

I made this recipe yesterday evening and this morning it was all finished. I didn’t even get the chance to take a picture, it is that popular here at home.

This sambal, or sauce, is delicious as a side dish with nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) or on a warm baguette.

You can make it as spicy as you like of course but I like mine hot!

Ingredients

2 potatoes

200-250 gr chicken livers

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2-3 table spoons of sweet kecap manis. I buy mine in Chinatown.

1 chopped Scotch bonnet pepper, or you favourite chilli sauce

First cook the chicken livers in water, until they are done. Drain the water and let them cool off. Meanwhile peel, cook and mash the potatoes. Cut the livers in small pieces. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions. Add the garlic cloves, stir and fry for a minute or two. Then add the livers, mashed potatoes, the kecap manis and the chopped Scotch bonnet or chili sauce and stir well for about 1-2 minutes.

To add a spicy touch I added the Ribman’s Holy Fuck sauce yesterday.

Serve warm.

 

Feeding the 5k

Posted on by
Reply

A free and delicious lunch. Who would say no to that?

We went to Trafalgar Square today to support Feeding the5k an initiative to encourage British households to reduce their food waste.
The organisation served vegetable curry, apple juice and fruit between 12-2 pm.

The curry was made with wonky carrots, potatoes and other imperfect vegetables which were donated by farmers. They also donated fruit which like the vegetables would have been thrown away otherwise due to the strict cosmetic standards of the supermarkets.

There were live cooking demos from amongst others Thomasina Miers and Thomas Hunt who taught people how to be creative with leftover food.

Trafalgar Square was full of people enjoying their curry or queuing up for fruit and fresh apple juice. Feeding the 5K was a wonderful event which hopefully inspired people to be creative in the kitchen and think wisely about how and what they are consuming.

Unfortunately by the time we arrived there was no curry left, so instead we went to Mr. Kong, my favourite Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, for crispy duck and noodles.

Not at all free, but very delicious!

The Ribman

Posted on by
Reply

I’d heard a lot about the Ribman on Twitter and foodblogs and it seemed liked everyone was raving about this man’s uberdelicious ribs and ‘Holy Fuck’ sauce. So obviously I had to try them for myself.
Yesterday we decided to go to Brick Lane, in search of the Ribman. I could hardly sleep Saturday night, the excitement was killing me!
Ahhh at the sight of this

I could hardly contain myself obviously.

I hereby pledge never ever to cue up at Banhmi11 on Broadway Market again because they’ve got NOTHING on the Ribman’s rib meatrolls filled with delicious meat!

Looking at the pictures I took yesterday makes me hungry and wish it was Sunday again.

And Holy Fuck, his sauce is addictive! Go get yourself a bottle NOW!