Eetsmakelijk

Archive for January, 2008

I had a butternut squash just lying on my kitchen counter for weeks when I finally decided to touch it when I found an easy but delightful recipe on one of my Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks. This was from COOK with Jamie O. page 350.

I was not really sure if my husband will like it since he’s quite picky and even with a disapproving look in his eyes asked what was the orange thing I was holding in my hand (squash) I answered it was a butternut squash and he’s going to eat it. He almost ran to the door to get away from me (and or from the idea of eating the ‘thing’.)

But gheez! It was really nice that the picky eater even had a big serving of it. Well Jamie Oliver, you’ve done it again! *lol* I so loved it that I used it as my banner for this blog’s theme.

This was great as a side dish if you’re having beef, pork or chicken.

* this was on half stage of cooking

* ready to be eaten CREAMY BUTTERNUT SQUASH (below)

Serves 4

• 1 med. butternut squash, peeled and de-seeded, sliced into bite size
• a heaped teaspoon coriander seeds, smashed ( I used powder)
• 1-2 dried red chillies, crumbled
• 6 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
• sea salt and black pepper
• olive oil
• 250ml single cream
• 1/2 a nutmeg or a pinch if powdered form
• 1 wineglass white
• 2 handfuls freshly grated parmesan cheese (this I omitted, husband doesn’t like it)

Preheat the oven to 200C. In a bowl (fit to stand the oven heat) toss the pumpkin in and the coriander seeds(powder) chillies, salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil to coat everything. Mix thoroughly . Cut a greaseproof paper, dampen it under the tap , scrunch it up and drape it over the squash…neatly tucking it on all side. Place the mixture in the oven and let cook for about 30 minutes. While waiting, mix the wine, nutmeg, cream parmesan and a bit of salt/pepper again and then place the pumpkin back in the oven for about 10 minutes until golden, bubbling and it’s ready to serve!

My blog is finally up , for good…but still needs tinkering here and there…..so for now, no new recipes yet.

In a few hours, we will be performing a
SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
see you when I get back!

~Thess~

Cider Blackberries and Apple slices

I just cooked for a short period of time slices of granny apples on sugar and cider then set them aside..made that mascarpone & whipped creme mix, used the sauce to gently cover the blackberries, broke some meringues…and voila!

Ingredients adapted from Gary Rhodes’ Fall into Winter cookbook.

Smart business people invest in land properties, restaurants, vintage cars, music companies, etc. But some business people invest in gold and silver. Especially with the steady fall of dollars,silver is becoming a rather solid form of investment. Some top businessmen revealed their secrets that they buy silver for their assets, making money from it, which is a lot smarter than waiting for their money to grow in the banks.

Silver has been popular then, and more so now. Like gold, silver has its industrial uses and qualities, it is also used in numerous health care products because of the unique antibacterial characteristics that it possesses. The “Silver Bullet” is used by hospitals to prevent bacterial infections in burn victims. That is but one example of how you can use silver. If you are thinking of investing in silver, you can buy them online. Monex.com offers silver that you might want to check out.

I had to laugh at my friend Rose’s stories each time we talk on the phone. She has a young daughter, age 10 yrs. old, that is outrageously crazy of Hanna Montana! Rose has told me since her daughter really do well in school it isn’t hard to give in to her requests. She’s only into two things: into book reading and Hanna Montana. Just last Christmas , her daddy purchased a whole bunch of Hanna Montana products which made her happier than ever. I would do the same if my child does well in school, wont you too?

Anyway, her next request is to see her Hanna Montana show which made her mom and dad think first. She wants to see the Jonas Brothers (who are ‘hot’ by the way, according to many teenagers) who are also performing. But for reasons that school is on, they have another kid at home who’s a bit young to take to concerts and of course, the ticket prices…since they automatically have to purchase 3 tickets (of course mom and dad have to be there too.) I told my friend that reasons 1 and 2 are easy to find solutions for, just see the concert on weekend and find a trusted baby sitter. For the third, I suggested that they check out this link where they can purchase Hannah Montana Tickets. The website offers concert tickets, information about venues, and really, just quite easy to book tickets there.

Now a little girl should thank me for this idea ha ha! I hope they all will have a good time in the concert.

Back in October when my husband and I were in Thailand, we went to this one particular seafood restaurant in Hua-Hin where I know some of the waiters since back in the 90′s. That was one reason why we liked eating in that restaurant but the other reason , most important reason, was their giant Phuket prawns and lobsters! They serve it charcoal grilled, , baked, or fried. In this particular night we ordered them steamed with loads of garlic

The taste was just unbelievable! I used to think that large prawns taste less than the smaller ones..but I was so wrong.

to show how gigantic they were, I asked my husband to put out his hands like he was measuring the prawns. My husband who is +6ft. tall has large and long hands. So do you have any idea of the size now.

These prawns can never be found in markets in Holland (unless in those expensive restaurants that order them straight from Thailand) but in Thailand, they are sold rather cheap. About Baht 1,500 a kilo, raw.

Now I’m missing Thailand, gheez!