A day off #124

I had planned a nice day off for myself.A whole afternoon not taking care of....Sometimes you need that.
I made an appointment by the famous dutch tattoo shop,at the red light district "HankyPankyTattooing" for an Oldskool flame tattoo.
The artist draw the flame on my leg,and after an hour it was finished...Awesome style and colors.I'm so happy with it...Thinking of the next one...
When ready my son and I had a nice lunch at the "SubWay" It's his favorite lunchroom. On our way home we drunk a good cup of coffee from "Starbucks" (My favorite is the caramel macchiato.)We had an awesome day with a good laugh,a bag of Starbucks beans,and a nice flame on my leg, time to hit the road home.Back to the real world,with a nice memory in our mind's
The next time I'll do this with the youngest son...

Tortilla Espanola #123

Iv'e got Spanish neighbours,While sitting in the backyard, listening to them,I was thinking of my Spanish holiday's and tapa adventures in Barcelona,with my diving friends. Instead of diving we did a lot of eating and drinking.
The kids were out,my wife had a workshop making tart and I was home alone....All the time for making "Tortilla Espanola"
After doing some shopping,you need 500gr small potato's,1 pepper bell,chorizo,onion,garlic,pepper & salt,10 egg's,100gr Grana Padano cheese (or something else you like) and Shitake
Prepare the grill for indirect grilling,medium heat.In the meantime cut the potato's,chop the other ingredients in small pieces.Put everything in a large bowl.Beat up the egg's and add it to the other ingredients.
Do the mixture in a casserole,and place on the medium heated grill for about 2 hours.Let it cool down.
Serve with an salad.

Enjoy!!

Coffee seasoning Kebab #122

Today I had a few hours of my own,and was sitting at the porch with a nice lunch,(tuna Salad) and thinking of what to eat tonight.
I grabbed a nice kebab from Steven Raichlen BBQ book.We also used a rub from this book.It was really great.Never thought off a coffee rub.It was fabulous!!
For the rub/seasoning : 6 Tbsp grounded coffee,3Tbs sea salt,1 cup brown sugar,1Tbsp chili powder,1Tbsp cumin powder,1 Tbsp black pepper,1 tsp garlic powder,1 tsp onion powder,Blend it well and store in a jar.
For 8 Kebabs we used 1 Kg grounded beef, mix 6 Tbsp of your coffee seasoning with the meat and blend it.
In the meanwhile heat up the Weber for direct grilling,high heat.We also soaked our Outdoor gourmet cedar skewers, and used them for the kebabs.
When ready put them on the grill for about 6 minutes each side.We eat them rolled in flour tortilla's with some salad.

Enjoy!

Fresh fruit #121

Yesterday was a bit different from the others..No bbq or a fancy meal..Just an ordinary french fries and croquette.Just quick and easy (I thought).
It takes more time to bake all the stuff, then prepare a 30min. meal from Jamie Oliver or something from Nigella Lawson.Those guys have very nice and fancy meals quick,healthy and easy too.So,to get something healthy I opted for a fresh fruit salad for desert.We used Mango,strawberry and pineapple.The only bad thing was...the whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Fava beans.. What beans??

This "challenge" was a real one...I made this one three or four time's,and made a few mistakes.
It was all about the language.My son is always talking about his Fava (Favorite for street language).Mistake nr.1 Fava is not Favorite!! Damn...My favorite beans are the black beans and sour cream,so I was making the Tequila flavored fajita's with black beans,sweet corn and sour cream.
Here you go, 2nd mistake,forgot the wild rice!!.(3th mistake).Ok here is the next attempt. "crust chicken", with my Fava (favorite) beans,sweet onion and (4th mistake) Ingredient with the first letter of your name..M, I mixed up a lot of things this month, so the M was for Mais ( corn in English LoL)AAARRRGGGHHH!! What's next.I had a few leftovers from the Tequila flavored fajita's,the black beans,the mais (corn) and here it comes,the 5th mistake. Accidentally read a mail of Larry to welcome Jerry,with the text Hope you all are able to find Fava Beans… Now Iv'e got a problem...search with google for Fava beans...That kind of beans Iv'e not seen the last 20 years...I hate that bean when I was a kid ;-)
But I gave it a try,with the left overs from everything..I'm telling you guys,it was not that bad..Not bad at all..I made a nice dinner,with wild rice, fava beans,the tequila flavored chicken.... and the ingredient with the magical M
Was a nice Macchiato (I couldn't find any better sorry) as desert.

Additional participants in this month’s Ingredient Challenge include:

Chris of Nibble Me This – ENTRY HERE

The Nibble Me This website was created to share Chris’ misadventures in live fire cooking. ”I have no culinary training….I’m just entertaining myself with fire and food”.

Hanneke Eerden of The Dutchess Cooks – Entry Here
The Dutchess Cooks was started in 2010. After years of cooking, grilling, baking and reading other people’s blogs, I thought “why not start my own blog??” And I did, in 2010, but already after a short period of time, a blog wasn’t enough, and I started my own website. It’s not my goal to publish or come up with fancy and difficult recipes: just good and delicious food with an international twist! Straight from my plate to yours!

Paul Haight of No Excuses BBQ – ENTRY HERE

The No Excuses BBQ website was started in January of 2009 as a way to record the author’s goal of cooking outdoors at least once a week throughout the year and showing the results to the world. Somewhere along the way things got out of control…

The BBQ Grail ENTRY HERE

The BBQ Grail website was created in 2007, initially to document the author’s quest to find the perfect backyard BBQ experience. Since that time The BBQ Grail has become one of the more popular BBQ blogs on the internet and is listed on Alltop.com as one of the top BBQ blogs.

The grillgrrl Robyn entry here

Robyn Medlin is the “grill girl” behind grillgrrrl.com. Her focus is on healthy, simple and creative recipes on the grill. She encourages women to learn to grill as it a great way to create healthy, flavorful dishes without all the fuss and clean up in the kitchen. This “grill girl” holds quarterly “Women’s Grilling Clinics” as a way to encourage women to not be intimated by the grill. As a McCormick’s flavor correspondent for their “This Week in Grilling Campaign”, Robyn shares fun, tropical video recipes documenting her grilling adventures from her backyard in Sunny, Hollywood, Florida.

Tequila flavored fajita #120

Cooking with liquor..O yeah!! it's one of my favorite things to do.You will get a subtile flavor of the booze on the food.
I'Ve tried a bag of Jack Daniels wood chips to get a flavor of it on my meat,but that won't work.When I opened the bag, the smell of whiskey was very nice,but was not satisfied on the meat.
So we now tried it on the hard way.Tequila flavored Fajita, they were so juicy, just awesome!!
Ok let's start with prepare the chicken breast,cook the breast in broth for about 15 minutes,and let it cool down.In the meantime you can make a salsa from 400gr peeled tomato,1 pepper bell diced,1 onion diced,1 glove garlic diced and 1 cup brown sugar.heat it up in a skillet,
Pull the chicken as you do with pulled pork.Put the pulled chicken in a large bowl.Add 50ml tequila and a fajita seasoning mix in a cup and stir.When done you can add the tequila seasoning mix with the chicken and let marinate for an hour or two.
For the extra filling we had black beans,sweet onion,sweet pepper bell and corn baked on the grill,(add the chicken too) and heat it all up.Fill the tortilla's with the mixture and put them back on the grate,with some cheese and sour cream on top!
Add jalapenos to taste.Serve with Fat Bastard Rose,or a Desperado beer..Enjoy.

Fascino Coffee #119

Last week I received a nice pack of coffee beans from Fascino.
When I opened the package the smell of a nice coffee came up,you have to smell it, just like you do with wine.
This coffee was an 100% Arabica blend.
I made an nice French press coffee of it.The coffee had a nice thick crema top,the taste was sweet.
We also had it as an espresso,the taste was very different from the French press.It was fresh, a little sour and not that heavy.
I prefer the coffee in a cafetiere,I love the sweet taste of the coffee.
Thanks Fascino for let me trying this coffee.

Enjoy!

BoozeBurger #118

What a shitty day..No not about the MSA this time.
My son is robbed from his BlackBerry GSM, on broad daylight.Damn Junkies.I'm glad he is ok, they don't hurt him.
So we had the police in our street,because he was gone,police was looking for my son now, because he stepped in a car from a stranger!!! HOW STUPID!! It was a neighbour from the other street..So glad!!
Anyway, we had to go to the police station for a statement,but the problem was the "Boozeburger" We had hamburgers marinated and glazed with Glenfiddich...They were awesome.Put 500gr minced meat,1 onion diced,1Tbsp brown sugar,1 cup ketchup,1 cup breadcrum and 25Ml Glenfiddich in a large bowl and mix all together.
We had a fennel salad and French fries aside.For the fennel,use 1 ratabaga fennel and slice thin,cook in low water and salt for 10 minutes and let cool down.Drop a bit of olive oil over it,and add pepper to taste.
Enjoy...but be careful with the booze;-)

Freedom salad #117

Today we celebrate our "freedom".Once in the 5 years it's a day off for us,but that was last year.
So this year we had to go to work as usual.
Everywhere in the country are music festivals,also in the city where I live.
It was next to the hospital were my wife had revalidation therapy..On stage was playing one of my favorite bands,from South Africa Jack ParowWe had a great time after all..
Dinner time, what shall we do, go to the local restaurant,or made something light.We decide to do the last one.
I made a fresh salad of arugula,tuna,onion,shrimps,tomato,anchovy,mango,prosciutto and Grana Padano cheese.
It looks good and taste good!!
Enjoy with a glass Chianti and garlic bread.

Midweek grilling #116

I had to cancel a BBQ at KookaandeZaan,because the situation at home (Damn MSA).
But we all have to eat,so I've opted for a BBQ at our home.
We had some pepper bell's filled with cheese and minced meat,and rice aside.
First it was time to open a nice bottle Chianti,witch i've got from Meave from twitter..We made a deal about some filters for photography.
The pepper bell's where filled with 500gr minced meat, 1/2 cup bread crum,1cup brown sugar,1/2 cup honey bbq sauce.
Blend it well.
Cut the bell's in 2 and take out the seeds.Put some cheese on the bottom,(I used Grana Padano) and stuff it with the mixture.
From the rest of the meat I made a little fatty,without the bacon..(forgotten at the grocery)
I smoked it on the Weber for about 40 minutes indirect 130ºF and smoked with "cherry wood".
Add some rice with it,and of course the Chianti..
Enjoy!

1st time sushi #115

This morning was started with cooking the rice for sushi,It's the first time so I have to read everything carefully.
Guus from VCC Stick-it bought me a starters kit for sushi (sea weed, roller,wasabi,ginger,vinegar,Kikoman soy and a book basic techniques).
After the rice was done and sliced the cucumber and pickles it was time to roll them in seaweed.We also made a roll with salmon.
I'm so glad that I've read the book of basics.The rice was so sticky,you've got to make your fingers wet with a mixture of vinegar and water,before you start to roll or pick your rice.
Slice it in parts of 2cm.
The kids don't wanna try it...the thoughts of seaweeds make them puke.
My wife and I loved it very much.
For the kids I made a nice meatloaf..
Enjoy with some rose or white wine.