{Day 69/365} A feast

Exams are over, so I prepared a feast for my dad and the mr. I made chicken with garlic and lemon, potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary and a tomato salad with red wine vinegar. The men loved it, and so did I.

{Day 33/365} Tomato soup with basil

Tomorrow my family is coming over to celebrate my 26th birthday, and some of them will stay/come for dinner. It'll be a busy day tomorrow, so I wanted to make some things in advance, for example this tomato soup with red bell peppers. The recipe is from a blog called Will Cook for Friends. 

For 6 servings you will need: 

- 3-4 TBSP olive oil

- 1,3 kg fresh tomatoes (I used about 8 vine-ripened tomatoes, but you could use heirloom, plum, or any other kind of tomato you like)

- 1 red bell pepper

- 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

- 1/2 yellow onion, diced

- 4 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

- 2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

- 1 cup water, as needed

- salt and pepper to taste

- Pinch of sugar, optional (to round out the flavor if your tomatoes aren't sweet enough)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400f.

2. Halve or quarter your tomatoes and lay the on a rimmed baking sheet, cut-side up. Halve or quarter the bell pepper, remove the seeds, and lay it on the baking sheet as well. Drizzle the tomatoes and pepper liberally with olive oil, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

3. Place the tray in the oven and roast for 45-60 minutes, or until the tomatoes smell sweet and the edges have begun to shrivel up, rotating the pan halfway through.

4. In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of basil and all of the roasted tomatoes, bell pepper, and the juices that have collected in the baking sheet. Stir to combine, then blend smooth with an immersion blender (or, carefully transfer the mixture to a regular blender and place a dish towel over the top to avoid splattering. Pulse a few times, then blend until smooth and return to the pot).

5. Add 1 more tablespoon of basil, 1 tablespoon of the oregano, and the balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine. Add water as needed to thin the soup to desired consistency.

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Feel free to add a pinch of sugar, to taste, if the tomatoes aren't sweet enough on their own. Stir in the remaining basil and oregano, and remove from heat. Serve immediately with a drizzle of olive oil, or store in the fridge overnight to let the flavors mingle. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, or frozen indefinitely.

{Day 28/365} Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

Today, me and the mr. went to the local market to get some vegetables for the weekend. I got a lot of tomatoes (we're talking kilos) for tomato soup (recipe will be up in the next two weeks), which I wanted to make because I needed something to go with the garlic parmesan pull-apart bread. Ha. Here's the recipe (from the lovely blog Pastry Affair):

For one loaf you will need:

- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 330 mL barely warm water
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 420 gr all purpose (or bread) flour
- 60 gr butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 25 gr freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or more!)

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast and water. Let sit 5 minutes until yeast is foamy.

2. Mix in the olive oil, salt, and flour. If you have a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, or until elastic. If you are doing this by hand, knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until dough is elastic, 7-10 minutes. 

3. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until dough is doubled in size.

4. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, parsley flakes, and minced garlic. Set aside. 

5. Punch down the dough. Tear off small pieces of dough (roughly the size of the bowl of a medium spoon), coat in the butter mixture, and place in the bottom of a bundt pan. Repeat this process until you have one layer of dough balls. 

6. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Continue layering the dough balls and cheese until you have 3 layers. 

7. Cover the pan with a clean towel and allow to sit until dough has doubled in size, 20-30 minutes. 

8. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celcius.

9. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Serve hot with a side of marinara or tomato sauce.

{Day 20/365} Dinner date

I've had way too many delights today. First of all, the mr came to pick me up from the harbour with a different kind of boat than the normal ferry. Usually it takes about two hours to get to the island where he lives (Terschelling, The Netherlands), but this time it took only 30 minutes:

Next, I saw some gorgeous cloudy skies, which I enjoyed enormously:

Once on the island, he took me out to dinner and I loved the decoration at the place (the dinner was amazing too!):

The restaurant is called "De Zee", or "The Sea" in English, so they had all kinds of sea-related decoration items:

I would literally use this in my future home if I could. I loved it. Perfect day. See you tomorrow!

{Day 16/365} Lasagne from scratch

I love making a natural, clean dinner, and tonight I've made lasagne from scratch. I have used a recipe from the food blog What Katie Ate, which you have to check out as soon as possible if you do not know it. It is amazing. This lasagne contains so many ingredients that I love; zucchini, red wine, old Italian cheese, basil, and so on. Try it, and enjoy!

For 4-6 servings you will need: 


Tomato meat filling:

• Light olive oil for cooking
• 2 zucchini, cut lengthways into very thin strips
• 1-2 plump garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small brown onion, peeled and finely diced
• 2 sticks celery, finely diced (I did not use this)
• 4-6 slices round thinly cut pancetta, cut into small pieces
• 500 gr ground beef
• 80 ml cup milk
• 600 gr chopped tomatoes (form tin)
• 50 gr cup tomato paste
• 1.5 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
• Good pinch chilli flakes
• 5 large basil leaves, roughly torn
• Small handful fresh oregano leaves (I used dried oregano)
• 250 mL red wine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Béchamel sauce:
75 gr butter

• 50 gr plain (or pasta 00) flour
• 500-600 mL milk
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 80-90 gr Parmesan cheese, grated (I used Pecorino, delicious)

Fresh pasta (I used dried pasta):

• 6 free-range medium-sized eggs
• 600g pasta 00 flour
• Splash olive oil

• 1. Spray a non-stick griddle pan or frying pan and a little olive oil, chargrill the zucchini until browned on both sides, remove strips and rest on paper towel then gather up all strips and chop finely. Set aside.
• 2. Add 1 teaspoon or two of olive oil into a large non-stick pot and warm over medium heat, add the pancetta then fry for a further 4-5 minutes until browned, remove from the pot and allow to drain of excess oil on paper towel.
• 3. Pour a further tablespoon of olive into the same pot, add the chopped onion and minced garlic, cook, stirring often for 4-5 minutes until onion is softened –  taking care not to let the garlic burn – toss in the celery and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes or until slightly softened.
• 4. Add the ground beef to the pot along with the milk and fry over medium-heat for 10-12 minutes or until browned through. Add in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic, chilli flakes, cooked pancetta, herbs and red wine, stir then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer sauce over low-medium heat for 1 hour, stirring often.
• 5. To make the béchamel sauce, add the butter to a pan and melt over low-medium heat, add the flour and beat together with a wooden spoon to form a thick paste (it will clump together ~ this is fine), cook stirring often for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the milk 100ml at a time whisking constantly and firmly as you go until you achieve a smooth, lump-free sauce. Add the nutmeg and cheese and stir to combine. You can beat in a little extra milk if you like to keep the sauce smooth and velvety. Cover pot and remove from heat. Set aside until required.
• 5. Preheat oven to 180˚C.
• 6. To make the fresh pasta, sift flour into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre into which you add 5 full eggs, 1 egg yolk and the splash of olive oil. Using clean hands, combine the flour and eggs, incorporating the flour into the eggs and oil. Do this until you have a dough. Turn out onto a clean and floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes until you achieve a silky dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Note: you can make the pasta in a food processor if you prefer.
• 7. Using a pasta maker, roll out the pasta dough in batches starting from the thickest setting and finishing on the second thinnest. Be careful not to make the pasta too thin. If you are using a Kitchen Aid roller attachment, setting 5 will produce the best reults for flat sheets, if you’re using a handroller, the 2nd last setting will normally be fine. Lie sheets in a floured surface and cut into lengths suitable to fit your baking dish. Note: the dish I used to make this lasagne measured: 26cm x 38cm x 6cm*. Allow sheets to dry for 20 minutes.
• 8. Half-fill 2 large pots with water, set one beside your cook top and the other on top of your cooker, the latter into which you add a good pinch of salt and a small glug of olive oil. Bring to the boil over high heat. Add the pasta sheets in batches, cook for 3-4 minutes then plunge each sheet into the cold water in the second pot. Allow sheets to rest in-between clean tea-towels as you cook the remainder of the pasta.
• 9. To assemble the lasagne, spoon some of the tomato meat sauce into the bottom of the baking dish and spread out, scatter a little of the zucchini on top then add some of the béchamel and carefully spread out evenly, top with sheets of the par-cooked pasta, then repeat with process layering meat sauce/zucchini/béchamel/pasta until you fill the dish. Top the last layer of pasta with the remaining béchamel sauce and cover the liberally with grated parmesan cheese.
• 10. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve hot with a green salad.

{Day 1/365} Red Cabbage

Today is the day that I'm officially starting my own project 365. For the next 365 days, I will take (at least) one picture a day of something that makes me smile. 

Lately, I have gotten more conscious about what I eat, so I'm on a quest to use more fresh and home made products. Today I'll be cooking with red cabbage, which I bought yesterday at the local market.  Doesn't it look amazing? I'm really curious what it will taste like, seen the fact that I only know the taste of red cabbage that comes in a jar.