Make Good Food an Everyday Thing!
11 Nov 2010 2 Comments
Gorgeous fresh fruit ready for eating or juicing!
It’s no secret that I love food, good food, as unprocessed as possible, as fresh as possible and as organic as can be. In my small urban garden I have as many fruit trees as I can fit in: apples, plums even figs and you can see some of them in the photo above, chopped and ready to be placed on some puff pastry and sprinkled with freshly ground spices and maple syrup. Into the oven at 190 fan bake for 15-20 mins and hey presto – scrummy dessert for all.
I have been doing lots of cooking courses in the past year in London and locally. Macrobiotic cooking, Fragrant Lebanese, Classic French bread-making with Maria - www.bakewithmaria.com and this week a Raw SuperFoods course in Amsterdam – www.rawfoodworks.org
We tried a raw foods restaurant in London called Saf which you are all probably sick of hearing me talk about but it was (and is) STUNNING. We – even the kids- loved it although there were the usual quips from Mike. “Do we have to pay for it, if they don’t cook it” and so on. Boy, did he change his tune when he tasted their Laksa and Blue-berry cashew nut cheesecake!!!! Not to mention their super fresh energy juice and mocktails!
Many of the other participants on the course – Diabetics (type 2 who had cured themselves) raw fooders who raved about their fabulous immune systems (no colds for years) and those who just loved the fresh clean taste of herbs, juices, oils, nuts and veggies blended – were already converts. I am pretty convinced that there is much merit in having green juices and eating as many green, orange and yellow leafy type things as possible, but I also love cooked foods, particularly at this time of the year. On a day like this, with rain, huge gusts of wind and a cold that seeps into your bones, I like a French onion soup with crusty bread and melted cheese and something piping hot and warming. But I am going to give juicing and Diana’s Raw Food Lasagna made with courgettes instead of pasta a go. As an asthma sufferer I am keen to boost my immune system and I am keen to get the whole family eating more raw food. I tried out my first green juice on my kids yesterday. “It has a kind of after taste,” said my fussiest child. Yes, I said that’s called vegetables honey! I am going to have to do some serious experimenting to get the kids on board which brings me to Bill Granger who is a cook I really do admire!
Bill Granger, a top Australian chef has some top advice for parents in this months Vegetarian..”If everyone else is eating it then kids will eventually try it too. You need to make good food a normal thing – if you eat badly then your kids will eat badly too. Be unrelenting too, if they don’t eat it, don’t give them something else!”
I also made ANZAC cookies today, experimenting with Lemon Curd in the mixture as it is Armistice Day when we think of all of those who fought or perished in the many wars of the world, and in particular the Great War. Our ANZAC cookie recipe is in our old blog http://thelunchbox.blog.com where many of our recipes are archived. Served with a fresh green juice made with apples from our garden, spinach, parsley, lemon, ginger and mandarin I felt that adding in an ANZAC cookie was almost a healthy combination!
Food-motions – a few glorious grains and soft spring rolls!
20 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Cooking Courses, Food makes us human, Jamie Oliver, Small holdings, Soft spring rolls, The Hungry Mind, Vegetarian with a Vengeance
The foods in the photograph above make me happy! I love the hot red of the chilli peppers, the earthy textured dark of the Haas avocado, my all time favourite, that little peppery creamy French brie plus those tiny tomatoes which baked with rosemary sprigs slowly are a prefect companion to any salad.
I just find food and meals just so wholesomely human really – a simple and genuine full circle of love, caring and shopping with sustainability in mind. I do try and temper my desire to cook and experiment with consience and our small planet is constantly in my thoughts. Growing up in the 60s/70s on a small dairy farm taught me much about the land, farming and the farmers lot. I try to buy my dairy products from sustainably run or organic farms. I like small holdings and kind farmers and large agri-business tend to make me nervous. Cruelty-free food seems to make my meals taste so much more satisfying all round. And having frugal parents who were also avid food-lovers taught me not to waste as little as possible and to re-compost that which was unusable.
Preparing food is something most of us do for ourselves and our loved ones every day of our lives. We share meals, buy/trade/grow/ store food, throw away food (alas) and plan our next meal every single human day. As for me – I teach kids & adults about cooking, develop new recipes, write and read about food (and the behaviours/habits which surround it) from morning through to night. And I have spent many a glorious hour exchanging recipes, sharing food memories and just chewing the fat with people all over the world. Time spend teaching and talking food makes me as happy as an organically farmed pig in clover, oh, it does. Food is beautiful, colourful, smell-licious and divine.
Food -motion. Food-ire, Fear of Food…..
However, there is the food-motion side of things. Mention ideas such as healthy eating, home cooking, slow food, meatless Mondays, smaller chocochip cookies, those unneeded sports drinks, more dark brown bread, using lots of spices and fresh herbs and then you start to get into some dark and emotionally-edgy conversations. Sometimes I feel a great chilliness hovering above my food laden table, often I am surprised to find that people feel threatened and challenged. I am rather shocked that people seem so unaware of the epidemic of diabetes and the rates of adult obesity in developed countries given the constant media coverage.
It never ceases to amaze me how Jamie Oliver attracted such bile for suggesting we should do more cooking in our homes and schools both in the UK and the US – thanks Jamie, you got us thinking although I wish more of us would watch your speech on Ted.com (2010 Ted Winner). Really, Jamie was not trying to make anyone feel bad, he just wanted us to cook great food and consume it. Food is glorious, a priveledge to eat and have accesss to. So many in our world can’t find a good square meal that it would be a shame not to put our best into what we have and to teach our kids how to as well! It is central to our human lives and we all need to learn more about it.
I believe that learning to cook is a great skill to have, teaching us manual dexterity, organizational and managerial skills, chemistry, intuition, self-efficacy, confidence and above all teaching our knowledge about where food comes from and how it impacts on our planet. On a lighter side, it is just such fun and for that little extra bonus you get to eat the end result. My next cooking course “Eating A Rainbow” – simple, delicious dishes from around the world will be taught at The Hungry Mind Centre, just by the International School of The Hague on March 19 and 26th – come and join me if you fancy – register via www.thehungrymind.nl or phone 070 3681804.
Now onto proper stuff, like cooking. Below is a picture of few of my fav nuts and grains straight from the organic market of course. And I have a new cookbook - have just made some quinoa and beetroot burgers from the Vegetarian with a Vengeance Cookbook, lovely stuff ladies – I am impressed.
organic nuts and grains, homemade ruccola pesto and sun-dried tomotoes
But today I am feeling very spring rolly. Maybe it’s that hint of watery sunlight or a bunch of Thai basil I found at the Amazing Oriental. You can fill these fresh spring rolls with almost anything as long as it mix up it – it has to have crunchy, spicy, herby and some soft rice noodles. But you will need a good dressing. The Vegetarian with a Vengence book gives you three possibles – a peanut butter, chilli and soy gingery sauce, a Hoisine coconut milk garlicy sauce and a lemon grass lime – all of which sound great. My quickest and so far my best sauce is a simple mix of shoyu (a quarter of a cup), a good squeeze of ginger juice from a lump of coarsely grated ginger, some lime juice, and 1 tablespoon of palm sugar (or to taste!) Mix it up and add some coridander or holy basil leaves and it is divine. Can add water if it is too much for you!
Soft Spring Rolls
Now, make your soft spring rolls out of rice paper sheets. It is not really cooking but more an assembly line so it is best to be prepared and think about flavour combinations. Buy the rice papers at Amazing Oriental where you will see either the large round variety or half rounds. I get the whole rounds. Prepare a variety of tofu, vegetables and noodles, and nuts first.
I like to marinate the tofu in curry paste and then fry on both sides gently until crispy. Cut into thin strips. If you can find some sustainably caught shrimp, fry with garlic or chilli sauce and set aside. Boil some rice noodles and drain. Add some mild seasame oil and seasame seeds to them and set aside. Finely chop some sweet carrots, spring onions, cabbage or lettuce. Dry roast or add tamari sauce to raw peanuts or cashews and put in a small bowl. Wash your holy basil, coriander and mint and dry. The secret is practise and organization. Jack seems to be better at rolling the spring rolls than me. But I keep trying to get it right.
Some lovely soft spring rolls!
Have all your ingredients handy and in small bowls. Work over a clean tea towel and have a bowl of warm water large enough to place the entire sheet of rice paper in it. Dip in your rice paper in the water for a few seconds and drain on another tea towel. Place soft paper on clean teatowel and put a lettuce strip in the middle – you can overlap the edge or fold it in later. Add in your other ingredients, noodles, some nuts, tofu, shrimp, herbs, bean sprouts, carrot and spring onions. Fold or roll into middle and tuck in edges or leave lettuce outside at top. It is difficult to describe but you will develope you own method. There will be a variety of different shapes and sizes, and the tightness of the roll will vary until you get the hang of it. Persevere, it is worth it. The idea is to make bite sized rolls to dip into sauce and pop into your mouth. Eat within an hour or so or they will start to dry out. If you want them for later cover well in a air-tight container. Enjoy. Can also serve with a watered down version of a thai chilli sauce – or soy sauce. And love, love, love
hearts of dark choc from Mary's in Brussels with rose petals!
your food – it’s better when you cook it yourself and cheaper. It really is!
Smitten by a Chiogga- Candy striped beet, be my valentine, anytime…
30 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in root vegetable, Soup Tags: chioggia beets, Jerusalem artichokes, red garlic, soup, valentine
Now, what could be prettier than that? Some of my favourite one-clove red garlic, a candy coloured chiogga beet, a blue tile from home and… Ok, so the little pock-marked fellow in the middle aint so charming but what this jerusalem artichoke lacks in beauty, it fully makes up for it in taste! This last week I have making soups, and using these gorgeous beety beasts in salads and coleslaw! I used them raw by the way plus I used them in the curried chickpea soup!
Some people have commented I am quite a good cook. Actually this is very, very kind of them and probably untrue. What I am is a rather greedy person, who is very curious about using new ingredients, who rather detests spending money on bad food, and who has the luxury of having time to experiment! Good cooking is a learned behaviour and as I frequently say to students, if you can read (or watch) then you probably can cook. Good healthy, frugal cooking using all our wiles will be the trend this year as the recession bites deeper and food becomes dearer.
I also grew up with two diabetic (type 2) parents who were both good cooks and loved to grow and harvest food. Lucky me to have been surrounded by reasonably good & plentiful food (although, we all ate too many baked goods, and lived off the fat of the land, literally) all my life, unlucky Mum & Dad to have suffered from the dread disease of our developed age. But on to sunnier things, namely cauliflower, jerusalem artichoke, potatoes, veggie stock and if you are feeling naughty some cream!
Soups are easy. These are the basics – begin with a chopped onion in some olive oil and fry gently until translucent. Add in your raw veggies such as cauli florets, chopped cubed potatoes, roughly peeled and chopped jerusalem artichokes and fry for a few minutes without browning. Add in a good litre of hot water with a crumbled stock cube, and cook until veggies are al dente (tender to the bite).
Hey presto, you got yourself a soup! Now you can blend it, or mash it or leave it with chunks. You can add some saffron, some cummin, some other fresh herbs or you can leave it as it is! Naturally you have to taste it and add any seasonings, freshly grated black pepper and salt. Serve with BROOD’s spelt cake (I mean bread of course!)
By the way these little creatures – the Jerusalem artichoke- are not potatoes but members of the sunflower family! Lovely though!
Bark in the Park from Kids in the City
26 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
It’s been a good few years since we started The Kids in The City Foundation to clean up our city streets and parks! We have been having a bit of a time out for the past few years, a bit of a relax, a stock take, a lie in – but now we are back. And we think this city could do with a right royal, wet dog sort of shake up! It’s high time to see what’s happening in terms of doggy doo doo, don’t you think!!!! So here we are again, sniffing the streets, barking in parks, looking to see what’s what! What do you …
Like Totally Non-toxic Birthday Parties (well almost!)
16 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: apples and bananas, lemons limes
To Do list for party
Make own cake pops (using any muffin type mixture but Morning Glory is best!) Note to self, these types of cakes are really easy but you need a silicone mould which makes them a doddle! Note to the wonderful Rita, gouging them out of normal shaped cake is not the way forward. Involve anyone handy in decorating process using cream cheese icing. For this party though my daughter is in charge and makes a dark choc fudge cake recipe – slightly on the toxic side!
Make Raw Cashew Raspberry Dream Cake from mynewroots.blogspot.com and put in freezer, removing approx 1 hour before party.
Make filo pastry triangles with feta, ricotta, herbs and eggs and bake at 185 for 15 minutes.
Slow roast tomatoes with garlic, rosemary sprigs, black pepper, rock salt and olive oil for pizza sauce.
Squeeze loads of lemons/limes ( and my wonderful bergamont lemon) and heat up with honey and a few frozen raspberries to make concentrate. Cool slightly and add water, pour into pretty recycled glass bottles and place in fridge.
Raspberry lemonade
Make dips such as guacamole, tapenade, greek yoghurt, hummus, baba ghanoush to serve with veggie sticks and organic corn chips.
Make Fruit Kebabs with strawberries, melon, grapes, raspberry, mandarin segments, apples and bananas (sprinkled with lemon juice to stop from browning. Daughter insists on adding jelly beans and gummy bears onto end of stick which I allow – it is her birthday!
Make wholemeal pizza dough, knead and put aside to double in bulk.
Arrange decorated cake pops on muffin stand, put out streamers, serviettes, fruit kebabs, and wait for the onslaught of 15 wonderful tweenagers!
Recently my friend Michele and I were comparing muffin recipes. It just so happens that I have a number of recipe books that I have worked my way through, trying these muffins, those muffins and combinations of various. But we agreed the best of all, the most moist, the yummiest (and hopefully the healthiest) were the good old Morning Glory muffins. So here they are again. Enjoy!
Morning Glory Muffins
In a large bowl mix 2 cups of spelt flour, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, half a teaspoon of salt, half a cup of sugar or sugar substitute, maple sugar etc. and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
Stir in 2 cups of grated carrot, half a cup of nuts, half a cup of chopped apricots, half a cup of coconut and one grated apple – can use zucchini instead of carrot!
In another bowl beat together 3 large eggs with 1 cup of salad oil such as sunflower oil and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Fold all ingrediants together until batter is only just combined. Spoon into paper lined muffin or cake pop moulds and bake at 180 fan forced for approx 20 minutes. Makes 12 large delicious muffins. Yummy for at least 3 days!
Peace (Don’t we just wish!) Compassion, and a bit of Chutney!
23 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
It’s madness out there and I admit to be one who finds it all too overwhelming. I have tried to have a green Christmas this year. We adults will not be exchanging gifts but instead giving each other details of our favourite charities. While I couldn’t quite persaude my children that the giving of gifts was unnecessary, I have tried not to give in too much to what Oliver James refers to as Affluenza! I have tried not to buy stuff for the sake of buying stuff. Oliver James believes that we in the western world are suffering from a consuming disease which doesn’t make us at all happy and I am with him on this. Having things doesn’t make us happy except for a brief time. Health, love, social interaction, being together, laughter, stories, tears and sharing a good meal – that’s what makes us happy, really, really!
As for our dinner, it will be fusiony eclectic and out there – feta and herb filo parcels, a scotch quails egg in a blanket of sagey, tofu stuffing, a white cabbage & fennel coleslaw with some hopefully sustainable seafood tidbits, followed by a light pavlova dressed with gaiety – pomergranates and vanilla seed cream. Will it all go together, well who really cares – it is a mix of all of our favourite foods and everyone will help to make it a delicious and social day. To finish probably very much later in the day we will have my favourite French brie liberally sprinkled with black pepper on a black sesame rice cracker and my recently made Cranberry Chutney. Making Chutney is easy. It is just throwing together some vinegar, something sugarly (haven’t tried subsitutes as yet but working on it), fruits, onions, and spices. You can use special jam sugar with pectin added to help setting but you cook it all down, tasting for a combination of sweet sourness, adding a bit of this or that as needed. Keep your old jars and sterilize them on a tray at 130 degrees for about 5 minutes and fill them up.
Ingredients
1 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar
1 packet of cranberries
2-3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
half a cup of cider vinegar or balsamic (or whatever you have!)
half a cup of raisins
2 large pieces of cinnamon/some star anise, some ginger or garam masala/allspice, a pinch of cloves
1 chopped onion
Combine it all and bring to the boil over a medium heat
Simmer for approx 10 minutes stirring and tasting. You may like to add more sweet or more sour. Or more spices. If you think it is too thick then add a little more water. When it has thickened to your liking and cooled, pour into sterilized jars and eat with cheese, cold cuts, warm cuts and absolutely anything. Of course the longer you leave it, then better it is but it won’t last long at all I’ll bet!
One last thing – I would like to plug a local business which sells lovely gluten free products. Kamilla sells gorgeous things – see her website www.kamterra.com
She says the following: “At Kamterra Foods, it’s our mission to provide our customers with a fine selection of wheat and gluten free products from a variety of fantastic brands – many of which are organic and/or fairtrade.
Being gluten intolerant myself, I know how important it is to have a good choice of nutrient-rich, gluten-free products with which to make healthy, wholesome meals as well as delicious snacks and desserts.
All the products we stock are of the highest quality and are delivered worldwide from our premises here in The Netherlands.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kamilla Oribabor
Founder, Kamterra Foods”
Below my favourite shop window in The Hague on Molenstraat – you’ll spot it, there are always loads of kids staring at it full of wonder. Enjoy and be at peace!
Best of The Hague (part 2)
19 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
Best Restaurant This is tricky because I find that most restaurants are simply not consistent. For me they have one chance and if they miss it then there is no second visit. I can forgive some things – a less than professional delivery of service is something I have almost come to expect in The Netherlands, but if the service is unfriendly then it’s goodbye! I expect to see food that I don’t prepare at home, food that is fresh, beautiful and served in a glorious way, not too fussy, not too much on a plate but a dance of colour, texture and above all flavour. I expect the front of house to be knowledgable and have passion for their foods and wines but to be able to take criticism if delivered politely. So, that cuts out 99 % of the restaurants in this town! Left in a class of their own are my three top picks for a decent celebratory meal out : Han Ting on Prinsestraat no. 33 delivers a special meal with it’s own brand of Asian fusion using Wagu beef & seafood and get this – they make a gorgeous vegetarian on request as well. Basaal on the Bierkade never fails to deliver on quality and has a strong and loyal following. Mochi (Mallemolen 12 a) with it’s strong Japanese and South American influences has always left me with a desire to eat more. Honourable mention C’est Ca Prinsestraat 130 with a French feel to the menu using local produce.
Best Breakfast. We are pretty nonplussed about the breakfasts on offer in this city. Should you be thinking of starting a cafe could we suggest Eggs Benedict, porridge with fresh raspberry sauce and greek yoghurt, homemade granola and fluffy scrambled eggs, hotcakes with fruit, morining glory muffins etc. But the best we think at present is Baklust on the Veenkade – ask them to toast their lovely sourdough bread though. Omlettes there are very good and the cakes we have already mentioned.
Best Italian for Lunch – Pastanini on the Frederik Hendriklaan. no 79 or the Frederikstraat no 62. This is simple, no nonsense Italian food, pizza, pasta, salads and good coffee. Extremely popular with the international crowd on week day lunchtimes.
Best Pasta – tricky again but Da Braccini on Regentesselaan 24 probably just has it with their homemade truffle pasta. Heard very good things about Vino & Cucina from my Italian friends but alas haven’t made it there as yet. I have a few free nights in my agenda if anyone fancies a night out….
For a quick family meal before going to a film, I have no objections to popping into Vapianos and sharing a plate of pasta or a salad. I am quite fond of their berry mascapone desserty thingie.
Best Pizza – naturally I think it is at my house on a Friday night! I am still looking for the best pizza here and it’s not at Dominos, or Laterna, or VIP as far as I am concerned. La Luna never changes and is prefectly reasonable for a quick family meal on the run (Weissenbruchstraat 79)
Best Cafe for lunch – Naga Thai is my favourite followed by Pastanini on the Fred, Peppermint on the Frederickstraat if you can get a seat, Aan Tafel in Voorburg on the main street, Momiji Sushi on Rabbinjn Maarsenplein for sushi now that Dim Daily is no more!
Finally best place to work off all that food is Sorgvliet park – Go and buy your ticket now! Next post Cranberry chutney…
Sweet Potato Frittata, Fat Kittens, and Food dressed in pink!
19 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
A plate of food and flowers
Eleanor Mills article “But it’s Yummy, Mummy” in the Sunday Times last week got me thinking. Eleanor like myself (and most of my family & friends) is awfully keen on food. One of her early family photos shows her tucking into a box of chocs, her face a vision of blissful ecstascy, eyes closed, rosebud lips parted in anticipation. So she started a blog http://fatkittens.wordpress.com to look at how we feed our kids and our own rather mixed up attitudes to food. India Knight recently tweeted on how her seven year old and friends were concerned about being fat and wondering about going on diets! I too am keenly aware of bringing up my kids in an obesigenic society where we are all bombarded with adverts about food, about sports drinks, and about how cool we are if we drink coke, pepsi and eat hamburgers. Supermarket food is dressed in pink icing and sprinkles, frozen yoghurts (which may or may not have dairy products in them) are served up from conveying machines in our schools and food techies are tempting our palates with conjured up chemically-created irrestible tastes. Help, what do we do? Easy, but not simple – buy simple ingredients and cook from scratch! Cook it simply and make it look good. Don’t go to supermarkets where both you and your child will be tempted by all those cakes, bars and sweets at child eye level. Go to markets instead if at all possible. Do make cookies and cakes yourself but limit them to weekends and special days. Yours will taste better, have less sugar and be an act of love! Please call them “sometimes” foods not treats!
Jack’s recent school party food list caused me some alarm with its list of chicken (ugh) nuggets, crisps and sweets! I took no notice of the list but found myself dithering on party day. Would I do kappa make, sweet potato frittata, or boil some quail’s eggs? I just couldn’t decide so made all three. I was very pleasantly surprised to see lots of homemade food arriving with the other kids. Yes, there was a packet or two of crisps, micro-wave popcorn and some brought cakes but we put out the fresh food first and our kids went for it. Well most of them did. I particularly like the sweet potato frittata which went beautifully with Ute’s low fat kwark and curry dip!
Roast Sweet Potato and basil frittata
Makes at least 12 muffin sized frittata
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large rosevale potato, chopped and cubed into small squares
1 sprig of rosemary to flavour oil in roasting pan
Roast the sweet potatoes and potato in olive oil with a sprig of rosemary, 1 tsp of ground cumin, freshly ground pepper and salt for 20 minutes in a pre-heated fan forced oven at 190 degrees.
In a small bowl beat 5 eggs, 160 mls of cream, half a cup of torn basil leaves, and half a cup of grated parmesan cheese until well mixed.
Place paper cupcake cases into a muffin pan and lower oven tempreture to 160 degrees
Divide the cooked cubes of potatoes evenly into muffin pans. Pour in the egg/cream/cheese/basil mixture on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes befor turning out. Serve with homemade chutney or simple Kwark dip below.
Ute’s Simple Kwark Dip
1 cup of low fat natural kwark mixed with half a teaspoon of curry powder to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Coming up soon (hopefully after lunch – I am making roasted root veggies served with truffle pasta, blue cheese and nuts) Part 2 of The Best of The Hague – I being putting forward my picks for best Italian restaurant, best pizza, best restaurant, best gift store, best charity sites for gifts etc. Also my recipe for cranberry relish/chutney fit for a celebration table….. Oh gosh, could it Christmas coming up? I am feeling like Ethel the Unready! You?
Eat a Rainbow and The Best of The Hague (part 1)
05 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
I was wondering if I needed to have a table at our school fair – quite often you end up speaking to those who are already “the converts”! And while that’s just lovely and honestly what could be more fun than talking food, sharing recipes and re-visiting food memories, that really wasn’t completely the idea. The idea is to inspire and spread the Eat a Rainbow word! We found out very late in the day that we had a table – 2 hours before the fair started but we packed our books, made a few quick samples (tapenade and beetroot/kwark dip, grabbed our emergency snack box staples and some of the quails eggs from the brekkie table and flew out the door. It was worth it. Worth it to chat to those who are well aware of the difficulties of bringing our kids up in an obesigenic world, aware of the food technologists who are endevouring to tempt our palates with combos of fats, sugars and salt to trigger our bliss points ( see David Kessler in the End of Overeating) but it was also great to talk to those who just wanted ideas for snack boxes & who wanted to do their best. Best of all, it was great to talk to kids about what they know about food! Some of them know a lot and many are game to try different things. Most of them love to cook so do please encourage them to cook up a rainbow because food is medicine and pretty yummy as well! We had some rather interesting and fun chats about their favourite foods so I had to share a few of mine too! That would be pretty well any recipe in the “Plenty” cookbook by Yottam Ottolenghi although I try not to over-indulge too much with the cheesy bits. Remembering that we started out with our last blog http://thelunchbox.blog.com by listing our snackbox and lunchbox favourites I am noting a few favourites below…
Favourite Sandwich fillings (for my kids anyway)
1. Boiled eggs mashed with milk and chives with lettuce and a thin scrapping of salted butter on dark brown wholewheat bread
2. Parma Ham with thinly sliced baby tomatoes (patted dry with a paper towel), lettuce, and a slice of cummin cheese on spelt bread from BROOD (homemade indian spiced chutney as well for me on that!)
3. Herby omlette, basil pesto spread, green lamb’s lettuce on an olive bread
4. Brie with chutney, spring onions finely sliced with crispy lettuce (and beetroots for me!)
5. Grated cheese mixed with 1 egg, spread on thinly spread marmite toast and grilled in the oven. Slice into fingers and serve with a salad of cucumber, tomatoes etc.
6. Organic mince made into mini burgers with salad on spelt buns – not to mention slow roasted tomatoe sauce with tofu mince and wholewheat spagetti with parmesan in a thermos and soups and wholewheat tortillas with coleslaw, refried beans, cheese etc. Those are some of my kid’s most favourite lunches and there are loads more variations, combinations and ideas etc.
Best of The Hague 2011 Part 1
Now for my Best of Awards 2011 part 1. For all those I mention I shall offer them a huge bunch of gorgeous organically grown summer flowers electronically of course…. and much thanks from me & my friends..
Best Market: Without a doubt it’s the Farmer’s Market (Boermarkt) Hofplaast on Wednesdays 9- 18.00 in The Hague – there is no competition.
Best Italian Deli: Italy on Piet Heinstraat for the caprino cheese, the wholewheat farina flour, bits and Italian bobs and such lovely people!
Best Indian Takeaway: Chef India on PrinsHendrikstraat – try their Tarka Dahl and chilli nan bread
Best Cheese Shop. Phew, this one is too tricky but in the end it had to go to Zuivelland, Bankastraat 44! One of the youngest cheese shop owners and how wonderful she is! Plus, the Cheesemen at the Boerenmarkt, so many cheeses, so little time, plus smoked tofu, soy products, various milk products, love that wild garlic cheese!
Best Sushi: This is very contentious: my Japanese friends think that Sushi Morikawa on Balistraat has very good sushi but I have heard both good and not so good reports from others. One thing is for certain it is expensive and not really for fidgety kids! Oni, a pretty restaurant on Prinsestraat also has a following & although I have had excellent morsels there, but have been let down by service and by the price of drinks! I really am not keen on the plethora of all you can stuff in Japanese sushi restaurants which seems to be a nasty throw back from the 70′s, So, with the sad demise of Dim Daily (high rentals apparently) we are looking for a good solid sushi/noodle restaurant so more reports please on good, consistent family friendly sushi restaurants please….
Best cakes for a afternooon tea or coffee: Baklust, it’s fun, funky and service is kind. We still love it and feel comfy there!
Best quick meal on the run: Falafel from Falafel King, cheap, reasonably healthy and fill it up with good salads! Vlammingstraat 37 in the Centrum
Best Butcher: Now this is tricky for me as I don’t buy meat but I have had many votes for the butcher at the Organic Market, personal service, great meats and cold cuts! For game it is the Slagerij Matla on Bankastraat 48 (thanks Eva!) Eva also reccommends the Lidl for meats and organic veggies too!
Best Bread: have you noticed how many artisan bakers are suddenly springing up in our town. For me it’s a toss up between two. Phillipe Garlene’s patisserie on Aert van der Goestraat. They make a fab spelt bread that you finish baking at home. It is delicious. However newcomer BROOD also has a gorgeous spelt seed loaf, so good that we refer to it as spelt Cake in our house. I adore their little olive breads and the cheese and rosemary breads!! Keep me away, BROOD is a very dangerous place and you will find Audery making from scratch soups there as well! As I write the carrot and ginger is one of her most popular but she is constantly adding to her recipes.
Best Eko/organic shop: For personal service and food with integrity go to De Kruidentuin on Bankastraat, and they do great bread as well! Gaia on Aert van Goestraat also has an honourable mention and has loads of loyal customers and the large Ek0 Plaza in the centre of town has the largest range of orgnanic goods. By the way just because these goods are sold in an organic shop doesn’t mean they are good for you- check the labels for loads of hidden sugars particularly in bars targeted at kids – you will really be surprised at the (natural!) sugar content.
Best Supermarket: No award and is there more than one?Ok Lidl Eva will say. Me I like to shop in small places so I try and avoid supermarkets.
Best Wine Store: I know this is a school lunch box blog but there may be the odd parent out there who likes a glass of wine now and then! I only buy New Zealand wine online at 44degrees.nl but if in need I head to Wijnkoperij De Gouden Ton on Denneweg 81.
Best Tea and Coffee specialists: I like Simone Levelt and especially their Milano, mild, aromatic roast – see http://www.simonlevelt.nl for all their locations.
Asian Supermarket: Amazing Oriental for noodles, spices, sushi rice, rice vinegars, raw peanuts, Thai curry paste, rice paper for spring rolls etc. Grotemarktstraat below the movie complex right by the Ekoplaza
Best Cheesecake: Oh please, The Cheesecake Company http://www.cheesecakecompany.nl – there are no other contenders or pretenders. I won’t say it’s good for you but it is very, very delectable
Friendliest cafe: It’s Quirkys and not just because I am friends with the owner Christine. It is because just about every customer gives the owner a hug, and the friendliness is catchy! Plus her coffees are the bees knees.
Alas time has run out, it’s time to cook dinner and then do a late night interveiw with DutchBuzz, the radio people http://www.dutchbuzz.nl
Watch out for part 2, coming soon!
And our favourite mushroom lady at the market who is happy to share her huge knowledge!
Good Food Brings People Together – May your next meal be divine!
02 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
I was feeling rather foodily despondent today looking back over two years of seeking to inspire kids and adults to be mindful about what they are eating, to celebrate fresh, local, delicioius food and to share meals with friends, family and learn more all the time! I had received the class party food list. It mentioned 2 things which I hoped not to see on such a list again. Words that strike some fear and trepidation to a food-lovers heart: chicken nuggets and crisps! We started The Food Forum because of such a list some 2 years ago. We (a loose group of foodies, parents, nutritionalists and parents) were determined to help kids learn about good food, to follow in Jamie Oliver’s footsteps by sharing our cooking skills and to have fun with beautiful ingredients and food. Observing what kids were buying at Albert Heijn for breakfast (cans of so-called Sports Drinks and large bags of crisps) and what was offered as celebratory food – the cheap of the cheapest hotdogs in white bread rolls, deep fried nasties etc. has led to a few sighs along the way. But for some reason after a visit to our local natuurwinkle (organic food market) and a chat to the very friendly Australian behind the counter, Rosy, I feel suddenly buoyed up by the past year and opportunities ahead. I also felt more optimistic after I talked to a teacher about bringing in some changes next year and reviewing the festve party list. So, if you will indulge me I would like to share some food photographs of the past year before I write my Best of The Hague 2011 blog. This time last year we were about to head to our other home Waiheke Island just off the coastline of New Zealand – I miss it most dreadfully but have great memories of sharing food with lovely people in glorious greenery. Here are some of the things I enjoyed in 2011… above walking the coastline on Waiheke
Beetroot dyed quails eggs for Easter
Birthday flowers picked in our Waiheke Garden, beauty for a day! As the sun goes down so they close and fade but for a brief day they are the stars of the show!
My favourite flavours of the year – lemons and pomergranates, simply divine!
Giant couscous, sometimes available at the Fair Trade stores
Spinach and pesto pancakes, discovering Ottolenghi's in London
Discovering all sorts of noodles, rice, green tea, and loving them!
Soft Spring Rolls - small soft packages of fresh ingredients to taste, adore Vietamese Food
Berry fruit at Yvonnes stand in high summer
It’s been a grand year, and I’ll be hoping for an even better one next year! Learning never ends and brings great joy, may we all be receptive to new ideas and knowledge. I was going to add in a photograph of the typical picture of the “party” food available at most children’s party venues (chips, nuggets and processed sauces – nasty) but I have decided instead to add in a last photograph of our 2010 festive meal shared with family and friends because that’s what good food really does, it brings people together. Next blog I absolutely promise cross my cooking knives The Best of our City. See you at the school fair tomorrow? Or at Quirkys next Tuesday film night where I’ll be making wholewheat pizzas with Christine? In the meantime I hope your next meal is delicious, healthy and shared with someone else!
Friends share a festive meal
- Good Food Brings People Together
Glowing Greek Yoghurt and Black Bean Brownies – yep, that’s Beans!
18 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
Two weeks ago I cooked at Quirkys making my version of a Whole foods Tex Mex Veggie dinner. The feedback was great and I have been asked to provide recipes for my fresh sauces, so Stephanie Ward, who runs the very excellent Firefly Coaching company (www.fireflycoaching.com) here you are! Enjoy!
Glowing Greek Yoghurt Dip
I always serve a simple Greek yoghurt dip type sauce with my Tex Mex. It takes all of 5 minutes.
Take a good cup of natural yoghurt or sour cream. Add some dried garlic powder or freshly minced mild garlic, a few chopped fresh herbs such as chives, coriander and mint, a squeeze of lemon or lime, salt and pepper, then mix well. A smattering of flaked chili wouldn’t go amiss either. The longer it is left to marinate the better it is. It goes well with mexican food, on roasted potatoes, as an alternative to mayo and tastes excellent. Make it glow by adding a splattering of prepared pomergranate seeds. Alternatively next time anyone goes to Greece pick up some dried Tzatziki sauce mix which is excellent for a quick dip, just add yoghurt and grated, drained cucumber.
Coriander Salsa or Green Goddess Dip to Die For….
I have posted this before but here it is again. Remove large stalks and place washed fresh coriander in a blender with fresh mint, half a seeded chili, a tablespoon of Thai Chilli sauce, the juice of a lime or a lemon. Add some cold water and blend. That’s it, easy huh! Serve with anything you want to, it is absolutely delicious. Needless to say if you are not a coridander fan, you will need to replace it with Thai holy basil or make a minty version.
Now thanks to Life coach, financial planner and nutritionalist Stefanie Thomas (www.stefaniethomas.com) for this delicious but totally unusual recipe! I went to a Productive Parenting talk given by Stefanie for Passionate Parenting and amongst the very excellent tips she gave us was a tasting of a lovely dark, moorish brownie, made with no flour or sugar!! Prefect for the gluten free diet.
With her permission I am posting it here. I, whom am no chocolate lover, found it very, very good indeed. And the kids were flabbergasted. What, you must be kidding they said. Beans, not beans!
Black Bean Brownies
Preheat your oven to 175 C or 350 F
Ingredients
One and a half cups of organic black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large organic eggs
3 tbsps of melted butter
2 tbsps of melted coconut oil
quarter of a cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 tsps of a good vanilla essence
5 tbsp of Stevia powder (natural sweetner available at healthfood stores or use maple syrup, honey instead)
100 gms of good dark chocolate, grated or chopped into small pieices. I used the dark chocolate buttons from Australian
2 pinches of cayenne pepper which compliments the chocolate very well.
Place everything into a blender, adding the chocolate pieces at the very last moment. I blended for a few minutes and could still see beany bits. You could also add nuts of your choice.
Place mixture into a parchment lined swiss roll tin. Grease the baking paper with coconut oil and cooked for approx 30 minutes at 175. Mine was cooked in a fan forced oven for 25 and cut when cold. I have to say I am impressed. I made mine with Stevia powder which is sweeter than sugar. I will experiment with maple sugar or syrup next time.
Below, the Green Coriander Salsa. I think I will go and make some, it just looks too good. Next post will be my annual Best of The Hague 2011. I’ll be posting my top picks for the Best Carrot Cake in town, the best coffee, the friendliest cafe, the most family friendly cafe, best sushi, best park, best thing to do on a rainy, cold, grey day. If you have some special place, food, shop you would like to have mentioned do please send your comments in. There are two very strong contenders for the best carrot cake: Baklust and La Buena Vida. Looks like we will have to do a taste off, how wonderful. We will also have to taste Crunch’s raspberry and choc cake, Philppe’s choc pie and Quirky’s oreo cookie cheesecake, volunteers please?
I will be at the Winter Fair on December 3 at the British School with a sample of recipes, lunch box favourite, containers and ideas to swap. Until then, happy, healthy and gorgeous eating.
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