Pretty Farewell Cakes

A few weeks ago we said farewell and happy birthday to a colleague.
She bought some beautiful cakes for the occasion.
I especially love the fruit decorations :-)

French Onion Soup

I bought a big bag of onions for less than a euro.
The first thing that came to mind was onion soup.
Not that I've ever made it before, but I've always been good at ordering it in restaurants.

So I searched the Internet for French Onion Soup recipes and found many, too many.
Luckily I came across this recipe from Nigel Slater.
What I like about it was the short list of ingredients and the clear instructions.
It worked like a charm.

Here is a copy of the recipe, I followed it step by step, except I found that I had to cook the onions for about an hour which is slightly longer than suggested in the recipe. I also used Parmesan cheese instead of the cheeses below.

The recipe

Serves 4-6

700g onions
40g butter
2 tbsp flour
1.75 litres beef stock
1 glass of white wine
Baguette to toast
Gruyère or Emmenthal

Peel and thinly slice 700g onions, then leave them to soften in 40g butter and a small glug of olive oil over a low to medium heat. Stir them regularly. They are ready when they are soft, sticky, sweet and deep gold in colour. Some add a pinch of sugar at this point to help the onions caramelise. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of flour, cook for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour in 1.75 litres of boiling beef stock and a glass of white wine. Partially cover with a lid and leave to simmer for a good 45 minutes.

Season, ladle into deep, heatproof bowls, place several thin slices of toasted baguette on to each, then cover with thinly sliced Gruyère or Emmenthal. Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes or grill until the bread is toasted and the cheese has melted but not browned.

The magic

The trick to getting this soup right is that the onions caramelize – they must cook for at least 35-40 minutes over a low to moderate heat. Only when the onions are soft enough to crush easily between finger and thumb can you add the flour and stock.

The twist

Contemporary versions can involve roasting the onions in the oven to give a more concentrated sweetness. Red onions produce the sweetest version of all, so you might like to add thyme and bay as a balance. Parmesan in place of Gruyère produces a less fatty but just as tasty crust.

Thank you Nigel Slater!!

Weekly Menu

DWZI - Crazy Mist

It feels like the whole country was covered in a thick blanket of mist this week.

Although it was kind of magical, it was also very scary.

Driving in mist is quite the challenge it turns out.

People do strange things... bicycles appear from nowhere.

I must admit that I am quite relieved that the crazy mist finally seemed to have disappeared.

Now I'm looking forward to a weekend filled with Sinterklaas activities :-)

Happy weekend!

Deze week zag ik... this week I saw

(inspired by DezeWeekZagIk on the blogs by Daan en Roos)

Yakimono in Houten

We met up with some friends in a restaurant called Yakimono in Houten.
It is yet another big wok Asian style restaurant.

The restaurant is tastefully decorated, modern and has a great view of the A27 motorway.

We were 4 adults and 3 children and there was something to eat in every one's taste. They had soups, salads, ready made sate in peanut sauce, a teppanyaki grill, a wok area and lots of ice cream.

I must admit that I find it hard to be overly excited about this restaurant. It does exactly what it says on the label. The wok is definitely the best choice out of all the dishes. The sushi was downright shameful. At least they had really nice ice cream as an end to the meal.

They have baby seats and they have a children's play area. However, the play area is not particularly safe and it would be wise to supervise your children if you allow them to play there.

All in all we had a good evening out - the food was all right, the company was excellent.

Creamy Vegan Pasta Sauce

Yes, you can enjoy a delicious creamy pasta sauce even if you are eating like a Vegan!

The trick is to use a soy cream. I found a product called Alpro Soya Cuisine in my supermarket and it works like a charm.

I used it in my pasta sauce by mixing it into the sauce right before serving it. Just long enough to heat it through. No need to bring it to boiling point.

This was a very easy pasta dinner, with more than enough for lunch a couple of days later.

Ingredients:
500gram Packet of spaghetti (I used a pasta which is egg free)
One tablespoon sunflower oil
One big onion, finely chopped
One clove of garlic, crushed
Quorn vegetarian mince (one container, I think it was 275 grams or something like that)
Two hands full of mushrooms, sliced
One jar of tomato and basil ready made vegetarian pasta sauce
One courgette, grated
100ml Alpro soya cuisine
Seasoning

Method:
Heat up the oil and add the chopped onion. Saute until the onion becomes translucent and then add crushed garlic. Saute for a minute and then add the mince. Saute for a couple of minutes and then add the rest of the basic sauce ingredients (mushrooms, tomato sauce, courgette). Mix together, season as per your taste and let it simmer on a low heat for approximately 10 minutes. You might want to add a little hot water to the sauce, depending on how wet you like the sauce to be.

Now cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packet - in my case it took 10 minutes to be al dente. Drain and set aside.

The final step to the pasta sauce is to add the soy cream. Stir it in and mix well. Just keep it on the heat for about 2 minutes.

The deep red pasta sauce should turn into a creamy, almost salmon coloured sauce.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and serve.

Notes:
- Add any vegetables of your choice to the pasta sauce e.g. peppers (paprika), chillies, broccoli, etc.
- Make this a vegetarian dish by using real dairy instead of soy and adding some Parmesan cheese.

Weekly Menu