Freestyle lemony dip

As I have recieved a jar of preserved lemons from Andrew, I'll put up a simple freestyle recipe for a lemony dip. He too has a jar left in the cupboard: that's probably why he sent me one for the last EBBP ;) . So, Andrew, by popular demand: dip it!

The idea is to make a kind of pesto: just use handsfuls of herbs (I used a combo of flatleaf parsley, a bit of basil and loads of coriander) . I blitzed it with a clove of garlic, a bit of salt, a piece of chili pepper and a chunk of perserved lemon (give the lemon a bit of a rinse first). Once pulverised, drizzle in olive oil to make it smooth and spreadable.

I love to spread this dip on a hot pita-bread (really thick!!). Stuff the pita with fried, piping hot haloumi cheese* and tuck in.

*Andrew: If you can't get your hands on this lovely cheese, please mail me and I'll be happy to send you a pack! This is a must-try.

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EBBP #2: Spank you Andrew!

Ha, lucky me! Not only is Andrew organizing the fun foodie event Euro Blogging by Post for the second time, I also had the pleasure to receive a parcel with foodie-goodies from him! And this what crossed the Channel to the Netherlands:



Home made muffins with (my fav’!!) raspberries…Andrew warned me that the muffins might be a bit too moist, but I can reassure him: no worries. I actually think it helped to keep the muffins lovely and fresh on their journey.



Maybe Andrew can confirm me that he received some vibes from me, because that would be a pretty good explanation why he sent me the next item. I had just decided a few days ago that I would have a go at preserving lemons and presto! There was a lovely jar from Andrew! I used it straight away, in a tangy coriander-garlic dip to go with my fried haloumi in a crisp pita-bread. Yumyumyum (but use sparingly). I particularly like the brandname which is Spanks (sounds kinda kinky to me!).



The last item was also a big hit, as I really really luuuurve my garlic. Andrew was kind enough to pack a bottle of garlicky dressing: Harrington’s orgininal Benenden sauce. Again: a hit.

Andrew, for your great organizing skills, the stylish foodieparcel and the fun you bring to all participating foodbloggers: Spank you very much!

Cheers, KQ Tai

PS: Pardon my french!
I forget to mention the handfull of sweets Andres threw in:
"Les Chuques du Nord Délicieuse Friandise Parfumée au Café et Fourrée d'un Onctueux caramel". Devoured on the spot, no wrappers left. Gooooooood.

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SHF #12 Cooking up gingery custard

Foodie Elise is hosting September’s SHF, the sweetest food-event on the blog! She gave us a simple task: Just make your favorite dessert that involves custard. Okidoki! Will do so…but at the same time, cold sweat brakes out. Home made custard tends to split or curdle doesn't it???? In times of panic, turn to über-queen of proper cooking Delia. If there is a foolproof recipe for a thick, glossy custard, she has it!

On Delia’s site you can find a basic recipe for custard. We were thinking about making a classic English trifle: just another excuse to eat all that ripe, juicy red fruit before the season is over. But among the 47 recipes there was one that caught our eye: Ginger ice-cream! As KQ Tai has a new found crush on ginger, there was no doubt about it. Let’s cook up some gingery custard.

(Dear reader, please find the recipe online, we don’t even bother to repeat the exact measurements etc, because, frankly, we’re two lazy b*tches...read on for our experiences though!)


These humble ingredients...transform in a luxurious desert!

Custardy thingies:
Single cream
Egg yolks
Caster sugar
Cornflour

Well, we have to hand it to Delia: her recipe for this custard is everything she promised! Although once again the heat was too high and the curdle process was set in motion (stupidstupidstupid), the cornflour really stabilizes the custard. Just keep on whisking! Once the custard took a plunge in the cold water bath and was stirred around a few times more, we were left with a super smooth and quite a thick custard. Gorgeous! This custard is a doodle to make (we love minimum effort and maximum effect), so it was off to stage two: ginger up that cooled custard and transform it into a lush ice-cream…


The custard takes a plunge

Ice cream-bits ‘n bobs:
Whipped double cream
Stem ginger
Ginger syrup
Vanilla extract
Plastic container

Now, how hard can it be to fold in some chilled whipped cream, chopped up ginger, a few drops vanilla extract (a pod would be even better we feel) and some gingery syrup from the jar? Exactly. No sweat at all. After mixing, just plonk it into a chilled container and pop it into the freezer. And wait. And wait…..and wait.



Fluff the ice-cream after an hour or three and once more after another three hours for maximum velvetiness. Frankly the hardest part was the waiting bit…we wanted to take a spoon and gobble up the whole batch in semi-frozen stage! But if you take the time, sit back and relax you have a whole day of great anticipation…finally put a couple of silky-smooth, pale amber scoops in your prettiest bowl, decorate with a few ginger slices and enjoy. We did!



With gingery greetings, the Kitchen Queens

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EBBP #1: Cooksister’s Foodiegoodies

Wow! Please do join in the next edition of Andrew’s Euro Blogging by Post (due September 24th) because this first edition was great fun! I had the pleasure to receive a parcel from lovely Cooksister. For the frequent and not so frequent readers of her yummie foodblog, it is off course no surprise that her parcel was packed with South-African foodiegoodies. I would have taken proper photo’s, if it wasn’t for my raging impatience. No time to recharge batteries, must rip open parcel NOW!!! So hence the blurry pics taken with my phone :)

Cooksister send me a load of stuff, so hold on to your hats while you read on....

Pecorino and Peppadew muffins: home made! Cooksister send me the instructions to warm these babies in a hot oven…if I have the patience for that! The first muffin ended up in the microwave in no time, so within a few minutes of opening the parcel, I was munching away. With crumbs on my chin I took a deep breath and a look at the other goodies.

A bobotie spice pack: yay! In the Netherlands is currently an add on tv, which tries to get all of us Dutchies to make bobotie. No harm in that, if it weren’t that we are to buy a horrific pre-fab spice-slush which I know will not even come close to the real thing. So now I have the tools to make a proper one. Ha!

Cooksister gave me some of her childhoodmemories in the form of Wilson’s toffees. 2 for one cent: I can imagine her cheeks stuffed with these sweets when she was in school. The taste is old fashioned indeed: highly satisfying to suck a toffee away. She also send me a current favorite: a Tempo bar. I stand with Cooksister’s hubby though: his fav’ (a Peppermint crisp) suited my taste perfectly.

But there is still more: I also received a guava-dried fruit roll. How perfect! I luuuuurve dried exotic fruits! I just recently snacked a whole package of dried mango away, so the guava has found a good home.

Spices, spices: I never seem to have enough, as I am always buying exciting new combo’s. The spice-grinder she send me makes a good addition the other ones I already have from that same collection. Salt for a whole other purpose was the Rooibos bath salt Cooksister send me. I probably have to donate this one to my own sister, because she drinks Rooibos-tea as if her life depends on it!

When Kitchen Queen Mo (who also, funnily enough has a S.A.-background) heard I received a S.A. themed parcel, she jokingly said “Ha, so you got Biltong”. And I did! I already ate a few strips as it is (yum), and I will be looking into some recipes to use the rest.

Finally, the bottom of the parcel is in sight. And what a great parcel it was! Thank you thank you thank you so very much Cooksister, also for your lovely letter you send with the parcel. You spoiled me rotten and I loved every bit of it.

Love, KQ Tai

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EBBP #1

Oh goodygoody!! Kitchen Queen Tai is waiting for a yummie parcel from abroad, because I am participating in the first Euro Blogging By Post. The lovely Andrew @ Spittoon.biz is hosting this first edition.

What's the buzz about? Well, last Sunday I did some home-baking, a little writing and a bit of wrapping. And today it's a stop at the postoffice, to send out a package with some foodie-goodies to another participant. And I will recieve another parcel back, from England, Scottland, Sweden or France....who knows!

Like the sound of this? Check back for an update on this event or just put the 24th of September down in your calendar: if all goes well, EBBP #2 is already being planned.

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We're baaahaaaack

Dear foodiefans,

Between the two of us it’s been a hectic couple of weeks with towering heights and dark, deep lows. We laughed, we cried. The craziness involved getting:

- Spooked out in a haunted castle;
- Pampered in a Michelin 3*** restaurant;
- Dumped by boyfriend-of-8-years;
- A university degree;

But now, it’s time for some serious cooking.

The Kitchenqueens are back in business!

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SHF #9: Tart with a tang!

Don’t we all love a good tart! A nice sweet crust with endless possibilities for a filling. It all really depends on your mood: fruity, chocolaty, creamy... the list goes on and on! This makes it quite hard to make a choice for this SHF, so lots of books, magazines and old cooking notes were consulted. All that reading left us with the munchies! Our final choice is a great companion for a cup of tea in the afternoon. We came up with a lemony-almond tart with an Oreo base and crème fraiche topping. Nothing beats the flavour of fresh lemon and it really gets your taste buds going.


(The crème fraiche oozes from the tangy tart)

We adapted a Dutch recipe and ground up a whole pack of Oreo biscuits with melted butter for the base. The dark brown, almost black colour is great as a contrasting colour against the light filling and has an intense coco flavour. A blast from the oven et voila: one oreo-heaven tart base is ready. It is a good idea however to chill the base before baking it: the cold base (and thus the cold butter) won’t heat as quickly once popped in the oven. The original recipe doesn’t call for additional chilling, and we think it may result in a better base. (*feel free to post your opinion on pre-bake chilling please!)

The filling itself couldn’t be easier. We beat together the zest and juice of 3 lemons and mixed it with butter, sugar, ground almonds and eggs. This was poured on the base and baked in the oven for 20 minutes. Once cooled we spread a generous layer of thick crème fraiche over the top before we made the first ceremonial slice…



Now that’s a tart with a tang! As the filling is quite lemony, we fantasized of sweet raspberries on top of the crème fraiche, or some sliced strawberries on the side or…well, maybe we just have to cut ourselves another slice to brainstorm on some lush combo’s....

Lemony love from Two Tangy Tarts, the KitchenQueens

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H2O and yummie things

It was if the weathergods took notice of the plans of two befriended foodies: the first week of summer sunshine was the best décor possible for a girly night out. The Kitchenqueens began their evening with a lovely relaxed diner at Café Restaurant Amsterdam, Cradam for short.

This easy-going place is located in an old Pumping Station: with all that water in the Netherlands, drinking water has never been a problem. But to facilitate the fresh water needs of the ever growing population of Amsterdam, this new station opened its doors in 1900. Fresh water was pumped from the dunes about 25 km away from the pumping station. *skip a century* What a wonderful place to order some water to cool down from the sizzling sun... in the old main engine room of that pumping station.

(Way back...)

The whole place has an industrial feel to it, but not in a high-tech, laboratory squeaky clean kind of way. The interior is kept in its original state: thousands of little white tiles on the floor, loads of pipes running over your head and a few big-ass water-reservoirs. Although this room is quite big for obvious reasons, the simple wooden tables and mismatching chairs give a very relaxed, bistro like feel to the place. The menu is equally relaxed, although it is possible to go a bit fancier with lobster or caviar too!

(and nowadays...)

We opted for a cooling gazpacho and a crisp Caesar salad, followed by confit de canard and a juicy, good old rib eye with béarnaise-sauce. To keep it summery and fresh we ended our meal with fresh strawberries and whipped cream and a Colonel, which is a tall glass with lemon-sorbet topped with vodka. We drank spumante, some red wine but foremost…loads of water.



Out with a splash, The KitchenQueens

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