Something's cooking

Freestyle lemony dip

2005-10-02T18:43:00.000+02:00

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.

EBBP #2: Spank you Andrew!

2005-10-02T17:46:00.000+02:00

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.

SHF #12 Cooking up gingery custard

2005-09-16T11:35:00.000+02:00

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

EBBP #1: Cooksister’s Foodiegoodies

2005-08-12T21:55:00.000+02:00

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

EBBP #1

2005-08-01T12:13:00.000+02:00

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.

We're baaahaaaack

2005-07-29T15:09:00.000+02:00

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!

SHF #9: Tart with a tang!

2005-06-17T14:25:00.000+02:00

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

H2O and yummie things

2005-06-13T22:09:00.000+02:00

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

Paper chef #7: Dates feeling blue

2005-06-05T15:24:00.000+02:00

Choices, choices…what to do with wonderful ingredients like these for our entry for Paper chef numero 7?

A sweet dish is the obvious choice, thinking of a moist buttermilk-cake, honeyed waffles or even meringues of some sort (with a glass of buttermilk on the side)…but we went savory instead. May we present to you, the guest-star of this dish:

Our dates are going to feel a bit blue once transformed in our creation for Paperchef #7:
Buttermilk scones with dates, honey and Danish blue.

(Read on ->)

In search of a very proper, very basic (and fool-proof!) recipe for scones, we once again turned to Delia. Her books as well as her extensive website are packed with information and, more important, with loads of recipes. Delia’s recipe for Buttermilk scones with Cheshire cheese and chives was perfect to play around with…we admit we are a bit afraid of messing with Delia, because to be honest, she looks like she would smack you on the head several times with a large wooden spoon if you don’t follow her instructions to every_last_word. We Frankensteined her recipe to our likings nonetheless, but in general we followed her instructions (really Delia, we did! Please don’t spank us…)

Because she explains exactly what to do, and because her recipe can be picked up from the internet easily, we don’t bother to repeat her words. We just provide you with our list of ingredients and leave you with our pictures and the final comment that the scones turned out lovely! The sweet dates and honey work great with the salty cheese…

*Ingredients*
(makes 6 scones)

A few chopped dates (we used 5)
2,5 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons of honey
1 large egg

175 gr. self raising flour
Chunk of Danish Blue
Pinch of cayenne
25 gr. Butter

Bella Biscotti

2005-06-02T18:32:00.000+02:00

Please do try these wonderful cinnamon/cardamom/honey biscotti topped with pine-nuts dunked in your café latte on a relaxed morning…although obviously around tea-time these little treats taste heavenly as well. (recipe below)

The original post and recipe can be found in Dutch here, but we spare you the hassle of Babble-fish…anyway: biscotti are a doodle to make, there really isn’t much to it! Substitute spices and/or ingredients to suit your taste, or better yet: post your favorite biscotti-ingredients in the comments below. We might be persuaded to try other sublime combo’s!

Basic dough: (makes about 28, depending on size)

450 gr. flour + 1 teaspoon bakingpowder + 1/4 teaspoon salt: mix.

3 eggs (medium, or 2 large ones) + 225 gr. sugar+ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract: beat well.

Freestyle time!
Combine your flavorings with the egg/sugar mixture. Our top-choice is cinnamon (quite a lot), cardemon (about a tablespoon of whole pods, shelled and ground up), and two tablespoons of runny honey.

Mix with dry ingredients, the dough will likely be quite crumbly: don't stress, the biscotti will bake beautifully. Shape into two loaves, press the nuts on top and pop into preheated oven (175 dgr. cels.) for 30 minutes. Take out of oven, let the loaves rest for about ten minutes. Lower the heat in your oven to 165 dgr. celsius. Cut your loaves in pieces, as thick or thin as you please. We like 1 cm slices. Pop back in oven for 15 minutes or so and let cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.

Don't break your teeth, dunk is the word!

Fabulous Fields of Fennel

2005-06-02T11:00:00.000+02:00

A sunny spring day in May was host to a fennel feast. The south of Holland is famous for it’s asparagus, served traditionally with butter, boiled eggs, ham and potatoes. But next to this classic this region has a large production of fennel! Funnily enough the Dutch haven’t embraced this vegetable as much as other countries... Which is a pity because there’s nothing like that intense aniseed flavor you get from biting a crunchy piece of fennel. A great veg if ever there was one: savory in soups, great when grilled and terrific as tempura.

So together with a group of foodies we went of to the south to visit this vegetable. After a morning in the fields of fennel we enjoyed a great fennel lunch at a local restaurant. And what a feast it was: fennel from beginning to end, even vanilla glazed fennel slices with tangerine jelly as dessert!

Love from Fennel Friend KQ Mo

Tickle our taste buds

2005-05-23T19:13:00.000+02:00

Tasty tasting @ foodie event in The Hague

(as in: not the capital of the Netherlands)

It all added up! A great recipe for a mellow Sunday
1) Inspiring location: The “Kookfabriek”in The Hague. Aka the cooking factory, the place to be when it comes to workshops and tastings!
2) A hall filled with wine makers and there products: our favorite wine shop ( see our WBW#9) had invited a host of befriended wine makers. A great way to really find out all the details from a wine!
3) Nine kitchens manned by chefs and caterers: All the local “hot chefs” were present and were cooking up a storm by making a range of small dishes to taste.
We of course had the grueling task of tasting all that was on offer. Sushi, Iberian ham, Spanish Rose, Quince jelly etc etc it all adds up doesn’t it!

Ready for some jelly!

2005-05-22T20:32:00.000+02:00

Thanks a bundle Elise, for a great round-up for IMBB # 15, Has my blog jelled?

Always ready for some jelly,

With wobbly love, the KQ

IMBB # 15 Sparkling cranberry jellies

2005-05-21T12:51:00.000+02:00

With a slight risk of striking you as two alcoholica’s (“we don’t have a drinking problem, if we don’t drink we have a problem”), we present you a very easy, very simple recipe with jelly and…champagne. In fact, we tried this recipe a few weeks ago before our merry entrée in the world of foodblog-events. So just perceive this an odd coincidence...(No, really.)

Inspiration came from Good Food (april 2005, pg. 147), where these were served with orange langue-de-chat-biscuits. As we didn’t like the idea of crispy biscuits with the cool jelly, we served the jellies with a fresh fruit salad instead. We changed the recipe for the jellies a bit too. The original recipe used fresh cranberries as well, but as Santa isn’t scheduled for some time soon, these are hard to come by in the Netherlands at the moment. Because the lack of cranberries, which give out their own jelly when heated, we had to use more gelatin leaves.

The idea is to make beautiful cranberry champagne-jellies, of course in their proper glasses and all. We wouldn’t make this with the best champagne, leave that bottle for you and your love to drink as it is. Make it with cheaper champagne, cava or other sparkling wine instead, but try to incorporate some bubbly-stuff in there: that makes this dish so much more fun.

The recipe calls for:
• Bubbly of some sort
• 450 ml. cranberry juice
• 100 gr. Sugar
• 8 gelatin leaves
• Mint sprigs for decoration

First: Pour almost all the cranberryjuice in a saucepan, add sugar and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and let it simmer until all the sugar has dissolved.

Then: Soak the gelatine leaves in the cranberryjuice you kept apart. When soft, add the squishy leaves to the still hot juice. Stir until dissolved. Leave to cool completely.

Ah, champagne-time! Very slowly pour the bubbles in the cool cranberry mixture. Do not be tempted to pour in the champagne if the juice hasn’t cooled completely: the warmth will kill your bubbles. Also take care to stir gently to preserve as much bubbles as possible. Make about 900 ml.

When the bubbles calmed down, pour (slowly) in elegant glasses. We used proper champagne flutes, but classic wide champagne glasses or martini glasses look lovely too. Chill the glasses until the jelly has set. And don’t panic: it takes a while to set, as we found out.

Set they will....

Patience young Padawan...patience!

Don’t forget to decorate your creation: though mint sprigs are kind of tacky, it looked very pretty in the pink-reddish jelly. We also put some sliced strawberries in, which floated beautifully. The strawberries we took from the fruit salad we chopped up to serve alongside: just good quality strawberries, a mango, kiwi, whatever looks lush and fresh and tastes divine. Just serve the fruit as is, because why tinker with perfection?

As you dive into the jellies with a long handled spoon, you just can’t help to think of jewels: the jelly breaks down in lovely crumbly pieces of broken rubies. How elegant is that?

Food Fetish: KQ Mo confesses

2005-05-18T14:15:00.000+02:00

As a self declared foody I adore reading about food, talking about food and of course eating it. Friends and colleagues often get the impression that I bake my own bread, make my own stock, go to the market at 6 am for the fresh fish etc. But as much as I would like this image to be true, I must confess I’m not always such a gastronome. Like a model on a make up free day, I often stray of the culinary path and enjoy things a foody like me should maybe not enjoy as much. Forgive me for I have sinned…..

I have taken pleasure in eating cold hotdogs from a can. I have gobbled down cooked rice with dare I say it: mayonnaise….I have dipped many a toasted cheese sandwich in BBQ sauce…..I have slurped lots of instant ramen soups full of dehydrated vegetables and MSG……I have enjoyed a few spoons of cold leftovers, strait from the fridge in my time…..I have dipped blocks of cheese in peanut butter….I know I won’t go strait to “foody heaven” but I’m consoled with the fact that I know I’m not the only one. I know there are more of you out there, I can feel it and after this confession I feel a sense of relief. My heart is filled with passion for cooking and the occasional “misstep” won’t override that. Feel the need to confess? Just send us an email:kitchenqueens@gmail.com

Food Fetish: the KQ Tai edition

2005-05-18T09:20:00.000+02:00

I have a profound love for jelly-puddings. The clear kind, the kind I whip up in a sec (just add boiling water to the powder…) and hardly gets the time to set properly. I drink coffee and tea. Cold. I want my toast to be golden: if there is even the slightest hint of brown, the piece is on a one way trip to the bin. I could live happily on the Iglo-French-style-stew from the freezer for a month or so. I actually kind of like a skin on my cooked milk. A sandwich with peanut butter gets topped with slices of fresh cucumber. Other sandwich toppings would be jam (and butter), chocolate paste (and butter) or butter (and sambal “pete”). I always eat more wasabi than is strictly necessary, just for the pain. I like to dip my home-made fries in a mayonnaise, ketchup en diced onions: all at once.

Please don’t hate me.

Cookbooks galore

2005-05-15T11:16:00.000+02:00

Spiceblog gave us the the courage to come clean with ourselves and finally admit that we are, yes indeed, cookbook addicts too.

Here we go with some pics of KQ Tai's collection...

Mind you: this is just small part, because cookbooks tend to wander around my house one way or the other. And don't get me started on the paper-mountain of magazines I have....I want to get them bundled someday!

1. Rationale behind what we're seeing? These books are piled up high on top of a cabin in my kitchen. To stack them in three piles has noting to do with aesthetics, but all with lack of space: this way I can cram more of them up there. But the color-combo's have everything to do with aesthetics: I'm quite anal about color-grouping cookbooks (or any other book of my huge collection at home, that is). This is just a little t(r)ick that I developed working in a second-hand bookstore during high school. I found that customers didn't leave a big mess after rummaging through the books when the books were organised by color. Seriously! And that made me one happy little girl, because I could spend more time reading in stead of cleaning. And it looks pretty too!...

2. Most recommended? At the moment I'm devouring the Baking Illustrated or a better title would be: All you ever wanted to know about baking but were afraid to ask. Hereby I dub this book the Baking Bible, because every_single_recipe is in there! Great reading and great illustrations too.

3. Cookbook that made you what you were? Ha, tough one. Probably my first cookbook was a pasta-bible of some sort, which triggered something deep inside of me. I would say Jamie's books helped me on my way a great deal too, but to be honest: I am genetically made to cook. With a Finnish mother and a Indonesian/Dutch/German/Portuguese father, I was born into one big meltingpot of great foodies. It was just gently simmering away to finally burst out!

4. Porniest cookbook? This would either have to be something by Nigella (finger licking and all) or maybe the photo's from the Baking Illustrated. The huge pics of the New York Cheese Cake (page 287) or the Devil's Food cake (page 286) are just plain porno. They want me to lick the book from cover to cover. Seriously.

5. Sophie's Choice cookbook? Not sure where to go with this one, because I haven't read the book! (or it should be somewhere in the piles non-foodie books scattered throughout my house, waiting to be read.)

6. If you were a cookbook, which cookbook would you be? Ha! Easy peasy! See question 3 for more info, but without a doubt I would have to be a fushion kind of, best of all worlds-ish meltingpot cookbook. There would probably be an abundance of coriander, cinnamon and cardamom in there. And also there would be at least one great recipe for a lime-pie and a section solely on chili’s. You probably have guessed that I enjoy reading Tessa Kiros' Falling cloudberries very much: she has a Finnish mother too (with the same name as my mother!).

7. If your cookbook were extrememly valuable, so valuable you might hide it with other valuables, where would that place be? What a crazy question: why hide your books? That way you can't use them!!! But to answer the question, there are only two books I would consider hiding. Number one would be an old Indonesian cookbook from my father: tattered and slowly falling apart, but with clippings and notes put in there. The other would be my cooking-diary, which I have started just a few months ago. I scribble little don't forgets, recipes I tried and tested (and off course tinkered with), I stick wine labels in there, I try to describe things I've eaten outdoors etc. etc. I illustrate some of the stories I've written down and that way I hope to create a lovely self-made cookbook. But where to hide them?....Probably in a safe at the bank or, if I am in romantic kind of mood, maybe I will burry them somewhere on the beach in a treasure chest instead, leaving them to be found by someone in 50 years time to inspire that person to raise the heat in the kitchen as well!

Love, KQ Tai

Food Fetish

2005-05-15T00:29:00.000+02:00

Everybody’s got their all time fave’ food. Food you would definitely eat as you’re last supper. Food you serve happily to friends to share your gastrorgasm. To be short: food you just love to eat. But as good as it may be, this food is probably a bit boring too. And frankly, we’re more interested in the darker side of human desires…

We’re not talking crisp roast chicken here, which almost everybody loves to eat. We’re talking about food you hate to love. We’re getting down and dirty with food fetishes or Things You Wish Nobody Sees You Eat. -Ever-. But you do so anyway.

Of course, nobody wishes to share their foodfetishes just like that. That’s why the KitchenQueens set a good example and get past the point of embarrassment and total humiliation. Check back next week when we will share our darkest food desires. In the mean while ponder about food you hate to love and maybe you will find the courage to post a (no doubt highly amusing) story here too. Anonymity not guaranteed!!!

Feeling in touch with our dark side(dishes),
the Kitchen Queens

WBW # 9: Pour us more pink please!

2005-05-11T19:58:00.000+02:00

We’re straying a bit from the pink “rosé” theme, but thinking pink, pink bubbles popped up in our heads. Or we just needed an excuse to pop open a fine bottle of rosé champagne. Off we went and bought ourselves a bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne. This bottle retails for about 50 EUR, but hey, we had the start off our food-blog with a bang. Or a loud *pop* in our case.

The bottle in question was purchased at our favourite wine-store in Amsterdam: “De Gouden Ton” (which translates as The Golden Barrel). This shop is run by a friendly staff of amazing wine-freaks, always ready with great advice and packed with know-how. The shop is well stocked and we always end up buying loads more than we came for. The Gouden Ton particularly specializes in finding the more artisan wine producers: if you want to make an amazing wine discovery off the beaten path, this is the place to be! So, this is enough of our lyrical praising of De Gouden Ton, back to our pink-tasting business.

The colour of this champagne is a lovely pale peachy pink, or dare we say salmon-pink? Think Granny’s Boudoir, definitely not hot neon pink. The bubbles are very delicate and fine, indicating that this champagne is the real deal. No fierce bubbles resembling those found in a jacuzzi but fine, feminine bubbles that titillate your tongue. Just by sight we instantly fell in love.

The nose is very delicate: not too floral. Things coming to our minds were: fresh yeasty bread hot from the oven, fruit falling from trees on a warm autumn day. As we take our first sip, the tickling bubbles hit our mouths immediately. The fine fizz freshens the mouth, followed by a crisp and clean sensation. As a finale we are left with a slight sweet, fruity note.

To conclude this tasting: we strongly recommend drinking this champagne on a daily basis to ensure happiness for the rest of your life. This was our humble opinion after drinking a whole bottle of this stuff in less than an hour. More realistically, this advice does seem a tad exaggerated and to be honest a bit expensive. So, drink this champagne now and then as a festive aperitif or even with a light dish of fish: salmon perhaps? ;)

A paler shade of pink

2005-05-08T17:36:00.000+02:00

The KitchenQueens are in great anticipation of their first foodblogevent ever: Wine Blogging Wednesday.We thought pink, bought pink , tasted (tasted some more), wrote and now, we are ready to share our deepest thoughts on our wine of choice.

Tasting a rosé wine is quite hard labour, but someone had to do it…so check back in three days, when we publish our findings!

Love, the KQ.

Introducing the Kitchen Queens, part deux

2005-04-23T15:54:00.000+02:00

Mo on Tai

Cool chick turns out to be just as big a foody as I am and maybe even more so! Yes we sat in the same Latin class and yes we weren’t in the same crowd but after a school trip to Poland I discovered that Tai had a taste for good eating too....

Not having much faith in the “haute cuisine” on a polish school trip I had stoked my bag with nice eatables. Not the mars bars and chips you would expect from a teenager away from home but an assortment of noodles, biscuits and a hot water boiler( sounds quite nerdy which it was!). But as we all unpacked I noticed I was not the only one. Tai too had a well stoked goody bag with weird and wonderful sweets juices and snacks!Till then I had only known her as the cool chick with the great fashion sense and the gift of the gab when it came to negotiations with teachers etc. Tai can be quite the tigress!

But after graduation, as we all slowly lost contact with our classmates, Tai and I slowly found each other. A few drinks (like tequila), diners (including indulging Christmas feasts), and few picnics (sherry, serrano and sun) have made us great friends. Dining with Tai is always a feast, and just when you think you’re done there’s always a surprise! So don’t forget to check the oven as she is real dough diva!!!

Now we plan to share our beating, eating, shaking and baking with the whole world wide web. Making people to want to lick their screen. Good eats and how to make em!

Introducing the Kitchen Queens

2005-04-20T01:16:00.000+02:00

Tai on Mo

Year: 1995
It was during Latin class that this girl had brought some home baked goods for our teacher. Although we attended the same high school, we didn’t hang out much. Didn’t love her, didn’t hate her, but bringing a cake along to school for Mrs. Roozen was really kind of weird. But hey, there were other, seriously annoying people in my class to worry about. I thought this girl was just a bit nutty, just like the cake she made. And that was that. I thought.

Year: 2005
Nutty girl and I are starting our own, shared foodblog. Now, how did that happen??? Didn’t see that coming, huh?

Well, in short it takes a fun graduation year and a lot of drinks to build a new friendship. Our friendship has been lasting for about eight years now, and it was during this friendship that we discovered a mutual interest: food! We love to read and talk about it, shop for it, cook it and eat it. And so we will! To end this bio on KQ Mo: is she really that nutty? No. Just a bit kooky. Or should I say ‘cooky’? ;)