Set fire to the rain....

Really, normally I am not the complaining type but..... when it is July and supposed to be warm and sunny it is already raining for 2 weeks and looking at the weather forecast it is not likely to stop soon. That's why I already started to make summery things like lemon batido and ice cream but it is not really helping...... However, when I read the newspaper this morning I came across the recipe of something that might actually help.... we all know that fire and water don't go together so by starting making chili based recipes.... we might be able to fight this rain.

The recipe is for the North African chili paste called Harissa. Like the Chinese use sambal, the North African people use harissa. It is hot with a slight sweet undertone. If you don't like it very hot, than you just simply don't use the seeds and use less hot chili's or leave out a few...

I like my harissa on almost everything, it just spices things up a bit. It is especially delicious when eaten in combination with a cous-cous dish like Tajine (the general word for stews from North Africa, they are prepared in a special pot called a Tajine)

I could just simpy place a link here to the recipe, but since it is in Dutch I translated it for you: 

You need: 

- 1 red pepper
- 1 small tablespoon cumin seeds
- 7 red chili peppers
- 2 cloves of garlic, pealed
- a pinch of sea salt
- 1-2 table spoons of lemon juice
- 50 ml olive oil

Place the pepper above a flame and turn it around so that all skin turns black. Then place the pepper in a bowl and seal it with plastic film.
Roast the cumin seeds in a pan until you can smell them. Clean the chili's and remove the seeds, the more you remove the less 'hot' the paste will be. Cut them in chunks and place them together with the cumin seeds, salt, and garlic in a food processor making it a nice puree.

Take the red pepper and remove the blackened skin. Slice it open and remove the seeds. Cut it up in chunks and add to the puree, puree it one more time. Add a table spoon of lemon juice and then while mixing add the olive oil. It is now finished but you can tweek it to your own taste.. adding some more lemon juice, or black pepper or......

This recipe is enough for 2 small jars and it will last about 2 weeks..... I hope this will be enough to scare the rain away!!!!!!

For this blogpost I used THIS recipe

Pop! Goes my........

Wow, I have not experienced this much rain since I don't know when. So it is time to invite the summer in my house.... again (see lemon batido blogpost) and here's how I am going to do that:

I love ice cream and...ice cream loves me and tends to stick around, never wants to leave and comfortably hangs on to the belly area. So we need a solution.... we are going to make our own ice cream that doesn't sticks around.

I found this Pop-Maker from Zoku on the Williams & Sonoma website. To make these popsicles you can add whatever you want. Put some sweetened lime juice together with slices of lime, or pureed strawberries, yoghurt and add some slices of banana and you have a wonderful refreshing popsicle.
They also made a recipe book to help you start your own popsicle factory.

I know I can't wait to start using this and get some sunshine in!!

Fruits & Vegs of the Season part II

Hello!!!!

I am back in Holland and back at blogging :-)  As I wrote in one of my first blogposts about eating fruits and vegetables of the season, I promised you a list with what's in season. The first list included the months: April, May and June but since it is July now it is time for the 2nd list. So here it is!!

Hong Kong

Negroni

Dear all,

Sorry for not posting as much as I normally do but I am in Hong Kong at the moment. I am here because of my job so I dont have too much spare time on my hands... I hope you'll understand. At this right moment I am at the Excelsior hotel's roof terrace called Tott's ( talk of the town) enjoying a very nice classic cocktail which is called: Negroni
In it is: tanqueray gin, campari and martini rosso and I LIKE it!!!
Ths roofterrace is absolutely amazing!! I have the best view on the skyscrapers, which at eight o'clock at night, start a lightshow, these are first class seats ;-)!!!!
Ciao de Hong Kong!!!!!

Fusion breakfast

Wow, best breakfast ever!!! Last November I have been in Serbia for almost one month where I have tried many of the local delicacies. One of them is called Rakija, a schnapps with 50% alcohol. Rakija comes in many different flavours and my favourite is plum (slivo) honey (med) or quince (dunja). As the tradition has it, you drink one shot of rakija in the morning at breakfast to get your machine going ;-) So I happily did that for almost a month, hey it's tradition ;-)

One of my friends is a travel journalist and she was lucky to go to Macedonia a few weeks ago and she also got accustomed to the traditions of the Balkan. As a gift she received a bottle of Rakija (made of plums) which I was very happy to share with her. As the new Dutch herring arrived 2 weeks ago fresh from the sea a match in heaven was created.

My friend and I decided, she would bring the Rakija and I would bring the herring....so we did and this picture was made this morning. Best way to start the day!

Rakija and Herring.... how could you ever survive without?