Category Archives: Quick and easy

The day I met a Sanctimommy and made a dessert she would disapprove off: Grilled peaches with Mascarpone

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One of the very first blog posts I ever read was this one on the Sanctimmomy – syndrome, by the amazing Liz of Mom101.

While the post itself dates to 2006 and I probably first read it in 2010 (guessing here…mind is not what it used to be) it skyrocketed itself back into my brain last Sunday. Because last Sunday my live changed forever. For on that faithful day I met my first Sanctimommy.

After 4 years as a mother I finally got to lay my eyes on that fascinating and elusive creature. To tell the truth I had started to doubt its existence. Mainly because I had never really met any such person. Meaning that I am either the best mother in the entire universe or just surrounded by really nice people. 

I met Sanctimommy during a babyshower. We had never exchanged half a word, nor had our glances ever crossed during shopping or other activities. The only thing we have in common is that we are both mothers to a 3 year old child.

While our partners got refreshments or chatted to a Facebook – acquaintance they hadn’t seen in the flesh for nearly a year Sanctimommy and I were busy watching our two 3 year old children entertain themselves. I was clutching a champagne glass with the usual desperation one feels at a social gathering where you only know two people, both of them being your hosts and you have to make small talk with complete strangers. 

One of those strangers was Sanctimommy. As we sat there side by side, both basking in deliciousness of a rare sunny afternoon, both sipping champagne, surrounded by children shrieking, jumping and creating general mayhem, she suddenly turned to me and asked :

“Do you let her eat olives?”

The “her” in question was my youngest who was happily riding a tricycle and who at that moment was – indeed – eating an olive, so I could do no other then admit that yes, my 3 year old child eats olives. Adores them actually. Worships them like they are an all-powerful deity more specifically.

“And you let her eat Feta-cheese?”

Again she referred to n.°2. And again I had to admit that yes, my child also eats Feta cheese, any cheese for that matter, as long as it tastes strong enough.  Heck if I told her tomorrow that she will have to live on Brie and Camembert for the rest of her life she’d be the happiest little girl the world.

“But… that is no food for children!” Sanctimommy exclaimed, the sheer disbelieve over what she was seeing raising her voice to a screamy pitch. “Honestly, I can’t believe you’d let her eat that!”  was the departing shot, given with a glare clearly categorizing me as the worst kind of child abuser.

And with that she was gone, gone to get more champagne, never to return, lest she had to watch other scenes of depravity, like – oh I don’t know – the eldest happily chewing on a piece of cantaloupe melon, wrapped in some Parma-ham and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

The brief moment Sanctimommy stepped into my life did set me thinking though. It is true that my children’s food choices may appear somewhat peculiar to those who don’t know us very well. For instance, my kids both adore strongly flavoured cheeses, have an unnatural liking for spinach and broccoli (don’t give them sugar snaps, though, they’ll … snap…at the snaps, you know what I mean), adore couscous, spicy chorizo and consider cucumber or raw paprika a good choice for a snack. They hate any kind of soda or juice with a passion. No really, somebody offered them a soda this weekend and they nearly pitchforked the poor guy. They drink mineral water, milk or tea. Rest assured, they have a healthy desire for cookies, a lust after more ice-cream than is good for them and will refuse to eat certain foods because they just “look yukkie”. They are normal children.

I’m still not sure why Sanctimommy disapproved of my children’s eating olives or Feta cheese, I’ll probably never know because I try to avoid her kind of people. I am however wholeheartedly sure she would also disapprove of this dessert, because not only does it contain sugar, there is butter involved too…

Grilled peaches with Mascarpone (for four)

Ingredients:

- 2 ripe peaches, without the stone, quartered

- powdering sugar

- a knob of butter

- a teaspoon of Strawberry balsamic vinegar

- a 100gr. (roughly two large tablespoons) of Marscarpone

- the yolk of one egg

- a table spoon of plain white sugar

- two or three amaretti biscuits

How to

- Set your oven grill to its highest

- put the quartered peaches in an oven proof dish, dust them with the powdered sugar and place little knobs of butter on top of each :

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- drizzle the Balsamic vinegar over the peaches and put into the oven until they are perfectly caramelised.

- meanwhile put the mascarpone in a bowl with the egg yolk and the sugar, beat until you get a smooth even cream (note : If you are not making this for children feel almost obliged to add Amaretto)

- When the peaches are done, spoon some of the mascarpone mixture in a bowl, put a peach on top and top it off with some crumbled amaretti biscuits.

Share with friends and family

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PS: I swear it tasted better than it looks on the picture, my food photography skills need some work

PPS: the kids refused to eat this, they opted for ice cream

PPPS: the peaches also tasted fabulous with a scoop of Vanilla – ice cream just saying.

A depressing amount of malaise and how a steaming bowl of lentils saved the day

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A general feeling of disenchantment, of tiredness, of feeling underappreciated. A spring which takes forever to take the actual leap and kick old man winter in the groin an’ outta here.  Children who seem to be possessed by the Devil: sweet and syrupy one minute, hell’s worst fury the next. Stuff – so much – stuff – that needs to be done and so many things that require immediate attention on top of the usual truckload of house – and other work.

I am drained. Each morning I wake up tired and each night I go to bed even more tired. My fuse is so short these days that I’m not to be trusted with any type of sharp object in my vicinity or bad things are bound to happen.

Everybody seems to expect that I leap through the ever greener grass looking for diamond encrusted unicorns or a leprechaun with a pot of gold, while the only thing I want to do is bury myself in a cave, curl up with the dragon and take a nap so long even Sleeping Beauty would call it excessive. 

But of course I can’t do that, because when I signed up for this motherhood gig I lost all right to wallow in self – created despair or feel tired and cranky at ALL. Nope, mama needs to have her happy face on all the time, even if she would rather bawl her eyes out. Hiding in the closet is not an option either.

And so I let things slide. Some things get done, while others are waiting in line and are throwing me frowny looks which I will pretend to ignore. Until of course I cannot escape them any longer and need to face them, head hanging with shame. 

One of the task that was sitting front row in the “not-now-later-but-you-will-feel-oh-so-guilty-for-postponing-this” section of my to-do list was grocery shopping.

Usually at the beginning of the week I make up the menu for the next couple of days, items are written down and the whole shebang goes through the internet and is waiting patiently for me to pick it up at the grocery store. Not this week though… and not last week either. There were enough excuses: “hmm, we still have enough of  laundry detergent to last a week”, “There is still some left-over pasta sauce in the freezer, I’ll use that” and “There is still some of that X *insert any type of dish* left over, with some salad it will make a nice dinner and it is better for our budget”.

Truth is I just couldn’t be bothered with the whole menu-planning thing. Nothing appealed, nothing seemed worth trying and I had only enough energy left to open the freezer,  pick up a container, pull open the microwave and wait for the done- defrosting-ding.

Unfortunately this game can only be played for so long before somebody or something gives in. Tonight the freezer was unable to yield any more ready-made options.   So I was forced to choose between cooking or eating cereal for dinner.

Now it is fortunate that I had only me to take into account, otherwise there most certainly would have been a bowl of cereal waiting for my husband when he got home. But since it was just me on my lonesome I could choose any odd thing I wanted.

A quick run of the pantry revealed some lentils, a lone jar of tomato cubes and in the refrigerator I found some spicy Moroccan sausages. Perfect.

Lentils with spicy sausage and harissa sauce (for one hungry soul)

Ingredients

100gr. of lentils

1 can of chopped tomatoes (400gr)

1 teaspoon of Harissa pasta

1 shallot, chopped

100ml of chicken stock

Spicy or regular sausages

Some olive oil for frying

How to:

Heat up the olive oil in a pan and add half the shallot, when the shallots are glazed over add the Harissa pasta and stir about, add the can of tomatoes and leave to bubble happily over a slow heat.

Put some more olive oil in another pan and heat up, add the remaining shallot and then the lentils, add chicken stock until the lentils are covered and leave to shimmer peacefully for about 20minutes.

Heat up some more olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, when hot add the sausage and bake.
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Throw on plate and feel better because you cooked yourself dinner. Like a responsible grown up.

Crack Cream Cheese pasta : my kid’s favorite meal

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Every mother has them. Those little dishes that are ready in a wink and a blink, for when we need to put our kid’s dinner/lunch on the table Right.Now.

They can be anything. A flash fried burger, a sandwich, a wrap… . But they have two things in common : they are quick and kids love them. Most of the time they are relatively healthy. And sometimes they are not. And that is ok.

Meet my “feed kids in 5 five second” meal : Pasta with fromage frais – sauce. Or as they call it “Kiri Pasta”.

Born on a tempestuous afternoon when we were facing dark dark times and nearly every day included a hospital visit. I had had no time to go shopping and the fridge was as empty as a wallet the day after Christmas Shopping. The kids were in that whiney state that indicates acute hunger and fatigue. They needed food and they needed it pronto.

Since I was completely drained of all energy boiling up some pasta was the easiest thing to do. Plus pasta is rarely rejected in my house. And I really could not deal with rejection at that point in my life.

Unfortunately it would take far too long to whip up a sauce to go with the pasta. And yes, I did probably have some leftover sauce in the freezer but finding something in that great big white beast is more difficult than finding King Solomon’s Mines. Even Indiana Jones would think twice before plunging in that white frozen jungle.

Imagination to the rescue. Go Thunderbirds. Or rather go Kiri cheese:
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Or as I like to call it Crack Cream Cheese. No seriously. This is addictive. And both my kids adore it. So I decided to take the plunge and thus was born “Kiri Pasta”.

It is their favourite dish by far. And I must admit it is actually a 100% scrumptiously delicious. Not to mention it is so death easy even a blind honey badger with one paw could make it. Or my husband. I’m pretty sure he could do it too.

Kiri Pasta or my kid’s favourite dish
Ingredients (for two hungry kids):
- 100 gr of dry pasta, preferably bow-tie pasta or Disney princess shaped pasta (give me a break will you, I have girls)
- Water to boil the pasta
- A teaspoon of olive oil
- Salt
- 2 cubes of Kiri cheese
- Whatever vegetable your kid likes best. Suggestion : below.

How to
Bring the water to boil. Add the olive oil and the salt. When the water boils add the pasta and cook per instructions on the package.
Take the cubes out of their packaging and put in a bowl.
Now take 2 tablespoons of water out of the boiling pasta-pot. Careful don’t hurt yourself.
Add this water to the Kiri cheese and mash it up, you will now have a thick, sauce like goo. Don’t taste it, it is crack.
When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the sauce. Mingle mangle and serve to your kid with whatever vegetable he/she likes.
Because this the true beauty of this dish. It is so versatile you can serve this up cold in summer with some cucumber and fresh tomatoes or hot and steamy in winter with some carrots or roasted pumpkin.

A few of my kid’s favourite combinations :
- With cucumber and smoked salmon.
- With cherry tomatoes and some ham.
- With peas. No nothing else, thankyouvermuch.
- With that ‘red thingy that is not a tomato but I like’ ( a bell pepper).
- Just like that straight from the pot.

Green Salad with Broccoli and Sardines or Kicking Winter Depression’s Ass

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Perhaps it is because it is February or because this winter keeps on dragging his/her cold, slush and mud covered feet, but I have a very serious case of the Blah’s these days.

My energy levels are at sub-zero and keep on plunging down, down, down into the great abyss know as Winter-depression.  I drag myself out of bed each and every day and almost solely exist on coffee and other ‘stimulating’ drinks. And yes there is the daily occasional glass of wine too.

After playing reluctant hostess to the Rampaging Flu of Never Ending Snot and Occasional Vomit these past weeks I’m completely and utterly ex-haus-ted. This mama is drained to the very last drop. Everything on my to do –list seems to loom above my head a maladjusted giant who I have to defeat using only matchsticks and a rubber duck.  

Laundry… blech. Writing…please not now, I have lost my funny. Cooking… oh dear god lord NO, I can’t handle anything more complicated then boiling an egg right now. Reorganizing the girls’ clothes and cleaning out their closets… do I have to? I don’t want to! I just want to lay here, on this couch and pretend I’m on holiday.

Needless to say this is no way to continue. Action is required and pronto. Since a holiday in the Caribbean is not possible (meh) I’ll have to find some other way to dragon-kick my shoggy, unmotivated ass into action, Chuck Norris in his heyday style.

My body is clearly craving leafy green vegetables, fish oils and such like. So instead of following the call of the croque monsieur machine I decided to make a salad.

Ok, ok, ok . The last paragraph is not strictly true: I intended to make Croque Monsieurs (these in fact) but the machine turned out to be broken. So I had to be creative with the ingredients that I had laying around, which led me straight to this relatively healthy salad :  
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And since my butt could do with some serious kicking I thought this was not bad way to start the recovery.

Kick Winter Depression’s Ass Salad of Baked broccoli, Sardine and cherry tomatoes (for two)

Ingredients

1 (small) broccoli

200gr of mozzarella cheese

1 can of sardines on oil

A bunch of corn salad (or lamb salad, if you call it that way)

2 tablespoons of pine nuts

6 cherry tomatoes

A teaspoon of olive oil

Pepper and salt, that tasty duo. 

How to

 Cut up the broccoli into tiny rosettes, heat up the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the broccoli, bake until tender.

Cut the mozzarella into cubes, the sardines into pieces and the cherry tomatoes in halves.

Divide the salad over two plates, add the broccoli, the mozzarella, the tomatoes, the pine nuts, season with salt and pepper.

Serve with some hot and toasty bread.

Hot and Sour Soup, because I have a cold.

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Congratulations. You did it.

You finally got your snotty clutches on me, you cold from the seventh circle of hell. You would have gotten you claws on me sooner but I was prepared for your attack. I had all the necessities: lemons, tea, hot grog, stuff to rub on my chest.

You fought dirty. You did not care how many casualties you made. My husband, my kids, all fell before your machine gun snot fire. You even managed to get my mother sick. The poor woman has pneumonia now! Have you no mercy at all?!

In order to get at me you choose to surround me with illness, snot and hacking coughs until I was tired out from caring for your victims. And then you struck.  You got me when I was down, suffering from the mayhem you had created, trying to make a vigilant last stand. And you slew me. You hit me with everything you got and I fell down.

So yes, you won this round.  I admit it. I have a cold and you are victorious.

But you know what…

Fuck you!

Yes that is right. Fuck you cold. Fuck! You!

I’m not going to sit here quietly and let you have your slime covered way with me. That’s right you red-nosed, bleary eyed bastard, I’m going to fight back.

My first attack will consist of bombing you with this soup:

Fuck-you cold Hot and Sour Soup

Basically this is Nigella Lawson’s Hot and Sour soup to which I bastardized by adding some new ingredients and taking some other ingredients out:

Ingredients

1 litre(s) chicken stock

1 lemon (juice)

1 teaspoon of ground ginger.

1 teaspoon of chopped Lemongrass *

1 teaspoon of diced kafir leaves *

1 carrot, chopped into tiny strips

1 cup of peas (frozen)

2 tablespoon(s) fish sauce

1 small Red chilli (or green) finely chopped

1 teaspoon(s) white sugar

1 chicken breast, cooked and torn into strips

5 small spring onion(s) (cut into short lengths then into strips)

1 cup of rice (cooked) or noodles (not cooked)

some coriander (chopped)

How to:

 1.Heat the stock and tom yam paste in a decent sized saucepan with the lemon juice, lemon grass, fish sauce, chillies and sugar.

2.Bring to boil, add the carrots and peas, leave to simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken and the spring onions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until the carrots are cooked but still tender

3. I had some left over rice and decided to throw it in. If you want to make this with plain rice noodles look at the instruction on the package and add them to the soup directly, cooking them along with the rest.

4. Sprinkle with a little coriander  and serve to those who have a cold and are willing to throw out the oppressor.
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Note : This soup is not very spicy, since I have somebody else’s tastes to take into account, if you want to spice things up add some more chili pepper or ginger.

* Both the lemongrass and kafir leaves come out from a jar, readily chopped for your convenience. If you want to use fresh ingredients I suggest you follow Madame Lawson’s instructions.

Do your liver and ass a favor, make this: Thai marinated salmon with pickled cucumber

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When the winds of winter chase the last leaves of the trees and the rain beats down on the already water-sodden ground for days on end we Belgians celebrate the end of the old year and the coming of the new with suitable aplomb.

Many is the oven which is scrubbed  when December is drawing its last breath. There is much baking, grilling, roasting and cooking these days. Of course there is also much eating, it is the polite thing to do when somebody has been slaving in the kitchen for days on end to prepare a nice meal for you.

Suffice to say that we ate well this past days. And plenty. Too plenty actually, I’m pretty sure I have exceeded my butter-quotient for the rest of the century, not to mention the gallon of Champagne I’ve drunk which are no doubt leaving permanent scars on my liver…

So when the dark days between the baby Jesus’ birthday and the day we welcome the new year are upon us I prefer to make something lighter, full of flavor but without butter. Or cream, no cream either.

The original recipe called for a chicken, but I decided to change it to salmon on a whim. I’m like that, sorry. Furthermore I limited the amount of garlic, which seemed like the sensible thing to do since we spend a fair amount of our time kissing distant relatives and friends these days. Of course if I had made this the day before we were due to visit aunt Augusta I would have tripled the garlic. I used chili flakes instead of an actual real life chili, but that was only because I forgot to buy them.

Marinated salmon with pickled cucumbers.

Ingredients:

For the marinade :

-          A bunch of cilantro

-          1 clove of garlic

-          1 teaspoon of ground ginger

-          The juice of one lemon

-          Pepper and salt

-          1 tablespoon of olive oil

For the cucumbers

-          1 cucumber , peeled, cut and deseeded

-          1 dl of rice vinegar

-          2 tablespoons of fish sauce

-          1 teaspoon of sesame oil

-          1 red onion

-          1 teaspoon of chili flakes

-          100 grams of sugar

How to

-          Bang the cilantro, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and olive oil together in a blender

-          Now stand on one leg and do the chachacha … No kidding, blend and add the olive oil, season with salt and pepper to your liking.

-          Put the salmon and marinade in a plastic freezer bag and let be in the fridge for 30 minutes.

-          Cut the onion into very small pieces and add the cucumber

-          Put the rice vinegar in a pot with the sugar and bring to boil until the sugar has dissolved.

-          Add the fish sauce, chili flakes and sesame oil

-          Pour over the cucumber and onion, mix them together and put aside in the fridge.

-          Take the salmon out of its bag and heat up some olive oil in a non-stick pan.

-          Bake the salmon, I prefer mine nice and crusty on the outside and still a little red inside

-          When the salmon is ready take the cucmber out of the fridge and arange it on a plate, Pinterest-style. Serve with baked rice or a salad if you have been really bad at disciplining your cream and butter intake.

Make this, your ass and liver will thank you

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Roasted pumpkin salad with roquefort or how I fight the return of the baby-pouch

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The annoying thing about certain facts is that they will not let themselves be ignored. This is most specifically true if those facts concentrate themselves around your waistline.

I don’t know how it happened but recently the roll of left-over pregnancy fat which has taken up permanent residence on my stomach, also affectionately known as “Flub” to those near and dear to me, has been a bit more – shall we say – prominent. Perhaps he was afraid I would forget about him and decided to make a reappearance, like he was some kind of pop-diva who can’t stay away from the stage even though she has long reached her coolness expiration date *coughMadonnacough* , craving attention and the limelight.

Well he has my attention…

When I wear high-waist trousers or jeans he will press against the zipper with annoying persistency. When I wear normal waist pants or a skirt he will pop out and make an unappetizing bulge underneath my t-shirt or blouse.

Flub is being a bit of an pain the ass.

He probably thought it was safe to come out now, it being late fall and all. And yes I must admit that I have been feeding Flub a bit more than I should.

But this was no fault of mine! Honestly! It’s fall, fall is hearty stew time! And there was my husband’s birthday… which we celebrated with a family dinner for his and my parents and then we celebrated between just the two of us at this place. And then there is the cookie baking. When the children want to bake cookies who am I to stand in their way? And I can’t let their precious little girl teeth eat all those cookies alone now can I? It would be very remiss of me as their mother, it would make me downward irresponsible. Those Saturday morning’s pancakes might have something to do with it as well, but we are so often out of bread on Saterday! What am I to do? Get dressed and go to the baker? Pshish.

Well whatever, all I know is that with only one month before the big-holiday-eating fest begins, and just about the one time in a year when eating until you burst is actually required, I must face the fact that if I don’t take some kind of action now I will have to explain to everybody at the Christmas table that “No I’m not pregnant again, I just gained a bit of weight. Yes very funny, I DO happen to look as if I’m four months pregnant, but trust me it ain’t so…”.

So from now on restraint and moderation are my new life-values. At least until Flub gets the message.

Meaning more salad and less stew. And less Nutella, fries, croissants, chocolates, cookies,… but I refuse to give up the pancakes. Pancakes make everybody happy, and you do want me to be happy… don’t you?

Since it is Fall and the more usual ingredients you might use to jazz up a plain ol’ salad, such as tomatoes or avocadoes, are not really in season I had to improvise with that which is in store : pumpkin.

Salad with roasted pumpkin, Roquefort and toasted pine-nuts

Ingredients (for two):

Salad (I chose one of those handy ready-made mixes since I’m lazy… feel free of course to grow and cultivate your own)

200 gr of pumpkin, peeled and cubed

200 gr of Roquefort (or any type of blue veined cheese you might fancy)

A handful of pine-nuts

Two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar with red orange

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

How to:

Heat your oven up to 200C° and put the peeled& diced pumpkin in an ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle your gourd with salt and pepper and put it in the oven for 30 to 40 min.

Wash the salad, cube the Roquefort.

Divide over your plates.

When the pumpkin is done take it out of the oven, leave to cool for 2 to 3 minutes and then toss under your salad.

Toast some pine-nuts and sprinkle them over the salad.

For dressing I choose this:
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It is balsamic oil enriched with the juice of red oranges. It has a lovely acidity and is not to overly sweet.If you are not able to find it just use regular balsamic.

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Serve with some crusty bread. For the other person at the table of course, I’ll never get rid of Flub if I don’t watch them carbs.

Clinging onto Summer : Salad of Grilled Figs with Goat Cheese and Strawberry – Balsamico Vinegar

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Ah , the summer of 2012. The summer that never really was. Ok… it WAS  but briefly. For a nanosecond or so.

And yet…yet I am very reluctant to say goodbye to summer and embrace the cold, rustling wind of fall. Oh, I am more than ready to indulge in stews, soup and other savory delights the season has to offer.  And don’t even get me started on the delights a pair of warm socks had to offer to cold, cold feet like mine…

Still, I long for summer and wish that this whole Indian Summer vibe that is going on right now would last. But I know that is only a moment before the leaves turn golden, the sky turns grey and the rains come in. When people here talk about Fifty Shades of Grey, they mean the color of the sky, not the sexual yearnings of a well-endowed businessman nor the sexual awakenings of his timid virgin secretary.

But all bad or good pornographic literature aside (I haven’t read it…yet, so I can’t judge the quality) with summer coming to a close I’m trying as to incorporate as much ‘summer’ as I can into our daily feeding routine. Salads, fresh fruit, pasta with homemade pesto and grilled fish.

 You name it, I’ve grilled it. And eaten it. And it was all nommy! Which is way it’s a good thing that I’m back at work and back in the vicinity of a gym…

I might have gained a few pounds during the holidays. Or I might not… probably not, I bet it is all sand from the beach that is still clinging to my ears, hair, feet, stuck under my toenails, preventing my pants from zipping,…

*kachem*

But anyhoooo, inspired by summers last golden sunshine I decided to finally give that strawberry-balsamic vinegar that has been lurking in my cupboard a try.

Yes, strawberry-balsamic vinegar. I found it a Oil and Vinegar, a sort of culinary gift I frequent more then is good for me. If you can’t find any just use your regular ol’ balsamic vinegar. I decided to use it to spice up some grilled figs with goat cheese and arugula and Holy Chocolate Chip Cookie, that idea proved to be a good one! The saltiness of the goat cheese, the soft warm interior of the fig, the crisp arugula and the sweety-soury thang of the vinegar… all in one plate. Divine. And so easy that it would make a great starter if you have company over and want to impress the shit out of your guests. And be honest, don’t we all want to do just that… especially if the guest is our mother in law.

Grilled Fig and Goat Cheese salad with Strawberry – Balsamic Vinegar (a starter for two lovebirds)

Ingredients:

4 ripe figs

Goat cheese  (I choose a soft one, namely Chavroux, feel free to try your local variety, but try to avoid one that is too hard, best keep it a bit soft)

Arugula

Butter

Sugar

Strawberry – Balsamic vinegar or normal balsamic vinegar

How to

Heat up your grill to the max. Carve the figs crosswise and put a little bit of butter (really, a knifepoint will do) into the opening. Take a tablespoon of sugar and just sprinkle over your figs.

When the grill is as hot as David Beckham clad in only a Speedo put the figs under it and nuke those soft savory fruits for five minutes or so. This really depends on the strength of your grill, strong grill: five minutes. Not so strong grill : more minutes. They need to be warm and tender but not baked through.

While the figs are roasting throw some Arugula onto plate. Throw it casually, the casualler the better, think Instragram and Pinterest casual. Like you are dressing your plate for an appearance in the Anthropologie-catalogue.

Cut up the goat cheese.

By now the figs should be ready. Take them out of the oven and put them on top of your Anthropologie – style Arugula.

Now sprinkle over the cheese, still clinging to that Anthropologie – vibe.

Pour over some vinegar.

Serve to your guests clad in your most bohemian blouse and with your luscious locks braided and wearing a crown of summer roses.

 

 

 

Preparing for a family vacation : cleaning out the freezer/pantry couscous

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Family Vacation.

The most powerfully terrifying combination of words ever to have crossed the lips of man.

I’m currently preparing for one, our first to be more specific. Next week we will load up the car, buckle the kids into their little seats and head off to France.

As you can imagine I’m equal parts trilled and terrified. Trilled because I get to leave my musty office and dirty house behind me for two weeks and terrified because it is the very first time I’m vacationing with a pair of toddlers and I have no idea what I am in for.

I have dreams of strolls through picturesque French markets, my girls enthusiastically tasting boar or ostrich sausage, sampling olives, tasting cheese, munching on a piece of baguette, my husband and I sitting on a lawn chair, enjoying a glass of chilled rosé while reading our book and basking in the golden glow of a splendid sunset.  

Of course I realize these are just daydreams and that reality will be quite different, I mean my husband hates rosé….Chances are very real that I will dream fondly of the peace and quite of my office at the end of two weeks, because there at least people don’t disturb me when I’ve got my ipod –ears in position. But I can’t help but look forward to two blissful weeks in flat shoes, jeans and a t-shirt. Or bikini… I’m not choosy…

But anyhow, we are in the midst of preparing for what might just be the biggest challenge of our parenting career so far. And this requires adequate preparations. I’m not going to annoy you with all the things we do. Or rather don’t do… We should be making a packing list, we should be going through the kid’s toy box to determine what to bring and what to leave, we should dust the bags, check out the weather channels, determine where to stop en route… All of those things we do not do and probably will never do until the very last minute of the very last day. I might just as well take this opportunity to tell our neighbors to close their windows that day: there will be some heavy cursing…

What we ARE doing however is cleaning out our refrigerator and eating our way through whatever is in the pantry and the freezer. Right now this is alright, we have just begun and there is plenty of choice, but at the end of next week we will probably be eating gummy bear pizza with Tuna and chocolate sprinkles.

Here is one of the things which is completely composed of things I had in the pantry/freezer/refrigerator and which is highly edible:

Merguez with couscous, chickpeas and yoghurt dip (for two)

Ingredients:

-          Merguez or any other kind of spicy sausage you have

-          100gr of couscous

-          1 can of chickpeas

-          1 shallot

-          1 clove of garlic

-          100 ml of chicken stock

-          1 activia yoghurt

-          A handful of walnuts

-          A handful of raisins

-          A tablespoon of freshly plucked mint

-          Butter

-          Olive oil

-          Salt and pepper

How to:

-          Dice the shallot and the garlic clove

-          Put some olive oil in a little pot and heat it, add you shallot and garlic and sauté until they glaze over, next add your can of chickpeas. Now fill up the can with plain stupid tapwater and throw on the chickpeas, add a cube of chicken or beef stock and let them gently shimmer until the chickpeas are tender.

-          Now for the dip: take the activia yoghurt and empty it in your blender, add the walnuts, raisins and mint, blend all of them together and season with salt and pepper

-          Make the couscous

-          Bake the sausages in some olive oil.

-          Add some rucola if you feel like it

 

Voila, nothing difficult. Now please excuse me while I go and google ‘gummy bear pizza’

 

 

 

Of herbs and lasagna with feta cheese

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Remember how as a child you could long for something so intensely that all else paled in comparison? How you could selfishly desire something so bad that the world practically stood still and how you felt sure that the world would end if tomorrow didn’t bring you the object of your desire? How you threw a few tantrums to speed up the process? While I left the tantrum-throwing behind me and matured into a responsible adult *kachem* I still long the way I did as a child. Much the same way as I eat chocolate: with complete and utter abandon.

After the long and cold winter and the rain sodden spring we had this year I longed for sunshine and warmth the way I imagine a dehydrated camel with a salt lick addiction longs for a nice long drink of water. Guess my enthusiasm when finally sunshine and +25 C° temperatures were announced? Guess my even bigger enthusiasm when it became clear that the top-notch warm weather was reserved for long Pentecost weekend. Three sundrenched days! It made me want to French kiss the weather man. (Click the link to see his picture, it should give you an idea of the level of my joy).

And I was finally, finally, finally able to plan my herbs. Here have picture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starting from the top left :

- Cherry tomato, emboldened by the successes I’ve had with these over the last two years I decided to plant three plants this year. Meaning they will probably be eaten by a herbivorous type of Guatemalan horse fly. 

- Paprika, a first! My ambition knows no limits.

- Mint. I left last year’s mint in its pot since I was told it can hibernate. I’m starting to think this was a lie meant to cause me confusion and have me doubt my gardening skills. In order to not obsess over the bare appearance of those branches I’ve bought a new ‘just in case the other doesn’t come through’ plant.

- Basil. No comment, no herb garden is complete without basil. Important enough to get his very own big pot.

- Thyme and Rosemary. These two babies must share a pot. I hope to see them grow into giant bushes.

- Sage. This plant did survive the winter. Perhaps I should move it next to the mint so that it can mock the bare stalks with its hibernating prowess and make them jealous enough to produce some greenery. The motivational insult, a classic trick.

- Tarragon, another necessity. To be used for seasoning fishes, sauces and dressings.

- Cilantro. Each year I vow that I will do as my mother and harvest the seeds, each year I completely and utterly forget. Perhaps this year will be different, but most likely not.

These herbs are the life and soul of many a dish, they’ll stay right where they are until the end of September when I will cut them, clean the pots and dry them. In the meantime they will serve in many dishes, such as this one:

Summer lasagna with feta cheese (serves 2 adults)

Ingredients:

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

1 paprika

1 shallot

1 clove of garlic

100 gr of bacon cut into tiny strips

50 gr of feta cheese

4 lasagna leaves (fresh or dry, doesn’t really matter)

Salt, pepper

Thyme, rosemary and some basil leaves to season

Olive oil

How to:

Start by cleaning, deseeding, etc. the vegetables, the shallot and the garlic. Dice the lot and put to the side.

Heat up some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add aforementioned shallot and garlic and stir about until they are nicely glazed and give of their aroma.

Add the bacon and stir it under the garlic/shallot. Add the herbs.

Next add the vegetables, stir them in until they are nicely covered in oil. Turn the heat down, season with salt and pepper and put a lid on a skillet, leave them to fry in their own juices for about 15 min.

Meanwhile boil some water in a pot, add a bit of salt.

When the vegetables are nearly done, add the lasagna sheets to the boiling water and boil until ready. Drain them.

Now take your plate and build your lasagna: take a spoonful  or two of the vegetable/bacon combo and put it on the plate, crumble a bit of feta over this, cover with a lasagna leaf. Take another spoonful of vegetable/bacon and put it on the lasagna leaf again crumble the feta. Guess what: cover with another lasagna leaf. We are not done yet: now take another spoonful of the vegetables and put that right on top of the rest (so complicated, I know) again crumble your feta. Add some pine nuts if you are feeling fancy.

Eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now if you are a very hungry person you may finish everything, but it is quite possible that you will have some leftovers. Don’t worry, they make a fine salad topping or you can do what I did : turn them into quiche.