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‘..us Dutch people need our hag’ -what the heck is hag, you ask? In short, sprinkles. In fact if you enter hagelslag into wikipedia you actually get redirected to sprinkles and they are a Dutch wonderland.
When we first got married I was like, ‘you eat what???’ That’s right, chocolate hagelslag on butter on white bread. I might add that you must use the most trashy white bread possible.
We were in Holland, Michigan a couple of months ago and asked our server at lunch where we could find a Dutch specialty shop, explaining about our desire to pick up a box or two of hagelslag. Our server said, ‘Oh, At any grocery store, us Dutch people need our hag.‘ I don’t blame them.
Category: home cooking
dinner
z actually posted this photo so maybe this dinner made more impression on him than I had at first thought. It is the cover recipe from the May issue of Bon Appetit magazine and is a reasonably healthy asparagus and pea filled fettucine with a lemon cream sauce that has a minimal amount of pancetta for porky salt and a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of parsley for freshness.
F – farmers market / fresh
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the last couple of years have brought with them the cry to eat locally, eat fresh and pull back on processed foods. Jamie Oliver has pushed into the states with his food revolution by rallying the troops to eat fresh unprocessed foods that are lower in fat and easier on the body.
Foodstuffs in fine restaurants are often labeled ‘house-made’ and artisanal, noting the grower, rancher, farmer or chef. Food is becoming more ‘real’ to people and they desire to know the origins of food they are eating.
Farmers markets have popped up in every enclave and village with opportunities for locally grown produce, honeys and jams, sometimes even offering meat and fish or pasta.
So, eating fresh and directly from a farmer or local artisan who is hands on with your food crafting wonderful produce, meats, dairy and condiments is easier than ever.
it’s ‘wichcraft!
perusing through cookbooks making a shopping list yesterday I decided that my next “cook the book” is going to be ‘wichcraft by tom colicchio. We cooked our way through Bobby Flay’s burger book and for the most part were thrilled with the process and the flavors. We made one of the sandwiches previously (roasted beef with daikon slaw and horseradish mayo) and I am not sure what took me so long to gravitate back to this book. It could be that the flavors are a little more complex and maybe I think we aren’t up to the challenge but then again…
Tonight we made a roasted pork loin sandwich accompanied by wilted arugula and get this, prunes! The pork was dusted and seared with caraway seeds and then roasted in the oven while I plumped up the prunes in hot water and then Z pasted them in the hot skillet with dijon and white wine while the meat rested. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the caraway seeds. As I sprinkled them they looked suspiciously like something you might sweep up off the floor but they really added another savory dimension and smelled amazing..
Sandwiches can be all of the perfect components of a great meal including flavor and texture and interest all wrapped up in a tidy to-go package. I am excited for the new things we will try!
*note to self-when roasting meat in a skillet-do not grab the handle with bare fingers-shouting !#@#! ensues.
D – devilled eggs
Yeah, right. So it was easter over the weekend and I have this serious affinity for eggs. I went out on a gourmet limb with my little devils and used a recipe (So Southern!) for Pimiento Cheese Eggs. Seriously. I can’t even say if I ever ate pimiento cheese before or not, but now I have.
pimiento devils
6 hard cooked eggs, cut in half, yolks removed and mashed in
bowl
1/4 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar
1 T finely diced pimientos
2 T olive oil mayo
2 t dijon mustard
1 T finely diced sweet onions (Vidalia or Walla Walla type)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
paprika for garnish (or a pimiento!)
combine thoroughly the mashed yolds, with cheddar, pimiento, mayo, mustard and onions. Salt and pepper to taste. I piped them into the egg whites with a pastry bag and star tip but a spoon works too.
Dust on paprika or lay on a pimiento.
My Urban Pantry 