Pancakes!

Yesterday (25 March 2011) my son really wanted pancakes for breakfast. I normally use a boxed mix and add blueberries or apples... but I was out of the boxed mix. I turned to what has become my favorite cook book, Let's Go Dutch by Johanna (van der Zeijst) Bates. I had wanted to try the Flensjes Met Peren En Chocoladesaus (Dutch Pancakes [Crepes] With Pears And Chocolate) so I took this opportunity to make them since I had all the ingredients on hand. My son loved them and so did I, although they were a bit sweeter than I usually like my breakfasts to be.

Today (26 March) I found out that yesterday just happened to be The Netherlands' National Pancake Day! It just must be in my genes... a magnetic pull of the Dutch sort!
Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported on National Pancake Day (this is how I found out about it). See the video here:



Next time I have pancakes, I think I'll try the traditional pancake they talked about in the video (and also gave a recipe in the website article): apples and bacon.

A Very Filling Dinner...

 I tried all of these recipes a few nights ago. It was a very filling dinner. All named dishes are from Let's Go Dutch by Johanna (van der Zeijst) Bates.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what an endive looked like and I forgot to look it up before I went to the store. The grocery store didn't have them labeled clearly, so I guessed (the cashier didn't know what they were either) - and I was right! The grocery store only had half the endive's I needed for the recipe. I made a lot of extra sauce which I used in a thrown together side-dish. This Gebakken Witlof Met Kaas was very tasty. It's nice to have a new vegetable recipe to add to my favorites.

Gebakken Witlof Met Kaas (Creamy Baked Belgium Endive)

I will never buy a boxed-scalloped-potato mix again. This Aardappelen Met Gouda Kaas En Room recipe was scrumptious! *Tip: If you are in search of a less expensive Gouda, I've found 3-4 different imported Gouda's for very good prices at the Costco store near us.

Aardappelen Met Gouda Kaas En Room (Scalloped Gouda Potatoes)

Aardappelen Met Suiker (Sugared Potatoes). This did not turn out the way I think it should have so I will try again another time. The cooking process did not go as planned - I got distracted. I used them in something else the next day.

Aardappelen Met Suiker (Sugared Potatoes)

Here is everything together (except Aardapplen Met Suiker). The Bare Little Bums in The Grass are in the "distance".
I did not get an individual shot of Blote Billetjes In Het Groen (Bare Little Bums In The Grass) because I was hungry, forgot and ate it. It was good. It is white beans mixed with french style green beans... so they look like their namesake!
I made too many white beans, so I contributed them to the other bean dish.  This side-dish was made with the other half of the endive sauce, the rest of the white beans and some ham chunks.

Clockwise from top:
Blote Billetjes In Het Groen (Bare Little Bums In The Grass),
the dish I made up (not yet named),
Aardappelen Met Gouda Kaas En Room (Scalloped Gouda Potatoes),
Gebakken Witlof Met Kaas (Creamy Baked Belgium Endive)

Coby's Gemarineerde Komkommers (Coby's Marinated Cucumbers)

I tried Coby's Gemarineerde Komkommers (Coby's Marinated Cucumbers) tonight. This recipe is from Let's Go Dutch by Johanna (van der Zeijst) Bates. This recipe has a photo in the book of how it's supposed to look. The photo is in a different part of the book and I did not see it until after I was done. My attempt does not look like the book's photo. I will try it again next time I have a cucumber ...or three medium cucumbers (since that's what I was supposed to use in the first place).

I used one large(ish) cucumber and I read through the recipe before starting. I should have read it twice. I sliced the cucumbers too thin and I was not supposed to mix everything together at once, but I did. I still liked the finished product but it's very acidic so I could not eat a whole lot of them. Again, I will try this again and follow the directions better next time.

Uitsmijter (Chucker-Out?!)

Chucker-Out
Uitsmijter
"The Dutch have a lot of odd names for their national cuisine that are untranslatable." Johanna (van der Zeijst) Bates introduces the recipe, "This simple dish is the Dutch equivalent of the North American hamburger. [...] [I]t is merely a pick-me up in nutritious form"(Lets Go Dutch -A Treasury of Dutch Cuisine).

I tried this last night for dinner. It is very simple to put together and it very tasty. It looked lonely by itself so I baked some fries and cooked some peas to cuddle around it on the plate. The recipe actually says to put two Uitsmijter on one plate and that four of these serves two people. This is so filling, I could only finish one (barely). So, I have some nice leftovers...



Johanna (van der Zeijst) Bates. Let's Go Dutch - A Treasury of Dutch Cuisine. Saskatchewan, Canada: Centax Books, 1988, Eighth printing 2004