Pllek Amsterdam

On Sunday we had another gig in Amsterdam, this time at Pllek in the North of the city.
We've played Pllek before, back in November for the release of our newest single 'Elspeth' and we had a great time, so we'd been looking forward to this gig for a while!

It's a beautiful place, right on the water overlooking Amsterdam Central Station, and the building is actually partly made up of shipping containers so it has a very cool industrial-chic feel. It's also a very popular cafe-bar/restaurant so their Sunday music sessions are always busy with friends and families there for a chat and a bite to eat.

The interior is nicely put together with an assortment of simple tables and chairs, cosy sofas and raised carpeted areas for large groups to sit together comfortably. 

There is a huge terrace outside too with picnic benches and a fire pit!

Yes, that ferry is bigger than those buildings...

Picture by Anna of http://ookannaheefteenblog.wordpress.com

The gig went well and we had a stand-in drummer called Sean, who we were so thankful to for helping us out, but what I really want to talk about in this post is the FOOD!
Oh my gosh is it good. One of the reasons we were so excited for this gig was because the food had been so amazing last time, the most memorable dish being their seasonal venison stew.
After the gig we grabbed a table and settled in with a couple of drinks to wait until the dinner service started. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the numerous delights listed on the menus and ordered the second it turned 6pm.

Arjan went for the panfried cod, it was served with wilted spinach, baby carrots, watercress, garlic mashed potatoes and a langoustine sauce. One of the many benefits of being in a couple is always getting to try your other half's food! The cod was beautifully cooked, flakey and moist with a crisp skin. The veg was nicely cooked and complimented the fish well, the mash was so smooth and creamy with just the right amount of garlicy tang. The sauce brought the whole dish together incredibly well, it was sweet and light and coated everything perfectly. 

I actually had the same dish that I had back in November, boring I know, but this is one of the nicest ravioli dishes I've had outside of Italy. They were filled with beetroot and spring grass cheese (not sure what this is actually called in the UK) and topped with slices of beetroot and turnip, spring grass cheese, hazelnuts, turnip greens and a nut butter sauce. You would think this could be a little overly sweet for a main dish, but it's a light sweetness that goes wonderfully with the gentle saltiness of the cheese and the indulgent buttery sauce. At first I was skeptical about the hazelnuts but they add an extra dimension, both texturally and in flavour. Despite being in a butter sauce, this dish feels surprisingly virtuous and healthy!

Our booker, Marlous, went for the dish of the day; Limburg white asparagus served with wild broccoli, wild boar ham, new potatoes, hollandaise sauce and boiled egg. I didn't expect to get a taste of this (when it arrived at the table I was pretty jealous) but Marlous was struggling towards the end so we were called in to assist. It was so good! The white asparagus has a much milder flavour than the green we're used to in the uk, I actually prefer the green but I'm enjoying the white more and more. The spears are very thick, so it has to be cooked a lot longer, but this was done perfectly, not mushy in the slightest. The wild broccoli was incredibly good and reminded me a little of kale. The hollandaise was lovely and thick and not too sour either. In hindsight I wish I'd gone for this dish.

The other 3 in our group opted for the steak, which looked delicious but I never got a picture because they all ravenously dove upon them on arrival.

Because we were playing there, this meal was on the house, but the prices of the food are pretty good, definitely affordable and when you take into consideration the quality of the dishes it's a downright bargain! The lunch menu and snacks also look fantastic and I would love the opportunity to give some of it a taste. Next time I'm in Amsterdam I much just take a little ferry trip across the Ij for a bite....

Recipes: Vegetastic

Today was another diet day, my first at home, and even though I made one last week, I fancied a curry.
However, I knew one thing, I wanted rice too!
The curry I made last week was chicken and vegetables, but the chicken added a lot of calories which meant we had to eat it on its own, and no matter how tasty it was (and it was very tasty!) I missed the presence of soft, fluffy rice in my bowl.
So this time it was simple, leave out the chicken!
I have never felt it necessary to always have meat for a main meal, a belief that was not shared by Arjan when we first started dating (there were many shopping trips that would end in arguments over whether or not we had to have meat for dinner and as poor students, it was not always something we could afford) as the Dutch are a very 'meat and two veg' kind of people.
My family are always happy to have a vegetarian meal every now and then, so long as it tastes good and fills them up, so I find I generally cook at least one meat-free meal whenever I come home, be it pasta, curry, risotto or soup.

Back to the curry!

One of my favourite dishes we order from our local Indian takeaway is called Bhindi Bahji, a fairly dry, heavily spiced okra curry, and when I found okra on tesco.com whilst doing a big shop for ingredients for me to come home to, I instantly decided they were going to be the star of this dish!

Okra Tikka Masala: serves 5

50g Patak’s Tikka Masala Paste = 132 kcal

1 tbsp Groundnut oil = 119 kcal

100g Passata = 320 kcal

300g Mushrooms = 66 kcal

350g Okra = 108 kcal

200g Frozen spinach = 55 kcal

200g Frozen peas = 136 kcal

5 boiled eggs = 385 kcal (77 kcal each)

total sauce = 935 kcal + eggs  = 1320 kcal

Per portion sauce = 155 kcal + egg = 232 kcal 

370g basmati rice = 477 kcal

Per portion rice = 95 kcal

Total per portion = 327 kcal

This amount of sauce will serve 6 but the eggs and rice was calculated for 5 so you will need to add another 75g uncooked rice and one egg for the 6th person. apologies for the confusing display of the calculations but I couldn't think of a better way to illustrate what adds on how many kcal so you can easily leave something off or add something on. 

• Heat oil in a pan, add the paste and fry for a minute, pour in passata and simmer
• Chop mushrooms into quarters if large or halves if smaller, button mushrooms can be left whole if desired (it’s purely a textural thing, do what you want with them really!)
• Wash and dry okra thoroughly, top and tail, chop into thirds or 2-3cm pieces (they will release a sticky slime, it will go away while cooking) I would add more in the future as I love them so much
• Rinse the peas and spinach under warm water to defrost slightly and remove large chunks of ice (use fresh if you can! I just had to empty out the freezers and these were already in there)
• Add all the vegetables to the sauce and stir to spread through, simmer for at least 30-40 minutes before serving (or until vegetables have softened) you can also make this ahead and switch the heat off then reheat for 15 minutes before serving.
• 20 minutes before serving place the peeled, boiled eggs on top of the curry, turn them half way through so they become coated in the sauce and heat evenly. 
• For the rice: add twice the volume of boiled water that you have of rice (e.g. 1 cup rice - 2 cups water) add salt and any spices you want (I used turmeric, cumin and a tiny pinch of cinnamon)
• Bring to the boil and cover, simmer until most of the water is gone and the rice is almost cooked then remove the lid, stir and allow to dry out a little. 
• Alternative rice recipe: add 1 part rice, 2 parts boiled water, salt and spices to a bowl, cover with clingfilm and microwave on high for 14 minutes (this is my preferred method but our microwave is broken) 
• optional: serve with chopped coriander, indian pickles, yoghurt, naan and chopped chili

Home-laid: a selection of eggs from our chooks, look at that pretty speckling and the blue eggs!

In to the pan!

 My parent's have a whole collection of Le Creuset pans, I love cooking in these 

A healthy dose of coriander and chili freshens this up beautifully

This was SO GOOD! I know I should be more modest, but I LOVE curry and I think this combination of vegetables is really nice; the peas add a slight sweet 'pop', the spinach seems to thicken the overall texture of the sauce, the mushrooms give that bite that could almost trick you into thinking it's a piece of meat and soak up the spices and the okra are just awesome!

Please try making this if you can! It's not a spicy dish (hence the added chilli) and you can alter the curry ingredients to suit your tastes!

Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow for cats!

Meat Feast!

Something that we have been planning to do since Christmas, but have had to wait until everybody is in the same place at once for, is Gourmetten.
This is a very Dutch thing (the closest thing I can link it to in the UK is fondue or a chinese hotpot) that is more of an event than a meal.
Basically everybody has teeny tiny pans on an electric griddle pan/grill combo and there is an assortment of meats, vegetables and other goodies placed on the table for you to pick and choose as you please!

Bente, Arjan's sister, works part time at a butcher/deli in between school and after Christmas she was given a couple of left over platters of gourmetten meat, that have since then been lurking, temptingly, in the freezer.
So finally, we were all available (including Bente's boyfriend, Rick) and the feast could begin.

We started with a salad and wild-boar pate:

Then on to the main course:

Condoments, cheeses and whisked egg for tiny omelettes!

It is quite an occasion, everbody chats whilst concocting things and it's really quite pleasant. There are the occasional tiffs over who gets what and turf-wars over pans, there is also the down side that you're better off paying that bit extra for the grills as the square one took double the time to cook anything! However, it's fun to do once in a while and everybody enjoys it.

Hope you also had a nice weekend and tomorrow I will be posting from York! See you on the other side (of the channel)!

Recipes: Fire in the hole!

Today marks another successful fast-day on the 5:2 diet and has been finished with a delicious (if I do say so myself), low-calorie meal.

On today's menu: Thai Green Curry with prawns!

Now I'm not a big fish person, unlike my boyfriend (for some of you this may conjure visions of the creature from the black lagoon, but less excitingly, I mean I don't enjoy the flavour), with the exception of sushi and fish'n'chips there are few fish dishes I will eat and enjoy. I don't mind prawns though, depending on what they're in, and considering that they are a fairly low-calorie protein source they're perfect for diets.

I am however, a huge fan of spice!! I've grown up with cream-cheese and Cholula hot sauce sandwiches in my lunch box and my tolerance and enjoyment of chili heat has only grown over the years and Thai Green Curry is one of my favourite dishes.
I would normally make this with chicken but considering that 500g of breast is 860 kcal (compared to 526 kcal for prawns) and coconut milk adds a lot to the calorie count, I'm saving chicken for later in the week.
Whilst we're still on the topic of spice, I realised I made a bit of a mistake while cooking this dish. When I say I like a hot green curry I kid you not, I'm talking lips humming, nose running, occasionally-makes-you-cough kind of hot. My mother-in-law does not like spice at all, though she did enjoy green curry a surprising amount last time I made it (albeit a watered down version). This time I may have forgotten who I was cooking for and used the normal amount of paste, until I tasted it and found it to be hot enough for me... I managed to rectify this slightly by adding a little water to the sauce, thinning the flavour a bit. Oops.

This is a fairly flexible recipe, you can add whatever vegetables you fancy and whatever meat (although I do recommend chicken, particularly thigh meat as it stays juicier) so you can adapt it to what you can find in your area, although it's fantastic with aubergine and this is the traditional vegetable to add.
I would normally make this with a selection of the unusual types of aubergines we could find at our local exotic grocer in Brighton, and sometimes add fresh shiitake mushrooms (if I can get them) which have a wonderful chewy, meaty texture.
Little mange tout stay beautifully crisp and sweet if added to this at the last minute and green beans (as I used today) perfume the curry with their light, beany flavour.

Prawn Thai Green Curry: Serves 5

500g Prawns = 526 kcal

400ml coconut milk = 720 kcal

500ml chicken stock (from a cube) = 20 kcal

1 large aubergine = 87 kcal

250g mushrooms = 40 kcal

250g green beans = 78 kcal

50g green curry paste = 70 kcal

1 tbsp sunflower oil = 120 kcal

1.5 tsp sugar = 24 kcal

total = 1685 kcal

Per portion = 337 kcal

• Prepare your prawns in whatever way necessary (peeling, deveining etc).   
• Heat oil in a large pan, stir fry the paste until fragrant then add half the coconut milk.
• Add the prawns to the pan and cook briefly.
• Add the rest of the coconut milk and the stock.
• Chop the aubergine into large chunks, half the mushrooms (quarter for bigger ones) and chop the ends off the beans.
• Add the vegetables and simmer until softened.
• Add the sugar and season to taste.

Us dieters ate this on its own like a soup, the non-dieters ate this with rice. (I would normally serve it with sticky, sweet, delicious coconut rice which you can find recipes for online) Keep in mind that the calorie count per portion was probably fairly generous as there was more than exactly 5 portions of this.

It's hot, fresh, filling and full of goodness! I would eat green curry once a week if I could and never get bored. This comes with my highest recommendations! Enjoy!

Recipes: Healthy, Happy, Hungry....

I have officially caught the blogging bug. I woke up in the early hours today and found myself completely unable to get back to sleep, my head swimming with ideas for future posts full of witty remarks and brilliant advice! I couldn’t wait to grab the laptop and start tap-tap-tapping the keys.

Luckily after a snuggle with my big spoon I managed to get a couple more hours of shuteye.

During my nocturnal musings I struggled to choose which post I would, essentially, christen the blog with. Should it be fashion, food, make-up? Well fashion and make-up were quickly disregarded as I currently have a massive cold-sore and I’ll be damned if there’s a camera going anywhere near me right now! 

So after a bit more thought it hit me. It’s the start of the new year. What is the one thing people are most obsessed with at this time?

Health! Gyms experience roughly a 30-40% increase in members as a result of new years resolutions, the internet is heaving with juice cleanses, detox diets and tummy tightening work-outs and people are desperate to shed that Christmas-dinner-induced weight gain.
I too am a sheep in this desperate flock, and though I didn’t actually gain weight over Christmas (internal cheering and fist pumping ensued when I first hopped on the scales after the holidays) I am not exactly feeling my best.

So along with the bf and my father-in-law, I embarked on a quest to become a better me! After some careful consideration and plenty of research we decided to try out the 5:2 diet, which seemed a lot less faddy than others and, although it doesn’t promise any huge, immediate weight loss, looks like a diet that can really become a part of day to day life for the long haul.

The idea is that 5 days of the week you eat completely normally (we’re not talking burgers and deep-fat fried everything now, but a normal balanced diet) and for 2 non-consecutive days you fast and eat 500kcal for women or 600kcal for men. That’s ¼ of your daily recommended intake.

It’s been one of the most popular diets of 2013 and for a reason. Because it’s only two days a week, the fasting days don’t seem like a struggle and the hunger feels oddly empowering because you know it’s good for your body to have that recuperation time.

It has however been testing my basic mathematical skills, which have been little exercised since university.  But I enjoy taking the time to plan out a delicious and super healthy meal that everyone can enjoy together twice a week, and so for any other 5:2ers out there looking for food inspiration, I will be sharing my recipes for fast day dinners!

On Monday we had a delicious lemon-y couscous with roasted vegetables and just a sprinkle of crumbled feta, for tonight’s menu I’m making a chicken stir-fry with noodles and what I think is technically referred to as a ‘butt load’* of veg.

Chicken veg stir-fry: serves 5

270g dried Mie (egg) noodles = 945 kcal (cooked)

2 cloves garlic = 8 kcal

1 tsp 5-spice

1 tbsp oil = 119 kcal

1 chicken breast = 260 kcal

1 onion = 46 kcal

3 Peppers mixed colours = 120 kcal

1 large carrot = 30 kcal

2 cup mushrooms = 30 kcal

1 large leek = 54 kcal

3 tbsp soy sauce = 14 kcal

1 knob ginger = 19 kcal

1 tbsp honey = 64 kcal

1 chicken stock cube = 20 kcal

1 tbsp corn flour = 55 kcal

total = 1784 kcal

Per portion = 357 kcal 

·      Boil the noodles for however long stated on packet, drain, run under cold water to stop cooking and set aside
·      Boil 300ml water in a pan, stir in stock cube, honey, cornflour, soy sauce and grated ginger. Simmer until thickened to desired consistency then remove from heat.
·      Thinly slice (Julienne) carrots, peppers, onion and leek into matchsticks. Chop garlic into fine pieces. Slice mushrooms thinly.
·      Cut chicken into very thin slices and then into strips (this will make one breast go through the whole stir fry without adding too much of those calories).
·      Heat oil in wok or frying pan, add garlic, chicken and 5-spice powder (or whatever seasoning you choose), cook till chicken whitens.
·      Add vegetables and cook briefly to retain nutritional value.
·      Add noodles and sauce, distribute evenly in pan and heat through.
·      Serve with thinly sliced spring onion as a garnish and add hot sauce or chilli powder if you like.

(note: This recipe was calculated for 5 people, 2 of whom were not on the 5:2 diet and were eating larger portions, so the Kcal per portion were lower than stated for dieters and higher for non-dieters)

I have literally just finished eating and I must say, I was impressed by how tasty ‘healthy’ can be! There was a mountain of veg, so I did need to split this all up between two pans whilst cooking. I had mine with a sprinkle of chilli pepper and the bf had his with sambal, the heat really works and chilli is good for the metabolism, so win-win! All washed down with a hot mug of jasmine tea and I feel perfectly satisfied! (I skipped lunch today so I also have enough kcals left over for a pre-bed snack if necessary)

I hope you give this recipe a try even if you’re not on the diet!

*fun fact: a buttload is an actual unit of measurement used for wines and alcoholic beverages!

P.S. Apologies for the photo quality, my camera battery charger is currently MIA.