Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas 2011

We were a glam bunch- as the invitation decreed- from James Dean Rebel without a Cause attitude to Bond, James Bond style.
A bevy of starters: Oysters Rockefeller (Nicky), Seafood triton (Kelly; prawn ceviche, scallop on pea puree, salmon tataki, cauliflower puree & caviar) and Beer & Mushroom soup (Alison)


Roast turkey roll stuffed withy pinenuts and herbs, sides of balsamic vegetable and roast taters (Colleen). The grand finale was crepe suzette (Nicky) and Banoffee pie (Alison). There was not enough room or gaviscon for christmas cake - but with a doggy bag, it converted many a non-fan the next day. Seriously good cake.


Sadly, this was Ali's last ETC. We'll miss your fab sweets, meats and you! We promised to hold an emergency meeting of ETC whenever you should happen to return. Also thanks for the sweet birthday attention <3 x Kelly

PS Put this email into your address book: kellyvellinga.etcclub@blogger.com Email photos and text to this address and it will be published on the blog! Share your Christmas dinners photos, random restaurant delights, weekday meals by email!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Christmas dinner recipes

Hi There have been a number of requests for recipes and so I thought I would get the ball rolling. Boiled Fruit Cake 1 cup raisins 1 cup sultanas 1 cup currants 1 cup sugar 1t bicarb soda 1 dessertspoon mixed spice 1 cup glace cherries 1 cup mixed peel 1 egg 1 cup water 1 wine glass brandy 110g butter 2 cups flour
Boil fruit, sugar, butter and water for 15min. Leave to cool. Sift the dry ingredients and add fruit. Mix well. Add beaten egg and brandy. Bake at 150 for +- 2 hours. Any combination of fruit can be used, as long as the quantities remain the same.
On Sat I did a jewelled top but that part of the recipe was out of one of Kelly's mags and I didnt write it down so now Kelly has to add her bit!
Turkey roll recipe link Alison's Mushroom soup
• 550 grams of mushrooms*
• 300 ml beer (Corona, Heineken)
• 1 chopped medium-size onion
• 100 gr margarine (I use Becel liquid margarine with omegas)
• 300 ml Blue Band Finesse kookroom (crème freche)
• 1 liter beef broth
• Salt and pepper

Leave the mushrooms in luke warm water for about 20 minutes and then drain. Dry them up with a towel and chop them in small pieces.
Heat up the margarine and season the mushrooms and the onion until all liquid is dried up. Add the salt and pepper and the beer. Boil for about 10 minutes, add the broth and continue cooking them for about 35 minutes.
Let the soup cool down a bit and and then mash everything in the blender. Put everything back in the pot adding the crème freche and if you want a little bit of Philadelphia cheese. Let it boil for another 5-6 minutes. When you serve you can add if you want some chopped parsley, pieces of mushrooms or croutons.

*It’s better to have a variety of mushrooms. I use about 300 of plevrotus (in Dutch it’s called oesterzwam) and then Portobello, etc.

 Trio of seafood (Kelly)
Prawn ceviche
1. Poach the prawns in boiling salted water with the lemon slices and coriander stalks until just cooked.
2. Mix together the cucumber, mango, tomato, onion, coriander leaves, orange and lime juice .tabasco. Toss with the prawns.
3. Chill for about 10-15 minutes.
Slice avocado and serve on top

Salmon tataki with cauliflower mousse (from Oosterse tapas, Megel & Kilayko)


Scallop on pea puree
recipe here: http://www.masterchef.com.au/scallops-with-cauliflower-puree-and-bacon-crumble.htm
except I exchanged the cauliflower puree for a super sweet and smooth pea puree.


Sunday, October 23, 2011

Porto Pino

Haven 40, Leiden


A food orgy! It was surprisingly relaxing to go to a restaurant and not to have to read a menu and make a choice (life is harsh). We sat and the bruschetta came, followed by 11 other courses. eleven. Bliss! Kind of a trip in a time machine- the food is tasty, generally no frills, seems authentic, kind of what I think my Italian mama would cook if I had one. 
Mussels & Venus clams in white wine


Lamb chops, Deliciously crunchy meatloaf & Truffle potatoes
Lemon butter sea bass
Marinated Sea Bass
Mushroom tortellini in truffle sauce

Antipasti
Juicy fresh oysters
Carpaccio
Bruschetta & herb bread
Vitello tonato
Grilled veg
Mystery desserts

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Date Changes

General Consensus came to agree upon:

15 October - out to dinner somewhere
5 November - Kym's

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Sweet Summer Indulgence

The ETC edition that many have been waiting for...have you ever wanted to declare to the waiter, 'Skip the soup and ribs, just give me three courses of dessert!'? Due to an internal error I can't upload any more pics tonight....to be continued!




Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Masterchef first edition

The beast in us has been awoken. The competition was fierce, the atmosphere was electric. With 25 mins to plate up a dish using a never-before-used ingredient for seven people, the pressure was on to PERFORM! It was probably the best ETC night to date- the quality was amazingly high and the conversation topics amazingly risque. Thanks to Renee, the hostess with the mostess for presenting this evening of attempted sabotage, bribery and intrigue. We all ventured into new territory...

In no particular order, here are the couverts ...
Monique: Ostrich served with fig chutney, pomegranate and with sweet potato pudding topped with a caramel & walnut sauce. Adorned with nonchalantly tossed chives. (Second place). The gamey meat was well complemented by the additions with their sweet and sour flavours.

The hostess' delish light cheescake- a good end to the 6 courses before it!

Colleen's haloumi stack on homemade cornmeal bread. The cheese had a lovely texture that went well with the classic combination of a BLT. The bread was a fought-over leftover that was rightfully claimed by the first-prize winner.

Alison's rabbit in a balsamic sauce and ratatouille. Paintbrush used inventively. Rabbit is too easily dried out, but this was superbly cooked. Comfort food presented in a elegant jacket (think peter rabbit). It also tasted good eaten from the lap....

Kym's duck with caramelised shallots on homemade crackers and a fresh plum sauce. Great use of well-known flavour pairings in an inventive way; sour, sweet, meat atop a biscuity base.

Kelly's squid done 3 ways. Not the prettiest but tasty...Homemade squid ink pasta in a squid ink sauce and deep fried squid tentacles garnished with aioli. Dusted with flakes of sel de mer to remind the squid where he came from. (Third place)

Nicky's yamazato-inspired duck in mirin and sake served with condiments: a sexy pea puree, red onion jam, mustard. Simply put, duck with sauces but the simplicity is what won this plate the first prize. Contrasting flavours, gorgeous textures and in accordance with an often-heard piece of Masterchef advice: you could taste exactly what you were eating.

Despite the judging procedures varying wildly between each contestant, the only rule which was enforced was not being able to vote for yourself. the results were close and the placings were hard fought-for.
Game on comrades. To the next Masterchef evening.....

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Results: The first competition cook-off

Nicky won the night with her amazing Japanese inspired Duck (it was so good that her duck now has a capital). The runners up were Alison and Kelly.

It looks like under all the pressure of keeping everyone inline during the night, two things suffered: (1) my shirt [there is oil all over it - see photo] and (2) my photos [they are either blury or overwhelmed by an orange wall]. We will have to wait for Monique's photos for the dish descriptions.

- Renee

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Sake it to me baby!

Sushi workshop edition - hard work pays off, but this really wasn't hard at all!

Sushi under strict supervision (they got to use the GOOD knife- see how chuffed Ali is?!). We are SO ready for the TOPCHEF comp in June!!

We had: omelet caviar nigiri, eggplant miso nigiri, salmon avocado maki, california maki, tuna sesame maki, prawn avocado, miso soup...and to finish: vanilla ice cream on a brownie with honeycomb and salted peanuts. Lucky sushi is so light...

Sushi rice recipe: cook 250 g short grain rice and mix into hot rice: 1/2 cup rice vinegar, 4 tsp salt, 4 Tb sugar (heat vinegar until sugar and salt dissolve). Mix until rice is sticky.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Spring Easter Menu

Looked great, only i don't know what you all ate...so fill me in if you remember!











Saturday, January 29, 2011

GOng Xi Fa Chai! (Happy New Year!)

A fresh start to the new year! There are so many exciting possibilities for the coming year, perhaps even a ETC Olympics (for the more competitive among us :P)...

Nicky's Red Theme kicked off with a....greenish-grey appetiser. While the Tuna ceviche was not red, it was deelicious with a little chilli kick hidden beneath the cool avocado and tangy tuna.

Renee's Berry Red Cocktail

Colleen's Tomato Bread Soup

Kelly's Chinese New Year Red Salmon & Crispy Bits Salad

Monique's Parmesan Crisps & Red Apple Salad

Nicky's Beetroot Risotto

Alison's Devil's Red Curry

Monique's Red Cabbage Salad

The Dinner on a plate

linda's Red Granite (or was it Granita)

Kim's Berry 'n' Rhubarb Trifle complete with fortune, Strawberry Cinnamon Shake & Alison's Red Jelly Slice

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Christmas party turned out to be lots of fun with delicious food. The mood was set with Christmas candles and Barry singing 'White Christmas'.
The table:

We started off with Colleen's lovely bubbly drink (of which I had one too many - in my terms I had a whole one!), followed by Alison's beautiful red, white and green nacho dip.

The red Christmas colours did not stop there, it was followed by Colleen's salmon rolls and Monique's salmon on herb frittata's.

Nicky's neighbour's spinach and goat cheese quiche, made surprising with the layer of roasted nuts on top:

Alison's oh-so-delicious mince pies. They taste like the real thing! Only better, of course.


Colleen's mince pie muffins, delicious with whipped cream.


And the guests. Btw, who ended up with the diaphragm / breast pump / lemon squeeze thingy?!!

I seem to be missing photo's of some of the dishes, i.e. Nicky's spicy sticky ribs. Anybody else took pictures that night?