Christmas 2012 Monique

GE-ZEL-LUG!!!

This was a fantastic evening at Monique and JC's... The secret Santa was particularly cheeky and we are looking forward to the next Christmas already to bring our gift back.

Chestnuts roasted on an open fire...

Oysters au naturel

Foie gras and pear compote

Roast pork two ways

Fibre and Vitamins

Lamb Stew

Something yummy

Christmas Fruit Cake

2013 Party plan

Before you've even dusted off the Christmas ornaments, here are the provisional dates for 2013. As usual, buy, swap (change), sell your dates with consenting partners. Happy & Safe Holidays!
* suggestions for the new year theme wanted- if you want to steal the date, go ahead! Otherwise I'll book dinner somewhere and we'll all go out!
19/1 ?? dinner out?

16/2 Nicky

16/3 Kelly

20/4 Kim

25/5 Mascha

15/6 Monique

13/7 Colleen

summer hols

14/9 Renee

12/10 Mita

16/11 Dorte

7/12 christmas

Mita's night of spice

A very varied and scintillating evening! Thanks to the hostess & host for the spicy evening.

The Menu

Appetiser (Renee) - Cardamom Lassi (with a hint of bitter orange); Bitter Orange & Cardamom Martini; Filled Papadums inspired by 365 Days' Katori Chaat.

Starter  - Rashmi Kebab, Tandoori Chicken, Cauliflower Pakoras, Onion Bhajias (Mita)

Starter - Carpaccio of Salmon (Nicky)

Main - Malay Curry with Sambals (Colleen)

Main - Green Tea/Star Anise Smoked Duck Salad (Kelly)

Dessert - Saffron Hangop (Dorte)

Dessert  - Creme Brulee with Chilli Pistachios (Monique)

Christmas 2012

Polling closed, the result is that we will have ETC Christmas 2012 at Monique's. I won't when, to avoid a project X etc, but stay tuned as to when it will be....

Colleen's fruity fantasy

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ETC christmas/New year

please take a couple of seconds to answer.....

Dates *

• 24 november (dorte's date)
• 8 december
• 15 december
• New year date

What shall we do?

• Ladies night out
• at a cook studio (e.g. a bit of cooking, and chatting and a lot of eating all inclusive food and drink in Lisse) (with partners)
• At someone's house (feel free to volunteer!)
• Other:

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Wine tasting @ Mascha's

Kim's Mystery box challenge

The competition was fierce, the judging not without attempted sabotage, the grammar and wording of the rules brought under scrutiny ...the winner was dorte with her brilliant two bite masterpiece (lime marinated chicken with guacamole, cilantro, chilli, caramelized onion on a pistachio biscuit. Sour, fragrant, hot, sweet, crunchy...I'm going to franchise it into a salad!). First runner up was mascha with her three bite masterpiece that had us licking the plates. Cherry tomatoes dipped in caramelized sugar and pistachio dhukkah. Second runner up was me, velvet corn soup with chilli and coriander oil. The other worthy entrants were monique's titillating corn soup with avocado balls, Nicky's roasted red paprika gazpacho and zesty corn salsa, Kim's ode to street food with chicken tortillas that has us going back fir seconds and I had secret thirds, and thank goodness for renee's deceptively healthy baked cinnamon apple to gives us one of our fruit portions for the day.

Here us the mail that struck fear into the hearts on Friday evening...  Lovely ladies -

I hope you are all ready to get those creative juices flowing!! Here is my plan for our first ever mystery box challenge.

Using only the ingredients on the list below, everyone needs to create a dish that can be served cold or at room temperature. You will have 5 minutes to plate up at my house. We will all be judging the dishes on the following criteria:

- taste (20 points) - creativity (10 points) - appearance (10 points)

Everyone also needs to keep track of how long they spent planning and cooking your dish (but not grocery shopping) If you spend 0 - 2 hours you get a 10 point bonus, 2 - 3 hours has no impact and more than 3 hours has a 10 point penalty!

There is also a 10 point penalty for any additional ingredients that you use.

And now without further ado, the magic list

Cilantro Pistachios Butter Lime White flour Wheat flour Vegetable oil Chicken Red peppers Green peppers Corn Tomatoes Red Onions Garlic Salt Pepper spicy pepper of choice Cumin Avocado Rucolasla melange (mixed lettuce with arugula)

good luck!! see you tomorrow! kim

Tadaaaa.... Thanks to mascha for  the crash course in wedding cakes !
Xx Kelly

Theme: Myth Busters

Dear etc fanatics, 

The next evening will be on 21 April. The theme will be...'MYTH BUSTERS.' Taste can be a very subjective sense. We all have our biases regarding what tastes better and nagging questions ...a preference for organic, whipping or hand besting cream (;), do you really need to sift flour??, does pepper turn bitter if added at the beginning? Does salting steak while cooking cause It to lose moisture? expensive wines dont give you hangovers, lidl vs AH (my cause célèbre;) wild vs farmed, certain brand, a preparation method, country of origin, which supplier (groeteboer vs supermarket), etc etc.

 now it's time to go pseudoscientific and put our taste buds to the test. 

I once heard a farmer on tv claim that his organic cucumbers tasted better...I need blind proof!

How this will work

1. choose a myth that needs busting or proving(e.g. Organic cucumber vs regular cucumber

2. Design a dish that incorporates the myth and cook two versions 

3. Choose any recipe that would suit your myth/ingredient. A fallback flavor theme will be Mediterranean if you don't have a preference; simple light, fresh recipes that showcase basic ingredients are ideal. (e.g.  Cucumber salad A and cucumber salad B)

4. We will judge the two versions purely on relative taste; which one is better/no difference?

Prepare yourself for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth:) Bring your own lab coats, note books and safety goggles.

Kelly

onion jam
2 cups of water
2 cups of sugar
4 red onions, peeled and sliced
7 gr. pectin (or about half a sachet)
small glass of red port wine (or any type of sweet wine)
teaspoon cinnamon

Chocoladecake

Ingrediënten

◦400 g bloem
◦250 g gele basterdsuiker
◦100 g rietsuiker
◦50 g cacaopoeder(van goede kwaliteit)
◦2 tl bakpoeder
◦1 tl natriumbicarbonaat (zuiveringszout)
◦1/2 tl zout
◦3 eieren
◦142 ml zure room (kleine verpakking)
◦1 tl vanille extract
◦175 g ongezouten boter, gesmolten en afgekoeld
◦125 ml maisolie
◦300 ml ijswater(zet bijvoorbeeld even in de diepvries)

Chocoholics anonymous recipes

White Chocolate Macadamia Crusted Fish (inspired by the Red Lobster and FoodNetwork recipe)
Serves 4

Macadamia Crust Ingredients:
 1/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
4 TBSP melted butter
 Preparation: 1.Mix all ingredients well 2.Spread crust out on to a baking sheet 3.Bake in a 170c oven for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown, stir occasionally

White Chocolate Sauce Ingredients:
 1 TBSP finely chopped shallot
¼ cup white wine
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup cream
110 g butter
¼ cup shaved white chocolate (use real white chocolate only, not white baking chips)
Sea salt to taste
 Preparation:
 1.In a small non reactive sauce pan add the shallot, wine and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer until liquid has reduced by 2/3.
2.In another saucepan add the heavy cream. Bring to a simmer and reduce by 1/3.
3.While liquids are reducing, cut the butter into small pieces.
4.Once liquids are reduced, remove from heat and strain the shallot lemon mixture and add it to the heavy cream.
5.Keeping the pan warm, slowly add 2-3 pieces of the butter to the lemon cream mixture while continually whisking. Continue to whisk while adding remaining butter.
6.Next whisk in the white chocolate until fully incorporated

 Fish Prep Ingredients:
 4 firm white fish filets (I used schelvis) Salt Pepper Flour Preparation: Coat fish in the season flour and pan fry.( Alternatively, top with unbaked topping and bake until fish is just done. Easier and cleaner...) Presentation: Serve fish on plate, spoon sauce over generously, sprinkle macadamia topping on top. Enjoy!

Crispy Onion Rings

Step 1: You will need:
2 large onions, peeled
75 g flour
2 tbsp corn starch
½ tsp baking powder
a pinch of paprika
½ tsp sugar
1 egg, beaten
120 ml milk
1 ltr vegetable oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Step 2: Preheat the oil
Before you begin making your onion rings, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Allow it to heat up hot enough to fry, but not to smoke.

Step 3: Slice the onions
As the oil is heating, cut the onions into circular slices of about 1cm thick, using a large knife. Now separate them into rings and place them on a tray.

Step 4: Mix the dry ingredients
Combine the flour, corn starch, baking powder, paprika, sugar, salt and the pepper in a bowl and with a whisk, stir it together briefly.

Step 5: Combine the wet ingredients
Add the eggs to the milk and whisk together.Then pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and combine it together with your whisk until you are left with a lump free smooth batter.

Step 6: Fry
To check that the oil is hot enough to fry, carefully drop a battered onion into the hot oil. The oil should fry it lightly and take time to brown it. Therefore, the onion will be cooked through and the batter will be super crispy. Now gently dip some of the onions into the batter and coat well. Then place them into the hot oil using a fork. Let them cook in small batches, so they won't stick together. When they are fried on one side, turn them over to fry and brown on the other side. The process takes about 3 minutes. When are they are lightly golden, place onto a tray lined with kitchen paper to drain.

Step 7: Serve Just before serving, season with some salt and serve your perfect crispy onion rings, immediately

Onion Bahjis

Step 1: You will need:
1 large onion, sliced
200 g chickpea flour
1 tsp baking powder,
2 tbsp rice flour
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp coriander powder
some salt
100 ml water
750 ml vegetable oil

Step 2: Heat the oil
· Put the oil into the pan and place it on a medium-high heat.
·
Step 3: Make the batter
· In a bowl, combine the chickpea flour, rice flour, baking powder, chilli, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt and the water. Mix it together well and add the sliced onion.
·
Step 4: Check the oil
· Check the temperature of the oil by dropping a little batter into it. If it fries slowly, it is at the right temperature.
·
Step 5: Fry the bhaji
· Carefully drop spoons of batter into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pan, which will make them stick together. Fry them for about 1-2 minutes or until the batter becomes a lovely golden brown. Remove them, place them to drain on the paper-lined tray, and repeat until all the bhaji are cooked.
·
Step 6: Season and serve
· Sprinkle over a little salt and your onion bhaji are ready to serve. They make a perfect appetiser and go well with coriander chutney or cucumber raita, both of which can be found on our website. Enjoy!

Death by onion

Menu of Nicky's daring onion night.there was something in those onion that made the conversation particularly risque...
Post recipes here in the comments!
The menu :

Rings

Bhajias

Caramelised onion soup

Red onion & boursin tart

Teriaki salmon and onion dressing

Spicy onion pillaf & Portuguese Onion and Chicken Casserole

Chocolate cake and Red onion jelly

Moniques's chocoholics anonymous

(apologies for the weird layout. Mobile blogging is not advanced enough to handle my amateur efforts) Chocoholics came for redemption or perhaps for a cure. It was a weird and wonderful night. Experimentation laced the evening...the menu was: --  - . The winner (yes there was judging and a vote!!) was the fish. Surprise! I had no confidence in the recipe. The prize (unofficially not voted on) was the broccoli and the worst, the caviar. Heston Blumenthal, it tastes exactly as white chocolate and caviar is expected to taste. There was no seduction of my mouth, just bewilderment. But there it is, a fabulous and memorable evening, where some crashed and burned and others soared the heights. Perfect! Thanks Monique and JC for hosting an excellent evening!

 white chocolate goat's cheese mousse with a hint of chilli topped with a caramelised onion and date coulis (Dorte)

 jasmine tea poached turkey, with jasmine chocolate sauce and chocolate coated ..broccoli  (Monique)

The table setting ravaged by the savages

 Barbary duck with chocolate chilli sauce and red wine chocolate ganache (Mita)

 a breath of air sorbet

 spaghetti with butter shallot, Parmesan and bitter chocolate (Colleen)

chocolate raspberry martini (Renee) with tasters notes on the table cloth. Classy.

entrecôte cooked to perfection with a chocolate chilli sauce (Nicky)

 macadamia crumbed white fish with a white chocolate beurre blanc sauce (Kelly) 

white chocolate and caviar (Kelly, proudly)

salted chocolate ginger tart with white chocolate ice cream (Mascha)

The amassed kit