Godforbiddenly good

While being in the States, I often watched the Food channel. That was really my cup of tea. I just love those shows on cooking and baking. It brings me in the mood to have a good time in my kitchen.

Pulled pork is something I like to prepare in my slow cooker. It's a true delight to have it on a bun, when it's covered in home made BBQ sauce. There are plenty of recipes on the Internet and you can definitely make your own version to your own taste. I like mine with some sprinkles of scallion, baked beans and red onion rings. The house smells so good when the pork is taking its time to fall apart in the slow cooker. I really have to keep myself from opening the lid every now and then to have a taste. There's too much loss of heat when you do that. I leave the pork to simmer for about 6 hours, on top of sliced carrots and onions. It gives me the time to make fresh BBQ sauce. Once the meat is done, I shred it with two forks and put it back in the slow cooker, this time covered in BBQ sauce, and I let it simmer for 2 more hours. It's so delicious.. you should try it. This is my recipe for a fabulous BBQ sauce:

what do we need:

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 orange and 1 green small pepper, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• a couple of gherkins, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 5 tablespoons of ketchup
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 200 ml of chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• some sweetener to taste
• 1 teaspoon of hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon of corn flour

what do we do:

Bring all of the ingredients in 1 pot and let it simmer until the veggies are tender.

T.G.I.F.

Most working people will look forward to Fridays, so they can start the weekend. Since I don't work and hubby works weekends as well as weekdays, to us Fridays aren't that different from other days. It is different because the girls are home for the weekend then, but otherwise...

Being in Florida, we have heard the song Thank God It's Friday too many times. Being on the road, we can see the fast food chain T.G.I.F. every 5 min or so... We haven't been there because after all: fastfood will always be fastfood, right? I mean: how different can burgers and fries be? We have been to MacDonald's (just for convenience on our first night here) and to Johnny Rockets (at least they have real burgers - more for the interior and the atmosphere than for the fastfood) and that's plenty. I'm not that much of a fastfood person I guess. I do prefer home cooked meals and more healthy meals. My stomach isn't impressed when I have burgers and fries or other fried products.

I long for vegetables and fresh fruit. Thank God (I wouldn't know who else to thank?) for Europe. I'm glad Europe is still a little behind when it comes to food and going out to eat. I would absolutely not want to live in a culture where hamburgers and fries or pizza are that common. Pizza is great as a treat every once in a while, but shouldn't be on my daily menu. I don't know how you guys and gals feel about that? Could you eat this kind of food every day? I know some of you could be I can't... sorry...

Mise-en-place

There's probably not one cooking show on TV that I don't watch. I love those programs! It's a whole lot of fun and entertainment comes along with it. But I also learn a lot from the candidates and their chefs. How to properly use a cook's knife for example. Or kitchen terminology like chiffonade. I knew the technique, but the name was new to me.

Mise-en-place is a lot of work, but it makes cooking so much easier. By the time you really have to start the cooking part, you're totally zen and at ease. I like to chop vegetables and herbs and get ready to cook. Sorting out the spices and the needy ingredients, will keep you from a last minute rush to the store. It is hateful once you're cooking, to realize you're out of cream or eggs. Some things can be left out or substituted, but mostly it will just aggravate and disappoint you, for not having read the recipe properly in advance. I'm not used to following a recipe to the T, but I do try to use most of the star ingredients. I mean, you can't make a proper béarnaise sauce without tarragon, can you?

Worst cooks in America is the show I've been watching lately. I really feel bad for those grown ups, that simply don't have a clue of what cooking is about. They either never tried it or they dislike it or I don't know what their excuse is, but life is so much easier if you know how to cook simple, healthy meals in little time. It doesn't take 2 hours in the kitchen to prepare a decent meal, as many people think. Going out for take away is probably stealing more time from you than cooking your own meal. It all comes to organization, planning and having ingredients in your pantry and fridge. I dare you: what are you going to cook today?

Snowball for Christmas

Advokaat is a Dutch liquor that I tend to like. When I saw Nigella Lawson make her favorite Christmas drink, I immediately googled the reciped on the Internet. It was real easy to make and the Snowball cocktail used to be a favorite in the 70's. It's made its comeback since Nigella hyped it to be one of her favorite drinks. So I guess we'll have to make some for Christmas this year.

Fill a high-ball glass with ice cubes. Add 1 part Advokaat and top up with 3 parts of chilled lemonade.
Spritz in a squeeze of lime juice to taste. Stir it up and enjoy!