RAINY TULIPS

Well, at least all that rain is good for something...  

PERFECT POPCORN

You would not think that there is a perfect recipe to make popcorn... or even a need for a perfect way to make popcorn, easy as popcorn seems... But there is...! The secret of this recipe is that all kernels pop almost at the same time, with no burned kernels on the bottom, and hardly any corn unpopped. I am not a big fan of cinema popcorn, but these have managed to smuggle their way into our Saturday-evening-home-movie-nights: warm, and crunchy, but melting on the outside with a crispy, tasty centre... how to resist?  :-)

BRAISED RABBIT WITH ROSEMARY AND THYME

April. It's raining, hailing, the sun has been hiding for days, and it's really miserable outside. On a day like this, there's nothing better than a plate of a warm, rich comfort food. This recipe has been on my list for a while, so I decided to finally make it. I know from sad attempts of cooking rabbit before, that it is quite a tough, lean, unforgiving, meat and therefore easy to get wrong. So this method of braising looked very promising, and in actual fact, it perfectly did the trick. Braising means that the meat gets cooked over a long period of time, submerged in liquid, at a relatively low temperature. This way the fibres can really relax and soften, with the flavours penetrating deep inside the meat.

GREEN MATCHA TEA ICECREAM

This is such a delicate and special ice cream with a fresh and sweet, but also subtle bitter green tea flavour. It is originally Japanese, and is sometimes served with a little Tsubuan, a paste made from Japanese Adzuki beans. The ice cream is made with Matcha tea powder, traditionally used during Japanese tea ceremonies. Matcha powder can be bought in teashops or Japanese supermarkets, but is a little more expensive. The recipe suggests 3 Tbsp Matcha powder, which seems a lot, but really brings out the distinct green tea flavour with a beautiful subtle bitterness. I added quite a generous pinch of salt, which intensified the flavour even more. Unfortunately some of the tea did not fully dissolve and was left on the bottom of the pan so maybe it would have been better to dissolve the

SALMON WITH PARMESAN CRUST

Had some mash potato left in the fridge, so went to buy salmon and spinach - it's like buying first the shoes and then the dress to go with them, but what's wrong with that? :-) This has become one of our regular end-of-a-long-working-day quick meals, but without the bad conscience - it seems pretty healthy to me for 'fast-food' with all the fish, mash and greens...  (Apparently) fish and cheese do not go together at all, but work very well here, with the Parmesan adding such a nice spicy crunch and additional flavour, and the salmon keeping really moist being baked in the oven. 

ITALIAN-DUTCH BRUSCHETTA

Bruschetta (pronounced 'bru'sketta') originally comes from Italy, where it is served as an appetizer or antipasto. It can be made with a lot of different toppings. This one's with Dutch cheese and tomatoes, but any bruschetta is started by first toasting or grilling the bread and then rubbing it with garlic, followed by a drizzle of olive oil.  

SPAGHETTI WITH TUNA, OLIVES AND CAPERS

One of those no-effort, quick, Italian recipes, and we make it quite often with only tomato and tuna. This time we added olives, capers and oregano, a variation we will definitely continue, but the sauce is also very tasty without.