Going Greek! (no not like that, get your mind out of the gutter!)

My brother used to do dishes in a Greek restaurant. The result of that part time job was that he would bring home a lot of left overs. So often me, my brother and mother sat at the kitchentable at eleven o'clock and had a bite of Greek with my big brother about twice a week..One of those dishes was Moussaka. So decided i'm going Greek today.

I will spare you the shopping for groceries details. It's more like something for the Discovery Channel for a series about famous battlefields in history. I will even spare you the details about cooking organised. Somehow i did everything backwards and unfocused..The result was not bad considering how the kitchen looked afterwards. I can't cook and talk at the same time. So here's a tip if you want me to shut up, put me in a kitchen.. ;)

Ok, Moussaka. Here's a link to the recipe:

http://greekfood.about.com/od/eggplant/r/moussaka.htm

The result..Not bad considering how the kitchen looked. It was a bit boring in taste though, i didn't use enough spices. And my bechamelsauce was too thick. The entire casserole was a bit dry. But by the time i was done, i was so hungry a shoe would've tasted exquisite. Not sure if it was my cooking that made it taste ok, or just the hunger. My bet is the last..

Rockin' the Roquamole!

So i'm back again after being terribly ill the last couple of days. Not terribly, but i like to exaggerate to make this blog more dramatic. Otherwise it's just a plain, boring blog about food. Now, that wouldn't be interesting now would it?

Before i almost died of ammonia, i made some Roquamole..I recently ate it for the first time at a party and it was fingerlickin' good. If there weren't people watching i would probably have dipped my fingers in it, instead of some nacho's. Wait a minute, i actually did when nobody was watching..

It is the most simple party snack to make. I actually stuffed my face with it for dinner, but it's more like a snack then dinner.

So what do you need?

Ingredients

• 1 cup crumbled Roquefort or St. Agur
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 ripe avocados
• 2 tablespoons finely sliced scallions
• 1/4 cup jarred sliced pickled green jalapenos
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bag blue corn tortilla chips

You mix the ingredients together into a mushy dip, guacamole like texture et voila: Let the facestuffing begin! That something of me is instead of normal paprika powder, i used some sweet smoked paprika powder for that subtle smoked flavour.

I would like to thank Evelyne en Elysa for pointing me to this wonderful, easy and very tasty recipe! Rockin' the Roquamole baby!

Porkchops chop chop

Ok, one down and 364 to go. I'm going French today. Decided to make porkchops in a honey-peper marinade, accompanied by some mashed potatoes and braised chickory. What a lovely English version of the Dutch word: witlof.

It was stated in the recipe i should marinate the porkchop for at least 4 hours..Problem 1 arises. I do not have 4 hours before my hungry brother gets home and wants food. What a good start. Then the groceries. It took me 3 rounds of coming and going from home to get all the ingredients i needed. Planning is obviously not my strong suit. Problem 3: i couldn't get fresh rosemary anywhere near. So decided to go with dried rosemary. Day one and already settling with less. Well at least i can be flexible..

After some chaotic shopping (my god, why is it that when i decide to do some grocery shopping every que has some problem, resulting in a serious test of my patience..And an application to an anger management course) i finally got to actual cooking. Marinated the porkchops with some honey, paprika and pepper untill they have a nice shine to them. No garlic in the original recipe, but we Asians hate it when meat, well smells like meat. So that something from me is: caramelized garlic. I followed the recipe pretty tight, with some own interpretation now and then. For instance don't remember reading the porkchops should be near burned, but hey i like crunchies.. ;)

The result: It looks better then it tastes. Not like crap, but not that peachy either. The pears are a bit too sweet for my taste. Warm fruit in food is still a weird concept to me.. The porkchops a bit boring and the braised chickory, well let's just say the name is all that is wonderful. Mashed potatoes are ok, but hey what can you screw up with mashed potatoes? Mash it the wrong way?!

Good kick off. Let's see what the next recipe is going to be..

The challenge

I actually got this (not so original) idea from the movie Julie & Julia. A movie about the love for cooking and the love for food, combined with some lifeaction blogging about food and cooking. For those who do not know who Julia Child is: just Google her.. ;) She was this desperate housewife back in the sixties, turned into a chef and tv personality, introducing other desperate housewifes into the world of French cuisine. The challenge for Julie Powell (the leadactress in the movie) is to cook 524 recipes in 365 days, all recipes of Julia Child's book Mastering the Art of French cooking. Julie Powell eventually got loaded and famous as a writer for doing this. Ok, i must admit that sounds pretty good to me too, but first and foremost this is about my love for food and cooking. And heck, maybe i'll beable to improve my cookingskills with this.

So what is the challenge here? To keep it a bit more original let's start bij saying i would like to cook 365 recipes in 365 days. All recipes i have never made before and all random in choice. If you have suggestions, please feel free to send them to me. Additional to this challenge (which it is with a full time job, active social life, lots of eating out, crampy kitchen and an actual life) i will cook every recipe with something that's from myself. A touch of me you may say. That will force me to keep it original and creative..