24 Hours in Amsterdam

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I last visited Amsterdam a lifetime ago.  When the chance to came to revisit it again, I was on it like a car bonnet.

The place is just effortlessly cool and I can recommend staying in the Vondlespark district, with its beautiful parkland, gorgeous houses, great restaurants and about a 10-15 minute walk for the Museumsplein.

You can also rent bikes easily and the city has extensive bike lanes, with the majority of locals opting cycle for most day to day trips.

The Museumplein is a square containing multiple world class museums including the Rijksmuseum, which has some amazing works by old Dutch masters and another museum dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh. 

You could spend an entire day in either of these museums. Since I had visited them both before and didn’t have the luxury of endless amounts of time I decided to visit MOCO, which was originally built to resemble a hunting lodge between the two larger museums.

This was my favourite part of the trip, it’s exhibits included works by contemporary artists like Banksy, Andy Wharhol, and Damien Hirst.

Other exhibits included mind bending digital light installations, and a sculpture garden.  MOCO’s exhibitions are quirky, lighted hearted, easy to navigate and well worth a visit.  The entrance fee is €22.50 and has a pretty cool gift shop.

If you’ve had your fill of culture and want to see an “earthier” side of the city, you can visit the De Wallen district.  This is home to the city’s legal red light district, with sex workers posing in windows facing out onto the street to entice customers.  It’s a busy area and didn’t feel unsafe when I visited, but it’s also popular with stag parties and things can get a bit leery late at night.

You’ll also find any number of legal “Brown cafes” or coffees shops selling an eye watering variety of hashish, edibles and cannibas products.  You’ll probably leave the place with a contact high as the smell of weed is everywhere for a couple of streets (quick traveller tip, don’t use the taxi rank in De Wallen, we were quoted €45 for a short trip that ended up costing €14 with an Uber).

A short walk brings you onto Dam Square where can sit outside in cool cafes and people watch, before window shopping in the high end designer shops.

If you walk a short distance towards the central train station you’ll find lots of companies offering canal cruises starting from €16. You can also take cruises that include drinks and dinner if you want something fancier.

We took an evening cruise which was a fantastic way to see the city’s unique architecture with the elegant 17th and 18th century buildings beautifully flood lit at night. You’ll learn more about the massive wealth that was accumulated by Holland’s merchant class that turned a small village into a cultural and financial hub. You’ll notice homes in Amsterdam don’t tend to close their curtains at night. This is meant to hark back to a Reformation tradition that you left curtains undrawn to show you had nothing to hide, (it’s also great to be able to get a looky loo inside some of the houses)

The locals are friendly and customer service is great, and excellent English is spoken virtually everywhere. It’s easy to find great places to eat. Prices for food and drink vary depending on how close you are to tourist attractions (like most cities). If you are visiting don’t forget to try the local specialities like chips with mayonnaise (you’ll burn those calories off when you’re walking/cycling around the city). Don’t forget to stock up on some stroopwafels for coming home.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

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Baked potatoes are a great cheap meal, these pimp them up a notch.

Whenever I have the oven on I try add a couple of potatoes to bake so I get my money’s worth out of using the oven (you can cool them, keep them in the fridge for the next couple of days and then heat them up in the microwave (you can also bake them in the microwave but I don’t they taste as good, and you don’t get he nice slightly crunchy skins). I have also tried making these in an air fryer and they worked really well too.

You can swap out the fillings if you need to use up left overs. I like these for lunch, but they also make a good side dish.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 Large potatoes (baked until soft, the time will depend on the size of the potatoes)

1-2 Scallions/spring onions (finely sliced)

2 Tbsp Mayonnaise

75 Grams Cheddar cheese (grated)

Salt & pepper

Method

  • Preheat oven to 200%
  • Cut the cooked potatoes in half and scoop he middle out and place in a separate bowl
  • Mash the scooped out potato with a fork, stir in the scallions, mayonnaise, a half the cheese as we as salt and pepper before mixing well
  • Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins and sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the potatoes
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese bubbling and starting to brown

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

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It’s comfort food season and this rich velvety smooth soup will make you feel all warm and cosy inside.

I like to top mine with some croutons made from stale baguette I had left over, and a little grated cheese. It’s also amazing topped with some crunchy bacon bits.

Ingredients

1 Cauliflower (broken into thumb sized florets)

1 Large potato (peeled and into 2-3 cm cubes)

1 Onion (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Oil

350 Ml Milk

1 Litre Vegetable stock (I used 2 stock cubes)

100 Grams Mature cheddar or other strong cheese (grated)

Method

  • Heat the oil in a large pot and fry over a medium heat until the onion softens
  • Add the potatoes and cauliflower to the pot and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally
  • Add the milk and vegetable stock and heat until just before the soup comes to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes
  • Check that the potatoes and cauliflower are cooked (they should be soft enough to stick a fork in easily)
  • In a food blender or with an immersion blender whizz the soup until totally smooth. Add the grated cheese and give a final whizz to make sure it incorporated, cook for a further 5 minutes
  • Taste the soup to check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if you think it needs it. Sprinkle with your favourite topping

Witch’s Fingers

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Halloween has become a total sugar fest, and not everyone has a sweet tooth

If you’re having a Halloween party and don’t want your little humans bouncing off the walls off their t*ts on sugar then try these.

They might look creepy but they’re pretty tasty and are easy to make (you might even get your tiny humans to help). Even better you’ll only need 3 ingredients.

I used string cheese for this, but you could also use hard cheese like cheddar cut into batons. For the meat part I used Parma ham but use any deli meet you like.

Makes 8

8 Cheese strings/batons of hard cheese

8 Slice of Parma ham or Prosciutto (or other deli meat)

8 Almonds

Method

Cut a 1cm slit in one end of the cheese stick and wedge the almond in the slit.

Wrap the cheese stick with the meat, leaving the almond showing so it looks like a finger nail.

Mauritian Chicken Curry

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I was lucky enough to visit Mauritius last year and stayed at the amazing Outrigger resort. While there, their very sweet and super talented Chef Matthieu showed me how to make this fantastic curry.

Mauritius was populated largely by slaves and indentured servants brought from India and the Asian sub continent to work on the sugar plantations. So their food is highly flavoured and draws influence from many different cultures.

Ingredient for the curry paste.

Now that the cold wet weather is back I needed a little reminder of lush and beautiful place I visited and the warm friendly people who were kind enough to share this recipe with me.

This curry is usually eaten with roti flat breads, but nan bread or rice are also great with it.

Ingredients

500 Grams Chicken breast or thigh meat (cut into bite sized chunks)

1 Onion (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Minced garlic

1 Tbsp Minced ginger

1/2 Tbsp Chilli powder

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 Tbsp Salt

2 Tbsp Oil

1 Tbsp Garam masala powder

For the curry paste

1 Onion (finely chopped)

100 Grams Dessicated coconut

2 Tbsp Fennel seeds

5 Cloves of garlic

2 Cinnamon sticks (or 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon)

Method

  • Marinade the chicken with the minced garlic and ginger, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice for 30 minutes
  • Heat a large frying pan before adding the coconut to toast until light brown, stirring regularly (don’t take your eyes of this, as it can burn in a second). Remove from the pan a set to one side (or else it will keep on cooking with the heat of the pan)
  • Add 1 Tbsp of oil and cook 1 chopped onion over a medium until it starts to caramelise.
  • Add the toasted coconut, caramelised onion, garlic cloves, fennel seeds and cinnamon to a blender and blitz until you have a crumbly paste
  • Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan, before adding the diced chicken and finely sliced onion and seal over a high heat for 1-2 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the paste, cook this for 5 minutes before adding 500ml (1 pint of water) and the garam masala powder and mix well.
  • Simmer gently for a further 20-30 minutes. Adding more water if you think it needs it. It should be quiet a loose curry, as the sauce is the best bit for mopping all the delicious flavours with flat breads.

Pear and Chocolate Muffins

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Rich chocolate muffins with a bite of juicy pear in each one.

Ground almonds in this recipe keeps these super light and moist, yummy.

Makes 12

Ingredients

150 Grams Ground almonds

2 & 1/2 Tsp Baking powder

40 Grams Cocoa powder

175 Grams Butter, plus 1 Tbsp

175 Grams Sugar, plus 1 Tbsp

3 Eggs

150 Grams Self Raising flour

4 Tbsp Milk

4 Firm pears (peeled and cored, and cut into 2-3cm chunks)

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius). Line a muffin tin with paper cases, or else grease the cups with extra butter to make them easy to remove
  • Add a tablespoon of butter and sugar to a frying pan and melt before adding the pears. Gently cook over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally (don’t let them get too soft). Remove from the heat and allow to cool
  • With an electric whisk, or stand mixer cream the rest of the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs one at a time and continue mixing, (don’t panic if it looks like it’s curdled, it’s fine)
  • Add the milk and the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until well combined
  • Empty the pears into the muffin mix and gently fold them into the batter with a metal spoon until they are evenly distributed
  • Spoon equal amounts of the mix into the muffin cases and bake for 30 minutes
  • Allow to cool and then dust with icing sugar

Hearty Autumn Soup

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Soup is virtually impossible to mess up. So when it’s cold and wet outside its the ideal thing to make that’s cheap and easy. Its also a great filling lunch to bring to work if you’re on a budget.

This soup is vegan friendly, but if you need a meat fix, you can also add some cooked chorizo or smokey bacon and reduce the amount of smoked paprika.

Ingredients

1 Small Leek (roughly chopped)

2 Handfuls of either cabbage, kale or cavelo Nero (shredded)

3-4 Small potatoes (skins left on, and cut into 3-4cm cubes)

1 Vegetable stock cube

1 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Can Black beans (you can use any type you like)

3 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1 Tsp Chilli powder (optional)

Large sprig of rosemary, or thyme

1 Tbsp Vegetable oil

500ml Carton of passata

1 Tbsp Tomato puree

Salt

Method

  • Heat the oil in a large pot over a medium heat and add the leek. Fry until the leek starts to soften
  • Add the potatoes, tomato puree, chilli powder, rosemary and paprika and cook for 2-3 minutes
  • Add the crumbled up stock cube, pasatta, garlic, 1 litre of water, and bring the soup to the boil. Add your greens and beans, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are soft
  • Check the seasoning and add salt if you think it needs it.

Apple Crumble

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When it comes to comfort food apple crumble is in almost everyone’s top 10.

I was gifted a giant bag of apples from a friend with a tree in her garden. One particularly shitty wet Sunday this was exactly what I wanted.

I think traditional crumble topping can be a bit Meh. I like to include some porridge oats and nuts for some extra texture. The apples I used were pretty sweet so I didn’t use any extra sugar, but if your apples are on the sour side, sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of sugar before adding the topping.

Ingredients

1 Kg Eating apples (peeled, cored and sliced into 1-2cm slices)

For the topping

50 Grams Cold Butter (cut into small cubes)

125 Grams Plain flour

25 Grams Walnuts or hazelnuts (chopped)

25 Grams Rolled oats

25 Grams Sugar

Knob of butter

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  • Rub a knob butter around a large oven proof dish (this will prevent the apples from sticking)
  • In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, oats and butter and rub the butter into the other ingredients until it resembles large breadcrumbs before adding the chopped nuts
  • Spread the sliced apples into the oven proof dish, and sprinkle the topping mix evenly across the apples
  • Bake for 45-50 minutes and serve with custard or cream

Daub of Venison with Red Wine

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I was lucky enough to be given some venison by a friend who’s husband enjoys hunting.

I know looking at this, the meat might be a bit too rare for some people. Venison is super healthy and very low in fat. Due to this it can dry out very quickly and become tough if it’s over cooked. If you enjoy your meat well done you can make this dish with beef which had a higher fat content.

Opaque layer needs to be removed to prevent it toughening while cooking
Film is easily removed with a sharp knife

Sometimes you’ll see a filmy layer on the meat, it’s really important to remove this as it will toughen up when you cook it. The good news is that it’s easy to remove, just slip a sharp knife behind it, it should pull away without too much hassle.

Ingredients

0.75 Kg Daub of venison (allow to come to room temperature before cooking)

1 Large carrot (chopped finely)

1 Large Onion (chopped finely)

Half bottle of red wine (I recommend drinking the rest)

1 Tbsp Olive oil

25 Grams Butter

1 Tbsp Dried thyme

1 Bay Leaf

Method

  1. Heat the oil and half the butter in a large oven proof dish (one that has a lid)
  2. Add the meat and seal on all sides over a high heat
  3. Turn down to a medium heat and add the herbs, vegetables and wine and allow to come to a simmer
  4. Cover with a lid and put in a pre heated oven for 20 minutes
  5. Take the dish from the oven and remove the venison and allow the meat to rest for 10-15 minutes
  6. Over a medium heat the wine and vegetable mix and allow to reduce. Add the remaining butter and stir in until melted and the sauce is glossy
  7. Slice the venison and serve on top of the sauce and vegetables

Lion’s Mane Mushroom Tacos

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I recently grew some lion’s mane mushrooms from a kit. Having not used them before I’d no idea what to do with them.

Terry from Hearty Growers told me their texture was similar to lobster so this gave me a idea. On a previous holiday I was at a very fancy restaurant I had lobster tacos which were devine. This inspired me, I decided to cook the mushrooms in a super light tempura batter for a bit of crunch. If you like fish tacos you’ll love these.

If you haven’t made tempura batter before it’s really simple and suitable for vegans because there’s no egg in it. What makes it super light is the use of ice cold sparking water. The bubbles help makes the batter super light, so make this at the very last minute before frying the mushrooms

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 200 Grams Lion’s Mane Mushrooms (oyster mushrooms would also work well), cut into 2-3cm slices
  • 6 Small tacos
  • 150 Grams Canned black beans (drained)
  • 1 Avocado (skin removed and cut into slices)
  • 100 Grams Cherry tomatoes (halved)
  • 50 Grams Red Onion (finely sliced)
  • 2 Tbsp Mint or Coriander, or mix of both (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 Lime
  • Salt
  • Finely chopped chilli or chilli powder

Method

  • Heat vegetable oil, about 4-5cm deep on a pot, or use a deep fat fryer if you have one. I don’t have a thermometer, so I judge the heat to be OK if I can drop a small junk of bread and it starts to sizzle
  • Assemble all your ingredients, and evenly distribute the beans, red onion, herbs, and avocado onto the tacos
  • Add the flour and corn flour to a bowl and whisk in the ice cold sparkling water and whisk quickly (the tempura batter should be about the consistency of cream)
  • Dip the mushroom in the batter and then add to the hot oil (don’t add too many at once)
  • Fry the mushrooms until they are a light golden colour. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper before sprinkling with salt
  • Top the tacos with the mushrooms and sprinkle with finely chopped red chillies or chilli powder depending on how spicy you enjoy your food, and a squeeze of lime