Mussel Days Zierikzee

Every August we are celebrating the start of the new season for Mussels and Oysters in the Southern region that’s called Zeeland. This is the part of the Netherlands I was born, so it of course is a special place for me. This year we visited Mussel Day in Zierikzee, a small harbor town on the top island of Zeeland. They celebrate the start of the new season and at the same time ask Poseidon to look over their fishermen by saving him from an island. Eight ships sail out and everybody is welcome on board. The Mussel princes is on the first boat and that the one to save Poseidon.

Afterwards you can eat loads of Mussels for a very low price, yummmm. Next year we'll be visiting the Oyster days :)

Tagliatelle with Purslane

Cook 200 gr of Tagliatelle. Heat 100 ml of Cooking Cream slowly in a big pan. Add 50 gr of butter, zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon, keep stirring till the butter is completely melted and than turn of the fire. Add the Tagliatelle and 2 hands full of Purslane to the warm cream, stir.

Cover with 2 tbsp. of chopped Parsley and 2 hands full of grated Parmesan and ready! Serve with a small green salad on the side.

Note: The ancient Greeks used purslane for its medicinal effect. It is said to help against inflammations and heartburn.
 

Blauwe Theehuis

One of the best spots in town on a day the sun comes out is 'Het Blauwe Theehuis' in the 'Vondelpark'. Or actually any day it doesn't rain and even than they have enough space to stay dry under their balcony. For a croissant and coffee breakfast in the morning, a sandwich in the afternoon or a piece of their lovely apple pie. Don't mind the dogs running around.

Chicken from the oven

Preheat the oven at 180C. One of my favorite, very simple, chicken recipes. Just put 2 chicken legs in a pan with some potatoes (not peeled, just cut in pieces), cherry tomatoes (cut in half), cloves of garlic (about 8) and a whole lot of fresh basil. Salt, pepper and olive oil on top:

Shove it in the oven for 1.5 hours. Stir the tomatoes every half hour and voila!

Very nice with some green bean salad and fresh bread

Goat Farm Ridammerhoeve

In the middle of the "Amsterdamse Bos" you can find the wonderful goats farm De Ridammerhoeve. A perfect place to visit with kids, but also without or with really small kids it's a nice please to visit. 

You're allowed to just walk among the goats, cuddle them en bottle feed them before you go and admire pig Yolanthe and all of her newborn piglets or get a goats cheese tosti to accompany your goats milk cappuchino while the kids are playing on one of their playground with a goatsmilk ice cream 

IJmuiden

To clear your head after a day behind a computer the beach of IJmuiden is a perfect place to go. A long stroll with the dog - IJmuiden is one of the few Dutch beaches dogs are allowed unleashed all year long. No sunworshippers here, just people that love to be active on the beach. And than take place at the the terrace of the Beach inn (not for people who don't like dogs), eat some fish, drink some beers and watch the sun sink into the sea.

De nieuwe meer

Just outside the city, on your way to Amstelveen there is the forest of Amsterdam "Amsterdamse bos". There are loads of activities you can participate in here: canoeing, running tracks, visit the goat farm, swimming pools for children etc, but it mainly is a place to escape the city, especially if you have a dog. 

On nice and sunny Sundays it can be really busy in the forest so we take a D-tour and walk along the "nieuwe meer". Dogs can run and swim freely while not bothering anyone. 

The Beautiful city of Gubbio

Never been there before, never heard of it, but really worth a visit. Build onto the mountain in several terraces, overlooking the surrounding area, it's just magnificent view. When visited at nighttime, for a stroll after dinner, it's like walking through an Italian film set.

Agriturismo ca Vecia

After the touristy business at Lago di Garda, we searched for a quieter place to say in the mountains surrounding the lake and found agriturismo ca'vecia. 

A lovely host who makes you feel welcome, a garden for the guests to use, dog friendly, no tourists but Italian. So lovely we decided to stay an extra night. Didn't even go out for dinner, just went to the local supermarket for some grilled fish, veg, bread and wine. Ate it at one of their outside tables, with a view at the surrounding vineyards. 

Punta san Vigilio

Supposedly one of Lady Di's favorite places for a holiday. The super deluxe hotel was a bit out of our budget, but anyone can drink a coffee at the little restaurant at the sea. Beautiful view at the lake, wonderful homemade cookie with the coffee, so also ordered the home made raspberry pie, hmmmmmm.

It really is a great place to escape the otherwise in this time of year extremely touristic Lago di Garda.

Cafe Cook

One of Amsterdam’s hidden treasures. Not really in the center, but definitely worth the d-tour on a sunny summer day. Just behind the Jan Evertsenstraat, on the corner of a quiet square you can find this little oasis. They have a lovely terrace and an even lovelier menu that changes with the seasons.

They cook with a twist and hardly ever make a mistake in the combinations they make. Tonight we had a salad with lam, terracotta cheese and strawberries and veal pasta with marinated mushroom and truffle pecorino. 

Really, please do yourself a favor and visit Cafe Cook when you have the chance!

Chateau Peroudier

The Dordogne area is a very good place if you like to make a tour along some wine growers. We decided to start our tour at a neighboring castle to learn about the wines of the area. This area is mainly known for their white wines and especially the ones with a sweet bite that taste very good with a light lunch. From there out we just drove around looking for other wineries and visited four others, just by following the signs along the road.   

First of those was Chateau Paroudier. Bit of cranky, but nice and very bearded men stumbles down the stairs. Sleep wrinkles in his face. Stupid tourists come during siesta :) Bought some lovely bubbles from him to drink the same evening. His reds are in my wine rack. In the end we made his teeth smile.

La Queyrie

Escaping town for a wonderful sunny week with my little girl and some lovely friends in the most beautiful old farm in the whole of France: La Queyrie near the town of Sainte Alvère. In the middle of nowhere, on the top of a hill, swimming pool with a view down the hill...what else do you need.

Still sometimes dream of our days at La Queyrie, with her big walnut tree which gave us shade as we needed it, with her big fireplace where we played games on the one rainy day, with the lovely boulanger who provided us with fresh croissants every day. We'll be back!

 

 

Veal’s Neck stew

This week we have special meat in DeKrat, which I’ve never cooked with before: Veal’s Neck. As the milk drinking capital of the world there is a lot of veal production in the Netherlands. Strangely enough veal isn’t a kind of meat that is on the daily menu of the Dutchies and thus 95% of all veal is exported to our neighboring countries.

Veal’s Neck stew

Dinner for 2

400 gr veal’s neck, in pieces of 4x4 cm

1 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. sunflower oil

2 shallots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

250 ml white wine

250 ml broth

2 bay leafs

½ lemon

6 twigs thyme

Preheat the oven at 180 C. Season the veal with salt and pepper and roll in the flour. Fry them in the oil until browned and set aside. Fry the shallots and garlic until softened, add the veal’s neck together with the wine, stock, bay leafs, lemon zest and thyme.