Bruno's parents came for lunch, and we were all a little underwhelmed by my attempt at sushi (see previosu post). Luckily, this little strawberry tart I made with the leftover pastry from the Apple Pie of Death and the strawberries we picked at the far yesterday saved the day!
Once again, peace and happiness was restored to the kitschenette household with the appearance of dessert :)
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July 31, 2009
Sushi Friday
Max has been sick for most of this week and he specifically requested sushi for lunch today. I hate making sushi, cos I can never make it right, and it's fiddly, and sticky rice gets everywhere, and and and.
I made it anyway, and it was...not great. So highly-anticipated, and soooo disappointing. Surely sushi rice is not meant to be al dente?? Can someone please put me out of my misery and give me a fool-proof sushi rice recipe!!!??
Apple Pie of Death, Part II
A couple of days ago I tried to recreate The Apple Pie of Death that Manuela and I ate one ill-fated morning in Amsterdam. Unbeknownst to us, we had stumbled upon perhaps the best apple pie in Amsterdam. Ok, that morning it did us no favours, but I did insist even in my heightened state of discomfort that on any other day that piece of apple pie would totally rock - it had just the right combination of chunky, softened (but not dissolved) buttery cinnamony apple pieces, encased in really delicious short pastry (so short it was almost like a crumble base). And warm! And fresh! That warm apple pie smell was wafting out the door and into the market outside - no wonder we were drawn in.
So I did a little research and found a few recipes, one of which I followed loosely (thanks Lynn from The Amsterdam Files!). I had a little trouble with the self-raising flour issue - Switzerland doesn't have it, so I just added one tsp of baking powder and (bad move) 1/2 tsp of salt per cup of flour - that was too much salt.
Verdict: it all turned out perfectly, except the pastry was strangely salty - doh! However, it actually wasn't too bad, the combination of salty and sweet :) At least, that's what Bruno said...
I think next time I would reduce the cooking time as my pie was a bit drier than Cafe Winkel's, and I remember what I loved about Winkel's pie was that it was beautifully tender and short. Oh, and reduce the salt in the pastry. Otherwise - love it. Also looks quite impressive - there weren't any complaints from the neighbourhood crew when I served it for dessert on Wednesday (they probably all dashed off home for long tall drinks of water, though).
Update: today I baked the last of the gigantic amount of pastry (the recipe made a huge amount) for a strawberry tart. Reduced the cooking time and didn't let it cool completely uncovered (so it didn't dry out too much). Perfect! Made up for the awful sushi I made...:)
PS. On the topic of Amsterdam - if you are looking for a nice place to eat in Amsterdam, try Toscanini's. It was delicious (thanks, Andy!).
July 06, 2009
Breakfast in Amsterdam
Just back from Amsterdam. Am I the only person who didn't know that apple pie was such a big deal for the Dutch? Possibly. I have to say, the dutch apple pie ROCKS. It is so delicious, no nuts, big chunks of cinnamony buttery appley goodness, with a crumbly, almost crumble-like pastry. Must find a recipe!
That said, this photo depicts The Apple Pie of Death! Delicious, sooo delicious, but not a good idea for breakfast on an empty stomach...Plasticfancy and I were starving on saturday morning, and ordered this huge wodge of pie and cream for breakfast, with a coffee on the side. But it proved too much for our delicate morning constitutions - too heavy, too rich for our poor stomachs. I think we experienced something close to the meat sweats (!), but for sweets - the sweets sweats????