by Ellen Bannink -

Chicken Madras curry

– Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Kip Madras zonder pakjes –

I’m always a big fan of homemade food so when my brother sent me a picture of the dinner he was cooking at that moment I made a promise.
A promise to do a post on Chicken Madras curry. So here it is.

Kip Madras p

This curry is a populair dish in the Netherlands and it all comes from a package. These kinds of packages all go under the name ‘Wereldgerechten’ which means World Dishes. There is Italian lasagna, Mexican burrito’s, Indian chicken tandoori, Greek kofta, Morrocan chicken tajine, Spanish paella, Japanese teriyaki and so on.

This is the picture my brother sent me, Chicken Madras that comes from a box.
This is the picture my brother sent me, Chicken Madras that comes from a box.

And I have to admit, I also used to prepare those Wereldgerechten quite often.

by Ellen Bannink -

Chinese Chicken Skewers

Summer has begun and we bought a barbecue grill last weekend. I’m the cook at home, P once said he can prepare food but he can’t cook. That’s exactly how it is! But when it comes to grilling, he’s my man!

Three years ago -when P & I just met- I invited some friends over for a barbecue party at my roof terrace. I would practically be away the whole summer so this would be a nice thing to do before I had to miss all the fun that summer. And of course I already figured out this was a nice opportunity to see P again, I already had a small crush on him 😉

Chinese chicken skewers p

Luckily he showed up, bringing some shrimps in a fantastic marinade. ‘Wow, a man who can cook!’ I thought, and I liked him even more.

by Ellen Bannink -

Salmon sushi salad

Don’t you just love going out for some sushi? But be honest, how many times is it a disapointment? The rice is tasteless, the roll isn’t firm enough so it falls apart halfway to your mouth leaving soy sauce stains on your white shirt, or the salmon taste like water.

Salmon sushi salad p

Personally I like the salmon sushi rolls the most. With fresh salmon that is, without the cream cheese. Typically American, who made that up?! That’s not a very Japanese combination, isn’t it?

Did you ever tried to make sushi yourself? Well I did and it’s a hell of a job and leaves you with enormous amounts of sushi.

by Ellen Bannink -

Noodle salad with peanuts

Moving to another country is not the easiest thing to do. You have to leave everyone and everything you know behind to start a new life. So now in LA we have to discover everything: where do I need to go for some good pizza? How do I know which groceries can be ‘trusted’? Where do I have to buy underwear (or better: what will be my favorite underwear)? Who can I trust to cut my hair? Oh and I can go on with this list for -let’s say- forever!

Noodle salad p

One of the things I have to miss in Amsterdam is good dim sum. I regularly went to a really good dim sum place where the weekends were packed with Chinese customers. So then you know it’s good! 😉