Spring Has Sprung (carrot salad)

I work at a university, so I expect to hear some stuff in the workplace that does not normally feature during an office day. I don’t bat an eyelash when I overhear a bragging session about copious amounts of alcohol consumed on a Tuesday night. Teary conversations about how, exactly, “that bastard dumped me” don’t register on my radar anymore. And complaints of “I haven’t been able to do laundry in three weeks” just make me giggle. But today, I was faced with a case of Too Much Information, Entirely.

The local student paper does a piece every week called Cute Couple. Two people are interviewed about their relationship and things they like about each other. You get useless, but entertaining, information like “I love her blue eyes” and “he makes great omelettes”. Apparently, someone thought this was boring and decided to spice things up. This week, they added the question “what’s your favourite sexual position?”.

They answered. For all their colleagues/ fellow students to read.

Seriously.

Much more pleasingly, spring was also announced by students today. When I stepped out of the building during lunch break, there they were. Spread all over the grass, soaking up the rays. Feeble rays, admittedly, but a sure sign of spring nonetheless. Finally. And what better way to celebrate the onset of spring than with a salad? So I give you: carrot salad.

Like all grated carrot salads, this is easy going. You grate a few carrots (just two large carrots gave me the bowl you see above) and mix them with a tablespoon or so of lemon juice. Toss in a good sprinkling of poppy seeds and a handful of raisins. Et voila: carrot salad. No exact directions necessary, but please don’t skip the poppy seeds. They give the mixture that festive crunch perfect for celebrating spring.

Amsterdam Food

From the side:


And from the front:

Kaaskamer van Amsterdam (Amsterdam's Cheese Room), Runstraat, Negen Straatjes (Nine Streets, Jordaan neighborhood)

Microwave bacon

A girl on the bus this afternoon, quite loudly while the rest of her conversation with friends had been hushed: “Well, obviously she is a lesbian.” And obviously the rest of the bus chose that exact moment to pause its conversations. The now-bright-red girl: “Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course.”

Ah, the joys of putting your foot in it publicly. I sympathize- I am about to talk about something considered shocking by quite a few people. Well, my man anyway, but I am inclined to think he is not alone. What is this shocking thing, you ask? Why, it is love for bacon. Crispy bacon, to be exact.

I’ve tried being a vegetarian a few times, but failed each time. I do not eat that much meat, but cannot stand the idea of never eating certain meaty treats again. One of my strongest ties to the carnivorous world is streaky bacon, cooked for so long that the fat crackles between my teeth when I bite into it. I like it on sandwiches, in salads and pastas and love it on its own. There is one drawback, though. (Well, two if you count the high saturated fat count, but sometimes it is worth it for a mouthful of salty perfection.) The smell of cooking bacon, no matter how delicious when you are anxiously awaiting your first bite, is far less compelling when it lingers in your house two days later. And linger it does.

Fortunately, there is a quick and easy way to cook bacon that does away with the problem. Would you like to know the secret? Go on, you know you do.

Here, I’ll tell you: a microwave oven and some baking parchment. You put the bacon on a sheet of baking parchment (I’ve put mine in a special “crisping pan” in the picture, but you don’t need to- it is handy to keep melted fat from getting everywhere, though), put it in the microwave and blast it for a few minutes at high power. Check for doneness and keep cooking in spurts of one or two minutes until the bacon is done to your liking. It takes about seven minutes in my oven to reach a perfect, crispy golden brown. Quicker than frying it in a pan, and far less chance of charring it to oblivion.

You’re welcome. Just let me know next time you need me to share a foolproof, hot and salty trick with you.

Chocolate Cloud Cake

The first thing my brother said when he stepped into my house for dinner the other week was “Hey, a collapsed cake”. The very first- no “hello, how are ya”, no “good to see you”, just the observation. He’s such a charmer, that one.

It’s not really his fault: Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Cloud Cake is an attention grabber. Fresh out of the oven it looks like a regular chocolate cake. It is a bit cracked on top, but nothing out of the ordinary. As time passes, however, the crack spreads and deepens, eventually taking with it the entire top of the cake as it sinks several centimeters. The outer edge of the cake is left standing, so what you end up with is a bowl made out of chocolate cake.

A lesser person might have been disappointed if they had created a cake that sinks, every single time. Not Nigella. Instead, she filled it with softly whipped cream and called it a chocolate cloud cake. Genius, I say.

I am sure you will agree with me she’s a genius after you make this. The cake has an intense chocolate flavor but isn’t dense or heavy like many of its siblings. The whipped cream topping (spiked with a bit of yogurt in my version in a feeble nod to my arterial health) is a perfect complement, saving you from chocolate overdose so you can keep eating. Because you will want to keep eating- it is that good.

As if that weren’t enough, this cake is astoundingly easy to make too. The only possibly intimidating step, the whipping of egg whites (or is it just me who lives in fear of non-stiffening whites?) is made foolproof by the admonition to whip them until they hold their shape but are not stiff. Ha! Whipped whites that don’t require that test where you hold a bowl of eggy peaks over your head to test their stiffness. Or are you not supposed to take that seriously?

Left-overs of this beauty keep pretty well in the fridge. They lose their ethereal lightness, but gain a pleasant fudginess. Probably not a great dessert for a dinner party, but excellent as a tea-time treat or breakfast. (Not that I eat chocolate cake for breakfast, of course. I am just guessing. Or not…)

Chocolate cloud cake

Adapted slightly from Nigella Bites, Nigella Lawson

Serves 8-10

250 gr dark chocolate
125 gr unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
6 eggs: 2 whole, 4 separated
175 gr caster sugar
23 cm springform cake tin
250 ml whipped cream
150 ml Greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line the bottom of the cake tin with baking parchment (I use re-usable silicone baking paper).

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (start with two minutes at 600 W, stir, leave to stand for a bit, stir again and see if it needs another microwave blast). Mix in the butter until melted.

Beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with 75 gr of the caster sugar, then gently add the chocolate mixture.

In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the 100 gr of sugar and whisk until the whites hold their shape but are not too stiff.

Mix a dollop of egg whites into the chocolate, and then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35–40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly. Cool the cake in its tin on a wire rack.

When you are ready to eat, place the cake on a cake stand or plate for serving while it is still in its tin and carefully remove the tin. Mix the whipped cream with the yogurt and whip some more until the mixture is firm.

Fill the crater of the cake with the yogurty whipped cream, gently swirling your spoon or spatula to create alluring waves

A sign?

Meet the sausage sandwich I had for lunch some time last week. Me eating smoked sausage is a true sign of winter. It happens once in a blue moon, and only if it is really cold. So it isn't a particularly good sign that I had this in the second week of March.

A far better sign: today I caught a whiff of strawberry- it was probably perfume, but my oh my, did it transport me to summer. Could this be a sign of warm weather to come? Please?