Visiting a market in Laos

luang-prabang-fish

There is no such adventure or at least interesting trip as visiting a (food)market while traveling. The ones in the small Laotian towns Pakse and Luang Prabang were especially interesting, so here are a few impressions. The green piles of herbs which seem to come in utter abundance alone are impressive, also the huge fish which come from the Mekong since Laos does not have a sea. Also there are some stomach turning views for the Western visitor: the live toads or the feet of bears and deer, put into alcohol which are said to inrease male potency.

laos-herbs

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Quick recipe: Tarte with fennel, olives and bacon

Tarte-easy-and-quick

Tarte-with-Fennel-easy-recipe

So, on Saturday my dear friend Miri had her birthday party. What else to do than putting a tarte in the oven pretending it to be a hell of a lot of work? Right. Nothing. Preparing a tarte is such a quickie, making the dough, put the ingredients on top, the whisked egg over that and sprinkle some cheese over it – there you go, baby, in the oven! And while the darling tarte is getting some tan in the aforementioned oven, you put on some nice clothes, apply mascara – and whoosh – it’s time to take the baby in your arms. Ah — just one thing of course – take some nice pictures of the glorious piece, which of course looks much nicer with a little piece already cut out (which is then gobbled up without any sense of self-discipline because the smell is just irresistible…).

And bonus: The tarte will warm your cold hands on the way to the party :) Man, it was freezing on Saturday. Sorry, did anyone say SPRING? Nope. No sign of it.

Long talk, small recipe – here we go…

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Simple and easy Thai Chili Paste

Thai-Chili-Paste-recipe

Nam Prik pao is a Thai classic. The chili paste is spicy and sweet and can be served not only with Asian dishes but also meat, fish, pasta, everything you like really. For those who don’t like it too spicy – you can soften the sauce by mixing it with some yogurt. (although probably any Thai person reading this will be infuriated by this advice. Sorry!) But this sauce is a quicker and easier version of the real Thai chili paste, which can require several hours of preparation. This one is down to only 5 ingredients and maybe 20 minutes preparation. That’s what I like about it!

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Trifle with peaches, mint, Greek yogurt and cookies

trifle-recipe-simple

I had this craving for something sweet these last days. I mean I have this craving everyday to be honest. Around three p.m. I’ll start to get itchy, cannot concentrate on any work until I obey and go get some sweets. Can’t help it. I have to eat cake e-v-e-r-y day. I’m not into chocolate or gummybears or something silly like that. It has to be cake. Or a cookie.
So the appetite I had the last days was different, it called for a self-made dessert. I love trifle, so I toyed with different ingredients in my head (cookies being a must) and came up with this dessert: This trifle has a sort of dough at the base made of simple cookies mixed with cinnamon and butter, then canned peaches, then Greek yogurt with vanilla and fresh mint. Mhmmmmmmmmm. Yes. It tastes as good as it sounds.

What I especially like about this dessert is the fresh note the mint brings into the business. And also like most trifles it looks simply beautiful and is a real quickie: ready on the table in 10 minutes!

peaches-trifle

trifle-recipe

trifle
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Easygoing: Fish with Asian pesto

fish-with-asian-pesto

Do you know the feeling when you try a dish for the very first time and then wonder why on earth you have never done this before? Because it’s just so good it will from now on be a regular on your food-timetable. Yes? Well, it was the case with this Asian pesto. Man, it’s so good! And so easy, and so healthy. Jay! I love the flavour of the peanuts, the cilantro and lemon and then the heat kicks your tongue a little bit in the back.

The fish is also great: You just slip it in the oven -no stinky business – and take it out after half an hour, easy as that.

Asian-pesto

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Get well soon: Flu-terminator-potato-soup

potato-soup-creamy

Spring is tiptoeing around outside. It was very foggy this morning when I went out at eight o’clock. The air was cold and wet. But now it’s afternoon, the sky is blue in a summery kind of way and the sun is shining with all it’s early march-force. Hurray, and welcome back, sun! Haven’t seen you around for a while. Sit down and have a soup with us. It’s a get-well-soon-potato-soup, actually. Boyfriend is suffering, sore throat, cold, flu, that kind of nasty stuff. So I pulled together this easy delicious potato-soup, which burns away any bacteria and heats you up from the inside.

best-recipe-potato-soup

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Jazz up your meat with Tomatoe-Lemon-Cilantro-Sauce

the-perfect-meat-sauce

Yesterday we had meatballs. Again! I’m still experimenting with different flavours in the little guys. The ones yesterday were Indian style with lots of marsala, chili (goes without saying) and cilantro. They were a big hit over here. But they wouldn’t have been without the sauce. Meat never is anything without a good sauce! Think of the oscar speech by a meat ball: “All this would not have been possible without my great supporter – THE SAUCE!” Applause, applause, some tears.

So, what about a juicy, fruity and spicy sauce that jazzes up your meat? Yes please? And the winner is: Tomatoe-Lemon-Cilantro-Sauce. Short: TLC-Sauce. (Got nothing to do with the girl trio, no waterfalls and stuff)

indian-style-meatballs

Put it in a glass and it will keep in the fridge for several days.

tomatoe-lemon-cilantro-sauce

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