Kaasbar Amsterdam, heaven for cheese lovers.

Finally, a place that I have been looking for. Stylish, great variety of local artisan cheese, good cheese-wine pairing recommendations ( thankfully not forced) and great service.

I love that finally a place could come over the idea of farm cheese presented on farms next cows, barns and the lovely land. Don’t get me wrong, I love farms and animals, but bringing a great variety of cheese, knowledge about cheese and the chance to choose really unique, tasty and rich cheese and enjoying them with great wines is something extremely important to create the demand for good cheese. As long as people are only given the chance to buy packaged, sliced cheese in supermarkets we cannot really expect them to have a better understanding of cheese or have the craving to try something new, something lot more of quality, lot more exciting.

That’s why I would highly recommend the Kaasbar in Amsterdam. If you are in town you got to try it.!

Here are some hints from the experience and the cheese I tried so far, although I am probably going to be back soon to try the whole variety.

What I tried ( from left to right) :

1.Brabants Blauw with medjool date & grasshopper (from Bastiansen)

2. Boeren Mulder Vergeten Kaas with red pesto & zucchini spaghetti (from Mulder)

3. Reade Jutter with onion chutney & red beetroot, seeds and pips ( from De Terschellinger)

4. Le petit Doruvael Truffel with lemon curd & red pepper fried spring rolls ( from Boerderij Doruvael)

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Easy beetroot and goat cheese salad

I know it’s been a while since I posted anything, but I was super busy with work and traveling again and I tried to gain some inspiration from my trips, my plans for a lifestyle change and just be so much more creative then before. I decided that I will try to use only seasonal products to create recipes and make easy, healthy and also extraordinary tastes. I will slowly get back to blogging again and I hope you’ll enjoy my creatures with cheese again and give feedback on what you’d like to see here and what kind of cheese, spices and ingredients you’d want me to try to make something new and groundbreaking.  🙂

Because you all know there is no food without cheese  🙂

So here’s an easy beetroot salad that you can have for lunch or dinner…or breakfast if you’d like…

Ingredients:

• • 200 gramms of beetroot
  • 1 or 2 small carrots
  • 1 apple ( I used Golden, but if you like you can use a more sour kind )
  • parsley
  •  pomegranate
  • salt & pepper
  • fresh goat cheese

Steps:

1. Peel the veggies and cut them into 2×2 cm cubes
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180 Celsius
3.  Put the beetroot, carrot to the own with a pinch of salt, pepper and spill some olive oil on it. Bake it for 25 mins till the veggies start get soft then add the chopped apples as well. ( If you feel it is getting dry, add a 0, 5 dl water )
4. Bake it for an additional 15 mins till the apple gets soft as well.
5. Pour the baked veggies to a bowl
6. Cut the goat cheese to small pieces, chop parsley and stir it together with the veggies.
7. To finish strew the seeds of a half pomegranate on top and it is ready to be served.  Enjoy 🙂

Cheesy trips in Dutchland #1

I have been traveling a lot to Amsterdam recently due to my new job and to be honest I am more than blown away by the tremendous amount of delicious cheese I can get there.

Basically what we know about Dutch cheese here in Hungary has nothing to do with the repertoire available there in the specialty cheese store.

So I decided to make sort of an introduction of the things I tasted and planning on tasting during my trips also to make new recipes and pairings with my favorite ones so that you can enjoy them just the way I would do. 🙂

So here you go at 1st the Truffle Gouda as my all-time sweetheart.

Step #1: What is this?

Dutch farmhouse cheese (boerenkaas) made of raw milk with Italian black truffle from the mountains. Ripened on wooden planks for only 8 weeks the gentle taste of this Gouda and intense aroma of the truffle form an unlikely, yet irresistible combination.

Step #2:  What the hell is boerenkaas?

Boerenkaas is the Dutch word that’s equivalent to “farmstead” cheese. That is, cheese made from the milk of animals who live on the same farm where the cheese is made. However, the word Boerenkaas also goes one step further, requiring that all cheese labeled as Boerenkaas must also be made with raw (unpasteurized) milk.

Only a small percentage of Dutch Gouda can be called Boerenkaas.

Step#3:  Pairing ideas with wine

Since it has a really unique and mature taste itself it should be served with either an elegant, not-too-oaky, aged Chardonnay or a nicely-evolved, textured dry Riesling.

If you are in Holland for holiday or work I would recommend not to miss out on this delicious darling, but if you have no time to go the specialty store, you can always order it online 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source:

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-aged-gouda-591221

https://www.cheesehub.com/product/truffle-gouda-25411

 

Fresh lentil salad with feta cheese

 

 

Spring is here and it seems that being outdoors is bringing more and more ideas on what cheesy thing to take for a hiking or a simple picnic. Grilled cheese, fruits, some cold Sauvignon Blanc and how about a nice and refreshing lentil salad ???

Easy to make, easy to serve…:)

 

Ingredients:

• 2-3 bay leaves
• 200g lentils
• 20g butter
•  Thyme
•  salt
•  pepper
• 500g sweet potato peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 100g kale ( leaves torn into bite-sized pieces )
• 1 Gala or Ginger gold apple (cut into bite-sized pieces)
• A handful of baby spinach
• Feta cheese  (cut into bite-sized pieces)

 

1. Cook the lentils in salty water with the bay leaves for 12-15 mins until the lentils are tender but still have some bite. Drain to get rid of the remaining water.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed frying pan that has a lid, along with the thyme. Add the sweet potato and some salt and pepper, then stir to coat them in the butter. Put the lid on and cook over a medium heat for 8 mins, then add the apple.   Add a splash of water if needed and cook for an additional 5 mins.
3. Add another splash of water to the pan along with the kale and the baby spinach. Put the lid on to steam for 3-4 mins until the kale is tender.
4. Pour the lentils into the pan and stir them together.
5. Serve the salad warm or cold on a plate with the chopped Feta cheese on top.

Enjoy 🙂

 

 

Hermelin ?!! Is it an animal or food?

Hermelin… why hermelin?

The name sounds weird and at first you would think about this fluffy and soft animal not a fluffy and soft camembert like cheese. Though it is…

Hermelin is a type of Czech cheese which imitates camembert, with a coating of white mold. In restaurants, the cheese is usually served marinated in oil (nakládaný), deep-fried in breadcrumbs (smažený), grilled (grilovaný) along with Czech beer.

Why would I recommend this for Spring and Summer?

The weather is getting warmer, we drink more and more cold beer and putting ourselves into the risk of getting drunk. 🙂

So if you would like to :

a) munch on something when you are having some cups

b) want to prevent getting tipsy and singing Dua Lipa in a karaoke bar

c) just eat something very rich and flavoury and make sure you do not pick up someone (it is indeed extremely garlicy)

Then your optimal solution is marinated hermelin with rye bread toast …. and of course a pint of Czech beer.

Interested already?  There you go…

Ingredients:

• 4 rounds of Hermelin or Camembert cheese
• 1 onion& 1 purple onion ( semi-thick slices )
• 7-8 cloves garlic, sliced
• a few sprigs or rosemary
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 1 Tbsp paprika powder ( can be sweet and spicy as well)
• Approx. 2-3 dl of Sunflower or olive oil to cover (I used a mix of olive and just normal oil)
• 4 -5 bay leaves
• Pepper

Method

1. Pour a little oil into the base or a jar or sealable container
2. Put in some garlic.
3. Cut your cheese into half to make two rounds.
4. Lay all the cheese out and sprinkle with the paprika powder.
5. Place one piece of cheese into the bottom of your jar/container then a piece of onion and purple onion.
6. Layer it up and make sure you have cheese and onion in every layer
7. In a separate bowl mix up the oil with the herbs.
8. When you have finished the layering of the cheese pour in the oil mix, close the jar and put it in the fridge for 1-2 weeks (minimum 5 days) to marinade and let the flavors infuse to the cheese.
9. Serve alongside with cold beer and with toast. 🙂

GOOD APPETITE 🙂

source :

http://www.thekiwifruit.com/recipes/czech-marinated-hermelin-nakladany-hermelin/

Vegan cheese ?? Why not…

It is quite controversial if a certified cheesemaker starts making a cheese-like something from non-dairy products, but I was really curious of this new wave of food consumption and also a lot of vegetarian and vegan friends have been asking me when will I start to make a vegan version of cheese for them.

At first I was sceptical and a little bit denying about this as I  have been a cheese addict eversince I have known how to talk and also it made me angry that people call a plant based something cheese… but I am a quite open-minden person so I dug myself into to this new project see what vegan people call cheese.

It turned out that a vegan cheese requires a lot more ingredients that I thought, but all of them are easy to get in a supermarket and also if you have a Kithen Aid or a simple mixer you can make it in 2 hours , plus the 6-8 hours cooling them which can be handled puting the “cheese” to the fridge overnight.

 

To cut the long story short I was amazed how good this vegan cheese turned out and how glad my friends were  ( especially the ones with lactose intolerancy)  that I served this to them on or Sunday brunch 🙂

Anyway, here you go, the recipe… enjoy and let me know if you have another favouite recipe that you’d like to share 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sunflower seed
• 1/2 cup cashew nut
• 1/2 cup almond
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon curcuma
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika ( hot one for those who prefer it)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 filed onion
• 2-3 filed garlic
• 1/4 cup barm
• 1 cup almond milk or rice milk

To give it a texture:

• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon agar-agar

 

Put all the ingredients to the plant based milk for 1-2 hours to soak a little bit so it will be easier to mix the nuts.   Start heating the water with the agar-agar  and let it boil until the agar-agar is fully melted.

Put the ingredrients in the Kitchen aid or mixer and add the agar-agar gradually until the mixture gets creamy. If you don’t find it creamy enought you can add some extra milk or water. 

Once the mixture is done put ot to a simple plastic box , bowl or any kind of shape you’d like to add to your cheese and let it settle in the fridge overnight .

Bon apétit ! 🙂

Source: http://veganreceptek.webnode.hu/products/fokhagymas-trappista-sajt-/

 

Unforgetable Chocolate Stout Beer Cheescake

Chocolate Stout Beer Cheescake

The  weather is said to be good this weekend so I am pretty excited that I’ll have a chance to spend the Saturday out with friends in a park along with some delicious munchies.

It’s been raining in the last couple of weeks so having the Sun out and a nice, clean weather is something we have all been waiting for.Sunscreen, hats, and shorts are needed finally and we can soak in some solar energy aswell. It is really nice to have a ” nothing to do” type of day without internet anyway  and conversate with your hungovered friends while laying on blanket.

I have been thinking a lot about what to bring for this potluck as my friends usually make the same stuffs: dips, fresh bread, home-made marmalade and sausage – which is of course the best thing you could dream of on a Sunday -, however its not so pleasing if all of you bring the same foods… hahah…

So I am excited to make something extraordinary and mouth watering for the event, however I just can’t  ignore the fact that I have been having  extreme amounts of work at the office this week…. result: NO TIME FOR SOMETHING SURPRISINGLY GOURMET…but who cares, I’ll bake something that will combine all the things my friends are addicted to as well: beer, cheescake, fresh fruits, healthy living… I think it will work for all invitants… at least I hope… 😉

So here’s  the  Chocolate Stout beer cheesecake recipe I imagined …

I really hope that my pals will like it and please share with me what your friends and beloved ones thought about the recipe… Enjoy summer time!! 🙂

Ingredients 

• 1 cup oatmeal cookie crumbs
• 5 tbsp low fat, sugar free  cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp cane sugar
• 2 tbsp butter,melted
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 8 oz lowfat cream cheese
• 4 oz mascarpone
• 1/2 low fat natural yogurt
• 3 eggs
• hint of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 chopped apple
• 1 sliced apple
• 3/4 cup Guinness

Instructions

1. Mix the oatmeal cookie crumbs, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp  cane sugar and melted butter together in a medium bowl.  Pour into the base on a 9-inch springform pan and press down into the bottom of it. Store in the freezer for 1-2 hours or  while you make the filling. The longer it stays in the freezer the better it gets.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F ( 180 celsius) .
3. In a separate big bowl mix 2 tbsp cocoa powder and heavy cream, stirring together until combined.
4. Add the cream cheese, mascarpone, mix in 1 tbsp of cane sugar, yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, chopped apple and the Guinness.
5. Pour this mixture into the springform pan and decorate the top with some sliced apple.
6. Bake for 50- 60 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the cheesecake in the oven, with a wooden spoon in the oven door to hold it slightly ajar. Let sit for 60 minutes.
7. Chill in the fridge overnight before serving.

Enjoy+Enjoy+ Enjoy 🙂

 

Source: 

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Guinness-Chocolate-Cheesecake-1448304?columns=4&position=67%2F69

 

Cheesy outdoors spring picnic #1

Cheesy outdoors spring picnic #1

I have not written anything for a long time since I had a lot of work and Spring has also started here therefore I tried to spend as much time out in the nature as possible.

I really had to abandon my kitchen for a while but the  thought of creating cheesy recipes for sunny outdoors events inspired me a lot.  You know you don’t always have to create something totally mind-blowing if you would like to both enjoy good weather and your favourite ingredients . 🙂

So what I figured out for a perfect picnic is…. ok, I have several ideas so lets make a series of outdoors indulgence and let  ourselves be as greedy as possible on cold beer and tasty cheese….yummmm

The 1st recipe to be shared is a Stout beer  bread based grilled cheese with fresh rucola salad.

If you only wish to have the salad or the grilled cheese on its own, its totally fine of course, but the 2 dishes together would make a match made in heaven for a Sunday eat-out with your friends or family.

So here you are… the magnificent grilled cheese and the salad….:)

STEP #1 – Preaparation of stout beer bread:

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups  of rye flour ( 350 gramms)
• ‘/4 cup milk ( 0, 5 dl )
• 1 tablespoons cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 package yeast
• 1 cup Stout or Porter beer ( I used Guinness)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1  tablespoon honey
• 1 egg

Preparation:

1. Put the yeast to the slightly warm milk for 4-5 minutes  ( my grandma always said it should be just as warm as your hand)  to ferment it a little bit.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl till thoroughly mixed.

3. Get a small sauce pan and warm the beer on the stove, then add the butter and the honey until they are melt together ( Warning! don’t let it boil)

4. Crack the egg in with the dry ingredients, then  pour in the warmed beer/butter/honey mixture and stir till you get a mixed, slightly sticky dough

5. After you mix everything together, let the dough raise for 30- 40  mins. To help the raising cover  the bowl with a kitchen towel and put some blankets on it or put next to a heater.

6. After 30 mins of rising flour knead the dough for an additional 2-3 minutes , add extra flour if needed but its not necessary.

7. Put some butter to the bread pan to grease it and place the dough in the pan. Let it raise for an addititional 20-25 minutes back under the blankets.

8. Preheat the owen to 375 Farenheits and bake the bread for 30-35 minutes till the top is golden brown. You can also check with  a needle if the dough is ready inside. As the rye flour itself  is darker than plain flour it might get tricky if you are only checking the color changes of the crust.

STEP #2. – Stout bread Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of the freshlybaked stour beer bread
• ‘ tablespoon butter
• ruccola
• 4 slices of Old Amsterdam Gouda Cheese

Preparation:

1 . Heat 1 tablespoon  butter in a cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.

2.  Put some butter, ruccola and the Old Amsterdam cheese together as a sandwich

3.Press the sandwich slightly and place it in the skillet. Cook until golden on the bottom, 3 minutes.

4.Flip, adding more butter to the pan if needed, and cook until the other side is golden and the cheese melts, 3 minutes.

STEP #3 – Fresh ruccola salad:

Ingredients:

• 1 box of ruccola ( approx. 250  gramms)
• 1 box of blueberries ( 100 gramms)
• 2 pears ( the type does not matter, its delicious with all )

Dressing :

• juice of a half lemon
• 2 tablespoons of  honey
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil ( extra virgin)

Prearation:

Well there is not much to say. Mix the ingredients of the salad. Mix the ingredients of the dressing and pour it on the salad.  … Ready to be served 🙂

 

 

And here  you go, the perfect picninc menu to be enjoyed with a bottle of stout beer  and ones you’d like to share it with.

Have a nice sunny Sunday and let me know it the recipes worked for you as well ….:)

 

 

Source:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-Awesome-Beer-Bread-with-Yeast/?ALLSTEPS

 

Sunday spinach-cheddar pie

Sunday Spinach- cheddar pie

Good evening!

I know that I have not posted for a while but I had been pretty busy recently, new work, new adventures  each day so its been pretty challenging  to convince myself to get  back to the kitchen… but, it was indeed more than releiving and energizing to grab the knife again and pamper myself with something cheesy and indulgent.

I usually eat a lot of spinach,..I am basically addicted o it…I love each form of these green leaves from eating it raw in a salad, mixing it with garlic or making a quick soup, but as I enjoy playing with different types of pies I really thought it would worth trying outit  in this form …and without any unbearable self-esteem this spinach – cheddar- cottage cheese pie has turned out to be more than I wished for for a relaxing  Sunday evening.

Why Sunday??? I think it is especially  important to finish a week in the most fullfilling way to be able to start the next Monday  with full energy and positive vibes, and also its not the worst thing to have some pie leftover to bring to work for lunch and remind yourself that you had made something delicious the other day. 🙂

This pie is even better on Mondays served cold…but be aware that your colleagues might ask for a bite.

Enjoy! 😉

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 25 dkg ( 2, 5 cups) wholegrain flour
• 8 dkg (0, 8 cup) butter
• 1 dl cold water
• salt
• 1 egg

Filling:

• 1 cup ( 10 dkg) of cottage cheese
• ½ cup of cheddar
• ½ cup of créme fresch
• 6 eggs
• salt
• pepper
• ½ onion
• 2 cups (20 dkg ) of spinach

Preparation:

• Put the flour in a big bowl, pulse it together with salt.
• Add butter and one egg and mix until it resembles a coarse meal.
• Slowly add water and process until a dough comes together.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 30-40 minutes in the fridge before rolling out.

 

Meanwhile, prepare filling as follows:

• Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the chopped onion and cook it until transclucent, than add garlic and sauté for about 1 minute, until the garlic is just beginning to brown.

• Add the spinach to the pan, stir it with the olive oil, cover the pan and cook for 1 minute. Uncover and turn the spinach over again. Cover the pan and cook for an additional minute. (If you cannot find fresh spinach you can also use frozen ones.)

• Lightly whisk 6 eggs in a mixing bowl and add créme fresch, cottage cheese, cheddar, salt and pepper than pour the mixture on the spinach and stir it together.

The „final” steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F. ( 180 C)
• Take the chilled dough, roll it out and press it into the bottom of a 10-inch pie dish.
• Prick it with a fork all around, and put it in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Take it out from the oven, pour the filling in and put the pie back in the oven for 60 minutes, or until the filling is set.
• Allow it to cool for a bit before serving.

 

Beverage  pairing recommendation: I would highly recommend to have a pint of Guinness or a coffee stout along with the dish. The strength and creamyness harmonizes with the salty  and soft texture of the pie. If you are more of a wine person I’d advise to have a glass of Chardonnay.

Let me know if you have any comments to share, I hope you enjoy this tendering dish.

Trust me, you won’t regret this happy ending for the week. Stay cheesy and enjoy!!! 🙂

 

Amazingly boozy Cheddar-Stout muffin

I have been hunting for good cheese and beer recipes  for a long time but it seemed  that the only chance I have is to  either start eating stout beer- cheddar dips in a thousand versions or start inventing new things myself.

I actually  did start to feel down about not finding any creative options for the usage of my 2 favourite ingredients together when I bumped into my new idol’s blog just randomly.  Beeroness herself is a really inventive lady whose aim is to show all sides of beer and open people’s eyes to the zillion opportunities a beer can offer even as a drink or a proper meal.

So I started browsing in her recipes and could not decide where to begin actually. The exploration of the goodies just got me too excited to decide  which one should be the first.  Thank God I was already extremely hungry so I  saw the words  „ stout” and „bread” and „muffin”… totally hooked on it…

So here you are the recipe from Beeroness , of course a little bit modified to totally fit my needs, but I would like to thank this awesome lady for creating the basic idea of the beer-cheese muffin :).  Originally its with all purpose flour and  Lagunitas Red, an imperial red ale, but unfortunately it was only a limited edition, so I had no chance to get it anyway.

So I shut my mouth …. here is my version, the Cheedar- Imperial  Stout  bread muffin with Tarragon Pear souce.

Ingredients

For 10-12 muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups flour whole grain flour
• 1 tbsp cain sugar or Xilitol
• 2 tsp baking powder ( half a package)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup shredded  red cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup shredded Mimolette cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped   leek
• 1/4 cup melted butter + 2 additional tsp
• 6 oz / 1.8 dl  Agressor Imperial Stout beer 

For the sauce:

• 4 pears
• 1 tsp tarragon
• 1 tsp cain sugar or Xilitol

How to?

Preheat oven to 350 F ( 180 C) .

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cheese and onions, stir until well combined. Pour in the melted butter plus the beer, stir until just combined.

Put muffin papers in the muffins tins and pour the dough  into it until each  is about 1/2 full. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter on the tops of the muffins, dividing evenly between each muffin. Top with additional shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 F ( 180 C)  for 18-20 minutes.

 

Meanwhile chop the pears to small pieces and put in a pot with the tarragon, sugar and a 1 tbsp of water and simmer it together until the pear gets almost creamy.

Put 2 muffins and 2 tbsps of sauce on a plate,  serve immediately.

                                                     Good Appetite! 🙂

Don’t hesitate to make any comments or ammendments on the recipe.

Source: http://thebeeroness.com/2012/05/31/cheddar-beer-bread-muffins/