My lazy saturdays with James Martin

At the beginning of this year I descided to blog about anything I love. This blog is about 2 of my great loves: weekends and watching food television. When we were students, we used to love watching BBC together on a saturday morning, while recovering from a night out. Now, we get relax after an early start with our toddler. One thing remains the same; at 11.00 (local Dutch time) we watch Saturday Kitchen.

In this TV show a few things come together. You see BBC chefs cook some great recipes, James Martin hosts the show with a calming and entertaining flair and you get to see fragments of old and new BBC cooking TV program.

You are wondering why you should incorporate James Martin into your Saturday routine? Here are my 5 reasons why;

  1. You get a good impression of what cooking programs the BBC offers, and as far as I’m  concerned BBC cooking TV is the best in the world. If you are not convinced, watching this show might convince you any way.
  2. You learn about cheap but good wines. You learn the lingo, making it possible for me to bluff my way through wine conversation (I use words like “terroir” and “after taste”).
  3. You get to see a wide array of food TV; from star chefs to home cooking showing easy and hard recipes! This means my husband can actually enjoy this show too, the incidental appearance of Nigella obviously helps as well….
  4. You get inspiration on what to buy on your Saturday market and cook for your weekend meals. Let’s face it, weekend is the only moment a working mom has time for this.
  5. I have a secret crush on James Martin. A man who can cook…mmm…mmmm…..mmmmm!!!

Wanna read more? Look at the BBC website.

Perfect Pizza Paluzza

Thanks to a sweet friend of mine, I am the proud owner of the Italian cooking bible “the silver spoon”. The book itself ways several kilo’s, but is worth all the shelf space it occupies in my book cupboard.

My Italian cooking bible

What you notice when you leaf through this book is how delightfully simple the Italian cuisine really is. Few ingredients are used to make the star of the show shine. I would recommend this book to any starting home cook.

One of my favorite recipes from “The silver spoon” is pizza. I use the recipe for making pizza dough but for the toppings I let my guests decide. I knead the pizza dough the evening before. I let the dough proof in the fridge. This means that making the pizza’s takes little time on the day itself.

My toddler loves pizza. From the moment we bought his kitchen stool he has been joining me to “help” with my cooking. And pizza is the perfect opportunity for this because:

  • Your toddler can help you knead the dough. Simply give your toddler a small portion of the dough and continue kneading together. My son loves pushing his fingers or fists into the dough! Simply combine the dough every now and then, and give your toddler a new ball to knead.
  • Your toddler can help dusting your work top and roll out the dough. At this point in time my toddler runs to the kitchen  cabinet container a big and a small rolling pin. My toddler is so experienced now (3 years old), that he rolls out a pizza all by himself, but you might wanna help a bit the first few times.
  • Your toddler can prick holes in the pizza with a fork.
  • Your toddler can sprinkle cheese, oregano and veg on his own pizza.

pizza

My son is always extremely proud of his creation and walks to the oven to check on his pizza regularly. Both dad and son are big pizza lovers.

Pizza dough (for 2 adults and 1 toddler)

  • 500 gram plain flower and extra for dusting
  • 7 gram instant yeast
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 240 ml lukewarm water
  • Olive oil

Mix your flower, water, salt and yeast together. Cover the mixture with a kitchen towel and let this mixture stand for 10 minutes (you can skip this step, but I promiss you it makes the kneading easier.

Knead your dough for a minimum of 10 minutes. Time your kneading, it will seam like forever the first time, but after 10 minutes you will have that smooth, elastic stuff people like to rave about.

tip: knead your dough on a table top, not your kitchen counter. This lower surface makes it possible for you to use your body weight when pushing into the dough to stretch it.

Make sure your dough is covered in oil to protect it from sticking and place it in a large container. The dough (at least) will double in size. Make sure you prevent your dough from drying out by applying an air tight lid or use kling film. Now you have two choices: let your dough proof in the fridge for up to 24 hours, or proof it at room temperature for 1 hour.

pizza2

When you want to make your pizza, take the dough out of the fridge, knock it back and let it get to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Now you can devide your dough into 2 large balls and one smaller ball. Protect your dough by covering it with a (damp) kitchen towel until you roll out your pizza.

Roll out your dough to form your pizza. Prick holes with a fork where the topping goes.

Place your toppings on your pizza and bake for 10 to 20 minutes at 220 degrees.

I will blog about my husband’s favorite pizza some other day.

Dutch Ceasar Salad

My mother used to make lovely salads with endives. I grew to love this bitter leaf. I have found it is the perfect ceasar salad leaf. You can substitute with your own favorite crunchy leaves.

Old gouda cheese is a good strong old and hardy cheese to replace Parmesan in this recipe.

Ceaser

Dutch Ceasar Salad

  • Dressing (for multiple salads):
    • 1 tbsp mayonaise
    • 1 tsp mustard
    • 50 ml butter milk
    • 1 pinch of dried chili
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice
    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 tsp thyme
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp pepper
    • 1 cruched garlic clove
  • half a bunch of endives
  • 150 grams of grated old Gouda
  • 1 crouton recipe

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar. Shake the jar to combine the ingredients. You can make this dressing up to 4 days in advance and keep the dressing in the fridge in a jar or container. Preferably you let the dressing stand for at least 30 mins to let the flavors come together.

Clean your endives. Slives the leaves into chunky pieces.

Mix your ingredients at the last moment for a crunchy salad. Use the amount of dressing you prefer, I like a thin coating on my leaves.

Quick and easy garlic croutons

Anyone can make croutons. It is a quick and easy way to liven up a salad or soup and a good way to get rid of old bread. You can use any bread you like to eat. We like whole wheat, but white bread or sour dough is yummy too.

You can also freeze bread slices and take these out whenever you need to make croutons.

Croutons

Garlic croutons (for 4 servings of salad) 

  • 2 slices of bread
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • salt & pepper

Brush your bread with olive oil on both sides. Toast the slices in your regular toaster until golden and crispy.

Slice your garlic in half length ways. Rub the toast with the garlic slices on each side. Generously season the toast on each side.

Let your garlic toast cool slightly. Slice your toast into cubes in your favorite crouton size.

Pancakes

I trust and hope your mother taught you how to bake pancakes. But I have found that making pancake batter is often a mystery to people, and that unfortunately people rely on instant mixes. Master making your own batter so you can make them the way you like your pancakes best:

  • For richer pancakes add extra egg.
  • For thinner pancakes add extra milk. For thicker pancakes leave out some milk.
  • For savory pancakes leave out the honey.
  • Try which pancake you like best: milk or buttermilk.
  • Add vanilla for more flavor.
  • Use spelt flower instead of regular flower for a healthier option.

Pancake batter (feeds 4)

  • 200 gram of self raising flower
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 4 free range eggs
  • 400 ml of buttermilk or plain milk
  • 1 tbsp melted butter
  • Butter for frying
  • Optional : 1 tbsp honey for sweet pancakes or vanilla sugar for flavor

Mix the self raising flower and the salt in a mixing bowl. Create a well in the center.

Pour a cup of the milk and the free range eggs in the well. Whisk the eggs and the milk, slowly incorporating the surrounding flower slowly. Gradually add your milk and keep incorporating the flower as you go.

Add the honey and melted butter to your pancake batter.

Your batter is ready for making pancakes!