Kelvin Wu Photography Blog

Prague

2012-02-04T02:36:00.001-08:00

I won the Kitchenaid! :D

2012-01-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

Yeahhhhhh!!!! Foodiesmagazine chose my Brioch French Toast as the best photo! :D I'm so excited!!

Miauwww

2012-01-07T00:26:00.000-08:00

Tarte Tatin

2011-12-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a nice Christmas! I ate way too much and I still have food left from Christmas :D.

I saw a kid making this (upside-down-apple-tart) in a cooking show and thought that I should be able to make this too! haha I used apple, but you can also use pears or apricots.

Ingredients:
- Those green sour apples, 4
- 60 gram butter
- 160 gram sugar
- 3 tbs water
- 400 gram puff pastry (mine are square)

Pre-heat the oven on 175C / 347F. Cut the apples in 8 parts, start from the middle. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the sugar, water, cook and stir till it bubbles and brownish.

Add the apples and cook it for about 7-10 minutes till the apples are soft. Then move the "mix" into a mold that doesn't leak and cover it with the pastry.

Bake the tarte tartin in about 15-20 till it's golden brown and the pastry lifts up. Now comes the hardest part, you have to turn the tarte tatin in a plate.

Enjoy! And happy new year! :D

ps: I also made a video! Check it out, it's in HD 1080p!

This is the last time I eat lamb!

2011-12-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

I was looking which part of the lamb I was using and I saw this really cute picture of a lamb.. man... I never thought it this way, but I have decided not to eat lamb, calf, porkling or any other baby animals anymore. Is that weird? Maybe... but it's just really sad I think.. It's just a baby!

Please re-think before you eat baby animals again the next time! Thank you!

So, shall I give you the recipe for this piece of lamb? Well, it's the last time, so here it is. I got it from the Foodiesmagazine, but slightly different.

- 1kg lamb -> number 11, the saddle?

- 2 tbs soft butter

- Some fresh oregano and garlic like below

- sea salt and ground black pepper.

Pre-heat the oven to 175C / 347F, cut the skin crosswise and rub the lamb in with sea salt and pepper and then the butter.

Half the garlic and lay the oregano and garlic below the lamb. Roast/grill/toast/bake the lamb in the oven for 30 minutes.

Let it rest in aluminum foil for 15 minutes, with the shiny side on the inside, this will help to retain the heat.

That's it! No more lamb for me! Enjoy and I probably see you after Christmas! Happy holidays!

Torta Caprese

2011-12-16T14:49:00.001-08:00

Torta Caprese! Did you know there were more Italian desserts than only Tiramisu? :p This is one of them, I've also noticed that Italian recipes use a lot of almonds! It's normally round, but I made a square one...

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbs almond liqueur
- 65 g sugar
- 100 g ground almond
- 65 g dark chocolate
- 65 g butter
- powdered sugar

Split the eggs in 2 bowls. Mix the egg yolks with the liqueur. Ground the chocolate and mix it with the ground almond. Melt the butter in the microwave and add it to the chocolate-almond mix.

Pre-heat the oven to 175 C / 347 F. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks forms. Add the chocolate mix to the egg yolks, then fold the beaten egg whites in the mix.

Pour the mixture in a square mold and bake it in about 25 minutes. Let it cool and finish it with powdered sugar.

Enjoy (your weekend)!

Jumping around the globe

2011-12-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I thought it would be funny to make jump photos in every city I went... Can you tell where this is? :D

Brioche French Toast with Vanilla Ice Cream

2011-12-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

I also sent this for the competition, they better give me the Kitchenaid! hehe This one is really easy, no baking and stuff, but oh so yummy!

By the way, I bought the Bose QC 15 and I'm using it right now while I'm writing this post. I'm soooo happy with these headphones (no noisy neighbors anymore! :p), I just had to share this with you. It was either the Beats or the QC 15, but after trying the Beats, I knew which one to get! It's like comparing a DVD with Blu-Ray. ;)

The only con I can think of is that you can't hear how loud you are singing... haha

Ok, back to the recipe.

Ingredients: (makes 4)

- 4 thick slices of brioche

- Vanilla ice cream

- 2 tbs sugar (I find this optional)

- 1 tsp cinnamon powder

- 1 egg (I used 2 eggs and less milk)

- 150 ml milk

- 1 tbs butter

Whisk the egg, milk, sugar and the cinnamon. Heat a pan with the butter and soak the bread in the batter on both sides. Then fry the French toast for about 4 minutes on both sides until golden brown and yummy.

Scoop as many ice cream you want on the hot French toast!

Enjoy and enjoy your weekend!

Vanilla Cookies

2011-12-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

I have a subscription to foodiesmagazine and this is where I got the recipe from, but the only vanilla that was in the recipe is the vanilla sugar that is added in the end... There is also a competition this month and the best picture wins a Kitchenaid! Well.. I cross my fingers...

Ingredients: (makes about 15 medium sized cookies?)

- 50 g almond flour

- 135 g whole wheat flour

- 33 g sugar

- 1 egg yolk

- 100 g cold butter

- pinch of salt

- powdered sugar

- vanilla sugar (if you wish)

Knead the almond, flour, sugar, egg yolk and the butter with a dough hook and then with your hand. It looks weird, but it works! It will form a smooth firm dough.

Make a ball of the dough and wrap it in cling film (is this word correct?) and place is it in the fridge for an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 175C / 347F. Make rolls of the dough with a half inch (1,5 cm) thick and slice it in pieces of 1 inch (2,5 - 3 cm) of length. Form a moon out of the pieces with the ends to each other.

Bake the cookies in 15 minutes until golden brown. Mix the powdered sugar with the vanilla sugar on a plate and roll the cookies gently in the sugar and cool.... Enjoy!

Spring Onion Pancakes

2011-12-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

I like chewy things! Sometimes I just feel like making this, it's a great snack and this pancake is a little bit chewy.

You can also order this in restaurants, but the one in the restaurants are much thinner and I don't really like the taste.

There is a special folding to create this pancake.

Ingredients: (I made 5 with this)

- 150 grams flour

- 125 ml lukewarm water

- 4 stalks of spring onions - diced

- 3 tbsp (olive) oil

- salt by taste

Mix the flour with the water and knead until soft, not too firm. If it's too sticky, add a bit of flour. Devide the dough in 4 or 5 portions. Roll the dough as thin as possible in a round shape, spread some flour to prevent it from sticking.

Brush the pancake with oil on 1 side. Sprinkle salt and add the spring onion. Now comes the folding.

Roll the pancake from both sides to the middle, it will look like this ||, then roll it up like a snail and turn it on it's side to flatten it a bit.

Heat a frying pan with oil and bake the pancakes until golden brown!

Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

Ireland

2011-11-29T12:28:00.000-08:00

I believe it was somewhere in the beginning of October I went to Ireland, it was culture night and many museums were free and the Guinness factory was also free (beer)!

The Leprechaun Museum

The Rainbow Room

And the pot of gold... haha

You have to kiss the stone before you leave!

Soft Almond Cookies

2011-11-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

TGIF... I'll leave you with a recipe adapted from James Peterson's book and go to bed.. ZZzzzZ.

Ingredients:

- 100 grams almond flour

- 120 grams powdered sugar

- 4 medium sized egg whites

- strawberry marmalade or nutella spread

Pre heat the oven at 190C. Mix the almond flour and 100 grams powdered sugar with 2 egg whites in a bowl. Beat the other 2 egg whites with the rest of the sugar until stiff peaks forms.

Fold the egg whites through the almond mix. Scoop the mixture in a piping bag with a tip of an inch and a half. Make circles of an inch and keep the tip low.

Let them rest for 15 minutes and bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Let it cool for 5 minutes before making sandwiches with the marmalade or nutella spread.

Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

Quick Potato Wedges

2011-11-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago when I was in Spain (no hablo Espanol) for an internship, me and my class mates almost ate this everyday. I remember that I llllloved it! Actually it was my class mate who cooked all the time and she was very good at it!

In the meantime I have changed it a bit and I have left the potato skin on, which has the best nutrition and I have added rosemary.

The following ingredients serves 2, or 1. hehe

- 500 gram medium size potatoes

- like 10 cloves of garlic (team Edward would be so scared!)

- water to cook the potatoes

- Sea salt by taste

- a bit Black pepper

- a bit Rosemary

- around 3 to 4 tbs olive oil

First clean the potatoes, you can brush them a little, but watch the skin. Then cut the potatoes in wedges, cut it in half and then another half of the half. (?)

Place the potatoes in a medium sized pan with water, just about till it covers the potatoes, cook this for 25 minutes.

In the meantime you can prepare the garlic, you can press the garlic with the flat side of your knife to remove the skin easily.

Then dice the garlic or use a garlic press and set it aside.

Drain the potatoes and heat a non-stick pan with olive oil. Fry a bit of garlic and then add the potato wedges to the pan. Give it a shake, add salt and pepper and the rest of the garlic and fry till it's golden brown.

Serve in a warm bowl and sprinkle the potato wedges with rosemary.

Enjoy! (Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers!)

How to end a perfect date - in the morning

2011-11-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

Only if you want it to end ofcourse. And if you get up first, follow the below instructions and make that cup of coffee! Ok ok, all craziness on a stick. (it's a Dutch saying)

I use a moka pot , I didn't know they call it a moka pot till today actually, but in some countries they also call it a cafetiere.

This thing comes in three parts where you add water in the bottom and ground coffee to the filter and screw it all together. Then you place the whole pot on the stove and you actually steam the coffee in the tunnel of the pot where it comes in the upper chamber.

Do not let the coffee boil, as the coffee is done when it's in the upper chamber.

I also use coffee syrup instead of sugar, the syrup comes in different taste, like hazelnut, caramel and vanilla. This tastes sooooo much better than sugar!

If you have milk in your coffee, use a sauce pan to cook your milk and use a whisk to create the foam for your coffee.

There you have it, a moka pot, ground coffee, yummy syrup and milk. Enjoy! (with your pinkie up!)

Mash Potatoes with Ricotta, Spinach and Bacon

2011-11-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

Why would you wait for Thanksgiving? You can eat this everyday! Unfortunately, we don't have Thanksgiving in the Netherlands... Isn't it just an excuse to eat a lot? :p

Today, I'm going to share one of my favorite mash potatoes recipes. This recipe has the following ingredients and it serves two.

- 500 grams potatoes (duh) without the skin and cut in parts

- 1 onion - diced

- 125 grams ricotta

- 150 grams fresh spinach leaves

- 100 grams bacon

- a bit of butter and milk to make it smoootthh

- a bit of olive oil (not like Jamie Oliver, which is 1/4 of the bottle) for frying the onion

- a bit of nutmeg, like a 1/2 tsp

- salt and pepper by taste

First we have to boil the water with a 1/2 tbs of salt in a medium pan. Add the potatoes and cook it for about 30 minutes till it's kind of soft, but not too soft, does that make sense? Try to pick it with a fork.

In the meantime, fry the onion in a sauce pan till it shines and has a golden color, then add the ricotta and add a small portion of spinach at a time.

In another pan, fry the bacon until crispy and leave it there for later.

The potatoes should be done by now, so drain the potatoes, mash it a little, add the butter and milk, stir, add the ricotta mix, stir again and add the bacon.

Add nutmeg, salt and pepper by taste and enjoy!

I'm also excited to have a guest post on Smoky Wok. So, if you're thinking about to have a special Thanksgiving. Please stop by my fellow foodie, Jen from Smoky Wok, a Getty Images Artist, who has many Asian recipes which you can find in restaurants, but made at home! Happy (Asian) Thanksgiving!

Homemade Ciabatta

2011-11-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

Whoa! I love bread, good bread! It takes time to make good bread! Most of the recipes I've seen take 2 days to finish the bread and so is this one, which I'm going to share with you.

The recipe is from James Peterson and his book about baking. The recipe for the pizza is also from the same book.

Ok, let's start with the ingredients.

- 375 g wheat flour

- 330 ml lukewarm water

- 1 package of instant yeast which is 7 grams

- 60 ml olive oil

- 3/4 tsp salt

- a bit of butter for the baking tray

For the ciabatta you need to make a wet starter (poolish), so the dough will rise really slow and you will get those holes in the bread.

To make the starter, add 95 grams flour, the yeast and 180ml water in a bowl and whisk till it's a bit thick. Cover this with foil and let it rise for 1 or 2 hours, till it's doubled or trippled the size.

The next step is to add the starter with the rest of the flour, water and the olive oil. Mix this 2 minutes in the Kitchenaid with a dough hook. Cover it with plastic foil and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Add the salt and knead it for 7 minutes on medium speed. Higher the speed if needed, so the dough will come off the hook.

Cover the dough with plastic foil (yes, again) and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature and then overnight in the fridge.

I used a round baking tray of 28cm, you can use a different baking tray if you like. Spread the butter in the tray and add the dough in the tray, you don't have to press the air out of it.

This is the last part of waiting, yes, cover the dough again with plastic foil and let it rise for 2 hours till it's doubled the size.

- Now comes the baking! This is a whole experience itself. Pre-heat the oven to 230C. You need an extra tray with hot water on the bottom of the oven. Place the bread above the tray with hot water and spray the sides of the oven with water, wait 30 seconds and spray it again. Reduce the heat to 220C.

To spray the sides of the oven, you will keep the heat in the oven like the professionals (they don't have to spray, because they have pro ovens).

Bake the bread for 35 minutes till it sounds hole when you knock on it. Let it rest for 5 minutes before moving to a rack.

Finally! It's done. It is definitely worth to try and it's a fun experience to see the different methods of using flour and yeast to make different kind of bread.

I hope you'll like it and have a nice weekend!

ah, I forgot to mention that the bread is rrrrrealy good with good quality olive oil and sea salt!

I call it, Sweet Egg Pie Muffin Size!

2011-11-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Ok ok, I was supposed to make Portugese egg tarts, but it turned into something else :p.

It doesn't matter! They are still very tasty, soft, sweet and has a little cinnamon taste, I would describe it as a sweet egg pie muffin! :D

I used the ingredients and measurements from The Pleasure Monger and the method from the below Youtube video for rolling the pastry.

BUT! If you want to try the new invention, forget all the iced water and waiting etc. Use the ingredients from The Pleasure Monger and watch the video!

Enjoy!

Homemade Pizza From Scratch

2011-11-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

If you want to go the easy way, order a pizza at Dominos. :p You could also buy a ready-to-decorate-dough and use the below toppings. BUT, if you want to go the hard way, read on.

The book (I have the Dutch version) and recipe I used is from James Peterson. I'll try to explain it briefly, but clear.

For the pizza dough you need: (enough for 2 thin pizzas of 28 cm)

- 375 grams flour

- 180 ml lukewarm water

- yeast, I used a package of instant yeast, which is 7 grams

- 3/4 ts salt

- 6 tbs olive oil

Toppings:

- 4 medium size (roma) tomatoes

- 340 grams mozzarella, sliced

- basil leaves (spread some olive oil on the leaves before you roll them up to cut, this will prevent them from turning brown!)

Mix the flour, water and yeast in a bowl. Add the salt, mix again and add the oil. Knead the dough with the dough hook till it's smooth for 7 minutes in the Kitchenaid on medium speed.

Cover the bowl with plastic foil and let it rise till it has doubled the size. 4 hours at room temperature or 1 hour at room temperature and a night in the fridge (I used the last method).

When you have waited long enough, you can knead the dough! Split the dough in 2 and roll the dough till it fits a pizza plate of 28cm, cut off the excess dough from the plate. Push the dough against the edge of the plate and spread it with a bit of olive oil.

Preheat the oven on 260 C. Spread the mozzarella first and then the tomatoes on top. Bake the pizza for 15 mintues. Add the basil just before the pizza is done and push the pizza back for another minute.

DONE! Easy right? Let me know if you're going to try this and how it went!

And... Happy Autumn!

Heavenly ribs

2011-10-29T07:32:00.001-07:00

I want to eat now! Not 6 hours later because of the slow cooking in the oven :). The trick here is to cook the ribs in water and salt for about 30 minutes, when the water boils, turn down the heat. The only thing you need the oven for is to make the crust.

You can use all kind of marinades, but I'll share mine with you, I did not measure anything. Professionals don't measure either right? :p

Ingredients for marinade:

- Five spice powder

- Hoisin sauce

- Ketchup

- Honey

- A bit of chili sauce (add more if you like spicy)

Take the ribs out the pan and dry the ribs with kitchen paper. Sprinkle the ribs with 5 spice powder, rub it in with hoisin sauce, ketchup, chili sauce and honey. It is best to marinade it overnight, but at least 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 225 C (437F) and roast till it bubbles. If it's black, you've roasted it too long!

Enjoy!

Come to the dark side, we have chewy gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-10-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Ever since I tried the white chocolate chip cookies from Marks & Spencer (in Ireland), there was nothing else I wanted to eat!

And since Marks & Spencer doesn't exist in the Netherlands anymore, that means I had to make it myself (again!). I found this recipe (see below, thanks to creator Alison 12!) online, which comes pretty close to the ones from M&S.

Don't bake the cookies too long in the oven, otherwise it will not be chewy and gooey as it should be.

I also found a similar recipe from Martha Stewart, which also looks great! (duh, it's Martha :p)

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda, gradually stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

White Cut Chicken

2011-10-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

I might get in trouble for this, but I'm going to share another Chinese secret with you! Your chicken will be very smooth, tender, love and care. And it will only take you 30 minutes!

Ingredients:

- 1 whole (small to medium) chicken or 4 quarter chicken legs like above.

- 1,5 liter water

- 1 table spoon of salt

For the ginger scallion sauce: (this is the hardest part, wait, chopping the chicken is the hardest part!)

- 2 Scallion / spring onion

- About an inch fine cut ginger

- 4 table spoon of oil (any oil will do, I use olive oil)

- 1 tea spoon of salt

Boil the water in a large pan with the salt, when the water boils, add the chicken. Wait till the water boils again and turn off the heat.

---> wait for 30 minutes

In the meanwhile, cut the scallion and ginger and leave it in a small bowl with the salt, then heat a wok with the oil until it smokes and pour the oil over the scallion and ginger.

Take the chicken out the pan and chop this in pieces. Serve!

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy cow, happy Sunday!

2011-10-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Soup

2011-10-14T14:12:00.001-07:00

I bought the smallest pumpkin they had in the store and still I had pumpkin left after the fries... so.. yeah, pumpkin soup it is! :p

This soup is actually very healthy like the potato soups Chinese moms make! :)

Ingredients:

- 1 kg pumpkin (cut in medium parts)

- 1,25 liter of boiled water

- 2,5 scoops of no msg added chicken powder from Knorr for the stock

- 2 medium onions, cut in parts

- 2 cloves of garlic

- half red pepper without the seeds

- a bit of olive oil to fry the onion and garlic

First fry the onions, red pepper and garlic in a large pan, add the boiled water and the chicken powder with the pumpkin parts.

That's it! The only thing you have to do now is wait till the pumpkin is soft, you can mash the pumpkin parts with a mixer, but I like the soup with a bite!

Enjoy!

oh, the green stuff in the picture is kale... I wanted to add parsely, but didn't had any at home haha It tasted good though!

Paris - my new food paradise

2011-10-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Paris is my new favourite food paradise! They have so many stuff we don't have, like fresh durian and other exotic fruit and a lot of macarons (I bought durian macarons! :D)!

We stayed in China town and it was like I was in Asia! I believe it's the biggest of Europe.

There were many Vietnamese restaurants and there is one restaurant which always has a big queue, the Pho 14. We went there twice in 1,5 days lol

Here are some pictures from the trip.

Is that his middle finger?

Pumpkin fries!

2011-10-07T11:35:00.001-07:00

The first time I ate this was at Din Tai Fung and it was deliciousss! But then I'm back in this cold country and if you don't know where you can eat this, you make it yourself! Right?

This dish is with salted egg yolks, but can easily eaten without (only step 2 till 7!). This is the only recipe I found on the internet and it's the same on every website. I am just going to copy paste the recipe here, all credits goes to the creator ofcourse.

1 small pumpkin (about 400-500g)
3 salted egg yolks
1 small fresh egg
¼ tsp of salt and pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour for coating
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Steam the duck salted egg yolks for 8-10 minutes. Crush the egg yolks with a folk for later use.
Peel and remove the seeds from the pumpkin, and also remove the fibrous layer beneath.
Cut pumpkin thinly into the size of fries.
Mix the pumpkin with the small egg, salt and pepper, leave it for 10-20 minutes.
Coat the pumpkin fries evenly with flour.
Heat oil in a pan until hot, fry the pumpkin pieces until a golden colour.
Remove the pumpkin fries from the pan and drain excess oil with paper towels.
Heat ½ tbsp oil in a pan; add in the crushed salted egg yolks.
Stir fry the salted egg yolks until they are light and fluffy. (They should start foaming).
Add in the pumpkin fries and stir well with the egg yolk.
Serve immediately.

Enjoy your weekend!

Red Green Protein Smoothie

2011-10-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

Another healthy recipe! This smoothie contains the following and might get you a big forearm! ;)

- Mixed berries (I used frozen ones, but fresh are even better!)

- Half banana

- Whey protein

- A bit of milk

- A handful of spinach (!)

Mixed it all in a blender and you're good to go!

Enjoy.

Loek & Nina | Haarlem

2011-10-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago my wife was asking her colleague Loek how his weekend was. He told her that his weekend was one not to forget, because he proposed to his girlfriend Nina and she said yes! Excited to hear the happy news she asked for all the details.

By chance it was the time that I was getting more serious with photography and my wife showed him my blog and jokingly said that if he was interested I could shoot his wedding.

They took it seriously and I was so excited to be given this chance! To be shooting as a main photographer at a wedding is a totally new experience to me.

16^th September was the big day. The weather forecast was going up and down. It was either rain and thunderstorm or bright and sunny. We were lucky to have beautiful weather and only a short downpour of 15 minutes when the newlyweds were moving locations by car. It didn’t affect the ambiance of the day at all. My wife was the second shooter for the day. We had a great time and we made such a good team!

The wedding itself was so much fun, a reflection of the couple. Loek and Nina are such an easy going and spontaneous couple. We wish them all the love and joy in the world.

Butlers Town House Hotel | Dublin

2011-09-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's nicer to stay in a hotel with a unique style than a new and modern one.

We went to Dublin for a long weekend and stayed in the Butlers Town House , which is a boutique hotel with a very charming atmosphere and a Victorian style.

The service is very good and the rooms are clean. This is important, but the food as well!

We only had breakfast there as we went out for dinner.

Enjoy the pictures! More from the trip is coming.

Traditional Irish breakfast with black and white pudding (made with pork blood)!

Poached haddock (super super healthy, where are the carbs?!)

Broccoli with a bit of Thai curry paste

2011-09-27T13:49:00.001-07:00

I had a long weekend in Ireland and dieting has started again lol The fish and chips were great! :D

Today I wokked all my ingredients, first the chicken and then the broccoli. To make the broccoli a bit more yummy, I added green Thai curry paste. Note that it's spicy! At least, for me it's spicy! :p

Instagram

2011-09-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

No DSLR today! But an Iphone and Instagram :D This image was captured when I was walking in Amsterdam and suddenly a group of Italian speaking marines (well... they look like marines) was walking really close behind us.

I grabbed my phone and they smiled! :D

Bulgogi

2011-09-19T09:41:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and that means we will have to eat healthy again.. yeah... we try! :D

I prepared bulgogi last night, it's a Korean dish with thin sliced beef (most of the time it's beef).

Ingredients:

- tender beef, about 500 to 600 grams, sliced very thin. You can freeze the beef for a bit to make it easier to slice.

- 2 cloves of garlic

- about 10 medium sized mushrooms

- spring onion

- sesame oil (about 3 tea spoons)

- light soy sauce, 2 or 3 table spoons

- honey, 4 tabele spoons

- roasted sesame seed (additional)

- and some black pepper

You also need lettuce, kimchi and Korean rice. I didn't eat rice tonight to keep the carbs low ;).

Place the ingredients in a big bowl and marinade over night.

Heat your grill and grill the beef with mushrooms etc. for a minute or 2.

(I have been told) How to eat this:

Make a small package with the lettuce, beef, kimchi and rice and eat this in one bite!

Enjoy!

Banana & Nutella wrap

2011-09-18T01:30:00.000-07:00

It's still weekend and dieting always starts on Mondays haha so... We eat a wrap with a banana and Nutella! (It even has fruit!)

It normally goes very well in a crepe, but hey, it's Sunday and you're lazy!

Ingredients:

- wrap

- banana

- as much Nutella as you want

Spread the Nutella in the wrap and cut the banana in parts. Lay the parts on 2/3rd of the wrap, not in the middle and roll it up from the short side. Cut it in half diagonally.

Now comes the trick! Heat the wrap for 30 seconds in a microwave to make it even more yummier!

Enjoy!

Hate it or love it, durian crushed ice

2011-09-17T08:03:00.001-07:00

Hate it or love it right? It was so warm in Melaka (Malaysia), we couldn't resist to eat something refreshing and what's better than with durian taste?! haha

Tofu pancakes

2011-09-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

As you might know, tofu has really good nutritions, high in protein and low in carbs. The one I used has 10,5 grams protein (some has 20 grams!), 1 grams carbs and 6,5 grams of fat per 100 gram.

If you would like to make these tofu pancakes, you have to mash the tofu first and mix it with 2 eggs in a bowl, add a bit of flour to make it a bit thicker.

Add basil, salt and pepper for the taste.

Heat your non-sticking pan with olive oil (healthy!) and use a big spoon to make the small pancakes untill they're golden brown.

Bon appetit!

Mussel time!

2011-09-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

In The Netherlands we say it's mussel time, when there's an R in the month, that means now!

A friend advised me to use the following ingredients, I normally just buy a bag of (mussel)vegetables and add them to the mussels...

- onion

- thai basel

- red pepper

- a bit of coconut milk

Salt and pepper is not needed.

Before you cook them in a large pan or wok, rinse the mussels with water, remove the mussels which are already open (!).

Heat the pan or wok and create a layer of mussels, add half of the ingredients then add the rest of the mussels and the last ingredients on top.

Cover the pan or wok for about 7 minutes on high heat and when all the mussels are opened, it's done!

Bon appetit!

Bruschetta

2011-09-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

There are different kind of toppings you can put on, but this bruschetta is served with tomato, garlic, oregano (fresh is better, by dried oregano is also fine), olive oil and sea salt. That's it.

All you need are a few slices of baguette to grill, which I have spread with aioli first. Then slice the tomato (2 or 3) in small parts like above and remove the inside.

Chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic into really small parts and when the baguette is done, gently move the tomatoes to the baguette.

Top it off with garlic, oregano, olive oil and sea salt.

BON APPETIT!

ps: thanks to my brother in law (he's Italian! ;)) who taught me this, I only changed the recipe with the aioli spread.

Low calorie hamburger

2011-09-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

YES! It is true! A low calorie hamburger! The only thing is, you might want to eat 10 (maybe 20?) of them. lol

If you have noticed my profile, I have added a new lens, the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. I only have this lens for a few hours now and it's real fun! I LOVE IT!

(if you were wondering, the hamburger is made with ground beef, cheddar cheese, mini tomato, a piece of lettuce and bread :p, and too much ketchup, it came out too fast. :/)

Congee

2011-09-09T09:14:00.000-07:00

This should be congee but the kind of congee I eat does not look like this! haha

It was a restaurant at the beach (Tioman) and we almost ate there every day, we also made friends with the co-owner and on the day we left, he made real congee for us!

And as dessert, a cat who is doing some kind of exercise... :/

Sipadan Water Village

2011-09-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is actually the village behind the fancy water village, really crazy to see the difference so close.

Chicken with chili flakes

2011-09-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

I eat quite a lot of chicken for my protein (at least 20 grams of protein per 100 gram). You know, I need to maintain my muscles ;)

Tonight I used a wok to wok (is this a verb?) the chicken, it's easy and fast. I added pepper, salt and spring onion to the dish and added chili flakes in the end for a little bit of a spicy taste.

Well.. bon appetit!

De Ysbreeker - Review

2011-09-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

We had one of those rare summer days this weekend and we decided to eat out. So, we went to De Ysbreeker in Amsterdam. It was so crowded! But we managed to get a seat outside in the lovely sun.

Although it was very busy, we did not feel like they weren't paying any attention to us. The drinks and food came at the right time.

I had the pumpkin soup and a paella with lobster, the lobster was very soft and juicy (not the dry one eww).

We didn't order a dessert as we went to Pisa IJs near Amsterdam Rai for a real gelato! I swear, these guys make the best gelato in the whole area (maybe even in the whole country), if you know any better, let me know!

Buddha's delight

2011-09-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

I do eat a lot of meat, but now and then, a vegetarian dish is not bad! Especially a dish like the buddha's delight.

Main ingredients are:

- Dried black mushrooms

- Dried bean curd skins

And a nice recipe can be found here. It even has it's own Wiki!

Home made Protein bars - no bake

2011-09-03T03:21:00.000-07:00

These home made protein bars do not have the chemical taste like the one you buy in stores!

Ingredients:

100 grams Rolled oats

100 grams Organic peanut butter

200 grams Whey protein

20 grams Honey

150 ml Skimmed milk

30 grams Raisins (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients together, melt the peanut butter with milk and honey in the microwave for a minute and mix with the dry ingredients.

Roll the dough into a ball. Place it in a lined baking tray or pan of about 9" x 9" (20cm x 20cm).

Flatten the dough evenly and let it set in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours. Cut into 10 bars.

Nutrition facts per bar (60 grams):

Protein: 20 grams

Carbs: 12 grams

Fat: 6,8 grams

Made by my lovely wife btw :p

Pavilion - Kuala Lumpur

2011-09-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Edited in Lightroom and Focalpoint2 for the tilt shift effect.

Pasta with mushroom cream sauce and real Parmigiano Reggiano

2011-09-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

A nice article about this famous "king of cheese" on Wiki, the Parmigiano-Reggiano, don't buy the fake stuff!

How I grill my steak juicy!

2011-08-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

I don't like my steak well done and dry. I like it when my steak is between medium and medium rare and this is how I grill my steak.

Note: it depends on the thinkness of the steak, mine was around 0,6 inch.

1. Heat your grill till it's really hot, this will prevent your steak from sticking to the grill.

2. Season your steak with (sea)salt and pepper on 1 side.

3. When the grill is ready, lay the steak with the seasoned side on the grill.

4. Wait for 2 minutes and season the other side, the steak will not stick to the grill.

5. Turn the steak and wait again for 2 minutes.

6. Turn the steak again and repeat the same for each side for 1 minute. (this is where you get those grill stripes)

This means a total of 6 minutes to grill your steak! If you want those grill stripes, lay your steak first horizontal and then vertical. Or 2 o clock and then 10 o clock.

Bonnn appetit!

Bak Kut Teh Restaurant - Kuala Lumpur

2011-08-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

Bak Kut Teh Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur! It literally means "meat bone tea". This was from our trip in April this year. You can also buy sachets of herbs to make bak kut teh yourself!

"Bak kut teh is a Chinese soup popularly served in Malaysia, Singapore, Mainland China, Taiwan and the Indonesian island of Riau (where there is a predominant Hoklo and Teochew community) and also, cities of neighbouring countries like Batam of Indonesia and Hat Yai of Thailand.

It consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic) for hours."

More info here.

Stir fry Tomato & Eggs

2011-08-29T09:57:00.001-07:00

Tonight's dinner is a authentic Chinese dish with stir fried eggs and tomato. You can't order this dish in restaurants, at least, I have never seen it. They do have "egg foo yong" at the take away, but this is totally different.

How to make it? It is quite simple, follow the below steps.

1. Take 4 eggs and 4 tomatoes

2. Stir the eggs in a bowl

3. Slice the tomatoes in quarter parts

4. Heat your wok or pan with some oil

5. Add the eggs and scramble

6. or check this pro on youtube :D It looks pretty good!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! = Mooncake time

2011-08-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Almost then, the Mid-Autumn Festival will be held on 12 September this year, but you can buy these mooncakes already in the stores! I always look forward to this time of the year, yes, for the mooncakes :D.

Info about Mid-Autumn Festival here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

And about mooncakes here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake

Kaiser roll with Old Amsterdam cheese

2011-08-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

My lunch for today is a fresh baked kaiser roll (from the bakery) with my favourite cheese, Old Amsterdam!

Remember to be generous with the cheese with 2 or 3 slices for a kaiser roll!

Some info about Old Amsterdam: www.oldamsterdam.nl

Bonnn appetit! (like Julia Child lol)

Juicy grilled chicken with rosemary

2011-08-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ok.. it is with rosemary, but the rosemary is for decoration :p

I slice my chicken in half so it's done quicker and I don't have to worry that it is still raw in the middle.

Also, never grill your chicken too long till it's so dry, you have to drink a whole river, but never-ever-ever eat raw chicken!

Vegetarian Sweet Summer Salad

2011-08-25T09:21:00.001-07:00

Tonight's dinner is a vegetarian salad sweetened with honey. I also included 2 soft boiled eggs and 1 avocado for the fat. :p

The (cake)plate I used with the bees on it is from Blond Amsterdam. They have really cute stuff, check it out here.

http://www.blond-amsterdam.nl

Ciel Bleu

2011-08-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

What an amazing service they have here! I have never experienced something like this and I'm not even talking about their food! Which is by the way beyond imagination. :)

The funny thing is, when they serve the dishes, they do it simultaneously at your table! Another memorable moment was when I was walking back from the rest room, the hostess was walking even faster to push the chair for me! :o Can you imagine?

This restaurant has 2 Michelin stars and I wouldn't be surprised if they receive their third very soon!

Bonnnnn appetit!

http://www.cielbleu.nl

Chocolate fondant recipe from BBC

2011-08-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

This chocolate fondant is super easy, if I can do it, you can! (I only try easy recipes.. :D)
Recipe belowww:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8168/chocolate-fondant

Wedding in Baarn

2011-07-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

A lovely wedding with a cute couple, beautiful high tea and location in Baarn.

Google+ also has very good photo viewing options, check out my profile in the link below for more weddings pics.

https://profiles.google.com/u/0/111851232417265550178

Focaccia!

2011-07-24T05:34:00.001-07:00

I haven't tried the bread yet... but it smells great! Check out the recipe in the link below, it is Dutch though... Let me know if you need a translation!

http://www.mijnreceptenboek.nl/recept/broodgerechten/focaccia-italiaans-brood-13175.html

Din Tai Fung

2011-06-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Din Tai Fung is famous for their xiaolongbao with soup in the bottom (only if it's made well!). They have 2 branches in Hong Kong and both of them has a Michelin star.

Needless to say, it was amazing!

Beach dog

2011-06-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

Meet my dog, Bobo! He recently went to the trimmer and got a summer look! lol

Sipadan Water Village

2011-05-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

Sipadan Water Village

2011-05-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

This must be my favourite shot from the whole vacation! It was completely dark when I took this and I used a tripod and no flash. I loveee the stars that came out so well!

Melaka, Malaysia

2011-04-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

Whoa, it's been a while! That's because I've been on vacation in Malaysia for 3 weeks! But the good thing is that I have a lot of photo's to blog the coming weeks :p

Let's start with Melaka! Some info about this town can be found here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca

Spring!

2011-03-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Lunch at Paardenburg

2011-03-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Had a great lunch at Paardenburg in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, what a beautiful location! I especially loveeee the bread with duck spread!

Check out their website here: http://www.brasseriepaardenburg.nl

Meanwhile in Vondelpark...

2011-03-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Shoot for project of Mitchell Diercks: Lente Gedicht!

2011-03-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine is working on a project called Lente Gedicht, which actually means Spring Poem in English. The idea was to take photos of the cardboards with spring sentences and people holding it. It was a very nice (first?) spring day in Amsterdam!

We (Mitchell & I) would like to thank everyone who helped us taking these shots!

This is the result:

His name is Colin and is really photogenic!

Refurbished

2011-03-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

I have been playing with my new layout & editing of some older images I have not shown before. And I believe this make the images a lot more fresher. Here is a preview, I think I am going to post my images like this in the future :)

What do you think?

Bruxelles

2011-03-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Found 2 extra images that I thought it was worth posting. I am also trying a new signature :)

Remember to click the image for a bigger view!

The streets of Bruxelles

2011-02-20T00:55:00.000-08:00

Competition: Show case of the year @ Fok!

2011-01-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

WOW I'm so excited! There is a photo competition in the forum of www.fok.nl and I'm through the first selection from the 108 show cases that was sent in last year.

Please vote for my show case "Wedding in Sardinië (Italië)" here:

http://forum.fok.nl/topic/1597965

Thank you! :)

Luxembourg

2011-01-25T13:36:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to Luxembourg in the weekend? The restaurants are so empty! Everyone is rushing to go home on Friday, back to their country (Belgium, Germany).

Some more info about Luxembourg here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg

You can see my hotel far in the back.

The breakfast in the hotel.

Wedding reception

2011-01-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

Rotterdam

2010-12-30T13:15:00.001-08:00

I was here for Christmas... My hometown where I was born.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays everybody!

Extreme snow

2010-12-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

Again we experienced extreme snow today! People left work earlier and still took hours to get home. I don't live so far from my work, so I could get home easily.

Here are some photo's from today's snow!

In a line

2010-12-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

I took this picture during a wedding reception and when one boy looked up, I took the shot. :)

What is this kitty doing?

2010-12-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

I was talking to my wife, when in the corner of my eye I saw this kitty standing up! I only had a second to take this shot and when I looked back on the LCD it was all black!

Thank god I shoot in RAW and this is the best I could come up with. :p

Yes! It's cold and snowing in the Netherlands!

2010-12-04T02:10:00.000-08:00

Snow is nice and all, but I really rather have sun! :p And it's just the beginning of December! More opportunities to take nice photo's I hope! huh? ;)

Wedding in the Netherlands

2010-12-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

Bricks Advocaten

2010-11-29T12:25:00.001-08:00

For this assignment I had to take pictures for the website of Bricks Advocaten (www.bricksadvocaten.nl). A little bit of details from the office to show the clients what it looks like. They are now choosing which pictures they would like to use.

These are my favourites.

Macarons!

2010-11-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite snacks from this summer, macarons. These little things come in different flavours and has a chewy texture.

More info about macarons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaron and check out www.toutpatisserie.nl where you can buy them!

Sardegna 3.0

2010-11-24T13:12:00.001-08:00

Tired of Sardegna yet? :p Here are some more photo's from the trip.

View from the apartment

The sunny Sunday walk

2010-11-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine wanted to have some pictures of his family, so we decided to make a little documentary of their usual Sunday walk :)

It was cold, but the light and sun was very nice! Don't forget to click on the photo's for a bigger view!

Canon FT QL 1966!

2010-11-20T13:29:00.000-08:00

This piece of history belongs to my father. It's the Canon FT QL from 1966. I think it will look nice in my interior :p

You can find more information about this camera here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_FT_QL

Something different than Sardegna

2010-11-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

Just to blog something different than only Sardegnaaa. Here's a picture of my nephew who was playing football with his little brother.

I'll blog more pictures from Sardegna later :p

A few more wedding pics from Sardegna

2010-11-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

I almost shot more than 1000 pictures in 3 days and here are a few more.

Wedding in Sardegna

2010-11-16T14:21:00.001-08:00

So, I decided to take some pictures for my sister's wedding and here are some of my favourites. I have not posted pictures of the wedding couple because of privacy reasons.

Sardegna

2010-11-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

My very very first blog. :) The above picture was from my short holiday last September in Sardegna, Italy, where my sister held her wedding.

Most of the pictures I blog are pictures from my daily life, so very random! All pictures are processed with Lightroom 3.

My equipment (more to come I hope): Canon 5DMarkII and a 50mm f1.2.