Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

Pytt i Panna is a Swedish one-pan dish made of meat, onions and potatoes - traditionally served with beetroot and a fried egg. It’s a classic leftover dish, and a great use for your leftover boiled potatoes. I used to have it a lot - a friend once served it to me on one of my visits to Sweden and I came to appreciate the hearty flavour combination - and the fact that this makes a great hangover meal. My local IKEA used to sell it in big bags in its frozen food section, which made it even more effortless than it already is. When one day my IKEA stopped selling it, I started making it from scratch myself. Ingredients: 240g potato, peeled and boiled and diced 2 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped medium-fine 200g smoked bacon, diced 2 small pre-boiled beetroot, sliced 2 eggs knob of butter or dash of olive oil Instructions: 1. If you’re particularly lazy like I was this evening, you’ll not only use pre-boiled beets, but pre-boiled potatoes. It saves you some time, but it’s n...

Sunday is brunch day - and this Sunday I’m having eggs. I’ve been eating an insane amount these last days, so I opted for a low carb, bread-free version today. Ingredients (serves 1): 1 avocado 2 eggs few slivers of smoked salmon  fresh dill and chives salt and freshly ground black pepper dash of olive oil  Instructions: 1. In a bowl, beat the eggs with some salt and pepper.  2. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan and add the eggs. When the outsides are starting to set, stir. Repeat this a few more times until the egg is nearly all cooked, then turn off heat.  3. Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed. Pour some scrambled egg on top of each half and the remaining egg on the plate beside them. Top with salmon and fresh chives and dill. 

Cherries!!! The season is beginning and fruit and vegetable shops are starting to fill up with them - red, shiny and irresistible. For those days when you - like me - cannot resist and are looking for something different to do with them than eat them raw (which pretty awesome in itself), try this recipe for a feel-good brunch. Or dessert. Or whatever :) This photo was taken a while back at a vegetable market in Timisoara, Romania. Look at me being happy about all those heaping piles of cherries... 🍒 Ingredients (serves 4): cherry compote 500g sweet ripe cherries 4 tbsp lemon juice 100ml orange juice 2 tbsp red wine 1 vanilla bean 70g sugar 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon crepe batter 125g flour 2 eggs 300ml milk 20g melted butter 1 tsp rum (optional) pinch of salt cream cheese filling 200g cream cheese 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 30g (1/4 cup) powdered sugar Instructions: 1. Start with the compôte. Stone (de-seed) the cherries and remove the stems. If you lik...

It’s almost Sunday, and I love my eggs on Sunday. And if you’re at all like me, you might find yourself in the kitchen tomorrow morning, eggs on the counter, wondering what to make. You might even think that perfect breakfast or brunch warrants an early trip to the supermarket. If that’s you and you need some inspiration, look no further because I’m sending you my recipe a day in advance - all the easier to enjoy tomorrow. Ingredients (serves 2): 3 medium-size eggs 60g spinach 60g mushrooms, cut into slices 120g asparagus, washed and ends trimmed. 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large shallot, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 cup milk salt and freshly grated black pepper handful grated cheese (optional) Need: an oven-proof skillet (preferably one with a non-stick coating) Instructions: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 1. In an oven-proof skillet, heat the oil and add the shallot. Fry for 1-2 minutes and add the spinach. Sauté for a cou...

Slow Sundays are for great brunch dishes - and since I recently learned how to poach an egg, I decided to go poached. Not a bad choice: this dish made my day before the clock even hit noon. The roast tomatoes are a lovely compliment to the avocado and egg. Ingredients: 2 very fresh eggs 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar handful cherry tomatoes 2 slices wholewheat bread 1 avocado juice of 1/2 lime a dash of tabasco sauce or sprinkling of chili flakes salt and freshly ground pepper to taste olive oil Instructions: Preheat your grill. 1. Place the tomatoes in an oven-proof dish and stick in the oven under the grill for about 15 minutes. 2. Brush some olive oil on the top and bottom of each slice of bread and place under the grill, removing when nice and crispy. 3. Mash together the avocado and lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Instead of tabasco, I stirred in some chili flakes. (Be careful not to add more lime juice or your avocado smash will get ...

‘White gold’ is the term lovingly given to white asparagus in this country - and they’re in season. The demand for them is so great that asparagus farmers in the vicinity of Amsterdam were forced to hire traffic guards over Easter weekend, just to keep some kind of order in the sheer number of customers coming their way. The difference between white asparagus and green ones, is that the white ones grow underground or covered from sunlight, whereas green ones grow above-ground and have a ‘grassier’ taste. Because I’ve always been more partial to the green ones, I decided it was time to see what all the fuss is about and go white.  Ingredients (serves 2): 500g white asparagus 3 eggs 10g parsley 100g butter pinch of nutmeg salt and freshly ground black pepper (Optional: long slice of leek to tie the asparagus together) Instructions: 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the asparagus using a vegetable peeler and cut off the hard ends off the stalks. Ad...

You know those things you think you just can’t do? For years I’ve been convinced I couldn’t poach an egg. I had tried and tried and tried again, and failed more times than I can remember. A darned shame too, because of all the ways eggs can be made poached is by far my favourite.  But today is King’s Day in the Netherlands - and with all outside festivities cancelled it was up to me to make of the day what I could. So I put on a pretty dress and decided to get over myself and make myself the rich and festive brunch I’d been craving: eggs benedict with smoked salmon and chives. Poached eggs and all. And this time they came out perfect. The lesson here: never convince yourself that you can’t do something.  Ingredients (serves 2): 80g smoked salmon 2 eggs (as fresh as possible - fresh eggs hold together better when poached) 2 slices of white bread 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp white wine vinegar sprinkle of fresh chives salt and freshly ground pepper to taste holl...

It’s Saturday, and it feels like a real Saturday. No ‘have-tos’, just loads and loads of time for myself. Sleeping in, wearing my pj’s half of the day, Netflix and comfort food. Starting off with this twist on an Ottolenghi recipe to satisfy my weekend brunch craving.  Ingredients (serves 1): 2/3 leek, chopped into 1/2 cm rings 70g kale (I used the cavolo nero variety), chopped 40g feta, broken into smallish (1 cm) pieces 1 tbsp lemon (I quartered my lemon and used about half of the quarter), pips removed & chopped, including the rind and skin) 2 large eggs 100mL vegetable stock dash of cumin powder 1 teaspoon za’atar 1 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil  salt and freshly ground black pepper Instructions:  1. Put the butter and half of the olive oil in a small skillet that you can cover with a lid. Melt the butter and when it starts to bubble, add the leek. Season lightly with salt, then sauté for a few minutes until the leek softens....

My body craved protein this morning, my soul wanted greens. Why not both, my mind thought. So both it was. Ingredients: 2 eggs 1 tablespoon milk handful arugula (rocket salad) 1/3 avocado, diced 1 teaspoon lemon juice olive oil dash of yellow curry powder pinch of salt Instructions: 1. Whisk together the eggs, milk and a pinch of salt. 2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small frying pan and add a dash of yellow curry powder, mixing them together. Then add the eggs. 3. Heat over medium heat for a couple of minutes until the bottom is set but the middle is still slightly runny. Flip over and heat for another minute. 4. Mix the arugula and diced avocado and sprinkle with olive oil and lemon juice. 5. Place the omelette on a plate and heap the arugula and avocado on top, in a little heap.

When I visited the Turkish store yesterday, I was looking for Israeli couscous (also known as pearl couscous). Instead, the shop owner gave me a package of tiny pearl-shaped pasta called acini di pepe. The shopkeeper convinced me that it was just the same, and that this was what his family used when they couldn’t find pearl couscous. That they were pretty much interchangeable. I was sceptical, but decided to trust him - and it turns out he’s pretty much right. They are very, very similar. The reason I was looking for pearl couscous, is because I had some merguez sausage and wanted to make this recipe from OhMyFoodness. Glad I did :) Ingredients (serves 2): 100g acini di pepe or Israeli (pearl) couscous 400g chopped tomatoes 1 purple onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon ras el hanout spices merguez sausage for 2 handful flat-leafed parsley 2 eggs Instructions: 1. Boil the acini di pepe or couscous according to the instructions on the package - 10...

When I was younger I didn’t appreciate it much, but spinach has become one of my favourite veggies. It’s packed with vitamins - K, A, C, B2, contains magnesium and iron - in short, a pretty good way to get a lot of the things your body needs. And there’s so many yummy ways to use it - in green smoothies, as soup, creamed, in pasta or risotto dishes... the list goes on. Or like this, as a base for your eggs, like I did this morning. Enjoy :) Ingredients: 150g spinach 1/2 leek, chopped 1 shallot, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 2 eggs 2 tbsp cream 1 tbsp butter olive oil pinch of salt thyme, lemon zest and chili flakes to taste Sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese Instructions (serves 1): 1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 2. Pour the olive oil and butter in a medium sized skillet, and add the leek and shallot. Fruit for about 5-6 minutes over low heat, until the leek is softened but not browned. 3. Add the garlic and spinach and sauté for another 3-4 minutes...

As the world around me is locking down, I’m looking for ways to stay sane. There’s the books I haven’t read, and the movies I haven’t seen. And then there’s food, and this blog. A little for you and a bit for myself, I’ll be doing my best to provide you all with some comfort food in the weeks to come. Like this quiche. Recipe (serves 2): 225g puff pastry (I used a 275g pack of Backini fresh puff pastry) 2 cocottes, mini quiche tins, or mini pie pans (mine were about 12 cm in diameter) 3 medium-size potatoes 1/2 leek 1 large shallot 2 large eggs 60ml cream gouda cheese, grated (I used about 20g but seriously, you don't need measurements for this. Just do it to taste) parmesan, grated (enough to cover the top of both cocottes) fresh oregano 15g bacon (Serrano ham is nice too) salt pepper Instructions: 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. 2. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices about 3mm thick. 3. Bring a big pot of hot salted water to...

From one of my housemates, who was Bulgarian, I learned that pretty much anything can be made in a clay pot. Bulgarians, he would say, use them all the time. Sausage, potato, vegetables - you name it. Why not, I thought, so I tried a vegetarian brunch version. It was so good I made it again the next day.