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

Sometimes you see a recipe that makes your mouth water just thinking about it. I had that with this dish, which of course meant I had to try to make some to see if it was as good as it sounded. I played with the quantities and ingredients a little bit - the original recipe was a little too sour for my liking, but this was just right. Recipe (serves 2): 2 salmon filets 250mL full-fat coconut milk juice of 1 lime, plus a few slices to garnish 1 tablespoon lime zest 1 medium shallot, chopped 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 1 inch lemon grass, skin removed and inner core grated 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp corn starch (if you prefer a runnier coconut milk-texture rather than a thicker sauce, leave this out) 1 tsp sugar salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste fresh cilantro and oregano leaves, chopped. *Serve with brown or white rice. Instructions: 1. Pad the salmon filets dry with paper towel, and season both sides with salt and pepper. 2. Heat a ski...

I couldn’t believe it: two milestones coincide today. This post is both the 100th recipe on this blog, and at the same time, the 60th recipe in the 60 days/60 recipes lockdown sequence I started March 16th. I’m a little humbled, and incredibly grateful. This project has taught me so much - I’m getting better at flavour combinations, starting to understand herbs and learning to cook with ingredients I never even thought I liked before. I can now poach an egg cook a salmon steak to perfection. I have been eating better than ever.  All these are very reasons to continue this experiment a little while longer. So I’ve set the next mark at 90/90 - 90 days/90 recipes. But first, today. And today, of course, calls for an amazing recipe. This salmon steak, perfectly tender in a beautiful creamy sauce, was absolutely irresistible. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Ingredients: 2 salmon filets, skin removed 1 shallot, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced ...

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...

I’m usually pretty bad at estimating how much food I need. With 5 different supermarkets within a couple of hundred metres from here, I can always head out and pick something up if I get it wrong - so the best bet is to err on the lower end. But then there’s these strange times - when a trip to the supermarket means exposing myself to masses of people hamstering away. So as usual I’m still getting it wrong, but this time I’m erring on the upper side of the guesstimate. Not good - because if I don’t pay attention that means food waste - and we all know how bad that is for the planet. Today I spotted a couple of bell peppers in the fridge that were nearing the end of their lifespan, which gave me good reason to look for a bell pepper recipe I hadn’t tried before. This is what I came across. Ingredients (serves 2): 2 salmon filets 4 pointed sweet red bell peppers 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbsp fresh basil 2 tbsp parmesan 200mL cream Red pepper flakes Olive oil Salt &...

Eat healthy and you’ve got a better chance of staying healthy - and that’s especially important now that we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and on corona-lockdown. So I got down and dirty with a big bag of spinach and made some spinach salmon soup. Ingredients (serves 4): 3 tbsp butter 1 medium-size onion 2 shallots 3 cloves garlic 300g fresh, washed spinach 200mL cream 1L vegetable bouillon 4 salmon steaks (mine had the skin on one side) Instructions: 1. Chop the onions and shallots and glaze in butter. Sauté for 4-5 minutes. 2. Finely chop the garlic and add to the onions/shallots. Sauté for another minute or 2, then add the spinach and stir until it reduces in size. 3. Add the vegetable bouillon and boil for 15 minutes. 4. Finely mix with a hand blender or blender. 5. Add the cream and stir through. Reheat the soup but do not boil 6. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and carefully place the salmon steaks in the pan, skin side down. Sauté for 5 ...

My go-to easy meals are almost always pastas - I can think of few feel-good meals that are easier and less time consuming to make. What I love most is that you can add just about anything you like. It doesn’t matter if you stray from the traditional, just combine the flavours that make your heart sing.  Here’s a lovely smoked salmon and cherry tomato penne.  Ingredients (serves 2): 120g penne (use 50-60g per person for dried pasta, or 90g per person if you use fresh pasta) 100g smoked salmon 250g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 small red onion 1 clove garlic 250 mL cream Dash of white wine 1 tbsp Olive oil Salt, pepper and parmesan to taste Instructions: 1. Chop the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes. 2. Press the garlic over the onion mixture and add the cherry tomatoes. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes, then add a dash of white wine. 3. Sauté for a 2-3 minutes more, then add the cream. Heat, stir and add almost all the salmon (reserve a tiny bit for the en...