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

The day I made this soup is the day I learned to recognise the flavour of star anise in food. I’d known it in licorice, but had never realised what it did to hearty dishes. Star anise, I learned, is one of the five ingredients in Chinese five spice powder - (along with cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns and fennel) - the Chinese have been using it for ages. And I never would have guessed it, but it does something quite amazing.  Ingredients (serves 2): 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 large shallots, minced 1 bunch scallions, chopped. Set the green aside for the topping.  4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced 2 whole star anise 1300 ml chicken broth 2 tablespoon soy sauce 240g mushrooms, sliced 1/2 head of large bok choy, roughly chopped 120g rice noodles 4-6 quail eggs (or 2 regular eggs), medium-soft boiled garnish: red pepper flakes or sesame seeds Instructions: 1. Take the olive oil and heat in a medium sized soup pan, then add the shallots and cook for 3-4...

Radishes are a vegetable I’d always filed directly in the ‘resistance corner’ of my brain. I think, maybe, because I associated it with bitterness. When I read that cooking - sautéing, roasting or stir frying - softens the taste, I thought it worth a try. And what do you know, it’s true - stir fried radish tastes nothing like fresh radish and is actually quite refreshing. This dish makes a lovely side dish - not just surprising, but also and easy. Serves 2-4: 2 bunches radish both ends cut off, then halved 2 shallots, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon ginger, grated 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon honey handful fresh cilantro, chopped Instructions: 1. Pour the sesame oil in a wok pan and add the radish, shallots, ginger and garlic. Stir fry over high heat for 3 minutes. 2. Add the soy sauce and honey and stir fry for another minute. 3. Serve warm topped with fresh cilantro.

Ahhh, the joys of meatballs in tomato sauce. They serve them in just about a dozen different countries - as albondigas in Spain, polpetta al sugo in Italy, or just good old meatballs for the native English speakers out there. And yes, the meatball is a common phenomenon here in the Netherlands too. My grandma’s generation served them the size of a small fist (gehaktballen) with potatoes and gravy, or smaller (gehaktballetjes) in vegetable soups. And yet, they never really had me convinced. I wasn't a meatball kinda gal. Meatballs, to me, seemed boring. Until one day, when a friend came over and made some meatballs with a packet of minced meat and a handfull of leftovers from the fridge and the pantry. The sauce was amazing. So were the balls - succulent, aromatic, mmmm. I became an instant convert. Of course, I had to try a repeat. With the pantry fully stocked with nuts for the breakfast bars I made earlier, I decided go a little nuts myself and toss some in. It goes with...

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...

Tuna tartare, the story holds, was invented in Los Angeles in 1983. Chef Shigefume Tachibe is believed to be the first who came up with the recipe, putting it on the menu at Chaya Brasserie that year as a Japanese-French fusion dish. Chef Shigefume did a good thing that day. In a nutshell, tuna tartare (like its meaty cousin) is basically raw tuna steak, chopped up with a few spices tossed in. It's a wonderfully simplistic dish, and making or breaking it all boils down to the ingredients you use. If you've got good products there's very little that can go wrong here. I found this a lovely way to serve tuna as a starter without heading straight in the sushi direction (and much easier to combine with other courses). Ingredients (serves 4): (time: 15 minutes) Tuna Tartare 350g sushi-grade tuna 1 tsp dijon mustard* 6 capers, very finely chopped 1 tsp chives, finely chopped 1 shallot, finely chopped 2 avocados, diced 3 yellow tomatoes** zest of 1/2 lemon 1 ...