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

It’s already that time of year for picknicks, and lunches beneath parasols, and soaking up the sun. The warmth has had me wanting cool foods to eat and gazpacho is a definite summer favourite. It's packed with healthy veggies, but still refreshing and light. Here's a lovely subtle watermelon version.  Ingredients: 400g fresh watermelon (preferably seedless), peeled 2 large roma tomatoes, cored 1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded 1/2 red bell pepper, core removed 1/4 red onion, peeled 2.5 tablespoons fresh mint 1.5 tablespoon olive oil 1.5 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon cracked fresh black pepper 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin 1 slice of white bread Garnish: a few finely chopped veggies. Instructions: 1. Take the bread and remove the crust. Run it under cold water until it is soaked, then squeeze the water out with your hands. 2. Take all the ingredients including the soaked bread and toss them in a blender. 3. Refrigerate for 3-...

You know those dishes you used to love as a child? This is a twist on an asparagus dish we used to eat when I was little. It graced our dinner table many-a-time, often on special occasions. I serve my asparagus in many different ways by now, but every now and again, I crave them just like this.  Ingredients (serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter): 14-16 asparagus spears 200g ham, thinly sliced  1 red bell pepper, finely chopped 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped 1 medium size onion, finely chopped 6 tbsp olive oil 5 tbsp balsamic vinegar  salt Instructions: 1. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and salt it slightly. Add the asparagus spears and boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and place the asparagus spears in a big bowl of icy cold water. 2. Wrap each asparagus spear in ham. 3. Pour the olive oil in a large skillet and add the onion. Fry for 2-3 minutes until glazed. Add the bell pepper and the balsamic vinegar and fry for 1-2 minut...

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...

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 &...

I've been holding out on posting this recipe for a while because whenever I make them, I forget to write down the quantities - it's more of an "a little of this, a little of that" approach to cooking. I got back into stuffed bell peppers while visiting my parents in Mexico City over Christmas last year - we've had them often over the years, mostly because they're good but also because they're a very easy (and, cutting excepted, relatively fuss-free) starter to large dinner parties. Because they really are that convenient - this is pretty effortless as far as cooking goes - I made about ten of them for the goodbye lunch I threw when I left Mexico last January. It was my first attempt at cooking for fourteen people, and I'm proud to say it didn't go too badly. Planning was a big factor, and the great thing about these (like many other recipes I like to include on my list for dinner parties) is that you can make them ahead. And you probably should, ...

Ok, maybe 'healthy' is overselling it a little, but at least this version contains nearly all the food groups and definitely has more veggies than the average. I like to tell myself that makes a difference. Macaroni - with its fair share of cheese - has been in my family as far back as I can remember, but my mother knows better. She first made it as a student, when pasta was far from common at Dutch dinner tables. The instructions told her to prepare each of the ingredients, one by one. She followed them to the letter and served them all separately .   Luckily for us, her macaroni has come a way since then. When I left home, I took my mother's recipe with me and added a touch of my own here and there. The current version is a comfort food I'm happy to make in over-sized quantities and eat as leftovers for days. Ingredients (serves 2 with leftovers): 1.5 cups macaroni  1 red bell pepper 1 green bell pepper 1/2 leek 2 medium-size onions 150g h...

I followed an Indonesian cooking course a while back and with my fellow class mates we made one from scratch - not the kind I was used to eating when I dined out with my parents as a kid, but a lavish version with only one dish I'd ever tried before. Ajam ketjap (chicken), shrimps boemboe bali,  gado gado (vegetable mix with peanut sauce), kerrie telor (curried eggs), nasi kuning (a gorgeous yellow coconut flavoured rice) and sambal goreng tempeh kering (spicy tempeh).

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.

From 2008-2015, I had a cooking blog - this blog. It started out small and slow - I travelled a lot back then and putting my favourite recipes online was a far lighter way of carrying them around than dragging physical cookbooks. I didn’t take pictures and was still teaching myself how to cook - much of it by way of experimentation. I was looking for a way to keep track of what I’d made, and lo and behold - Ilse’s Kitchen was born. Years later, I began working for an NGO called foodwatch. When food became work, the blog became complicated and I took it offline. But I work elsewhere now, and food is a hobby again. And the blog has been on my mind - a lot. So after giving it some thought, and then some more, I decided to put it back up. The principle will be very much the same as it was when I first started out - I’ll do this mostly for me. But while I’ve taken a few courses here and there, I’m no master chef - so if I can do it, anyone can. I’m happy to pass on what I’ve learned and...