Farro salad with balsamic pearl onions, spinach and goat cheese | in my Red Kitchen

Farro salad with balsamic pearl onions

Farro salad with balsamic pearl onions, spinach and goat cheese | in my Red Kitchen

All my life I have been eating pearl onions, or ‘silver onions’ as we call them in the Netherlands. But this is the first time I’ve hold them in my hands in their own raw shape.

You see, in the Netherlands these pearl onions are pickled and sold in cans. I love anything pickled! So when the lovely people at Frieda’s sent me a bag of pearl onions I wanted to pickle them, just like the ones I used to snack on in the Netherlands.

Chinese-style stir-fried rice cakes with napa cabbage

Chinese-style stir-fried rice cakes with napa cabbage | in my Red Kitchen I have no idea why I haven’t posted a recipe with stir-fried rice cakes before since I make it at least once a month.

And for a food bloggers that’s quite often! You see, as a food blogger you are always trying out new recipes and cooking something you haven’t made before so you can post it on your blog. Believe me, that’s really a down side of blogging πŸ™

Curried potato salad - perfect side dish for your barbecue party! | in my Red Kitchen

Curried potato salad

Curried potato salad - perfect side dish for your barbecue party! | in my Red Kitchen

Can somebody please explain why the Americans celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, which is an Irish holiday?

My sister is visiting and I explained it to her as ‘the Americans just like holidays, so they adapted this Irish holiday’.
But please tell me if I’m correct and besides that… WhΓ‘t are we actually celebrating? I know about the green color, the clovers and those leprechauns. But why? And how?

Traditional Dutch Apple Pie for my birthday! | in my Red Kitchen

Dutch apple pie for my Birthday!

Traditional Dutch Apple Pie for my birthday! | in my Red Kitchen

– Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Appeltaart

Yes! It’s my birthday today! I’m getting old you guys, 32 already! I used to get really excited, weeks before my birthday. But this year everything feels different, I really have to remind myself it’s my birthday and I don’t really care about it. Of course, it’s a good opportuniy to eat cake for breakfast,

Spicy tuna and cucumber salad | in my Red Kitchen

Spicy tuna with cucumber salad

Spicy tuna and cucumber salad | in my Red Kitchen Every Wednesday morning I go on a hike, that’s my main workout during the week. Up and down the Santa Monica Mountains in 1,5 hour. Bam! 1200 calories burned! Every other weekend P and I also do a hike and twice a week I do some short workout routines on YouTube.

I tried to do a walk three times a week in the neighborhood and although I liked it it was so time consuming! Since I started hiking on my own I look forward to Wednesdays. Ha yes! I’m looking forward to Hump Day πŸ˜‰ I’ll bet I’m the only one!

My hike is just great, it has beautiful views over the ocean, a paved path, lots of history marks and some great wildlife. Blue Jays, rabbits, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, lizards and even pheasants!
But apparantly there is also other wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains that I don’t see. Rattlesnakes, coyotes and even mountain lions!

Bulgogi beef bowl, a quick weeknight meal! | in my Red Kitchen

Food Truck Tuesday: Bulgogi Beef Bowl

Bulgogi beef bowl, a quick weeknight meal! | in my Red Kitchen – Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Bulgogi beef bowl

I never really had Korean food until 3 (or so) years ago when friends took us to a Korean BBQ restaurant in London. There aren’t many Korean people in the Netherlands, let alone Korean restaurants. I’m so sorry for all the Dutchies that are missing out on all that delicious food! πŸ˜‰

Of course, you can easily make it at home but picking up Korean food at the food truck is so much better πŸ˜‰ Uhm ok I shouldn’t have said that

Photoblog: Chinese Food Tour in the San Gabriel Valley

Chengdu Taste
Chengdu Taste

Hey guys, I’m trying something new here, I’m photoblogging today!
Last week I met up with my Meetup friends for a Regional Chinese Food Tour in the San Gabriel Valley, hosted by Clarissa Wei. Clarissa is a LA-based writer specialized in Chinese food and culture and she took us to 5 different restaurants.

Today I’ll be sharing the pictures of all the food we ate at this tour!

We started the tour with Sichuan food at Chengdu Taste, a restaurant that has been open for only 5 months now but is really succesful. There was a long line by the time we left!
Sichuan food means spicy food, so brace yourself!

Chengdu-Taste-2 Mung bean jelly noodle with chili sauce. Whoa! That’s a good way to wake up and open up your taste buds!

Porcini bitterballen - typical Dutch croquettes | in my Red Kitchen

Bitterballen – Dutch croquettes with porcini

Porcini bitterballen - typical Dutch croquettes | in my Red Kitchen

According to Wikipedia a croquette is a: “small breadcrumbed fried food roll containing, usually as main ingredients, mashed potatoes and/or ground meat (veal, beef, chicken, or turkey), shellfish, fish, cheese, vegetables and mixed with bΓ©chamel or brown sauce, and soaked white bread, egg, onion, spices and herbs, wine, milk, beer or any of the combination thereof, sometimes with a filling, e.g. sauteed onions or mushrooms, boiled eggs (Scotch eggs). The croquette is usually shaped into a cylinder, disk or oval shape and then deep-fried. The croquette (from the French croquer, “to crunch”) gained worldwide popularity, both as a delicacy and as a fast food.”

According to me a croquette is just insanely delicious πŸ˜‰

This is my mom's recipe for Chicken noodle soup with leeks - but I made a slow cooker version! | in my Red Kitchen

Mom’s chicken noodle soup with leeks (slow cooker version)

This is my mom's recipe for Chicken noodle soup with leeks - but I made a slow cooker version! | in my Red Kitchen

Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Kippensoep

‘They’ are promising us rain later this week. And not the rain we had a few times now since our arrival in Los Angeles, no we are talking about the Dutch kind of rain. One to two inches (2.5 – 5 cm), that’s a lot! Especially for LA πŸ˜‰

I have the feeling the whole city is preparing to cope with the rain and I’m also planning ahead. I just don’t want to leave the house if it isn’t necessary. It’s not because I’m made of sugar, come on, I grew up in the Netherlands where it always rains a lot!

Grilled goat cheese sandwich with bacon and dates - it's a scrumptious sandwich! | in my Red Kitchen

Grilled goat cheese sandwich with bacon and dates

Grilled goat cheese sandwich with bacon and dates - it's a scrumptious sandwich! | in my Red Kitchen

My husband doesn’t like goat cheese. Poor me! I know, i know… I shouldn’t complain because I can cook something with goat cheese for myself and give him a substitute.
And sometimes I do that, but it is more like a salad or pasta topped with goat cheese, or this sweet potato and kale mash. I give him bacon or prosciutto and I get to eat all the goat cheese, yay!