Christmas on the Amsterdamsestraatweg

I ran a poll on Instagram: Team Sint or Team Christmas. The answer was clear. Most people really are Team Christmas. Christmas was never really my favourite time of year. I hate gourmetten (the Dutch tabletop grill dinner), and I found forced cosiness terrible. What I did always love was Christmas Eve. Once the dads had wrapped everything up at the business, we would quickly head into town to buy a few presents. Whereas the mums gave us pedagogically sound, educational computer games, perfume, pyjamas and that sort of thing, from the dads we got expensive presents we would never have got from our mums. After buying the presents we always went out for dinner at a good Italian with a view of the church. My mum, and my aunt too, didn't get much joy out of cooking. Above all, I wasn't keen on meat, and that's what we ate anyway. We had a typical traditional Christmas.

Contents

• I love cooking
• Course 1
• A perfect Christmas (table)
• Drinks beforehand and during the courses
• Not in the mood for stress?
• Update with extra Christmas recipes on request
• Course 1
• Course 2

I love cooking

However small the kitchen, I love cooking elaborate meals. On our boat we have a kitchen of 1 metre, and even there I'd rather cook something elaborate. But at home we have a really big kitchen. It truly is the most important place in our house. On Gé's and my third date we went to Hanos. My friends still laugh their heads off about that. For me, the kitchen is the most important thing in a house. Our sofa is as good as new. Visitors never sit there. But our dining table really is the heart of the home. It's no coincidence our office has a massive kitchen in the middle. When we came to live on the Bremstraat, I was pleasantly surprised. What great shops there are on the Amsterdamsestraatweg for making a delicious dinner. You can even buy the ingredients from your Ottolenghi cookbook here. I love it!

Want to make a great Christmas dinner, from the most beautiful table styling to the best wine and ingredients? You can find it all on the Amsterdamsestraatweg. I've put together a Christmas dinner for you, recipes included, with lovely ingredients from the Amsterdamsestraatweg.

Course 1

The starter is a luxurious cod with Nobu's famous marinade. Nobu hotels have beautiful restaurants all over the world. Their cuisine is Asian with a touch of fusion. I love the recipes from this cookbook. But I always found it hard to track down all the ingredients. Until I came across Amazing Oriental. They really do have the most exotic ingredients.

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 100 ml saké (you can buy this at Amazing Oriental)
• 100 ml mirin (you can buy this at Amazing Oriental)
• 300 grams white miso paste (you can buy this at Amazing Oriental)
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• Cod, 440 grams in total (buy this on Wednesdays at the fish stall at the market by the Plantage, or buy a frozen version)
• 1 spring onion

Method:

1. For the marinade, bring the saké and mirin to the boil.
2. Boil for 20 seconds to let the alcohol evaporate.
3. Turn the heat down low and add the miso paste. Stir with a wooden spoon.
4. Turn the heat back up once the miso has dissolved. Add the sugar and keep stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
5. Keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Take the pan off the heat and let the marinade cool to room temperature.
6. Pat the fish dry and place it in a dish.
7. Pour the prepared marinade over the fish.
8. Cover the dish with cling film and leave the fish to marinate in the fridge for two to three days.
9. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and heat a griddle pan.
10. Pat the pieces of fish dry and sear them in the hot griddle pan until one side starts to brown.
11. Bake the fish in the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes.
12. Serve the cooked fish with a little of the leftover marinade and the sliced spring onion.

In the Nobu cookbook the dish does look a lot prettier. But we can't have everything. I still need to work on those skills a bit.

Course 2

The main course. I'm not a huge meat lover. I usually go for fish or vegetarian. But on the Amsterdamsestraatweg we really do have the best butcher. I absolutely love the grillworst (grilled sausage) from Slagerij van Es. Jorgos from Oli Mazi even called it the best-kept secret of the Amsterdamsestraatweg. That said, I do like small amounts of raw or lightly seared meat. It does have to be good quality, though.

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 480 grams beef tenderloin steak or round steak
• sesame seeds (what I always love is the mix of white and black sesame seeds with wasabi-flavoured seeds and seaweed, which you can buy at Amazing Oriental)
• spring onions
• Ponzu (you can buy this at Amazing Oriental)

Method:

1. Make sure the steak is at room temperature. Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper so it doesn't stew in the pan later on.
2. Heat a knob of butter or a little oil in a frying pan until it is really hot. Note: it's fine if the pan gives off a little smoke.
3. Place the meat in the hot pan and sear the steak on both sides. Because of the high temperature, you only need about half a minute per side. Make sure the meat gets a light brown colour for extra flavour.
4. Take the meat out of the pan and put it on a plate under aluminium foil. Let the meat rest so the juices are absorbed back into it, which keeps it tender and flavourful.
5. Cut the steak against the grain into thin slices with a sharp knife.
6. Spread the thin slices of meat over a plate
7. Scatter the spring onions over the meat with the ponzu sauce and the sesame seeds

Course 3

The main course. I love vegetarian food, and we have more and more vegetarians and vegans among us too. Everyone I serve this little dish to absolutely loves it. It really has the texture of draadjesvlees (Dutch slow-braised pulled beef). The recipe comes from the cookbook by Soenil, the Michelin-starred chef of the Lindenhof, but I've adapted it slightly. I add the Zwolle stew spices from that other star chef from Zwolle. At Christmas I wouldn't serve the stew with rice, but with a purée of parsnip and celeriac instead.

Ingredients for 4 people:

Everything is available at Amazing Oriental, but also at Albert Heijn and Plus:

• 1 large pointed cabbage (I always buy two bags of pre-cut at Albert Heijn)
• 1 stalk of lemongrass (sereh) – 2 is fine too if, like me, you're a big fan of lemongrass!
• 3 lime leaves
• ½ red chilli
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cm galangal
• 2 cm ginger
• 400 ml coconut milk + 100 ml water
• 70 ml ketjap manis
• 30 ml soy sauce
• 1 heaped tsp sambal manis
• 1 teaspoon of Zwolse stoofkruiden (Zwolle stew spices) from De Librije (sold at Albert Heijn)

Method:

1. Halve the pointed cabbage and then cut it into thin strips. Or be lazy like me and buy pre-cut pointed cabbage.
2. Heat a splash of oil or a knob of butter in a deep, heavy-based pan. Fry the sliced cabbage over a low heat for 20 minutes. Keep turning it until it is completely soft.
3. Cut the base off the lemongrass, crush it with a knife and tie it in a knot. Cut the red chilli into thin rings, and the galangal and ginger into very thin slices. I always give it a quick blitz with the hand blender into a smooth sauce.
4. Add the lemongrass, red chilli, galangal, ginger, garlic, lime leaves and the Zwolle stew spices to the pan. Fry everything over a high heat for about 4 minutes.
5. Pour the coconut milk into the pan and add 100 ml water. Put a lid on the pan (not fully closed) and let the vegetarian pointed-cabbage rendang reduce over a low heat for 1.5 hours. Check now and then and add a splash of extra water if it threatens to get too dry.
6. Season the rendang with pepper, salt, ketjap, soy sauce and sambal.
7. Turn the heat up slightly and reduce the rendang for another 10-15 minutes until it reaches the thickness you want.

Course 4:

Dessert. I'd always rather have cheese. But for many people a sweet dessert really completes the meal. It's a Greek dessert with a small Asian twist. And where do you buy the best Greek yoghurt? At Rigakis, of course. Our Amsterdamsestraatweg is blessed with so many Greek spots.

Ingredients for 4 people.

• 0.5 litre thick Greek yoghurt (buy this at Rigakis)
• 3 stem ginger balls (buy these at Amazing Oriental or the supermarket)
• 100 grams white chocolate (you can buy real Utrecht chocolate at Familie van Rijk, or at the supermarket)
• 50 grams chopped walnuts (buy these at EkoPlaza)
• 50 ml Greek honey (buy this at Rigakis)
• 6 whole walnuts to garnish (buy these at EkoPlaza)

Method:

1. Put the Greek yoghurt in a bowl.
2. First cut the ginger balls into thin slices, then into strips and finally into cubes, and add to the yoghurt.
3. Break the white chocolate bar in two. Cut thin shavings from the white chocolate. Melt the white chocolate au bain-marie and fold it through the yoghurt.
4. Pick out whole walnuts for the garnish. Finely chop about 50 grams of the walnuts. Add the chopped walnuts to the yoghurt. Stir all the ingredients together well.
5. Cover the bowl with foil. Put the yoghurt in the fridge for a little while. Whip the yoghurt with the mixer.
6. Divide the whipped yoghurt between four small glasses or bowls, and garnish with a little honey and a whole walnut.

Fancy a ready-made, sickly sweet dessert? Then take a look at Sultan or Al Malek Sweet. You'll find loads of different super-sweet treats there.

A perfect Christmas (table)

Nothing beats styling a beautiful Christmas table. On our Amsterdamsestraatweg we have two really lovely shops for styling your Christmas table perfectly. For that, head to &Meer and Winkel vol Winkeltjes. And you're guaranteed to find presents for under the tree here too. I often buy a few cheap plates at Action myself, to serve little dishes nicely. For pretty baubles you'll always find something at Hema. At Christmas I always like to put some greenery on the table. In small vases, but also a few branches. We think Fronita is a good and affordable florist on the Amsterdamsestraatweg. Right now they have lots of eucalyptus and red berries. That gives your Christmas table a chic look. I often tuck a few pine cones in between. You can buy those at Action. The finishing touch is the little Christmas tree candles from &Meer.

Want to know the etiquette for laying the table? Read it here:

1. Start with the tablecloth. Choose a plain colour or an eye-catching print. Make sure it doesn't hang more than 20 cm over the edge of the table.
2. Place the plates about 2.5 cm from the edge of the table. Use different plates if needed, from large to small. The bread plate with butter knife goes on the left.
3. Lay the cutlery from the outside in. Forks on the left, knives and spoons on the right. The sharp edge of the knife points inwards. Dessert cutlery can go horizontally above the plate.
4. Place the glasses to the top right of the plate in the order they'll be used. The water glass sits furthest to the left.
5. Fold the napkins into a fun shape, such as a fan or a little Christmas tree. A playful knot or a napkin ring with a small sprig adds extra flair.
6. Add accessories for an extra touch. Think candlesticks, a bowl as a centrepiece, a vase, tealight holders and decorative items. Natural elements such as branches with berries, eucalyptus and dried flowers can also be used.
7. Consider place cards for a personal touch for each guest. Make them by hand or write them in calligraphy to match the style of the table.

Prefer to keep it simple? Then pop into Action or Hema for pretty placemats, with glitter, for example.

Drinks beforehand and during the courses

I know everyone thinks all we do at Gusto Cava is drink. Haha, we do like to celebrate our successes. But I haven't had any alcohol for just over two months. At Christmas I'll have just had an operation and I think I still won't be drinking then. Even so, I can really enjoy good wine. Starting with a good bubbly and ending with a good cognac. I love it. The bubbles and wine you get from us or drink at our office actually all come from Familie van Rijk. In a blind tasting, the cheapest bubbles from Familie van Rijk came out best in our test. Make the most of that. The off-licence (Slijterij) in Zuilen is supposed to be very good too. These people can give you good advice and have special bottles of your favourite drink. We have our own beer shop at the start of the Amsterdamsestraatweg, for Greek wine you need to go to Rigakis, and for saké, the Amsterdamsestraatweg too. Did you know we even have a Polish supermarket? All along the Amsterdamsestraatweg you can get good advice on matching alcoholic drinks. But if, like me, you don't want to drink alcohol, you can of course go for 0.0 beer or bubbles, or enjoy tasty alcohol-free drinks. I love Gimber. They sell it at Familie van Rijk and at EkoPlaza. That way you still have a lovely cocktail, just without the alcohol.

Want a cheeseboard as dessert? I can imagine. I love cheese. Then the market on Wednesdays is the place to go. But you can also grab one of the delicious cheeses off the shelf at Familie van Rijk. They have lovely matching jams and various syrups. That really completes your board. Something else I really love is the sheep's cheese with fig from Rigakis. Something different for a change.

Love olives? Then you'll find lots of different kinds at the Tanger market. You'll also find a whole shelf of nuts at Familie van Rijk.

Not in the mood for stress?

Don't feel like cooking? Don't feel like laying a festive table? We get it. You can join the table on Christmas Day and Boxing Day at Oli Mazi. At Eviva you can do this on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Moos has time to welcome you for the Christmas dish on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. The Food Club hasn't announced its opening hours yet, and unfortunately ’t Dikkertje is closed.

Hopefully you've been inspired to do your Christmas shopping on the Amsterdamsestraatweg. Let's cherish what we have here. Would you like to live near the Amsterdamsestraatweg? Then take a look at our listings. Want to sell your home? Lovely, we'll tell viewers all the ins and outs of this sparkling neighbourhood.

Update with extra Christmas recipes on request

I ran a poll on our Instagram about what you'd like to see more of. Funnily enough, you all wanted extra Christmas recipes. I'm not one to make a fuss, so here are a few extra Christmas recipes.

I've always loved starters. I'd rather eat several small starters than just a main course. The previous recipes were Asian. But I'm also a huge fan of Italian food myself. So this will be a menu with an Italian touch.

Course 1

This really is a super, super, super simple little dish. But very tasty. And it costs next to nothing, too.

Ingredients for 4 people.

• 1 pack of beetroot, 500 grams, organic
• 4 slices of goat's cheese
• 4 tablespoons of good balsamic vinegar (you can buy this at Familie van Rijk, for example) I'm a fan of the fig balsamic from Oil & Vinegar.
• 1 handful of rocket
• 50 grams toasted pine nuts

Method:

1. Slice the beetroot very thinly (I always slice it in the Magimix)
2. Spread the slices of beetroot over the plates like a carpaccio
3. Crumble a slice of goat's cheese per plate and spread it over the beetroot
4. Toast the pine nuts in the frying pan and scatter them over the plates
5. Put some rocket on the plates
6. Drizzle some good balsamic over the plates

Course 2

I always love little nourishing soups in between courses. Preferably in a small glass, so you still get a few vegetables in.

Ingredients for 4 people.

• 1 parsnip
• 1 celeriac
• 1 courgette
• 1 punnet of mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar
• 1 vegetable stock cube (I always buy these at EkoPlaza)
• 10 grams butter
• 1 clove of garlic
• 750 ml water
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon Italian herbs

Method:

1. Peel the parsnip and the celeriac
2. Cut the celeriac, parsnip and courgette into cubes
3. Bring the water to the boil (or fill the pan with water from the Quooker)
4. Add the vegetables and the stock cube to the water
5. Let it boil until soft. This usually takes about 20 minutes
6. Cut the mushrooms into quarters
7. Fry the mushrooms in the pan with a little butter, then add the garlic and the balsamic.
8. I always like to add some thyme to this as well.
9. Once the vegetables are soft, blend them into a smooth soup and add the cream cheese. I always check whether I need to pour off some water. I'm super sloppy about this. So I always do everything by feel. The soup shouldn't get too thin.
10. Ladle the soup into bowls or glasses and garnish with the mushrooms

Course 3

I really love stewed beef. I once made this recipe for Christmas. Unfortunately I dropped it, and we only had half of this super tasty lasagne left. These days I make it often and make sure everyone has their own little oven dish. I bought these oven dishes at Action. It's important to use a good casserole pan. We have one from Le Creuset and one from Albert Heijn. It also makes a lovely item to have on the hob when you're selling your home.

Ingredients for 4 people.

• 1 kg beef chuck (sukade) (I always buy this at slagerij Blankesteijn or Slagerij van Es); the supermarket is fine too. You can also use riblappen (braising rib steak), which are a bit cheaper but really not as tasty.
• 2 winter carrots
• 1 courgette
• 1 punnet of mushrooms
• 400 grams chopped tomatoes
• 200 grams pumpkin cubes
• 1 beef stock cube (I always buy these at EkoPlaza)
• 1 small tin of tomato purée (the ones from Aldi really are the very tastiest)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 750 ml water
• 350 millilitres red wine (I always call this cooking wine and use up a leftover; mixing different ones is fine)
• 3 tablespoons Italian herbs
• 1 bag of grated cheese
• 1 pack of lasagne sheets (I find the yellow lentil sheets from EkoPlaza the tastiest and the best for my tummy)
• 20 grams butter
• 5 cloves
• 1 bay leaf

Method:

1. Cut the beef chuck into cubes of approx. 5 cm
2. Put the butter and the garlic in the pan and brown the beef over a high heat.
3. Pour the red wine over the seared beef. Let the red wine evaporate and crumble in the stock cube
4. Pour on a little more boiling water.
5. Cut the winter carrots and the courgette and fry them along with the meat in the pan
6. Each time, let the water evaporate and then add more water again. You may need a bit more water. Use as much water as needed.
7. Once the carrot is soft, add the mushrooms too. You can add them whole. I always cut them into quarters.
8. Add the pumpkin cubes
9. Add the tomato purée and the chopped tomatoes. Passata is fine too. Whatever you like best.
10. Add the cloves, the bay leaf and the Italian herbs. I always like to use fresh Italian herbs and let them cook along with it.
11. Keep adding water until the meat falls apart completely. Put it on a low heat and put the lid on. It needs about 5 hours in total.
12. Once all the liquid has finally cooked out of the sauce and only a meat and vegetable sauce is left, the sauce is ready. It really is pulled beef. If you want a slightly fuller sauce, you can also add two tins of chopped tomatoes.
13. Grease the oven dish, spread the meat sauce over the bottom, cover with lasagne sheets and repeat until the sauce is used up.
14. Sprinkle grated cheese over the lasagne, or replace it with mozzarella.
15. The lasagne needs 30 minutes at 180 degrees in a fan oven

Course 4 – vegetarian

I also love a vegetarian semi-lasagne. It's pretty budget-friendly and really, really tasty. It's a kind of open ravioli, or as I call it myself, lazy ravioli.

Ingredients for 4 people.

• 800 grams pumpkin cubes
• 200 grams organic spinach
• 4 rounds/slices of goat's cheese
• 1 pack of fresh lasagne sheets
• 1 tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar
• 1 punnet of mushrooms
• 1 clove of garlic
• 70 grams butter
• 50 grams sage
• 400 millilitres water
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 80 grams shaved Parmesan

Method:

1. Boil the pumpkin cubes in the water until soft and add the stock cube
2. Cut the mushrooms into quarters
3. Fry the mushrooms with the garlic in the butter and add a little balsamic
4. Keep adding a little spinach at a time, until the whole bag is in and has wilted.
5. Let it cook until soft. This usually takes about 20 minutes
6. Purée the pumpkin and add the goat's cheese
7. Fold the spinach and mushrooms through the pumpkin purée
8. Cut the fresh lasagne sheets in half so you get squares
9. Briefly boil the lasagne sheets
10. Melt the butter in a small pan and add the sage
11. Lift the lasagne sheets out of the water with a slotted spoon
12. Place a lasagne sheet on the plate
13. Spread the vegetable purée over the middle
14. Place an extra lasagne sheet on top and repeat if you like
15. Pour the sage butter over the open ravioli
16. And grate the Parmesan over the top

Course 5

I love tiramisu. Really, I love it, and Gé even more.

Ingredients for 4 people.

• 200 ml espresso
• 50 ml Caramel Sea Salt fudge liqueur (Familie van Rijk)
• 1 pack of ladyfingers
• 4 egg yolks
• 110 g sugar
• 500 g mascarpone, at room temperature
• 3 egg whites, a pinch of salt
• Cocoa powder (I always buy this at EkoPlaza)

Method:

1. Mix 200 ml espresso with 50 ml Caramel Sea Salt fudge liqueur.
2. Briefly dip the ladyfingers in the espresso and liqueur mixture and cover the bottom of an (oven) dish of about 25×18 cm.
3. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with half the sugar until nice and creamy (about 5 minutes).
4. Add the mascarpone and mix until smooth and combined.
5. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, adding the remaining sugar spoonful by spoonful.
6. Gently fold the stiffly whisked egg white through the mascarpone mixture until you have a smooth cream.
7. Spread half the tiramisu mixture over the ladyfingers in the dish and smooth it out.
8. Repeat with a new layer of dipped ladyfingers and the remaining tiramisu mixture.
9. Put the tiramisu in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set.
10. Before serving, dust the tiramisu generously with cocoa powder.

Enjoy! And are you looking for a home with a bigger dining room so you can host all your guests, or a home with a bigger kitchen? We'll find the perfect Christmas-dinner-proof home for you.