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Baked Macaroni & Cheese

22 October 2020

About Me

Welcome to my page! My name is Saffron, I'm a freelance photographer living in Amsterdam. I’m not a chef but a passionate cook and lover of all things food. With this site I'd like to share my passion and knowledge and maybe even inspire you to go on an adventurous food journey as well.

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Latest Posts

Nduja, White Bean & Tomato Stew with Lemon Gremolata Crumb Prawns

31 May 2023

Saucy Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu

29 May 2023

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Spring Vegetables & Leek, Dill, Dijon Mustard and Lemon Sauce

28 May 2023

Portuguese Caldo Verde

2 May 2023

Wild Garlic, Spinach & Feta Pie (Spanakopita)

2 May 2023

apinchofsaffron_amsterdam

Nduja, White Bean & Tomato Stew with Lemon Gremola

Nduja, White Bean & Tomato Stew with Lemon Gremolata Crumb Prawns

KAPOW! What a flavour burst, and the best thing, this little wonder is done under 20 minutes. Perfect for a busy weeknight but also perfect to wow your guests. Served with some crusty bread to soak up all the juices and you’ve got a winner.

I served it with gremolata prawns but it's also super tasty just as it is!

Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 350 g tomatoes cubed (or use cherry tomatoes)
- ± 90 g Nduja sausage (more or less to taste)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cans white beans, drained
- 100 ml cooking cream (replace with stock if you’d like it less rich)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (more to taste)
- 1 tsp sugar
- Good handle flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
- 400 g peeled and deveined prawns
- 1/2 cup (Panko) bread crumbs
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Lemon juice to taste
- Pepper & Salt to taste
- Bread to serve (optional)

Method
- In a heavy based pot heat the olive oil and add the garlic, onion, celery and a pinch of salt, sauté on medium heat until translucent and fragrant, ± 2-3 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and mix well to dissolve, sauté ± 2 minutes.
- Add the Nduja and mix until well incorporated.
- Pour in the white beans and mix to coat well with the sauce.
- Add the chicken stock, cream, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and sugar and let simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the bread crumbs, toast until starting to crisp up. Add the prawns, half of the parsley and the the lemon zest and stir fry, coating the prawns with the bread crumbs until just cooked through, ± 3 minutes.
- Season with pepper and salt and a squeeze of lemon, stir well and remove from the heat.
- Serve the stew with the gremolata prawns, slices of lemon on the side, the parsley sprinkled on top and some fresh crusty bread on the side.

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #nduja #quickrecipes #whitebeans #stew #lemon #prawns

Halloumi Salad with a Ginger, Honey & Chili Vinaig

Halloumi Salad with a Ginger, Honey & Chili Vinaigrette

The stars of this salad are of course the crispy and gooey halloumi and the tangy, sweet and spicy vinaigrette. You only need the recipes for these two, the rest can be adjusted with the salad ingredients of your choice.

My salad ingredients were: lamb’s lettuce (veldsla in Dutch), tomatoes, spring onions, crispy fried oyster mushrooms (because I had some leftover in the fridge), pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. Oooohweee a great combo of flavours. But as I said, the salad can be made with what ever you have lying around: spinach, lettuce, raw chicory, raw fennel, cucumber, red onion, peppers, pine nuts, pecans, whatever you feel like!

The Halloumi is simply pan fried in some olive oil until crispy on all sides. The vinaigrette is also a simple one, I start with smaller amounts of the ingredients and adjust along the way after tasting. I like to use a small blender which helps emulsify the dressing into a lovely creamy consistency.

To a small blander add the following ingredients:
- 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp vinegar of choice (I used apple cider vinegar, but you could also use rice vinegar, wine vinegar, regular vinegar, what ever you have lying around)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (you can even add some zest)
- Good pinch of coarse sea salt
- Freshly crushed black pepper

Blend everything until smooth and emulsified. Taste and adjust with any of the ingredients to get your desired flavour.

The Halloumi is homemade by @darikaasenhoning

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #salad #cranberries #dressing #vinaigrette #halloumi #healthy #healthyrecipes #vegetarian

Saucy Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu

Saucy Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Smoked Tofu

After a week of holidays, eating and drinking everything we want (and maybe even more), we were really looking forward to getting back on a healthier track. A vegetable stir fry is just that!

For this dish I used a mix of broccoli, shiitake and king oyster mushrooms in a lovely sauce full of Asian flavours (Soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, white pepper, garlic, ginger and chili’s. Yum!

We could have eaten it just like this but I love the addition of crispy fried tofu coated in the dark and rich sauce.

For the recipe see the link in my bio! Inspired by @recipe_tin

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #stirfry #tofu #healthyrecipes #healthyfood #vegetables #asianrecipes #chineserecipes

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Spring Vegetables & Le

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Spring Vegetables & Leek, Dill, Dijon Mustard and Lemon Sauce

Juicy chicken thighs, crispy skin, crunchy spring vegetables, fragrant dille and a refreshing yet rich sauce. Yum!

This dish has a few steps, so takes a bit of time (± 45 minutes total), but it’s all very simple to do, a great dish if you’re not in a rush to enjoy making while you’re drinking a glass of wine.

I adapted the original recipe is from @primal_gourmet , the potatoes were my addition, but you can also leave these out if you’re looking for a lighter dish. The spring veggies and the sauce will also be great with pan roasted salmon or cod, maybe even some crispy pancetta or what about a poached egg? So many options!

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #chicken #springrecipes #asparagus #healthyfood

Turkish Eggs (çılbır) Soft poached eggs in a g

Turkish Eggs (çılbır)

Soft poached eggs in a garlicky spicy yoghurt with mint (or dill), drizzled with smoked chili butter with crunchy bread to soak up all the goodness! A great little brunch idea for when you have some time in the weekend.

#çılbır #turkisheggs #eggs #poachedeggs #poachedegg #brunch #breakfast #homemade #homecooking #homechef #globaleats #homecooking #easyrecipes #weekendrecipes

Lentil Salad with Warm Smoked Salmon, Goats Cheese

Lentil Salad with Warm Smoked Salmon, Goats Cheese and a Poached Egg

For the ease I used canned lentils, but of course you can also prepare the lentils from scratch. To the lentils add fresh and crisp veggies of choice (I used spring onion, red pepper, cucumber and a sjalot) and dress with a red wine vinaigrette (olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, mustard, pepper and salt). Top off with a boiled, poached or fried egg, whatever you feel like! For extra saltiness and texture I added soft goats cheese and warm smoked salmon.

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homecooking #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #dinner #dinnertime #dinnerideas #dinnerathome #healthydinner #dinnerrecipes #salad

Portuguese Caldo Verde In other words potato kale

Portuguese Caldo Verde

In other words potato kale soup with chorizo. So many of our food adventures have been inspired by Anthony Bourdain, and this is one of them. We saw it come by in one of his cooking shows, explaining it’s pretty much his favourite soup. That just meant one thing: we had to try it!

Man, it didn’t disappoint! A thick stewy potato soup, filled with kale and seasoned with fried chorizo. What’s not to like?

We served it with amazing bread from @boulangerie_noe_nl wow, that stuff is nuts. We’ll definitely be back for more!

Recipe for the soup inspired by @leitesculinaria

The kale I harvested at @plukcsafruittuin , it's a mix of regular kale and Russian kale. So good!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #soup #portuguese #portuguesefood #kale #healthy #potatoes

Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry Did you know when ka

Chicken & Vegetable Stir-Fry

Did you know when kale blooms it has little yellow flowers that look exactly like rapeseed flowers? I had no idea! And they’re super tasty too!

I harvested vegetables for the first time last week at @plukcsafruittuin and we sure got an abundance of vegetables! I even needed to work on a week menu so I knew I would use it all.

Yesterday I made a yummy Chinese stir-fry. The recipe was inspired by @khinskitchen , it’s pretty much her recipe, with just the vegetables changed.

For the vegetables I used a mix of baby bok chow and kale (+ the flowers), both harvested at @plukcsafruittuin , oyster mushrooms, harvested from my home grown mushrooms from @rotterzwam and for the rest I still had spring onion, onions, garlic, chili, ginger and celery lying around. Yum!

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #vegetables #harvest #organicfarming #stirfry #chinesefood

Creamy Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup and Crispy Bacon

Creamy Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup and Crispy Bacon

Where is the summer?! Or spring at least…

Anyway, in the meantime I’m still making wintery warming soups. I used a nut & grain rice mix, but you can of course leave the rice out and just eat it with crunchy garlic bread ;-)

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #soup #mushroomsoup #mushroom #creamy

No Bake White Chocolate & Lime Cheesecake Tangy l

No Bake White Chocolate & Lime Cheesecake

Tangy lime, buttery crust, creamy cheesecake filling, if you like all these ingredients then this is a recipe for you!

The first time I made this cake was around 15 years ago, I didn’t really know how to cook yet, I had friends coming over for dinner and my friend @Jessikalynch sent me a link to this recipe. Over the years I’ve adjusted it to my own liking, no idea why it’s taken so long to post it. It’s scrumptious.

The first picture is with dramatic sunlight while I was setting up, the 2nd picture is with the same sunlight but from a different angle. What a difference a meter makes.

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #cheesecake #lime #nobakedessert #dessert #foodphotography

Greek Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Tzatziki Ok, ok

Greek Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Tzatziki

Ok, ok, the house still smelled like a Greek BBQ the next day, but it was sooo worth it! I love the smokey charred flavour of the lemony chicken gyros. It’s marinated for 30 minutes (longer even better) in a mix of lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, pepper and salt and then just simply grilled on hight heat until charred and yummy. Let rest for a few minutes in aluminium foil and you’ve got some amazing juicy chicken on your hands.

The secret to juice chicken thighs or breasts? Grill them whole and only slice them just before serving, this will keep the juices in the meat.

I served it on homemade flatbreads with some tzatziki, lettuce, tomato and thinly sliced onions.

Recipe inspired by the amazing @recipetineats

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #greekfood #chicken #gyros

Easy 3 Ingredient Flatbreads (with Wild Garlic But

Easy 3 Ingredient Flatbreads (with Wild Garlic Butter)

Light, fluffy and super east to make. These little flatbreads are a joy to make and even better to eat! I brushed them with melted wild garlic butter because I still have loads in the fridge, but just simply with olive oil and pepper & salt they’re a treat too!

Recipe inspired by @jamieoliver

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious

Sticky Garlic, Broccoli and Oyster Mushroom Noodle

Sticky Garlic, Broccoli and Oyster Mushroom Noodles

What a tasty and easy weeknight veggie dinner inspired by @anna_s_table, with just the right amount of tingling heat from the Szechuan peppers and chili oil, sweetness from the mirin and brown sugar, savoury notes from the oyster and soy sauce and of course loads of flavour from the sesame oil, fresh ginger and heaps of garlic. Oh and don’t forget the richness of the gooey egg!

Sometimes the tastiest dishes don’t really photograph that well but I wasn’t in the mood to keep playing with it, I was in the mood for eating it! I’ll see if I can get a better picture the next time, ‘cause this one is definitely a keeper!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #noodles #stirfry #vegetarian

Chicken Yakitori with Homemade Glaze I’ve been

Chicken Yakitori with Homemade Glaze

I’ve been a fan of Japanese food for as long as I remember, there’s just something about the flavours that are always in balance, true umami flavours. I love figuring out how to make sauces and marinades which taste authentic and this recipe for yakitori glaze from @justonecookbook hits the spot.

I grilled the chicken skewers in a grill pan to get them nice and charred, while glazing every few minutes, but you could also grill them in the oven.

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #dinner #dinnertime #dinnerideas #healthydinner #dinnerrecipes #japanesefood #yakitori #glazed

Wild Garlic, Spinach & Feta Pie Another great wa

Wild Garlic, Spinach & Feta Pie

Another great way to use wild garlic is in this classic Greek Spinach & Feta pie. All I did was replace about 1/3 of the spinach with wild garlic and it sure was tasty! Other ingredients were a ton of freshly grated nutmeg, fresh mint, lemon zest, chili flakes, eggs and puff pastry sprinkled with Nigella seeds. Wowie what a great dish!

I didn’t really have enough puff pastry in the freezer so I improvised a bit but I actually quite like how it turned out!

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #greekrecipes #vegetarianrecipes #wildgarlic #daslook #spanakopita #pie #homemade

Easy Lemon & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with Lemon Icin

Easy Lemon & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with Lemon Icing and Pistachio's

A super easy light and moist bundt cake, packed with lemony flavour. The poppy seeds and pistachios give just the right amount of crunch. A great make ahead cake and one with a wow factor as well! I’ve brought it to multiple occasions now and it’s always a hit!

The recipe is inspired by @michelle_alattefood

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #baking #cake #lemon #springrecipes #summerrecipes

Lemon Orzo with Asparagus, Bimi, Crispy Pancetta a

Lemon Orzo with Asparagus, Bimi, Crispy Pancetta and Crunchy Garlicky Bread Crumbs

This is one of those dishes that by just adjusting a few ingredients you can make it as seasonal as you want: Asparagus for spring, pumpkin for summer, mushrooms fro autumn and kale for winter, all of course served with crispy pancetta and crunch bread crumbs.

I always have a jar of breadcrumbs lying around, a perfect no-food-waste addition to your dishes. I love to fry it up in some olive oil, add some flavourings like garlic, chili, thyme, parsley whatever you have lying around and then use it on soups, salads, pasta’s. Yum!

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homechef #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #delicious #dinner #dinnertime #dinnerideas #healthydinner #dinnerrecipes #orzo #pasta #springrecipes

White Asparagus Pie with Warm Smoked Salmon More

White Asparagus Pie with Warm Smoked Salmon

More asparagus recipes! I love cooking white asparagus the classic way with boiled baby potatoes, parsley, ham and melted butter, but sometimes a new twist on an old classic is great as well.

The base is puff pastry, the sauce is crème fraîche with dill and parsley and the filling of course is white asparagus (blanched for 5 minutes) with soft boiled eggs and warm smoked salmon. Baked in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the base is nice and crisp (the salmon I only added the last 5 minutes). Welcome spring!

Recipe inspired by @uitpaulineskeuken

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #dinner #dinnertime #dinnerideas #healthydinner #dinnerrecipes #brunchideas #lunchideas #asparagus #springrecipes #seasonalrecipes #spring #plaattaart #onepotmeal #traybake #easterrecipes

Velvety White Asparagus Soup When cooking for a c

Velvety White Asparagus Soup

When cooking for a crowd for brunch, lunch, dinner or just a little get together I love serving little soup shooters to get the appetite going. These velvety white asparagus soup hit just the spot.

I love experimenting with ingredients but when seasonal ingredients are only around for a few months per year I always feel I need to start with the classics first. Hence this soup!

There are quick versions and there are long versions of this recipe. I chose for the long version, because we all know that’s always better for flavour!

Serve with your favourite topping like cooked ham, smoked salmon or trout, Dutch shrimps or crunchy croutons. Or just serve as is!

For the recipe see the link in my bio!

#easyrecipes #simplerecipes #homecooking #homecook #homemade #homemadefood #recipes #fromscratch #dinner #dinnertime #dinnerideas #healthydinner #dinnerrecipes #brunchideas #lunchideas #asparagus #springrecipes #seasonalrecipes #spring #plaattaart #onepotmeal #traybake #easterrecipes

Sticky Hoisin Baked Chicken & Broccoli

This isn’t burnt! It’s charred! There’s a huge difference, mainly in flavour.

The sugar in the hoison sauce blackens a bit under the grill, but it’s sooo tasty!

And come on, who doesn’t like a traybake. Just chuck all your ingredients on a baking tray and you pretty much don’t need to do anything else. Apart from maybe cooking some rice. A great easy weeknight or even een weekend recipe.

I marinated the chicken for 30 minutes in a mix of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, grated ginger and garlic and chili sauce. Then you just roast it at 200°C for 30 minutes. The last 10-12 minutes you add the broccoli to the same tray to roast and you’re good to go!

#traybake #easyrecipes #chicken #hoisin #homechef #homecooking #homecooked #onepotmeal #homerecipe #homechef

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