Mijn Man Martijn

Today I shall talk about the mysterious Martijn that I speak about so often (I know he's not REALLY mysterious but just play along, it's M week).  He's rather modest and gets embarassed if I brag too much about how marvelous he is, so I'll try to keep my mushy comments to a minimum!

Every now and then I get a comment or e-mail asking what sort of name Martijn is and how you're supposed to pronounce it.  It's a name Dutch people use to make non-native Dutch speakers feel like idiots.  Okay, that isn't entirely true, but unless you are Dutch or have had a tongue transplant from a Dutch person, you are more than likely going to have problems saying my husband's name.  I'm lucky that there wasn't a question on the marriage license application that said "Can you actually pronounce your soon-to-be-spouses name properly?"  It has taken years of practice and I still say it wrong half the time.  There is no English equivalent to how the "ij" is pronounced so I am going to let you listen to this nifty mp3 file of how Martijn says his name and his online nickname which is "Tijntje."  This is an older file and I think he has a far less pronounced Dutch accent when he speaks English now that I've been corrupting him with my American speech for the past 3 years!  Go ahead and click the "play" arrow on the embedded player below (if you're reading this in a reader you'll need to click through to the actual post... sorry). 

Moving on... Martijn is a rather musical fellow.  He plays the bass.  He can play the piano too but he'll usually tell you he can't do it well because he's too out of practice. 

His first car was a Subaru Mini Jumbo which he lovingly referred to as the "dinky toy."  If my legs weren't long to the point of being ridiculous we might still have that car!

I made him a new bathrobe a couple of years ago and here's him modeling it for all to see. 

He and Mr. Jummy are good mates.  Mr Jummy is kinda naughty sometimes but I think he learned all of his tricks from Martijn.

At work, he and his co-workers made an M&M sorting machine so here he is busy doing market research for his project.

Over the past few years we've had many misadventures.

There is a miniature Dutch city called Madurodam.  Here's Martijn in Madurodam.

Somewhere in Utah (I THINK Vernal) Martijn had a run in with a mammoth. 

Of course, living in The Netherlands, we've been to many mills.  You see lots of photos of the outside, but how many do you see of the inside?

I am hopeful that I din't manage to mortify mijn man (English: my husband) too much with this post! 

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I'm participating in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday! Click the link below to see what other marvelous magical things people have posted about.

Brie Stuffed Blackened Chicken

The Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge has made it's way to Robert Irvine. His show, Dinner: Impossible, looks like it's probably interesting but since I'm not awesome and within the borders of the US, I can't even watch the streams on Food Network! Lame.

Why yes that is the biggest chicken breast you've ever seen. We shared it because it was so massive!

Brie Stuffed Blackened Chicken
Courtesy Robert Irvine

Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 ounces chilled Brie cheese, divided into 6 wedges, skin-on
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
• Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut a 2 to 3-inch pocket in each chicken breast, and insert a wedge of Brie deep into each pocket and is covered with the top of the pocket.

In a large mixing bowl, add all the dried herbs and spices. Add the chicken and gently toss the in the mixture, coating evenly (keeping the cheese in the pocket). In a large skillet over high heat, add oil and sear the chicken on both sides until dark brown, but not burned, normally 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Put the skillet in the oven to bake until cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven to a cutting board and let rest for 3 to 4 minutes.

The Verdict: I was able to make this recipe exactly as written which doesn't always happen so I was quite pleased! We both liked it a lot and I've added it to my recipe file. I have access to absurdly cheap French cheeses here, but I think mozarella or even blue cheese would be good if you can't get your hands on brie!

De Vergeten Tuin

A few weeks ago the part of Eindhoven we live in had a bit of an “open house” that showcased some of the unique businesses and places in the area.  It was a neat thing to be able to go and explore some new places that we might not have otherwise seen. One of my new finds was a neat garden called De Vergeten Tuin which translates quite literally as “the forgotten garden.”  De Vergeten Tuin is a small bit of nature in an urban setting.  It’s smack dab in the heart of the city and I cycle past the area on a very regular basis, but I had NO idea that it was there!  I had Google make you this lovely little map so you can see!  If you look to the north and slightly to the east of the A you can see the railway station which is pretty close to the center point of Eindhoven.  The A indicates the garden.

For most of the 20th century the garden was an empty “green” space surrounded by homes.  Between 1959 and 1978 a factory that manufactured machine components took the space.  The factory was torn down and a field with a lot of debris and polluted ground was left behind.  Residents around the space started planting and maintaining the area.  In 2001 the city began plans to clean out the garden and there were rumblings that the surrounding houses would also be demolished.  The homeowners started an association to save the garden and the houses.  They visited many “urban gardens” throughout the country and drew up plans of what to do with the land.  In 2002 the demolitions were postponed and the plans for the garden were made a reality. The entrance for De Vergeten Tuin is between two houses on the Palingstraat.

You walk down a long hallway and then continue on the path into the garden.

There are three vijvers (ponds) in the garden. We went at the beginning of mating season so there were tons and tons of frogs all over!

When the ponds were being dug, a lot of building debris came out of the ground. Instead of throwing it away they built a wall.

The crevices and holes serve as overwintering shelter for the small animals like mice, toads and salamanders that live in the garden.

In addition to being a shelter, the wall is also a growing place for various types of moss and a wall plant that has snapdragon-esque flowers.

They made these bee houses for solitary bees and hung them in a sunny place of the garden.

I love this twisty gnarly tree.

I hope to go back when things green up a little bit more. It's a really lovely place! I love the detail that they put into everything there. Everything is done quite deliberately and for a purpose to keep the wildlife and plants in the best shape possible.

They're open on the first Sunday of the month from noon until 4 pm.

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Visit Unknown Mami for more Sundays in My City.

Looney L's

I am being lazy route this week and just making a list of L words. If I was really naughty I'd recycle my Elevator of DOOM post and retitle it Lift of DOOM since elevators are called lifts here. However, I don't want a lashing from the teacher for cheating!

I love lion monkeys. I'm pretty sure they'd try to eat my face off if I were to somehow kidnap one from the zoo, but I love them anyways.

This is the mating pair at Hogle Zoo in Utah. There are wee babies crawling on these two, but taking pictures through glass is crappy and you can't see them very well.

The Dutch word for spring is Lente. It's also called voorjaar, but that messes up my L groove so we're not going to discuss that. In Eindhoven there are landing strips of grass inbetween a lot of the roads. One of the first signs of lente is the massive amount of daffodils that start shooting up!

Next I shall show you a very old picture of my livingroom with it's shiny laminate floors. I ought to update some of these pictures, we've made some mad wild changes around here! Okay, maybe not MAD WILD changes, but there are some differences.

What L post would be complete without Las Vegas?

Lastly, a photo of my loyal lovable husband who is logging a geocache on the island of Texel.

I kept trying to work the word lackadaisical into this post because it's such a great word but gosh darnit I am enthusiastic about EVERYTHING and I couldn't make it fit anywhere but as a note down here as to why I couldn't make it work. So I guess I sorta succeeded? Maybe? Ehh....

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I'm participating in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday! Click the link below to see what other lovely things people have posted about.

Honey Mustard BBQ Chicken & Butter Bean Salad

I don't really know why so many people hate Rachael Ray. She can be a little obnoxious but she does have some mighty tasty recipes. I was a bit curious to see if I could actually accomplish a "30 Minute Meal" since I'm a bit of a tortoise when it comes to things in the kitchen. Mission accomplished!

Honey Mustard and Red Onion Barbecued Chicken
Courtesy Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, a couple of handfuls (A couple of handfuls? I would've ended up with like 3 times the recommended amount this way!)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup prepared honey mustard (recommended: Honey Cup brand) (I did 1/4 cup mustard and 1/4 cup honey)
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice, eyeball it
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, eyeball it
• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• Vegetable oil, for drizzling
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat grill pan or griddle over medium high heat (I cooked this in a skillet but I can see the merits of grilling it).

Pour 2 tablespoons vegetable oil into a small saucepan over moderate heat. Add red onions and saute 3 to 5 minutes. Add vinegar and reduce by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add brown sugar and cook 1 minute to incorporate. Whisk in broth and honey mustard, allspice and curry. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to lowest setting.

Coat chicken with a drizzle of oil and salt and pepper, to your taste. Place chicken on hot grill (or skillet of awesomeness) and cook 4 or 5 minutes, then turn. Baste chicken liberally with sauce and cook another 5 minutes. Turn once again and baste. Cook 2 or 3 minutes more to cook through and transfer chicken to a platter and serve.

*****

Butter Bean Salad
Courtesy Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

• 2 cans butter beans, rinsed and drained, 15 ounces each
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced (I used yellow because that's what I had!)
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/3 palm full
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Toss to coat beans and vegetables evenly in dressing.

*****

The Verdict: Four thumbs up! I liked that I didn't have to make a lot of crazy modifications to either of these recipes. The only thing I'd really change about the chicken is I'd possibly use less brown sugar or cut it out completely. The bean salad is easy and FAST and is even better the second day.

Menu Plan Monday- April 5, 2010

The White Bean & Turkey Stew is already made  so I KNOW we'll get to it this week.  The BBQ chicken I'll do for sure but the other two are a little up in the air depending on what's going on this week.  It's a "short" week since Martijn had a long weekend and he'll likely be gone for dinner another night this week... Thus the wimpy short menu plan!

White Bean & Turkey Stew

Honey Mustard & Red Onion BBQ Chicken & Butter Bean Salad- FNCCC recipe for this week.  Check back Wednesday to see how it was!

Brie Stuffed Chicken

Burritos

Happy Easter 2010

Happy Easter!