I am only calling this minestrone because I call virtually everything I eat with a spoon a minestrone. I got the inspiration for this recipe from a Croatian cookbook, and the flavour of barley immediately transferred me to my childhood, as my grandma used to cook barley quite often.
When we go to one of our favorite restaurants, Zarzo in Eindhoven, we always get some fudge with the coffee, so I thought I would try my hand at making it. Turns out, it is quite easy.
Easy, but potentially dangerous. I feel the need to say it here, as I have all sorts of crazy friends: you are working with sugar at high temperatures here, and you must always be vigilant. No children, pets, or distractions of any kind are allowed. Read the recipe, visualize the steps, and proceed with caution.
What happens when you add bicarbonate of soda to caramelised sugar? Magic! (Actually, chemistry, but let us not ruin the moment with technicalities.)
Sugar work is not one of my specialities, but with the boyfriend’s support, the sky is the limit, so we decided to give it a shot. The seed for the idea of making honeycomb was planted after watching a few episodes of BBC’s show Sweets Made Simple, with the sweetest couple you have ever seen presenting.
Honeycomb is wonderful served with some lactose-free home-made vanilla ice cream.
I am very proud of making this bread. It is a special sense of accomplishment to make something this delicious out of three ingredients: water, flour, and salt. But where does the yeast come from? It is all around us.
Creamy vegetable soups are like a hug from the inside. I like to keep things simple when I serve this soup for lunch, so I do not pass it through a sieve (ghasp!) and I do not add any cream. I do add a few pieces of crispy bacon on top and I do serve it with freshly baked sourdough bread.
Yum, yum, yum!
This recipe is as simple as they get. Take a can of condensed milk, submerge it in boiling water for 4 hours, and be amazed. The only critical part is that the can has to be fully submerged at all times, so you will have to babysit it and fill up the water from time to time.
I want to make you happy by baking you a cake. Because life tastes much better with butter.