Tal Maes

Sauerkraut Casserole with Smoked Chicken

The world looks unrealistically bright, and soft, almost without color. Voices are smothered, cars seem to disappear, it feels quiet and serene outside. When there’s snow I’m always caught by the beauty of winter light. Winter, snow and sauerkraut…they belong together. Yesterday, I made this casserole with celeriac root and potato mash, leeks, red bell […] Read more…

Roasted Winter Roots with Walnut pesto

I’m always a little surprised how much weather and food are connected for me. It’s going to be a cold week here in the Netherlands, with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius, so I’m feeling like eating stews, soups, sauerkraut with smoked sausages, and so on. Comforting stuff. Who wants a salad for dinner right now? […] Read more…

Moroccan Carrot Soup with lamb & freekeh

This is a perfect soup for Sundays! It’s an old recipe of mine that was inspired by a recipe of a Moroccan friend. She and her family always prepare this soup, also known as Harira, during the Ramadan. Well, I know it’s not the Ramadan, but on grayish days like today in The Hague, it’s […] Read more…

Kedgeree (the Dutch way)

What do I eat? I mean what do I really eat? What do I cook for my family after a day of work? Several years ago my eldest daughter Rosa had a blog about our daily food, called Rosa 365 Eats (it’s still in the air, just click on the link). For a year she […] Read more…

Garlic Soup from the Dutch Garlic King

It’s true, we have a garlic king in The Hague! His name is Ton Oosterhout. Together with his wife Veronica he owns a teeny weeny shop in his former bike shed, called Vers uit de Gers (Fresh from the Gers). It’s full with imported purple garlic from Cadours, France, not far from where the couple […] Read more…

Home-Smoked Sockeye Salmon with Beet Salad

Happy New Year! Eat thoughtfully, cook and live joyfully! This was our festive but simple New Year’s Day lunch: home-smoked wild Sockeye Salmon with a roasted beet-celery salad on top of a creamy hummus. It looks like a lengthy recipe, but in fact it consists of a couple of small make-ahead recipes, so no stress […] Read more…

Samosas with Sweet Potato, Apple and Mint Raita

December! The time of year when I long for food with lots of spices to keep me warm, like these vegetarian Indian Samosas. I created this recipe for the Dutch culinary magazine Elle Eten (Elle Food) a while ago and it has been one of my favorite dishes ever since. Serve it with some panfried spinach […] Read more…

Taco Sunday

A book on how to spend your Sunday! How cool is that! Petra de Hamer, the co-founder of this site (see About for more info), is now an independent bookmaker and asked me to share my favorite Sunday recipes. Such a great assignment! Besides beautiful stories, road and city trips the book features my recipes for a […] Read more…

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

This is not my butcher. This is my husband preparing one of his favorite subs: Philly Cheesesteak. We had our first Philly Cheesesteak while living in the US and have been making it ever since. I know that people can be skeptical when it comes to preparing a good cheesesteak sandwich. They have discussions about […] Read more…

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