Lindengracht Markt - Amsterdam

I love coming across local street markets when I'm out of town. It's so much fun seeing what the vendors are selling and what the locals are buying. The Lindengracht Markt is in the Jordaan, just a short walk from the Noordermarkt on Lindengracht. This very busy market, that is open only on Saturdays, had all sorts of items up for sale. You could get a fresh fruit smoothie, which both Dan and I did or choose from hundreds of other items. Fish, meat, fruit, veggies, shoes, clothes, toys, flowers.... the list just goes on. If you make it to Amsterdam, check this place out for some local flavor.

Le Perron Noordermarkt - Amsterdam

 

 

One of my favorite things to do in a European city is shopping in the markets. In the western canal section of the Jordann, there is the small, but very active, Noordermarkt. Here you can find cheese, bread, cakes, vegetables, dairy products, honey, clothing, hand made hats, books and more. We came across a bakery called Le Perron, that was selling their breads as fast as they came out of the ovens. I saw this beautiful black olive baguette that had my name written all over it. We purchased it and when the friendly clerk gave me the bag, the bread was still warm. Needless to say, I ate 1/2 of the bread before we made it to the next market. The rest would have to be eaten later.

 

The Noordermarkt is located just a short walk from the Anne Frank House along the Prinsengracht at 1095 MV Amsterdam.

 



Perfect Roast Beef w/ Tomato Gravy

This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver's website, www.jamieoliver.com. I changed it up just a bit, but pretty much followed the recipe to a tee. Jamie's my favorite, so I don't mess around too much with his recipes. Anyway, I made this meal last night from ingredients that I bought at Kirkgate Market Leeds.



Perfect Roast Beef

• 1 kg quality topside of beef
• 1 medium onion        
• 2 carrots     
• 1 red chilli
• 3 bay leaves       
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 small bunch fresh thyme        
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 pint cream sherry

To prepare your beef:
Take your beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/ gas 9. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled.

Pile all the veg, garlic and herbs into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the beef with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper and fresh thyme leaves, rubbing it all over the meat. Place the beef on top of the vegetables and add the sherry to pan.

To cook your beef:
Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook for 1 hour for medium beef. If you prefer it medium-rare, take it out 5 to 10 minutes earlier. For well done, leave it in for another 10 to 15 minutes.

When the beef is cooked to your liking, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the beef to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and put aside while you make your gravy. Slice the beef thinly for best results.

Tomato Gravy

1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup cream sherry
2 Tbsp. English mustard (I used Colemans)
Juices from beef dish

Add all the ingredients in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer 10 minutes. Pour over sliced beef.

Gluhwein

Christmas is so different in the UK compared to the USA. It seems to come a little earlier, but not as commercial. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving so Christmas just seems to loom larger and quicker here. They turn on the lights earlier and they have these wonderful German markets and other types of fairs that just lend a more celebratory atmosphere to the holiday, as opposed to the rush to the mall and all. One of the great things from the German markets is Gluhwein. Gluhwein is pretty much mulled wine or as I like to say hot sangria. One of my favorites was a cherry flavored gluwein that I bought in Manchester. I came up with this recipe and I think it's pretty close. Cheers!
                
Gluwein

3/4 cup sugar    

3/4 cup orange juice                

1 cinnamon stick                      

 

1  orange, cut in 1/2, juice reserved              

10 whole cloves                      

1 (750 ml) bottle red wine   

1 cup cherry brandy                     

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer.
2. Cut the orange in half, and squeeze the juice into the simmering water. Push the cloves into the outside of the orange peel, and place peel in the simmering water. Continue simmering for 30 minutes, until thick and syrupy.
3. Pour in the wine and brandy, and heat until steaming but not simmering.
4. Serve hot in mugs or glasses that have been preheated in warm water.

Manchester UK Christmas Markets

 

 

Christmas is a big deal in the UK. They have been advertising Christmas meals in the restaurants since we’ve been here and selling Christmas items almost as early. Here in Leeds, the German Christmas street market opened the 1^st weekend of this month. In Manchester, they waited until last weekend. We just happened to plan our weekend there to coincide with the opening.

They have German, French and local vendor markets set up. They all are within walking distance of one another, sometimes just flowing into each other. They have built wonderful wooden structures selling everything from ornaments to Gluhwein or mulled wine. Of course there are also tasty brats to eat as well as candy, chocolates and cheese and even gluten–free options. One of my favorite things were the still warm from the oven coconut macaroons. There were thousands of people walking through and spending lots of money. Looks like a tradition that should get started in Kansas City.

 

Here is a link to the cities Christmas  Market website: www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500241/christmas_markets

 

 





Manchester UK Street Food

Of all the cities we have visited on our journey, I think Manchester has been my favorite. The people here are friendlier, the architecture is incredible and the food scene is vibrant. Manchester proper, has a population of about 400,000 people. The metro area, though, is comprised of about 2.7 million people, making it one of the largest metro areas in the United Kingdom. This past weekend the Christmas markets opened and I believe about half of those 2.7 million were in town. We had a blast! Between the Christmas markets, the street markets and all the restaurant choices, there was no shortage of dining options.

As we walked through the Manchester Street Food stalls, we were amazed at the choices of food. We had to stop and share an ostrich burger, because we had never tried one before and they were an award winning stall. The burger was grilled to perfection and topped with Jack Daniels onions, sweet chili & garlic mayo and wild rocket. The flavors were perfect together and the burger was a fine, messy meal!

In an area called The Avenue there were multiple food trucks serving wood-fired pizza, BBQ chicken, tacos and adult beverages. There was a wonderful large tee pee, called the Curious Tee Pee, that had a large central fire, a large bar and what looked like some really good frilled foods. There were local artists with booths set up selling art, textiles and food. There was even a wonderful tower slide for kids and adults as well as an open air ice rink with other pop up bars surrounding it.

 

 

 

If I had a choice of where to live in England, I would chose Manchester. The city had a Midwest feel with a large city approach to life.

Dining Out in Paris

Dining out in Paris can be very daunting unless you know French or are with others that do. Because our friend Kyaw is such a good cook, we only had to worry about eating out for lunch and both he and Jeff were with us. On Friday afternoon we ate a late lunch before going to the grocery store at Paul. Paul is a bakery/sandwich place that serves fast, fresh and wholesome food. This is the same type of food you find all over Paris and in Italy. Unfortunately you get mostly unhealthy fast food in the states. I realize there are exceptions, but wouldn’t it be nice to find a place like Paul on every corner as opposed to McDonald's or Burger King? Paul is a chain in Paris and the sandwiches were very good. I had a tasty Caprese on olive bread, it was so good.

 

 

 

 

Saturday we dined at the Marche des Enfants Rouges with Jeff, Kyaw, Michael and Celine. After our horrifying crepe maker viewing it was nice to sit at an umbrella covered table at a little French Cafe. We shared it for a while with another couple because sitting was at a premium. The food was very good and the company was awesome. I had a meal that consisted of a sausage, mashed potatoes and a salad with a really good French brown beer. Dan and Celine had an incredible buckwheat pasta risotto. Both Michael and Kyaw ordered the venison roast, which looked wonderful, even though Celine referred to it as Bambi’s mother. Jeff had a special plate that consisted of sardines, onion soup, fennel and some other things I do not remember.

I’m not sure of the café’s name, it may be on that chalkboard, but not 100% sure.

 

 



 

 

 

 

Our final lunch was a quick crepe ordered from a window in Montmarte. Ham and cheese just seems to taste better when wrapped in a light crepe.