Restaurant Review: The Seafood Bar

Restaurant Review: 

 

The Seafood Bar - Amsterdam

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, my husband and I took a trip to Amsterdam for his birthday. After living in Poland for a year, we desperately wanted something we couldn't get here - which is seafood. My husband and I have been to Amsterdam quite a few times and have never been impressed with the food. So for my husbands birthday I knew I wanted to find not only a restaurant with good food, but that also had good seafood.

I ended up researching seafood restaurants online and found The Seafood Bar. It had  high reviews on Yelp and was only a 20 minute walk from our apartment (it is probably a 10 minute walk from the tourist center of the city). It is in a quiet residential neighborhood, so it is definitely more of a "locals" restaurant. I really recommend making a reservation for this restaurant because it is consistently busy during the weekend.If you don't make a reservation though, don't worry. They will put you on a list and ask you to come back in about  30 minutes. There was a bar a few blocks down from the restaurant that my husband and I went to while we waited.

The host and the waitstaff were extremely pleasant and worked to get us a table as quickly as possible. When you walk in the first thing you notice is the raw oyster bar where the chef's are opening tons of raw oysters to serve to the tables. If you are lucky enough to sit in the back, you will also notice the fresh seafood they have on display. The atmosphere is definitely beachy-casual. I would expect to see a place like this in California or Florida.

The Seafood bar has an amazing selection of french oysters. You can get them in orders of a half dozen, dozen, or the 16 platter. My husband and I, being avid lovers of oysters, got the 16 platter which had samples of each type of oysters they had. The waiter was sure to explain to us where each oyster was found and how the taste would be different from the others.

For our entrees I got the "Fruits de mer" platter which was a wonderful combination of shell fish and other "fruits of the sea". This is for one person - but could have easily filled up my husband and I. It was some of the most fresh and delicious seafood I have ever tasted. My husband had the Plateau Seafood bar which included smoked eel, shrimp, house crab salad, and smoked salmon. He really enjoyed his as well.

Our entire experience here was wonderful and it was definitely the best seafood I've had while we've lived in Europe. We recommended this restaurant to some friends who are staying in Amsterdam and they have already been twice! So if you ever travel to Amsterdam, you should definitely try out this restaurant!

Greek Night!

I think the most shocking thing about this summer is how incredibly busy I have become. With the move, vacation, and just general stuff to do I havent had much time to blog OR cook. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not complaining - I love being busy. But I do feel like I've been slacking on my blog, to which I apologize for.

This past weekend, My husband and I took a wonderful trip to Paris and Amsterdam. Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Paris?! The food! The Wine! The sights! Ah, it was wonderful. I am so glad that we went. But with the amazing, RICH, food - I  knew I had to cook in a lot this week to make up for the giant calorie consumption we just had. So last night, I decided to make Chicken Gyros and a Greek Salad.

SO GOOD.


So here is the recipe. I really hope you enjoy it as much as my husband and I did!

Grilled Chicken Gyros 

Credit: Tablespoon.com

Ingredients

1

teaspoon garlic, minced

3

tablespoons lemon juice

2

teaspoons white wine vinegar

2

tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2

tablespoons 0% plain Greek yogurt

Salt

and pepper to taste

1

pound boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders

1

cup 0% plain Greek yogurt

1

medium cucumber, peeled

1

teaspoon garlic, minced

1

teaspoon white wine vinegar

Salt

and pepper

Squeeze

of lemon

Directions

• Chicken Marinade: in a medium bowl, combine garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk together until mixed well.
• Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Tzatziki Sauce: using a micro-plane, grate cucumber into several paper towels. Squeeze remaining liquid from shredded cucumber.

Combine drained cucumber, yogurt, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I recommend an hour.

• Grill chicken over medium heat, about 5 minutes per side.
• Once chicken is cooked, assemble gyros using warm flat bread, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and Tzatziki sauce. Serve immediately.  

 

The Ultimate Greek Salad Recipe

 

 

 

Credit: Greek.Food.Com

Ingredients:

Servings:

6

Dressing

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (Mediterranean is best)

Salad

• 1 head lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces ((I use Romaine)
• 3 large plum tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped (the long, thin, almost seedless ones)
• 1 medium red onion, cut into thin rings and soaked for 10 minutes in a small bowl of ice water to make it less sharp
• 1 small green pepper, cut into thin rings
• 3/4 cup kalamata olive

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese 

 

Directions:

1. 1
   Whisk dressing ingredients together until blended.
2. 2
   Season to taste.
3. 3
   Drain onion from ice water and pat dry with paper towels.
4. 4
   Combine all salad ingredients, except cheese, in large bowl.
5. 5
   Toss with dressing.
6. 6
   Sprinkle cheese over and serve.

 

Recipes: Roasted Whole Chicken with Veggies and Tuscan Chicken Skillet

So - first off, sorry for the mini hiatus. My husband and I moved two weeks ago, and we are just now hooked up to the internet. To be fair - the internet company threatened it would take over 40 days (gotta love the Polish efficiency!), but after harassing them for a few days - they miraculously showed up at our door.

The weird thing is that we are still getting letters that are saying the internet won't be turned on for another month. I think these guys are way confused.

Anyway - that is mainly the reason why I was gone. It's hard to run a blog when you don't have a connection! Plus - between the movie, 4th of July, and just being plain lazy I haven't actually been cooking that much, and what I have been cooking hasn't been earth shattering enough to post about.

But never fear! That is about to change! For starters - I need to lose some weight. I finally weighed myself after a month and a half back in Texas followed by two months of just not giving a shit and found out that I have gained A LOT.

So yeah - I basically need to lose a 3 year old before Christmas (We have a very important ski trip that I need to fit into my ski pants for), and a big part of that will be due to me cooking in a whole lot more than I am now. It also means that I will be posting more scale friendly recipes. Don't worry, I will try my best to not get all preachy, and I also promise you I won't "fad" out. You'll enjoy this trip with me, I promise.


Anyway, lets get to the recipes, shall we?


Roasted Whole Chicken with Veggies

This Recipe  is very basic, but very good. I got it from my sister years ago and it is perfect for Sunday dinner or when you don't want to cook for the next few days. It makes a TON of leftovers if you are a family of two (like my husband and I are).

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
1 can of beer
1 lemon
3 stalks of celery
2 carrots
baby red potatoes
3 cloves of garlic
Salt/Pepper (or Season All seasoning - that is what I use)
Butter

Instructions
Pre-heat your oven to 350 F
Cover the entire chicken in butter - this helps keep the seasoning on and also gives it a nice roast.
Put the chicken in a Roasting pan.
Slice the lemon in half - and shove one half of the lemon in the chicken.
Chop up celery, carrots, potatoes, and garlic. Place around the chicken (you can even shove some up in the chicken - it gives it a really nice flavor).
Pour the beer over the chicken and veggies.
Season chicken and veggies with salt/pepper liberally.
Put in oven and cook uncovered for about 3 hours (or until chicken is cooked through).


Tuscan Chicken Skillet

Credit: The Wonderlust Kitchen

Find the blog post about it here.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 lb. chicken breast tenderloins
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. oregano
• ½ tsp. thyme
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• ⅔ c. sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 1 (15 oz) can Cannelini Beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (15 oz) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, then add the chicken and brown for 3 minutes on each side.
2. Remove chicken and set aside on a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer and brown, working in batches, a few minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Add the onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and sundried tomatoes. Sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in the diced tomatoes, spices, beans, and sugar.
4. Transfer the chicken back to the pan and spoon some of the sauce and vegetables over top of the chicken. Cook, covered, on the stove top until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is bubbling, about ten minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pan. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot, garnished with parsley.

Busy wife, Busy life

Sorry I haven't posted in a week. Life here in Warsaw has been incredibly busy. My father flew in on Friday morning, which was the same day that Percy had to have surgery on his mouth. If you know me, you know that my dog is pretty much my child, so I was extremely stressed out the few days before his surgery. Not to mention trying to figure out how to fill three days with my 64 year old father who didn't want to do tourist things but "see Poland as the Polish do."

See Poland as the Polish do? So you want to get drunk and pass out on the bus, got it.

Because my father was in town, I didn't end up cooking all that much. We took him to a few of our favorite Polish restaurants: Bazyliszek (which is in the old town market square and literally next door to our apartment), Czerwony Wieprz (English name: Inn under the Red Hog. Communist style restaurant - definite favorite of ours), and of course the American expat favorite The Hard Rock Cafe: Warsaw (don't knock it until you've been stuck in another country for a year and you would kill someone for a proper margarita). My father was only in town for three days, so we didn't get to explore too much.


This week doesn't seem to fare too much better in the "relaxation" department. My husband and I are moving sometime this week (just to another apartment), and I have an array of appointments every single day. How I am going to get things packed and ready for this weekend's move is beyond me. I predict a lot of late nights in my future.

With that said - I do plan on cooking this week. My husband is feeling like a fatty and asked for this week meals to be Paleo centered. So I am trying to oblige. I'm sticking to tried and true recipes that have been in my family for years now. I will post the recipes when I have time.

So start to look forward to recipes such as: Whole roasted chicken with veggies and Chicken and Avocado soup.

Recipe: 30 minute dinner rolls and Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Who doesn't like homemade dinner rolls? Fresh out of the oven, warm, with a slab of butter in between. I mean - YUM right?

The problem is they take forever to make. You have to make the dough, let it rest, knead it again, let it rest some more - depending on the recipe the resting could last as long as overnight!

This weekend I was craving buffalo chicken wings, but I didn't want to order from the local American restaurant (Warsaw friends - Bert and I have tried every place for wings during football season. Jeff's is the only place that has decent wings!). I had chicken breasts, dry ranch dressing, and Frank's wing sauce (yes - you CAN get Frank's here at the international store. Sure it's probably $10 bucks for a small container of it - but sometimes, you just gotta pay the money!) and I just knew I could make a decent chicken buffalo slider from that, as long as I had rolls.

Rolls are impossible to come by here in Warsaw. I have yet to find the frozen kind you can just pop into the oven. Convinces like frozen rolls or clothes dryers (don't even get me started on clothes dryers) just don't exist in Europe. So I have to make them myself. So far, in the year that I've lived in Poland, I have attempted dinner rolls 3 times. Once, during football season, when I decided to make sliders. Once during Thanksgiving, and Saturday. Each time I used a different recipe,and each time they turned out incredibly dense except for this last time.

Granted - they weren't perfect. According to my good friend Joy who is a professional pastry chef and all around bad ass expat wife, I was using the wrong type of flour. (You can check out her amazing award winning food/travel blog here: My Traveling Joys). In Poland they categorize their flour based on a number. The amount gluten in the flour dictates the number on the flour. I am not a baker (not much of a carb fan), so I didn't think it really mattered. But it totally does. Here in Poland I need to use a flour that is over 500. Then apparently I will have the fluffiest rolls imaginable!

This recipe is awesome though, because it takes 30 minutes to make them - from start to finish. It is an easy recipe too! Perfect if you decide last minute you want homemade dinner rolls (or in my case - buns for sliders!). Sunday morning I also used them as biscuits (because they were a bit dense from the wrong use of flour) and were AMAZING.


 30-Minute Dinner Rolls

Picture credit: Kitchenmeetsgirl.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/3 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 cups flour (either bread flour or all-purpose will work)

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the warm water, oil, yeast, and sugar. Allow the mixture to rest for 15 minutes.
3. Mix 2 cups of the flour, the salt, and the egg into the yeast mixture using a dough hook. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup at a time.
4. Shape dough into 12 balls and place in a 9x13 pan. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until tops are just golden brown.

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Ingedients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 bottle of franks hot sauce (I used 1/2 a bottle because my husband is not a spicy food fan)
• 1 package of dry ranch mix
• 1/2 stick of butter

Put all ingredients into a crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. Shred the chicken in the crock pot before serving.

Recipe: Chicken Spaghetti

Recipe: Chicken Spaghetti

 When I was in college my roommate, Andrea, would make the best chicken spaghetti I've ever had in my life. It was cheesy, delicious, and it always made enough to last us for a couple of days. Being college students, we were always broke, but this chicken spaghetti recipe was also really inexpensive. 

I haven't had it in at least a year, probably longer, and I woke up yesterday morning craving it. I messaged Andrea on FB and she was happy to give me the recipe. The only problem is that it required some ingredients that I could not get here in Poland - mainly velveta, condensed cream of chicken, and condensed cream of mushroom.

Luckily I had smuggled some velveta across the border (we aren't supposed to bring cheese into Poland - but lets be honest, velveta can hardly be considered cheese) so that was not going to be an issue for me, but I did not have the cream of chicken or mushroom needed for the recipe so I had to make that from scratch.

This is pretty much the Velveeta situation for expats in Poland.

Turns out - made from scratch cream of chicken and mushroom soups are incredibly easy to make! It look me less than 5 minutes, and I had condensed soups without all of the chemicals!

So, for this blog post I am not only going to give you the Chicken spaghetti recipe, but also the condensed soup recipes I found. It's a three for one today - or we could call it a threesome if you want to get dirty with it. ;)

If you live in another country and do not have Velveeta, I have found a homemade Velveeta recipe here.  I have not tried it yet, as I still have a good bit of my Velveeta stash left, so I can't vouch for it. But it's probably good (and definitely better for you than the "real" stuff!)

Condensed Cream of Chicken

Photo credit: A Pinch of Yum

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups chicken broth (I used 2 cans)
  
• 1½ cups milk
• ¾ cup flour
• 1 tablespoon seasoning mix (or on your own, ½ tsp. onion powder, ½ tsp. garlic powder, ½ tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. parsley, etc)

Directions:

1. Combine the chicken broth and ½ cup of the milk in a large saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the flour and seasonings into the remaining 1 cup milk until a smooth, thick mixture forms.
3. Pour the flour and milk mixture into the saucepan with the broth mixture over low heat and stir continuously, whisking as the mixture simmers. Continue to simmer and stir/whisk until the mixture is smooth and thick, 5-10 minutes. The mixture will thicken a bit as it cools.

Condensed Cream of Mushroom

Photo credit: Simply Scratch

Ingrediants:

3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 small Shallot, minced {about a quarter cup}
1/2 cup minced Crimini Mushroom
2-1/2 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth
1/2 cup Whole Milk
1 pinch Kosher Salt {go easy so you don't over salt when adding to the recipe}
2 pinches Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:
In a 10 inch skillet melt the three tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Once melted add in the minced shallot, stir to coat in the butter and sauté until just about soft {3-5 minutes}.
Add in the minced crimini mushrooms, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle with the 2-1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour and let the flour cook for a minute or two. Whisk in the whole milk and vegetable broth until smooth.
Bring to a simmer and cook until it has thickened {about 5-8 minutes}.


Chicken Spaghetti 

Ingredients: 

3-4 Chicken breasts

1 pkg. spaghetti

1 lb (half a box) of Velveeta cheese cut into small pieces.

1 can of cream of chicken soup (10 oz)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup (10 oz)

1/4 cup of Milk

Salt and Pepper

2 cloves garlic minced

1 small onion diced

6 mushroom caps diced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Fill large pot with water and add 1 teaspoon salt.
Add chicken breasts to water and cook over high heat. Bring to boil stirring chicken about every 10 minutes. Cook for 25-30 minutes (I cut my chicken up into small pieces before boiling to reduce time. I boiled for about 15 minutes). Remove chicken from pot.
Add 1 package (12 oz) of spaghetti to water you cooked the chicken in.
Cook according to directions on package (11-13 minutes) stirring occasionally.
Drain spaghetti.
Shred chicken. Put both spaghetti and chicken to the side.

In a separate skillet, saute 1 small white onion and 2 cloves of garlic minced with a teaspoon of butter.
Once the onion and garlic is soft and translucent, add diced mushrooms and cook until soft (about 5 minutes).
Slowly add the Velveeta to this mixture,  letting it melt and mix in with the mushrooms, garlic, and onion.
Add the milk.
Add the cream of chicken and cream of mushroom and mix well until a thick sauce is formed.

Combine spaghetti, chicken, and melted mixture into a large bowl and mix.

Pour into a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! 



Also - check out Andrea's website http://www.agphotographix.com/ She is a wonderful photographer out of Houston, Texas.

Restaurant Review: Senses - Warsaw, Poland

Restaurant Review: Senses - Warsaw, Poland

 

Picture: Senses Fanpage

Restaurant: Senses
Address: ul.Bielańska 12, Warsaw, Poland
Webpage: http://sensesrestaurant.pl/en/
Price: $$$
Good for: Foodies, Special Occasions, Trying something new, Molecular Gastronomy



Last night my husband and I joined his boss and his wife for a nice dinner out on the town. We had originally wanted to go to a place called The Harvest - which we had heard rave reviews about, but fortunately for us they were closed when we got there (The sign was in Polish so we were not able to read exactly why it was closed). I had seen a review for Senses though the International Womens group I am a part of, and recommended we try that instead.

Thank god we did!


I can not say enough good things about Senses. We were greeted by the most lovely staff. They were well informed and friendly (which can sometimes be hard to come by in Warsaw unfortunately). Their customer service was probably the best I've had in Europe.

And the food - oh the food!

My husbands boss and I had the 6 course tasting menu, and my husband and his bosses wife had the 3 course tasting menu. I coupled mine with the suggested wine to go with every meal and it was amazing. I tasted all of the food, and there was not one thing that I didn't love. Each dish was better than the last! The portions were small - but enough where we didn't leave the restaurant hungry.

After dinner the Chef, Andrea Camastra, joined our table and gave us a lengthily discussion of the dishes and how Senses came to be. He does not call his food "molecular gastronomy" but "the chemistry of food" because at the center of his meal he wants subsistence - meat or the like. He says "foam is not food", which I absolutely have to agree with.

After talking with our table, he invited us into the kitchen to see where the magic is made. He explained to us that they do not use open flames - only convention ovens and stoves because they are way more precise on temperature than open flame. He also showed us the "lab" where they create smelling liquid to accompany every meal. His theory is that 50 percent of your eating experience is smelling. For example, if you were to hold your nose while eating your dinner - you wouldn't taste much, would you? So that is where his idea to create smells to increase the taste of the food. He also cooks in a way where he tries to not have a lot of smell coming from the food because he says that if a food smells delicious - that is taste going into the air. So he tries to make his food not smell but will add the smelling liquid he creates to the meal so that the customer can get the whole experience (I hope that made sense - heh - its a pretty complex thing to try to explain).

I took many pictures - which I will share on here. Please excuse if they get a little fuzzy. By meal 4 I had drank quite a bit of wine, so I wasn't as steady as I thought I was.

I would put the explanation of all the plates on here - but like I said - I had a bit of wine last night and I now cannot remember everything. The menu is different every day so they do not have it online. So just look at the pictures and enjoy! If you live/ever come to Warsaw I highly recommend this restaurant. 

 The atmosphere here is very elegant. Very good for a romantic anniversary dinner!

 They start your meal off with homemade bread and homemade butter. It was so good - we ended up eating most of it!

 They start you off with two amuse bouche. This was the first.

 The second amuse bouche. It was a mustard ice cream - which sounds disgusting, but was actually delicious! My husband said he wanted to make a call to Ben and Jerry's to let them know they need to make this.

 The first course was a smoked sea trout. Think salmon - but a little tastier.

 The second course was foie gras - which was the first time I had ever eaten it. So good -  at this point I was pretty much in love.

 My husbands first course was scallops in a bone marrow vinaigrette. Pretty much anything with bone marrow is going to be delicious.

 My second course was so good I forgot to take a picture of it! It tasted like scallops in a very delicate white wine sauce - but I'm not sure it actually was scallops. It was served on top of a bowl with burning oak chips. When you removed the plate the aroma was delightful.

 Pallet cleanser. I loved it - tasted like flash frozen plain greek yogurt. The table wasn't a fan though.

And yes, it was on a rock.

 No idea what this is - I think it was fish. By this point the wine had started to kick in.

 Part of the "senses" experience. They set this on our table before serving the next meal. Bert and his boss liked it so much, they had the waiter bring out another bowl!

 Kobe ribs. Wasn't my favorite, but still delicious!

 Karina and Ricardo playing with the dry ice! Everyone really loved that experience!

 My husband's dessert. It was chocolate. So good.

 My dessert - strawberry. I wasn't a huge fan of this - but I'm not a tart dessert fan. My husband loved it, so we ended up switching desserts because I am way more of a chocolate lover.

 Dessert number 2 (sorry its a little blurry). Beetroot combined with chocolate. I expected to hate it, but it was SO yummy. Great plate to finish the meal off with!

 Inside of the kitchen.

 The men behind the scenes closing up for the night.

 This is the convection stove they use. These are also the "baths" that help cook the food at a very precise temperature.

 Karina and the chef, Andrea Camastra.

 They blinded me with science!

 The ingredients used to make the "senses water".

The plan for tonights meal. They come in every day and have a basic idea of what ingredient they want the plate to be based around - and then try out different things until something works.