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You are here: Home / Sports / Netherlands v Mexico Round of 16 Open Thread

Netherlands v Mexico Round of 16 Open Thread

by | 145 Comments

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Old World or New World? Who do you like?

I was tempted to slot in an Indonesian dish, but found this recipe instead: Boerenkoolstamppot:

3 lbs potatoes
2 onions
1 bay leaf
1 lb kale
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground pepper
1 lb smoked sausage
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter

1 Peel and dice potatoes and onions.
2 Clean, trim and slice kale.
3 Add the potatoes, onion, kale, a bay leaf, a pinch of salt and just enough water to cover all in a 3 qrt pan.
4 Cover and boil gently for about 25 minutes.
5 Meanwhile steam the smoked sausage for the same amount of time and slice.
6 Remove the bay leaf, drain the vegetables, and mash them.
7 Add milk and butter.
8 Stir in the hot, sliced smoked sausage, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

My favorite Mexican dish? Pollo en Mole Poblano:

ingredients
4 pounds chicken pieces, skin on
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish
white rice
Mole Poblano
Makes 9 cups.
9 mulato chiles*
7 pasilla chiles*
6 ancho chiles*
1 cup plus 9 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard plus additional as needed
4 or 5 tomatillos,** husked and cooked until soft
5 whole cloves
20 whole black peppercorns
1-inch piece of a Mexican cinnamon stick***
1 tablespoon seeds from the chiles, toasted
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
8 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
4 garlic cloves, roasted
3 tablespoons raisins
20 whole almonds, blanched
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds****
2 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
3 stale French rolls, cut into 1-inch slices
6 to 7 cups reserved chicken broth as needed
1 1/2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped

In a large stock pot, parboil the chicken in water seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Drain, reserving cooking broth, and refrigerate until ready to assemble the dish.

Prepare the Mole Poblano. Clean the chiles by removing stems, veins, and seeds; reserve 1 tablespoon of the seeds. Heat 1/2 cup of the oil in a heavy skillet until it shimmers. Fry the chiles until crisp, about 10 to 15 seconds, turning once; make sure they do not burn. Drain on paper towels. Put the chiles in a nonreactive bowl, cover with hot water, and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain the chiles, reserving the soaking water. Puree the chiles in a blender with enough of the soaking water to make a smooth paste. It may be necessary to scrape down the sides and blend several times to obtain a smooth paste. In a heavy Dutch oven heat an additional 1/2 cup oil over medium heat and add the chile puree (be careful — it will splatter). Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.

Puree the tomatillos in a blender. In a coffee or spice grinder, grind the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, and toasted seeds. Add the seed mixture and the garlic to the pureed tomatillos and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Heat 6 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy frying pan. Fry each of the following ingredients and then remove with a slotted spoon: the raisins until they puff up; the almonds to a golden brown; the pumpkin seeds until they pop. If necessary, add enough oil to make 4 tablespoons and fry the tortilla pieces and bread slices until golden brown, about 15 seconds per side; remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon. Add raisins, almonds, pumpkins seeds, tortillas, and bread to the tomatillo puree and blend, using 1 to 2 cups of the reserved chicken broth, as needed, to make a smooth sauce. This may have to be done in batches. In a heavy Dutch oven, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the chile puree, the tomatillo puree, and the Mexican chocolate (be careful — it will splatter). Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often. Add the remaining 5 cups of chicken broth, cook over low heat for an additional 45 minutes, stirring often enough to prevent the mixture from scorching on the bottom. During the last 15 minutes of cooking time, add the parboiled chicken and heat through. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve with white rice.

Reader Interactions

145Comments

  3. 3.

    ulee

    I’m going with the Netherlands because they’ve got the best name of any nation on Earth.

  5. 5.

    Amir Khalid

    There you are! We were starting to worry.

    Mexico seem to be doing better in the heat than the Netherlands. They’ve certainly had more shots on goal.

  7. 7.

    SuperHrefna

    I really love that you are adding recipes to your football threads, Randinho, I have a sublime indifference to the beautiful game, but I do love cookery! So thank you.

  8. 8.

    Amir Khalid

    Also, thumping wins in the group stage, like the Netherlands’ over Spain, can flatter to deceive once you get to the knockout stage.

  10. 10.

    Alex S.

    Before the game I had thought that the Netherlands were going to win. But they are painfully slow and insecure. Because of the heat? Now I’m really not sure. Robben and Van Persie are still in good shape though.

  14. 14.

    HumboldtBlue

    The Dutch are simply pacing themselves, they have to reserve some energy for the second half. It seems it’s pretty motherfuggering hot down there

  16. 16.

    smintheus

    @Alex S.: Looks to me like they’re playing rope-a-dope; let the Mexicans run themselves ragged in the first half, win it in the second. Netherlands always seems to pass back or cross field whenever there’s a chance to make a Mexican forechecker chase. They’re doing as little chasing and as little running in general as possible.

  18. 18.

    Amir Khalid

    The match breaks for players to rehydrate. It’s the first water break in World Cup history.

  19. 19.

    raven

    @Amir Khalid: There have been another in this WC.

    “They are the two words that anyone who ever huffed and puffed around a soccer field as a kid longed to hear while waiting for the whistle to blow: Water break!

    For the first time in history, the best players in the world heard the same thing on Sunday, although no one’s mom remembered to bring the orange slices. In the 40th minute of the thrilling 2-2 tie between the United States and Portugal, the referees stopped the action and ordered the players to go on a three-minute water break, resulting in a sight never seen at a World Cup game. “

  20. 20.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Will time be added for this break for hydration? And to give 2022 World Cup, to Qatar, que loco.

  23. 23.

    HumboldtBlue

    @raven: I don’t know why the Guardian is claiming that was the first designated water or cooling break, we’ve seen it a few times already

  25. 25.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @Amir Khalid:

    It happened in the first round of group games, but they added it on when there was an injury stoppage.

  34. 34.

    raven

    Can’t be any goddamn hotter than the Labor Day weekend games “between the hedges”!

  35. 35.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mr Stagger Lee:
    O course time will be added on. And I agree about giving Qatar the 2022 World Cup. I don’t think we can discount the possibility of a player suffering serious heat injury.

  36. 36.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @raven: Yeah, but American football players retreat to the bench and cooling fans frequently.

  38. 38.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    That was remarkably little whining by Robben after what I thought was a clear penalty. This ref isn’t calling anything.

  40. 40.

    lol chikinburd

    There might be a single goal in this game. Maybe. Holland don’t want to expend any energy in possession and won’t want to give possession up. Two lifeless hours and penalties is a distinct possibility.

  42. 42.

    Origuy

    In the corridas in Spain, they charge more for tickets in the shady side (sombras) than in the sunny side (soles). I don’t know if they do that in the futbol arenas.

  45. 45.

    raven

    @Origuy: POSH stands for :

    The most elaborate version of the story associates the practice with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which from 1842 to 1970 was the major steamship carrier of passengers and mail between England and India. The P. & O. route went through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. The cabins on the port side on the way to India got the morning sun and had the rest of the day to cool off, while starboard ones got the afternoon sun, and were still quite hot at bedtime. On the return trip, the opposite was true. The cooler cabins, therefore, were the more desirable and were reserved for the most important and richest travelers. Their tickets were stamped P.O.S.H. to indicate these accommodations–in large violet letters, according to one recollection. This account of the origin of posh was even used in advertising by the P. & O. in the 1960s.

  48. 48.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @Origuy: I remember them doing that in Juarez, when I went to the bullfights in the 80’s. And to pay for a pillow to sit on the concrete too.

  50. 50.

    smintheus

    @lol chikinburd: In the last few minutes before the water break, we began to see Mexico pressing less, falling back into their half when Netherlands possessed the ball, and then several unforced basic errors by midfielders and forwards. Looks like their top is tiring out fast…which I assume has been the Dutch strategy. The Netherlands so far looks no worse for wear, even if they’ve weathered several dangerous Mexican attacks.

  51. 51.

    ThresherK

    @Mr Stagger Lee: I don’t know that Qatar has the humidity some of the more equatorial Brazil stadia has.

    But I haven’t spent any time to speak of in the West or Southwest, so I can’t say if “It’s a dry heat” holds any sway.

  61. 61.

    Amir Khalid

    And Mexico have the lead. This might be a case of the Northern Europeans wilting first in the heat.

  67. 67.

    HumboldtBlue

    Regardless of the final outcome, Memo Ochoa is going to have no trouble finding a date.

  69. 69.

    ? Martin

    Mexico was very lucky there. Ochoa never even saw that shot. That was pure reflex. And had that ball been spinning in the other direction it might have gone in.

  70. 70.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @raven: And then off the inside of the post. Between that save and the penalty non-call the Dutch just seem snakebit today. Not that they’ve outplayed Mexico or anything, but they could easily be up 2-1 right now.

  79. 79.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Now would be a really good time for Wesley Sneijder to finally arrive in Brazil.

  84. 84.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @HumboldtBlue: Maybe he’s tired in the heat but if I’m down a goal late in the game I’m not letting a 75 minute sample size outweigh several years of good performance.

  86. 86.

    Violet

    When I first turned on the match, at about the 49th minute, it looked like the stands were mostly empty. But I guess it’s just where the sun is that people have moved out of those seats. It must be hot.

  87. 87.

    lol chikinburd

    van Persie out.

    Even had he stayed in and somehow rediscovered form, even with all of Holland’s domination after the dos Santos goal, I wouldn’t have bet on Holland equalizing. A second for Mexico from a counterattack seems likelier.

  90. 90.

    Alex S.

    Mexico knows they’re physically dominating. There’s no real danger anymore. They’ve got this.

  91. 91.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    A lot of bad passing by both sides. I think it’s hot there or something.

  93. 93.

    Amir Khalid

    At the Guardian live-blog they’re trying to decide who Dirk Kuyt would be if he were a famous musician. There have been comparisons to James Brown, Nickelback, Yoko Ono, Prince, Kasabian, and Status Quo.

  96. 96.

    Alex S.

    @raven:

    Haha, you’re right. Also, I like the Dutch more. I counter-jinxed.

    Edit: Also, I think my comments on yesterday’s Brazil vs. Chile were all spot on.

  98. 98.

    lol chikinburd

    And that was unexpected. Especially because it was Sneijder doing something.

  99. 99.

    Amir Khalid

    Extra time awaits!
    ETA: No doubt the players will love another half-hour out in the heat.

  107. 107.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Robben went down really easily but I think that was a legit foul.

  117. 117.

    Amir Khalid

    I can see the Mexico-robbed-at-the-death headlines coming up tomorrow. Still, it will save everyone from another half-hour in the heat, which has defeated even the fans in the stadium.

  122. 122.

    Alex S.

    That game was so static for 88 minutes. And then such an explosion. A team that comes back like this is a favorite (and yes, now I jinxed that as well…).

  123. 123.

    mali muso

    whew, anyone who says soccer is boring shoulda watched the end of that match. Poor Mexico. That’s gotta hurt.

  125. 125.

    smintheus

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Completely deserved penalty, esp after the ref refused to call the ‘clarissimo’ (Univision) penalty on Robben in the first half.

    Holland deserved this game, after completely dominating the 2nd half.

  128. 128.

    Burnspbesq

    Mexico was two minutes from not qualifying, and then, two late goals.

    Mexico was two minutes from the quarters, and then, two late goals.

    Karma is a nasty thing.

  131. 131.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Wow. And the Dutch got through that game without a card. Well, I guess Nigel did leave early, so that helped.

  132. 132.

    Burnspbesq

    @scav:

    If your success depends on Rafa Marquez not doing the worst possible thing at the worst possible time, you’re in deep shit.

  133. 133.

    Alex S.

    @Corner Stone:

    I will jinx their opponent as well, don’t worry…

    Though on the meta-level, it’s astonishing to me how often people (including me, of course) make soccer predictions and how often they’re almost immediately wrong. For example, I’ve been following Nate Silver’s site and their soccer predictions. They’ve barely managed more than 50% accuracy. Other sites didn’t do much better. Soccer really shouldn’t be predicted at all, but I can’t help it.

  134. 134.

    Thlayli

    I saw Rafa Marquez play live over 40 times (Red Bulls season-ticket holder). Wasn’t surprised at all. That’s what he does. Rafa gonna Rafa.

  141. 141.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Valdivia:

    Sorry for the typos. Both autocorrect and too much bottomless brunch. ;)

    Turns out Cole’s naked mopping has some competition…

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