At Angiolina, a bit South of Naples, I enjoyed fish fillet pan fried in batter with sage. I liked this somewhat unusual combination of fish and sage very much, and so decided to prepare something similar at home. According to … Continue reading Fish with Sage and Runner Beans (Filetto di Pesce alla Salvia)
Oxtail is one of those meats that can be prepared sous-vide in a way that it could never be without sous-vide. By cooking it a whopping 4 days (96 hours, give or take) at 60C/140F, the meat becomes as tender … Continue reading Oxtail Sous-Vide Served In A Portobello Mushroom With Stir-Fried Spinach
Lamb and asparagus are very seasonal, but what is really the star of this dish is the goat cheese sauce. I used a French artisan raw milk goat cheese, a Selles sur Cher appellation d’origine protegée. I used neck of … Continue reading Lamb with Asparagus and Goat Cheese Sauce
Cooking sous-vide can be confusing, as recommendations for time and temperature can vary considerably. Personal preference plays a role in this, as well as misconceptions about food safety (i.e. using higher temperatures than necessary). For pork belly I’ve seen recommendations … Continue reading Pork Belly Sous-Vide Time and Temperature Experiment
Skrei is cod that is caught between December and April in the Northeast Atlantic when it migrates from the Barents Sea area to the Northwest of Norway to spawn. The name was derived from the Old-Norse word skrida, which means … Continue reading Winter Cod (Skrei)
I like ‘refrigerator cooking’ and I like blogging what I’ve just prepared and eaten. This post hits the spot both ways, as I had some leftover sweet potato, lettuce, cilantro, lime, and jalapeño, and decided to pick up some fish … Continue reading Sweet Potato Fish Cakes with Lime, Cilantro, and Jalapeño
Blade steaks are a cut of beef from the shoulder area with a fascia (tough connective tissue) in the center. If the same part is sliced the other way and the fascia is removed, it is called a flat iron … Continue reading Beef Blade Steak Sous-Vide Time & Temperature Experiment
Octopus is called polpo in most of Italy, but polipo in Puglia (even though technically the latter is incorrect, because polipo means polyp, an entirely different sea creature). In Puglia octopus is often stewed in a local red wine from … Continue reading Octopus Stewed in Red Wine (Polipo in Primitivo, Polpo Ubriaco)
Our main course for Christmas dinner was this hare stew. The recipe I followed was very similar to that for lepre alla cacciatora, but adapted for sous-vide. An important aspect of any stew is concentrating the flavors by allowing water … Continue reading Hare Stew Sous-Vide
Sarde a Beccafico is a famous traditional dish from Sicily. The sardines are stuffed with breadcrumbs, raisins, pine nuts, and baked in the oven with orange juice. At Cala del Citro the chef made a dish with red mullet that … Continue reading Stuffed Red Mullet with Pistachios and Orange (Triglie ripiene)
To compensate for the fanciness of the previous post featuring white truffle, this post is back to basics: how to pan fry salmon. Or salmon fillet, to be more precise. There are two common problems with cooking salmon fillet, caused … Continue reading How to Pan Fry Salmon
If you like having a great red wine with the Christmas dinner main course, but you would also like to have fish, this is the perfect solution for you! I used yellowtail, which is a great tasting fish that is … Continue reading Yellowtail with Truffle, Mushrooms, and Red Wine Sauce
Eggplant is a prominent ingredient in Italian cooking, and it is prepared in many ways. These eggplant balls are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a lot of flavor, and are a great vegetarian appetizer or … Continue reading Eggplant ‘Meatballs’ (Polpette di Melanzane)
This dish was inspired by another dish we had at Don Alfonso. It could be made with any kind of white fish and any kind of green peppers, as mild or as hot as you like. The Italian green peppers … Continue reading Cod with Green Peppers and Yogurt-Lemon Sauce
Turbot is one of my favorite kinds of fish. It has a great texture and delicate flavor. In this simple preparation it is served with a mint sauce, inspired by Biba Caggiano. I made the fish stock for the sauce … Continue reading Pan Fried Turbot with Mint Sauce
Eggplant with tomato and basil are a classic combination. At La Tavernetta the eggplant was cooked in charcoal, which gave it a nice smoky twist, and the tomato was cooked slowly to intensify its flavor. As I didn’t feel like … Continue reading Smoked Eggplant with Buffalo Mozzarella and Tomato Confit
One of the best dishes from our trip was right on our first night at Taverna Estia, ricciola with zucchini ‘scales’ and a smoked cheese sauce. And although my plating skills (and especially patience) are not of Michelin star quality, … Continue reading Amberjack with Zucchini and Smoked Cheese Sauce (Ricciola con Zucchine e Salsa di Scamorza)
Spareribs are often more about quantity than about quality: “all you can eat” with cheap meat that gets all its flavor from aggressive spices and a lot of sauce. Not to mention that it is mostly fat and bone with … Continue reading Spareribs Sous-Vide
The inspiration for this dish came from my recent dinner at 212 in Amsterdam. I really liked the cod with red wine sauce, and thought it would be nice to prepare something similar. If only because everyone seems to think … Continue reading Turbot Sous-Vide with Red Wine Sauce
This is how sea bream (daurade) was served to us in Corsica: cooked in the oven with some colorful vegetables. When ordering fish on Corsica, be careful about the price. On the menu this daurade was listed as 12 euros … Continue reading Oven-Baked Sea Bream (Daurade au Four)
In Italian spezzatino means a stew in which the meat has been cut into pieces. It can be made from many kinds of meat, and in this case I opted for turkey. Lean and tender meat like turkey breast is not … Continue reading Turkey in Tomato Sauce (Spezzatino di Tacchino)
Pulled Pork is a classic dish from the South of the United States. Its name is derived from the technique to “pull” the meat apart with two forks after it has been cooked. Because of its popularity more and more … Continue reading Pulled Chicken Sous-Vide
My German co-worker Timo mentioned that his grandmother prepares the best Sauerbraten using a family recipe that she in turn got from her own mother. I am always interested in traditional family recipes, and luckily he was willing to share … Continue reading Frau Marquardt’s Rheinischer Sauerbraten (Beef Stewed in Vinegar)
When I saw boneless and skinless turkey thigh at my poultry guy at the market, I wanted to give it a try and of course I wanted to prepare it sous-vide. The combination with lemon and rosemary was inspired by … Continue reading Turkey Thigh Sous-Vide with Lemon and Rosemary
Dry aging is a technique to improve the texture and flavor of meat, especially steak. It is costly because the outside needs to be trimmed and discarded, and moisture is removed from the meat so it loses weight. To improve … Continue reading Fish Sauce-Aged Steak
Haddock (schelvis in Dutch) is the lesser cousin of cod, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare a nice dish with it. Still inspired by our Taiwan trip, I decided to pan fry it and serve it with Asian flavors. … Continue reading Pan Fried Haddock, Asian Style
When I think of artichokes, I think of salads and appetizers. And so a recipe by Paola really caught my eye, because she blogged about a stew of veal with artichokes, a dish from Genova called Spezzatino con i carciofi. … Continue reading Veal and Artichoke Stew Sous-Vide (Spezzatino con i carciofi)
Rack of lamb is one of my favorite types of meat. A perfectly cooked rack of lamb should be medium rare on the inside and nicely browned and crispy on the outside. When cooking a rack of lamb in the … Continue reading Rack of Lamb Sous-Vide & Broiled
The inspiration for this dish came from the wonderful rosemary smoked squab we had at RyuGin Taipei, in combination with the method for smoking sardines using nothing more than a large bowl and some rosemary. Squab is a small farmed pigeon; … Continue reading Rosemary Smoked Squab with Butternut Squash
In 2010 we had dinner at La Coccinella in Piemonte, and ordered a bottle 0f 1996 Barolo San Giovanni by Gianfranco Alessandria. I liked the wine so much that I was embarrassing Kees with the noises of appreciation that I … Continue reading Roe Deer Venison with a Red Wine Sauce
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