Category: Cooking

Secondi di Pesce (fish dishes)23 Comments

Scallops and Shrimp with a Vanilla Sauce, Pea Puree and Parsnip Puree

StefanGourmet

Wine is often paired with food, but it can be inspiring to take a bottle of wine as the starting point and try to cook something that will go well with it. Oak barrels can give a hint of vanilla to wines, and so I thought it would be fun to make a vanilla cream sauce to go with a creamy oaked chardonnay. It worked out really well, and the pairing was outstanding. The wine went well with the vanilla creaminess of the sauce as well as with the seafood. The combination of scallops with parsnip and peas is something … Continue reading Scallops and Shrimp with a Vanilla Sauce, Pea Puree and Parsnip Puree

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)12 Comments

Ravioli al Salmone Affumicato (Ravioli with Smoked Salmon)

StefanGourmet

I thought it would be nice to hot-smoke a piece of salmon, make fresh ricotta, make home-made ravioli and serve it with a pink sauce. Turned out I was right, as it was delicious. For an easier version you could buy the smoked salmon (either hot-smoked or cold-smoked will work) and the ricotta, but it will be tastier, more rewarding as well as more fun to do it yourself… Ingredients For 16 ravioli (3 servings as part of a larger menu) 125 grams (1/4 pound) fresh salmon fillet, preferably with skin as that is easier to handle (substitute with store … Continue reading Ravioli al Salmone Affumicato (Ravioli with Smoked Salmon)

Dutch cuisine23 Comments

Home-made Belgian Fries

StefanGourmet

Belgian Fries (known as “Vlaamse friet” or simply “patat” in the Netherlands) are very popular in both Belgium and the Netherlands. The main difference with French fries is that they are thicker. Belgian fries should be freshly cut, fried twice, fluffy on the inside, crispy on the ouside, have a distinct potato taste, and are 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick. Belgian fries are usually served in a paper cone when you buy them from a street vendor, but at home I just serve them on a plate. For the best taste, real Belgian fries must be fried in beef tallow … Continue reading Home-made Belgian Fries

Asian cuisine11 Comments

Gado-Gado (Indonesian Vegetables with Peanut Sauce)

StefanGourmet

  Gado-Gado is an Indonesian salad with a peanut sauce dressing that can be served as part of a “rijsttafel” (rice table, a spread of different Indonesian dishes to be eaten ‘family style’) or as a meal by itself. This version just has vegetables and eggs, but you could also add fried tofu and tempeh to add more protein and change it into a full meal. Unlike many salads, most of the vegetables in gado-gado are steamed or boiled rather than raw. Key to Gado-Gado is to use a good peanut sauce, which means home-made. The peanut sauce makes it quite … Continue reading Gado-Gado (Indonesian Vegetables with Peanut Sauce)

Asian cuisine16 Comments

Indonesian Peanut Sauce

StefanGourmet

Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony, and Indonesian food still plays a major role in the Dutch food culture. One of the most common Indonesian foods is “saté”, grilled marinated skewers of chicken or pork served with a peanut sauce that is referred to as “satésaus”. This sauce is even served with french fries (“patatje oorlog”, also with mayonnaise) and other snacks. Home-made peanut sauce has a more interesting taste and you can make adapt it to your own preference. Most satésaus is store-bought, but apart from finding the right ingredients it isn’t hard to make by yourself from scratch. … Continue reading Indonesian Peanut Sauce

Dutch cuisine19 Comments

Kale with Mashed Potatoes and Smoked Pork Sausage (Boerenkool met worst)

StefanGourmet

Since I had all this left-over kale from the kale salad with goat cheese I made recently, I decided to make a very traditional Dutch dish: boerenkool met worst. I’ve eaten this lots when I was a child, but never made it myself before since I never really liked it. I discovered that I actually quite liked this version, since it tastes a lot better when you remove the bitter stems from the kale. And perhaps my palate has evolved a bit, too? I’m not sure if the traditional smoked pork sausage (rookworst) is available anywhere outside of this country. … Continue reading Kale with Mashed Potatoes and Smoked Pork Sausage (Boerenkool met worst)

4. Dolci (dessert)12 Comments

Pear Tart

StefanGourmet

I’ve been baking pie crusts from scratch for years, but I was never completely satisfied with the results. Thanks to tips from CampariGirl and Emmy as well as using proper (pastry, low-gluten) flour I am now finally happy. I made this pear tart based on CampariGirl’s recipe for peach tart and the crust was perfect: crunchy and flaky, even under the moist filling. This is a a very simple but lovely dessert: tender fragrant sweet pears on a great crust. Nothing fancy, but who needs fancy if simple tastes this good? Feel free to make this with another type of seasonal fruit like apples … Continue reading Pear Tart

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)8 Comments

Butternut Squash Lasagne (Lasagne alla Zucca)

StefanGourmet

Pumpkins and Butternut Squash are in season again, and M&M inspired me to make butternut squash lasagne. I used her recipe for Roasted Carrot and Butternut Squash Lasagna as a starting point and made my own version. Often I find dishes with pumpkin or butternut squash to be lacking in taste, but this turned out really well. This was also the first time I made fresh wholemeal pasta, since I agree with M&M that it complements the squash nicely. You could also make it with white flour only as the difference in taste was quite subtle. Making lasagne from scratch … Continue reading Butternut Squash Lasagne (Lasagne alla Zucca)

Basics10 Comments

Home-made Beef Gravy

StefanGourmet

When preparing meat and gravy, you always have to decide whether you want most of the taste to be in the meat or in the gravy.  It is very simple really: all the flavor that goes into the gravy, will go out of the meat. You can’t have both, unless you cheat a little by using other meat to flavor your gravy. And that’s exactly what this recipe is for, or for cases when you just want the gravy and don’t need the meat. Of course you can buy gravy in the store, but home-made is so much better and really … Continue reading Home-made Beef Gravy

Secondi di Pesce (fish dishes)8 Comments

Sole Meunière

StefanGourmet

The best way to prepare really fresh sole is to simply fry it in butter. In French this is called Sole Meunière. Of course it is much easier to fry the sole perfectly in clarified butter than in regular butter, so I decided to celebrate my first batch of clarified butter by making sole meunière. This recipe is remarkably simple, but if you have fresh sole it will also be remarkably delicious! Ask your fish monger to make the sole ready for pan-frying. This means removing the head and and cleaning it, as well as removing the skin. Season the … Continue reading Sole Meunière

Basics60 Comments

Clarified Butter

StefanGourmet

So far, I have been too lazy to had never seen the need  make clarified butter. I mostly used a mixture of olive oil and butter when I wanted to brown something. The butter did burn once in a while when I wasn’t being  careful with the heat, but I didn’t really know how to clarify and just didn’t bother. I finally did give it a try, and it turned out to be quite easy and make a huge difference: both easier and better browning! So from now on I will be clarifying butter, and I urge you to not … Continue reading Clarified Butter

Cooking10 Comments

Kale Salad with Grilled Goat Cheese, Bacon and Walnuts (Salade de Chèvre Chaud aux Lardons)

StefanGourmet

I remember being surprised when I read about kale salad for the first time on Emmy Cooks, since kale is usually eaten cooked in the Netherlands with mashed potatoes and smoked pork sausage (boerenkool met worst). Fresh kale is also mostly available in winter, not the best season for eating salads. When I was travelling in the USA, I found kale to be used for salads everywhere and even made my own ‘Trail Mix’ version of Emmy’s kale salad a few times. Since it is unseasonally warm at the moment and therefore suitable weather for a salad and I saw a … Continue reading Kale Salad with Grilled Goat Cheese, Bacon and Walnuts (Salade de Chèvre Chaud aux Lardons)

Asian cuisine15 Comments

Noodle Soup with Beef and Cabbage

StefanGourmet

Our trip to France disrupted my usual routine to decide every Friday what to eat for the upcoming week and to do all of the grocery shopping needed for that. So on Tuesday after work there were no groceries in the fridge for cooking, nor a plan. So I went to the supermarket (since specialty stores like butchers were already closed) and had to decide on the spot what I wanted to make with the produce available. I bought some wet-aged south american sirloin and Chinese cabbage to stir-fry and serve with rice. When I came home, I decided to … Continue reading Noodle Soup with Beef and Cabbage

Asian cuisine4 Comments

Japanese Mixed Grill

StefanGourmet

This is one of my favorite dishes from “Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art” that is surprisingly easy to make and absolutely delicious. As often in Japanese and Italian cooking, the key is in the quality of the ingredients. I used very fresh line-caught sea bass from the North Sea. You just wrap the ingredients in foil and cookt them in a hot oven for a bit, that’s all! It may not look like much in the photo, but you better believe me that the taste is outstanding. I adapted the recipe and made it even more simple, since there is … Continue reading Japanese Mixed Grill

Asian cuisine13 Comments

Japanese Simmered Eggplant

StefanGourmet

I made this simmered eggplant dish as a side for the wagyu teriyaki. I adapted the recipe for Spicy Eggplant from “Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art” and the result was delicious. If you serve it in a nice bowl (as you should with any Japanese food), the result will be impressive even though it’s quite easy to make (if you had already made the dashi anyway, that is).  I used a western eggplant rather than small Japanese eggplants (which are not available around here), and I replaced the dried red peppers with shichimi togarashi because that is what I had on … Continue reading Japanese Simmered Eggplant

Asian cuisine12 Comments

Wagyu Flank Steak Sous-vide Teriyaki

StefanGourmet

Recently I tried wagyu flank steak sous-vide for the first time, and liked the results with 24 hours at 56C/133F, but decided that I wanted to try 48 hours at 55C/131F as well since I was expecting that would be even better. Turns out my expectation was correct! This time I made it teriyaki style and it was outstanding. Please note that you could use the same method to prepare regular steak teriyaki, the only difference is that the steak would only need 4 hours or so at 55C/131F instead of 48. In this recipe, the teriyaki sauce is not … Continue reading Wagyu Flank Steak Sous-vide Teriyaki

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)23 Comments

Pappardelle ai Funghi Porcini (Pasta with Fresh Porcini Mushrooms)

StefanGourmet

Right now porcini mushrooms (also known as cepes in Frech or eekhoorntjesbrood in Dutch) are abundant in Dutch forests. Since good quality fresh porcini mushrooms are usually next to impossible to find, I jumped at the chance to get some to make pappardelle ai funghi porcini. Fresh porcini mushrooms should be firm and the spores (underneath the cap) should be white as shown in the photo. Stay away from porcini that are soft or have yellow spores, since they will become mushy and smell badly when you sauté them. Even in Italy I noticed that such bad porcini mushrooms are … Continue reading Pappardelle ai Funghi Porcini (Pasta with Fresh Porcini Mushrooms)

Asian cuisine11 Comments

M&M’s Ginger Glazed Salmon

StefanGourmet

Fellow food blogger Meatballs & Milkshakes is a good source for reliable recipes. And so I was intrigued a while ago when I saw a recipe for Ginger Glazed Salmon that she called her favorite salmon recipe, and is basically salmon teriyaki with the addition of ginger and sake substituted by red (?!) wine. But since I trust M&M I decided to give it a try anyway and I was glad I did, because it was great! Not only is the sauce very good, also the way of cooking the salmon medium rare in a low oven is given sous-vide … Continue reading M&M’s Ginger Glazed Salmon

4. Dolci (dessert)9 Comments

Home-made Ginger & Honey Ice Cream

StefanGourmet

  This recipe comes from the booklet that came with the ice cream maker. It’s so original and good that I keep making it, with as the only tweak that I add some fresh ginger juice. Ginger in sweet syrup (Dutch: stemgember) and sweet ginger syrup (Dutch: gembersiroop) are available in nearly every supermarket in the Netherlands, but I am not sure if it is as easily available elsewhere. Ingredients   35 grams (1 1/4 oz) sweet ginger, chopped 1 1/2 Tbsp ginger syrup 1 Tbsp honey 70 grams (2 1/2 oz) sugar 250 ml (1 cup) whipping cream 250 … Continue reading Home-made Ginger & Honey Ice Cream

Secondi di Carne (meat dishes)9 Comments

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin (Filetto di Maiale in Agrodolce)

StefanGourmet

I’ve mentioned before that my Italian cooking adventures all began with the great books by Biba Caggiano. One of my favorite recipes from one of her earliest books, Modern Italian Cooking, is the one for sweet and sour pork. She uses pork loin, but I’ve always used pork tenderloin instead since it is more tender. This dish is original, delicious, and easy to make. It cooks quite fast as the tenderloin is cut into slices and it is best when cooked to medium rare or medium. Give it a try! Ingredients For 2 servings 1 pork tenderloin (about 300 grams / … Continue reading Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin (Filetto di Maiale in Agrodolce)

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)11 Comments

Pasta with Lamb, Vegetables, Honey & Thyme

StefanGourmet

I used to make this Italian-French fusion dish that I had invented myself on a regular basis, but hadn’t for a while as I was concentrating on more traditional dishes. I wanted to make something with lamb, remembered this dish and realised that I hadn’t blogged about it yet. So I made it again and decided to make it again more often since it is very flavorful. You can make this with any tender lamb such as lamb loin, lamb tenderloin or leg of a young lamb. Ingredients For 2-3 servings 300 grams (2/3 pound) boneless tender lamb 150 grams … Continue reading Pasta with Lamb, Vegetables, Honey & Thyme

Cooking13 Comments

RV cooking in the USA

StefanGourmet

I’m back home after three weeks of travelling together with Kees from national park to national park with an RV in Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Colorado. It was a wonderful trip and very different from most of our vacations in the sense that they usually involve a lot of eating out at gourmet restaurants. This trip included only one such meal (at Alinea) plus two dinners at steakhouses (of which I can recommend Fleming’s). I had saved up some posts before leaving that I had scheduled to be published while I was travelling, so there have been at least … Continue reading RV cooking in the USA

1. Antipasti (appetizers)4 Comments

Mackerel Ceviche

StefanGourmet

Ceviche is a South American way of ‘cooking’ seafood in lime juice without using any heat. I like to use it with a strong-flavored fish such as mackerel, since the citrus would otherwise overpower the delicate taste of the fish. It is very easy to make; the only thing you need is very fresh (sushi grade) fish. I am not a big fan of cilantro (coriander), but in small doses it adds something to this dish. Ingredients For 2 or 4 servings as an appetizer 4 sushi grade mackerel fillets without skin, about 450 grams (1 pound) total weight 4 … Continue reading Mackerel Ceviche

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)6 Comments

Spaghetti ‘Salmonara’

StefanGourmet

This is not an authentic dish, but my own invention. It is a fish version of the well-known spaghetti alla carbonara that uses smoked salmon and red onion instead of pancetta or guanciale. Just like real carbonara, the ‘sauce’ is raw egg that is only cooked slightly by the heat from the pasta. It only takes as long as it takes to cook the spaghetti. This dish is quick, easy, tasty, and healthy thanks to the omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon. Ingredients For 2 servings 200 grams (7 oz) spaghetti 250 grams (9 oz) smoked salmon 1 red onion, chopped … Continue reading Spaghetti ‘Salmonara’

Secondi di Carne (meat dishes)11 Comments

Sous-vide Rib Steak finished on the BBQ

StefanGourmet

  Once a year Kees throws an overnight party on our boat with about 25 friends, which involves a BBQ, a lot of beer, and a lot of fun. This year I decided to tag along (drinking wine rather than beer) and had a great time as well. I brought along 5 kilograms (11 lbs) sous-vide pre-cooked beef that was finished on the BBQ that was a big hit. All of it was devoured in five minutes. It was good quality marbled Irish beef, but since it was a cut that can usually only be prepared as a braise or … Continue reading Sous-vide Rib Steak finished on the BBQ

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)9 Comments

Fresh Pasta with Rabbit (Tajarin al Sugo di Coniglio)

StefanGourmet

I really liked the fresh tagliatelle with rabbit at Bussia, and so I decided to make a similar dish. Tajarin al Sugo di Coniglio is a dish from the Piemonte region, where narrow tagliatelle (taglierini) are called tajarin in the local dialect. It really brings out the delicate flavor of the rabbit, which pairs very well with the delicate pasta. I decided to enhance the rabbit flavor by using rabbit stock rather than chicken stock. Ingredients For 4 servings 1 kg (2.2 lbs) rabbit legs 1 small onion, minced 1 carrot, minced 1 celery stalk, minced 1 glass (100 ml) … Continue reading Fresh Pasta with Rabbit (Tajarin al Sugo di Coniglio)

Asian cuisine6 Comments

‘Japanese’ Salad

StefanGourmet

This salad isn’t truly Japanese, but it does include some Japanese ingredients and I did find the dressing in a booklet with recipes that are supposed to be Japanese. This post is all about the dressing which is really good. The salad is good too, it just isn’t very authentic. Ingredients lettuce shii take mushrooms bean sprouts green onion 2 Tbsp oil cherry tomatoes For the dressing 2 Tbsp rice vinegar 3 Tbsp Japanese soy sauce 2 Tbsp sesame oil 1/2 fresh red chile pepper Preparation Remove the tough stems from the shii take mushrooms and slice them. Sauté the … Continue reading ‘Japanese’ Salad

4. Dolci (dessert)18 Comments

Cake with Plums, Almonds and Orange

StefanGourmet

I served this delicious cake to my parents for dessert when they came over for dinner, and everyone loved it. I got the recipe from the newspaper a long time ago, and found it when I was sorting out old recipes. It’s so good I regret not making it earlier. Ingredients 500 grams (1.1 lbs) ripe plums 50 grams (1/4 cup) sugar juice and zest of 1 orange vanilla bean For the dough 150 grams (11 Tbsp) butter at room temperature 150 grams (3/4 cup) sugar 2 eggs 85 grams (1/2 cup) flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 100 grams … Continue reading Cake with Plums, Almonds and Orange

1. Antipasti (appetizers)13 Comments

First experiment with Agar Agar: Beetroot Tagliatelle

StefanGourmet

When I say beetroot tagliatelle, I don’t mean tagliatelle flavored or colored with beetroot, but tagliatelle made of mostly beetroot, without any flour. It is a simple form of modernist cuisine (not capitalized, since I’m not referring to the book). I had eaten tomato tagliatelle at Piazza Duomo, one of Italy’s best restaurants in Alba, and thought I could use agar agar to try something similar with beetroot. I don’t have a juicer so I used beetroot puree rather than beetroot juice. Agar agar is a gelling agent that is made from red algae that has the interesting quality that … Continue reading First experiment with Agar Agar: Beetroot Tagliatelle

1. Antipasti (appetizers)8 Comments

Kale Salad with Apples, Trail Mix, and Blue Cheese

StefanGourmet

I was intrigued when I read about a kale salad on EmmyCooks.com, as kale is something that I had never associated before with a salad. Kale is called boerenkool (“farmer’s cabbage”) in the Netherlands, and is eaten boiled with mashed potatoes, gravy and smoked sausage. In the Netherlands boerenkool is a winter vegetable and is not available fresh in summer, so I haven’t been able to try this salad until now. As I am currently touring national parks in the USA with an RV, I noticed that kale is indeed available here as a summer vegetable. So I decided to … Continue reading Kale Salad with Apples, Trail Mix, and Blue Cheese