Pound cake
In the same baking spree as the apple pie I also made a pound cake. The name “pound cake” comes from the amounts of an old recipe for this type of cake: 1 pound of flour, 1 pound of butter, … Continue reading Pound cake
Category: Cooking
Classic Dutch apple pie
Today I’ve been on a baking spree because it was my birthday on Saturday and in the Netherlands it is a tradition to treat your colleagues to cake on (or after) your birthday. It is not necessarily a tradition to … Continue reading Classic Dutch apple pie
Turbot and white asparagus sous-vide with Hollandaise sauce
I saw reasonably priced very fresh turbot for sale and couldn’t resist. Even though asparagus are out of season and have to come from Peru, I decided to make a dish that I created last May for the Fish & Wine … Continue reading Turbot and white asparagus sous-vide with Hollandaise sauce
Attempt to recreate Torre del Saracino dish from memory
On December 23 we had dinner at one of the best restaurants in Italy, La Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense. The chef Gennaro Esposito is a master at making very simple local dishes with high-quality but simple ingredients taste delicious. The simplicity can be a bit misleading, because you don’t get two Michelin stars for ordinary food. Since we liked one of the dishes with oysters, cauliflower, pecorino cheese and pasta so much, I decided to have a go at recreating it from memory. I did not ask the chef how he had made it, I just tried to … Continue reading Attempt to recreate Torre del Saracino dish from memory
Tiramisù
Note added August 28, 2022: This was one of the first recipes that I published on my blog, over 10 years ago. This still remains one of my favorites, even though I don’t prepare it very often anymore. I’ve recently … Continue reading Tiramisù
Rabbit with tomatoes sous-vide
Rabbit is often dry and sometimes tough. By cooking the rabbit sous-vide, the meat will be very tender and moist. To be able to cook the rabbit with tomato sauce sous-vide, I use the trick to freeze the sauce before sealing it into a bag to prevent the sauce from being sucked out by the vacuum sealer. I chose to use fresh tomatoes rather than canned to preserve the delicate flavor of the rabbit. Canned tomatoes would be too strong. This dish is simple, delicious and healthy (high in protein but low in fat). Ingredients For 2 servings 2 rabbit legs … Continue reading Rabbit with tomatoes sous-vide
Sous-vide pigeon with smoky pigeon jus
This was the secondo for our X-mas dinner this year. Pigeon is often overcooked and then has a strong livery taste and is dry. By cooking the breast sous-vide, it has a delicious flavor and is very tender. The pigeon jus is delicious and very flavorful because it is reduced to an almost syrupy consistency and because part of the pigeon bones are smoked. This dish is quite a bit of work, but definitely worth it! Ingredients For 4 servings 2 pigeons (wild or farmed, NOT frozen!) 250 grams (1/2 pound) chopped celery, carrot, onion 1 glass of red wine 1 shallot … Continue reading Sous-vide pigeon with smoky pigeon jus
Ravioli with scallops and parsnip
As primo for our X-mas dinner this year I made these wonderful ravioli stuffed with scallops and parsnip. The inspiration for this recipe came from Niki Segnit’s The Flavour Thesaurus. The combination of parsnip puree and scallops works really well, and to enhance the flavor I also added chopped tarragon. If you can obtain fresh scallops in the shell, consider using those for the seared scallop that is served with the dish. Fresh scallops in the shell are more expensive, but taste better and will also sear more easily. The recipe will work well with scallops sold out of the shell … Continue reading Ravioli with scallops and parsnip
Italian bread
Whenever I have guests over for dinner I always bake this bread. Even though it’s straightforward bread, since it’s fresh out of the oven it has a great taste, texture and smell and is therefore always very well-received. I use my breadmaker to make the dough, but use the oven to bake it for a superior crust and shape. It is not a lot of work at all to make your own bread if you own a breadmaker to make the dough for you, but you do need to consider that it will take about 5 hours from start to … Continue reading Italian bread
Bounet sous-vide
Bounet, bunet or bonet is a traditional festive dessert from Piemonte. The name is thought to be derived from “bonnet” (hat), since the dessert is the ‘hat’ of the meal. Bounet is delicious and very good with any dessert wine … Continue reading Bounet sous-vide
Pheasant: stock, smoked breast, leg ravioli
Some people do not like it when you can see that the meat or fish you are eating came from an animal or fish. Well, until science comes up with a better solution it always does! Just looking at a clean, preferably square, piece of meat won’t change that. On the contrary, I like to use the full animal and make the most of it. The bones etc. carry a lot of flavor that should not be wasted. For a dinner party I bought a pheasant and used all of it. First I cut off the breast fillets and the … Continue reading Pheasant: stock, smoked breast, leg ravioli
Perfect sous-vide seabass
I have been trying to make the ‘perfect’ seabass with tender moist flesh and crispy skin for a long time, and now I’ve finally found the way to do it! When cooking the seabass in a hot non-stick frying pan, I ended up either with a crispy skin with flesh that was a bit overcooked and a bit dry (not terrible, but as always I am striving for perfection 🙂 or with tender moist flesh and flabby skin. Please note that the fish should be very fresh (‘sushi grade’) for this recipe. Continue reading “Perfect sous-vide seabass”
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Pasta from the oven with eggplant and mozzarella (Paccheri alla parmigiana)
Today I felt like cooking something vegetarian. I had bought an eggplant and buffalo mozzarella, and had some very nice Paccheri di Gragnano lying around (given to me by Gennaro Esposito, the chef of our favorite restaurant in Italy (Torre del Saracino) during our last visit). The combination of eggplant, mozzarella, basil and tomato is classic. There are many different versions, the most common being melanzane alla parmigiana. This version has a different texture because of the use of pasta. Instead of Paccheri, you can use any kind of large pasta shape that can be stuffed such as shells or … Continue reading Pasta from the oven with eggplant and mozzarella (Paccheri alla parmigiana)
Dry-aged MRIJ T-bone steak sous-vide
MRIJ stands for Maas-Rijn-IJssel, a breed of cattle named after the region in which it was bred: where the three rivers Maas (Meuse), Rijn (Rhine) and IJssel (Issel) meet. This piece of T-bone steak is very tasty for two reasons: (1) because the MRIJ breed has a lot of intramuscular fat (aka ‘marbling’) and because it has been dry-aged. The intramuscular fat makes the beef more juicy and carries a lot of taste. Dry-aging means that the beef has been hung to dry for several weeks, thus concentrating the flavor and taste and allowing the beef’s natural enzymes to break … Continue reading Dry-aged MRIJ T-bone steak sous-vide
Sous-vide cod with braised fennel and white wine sauce
Last night after the delicious ravioli with gorgonzola and witlof we had this simple but good dish that went nicely with the same wine (Erbaluce di Caluso). This was my first attempt at sous-vide cod and it turned out perfectly cooked with a great texture. However cod is so flaky that it seems impossible to sear the fish after cooking sous-vide without breaking it apart. Perhaps I’ll try pre-searing next time. Ingredients For 2 servings: 250 grams (1/2 pound) cod fillet 125 ml (1/2 cup) white wine 125 ml (1/2 cup) home-made fish stock 1 fennel bulb 1 shallot 1/2 … Continue reading Sous-vide cod with braised fennel and white wine sauce
How to make fish stock
Homemade fish stock is an essential ingredient for seafood risotto, soups and sauces. It is easy to make and handy to keep deep-frozen. Ingredients For 1 liter (1 quart) of fish stock: 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of fresh fish bones and heads of white fish (fatty fish such as salmon gives a different flavor) 450 grams (1 pound) of mixed aromatic vegetables such as carrots, leeks, celery stalks, onions, fennel trimmings 1 tomato 1 sprig thyme 1 bay leaf some pepper corns olive oil Preparation Make sure to remove the gills and eyes from the fish heads and soak the … Continue reading How to make fish stock
Ravioli al Radicchio (witlof/chicory/belgian endive) e Gorgonzola
I had some left-over gorgonzola and had bought some witlof (chicory, belgian endive) and decided to try something new: ravioli with a filling of gorgonzola and witlof. It turned out great and is definitely a keeper! The Italian version of witlof is radicchio and red instead of white, but they are related to each other and the taste is very similar. The wine pairing with the 2009 Orsolani Erbaluce di Caluso La Rustìa was also excellent: this dish needs a dry white wine with a light bitter tone (preferably mineral like this erbaluce di caluso) to go with the witlof … Continue reading Ravioli al Radicchio (witlof/chicory/belgian endive) e Gorgonzola
How to make fresh pasta
With some practice, fresh pasta is quite easy to make and does not take that much time. Especially if you are not making a large quantity. The taste and especially the texture are better from what you can buy in a store, and the best thing is: you can make your own stuffed pasta such as ravioli and tortellini. Store-bought ravioli stuffing very often mostly consists of bread crumbs and other ‘fillers’. Home-made stuffed pasta is always a big hit at my dinner parties because of the wonderful light texture of the pasta and the delicious filling. Some people think … Continue reading How to make fresh pasta
Beetroot with blue cheese
I usually make this as an antipasto, but tonight I thought it would be a nice side for the rack of lamb. It seems very simply, but the combination of beetroot and blue cheese tastes heavenly! Raw beetroot that you cook in the oven has more and a better flavor than already cooked beetroot from the supermarket. It’s not a lot of work, so give it a try! Ingredients for 2 servings 2 beetroot Good blue cheese such as roquefort or gorgonzola piccante to taste Good balsamic vinegar to taste Preparation Wrap each beetroot into aluminum foil and cook them … Continue reading Beetroot with blue cheese
Sous-vide rack of lamb
As a secondo after the primo of gnocchi al gorgonzola, we had another favorite: rack of lamb! The Dutch lamb from my local butcher is still very tender even though it’s almost December. Ingredients for 2 servings 1 rack of lamb with 6-8 ribs 3 sprigs rosemay salt, freshly ground black pepper olive oil 75 ml (1/3 cup) red wine 75 ml (1/3 cup) lamb stock Preparation Preheat water bath to 54.5C/130F. Rub the rack of lamb with salt, freshly ground black pepper and some olive oil and seal in a bag with the rosemary sprigs (one on each side). … Continue reading Sous-vide rack of lamb
Gnocchi di Patate al Gorgonzola
Tonight my friend Esther came over for dinner. As primo I tried a lighter version of a favorite dish: gnocchi al gorgonzola. Instead of butter and cream I decided to use chicken stock. The result was not as creamy, but … Continue reading Gnocchi di Patate al Gorgonzola
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