De Librije is our favorite restaurant in the Netherlands and we go there every year for our anniversary. We celebrate two anniversaries each year, and after 10 years of celebrating our wedding anniversary at the Librije in June, we decided … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2015)
As promised in my review of sous-vide equipment, I’m going to write more about sous-vide techniques. This is the first post in a series, that will be in the new categorie “Sous-Vide tips & tricks“. In cooking we often strive to … Continue reading Post Sous-Vide Searing by Deep Frying
The recipe for this cake with pears and dates is from Tuttacronaca, an Italian blogger who has unfortunately stopped blogging. It has some similarities to the sticky date pudding I posted recently, as it also has dates, caramel, and cognac. … Continue reading Date and Pear Cake
If you haven’t decided yet what your appetizer will be for Christmas dinner, this just may be it. You still have time to cure and smoke the salmon. Or you could cheat and buy the smoked salmon, but make sure … Continue reading Whiskey Cold Smoked Salmon with Salsify
I’ve posted a recipe for lobster risotto before, a very elegant dish with a mild lobster flavor in the risotto itself. That version requires 1 lobster (of about 650 grams or 1.5 lbs) for every two servings. If you like … Continue reading Lobster Bisque Risotto
No fancy stuff today, but simple honest Italian home cooking. Frittata is the Italian solution to leftovers. Just add some eggs and turn it into a wonderful meal. Although I have been blogging about Italian food for over four years, I’ve … Continue reading Roasted Cauliflower Frittata
This dish is a play on the classic pappardelle al ragù di cinghiale. Since I had made a big batch of the sous-vide version of wild boar ragù, I thought it would be fun to stuff ravioli with the solid part … Continue reading Ravioli al Ragù di Cinghiale (Wild Boar Ravioli)
I’ve been cooking sous-vide for five years now, since even before I started this blog. Back then sous-vide cooking was virtually unknown to the general public, and only restaurant chefs and cooking ‘geeks’ were aware of the cooking technique that … Continue reading Sous-Vide Equipment Review: SousVide Supreme vs. Anova Precision Cooker
Ragù di Cinghiale is a famous pasta sauce made with wild boar meat and tomatoes from Tuscany and Umbria, served over a sturdy type of long pasta like pappardelle or pici. I’ve already posted a classic recipe for Pappardelle al Ragù … Continue reading Wild Boar Ragù Sous-Vide (Ragù di Cinghiale)
How about insalata caprese for dessert? Most of us love the famous combination of tomato, buffalo mozzarella, and basil as a savory dish. But it is also delicious as a dessert with the basil transformed into ice cream. The technique for … Continue reading Basil Ice Cream with Tomato Confit, Mozzarella and Balsamic Syrup
Sometimes fresh borlotti beans are available at the market in Amsterdam. The pods are so pretty that they look like they were designed by an artist. I had picked up some and decided to turn it into a minestra using … Continue reading Pasta and Fresh Borlotti Beans Soup (Pasta con i Fagioli Freschi)
Sometimes I use ‘transitivity’ to come up with new dishes. A relationship between two objects is transitive if whenever an object A is related to an object B, and B is in turn related to an object C, then A is also related to … Continue reading Tuna and Carrots with Cumin
A simple classic from Italian kitchens: spaghetti with sausage and cream. This comfort food is even more simple than pasta with sausage and bell pepper, or with porcini, sausage, and cream. And it can be prepared in the time it … Continue reading Spaghetti with Sausage and Cream (Spaghetti Salsiccia e Panna)
There are different ways of cooking the potatoes to make gnocchi. You can cook the potatoes sous-vide, or roast the potatoes in the oven. In this post I show that you can also simply boil the potatoes. I should probably do a … Continue reading Potato Gnocchi with Venison and Chanterelles (Gnocchi di Patate al Ragù di Cervo e Finferli)
This is an original dish that I created based on what I had in my fridge and pantry. Succulent morsels of rabbit with a crispy crust are served atop a flavorful and healthy lentil and corn salad with tomatoes and … Continue reading Lentil Salad with Rabbit and Corn
Today marks the 4th anniversary of this blog. This is the 859th post. There have been over 870,000 views in those four years, and the number of followers and daily views is still slowly but steadily increasing. It’s been a … Continue reading Sticky Date Pudding
This dish was inspired by a pasta we had during our latest trip to Italy at Locanda delle Grazie: fresh pasta with duck ragù. The pasta is dressed with the duck cooking juices and tender morsels of duck meat. It … Continue reading Tagliatelle with Duck (Tagliatelle all’Anatra)
As I’ve described in my previous post about the history of the wine pairing dinners that I host, I’ve been organizing wine pairing dinners for 5 years now and I have hosted 25 of them with 11 different themes. To … Continue reading Organizing a Wine Pairing Dinner
I’ve been hosting wine pairing dinners for years now. At home, for family and friends. This tradition started before I started blogging, and I have written about it before, but as I have a lot on my plate on an … Continue reading History of Wine Pairing Dinners
Doesn’t this salmon look amazing? Believe me, it tastes as tender and juicy as it looks! That is because it has been cooked sous-vide at 43C/109F. What makes this dish even more mouth-watering, is that the salmon has been cooked … Continue reading Salmon Sous-Vide with Thai Green Curry Paste and Bok Choy
Fresh figs have to be imported and because they are quite perishable they are not often of a great quality, but sometimes some nice figs are available in the Netherlands. A nice way to use them is to make ice … Continue reading Fresh Fig Ice Cream (Gelato di Fichi)
It was my lucky day at the market. Because not only did I find the nice box of wild mushrooms for a bargain, the turbot was on sale as well. The turbot was on the small side (which for turbot … Continue reading Turbot with Morels, Wild Mushrooms, and Celeriac Puree
There are two posts about fresh pasta with mushrooms on this blog already: pappardelle with fresh porcini and pappardelle with dried porcini and fresh mushrooms. There are two reasons for yet another post. The first one is that during our … Continue reading Tagliolini ai Funghi di Bosco (Fresh Pasta with Wild Mushrooms)
I’m in trouble. Or at least I may be. I am thrilled and honored that Ireland’s #1 blogger and his famous ‘Wife’ are coming over for a visit. Yes, no one less than the one and only Conor Bofin. But, to … Continue reading Quail with Mushrooms Sous-Vide
Anatoli wrote an interesting article about clam chowder on his great wine blog Talk-A-Vino. He explains that chowder is “a rich soup typically containing fish, clams, or corn with potatoes and onions” and that there are four types of clam … Continue reading New England Clam Chowder
Before I talk about today’s recipe, I would like to say a few words to honor Silva Rigobello, who has suddenly passed away this weekend. You can imagine this came as quite a shock after the recent passing of Richard. Even … Continue reading Greens-Ricotta Dumplings with Venison Ragù (Gnocchetti alle Erbe con Ragù di Cervo)
I’ve adapted this parsnip and walnut cake from a recipe I liked on Simona’s blog Grembiule da Cucina. The combination of parnip and walnut works very well, and to brighten up the woody flavors I added some ground aniseed. To make … Continue reading Parsnip Walnut Cake (Torta di Pastinaca e Noci)
Skate is a fish that is not very well known. Both its flavor and its texture are different than other fish. When prepared correctly, it is delicious. When overcooked, it is dry and stringy. The best way to prevent this … Continue reading Skate and Cauliflower
Vitello tonnato is one of my favorite dishes. The combination of slices of tender veal with a tuna sauce is surprisingly delicious. I’ve posted a sous-vide version of Vitello Tonnato before, but in that version only the veal was cooked … Continue reading Vitello Tonnato Extremely Sous-Vide
A while back Silva posted a prune and frangipane tart on her blog that she referred to as Torta Delizia (delicious tart). She used to eat this cake when visiting signora Gigia in the town where she grew up, and years … Continue reading Almond and Fig Tart
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