One of the goodies I brought from my trip to Italy was a new pasta shape: soqquadri or a square version of mezzi rigatoni. (If you can’t find the square version, you can also make this recipe with the usual … Continue reading Soqquadri Pasta with ‘deconstructed’ Eggplant Parmigiana
The idea for this rice salad with seafood came from Biba Caggiano, my favorite Italian cookery book author. This salad is brimming with tender morsels of tasty seafood, crunchy vegetables, a nice zing from the dressing, gherkins and capers, and a … Continue reading Rice and Seafood Salad (Insalata di Riso e Frutti di Mare)
We have lots of mint growing in our garden, and I love mint ice cream (especially when combined with chocolate). So why not make mint ice cream from scratch? Mint ice cream is very refreshing and perfect for the summer. … Continue reading Homemade Mint Ice Cream
Panzanella is a perfect dish for the hot weather we’ve been having, as it is refreshing, makes good use of the summer’s bounty, and the basic version doesn’t require any cooking. Originally it is an Italian peasant lunch prepared to … Continue reading Panzanella
We love risotto and I’m always trying to come up with new recipes. This spinach risotto turned out really nice, and it was even nicer with the garnishes of pancetta and sous-vide egg-yolk. But the risotto is delicious by itself, … Continue reading Spinach Risotto (Risotto agli Spinaci)
Vongole veraci are Italian clams and they are just so flavorful. The best thing is, they come with their own sauce (i.e. the juices they release when they are cooked) and so it takes very little effort to turn some … Continue reading Vongole alla Marinara (Clams in Tomato Sauce)
Octopus cooked sous-vide and then finished on the grill is one of my favorites. Octopus and squid go well with bell peppers. It is so hot that I wanted to serve something refreshing, and so I thought: “Why not make … Continue reading Grilled Octopus with Roasted Bell Pepper Ice Cream
Clafoutis is a flan-type cake from France, usually stuffed with cherries. I’ve stayed very close to the recipe of Stéphane’s great grandmother, which he posted on his wonderful blog My French Heaven. It is quite easy to make and it … Continue reading Clafoutis
After all the decadent restaurant meals, it is time for something very simple. This plate of pasta takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish. The list of ingredients is very short: pasta, zucchini, parmigiano, salt, pepper, olive oil. … Continue reading Quick Pasta with Zucchini
In 2010 we ‘discovered’ Piazza Duomo of chef Enrico Crippa in Alba, at that time still relatively unknown (although it already had two Michelin stars), thanks to the Gambero Rosso guide, in which it already had tre forchette. We liked it … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Piazza Duomo***
The next stop with tre forchette in our culinary tour is Casa Vissani, by lake Colbara on the road between Orvieto and Todi in Umbria. Because the restaurant is located outside a town, it is very convenient that it also … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Vissani**
When I prepared a Bistecca alla Fiorentina in January to celebrate Conor’s board, there were two things I put on my to do list: (1) to try this with real Chianina beef from Tuscany, and (2) to try to ‘warm age’ … Continue reading Sous-vide Warm Aged T-Bone Steak
Reale is the restaurant of chef Niko Romito and his sister Cristiana in the mountain town of Castel di Sangro in Abruzzo. I had been curious about this restaurant with tre forchette from Gambero Rosso for a while, but it was always … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Reale***
The next stop in our culinary Italy tour is the beach town of Roseto degli Abruzzi, on the Adriatic coast in the region of Abruzzo. There are only 15 trattorie in all of Italy with a tre gamberi (3 ‘shrimp’) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Vecchia Marina
When I made my first batch of ravioli with a cauliflower stuffing some weeks ago, I contemplated whether I would make it with red wine or with white wine and ended up making a delicious red wine version with great depth … Continue reading Cauliflower and Lemon Ravioli
Is there a good reason to go to Torriana, a small village half an hour inland from the Adriatic beach town of Rimini? Yes there is, and it is chef Piergiorgio Parini of Il Povero Diavolo. It is not the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Povero Diavolo*
Our favorite restaurant guide for Italy is that of “Gambero Rosso”. It is available as a book, but also as a handy app. The best restaurants are awarded one, two, or three forchette (forks), and the best trattorie are awarded … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Locanda al Gambero Rosso
Enrico Bartolini is one of the rising stars in the Italian restaurant scene. For his restaurant, located in the Devero hotel by the autostrada just outside of Milano, he recently received his second Michelin star and his third fork (forchetta) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Devero**
We love fajitas, Tex-Mex flour tortillas stuffed with chicken or steak, bell peppers, onions, salsa, and cheese. At least that’s how I like to prepare them. We usually have them with chicken, but I was curious to try them with steak. … Continue reading Sous-Vide Steak Fajitas
When I first got a stovetop smoker, it came with a very simple user’s manual that said to season fish with salt and pepper and smoke it with 2 tablespoons of smoking dust for 15-20 minutes. This user’s manual was … Continue reading Hot Smoked Salmon, Dry or Wet Cure?
In a change of pace from a very involved preparation and a very sophisticated meal, in this post I’m going to show you how I cut bell peppers quickly and with zero waste. A lot of food is wasted. The statistics … Continue reading How to Cut a Bell Pepper
This is the third review of Librije on my blog, which is not a surprise as it has become a tradition for us to celebrate our wedding anniversary there every year (starting with our 3rd anniversary). We started this tradition … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2014)
When I saw venison short ribs available, I couldn’t resist buying some as I really like beef short ribs cooked sous-vide and was curious what venison short ribs sous-vide would be like. It is important to note that these were … Continue reading Venison Short Ribs Sous-Vide Roulade with Fava Beans and Mushrooms
Lately round zucchini have shown up around here. After seeing Marina using them to make stuffed zucchini, I thought I’d try that too. My version is vegetarian, but I did use her idea of using coriander seed to give an … Continue reading Stuffed Round Zucchini
Yesterday’s dinner featured two unusual ingredients: grey mullet and wild asparagus. I served them as simple as possible, dressed only with extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. It was delicious and … Continue reading Hot Smoked Grey Mullet with Steamed Wild Asparagus
I got the idea for this fast delicious summery pasta dish from Marina of Le Recette di Baccos. It only takes as long as it takes to cook the pasta and the variations are endless. Raw vegetables, in this version … Continue reading Pasta with Raw Vegetables (Penne con Verdure Crude)
I had picked up a cauliflower because it was on sale, without knowing what I was going to do with it. Then when it was time to cook I wanted to try something new, and as ravioli is one of … Continue reading Cauliflower Ravioli (Ravioli al Cavolfiore)
Guanciale is cured pork jowl. It is the traditional ingredient for Spaghetti alla Carbonara, Amatriciana and Gricia, but difficult to find outside of Italy. Pancetta (cured pork belly instead of jowl) can be used as a substitute, but of course it … Continue reading Homemade Guanciale
I’ve already posted about homemade ketchup in my most about making my first hamburgers from scratch. I wasn’t completely happy with the ketchup back then, and I’ve been experimenting a bit to find a recipe I liked better based on a … Continue reading Homemade Ketchup
Scamorza is a cheese from southern Italy that is often smoked, and it is this smoked variety that is the star of this recipe. You can think of it as smoked mozzarella. I had picked up this scamorza without deciding … Continue reading Penne with Scamorza, Eggplant and Cherry Tomatoes
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