Turkey with Spinach
This is a recipe that started off as “what can I make from what is in my refrigerator”, but we liked it so much that it is now a regular feature on our menu. Turkey can be a bit boring, … Continue reading Turkey with Spinach
This is a recipe that started off as “what can I make from what is in my refrigerator”, but we liked it so much that it is now a regular feature on our menu. Turkey can be a bit boring, … Continue reading Turkey with Spinach
We love green asparagus, especially when they are grilled on the BBQ, but every time I prepare them, it bothers me to discard the ends. About 40% of the weight is discarded that way. And so I wanted to experiment … Continue reading Pasta with Asparagus Ends
This summertime ragù is more elegant than ragù alla Bolognese and takes less time. It is best over fresh pasta, but as seen in the photo it is great on spaghetti or other store-bought dry pasta, too. As with many … Continue reading Pork, Fresh Tomato and Fennel Seed Ragù (Ragù di Maiale al Pomodoro Fresco e Semi di Finocchio)
Recently I posted a recipe for goat satay, saté kambing, prepared sous-vide. This had turned out to so well that I wanted to make it again soon, but this time with chicken. Unlike goat (or lamb) shoulder, chicken meat is tender … Continue reading Chicken Satay (Saté Ajam)
Stéphane of MyFrenchHeaven.com wrote so enthusiastically about Vichyssoise, which is a cold potato and leek soup, that I wanted to give it a try. I prepared it according to his recipe, and the result was a very elegant refreshing soup. … Continue reading Vichyssoise (Cold Potato & Leek Soup)
Spaghetti with a sauce made from fresh tomatoes is the only dish that I prepare quite often, but has not appeared on this blog yet. There are two reasons for that: one is that I thought it wouldn’t be interesting … Continue reading Spaghetti with a Fresh Tomato Sauce (Spaghetti al Pomodoro)
My old-fashioned butcher (which is not a bad quality at all in a butcher) is slowly catching up to new trends, and is now dry aging beef. I picked up a dry aged strip steak (called entrecote in the Netherlands) … Continue reading Strip Steak with Parsnip, Zucchini and Potatoes
When I posted my recipe for crème brûlée, I got suggestions to try white chocolate creme brulee (which I did and liked) and passion fruit creme brulee as well. Blogging is a continuing source of inspiration for my cooking, and … Continue reading Passion Fruit Crème Brûlée
Blade steak or flat iron steak is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef that when you cook it sous-vide becomes more flavorful than many more expensive cuts of steak, and just as tender. Look for steaks with a lot of … Continue reading Blade Steak Sous-Vide with Shii Take Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce
This is an Italian version of what is known in the Netherlands as kalfsvinken: a thin slice of veal stuffed with ground veal. It becomes Italian by the addition of prosciutto, parmigiano, sage, and nutmeg. The easiest way to cook … Continue reading Involtini di Vitello (Stuffed Veal Bundles)
After preparing shrimp-crusted grouper with spinach and butter beans, which was inspired by a crab-crusted grouper I’d had in Miami Beach, I decided to try a crab-crusted version as well. You can prepare this with any type of white fish that doesn’t … Continue reading Crab-Crusted Halibut with Asparagus and Madeira Sauce
I had some left-over remoulade sauce in my fridge, along with some parsnips that needed to be used. And so I decided to buy some fish fillet and make these fish and parsnip balls. The reasoning behind it was that … Continue reading Fish and Parsnip Balls with Tarragon
When you look on-line for the best temperature to cook cod sous-vide, you will find answers ranging from 41C/106F to 60C/140F. On this blog, I have posted a recipes at 41C/106F and 54C/159F. Especially if you are new to sous-vide cooking, … Continue reading Cod Sous-Vide Temperature Experiment
When you make crème brûlée, you will have a lot of leftover egg whites. On the master of cook I saw this recipe for a ‘pizza’ made from egg whites with a tomato sauce and tuna. In Italian it is … Continue reading Egg White ‘Pizza’ With Tuna
Bouillabaisse is a classic fish soup from Marseille in France. The name comes from boiling (bouilla) over low (baisse) heat. Originally it was made from fish that fishermen had left over. Now there are so many versions that a group … Continue reading Bouillabaisse
Panzerotti are deep-fried calzone, i.e. deep-fried filled pizza! They are delicious street food from Puglia in the deep south of Italy. In Campania they are called calzoni fritti. The funny thing is that I did not get to know these … Continue reading Panzerotti
Picanha is a cut of beef that is very popular in Brazil and Argentina, that is known as “rump cap” in the United States or as staartstuk in the Netherlands. It is a tender and flavorful piece of beef from … Continue reading Picanha Sous-Vide with Chimichurri
When I posted my recipe for regular crème brûlée, CampariGirl suggested I should try making it with passion fruit or white chocolate. Since passion fruit appears to be out of season, I opted to make it with white chocolate. White chocolate … Continue reading White Chocolate Crème Brûlée
Apart from anything sous-vide, homemade ravioli could be considered to be my signature dish. Besides Italian classics I have developed many variations over the years. So many that it is getting hard to come up with something new. White asparagus … Continue reading White Asparagus Ravioli
For a vegetable side for our soul food feast of dirty rice and smothered pork chops, we decided on turnip greens (Dutch: raapstelen, Italian: cime di rape). This preparation is suitable for other types of bitter greens as well, like … Continue reading Soul Food, Part 3: Turnip Greens
The second part of the soul food feast we prepared was smothered pork chops. This is a simple but tasty recipe: pork chops that are cooked low and slow in onion gravy. Of course we made this sous-vide, but you can … Continue reading Soul Food, Part 2: Smothered Pork Chops
My co-worker Selena suggested we prepare a soul food meal together, and I thought that was a wonderful idea. I was curious to try it and what better way than together with someone who grew up with soul food?! This … Continue reading Soul Food, Part 1: Dirty Rice
I’ve never been to India and I’ve never even eaten at an Indian restaurant. But I was curious about the cuisine, and so it was a great pleasure that two natives, Vinod and Seema, were willing to cook for me … Continue reading Introduction to Indian Cuisine
It’s Spring and when it’s spring I see lambs frolicking in the pastures. And it makes me think of how good they will taste as lamb chops or lamb shank 😉 A part of lamb that is not as popular … Continue reading Agnello alla Romagnola (Lamb Stew with Peas, Pancetta and Tomato)
I’ve just had this for dinner and it was so good that I wanted to blog about it straight away! Satay is Indonesian for a grilled meat skewer. Saté babi is pork, saté ajam is chicken, and saté kambing is … Continue reading Saté Kambing (Lamb or Goat Satay with Peanut Sauce)
On Ocean Drive in Miami Beach I had a very nice dish at A Fish Called Avalon, crab-crusted grouper with steamed spinach, giant white beans, roasted teardrop tomatoes, and a madeira beurre blanc. This is the only dish from my recent … Continue reading Shrimp-Crusted Grouper with Spinach and Butter Beans
This is one of those rare cases when the name of a dish sounds better in English than it does in the original Italian. Simona of Grembiule da Cucina always has wonderful Italian home cooking recipes from her region Emilia, … Continue reading Rina’s Ribs (Puntine “della Rina”)
Celeriac is one of the few local vegetables available here in winter, not counting stuff that comes out of a greenhouse. It is tasty and versatile, as you can eat it raw, as puree, steamed, or roasted. In this recipe … Continue reading Pasta with Celeriac, Chicken, and Walnuts
Sea bream is a lean flavorful fish, also known by its French name daurade or dorade (orata in Italian). It is often served in restaurants in the south of France, so here I paired it with ratatouille from that same region. Ratatouille … Continue reading Sea Bream with Crunchy Ratatouille and Flavored Brown Rice
Geese have become somewhat of a plague in the area were we live. There are so many of them that they ruin the fields and therefore their numbers need to be ‘managed’. As a result, local wild goose is now … Continue reading Goose Breast Sous-Vide with Sauerkraut and Pear