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
My first try making fish paste from scratch was a bit of a disaster, but the thai fish cakes (tod mun pla) made with store-bought fish paste were such a big success that I wanted to try again to make … Continue reading How to Make Fish Paste For Thai Fish Cakes From Scratch
I’ve sung the praises of cooking from scratch before. Sure, you can buy something similar in a jar in the store. But you get to tune this homemade salsa to exactly how you like it, how about that! You can … Continue reading Chunky Salsa for Fajitas
Lately I’ve been trying more and more Thai food, using recipes from The High Heel Gourmet. Kees is working on the boat and I promised to prepare dinner for the workers. It was unseasonably cold, so I decided it had to … Continue reading Thai Vegetable Coconut Fritters (Gra Bong Tod)
After the success of carnitas sous-vide, I wanted to try a sous-vide version of REMCooks’ recipe for carnitas. Richard cooks the pork with orange juice, lime juice, fresh oregano, fresh thyme, ground cumin, and garlic instead of with achiote paste, … Continue reading Carnitas Cooked Sous-Vide with Orange Juice
We love risotto and so it is fitting that the 600th post on this blog is a risotto recipe. I had just finished another batch of homemade pancetta and was looking for a recipe to use it with. In one of … Continue reading Risotto with Witlof and Pancetta (Risotto con Radicchio e Pancetta)
My friend Melvin taught me how to make this dessert from Indonesia. They look great and when you bite into them, there is a nice surprise of melted palm sugar inside. First a dough is made of glutinous rice flour, … Continue reading Klepon (Sticky Rice Balls with Palm Sugar and Coconut)
This pasta dish is inspired by Sapori Pugliesi, a humble trattoria in downtown Amsterdam. This place is in walking distance from where I work, and perfect for a quick, delicious and cheap meal after work if I’m going to stay … Continue reading Fresh Tagliatelle with Slow-Cooked Beef Ragù
Fresh fish is vastly preferable to frozen, because frozen fish will lose much more juices when it’s cooked than fresh fish. And thus frozen fish often ends up unpleasantly dry on your plate. Unfortunately fresh fish is not available everywhere, … Continue reading Frozen Salmon Sous-Vide
Tougher cuts of meat can be cooked sous-vide for a long time (1 to 3 days) to render them tender and keep them juicy at the same time. I’ve been cooking sous-vide for over three years, and I’ve usually salted … Continue reading Sous-vide Salting Experiment
This is more a serving suggestion than an actual recipe, but since I liked it so much I’m sharing it with you anyway. You see, the place where I found imported burrata before, had it again (after a few botched … Continue reading Fusilli with Bolognese Ragù and Burrata
You could probably consider ravioli to be my signature dish. I love serving those delicate parcels that burst with flavor. When Auldo and Teun came over for lobster bisque, I used one of the leftover lobster tails (and a bit … Continue reading Lobster Ravioli (Ravioli all’Astice)
Have you ever heard of cutlets “Palermo style” (alla Palermitana)? I hadn’t. But thanks to the blog Culinaria Italia (the blog of a Brit who lives in Puglia) I have now tried them and loved them! The Cotoletta alla Palermitana … Continue reading Cotoletta alla Palermitana
Yet another simple and delicious seafood pasta dish from Biba Caggiano that only takes as long as it takes to cook the pasta: pasta shells with calamari, tomatoes, anchovies, and chile pepper flakes. This is best with fresh squid, but … Continue reading Pasta with Squid (Conchiglie alla Pappagano)
After eating at three-star restaurants and trying complicated recipes, it’s easy to forget that simple food can be great, too. Fortunately I only need to browse one of Biba Caggiano’s cookbooks to be reminded of that, and that is where … Continue reading Gnocchi with Fish Sauce (Gnocchi con Sugo di Pesce)
Babi Panggang is Malaysian/Indonesian for “roasted pork”. So why did I spell it with only one ‘g’ in the title of this post? Because this is the Dutch version that is only known in the Netherlands (and perhaps Belgium) and … Continue reading Babi Pangang (Pork with Sweet & Sour Red Sauce)
Acqua Pazza (which literally means “crazy water”) is a dish from Campania, the region of Naples. It can be either a primo piatto or a secondo piatto. As a secondo, it is fish cooked with cherry tomatoes. As a primo, it is … Continue reading Spaghetti all’Acqua Pazza (Spaghetti with Fish and Tomatoes)
Thanks to Miranti’s blog The High Heel Gourmet, I’ve been getting into homemade Thai from scratch. It is very different to my usual Italian stuff, but just as delicious in a completely different way. With the batch of thai red … Continue reading Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Mun Pla)
I’ve never yet tried my hand at lobster bisque, and so when Auldo claimed his lobster bisque was top notch I asked him to give me a demo. The result was outstanding, and he volunteered to do a guest post … Continue reading Auldo’s Lobster Bisque
There are only two restaurants in the Netherlands with three Michelin stars. De Librije has had its third star since 2004, De Leest acquired it recently. De Leest is situated in the village of Vaassen, near the town of Apeldoorn … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: De Leest***
This is what I prepared for our secondo piatto for Easter dinner: lamb shank ‘Italian style’ sous-vide with white asparagus sous-vide. Both lamb and asparagus are perfect to celebrate Spring. I’ve blogged about lamb shank sous-vide before, and that was a very … Continue reading Lamb Shank and Asparagus Sous-Vide
Once you have basic Thai red curry pasten (Kaeng Kua), you can easily turn it into an ‘advanced’ curry paste such as Kaeng Panang, which is enriched with peanuts and spices. Kaeng Panang is eaten with meat and poultry, and … Continue reading Thai Kaeng Panang Red Curry with Chicken
Kaeng Kua is ‘basic’ Thai red curry paste that I will use in the next few days to make a thai red curry with chicken and thai fish cakes. Like so many other foodstuffs, thai red curry paste is better … Continue reading Thai Red Curry Paste (Kaeng Kua)
Thomas Keller is a world famous chef and owns multiple restaurants. He published a beautiful book on sous-vide cooking called “Under Pressure”. In this book he writes that lobster tail should be cooked sous-vide for 15 minutes at 59.5ºC/139ºF, and … Continue reading Lobster Sous Vide Temperature Experiment
Burrata is a fresh cheese from the Italian region of Puglia that is like a creamy version of mozzarella. I had never seen it imported before, so when I did see it in Amsterdam I jumped at the chance to … Continue reading Pasta with Burrata, Spinach, and Lemon (Orecchiette Burrata, Spinaci, Limone)
Vendôme is the restaurant of chef Joachim Wissler, with 3 Michelin stars, awarded best restaurant in Germany and #10 on the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world. The restaurant is located in Schloss Bensberg, a very stylish … Continue reading Dining in Germany: Vendôme***
The Schanz family runs a hotel, winery and restaurant in the town of Piesport in the Mosel region of Germany. The young chef Thomas Schanz recently received his first Michelin star. Besides à la carte there is a 6-course chef … Continue reading Dining in Germany: Schanz*
