Dry aging is a technique that is applied to meat for three reasons: it concentrates the flavors by reducing the amount of water; it tenderizes the meat by the slow activity of enzymes that are naturally present in the meat; … Continue reading Umai Bags For Dry Aging Steak At Home
Clafoutis is a famous French pie with cherries. You can find my rendition of the classical version here. Since cherries work well with chocolate, I thought there must also be a variation with chocolate. Some googling did indeed confirm that … Continue reading Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis (Clafoutis chocolaté aux cerises)
Unlike other ‘old-fashioned’ vegetables like parsnip that are now in every supermarket, chard is still difficult to find in the Netherlands. As research for this post I googled Italian recipes for lasagne alle bietole and noticed that most recipes use … Continue reading Chard Lasagna (Lasagne alle Bietole)
Strawberries are in season and this cake is a simple yet delicious way of serving them. It is an Italian recipe without whipped cream like in this strawberry cake and I reduced the amount of sugar, so it is quite … Continue reading Strawberry Cake (Torta di Fragole)
The season for white asparagus started very early this year in the Netherlands due to the warm winter, but then came to an abrupt end caused by a shortage of people to harvest them due to the Corona crisis. But … Continue reading White Asparagus: To Sous-Vide or Not To Sous-Vide?
The combination of white asparagus, smoked salmon, and Hollandaise sauce is a classic one. With homemade Hollandaise, sous vide asparagus, and home-smoked salmon it is a lovely appetizer. You could substitute good quality store-bought smoked salmon and steam the asparagus … Continue reading Asparagus with Smoked Salmon and Hollandaise
Curing fish improves its texture for cooking sous-vide, and this miso cure also adds flavor. This recipe is often prepared with black cod, a type of fish that is not available here. I prepared it with salmon instead, and it … Continue reading Miso-Cured Salmon Sous-Vide
Most of the times when I’ve had paella in a restaurant or made it myself, it has always contained seafood. But there are also paella recipes without seafood, like this one from Alicante with rabbit and snails. Eva of KitchenInspirations … Continue reading Paella with Rabbit and Snails (Arroz con Conejo y Caracoles)
My friend Melvin is great with Asian food. The other day he prepared this mackerel in Thai red curry sauce for us, and it was so good that I wanted to make it myself as soon as possible. Melvin got … Continue reading Mackerel in Thai Red Curry Sauce (Choo Chee)
Baking seems to be popular when in lockdown, or at least the idea of baking must be, because flour, yeast, and other baking supplies are sold out everywhere. But pears were on sale and I had walnuts that needed to … Continue reading Pear and Walnut Cake (Torta di Pere e Noci)
With all the restaurants closed it is nice to make restaurant-style food at home, using ingredients that we usually eat at restaurants like lobster. The idea to combine lobster with cauliflower came from Aqua. Instead of using regular cauliflower I … Continue reading Lobster with Romanesco and Green Curry
Happy Easter everyone! I thought this white asparagus lasagne was going to be good, but it turned out even better than I expected and I am most definitely making this again. The secret to this lasagne is that the white sauce … Continue reading Asparagus and Goat Cheese Lasagne (Lasagne agli Asparagi con Formaggio di Capra)
The first time I prepared this risotto it was very much an improvisation because I had some zucchini that needed to be used up, and I regretted not taking photos for the blog. But it was a good excuse to … Continue reading Risotto with Zucchini, Pine Kernels and Basil
Simple dishes can be surprisingly good. Many traditional Italian recipes can be linked to the local circumstances. Liguria is a mountainous strip of land along the Mediterranean coast without any room for growing wheat. But there are lots of chestnut … Continue reading Chestnut Tagliatelle with Basil Pesto (Tagliatelle di Castagne al Pesto)
Paola of Primo non sprecare always has tasty Italian recipes. Her lentil and artichoke soup intrigued me, because I had not encountered that combination before. It is a vegan soup from only a few ingredients with a surprising flavor that … Continue reading Lentil and Artichoke Soup (Zuppa di lenticchie con carciofi)
The first thing I made with my homemade kimchi was a kimchi pancake, again using a recipe by Maangchi. Kimchi pancakes are popular in Korea and I can see why as they are very tasty: crispy and crunchy with a … Continue reading Kimchi Pancake
Wild game is the ultimate ‘free range’ meat with more flavor and benefits from a sustainability perspective. Wild boar cheeks are one of my favorite cuts because they are cheap, very flavorful, and easy to prepare sous vide. They have … Continue reading Pulled Boar Cheeks Sous-Vide
Kimchi is probably the most famous Korean food. To make kimchi at home, I used Maangchi’s recipe for traditional napa cabbage kimchi. What makes the recipe ‘traditional’ is to leave the cabbage leaves whole rather than chopping them. The only … Continue reading Homemade Kimchi
This recipe is quite simple with a limited number of ingredients, but very tasty. The combination of textures and flavors works really well: spicy pepper, earthy shrimp, sweet soft onions, and cheesy cheese. If Poblano peppers are not available or … Continue reading Poblano Chiles Stuffed With Shrimp (Chile Relleno con Camarones)
Stefano of Italian Home Cooking, an Italian chef who lives in the UK, always has great authentic regional Italian recipes. When I saw this very unusual cake from Monferrato in Piemonte on his blog, I decided at once that I … Continue reading Italian Apple and Pumpkin Cake (Torta Monferrina di mele e zucca)
One of the questions I get asked the most is “Do you also cook elaborate meals on weekdays, spending a long time in the kitchen?” I always answer that I do cook nice food every day, but that it doesn’t … Continue reading Spaghetti with Squid ‘in Bianco’
There are so many recipes on this blog, that I do not know by heart everything that’s on it. And so I only recently noticed that I had never posted a recipe for risotto ai funghi, because every time I … Continue reading Mushroom Risotto (Risotto ai Funghi)
Artichokes are served with mint in Rome as carciofi alla romana and lamb is often served with mint. So it is the mint that provided the inspiration for this dish. Instead of neck of lamb you could also use leg … Continue reading Neck of Lamb and Artichokes Sous-Vide
Look at the photo and guess what it is? No, it is not Spaghetti alla Carbonara, although it does look similar. The sauce is not made of eggs, but of sous-vide cooked and then pureed leeks! Cooking leeks sous vide … Continue reading Spaghetti with Sous-Vide Leeks and Pancetta
Sometimes I pick the wine first and then think of a dish. I had a nice bottle of 2007 late harvest Gewurztraminer from Alsace and I thought it would be great with duck ravioli and orange sauce, and so that … Continue reading Duck Ravioli with Orange Sauce (Ravioli all’Anatra con Salsa d’Arancia)
Thanks to the recipe that was included with the jar of XO sauce I had bought for another dish, I have now discovered another great way of making fried rice next to my usual recipe. The blend of flavors is … Continue reading Ground Beef and XO Fried Rice
One of the most original and best new dishes I’ve had in a Michelin starred restaurant over the last years was “Raw carabinero prawn on crispy strands of short rib (‘pulled’ short ribs, then deep fried) with roasted bell pepper, … Continue reading Carabinero Shrimp, Crispy Short Rib and Roasted Bell Pepper
This appetizer is decadent and delicious, yet easy to prepare. It was inspired by an amuse bouche we had at Spectrum. There it was served as a small portion inside a whelk shell (a whelk is a sea snail). The amount … Continue reading Caviar with Cauliflower and Lime Mousse
Chile en Nogada was created in 1821 by the Pueblan Nuns as a festive food to honor a visit from revolutionary general Don Augustín de Iturbide. Mexico had just won its independence from Spain. The colors of the dish are the same … Continue reading Chile Relleno En Nogada (Stuffed Chile with Walnut Sauce and Pomegranate)
Elia suggested this recipe from Pati Jinich as the dessert for our Mexican feast. It is called “impossible” chocoflan, because the two batters look like a mess when you put them into the oven, but when the flan comes out, … Continue reading Chocolate and Vanilla Flan with Pecans (Chocoflan Imposible)
