Although crab and fennel are perhaps not ingredients you use on an every day basis, this is one of those pasta dishes that can be prepared in half an hour and is thus perfectly suited for a weekday meal. That … Continue reading Fusilli with Crab and Fennel
One of my favorite dishes is spaghetti alle vongole, and I realised I had never done a post on it yet. This pasta with clams has great depth of flavor because of the juices that the clams will release when … Continue reading Spaghetti alle Vongole
Traditional strudel isn’t made with puff pastry but with its own special dough. Although its origins are Turkish (related to baklava), it now mostly known as a recipe from Austria. You can also find strudel in North-East Italy, because of … Continue reading Apple Strudel
Happy Thanksgiving! When I was googling researching gnocchi all’acqua (‘water’ gnocchi, made from a dough much like that of éclairs), I noticed a variety of these gnocchi stuffed with pieces of pancetta and served with a tomato sauce. This sounded … Continue reading Gnocchi all’Acqua con Pancetta
A friend who came over for dinner requested I prepare game, so I picked up some nice venison haunch steaks and prepared porcini-crusted venison steak with cabbage and mushrooms. The idea for the porcini crust came from Conor, but of … Continue reading Porcini-crusted Venison Steak
Despite my forays into fusion, my favorite cuisine remains Italian home cooking. I’ve started following another blog in Italian, Grembiule da Cucina, hosted by Simona, an experience Italian home cook. She posted her family’s meatball recipe, which is also used for … Continue reading Green Ravioli with Ham
Food blogs are an easy way to get to know food from all over the world, without having to leave your home. I have been to the Spanish Costa del Sol a long time ago, but got to know Gambas … Continue reading Gambas al Pil Pil (Shrimp with Garlic and Paprika)
We love risotto and I am always looking for new recipes. When I saw pomegranate risotto on Marina’s blog Le Ricette di Baccos, I bookmarked it on my coming soon page so I would remember to prepare it later. As pomegranates … Continue reading Pomegranate Risotto (Risotto alla Melagrana)
Beef shoulder, also known as the top blade roast, has great marbling (intramuscular fat) and therefore great flavor. It has a drawback, which is a thick central muscle sheath that is very tough. If that sheath is removed then the … Continue reading Blade Steak Sous-Vide
Although I’m usually more into authentic traditional dishes, lately I’ve been doing a lot of fusion. Sometimes it works surprisingly well, like this hot-smoked halibut with guacamole. The flavors and textures are a very good combination. Hot smoking is so … Continue reading Hot-Smoked Halibut with Guacamole
One of my co-workers, a nice lady called Heleen, mentioned that she had a great recipe for carrot cake. That got my attention as I was looking for a dessert recipe with vegetables. She lent me a book from Slow … Continue reading Carrot and Almond Cake (Torta di Carote)
I had some left over homemade Thai green curry paste and after the success of shrimp ravioli I decided to do some Thai-Italian fusion and make shrimp ravioli with coconut and green curry. The result was phenomenal and something I’ll definitely … Continue reading Thai-Italian Fusion: Shrimp Ravioli with Coconut and Green Curry
Have you been wondering what I made with the Chinese chicken stock? Well, here it is: Chinese hot pot (also known as Mongolian hot pot), a festive dish that is delicious, healthy, and surprisingly easy to prepare for such a … Continue reading Chinese Hot Pot
Red Snapper Veracruz is one of the best known seafood dishes from Mexico, but I had never heard about it until I saw it on REMCooks.com. It reminds me of a Mediterranean dish, and clearly shows the Spanish influences in … Continue reading Red Snapper Veracruz (Huachinango a la Veracruzana)
I love to prepare sea bass sous-vide followed by crisping up the skin in clarified butter. This way it is possible to have crispy skin (using flour and clarified butter) combined with tender juicy flesh (by cooking sous-vide). Everybody loves … Continue reading Sea Bass with Triple Fennel
If you like chocolate, you will love these chocolate bombs. They use the same batter as the flourless chocolate cake I posted ages ago, but they bake more quickly and there is no need to glaze them. The secret ingredient … Continue reading Flourless Chocolate Muffins
Homemade ravioli are my specialty. I love to serve them at dinner parties and delight my guests with those parcels of delicate pasta with a scrumptious stuffing. The keys to good ravioli are to make the pasta as thin as … Continue reading Shrimp Ravioli (Ravioli ai Gamberoni)
When we paid Jo of My Home Food That’s Amore a visit this summer, she gave us some goodies including a box of calamarata pasta. Thanks, Jo! The name of this pasta sounds like calamari, because these pasta rings resemble … Continue reading Calamarata Pasta with Swordfish Ragù (Calamarata con Ragù di Pesce Spada)
Black autumn truffles (Tuber Uncinatum) are in season and they are not as expensive as white truffles (Tuber Magnatum Pico). They are also not as fragrant, but for fragrant truffles their freshness is more important than their color. I’ve already … Continue reading Fresh Truffle Risotto (Risotto al Tartufo)
When we told Lucia of the B&B we stayed at in Roseto degli Abruzzi that we were going to visit the Calanchi di Atri, a beautiful landscape close to the town of Atri, she advised me to also check out … Continue reading Pan Ducale
Bologna is famous for being the food capital of Italy. The best-known pasta dishes from Bologna are tagliatelle (not spaghetti!) alla bolognese and lasagne alla bolognese, both made with fresh egg pasta and the famous ragù alla bolognese. Being the … Continue reading Gramigna al Ragù di Salsiccia (Fresh Pasta with Sausage Ragù)
What many of us know as ‘Mexican food’, is actually Tex-Mex or another Americanized version of Mexican food. And so I was very excited when I was invited to a party of my new Mexican friend Alain, for which he … Continue reading Chicken with Chipotle and Mushrooms (Pollo con Chipotle y Champiñones)
In 2007 during our first wine discovery tour through Italy, we visited Castello di Brolio in Tuscany and had dinner at the restaurant that was part of the winery. They served a tasting menu to showcase their wines, and with … Continue reading Cheese Ravioli
When I saw the Blood Orange Polenta Cake on Please Pass The Recipe, I made a note on my Coming Soon page to remind myself to make it. It was a logical choice as dessert for the gluten free dinner … Continue reading Orange Almond Cake
Giallo Zafferano is one of the most popular Italian cooking websites, with anchorwoman Sonia Peronaci now on Italian TV daily with a recipe. Recently she presented Cicatielli con cozze e fagioli. The combination of mussels and beans was a new … Continue reading Fresh Pasta Dumplings with Mussels and Beans (Cicatielli con Cozze e Fagioli)
Fish is easily overcooked, and so the precise temperature control of sous-vide cooking is great to always obtain tender juicy fish that is perfectly cooked. Moreover, vacuum sealing the fish with a marinade allows the marinate to penetrate optimally while … Continue reading Thai Style Sole Sous-Vide
The secret to a great linguine ai frutti di mare is to use fresh seafood and to use the juices of the vongole and a stock made from the shrimp heads and shells for the sauce. It is a bit of … Continue reading Linguine ai Frutti di Mare
We love to eat seafood and I prepare it at least twice a week, but for a food blogger with an Italian inclination it doesn’t provide much material to blog about. The Italian kitchen is very diverse with different dishes in each … Continue reading Fish Sous-vide Cajun Style
Marinara sauce is the American-Italian term for tomato sauce, but in Italy it usually refers to a sauce prepared in the style of the seaman’s wife and is a tomato-based sauce with seafood. I really liked the risotto alla marinara … Continue reading Risotto alla Marinara (Risotto with Fish)
One of the ways to recognize ice cream with natural ingredients is by the color of pistachio ice cream. You see, the natural color of pistachio ice cream is brownish green, so when it looks bright green it means that … Continue reading Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 