To celebrate a friend’s 20th birthday, I got him a vintage port from his birth year and an accompanying dinner. Since I know he loves blue cheese, it wasn’t difficult to decide what to prepare to go with the vintage … Continue reading Steak with Blue Cheese, Belgian Endive (Witlof) and Mushrooms
Do you like chocolate? Do you like to impress your guests with your skills in the kitchen? Do you find baking a bit intimidating? Then this is the perfect recipe for you! This flourless chocolate recipe is much easier than … Continue reading Easy Foolproof Flourless Chocolate Cake
This pasta dish is quick and easy enough to serve for a weekday meal, and special and delicious enough for a dinner party. It takes less than half an hour to prepare, and only a few ingredients are required. The … Continue reading Fusilli with Smoked Eel and Celeriac
Each region of Italy has its own pasta shapes and pasta recipes. Valeggio sul Mincio, a town near Lago di Garda and the city of Verona, is famous for its Tortellini di Valeggio, tortellini made of pasta as thin as … Continue reading Tortellini di Valeggio
This was the secondo of our Christmas dinner — yes I am running behind a little in posting as I also still have to post the primo — loin of hare with a sauce of port and amarena cherries and brussel sprouts with … Continue reading Hare Loin with Brussels Sprouts
As every year, for my birthday I baked to treat my colleagues. This year I made a pound cake, almond cookies stuffed with amarena cherries, and an Italian apple cake. Other than Dutch appeltaart (the same as American apple pie), Italian torta … Continue reading Torta di Mele (Apple Cake)
Since I had some lovely homemade sausage, I thought it was time to try another Italian classic: ravioli filled with sausage and potato. Another version of sausage ravioli is with ricotta and spinach, the Bartolini version. As I wanted the … Continue reading Sausage and Potato Ravioli (Ravioli di Salsiccia e Patate)
This is the antipasto I prepared for our Christmas dinner. It was inspired by a dish we had at Devero** in Italy in June. This was what the dish at Devero looked like and what I wrote about it in my review: … Continue reading Scallops, Chicken, Bergamot
A friend who came over for dinner announced he would bring a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc, a Sancerre to be more precise. This is the dessert that I came up with to accompany it: cheesecake made from goat cheese. Goat … Continue reading Goat Cheesecake
Are you looking for an original dish to serve for Christmas that is tasty, not too difficult, but different from anything you’ve ever had for Christmas before? Then this might just be it! You need to be able to source … Continue reading Salsify à la Clayton with Duck
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
