Our favorite restaurant guide for Italy is that of “Gambero Rosso”. It is available as a book, but also as a handy app. The best restaurants are awarded one, two, or three forchette (forks), and the best trattorie are awarded … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Locanda al Gambero Rosso
Enrico Bartolini is one of the rising stars in the Italian restaurant scene. For his restaurant, located in the Devero hotel by the autostrada just outside of Milano, he recently received his second Michelin star and his third fork (forchetta) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Devero**
We love fajitas, Tex-Mex flour tortillas stuffed with chicken or steak, bell peppers, onions, salsa, and cheese. At least that’s how I like to prepare them. We usually have them with chicken, but I was curious to try them with steak. … Continue reading Sous-Vide Steak Fajitas
When I first got a stovetop smoker, it came with a very simple user’s manual that said to season fish with salt and pepper and smoke it with 2 tablespoons of smoking dust for 15-20 minutes. This user’s manual was … Continue reading Hot Smoked Salmon, Dry or Wet Cure?
In a change of pace from a very involved preparation and a very sophisticated meal, in this post I’m going to show you how I cut bell peppers quickly and with zero waste. A lot of food is wasted. The statistics … Continue reading How to Cut a Bell Pepper
This is the third review of Librije on my blog, which is not a surprise as it has become a tradition for us to celebrate our wedding anniversary there every year (starting with our 3rd anniversary). We started this tradition … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2014)
When I saw venison short ribs available, I couldn’t resist buying some as I really like beef short ribs cooked sous-vide and was curious what venison short ribs sous-vide would be like. It is important to note that these were … Continue reading Venison Short Ribs Sous-Vide Roulade with Fava Beans and Mushrooms
Lately round zucchini have shown up around here. After seeing Marina using them to make stuffed zucchini, I thought I’d try that too. My version is vegetarian, but I did use her idea of using coriander seed to give an … Continue reading Stuffed Round Zucchini
Yesterday’s dinner featured two unusual ingredients: grey mullet and wild asparagus. I served them as simple as possible, dressed only with extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. It was delicious and … Continue reading Hot Smoked Grey Mullet with Steamed Wild Asparagus
I got the idea for this fast delicious summery pasta dish from Marina of Le Recette di Baccos. It only takes as long as it takes to cook the pasta and the variations are endless. Raw vegetables, in this version … Continue reading Pasta with Raw Vegetables (Penne con Verdure Crude)
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
