We’ve been on a last-minute vacation to the Mediterranean island of Malta for a week, which we concluded with a dinner at Noni. This trip was so last-minute that I had not done any research and I wasn’t even aware … Continue reading Dining in Malta: Noni*
Scallops were on sale if bought by the kilo (2.2 lbs), so I smoked some as an appetizer and cooked the remainder sous-vide to be able to keep them longer. But you can also prepare this dish using raw scallops. … Continue reading Pasta with Scallops and Bell Pepper
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
There are two restaurants holding three Michelin stars in the Netherlands: Librije and Inter Scaldes. Librije has held the 3 stars since 2004 and we have eaten there every year since (click here for the review of our latest visit). … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Inter Scaldes*** (2020)
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)
Every year we celebrate our wedding anniversary with a dinner at a special restaurant. Due to the virus, the plans I had made well in advance for our 18th anniversary had to be cancelled. Luckily there are some good restaurants … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Tribeca**
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)
Octopus can be tough and tasteless, but when cooked sous-vide more flavor is retained and it will be tender with the right combination of time and temperature. So far I have always used 4 to 5 hours at 77C/170F or … Continue reading Octopus Sous-Vide Time and Temperature
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)
We had 6 restaurants with a combined total of 15 Michelin stars lined up in Tokyo and Taipei, but due to the corona virus never made it to Taipei and had to leave Japan early. When the Dutch government strongly … Continue reading Dining in Kyoto: Wagokoro Izumi**
I’ve been following chef Richard van Oostenbrugge since he started as the chef of Bord’eau in Hotel de l’Europe in Amsterdam. After gaining two Michelin stars, he started his own restaurant 212 and this is our second visit. 212 has been open for 2 years and now has one Michelin star. The restaurant is different from most other Michelin-starred restaurants as the seating is at a bar around the kitchen where you can see the dishes being finished. (The actual kitchen is downstairs.) We opted for the six course tasting menu (138 euros) with premium wine pairing (118 euros). The … Continue reading Dining in Amsterdam: 212* (2020)
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)
Years ago I performed an experiment to find out whether I liked dry curing or wet curing pork tenderloin before cooking it sous vide. The conclusion was that for meat I preferred to just season with salt right before cooking … Continue reading Briefly Curing Fish Before Cooking
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)
