Pepe Nero had attracted my attention as one of 24 restaurants in all of Italy that had been awarded “best value for money” in the 2021 edition of the Gambero Rosso Ristoranti d’Italia guide. And as the only one of … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Pepe Nero
Trattoria La Coccinella was one of the first restaurants I wanted to return to when I was thinking about what we were going to do this trip. We had only eaten there once before, in 2010, but I can still … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Coccinella
Piazza Duomo is the restaurant with 3 Michelin stars of chef Enrico Crippa in the town of Alba in Piemonte. We haven’t visited this area for a while, and therefore our last visit was in 2014. This was our 4th … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Piazza Duomo*** (2021)
Le Casa della Saracacca is a winebar/restaurant (they also have rooms) in the old town of Monforte d’Alba in the Barolo area of Piemonte. It is housed in a medieval building with a modern construction of steel, cables, and glass … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Le Case della Saracca
Timorasso is a grape variety from the Colli Tortonesi area in Piemonte that was almost lost, because it is difficult to work with and red grapes like Barbera and Croatina were more popular. Timorasso wines have great complexity and aging … Continue reading Timorasso by Vigneti Massa
Restaurant Le Due Lanterne in Nizza Monferrato is included in the Michelin guide with a “bib gourmand” and it is also listed by Osterie d’Italia. We opted for the 45 euro tasting menu, which includes 4 antipasti, 2 primi, 2 … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Le Due Lanterne
One of the joys of blogging is meeting up with other bloggers. Bea owns the wonderful blog in Italian Viaggiando con Bea, in which she shares her travels and her recipes. We have been following each other’s blogs for over … Continue reading Food Blogging International: Viaggiando con Bea
Valtellina is a valley in North-West Italy on the border with Switzerland. The valley is west-east oriented, so the northern slope has southern exposure and is ideal for wine growing. We came here to sample the wines that are made … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Trippi
In Italy you can go to almost any restaurant and the food will be good and you will find local typical dishes on the menu. Only in more touristy areas you have to pay attention, such as where we are … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Aquila d’Oro
Two of the questions that people ask me most frequently are “Why don’t you start a restaurant?” and “How can you stay so slim with all the food you eat?” The answer to the second question is very easy: portion … Continue reading Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice (Post-Workout Meal)
Today is the first day of the 2021 Sous Vide Summit, and I am one of Friday’s speakers. My presentation will be a summary of the blog post below. For me there is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ when it comes … Continue reading Combining Sous Vide And Freezing
Our annual dinner at the Librije in December of last year had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Now that most of us our vaccinated, restaurants are back in business and we could catch up our dinner. As usual … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2021)
I’ve only recently discovered this dish, and absolutely love it. It has great depth of flavor. If you have already made the Nam Phrik Phao, then most of the work is in pan frying (or oven roasting) the eggplant. We … Continue reading Thai Eggplant and Chicken Stir Fry with Nam Prik Pao and Basil
Nam Phrik Phao or Nam Prik Pao is one of the Thai chili pastes. Because of the consistency and containing palm sugar, it is sometimes also referred to as chilli jam. This is not the kind of jam you’d have … Continue reading Nam Phrik Phao (Thai Chilli Jam)
Because of the pandemic I haven’t visited any wineries for a while, but luckily the nice people of Bisci Wines contacted me. They were enthusiastic about the recipes I have posted that pair well with Verdicchio, and offered to send … Continue reading Pairing Food and Wines of Bisci
This is what we’ve just had for dinner, or as the primo piatto to be more precise (with a flat iron steak as secondo piatto): orecchiette pasta with slow-roasted cauliflower, capers, anchovies, lemon zest, extra virgin olive oil, parsley, and … Continue reading Pasta with Slow-Roasted Cauliflower (Orecchiette al Cavolfiore)
Due to the pandemic I can’t visit wineries, but thankfully sometimes a winery sends over some samples. I will write more about the wines of Bisci from Matelic from the Marche region in Italy in my next post. Their 2017 … Continue reading Lamb with Mint Sauce and Green Asparagus
We had friends over for dinner. She likes fish, but he likes meat and red wine. I ended up preparing Portuguese style cheeks in a red wine sauce for everyone, but we had Iberico pork cheeks, and she had monkfish … Continue reading Monkfish Portuguese Style
This elegant vegetarian appetizer was inspired by a more elaborate version we enjoyed at Alma** in Lisbon. The combination of flavors and textures is very nice. The sweetness of the carrots goes well with the tartness of the goat cheese … Continue reading Sous vide baby carrots with bulgur, goat cheese, and pistachios
We love clams and we love Thai food, so I knew right away this would be a winner. I mostly followed Hot Thai Kitchen’s recipe, but substituted chicken stock with Thai fish stock. These Thai clams are wonderfully fragrant and … Continue reading Thai Coconut Lemongrass Clams (hoi lai tom ka)
Pasta with sausage and fennel is one of our favorite pasta dishes, that I prepare on a regular basis. The flavors of the fennel, fennel seed, sausage, and pecorino cheese blend into one fantastic flavor. I like to prepare it … Continue reading Pasta with Sausage and Fennel (Gnocchetti Sardi con Salsiccia e Finocchio)
Pastrami is usually made by brining, smoking, and then steaming brisket or other types of meat. By using sous vide instead of steaming, the meat will be more tender and juicy. Brisket, especially if it is lean, is prone to … Continue reading Brisket Pastrami Sous Vide
Frangipane is a cream of ground almonds with sugar, eggs, and butter, and is a common ingredient in cakes. In the Netherlands strawberry cakes are often made in an elongated shape, are made with frangipane, and then called “aardbeienslof”. They … Continue reading Strawberry Frangipane Cake
Gaeng Som is a water-based Thai sour curry that can also be described as a spicy seafood and vegetable soup. Literally Gaeng means curry and Som means sour. The curry paste is easy to make from scratch, as it is … Continue reading Gaeng Som (Thai Sour Curry with Shrimp)
Thin slices of veal, referred to as scaloppine, are popular in Italian cuisine. They are tender but do not have a lot of flavor, and so they are usually served with some kind of sauce or topping. You often find … Continue reading Veal Scaloppine with Hazelnuts (Scaloppine con le nocciole)
On our trip to Portugal last fall we often saw porco preto on restaurant menus, also known as iberico pork or pata negra. This type of pork is mostly known for the cured iberico ham, but those pigs naturally have … Continue reading Portuguese pork in puff pastry
Today a recipe from Mexico to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We love mushrooms, we love cheese, and we love Mexican food. So when I saw mushroom quesadillas on Irene’s blog, I immediately wanted to make them. In the end it … Continue reading Mushroom Quesadillas
Eggplant with mozzarella, basil, and tomato is one of my favorite flavor combinations. In this dish, veal scaloppine are added to make a luxurious dish that is worth of a special occasion. I’ve blogged about this dish before, but back … Continue reading Veal scaloppine with eggplant and mozzarella (Involtini di vitello con melanzane e mozzarella)
Arroz de marisco is a Portuguese seafood dish of rice with seafood that is like a soupy version of risotto. Click here for the regular recipe. For a more luxurious version, you can also make it with lobster, and then … Continue reading Portuguese Lobster Rice (Arroz de Lagosta)
The advantage of preparing a stock sous vide is that you are extracting the flavors in a sealed bag, so the aromas can’t go anywhere but into the stock. If you make a stock on the stove, all the aromas … Continue reading Lobster Stock Sous Vide
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