Author: StefanGourmet

According to Collins Dictionary, a gourmet is "a person who cultivates a discriminating palate for the enjoyment of good food and drink". That's quite a good description of me, although I do not only enjoy good food and wine, but also like to cook and select matching wines. I'm a guy (1974) from the Netherlands, living near Amsterdam. On this blog I intend to share my experiences with cooking, eating at restaurants, visiting wineries, and related topics.
2. Primi (pasta, risotto)1 Comment

Pasta with clams and green cauliflower (Orechiette alle Vongole e Romanesco)

StefanGourmet

One of my favorite pasta dishes is the combination of clams and green cauliflower (romanesco). It is both healthy and delicious and a more delicate version of the equally delicious but more strongly flavored combination of broccoli and mussels (about which I will write shortly). Ingredients For 2 servings as a full meal or 4 servings in a larger menu 1 kg (2.2 lbs) clams such as cockels or vongole 400 grams (14 oz) florets of romanesco (green cauliflower, substitute with broccoli but that pairs better with mussels) 150-200 grams (1/3 – 1/2 pound) dry flat short pasta such as … Continue reading Pasta with clams and green cauliflower (Orechiette alle Vongole e Romanesco)

Wine6 Comments

Hyperdecanting wine à la “Modernist Cuisine”

StefanGourmet

There are two reasons for decanting wine: separating the sediment from the wine (only needed for all wines that have sediment in the bottle, usually older wines) and letting the wine ‘breathe’ (oxygenation and outgassing; this may improve most wines but especially young red wines of which the tannins haven’t yet softened). Dutch wine connoisseurs use two different words to differentiate between these two purposes: decanting (decanteren) for separating the sediment and ‘carafing’ (karafferen) for letting the wine breathe. The amazing book (well, actually set of books) “Modernist Cuisine” by Nathan Myhrvold et al. claims that using a blender to … Continue reading Hyperdecanting wine à la “Modernist Cuisine”

Eating2 Comments

Dining on Costa Adeje, Tenerife

StefanGourmet

We’ve just spent a week on Tenerife on the Costa Adeje. Most of the restaurants there are cheap and offer mediocre quality at best. Reviews on the internet are not of much use because most people going here seem to like this mediocre food and appear to award five stars (out of five) only if the service is friendly. Although we have not sampled restaurants exhaustively, here’s my take from a week’s stay with links to the full reviews I posted on TripAdvisor. 1. Rosso sul Mare in La Caleta: our favorite. Authentic Italian, great seafood, nice decor, good view, … Continue reading Dining on Costa Adeje, Tenerife

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)5 Comments

Ravioli stuffed with eggplant and lamb (Ravioli di agnello e melanzane)

StefanGourmet

I have never heard of this filling, but since I like the combination of eggplant, lamb and rosemary I tried it and it was delicious! So here’s how to make them… Ingredients For 4 generous servings: 750 grams (1.5 lbs) eggplants 250 grams (0.5 lbs) ground lamb 100 grams (3.5 oz) chopped onion 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 15 grams (1/2 oz) chopped rosemary freshly grated parmigiano reggiano salt and freshly ground black pepper olive oil 3 eggs 300 grams flour for pasta To serve: butter chopped thyme or rosemary freshly grated parmigiano reggiano Preparation Preheat oven to 175C/350F. Wash … Continue reading Ravioli stuffed with eggplant and lamb (Ravioli di agnello e melanzane)

1. Antipasti (appetizers)12 Comments

Octopus sous-vide (Insalata di Polpo)

StefanGourmet

Welcome to Stefan’s Gourmet Blog!  You can find an overview of my sous-vide recipes as well as times and temperatures by clicking on “Sous-Vide” above.  If you like what you see here, you can sign up on the sidebar to receive an email whenever I post a new recipe. Octopus is often very tough and bland of taste. However if you cook it sous-vide, it will be extremely tender and flavorful! I made a classic Italian Insalata di Polpo and served it with grilled peppers as an antipasto. First I sealed the octopus legs into a pouch with some thin lemon … Continue reading Octopus sous-vide (Insalata di Polpo)

Secondi di Carne (meat dishes)10 Comments

How to cook duck breast (with or without sous-vide)

StefanGourmet

Duck breast is a very tasty type of meat, but it is a bit different from other meats and therefore it may be a challenge to cook it perfectly tender and juicy. If you know how, it is actually not that difficult. And this time I’m not going to write as in many other posts that you should use sous-vide, because cooking it in the oven is almost as good and will give excellent results as well. I cooked two identical duck breast fillets to compare sous-vide versus oven, and the results were remarkably similar. Sous-vide was a little bit better … Continue reading How to cook duck breast (with or without sous-vide)

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)2 Comments

Attempt to recreate Torre del Saracino dish from memory

StefanGourmet

On December 23 we had dinner at one of the best restaurants in Italy, La Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense. The chef Gennaro Esposito is a master at making very simple local dishes with high-quality but simple ingredients taste delicious. The simplicity can be a bit misleading, because you don’t get two Michelin stars for ordinary food. Since we liked one of the dishes with oysters, cauliflower, pecorino cheese and pasta so much, I decided to have a go at recreating it from memory. I did not ask the chef how he had made it, I just tried to … Continue reading Attempt to recreate Torre del Saracino dish from memory

Eating1 Comment

Nihonryori RyuGin gets very well-deserved 3rd star

StefanGourmet

I just found out that Nihonryori RyuGin in Tokyo has received a very well-deserved 3rd star in the 2012 Michelin guide for Tokyo. We had dinner there in February 2011 and it was the best meal we’ve ever had. Everything was delicious as well as technically perfect, and the matching sakes and wines were amazing. So was the check, but it was definitely worth it! I already wrote in my TripAdvisor review that a 3rd star could not be far away. I do not always agree with Michelin (there are especially too many 3-star restaurants that do not deserve them anymore) … Continue reading Nihonryori RyuGin gets very well-deserved 3rd star

Secondi di Carne (meat dishes)1 Comment

Rabbit with tomatoes sous-vide

StefanGourmet

Rabbit is often dry and sometimes tough. By cooking the rabbit sous-vide, the meat will be very tender and moist. To be able to cook the rabbit with tomato sauce sous-vide, I use the trick to freeze the sauce before sealing it into a bag to prevent the sauce from being sucked out by the vacuum sealer. I chose to use fresh tomatoes rather than canned to preserve the delicate flavor of the rabbit. Canned tomatoes would be too strong. This dish is simple, delicious and healthy (high in protein but low in fat). Ingredients For 2 servings 2 rabbit legs … Continue reading Rabbit with tomatoes sous-vide

Secondi di Carne (meat dishes)5 Comments

Sous-vide pigeon with smoky pigeon jus

StefanGourmet

This was the secondo for our X-mas dinner this year. Pigeon is often overcooked and then has a strong livery taste and is dry. By cooking the breast sous-vide, it has a delicious flavor and is very tender.  The pigeon jus is delicious and very flavorful because it is reduced to an almost syrupy consistency and because part of the pigeon bones are smoked. This dish is quite a bit of work, but definitely worth it! Ingredients For 4 servings 2 pigeons (wild or farmed, NOT frozen!) 250 grams (1/2 pound) chopped celery, carrot, onion 1 glass of red wine 1 shallot … Continue reading Sous-vide pigeon with smoky pigeon jus

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)7 Comments

Ravioli with scallops and parsnip

StefanGourmet

As primo for our X-mas dinner this year I made these wonderful ravioli stuffed with scallops and parsnip. The inspiration for this recipe came from Niki Segnit’s The Flavour Thesaurus. The combination of parsnip puree and scallops works really well, and to enhance the flavor I also added chopped tarragon. If you can obtain fresh scallops in the shell, consider using those for the seared scallop that is served with the dish. Fresh scallops in the shell are more expensive, but taste better and will also sear more easily. The recipe will work well with scallops sold out of the shell … Continue reading Ravioli with scallops and parsnip

Eating6 Comments

Dining in Italy: La Torre del Saracino

StefanGourmet

For the 12th anniversary of our first date, I surprised Kees with a visit to La Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense, near Naples. We had been there twice before (in 2008 and 2010), but this was the first time we went there straight from home without going anywhere else. La Torre del Saracino of chef Gennaro Esposito has two Michelin stars (worth a detour), but according to us that should be three (worth the journey). La Torre has two degustation menus (Proposta di Ciro of 6 courses and Proposta di Salvatore of 8 courses) that change with the seasons, … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Torre del Saracino

Bread6 Comments

Italian bread

StefanGourmet

Whenever I have guests over for dinner I always bake this bread. Even though it’s straightforward bread, since it’s fresh out of the oven it has a great taste, texture and smell and is therefore always very well-received. I use my breadmaker to make the dough, but use the oven to bake it for a superior crust and shape. It is not a lot of work at all to make your own bread if you own a breadmaker to make the dough for you, but you do need to consider that it will take about 5 hours from start to … Continue reading Italian bread

2. Primi (pasta, risotto), Secondi di Carne (meat dishes)6 Comments

Pheasant: stock, smoked breast, leg ravioli

StefanGourmet

Some people do not like it when you can see that the meat or fish you are eating came from an animal or fish. Well, until science comes up with a better solution it always does! Just looking at a clean, preferably square, piece of meat won’t change that. On the contrary, I like to use the full animal and make the most of it. The bones etc. carry a lot of flavor that should not be wasted. For a dinner party I bought a pheasant and used all of it. First I cut off the breast fillets and the … Continue reading Pheasant: stock, smoked breast, leg ravioli

1. Antipasti (appetizers), Secondi di Pesce (fish dishes)14 Comments

Perfect sous-vide seabass

StefanGourmet

I have been trying to make the ‘perfect’ seabass with tender moist flesh and crispy skin for a long time, and now I’ve finally found the way to do it! When cooking the seabass in a hot non-stick frying pan, I ended up either with a crispy skin with flesh that was a bit overcooked and a bit dry (not terrible, but as always I am striving for perfection 🙂 or with tender moist flesh and flabby skin. Please note that the fish should be very fresh (‘sushi grade’) for this recipe. Continue reading “Perfect sous-vide seabass”

2. Primi (pasta, risotto)6 Comments

Pasta from the oven with eggplant and mozzarella (Paccheri alla parmigiana)

StefanGourmet

Today I felt like cooking something vegetarian. I had bought an eggplant and buffalo mozzarella, and had some very nice Paccheri di Gragnano lying around (given to me by Gennaro Esposito, the chef of our favorite restaurant in Italy (Torre del Saracino) during our last visit). The combination of eggplant, mozzarella, basil and tomato is classic. There are many different versions, the most common being melanzane alla parmigiana. This version has a different texture because of the use of pasta. Instead of Paccheri, you can use any kind of large pasta shape that can be stuffed such as shells or … Continue reading Pasta from the oven with eggplant and mozzarella (Paccheri alla parmigiana)

EatingLeave a comment

Amsterdam dining: Utrechtsedwarstafel

StefanGourmet

Even though are favorite way of dining is to let the chef decide what to cook and the sommelier which wines to serve with it, we had never yet tried Utrechtsedwarstafel because of the pricetag (between 65 euros for 3 course with basic wines and 125 euros for 5 courses with premium wines) and mixed reviews on Dutch leading restaurant review site Iens. But since their formula is exactly the way we like it, we decided to give it a try and go for the full treatment (5 courses with premium wines). We had high expectations of the wine pairings, … Continue reading Amsterdam dining: Utrechtsedwarstafel

Secondi di Carne (meat dishes)3 Comments

Dry-aged MRIJ T-bone steak sous-vide

StefanGourmet

MRIJ stands for Maas-Rijn-IJssel, a breed of cattle named after the region in which it was bred: where the three rivers Maas (Meuse), Rijn (Rhine) and IJssel (Issel) meet. This piece of T-bone steak is very tasty for two reasons: (1) because the MRIJ breed has a lot of intramuscular fat (aka ‘marbling’) and because it has been dry-aged. The intramuscular fat makes the beef more juicy and carries a lot of taste. Dry-aging means that the beef has been hung to dry for several weeks, thus concentrating the flavor and taste and allowing the beef’s natural enzymes to break … Continue reading Dry-aged MRIJ T-bone steak sous-vide