This is not an authentic Thai dish, but my own creation that was heavily inspired by Thai cuisine. Plaice (Dutch: schol) is a flatfish that is very common in the Netherlands. I had some rawit (Thai red chillis), galangal, and … Continue reading Thai Style Fish Mousse and Napa Cabbage
Lamb shank is one of my favorite cuts of meat, especially when cooked sous-vide. It is so flavorful, tender, and moist. And so I keep coming up with new ways to prepare it. In this case I thought it would … Continue reading Lamb Stew with Smoked Paprika and Zucchini
My friend Melvin is great at cooking Asian dishes, and recently he made tom yum goong for us. This is a sour (from lime) and spicy (from chillis) Thai soup with shrimp. We liked it a lot, so I wanted … Continue reading Thai Sour and Spicy Shrimp Soup (Tom Yum Goong)
Although in Italy eel is mostly eaten in winter time, fresh eel is available here in summer. And so I’ve made a summer version of eel ragù by making it with fresh tomatoes and basil. This makes the ragù very … Continue reading Tagliatelle with Eel (Tagliatelle al Ragù di Anguilla)
Spinach and ricotta are a classic combination in Italian cuisine, probably known best as one of the most common fillings for ravioli. I’ve made spinach risotto before, but I had never thought about risotto with ricotta and spinach. Until I … Continue reading Risotto con Spinaci e Ricotta (Spinach and Ricotta Risotto)
The best pork chops are those that are marbled with fat, as the fat provides flavor and prevents the chops from drying out. For this recipe I used some pork chops from iberico pig, the same Spanish pork that is … Continue reading Pork Chops in Piquant Sauce
Spaghetti alla Carbonara is one of our favorite dishes that I make often because it is such great comfort food: filling and full of flavor. If you are a long time follower of this blog with a good memory, you … Continue reading Spaghetti alla Carbonara
The best dishes are those that use only a few ingredients. In this case: beets, mackerel, and balsamic vinegar (plus salt, pepper, and olive oil). It is a versatile dish: you could serve it lukewarm or at room temperature as … Continue reading Roasted Beets, Mackerel, Balsamic
Bacalà alla Vicentina is a famous dish from the North Italian city of Vicenza, prepared with dried cod. The cod is cooked low and slow and flavored with onions, anchovies, parsley, milk, extra virgin olive oil, and grated cheese (grana … Continue reading Fresh Cod alla Vicentina with Polenta
This recipe is all about the turnips, small purple turnips that we get in spring and are called “meiraapjes” in Dutch. They look very pretty with their nice purple color, which unfortunately will be gone once you have peeled them. … Continue reading Venison with Turnips and Peas
After making yesterday’s butternut squash risotto, I still had half of the pumpkin puree left. I opened my refrigerator and pondered what to do with the leftover puree. Then I noticed a nice piece of gorgonzola, and I quickly made up … Continue reading Wholewheat Fusilli with Pumpkin and Gorgonzola (Fusilli Integrali alla Zucca e Gorgonzola)
There was a butternut squash in my pantry that needed to be used. The best Italian recipes are always the simplest, and so I decided to use the squash to make risotto with no other ingredients except the squash and … Continue reading Butternut Squash Risotto (Risotto alla Zucca)
This is a recipe that started off as “what can I make from what is in my refrigerator”, but we liked it so much that it is now a regular feature on our menu. Turkey can be a bit boring, … Continue reading Turkey with Spinach
Frantzén in the old town of Stockholm is a small restaurant that seats only about 20. It has two Michelin stars and ranks 31 on the World’s 50 best restaurants or 16 on Opiniated About Dining. There are a few … Continue reading Dining in Stockholm: Frantzén**
We love green asparagus, especially when they are grilled on the BBQ, but every time I prepare them, it bothers me to discard the ends. About 40% of the weight is discarded that way. And so I wanted to experiment … Continue reading Pasta with Asparagus Ends
This summertime ragù is more elegant than ragù alla Bolognese and takes less time. It is best over fresh pasta, but as seen in the photo it is great on spaghetti or other store-bought dry pasta, too. As with many … Continue reading Pork, Fresh Tomato and Fennel Seed Ragù (Ragù di Maiale al Pomodoro Fresco e Semi di Finocchio)
Recently I posted a recipe for goat satay, saté kambing, prepared sous-vide. This had turned out to so well that I wanted to make it again soon, but this time with chicken. Unlike goat (or lamb) shoulder, chicken meat is tender … Continue reading Chicken Satay (Saté Ajam)
Stéphane of MyFrenchHeaven.com wrote so enthusiastically about Vichyssoise, which is a cold potato and leek soup, that I wanted to give it a try. I prepared it according to his recipe, and the result was a very elegant refreshing soup. … Continue reading Vichyssoise (Cold Potato & Leek Soup)
Spaghetti with a sauce made from fresh tomatoes is the only dish that I prepare quite often, but has not appeared on this blog yet. There are two reasons for that: one is that I thought it wouldn’t be interesting … Continue reading Spaghetti with a Fresh Tomato Sauce (Spaghetti al Pomodoro)
Strawberries with pastry cream on a sweet shortcrust pastry crust are a classic. You could make a large tart, but it looks much better and is easier to serve when you make individual tartlets. There are some special techniques used … Continue reading Strawberry Tartlets
My old-fashioned butcher (which is not a bad quality at all in a butcher) is slowly catching up to new trends, and is now dry aging beef. I picked up a dry aged strip steak (called entrecote in the Netherlands) … Continue reading Strip Steak with Parsnip, Zucchini and Potatoes
When I posted my recipe for crème brûlée, I got suggestions to try white chocolate creme brulee (which I did and liked) and passion fruit creme brulee as well. Blogging is a continuing source of inspiration for my cooking, and … Continue reading Passion Fruit Crème Brûlée
Blade steak or flat iron steak is a relatively inexpensive cut of beef that when you cook it sous-vide becomes more flavorful than many more expensive cuts of steak, and just as tender. Look for steaks with a lot of … Continue reading Blade Steak Sous-Vide with Shii Take Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce
This is an Italian version of what is known in the Netherlands as kalfsvinken: a thin slice of veal stuffed with ground veal. It becomes Italian by the addition of prosciutto, parmigiano, sage, and nutmeg. The easiest way to cook … Continue reading Involtini di Vitello (Stuffed Veal Bundles)
After preparing shrimp-crusted grouper with spinach and butter beans, which was inspired by a crab-crusted grouper I’d had in Miami Beach, I decided to try a crab-crusted version as well. You can prepare this with any type of white fish that doesn’t … Continue reading Crab-Crusted Halibut with Asparagus and Madeira Sauce
I had some left-over remoulade sauce in my fridge, along with some parsnips that needed to be used. And so I decided to buy some fish fillet and make these fish and parsnip balls. The reasoning behind it was that … Continue reading Fish and Parsnip Balls with Tarragon
When you look on-line for the best temperature to cook cod sous-vide, you will find answers ranging from 41C/106F to 60C/140F. On this blog, I have posted a recipes at 41C/106F and 54C/159F. Especially if you are new to sous-vide cooking, … Continue reading Cod Sous-Vide Temperature Experiment
When you make crème brûlée, you will have a lot of leftover egg whites. On the master of cook I saw this recipe for a ‘pizza’ made from egg whites with a tomato sauce and tuna. In Italian it is … Continue reading Egg White ‘Pizza’ With Tuna
Bouillabaisse is a classic fish soup from Marseille in France. The name comes from boiling (bouilla) over low (baisse) heat. Originally it was made from fish that fishermen had left over. Now there are so many versions that a group … Continue reading Bouillabaisse
Panzerotti are deep-fried calzone, i.e. deep-fried filled pizza! They are delicious street food from Puglia in the deep south of Italy. In Campania they are called calzoni fritti. The funny thing is that I did not get to know these … Continue reading Panzerotti
