Celeriac is one of the few local vegetables available here in winter, not counting stuff that comes out of a greenhouse. It is tasty and versatile, as you can eat it raw, as puree, steamed, or roasted. In this recipe … Continue reading Pasta with Celeriac, Chicken, and Walnuts
Sea bream is a lean flavorful fish, also known by its French name daurade or dorade (orata in Italian). It is often served in restaurants in the south of France, so here I paired it with ratatouille from that same region. Ratatouille … Continue reading Sea Bream with Crunchy Ratatouille and Flavored Brown Rice
Geese have become somewhat of a plague in the area were we live. There are so many of them that they ruin the fields and therefore their numbers need to be ‘managed’. As a result, local wild goose is now … Continue reading Goose Breast Sous-Vide with Sauerkraut and Pear
This elegant and delicious appetizer is ridiculously simple. It requires only two ingredients (if you don’t count water, salt and pepper, and the parsley that I used for garnish) and not much skill to prepare. Due to some relatively warm weather we’ve … Continue reading White Asparagus and Goat Cheese Soup
Mushroom lasagna is a classic I’ve been making for years, but I noticed I had never published it on the blog yet. It is a great dish to indulge, rich yet elegant. Its components are fresh homemade spinach pasta, funghi … Continue reading Mushroom Lasagna (Lasagne ai Funghi)
Pecan Pie is a classic from the Southern US, and for good reason because pecan trees are native in that region (as well as Mexico). For this post I didn’t bake a traditional pecan pie, because I made three changes: … Continue reading Pecan Maple Squares (+ A New Method For Flaky Pastry)
Baking or slow roasting is an original way to prepare kale. It takes a long time to bake, but most of that is inactive time. This version with Italian flavors has great depth of flavor and a nice texture. For … Continue reading Slow Roasted Kale
As I’ve mentioned before, my favorite kind of blogging is thinking of a dish, cooking it, eating it, and blogging about it, all in a single day. And that is exactly what I’ve done today. Well actually, not exactly. Because … Continue reading Pasta with Lamb, Peas and Mint (Tagliatelle al Ragù di Agnello, Piselli e Menta)
Pollo alla Cacciatora is an Italian classic. It means chicken prepared in the style of the hunter’s wife (traditional recipes usually do not assume that the wife would hunt herself), which is chicken stewed in tomatoes with herbs, wine, and … Continue reading Pollo alla Cacciatora (Chicken in Tomato Sauce)
It is interesting how you can vary even the simplest of Italian recipes. I make pasta with broccoli often, and I often make it like I described in this post with anchovies, garlic, and chilli. I cook the broccoli and … Continue reading Pasta with Broccoli and Pancetta
I created this dish because I wanted to make something that was both very nutritious and also tasty. I don’t believe in ‘super foods’ (which is mostly a way to make you pay more for foods that aren’t necessarily more … Continue reading Brown Rice Pilaf with Lentils, Beef, and Bell Peppers
Many foods we still enjoy today were invented to be able to conserve food before we had refrigerators and freezers. A famous example is dried, or salted and dried, fish. In Italy this is known as baccalà for dried cod, … Continue reading Bacalà alla Vicentina (Dried Cod Braised in Milk and Olive Oil)
Bacon-wrapped turkey is so simple that it is hardly a recipe. To make it sound better, I’m calling these medallions. That just means pieces of turkey breast. The most important thing is that they are delicious. Turkey breast is lean … Continue reading Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Medallions
This is my favorite kind of food blogging. I thought of something to prepare for dinner on the train back home from work, using what I knew was in my fridge. I prepared and photographed it, we enjoyed it for dinner, … Continue reading Pasta Casserole with Salmon and Spinach (Pasta al Forno con Salmone e Spinaci)
I love recipes that use all parts of an ingredient. When I saw the recipe for deconstructed duck fried rice on Simon’s blog Stranded on the Island, which uses the duck breast, skin, and fat from the skin, I decided straight … Continue reading Duck Fried Rice
Cold smoking is a technique that preserves food (and gives it a wonderful smoky flavor and aroma) just by smoke, without heat. To get a really nice smoky aroma, it is best to cold smoke for 24 hours. This means … Continue reading Cold Smoked Halibut
Parsley root is exactly what it sounds like: the root of a parsley plant. They can be cultivated in a size as large as parsnips, and from their appearance they could easily be mistaken for parsnips. But they have a … Continue reading Pasta with Parsley Root
Wolffish is one of my favorite types of white fish, as it has a better flavor and texture than cod and its relatives. For this recipe you could also use another white fish that doesn’t flake easily (as flaky fish … Continue reading Breaded Wolffish with Anchovy-Braised Peppers
I thought it would be nice to make acetani with pistachios instead of almonds, and the result was amazing. Unlike acetani, the flavor of the orange zest blends in to support the pistachios, rather than being the star. These delicious pistachio-orange … Continue reading Pistachio Orange Cookies
Crème Brûlée is one of the best known and most delicious of French desserts. I used to make it often about a decade ago, long before I started blogging. Back then I made it so often that I got tired … Continue reading Crème Brûlée
Finding the right temperature and time for cooking sous-vide can be confusing, as many sources (both online and in the few books that cover sous-vide cooking) state different ‘optimal’ temperatures. One of the reasons for these differences is personal preference. … Continue reading Turkey Breast Sous-Vide Temperature
For this traditional French onion soup, I used the recipe of fellow blogger Stéphane of My French Heaven. Because I wholeheartedly agree with him that onion soup should be made from… onions! Of course we want to top it with … Continue reading Traditional French Onion Soup
This French-style apple tart is special because of the almond paste filling. If almond paste is not available, you can substitute with ground almonds and sugar. It is best to use tart apples for this tart, for a nice contrast … Continue reading Apple Almond Paste Tart
This is an original dish I created because I had some leftover trimmings from the salmon that I smoked. The sauce was inspired by Sandra’s recipe for speedy smoked salmon mousse. The earthy flavor of the celeriac works well with … Continue reading Celeriac Gnocchi with Smoked Salmon (Gnocchi di Sedano Rapa con Salmone Affumicato)
It has been a while since I had last cooked a recipe from Biba Caggiano, my favorite cookbook author. Rabbit in piquant sauce is something I had prepared before more than a decade ago, and I remember the rabbit turned … Continue reading Rabbit in Piquant Sauce, Stovetop Braised or Sous-Vide (Coniglio in Salsa Piccante)
There are many versions of ragù alla bolognese that do not have much to do with the original from the city of Bologna. They may be tasty pasta sauces, but in my opinion they should be given another name such … Continue reading Ragù alla Bolognese: Pressure Cooked, Sous-Vide, or Traditional?
Enchiladas is Spanish for something like ‘covered in chilli’, and refers to tortillas dipped in chilli sauce. In this version corn tortillas are dipped in chilli con carne, stuffed with cheese, and baked with more chilli con carne and cheese. I saw … Continue reading Cheese Enchiladas with Chilli con Carne
This dish is simple and decadent at the same time. Delicate fresh pasta is stuffed with pungent gorgonzola, and served with a creamy sauce of foie gras. The combination is delicious. Since we love foie gras and we love blue … Continue reading Ravioli with Gorgonzola in Foie Gras Sauce
Sometimes I fall in love with a recipe at first sight. This is what happened when I saw Pork and Almonds on Dave Chrichton’s blog Fine Dining at Home. Dave wanted to create a Spain-inspired dish, and served oven-roasted pork … Continue reading Pork with Almonds and Paprika
De Librije is our favorite restaurant in the Netherlands and we go there every year for our anniversary. We celebrate two anniversaries each year, and after 10 years of celebrating our wedding anniversary at the Librije in June, we decided … Continue reading Dining in the Netherlands: Librije*** (2015)
