I had some leftover mussels and leftover wheat tortillas, and decided to make some mussel tacos or burritos. The main difference between a taco and burrito is the size: a taco is a snack, whereas a burrito is a full … Continue reading Mussel Taco or Burrito
I’m still cooking dishes from our trip to Sardinia and Corsica in September of last year. Today’s was a simple but very nice appetizer we had at C’era una volta in Palau on Sardinia: grilled squid with avocado. The soft … Continue reading Squid with Avocado
It is always a treat when friends cooks for me. This simple but tasty dish is based on an appetizer that our friends Merel and Barthold served at a dinner party at their house. As usual with simple recipes, it … Continue reading Sea Bass Ceviche with Avocado
Guacamole is a dipping sauce that you are probably all familiar with. You get the best guacamole by making it at home from fresh ingredients rather than buying it in a store.As guacamole is an avocado-based sauce, it is the … Continue reading Homemade Guacamole
This recipe is pretty crazy. It’s something I thought of and wanted to try: deep fried ravioli made with cornflour (masa) that I wanted to taste like hard taco shells, filled with chili con carne and smoked mozzarella. Although I … Continue reading Deep Fried Corn ‘Ravioli’ Filled With Chili Con Carne
This somewhat eclectic dish came about when Teun and I were playing in the kitchen and decided to get some inspiration from the Plated Dishes volume of Modernist Cuisine. More and more I am getting the impression that these dishes … Continue reading Fusion Risotto with Oysters, Salsify and Avocado
Although I’m usually more into authentic traditional dishes, lately I’ve been doing a lot of fusion. Sometimes it works surprisingly well, like this hot-smoked halibut with guacamole. The flavors and textures are a very good combination. Hot smoking is so … Continue reading Hot-Smoked Halibut with Guacamole
I used my first homemade corn tortillas to make tuna tacos. Tacos are stuffed tortillas (either wheat or corn). Tuna tacos are not very traditional, but they sure are delicious. I stuffed the tacos with ancho seared tuna, pico de … Continue reading Tuna Tacos
This was probably the first appetizer I’ve ever prepared, more than 25 years ago. It is completely out of fashion now, but it is still very tasty and avocado is popular now because of the omega 3 fatty acids it contains. Another good reason to share this is that I explain how to make your own cocktail sauce, even from scratch if you like. Feel free to grow your own avocados and catch your own shrimp as well if this isn’t foody enough for you 😉 Continue reading “Avocado and Shrimp Cocktail”
We eat most fish on Fridays and Saturdays, since I prefer to eat fish on the day that I bought it. The well-known Albert Cuyp market in Amsterdam is just a few blocks from the office, and I should take more advantage of that to go there and get fish during my lunch break so we can have fish on other days of the week as well as we both love fish.
When I was on the Albert Cuyp market I saw some nice tuna and thought it was time I would give ‘poke’ a try. Poke is a Hawaiian dish that I had never heard of before, despite having been to Hawaii for a week two years ago. I had noticed it on Richard McGary’s blog REMCooks.com before, but only when I saw the photo of the Baby Lady smugly enjoying poke I knew I really had to try this 🙂 I was not disappointed, as we both loved it and I will definitely make poke again.
Poke is a Hawaiian dish made with raw tuna (called ahi in Hawaii, either big eye tuna or yellowfin tuna) and a variety of other ingredients. I based my first attempt upon Richard’s post about Pesto Poke, but I added some avocado as well and replaced the cilantro with parsley. Continue reading “My First Poke”
Yet another meal and another post inspired by fellow bloggers, two in this case. The idea to try tuna sous-vide came from A Single Serving, who left a comment on my sous-vide page. He mentioned tuna confit, which is not what I tried this time around (but I will). Instead, I cooked the tuna medium rare at 42C/108F. The idea to grill avocado came from Richard of REMCooks, as well as the idea to combine avocado and tuna. I made this for lunch, but it could also be a nice appetizer for two. If you don’t have sous-vide equipment, you could use a ziploc bag and stock pot as a good substitute (that will however require some attention to monitor the temperature) or simply serve the tuna raw.
You may now be thinking that I lost it. Grilling avocado? I had never thought of this, but I trust Richard and he’s right: it’s nice and a great way to eat an avocado that is not yet fully ripe. I was worried the avocado would ‘melt’, but that is not the case at all. The sous-vide tuna turned out very nice, with more flavor than rare tuna. I really liked the combination of flavors and textures, and the chile flakes made a big difference in this dish. Here’s what I did… Continue reading “Grilled Avocado with Tuna Sous-Vide”
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