Bacalhau, salted cod, is an ingredient that is used a lot in Portuguese cooking. It is so popular in Portugal that the supermarket had a special department with just bacalhau. Bacalhau is not produced in Portugal itself, but imported from places … Continue reading Bacalhau à Brás (Portuguese Salted Cod with Potatoes, Onions, and Egg)
We love eggplant and we love Thai food, so it was no surprise that we loved this when our friend Melvin prepared this for us according to Pailin’s recipe. Although you could also make it with regular eggplant, it is … Continue reading Thai Eggplant Salad (ยำมะเขือยาว)
This asparagus salad can be made with either white, green, or a combination of white and green asparagus. I made a Dutch-Italian version using a vinaigrette and lightly toasted pine nuts, combined with hard-boiled egg and boiled ham. The flavor … Continue reading Asparagus Salad (Insalata di Asparagi)
A charlotte is usually a dessert, where a mold is lined with bread, cake, or biscuits, and then filled with custard or fruit. In this savory version, inspired by an appetizer I had at restaurant l’Ardoise in Bastia (Corsica), it … Continue reading Eggplant Charlottes (Charlottes d’Aubergines)
I am on a mission to gain lean body mass, and this involves a lot of nutritious but at the same time tasty meals that I can easily take with me to work. Meals should be high in protein and … Continue reading Red Lentil Muffins with Indian Spices
A pizza crust made from cauliflower is often presented as a low-carb substitute for real pizza. I put the word ‘pizza’ between quotes in the title of this post, because I do not think it is a substitute for real … Continue reading Cauliflower ‘Pizza’ with Smoked Mozzarella
We all know it’s good to eat lots of vegetables and we love eating pasta, so I am always looking for pasta dishes that include a healthy dose of vegetables. Runner beans are easily available in the Netherlands, but I’ve … Continue reading Farfalle Pasta with Runner Beans and Prosciutto, ‘Carbonara’-Style
When we visited Spain recently, I tried Merluza a la Romana, which is hake covered with beaten egg and then pan-fried. Unlike its Dutch counterpart lekkerbekje or the British fish and chips, this Spanish version is not deep fried and not crispy. In … Continue reading Hake in the Spanish Way (Merluza a la Romana)
Easter is celebrated in Italy by eating eggs and lamb. As a starter for our Easter dinner, I decided to make a sous-vide version of an Italian antipasto called Asparagi alla Milanese. This is simply green asparagus with a fried egg, melted butter and grated parmigiano reggiano. For the sous-vide version I cooked the asparagus sous-vide at 85C/185F for 15 minutes and the eggs 45 minutes at 64.5C/148F. The resulting egg is like a poached egg, but with a very nice texture. The asparagus are tender but firm to the bite with a nice full flavor. If you don’t have sous-vide equipment, you could of course prepare this in the traditional way by poaching (or indeed frying) the eggs and steaming or boiling the asparagus. Continue reading “Asparagus and Egg Sous-Vide”
Spaghetti alla Carbonara is a delicious and simple dish from Rome made with pancetta or guanciale and eggs. There should absolutely be no cream in carbonara: this is in fact a very good way to check the authenticity of Italian … Continue reading Spaghetti alla Carbonara
For Easter it is a tradition in the Netherlands, as in many other places around the world, to eat lots of eggs. Conor’s post about poached eggs reminded me that I had not yet blogged about eggs sous-vide. Cooking an egg sous-vide was the first thing I tried with my sous-vide water bath about 15 months ago, that was basically the ‘christening’ of the water bath. At 64C/147F The egg whites came out a bit softer than I liked. I needed to go to 67C/152F to get the egg whites just set, but by then the egg yolk didn’t have the … Continue reading Sous-vide egg
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