Slow roasting is my favorite way to prepare cauliflower, and this time of the year I prepare it often (using this recipe or something similar). Slow roasting means it will take longer (90 minutes to 2 hours), but the cauliflower will have much greater depth of flavor compared to roasting it quickly in a hotter … Continue reading
There are so many food blogs out there that it is hard to find the really good ones. But once in a while I discover a new food blog that I really like, and one of those is Stefano’s Italian Home Cooking. After trying his hand at being a cookbook writer and chef, he now teaches … Continue reading
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 most important ingredient. Of course the avocado must be ripe. Luckily avocados are fruits that … Continue reading
Using chard for the filling of the ravioli alla genovese meant I had leftover chard stems. I thought what a home cook from Genoa would do with leftover chard stems, and that is how I came up with this contorno (side dish) of baked chard stems. To add some flavor and texture, I topped the chard stems … Continue reading
Have you ever heard of spaghetti squash? I had not until I read about it on Shanna’s wonderful blog. Coincidence or not, this autumn for the first time I saw spaghetti squash in markets here. The name may sound strange, but when you look at the texture of the cooked squash it is clear where the … Continue reading
Often simple preparations are the best. In this case a trout is wrapped in aluminum foil and baked in the oven, while potatoes are roasted in the same oven and with the same flavors (rosemary and garlic). The only tricky part is cooking the trout just right: too short and it will still be raw … Continue reading
I always like it when I get requests for a dinner party, because it makes it easier to choose what to make. In this case, the request was something with shrimp and garlic. Because of the season I looked for autumn flavors that would work well with shrimp and garlic. As shrimp are earthy and … Continue reading
You may have noticed something else on the plate along with the venison and mushroom stew of my previous post. Because the stew was served with a wine from Piemonte, I wanted to serve a contorno (side dish) from that region along with it. Since savoy cabbage works well with meat, red wine, and spices, … Continue reading
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 to try making it, too. You can decide on how spicy you’d like it by … Continue reading
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 of restaurants in Marseille has published a charter to define what bouillabaisse should be. According … Continue reading
It’s Spring and when it’s spring I see lambs frolicking in the pastures. And it makes me think of how good they will taste as lamb chops or lamb shank 😉 A part of lamb that is not as popular is the neck, but when prepared correctly it has a lot of flavor. In Romagna, … Continue reading
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 best results, remove the tough central ribs before shredding the kale. Ingredients For 2 servings … Continue reading
Skate is a fish that is not very well known. Both its flavor and its texture are different than other fish. When prepared correctly, it is delicious. When overcooked, it is dry and stringy. The best way to prevent this is using a thermometer with a probe, to ensure that the skate is cooked exactly … Continue reading
Shrimp and mushrooms are a classic combination in stir fry dishes. In this Chinese-style dish, I’ve added another layer of flavor by braising dried shii take mushrooms in oyster sauce first. It is a bit more work, but worth it. Tender juicy shrimp with slightly chewy flavorful mushrooms and crunchy vegetables combined with a delicious sauce … Continue reading
When I posted the recipe for a great side dish based on the outer part of zucchini, I mentioned to reserve the remaining inner part for another use. This cold soup is a great way to use up those inner parts, or even use up whole zucchini if you have a surplus. This recipe was inspired by … Continue reading
A great way to cook a whole leg of lamb is to roast it in the oven with anchovies, garlic and rosemary. I wanted to cook the lamb sous-vide instead so it would be more tender and juicy, and just a portion of the leg as I was feeding only a small crowd. To flavor … Continue reading
On the Italian foodie blogs I follow, everyone is turning over to cold food because of the hot weather. When we have hot weather here we still eat hot food — we just prepare it outside on the grill (which we call barbecue). This is to celebrate having hot weather, which doesn’t happen too often. … Continue reading
Because of our, euphemistically put, shared history, kroepoek (Indonesian shrimp crackers, the Indonesian spelling is kerupuk or krupuk) is very common and very popular in the Netherlands. You can buy it at every supermarket and ‘Chinese/Indonesian’ restaurants sell large rectangular sheets of kroepoek with their take-out food. Many of my countrymen are probably not even aware that … Continue reading
For Christmas I got a meat grinding attachment for my stand mixer, and so I can finally make my own salsiccia. Italian pork sausage (salsiccia) is an important ingredient for many Italian primi piatti, like risotto al barolo con salsiccia, malloreddus alla campidanese, and pasta with romanesco and sausage. Without the proper sausage, these dishes just won’t taste … Continue reading
As a good patriot I’m looking for ways to eat more tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers. And so I thought of a wonderful solution: gazpacho. This is a cold soup from Spain that is made from tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, stale bread, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, and salt. It has … Continue reading
Aioli (Catalan) or Alioli (Spanish) is the Spanish version of mayonnaise with garlic instead of mustard. It is served with various tapas. Traditionally it is made with pestle and mortar and a whisk, but a blender does a pretty good job, too. The preparation is very similar to that of regular mayonnaise. Key to successful … Continue reading
As an appetizer for my Piemonte-themed evening I decided to make bagna càuda. This is a hot dip sauce made with olive oil, anchovies, and garlic and served with raw or cooked vegetables to dip. There are many varieties, with a lot of them including butter besides olive oil or even milk or cream. Also … Continue reading
One of the best ways to become a better cook is to learn from others. I asked my modernist cooking friends Teun and Albert to join forces with me to create dishes together. This dish is the first result of that collaboration. It was loosely based upon a dish that Albert had cooked before out … Continue reading
I was intrigued by this recipe by Pasta Princess since it involves flambéing the shrimp, and decided to make my own version with some alterations. As far as I’ve been able to find out by googling, Fra Diavolo is a recipe that is typical of the Italian kitchen in the United States. Nevertheless I tried to make … Continue reading
