We had friends over for dinner. She likes fish, but he likes meat and red wine. I ended up preparing Portuguese style cheeks in a red wine sauce for everyone, but we had Iberico pork cheeks, and she had monkfish … Continue reading Monkfish Portuguese Style
We had Meia desfeita de Bacalhau as a petisco (tapa) at the Tasting Room in Cascais, on the coast near Lisbon. A wine and petiscos (tapas) bar that I can strongly recommend, by the way, for their excellent selection of … Continue reading Meia desfeita de Bacalhau (Salad of Salted Cod and Chickpeas)
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)
Paola of Primo non sprecare always has tasty Italian recipes. Her lentil and artichoke soup intrigued me, because I had not encountered that combination before. It is a vegan soup from only a few ingredients with a surprising flavor that … Continue reading Lentil and Artichoke Soup (Zuppa di lenticchie con carciofi)
The Mexican feast I was preparing should also include refried beans and rice, as they are staples in Mexican cuisine. For the rice I based my preparation on Irene’s recipe on her Slice of Mexico. Mexican rice is enriched with … Continue reading Mexican Style Rice
Today would have been Richard McGary’s birthday, and so it is a fitting day to post his recipe for salsa verde. Which I finally made, seven years after he posted it. The excuse that I have is that fresh Mexican … Continue reading Salsa Verde Cocida
Outside of Italy, most people consider “Italian food” as one cuisine. In fact, the Italian cuisine is very local, and even the next village over may prepare a dish differently. During our vacation to Southern Italy last year, we enjoyed … Continue reading Mackerel ‘in Carpione’ with Spaghetti Aglio-Olio-Peperoncino
One of the questions that I get asked often is whether I always cook complex dishes, and what I cook when I get home from work. This is a typical example of something I whipped up when I came home … Continue reading Pasta with Runner Beans (Penne ai Piattoni)
Bea has Sicilian roots and that clearly shows in the recipe for Vermicelli alle Alici con pangrattato dorato that she posted recently. Since fresh anchovies are not so easy to find around here and it is a lot of work to clean … Continue reading Spaghetti with Mackerel and Breadcrumbs (Spaghetti allo Sgombro con pangrattato dorato)
Kale is called cavolo riccio (curly cabbage) in Italy, but it is not widely used. The closest type of cabbage that is common in Italy is the Tuscan cavolo nero.In the Netherlands kale is very common and called boerenkool (farmer’s … Continue reading Pasta with Kale “in Saor” (Pasta con Cavolo Riccio “in Saor”)
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
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
The second part of the soul food feast we prepared was smothered pork chops. This is a simple but tasty recipe: pork chops that are cooked low and slow in onion gravy. Of course we made this sous-vide, but you can … Continue reading Soul Food, Part 2: Smothered Pork Chops
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)
Anatoli wrote an interesting article about clam chowder on his great wine blog Talk-A-Vino. He explains that chowder is “a rich soup typically containing fish, clams, or corn with potatoes and onions” and that there are four types of clam … Continue reading New England Clam Chowder
Shrimp with almonds and onions is a simple but very tasty appetizer that was inspired by something we tried in Croatia. It reminded me a bit of a preparation from Venice called ‘in Saor‘, but this is even more simple. … Continue reading Shrimp with Almonds and Onions
Mackerel is a cheap and tasty fish that is healthy as well because it is full of the omega 3 fatty acids. In this recipe the fat mackerel is paired with a tart marinade and sweet onions. This preparation is … Continue reading Marinated Mackerel
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, … Continue reading Gazpacho
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