Thai food is so much better if you make your own fresh curry paste from scratch. Fresh curry paste is not just spicy hot, but also very fragrant and complex. The secret to juicy tender fish in your curry rather … Continue reading Thai Red Fish Curry with Squash
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)
A dessert that we had at Alma in Lisbon that we really liked, was more or less the combination of three desserts that are already on my blog: Almond ice cream (leave out the cherries and crumbled amaretti)… …almond madeleines… … Continue reading Almond Ice Cream, Almond Madeleine, and Orange Curd
We spent most of our trip to Portugal on the coast and so had lots of fish and seafood. When we did have meat, stewed pork cheeks were often on the menu. They were often iberico pork, referred to as … Continue reading Portuguese Style Pork Cheeks Sous Vide (Queixadas de porco)
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)
Chicken Piri Piri is a popular dish from the Algarve in Portugal. The name “piri piri” refers to the type of chilli pepper used in de marinade or sauce. If you can’t find this particular type of chilli pepper, you … Continue reading Chicken Piri Piri (Frango Piri Piri)
This vegetable appetizer was inspired by a dish we enjoyed at Casa Velha in Portugal a few weeks ago, though it is certainly not a Portuguese dish. I liked the idea of using thinly sliced celeriac (celery root) instead of … Continue reading Celeriac ‘Ravioli’ with Parsnip and Mushrooms
Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato is a very common dish in Portugal that many if not most restaurants have on their menu, also as tapas (called petiscos in Portuguese). Amêijoas is Portuguese for clams, and the dish has been named after the … Continue reading Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato (Clams in Portuguese Style)
Ripe fresh figs, directly from the tree, are one of my favorite fruits. They are so sweet, fragrant, and delicate. Unfortunately the local climate is too cold for that, and so we can only get imported figs that do not … Continue reading Fresh Figs Poached in Red Wine or Port
The name of the restaurant Sommelier in Lisbon makes it easy to understand that this restaurant specializes in wine. Once inside, this message is reinforced by the arrangement of wine displayed on the back wall off the dining room. It … Continue reading Dining in Portugal: Sommelier
I have never been to Thailand, but I love Thai food (so I should probably go there at some point, if only for the food). Luckily my friend Melvin has been to Thailand many times, so together with Thai bloggers … Continue reading Mango and Sticky Rice (Kao Niew Mamuang)
These duck lettuce wraps are somewhat similar to mandarin pancakes with peking duck, but a lot less work to make (and a lot lower on carbs, if that matters to you). The crunchy lettuce with the flavorful filling has a … Continue reading Duck Lettuce Wraps
Next week, August 21-23 2020, the second Sous Vide Summit of the International Sous Vide Association will be held. Because of COVID it will be a virtual conference, so the good news is you can join from anywhere. And I … Continue reading Pollo alla Cacciatora Sous Vide
Clafoutis is a famous French pie with cherries. You can find my rendition of the classical version here. Since cherries work well with chocolate, I thought there must also be a variation with chocolate. Some googling did indeed confirm that … Continue reading Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis (Clafoutis chocolaté aux cerises)
Strawberries are in season and this cake is a simple yet delicious way of serving them. It is an Italian recipe without whipped cream like in this strawberry cake and I reduced the amount of sugar, so it is quite … Continue reading Strawberry Cake (Torta di Fragole)
The combination of white asparagus, smoked salmon, and Hollandaise sauce is a classic one. With homemade Hollandaise, sous vide asparagus, and home-smoked salmon it is a lovely appetizer. You could substitute good quality store-bought smoked salmon and steam the asparagus … Continue reading Asparagus with Smoked Salmon and Hollandaise
My friend Melvin is great with Asian food. The other day he prepared this mackerel in Thai red curry sauce for us, and it was so good that I wanted to make it myself as soon as possible. Melvin got … Continue reading Mackerel in Thai Red Curry Sauce (Choo Chee)
With all the restaurants closed it is nice to make restaurant-style food at home, using ingredients that we usually eat at restaurants like lobster. The idea to combine lobster with cauliflower came from Aqua. Instead of using regular cauliflower I … Continue reading Lobster with Romanesco and Green Curry
Happy Easter everyone! I thought this white asparagus lasagne was going to be good, but it turned out even better than I expected and I am most definitely making this again. The secret to this lasagne is that the white sauce … Continue reading Asparagus and Goat Cheese Lasagne (Lasagne agli Asparagi con Formaggio di Capra)
Wild game is the ultimate ‘free range’ meat with more flavor and benefits from a sustainability perspective. Wild boar cheeks are one of my favorite cuts because they are cheap, very flavorful, and easy to prepare sous vide. They have … Continue reading Pulled Boar Cheeks Sous-Vide
This recipe is quite simple with a limited number of ingredients, but very tasty. The combination of textures and flavors works really well: spicy pepper, earthy shrimp, sweet soft onions, and cheesy cheese. If Poblano peppers are not available or … Continue reading Poblano Chiles Stuffed With Shrimp (Chile Relleno con Camarones)
Stefano of Italian Home Cooking, an Italian chef who lives in the UK, always has great authentic regional Italian recipes. When I saw this very unusual cake from Monferrato in Piemonte on his blog, I decided at once that I … Continue reading Italian Apple and Pumpkin Cake (Torta Monferrina di mele e zucca)
There are so many recipes on this blog, that I do not know by heart everything that’s on it. And so I only recently noticed that I had never posted a recipe for risotto ai funghi, because every time I … Continue reading Mushroom Risotto (Risotto ai Funghi)
Artichokes are served with mint in Rome as carciofi alla romana and lamb is often served with mint. So it is the mint that provided the inspiration for this dish. Instead of neck of lamb you could also use leg … Continue reading Neck of Lamb and Artichokes Sous-Vide
Sometimes I pick the wine first and then think of a dish. I had a nice bottle of 2007 late harvest Gewurztraminer from Alsace and I thought it would be great with duck ravioli and orange sauce, and so that … Continue reading Duck Ravioli with Orange Sauce (Ravioli all’Anatra con Salsa d’Arancia)
One of the most original and best new dishes I’ve had in a Michelin starred restaurant over the last years was “Raw carabinero prawn on crispy strands of short rib (‘pulled’ short ribs, then deep fried) with roasted bell pepper, … Continue reading Carabinero Shrimp, Crispy Short Rib and Roasted Bell Pepper
This appetizer is decadent and delicious, yet easy to prepare. It was inspired by an amuse bouche we had at Spectrum. There it was served as a small portion inside a whelk shell (a whelk is a sea snail). The amount … Continue reading Caviar with Cauliflower and Lime Mousse
Chile en Nogada was created in 1821 by the Pueblan Nuns as a festive food to honor a visit from revolutionary general Don Augustín de Iturbide. Mexico had just won its independence from Spain. The colors of the dish are the same … Continue reading Chile Relleno En Nogada (Stuffed Chile with Walnut Sauce and Pomegranate)
Elia suggested this recipe from Pati Jinich as the dessert for our Mexican feast. It is called “impossible” chocoflan, because the two batters look like a mess when you put them into the oven, but when the flan comes out, … Continue reading Chocolate and Vanilla Flan with Pecans (Chocoflan Imposible)
Since 2009 I’ve been organizing wine pairing dinners twice per year for family and friends. As there is room for 12-16 at a time, I repeat each theme three times (so in total 6 wine pairing dinners per year, 3 … Continue reading Pairing Wine with Mexican Food
