When we visited Estancia Piedra for a wine tasting, our charming host Mary suggested that a risotto with tart apple, mushrooms, and goat cheese would be outstanding with the Rueda Verdejo from Estancia Piedra. Although the wine did smell of … Continue reading Risotto with Apple, Mushrooms, and Goat Cheese
You may have noticed that over the last year, I’ve been blogging a bit less frequently and lately there have been more posts about wine. The reason for both is the same: I’ve been studying the become a vinologist (which … Continue reading Condrieu: the Best Viognier in the World
I like using everything and reducing waste. When you buy a bunch of carrots, they come with the greens, but usually those are discarded or used to feed the rabbits if you have them. I’ve already posted recipes to use … Continue reading Pasta with Roasted Carrots and Carrot Tops Pesto
Fried fish is really good with remoulade sauce, but that mayonnaise-based sauce is not the most healthy of options. And so I decided to try making a version with yogurt at its base, and tried it with baby sole, pan-fried … Continue reading Sole with Yogurt Remoulade Sauce
This blog is sometimes about fancy food or wine, but mostly it is about food prepared from scratch using high quality fresh ingredients, in such a way that the ingredients shine. During our travels I didn’t do a lot of … Continue reading Grilled Sardines
The last winery we visit in Spain is Gramona in Sant’ Sadurni d’Anoia, the capital of cava in which 93% of all cava is produced. DO Cava is allowed to be produced in many regions all over Spain, but most … Continue reading Gramona: Cava and Still Wines in Penedès
El Celler de Can Roca is the restaurant in Girona (Spain) of three Catalan brothers: Joan (chef and inventor of sous-vide cooking), Jordi (pastry chef), and Josep (sommelier). It is difficult to get a reservation. You can only make a reservation … Continue reading Dining in Spain: El Celler de Can Roca*** (2016)
We pass more DOs (Denominaciónes de Origen) on our tour of Spain than we can visit. (This is also supposed to be a vacation for Kees, after all 🙂 ) And so choices have to be made. I decided to … Continue reading Estancia Piedra: Full-blooded Red Wines from Toro
We’re on a wine discovery vacation in Spain, and so there have been a lot of posts about Spanish wine lately. Although I do intend to write more about wine than I used to, this will remain primarily a cooking … Continue reading Five-Spice Duck with Napa Cabbage and Noodles
Our discovery of Spanish wines continues in the denominación de origen Valdeorras, a bit more inland but still influenced by the Atlantic. The climate is between Atlantic and Mediterranean with significant vintage variation. Wet vintages such as 2014 are called “atlantic”, … Continue reading Valdesil: benchmark Godello and Mencía from Valdeorras
Rias Baixas is a wine region in the north-western corner of Spain in the autonomous region of Galicia, north of Portugal. The rias are inlets of the Atlantic that are a bit like shallow fjords. Rias Baixas, which should be … Continue reading Wines of Rias Baixas
The first winery we visited in Rioja is a very new one: Nivarius. The first vintage produced was only in 2012. It is unique in Rioja because it is the first and only winery in Rioja that only produces white … Continue reading Nivarius: Rare White Wines from Rioja
Rioja is the oldest and most famous wine production area of Spain. It has been famous for centuries, and in 1991 it was the first (and for quite some time the only) production area with the highest rank in Spanish … Continue reading Wines of Rioja
Azurmendi is a restaurant in a futuristic building by the freeway near Bilbao in the Basque country in Spain. The restaurant of chef Eneko Atxa has three Michelin stars and ranks highly on the World’s 50 best restaurants and Opinionated … Continue reading Dining in Spain: Azurmendi***
The Spanish wine region of Navarra is famous for its moscatel de grano menudo, and the benchmark producer of moscatel is Bodegas de Camilo Castilla in the town of Corella. Navarra is on the northeast of Rioja in the North … Continue reading Moscatel from Navarra: Bodegas Camilo Castilla
Pasta comes in many shapes. The most common include spaghetti, penne, tagliatelle, orecchiette, and lasagne. Apart from fresh pasta and dried pasta, one of the main distinctions is between ‘short’ pasta such as penne and orecchiette, and ‘long’ pasta such … Continue reading Choosing a Pasta Shape, Part 2: Spaghetti with Bell Peppers and Olives
Pasta comes in many shapes. The most common include spaghetti, penne, tagliatelle, orecchiette, and lasagne. Apart from fresh pasta and dried pasta, one of the main distinctions is between ‘short’ pasta such as penne and orecchiette, and ‘long’ pasta such … Continue reading Choosing a Pasta Shape, Part 1: Penne with Bell Peppers and Olives
I’ve been baking oat bran quark muffins for breakfast regularly, either with blueberries, or poppy seeds and almonds, as a high fiber, high protein, low fat, low sugar start of my day. (They happen to be gluten free too, but … Continue reading Date, Oat Bran, and Quark Muffins
This elegant pasta dish can be prepared in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Succulent pieces of sole fillet (I actually used plaice, schol in Dutch) are tossed with linguine pasta in a simple sauce of white wine, … Continue reading Linguine with Sole and Lemon Zest
Rosenmuskateller is a rare dessert wine from Alto Adige/Südtirol, the German speaking north-east of Italy. It is made from the rare grape of the same name, related to other muscat grapes but with the distinctive quality that it smells of … Continue reading Blackberry Rose Water Sorbet
There is already a recipe for smoked salmon ravioli on this blog, but that one is for hot smoked salmon. Today’s post is about cold smoked salmon. The filling is as easy as it comes: simply blend smoked salmon with … Continue reading Smoked Salmon Ravioli with Whiskey Sauce (Ravioli al Salmone Affumicato con Whiskey)
For my friend Jelmer’s birthday I cooked dinner for him with a bottle of vintage port from his year of birth (1989). This meant I had to come up with a dish that would work well with vintage port. Unlike tawny … Continue reading Duck with Cherries and Port Sauce
Hummus, also spelled as houmous, is a middle eastern dip made from cooked chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. Chickpeas are high in protein and hummus is great when used as a … Continue reading Hummus
Summer has finally started (not just on the calendar but also the weather) and that means that cakes for which you don’t have to turn on the oven are the preferred solution for dessert. Although this recipe is tagged “baking”, … Continue reading Quark Cake with Cherries (Kwarktaart met Kersen)
This is not an authentic Thai dish, but my own creation that was heavily inspired by Thai cuisine. Plaice (Dutch: schol) is a flatfish that is very common in the Netherlands. I had some rawit (Thai red chillis), galangal, and … Continue reading Thai Style Fish Mousse and Napa Cabbage
Lamb shank is one of my favorite cuts of meat, especially when cooked sous-vide. It is so flavorful, tender, and moist. And so I keep coming up with new ways to prepare it. In this case I thought it would … Continue reading Lamb Stew with Smoked Paprika and Zucchini
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 … Continue reading Thai Sour and Spicy Shrimp Soup (Tom Yum Goong)
Although in Italy eel is mostly eaten in winter time, fresh eel is available here in summer. And so I’ve made a summer version of eel ragù by making it with fresh tomatoes and basil. This makes the ragù very … Continue reading Tagliatelle with Eel (Tagliatelle al Ragù di Anguilla)
Spinach and ricotta are a classic combination in Italian cuisine, probably known best as one of the most common fillings for ravioli. I’ve made spinach risotto before, but I had never thought about risotto with ricotta and spinach. Until I … Continue reading Risotto con Spinaci e Ricotta (Spinach and Ricotta Risotto)
The best pork chops are those that are marbled with fat, as the fat provides flavor and prevents the chops from drying out. For this recipe I used some pork chops from iberico pig, the same Spanish pork that is … Continue reading Pork Chops in Piquant Sauce
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