We really loved the street food in Taiwan. On the island of Cijin that is part of the harbor city of Kaohsiung, we had very tasty oyster cakes. You could also call them fritters, because the oysters are deep fried … Continue reading Taiwanese Oyster Cakes
Our friend Marjolein makes great Asian style food, and we really liked this variation on the well-known Peking duck that she prepared for us. Usually Peking duck is all about the skin, but in Marjolein’s version it is all about … Continue reading Duck Breast with Hoisin and Pancakes
This is what we had for dinner tonight and a perfect example of cooking with what you have on hand. In this case I had some leftover scallops and from the fresh vegetables that I had only the bell peppers … Continue reading Tagliatelle with Scallops and Roasted Bell Pepper Sauce (Tagliatelle Capesante e Peperoni)
These oysters are a famous dish from Chinese restaurant Nam Kee in Amsterdam, because a book and movie have been named after them (and because they are so good). The oysters are steamed with a Chinese black bean sauce. You … Continue reading Steamed Oysters with Black Bean Sauce (Oesters van Nam Kee)
This very simple and elegant yet unusual dish was inspired by a dish we had a RyuGin in Taipei. It uses only three ingredients (well four if you count water): clams, turnips, and scallions. In my adaption I’ve simply used … Continue reading Clam and Turnip Soup
Dry aging is a technique to improve the texture and flavor of meat, especially steak. It is costly because the outside needs to be trimmed and discarded, and moisture is removed from the meat so it loses weight. To improve … Continue reading Fish Sauce-Aged Steak
Haddock (schelvis in Dutch) is the lesser cousin of cod, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare a nice dish with it. Still inspired by our Taiwan trip, I decided to pan fry it and serve it with Asian flavors. … Continue reading Pan Fried Haddock, Asian Style
Whenever we tried vegetables in restaurants in Taiwan, they were always prepared quite simply: stir cooked (first stir fried and then steamed by adding water) with garlic and sometimes some additional ingredients like ginger, chilli, tiny shrimp, or a bit … Continue reading Taiwanese Stir Cooked Cabbage with Tiny Shrimp
Blood oranges are in season. They have a striking color and flavor. This is a light and nutritious dessert, in which the oranges are combined with yogurt and pistachios. Instead of yogurt you could also use ricotta, or a mixture. … Continue reading Blood Orange with Yogurt or Ricotta and Pistachios
When I think of artichokes, I think of salads and appetizers. And so a recipe by Paola really caught my eye, because she blogged about a stew of veal with artichokes, a dish from Genova called Spezzatino con i carciofi. … Continue reading Veal and Artichoke Stew Sous-Vide (Spezzatino con i carciofi)
Friends were coming over for dinner. He loves Burgundy wines, especially red. That goes well with meat dishes like Boeuf Bourguignon, but she doesn’t eat meat. What to prepare? Then I remembered the great pairing of a Chambolle-Musigny (red Burgundy) … Continue reading Tuscan Bean Soup (Minestra di Fagioli)
Rack of lamb is one of my favorite types of meat. A perfectly cooked rack of lamb should be medium rare on the inside and nicely browned and crispy on the outside. When cooking a rack of lamb in the … Continue reading Rack of Lamb Sous-Vide & Broiled
As Taiwan is an island we traveled along the coast, it is not surprising that seafood was abundant and fresh. Squid was available as street food (recipe to follow in the summer) and stir fried in restaurants. At 旗后活海產 on Cijin … Continue reading Taiwanese Squid with Thai Basil and Ginger
The inspiration for this dish came from the wonderful rosemary smoked squab we had at RyuGin Taipei, in combination with the method for smoking sardines using nothing more than a large bowl and some rosemary. Squab is a small farmed pigeon; … Continue reading Rosemary Smoked Squab with Butternut Squash
Pasta e ceci is typical Italian comfort food. Ceci are chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. As with all Italian home cooking, many variations exist. Some are with tomatoes, some without (in bianco). Some are more like a soup, with … Continue reading Pasta with Chickpeas and Pancetta (Pasta e Ceci con Pancetta)
During our vacation in Taiwan I discovered that I really liked the cuisine: high quality fresh ingredients, prepared simply but skillfully to allow the flavor of the ingredients to shine. Vegetables were often prepared very simply: stir fried with a … Continue reading Gai Lan
Darya has a wonderful blog and I especially like her Middle-Eastern recipes as they are so new to me and always delicious. Last year she posted a recipe for Iraqi date cookies that I put on my list of recipes … Continue reading Iraqi Date Cookies (Kleichat tamur)
When choosing a restaurant in Taiwan, do not let the (lack of) decor fool you, as it does not say anything about the quality of the food. Besides, most restaurants look like this so you would probably starve if you … Continue reading Taiwanese Stir Fried Shrimp With Black Beans
In Taiwan we had a lot of fried rice. Every restaurant makes it in a slightly different way. Constant factors seemed to be green onions (scallions) and eggs. Often tiny dried salted shrimp were added. Sometimes diced ham or slivers … Continue reading Fried Rice
This is the first of a series of dishes that we really enjoyed in Taiwan and I wanted to recreate at home: dumplings that have soup in them, that will burst open in your mouth as you eat them. They … Continue reading Steamed Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)
In 2010 we had dinner at La Coccinella in Piemonte, and ordered a bottle 0f 1996 Barolo San Giovanni by Gianfranco Alessandria. I liked the wine so much that I was embarrassing Kees with the noises of appreciation that I … Continue reading Roe Deer Venison with a Red Wine Sauce
Bonifacio is the most beautiful town in Corsica, and that is where I had brandade de rouget et fenoil at the nice restaurant l’Archivolto. Brandade is usually an emulsion of salted cod and olive oil, but there are also versions … Continue reading Brandade of Red Mullet and Fennel (Brandade de Rouget et Fenouil)
Lamb neck fillet is one of the tastiest cuts of lamb, because it is well marbled and has a lot of connective tissue. As the neck has the job of holding the lamb’s neck up, you can imagine it is … Continue reading Lamb Neck Fillet Sous-Vide
I’m still cooking dishes from our trip to Sardinia and Corsica in September of last year. Today’s was a simple but very nice appetizer we had at C’era una volta in Palau on Sardinia: grilled squid with avocado. The soft … Continue reading Squid with Avocado
Paola is one of my Italian blogging friends and she always has tasty simple recipes. Her motto is use leftovers as much as possible. Although in this case she did not present this as a way to use up leftovers, … Continue reading Pasta with Pumpkin and Pancetta
In the Netherlands it is customary to treat your co-workers to baked goods for your birthday. These are usually sweet, but can also be savory (in that case, it’s usually sausage rolls). The baked goods can be either store-bought or … Continue reading Wholemeal Stevia Apple Cinnamon Raisin Muffins
One of my favorite dishes is veal saltimbocca, veal cutlets with prosciutto and sage. The combination works so well, that I thought it would be nice to make a variation using veal breast. This cut of meat is more flavorful … Continue reading Veal Roulade with Prosciutto and Sage (Punta di Vitello con Prosciutto e Salvia)
Bitterballen are popular party food in the Netherlands. They are breaded and deep fried, and usually filled with a meat ragoût. I have already blogged about those here. When they are larger and have a cylindrical shape, they are called … Continue reading Shrimp Croquettes (Garnalenbitterballen)
This was our main course for Christmas: a roulade of venison backstrap with prosciutto, rosemary, garlic, and parmigiano, with a side of roasted celeriac puree and some deep fried kale. Made with beef this roulade is called Rosa di Parma, … Continue reading Venison Rosa di Parma
Yet another dish from our trip to Sardinia. We had brodo di cipolle e ravioli di percorino at S’apposentu, and this is my rendition of it. The dish is very tasty and elegant, yet only uses a few simple ingredients. … Continue reading Onion Broth with Pecorino Ravioli (Brodo di cipolle e ravioli di pecorino)
