Category: lunch

Bell Pepper Soup with Grains of Paradise

13 March 2023

The first time we read about Grains of Paradise (or Melegueta Pepper) was when we prepared Sauce Cameline. The grains are common to the North and West African cuisine and were brought to Europe in the thirteenth century. According to some as a cheap substitute for black pepper. Recently we were fortunate to buy them and now we are impressed by their flavour: spicy, citrus and a touch of vanilla. When used in a stew it becomes less pungent. They gave a delicious and complex boost to the redd bell pepper soup.

Grains of Paradise are used to give flavour to craft beers, especially dark, seasonal beers. It can be a component of Has el Ranout. American chef Alton Brown uses Grains of Paradise in a stew with Okra and Tomatoes, in Apple Pie and in Lentil Soup.

For some reason it’s crucial to combine grains of paradise and lemon juice, As if the acidity amplifies the flavour of the grains?

What You Need

  • 2 Red Bell Peppers (or 1 Red and 1 Orange)
  • Shallot
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 5 cm Carrot
  • 10 cm Celery Stalk
  • 250 ml Vegetable Stock
  • 5 cm of Fresh Rosemary
  • ¼ teaspoon of Grains of Paradise
  • Lemon Juice
  • Crème Fraîche
  • Olive Oil

What You Do

Clean the bell peppers and cut in 4. Transfer to the oven and grill or roast for 10 minutes or until well charred. When still hot, put the bell peppers in a plastic container and close it. After one hour it’s easy to remove the skin of the bell pepper. Chop and set aside.
Chop the shallot, the garlic, the celery and the carrot. Add olive oil to a pot and add the shallot. Glaze. Add the carrot, the celery and the garlic. Leave on low heat for a few minutes. Add the bell pepper. After a few minutes add the stock, the rosemary and the crushed grains of paradise. Leave on low heat for one hour. Remove the rosemary. Use a blender to make a smooth soup. Pass through a sieve. Taste the soup and decide if you want to add some extra grain of paradise. Leave the soup on low heat for 30 minutes. Just before serving add one or two teaspoons of fresh lemon juice, depending on the flavour and your taste. The soup should be smokey, aromatic, a touch spicy and refreshing. You could add more crushed grains of paradise, that will make the soup spicier. Make a swirl with crème fraîche an serve.

Red Bell Pepper Soup ©cadwu
Red Bell Pepper Soup ©cadwu

Spaghetti Carbonara with Guanciale

9 March 2023

This must be one of the tastiest dishes from the Italian cuisine. Creamy, rich, moist, salty, aromatic, delicious and not difficult to prepare. It’s also not difficult to ruin the dish, that’s why Antonio Carluccio recorded a video showing you exactly how to prepare it and how to make sure your Carbonara is creamy.

About the ingredients: If possible, use guanciale, cured pork cheek. It’s also used for another delicious recipe from the same Italian region: Bucatini all’amatriciana. The pork meat is rubbed with salt, pepper and various herbs and cured for a number of weeks. Guanciale is not smoked and therefore its taste is very different from bacon. Pancetta (made from pork belly) could be an alternative, provided it’s not smoked.

As emphasised by Carluccio, most certainly no cream. And no garlic, basil, parsley, onion or white wine we would like to add.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Spaghetti Carbonara with a glass of Bardolino 2022, produced by Monte del Frà from Italy. The wine has a beautiful deep red colour and the aromas made us think of red fruit and perhaps pepper. The wine is medium bodied with some acidity and fruitiness. In general, you’re looking for a fruity red wine with a touch of acidity, for example Chianti Classico, Montepulciano or Barbera. If you prefer a white wine, then a Pinot Grigio or Soave is a good choice.

What You Need

  • 125 grams of Guanciale
  • Spaghetti
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • 2 organic Eggs
  • Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

Cut of the cured edge of the guanciale. Dice the meat. Heat a pan, add olive oil and reduce the heat to medium. Fry the guanciale. In parallel cook the spaghetti al dente, this will take some 10 minutes. Whisk the eggs, add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and whisk again. When the pasta is ready, remove the pan from the heat and add the spaghetti straight from the water to the pan. Combine and make sure the spaghetti is nicely coated with the fat and juices from the meat. Now it’s time to create your creamy carbonara! Check if the spaghetti and the pan are not too hot. If so, better wait a minute. Add the egg mixture, combine, keep moving the spaghetti, add some freshly grated black pepper, keep stirring and then serve immediately on a warm plate with some extra Parmesan cheese.

Guanciale ©cadwu
Spaghetti Carbonara ©cadwu

Small-Spotted Catshark with Tomatoes

6 March 2023

Once in a while your fishmonger will have small-spotted catshark, also known as lesser-spotted dogfish or rock salmon. Popular in Portugal (pata-roxa), less so in many other countries. It’s a very common shark, not endangered, it doesn’t have bones (sharks have a cartilaginous skeleton), it’s tasty and the texture of the meat is moist and pleasant. So why isn’t it more often on our menu?

We think the taste is very delicate so be careful withs herbs and spices. The structure of the meat made us think of monkfish. We know that some chefs compare catshark with sea eel, but that’s a big mistake as far as we are concerned. Catshark is much more refined.

Skinning a catshark requires special equipment, so the shark on sale is already skinned and cleaned, making it even more easy to prepare.  It looks a bit like a tube, long and round. Cut in chunks and start cooking!

Wine Pairing

The flavour and aroma of this dish are gentle. A not too complex, dry white wine with some acidity or a Provence rosé will be great with the cat shark stew.

What You Need

  • 200 grams of Small-Spotted Catshark
  • 2 ripe Tomatoes
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • 1 Shallot
  • 1 Garlic Glove
  • Capers (in Brine)
  • A few Small Black Olives
  • Bouquet Garni (Thyme, Bay Leaf, Parsley)
  • Black Pepper
  • Olive Oil

What You Do

Clean the bell pepper, cut in large chunks and grill for 10 minutes until charred. Transfer to a small container, close it and leave for a few hours. Remove the skin of the bell pepper and dice. Clean the tomatoes, remove the seeds and dice. Chop the shallot and the garlic. Heat a pan, add olive oil and fry the catshark for a few minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven at 50 °C or 120 °F. Add the shallot, fry gently on reduced heat, add the garlic, wait for one minute, add the tomatoes, half of the bell pepper and the bouquet. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the shark to the pan and allow to stew for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. Five minutes before serving add the olives and the capers. Remove the bouquet.

Small-Spotted Catshark ©cadwu
Small-Spotted Catshark ©cadwu

Oyakodon

2 March 2023

Hope you enjoyed Netflix’s The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House as much as we did. Two friends (Kiyo and Sumire) move from rural Japan to Kyoto, following their dream of becoming maiko’s. Once in Kyoto it turns out that their dreams are very different. Kiyo is passionate about food and becomes the person to prepare the makanai, the food for the people living in the Maiko house. Every episode shows Japanese food, from dumplings in red bean soup to baked sweet potato and onigiri (rice balls).

The first dish Kiyo prepares for the house is Oyakodon, a rice dish with egg and chicken, a popular dish in Japan. Easy to make, nutritious and the flavours and aromas are very satisfying. On Cooking With Dog you’ll find a helpful video showing you how to make Oyakodon. 

San Francisco based chef Namiko Hirasawa Chen (founder of Just One Cookbook, an award winning blog about food) was brave enough to cook all the food shown in the series. Obviously you’ll find all makanai recipes on their website.

What You Need

  • 100 grams of Chicken Breast (skin off)
  • 1 medium White Onion
  • 2 Eggs
  • 100 ml Dashi
  • 2 tablespoons Mirin
  • 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • Mitsuba (or a mix of Parsley and Cilantro)
  • Rice

What You Do

Make sure your dashi is full of flavours, perhaps a bit stronger than usual. Make a broth with mirin and soy sauce. Peel the onion and slice from top to bottom (banana shaped slices). Chop the chicken breast in comfortable slices. Add the onion and the chicken to the broth, cover the pan with a lid and cook until nearly done. Add half of the mitsuba (or the combination of parsley and cilantro). Add the eggs to a bowl and lightly beat the eggs but don’t mix. You should be able to distinguish the white and the yolk easily. Add the first half to the broth and use chopsticks to distribute the combination in the pan. Wait for a few moments and add the second half. Serve over a bowl of warm rice. Decorate with mitsuba.

PS

Perhaps you noticed that we used udon for our oyakodon, basically because we love udon, but it should be served with rice. Most (all?) recipes suggest adding sugar. We think the mirin brings sufficient sweetness to the dish, but feel free to add just a bit of sugar.

Oyakodon ©cadwu
Oyakodon ©cadwu

Artichokes Roasted In the Oven

20 February 2023

We love artichokes, as a salad, stuffed, with pasta, always a treat. We saw young, small, purple artichokes on the market and decided to take a different approach. Let’s roast them in the oven with lots of fresh thyme, rosemary and bay leaf.
The bitter, nutty taste of the artichokes was clearly present, and it was delicious in combination with the mouthfeel (the olive oil) and the aromatic herbs. Compared to steamed artichokes the roasted ones come with stronger but not too strong flavours.

The artichokes were clearly young because there was no centre choke (the hairy part), which meant that we could eat most of the artichoke, including the stem.

Wine Pairing

Normally pairing artichokes and wine is a real challenge. According to various researchers this is due to cynarin, a chemical especially found in the leaves of the artichoke. When the wine and the cynarin meet in your mouth, the natural sweetness of the wine is enhanced, making it taste too sweet. Meaning you must pair artichokes with a bone-dry, crisp, unoaked white wine with clear, present acidity. Roasting the artichokes in the oven seems to reduce the impact of the cynarin. We suggest serving the artichokes with a medium bodied, dry red wine, not too complex. Could be Merlot, perhaps Malbec or Carménère.

What You Need

  • Young, Small Artichokes
  • One Garlic Clove
  • Fresh Thyme, Rosemary and Bay Leaf
  • One Lemon
  • Olive Oil

What You Do

Heat your oven to 150 °C or 300 °F. Press the lemon and add the juice to a bowl of cold water. Slice the artichokes lengthwise in two. Add them to the water. Check if they have a centre choke. If so, try to remove. Let the artichokes soak for a few minutes. In the meantime peel the garlic and chop, coarsely. Add a generous amount of olive oil to your baking dish, dry the artichokes somewhat, add them to the dish, add the garlic, the sprigs of thyme and rosemary, the bay leaf. Mix. Sprinkle with more olive oil. Cover with aluminium foil and transfer to the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes increase the temperature to 180 °C or 355 °F. Leave for 30 minutes. Check if the artichokes are ready. The trick is simple. If you can remove a leave without too much trouble, they are ready, if not, give them 5 more minutes. You could also check the stem, it should be soft. Remove the foil and leave in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. In parallel fry some merguez sausages.

PS

Artichokes require eating with your hands. Given the olive oil you may need an extra napkin or two.

Artichokes Roasted In the Oven ©cadwu
Artichokes in the Baking Dish ©cadwu
Artichokes in Water and Lemon Juice ©cadwu
Fresh Young Artichokes ©cadwu

Cod Cheeks

9 February 2023

Cod has been a popular fish for hundreds of years. Much appreciated for its taste and structure. Its popularity unfortunately also means it has been heavily overfished. During the nineties the population dropped significantly. Thanks to various restrictions, cod is slowly on its way back to recovery, especially in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, although it is still on the red list in many countries. Sea Food Watch provides a very helpful buying guide.

When you buy cod, in most cases you buy cod fillets. But what happens to the remainder, what happens for instance to the head? You could roast it in the oven, you could use it to make stock (don’t forget to remove the skewers), in some countries dried cod heads are appreciated as a delicacy, but in reality, most fish heads seem to end up in animal food or biofuel.

Recently our fish monger surprised us by selling cod cheeks, an absolute delicacy. They are moist with a firm structure and have a delicate taste. Great to combine with parsley, capers and lemon. Or make a batter with beer, flower and egg, coat the cheeks and fry them in oil at 180 °C or 360 °F.

Wine Pairing

A medium bodied white wine will do very well in combination with the Cod Cheeks, for instance an unoaked Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc. We enjoyed a glass of Clin d’Oeil, Saumur Blanc from the Loire region in France produced by Les Vignobles Edonis. It’s a dry wine with clear acidity, fruit, green apples, some minerality and length.

What You Need

  • 200 grams of Cod Cheeks
  • All Purpose Flower
  • Egg
  • Bread Crumbs
  • Butter
  • Pepper
  • Tartar Sauce

What You Do

  1. Carefully remove the skin and white membranes of the cod cheeks
  2. Separate the egg, whisk the egg yolk
  3. Heat a pan and add butter
  4. Dry the cod cheeks with kitchen paper, dust with flower, then dip in the egg yolk and coat with bread crumbs
  5. Fry until golden
  6. Add some black pepper and serve on a warm plate
  7. A dish to share!
PS
  • Make your own bread-crumbs by using old, stale but originally very tasty bread. Obviously, we use our home-made bread.
    Toast the bread and let cool. Cut in smaller bits and then use a cutter or blender to make the crumbs. They keep very well in the freezer, so best to make in advance, when you have some left over bread.
  • Make your own tartar sauce by combining mayonnaise, pickles, lemon juice, capers, dill and Dijon mustard.
Cod Cheeks ©cadwu
Cod Cheeks ©cadwu

Dorade

19 January 2023

The Gilt-Head (Sea) Bream, better known as Daurade, Dorade (Royale) or Orata is a popular fish in France, Greece, Italy, Spain and many other Mediterranean countries. Delicious when stuffed with herbs such as thyme, rosemary or marjoram, grilled and served with a slice of lemon. The firm, juicy meat is aromatic and a culinary treat.
Serving a whole fish can be a bit uncomfortable. You must remove the head, dissect the fish and look carefully for hidden bones. Serving a fillet makes enjoying fish much easier. The downside is that a fillet is less tasty and perhaps a touch dry. When you buy a fillet, make sure it’s fresh and enjoy it the same day.
We combine the Dorade with typical Mediterranean ingredients. A combination that is both light and tasty.

Wine Pairing

The dish is full of flavours, so we would suggest a glass of Spanish Verdejo or Italian Custoza. In general you’re looking for a full, fragrant dry white wine with a fruity aroma and a round, long, full and dry taste.

What You Need

  • 200 grams of Dorade Fillet
  • 2 ripe Tomatoes
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • Capers (in brine)
  • Basil
  • Black Pepper
  • Olive Oil

What You Do

Remove the pits from the tomato and dice. Chop the garlic. Coarsely slice the capers. Add olive oil to the pan, heat the garlic for a few seconds, add tomatoes. Leave for a few minutes, add the capers. Taste and adjust. One minute before serving add half of the basil. Add black pepper.
In parallel fry the dorade until golden. Serve on a hot plate and add the remaining basil.
PS When you use salted capers, wash these thoroughly to remove the salt. You need lemon juice to get the right acidity.

Dorade ©cadwu
Dorade ©cadwu

Tomate aux Crevettes

12 January 2023

This simple and delicious starter is served in Belgium on special occasions. There are three key ingredients: tomatoes, small (grey) shrimps and mayonnaise. The tomato brings sweetness, umami and some acidity, the mayonnaise richness and a velvety mouthfeel and the shrimps saltiness and sweetness. Ideal combination.
We prefer to peel the tomatoes, because it makes it easier to enjoy the dish.
We thought it would be nice to tweak the recipe slightly. These ingredients are listed as optional.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Tomate aux Crevettes with a glass of Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur Lie produced by Domaine Raphael Luneau. This is a very aromatic wine with a strong flavour and a long finish, which goes very well with the taste of the shrimps and the mayonnaise. The term ‘sur lie’ indicates that during a few months the wine stays in contact with the dead yeast cells left over after fermentation. This technique makes the wine more complex.
In general you’re looking for a fresh, light wine with a clear acidity. 

What You Need

  • 6 excellent ripe Tomatoes
  • 100 grams of (grey) small Shrimps
  • Mayonnaise
  • Black Pepper
  • Chervil
  • Optional
    • Ketchup
    • Worcestershire Sauce
    • Lemon Juice
    • Mustard

What You Do

  1. Peel the tomatoes
  2. Cut of the top and remove the green centre,
  3. Remove the inside of the tomato and discard
  4. Dry the inside of the tomatoes
  5. Dry the shrimps
  6. Add some black pepper to the shrimps and mix
  7. Chop the chervil
  8. Classic version: start with a layer of shrimps, then some mayonnaise and chervil, followed by a second layer of shrimps and finish with mayonnaise and chervil
  9. Alternative version: mix the mayonnaise with a squeeze of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and mustard. Taste and adjust. Follow step 8
  10. Put the top back on the tomato and decorate with a few shrimps and chervil
Tomate aux Crevettes ©cadwu
Tomate aux Crevettes ©cadwu

Pasta with Tomatoes and Octopus

2 January 2023

Happy New Year! Let’s start 2023 with a flavourful pasta dish, inspired by the Portuguese cuisine. A cuisine that is all about food with great flavours, such as bacalhau, Caldo Verde, octopus, cuttlefish, and the well known chicken piri-piri and pastel de nata. Octopus is very tasty and it comes with a great texture. The suction cups may be a bit unappealing, but don’t worry, the taste will make up for it.
In this case we use Orecchiette, small ear shaped pasta. The mixture of tomato and octopus is not like a sauce, so the paste should function as a carrier (a mini spoon) of the mixture. Enjoy quality pasta with slightly acidic tomatoes, rich octopus and refreshing parsley.

Wine Pairing

A Portuguese white wine will be a great idea, for instance a Vinho Verde. You could also go for a Spanish Verdejo from Rueda. Look for characteristics like fresh, fruity, clear acidity, subtle bitterness, minerality and full bodied. We enjoyed a glass of Pazo das Tapias Finca os Cobatos, from Monterrei in Spain made with Godello grapes.

What You Need

  • 2 Octopus Tentacles (cooked)
  • 2 Large Tomatoes
  • 2 Gloves of Fresh Garlic
  • Parsley
  • Jerez Vinegar
  • Black Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • Pasta (Orecchiette)

What You do

Quarter the tomatoes, slice the garlic (not too small) and fry gently in a warm pan with olive oil. Set to low heat. In parallel heat a heavy iron skillet. Remove the gelatinous substance from the tentacles, dry them, coat with olive oil and fry. Cook the orecchiette according to the pack. With only 5 minutes to go for the pasta, slice the octopus in small chunks (depending on the size of the pasta), add the octopus to the tomato mixture and add half of the chopped parsley. Just before serving the dish, add some Jerez vinegar to the mixture. Add the remaining parsley and black pepper. Drain the pasta, keep some of the cooking liquid and add the pasta to the mixture. Combine, decide if you want to add some cooking liquid or perhaps some olive oil. Serve immediately on a hot plate.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Octopus ©cadwu
Pasta with Tomatoes and Octopus ©cadwu

Salad of Small Artichokes

28 November 2022

The season of artichokes varies depending on the variety and where you are based. In Italy it’s from mid-winter until early spring, in other countries from March to June, or September and October. And in other countries they peak in August. Best is to decide based on quality and price. An artichoke should feel heavy, look fresh and the leaves should be closed. If the leaves are wide open, the artichoke is older and it could be dry with lots of choke (the hairs) and dry inner leaves.

Don’t cook artichokes in boiling water. They must cook for 45+ minutes and during the long cooking process they will lose most of their flavour. Best is to steam artichokes.

Serve large artichokes as a relaxing starter or use them to make Artichoke Barigoule or a Pie. We use smaller ones to make a salad.  You can serve it to accompany an aperitif, or with some bread as a starter. Make sure you have plenty of dressing!

Wine Pairing

It’s not straightforward to pair artichokes with wine. According to various researchers this is due to cynarin, a chemical especially found in the leaves of the artichoke. When the wine and the cynarin meet in your mouth, the natural sweetness of the wine is enhanced, making it taste too sweet. So you have to pair freshly cooked or steamed artichokes with a bone-dry, crisp, unoaked white wine with clear, present acidity. For instance, Sauvignon Blanc, Grüner Veltliner or Albariño.
We enjoyed a glass of Château Pajzos Tokaj Furmint 2019. This dry, white wine made from the well-known Hungarian Furmint grape is fresh, clean and slightly floral. It supports the Salad of Artichokes beautifully.

What You Need

  • 6 small Artichokes
  • Olive Oil
  • Vinegar
  • Mayonnaise
  • Mustard
  • Garlic
  • Thyme
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

Remove the stem of the artichokes and steam the artichokes for 45 – 60 minutes, depending on the size. Remove and let cool. Peel of the first layers of the outer leaves. Make the dressing by turning the mustard and the crushed garlic into a smooth paste. Then gently add the other ingredients and whisk well to make it really smooth, thick dressing. Cut the artichokes in 6 or 8 parts. Add to the dressing, mix well, coating all artichokes. Sprinkle lots of thyme and mix again. Put in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Mix again, taste, add some more thyme and serve!

Fresh Artichokes ©cadwu
Artichoke Flower ©cadwu
Artichoke Salad ©cadwu