Tag: recipes

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
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

  1. Cut of the rind of the guanciale
  2. Dice the meat
  3. Heat a pan to medium
  4. Fry the guanciale
  5. In parallel cook the spaghetti al dente, this will take some 10 minutes
  6. Whisk the eggs, add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and whisk again
  7. When the pasta is ready, remove the pan from the heat and add the spaghetti straight from the water to the pan.
  8. Combine and make sure the spaghetti is nicely coated with the fat and juices from the meat.
  9. Now it’s time to create your creamy carbonara!
  10. Check if the spaghetti and the pan are not too hot. If so, better wait a minute
  11. 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

Tuna Tartare

27 February 2023

A starter that is tasty, appetizing and easy to make, one that will always put a smile on your face. The only challenge is to buy excellent, fresh tuna. Since most tuna species are overfished or at the risk of becoming overfished, make sure the tuna you buy is from sustainable fishing practices, for instance if it’s certified by MSC (Marine Stewardship Council). Whatever you do, look for skipjack or albacore and don’t buy bluefin (or yellowfin).

Wine Pairing

In general, enjoy the tartare with a white wine, for instance a Picpoul de Pinet or a Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine with aromas such as apple and peach. Flavour wise the wine must be dry with a mild citrussy flavour and some minerality.
We happily opened a bottle of Château de Crémat Blanc 2021. A wine with a light-yellow colour, with complex aroma’s (toast, floral, grapefruit) and a long finish.

What You Need

  • 150 grams of Tuna
  • Capers
  • Organic Lemon (Zest and Juice)
  • Chives
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

Make sure you have all ingredients ready before you combine it with the tuna. If you mix too often, the tartare will become soggy.
Wash the lemon, make a teaspoon or so of zest, squeeze the lemon. If using salted capers, make sure to wash them carefully (and long); a salty taste will ruin the tartare. Better to use capers in brine. Dry the capers and chop. Take 5 or 10 sprigs of chives, cut in small bits using scissors. Dice the tuna. Add tuna, chopped capers, zest, chives and some black pepper to a bowl. Add a drizzle of lemon juice. Combine, taste and adjust. Cover with cling foil and transfer to the refrigerator for one or two hours. Decorate with mayonnaise and two sprigs of chives.

Tuna Tartare ©cadwu
Tuna Tartare ©cadwu

Leek with Truffle

23 February 2023

This winter truffles are even more expensive than usual, due to a warm and dry season in the Italian and French truffle regions. The number of truffles is limited and the ones that are harvested are small. Bad news for the truffle-lover.

The first to talk to us about truffles were Fred and Yolanda de Leeuw. Not only did they run a very special butcher in Amsterdam, they also imported truffles and truffle related products. 
Their shop was the only place in Amsterdam where you could buy Wagyu beef before it became popular, foie gras, quails, Spanish veal, bread from Paris, oysters with wasabi sabayon, capon, home-made pastrami and black pudding. Expensive, delicious and always of the highest quality.

Fred and Yolanda contributed to various cookbooks with recipes for truffle-based dishes. In 1999 chef Alain Caron and author Lars Hamer published a book about the shop, the meat, the patés, the sausages, the salads and the dishes they prepared. One of these recipes is for a leek salad with summer truffle and Jus de Truffe. The truffle juice is obtained after maceration of the truffles for six months to one year in the juice of the first cooking process for conserved truffles. Jus de Truffe has the deep earthy aromas and flavour of fresh truffle.

We prepared the leek salad as a tribute to two people who were genuinely passionate about what they did, what they sold and what they prepared.

Wine Pairing

The dish comes with a range of flavours: the leek is buttery with a hint of onion and the vinaigrette earthy and fresh with a touch of bitterness. Wine wise we suggest a Soave, a white wine made with garganega grapes, because it goes very well with the citrus and the aromatic leek flavour. 

What You Need

  • Young Thin Leek
  • Lemon
  • Olive Oil
  • Jus de Truffe
  • Mustard

What You Do

Clean and wash the leek. Slice in three, making sure all slices have the same length. Cook in hot water for 20-30 minutes until they have a soft, creamy texture. Cool quickly and set aside. Make a dressing by adding jus de truffe to a bowl. Add half a teaspoon of mustard, a few drops of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of excellent olive oil. Now it’s a matter of adjusting. It all depends on the intensity of the jus de truffe, the tartness of the lemon and flavour of the olive oil. Dry the leek carefully, whisk the dressing and serve. And if you can afford it, add some freshly grated truffle.

Leek with Truffle ©cadwu
Yolanda en Fred de Leeuw - Het Vleesboek

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

Cabbage Stew

15 February 2023

This delicious dish with cabbage, sausage and potatoes looks a bit wintery but actually thanks to the taste and the texture of the Savoy Cabbage it’s uplifting and even a bit refreshing. The structure of the leaves is very firm, so we cook the leaves before adding them to the stew. The risk is, as with all cabbages, to overcook them, which will cause the typical nasty sulphur smell. The leaves can also be used to make a roulade, or a dolma shaped snack.

We used Saucisse de Morteau which is a smoked sausage from the Franche-Comté region. In general, you’re looking for a smoked pork sausage. The Saucisse de Morteau is smoked for 48 hours so the taste is very present, which allows you to buy a small sausage. The main role in this dish is for the Savoy Cabbage!

Drink Pairing

A medium bodied red wine will be great, but we could also imagine enjoying it with a beer. The flavours are bold, so a not too complex beer or wine will be perfect.

What You Need

  • One Onion
  • Two Garlic Cloves
  • Half a Savoy Cabbage
  • One Potato
  • One Smoked Sausage
  • Olive Oil
  • Parsley
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

Heat a pan with water. Wash the potato and cook until nearly ready. Use a potato that remains firm when cooked. We used Mona Lisa, a tasty, starchy all purpose potato. Remove the potato from the boiling water. Peel off the outer leaves of the cabbage and discard. Peal off the reaming leaves, remove the veins and cook for 3-5 minutes in hot water. Remove the leaves, cool with cold water and let dry. Add the sausage to the pan, 20 minutes in hot (not boiling) water should be fine. In parallel quarter the onion and fry in olive oil. After a few minutes add the chopped garlic. Now it’s time to combine all ingredient in an oven dish. Cover with aluminium foil. Set your oven to 160 °C or 320 °F and leave for 3*10 minutes . Toss gently after 10 minutes. Remove the aluminium foil and set your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F . Allow to cook for another 10 minutes. Add some chopped parsley and black pepper just before serving

Cabbage Stew ©cadwu
Saucisses_de_Morteau_-_Photo_CRT
Savoy Cabbage Au_marché_-_choux

Scallops with Roe

13 February 2023

Where you are in the world influences how you enjoy your scallops: with or without the roe? That’s probably why we are used to discarding the roe, even if we buy our scallops in the shell.
We were talking to our fish monger, and he completely disagreed with us. He feels the roe is a tasty bonus, perhaps a bit more intense than the white of the scallop (the muscle). The texture of the roe gives a very pleasant mouthfeel, he told us.
We bought six scallops and promised him to eat both the muscle and the roe.
The flavours are very similar and the combination is a real treat. As our fish monger mentioned, it is a tasty bonus. We served the scallops with a potato purée. It creates a nice balance in the dish and it allows you to taste the scallops even better.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Scallops with a glass of Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie produced by Château de la Noë. This is an aromatic wine with fruity aromas, minerality and a long finish, which goes very well with the taste of the scallops and the purée.
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 an elegant, fresh, light wine with clear acidity.

What You Need

  • For the Seared Scallops
    • 6 fresh Scallops (best if in their shell)
    • Olive Oil
    • Black Pepper
  • For the Potato Purée
    • One Potato
    • Butter
    • Cream
    • Nutmeg
    • Black Pepper

What You Do

  1. Clean and steam (or cook) the potato until done.
  2. Use a fork to mash the potato (we love a bit chunky purée in this combination; therefore we suggest using a potato that’s also suitable for making fries)
  3. Add butter, mash some more, add cream
  4. Taste and add more butter and/or cream
  5. Just before serving add freshy grated nutmeg and black pepper
  6. Clean the scallops
  7. Heat a non-stick pan, add some olive oil to the pan and fry the muscle and the roe quickly
  8. When on the plate, add some black pepper.
Scallops with Roe ©cadwu
Fresh Scallops ©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