Risotto is amongst our favourite dishes, especially one with mushrooms. Preparing risotto is not difficult, as long as you pay attention to the cooking process and use the right ingredients. Recently a dear friend who lived in Italy for many years told us how to make Risotto with Peas. In the region where he lived (Liguria) this risotto is made without butter. We were not sure about not using butter, so we had it on standby. No need for that: the result was delicious. The rice was creamy thanks to the combination of the starchy cooking liquid and the Parmesan cheese. The peas were cooked to perfection and their taste nutty. The dish as a whole was light and energizing.
Wine Pairing
In general, a dry white wine will pair well with the Risotto with Peas. We enjoyed a glass of lightly oaked Chardonnay produced by Abbots & Delaunay. Aromas of apples and toast; the taste refreshing, long and a touch buttery.
What You Need
80 grams of Carnaroli or Arborio rice
1 Shallot
Olive Oil
Fresh Peas
Stock (Chicken, Vegetable)
Parmesan Cheese
What You Do
Peel and chop the shallot
Shell the peas
Warm the stock
Add olive oil to the pan and glaze the shallot
Add the rice to the pan and coat for 2 minutes
Keep the pan on medium heat. Be patient
Start adding the stock, spoon by spoon and stir frequently
After 10 minutes add the peas
In total it may take 15 – 18 minutes before the rice is al dente
Transfer the pan to the kitchen countertop and leave to rest for 2 minutes
Add grated Parmesan cheese, combine, add some black pepper, taste, add more Parmesan cheese if so required
Serve immediately
PS
We have three other risotto recipes: one with mushrooms, one with squid and one with beetroot.
Earlier we wrote about ‘butterflying’ meat, a technique that allows you to turn a bigger piece of meat into a roulade. Ideal for pork loin or turkey. But what to do when you have smaller pieces of meat and butterflying is not possible? Then it’s a matter of flattening the meat, for instance with a hammer. Better to ask your butcher to do it for you with the head (blade) of a butcher’s axe: easy, quick and a much better result. Thin is better! Once you have flattened pieces of meat it’s a bit of a puzzle to create the roulade. Just give it a try and see what works best. When you think you have the right combination, make sure the kitchen twine is in place and the filling ready. Obviously, you want to match the filling with the side dishes. We served the roulade with caponata and decided to make a filling with sage and thyme.
Wine Pairing
We enjouyed a non-oaked Nero d’Avola from Sicily. The ruby red coloured wine has aromas of cherries and plum. The taste is fruity and long with subtle tannins. Great combination with the Mediterranean flavours in both the roulade and the caponata.
What You Need
4 Boneless Chicken Thighs
1 small Shallot
1 clove of Garlic
10 leaves of Sage
Thyme
Butter
Pancetta
Olive Oil
Lemon
Black Pepper
What You Do
Ask your butcher to flatten the chicken thighs
Chop the shallot and the garlic
De-vein the sage
Remove the thyme leaves from the stalk
Grate the butter
Add olive oil to a heavy iron skillet and gently fry the shallot
After a few minutes reduce the heat
Add garlic and thyme. Stir
Add some lemon juice
Allow the filling to cool
Put strings of kitchen twine on your work top
Decide on the pattern for the meat and put it on top of the kitchen twine. This way you can easily roll up the meat and tie the twine
Cover the meat with sage
Spread the mixture over the sage. Keep the edges free
Add grated butter
Cover with slices of pancetta
Roll up the meat
Tie with kitchen twine
Tightly wrap in plastic foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes
Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 350 °F
Remove the foil
Put the roulade on a rack (this way it will brown evenly)
Add water to the pan
Fry in the oven until the internal temperature is between 70 °C and 75 °C, or 160 °F and 165 °F
Transfer to your worktop, wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes
Hurray! The mushroom season has started! Last Friday we bought beautiful golden chanterelles (girolles) and white beech mushrooms (shimeji). It’s the time of year to enjoy wonderful dishes such as Cèpes à la Bordelaise or Salad with Mushrooms and Smoked Duck. Will there be bay boletes this year? Or the intriguing Japanese Matsutake? It’s been some time since we last saw these on the market, and we would really love to make Matsutake with Spinach and Ginger again. We decided to celebrate the start of the season by making an easy Mushroom Pie, packed with rich flavours, nuttiness and a touch of autumn.
Wine Pairing
We treated ourselves to a bottle of Pinot Noir from the Elzas region, made by Sophie Schaal. She produces wine in France and South Africa. The grapes are handpicked and then naturally fermented before ageing in French oak barrels for 10 months. The result is a wine with a deep ruby colour. The aromas suggest black fruit and a touch of vanilla. The taste is well balanced with soft tannins and length. In general, you’re looking for a wine with red fruit and refined tannins. Some earthiness will match very well with the mushrooms and the taleggio.
What You Need
For the Pastry
100 grams of Flour
50 grams of Water
10 grams of Olive Oil
1 gram of Salt
For the Filling
250 grams of firm Mushrooms (shiitake, golden chanterelles, beech mushrooms, button mushrooms)
1 Organic Egg
50 grams of Taleggio
50 ml Double Cream
Thyme
1 small Garlic Clove
Black Pepper
Olive Oil
2 slices of Bacon (optional)
What You Do
Combine flour, salt, water and olive oil
Kneed for a minute and store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Clean the mushrooms and slice if necessary
(Optional) Fry the bacon, let dry on kitchen paper and crumble. Add to the egg mixture (step 11)
Lightly fry the mushrooms in a heavy iron skillet
Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and let cool
After 30 minutes: preheat the oven to 180 ˚ C or 355 ˚ F
Combine the egg with the cream
Add lots of thyme and black pepper
Add grated garlic
Add the mushrooms
Slice small cubes of taleggio
Add the cheese to the mixture
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface.
Coat a 22 cm or 9-inch round baking tin with oil or butter
Place the dough in the baking tin
Add the mixture and distribute evenly
Transfer to the oven for 35-40 minutes or until nice and golden
Recently we enjoyed mouth-watering Indian food thanks to Asma Khan’s cookbook Ammu. When we were looking for a dessert in her book, we hoped to find a recipe for Kulfi or for Kheer, both delicious creamy desserts with ingredients such as cardamon and saffron. Unfortunately these recipes are not included in the book. Cream? Dessert? Why not try making a panna cotta with cardamon? The combination turned out to be very tasty, not too rich, a touch sweet and the cardamom was present in just the right way. Decorate with pistachios and rose petals for a delectable Panna Cotta with an Indian twist.
What You Need (for 6)
500 ml Cream
30 Cardamom Pods
20 grams of Sugar
3,5 leaves of Gelatine (5,25 grams)
Rose Petals
Pistachios
What You Do
Peel the cardamon pods
Use a pestler and mortar to lighly crush the seeds
Add the seeds to the cream
Slowly bring the cream with the seeds to the boil
Keep close to boiling for 15 minutes. Stir when necessary
Remove from the heat and while stirring add sugar until totally dissolved
Follow the instruction of the gelatine and soak the leaves
Pass the mixture through a sieve
Add the gelatine to the mixture and stir well
Cool the liquid somewhat before filling the forms. We used a silicone mold. Nice and easy! The only thing you need to do is to make the mold a bit moist with water
Let the panna cotta cool and than store in the refrigerator until set
Don’t forget to seal with cling foil, otherwise your panna cotta will absorb aromas from other food in the refrigerator
It takes only four ingredients to create an international culinary incident: a classic Italian recipe, a well-known British food website, Parmesan cheese and butter. What happened? BBC Good Food published a recipe for a quick and easy lunch meal, called Cacio e Pepe, with Spaghetti, Butter, Black Pepper and Parmesan Cheese. Claudio Pica, president of the Fiepet Confesercenti Roma (an association representing restaurants in Italy) couldn’t disagree more and expressed his astonishment in several letters, including one to the UK Ambassador.
Cacio e Pepe is a traditional, Italian classic, typical for the Lazio region, made with Tonnarelli or Spaghetti, Water, Salt, Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper. No cream, no butter, no olive oil, no Parmesan cheese. And it may seem simple to prepare, but serving Cacio e Pepe requires skills, passion and experience, according to Claudio Pica.
The incident made us think of Sophia Loren adding cream to her Spaghetti Carbonara and Jamie Oliver putting chorizo on his Pizza. Don’t mess with Italian traditions!
Now that we agree on the ingredients, we need to understand how to prepare the dish. The heart of the dish is a sauce made with pasta water and pecorino. We found various ways of making this sauce, ranging from adding pepper and grated cheese to the pasta just before serving (no sauce, just sticky pasta) to a scientific one whereby the sauce is made au bain marie (complicated).
We think the main points of the recipe are:
Use less water than usual, because you need starchy water to create the sauce
Use less salt in the pasta water because the Pecorino cheese is rather salty
The Pecorino must be relatively young, older cheese may make the sauce lumpy
The Pecorino must be very finely grated
We humbly present our version of this delicious Italian classic dish.
Wine Pairing
We enjoyed a glass of Pima Luna Frascati with our Cacio e Pepe. This is a white wine from the Lazio region, or to be more precise: from the hills overlooking Rome. The wine is made by wine maker Mauro Merz with malvasia bianca di candia and trebbiano grapes. It’s a light and refreshing wine with hints of green apple and citrus. Notes of slightly bitter almond on the finish. Its freshness matched very well with the creamy Cacio e Pepe. The aroma of the wine comes with a hint of butter, which is a nice connection to the Pecorino.
What You Need
130 grams of Spaghetti
70 grams of Pecorino cheese
2 grams of Black Pepper
1 litre of Water
What You Do
Heat the water in a large pan and add the spaghetti
Warm your plates (50 °C or 120 °F)
Cook the spaghetti for a few minutes. Our spaghetti needed 11 minutes in total; we cooked it for 7 minutes in the pan.
Crush the peppercorns
Roast them in a pan over medium heat until they become very aromatic
Reduce heat and wait for the spaghetti to be somewhat cooked
Add some pasta water to the pan with the toasted pepper
Increase the heat
Transfer the pasta to the pan and combine
Add a large spoon of pasta water to the pan
Leave to cook
Repeat steps 10 and 11 until the pasta is al dente. At this moment the pan should be nearly dry
In parallel add some pasta water to the finely grated pecorino and make a smooth paste
When the pasta is al dente remove the pan from the heat
Allow to cool for perhaps one minute
Quickly add the paste and combine everything in the pan
Add pasta water to reach the right consistency
Serve immediately on warm plates
No need to add pepper or cheese
PS
The Good Food website mentioned they would be happy to post the original recipe. We looked for it, but couldn’t find it. We did however find a recipe for Cacio e Pepe with Gnocchi (and butter and Parmesan cheese, obviously). Perhaps another letter to the Ambassador? Or one to the Prime Minister?
The traditional way of eating Fava Beans in the Netherlands is by combining them with an herb called ‘bonenkruid’. The name isn’t very helpful, it translates into ‘bean herb’, so it’s ‘beans with bean herb’. The tradition is based on the idea that the herb would help your body digest the fava beans and that it would compensate for the bitterness of the inner skin of the beans.
Given its name we didn’t pay too much attention to ‘bean herb’, until we saw it in France, where it’s called ‘sarriette’. In English it’s ‘satureja’ or ‘savory’. It turns out to be a very tasty herb, related to rosemary and thyme. It is one of the main herbs in Herbes de Provence, together with marjoram, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.
Its history goes back to Roman times, when it was one of the main ingredients of Garum (or Liquamen), the fermented fish sauce that was used to flavour food. Amongst the herbs used in garum are cilantro, dill, fennel, celery, mint, thyme, oregano and clary sage. The Romans also used satureja as an aphrodisiac.
In her book Van Soeter Cokene Professor Van Winter describes a recipe from 1430 for Crustade, a pie with veal, various herbs (satureja, sage, parsley, hyssop) and spices such as cinnamon, saffron, cloves and mace. According to Van Winter one of the first recipes to combine (green) herbs with spices.
Our ‘bonenkruid’ has much more potential than we expected! We decided to combine it with slowly baked waxy potatoes. They will be very crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The satureja makes it into a very light, uplifting side dish, great with Coq au Vin or a hearty stew.
What You Need
Waxy Potatoes
Satureja
Olive Oil
Butter
(optional) Black Pepper
What You Do
Peel the potatoes, wash and cook until not yet done
Let cool
Heat a heavy iron pan
Add butter and olive oil
Chop the satureja
Slice the potatoes, not too thin, add to the pan and fry on medium heat
Turn the slices every one or two minutes. The potatoes should become very crispy, a touch golden but not brown
When ready to serve, add ¾ of the satureja and mix
Add black pepper (if using)
Serve and add the remainder of the satureja
PS
Making your own garum is perhaps not the most obvious thing to do. We made it once, many years ago. It turned out to be a very tasty and subtle condiment, despite the fairly present aroma.
We conclude our review of Asma Khan’s cookbook Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by preparing two dishes: Saffron Lamb and Pulao and asking our esteemed panel (André, Joke, Martine and Rutger) for their thoughts. In Part 1 we wrote about her Pumpkin and Coconutsoup and in Part 2 about her Pineapple and Chilli Chutney and Eggs in Tamarind Gravy.
Asma Khan is an Indian British chef, cookbook author and restaurant owner. In 2012 her pop-up restaurant started for 12 guests at her home, serving food cooked from traditional family recipes. Today her all-female Darjeeling Express restaurant in London offers Indian Rajput and Bengalihome cooking specialties.
In 2024 she won the Johannes van Dam Prize, a lifetime achievement award for an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the world of gastronomy. Previous winners of the prestigious prize include Yotam Ottolenghi, Carlo Petrini, Alice Waters, Claudia Roden, Jeroen Meus and Alain Passard.
The book is called ‘Ammu’ which translates to ‘Mother’. The stories, the recipes, the whole book is a tribute to the food her mother (and the family’s cook) prepared. But we feel it’s more: it’s also a tribute to original flavours, to people taking time to prepare food, to sharing and enjoying, to communities and heritage.
Saffron Lamb
The recipe calls for a whole leg of lamb. For practical reasons we decided to make a stew using neck of lamb. The meat is marinated for at least 4 hours (or overnight) in a combination of yoghurt, garlic, chilli powder and saffron. Using saffron can be challenging. Asma Khan soaks the saffron in tepid water, which makes it much easier to add the right amount of saffron, not only at the beginning but also just before serving. The stew was a well-balanced combination of lamb, spices and saffron. To quote Asma Khan: “This is a good one to serve friends and family to make them feel loved without having to spend a lot of time in the kitchen!”. It was Rutger’s favourite.
Pulao
Doesn’t it look amazing? Basmati rice with cardamon, cinnamon, rose petals, pistachios, apricots, cloves, onion, rose water and bay leaf. The pulao surprised us all with its flavours, aromas and vibrant colours. The rice has a sweet undertone which makes it ideal to serve with spicy dishes. It combined very well with the lamb, the chutney and the eggs.
It was Martine’s favourite. Preparing it is, as you will expect by now!, a bit of work but it’s not difficult.
Should This Book Be On Your Shelf?
Our answer is “Yes, definitely” but our esteemed panel didn’t agree with us. They loved the dishes and the range of (new) flavours, the complexity of the aromas and the beautiful colours. They would be happy to enjoy more food from Asma Khan, but the time and effort required to prepare the food would be a problem. Which means we will plan another Asma Khan dinner, with dishes such as Stir-Fried Aubergines, Coconut Ladoo and Prawns with Peas and Potatoes. To be continued!
The Book
Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by Asma Khan is available via the usual channels or your local bookstore for 35,00 US$ or 26,00 EUR. Some of her recipes were published by the BBC, other recipes were published by Great British Chefs and these by the Foodnetwork.
It’s not every day that we visit a museum to explore the world of food, let alone the world of desserts. End of last year the Kunstmuseum in The Hague (the Netherlands) opened the exhibition Grand Dessert about the history and joy of European desserts. According to guest curator Janny Van der Heijde (author of cookbooks and member of the jury of the Dutch version of the Great British Bake Off), “A dessert is more than just the ultimate ending to a meal. It reflects changes in culture, society and tastes down the centuries. You can tell a lot of stories using desserts. Stories about wealth and poverty, about temptation and deception, dominance and oppression, but first and foremost about love of all things sweet.”[1]
On Display
The exhibition shows a variety of pastries (glass and ceramic, made by Shayna Leib), moulds, recipe books, baking tins and fun objects such as dessert-bags (made by Rommydebommy), dessert-clothing and knitted desserts (Kate Jenkins). It shows how ice-cream was made, what desserts would be served during royal banquets and how sugar was used to create centrepieces, for instance Sugar Flower pieces (Natasja Sadi). Also on display a large, pink, moving jelly, created in 2024 by Chinese artist Rong Bao.
Moulds
We were especially intrigued by the vast collection of moulds, in all kinds of shapes, classic ones, fish, lobster, pineapple, shells, elephant, cow, pig and a young child (very odd). Pudding can be both savoury and sweet, just think of the blancmange as it was made in 1510 with chicken, salt, flour, egg yolks, saffron, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and mace.
Jellies
The moulds made us think of jelly pudding, something we haven’t eaten for many, many years. We noticed a book by Sam Bompas and Harry Par, called Jelly, obviously. The book includes recipes for Campari & Orange jelly, Cherry jelly, Lavender jelly, Sex on the Beach jelly and many more. It discusses the history of jellies and techniques such as marbling. The shapes are incredible, look at their Jelly Parlour! We bought the book and will write about it in a future post. But first we must buy a pudding mould…
Practical
The exhibition Grand Dessert runs until October 26th. Jelly by Bompas and Par seems to be out of print. We bought our copy for 7 euro.
Shrimps and prawns are subtle, delicate and tasty. Popular food in many countries, just think shrimp cocktail, stuffed eggs with shrimps and of course, fried prawns with garlic and lemon. For this recipe you need large, wild or organic prawns. We strongly suggest using ones that are not yet cleaned. It’s not difficult to clean shrimps and they taste much better than factory cleaned shrimps. We serve the prawns with samphire. It’s a crunchy and salty vegetable that brings lots of colour and flavour to the plate. It can be eaten raw but it’s better to cook or steam it for a minute or two. The history of samphire goes back to the 14thcentury when the ashes of the marsh samphire (rich on sodium carbonate) were used to make glass.
Wine Pairing
We enjoyed our Prawns with a glass of Picpoul de Pinet produced by Gérard Bertrand. A dry white wine, with a pale straw yellow color. It has aromas of citrus and gooseberries. The wine is full and round with minerality which is typical for a Picpoul de Pinet. Recently we combined the prawns with a white wine made by Casa Relvas in Portugal. The wine is made with antão vaz and viognier grapes. Subtle aromas, gentle acidity and a nice finish. You could also combine the prawns with a glass of Chablis, Verdejo or Soave.
What You Need
Six large Prawns
Garlic
Olive Oil
Black Pepper
50 grams of Samphire
Crusted Bread
Lemon (optional)
What You Do
Use scissors to cut the shell of the prawn. Start behind the head and cut towards the tail. Just before the tail turn 90 degrees and make a cut around the prawn
Remove the head, the shell and the legs of the body. Keep the tail on the prawn.
Remove the black vein (the prawn’s intestines) and the slurry (if any)
Wipe clean with kitchen paper
Transfer the prawns to the refrigerator
Wash the samphire
Coarsely slice the garlic
Heat a pan with water
Dry the prawns and fry them in a skillet in olive oil (depending on the size maximum 4 minutes in total) on both sides and on the back.
When the prawns begin to colour, add the garlic and reduce the heat
Coat the prawns with the oil and the garlic in the pan
Cook the samphire for one minute maximum (or steam for two minutes)
Drain the samphire
Serve on warm plates with some black pepper and lemon (if using)
We continue our review of Asma Khan’s cookbook Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by preparing two dishes: Pineapple and Chilli Chutney and Eggs in Tamarind Gravy and asking our esteemed panel (André, Joke, Martine and Rutger) for their thoughts. . Earlierwe wrote about her Pumpkin and Coconut soup.
Asma Khan is an Indian British chef, cookbook author and restaurant owner. In 2012 her pop-up restaurant started for 12 guests at her home, serving food cooked from traditional family recipes. Today her all-female Darjeeling Express restaurant in London offers Indian Rajput and Bengalihome cooking specialties.
In 2024 she won the Johannes van Dam Prize, a lifetime achievement award for an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the world of gastronomy. Previous winners of the prestigious prize include Yotam Ottolenghi, Carlo Petrini, Alice Waters, Claudia Roden, Jeroen Meus and Alain Passard.
The book is called ‘Ammu’ which translates to ‘Mother’. The stories, the recipes, the whole book is a tribute to the food her mother (and the family’s cook) prepared. But we feel it’s more: it’s also a tribute to original flavours, to people taking time to prepare food, to sharing and enjoying, to communities and heritage.
Wine Pairing
Aska Khan doesn’t include suggestions for drink pairing in the book. As a main we served four dishes: Pineapple and Chilli Chutney, Eggs in Tamarind Gravy, Saffron Lamb and Pulua. We paired this with a red wine called Magenta produced by Domaine de l’Arjolle from the Côtes de Thongue area (west of the French city of Montpellier) made with merlot and cinsault grapes. The wine has a light red colour, and its taste made us think of cherries and red fruit. Excellent light wine that combined very well with the various flavours of Asma Khan’s dishes. In general, we would suggest a light, fruity red wine. If you would like to enjoy a white wine, we would suggest one with limited acidity, for instance Pinot Gris.
Eggs in Tamarind Gravy
When going through the book, we noticed this delicious looking dish. It made us think of Sambal Goreng Telor, an Indonesian side dishe which combines fried hard-boiled eggs with a sauce made with chillies, lemon grass, shrimp paste and other ingredients.
The recipe for Eggs in Tamarind Gravy is not too difficult, just a bit time consuming. The gravy is made with very thinly sliced onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli, tamarind extract and water. Once combined it needs to be reduced by half. We read the recipe again and started to wonder why it was called ‘gravy’. The liquid in our pan resembled a watery soup, not gravy. We left it to reduce, on low heat, and we waited patiently. It started to thicken and after two or three hours we knew Asma Khan was right: gravy it was. We think that the very thinly sliced onion, cooked through and through, worked as a thickener. Ten minutes before serving we made three shallow slits on the surface of each hard-boiled egg, which helps the eggs to absorb the gravy. The panel loved the combination of subtle flavours: sweet, tangy, sour and rich. The sauce has the texture of old-fashioned gravy and it coated the eggs perfectly.
Pineapple and Chilli Chutney
We decided to prepare Saffron Lamb because of the intriguing recipe (more in our next review). Asma Khan suggests serving the lamb with Rose, Apricot and Pistachio Pulau and Pineapple and Chilli Chutney, so that’s what we did.
The chutney is made with red chillies (we used Kashmiri red chilies), Indian bay leave (tej patta), ginger, sugar, salt and water. It needs to cook until the chutney thickens and looks glossy. As with the gravy we were slightly worried: after thirty minutes our chutney wasn’t glossy or thick and the pineapple was bright yellow. But after three hours the chutney looked exactly as Asma Khan predicted. The panel was surprised by the sweetness and gentle spiciness of the chutney. The flavour of the pineapple was clearly present, but in a savoury way. Tasty in its own right, very nice accompaniment with the lamb and the rice.
The Book
Ammu, Indian Home Cooking to Nourish Your Soul by Asma Khan is available via the usual channels or your local bookstore for 35,00 US$ or 26,00 EUR. Some of her recipes were published by the BBC, other recipes were published by Great British Chefs and these by the Foodnetwork.
Cook and Drink 
