I rarely cook from recipes, though I read cookbooks like novels: they are magical adventures that take me to other culinary worlds and let me see through the eyes of other cooks. Here you’ll find musings on recipe-free cooking, spice palettes, ingredients that do or do not mix well, and stories about what I did with what I found in the refrigerator, in the cupboard, or at the market.
I think flavored, roasted nuts are a great appetizer and I also often use them as garnish. This is one of my favorite recipes—crunchy, nutty, fruity, sweet, salty, and hot, all at once. I use my Fruity Habeñero Hot Sauce in the recipe, but you can use the Caribbean hot sauce of your...
Most meat is expensive in Switzerland, so I always turn to the cheaper cuts. Veal breast is reasonably affordable, but it’s tough and fatty. So what to do with it? I’ve started pressure cooking very tough, fatty cuts of meat because then I can have a ready meal in an hour, without...
As I’ve already mentioned, I didn’t drink milk until I moved to Germany in 2005. And if there was one thing I disliked more than milk, it was buttermilk. But my Russian partner made me a drink he insisted I try on a hot summer’s day. It was a blender mix of buttermilk...
I like making cabbage rolls because they’re an easy, low-carb meal, but I always found boiling the cabbage to be a pain in the ass. My life got much easier when I realized I could freeze a whole head of cabbage and then defrost the night before I wanted to make cabbage rolls. The freezing...
There’s really nothing easier. 24 hours in a sous-vide bath set to 55C. I usually don’t marinate or season the meat beforehand unless I’m making Chinese roast pork, but if you want to add flavor when you cook, do it with a light hand. (Especially limit the amount of garlic, since...
That package of duck confit I pulled out the freezer last night was added to the delectable ragout I made this afternoon, then poured into baked eggplants, which were baked a second time, topped with asiago cheese. It’s easier than it sounds!Usually I make my baked stuffed eggplants with...