Table of Contents¶
Introduction¶
What is this?¶
This is a collection of recipes I cook reasonably regulary. Some recipes act as placeholders and just contain liks to recipes I liked. At some point the recipe will actually be typed out.
The source is hosted on GitHub, and is build automatically using Read the Docs. You can build locally using Sphinx. Feel free to fork the project or open pull requests.
The whole project is comprised of .rst files (primer on rst syntax). Images are tracked using git-lfs.
Why?¶
Because.
Units of measurements¶
The collection tries to use SI units, however, if the measurement is not crucial (eg if it won’t matter too much if you miss the amount by 30% or if the quantity is best estimated by the cook) cups and tablespoons can be used.
Breads¶
Ciabatta¶
Ingredients
- 500 g AP flour
- 375 g water
- 10 g salt
- 5 g yeast
For the biga: mix 400 g of flour, 272 g water and 1 g yeast. Mix and let rest for 14-16 hours (until plump, gassy and sour).
Mix the rest of the ingredients (100 g flour and 103 g water, 10 g salt, 1 g yeast), mix to incorporate. Add the biga, mix, fold few times and let rise until sligthly more than doubled (about 2 hours). Flop the dough on a flouured surface. Let proof covered with a cloth for 1-2 hours. With a bench scraper, cut elongated rectangles, invert them in flour and place them on a baking tray.
Preheat the oven preheted to 230C, and place a container of water inside it. Place the tray in the oven, cook for 20 minutes or so. Take the water container out at about half way. Turn off the oven, leave the ciabatta inside with the door cracked open.

Note
Used bread flour, seemed good! Also, water was 382 g.
English Muffins¶
Ingredients
- 540 g bread flour
- 400 g lukewarm milk
- 43 g butter
- 1 egg
- 6 g instant yeast
- 25 g sugar
- 9 g salt
References
Note
Halved the recipe, but not the egg… Dough was extremely wet. The proofing made the dough ball bigger than expected.
Hokkaido Milk Rolls¶
Ingredients
For the tangzhong:
- 43 g bread flour
- 86 g milk
For the rolls:
- 300 g bread flour
- 113 g milk
- 40 g butter
- 1 egg
- 5 g instant yeast
- 30 g sugar
- 6 g salt
Combine milk and flour in a skillet and cook on medium heat until it forms a gelatinous paste (about 5 minutes).
Mix everything (including the paste from the previous step) with stand mixer at medium-high speed for 5 minutes (until it forms a ball). Make a ball, cover dough, let rise for 1-2 hours. Deflate the dough, divide in 4 parts, shape into flat rectangles and roll them up. Place the rolls in a loaf pan. Let rise for 40 mins - 1 hour. Egg wash. Cook in a 350F oven until ready (25 minutes). Add a container with water in the oven for the first 5-10 minutes.
References
Note
in the stand mixer, before adding the butter, the dough seemed too dry. Add water but overshot it. Added more flour… I think the recipe can take a bit more liquid (maybe 5-10 g?)
Whole Wheat Sourdough¶
Ingredients
- 500 g AP flour
- 200 g whole wheat flour
- 200 g bread flour
- 100 g rye flour
- 200 g active starter (has been fed at least twice)
- 780 g water
- 20 g salt
Mix the flours with 700 g water at ~100 F and roughly mix. Autolyse for 20-30 minutes. Mix the starter and the remaining water. Add to the dough. Add salt. Mix using the pincher method and fold a few times.
Let raise for 3-6 hours (or overnight in the fridge), folding three-four times in the first hour.
Divide and let rest on a lightly floured surface for 10-15 mins. Stretch and fold the four corners of the dough onto itself (I usually do east-west-north-south). Cover with an inverted bowl. After 15 minutes fold again if looking excessively floppy, if not, invert and by dragging the dough seam side down around on the board make into a taut ball (do not squish it though, you still want the bubbles). Put in bannetton (or lined bowl) seam side up. Cover and proof for 1-2 hours or in the fridge for 12-24 hours (finger dent test usually works well here).
Meanwhile heat the dutch oven in the oven to 500F. Invert the dough on parchment paper, seam side down. Score the top (I like a slightly curved score across the top, about 2cm deep, at about a 45 degree angle. Be generous here, the scoring allows the dough to expand). Using the parchment, transfer dough to dutch oven. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Reduce temperature to 450F. Bake for 25-30 minutes more until it looks baked to your taste. Put on cooling rack and wait until room temperature, 1-2 hours.
Puff Pastry¶
Entrees¶
Croque Madame¶
Ingredients
For the sandwitch:
- 2 slices bread
- 2 ounces deli ham (french is recommended)
- 1 1/3 cup grated gruyere cheese, divided
- 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
- fresh cracked black pepper to taste
For the Bechamel (3 - 4 sandwiches):
- 3 tablespoons 45 g all purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons 70 g unsalted butter
- 2 cups 512 g warmed milk
- optionally you can add a bay leaf to the warm milk before adding it to the bechamel
- scant 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (fresh grated is ideal)
For the bechamel: warm the milk (stop before boiling, possibly add bay leaf and nutmeg). Heat the butter in a separate pot. Add flour to butter and whisk. Cook a few minutes. Add milk in batches whisking. Simmer for a few minutes.
Spread mustard on each slice of bread. Grate cheese on the bottom slice, top with ham. Grate more cheese on top. Top with other slice, press slightly. Cook in a pan with butter, both sides. Place in sheet tray. Pour bechamel, grate more cheese. Broil until ready.
Fry egg. Put egg on top of sandwitch.
References
Note
Tried this with weird pancetta sticks and caramelized onions instead of ham, and poched instead of fried egg. Topped with chopped parsley and fermented lemon peel. Would be better with some vegetable to make it lighter, maybe grilled eggplant.
Pasta Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino¶
Pad Thai¶
RECIPE COURTESY OF JET TILA Level: Intermediate Total: 1 hr (includes soaking of rice stick noodles) Active: 20 min Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Pad Thai Sauce: 4 tablespoons (60 ml) Thai fish sauce 4 tablespoons (50 g) sugar 3 tablespoons (45 ml) bottled tamarind paste 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon (15 ml) rice wine vinegar (unseasoned) 1 tablespoon sweet paprika, for color (optional) 2 teaspoons chili sauce, such as Sriracha
Pad Thai: 3 to 4 cups medium-width rice sticks, soaked Banana leaf, cut into circles, for plating (optional) 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, such as canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil 3 to 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1/2 cup (95 g) Thai-style baked tofu, sliced 1 teaspoon dried shrimp 1/2 cup (95 g) chicken, cut into thin strips, 1-inch lengths 2 eggs 4 teaspoons packaged salted turnip, minced 8 shrimp, peeled and cleaned 1 cup (240 g) bean sprouts 1/4 cup (50 g) dry-roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed 3 to 4 garlic chives (or scallions), cut into 2-inch bias strips 1 lime, cut for garnish
Directions
For the Pad Thai Sauce: In a small bowl, stir together the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind paste, lime juice, vinegar, paprika and chili sauce. Set aside.
For the Pad Thai: Soak the noodles in enough warm water to cover for 1 hour.
If using, cut the banana leaf into round shapes using an overturned bowl. Place on the serving platter and hold for plating.
Heat a cast iron pan over high heat. Add the oil and coat the pan completely. When the pan starts to smoke, add the garlic and stir for 5 seconds. Add the tofu and dried shrimp and stir-fry until they begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry until no longer pink, 1 to 2 minutes.
Push ingredients in the pan to one side and let the oil settle in the center of pan. Crack the eggs into the pan. Allow to set until half-cooked, about 30 seconds, then lightly scramble. Combine with the remaining cooked ingredients in pan, scraping the bits from the pan before they burn. Add 3 cups of the drained noodles and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the salted turnip and shrimp. Cook until both the chicken and shrimp are medium doneness, about 1 minute. Add the sauce mixture and fold together until all the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes.
Place half of the bean sprouts, half of the crushed peanuts and the garlic chives (or green onions) in the center of noodles, and then spoon some noodles over them to cover and let steam for 30 seconds. If the pan seems dry, add a small amount of the noodle soaking water. Transfer to a serving plate with the banana leaf circle, and garnish with the remaining bean sprouts, peanuts and lime.
Pasta al Fumé¶
Ingredients
- 400 g short pasta
- 200/300 g pancetta
- 1.5 onions
- 2 dried chili
- 1.5-2 cups tomato sauce
- 200 g swiss cheese
- 1-2 tbsp heavy cream
This is a recipe from my grandmother.
—Matteo, who at some point was Carlo’s roommate
Bonus
What’s the most religious cheese?
Swiss, because it’s holy.
Pasta all’Uovo¶
Ingredients
- 200 g farina 00
- 2 eggs
- 2 pinches of salt
Form a well with the flour, break the eggs in it. Add the salt. With a fork, slowly incorporate the flour into the egg. Once a shaggy dough is formed, start kneading by hand. Knead for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is elastic. Rest the dough in the fridge at least 30 minutes. Roll out with a pasta machine or a rolling pin.
Do whatever you want with it.
References
These are proper place for a better, more detailed recipe:
Peanut Noodles¶
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I always substitute with either sesame oil or chili oil)
- at least a tablespoon of grated ginger (I use a microplane)
- at least 6 gloves of garlic, pressed
- optional: crushed red pepper flakes (if not using chili oil)
Other:
- 1 pound pasta (or however much you want at a given time)
- scallions or green onions or something similar for garnishing
References
This recipe comes from Talia.
Note
This proportions can be altered to taste. I usually make the recipe to use for one meal and then freeze the rest, so I only cook however much pasta I want on a given day. Even when frozen, the sauce is still soft enough to scoop some of it out.
Ravioli di Zucca with Kale and Pancetta¶
Ingredients
For the ravioli:
- 300 g of pasta all’uovo
- a butternut squash
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 3/4 cups freshly grated parmigiano
- 1 finely diced garlic clove
- some chopped green onions
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- salt and pepper to taste
For the sauce:
- 100 g pancetta
- a bunch of kale or swiss chard
- 1/4 cup cream
Bake the peeled and cubed squash in a 350F oven with some oil until soft. Blend with the rest of the ingredients, adding the breadcrumbs until a thik consistency is achieved (something like ricotta).
Fill the ravioli (see links in Pasta all’Uovo for shaping).
Cut the pancetta very thin slices, then make 5 x 3 cm rectangles. Put the pancetta in a skillet with a little bit of oil. Slowly warm up the skillet to medium heat. Once the pancetta has released enough fat and is slightly crispy, add the kale to the skillet. Drop the ravioli in the boiling, salted water, cokk for 2-5 minutes, depending how thick your pasta is. One minute before draining them, add the cream to the skillet. Drain the ravioli, and add them to the skillet. Cook for another minute, add grated parmigiano and pepper to taste.
Note
Maybe pecorino would be better in the filling?
Pasta al Salmone¶
Ingredients
- short pasta
- smoked salmon
- lemon
- vodka
- butter
Bryan’s Curry¶
Ingredients
- 2 onions, diced
- oil or butter
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3cm block ginger
- curry powder
- black pepper to taste
- salt
- paprika
- cayenne
- 500 g of any kind of solid vegetable, meat cubes, paneer or tofu
- 1/2 can of tomato sauce
- 100 g ground cashews
- 100 g yogurt
Note
Tried this with paneer, tofu, potatoes, chickpeas. Anything seems to work ok. Substituted the ground cashews with ground almonds and almond flour, also seems to work.
Leeks Braised with Oranges¶
Ingredients
- 4 leeks
- oil
- 2 oranges
- 2 bay leaves
- fresh chili
- salt and pepper
Cut the leeks lengthwise and clean them. Pat them dry. Sear them on medium high heat on both sides.
Add juice and zest of one orange, salt perpper, bay leaves and chili. Top wih thin slices from the other orange. Add some water until leeks are almost submerged. Partly cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until ready. Add water if needed.
References
Smillie, J. 2015, Slow Fires, Clarkson Potter
Note
very citrusy and delicious. Maybe add less liquid.
Peperonata¶
Ingredients
- 6 peppers (various colors!)
- 2 red onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- tiny rosemary sprig
- 1-2 cups tomato sauce (can be passata, canned tomatoes, grated and cooked freh tomatoes…)
- splash of vinegar
Put the two garlic cloves (smashed) in a pot with 1-2 tablespoons to oil. Heat to medium heat, add the onions (sliced into medium julienne), cook until translucent. Add a pinch of salt. Add the peppers (sliced into batonnets). Cook uncoverd for 5 minutes. Put a lid on the pot and cook until (the peppers are soft) - 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and cook for the remaining 5 minutes. Salt to taste, and if so inclined, add a splash of vinegar.
Serve cold, possibly after a day in the fridge.
References
Pappa col Pomodoro¶
Ingredients
- about 2 cups tomato sauce (can be passata, canned tomatoes, grated and cooked freh tomatoes…)
- 200-300 g stale bread
- 1 red onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- either a few basil leaves or a tiny rosemary sprig
References
Branzino al forno¶
Ingredients
Main:
- 1 branzino
- oil
- salt
- parsley
- rosemary
- 1 lemon
Garlic parsley sauce:
- garlic
- parsley
- oil
- salt
- fermented lemon
Scale and clean the fish. Season inside and outside with salt and oil. Inset 3 thin lemon rounds, some parsley and rosemary in the cavity. Bake vertically (propped up by lemons?) at 430/450 F.
For the sauce, chop parsley, garlic znd lemon zest, mix with oil and salt.
References
More recipes with branzino: alla ligure
Pork Rillettes¶
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork shoulder, cut into chunks
- 2 cloves garlic
- sprig rosemary
- a couple bay leaves
- zest of half of a lemon
- 2 cups of some kind of stock
- salt and pepper to taste
References
Note
The lemon zest was great! Didn’t end up using all the liquid, the remainig stock was very dense and flavorful. More smaller jars rather than a single big one would have been better.
Sides¶
Hollandaise¶
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 Meyer lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- 1 stick of butter
References
Soy Sauce Kale¶
Ingredients
- a bunch of kale
- garlic (n cloves, lightly smashed)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- juice from 1/8th of a lemon
Indian-Spiced Roasted Chickpeas¶
Ingredients
- a bunch of cooked chickpeas (2 cans)
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
References
Note
Pretty good, cooked a bit too little. More crunch would have been nice
Desserts¶
Cantucci¶
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 170 g sugar
- 280 g AP flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda/powder
- 40 g softened butter
- 70 g almonds
- 1 orange
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 yolk for eggwash
Note
Maybe more orange and almonds, and less sugar?
Gelato al Fiordilatte¶
Ingredients
- 500 g milk (2%)
- 200 g cream (36% fat)
- 100 g sugar
- about 20 g honey
- 15 g cornstarch
References
Gelato alla Menta¶
Ingredients
- 490 g milk (2%)
- 250 g cream (36% fat)
- 135 g sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 25 mint leaves
- few drops of vanilla
Heat milk, cream and mint leaves to 180F, take off heat and cover. Steep for 10 minutes. Strain out the leaves (press the leave in the strainer to get the oils out). Whisk egg and sugar together, whisk half of the milk mixture in. Add the resulting liquid to the rest of the milk mixture. Heat to 160F, take off heat. Put the mixture in another bowl, cover and cool until it’s fridge temperature.
Churn.
References
Note
This time it was a little icy. It’s been better before.
Cassie’s Lemon Bars¶
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
Note
(from Cassie) I doubled the filling so its more filling to crust. The recipe as is results in about half crust, half filling.
Lemon–Olive Oil Tart¶
Ingredients
For the tart shell:
- 192 g AP flour
- 60 g sugar
- 112 g olive oil
- 30 g water
- 1 pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 3 eggs
- 3 eggs yolks
- 200 g sugar
- 16 g AP flour
- 118 g lemon juice
- lemon zest to taste
- 56 g olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix flour, sugar salt, oil and water to form uniform dough. Press that in a 9 inch tart pan.bake for 30 - 45 minutees.
Whisk sugar flour and salt in medium saucepan. Whisk in eggs and yolks. Whisk in lemon zest and juice. Cook while stirring until reaches 160 F. Whisk in oil off heat.
Pour curd into the tart shell and return to oven. Bake 8 -12 minutes.
Note
The filling was delicious (maybe could have done with slightly less sugar), but the tart shell wasn’t great (kind of had a very strong flavor, and was a bit too crumbly).
Kue Nastar (Indonesian Pineapple Cookies)¶
Ingredients
For pineapple jam:
- 550 grams pineapple chunks (from 1 large fresh, peeled, and cored pineapple)
- 75 grams sugar
For pastry:
- 254 grams all-purpose unbleached flour
- 65 grams confectioner’s sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 oz unsalted butter, cut into large chunks
- zest 1 large orange
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp milk
For egg wash:
- 1 egg wash
- 1 tsp milk
Additional:
- 28-29 cloves (1 per cookie)
Puree pineapple chunks using food processor or a blender. Transfer to sauce pan, add sugar, then cook on medium heat until all liquid has evaporated. Lower the heat to low, continue to cook until it has thinkened and is a little drier than the consistency of regular jam. Remove from heat, cool completely.
Place pastry ingredients in a food processor, pulse for a few seconds until it is starting to come together.
Take about 16 grams of dough, flatten it, place 6 grams of pineapple jam in the center, and enclose the filling, forming into a round ball. Place the ball on a cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough (the cookies can be pretty close together since they don’t expand much in the oven). Cover the sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk the yolk and milk together for the egg wash. Brush each cookie with egg wash, then top with a clove (pushing the rounded part in a little so the pointy end sticks straight up). Bake in the center of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden to your liking. Cool completely before serving.
References
From Armin and Amalia.
Note
The pineapple jam stores really well in the freezer. Last time I did this, I made jam from one pineapple, and it lasted me through several batches of cookies. Making the jam is the most time intensive part. I may have skipped the refrigerate step some of the times I’ve made these (I don’t remember doing it, but it’s been a while).
Tiramisù¶
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 80 g sugar
- 450 g mascarpone
- 250 g savoiardi
- 1 cup coffee
Whip the yolks with the sugar until creamy and almost white. Add the mascarpone, incorporate and continue whipping until creamy and smooth. Meanwhile, whip the whites until hard peaks. Fold the whites in the other mixture.
Soak the savoiardi one by one for 1-2 seconds in the coffee, arrange at the bottom of a casserole dish. Spoon in a layer of the cream. Make another layer of coffee soaked savoiardi. Add another layer of cream. Top with a layer of unwseetened cocoa powder. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.
Tiramisù Alle Fragole¶
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 80 g sugar
- 450 g mascarpone
- 250 g savoiardi
- 60 g (1/4 cup) lemon juice
- 60 g (1/4 cup) lemon water
- <50 g (<1/4 cup) sugar
- 450 g strawberries
Chop the strawberries into sixths. Macerate the strawberries with the lemon juice, water and sugar for 1-2 hours. Strain the juice and reserve.
Whip the yolks with the sugar until creamy and almost white. Add the mascarpone, incorporate and continue whipping until creamy and smooth. Meanwhile, whip the whites until hard peaks. Fold the whites in the other mixture.
Soak the savoiardi one by one for 1-2 seconds in reserved juice, arrange at the bottom of a casserole dish. Spoon in a layer of the cream. Make a strawberry layer. Make another layer of juice soaked savoiardi. Add another layer of cream. Top with a layer of strawberries. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.
References
Note
more straberries, more lemon juice. It worked but barely side of ok for strawberries and lemon
Zabaione¶
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks
- 40-120g sugar
- 80-200g sweet wine/beer
References
- ZABAIONE
- Rossi d’uovo, n. 3.
- Zucchero in polvere, grammi 30.
Vino di Cipro, di Marsala, o di Madera, decilitri 1½ pari a nove cucchiaiate circa. Doppia dose potrà bastare per otto persone. Se lo desiderate più spiritoso aggiungete una cucchiaiata di rhum; anche un cucchiaino di cannella in polvere non ci sta male. Lavorate prima con un mestolo i rossi d’uovo collo zucchero finché sieno divenuti quasi bianchi, aggiungete il liquido, mescolate, ponetelo sopra un fuoco ardente frullandolo continuamente e guardandovi dal farlo bollire perché impazzirebbe; levatelo appena comincia ad alzare. Meglio, io credo, sia il servirsi della cioccolatiera.
—Pellegrino Artusi
Note
ended up with 3.5 egg yolks, ~ 60 g sugar and about 80 g beer. Seemed a bit too yeasty. Might be better with wine (possibly less), maybe some citrus zest somewhere.