Risotto Milanese (Saffron Risotto) Join my small-group food & wine tour to northern Italy to discover more regional specialties! Risotto Milanese originated in Milan, where it’s the traditional accompaniment to ossobuco. Lombardy is the home of risotto, and my friend Alessandro Pavoni is the king of risotto making. He was born in Brescia in Lombardy […]
Saffron Pilaf Master Kitchen Basics & Explore New Cuisines & Ingredients with My Online Cooking Classes There are many different styles of pilaf (or pilau) across India and the Middle East. What they have in common is cooking long grain rice by absorption – sometimes in water, sometimes in stock – and usually with some […]
Rouille (Spicy Mayonnaise) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the food of Provence! The more I research rouille the more confused I become. Even the most respected experts seem to disagree on what should go into this classic Provençal sauce that’s traditionally served with bouillabaisse. The only thing I can […]
How to Prepare Saffron Master Kitchen Basics & Explore New Cuisines & Ingredients with My Online Cooking Classes There are two ways to prepare saffron for use in cooking: brewing (with hot water) and blooming (with ice). Brewing is the traditional way. Blooming is a modern technique created to preserve as much of the saffron’s […]
Chicken Biryani Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Indian cooking class inspired by Ajoy Joshi! Biryani is a festive Indian one-pot rice dish. Unlike a simple pilau, the rice is partially cooked then layered with the seasoned meat to finish cooking. Well caramelised onions are key to a successful biryani – cook them long […]
Prawns with Persian Split Pea Stew Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Persian cooking class! Prawns with Persian split pea stew is a seafood version of the classic Persian dish, khoresh-e gheymeh, in which lamb is braised in a rich sauce with yellow split peas. For me that dish is really all about the […]
Octopus Cooked Ossobuco-style Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Northern Italian cooking class inspired by Alessandro Pavoni! With its firm texture, octopus lends itself perfectly to the long slow braise that makes traditional ossobuco so delicious and fall apart tender. Large ‘hands’ of octopus tentacles can be cooked this way as well: cut them […]
Tuna Biryani Like this tuna biryani recipe? You’ll love my online Indian cooking class inspired by Ajoy Joshi! Tuna biryani (also called kupa biryani) is a pescatarian version of the more traditional Indian classic, lamb biryani. Tuna has great flavour but a tendency to dry out quickly, so it’s best cooked in large pieces. At […]
Salmon Bisteeya Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Middle Eastern cooking class inspired by Michael Rantissi! Bisteeya is a classic Moroccan pie, traditionally made with pigeon and other poultry. It lends itself beautifully to seafood too as you’ll see in this salmon bisteeya. A seafood version is even quicker and easier to make than […]
Persian Fish with Barberry Sauce Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Persian cooking class! This tangy barberry sauce is usually served with chicken in a traditional Persian dish called zereshk polo ba morgh, but I discovered that it works just as well with seafood. I like to use large pieces of a firm flaky […]
