Honkman

Roasted Cauliflower, Paneer, and mixed Lentil Salad from Nik Sharma’s Season - you cook green and black lentils and in parallel roast cauliflower and paneer in the oven. Mix both together with scallions and finish with a cilantro oil dressing made by mixing olive oil, cilantro, fresno chili, lime juice and coriander seeds in a blender.

Braised Short Ribs (from “Simple to Spectacular” by Vongerichten) with Eggplant Mull (from “Full of Flavor” by Elia) and Mashed Potatoes - Short ribs were braised in the oven in red wine with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Strained before thickening the sauce with cold butter. For the mull the eggplants were cooked to really dark brown before sautéed with peeled and quartered tomatoes, garlic, paprika, cumin and cayenne. Finished with lemon juice, parsley and cilantro. The mashed potatoes were relatively standard but from a Blais recipe were he recommends using ice cold butter to get better emulsification

Quick “chicken curry” with diced chicken breast, red pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, cilantro, curry powder, coconut milk, chicken broth and served with freshly made cauliflower “rice”

Not much to see but a tasty shrimp quesadilla with diced shrimps, roasted red peppers, scallions, monterey jacks cheese, lime zest and juice, cilantro and Old Bay seasoning in a pan-fried flour tortilla

Lentil Salad - Beluga lentils cooked in water and in parallel sautéed some onions, carrots, green asparagus and parsley. Dressing made with olive oil, orange juice and zest, apple cider and mustard.

Rigatoni with Ricotta-Pistachio Pesto - Pesto made with ricotta, parmesan, pistachios, basil, chives and pasta water

Swiss chard-sweet potato lasagna with different layers made from 1) lasagna pasta 2) sautéed Swiss chard stems, shallots and garlic 3) blanched Swiss chard leaves 4) thinly sliced sweet potatoes 5) bechamel sauce made with bay leaves, cloves, nutmeg and a bit of sugar 6) goat gouda

We haven’t used the spiralizer for some time - zucchini noodles (briefly sautéed with garam masala) and chicken breast (cooked with garlic, ginger and garam masala). Served with diced mango, cilantro, lemon juice and a herb-yoghurt sauce (made with lemon zest and juice, cilantro, mint and garlic)

Burger (mix of pork and beef, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, roasted sesame oil) topped with sautéed baby spinach (cooked with roasted sesame oil, sriracha and toasted sesame seeds). Ketchup mixed with sriracha)

Pasta alla Gricia with Slivered Sugar Snap Peas from Joshua McFadden’s “Six Season”. Crisp up some pancetta. Cook linguine and add very thinly sliced sugar snap peas in the last 1-2 minutes. Make some cacio e pepe butter (compound butter made with freshly toasted and ground black pepper, pecorino and parmesan). Mix everything together with a little bit of pasta water to emulsify.

Brown rice with chicken, broccoli, red beets and spinach - Diced chicken breast, red onions, broccoli, red beets and fish sauce we’re sautéed in oil. In parallel, brown rice with garlic was cooked in chicken broth and added to with baby spinach to vegetable mixture. Finished with some cilantro.

Red Lentil Soup with Garam Masala - red lentils are cooked in a mixture of vegetable broth, coconut milk, diced tomatoes, bin bhuna hua garam masala, onions, garlic and fresno chili. Carrots and chickpeas are separately sautéed in coconut oil with the garam masala and added to the soup at the end with some fresh mint.

Linguine with halibut and zucchini - first you make a tomato sauce with caramelized onions, garlic, carrots, tomatoes and thyme. Then you mix it with sautéed zucchini, red onion, white wine and diced halibut and gently cook it for about 10 minutes. Finish by mixing with linguine and parsley.

Veal Frikadellen with Kohlrabi - frikadellen made with ground veal, sautéed onions and tarragon, eggs, milk-soaked bread and mustard - first briefly seared and then finished in the oven. Kohlrabi was simply sautéed in butter/oil and finished with toasted almonds, lemon zest and juice, parsley and kohlrabi greens

Ratatouille (eggplant, zucchini, red + green + orange peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, rosemary, parsley) with sausages

Pasta with Roasted Garlic, Cauliflower and Walnuts - First you roast two whole garlic heads with olive oil in an aluminum foil poach in the oven at 500F and mix the roasted garlic with olive oil, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Afterwards you roast the cauliflower in larger pieces in the oven before chopping it. Both get mixed with pasta (casarecce), pasta water, parsley, parmesan, lemon juice and toasted walnuts.

Variation on a well known Northern German dish - Birnen, Bohnen und Speck (pears, beans and bacon). There are many, many variations and this one is from our favorite German cooking magazine “essen & trinken” (eating & drinking). You sear a larger piece of beef chuck before mixing it with a larger piece of bacon, roasted, halved onions, juniper berries, bay leaves and peppercorns in water and slowly cook it for a 2.5 hours. Beef and bacon get chopped and the broth strained. You then add sequentially over time to the strained broth grated potatoes (too thicken), halved, firm pears, chunks of potatoes, green beans and lastly great northern beans, savory and the previously cooked bacon and beef chuck. Finished with some champagne vinegar and a little bit of sugar.

Stuffed Eggplant - Filling made from ground lamb, diced eggplant pulp, onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, parmesan and parsley. Topped with some sour cream, parmesan and panko crumbs

Interesting description - “Mark Wiens of Migrationology.com says that it “makes a durian smell plain,” describing its bouquet as “intoxicating…a cross between honey and fermented urine.” ”

Lamb ragu with fettuccine from the That Noodle Life book - bone-in lamb shoulder chops are braised in a sauce made from pancetta, onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste, white wine and beef broth and afterwards shredded before mixing with the pasta, peas and mint. Finished with some parmesan

Eggplant dumplings from Ottolenghi’s Flavor with some stewed kale from a Pepin book. Diced eggplants get roasted in the oven, mashed and mixed with panko breadcrumbs, ricotta, parmesan, flour, parsley, basil, garlic and eggs. Formed into dumplings before panfried. Quick tomato sauce by pureeing tomatoes and cooking it with tomato paste, sugar, chili flakes, paprika and oregano. You mix the dumplings with the tomato sauce and bake it in the oven before finishing it with some olives, parmesan and basil. The kale is simply stewed with some garlic, chili flakes and water.

Vietnamese inspired shrimps and brussels sprouts - shrimps were cooked in coconut caramel sauce made by reducing a mixture of shallots, garlic, molasses, fish sauce and coconut water. The brussels sprouts were first charred and then cooked in some coconut water before finishing with soy sauce

Green blop but a tasty green blop - green shakshuka with swiss chard (stems and leaves), baby spinach, onion, garlic, coriander and Ancho chili powder, vegetable broth, eggs, feta, dill and mint

Vegetable chili made in the pressure cooker - we used Frijole Negro Santanero beans from Rancho Gordo which gave an incredible broth. Also used white mushrooms, onions, garlic, red peppers, crushed tomatoes, chipotle in adobo, chili and cumin powder, bay leaves, cilantro and vegetable broth. Topped with some sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Burger - patty made with ground beef, chili and garlic powder. Over shredded lettuce and with cheddar and a quick BBQ sauce made with caramelized onions, ketchup, chili and garlic powder, cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce cooked down to the right consistency