Honkman

This is a cajun-style andouille which quite different from the french-style, e.g pork offal vs pork shoulder etc. It is also much spicier than the french version

Hungarian-Style Shepherd’s Stew with Potatoes and Sausage from Milk Street - pearl couscous, potatoes, onions, Anaheim pepper, andouille sausage, paprika are cooked/braised in a mixture of pureed roasted red peppers, tomato paste, white wine vinegar, paprika, cayenne pepper and water. Finished with dill and sour cream

Duck Ragu Bucatini from “Delicious Tonight” - duck legs get braised with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, dried porcini, red wine, tomato passata, cinnamon stick, star anise, bay leaves, rosemary and chicken broth. Once the duck meat gets shredded you thicken the ragu with beurre manie and mixed with the bucatini and topped with parmesan

Variation on Callaloo with Swiss chard, butternut squash, onions, scallions, garlic, thyme, chili, vegetable broth, coconut milk and Angostura bitters (which really added an interesting complexity to the dish

Sausage and Bean Stew cooked in a pressure cooker made with Ayocote Morado Beans. The beans were soaked overnight, then precooked at high pressure with clove studded onion and bay leaves for 5 minutes. After browning sausages, onions and bacon, the beans were cooked another 5 minutes at high pressure with chicken broth, thyme, cinnamon, cloves, diced tomatoes, light brown sugar, molasses, mustard and Worcestershire sauce

Mapo Tofu from “A Very Chinese Cookbook” made with ground pork, firm tofu, scallions, garlic, ginger, doubanjiang, douchi, chili flakes, Sichuan peppercorns, hoisin sauce, chicken broth, toasted sesame oil and cornstarch. Served over rice

Our daughter made some deviled eggs and we made one of our very rare repeats - fusion cuisine with Southern-style pork vindaloo and green bean verakka with cardamom cornbread from “My Two Souths” by Asha Gomez

Zucchini and Feta Pasta with Za’atar Breadcrumbs from “Anything’s Pastable” - you pan-fry zucchini slices until they get nice color. 1/3 of the zucchini get pureed with pasta water, lemon juice and zest and butter to build the sauce. You mix the sauce with the remaining zucchini, pasta, sautéed garlic, red pepper flakes and feta. Finished with za’atar breadcrumbs (sautéed panko mixed with za’atar)

Yes - I have done cottage/sheppard’s pie variations several times and that’s the first time it happened. Not sure why but perhaps I should have cooked done the braising liquid even more

One of these dishes which taste as planned by the texture/visuals went into the wrong direction - Beef Stew with Potato Crust You braise diced beef chuck with onions, tomato paste, paprika, caraway seeds and marjoram. Add some carrots and braise a bit more. Add some red peppers and braise until you have only a little bit of nice viscous braising liquid left. In parallel, you make mashed potatoes with milk, manchego, ghee and nutmeg and top the stew with it before baking it for 20 minutes. Instead of forming the expected potato crust, the mashed potatoes became more liquid and mixed with the braising liquid. The flavor of the dish was great (and as expected) but the texture was obviously quite different than planned

Korean-Inspired Fusion Dish with Pasta, Cheese and Kimchi - Fusilli are mixed with mornay sauce (made with cheddar and whole grain mustard) topped with more grated cheddar and kimchi and baked in a dutch oven. Once finished you add scallions and mix everything - more or less kimchi mac’n cheese

Quick stir-fry with flank steak, napa cabbage, red peppers, snap peas, fresno chili, cilantro, beef broth and soy sauce

Stew with Kale, Chickpeas and Chorizo - dried chickpeas are soaked overnight and cooked with bay leaves the next day. Chorizo is sautéed and the chorizo “oil” is used to quickly sear kale, onions, garlic, fresno chili, red and green peppers. Everything is then cooked together in tomato passata and vegetable broth and finished with taragon and lemon zest

Pasta with Mushrooms and Tomatoes - cavatappi with mix of mushrooms (king oyster, shiitake and oyster), onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and parsley

For Germans 12/24 is always the big celebration day for x-mas and today we cooked a mix of German (braised red cabbage and mashed potatoes) and middle eastern (shawarma meatloaf with caramelized onions from Ottolenghi’s “Comfort”) - the meatloaf is made with ground beef, onions, garlic, eggs, bulgur, grated zucchini, cumin, paprika, allspice, turmeric, cayenne and fresh mint and cilantro. It gets also topped for some time in the oven with caramelized onions which are made with pomegranate molasses, cinnamon and allspice. It’s served with a dipping sauce from greek yogurt and pomegranate molasses. The braised red cabbage is made in an old-fashioned way with cloves, granny smith apple, red wine vinegar and black currant jam (normally red currant but that wasn’t available)

Sausage with Cannellini Beans and Kale - Fresh Italian pork sausages get cooked to build some fond. Deglazed with onions, garlic, red wine, tomato paste and smoked paprika and afterwards you cook lacinato kale, cannellini beans and the sausages with the fond and water. Finished with olive oil and sherry vinegar

If you cook for more people than usual Chili is often a good approach - this one was a rather classic way with ground beef, kidney beans, tomatoes and kidney beans pureed to give a good consistency, onions, chili powder, chipotle with adobo, coriander, garlic powder, cumin and oregano. Served over rice and with avocado, cheddar and sour cream

Pasta Cassarole with Linguica and Kale - there are dishes you make for the first time but it hits a sweet spot and everybody at the table mentions that it is feels like comfort food you have made and eaten many times before. This casserole was one of these dishes. The recipe didn’t look that special but somehow it worked really nice together - penne, blanched and seared kale, seared linguica and mornay sauce with gouda and cheddar and topped with a little bit more gouda and panko crumbs.

Roasted Indian-Spiced Vegetables with Lime-Cilantro Butter by a recipe from Diana Henry - potatoes, carrots, parsnip, cauliflower and red beets get oven roasted with garlic, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Finished with some compound butter made with chili, cilantro and lime juice and zest. Served with yoghurt and mango chutney

Fusili with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto - pesto made with sun-dried tomatoes, toasted walnuts, toasted garlic, olive oil, parmesan and some pasta water

Variation on Chickpea-Dal - Chickpeas, red onion, garlic and red lentils are cooked in vegetable broth and coconut milk. At the same time you make some seasoned/infused oil by quickly pan-frying garam masala, cilantro and red pepper flakes in some oil before balancing it with some lemon juice. Mix everything together, add cashew nuts and more cilantro and serve with some coconut yogurt

Messy photo of a quick Shakshuka with chickpeas, roasted red bell peppers, crushed tomatoes, feta, garlic, coriander, smoked and hot paprika, cumin, red pepper flakes, mint and an egg

Greek-Inspired Feta-Filled Bifteki with Pepper-Bread Salad and Tomato Dip - bifteki were made from ground beef, egg, soaked naan, mustard, tomato pasta, fried onions, paprika and oregano. Filled with feta, seared in the pan and finished in the oven. The salad had red, green and yellow peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, parsley and quickly fried naan with a sauce made from yoghurt, olive oil and lemon juice. The dip was made by cooking tomatoes, red onions, garlic and fresno chili.

Korean-inspired Chicken Salad - cooked chicken breast, blanched green beans, red cabbage, cherry tomatoes, scallions, cucumber and pine nuts are mixed with a sauce made from pureed pine nuts, mustard, lemon juice, gochujang and water.

Green Asparagus Ragout - green asparagus, snow peas, peas, onions cooked in vegetable broth thickened with flour. Finished with sour cream, plenty of basil and lemon juice. Served over rice and with a soft boiled egg