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Here is how to elevate boring boiled vegetables

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Here is how to elevate boring boiled vegetables

…perfect for any occasion

Vegetables tend to be boring and somewhat tasteless once boiled. On the other hand, they make for a delicious side that cannot be substituted by almost anything. In this post, we will focus on some tips and tricks on how to make these boiled veggies amazing.

Let them be a little crunchy

When you boil broccoli or carrots, do not overcook them. The reasoning being is that when the veggies have a little crunch, they hold the texture and are not a big pile of mush that you need to eat with a spoon.

As such when they are about halfway done (in your point of view), take them out and let them sit – the residual heat will cook them a bit more and you will be fine. If you want to be sure about the crunchiness of the later, let them be a bit more and after you take them out, put them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Give them a quick sear

Simply put, just boiled stuff is not the best. Think of it this way – would you eat boiled chicken? If you answer yes to this question, I am judging you!

So we take those already boiled veggies and we put them in a hot pan with a bit of olive oil. They will sear and caramelize. To make them even better, marinate them with a bit of dried garlic, paprika, salt and pepper and they will taste amazing

Add a bit of corn

Corn has the tendency to be a little sweet, as such the tastelessness of the veggies is overpowered by the sweetness of the corn. Added to that the amazing sear and marinate, you can come up with some delicious yumminess!

A knob of butter is a risky delicious treat

Do you know how everything is delicious in restaurants? They add butter to everything – and a lot of it. If you add just a bit of butter to your veggies while searing, they will get this amazing shine. Whilst not the best if you are trying to be a bit healthy, extremely tasty if you can indulge. Beware of this! Too much of good thing is a very very bad thing!

Potatoes are always special

They are not the same as any other vegetable. Most of the cases covered above do not apply to them. You do not let them be a bit crunchy! – cook them properly. The trick with the potatoes is searing. If you are using those small potatoes, cut them in half and put them cut side down in a hot pan. They will get his golden-brown color to die for. Add a little of chili powder, salt, and pepper and you got something out of this world!

How to cook dinner in an Airbnb

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How to cook dinner in an Airbnb

…McDonalds is not perfect for any occasion

One of the key issues if you are on the go, or even if you are traveling on the weekend is having a bit of food. Sometimes it is easy to go to the next McDonalds or whatever fast-food chain there is around you. The purpose of this post is to handle the main issues and go through a selection of easy recipes that can be done in this type of environment.

I would focus on the most probable cases that seem normal, which I have experienced myself. This may not be the best approach ever, but it worked for me and I am a fairly easy-going person.

The core components here that we will focus on are: the main issues, general recipes that can be used and we will end with tips and tricks on how to handle most of the situations. 

The main issues:

Spices

In my opinion, the main issues here are spices. Salt, pepper or even a little bit of hot sauce. These are the type of things that you really need to make anything taste somewhat of a good decision. For these cases I usually go with the minimum viable product: salt and pepper. You can find small salt and pepper packets in almost every cafe that you visit. So basically, I would go grab a snack or have lunch somewhere and would grab a couple of those packets. Notably, today most of the Airbnb’s already have something, but you do not want to wing it.

If you are somewhat of a fancy person and you really need something extra, you can get one of those airplane proof containers and add whatever you need. Hot sauce would be the next best thing interestingly as with it, you can make almost anything taste good.

Additionally, there are a lot of substitutes for the dry spices – you can grab some of the fresh alternatives. A fresh chili pepper, which you can buy almost everywhere would do the trick for almost everything.

These solutions are great if you are staying short term – like over the weekend. If you are spending a bit more time, then you should buy some basic stuff. At this point some of the key points include: collect to go packets. If you are a sushi fan, those small soy containers, are a great source of deliciousness and saltiness. At any fast food joint that you go to, they give you ketchup or majo or whatever packets that they provide. Do not throw them away for the love of what’s holly. Put them in your backpack and keep ongoing.
Lack of tools
I know that all of us are used to the fancy knife that you have at home or even all the specific tools that you have all around – but in these cases you do not have any.

The key and most important part is having a pan to fry stuff. I understand that there are some cases that you might need something else (like cooking pasta or making some soup). but on most of the cases, you are not making anything fancy (as you should not).

Focus on the frying pan that you have as this should be the one that determines what you will cook. Make sure to have a spoon or a spatula and then the rest is history.

In the supermarket, make sure to buy pre-cut stuff. The key point here is meat. If you are in Europe, in every supermarket, they sell pre-cut and pre-cleaned fillets of every type of meat imaginable.

If you are more of a pescatarian, please keep in mind that fish is not always fresh everywhere. I would not recommend exploring where it’s obvious that you should not. Learn how to smell the fish!

If you are more of a vegetarian or vegan, your choices are fairly simple – go for the things that you are used to and try to simplify. But if you get a coconut and you need to bust it open – you know that you are going to have a hard time there tiger.
Lack of time
As you are in a new country, keep in mind that not all supermarkets are open 24/7. Let’s say that you are in Madrid, plenty of Markets are open on Sunday. God forbid you are in Germany on a Sunday though! In Frankfurt for example. except for a fairly small airport supermarket that is open in some weird hours on a Sunday, everything else is closed!

In other words, buy your food when you can!

What to cook

When you travel, you need to think like a bodybuilder’s diet. You need a source of protein, a bunch of veggies and some fats. This would be a fairly foolproof way to tackle it. Alternatively, you can pig out and do pasta, where a pack of pasta and a can of sauce, can cook two full meals.

My general approach is that everything should be related to the veggies. You need to decide if you want to have them raw or not. In other words, do you need to make a salad or to have them as a side. Once you decide – then everything is easy and here is why:

  • If you are going for a salad then your thinking would be to make that salad interesting
  • If you are having them as a side, then you need to make the main dish interesting.

Part 1: Let’s make the salad interesting first!
Decide on a main salad leaf. Go to the fridge area and pick one up. Pick something that is already pre-cut and pre-washed. Salads are hard to wash and especially harder to dry. Eating a wet salad is also horrible so do not do that.

Decide on the addons here. Addons consist of different veggies that you want to add to it (think of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, corm) or even fruits at this point. Fruits will make it interesting as it would add a lot of sweetness to it and enrich it. Think here apples, oranges, pears or whatever

Decide on some dried fruits. They add some crunch and crunch is good. Usually, I would get the cheapest bag of mixed nuts that there is and dump some of them in. Those single-use, fairly in-expensive snack materials are great for crunch. If you are lacking salt, get them salty as well

Decide on some fat squishy things. Here you can think of avocados, eggs, cheese of some sort.

Decide on the main protein. You are a grown adult. This salad will fill you up and then you will end up getting up in the middle of the night wanting to eat your own shoe. Do not do that. Add some protein to it. My trick to protein is canned tuna. If you are lacking oil, get it in oil. If not, get it in water. This solution is cheap and definitely country friendly. Obviously, feel free to explore in chicken, beef, pork, fish or even tofu, but as always you need to get something that is pre-cut and pre-washed. It will cost you a bit extra, but the ease of life quality is major.

Decide on the main sauce. A lot of supermarkets have their simple sauces already, but if they do not: olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper is your go-to vinaigrette. Lately, I am very much enjoying this honey mustard dressing. It’s not homemade, but it’s the next best thing!

Now eat!

Part 2: Let’s make the main dish interesting!
In this case, you decided that for dinner you do not want to deal with a salad, so at this point, you need to have some sort of veggies that you can cook or stir fry (basically fry them in a pan).

My favorite here is making garlic broccoli (which features small pieces of broccoli, fried with a bit of garlic and then added just a bit of water and covered up to steam for 2-3 minutes in high heat. You will get crunchy and delicious broccoli here done in 6 minutes.

Alternatively here you can cut a bunch of carrots and cook them with just a bit of oil in medium-low heat the same way as the broccoli. If you add butter, it will make them all shiny and interesting.

If you like them a bit spicy, some hot sauce is recommended (so that the heat is diminished a bit) at this point. Then on the plate, if you want more, add more – I am not your parent!

After you have selected the side, now we need to decide on the main piece of protein. As specified previously, you are a grown adult – you need more than veggies. Get a fillet of something. Marinate it with salt and pepper and fry it with a bit of oil in a high heat pan.

After the main protein, you might need some sauce. Usually, the bits that are left from cooking the meat, add some milk, and butter, remove it from the heat and you can make something interesting. Adding a sauce makes this whole approach less dry. If you are cooking fish – this will not work.

The beauty of this approach is that you can have soo many combinations – that you will begin exploring and making your own solutions with just a couple of store-bought ingredients.

Tips and tricks

  1. Do not use ovens in Airbnb’s unless you specifically clean it beforehand.
  2. Clean your pans beforehand. There are cases when the actual kitchen cleaning was not done properly or not even done for such a long time as the previous tenants did not use them. Just give everything a quick clean as you do not want to end up with food poisoning.
  3. While exploring is cool, give the supermarket chains a quick google beforehand. I was in Kyiv once and the supermarket near the place that I was staying was so shady that I can not even describe it. On the next corner though – amazing!
  4. Try to shop for the whole trip – it makes everything cheaper and easier. It requires a bit of planning, but once you do it a couple of times, it will be a piece of cake.
  5. Explore local stuff – do not only eat at home! Have at least one meal outside

A Chili con Carne that forgives everyone

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A Chili con Carne that forgives everyone

Chili con carne is one of those dishes that you can make almost anywhere with just a simple deep pan. Its ingredients are easily found everywhere in the world and you do not need a fancy supermarket to get it. Also, it is one of those dishes that forgives. You do not have to get it right because you can not get it wrong. It can not be too spicy or too salty nor too liquidy or too chunky. Whatever it comes out it will be fine and hearty, delicious and yummy.

chili con carne

In the end, everyone(or just you) will love it.

If you mess up:

  1. Too salty or too spicy, add some more liquid and let it evaporate.
  2. Too liquidy: let it cook more
  3. Too chunky – add more liquid and let it get together
  4. Too meh – needs spiciness

Some comments that experience has shown:

  1. Chili con Carne is always considered a dish that you need to share as you would need to cook a big batch either way. Well sorry but this is not correct. The best time to eat Chili con Carne is when it is cold has gotten a little thick. So let me paint the picture: You have cooked it on a Saturday but could not eat anymore. You wake up on Sunday, on your jammies and while you put on your favorite sitcom (friends obvi), just grab a bit of cold chili con carne to give you a nice kick.
  2. You can always make it spicier, please be considerate (also some people are against it) so also be considerate of others.
  3. Enjoy making it, don’t be rushed maaan.

You will need:

  • Minced meat
  • A can of chopped tomatoes
  • A can of beans
  • 1 onion
  • Something to add some spice – like a chili pepper or even some sort of chili sauce
  • A tiny bit of milk
  • Salt and pepper

Process:

  1. Get a deep pan with some sort of oil. Olive oil is the best and once heated add the minced meat. Scatter it around just a bit and let it sit there. What we are looking for here is for the meat to form some sort of a crust on that side. That crust will give it a cool flavor once all it’s done. Now if you move it around – it’s not the end of the world, but this is just a trick to get better. Marinate the meat with salt and pepper. 
  2. Once the meat has browned on both sides, remove it and add some chopped onions. The reason why we are doing this is that if we would add the onions and then the meat. The onions would overcook and the meat would not brown. I usually get one of the bowls that I will serve the chili con carne and throw the meat there.
  3. At this point, I really like to marinate the onions with dried garlic, salt, and pepper so it properly sweats. I am sure that you have heard the term “translucent” – this is when the onions become a bit transparent. If you wanna be fancy about it, once the onions are translucent, throw in the sautéed minced meat, else just cook the onions a bit and then throw In the meat again. The reasoning behind here is that the onions will cook with the sauce.
  4. Note here: to get the best sauce in the world, the base needs to have a Mirepoix (or commonly known as 2 parts chopped onions, 1 part chopped celery and 1 part chopped carrot). Yeah it is fancy and the sauce will be properly thick and super tasty, but it also takes ages to cook. We here are talking about simplicity so just do not bother.
  5. Add in here the can of beans. Now depending on what you get – if you get the beans in water, rinse them off. If you get them in some sauce, dump in all of it. I usually get red kidney beans in hot sauce (because they cheap yo)
  6. Give everything a quick swirl. Let the whole thing start bubbling and then throw in the can of chopped tomatoes.
  7. Note here: Get one of those tubes of tomato concentrate. They will make your life so much better and with the can of tomatoes, you do not need to do anything fancy. Also – I am sure that most of the supermarkets have a lot of choices – here just go for whatever is cheap. It’s a tomato paste, for crying out loud, no need to be bourgeois about it. Here is the time where you add the spiciness – you can add it later, but at this moment, if you mess up and make it extra spicy you can correct it afterward.
  8. For some magic sprinkle a bit o sugard in the mixture. What the sugar does is kills the acidity of the tomatoes. If you would be using some pre-ready made tomato sauce you do not need this as it would already be there.
  9. The moment the mixture starts boiling, lower the temperature and put a cover on it.
  10. Normally, 15-30 min and everything is ready. Less time means more liquidy. More time, less liquidy. On that note, the more you leave it the more delicious it will get as everything is deconstructed.
  11. Just a tiny bit before it’s ready, add a couple of tablespoons of milk. It will change the taste profile to a smoother mixture. I personally like it. You will too. Unless you want to have a very raw tomato soup
  12. Take it off the heat and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
  13. When you serve it, add just a bit of yogurt on top – it gives some freshness to it all and if it’s too spicy it will make it a bit more enjoyable

Lee Garden – Review

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Lee Garden – Review

Lee Garden is a typical Cantonese restaurant that offers takeout. Their food is delicious and comes with generous portions.

We have also noted that they have a couple of offers online as well.

They offer takeout and delivery but no dine-in. Experience and even reviews have shown that the delivery times vary (depending on peak time or not) but they are not that much.

Their trip advisor page

They google places page

Generally speaking, Lee Garden is a great take-out place in Loanhead and if you are ever in the vicinity, it is a must-visit.

Location

They are based at 22 Clerk St, Loanhead EH20 9DR, United Kingdom. Check google for opening hours as they may vary.

Parking in the area is a bit tight, but if you explore the nearby streets, we thought it was reasonably straightforward to find a spot.

Take out

The restaurant is take-out only. No dine-in choices are available

Conclusions

We like it. A definite yes if you are looking for some excellent Cantonese Chinese food. The takeout is great and the portions are generous.

Check out our other restaurant reviews!

The joie de vie of a beautifully pan seared salmon

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The joie de vie of a beautifully pan seared salmon

…fancy shmancy in a pan

The salmon filet is one of the most versatile, luxurious and yet simple filets that are around. As it has it’s own strong flavor, it needs to be, almost always as the key and most important part of the dish. Salmon is a very fatty fish, as such, as we have always said – too much of a good thing is not good.

Today we will not explore anything fancy, nor we will do something very very hard. We will just go through the process of cooking a salmon filet right.

Before we start, let’s focus on some very important components. The primary one is the skin. As we will be pan-frying it, the skin is the key component to keep this delicate filet together. Additionally, once you cook it, becomes crunchy and delicious. If by any chance your filet does not have the skin on, you should bake it.

The secondary is temperature. If you put a cold filet of anything in the pan, instead of cooking the meat/fish, it would just try to warm it up, and the extremities would just burn. So let the filet sit in room temperature for a while before you cook it.

The third would be seasoning. There are PLENTY of recipes out there, but if you are a bit scared of handling fish, then salt and pepper are enough.

Ingredients:

  1. salmon filet
  2. salt
  3. pepper
  4. paprika
  5. olive oil

How to get it done:

  1. Take the salmon and cut it in portions.
  2. I would highly recommend a pierce the skin on the portions. It helps them cook much faster. Or at least Gordon Ramsay says so.
  3. Marinate with salt and pepper. I added a bit of spicy paprika for that extra spicy smokiness. I can’t stress the need of fresh ground pepper here. After cooking it adds a bit of complexity to the fatty salmon.
  4. Heat a non-stick pan with no oil. The reason here is that no one expects you to have multiple oils in the house. Chances are that all you got it olive oil and olive oil has a low burn point
  5. As you see that the pan got really hot, drizzle some olive oil, give it a second and then put the salmon skin side down. We shall make this skin crispy. 3 minutes on high heat and turn
  6. After turning, lower the heat a bit so that you do not burn the non-skin protected area.
  7. This should take about 3-4 minutes. In case the salmon is very thick, then maybe a bit more, but keep in mind that you should lower the temperature a bit not to burn it.
  8. Take it off the pan and put it in a plate. Let is sit for a couple of minutes, untouched – like any type of meat
  9. Eat it.
  10. If you want to be fancy, mashed potatoes and some sort of greens (like broccoli or asparagus) work.

Overnight oats for normal people

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Overnight oats for normal people

non-instagram friendly normal food

This general trend of overnight oats become such a big deal which those very beautiful Instagram friendly bowls. Realistically though, those complicated bowls, with countless ingredients, some of them being exotic, has the tendency to get a bit on the expensive side. 

Here in Kitchenette Recipes, we do not like that. As such the focus of this post is to explain the required components to make some delicious, healthy, filling yet friendly for your wallet overnight oats. 

What do you need:

  • Oats
  • Yogurt
  • nuts
  • fruits
  • a natural sweetener if you have a sweet tooth like honey

How to get it done:

The base: oats

When you go to the supermarket, in the breakfast section, you will see a crazy selection of different oats, ready to eat Muesli, cornflakes, etc. The important part here is that you need to look at the bottom, for the cheap and easy natural oatmeal without any added additives. Here you will find a couple of types that differentiate based on the flake size. The best, in my opinion, is the finely grained one. The reasoning is that it takes less time to be integrated and it basically just get mixed almost immediately. 

Now, this is a very personal decision, as such, feel free to experiment. As they are cheap, they will not hurt your wallet. 

The liquid: Yogurt or Milk

Anything works, but yogurt is more settled and you will not get out of the house with a stomach full of liquid. As such, I recommend yogurt. Mix the oats with the yogurt in a sealable container and put them in the fridge overnight. The more you leave them(overnights, not hours), the more the oats are going to retain moisture. 

If you do not leave them overnights, the oats tend to be a bit crunchy to eat, so if you are the type of person that forgets stuff, get the finely grained oats – easier to eat

At this point, we are at a stage where you can have enough fibers to jump-start your day, but it’s not that tasty. 

Nuts & Seeds

Nuts and seeds would needed natural fats and nutrients for you to be a better you. Now in here, you should aim not to overdo it, as too much of a good thing is not always good.

I would recommend using one type per bowl. As a mixture tends to be overpowering and different nuts have different chewability points. One just makes a better bite and a cheaper variation. 

Anything goes here though.

Fruits

Fruits can add that extra punch and make it all fun to eat. Feel free to add anything but, in my opinion, the go-to component should be the banana, as it is sweet enough not to require any of the next steps. Here you can explore anything from fresh to dried fruits but with two key recommendations: the sweeter and the less liquidy, the better. We got nothing against oranges, but keep in mind that they are a bit liquidy. 

Sweetener (if any)

In case there are any issues and you feel like you need to add a bit of sweetness to the whole lot, feel free to add some sort of sweeteners like agave, honey or even maple syrup. Now keep in mind that fruits have a lot of sugar here, which means that you have to be careful. Too much of this stuff is not great as well.

Cheapest, fanciest and french-est sandwich there is: The jambon beurre

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Cheapest, fanciest and french-est sandwich there is: The jambon beurre

As you might have guessed from the spirit of this site, it’s not always about being “traditional”, but mostly feeding ones-self in the best and cheapest way there is.

So imagine this; you just got off a plane, returning from god knows where, spending the whole week in a shady hotel and working all day so all you need is to feel a bit fancy and human again, but you don’t wanna spend an arm and a leg for a steak. Also, you need to get some proper sleep and motivate yourself to start over the next day. 

You go to the nearby supermarket and grab a baguette (because of course, you return in an ungodly hour), a bit of butter and some ham – the juiciest the better.

Then you go home and cut the baguette in half, add a French load of butter to it, and stuff it with ham. Then you hope that the open bottle of wine in the fridge has not gotten worse.

Now sleep.

Your final result should be a juicy sandwich – so when in doubt go for the French way, add more butter.

ingredients

  • The original French jambon-Beurre sandwich that you can find in the streets of Paris
  • A more normal way to handle it

The original French jambon-Beurre sandwich that you can find in the streets of Paris

  1. Find a ficelle baguette (these are the thin ones – grab them from the bakeries. German bakeries for example usually make the thick ones. Aim to find some sort of French place – if you are in Europe, there are plenty around)
  2. Some room temperature butter. Aim to get the simplest and most rustic butter that you can find. If you are in Europe, as I am, and especially Germany where butter is an institution, it’s not that hard
  3. Some very nice, good looking ham. Aim for a ham that is especially moist. Again, not that hard to find.
  4. Slice the baguette, put them together and eat.

A more normal way to handle it

  1. The bread challenge is to find something that is not very “rustic” and very crunchy on the outside. That’s why the baguette is the best solution. You can get also some sort of panini bread. Aim for white bread as it tends to get better results. If you think that the bread that you have chosen is not up to par, give it a quick toast – it always makes things easier. But obviously, it was not easy for me.
  2. Just grab some normal butter – none of that Can’t believe it’s not butter BS or “light” butter – how the hell can butter, which is technically a form of fat, be “light”
  3. You do not need to go overboard with the ham. The reason why ham exists is that it is very very easy to find and cheap. Aim for something in the middle. As always = it needs to be very thin.
  4. If you feel that you need to add a bit of acidity – the French usually add some pickles (those small French pickled cucumber). A bit of tartness – just add some rucola. If you feel a bit cheesy – add some cheese. A little note though: this is your sandwich and you can do as you please – BUT the more you add stuff or change stuff, the less jambon beurre baguette it is.

Pan fried, garlic infused oyster mushrooms with a dab of honey mustard.

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Pan fried, garlic infused oyster mushrooms with a dab of honey mustard.

You know those big weird looking mushrooms that you usually see in the supermarkets, but you never actually thought of trying because they looked not that appetizing. Well, today we will explore those mushrooms – and no – this is not a fancy French approach featuring a whole brick of butter. It is more of a sensible small kitchen / you can not go wrong with the approach.

The key to these mushrooms is not overcrowding the pan. As they are a little tougher than the other types of mushrooms, they need a little extra time and some steam to cook properly. The basic approach is, start with a pan that you can cover in high heat, let them get a nice sear on one side, turn them around and lower the heat. There you add the kryptonite of mushrooms: salt. It will drain the remaining liquid and if you cover it – it will let them actually steam a bit.

You are going to need:

  • 200-250 grams of oyster mushrooms
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • Olive oil for the pan (you can go with butter, but you have to be careful that It doesn’t burn – so I would not go there unless you know what you are doing)
  • Some sort of green fresh herbs (which I did not have at the moment but highly recommend)
  • Salt and pepper
  • A pan with a lid.

How to get it done:

  1. Cut the oyster mushrooms flat. This is the hardest task of them all because these mushrooms come in the most various forms. One of the key things to take into account is thickness. Thicker means more time in the pan. If your pieces are in all different shapes and sizes, their cooking time will vary. This high variance will leave the smallest of the pieces burned and the largest undercooked.
  2. Heat a pan with a bit of olive oil. Once it is hot (note: not smoking – because mushrooms are tender – we do not want them to get a steak sear)
  3. Throw the mushrooms in, try not to overcrowd the pan for best results (note: overcrowding the pan will result in some mushrooms not getting the proper sear – they will definitely cook, so it is not a deal-breaker – but to properly enjoy these mushrooms they need to have a bit of sear)
  4. Give them a couple of minutes and flip them. Once flipped add salt and pepper.
  5. At this point, you need to cover the pan and lower the heat to medium-low. The mushrooms at this point will release the remaining moisture and that will help them cook in the steam.
  6. Give them 5 minutes.
  7. At this point check them, give it a quick stir and add the garlic. The later you add the garlic to a dish, the more present it will be. Once normal clove will give it that great garlicky flavor. On a negative note, if the heat is too high, the garlic will burn – and burned garlic is an acquired taste…
  8. Stir them so everything is incorporated and then take the pan off the heat and toss them with a bit of chopped cilantro/chives/mint/whatever you have and if not, nothing.
  9. Serve them.
  10. Now if the thing about mushrooms is that if you let them get cold, they release some liquid and become soggy. I would highly recommend to eat them piping hot.
  11. As a final comment – I tried them with a bit of honey mustard – and the taste was interesting and rich. As a side dish – definitely recommended.

Food Guide: What and How to eat in Milan

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Food Guide: What and How to eat in Milan

Ufff Italy is just another level. I just can’t even anymore. Before someone calls me for overreacting, let me start off with a simple example.

I went to a standard restaurant and ordered beef tartare. Last time I had beef tartare, I was in Frankfurt, in a simple, yet great restaurant, and it was recommended by my German friends as a must-try. The tartare was in an open-faced sandwich bun, topped with chopped onions. Now – it was delicious as the meat tasted outstanding, but then I ordered something similar in Milan. The latter was served on a flatbread, topped with parmesan cheese, sweet and sour onion, dried cherry tomatoes, capers and on a side of honey mustard sauce.

Unfortunately, this review is a little biased, as Italian cuisine has been part of my life since I was a kid – so I warned you!

What we will handle today:

  • vibe
  • what to eat
  • food quality
  • service
  • delivery
  • remarks

Vibe.

Milan is part of the posh financial industry area of Italy, where a lot of people go to work in Switzerland and return back to enjoy life. Other than that, you know that for Italians, food solves everything. Say that you have a morning meeting – no need for the office, let’s have it with a caffe e cornetto on the bar downstairs. Need to figure out the basis of the business deal? Sure, let’s grab lunch somewhere and talk about it. Do you have something to discuss, or there is a problem to solve? Yes – let’s discuss it over dinner! It is easier to express yourself over some great 4-course meal and wine.

See? What else you need to know about the vibe?

What to eat.

First of all, like in all Italy, the morning and this milan food guide starts with the very normal caffe e cornetto. You can go to whatever cafe that is open and ask for caffe e cornetto and you will be fine.

Second the traditions:

  • The costoletta – which, in my opinion, is the bigger brother of the Schnitzel – done alla Italian aka just better
  • The oosobucco – which is nothing else than a veal shank, but slow-cooked. Usually, they just put it on top of a risotto plate, but contrary to popular belief, do not mix them – there is so much flavor in both that I would recommend to experience one at a time
  • The risotto – Milan is very well known for the risotto’s, served with the oosobucco. They have a way of doing it and it is just amazing – especially the plates with the saffron very mild flavor and yellow tint.
  • The panettone – some say that it was birthed in Milan, but I would focus on trying the custom made one of the small bakeries that have around them all year long.
  • The Trippa – or tripe – which is basically a soup with a bunch of veggies, with simple boiled cow’s stomach. Now, some restaurants have it a special every once in a while – so if you see it, take it!

Third, the day to day stuff:

  • The easy and local way to grab lunch is through a piadina. Whils’t in most of Italy, the panini’s are the key launchable’s, il milanesi prefer the piadina’s.
  • Milan is very well known for their alta clase society and as such, cool dinner places and modern or innovative outtakes to classic food are to be expected. The Italian dining culture starts with the aperitivo’s, dinner and the digestivo’s. Usually the three are spread out into 2-3 locations. Expect a lot of small places, to grab drinks!

Note: I really do not need to rant on the pizza and pasta, right?

Food quality.

It is hard in Italy to get bad food – one of the key reasons being that most of the key ingredients are local. Let me put it this way: I was flying from Frankfurt, and I had my connecting flight in Milan. As it was a Friday night, I grabbed a quick sandwich in Frankfurt and then once in Milan I would evaluate the situation. I landed in Milan, and as traveling makes me hungry, and my connection was in a couple of hours, I thought to grab another sandwich – and here we are talking about the small sandwich shops near the gates in an airport. The difference in taste was night and day!

Service.

Generally speaking, cannot complain. The waiters are nice – and it helps as I speak a bit of Italian. Cards are accepted almost everywhere (I am not sure about American express though as it is not as popular in Europe).

Waiting times – are usually depending on the case. It is recommended to reserve beforehand. Eating is a big part of the day to day activities – as such expect people to explore!

Delivery.

I have never tried food delivery in Italy, let alone Milan. Italian food it to be enjoyed fresh, with a glass of wine and with people around(while practicing social distancing – I am updating this milan food guide while quarantined in corona times) – not in a plastic container – do not do this to yourself!

General Conclusions.

It’s Italy, and we are talking about food! What is there to discuss? Let this Milan food guide be a reference to you.

Bottom line: Milano is COOL.

Check out my other Frankfurt food guide or follow me on Instagram for a whole lot more

Cacio e Pepe: Easiest, simplest yet most glorious pasta recipe in the world

Kitchenette Traveler
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Cacio e Pepe: Easiest, simplest yet most glorious pasta recipe in the world

…perfect for any occasion

They say that this is one of the oldest recipes that you can find, some debating that it is roman, some others debating that it is wrong. Keeping in mind that we are in no way puritans of anything, and in this page is just for people that are trying to make it to work in time, a simple pasta recipe, whose hardest part is the waiting time for the pasta to boil, sounds too good to be true.

You know what they say, when it is too good to be true, it usually it isn’t. For Cacio e Pepe this is somewhat true – because this pasta will get you fat. Now not all my recipes will get you fat though. Most are healthy. Check out some of them here

ingredients

  • salt
  • 150 grams of pasta. Would recommend something like linguine or spaghetti.
  • 3 tablespoons butter,
  • 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
  • 1/3 cup finely grated Pecorino

What to try

  1. Boil the pasta in marinated water in salt, pepper and olive oil. Make sure to boil 1 minute less than the prescribed time. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water
  2. Melt the 2/3 of the butter in a large pan – be careful on the heat though – you do not want to burn it.
  3. Add the pepper and mix it around for around a minute or so in the pan
  4. Add about half a cup of the pasta water and let it simmer.
  5. Then add the pasta, the rest of the butter
  6. At this moment it is time to put the heat down to low and add the cheese. If you have only one type of cheese, then add only one type of cheese.
  7. For the case at hand, pecorino romano is a very sutle cheese and extremely tender, so just remove the pan from the heat while you mix it up.
  8. The whole point of this exercise is to melt all the cheese! Now depending on the case, if the pasta looks like it is very dry, add a tiny bit more butter and some pasta water. It will loosen it right up!
  9. Please, for the love of what’s holly, eat this dish right away!
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