My curiously tasty scallop, pineapple and napa cabbage Cevi-chi

Dear Friends, long time no see!

Sorry for the absence but I’ve been kidnapped by my new job. I basically don’t have free time or energy anymore but I can afford fancy plates!

Today I would like to show you the spicy, juicy and flavourful merge between a new and an old passion of mine: kimchi (fermented napa cabbage) and ceviche (marinated fish).

Back in Italy I used to work with a very skilled Peruvian Chef who introduced me to the amazing world of South American marinated goods. 

Since then lime juice, salt, tons of onions and spicy peppers are my best friends (I’m not mentioning cilantro on purpose: cilantro is not my friend).

I discovered kimchi a couple of years ago while roaming the shelves of an Asian market. I only had tinned kimchi until a few months ago I first tried making my own. 

At first I followed this extremely easy and reliable recipe; later on I experimented a bit by adding and swapping some ingredients (in this recipe I used a napa cabbage-pineapple), they all turned out pretty good but I suggest you to follow a recipe until you are experienced enough.

Kimchi is not for everyone. It is tangyness (is that even a real word?) made food: either you love it or you hate it. 

Be prepared, if you’d like to go diy your pantry will have an intense smell of kimchi.

Sorry if dwelled a bit on the smelly aspect of kimchi but I don’t want to receive angry emails from upset readers.

Once you’ve made your kimchi (or bought it, booo!) finishing the recipe is surprisingly easy.

Get some fresh scallops (you can replace them with halibut or cod), lime juice, spring onion and whatever you like (for these pictures I’ve been using black sesame and habanero yellow chillies, they weren’t exactly photogenic). Finely slice the fish and let it sit in a mixture of kimchi liquid and lime juice for about 10/15 minutes (I learned how to make ceviche from a Limeña so I like my marinate fast to keep distinct flavours). When the fish is ready just dish up using you taste and fantasy.

I really hope you enjoy this new entry, if you have comments and/or questions about this or the previously posted recipes please feel free to write me.

Enjoy!

Carrot, sesame and miso soup

This is a very simple, satisfying and colorful vegetables and miso soup. It's also highly customizable: the main ingredient still needs to be carrot (it should make up for 2/3 of the total ingredients) but  you can add any vegetable you want, providing that they have a "discreet" color that would not overwhelm the tonality of the carrots. I suggest not to use potatoes because I think they don't pair very well with miso. This soup is perfect to warm up hungry bellies and also it has an excellent protein contribution despite being completely vegan. I will not write quantities here so you can decide yourself, according to your own taste. Here we go!

Heat up the peanut oil in a large casserole and add leek and ginger. Stir-fry until the leek is soft then add cabbage and carrots. Toast them a little then cover with some water (make sure that the water completely covers up the ingredients). Cover the casserole with a lid and boil for about 20 minutes. When the carrots are soft take the casserole off the fire and blend the ingredients with a hand-mixer. Add the miso and stir until it dissolves (make sure miso doesn't boil, or you'll "kill" it). Dish up and decorate with sesame seeds, sesame oil and thin stripes of chili peppers. 

If you manage to find purple carrots (which are the original European variety) use them: your soup will be purple and its taste will be more rich. Another excellent possible addition is chopped up shiitake mushrooms, sautéed and added right before the sesame.  

  Buon appetito!

Apple and cinnamon muffin with a hint of ginger and nutmeg.

Best muffins I made since a couple of months: crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside (the recipe I was using in Italy didn't really work with the oven I use here in Norway).

The procedure is super simple, found on allrecipes.com!