Rabbit Cacciatore

Rabbit Cacciatore or Italian hunter’s stew is another recipe that I originally found in the Williams Sonoma catalog more than 20 yrs ago.  And I have been making it ever since.

Algerian lamb stew

This is a recipe that I have been cooking for 20 yrs. There is nothing better on a cold winter day than a hearty stew cooked in the Bulgarian earthen pot.

Scallops with English peas purée and porcini mushrooms

This is a seafood variation of the Duck breast with mushrooms and English peas, and like that recipe, it uses ideas from two previous recipes: Duck breast with lavender and honey, and English peas purée with mint and Bulgarian feta.

Gazpacho of tomatoes and watermelon

As a good Bulgarian I eat tomatoes all summer long, and my husband makes fun of me for never getting tired of the Bulgarian tomato salad (with a twist).  This recipe mixes two of the favorite things that Bulgarians combines with feta cheese – tomatoes and watermelon.

Squid ink pasta with tomato-fennel-calamari sauce

This dish is a variation of the the Squid ink pasta with tomato-fennel-saffron sauce and pan fried shrimp. Here, chef Mark Doraszelski and I substituted the shrimp for calamari, and it was a very successful experiment. Ever since I discovered a new source for squid ink, our local fish monger in Noe Valley Billingsgate, I have…

Duck breast with mushrooms and English peas

I cooked this dish for my husband’s birthday.  It uses ideas from two previous recipes: Duck breast with lavender and honey, and English peas purée with mint and Bulgarian feta.

Hamachi crudo

This is a very quick and easy appetizer that is a great crowd pleaser. The slight difficulty is finding sashimi-grade hamachi (yellow-tail tuna). In San Francisco, my go-to fish monger is Billingsgate.

Risotto with dungeness crab

As I promised in the original risotto post the possibilities are endless.  Dungeness crab risotto is fresh,  luxurious and indulgent dish.  I have to say that I was introduced to Dungeness crab by our dear friend Wendy who has been hosting us for crab night for years.  I learned from her that the California Dungeness crab season is during  the “r” months: November to April.

Whole fish “La Rosetta”

This dish is my attempt to reverse engineer a recipe from the La Rosetta restaurant in Rome. Saal and I went there for the first time in 2008 on a recommendation from my friend Luben Dimcheff, and it was one of those meals you remember. We went back with Luben and my parents in September…