nnorm blog

The Bay Leaf Thing

nnorm — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I'm seeing a lot of misinformation on the internet everyday. I guess it's part of the package deal when spending a lot of time on social media, with all its AI slop and influencers. I can't address it all, obviously, but there's one recurring thing that's been bugging me for a while now in the food adjacent spaces.</p>

It's the Bay Leaf Thing</em>. What's the bay leaf thing? It's the common idea that this ingredient, so simple and very much present throughout many cuisines, doesn't actually add anything to dishes. It (supposedly) doesn't taste or smell like anything and even if it did, it wouldn't add enough to whatever large pot of food you're making.</p>

I should be honest here: I had this opinion on the matter, in fact frequently omitting them because...why not? It doesn't add anything! ❌WRONG</strong></em>❌</p>

The Proper Way: acquiring, storing and using bay leaves</h1>
This will be short and sweet:</p>

Get yourself some fresh bay leaves, preferably from the farmer's market. You're looking for leaves that are pliable and definitely not crunchy. They should have a nice dark green color. Buy a whole bouquet of it. They should still be on the branch.</li>
Once home, get yourself a ziploc bag (or any other airtight container of your choice) and take each leave off the branch by pinching at the base and it pulling away following the direction of the stem.</li>
Place them in a even layer and put that bag/container in the freezer. This only works if you have the kind that's rated to get things from warm to freezing temperatures. If it's just for storage of already frozen goods this might not be a good idea.</li>
You now have super fresh, super fragrant bay leaves ready to go for the next 6 months. Congratulations! 🎉</li> </ul>
To use them you can just drop one, two or three of them (or more if you really want to) in any dish. Do not attempt to blend them, there will be shards of bay leaves in your sauce and it won't be nice. You can however tear them in halves to extract a bit more oils.</p>
What does it actually taste like? (to me)</h1>
This is the part that's kind of confusing and important: they do taste like something but I find it hard to describe. It's quite a bit peppery and minty, but while the smell is "sharp" the taste/aroma isn't. It's definitely forward when just by itself but when added to rich broths or long simmered sauces it seems to bring a nice vegetal depth. I think this is where concentration is important. The more concentrated, the more peppery and sharp.</p>
Now I've focused on fresh bay leaves in this article, because that's what I use. However a lot of people will still use the dried version, which is in my opinion too subtle. But it does have the advantage to also be more floral than "minty".</p>
Use cases that you might wanna try</h1>
One thing I really like to do with them is purée. Any vegetables purée really, but I find it shines bright with your simple homemade mashed potatoes. Basically just put a leaf or two in the water you're going to boil your potatoes in and takes them out before mashing them. It's off topic but I might suggest also using star anise in there, it really does tastes incredible.</p>
I don't think it's really an original one, but I really like the depth it adds to curry. In particular the japanese variety; it's a particularly sweet kind, so the contrast is welcome.</p>
One case where I don't think it would work so well is in a very plain stew, like a pot-au-feu. I think it would be too present in the overall flavor profile, masking the contrasting of flavors of the different vegetables.</p>

Forbidden Carbonara

nnorm — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

</p>
Ingredients</h1>
For 1 serving</strong>:</p>

60g smoked lardons</li>
1 clove of garlic (germ removed, sliced thin</em>)</li>
A dozen green peppercorns (crushed in mortar and pestle, you can use black pepper if that's what you have</em>)</li>
80g dry pasta, preferrably the shorter/smaller kind (radiatori</a> is my favorite</em>)</li>
1 teaspoon dashi granules (preferrably the fish based kind</em>)</li>
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk</li>
1 tablespoon worth of parmesan (use freshly coarsly grated</em>)</li>
furikake (your preferred kind, my recommandation would be the nori tamago variant</em>)</li>
Shichimi togarashi</li> </ul>
Instructions</h1>

Start by stir frying the lardons on medium heat to render out the fat, you can add a teaspoon of olive oil to help the process if it's too dry.</li>
Once most of the fat is rendered out, add the garlic and crushed peppercorns. Cook until fragrant. Add the dry pasta and lightly toast. Then add just enough boiling water to cover the pasta and the dashi granules. Cook risotto style on medium-low. Add more boiling water if necessary.</li>
In the meantime, add the eggs and parmesan to a tall container and blitz with an immersion blender. Add a teaspoon of water to loosen up slightly.</li>
Once the pasta is mostly cooked (very al dente) cut the heat and wait a couple of minutes, then add the egg/cheese mixture and vigorously stir. Turn the heat back on to low and gradually increase it to reach medium-low, while stirring continuously to form the creamy sauce. This may take longer than you expect, but if you know how to make this dish you can get the right consistancy in 5 minutes instead of 15 minutes. However I urge you to take your time as the sauce can become less creamy if the heat is set too high too fast.</li>
Serve in a bowl, top with the furikake and a line across the bowl of shichimi togarashi.</li> </ol>
Bonus notes</h1>
I've developped this dish as treat to give myself when I had little time to cook but wanted to eat something naughty. It's a play on the traditionnal carbonara with some additionnal ingredients and slightly different technique, some loosely inspired by Japanese cuisine. I've found that the dashi and furikake adds a nice layer of fish flavor, creating a sort of surf'n'turf variant of the classical version of the dish.</p>
Using green peppercorns instead of black pepper makes the dish less intense, as the floral aromas of the green type round things off a bit.</p>
The technique of cooking the pasta in little water, in the same fashion as a risotto, allows to retain a lot more starch which help the sauce become very creamy despite not having a ton of added fat or cheese. It also stays creamy a bit longer and saves the trouble of cleaning another pot just to cook pasta. I advise to bye good quality pasta (look for a pale color and rough surface) as lower quality pasta doesn't release nearly as much starch.
The shichimi togarashi is optional but for platting's sake makes a nice contrast and "breaks" the round geometry of the bowl.</p>
This recipe scales pretty well up to 3-4 servings, you can easily make that for two on a date night. The portion size should be enough, it's purposefully not huge to give space for a refreshing salad or a cute dessert!
You can replace the smoked lardons with mushrooms and smoked paprika (liquid smoke would work really well too), but I can't vouch for it as I haven't tried it yet.</p>

Special Lentils&Rice

nnorm — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ingredients</h1>
For 4 servings:</p>

2 tablespoons canola oil</li>
12-16 mushrooms (chopped, button mushrooms or shiitake</em>)</li>
1 medium/large onion (medium dice</em>)</li>
4-6 cloves of garlic (fine dice/paste</em>)</li>
1 thumb of ginger (fine dice/paste</em>)</li>
2 medium/small carrots (small dice</em>)</li>
1 large zucchini (medium dice</em>)</li>
1 medium turnip (small dice</em>)</li>
1 tablespoon tomato paste (double concentrate</em>)</li>
1 teaspoon miso (any kind will workn I prefer the darker ones</em>)</li>
3 teaspoons garam masala</li>
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric</li>
2 fresh bay leaves (dried is fine but the flavor is muted</em>)</li>
2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or any other variety</em>)</li>
200g lentils (soaked for at least 8 hours prior in salt water</em>)</li>
240g brown rice (washed and soaked for 1 hours prior</em>)</li>
salt and pepper to taste</li> </ul>
For dressing:</p>

Any chili crisps (Laoganma is my go to, this one</a> in particular</em>)</li>
Fried shallots</li>
Fried garlic</li>
Nori flakes</li> </ul>
Instructions</h1>
In a large pot (5-6L in volume) add the canola oil and let it heat for a few minutes on medium. Start by stir-frying the mushrooms with a pinch of salt until golden brown and all the water has evaporated. Then add the garlic/ginger/onion and let them warm up until fragrant. Add the rest of the vegetables and let them sweat and lightly caramelize. Add the tomato paste and miso, along with all the spices. Stir fry until fragrant and the pastes have caramelized a bit, but be sure not to burn the spices!</p>
Meanwhile, drain, rinse and add the lentils to the pot. Cover with hot water (or broth of your choice) and mix well. Add The light soy sauce as well. Bring the whole pot to a gentle boil and then reduce to a low simmer, and let it cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Drain the brown rice and add it to the pot. Mix well then add a bit more hot water. You'll have to figure out the quantity as it all depends on how much has evaporated. You're aiming for around a centimeter of liquid above the solids. Bring to a boil then reduce to a very low simmer and cover. Let it cook for 20 minutes. Uncover to mix and check for doneness on the rice, cover again and let it carry on for another 10 to 15 minutes depending on how done the rice is. We're aiming for a rather soft consistency. In any case the last 5 minutes should be done uncovered to allow for excess water to evaporate away. The final consistency of the dish should not be mushy or soupy, the rice should be sauced up a bit but not drowning in broth and it should not be over cooked.</p>
To serve, make a pile of the dish in a bowl and lightly pack it. Add a nice teaspoon of chili crisps with some of the oil, a generous pinch of fried shallots and garlic, and a dusting of nori flakes.</p>
Bonus notes</h1>
This is a dish that I've developped over a couple of years in pursue of find more balanced dishes to add to my regular rotation. I wanted something vegetarian/vegan with enough protein, carbs and fibers to keep me well fed for at least 6 hours without feeling bloated and support my goal of getting fitter. As a bonus once your pantry is stocked with the special ingredients (which you don't need a lot of), the dish is relatively cheap as lentils and rice usually are.</p>
I wanted this to be made in batches so that I had multiple meals covered too. This remarkably keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, but I believe that the texture would get mushy in the freezer so I would avoid it.</p>
As far as inspiration goes I started with some indian rice lentil dish then added some japanese ingredients that I like and that I think goes well in there. You can also keep that general idea and replace the tomato paste or miso with some other fermented bean paste, I suspect gochujang would do great in there. Another thing I really like with this is that you can absolutely switch up the vegetables and use completely different ones. This recipe is more tailored for winter veggies that I find in my area, but it can definitely be arranged for a fall or spring vibe! In the summer I think you could twist the recipe and turn it into a big salad or keep it a hot dish if that's your thing. It's very flexible. You could add some meat or fish and make this omni if you really want to, you could reduce the quantities per serving and use this as a side dish too! Finally you can use other types of rice, I used brown because I like it in there, but I think it would work great with black rice, riceberry or even simple white basmati rice.</p>

Before I get into this, I think it's important to point out that there are basically no benefit of counting calories and inspecting macros in general. It's only interesting if you can avoid yourself falling into an eating disorder, which is incredibly common among people who do that and very damaging. This was relevant to ME because I wanted to have an approximate idea of what I was ACTUALLY eating both in terms of quantity and content. That was my way of re-adjusting my eating habits after years of really crappy ones.</p> </blockquote>
Depending on the calculator (which are not very accurate and largely unnecessary) this recipe should yield per each servings: 640kcal, 26g protein, 115g carbohydrates and lots of minerals, vitamins and fibers. I've used verywellfit.com recipe analyzer</a> to produce these numbers, which I have rounded for simplicity.</p>

The Best Hot Cocoa Ever

nnorm — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Ingredients</h1>
For 1 big mug:</p>

100ml of cow milk</li>
250ml of soy milk</li>
2 tablespoons worth of dark chocolate</li>
3 teaspoons of dark cocoa powder</li>
1 teaspoon of masa harina</li>
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamom</li>
1 tiny pinch of salt</li>
1 solid pinch of aleppo pepper flakes</li>
honey or any over sweetener/syrup to taste</li> </ul>
Instructions</h1>
Pour the two milks (or use 350ml of soy milk in place of the mix) in a sauce pan along with the dark chocolate in bits. Use a whisk to incorporate and melt the chocolate on low-medium heat. Once the chocolate is fully incorporated add the cocoa powder, cinnamom, salt, and aleppo pepper flakes. Mix until fully homogeneous, it should be smooth.</p>
Add the masa harina while stirring constantly, little by little to avoid clumps. Keep stirring until the drink lightly thickens. Taste for sweetness and dissolve honey as needed/desired.</p>
Finally pour the drink in a nice cup that you like, you can use a small strainer to catch any remaining solids, but I don't mind them since they fall of the bottom.</p>
Drink hot. Voilà!</p>
Supplemental notes/QA</h1>
"Why use soy milk?"</h2>

Because the fat content is similar to cow milk and the taste works well! However you can mix it with some almond milk and/or oat milk. The latter is particularly delicious with cow milk as well.</p> </blockquote>
"Why so much chocolate?"</h2>

That's my preference. I like intensity. You can reduce the cocoa powder if it's too bitter/sweet for you. Everybody's palate is different, and every preference is acceptable. No shame in changing the recipe!</p> </blockquote>
"Why so little pepper flakes?"</h2>

I wanted a very faint impression of heat, but I think you could add more without being too much. You can also skip that entirely if you don't like the sweet/heat combination or chili peppers.</p> </blockquote>
"What's masa harina?"</h2>

It's masa (mexican processed corn paste) that's been dehydrated to make "harina", flour in Spanish. It is immensely important in mexican cuisine.</p> </blockquote>
"Why all this effort/ingredients?"</h2>

I think this is a treat, something to make for yourself and/or loved ones from time to time. It is rich, decadent, intense. I wouldn't want to have that for dessert every day. So, might as well make it extra special!</p> </blockquote>
"Mexican hot chocolate? Don't you mean champurrado???"</h2>

You are right! That's absolutely the inspiration. I didn't use that name because it's not commonly known in Western countries yet, fingers crossed!</p> </blockquote>

nnorm blog

The Bay Leaf Thing

Forbidden Carbonara

Special Lentils&Rice

Ingredients</h1> For 4 servings:</p>

The Best Hot Cocoa Ever

Supplemental notes/QA</h1>

"Mexican hot chocolate? Don't you mean champurrado???"</h2> You are right! That's absolutely the inspiration. I didn't use that name because it's not commonly known in Western countries yet, fingers crossed!</p> </blockquote>

"Mexican hot chocolate? Don't you mean champurrado???"</h2>

You are right! That's absolutely the inspiration. I didn't use that name because it's not commonly known in Western countries yet, fingers crossed!</p> </blockquote>