Weekend...

...is coming home from a randoné tour up Kvannfjellet, sit down underneath the duvet on the couch and finish reading a good book - IJsland (Iceland) by Dutch author Ronald Giphart.

Have a great weekend!

A historic dessert...

This lovely dessert, consisting of a fig almond compote topped with cinnamon flavoured whipped cream, that I got served at Ørlandet Kysthotell today, comes with a story.

As the story goes, this dessert was served at banquets held at Austråttborgen at Ørlandet by Lady Inger of Ostrat. Familiar name? Well, for those of you who have read some works by the Norwegian author and playwriter Henrik Ibsen, it might by familiar, as he has written a play with the same title. 

Lady Inger of Ostrat lived at Austrått castle from 1475 to 1555 as a lady of noblesse. While married to Niels Henrikssøn - an important figure in Norwegian politics at that time - Lady Inger held to the background. After her husband's death though, she became politically active herself and became known for her public dispute with archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson, who apparently had played part in getting Lady Inger's sons in law murdered and had robbed the Austrått castle several times.

The recipe for this dessert comes from a cookbook by Hans Brask, which was published in 1520. Well, I can tell you that this dessert was just as lovely nearly 500 years later!

Culinary Resolutions for 2011

A new year....New opportunities, both in the kitchen and for this blog. Yes...it's been a while since I've updated this blog, but let's start fresh and begin with some culinary resolutions for 2011.

* Remodel our kitchen.
We have been living in our apartment for two and a half years now and have been annoyed with the lay out of the kitchen for quite a while now. Nearly no countertop space, in desperate need of more storage cupboards....but with a kitchen that is 10 sq mtr we don't have that many options available.
I have been trying to come up with the best solution, but finally understood that we might need some professional help here. So earlier this week all measurements were given to a local kitchen design store. Now we are waiting anxiously for the design they will draw up for us. I can't wait until the next meeting....Maybe it's a lay out we thought off ourselves, maybe it's a completely different and new lay out..... Fingers crossed!

* Cook more recipes from the food magazines I receive and buy each month.
I have been a fan of the Norwegian magazine Maison Mat og Vin for a couple of years now, and have bought the issues I loved at the newsstand for the same amount of time, together with some of the other, mainly British food magazines that I love. I flip through each of them a thousand times, drool over the recipes, plan to try them and then....yes, they just get stored away without the recipes even come onto the table. About time to approach it more meticulously.... I will try to make 1 recipe from each of the magazines that I buy and receive (especially now that I have treated myself to a subscription to Maison Mat og Vin!).

* Cook my way through 1 entire cookbook.
With both my growing cookbook collection and with the movie Julia & Julie in mind, I should try to cook my way through one entire cookbook. Maybe that will help me to stop buying even more cookbooks! Maybe that will learn me a bit more about different ingredients that I rarely buy and use! Maybe that will give me some new skills and perspectives on food!

* Learn a little something about wine and experiment more with cocktails.
After nearly ten years of living in Norway, you know that you have become a bit Norwegian when you find yourself in the tax free department of the airport, desperately seeking after different bottles of wine and liquor to fill up the quota you can import to Norway. (The sales of wine and liquor are state controlled in Norway, which means that the prices on these items are quite high.)
Normally when travelling abroad, I wouldn't pay that much attention to which bottles I would bring back to Norway with me, but in 2010 my husband and I have been shopping more meticulously, and have started to build up a pretty good selection of liquor and wine. Maybe some new favourite cocktails will show up on this blog as we work our way through the book "500 Cocktails and other drinks"!

* Learn more about BBQing.
I barely dare to write this.....Last summer, with all the great weather we got, we didn't use our cute Weber Baby Q at all! I am ashamed...very ashamed! With such a handy gass BBQ at hand, it should be no problem to serve up some great dishes in no time.....So, note to myself: learn more about BBQing and use the Baby Q at hand!

* Make more jams, preserves and other canned goods.
I thought I did good in 2010. I thought I made quite a bit of jam.....But now that we have come halfway through a dark, snowfull winter.....the amount of jam seems not to last until summer reappears. Last summer I turned 7 kg of strawberries, 5 liters of blueberries, 2 liters of blackcurrants and 3 liters of redcurrants into jam, and it still won't be enough! I blame Frosty the Snowman....He's the one making us sit inside in front of the fireplace, enjoying those delicious Norwegian waffles with fattening sour cream and homemade jam..... Ouch...I will have a big job in front of me to get back into bikini shape! Anyway....note to myself: pick more berries, buy more strawberries (and eat less waffles the rest of this winter and the whole next winter)!

* Give gardening another go, as in: grow my own herbs and tomatoes.
Each summer I get bitten by the gardening bug.....The only problem is that it happens a little bit too late. By the time I have gotten infected with "gardener's disease", I should have already planted seeds and nurtured those baby tomato plants and herb plants inside for a couple of months. Which means that I never get to taste my own homegrown cherry tomatoes. Will do better this year, will get bitten by bug earlier....I hope!

* Don't let food go to waste.
I do most of the cooking in our household. I am the one planning the meals and writing the grocery list. I am also the one who is travelling a lot for work and spending several nights each week away from home.....So by the end of the week, I have to throw out some of the veggies and fruit that I planned on using, as they are past the point where they still seem appetizing... I hate throwing away food. I get a guilty conscience, thinking about those who starve...about the environment....Definitely should do better this year!!

* Bake more bread.
I am a pretty good baker...that is, when it comes to cakes, pies, muffins, cookies and everything else that's sweet and yummy.....but I do not bake a lot of bread. It's a shame, especially with the good selection of different types of flours available at a regular supermarket here in Norway. Northern Europe, and maybe mostly Scandinavia and Germany, are known for their great breads. Eating bread each day, I should be able to make more myself..... I will start Project Scandibread....the search for the best Scandinavian bread recipe!

And last, but not least:

* Plan more dinner nights with family and friends.
After the kichen has been remodelled, I hope that we will have more space for dinner parties and entertaining. A passion and love for food should be shared with family and friends, as much as possible!


Well....that should be enough to keep me busy! I will keep you up to date!
 
Have a great culinary 2011!

The Return...

... is the second book by Victoria Hislop that I have read.

Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada's cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city's shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain's devastating civil war.

Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country's fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.

Whereas her previous novel - The Island - was a pageturner, I found myself struggling to get through Hislop's second novel. The idea behind the plot is great, the execution of it could definitely have been better.

Have a good read!

Asian Wok

Today I tried another recipe from the latest addition to my cook book collection...and this was the first recipe that disappointed me. I expected the dish to taste quite a bit as the chicken is marinated, but it turned out a bit too bland for my tastebuds. I'll post the recipe anyway, because maybe some of you can suggest what to add to give it more flavour ?!

Asian Wok
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
4 chicken filets
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tbsp of shredded ginger
1/2 tbsp of shredded garlic
250 gr glass noodles (vermicelli)
2 carrots
1 leek
1 squash
1 head of brokkoli, divided into florets
1 tsp of fish sauce

1.) Cut the chicken filets into pieces and transfer to a medium sized bowl.
2.) Add the olive oil, soy sauce, ginger and garlic and stir well. Set aside for 15 to 30 minutes.

3.) Put the glass noodles into a large bowl and top off with lukewarm water. Set aside.

4.) Peal the carrots and slice the carrots.
5.) Slice the leek and dice the squash.

6.) Heat up a wok, add the chicken and fry for a couple of minutes.
7.) Add the carrot slices, leek slices, florets of broccoli and fish sauce, and stir fry for about 5 minutes.
8.) Add the squash and stir fry for another minute.
9.) Drain the glass noodles and add to the wok, stir fry for another minute and serve! (Do not warm the noodles too long, as they will become mooshy!)

Now, what to add to give this dish more flavour? Red chilli? An Asian type of sauce? Any recommendations will be welcome!

Blueberry Apricot Muffins

It's raining cats and dogs outside, there's nothing on TV...so what do you do? Well, that's when I start to bake. Mainly because afterwards I will be able to crawl up on the couch underneath my duvet with a cup of hot cocao, a newly baked muffin and continue to read the book I started yesterday. Then the rain outside seems a whole lot more cosy than half an hour ago...especially when I remember the lovely summer's day that I picked the blueberries I used in these muffins!

Today I tried to bake muffins with the wholegrain spelt flour I found this weekend at one of the larger supermarkets down in the village....and the result: DE-LI-CIOUS!!!

Blueberry Apricot Muffins
(makes about 18 muffins)

Ingredients:
125 gr butter
1 dl sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 dl dried apricots, finely chopped
2 tsp baking powder
1,5 dl wholegrain spelt flour
3 dl all-purpose flour
1,5 dl milk
2 dl blueberries (preferably frozen)

1.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2.) Mix the butter with the sugar in a medium sized bowl with a handmixer, until light and airy.
3.) Add the eggs one at a time.
4.) Add the vanilla sugar, the apricots, the baking powder and the two types of flour, and stir well.
5.) Add the milk and the blueberries, and stir until it becomes a smooth batter.
6.) Line a muffin pan with paper muffin forms, or put double paper muffins forms unto a baking tray.
7.) Use two spoons to divide the batter over the muffin forms, approximately 1 tbsp of batter per form.
8.) Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven, until golden brown. Check with a cake needle that the muffins are baked completely.
9.) Transfer the muffins to a rack to cool, after they have cooled down in the muffin pan for 5 minutes first.

Enjoy!

Fish Stew

I try to have fish on the menu twice a week, but apparently I forgot to do that the last couple of weeks... So it was about time that I went to the local fishmonger and bought some great cod filets to try another recipe from the newest book in my cook book collection. I can recommend this lovely mild fish stew to anyone!

Tomato Fish Stew
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
600 gr filets of cod (without skin and bones)
1 onion
1 red (bell) pepper
a handful of mushrooms
butter
fishstock
400 gr canned tomatoes
3 dl crème fraîche
salt/pepper

1.) Cut the fish into bitesize pieces.
2.) Dice the onion and the red pepper, and slice the mushrooms.
3.) Add a tbsp of butter to a medium sized cookery pot and fry the onion, red pepper and mushrooms until golden.
4.) Add the fishstock (I used a cube), canned tomatoes and crème fraîche and stir well.
5.) Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes.
6.) Add the pieces of cod and let it simmer for another 4-5 minutes.
7.) Add salt and pepper to taste.
8.) Serve with rice and some fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Den hemlige kocken...

...is the title of a book by journalist Mats-Eric Nilsson that was published in Sweden in 2007 and stirred up quite a debate. Last week I finally found the Norwegian version - Den hemmelige kokken - in my local bookshop, and Mats-Eric Nilsson definitely has succeeded in opening up my eyes to the secrets of the food industry!

When Mats-Eric Nilsson started to read the fine print on the labels of different food items, he got scared. The green colour of storebought pistachio ice cream came from spinach, not pistachios. The vanilla flavour in vanilla yoghurt was achieved by adding vanillin, a food additive produced from rotten pine trees, not the seeds from a vanilla pod. Something as simple as mayonnaise - normally an emulsion of  egg yolks, oil and vinegar or lemon juice - could contain a long list of additives when bought readymade. Additives that in Europe would be hidden behind so called E-numbers, like E421 and E300, instead of the long and difficult names of these mostly chemically produced additives. It made him want to know more about food additives, but most of all about the secrets of the food industry and therefore the truth about the food we normally buy and eat without a second thought. In this book he reveals many of those secrets, gives you an overview of all food additives and gives you advice on what additives to avoid.

Did you know that an average of 7 kilos of additives is consumed per person throughout a year?! You should know what you eat, therefore this book should be read by everyone, especially foodies!

Have a great read!

Baby Beanie

Today I finished knitting a beanie that matches with the tiny socks I knitted earlier.

For this baby beanie, I used this pattern from Drops Design, along with the pattern diagram I used when knitting the tiny socks.

Have a great day!!!

Mexi Soup

Winter has come early this year. Snowflakes are falling from the sky and the temperature has dropped below zero....Summer clothes are being stowed away... Let the season for the oh-so-sexy woolen longjohns, the flattering beanie hair does and pratical waterproof shoes begin!! I guess just the thought of minus degrees and woolen longjohns makes you shiver... Well, guess what? The spicy, mexican flavoured soup I made today will warm you up!

Mexi Soup
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
400 gr minced meat
1 leek, sliced
butter
2 tbsp taco spices
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 potatoes, diced
400 gr canned tomatoes
6 dl veal stock
salt
pepper
crème fraîche
nachos

1.) Fry the minced meat in some butter and add the sliced leek.
2.) Add the taco spices, the tomato paste and the diced potatoes, and fry for a couple of minutes.
3.) Transfer the ingredients in the fying pan to a large cookery pot.
4.) Add the canned tomatoes and veal stock, and let it simmer for 10 to 20 minutes.
5.) Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.) Serve with nachos and a dollop of crème fraîche.

Enjoy!!!