Sporvejen (the Tram)

How well do you know your own city? I mean really KNOW. I have been passing and spending time on a square in Copenhagen for the past 23 years, and yet there is a place, that I have never seen despite it has been in the same spot for more than 40 years. Sporvejen (the tram) - they have out doors serving in the summer period otherwise it is a small, nostalgic place in the wintertime.

The interior is the actual interior of a former Copenhagen tram (they were discontinued in 1972) and windows are replaced with nostalgic pictures of trams around in the city of Copenhagen) - the tables have 2-4 seats and the food served are burgers and omelettes. The atmosphere resembles an American Diner.

 

A friend introduced me to this place and it is not the last time, that I have eaten there. Their burgers are yummy, and a bit larger in size than the ones served at Shake Shack in the US but still a size you can actually finish and leaves you full in a good way. The waiters have a smile and pays good attention to their eating guests and you can sense that they like working there. Prices - eating out in Denmark is expensive, but it is very reasonable at Sporvejen.

There Is Pumpkin In My Risotto

Sometimes a little push is needed when you want to break out of your comfort zone - I have wanted to cook with pumpkins for a long time but Sandra Juto's blogpost persuaded me to take that jump. The risotto is actually the 4th dish I have made now using pumpkins and the recipe comes from here. Risotto have always been one of my favourite dishes and I am happy that I used longer time than usual on a meal, as this is by far the best risotto that I have ever tasted.

 

The dish deserves a place next to my candle pumpkin Jack (made of clay) as a reminder of what happened when I bought an orange pumpkin at a local supermarket. A little boy came up to me and asked "Are you also going to make a Pumpkin Man?" with me replying "No I am going to eat it". Two seconds later the boy ran screaming to his mum "She's gonna eat the Pumpkin Man!!" with disbelief all over his face and tears running down the cheeks.

The mum got busy telling the boy, that one is actually playing with food when carving a pumpkin Man - See what I told him, was in his world just as bad finding out that Santa Clause does not exist (wait he does not??!! LOL ;o) ) as we have in the past been primary a potato nation and Halloween is something imported from the US.

 

Whenever I make that dish in the future, I think that the incident with the little boy will jump into my head and make me smile.

 

What the ...??!!

If you look up French fries in Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, you get the following definition: thin strips of potatoes deep-fried. Well if you order French fries in one of my local pizza/burger places you now get potato wedges like these when you order French fries?!?!

I can make pretty decent potato wedges in my oven at home, and I was in the mood for French fries (which happens about once a year) and was dissapointed when I got home and opened the box of food. Called the place to hear if they could replace the wrong order, which they refused - it might say French fries on the menu board, but you get potato wedges instead. I snapped, so I asked them if they served sandwiches when ordering a burger, since they are both with bread and meat? They refused to understand the difference between the kind of potatoes ordered and those served.

Well if I order something, I expect them to deliver/prepare accordingly - and in case of any change they actually have to inform me and give me the possibility to cancel the order. In fact those are might rights according to trade laws - so gues what: I am not buying food from that place again, since I can noot be sure, that they preoare the right food.

Spicy Lobstertail Soup

..... or Spicy Crayfish Soup. Maybe you remember me blogging about this - and here is the promised recipe:

Ingredients (serves 6)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 teaspoons curry

2 onions - chopped in small pieces

1 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 fresh)

1 teaspoon sambal oelek

2 cans chopped tomatoes

2,5 deciliter water

2 boullion cubes (chicken)

200 grams choppedpeaches from a can (in own juice)

½ can coconut milk

400 grams lobster tails or crayfish tails (a mix of both is good too)

• Fry the curry, onion, garlic and sambal oelek in the oil.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, water, boullion cubes, 2 deciliter peach juice and let it simmer for about 15 minutes (at low temperatures)
• Blend the above into a thick soup and let it boil for a few minutes
• If you are making this dish in advance, remove it from the heat - and reheat it a couple of minutes
• Add the peaches and the coconut milk just before serving the dish

Serve dish with kroepock (prawn crackers).

Tip - if you or one of your guests think, that the dish is too spicy, gently add a little of the leftover coconut milk.

BON APPETIT !!

Meat With Green Curry

Now you are asking: What kind of meat? Well if you go to a Thai restaurant, they might offer this dish with chicken, pork or beef, but it is also good with turkey, shrimp or crayfish tails. Tasted this dish for the first time 8 years ago and found a recipe ½ year later, which I have adjusted a bit to make it look/taste like the one served at Thai restaurants.

Meat with Green Curry  (serves 4)

1 tablespoon green curry paste

1 canned cononut milk

350g meat (*) sliced in thin pieces

150g sugar peas (with pods)

100g bean sprouts (¤)

1 canned bamboo shoots

1 sliced pepper fruit

1-2 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

3-4 chilis (#)

1 small bundle of fresh basil(@)

Warm the green curry in 1-2 tablespoons of the fat coconut milk (in top of the can) in a wok or suitable pan. Add meat and cook the meat until it is no longer red (for shrimp and crayfish tails only 2-3 minutes are required).

Add the vegetables (the canned ones are to be added without the liquid in the cans) and cook for 1 minute.

Add the fishsauce, sugar, chili, basil and the rest of the coconut milk and let the dish be heated up for 8-10 minutes.

Serve with rice (or noodles)

(*) chicken, pork, beef, turkey, shrimp or crayfish tails

(¤) can be replaced with 1 canned bean sprouts

(#) can be replaced by 1 teaspoon grounded chili

(@) can be replaced by 1 teaspoon grounded basil

The recipe come with a little warning: it is very hot/spicy/stong - keep some extra coconut milk in reserve, if it is too much to soften the taste a bit

Dan's Pseudolasagna

During the time when I lived at a dorm, my next door neighbour, Dan, invented this dish simply by using, what ingredients he had in his kitchen (every dorm appartment had a kitchenette). It soon became a big hit, and the recipe was shared throughout the dorm. Even after moving from the dorm, the recipe still finds new cooks.

So I have decided to share it with you - I am from a country using the metric and celcius systems, but plenty of websites, that can convert the measurements for you ;o)

Dan's Pseudolasagna   (serves 4 persons.... or more)

1 bag of pasta (approx 500 g)

1 big onion

300-500 grams of minced meat (any kind will do)

1 glass of mushrooms (champignon)

1 teaspoon sambal oelek

1 teaspoon curry

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili

1 teaspoon basil

1 splash of soy sauce

1 bag of scredded mozarella cheese

1 brick of mornay sauce

cooking oil

1. Boil the pasta according to the recommendations on the bag - and take away the water. My favourite shape of pasta in this dish, is fusilli.
2. Chop the onion into small pieces and cook golden in oil. Add the minced meat and cook untill all the meat is turning into a crispy brown color.
3. Add the glass of mushrooms (drained from liquid before adding) and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add spices, sambal oelek and soysayce.
5. The pasta is turned in to the pot and cooks for a few minutes then put aside to cool off a bit.
6. Preheat oven to 200 degrees (celcius)
7. Place the dish in ovenproof glassware
8. Pour the mornaysauce over the dish and cover the surface with the shredded mozarella cheese.
9. Cook in oven for 20 minutes.

Serves well with salad or bread of your choice.

Bon appetit!

P.S. The dish is suitable for reheating in a microwave and you can freeze leftovers to have a quick meal in handy on days your are too tired or to busy to cook. 

World Wide News Clippings

What happened to the days, where there were less meat on the plate and more vegetables? Meat was expensive, so you had to add a lot of vegetables or bread to the meat so make sure, that you got some energy.

These days vegetables have become more pricy, and often if you want to have some taste (other than the watery taste in tomates and cucumbers - locally that is usually the imported goods that has to ripen during transport) you have to buy local/organic produce.

The tendency of buying much more prefabricated food and super size-mentality when it comes to fastfood has unfortunately resulted in a staggering rise in the number of obese people. The US government have therefore launched the ChooseMyPlate campaign, as obesity often causes ilness, that is also a huge expense for the society. Hopefully this new campain will help fuel a better awareness about food.

I can not help thinking about Mireille Guiliano's book "French Women Don't Get Fat", where she encourage people not to multitask while eating as this often enhanses the taste of the food and actually gives you the sense of being full. That works for me, as my favouite pizza now lasts 2 meals instead of 1 - and it is the only pizza I have found to be good cold-the-day-after.

Food Fighting... Or....??

Well this is old news, but in my opinion definately a step in the right direction: San Francisco has banned Happy Meals with toys.

Well let me ask this question: Was there a kid at your Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, that really complained about the food, and wanted to go to MacDonalds instead?

I know too many families that are treating their kids with Happy Meals as a kind of reward for something -sometimes even as a bribe. In one case I knew a single mom, who caved everytime her kid screamed for a HappyMeal, and sometimes that could happen up to three times a week (!!!?!). That lady actually cancelled her participation in dinner invitations at the very last minute with the "excuse": "Oh, I can't come afterall, I promised little Buddy that he could have his dinner at MacDonalds instead. Needless to say, but people simply stopped inviting her.

Are parents really too busy when it comes to setting limitations for their kids' demands? Are they too busy to make a homemade meal, that in most cases would even be a cheaper option? Do they really believe that Happy Meals is a proper/healthy choise? The trend is a slippery slope: an adult can make his/her own choise to live healthy or not - kids can not make that decision themselves and therefore depend on responsible parents.

There are a lot of cookbooks out there with inspiring recipes on how to make healthy, nutritiounus food in a hurry without costing a fortune. If MacDonalds turned the tables and started making healthier food, they could actually even accumulate more business - I think the kid opt for the logo and the toy and not necessarily the food itself.

Well today, I will prepare my own version of fastfood: Burgerbread (homemade a while ago and put into the freezer to come in handy like today), slice of leftover turkey from yesterday, slices of fresh cucumber and a salsa made of fresh avocado, tomatoes and just a teaspoon of leftover cranberry sauce (to give it a sweet-sour touch).... Cooking time: about 5 minutes - Taste: Yummy :o)

The picture is not captured in San Francisco, but in Guangzhou, China (2009)

Gourmet Travelling

If your have seen the movie "Eat, Love, Pray" - you have seen Julia Roberts as the real life Elizabeth Gilbert who travelled the world to rediscover herself.

But have you ever given it much thought, that you are sometimes travelling to different cultures simply by stepping into someone's house or into a restaurant? Just think about it! You would be quite surprised :o)

I travel a lot - by planes etc. and that maybe how I got the taste for a lot of local dishes and I simply love, if I can find a local restaurant that have the dish or something similar on their menu in my hometown. I also have a lot of international colleagues which means local dishes when I visit their houses, eventhough they live 10-15 minutes from my house.

So what is "travel cuisine" for me? Some of the dishes are from my childhood but that is just the point of origin :o)

Here's a recap (and yes, some of them are desserts):

China Dim sum

Denmark Ris á la mande - Stegt flæsk og persillesovs

France Cremé Brûlee

India  Nan - Prawn Biryani - Shrimp Curry

Italy Pizze: Braccio di ferro - Risotto - Tiramisu

Japan Sushi

Korea Food with kimchi on the side

Mexico Chili con carne

MiddleEast Tajine balsamek

North America (US and Canada) Crabcake - Hashbrowns - Turkey (á la Thanksgiving dinner)

Spain Paella

Sweden Rösti

Well there might be plenty of more dishes, that I have forgotten :o)

Happy Thanksgiving

Feel-Good-Time

I went into the cinema to se "Julie & Julia" at noon and enjoyed 2 hours of Feel-Good-Time - this movie also caused the male audience to burst out with laughter, so it is not just a chick-flick.....

Julie Powell took up an incredible challenge, when she decided to cook more than one dish per day for a year, blogged about it and completed the challenge and found/got more opurtunities because of it. The recipes from Julia Child sounds yummi, but I know that my MS will not agree with me if I tried out a lot of the dishes...and still can not help wondering about the possibility to find a new "agreable" recipe, that I could make...hmmm....need find a copy of the book......