Rhubarb Sorbet (Rababersorbet)

I loves me some rhubarb. We had a bunch of fresh rhubarb from Camilla's garden and I'd been happily consuming rhubarb muffins. We were getting ready to go away for a little vacation though and I wanted to save all that lovely rhubarb, so I did a little poking around and decided that turning it into sorbet would be a perfect little treat that keeps well. I was gleefully shoveling some of it in my mouth the other day and tweeting about it (because, well, I tweet everything). Some folks asked for the recipe, so I've finally gotten the time to sit down and translate it. This is another recipe from Claus Meyer's Almanak cookbook, so the original is in Danish.

Rababersorbet Read more about Rhubarb Sorbet (Rababersorbet)

rock
23 June 2011
food
recipe

Exploring Coffee in Rome

Last week I took a long, laptop-free weekend vacation in Rome. It was my first time in Italy and I had a blast. There were a lot of good things packed in there, from being in the middle of EuroPride to eating at a fantastic seafood restaurant. One thing that I had decided to do was to finally explore coffee. Drinking coffee is quintessentially Italian, and I figured "when in Rome, do as the Romans." I've never been a fan of coffee – I'm a hardcore tea drinker. I've never understood everyone's fascination with the bitter beverage, especially since the caffeine factor is a non-starter. Read more about Exploring Coffee in Rome

rock
18 June 2011
food
travel
Italy
Rome

A stroll at home

Last week I took a walk around my neighborhood on the way to Valbyparken. I love taking a stroll in a place with a camera and no particular agenda. These are all down Trekronergade, not far from my apartment in Valby.

Three crowns street.
Trekronergade Read more about A stroll at home

rock
06 June 2011
photos
Valby
Denmark
home

Sommerflæskesteg (Summer Pork Roast)

One of the first really Danish foods I fell in love with was flæskesteg. Flæskesteg translates simply to pork roast, so there isn't anything particularly crazy about it, but the Danes leave the skin on the cut so you get an incredibly yummy, crispy pork rind with every slice. I like pig, and I like crispy pig. Sold! Anyway, it isn't surprising that it was one of the first Danish meals I wanted to learn to cook. I cracked open my Claus Meyer Almanak cookbook to see what he had for me and he had yummy yumminess awaiting. (By the way, he is like the Danish food god and Almanak is one of the Danish food bibles.) I made Sommerflæskesteg med nye kartofler (Summer pork roast with new potatoes) and it really was great. It is a classic flæskesteg, but stuffed with herbs and lemon. Read more about Sommerflæskesteg (Summer Pork Roast)

rock
22 May 2011
cooking
Denmark
recipe

Ramsons: Garlic of the North

Right now we are at the height of ramsons season here in Denmark (ramsløg in Danish). I'd never encountered them before, and I assume it is because it is native to Europe and so not generally found in the US. They are quite fashionable in Danish kitchens these days. Ramsons are a member of the Allium family, kin to garlic, onions and chives. The flavor is a great blend somewhere between garlic and chive, and you can eat the whole kit and kaboodle: leaves, bulbs, and flowers. We've been using them in various ways from simply adding them as salad greens, to making a pretty kickin' pesto. They are great in a omelet as well. I've also heard tell of making ramsons capers from pickling the flower buds, which I'm dying to try out since I have a deep, deep love of capers and garlicy ones sound divine. I'm hoping to go bud picking this week since the buds are just starting to come up.

Ramsløg + buds Read more about Ramsons: Garlic of the North

rock
30 April 2011
food
Denmark

Daring Cooks: The dolmas that could have been

Our October 2010 hostess, Lori of Lori’s Lipsmacking Goodness, has challenged The Daring Cooks to stuff grape leaves. Lori chose a recipe from Aromas of Aleppo and a recipe from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Of course, in my normal fashion, I decided to not use the recipes provided but to make one up and just use the guidelines for the wrapping and cooking. I've never made dolmas before, so this was a fun one to just make up as I went. However, I did pay attention to the cooking directions, though not quite as well as I should have....

Filling

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rock
16 October 2010
food
cooking
recipe

Daring Cooks: Bourbon Berry Pierogis

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale. I didn't decide to do anything locale-specific but since it is a beautiful summer here, I opted to make mine with fresh fruit, as a dessert pierogi. I'd never seen or heard of a dessert pierogi but it sounded like a fun little challenge.

I had a little bit of an advantage on this one because Camilla made her challenge for dinner for us before I got around to doing mine. That gave me an opportunity to assess the general pierogi-making experience and things to keep in mind in my go.

The Dough

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rock
14 August 2010
food
cooking
recipe

Daring Bakers: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

I'm on to my second Daring Kitchen challenge, which is on the baking side of things. The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home. This has a few moving parts so it was recommended to do the challenge over two days. I'm no masochist so that's what I did, and I'm glad. First you need to make a swiss roll, then two flavors of ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Once the various components are ready you have to assemble it into a bombe. This was a good challenge for me since I haven't made a sponge cake swiss roll since my childhood days helping my mom make Bûche de Noël for Christmas, and I have never made ice cream before. Read more about Daring Bakers: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

rock
26 July 2010
food
baking
recipe

Cryogenic cookies

I love fresh-baked cookies. A lot of people do. I'm particularly stuck on the fresh-baked aspect and regular cookies which have been sitting around for a day or more are, well, just less interesting to me. I may poke at them out of boredom if I'm having a sweet craving. Store bought cookies in particular can sit on a counter for weeks without raising my interest. So I make my own cookies and gleefully eat them right out of the oven, but I also don't need to be wolfing down two dozen fresh cookies in one sitting. Years ago when I was in this quandary of how to make small batches, I decided that actually mixing up small batches was stupid and frustrating, so I turned to the master of food longevity: the freezer.

Cookie dough Read more about Cryogenic cookies

rock
16 July 2010
food
baking

First Daring Cooks Challenge: Nut Butter

Last month I joined the Daring Kitchen. It is a site for cooks to come together and try to cook the same challenge recipe, then report back on their blogs. They have two kinds of challenges, one for Bakers and one for Cooks. I signed up for both, since I love both of those adventures in the kitchen. I love the idea of having a goal to accomplish and being presented with things that I might not ever venture to cook, either through uncertainty or just not knowing or thinking of it.

This is also a great way to challenge my nomad kitchen. I move around and rent places as I go. I don't have my own kitchen, and I'm limited to what my rentals give me. The only kitchen tools I pack with me are my Mac chef's knife, a sharp paring knife, a digital scale, a Flavour Shaker, and US measuring cups and spoons. So cooking recipes that are often designed for someone in control of their own kitchen can be quite fun. I do love the challenge though, and I'm excited about being a part of the Daring Kitchen now too. Read more about First Daring Cooks Challenge: Nut Butter

rock
13 July 2010
food
cooking
recipe
daring kitchen

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