Food & Thoughts

Oh my camera does this no justice! We don't do this often (who am I kidding? I need my fix at least once a month!) but I loves me some sushi! I once worked at a sushi restaurant and am now in the sad situation of being able to eat ridicolous amounts of this fine food in one sitting. I've never tried doing it myself - seeing the chefs at the restaurant, and the pride they took in getting every rice just right (I am NOT kidding you here - Anthony Bourdain, eat your heart out!;-)) kind of made me feel I would never be able to do it anyways. And I guess there are some things here in life that you should just leave for others to do. No, not just the cleaning and the vacuuming, but the good things in life, that you get to eat, too...

I hope you know what a jerusalem artichoke is - otherwise you have to find out! It's the nicest little tuber, sometimes very nubbly (imagine the worst root of ginger and you peeling it!), sometimes pretty potato-like in the peeling - easy, smooth sailing. If you're really lucky, you might even get away with just scrubbing them. The taste is delicate, slightly nutty and I find it to go really well with cream and smoky stuff, like bacon. Now, I would have included a picture of the unadultered with choke, but it seems it also has, well... certain fallos-look-alike qualities and I just couldn't convince myself that was appropriate on an otherwise decent blog! What I usually make is a soup - very basic, just cut them up in chunks (the smaller you dice, the shorter the time it'll have to cook) A couple of chopped shallots, a clove of garlic for good measure, but no more than a clove, it will overpower the delicateness of the choke. Sweat that of in a bi...

Just goes to show - as soon as I started complaining about my blogging incompatibility here, I eyed an opportunity to spend a bit more time putting together a post - so here goes: As I've already revealed a couple of weeks ago , my stepmom, C, and I embarked upon a Christmas Cookie extravaganza and did a truck-full of cookies. I wish we had, anyways - although it seemed like a lot at the time, my part of the pile is already gone... We didn't want it to go stale now, would we?? This is one of the cookies we made, Svensk Chokoladebrød, or to put it in a language we all (almost!) understand, Swedish Chocolatebread. My sister's favorite when we we're young, and dead easy to make too! I really love the sugar on top and the slightly cakey-chewy center... Svenske Chokoladebrød - recipe from Karolines Køkken, p. 61 300 g. flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 200 g. sugar (vanilla-infused if you have) 2 tablespoons cocoa 200 g. cold butter 1 egg egg-white for b...

I'm not being lazy here. Well, I guess you could say that blog-wise, I sure am. But. There's a lot of reading for an exam coming up on and I'm afraid this baby here is the easiest to neglect, although I'm having severe withdrawel symptoms... Hopefully I'll find the time to post about all of the cookies I did for this Christmas, but if not, here's a: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Someone told me Seattle Bon Vivant is hosting the next Sugar High Friday... Keep an eye on her...

It was the year 1317 and I was travelling with Marco Polo along the Silk Road. On our way, we passed the most amazing cities, small ones, large ones, but they all had something in common. There was always, ALWAYS a bazar to be found. Vegetables, dried meats, live animals, clothes, spices - ah, the spices. The scent went to your head, almost making our entire company dizzy. I remember one bazar particularly well - actually, my memory serves me badly, for I cannot remember in what town we were, or even have a remote idea whereabout in the town I would ever find it, should I be so lucky as to stumble upon the city again. The bazar was one of the liveliest and loudest I've ever seen, with vendours everywhere, offering golden jewellery and wowen cloth. All of a sudden, I found myself lost in the maze of stalls, and could see nothing but sand, high walls and brightly colored scarfs all over. When I finally thought I got my bearings, everything was quiet. It seemed I had found my w...

I'm cheating tonight. Which is really embarrasing, considering I'm actually hosting this time around. But. You all know how it is - I hope?!? - all of a sudden your life just goes tremendously busy, and there's nothing you can do, but go with the flow. I found myself enrolled in some catering for my brother-in-law's Christmas party - school acted crazy - and to top things off, there was a Christmas party for my old class mates from med school -OY! - and well, excuses excuses! My very well planned Sugar High Friday started coming apart. But you see, my plan was GOOD. I actually did my assignment in due time - only.. ahem. I haven't had the time to post about it until now, which is 5 am GMT +1. But then I figured - hey! I haven't slept yet, so it's kinda still Friday - and it's almost certainly still Friday somewhere in the Pacific - I can still do this and then just "back-date" my post. He! But I AM sorry 'bout the minor cheating-...

...tomorrow is SUGAR HIGH FRIDAY, hosted by none other than - myself :-)! Send me your links on zarahjordahn@hotmail.com or zarahjordahn@gmail.com - I can't WAIT to see your entries!

I swear, it was a cookie EXTRAVAGANZA! And you'll know all about it soon...

In real life, I'm not at all well-planned with regards to Christmas presents. I usually buy my last Christmas presents on the 23rd - and the first somewhere around the 22nd. But this one was going places, so I had to get it done early. And today, I send it out into the world... Well, you know, I didn't just put it in the mail box, it does have a reciever in the other end - but it's actually a woman I have never met. That is, I sorta met her, I know her from - yes you've guessed it - the internet! My friends at Nigella's Kitchen organized a Christmas Gift Exchange in which I participated. The people at Nigella's are from all over the world, so I'm really looking forward to see where my present will be coming from... And I just wanted you all to take a minute and think about all the nice people out there, that, if it weren't for this weird, virtual space, you would have never gotten to know. Gotten to know might not be the right words, but I think...

So I was contemplating making yet another recipe from Baking by Flavor (WOULD YOU BUY THE BOOK ALREADY ANGELA??!!? Heh ;-)!) because I love how Lisa Yockelson accents her chosen ingredient with spices - and take a look at the theme for this edition of Sugar High Friday - and I kinda had to keep in spirit. But. When a man wants chocolate, he's gotta have chocolate. Luckily, Yockelsen has been so kind as to provide variations with almost ALL of her recipes, including in the one for these, the aptly named Texas-size Banana Muffins! (Is everything bigger in Texas than in America in general?) Usually, the spices used would have been nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and cardamom and I REALLY want to try that variation - but this time around, my man demanded chocolate, and chocolate it was. Now, I fiddled around with this recipe quite a bit - it called for coconut and walnuts, of which none of us are big fans, and then of course all of the spices, that were to be left out an...

Yup, you got it! As I could ecstatically announce a couple of days ago, Jennifer let me host this months installment of the fabulous IMBB? -spin off, Sugar High Friday! Sugar High Friday is, as the name might imply, a day were the sweet-toothed bloggers among us join forces and blog about - well, something sweet we've done, all centered around one theme - this time, the theme will be: SPICES! Now, I'm not gonna let you just run amuck in the spice-jungle out there - so here's the catch: The spice you use, should be one of the three: nutmeg - cardamom - allspice . Why these three? I had to choose, didn't I? The three here very much encapsulates winter for me - warmth, fragrant - ah, delish! And, um - vanilla would just be too easy! (although it might be a suggestion for a SHF in it's own right!) But, but, but... Hey! Okay, you want suggestions? You want tips? You NEED information - 'kay then: Nutmeg: that little knobbly nut wrapped in it'...

Oh the joy of a cookie! Is there anything as good as sinking your teeth into that slightly crunchy, buttery disc of goodies, or dunking that biscotti in that mug of latte? Exactly the reason why I was bouncing with joy when Jennifer, our Domestic Goddess , announced this months IMBB? theme of a Cookie Swap! And then I went and nearly forgot... I had this very cute idea of doing a traditional Scandinavian cookie - or by it's proper name, småkage - my sister always used to make us when we were younger, called Finskbrød - it's a crunchy, cocoa-y thing with lots of big granules of sugar sprinkled on top - I LOVE it, but can't remember when the last time was I had it! And then, all of a sudden, Sunday was here, and I found myself without that special sugar for the sprinkling - and well, I'm sorry for being a nit-pick here, but that sugar is just the ESSENCE of that cookie, so I couldn't bring myself to do it without it! Again, I turned to Baking by Flavor - a...

WEEEE-HEEEEEEEEEEEH! No, that wasn't a cowboy, that was me, being really excited because I've been asked (LIE! I begged!) to host the next edition of Sugar High Fridays ! The installment will be held at 10th. of December and the theme... wait a minute, the theme?! I have to find a theme too??! Oh! I'll let you know during the weekend... For those of you unfamiliar with IMBB?'s, SHF, WBW, DMBLGiT and that sort (tell me WHERE have you been??), go to this place and learn ALL there is to know and then some! Don't go away, we'll be right back after these messages...

Mmmm, yummy, it's here again - Sugar High Fridays, the International Sweet Tooth Extravaganza! Hosted - again (Oh we're a bad bunch, not taking any of the summing-up responsibility - I will do soon, I promise!) - by it's inventor/spin doctor Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess , with a theme of apples galore! Everyone's been doing apple this and apple that and I even recently bought myself an entire BOOK of apples - not just recipes, but also about growing and caring for apple trees - that will be the day, but I figured I'd better start preparing! This is my book: There's a really yummy-looking recipe for an apple-spice mix in it that I'll have to try soon... Okay so I KNOW this is a really, really bad picture of a picture in a book - of a picture (not anywhere near a scanner, sorry) - but you HAD to see this - the "painting" is made out of APPLES, put on a nail and arranged to look like flowers! That is just SO cool, I had to share! ...

I can't believe this! Already it's one week since I last posted - believe me, it's not because I'm not cooking - okay I'm not cooking that much - it's just... Oh okay, so it's just because! Anyway, last Saturday I did NOTHING but cook - me and my boyfriend managed to pull out a four course dinner for my Dad and his bridge club - this cake was part of it - a Chocolate Velvet Honey Cake - I'll get back to you with the rest!

I love me a good burger. But being a semi-vegetarian makes that a not-so-often enjoyed thing - I don't know why, but it seems like the cafées in Denmark is not really willing to admit that vegetarians exist! They will do you a lot of veggie- or fish stuffed sandwiches and salads, but a decent burger, cheese, ketchup, mustard and all - no. It's just not happening. So I decided to take matters into my own hands... The Parmesan Patties I found in a lovely book on vegetarian fare by Celia Brooks Brown, New Vegetarian - they we're SOOOOO good! Cook them 'till really crisp - Hubby actually rather wanted mine than his own meat-one! He! Btw., the book is one of my all time favorites... Check it out! Parmesan Patties 1 tbsp. olive oil + extra for brushing 2 medium onions, chopped 125 g. mushrooms, coarsely chopped 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 50 g. parmesan cheese, coarsely grated 50 g. cheddar cheese, grated 150 g. canned borlotti or pinto beans, rinse...

Scheduled for the 21st. of November, and I'm totally into this months edition of IMBB? - a cookie swap! YAY! Hosted by the sweetest of the sweet tooths among us, Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess - everything you'll need to know about this round of IMBB ? is on her site (no need for me to type it all up again, is there? Me and my lazy butt...)

I need to bring lunch to school almost on an everyday basis. While I'm a big fan of a nice salad, I'm very much a bread person as well - no Atkins for me here! I just cannot fathom that anyone would like to live without a daily dose of wheat! Anyways - I figured out that one of the breads that could be somewhat easily made, and not go too stale on me - and a type of bread I really like as well - drumroll please: a bagel! So I'm trying out a couple of different recipes at the moment - will hopefully get the ring-making technique down during the quest - no comments on the half split bagel there!;-)

I had to go ahead and try one of the recipes in my newly acquired books - why else buy them?? This one I had my eye on already when ordering the book - it was mentioned in one of the reviews at Amazon and I couldn't stop thinking about what it might be like. I am a big fan of anchovies - that is, I do NOT like eating them on their own, but I really enjoy them in a home made Caesar salad dressing and the likes. For a while I've been trying to convince myself that there's no reason I don't like tarts. Hence, the purchase of The Art of The Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis. The book is small, but BURSTING with recipes - both savory and sweet - and I really think it's gonna get me places in the tart-enjoying department. This had exactly that salty-savory taste that I love in the anchovies, but without the fishy-fishy bad part. It was even nice the next day! And here you go: Spinach and Anchovy Tart Shortcrust pastry: 120 g. white flour 60 g. cold, unsalted butter...

I swear, someone stole my credit card and went on a SEROIUS shopping spree on amazon. Luckily, everything was sent to me. Because it really couldn't have been me. No. NO! It couldn't! Aren't you listening?!? I'm way more sensible than that. I would never, ever spend that much money on cookbooks. Well, definetly not more than twice a year. Okay, maybe three times then. But... MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I got 6 - SIX - new cookbooks waiting for me to get around to them! How's about it?!? MUAHAHAHA! They are: Jamie's Dinners Nigella Lawson's Feast American Boulangerie Art of the Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis Charlie Trotter's Seafood Chocolate American Style by Lora Brody Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

There's something I have to admit. There's one thing other than biochemistry drawing my attention away from my blog at the moment. It's these guys: They are soo cute, my little guinea pigs!!:-) They're actually my younger sister's, but she doesn't give a royal f*** about them, so I've borrowed them for a couple of weeks. They're named Tim & Bum, from the Danish translation of Cinderella - the mice that makes her dress, remember? I've never actually had a pet before, so that probably accounts for me being so overly excited - I have to admit I kinda am! Even though my boyfriend find them a bit boring: "but they don't do anything but hang around in their cage Honey!?" I don't care. They're cute and they're cuddly - all you could want - but of course, so is he!

Time is a no-go area for me at the moment. It's just not available somehow. Don't know why, but it's a fact. Still, I can't bear the idea of not being in on this IMBB?, as already mentioned, hosted by Derrick of An Obsession with Food . Afterall, IMBB? was one of the main reasons I joined in on the blogging thing. So I'm doing a cheats version this time round - I actually made this dish about a year ago for a dinner I did for my Dad and stepmom's bridge club and on looking through my folder of digital photos, this sprang out - and you know, it may not be a layered terrine, but it's a terrine and I layered it Big Mac stylie, so I thought I could convince myself that it fit the theme of Terrine: Layers and Layers ! in a decent way! The components are actually very classic, I just put them together in a not so classical manner. The foie gras terrine I got from a Danish cookbook called Svinkløv Badehotel. The bread part is a brioche from a Danish food mag...

My sister turned 33 - well, actually, she did in August, she just haven't had the time to gather up the entire family and share her birthday until now! Seeing that I LOVE to bake (you'd never have guessed, would you?) I offered to do her a birthday cake. Actually, that's a lie - she already decided she wanted a carrot cake, I just offered to bake it! I'm a big fan of carrot cake - even more, I'm a big fan of the cream cheese topping! Naturally, there has to be lots and lots of it, and preferably all over! With the birthday and everything, what would be more appropriate than doing it layer-cake style? The recipe I use is from The Little Red Barn Baking Book . I bought this book when I lived in London and practically baked my way through it - not quite, but I sure have tried a lot of the recipes and they have never failed. It makes a very light and lovely cake, despite the cream cheese... For the cake: 250 g. plain flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1½ tsp. b...

This has become a noticeboard I think... Eventually, I'll have to post the things that I'm making for the events I'm announcing, don't I? This time around, for Friday the 12th. of November, gorge yourself on apples all around the world! Check out Jennifer's page for further info...

I know, I'm sorry - I'm the most boring blogger of them all right know... School is all over me, but I promise, I promise I'll try and do some REAL posting soon... Uh, that would imply cooking - or baking.... Yumm...

Things are moving fast in the blooging community - at least fast for me, but I guess my school has started taking up more time! Seattle Bon Vivant is the host this time - check out the terms and conditions and do join!

On to yet another endeavor in the world wide events - drinks some wine and drink it well! Lenn of Lenndevours spun the IMBB? and invented World Wide Wine Blogging Wednesday - he himself held first edition, and this, the second edition, is held by Alder at Vinography with a theme of Spanish Reds! I'm usually a white wine drinker - I think I started out drinking red wine, then turned to white - and never really got back- I know it's usually the other way around, but this is how it went for me. Maybe I've just been spoiled with the really nice whites we have at work ? But you have to grab the bull by it's horns... Boyfriend recently closed down his restaurant, bringing home about 70 bottles of wine (where DO you put that in a three room apartment??!! Oh yeah, down your throat!) so we went hunting in the bottle forrest on our living room floor. There was a couple of bottles of Spanish descendants, and we settled for this one: Casa de la Ermita 2000 from Jumilla ...