Mushroom Season

Mushroom season is drawing to a close. We have been blessed this season and lately MK and her grandma' have contributed. It has for a long time been a tradition when first M and now MK have gone hunting for mushrooms in the woods while walking Eddie, the dog. Their grandmother knows many good spots and she is not revealing them to anybody but her grandchildren. The result is as always a fairly sized bag of various mushrooms. Primarily chanterelles, but also trompethatte and pigsvampe (Sorry, no translation for these Danish names. A visit to www.rogersmushrooms.com suggests that they are all part of the Chanterellus family).
Since these mushrooms are so fresh we show them deference and make crostini.. After 3 days of mushroom crostini even we think that it could be time for a change. We consider making a risotto, but MK protests. After some debating we go back to the crostini, but then MK decides that she would like risotto anyway. We decide to compromise and make the crostini and then a seafood risotto afterwards.
The crostini are accompanied by the excellent Bourgogne Chardonnay 2010 from Henri Boillot. Even if it is the entry wine from this producer it is still fairly expensive, but for a good reason. We love it and have to admit that we are now on the second case this year.
The risotto should be made with fresh seafood, but that was not possible this day in Elsinore. We have some blue mussels, some norwegian lobster and some prawns. All frozen.
First stock for the risotto: The heads and claws are cut from the lobsters and fried in a pot. After a minute or so they are covered with water and chicken stock. Some vegetables are added in big chunks – shallots, parsnips, garlic, herbs and it is brought to a low simmer.
The risotto-making is then commenced (always stir). Two small shallots are cut finely. These are then browned in a combination of melted butter and olive oil. After a minute Canaroli or Aborio rice are added. This is a heavy dish and even if it is your main course you should probably not use much more than 60-70 grams/person. After frying the rice for a little while (they should begin to look a little glassy) add some white wine (one glass for each 3 persons). Always stir. Then the long process of adding stock and stirring proceeds. We use a ladle to get the boiling stock and add it to the risotto. This will take some time and you may tire in your arm. MK did.
In the meantime the remaining lobster tails have been split and they are now fried on a hot pan. The mussels get the same treatment. They will produce some juices and we add them to our risotto as supplement to the stock.

Determining when the risotto is finished is the subject of conversation afterwards at the table. Luckily T and K agree that the risotto should be fairly runny and the rice shall have some bite. Therefore a fair amount of stock is added in the end before adding a generous handful of grated parmesan cheese and finally the prawns are added so they will just cook for the last 30 seconds. The lobsters and mussels are arranged on top.
With this we have the Bastianich Plus 2007 from Friuli. Also a wine that we have enjoyed much, but we are now down to one bottle and that is OK, as we feel it is beginning to show its age.
By the way, M produced the opposing opinion that the risotto should be less runny and the rice be more soft. Even though we disagree, we will look into this on our next risotto endeavor.

Copenhagen - Ché Fè

We have discovered that one of the better restaurants in our neighborhood, Acquamarina has been closed and another one opened in its place. As usual we have researched a little and found out that it is the same team that are behind the new restaurant. The team is famous in Denmark, mainly for their gourmet restaurant Era Ora, which has a certain significance for us. The former restaurant, Acquamarina had a concept of "Fish from heaven and wine from Italy". That certainly appealed to us, but so does the new concept of Ché Fè: Organic Italian food and so it has been just a question of how long the wait would be, before we visited the place. Not very long.
The menu has 4-5 antipasti, 4-5 primi and 4-5 secondi. Whereas we often select the same on this occasion we select as much as possible. For antipasti we select 7 small antipasti, "O Sole Bio", which on this occasion is

• A small ball of crumbed black rice
• Tuna on black bread
• Umbrian ham on toast
• Roastbeef powdered with breaded crumbs and orange zest
• Focaccia with a mild gorgonzola
• Umbrian sausage with fennel
• A small souffle of broccoli and capers

Everything was very nice, well-balanced and tasty.

For primo we ordered Creole which was pumpkin gnocchi with tomato sauce, chilli and basil. The gnocchi were not heavy and the tomato sauce was very good. The other primo was Piemonte proibito. This was a risotto of red and black rice with artichoke and Monteveronese cheese (and some orange zest). This was also very good, but considering the sizes of the dishes it was actually much more than what we could eat. And maybe too big a serving in general for a dish of "just risotto", but we cannot really complain about this as it was very good. With the primi we had a glass (well, actually a glass and a half) of the Verdicchio superiore, which we cannot recall and cannot find on the wine menu, but it was commendable.

We tried to order Perlizie, but that was no longer available, which we suppose is OK, since we arrived very late on a Sunday night. Instead we had the Tagliata di Vitello (veal steak with rosemary potatoes and a salad) and Pesando a domani which was braised veal with porcini. Both courses were good, but the steak was a bit too rare for T and we would have liked the otherwise very polite waiter to have asked how it was to be cooked. The braised veal was both very tender and tasty.

We had a bottle of Umbrian Villa Fidelia Rosso 2005 from Sportoletti. This was a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Very potent nose, but still unmistakably Italian. We were aiming for some Sangiovese, but since the Chardonnay based Villa Fidelia Bianco is one of our long time favorites we had to try the red and we didn't regret it.

The restaurant is a welcome option when the fridge is empty and the shops are closed (or we just need to spoil ourselves a little on Sunday) and we will be back soon.

A Monday Celebration

Today calls for a small celebration despite it being Monday. We often find something to celebrate. Even though it's going to be late, T sets out to make Osso Buco Milanese and Risotto allo Zafferano. The soffreto is of the known kind:
2 chopped (red) onions
2 chopped celery stalks
2 chopped carrots
3 chopped cloves of garlic
and then some fresh herbs: thyme, rosemary and sage.

The meat is browned first and the soffreto is fried in the left over. Afterwards a small can of concentrated tomato paste is fried with the soffreto and then the meat is added along with a bottle of various wine left-overs. Add ½ liter of beef stock and then let it simmer for 3 hours. A trick that K has learned from Jamie Oliver (well, not personally) is to make a lid of baking paper and after draining it in water to put that over the dish while it simmers. The advantage of this approach is that it keeps the steam with the meat and you therefore don't need to turn and drip to keep it moist and juicy. T is a quick learner so he has adopted this as well. On top of this we add 3 de-seeded chopped tomatoes.

When K arrives she helps with the finishing touches, i.e. grating the parmesan for the risotto and skim off some of the fat and, of course, to arrange the dishes. Never send a man to do a woman's job.

In the meantime we make the risotto. Take a small sauce pan. Heat some butter and fry one finely chopped shallot. Add rice (on this occasion, Aborio) and let them fry until they become transparent (should be 2-3 minutes), but not burned. Pour a glass of dry white wine in and also some saffron (what can be held between thumb and index finger). Stir regularly and then add ½ liter of  chicken stock in small amounts. This should take about 25 minutes, but you should start tasting in the last 5 minutes to make sure that the rice is al dente. With regards to texture: We prefer it a little runny (and so should you). This means that a little extra stock may be required (or just some water). When ready add a handful of grated parmesan and remember that this will actually make the texture less runny so take that into account when you determine "the runniness" before you add the parmesan.

The finishing touch, which is of big importance, is the Gremolata. Chop parsley, a couple of cloves of garlic and some lemon zest together and sprinkle on top.

The result today is marvelous. It is a favorite dish of T in particular and this was an especially successful version and therefore it gets a 9/10. With it we selected a Barbaresco Albesani 2006 from Franco Rocca which was decanted and chilled on the porch to 16 degrees. It was wonderful, 8,3/10 and the combination was even better 9,3/10

Golf dinner

T and his friend PPO had been playing golf and returned home to what was supposed to be a quick meal – PPO had to get up 4.15 next morning to drive his son to Copenhagen.

First off a primo of Risotto with scallops and baked parma ham and a splash of balsamicco 8,5/10. To this we had a bottle of Meursault from 2008 8/10. Together 9/10

The secondo was chicken (even if it was not K's famous chili chicken) cooked with fennel and lemon and served with bread and a salad of lettuce and tomatoes.











The chicken:
organic chicken cut in 8 pieces.
one or two fennels (whatever space you have leftover in the  dish).
garlic
parsley and/or other herbs
organic lemon cut in pieces (one has to use the unsprayed kind since the peel is used)
s/p
in the oven for app 50 min. K is still trying to figure out T's oven, but thinks it is 10 minutes at 200 C degrees and then turn down to 160 C for the remainder. In K's experience organic chicken need to cook a little bit longer at lower temperature: They are a bit bigger than the non-organic type as they are allowed to live a little longer. But that also benefits the taste. And ones conscience! Organic chickens have better space and get to go outdoors.

Put the left over bones and cutouts in a pan with onion, carrot, herbs etc for a great stock for later use.













Discussions were long as to what to drink with the chicken. T felt for Pinot Noir even though literature suggested otherwise (Valpolicella). Nebbiolo (Barbaresco) was suggested by PPO but he was also happy with some burgundy and so it was. We selected a bottle of Nuits St George 2004 from Louis Latour. T had asked if it was to be traditional Pinot, i.e. Burgundy or some new-world but was met with demand for the French variety. Just to test PPO and K, T also opened a bottle of Te Muna from New Zealand. This of course was something quite different and despite not doing poorly (7,4/10) it could not change the mind of PPO and K (and T). The Nuits St George (8,5/10) was also the better companion to the chicken (8/10).

The match was from the beginning unfair. Just because the grapes are the same, they were two very different wines. The burgundy had matured well and was better balanced. The New Zealandic version was much younger (2008) and was rich in fruit and oak.

The discussion about old world/new world wine goes on and on on these pages. The good part about it is that we get to taste a lot of good wine from both worlds.

For dessert we had the baked plums with macaroon and whipped cream to go with our left over Sauternes.

T commented that PPO was a joy to invite to dinner. Having to leave early and drive home, he drank next to nothing leaving a lot to the hosts. Hopefully he will know better next time.

girls night out – Enomania

Pips – a very good friend of K who also shares a deep passion for food and wine – and K had one of their rare evenings. Too much time had gone and now we would make up for it. And we chose to go to K's favorite restaurant in CPH. Enomania. (Admittedly it is also T's favorite, but he had his gender against him on this occasion...).

Damiano is a chef and sommelier with a long history in Denmark. Originally he is from the far nothern Italy but during his years in DK he has worked his way through some very good places and left his mark. Damiano has now opened a great little place with his wife Charlotte who is also a chef. They serve very good Italian food; one set menu + cheese – if you like – and we did. Everything is made with great love for the tradition. The wine cellar is exquisite, not only Italian wines but burgundies, German, American, Spanish and others have found way to the cellar.

We started with a glass of champagne made from pinot noir (blanc de noir). Should have taken a note of the name – it was excellent – but now gone from memory in the haze from the vapors that has been left.

To that a plate of speck, sausage and cured ham. Olive oil and bread.

Risotto alla Mantova con astice
The first of two primi's was risotto with pumpkin and lobster.
The risotto you get at Enomania is always absolutely wonderful. The texture, the taste – just perfect!
Vernaccia di San Gimignano Riserva 2007 Panizzi. Full, buttery and gooooood

Ravioli di vitello con tartufo estivo
Second primo: Ravioli with veal and slices of summer truffle.
Little cubes of zucchini and butter on top

At this point Damiano came with the first glass to taste blind. And we were way off. The wine was very rich and fruity with nice tanins... for some reason K thought Toscana... and a cabernet/sangiovese mix....
And it was a La Gallina, Barbera d'Alba, La Spinetta 2007. K had even had it before...
No mouse hole was small enough... felt like hiding and never coming out but the expectations for the rest of the evening kept K on her chair....

Controfiletto di manzo con peperonata al balsamico
The secondo was sirloin with a ratatouille of peperonata and balsamico and roasted new potatoes.

In came two glasses. This time we were closer.
No doubt it was Barolo.
The first one seemed aged. Yellowish in the edges and with lots of finesse, strawberry, tannins, even a hint of dairy.
The other was more aggressive. A powerful, fruity and rich.
K preferred the first, P the second.

Pio Cesare, Barolo 2006. The traditional.











Fratelli Revello, Barolo 2005. The modernista



















Formaggio
Then came the cheese.
And the last blind taste. Again we were so off.
Guessed Merlot... it was:

Monastrell-Syrah. Perelada 2008.

.... mouse hole ....













Zuppa di albicocche e pesche con gelato all’amaretto
Dessert. Peaches and abricots with amaretto icecream. Delicious and not too sweet.


















and to drink a Gewurtztraminer Spätlese, Joseph from Hofstätter
.... Again a perfect match; not too sweet but straight and added nicely to the apricots.

















If you are ever in doubt about where to go eat in CPH, go to Enomania.
And ... It is not even expensive!
(Unless you can't control yourself in the wine cellar)

Damiano, Thank you!!!