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.

57 kilometres

Saturday is a day for challenges and rewards. T will play golf with his friend, H. This leads H's girlfriend, A to challenge K to ride from Copenhagen to Elsinore on mountainbike (even if there are no mountains in Denmark). K will normally accept any challenge and this is no exception. And so it is. While the boys play golf, the girls ride from Copenhagen. For such an occasion we will look for wine that is a little out of the ordinary. As a reward, of course. However, the day begins somewhat chaotically for T who doesn't get all the sleep that he would have wanted. In fact it is not until hole 15 on the golf course that he starts to relax. Before that he has driven to Copenhagen and picked up K for shopping at Torvehallerne without being able to find a parking spot. K in the meantime has found some entrecôte steaks, a handsome filet of monkfish and various root crop. And so T drives back to Elsinore while K prepares for her bicycle ride.
When H & T finish another useless round of golf the girls are still 5 km away. That gives H&T 20 minutes to prepare some toasts of Il Fornaio's whole grain bread, open a bottle of 2008 Puligny-Montrachet from Joseph Drouhin and then arrange some pata negra on top of the toasted bread.
The girls arrive in high spirits and the starter and the first bottle of wine is soon consumed. After this, bathing starts. First K, then T and finally A. H doesn't want to, so that's too bad for A.

The first dish is baked monkfish and trumpet mushrooms on fried spinach and pine nuts.
The monkfisk is cut in portion sizes and baked in the oven at 200° C for about 10 min.
The carefully rinsed spinach is fried shortly in olive oil with a bit of shaved garlic and a squeeze of lemon
The trumpet mushrooms are given a similar treatment en another frying pan
Arranged on plates and finished with a few roasted pine nuts.

With a bottle of 2007 Corton-Charlemagne we’re off to a good start.....

Next are the beautifully marbled Entrecôtes. Just salted and fried 3 minutes on each side. They were selected as a companion to the next wines. Many rich wines with lots of body would do, but in this company we lean towards neuf du neuf. We find a bottle of Chateau Beaucastel 2009 and a bottle of Vieux Donjon 2009 both from Chateauneuf-du-Pape of course.
With the steaks we prepare a dish of roots crop that will be baked in the oven. In the dish we put beetroots (regular and candy), turnips and onions. We also have to add uncounted cloves of garlic with the skin on and herbs (the latter are massaged down into the bottom of the dish so they are not burned in the oven.) All baked for about 30-40 minutes.

It all come out very well and the wine is thus accompanied excellently. About the wine: The Vieux Donjon is delicious and already very drinkable. The Beaucastel (as some of you may recall) is not the first time we do away with a 2009. Once again, it is also excellent, a little more tight, and will keep well, if only we'll let it.

As you can imagine the 57 kilometers instills some appetite in the girls (and the boys know how to follow suit), so we need to have some cheese. We have some Danish dry cheeses (Høost and some others that we have forgotten about). It may just be an excuse to open another bottle of wine, which we do. This time a lovely/lowly Cote de Nuits Village, but from the excellent year 2005 and it tastes wonderful. K, who you you may recall has Beaucastel as one of her top-10 wines, seem to recall this latter one better the next day, whereas T does not recall much of anything.

In the end we have to eat some dessert. At this point it is kind of like a sprint. We have already put a bottle of Rayne-Vigneau Sauternes 2005 Premier Cru in the fridge and it cannot stay. But it is a race against time. H has dropped to the bed and is napping and anyone who knows T will be wondering how he is still up.

The dessert is baked plums with caramelized almonds and vanilla ice cream.
A couple of plums per person (Reine Claude) are cut in halves, stone removed and put in a baking pan with a bit of muscovado sugar and baked for about 10 minutes.
Sugar and butter are melted in a pan and when brown and bubbly almond splinters are put in.
Finally the (bought) vanilla ice cream is arranged on the side.
(Reminder: we need an ice cream machine) (and a bigger kitchen)

And it is another success, but it is also the end of the line for this evening and we are happy to send our guests to bed and hitting our own the moment their door closes.
In case you were wondering about the challenge and award thing... K was of course rewarded with some extraordinary wine (as were the entire company) this evening. T, who played some terrible golf was rewarded with an extraordinary hang-over. Both were equally just.

Reunion

T has been away on holiday and golfing for far too long and we have been looking forward to the reunion. T is close to exhausted after golfing for three days in sunny weather, but not enough so to miss the opportunity to celebrate and so we go to Torvehallerne late sunday afternoon to get inspired. Most of the booths have closed or are in the process of closing, but we find an open fishmonger and get six norwegian lobsters (langoustine) and half a tail of monkfish. We find a single booth selling bread and get a nice rosemary focaccia. Next we need some vegetables and we head out of the glass building only to find the shop closing down. We get to pick from produce not yet packed away and so we buy broad beans, fennel, tomato, chanterelles and strawberries. (The latter we keep for next morning's breakfast).
Home again we start figuring what to do with our purchases. We start making a crostini of the chanterelles. The chanterelles are fried in olive oil and garlic and fresh tomato, without seeds. It is all arranged on the toasted focaccia and topped with some parmesan shaving. With it we drink our wine, Villa Fidelia Bianco 2004 from Sportoletti. This Umbrian chardonnay was served to us on our very first date, but now we have come to the last bottle. 8/10.

Next up is the seafood, which is grilled in the oven. The langoustine are split in halves (well only the tails), drizzled with olive oil, and rolled in mixed herbs and lemon zest, grilled along with the monkfish (which get the same treatment) for app. 8-10 minutes. On the stove we prepare the vegetables (actually it is K who does it as T just sits and checks out the results from his golfing exploits).
1 fennel is diced and cooked in olive oil with 3 cloves of garlic, one huge tomato, lots of herbs, a bit of cayenne pepper and, for the last ten minutes, a handful of black olives.
On the side broad beans are cooked just tender (2 min) in salted water and cooled in ice cold water.
The best olive oil is added along with some sheep milk feta cheese.
With it we want something special and K has saved a bottle for just such an occasion: Vintage Tunina 2006 from Jehrmann 9/10

In good company

Happily, it is once again time to see good friends, I and A. A is a champagne connoisseur, so we will have to be sharp. I is in waiting and so there is so much more wine for the rest of us! And what wine it is, tonight.

Krug Grande Cuvée
Puligny-Montrachet Joseph Drouhin 2008
Sammarco 2007 Castello dei Rampolla
Sassicaia 2004
Sauterne random


We start with a bottle of Krug champagne and for snacks have some of T’s trademark almonds – soy-roasted and salted. Also, we try some broad beans with a bit of salt, since K is still preparing some for the starter and does not want to stay in the kitchen while the rest of us quickly soak up the champagne. The champagne is very nice and ”toasted.”
T's roasted almonds
The almonds are dry-roasted on a hot pan. Toss frequently in order to avoid scorching. After 5-6 minutes (for 200 grams) pour some soy sauce on and after 10 seconds add some salt, all the while tossing the almonds in the pan. As the soy is salty don’t exaggerate the salt. Let the almonds cool for 10+ minutes.

First course is Monkfish and broadbeans,
green and purple asparagus, Danish produce.
Beurre Blanc 
The monkfish has a great taste and texture – almost like lobster. When salted slightly before cooking the meat becomes even firmer.
It is cut in slices – one for each serving – and fried shortly in butter. The broad beans, with the white skin peeled off is added to the pan for a second.
The asparagus stalks are broken off. They snap exactly at the tender point so there is no reason to cut them. If you cut them, you may cut away too little resulting in tough bites or even worse, cut away too much of the wonderful, tender young asparagus.
The Beurre Blanc sauce is prepared by finely chopping 1½ shallots (the large banana shaped ones), put in a small pan with 1 dl of white wine and a spoonful of white vinegar. Cook until reduced to half and, strain, then add 125 g of butter cut into smaller cubes so that they can be whipped into the extract gradually. Turn off the heating quickly so it is done on the afterburn. No boiling!
We are quite satisfied and even the not-so-fond-of-fish guest scrapes the plate with rustic bread from il Fornaio in Torvehallerne. The Puligny-Montrachet goes well with the dish. It has good acidity and is not too ”fat”.

Since we supply the champagne, A is denied of opportunity to be the champagne-man for tonight, but has instead brought another special treat – the Sammarco 2007 from Castello di Rampolla. This is exceptional. We have decanted it immediately and after 2 hours we can approach it, but it is still child-murder to a little extent. We find no flaw, save for the fact that there is too little of it.

Back to the main course. For our main course we try something new. We presume that wild board will go well with the wine and by the end of the evening we also a rather satisfied with ourselves.

Cinghiale arrosto 
(Shoulder of wild boar roast)
1 small boneless shoulder (1.5 kg) is filled with a paste (the mortar again) of 1 spoonful fennel seeds, 3 fillets of anchovies, 3 cloves of garlic, a handful of oregano, a handful of rosemary, black pepper, a small spoonful honey, zest and juice of one lemon, a generous pour of olive oil, salt and lots of black pepper. Tie the roast tightly.
Put in the oven at 180° for about two hours with a bit of white wine in the bottom of the pan (add more wine along the way). Turn the roast frequently.

Fennel

The fennel cut in eights are added to the pan after one hour.
Whatever juices are left ind the pan – from the roast, white wine and fennel is used as sauce. Not much, but good.

New potatoes

Tossed endives with garlic and anchovies dressing
This dressing works great with any kind of bitter lettuce.
Dressing. Paste 2-3 anchovies with 1-2 cloves of garlic, olive oil (the best kind, always), a splash of white wine vinegar in the mortar. Mix thoroughly with the lettuce.
No salt – the anchovies are plenty salty




Now, as we mentioned, there was a small problem with the Sammarco and we need to take care of it. We can’t really see any other solution to the problem than to continue in the Super Tuscan track and so we open a bottle of Sassicaia 2004. It is exceptional with fine rounded fruit and at this stage more mature for drinking than the Sammarco.

Time for a little cheese and luckily we have saved a glass of the Puligny-Montrachet.

Finally there is only the dessert left:

Baked rhubarb with sour cream and almond cookies.

The rhubarbs are cut in pieces of app 2 cm and put in an oven proof pan in one layer. Orange zest, one stalk of vanilla and a generous pour of cane sugar is added. Cover with foil. Cooked at 180° for 20-25 min. Arrange on plates with the crumbled almond cookies and the sour cream.

We drink a little Sauternes of uncertain origin, but that is just for the sake of appearances as we have had about enough. T is on the verge of falling asleep and I and A are gracious enough to head home. We look forward to seeing a family of four next time!

Hornbæk – Søstrene Olsen

After the longest november ever, summer suddenly arrives in Denmark for a short visit. The temperature rises to the mid-20°-ies and all the locals shed their clothes to reveal different shades of white and surprisingly many actually already have a golden tan. K is envious and try to make up for it with a bronzing cream and ends up orange and spotted. But that is another story.

Anyway, the summer is short and sweet. After a week and a half the meterologists  predict a sudden temperature drop of 15° ...and rain, of course. Just 24 hours to countdown. So we decide to go to the quaint seaside town of Hornbæk to spend the last mild evening at a restaurant with outdoors seating. After a short stroll we decide on Søstrene Olsen. 

A pretty garden welcomes us and we are seated at a table with the setting sun shining generously. Of course we are not the only ones. It is the Monday of Pentecost, a holiday, and the place quickly fills up. MK decides on a plate of seawater-boiled shrimps and T&K wants sole, new potatoes and beurre blanc.

To drink Pouilly Fussé 2009, Joseph Drouhin. And a Fanta for MK. Bread and butter quickly arrives and after a while the shrimp and sole. (MK is hungry and think it takes a thousand years but actually it is within reasonable time). The plates look and taste fine – not more not less than what is expected. But the fish are not brought in from the sea the same morning and a little overcooked and compared to the servings of the neighboring table, very small. The shrimps are similarly acceptable but not wiggling their tails with freshness and the mayonnaise appear to be taken from a good jar.

We order 3 different kinds of dessert: Apple tart, chocolate cake and rhubarb terrine. The apple tart is nice and warm with a lightly frozen whipped cream, the chocolate cake has a soft center and the rhubarb a slight note of licorice. All plates are scraped clean. Two espresso to finish the night.
It was all ok and fine – but we end up with a 5,5/10 when considering  the prize which is rather high.

Copenhagen - Brdr. Price

Plenty of Butter (or in Danish Rigeligt med smør).

It's M's birthday and so he gets to choose what, where and how to dine. Actually, he selects something that we have all been awaiting, namely visiting the newly opened Brdr. Price restaurant (the Price Brothers) in Copenhagen. Brdr. Price have become culinary celebrities in Denmark, because of their television show on DR. Initially this was aired on the more specialized DR2 channel, but it became very popular and it was then moved to DR1 prime time. As you can see on our facebook page, we are naturally also fans of Brdr. Price. But it is not only K and T, but also M and MK who loves it and the show will provide one of the few occasions where we are all watching the same television show.
The restaurant is divided into two sections - the dining room and the kitchen. The latter being less formal seems the better place for us, since we have MK with us. The menu is a bistro style menu which suits us just fine.
For a starting snack we have bread with three different kinds of butter (of course) - regular, smoked and wild garlic (ramson), olives and bread fries with brandade mayo

Next is the starter and MK has a carpaccio of scallops (as you will see, MK is not afraid to order a full menu despite her tender age of 7 years). This is delicately served and the small bitter salad leaves are finely dressed.

M orders the fish soup with croutons and Rouille. Maybe not quite what he had hoped for, but that says more about his expectations as it is quite nice.
Needless to say, T and K have the foie gras terrine. Somethings never change. But we do so in the the certain conviction that we will get to taste the dishes of the kids and we don't feel like the salmon smorgaas.

For the main course, MK gets her eagerly awaited moules frites. It is quite overwhelming, in particular since she should no longer have any appetite left and so she eats a little of the large dish before giving up and starts roaming around the restaurant. The very nice waitress asks if she wants to come and see the kitchen and MK eagerly accepts. Our debriefing is not too good, so we learn only that it was a "biiig kitchen".
M has ordered a Steak sandwich and is once again not quite happy - we suspect it's the rocket. It is rather good and he eats it all after freeing it of its dangerous green attributes. Actually, we should credit M for being adventurous. He has ordered two dishes somewhat different from his normal preferences.
K and T decide to align to the concept of the French bistro and orders Steak-Frites and of course a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which we can no longer recall and don't recognize from the wine list.

For dessert we have again something different each one. The kids have Creme Brulée and K has the lemon tart while T has chocolate fondant.

It's Sunday and we need to get all the way back to Elsinore so the kids may attend school next day and so we thank the very nice waitress, but still MK is disappointed not to have met either Adam or James.

In conclusion we think that the concept is fine. The dishes certainly are those of a better bistro. The wine card is limited, but good. The prices are however too high, we think. Still, it feels a little bit like the brothers are chatting and bickering over the dishes  we have been served and so we pay that little extra on this occasion, but we don't think we'll do that on a regular week day.
7/10

Dinner with friends

It's time for having friends over for dinner. Not that this happens seldomly. It's just such a good occasion to try out more than a single bottle of wine (or two as it sometimes happens). Tonight we try out a whole lot.
T has decided that we shall have some white Hermitage and for this a lobster bisque seems like a good choice. Secondly we will have some Lamb, as this will allow us to select som wine together with our friends. Our friends brings delicious cheeses which also calls for some wine and in the end a little desert should also provide an opportunity for a glass of wine.
Since it is Friday we are a bit stressed, so our friends have to put up with us being a bit disorganized and very informal. They are placed the at the kitchen table (and are even doing dishes from our initial preparations) and are served some tapenade with toasted bread. With this we have a glass of champagne from Debas-Comin. (Un)fortunately, we are not even close to having the first course when the champagne runs dry, but this gives K an opportunity to serve a glass of Meursault that she tried on her own some time ago and which she is understandably quite fond of. The Meursault Les Charmes, Domaine Chavy-Chouet, 2010 is very good, full and buttery and the acidity is very well integrated in the young 2010 vintage. In the meantime...

For the bisque, which is a quick friday-version, we have started a vegetable fond by frying carrot, parsnip, garlic, onion, leeks, (one small) Jerusalem artichoke and a few fresh tomatoes, one chili, adding white wine, white pepper and letting it steam off the alcohol and then pouring water on top and let it simmer for an hour. The bisque tonight is made of Norway lobsters. The meat is taken out of the lobster tails. Then the claws, heads and empty tails are fried on a hot pan. Next a generous measure of what should have been cognac, but on this occasion was rum was added and ignited. This caused quite some panic as one of the guests is on the verge of fleeing the apartment. The pan is withdrawn from the stove, the fire subsided and the fleeing guest is calmed with another glass of Meursault. We’re sorry that we did not think of taking pictures of the scene.
Next the vegetable fond, which has been sieved and the vegetables discarded, is poured over the lobsters and is left to simmer for 10 minutes, then about 1 dl of cream is added and simmers until thickening. In the meantime large scallops are fried hard and short and are placed in the bowls along with the lobster meat and the bisque is poured on top.
We are very happy with the result and together with the 2001 Chave Hermitage Blanc we are mildly exuberant. 9,4/10.

The main course is a leg of lamb arranged on root vegetables – potatoes, carrots, beet roots and of course some fresh, crisp fennel. The lamb itself is prepared with a marinate of oil, anchovies, fennel seeds, garlic, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper.
It goes in the oven at 180°C for a good hour and then it is simply ready to go and delicious.

Our friends may have a slight preference for Chateauneuf du Pape (but have on other occasions agreed to most of what we serve for them), so when given the choice the outcome seems inevitable, as T is also very much partial to such a selection on this evening. We try out the 2008 Vieux Telegraphe and also a 2008 La Roquète. This is not as good a year as most of the recent vintages in Chateauneuf du Pape, but it is still very much to our liking. 3 prefer the Vieux Telegraphe and 2 actually prefer the less well known La Roquete.
Our guests have brought cheese – Epoisse, of course, Langre, which is a bit similar and in the end a Roquefort. This calls for a little variety, we think so, we start out with a bottle of Tasman Bay Pinot Noir 2008 and then when getting to the blue cheese we turn to an Australian Port from Kalleske, which we tasted during our trip to London. Unfortunately it is corked and so we have to open a bottle of Ortiz Port.
Actually, one of our guests suggests that the Langre should be accompanied by some Calvados and so this has to be tried out also. Alas, T is feeling sleepiness approach and so it is just our guest and K who embarks on the Calva experiment.
This port  also goes well with our small dessert – apple crumble with whipped cream. The apple crumble is on this occasion made only with apples and made in portion sizes.

Pasta ai frutti di mare

Winter is here and even if it not as cold as it can be, it still feels a long way from Italy... one of our favourite places to be. Alas, we have one small way of consoling ourselves until next time. Italian food and wine! Today we go to the small village, Hornbæk, that was once a fisherman's village, but by now is one of the better summer resorts for the Danes. Still, there is a fishmonger on the harbour. The harbour no longer has any fishing boats and the fishmonger, we suspect, gets all his commodities from Copenhagen. We pick up some venus clams and since we already have langostini and mussels we are all set for a great dish of seafood pasta, or as they say in Italy, Spaghetti ai frutti di mare.

It is the easiest thing to make:

Briefly fry some finely chopped shallots, garlic and one de-seeded chilli in olive oil. Add a tin of peeled tomatoes and let it simmer until the onions soften. Add a couple of glasses of whitewine.

In the meantime you should be boiling the pasta - for this dish linguini is better. When the pasta is 5 minutes from done add your seafood. For us (4 persons) it was one langostini per person, two handfulls of mussels and 600 gr of venus clams. (Sorry about the different measures, but some of it was bought and split the night before - see Jambalaya). Put a lid on and let it cook/steam for 5 minutes. When the pasta is ready mix it altogether with some chopped parsley and serve.
Today we again try the Toledana Gavi di Gavi and it is very good. If you are a regular reader you may recall us mentioning it earlier. The thing is, we bought a case of them and we liked it very much. That has led us to try it out with different dishes, but this  time it is perfect.

Performance Anxiety

Like everybody else we have dishes we like and repeat now and again. Since starting our blog it has become a challenge to think up something new each day. If you think our posts have become less frequent then that is indeed the case, but please bear with us as we strain for something new and interesting to write about on days when we are not into big experiments.

Indeed the pressure of it hit T the other day. He went out shopping alone and was overcome with performance anxiety. Indeed he longed for the old days when he could decide for something he felt like. On this occasion he needed to consider if it was novel to the blog, if both he, K and also the kids would like it... and of course, what to drink with it. I hope you appreciate how challenging all this blogging has become.
Well, enough of excuses. T found some mussels and some langostini and then decided on Jambalaya. Actually, T's knowledge of this dish is solely second-hand, as he had this at an old acquaintance, so you may disagree with the recipe (even though this is also originally a left-over dish, and as such difficult to define what the original version is).

Home again and both K and all kids picked up, we bring forth our brand new christmas present – a Le Creuset Cast Iron casserole. Vegetables are fried: (red and yellow capsicum), onions, garlic a de-seeded chilli. After this we put in a sliced chorizo sausage – a Danish version from Aalbæk slagteren with Jalapeño. This is fried together with cubes of chicken (breast). When fried, two tins of peeled tomatoes and ½l of chicken stock are added. When it has reached a boiling level 300 grams of Aborio risotto rice are added and the we let it simmer for 20 minutes. Remember to stir as the rice will otherwise burn or just stick together – neither of which is very pleasant. After the 20 minutes we put some langostini and 3 handful of mussels in there and put a lid on so they will not only cook, but also let the steam work. Also a couple of handfuls of mini corn are tossed into the mix.

And that's it!

This was not a dish where we could easily tell what to drink with it. We consulted various experts. The choice ended up to between Riesling and Zinfandel! In the end we decided to go with Hugh Johnson and the Stawa 2005 Old Vines Zinfandel and we didn't regret it.

A starter for New Years

New Years eve we are invited to a pot luck party with good friends and family. We are asked to bring the starter and we feel the pressure! Perhaps not as much from the other attendees as from ourselves.
Cod is traditional for New Years in Denmark (usually boiled and served with potatoes and mustard sauce) and we decide on the cod but baked and served with a saffron sauce made from the broth of mussels and cream and and a side of spinach. The whole composition is actually a brainstorm. Neither one of us had a clear picture of how it should be from the outset. We went to Torvehallerne to get inspired and gradually we decided on the ingredients. In the end, we came up with something that could have been invented many times before and probably has, but the process was very inspiring.

Ingredients for two people:

one small fillet of cod (220 gr)

two handfuls of mussels

1 shallot

1 small carrot

1 half stalk of celery

1 large clove of garlic

1 chili (half of it de-seeded)

1 small handful of parsley

1 glass of white wine

1 dl cream

a pinch of saffron

s/p – perhaps a bit of lemon juice

200 gr of fresh spinach

1 tsp cold butter

a bit of lemon juice

The cod is cut into smaller pieces of appr. 30 x 40 mm. The cut-offs are kept for the sauce. The pieces are placed on a dish on baking paper, salted lightly, one slice of lemon pr person on the side and set aside briefly.
The spinach is cleansed and cooked in hot water for 2 minutes, whereafter it is drained with cold water. It is then blended with butter and some of the cooking water. Ideally it will be a thin puree, but depending on the amount of cooking water it can become more or less solid. If it cools too much you should re-heat it a little bit perhaps just by heating the plate it is served on.

The sauce is the clue to this dish:
First rinse the mussels. Discard any that will not close when you tap them or if the shells are broken. Put the mussels in a hot pot with lid for until they open. How long it takes depends much upon how many mussels you are preparing and on the heat. The important thing is to cook them until they have opened and is just done – but not overdone and dry. The mussels will leave a wonderful broth. Take the mussels out of the casserole leaving the juice. Discard the mussels that have not opened. Add to the broth; shallot, garlic, carrot, celery stalk, a little fresh chilli, parsley, the cut-offs from the cod and white wine. Let it simmer and reduce to about half. In the mean time take out the mussels from their shells.

Strain the sauce and add cream and saffron. Let it cook until the cream thickens. Just before serving put the mussels back in the sauce to just re-heat (but not cook on). In all honesty, the latter part worked well on our rehearsal dinner, but not quite as well on new years eve. The taste on new years eve was still great (we think), but the impression gets more messy with the sauce floating around on the plate.
When about ready, put the cod in the oven at 200 degrees and cook for 4 minutes. It is very important to get this right. If baked too long it will become dry, flaky and more difficult to arrange on the plate.

While the cod is in the oven, arrange the (heated) plates with the spinach in a half-circle. When the cod is ready place two pieces on each plate and pour the sauce with mussels on top. If you feel like it decorate with a small topping of salmon roe on top. Serve with small pieces of toasted pumpernickel (good for almost anything).
We tasted two different white wines to determine which went better. They were not particularly similar. The first was Toledana Gavi di Gavi. It was nice, but we were never in doubt and chose Henri Boillot's 2009 Bourgogne. We have later learned that this was reviewed well, but it was suggested that it did not go well with cream nor shellfish. Oh dear!

Preparing for Christmas part I – Tuna and Bean salad

Christmas is approaching and like many others we get a bit apprehensive about it. It's not only the challenge of finding presents and getting into the mood that cause worries. It is also the anticipation of all the food. Not that we don't like food... But it will affect our weight. So after recent excesses we need to look at something lighter before all the pork roasts and ducks and what have you.
For some time T has been talking about a salad of beans and tuna and even if he cannot be very specific about it we set out to make an attempt.

A day in advance the butter beans and red kidney beans are prepared. The beans are soaked in two separate baths of water for 8 hours+.

The water is discarded and the beans are put in separate pots with fresh water, onion, some garlic and a bit of thyme. Cook at a low boil for approximately one hour.  Salt the beans after 25 minutes. Set aside to cool off.

The salad itself consists of:
½ finely sliced fennel
1 finely sliced red pepper
1 diced red onion
1 finely chopped big clove of garlic
2 cups of kidney beans
2 cups of butter beans
2 tins of tuna (in water)
A big handful of chopped broadleafed parsley

All is tossed in a bowl with the dressing.
The dressing is made of
Olive oil
a squeeze of lemon
some white wine vinegar
a bit of water and whitewine
s/p

We, T, K and Fine, were very satisfied. It is a successful salad, but there is a price to pay for eating all those beans...
With the salad we had some bread from Meyer's Bakery and to drink a bottle of Thelema Chardonnay 2008. Overall we rate the salad 8/10, the wine 7,5/10 and together 7,5/10

We finished the meal with a slice of Knuthenborg sheep cheese, which is sold at an astronomical prize at Irma. And it is good. But is it that good?

Big Fish

Looking at this blog reveals some statistics about our eating habits and we are sad to say, but the label fish is not too frequent. To remedy this and to celebrate the fact that T has bought a new car (out of dire need) T purchases a whole turbot at Metro. Bringing home such a big fish, T almost feels like a successful angler returning home to present his catch. We immediately start looking into various literature for inspiration. K finds Brøndums fiskekogebog, which is clearly recommended not least for its  humor. K re-reads the following definitions: Revenge: Preparing a meal for your adversary which he or she cannot possibly surpass. Or how about: Calmness: Knowing that you have sufficient dry white wine.

After some research we set out to bake the turbot in the oven on a layer of chopped parsnip, sweet potatoes, leeks and fennel. Furthermore we take half a celeriac and make 10 thin round pieces that we fry on a pan and let simmer in some chicken stock for 10-12 minutes. The remaining celeriac is cut into cubes and together with the cut-offs we boil this in 2 parts chicken stock, 1 part milk and 1 part cream. When tender the celeriac cubes are blended with a little of the cooking liquids and finally some truffle oil is added.

In the meantime the turbot is baked in the oven fo 35-45 minutes at 160°C degrees while the fish is being frequently dripped with melted butter. As it says in Brøndums fiskekogebog "your hand should be as baked as the turbot".
Evaluating the meal we find it all delicious, but we are not quite satisfied. The truffled celery puree looked appealing, but accompanying the rest of the dish was not optimal. The celeriac prepared on the side and the root crops were very good as was the turbot, but it did lack a little acidity, a fact that we quickly remedied with some drops of lemon.

To drink we had a long time favorite: Catena Alta Chardonnay. T's good friend has supplied them since the year 2005, but by now we have a bottle of 2008, while the few remaining 05 and 06 are stored away. The 2008 is a perfect companion to the turbot and we rate it as follows: Turbot 8/10, Catena Alta 8,5/10 and together 9/10

Collioure

It is time to head north again and so we leave Spain and apparently the summer as well as we reach France. K has had a tip to visit the small coastal town of Collioure just a few kilometres into France. Apparently K is not the only one to have received this tip, as the town is crawling with tourists on this grey day. We drive up and down the main street unable to find a parking spot. We are about to abandon the visit when we spy a small parking lot and after waiting for a spot to become vacant we park and go down to the beautiful seaside promenade.

A small drizzle has begun and we seek shelter at a fish restaurant, the San Vicens, with a view of the harbor. This could have been yet another tourist trap and it probably also is one, but that does not prevent them from making excellent food. But first we select a bottle of local white wine and we are very surprised in a positive way. The Mas Cornet 2009 AOC Collioure is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Marsanne and Vermentino. It gives it both a spicyness and complexity and the 13,5% alcohol also adds to the mix. And now the rain starts pouring.

We have ordered Zarazuela which is all kinds of delicious seafood basically in a lobster bisque. This is served with rice, but we actually prefer the bread to soak up the bisque and then eat the contents with just a little rice. In the Zarazuela were Langostine, Moules, St Jacques clams, Razorclams, Monkfish, squids, babysquids and enormous prawns. The dish was so big that it could have fed 4 and we don't count ourselves as ones who are not able to eat our fair share.
We had not expected to bring home wine from this region, but we now have to ask our kind waiter, Jean-Pierre, about where we might be able to purchase a case. Jean-Pierre who has been very charming (indiscriminately) tells us and even comes back wit at small note with introductions and his card attached so that we may have a little degustation.

We never find the wine shop Jean-Pierre directed us to and after having visited 5 shops who all tell us that the wine has been sold out we settle for moving on, but just as we do so we pass a grocery shop and there it is. We fill another eight bottles in the trunk and head up towards Chateauneuf-du-Pape very content.

Modern times

We start the day with fried eggs and coffee to beat off the hang-over from last night. After a hesitant morning we manage to go down towards La Concha. First we head to the store where T bought his bathing trousers. Maybe it's the food on this vacation, but T thinks it is just the fact that Spanish sizes are much smaller. In any event he has to swap his bathing trousers to a larger size. We then go on to have tapas and white wine and on to the beach and bathing in the great surf of the the atlantic sea. La Concha is a beach placed right in the bay of the city with rather big surfs for a tranquil and sunny day. Enough to bring out the child in both K and T and to wash out the opulence of last night.

During the last days we have fallen in love with San Sebastian. Not only because of it's admittedly great restaurants but because of the city itself and its inhabitants. It is the mix of new and old, of city  and beach, of modernity and history.

We have extended our stay in San Sebastian at the expense of going to Pinafiel in the Ribera del Duero. This we must do another time, but we enjoyed the city so much and the hotel had proved to serve the purpose of this evening, namely a high-speed internet connection.

Today is election day in faraway Denmark. We have voted in advance but still like to follow election night on Danish television streamed over the Internet. We therefore go to the hotel's restaurant. This is, true to its concept, displaying a movie on the wall of the restaurant. It is Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times. Very appropriate in every way.

T does not remember much of the menu as he is watching his smartphone for election results and of course the magic of Charlie Chaplin. The meal was nevertheless great. We had a gazpacho for starters. Then a salad with tuna, next a small prawn ravioli and the next dish was steamed cod and in the end braised pork cheeks. Two small desserts are served in each their glass. One acidly and one rich – fruity and chocolate.

All our meals in San Sebastian have been great and this was also good and even if it was not cheap it was by far the least expensive, but despite that fact great.

T stayed up all night watching the end of election night whereas K quietly dozed off thanks to the sun, water and everything good.