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.

Beetroots and Amarone

To tell the truth, T is not too fond of Amarone. You may have have noticed its absence from the sidebar, but now it is time to have some.
Tuesday night we have a very good and old friend for a business dinner. Important matters are to be discussed. That calls for some wine. We start off with some Meursault, first a 2008 from Rotem Brakin and since this bottle clearly leaks (or vaporizes) we have to open another one, this time the 2009 version from Joseph Drouhin. They are both lovely, but we think we should have switched sequence as the acidity of the latter is lighter and it comes out more smooth, whereas the former likes to be accompanying food. Which in this case (of course) is a little crostini with chanterelles.

Next is a roasted leg of lamb. Our friend, who was taken into Irma to participate in the shopping, loves lamb (and so do we). We will try something a bit different and K covers the bottom of the pan with beetroots, red onions and lots of garlic. The Leg is prepared with (more) garlic, salt and pepper and lemon zest and juice. Finally some handfuls of all the good herbs from K’s garden and fennel seeds. A glassful of apple juice is added and the pan is put in the oven at 180-200° C for about an hour. Along the way a small glass of white wine is added and the the meat and vegetables is dripped with the liquid. To accompany the lamb and beetroots we serve some hot lima beans with chopped red onion and a little green salad.
With this we have a couple of bottles of Musella 2003 Amarone 8,3/10. And that is a very good idea. The richness of the wine is needed for the beetroots. The combination of beetroots and fennel seeds (and lamb) is very savoury. The food/wine combination is a huge success 9,3/10

Chardonnay

Looking at the sidebar it is quite apparent that we enjoy a bottle of Chardonnay now and then. Friday night was yet another occasion and we felt like something special. We had been postponing buying new suitcases for a while but now we drifted into the center of Copenhagen and we made a small detour to L’esprit du vin. We have been meaning to go there for quite a some time after our tasting at Copenhagen Wine Forum. This store holds the agency for some of the best winemakers (Leroy and Peter Sisseck) and is very clearly run by people with great passion for wine and also great knowledge. Somewhat nerdy.
We give them a difficult task of suggesting a Friday wine. They are clearly trying to figure out how much we want to spend and it takes quite a while. In the end we settle for Meusault-Genevrières 2002 from Hospices de Beaune. We also buy some of Peter Sisseck's new wines, Quinta Sardonia and PSI, but they will have to wait for another occasion.
Since we are getting ready for our holiday, we decide to ”snack” rather than prepare a warm meal. We purchase various charcuterie and a Ølandshvedebrød (bread) from Meyer's bakery.
We manage to eat most of what we bought at Magasin – Mad & Vin. Pata Negra (Iberian ham), Finocchio (Italian fennel salami), Saucission Noisette (French salami with nuts), Terrine de trois foie, gruyere cheese and a sheep's milk cheese, the name of which have slipped our minds. Our sole contribution is some guacamole.
Word of advise: If you want to buy pata negra, then Torvehallerne is a third of the price of Mad og Vin (and then it is even correctly cut).

Oh, and then a small sin – Summerbird's Flødeboller. T’s sister found them first, but they are heavenly with white chocolate, marcipan and a hint of liquorice.

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.

Beaucastel

A couple of days ago we were invited to the opening of the new wine center of Vinoble/Østjysk Vinforsyning in Krystalgade Copenhagen. It is an impressive center now with much more space for the shop and offices. Furthermore important additions have been made in the form of tasting room and of course just more room for the exhibition area.
There is much to tempt us, but as happens more and more often, we go into the "treasury". This area in a wine shop is where private owners have placed their wines for the shop to sell on with commission. On this occasion we simply have to buy a bottle of Chateau Beaucastel 2009. We know it will be child murder as we say in Denmark, but nevertheless...

We start the dinner with a little foie gras. This we have with some toasted dark bread and pickled plums and pickled green tomatoes. We try the Puligny Montrachet 2007 from Joseph Drouhin. It is very good 8,8/10 even if often prefer something more sweet with foie gras, e.g. Gewürtztraminer or even sauternes.

For the main course we have prepared a veal 'culotte' and on the side a small serving of potatoes thinky sliced and packed with shallots, chicken fond and some gruyere cheese. We also make some ratatouille of red onions, garlic, eggplant, red peppers and salted capers.
But of course, tonight it is the wine that plays the leading role and it does so very nicely. Despite its young age, it is still a complex and readily drinkable wine. That is not to say that we wouldn't like to have it again in 10-15 years, but that will have to wait. 9,4/10

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.

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!

Bistro Nord

Living in Elsinore (Helsingør) as T does means that there are not that many options for dining out (if you are T, that is). One place has delivered gourmet food consistently despite change of owners. Today this is Bistro Nord. Earlier the restaurant on Strandvejen in Ålsgårde was managed by the famous Danish chef, Jan Hurtigkarl who has since opened another very good restaurant, Mielcke og Hurtigkarl in Frederiksberg (Copenhagen). T has on more than one occasion visited the restaurant under its former owner, but hasn't tried out the new one. It has received splendid reviews and so we set out to test it.

We are placed on what was once the porch, but is now covered by a roof, but still maintaining the great view towards Sweden with the sea of Kattegat to separate us. On this evening it has turned dark a long time ago, but a nearly full moon shines icily over the sea and though attempts to take photos of the scene fail it still is quite beautiful. It has to be said that, even though it is covered it is still rather cold to sit on the porch, which they of course know at Bistro Nord, so they have put a blanket on the backs of the chairs.

We have pre-ordered a 4-course menu which includes a glass of champagne for an aperitif. The waitress, who we find to be extremely pleasant and knowledgable during the evening, has no difficulty persuading us to have a small starter with the champagne. We also suspect that the waitress is in fact also one of the two general managers, but that does not affect our opinion that we got excellent service this evening. K has two oysters – one from Bretagne and one from Limfjorden (Denmark). They are both served fresh with a little bit of tomato/vinegar/tabasco sauce on the side. It was a nice touch to try them next to one another and patriotic as we are, we found the Danish oyster to be the better one (in fact it was also much bigger than its French counterpart).

T had caviar on citruscreme and crisp flakes of Jerusalem artichoke. The caviar was in fact a combination of both caviar and salmon roe, but still quite nice. Maybe the citruscreme was a bit too dominant, but still quite good.

First course was Sig roe (Sorry no known English name for that fish, but the nice waitress told us that it was a fish related to cod and that it lived primarily south of Fyn). This was served on a blinis with a dill mayo, croutons and Vesterhavsost (which, of course, is a favourite of both K and T). Very good.

Oftentimes we choose to go with the wine menu that a restaurant like this suggests. We trust them to come with good suggestions and also this is a way to broaden our horizon and taste something other than what we would choose ourselves. Today, however, we think that the wine list looks good. It is not that extensive, but what they have looks good and furthermore, it seems to us as if the markup is not too big. The thing with buying wine at restaurants in Denmark is that you can easily pay 3 times the retail price fore a bottle of wine. That is rather tiresome. On the other hand it means that when we dine abroad we often find the wines quite affordable. We do revise that point of view when we return home and add up the sums spent on wine. We ask the waitress to suggest something and we select a bottle of Beaune 1er Cru “Clos de La Feguine” 2006 from Jacques Prieur and for later a bottle of Chateau la Nerthe 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Just to give an idea about prices we later check up and find that the Beaune, which we pay 615 DKK for can be bought in retail in Denmark for 368 DKK, which of course makes the mark-up much better than what is the norm in Denmark. Of course Danish prices are in themselves much higher than the rest of the world with the possible exception of Norway and Sweden.

Well, back to the dinner. Next we have fried scallops with spinach and cauliflower and browned butter. Again, this was very good and we did not regret our wine selection.

The main course was filet of beef with caramelized celery, Brussels sprouts and truffles from Gotland. This is delicious and, naturally, cooked perfectly. The  Chateau la Nerthe goes well along with the beef and is s great drink now. Rich in fruit and the tannins are smooth.

We are not quite ready for dessert and so ask for a plate of cheese. This was probably a mistake. The plate contained an assortment of Danish cheeses, høost, vesterhavsost and Blå Kornblomst. All good cheeses that we would, and indeed have served ourselves on occasion. The problem was in the variety. The first two are dry cow milk cheeses and would perhaps go well with a glass of dry white wine or sherry, whereas the the latter, blue cheese would be better with a glass of sweet (dessert) wine. That problem could of course be remedied and indeed our excellent waitress came with a glass of Eiswein. Unfortunately, the damage had been done and we were not quite content. T has come to the conclusion that he does not enjoy a cheese plate with very different cheeses. The correct way to eat them, is  in order of strenth of taste. But when served like this, T would have preferred one type of cheese with one glass of wine. The blue cheese is very rich and thereby the contrast between cheeses become to strong.

We come to the dessert, which is "Buckthorn and white chocolate", which is a an ice cream made with the berries from buckthorn bush. It is quite good  and we have the aforementioned glass of Eiswein with it.

After a cup of espresso we are ready to leave. Despite being the first to come we are almost the last to leave. It has been a great dinner and is a commendable restaurant, when you are in the north of Zealand (Sjælland). K, the city girl, does not on this occasion talk about as the "outskirts of Denmark" (Udkantsdanmark)  All in all 8,5/10

Paris

A business trip to Paris provides T with an excellent opportunity for culinary exploits. T, a long time fan of the Italian cuisine, is gradually warming to France – both the wine and food. It does not mean that he did not like it before, just that he had not paid enough attention. Not surprisingly there are many positive experiences waiting for T (and some not so positives ones, too).
The trip provided four occasions for French dining.
Day 1: Auberge Nicolas Flamel
This is a small place at Rue de Montmorency. T has the Menu Degustation which means
Foie Gras on fruited bread - one piece fried and one piece au naturel. Quite nice.
St Jacques (Fried Scallops)
Monkfish
7-hour Lamb
Creme Brulée
The Menu Degustation was good, but time has erased the memory somewhat.
The plan was to have a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red with the meal, so we ordered a bottle of Mont-Redon 2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It was very nice and crisp, but somehow it dried up before the monkfish arrived and so we had to have a bottle of Meursault (T does not recall which one, but it was a favorite in the company). For the Lamb we had a bottle of Chateau Marquis d'Alesme 2005.
Day 2: Le Grand B
With a prominent location on Boulevard des Italiens this place might be what we have otherwise categorized as a tourist trap. The nature of the dinner did nothing to change that prejudice, but it has to be said that serving dinner for 42 people of course is challenging.

Day 3: Chez l'Ami Jean
This little gem is situated in a part of Paris that seemed a bit deserted on the evening. Most of buildings near Rue Malar seemed to be office buildings and it was therefore a bit of a surprise to enter a very crowded small room that buzzed with activity and atmosphere. The staff was extremely busy but still provided good service and in particular humour. They were quick to point out that they were basque, which of course was no surprise as it was announced at the front: "Basque Specialtees"
It was decided that we went for the big 8 course dinner (Le Carte Blanche) in which the chef selected what to serve. T was not really opposed to this. We asked the waiter for recommendations to go with the courses as we did not have a clue as to what we were going to have. They suggested white wine to start and later red wine! Good recommendation, thought T and looked into the wine list.
We started with a bottle of Champagne from Drappier made on Pinot Noir (blanc) and with this we had some slices of iberian ham.

The first course was a parmesan soup served with croutons and chives (and T also thinks there was a little ventreche in there). With  this we had started a bottle of 2004 Vire Clesse which was recommended and well so.

Next up was a terrine of beef (jellied beef, we were told). There were raisins in the terrine, which was surprising, but worked well. It was served with a basil coulis. We had somewhere along the way run out of Vire Clesse and turned to a 2009 Meursault La Barre.

The next course was fresh St Jacques clams served in their their shells and then baked lightly. It was sprinkled with chives and small croutons.
Then it was time for the meat courses and we shifted to a bottle of Coteaux de Languedoc. It was good, but T did not get to see the details properly.
We started with a braised hare on an emulsion of mushrooms and small pieces of turnip.
After this we had a piece of wood pigeon on a base of cresson. It was cooked perfectly in T's opinion and he had so far only had had bad experiences with pigeon. This one was red, but not raw inside.
Finally we had three desserts served together:

Ris au lait with roasted and candied almonds, sablér with pear and a lemon shot. With this we had glass of dessert wine from Jurancon.
Altogether this was an excellent evening.
Day 4: Hippopotamus
The Charles de Gaulle airport does not offer many options when it comes to dinner (maybe it does in some of the other terminals): Either McDonalds or Hippopotamus. Naturally we chose the latter. T did not want to end his foie gras streak early and so had a bloc de foie gras and an Entrecote.
For an airport restaurant this was actually OK and of course drinking a bottle of 2004 Cote Rotîe from Guigal helped a lot.
It is actually quite dangerous for T to go dining in France, because the bottles normally cost the same as he has to pay for them in Denmark... in the retail store.

Sassicaia on a thursday

It is sometimes nice to have an excuse for excesses. If one reads through these pages one may suspect that every day is excessive for us, which is not entirely untrue, but on this specific thursday we do have something to celebrate.
We start out with truffle-ravioli (bought) with a bit of melted butter and parmigiano. Simple and good and a dish we often return to. To drink a Puligny-Montrachet 2008 from Joseph Drouhin – a very nice glass with grapefruit notes, almond and rich butteriness.

Pheasant is in season right now and we get a rooster (in fact we bought two – one go in the freezer) for a very reasonable prize. In fact so reasonable that it cannot even fully be categorized under excesses. Not until it meets with olive oil, butter, garlic (lots), rosemary (quite a bit), marsala and chicken stock in a pan. First the breast has been wrapped in prosciutto crudo. Brown in butter and oil, add garlic and herbs. Add marsala (ambra dry) (about 1/3 of a bottle) and stock (3-4 dl) a little by little and braise for app. 40 min.

Remove the bird, add about one dl cream and reduce to a suitable texture. A recipe that originally was inspired by the River Café cookbook but has developed over several years.
In another pan a quartered endive is braised in a bit of butter and water. And over time a bit of sirup and balsamico is added.
And on the grill pan slices of zucchini gets the hot, short treatment.

On the plate the we each get a piece of breast and leg, a generous pour of the sauce, the endive and several slices of zucchini. And in the glass Sassicaia 2004. Darn, that's good!
If you've read about our visit to Chateuneuf-du-Pape, you may recall that we mentioned a favorite wine of K. And so here it is. A fact that also has manifested itself by the fact that K is a member of the legendary Sassi-klubben (The Sassi Club). A club that T will soon join. That naturally means that an occasion such as this immediately triggers a storm of MMS'es to other members who immediately returns envious sms'es.

food/wine matching 9/10

Ambition

Saturday is time for dinner party. If you think that we have been quiet as of late it was because we needed to rehearse a little for this event. Also we have to consider the limited space in the kitchen, which is challenging when planing to have more than two guests for dinner.
We start the day out thinking that we have plenty of time to rest and reflect on the dinner from last night's 75 year birthday party, which included traditional, honest Danish food in Toldbod Bodega. And so we stay in bed late and read the newspaper knowing full well that we are prepared and this will help us execute according to schedule. After a while we head towards torvehallerne to make our last purchases. On a Saturday afternoon this is a very busy place. Not like their southern models in the sense that many people come here just to sniff around as opposed to coming with a specific objective. When we are about finished we consider a cup of coffee only to realize that we have been away for two hours and so stress sets in.
We will skip telling about the afternoon, which included an event of rare occurrence, namely T not (or almost not) watching his beloved football team cruise to a comfortable win. (The rare thing was T not watching, even though the comfortable part is also becoming quite rare).

First course is a salad. We have purchased 4 different kinds of lettuce which we will refrain from translating (Rød syre, Rucola savoy, mustard, the last one evades us by now). The leaves were mixed in a vinaigrette made of raspberry vinegar, olive oil, s/p and a little water. On top of this some smoked duck's breast thinly sliced (well, as thin as T could manage), cubes of apple and walnuts. To this we drink Meursault 2008. We had decanted the bottle for several reasons. For one thing it was something T had wanted to do for some time and secondly our poor guests were to be left guessing as to what they were drinking.

Next it is time for our primo which is oxtail ravioli. For this we have prepared oxtails one day in advance.
(Put the tails in cold water, heat to boil, skim impurities, skim, skim. Discard water. Prepare the usual soffreto (with whatever you have): onion, garlic, carrot, celery, parsnip, s/p and herbs. When soft add the lightly boiled tails, a small squeeze of tomato paste and a glass of white wine. Let steam off for a couple of minutes. Add water to cover. Cover tight and let simmer for 3-4 hours. When very tender, separate meat, vegetables and soup. Discard vegetables and let meat and soup cool. When the soup is cool it is easy to remove the top layer of fat.)
During our hectic afternoon the meat was separated from the bones. Two shallots, a couple of finely chopped cloves of garlic and 250 gr porcini is fried, chopped finely and mixed with the meat. A splash of good truffle oil. And finally a little grated parmesan to glue it all together (a fact that we cannot hide from our non-cheese-eating guest, but that does not prevent him from eating, thanks msm wb). In the meantime we have made a dough of durum flour, 3 eggs and a little salt. Now it is time for the pasta machine to roll out very thin layers of pasta and then cut out small round pieces and fill them with the stuffing. It should not be a big surprise, but this takes quite some time. Maybe it's because we do not have the help of MK and M as we did when rehearsing. The ravioli are served with broth from the preparation of the oxtails, pepped up with a little sherry and a splash of lemon juice, and a gremolata of parsley, chopped garlic and lemon zest is sprinkled on top. For this we have a 1996 Barolo from Manzone.
We now go into the kitchen to prepare the secondo and predictably the wait means that we can serve some wine in between and this we have prepared for. Nobody is able to identify the bottle of 2005 Utopia from the Danish winemaker Kelleris, but it holds up quite nicely and we will soon experiment a little with dishes to have with this wine.

The secondo is fillet of lamb served on top of puree of eggplants and baked root crop, namely pale root beets and turnips baked with oliveoil, white wine and pieces of organic lemon and some baked fennel.
The puree is made by cutting the eggplants open and filled with a little rosemary and garlic before reassembling, rolled in foil and baked for app 40 minutes until very soft. Then the insides are scraped out (removing the garlic and rosemary) and mixed with a little olive oil, vinegar and s/p. A small splash of sauce from the meat and a little red wine. For this dish we serve a Grant Burge's Filsell 2000 Barossa Shiraz from old vines.

Before dessert we serve three small pieces of Danish cheeses, all of the dry kind. First a sheep/goat milk cheese from Knuthenborg, Fyn which is the mildest then a Høost and finally a Fyrmesterost which is, we were told, actually a Vesterhavsost that has matured longer. To go with the cheese we have made chips of very thin slices of rugbrød (pumpernickel) covered with a little butter before baking for 6 minutes at a 160° C. Furthermore a small splash of homemade rhubarb marmelade. The rugbrød is a little too fresh and moist which means that we cannot slice whole big slices but they smaller, uneven slices are just as tasty, nevertheless. For this a glass of Rio Viejo Olorosso sherry from Lüstau.

For dessert it is time for Chocolate fondant with a sorbet made from elderflower and on top some fresh raspberries.
The fondant is made from (4 servings): 100 gr dark chocolate (70%), 100 gr unsalted butter, 1 dl sugar, 3/4 dl flour, 2 whole eggs, 2 yolks. Melt the butter, chocolate and sugar in a bain marie (as cool as possible). Add the eggs and flour. Stir. Pour in suitable tins. Preferably single ones. Not like the ones we used in this photo! Put in refrigerator. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 200°C.
The sorbet is made from 6 dl. frozen dark elderflower syrup/concentrate mixed with water to a suitable sweetness. The mix should still be half frozen. Zest and juice from a lime is added. 3 egg whites are whipped and mixed. Put in freezer. If you don't have an ice cream machine, stir every now and then to get the best texture. (One kitchen appliance, we don't have – yet).
This is our most difficult serving as getting the chocolate fondant out of their baking tins take some time and so when we get the last one out and come into sit with our guests, some have already eaten theirs and asks for seconds, but alas, we have no more! Makes us wonder if we made too little food....
This is served with a glass of 2005 Chateau de Rayne Vigneau, 1er Gand Cru Sauternes.

Our big-city-kitchen is very small and does not posses a dishwasher, so we are grateful for all our guests who might not have been prepared for this kind of dinner party where everyone was made to work for their food, either as kitchen help, serving or dish washers. Which they very willingly did. THANKS!