Coconut Panna Cotta

 

Coconut Panna Cotta with Hershey's chocolate sauce

So this is my oriental twist on the panna cotta recipe we learnt at the cooking school in Tuscany. If you like chinese coconut pudding at dimsum restaurants, this actually comes pretty close. And it's SO easy.

Ingredients: [serves 8 ramekins]

- 2 tins of coconut milk [400ml each]

- 80g of sugar [to taste]

- 5 sheets of gelatin [8.5g]

1. Heat coconut milk slowly in saucepan. Add sugar to taste and stir.

2. Place gelatin sheets in bowl of cold water to soak until rubbery [about 3mins].

3. Once coconut milk is sufficiently heated through to a light simmer [but not boil], take it off the stove. 

4. Squeeze out water from the gelatin sheets and stir into the milk. The gelatin should dissolve instantly.

5. Pour the coconut mixture into ramekins and place on the side to cool. 

6. Once cooled, place into fridge to set.

Serve with chocolate sauce, or balsamic glaze or chopped mangoes.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage & Butter sauce

I tried this recipe out with a couple of girlfriends the other week - it was SO good, I just HAD to make it again for Mr Nik. And maaaan, it was still good the second time round - it's now my favouritest gnocchi recipe in the world.

Serve this with a chilled glass of rosé, followed by a coconut panna cotta for dessert [recipe in the next post].

Ingredients:
- 1x hokkaido pumpkin [aka Red Kuri Squash - they look like a giant orange onion]
- pinch of sea salt

- 1 large eggyolk
- 100g flour, extra for dusting the board
- freshly ground nutmeg
- 50-75 g butter
- 15-20 mid-sized sage leaves
- freshly ground black pepper
- grated parmesan
- pancetta [Everything tastes better with pancetta!! But here, the saltiness complements the sweetness of the gnocchi perfectly.]
[- optional: roasted and coarsely chopped pumpkin seeds]

Making the dough:
1. Hollow and cut pumpkin into finger-thick slices. Sprinkle some sea salt and place on baking sheet and roast until soft.
2. Once ready, cut away tough skin and blend until puréed. Season to taste. Add some freshly grounded nutmeg.

3. Add egg yolk and flour, blending quickly with a fork or wooden spoon. [The dough should be a little sticky - don't be tempted to add more flour - that'll just made the gnocchi heavy. You'll want this light and fluffy.]

Forming the gnocchi:
Generously flour a wooden surface as well as hands. Take a large tablespoon of dough in floured hands and carefully form this lump of dough into a finger-thick sausage. Cut into pillows using a knife and place the gnocchi on a place dusted with flour.

In the meantime, place some pancetta [on a baking sheet] in the oven and let it cook until crispy.

Once ready, just bring a large pot of water to the boil - reduce heat when lightly bubbling, add a generous pinch of salt and place gnocchi in with a quick stir to stop it sticking to the pot. Since they're freshly made, they'll only take 5mins [max] but you'll know they're ready when they float to the top.

Making the sauce:
1. Wash and pat the sage leaves dry. Stack and cut them into thin shreds [or chiffonades - but that just sounds so poncy] .
2. Melt the butter slowly on pan [low-medium heat!! trust me, I burnt the butter at my first attempt].
3. Add the sage and sauté until crisp.

Grate some parmesan after spooning over the butter sage sauce.

4. Spoon over the cooked and drained gnocchi.

Place the crispy pancetta on top - et voilá!! ^_^

Blogging from my iPhone?

I've gone all app-crazy! Just downloaded this in the hope that I'll get better at keeping this blog more 'alive'.

Let's see if this works...

In the meantime, enjoy this (nearly) heartshaped kiwi heart I found at work the other day.





I <3 kiwis!

Location:Orla Lehmannsgade,Vejle,Denmark

Birthday treats, frequent eats.

So it was my birthday last week and true to form, Mr Nik made the mountains move to ensure I had the time of life. I dedicate this post to him as he planned the BEST surprise by organizing a mystery weekend away and I had no idea what I was doing, what I was eating, where or for how long or with who... All I was asked to do, was to take the Friday off and pack a bag. I can't believe he did so much [bless him!], I don't quite know where to begin...

So let's start from the top.

Birthday decorations - Yde style. Thank you, Jesper!! :)

 

My birthday happened to have fallen on 'Steak Wednesday' at the cantine.

AND I gots me some free homemade cookies and soda. Result!! \m/

So just when I thought the day couldn't get any better. We had an intimate dinner with a few friends and of course, Mr Nik delivered a scrumptious 3 course dinner. 

Starter: Simple parmesan bruschetta with balsamic glaze and truffle oil.

Squid ink spaghetti with tomato, chili and prawns. Topped with parsley and grated parmesan. This was simply superb

And the piece de résistance! My birthday cake = Mr Nik's homemade strawberry cheesecake. He made me the happiest girl in the world.

Just when I thought I was spoilt enough, the evening of the very next day, he presented me with my present: An itinery for my mystery day off...

 "Friday 24th September. Wake up to Eggs Benedict."  

He knows me sooo well!! Eggs Benedict is my most favourite breakfast dish EVER. Not only that, but he made the hollandaise sauce JUST how I like it. Deliciously yoke-like with a hint of mustard. YUM!

"After breakfast, we'll take the 11am train to Copenhagen. We'll check into your favourite hotel [Axel]. You can spend the afternoon shopping!"

"We head back to the hotel around 5 to get ready and dressed for a romantic dinner at Lêlê's. Just the two of us"

FAB! But little did I know that when we turned up, we were greeted with some of my best friends - most of whom I hadn't seen in AGES!!!

Mr Nik and me with Jude and Winnie - who came all the way from London!! You guys rock!!

Our ray of Swedish sunshine, Gustaf.

And here are my gorgeous girlfriends who haven't seen in months and months!!!! Anja, Inês and Christina - who live in Copenhagen, Malmö and Vejle respectively. Needlessly to say, for the 2 who don't live in Vejle, I havent seen in months! As for Christine, well, since she lives across the road from us, she's practically part of our furniture. 

It was such a memorable night. Perfect to the final detail!! I usually don't get too emotional about these things, but that night I really felt incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such dear dear friends and to have Mr Nik as my husband. Jeez. I must have been some helluva saint in my past life to deserve blessings now.

For once, the food wasn't priority, but that's not to say that it wasn't good! There was a very good reason why Nik booked a table at Lêlê's. Just look at the starter platter... MMmmmmm... This is as good as Asian food gets in Denmark!  

 

Nik, my sweet, sweet husband. Thank you for giving me the best birthday present ever. I love you so much xxxxxxx

Long time no post. Bad Miso, Bad!

 So it's official. I suck at posting. But all it doesn't mean I've lost my interest in food. It's pretty safe to say that if only I stopped eating, I might actually stand a better chance at getting things done. Like blogging and knitting [that's my next project. I want to prepare for winter!]...

So what have I been eating these past few months? Well, here are some highlights. Some homemade experiments, some from my travels and some were lovingly made for me [by Mr Nik, no less]. Prepare to be hungry...

:: Experiments at home ::

Chilli Beef Mein [homemade]

Summery Sausage, apple and veg salad [homemade] 
 Really need to try and remember the recipes for these and keep them here...

:: TUSCANY ::

In August, Mr Nik and I took our appetites to Tuscany to celebrate our First Anniversary [Yay!! ^_^] EVERY meal we had there was great without exception. But some, were just remarkable. Especially, at Osteria di Passignano. It was SO good, we went there twice. Exceptional service, exceptional wine list and truly truly great food.

We tried both the wine and degustazione menus - both were divine. The wines that came with each dish blew. our. minds. Needless to say, we were rather sloshed by the time we left. But not before we made friends with the staff there! After Mr Nik discovered the Mâitre D' was a fellow Metallica fan and bass-player, I knew we were there for the long haul. Well, here are the pics from one of our memorable visits. It gets progressively blurry as the nights goes on...

Appetizer: Olive oil butter [Genius!]. Local pommodoro tomato paste. Homebaked crostinis.

Millefeuille of bluefish and zucchini, with thyme-salted 'babá', potato and anchovy foam.

Roast vegetable and burrata lasagna on basil pesto. 

Will defo attempt to recreate this at some point, so watch this space!

Rabbit loin stuffed with olives, rabbit thigh with peach, all served on a potato rosti.

Succulent roasted pigeon breast, thigh stuffed with its liver and served on a berry salad.

Cheese platter with a selection of honey, complemented with fruit bread.

When in Tuscany, it would be a sin to miss the local Pici [or Pinci - depending on which end of the road you're at]. It a handmade pasta that is specific to the region - it's essentially thick udon noodles made with wheat flour. Here's one of the best plates of Pici served with a sausage meat ragu - enjoyed in Montepulciano - with a tasty glass of Brunello Riserva on the side. Heaven, this was.

 Pici with sausage meat ragu.

Needless to say, we ate and drank A LOT whilst in Tuscany. Since we couldn't take all the food and wine back with us, we took instead, the knowledge from our numerous wine-tasting sessions and the skills we gained from the cooking class we lucked in on.

Cooking class where we learnt to make the following:

Panzanella. Ricotta and aubergine ravioli. Saffron risotto. Tuscan roast chicken with twice roasted potatoes and my new favourite dessert - panna cotta! 

Wine cellars - wine wombs rooms.

Seared Scallops on a bed of Thai-Style noodle salad, sprinkled with crispy lardons

Yay! So the dinner I'd planned for tonight turned out great! ^_^

Since the fella's going away to London next weekend the Toy Story 3 premier [yes, toy design can be rather glamorous], tonight's the only night we'll have to spend some quality time together. So here's the quick low-down:

Scallop Marinade 

1 glug of olive oil

1 clove finely chopped garlic

Juice of 1 lime

Zest of lime

Squeeze of lemon juice

1 dash of sesame oil

Marinade the scallops for 1hr in the fridge

Thai-Style Noodle Salad

Rice noodles

1/2 red pepper [slice into julienne strips]

4" of cucumber [slice into julienne strips]

2 small carrots [slice into julienne strips]  

Spring onion [chopped into 2" strips]

Once rice noodles are cooked, drain and rinse immediately under super cold water to stop the noodles from cooking any further. [My dad says this also helps keep the bite and 'bounciness' in the noodle texture.] Rinse until the noodles are cold. Mix the raw vegetable ingredients in. I often use scissors to snip the noodles to make it easier when tossing the salad.

Dressing for Noodle Salad

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame

2 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

Juice of 2 limes

Zest of lime

Finely chopped garlic

My measurements are rough as I often go by taste testing - I'd recommend you do the same. It should tast rather tart with a hint of sweetness. Mr Nik isn't keen on chilis - so if I was cooking this for myself, I'd add some chopped chilli into this dressing for a little kick. Toss dressing into noodles. Mix well.

---- 

Once salad is ready, heat up pan with a dash of olive oil. Once pan is super hot, place scallops on pan to sear. Allocate roughly 3-4minutes per side [depending on size of scallops].

Simultaneously fry up some chopped bacon on a dry pan until crispy. Et voilá, lardons! 

Serve scallops on bed of noodle salad. Sprinkle crispy lardons on top. If you like a little kick [like I do] then sprinkle 1 finely chopped chilli on top as well.

We had a nice bottle of super chilled Sauvignon Blanc with this - and it was just perfect. Mmmmm...

This improvized recipe was just great. Easy and delicious! The zesty freshness of the salad complemented well with the delicate flesh of the scallops, and the saltiness of the lardons gave it a lovely extra body. 

Give it a try! ^_^

Yeah, I've been a bit rubbish at bloggin'...

...and I blame it all on work: hummel sales conference, Berlin fashion week, photoshoots for next year's Spring/Summer collection to name just a few of the things that have stopped me from feeling creative in the kitchen [and then blogging about it]. But I'm back now! Yay ^-^ and that's all that matters. 

The good news is that I'm feeling waaay inspired with all this summer weather we're currently enjoying in Denmark. Time to ditch the heavy foodstuff and seek lighter alternatives to stay cool and fresh during this season! I'm actually in the middle of marinading some scallops for a romantic dinner tonight with the fella. Like with most things I cook in the kitchen, it's my first time. So keep your digits crossed for a scrummy result! Will post up some pics once it's all done.

In the meantime, I'd like to post up a lovely Danish 'The Bøller'  recipe [pron. "Te Boller"] that my friend Lissy made me when we were summer-housing in Løkken together. The Bøller translates to 'Tea Buns' - which are traditionally enjoyed with herbal tea, butter and homemade marmelade. This recipe earnt me some massive brownie points with the father-in-law when he came to visit a couple of months ago. 

Danish Oatmeal Tea Buns
20g yeast
0.8 liters of cold water
600g flour
200g oatmeal
200g whole wheat flour
1-2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp sugar or honey
a squeeze of lemon juice

Mix yeast in water. Gradually fold and knead all ingredients in. Cover the dough with clingfilm and let it sit in the fridge overnight [at least 8hrs]. Once it's ready and the dough has risen, preheat over to 210 degrees. Form the dough into bun-sized balls and place on a baking tray lined with foil and back for 25mins.

There. And that's literally it. Suuuuper easy. They turned out perfectly - even for me! 


Anyway, I'd better get back to preparing tonight's dinner...