Dinner with the handball stars...

I've been away for the past few days on a teamsport photoshoot and missing Mr Nik + his delicious cheesecakes... :(

But I've been making sure that I get the most out of my time here in Copenhagen - grabbing time in the evening to see my beloved girls, Anja and Inês - and today, eating sushi at cph's best sushi place with handball star Oliver Roggisch and his friend and fellow player Thomas Bruun. What a lovely day photoshooting lovely people ^_^ 'could think of worse jobs...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Sticks 'n Sushi, Istedgade, Copenhagen

English Breakfast Crêpes

[Before folding the crêpe] this is what's inside.

Since Nik cooks most days, I've decided to make it a regular thing to treat the fella to a special breakfast every Sunday :) It's also an opportunity for me to experiment and play with different recipes.

This was inspired by a 'Crêpe Challenge' evening with the girls one night :)

Ingredients: [serves 2 - with room for extras]
- half cup of flour
- 3 large eggs
- half cup of milk [or until the consistency is runny-ish, like double cream]
- pinch of seasoning
- bacon [I've used pancetta here]
[- proper English sausages fried and sliced would be great in this, but sadly, it's impossible to get hold of it here in Vejle]


Making the Crêpes:
- whisk flour, 1 egg, milk together until smooth. Season a little.
- heat a little butter on pan and ladle in some pancake batter. Roll the batter around on pan until surface is covered. Cook on medium heat for about 40 secs [or until sufficiently cooked] on each side and place on plate.
- fry the eggs [I prefer mine with the yolk poked] and place bacon in the grill.
- once cooked, place in crêpe and fold.

Værsgo!

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.