Chocolate Pudding, Roasted Tomatoes

The weather in Denmark has been unbelievably nice for seven consecutive days. It's most welcome but surprising because things here change so rapidly, and it's not at all uncommon to experience only one nice day sandwiched between five or six crappy ones. So when we had friends over for lunch on Saturday I was thrilled not only to have their company but to see sunny skies and warm temperatures, too.

I regret not photographing lunch. It was a beautiful vegetable couscous salad and marinated, grilled chicken breasts. I did, however, remember to take a shot of dessert. Maybe it's because I constantly have sweets on the brain. I found the couscous and chicken recipe on Dinner with Julie (who either got it from Epicurious.com or Bon Apetit). It's an excellent summer lunch and because you can prepare the salad the night before, it makes the day-of prep a breeze. All that's required is removing it from the fridge to get it close to room temperature before serving and tossing with toasted, slivered almonds and cilantro. Well in my case, just the almonds.

Because I can never find cilantro in my local markets, I thought Danes never used it, but our guests Soren and Mette said you can usually find it Fotex (not in Hobro's...at least not when I've looked) or Bilka, which is sort of a Danish version of Costco. The chicken is a snap. It gets marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, and seasonings for either 30 minutes at room temp. or a few hours in the fridge. Throw it on the grill for a 3-4 minutes on each side and it's ready to join the couscous. For those of you who want to try it, click on the links above.

When I perused my copy of Nigella Express for dessert ideas, I was drawn to a recipe for Budino Di Cioccolato (chocolate pudding) because, once again, I could prepare it ahead of time. Moreover, it's a cold dessert (not served straight from the fridge but still cold-ish) which is perfectly suitable for summer. My two words to describe it? Absolute heaven. So very creamy, smooth, and delicious. I sprinkled each dessert cup with a few colorful chocolate buttons and stuck a cookie stick inside (I can't remember the fancy name for them).

Budino Di Cioccolato from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

1c whole milk

1/2c heavy cream

1/3c sugar

1T cornstarch

1/3c cocoa

2T boiling water

2 egg yolks

1t vanilla extract

2 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped

1. "Put the kettle on to boil water, and warm the milk and cream together either in a saucepan r the microwave.

2. Put the sugar and cornstarch into another saucepan and sift in the cocoa. Add the 2T boiling water and whisk to a paste.

3. Then whisk in the egg yolks, 1 at a time, followed by the warmed milk and cream, and then the vanilla extract.

4. Scrape down the sides of your pan and put it on the heat, cooking and whisking for about 3-4 minutes until the mixture thickens--if it helps, think of a consistency like mayonnaise.

5. Take off the heat and whisk in the finely chopped chocolate before pouring into 4 small cups or glasses each with a yield of about 2/3 of a cup.

6. Cover the tops of the cups with plastic wrap, laying it directly on top of the pudding to stop a skin from forming, and then refrigerate once they are cooler. Make sure they are not still fridge-cold when you serve them. You can add a blog of cream on top if you like."

My notes: I doubled the recipe and ended up with 7 ramekins of pudding. Also, I didn't bother with the plastic wrap step and it was just fine, not much of a skin at all.

Now, on to the tomatoes...

Lately, nearly every food blog I follow has posted something about roasted tomatoes. I've been salivating each time I see the photos and read the authors' comments about their deliciousness. So, Nigella came through for me once again with her recipe for what she calls "Moonblush Tomatoes." I love this recipe because not only is it ridiculously easy but it's like getting a wonderful surprise when they're finally ready. I put mine in the oven last night before bed and when I woke up this morning couldn't wait to remove them and eat some. Here's the thing, you turn the oven on and get it nice and hot and then once you place the tomatoes inside you immediately turn it off. This means you can either do like I did or if you'd rather, you can stick them in before you leave for work in the morning and come home to these beautiful, fragrant gems that are fabulous in salads, alongside fish, chicken, or steak, or simply eaten with some cheese and bread.

This morning I ate mine for breakfast with cottage cheese and a slice of toasted rugbrod (Danish rye bread). What a treat!

Moonblush Tomatoes from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

1lb, about 24, on-the-vine cherry or other baby tomatoes

2T olive oil

2t kosher salt

1t dried thyme

1/4t sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 450F.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half and sit them cut side up in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the olive oil and seasonings.

3. Put them in the oven and immediately turn it off. Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight or for a day without opening it.

My notes: I used less than a pound of tomatoes because I simply took what I had sitting on my counter. Some were on the vine and a few of them were larger (sandwich-type) tomatoes. Also, I used sea salt and lined my pan with aluminum foil to make clean-up easy.

I can't wait for lunch to get here.

Thank you Soren, Mette, Frederik, and Agnete for coming to visit us!

Technology: love it hate it

Note: I composed this last night with the intention to attach my photos and post it this morning. Uh, think again. I am fuming like there is no tomorrow. I downloaded the photos from my camera to Picasa, just like I always do. Then, just like I always do, I told the computer to delete the photos and wipe the memory card clean. Big Big mistake. For some ungodly reason, only ONE photo made it on to Picasa. And it wasn't even one of the good ones. I'm sorry, but where did the other 41 go? Into outer space? So below I've made a few notes where I would have had inserted my carefully considered photos. Oh that makes me mad. Note to self: delete only AFTER you've confirmed that photos have successfully loaded in Picasa.

It's late and I haven't written since Friday. I purposely took a break from my computer after spending nearly seven hours last Friday attached to it like a Siamese twin. At the end of my marathon session, I said Enough is enough. I have to say that I didn't miss it at all. A computer--more specifically, the Internet--is great for all sorts of reasons, but getting away from it and having a real life with real people is critically important. And enjoying some real soup never hurts, either.

Food wise, the weekend was relatively low key. Friday night it was homemade pizza and salad. Despite my oven challenges, I got the crust cooked exactly right this time, and I remembered to use whole wheat flour in my dough mix, so it was a double bonus night. On Friday afternoon I visited Steffan's Bageri (the bakery where I begged for a job) and asked if they had considered my offer to work for free if they would teach me to bake bread. I wasn't surprised, but I was definitely disappointed to learn that No, they would not be able to help me. "But wait, I want to help you!" is what I was thinking... Oh, well, time to move on. But just to show no hard feelings, I bought a pastry on my way out the door. That's not true. I bought it because it looked damn good. As we all know, looks can be deceiving and, sadly, in this case it was true. Don't you hate it when a fine looking pastry disappoints? It wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't special in any way. It was ordinary with a capital O. A brief description: Tart crust on the bottom, marzipan inside, cris-crossed lines of pistachio-green marzipan on top, and everything covered in chocolate. On top sat a tiny little marker noting the pistachio flavor. If I haven't mentioned it before, the Danes are really into marzipan. I like it just as much as the next guy, but I was sort of hoping for a different taste in this beautiful little tart.

Saturday lunch was leftover cauliflower/potato/leek soup along with some cheese and crackers and fruit for dessert. Saturday dinner got a little more interesting when Alan offered to make Matafans Savoyards. What you say? It's basically French hash browns, but you would never hear me say that to Alan. And truthfully, it's different and better for two reasons. Raw eggs are mixed with raw, grated potatoes along with garlic and salt and pepper. The eggs act as a binder to make little pancakes which are fried in an inch of peanut oil. Unless you have experience as a fry cook (or perhaps have a fryer machine), frying is nothing short of challenging. Getting the quantity of oil right, perfecting the temperature, avoiding a grease fire, and so on. It's hot, messy, dangerous stuff. Alan had fun making this recipe but because some of the potatoes fried too long and were burned, he gave his dish a 25 percent. He served it with salad and burger patties, which he lovingly molded in mini-tart pans before grilling. He finds that the burger patties I make are too big and thick, so he was going for a more dainty pattie, I guess. They turned out nicely, and I suppose we'll start to implement the tart mold technique going forward. But we'll see. I sort of like using my hands.

[Insert photo of Matafans Savoyards and photo of Alan grating potatoes.]

Sunday is a blur. All I remember is a trip to the beach and this. Do you think? No, we couldn't have. But hunger makes people do strange things. Actually, now I remember. It was sandwiches for lunch and a lovely golden split pea soup for dinner.

[Insert photo of seal carcass found on the beach. What I wrote above just doesn't have the same effect without the photo. Arrgh]

I grocery shopped today for most of this week's food. I plan to make a shrimp dish, sarma, another Eastern European specialty, and some sort of pasta. I found an enticing-looking jar of cherries in rum at the Fakta discount market and put it in my cart thinking I would figure out something to do with it. As I drove home I remembered that I've wanted to try to make a clafoutis for a long time. Now clafoutis are customarily made with fresh, not jarred, cherries, but we make do with what we have. Plus, I loved the fact that the cherries were soaking in rum. So I found a recipe on line and went to work. Clafoutis is extremely simple to make and so pretty. Since I'd never had it before today, I don't have anything to compare it to, but it tasted delicious. Creamy, not too sweet, and the fruity-tart taste of the cherries (and rum!) complemented the eggy custard perfectly. It's funny, to me the clafoutis tastes like a crepe but in a completely different format. I suppose that's why some people like it for breakfast, not just dessert.

[Insert photo of the Clafoutis. It was SO pretty. Double Arrgh.]

Dinner tonight was Greek salad with grilled chicken but sans Kalamata olives. I forgot to buy some. Even without them, the salad was light and refreshing. After buying block after block of bad feta cheese, we've finally found a brand that tastes like real feta.

[Insert photo of feta cheese. Okay, this one is not much of a loss.]

Our veggie box arrived today, one day early because there is a holiday this week in Denmark. Thursday is Kristi Himmelfart's day, or Ascension day. It's a Christian religious holiday observed in Denmark and other Western European countries. I haven't quite figured out if there are any special traditions on this day (such as Hveder for Store Bededag that I wrote about in an earlier post), but I will try to find out. My next post will focus on the contents of our box.

Catching Up

Even though it was calling to me, I took a break from my computer over the weekend.  Here are some highlights since last Thursday:

• Kaj kage
  
• Danish pastry (I don't remember the Danish name of this particular one)
  
• Easy pasta
  
• Marinated broccoli
  
• Do-it-yourself sushi
  
• Carrot cake from 101 Cookbooks
  
• Golden Spit Pea Soup from Rachael Ray Magazine

I picked up two treats at my supermarket's bakery:  Kaj kage and a light pastry with jam filling. The Kaj kage had caught my eye so many times before, but I had the urge to finally try it.  It is a basic yellow cupcake with Guf frosting, and a marzipan topping.  Even though the cake was dry and not very tasty, I had fun eating this cupcake.  I mean, just look at the picture.  After you peel the marzipan face off the cupcake, you are greeted with a mound of fluffy strawberry Guf (a Danish ice cream topping that is airy, creamy, and very sweet).  

I expected the second treat to taste sort of like the oatmeal bars filled with jam that you find in the U.S.  But it was much, much lighter and the meringue top was chewy.  

Pasta and Broccoli Salad

I made my friend Andrea's marinated broccoli salad and served it along side penne mixed with crispy prosciutto, toasted, chopped walnuts, olive oil, and a little grated Parmesan.  

Marinated Broccoli

3 bunches fresh broccoli
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. dill (fresh or dried)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Wash broccoli and use flowerets. Mix rest of ingreds.  Marinate in a covered container with tight lid.  Refrigerate 24 hours.  Shake and invert now and then.

Andrea added that she marinates for a much shorter time - anywhere from 4 to 6 hours.  She also drains off all the oil before serving.  My notes:  The only sugar I had in the house was a wrapped cube that I had picked up when I had coffee somewhere.  It worked fine.  I also omitted the dill because I didn't have any in the house.  Finally, I mixed in some chopped red bell pepper.  I marinated for approximately 4 hours, and it turned out to be plenty of time for the juices to soak into the veggies.  I believe that sesame oil would be a great substitute for the vegetable oil (but maybe reduce the quantity a bit since it's a heavier oil), and some toasted sesame seeds could be added.  Andrea said that she never uses olive oil in this recipe because it congeals.  I'd have to test whether sesame oil would do the same thing.

Do-It-Yourself Sushi Rolls

Our Japanese friend Natsuko had us over for Sushi rolls a couple of years ago, and we learned something new about Japanese "fast food."  We expected the kind of sushi found in restaurants and at the grocery store, but she prepared it differently.  On the dining table was a big bowl of sushi rice, a plate of Nori, and all sorts of fillings and condiments.  In addition to a few pieces of fish, she served bacon, sliced meats, various chopped vegetables, egg, soy sauce, mayonnaise, and wasabi.  Then we all started rolling our own - putting rice in the middle and adding in whatever we fancied.  I'm telling you, it was one of the most delicious and fun meals ever.  Ever since that day, we have tried to duplicate our own version.  It's not quite the same, but it's close, and I gathered as many ingredients as I could find in my local supermarket to make... sushi in Denmark.

A New Carrot Cake

The carrot cake from 101 Cookbooks is very different from the typical carrot cake.  The only thing they share is similar ingredients and the moisture factor.  Other than that, it's a much heavier texture and, because bananas and dates are the only sweeteners, it's much less sweet than traditional carrot cake.  I loved it, but I do have a comment regarding the icing, or I guess I should say the icing as applied to the cake.  It's made with cream cheese and maple syrup and is a wonderfully delicious combination.  Here is where it literally got sticky:  I frosted the cooled cake and then realized that I would have to refrigerate it because you typically don't leave something as perishable as cream cheese frosting out over night...do you?  I didn't think so. That's when I stuck it in the fridge and cut off a slice later that day.  As much as I liked this cake cooled from the oven, I did not care for it as much refrigerated.  It was even heavier than before and slightly sticky.  I decided that if I made it again, unless I would be serving the whole thing at once, I would skip the icing (or keep a dish of it in the fridge to add as necessary) and leave it as is, stored on the counter.  

Give me Soup

I cannot adequately describe my love for Golden Split Pea Soup from Rachael Ray.  It is warm and comforting, easy to make, and good for you.  The flavor of the leeks mixed with the split peas is incredibly good.  Since I make this recipe over and over, I thought I would include it in case anyone else wants to try it.  This weekend I made it without the carrots because I had just used the last of my carrots in the carrot cake.  It was just as good without them.

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Can't wait for tomorrow -  our weekly box of fruits and veggies will arrive!