Not so light, but very simple

Quick food, where I felt like redoing the tahina dressing after last times failure.

Details:
I removed the olives and replaced them with dried cranberries. So it was bun with yoghurt cheese and olive oil, and a salad of blanched kale, roasted almonds, and the good tahina dressing.

Result:
After the cranberries were added to add a sweet side, it was really good. Tahin works well with greens with a little more taste, like kale compared to salad.

Heirloom tomatoes again, with celery and tahina again. And the pulled pork, again...

Details:
Pulled pork on bun, salad of small heirloom tomatoes and celery with a dressing of yoghurt, tahin, garlic, lemon juice, chili and salt.


Result:
Creme fraiche should have been used instead of yoghurt, or just the regular way of making it. At least there wasn't much taste.

The best way to consume cheap whiskey

This is easy and good, just remember to let it simmer for at least half an hour, or more, to get the alcohol out...

Oh! And tried my new combi oven!
It's awesome for pumpkin, just half an hours cooking, no preheat :P

Details:
Roastbeef from weekend grilling, reheated in microwave (not the best idea).
Pumpkin with oil and salt, roasted in oven for 30 min at 200 degrees.
Fried chopped onion and mushrooms in butter, then added tomato paste, fried a little more, then a splash of whiskey, a little water, Milda 7% cream replacement, thyme, salt, and pepper.


Result:
Meat was of course way too dry, and the squash got a little too much oil. But the sauce was awesome!

Hearty hearty piggy soup

With all the soup from the pork neck, I had to make this.
Even though the weather was way too sunny for it..

Details:
Soup from piggyboil, with a little fish sauce and some spring cabbage.
Fried some of the pork with some chickpeas and a little of the fish sauce until slight browning.


Result:
When I added the fishsauce, and the fishy smell spread all through the kitchen, I thought "Oh god... Now I ruined it.." But! A minute later it settled, and the result was alot better, than if I had tried with soy sauce or just salt.
This was generally an awesome soup, have to try this again!

The best Risotto

I had a lot of soup from the cooking of the pork, so I decided to use some of it for risotto.
Since it was so filling in taste, I decided to make it with mushrooms and the rest of my spinach.

Details:
Mushrooms, onion, and garlic roasted in butter, then added port wine, and little by little the smoky fond from cooking the pork was added, just ½dl a time, waiting for the rice to absorb it, before adding more. Then added spinach, pork, and salt and pepper, and heated through.

Served with sliced bell peppers with chili oil, lemon juice, and salt.


Result:
This was the best risotto I have ever had, period.. 

Pulled Pork Sammich

Bought 2kg of pork neck, and gave it a night in the slow cooker (first at high, until boiling, then medium through the night), along with carrots, onion, juniper, a bag of pickle spices (mustard, piri piri, and pepper), bay leaves, garlic, a little salt and sugar, and the deglaze from the pan I roasted the neck in along with a bit of pork fond.
This will be on the menu in different variations the next 3 days.

Details:
Bought "carrot bun" with "stolen" green salad, and pickled onions. Added a little sweet chili sauce too.


Result:
Should have tasted the onions before suing them. They were salty, and not sweet at all.
A dressing for the green salad could have been neat, too.
The meat was a little too dry, so more sweet chili sauce would have been good too.

This should usually be with coleslaw, so that for next time.

I'm so HEALTHY!

And now for something COMPLETELY different! In the spirit of the great CrossFit™!
A smoothie for a meal!

Details:
Beetroot, apple, frozen blackberries, carrot, ginger, honey, sweetener, and vanilla. All blended up with yoghurt natural.


Result:
Tried and true, so this was of course real good stuff! A bit lumpy, and since it was kind of acid, the yoghurt also curdled. I kind of like to be able to chew my drink though ;)

Nice and Spinach

In a lack of time, I ended up making this salad, which also happen to be a good alternative for vegetarian day. I did however add Fuet, a spanish smoked thin sausage. Usually spiced, but unlike chorizo, not with red pepper of any kind. This could, however, have been omitted, and the meal would still be cheap, protein-rich, and vegetarian.

There has also been found evidence that spinach (and beetroot amoung others) actually DOES improve strength ;) (http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120626/10452/spinach-muscles-nitrate.htm)

Details:
Baby spinach with lemon and a little chili. crumbled creamy yoghurt cheese, black olives, and a lot of cooked, fried chickpeas. Topped with slices of fuet.


Result:
It was good and fresh. With both roasted, tangy, salty, and umami taste. It could use a bit of sweet though, so some dried or fresh berries could do. Like cranberries.

Can you eat that?!

So I wanted to use the rest of the mash for a pancake, and mixed it up with eggs. Result really didn't work, but it tasted WONDERFUL!

Details:
Salmon patted in breadcrumbs and salt, and then fried.
Mash of cauliflower, potatoes, and carrots, mixed with an egg, some manchego cheese, and chopped spring onions.


Result:
Yep, all the starch didn't stiffen when fried, and it all just fell apart, but became this incredibly tasty mush! Yum! 

Mushy mushy mush

Instead of mash, I got goo, because I didn't think about what happens when you blend starchy roots and veggies.

Details:
"Frikadeller" stolen from work :P Grated cucumber in vinegar with chiracha and honey.
The mash is a mix of potatoes, cauliflower, and carrots, with a bit of butter. Topped with roasted walnuts and spring onions.


Result:
The cucumber was a nice complementary to the meatballs. The mash was made in the blender, and it got okay, but way too gooey. Also the walnuts were a waste, and the spring onions should have been fried...

I tried again with just potatoes a few days after, mashing them the right way. TUrned out better, but to get it really good, I think it should be 1/3 blended, and 2/3 mashed, to make it creamy, and less dry.

Tabouleh

Simple dish, suggested by a friend.. ;)
And gave a reason to use the rest of the mint.

Details:
Bulgur simmered for about 10 minutes until tender, and mixed with chopped spring onion, chopped tomatoes, and chopped precooked porkchops. Dressing was EVOO, lemon juice, and garlic.
Topped with chopped mint.


Result:
Refreshing, but best at the bottom, with all the dressing :P

Tatosalad!

Just the classic.. More or less..
It also learned me that crumbly potatoes are uncooked, not overcooked.

Details:
Fresh cucumbers, with seeds removed, and sliced thickly, half a red onion, some boiled chopped potatoes, and precooked pork chopped in cubes.
The dressing was 18% creme fraiche, with lemon, mustard, salt, and garlic.


Result:
This wasn't too damn good before I added the lemon juice.. Also have to learn that potatoes should be boiled for 15 minutes... Yea... :( 

Fattoush

Cucumbers and mint! Fresh from momma! :D
A different salad, arab this time.

Details:
Made from this recipe: http://www.dr.dk/DR2/Annemad/Opskrifter/opskrifter_2009/uds_3/20090819095149.htm
Served with homemade carrotbuns and tahina dip.


Result:
As most meals made from recipe, this was great. Nice, light, and summer-like. Not much protein, but it was a Sunday meal..

Oh-no-not-another-omelet-but-at-least-it's-summery

Yea like I said... But it was nice along with sunshine.

Details:
Simple omelet, with a bit of milk, so it would get fluffy. Topped with rucola, fried chorizo, manchego, and pearl onions. On the side a slice of wheat bread, with rucola, and a simple salsa of tomatoes, onion, olive oil and red wine vinegar.


Result:
It was tricky to eat the omelet with the filling on top, next time there should be room to roll it up :)
The bruschetta-kind of loaf would have been better if it had been toasted.

Simple Food

Now this is simple food. Had no energy left so it was whatever I had...

Details:
Precooked pork, thawed and fried with soy sauce and honey.
Steamed broccoli, carrots, and baby corn.
Just added some soy sauce, and that was it...


Result:
Soy sauce made the difference. Colors faded on the veggies after steaming, but then again, this isn't a fancy meal in any way. 

Nice and Fresh

Here is a good way to use up vegetables!

Details:
Pearl spelt with chopped red onion, carrots, cucumber, celery, and snack peppers, on top of beer-and-spice-braised beef. Topped with some green olives stuffed with almonds, and sprinkled with high quality tuscan olive oil.


Result:
The tuscan olive oil has a distinct grassy aroma, which was completely lost in the dish. Unfortunately.
It was pretty good anyway though. Very fresh, but the onions were a bit too much. Cucumber could have been excluded.

Expensive Dressing

A simple one, actually. At least for me. This was a salad with balsamico. 4-leaf balsamico condimento. Which means it is a mix of balsamico tradizionale and red wine vinegar. Balsamico tradizionale is NOT a vinegar, but grape must that has been aged for up to 25 years! It is usually poured on new casks of new types of wood every year (I think) to give it aroma. The one used here was 14€/100ml, and I have another one to 30€/100ml... Pure tradizionale, 12 years old, is 70-80€.. for 100ml...

Details:
Strawberry and peeled cubed apple on top. Sliced red onions and cucumber, chicken boiled in a heat-proof plastic bag (to contain juices, works well..), and then a mixed salad on the bottom. Sprinkled with plenty of balsamico, and a little roasted seeds on top.


Result:
Well it was a salad, and it was good. The chicken worked well, very neutral, but good taste. Balsamico goes well with everything, and especially strawberry.

Boooouuur... Gig... Non???

Bourguignonne sounds weird, and tastes AWESOME.. Beef, tomato, and red wine. What can go wrong?!

Details:
Yes, for this one I just stole a recipe, for once.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fillet-of-beef-bourguignonne-recipe/index.html

A little less bacon, 100g of mushrooms, canned pearl onions, and just some random dry wine that I had in the fridge for... Eh... Weeks :S


Result:
I'm not the one to say someone else's recipe is anything but perfect, but this one actually was ;)
A little too salty, which was me just being too generous with the salt here and there.
It was made on veal shoulder, so could have used 2-4 hours of simmering. The meat could have been SO much more tender. Maybe something to try with the slow cooker!

Fancy Chili Meatballs

I dragged a lot of different pepperoncino spices with me home from Italy, which I thought I better get started with. Still having half a package of minced beef, and still wanting to test something I discovered in Israel (Celery in meatballs) I decided to go for meatballs in spicy sauce.

Details:
Meatballs were made with 2 small slices of dark wheat bread soaked in ½dl milk, celery, small onion, 1 tsp pepperoncino/garlic mixture, 1 tsp thyme, 250g minced beef, 1 egg, and salt.

Sauce of minced sweet peppers, celery, some low fat cream replacement called Milda, some tomato puré, pepperoncino and thyme.


Result:
The sauce was a bit too spicy and a bit dull. The Milda was completely useless. Maybe a bit of creme fraiche 18% could have a done it better, but I don't think the milk product was necessary since it is not in normal tomato sauce..  It DID, however, work well in a meatball sandwich, as the meatballs were great!

For a quick meal...

Coming home from a week in Italy, after 30 hours by train, I only had the energy to go buy groceries for the next few days, and come up with some kind of stew.. So.. This is a meal as I make it when I'm really tired.

Details:
Minced beef fried with mire poix (carrots, celery, and onion) and curry. Added onion "stock" and simmered with red lentils untill they were tender.


Result:
Kind of like minced beef and kale! But with more body. Next time though, I should use soaked lentils :S

Pig in Coke

Roasted pork with coca cola sauce on purple rice, fennel and mango... What?

Details:
Porkchops refried with chili, onions, rosemary, and salt. Then coca cola reduction was added. All of it mixed with the purple sticky rice, then mango, fennel, and topped with basil leaves and a little chili.


Result:
It was sweet, but actually pretty ok. Mango goes well with fennel.. And cola reduction is great on mango :D The chili works well with sweet stuff.

Nice, Fat Dinner

Time to retry the fried rice idea!
This time it was ALOT better, and a whole lot more greasy...

Details:
Jasmin rice fried in a skillet, with eggs mixed in and "scrambled" along with the rice untill slightly browned here and there. Then added chicken stock and a dash of salt and soy sauce.
Topped with ghee-fried asparagus, and crispy bacon.


Result:
Oh this rice is so effin' good! And asparagus goes well with eggs, and bacon goes well with egg, and bacon goes well with asparagus, and rice is just good! But damn it's a heavy dish :S 5 pieces of bacon, 3 eggs, 6 asparaguses, half a cup of rice!

Green leaves and Bacon Grease

I wanted to try bacon and olives together, and this was the result.

Details:
Green salad leaves for bottom, chopped orange for a fruity touch, and a dressing of lemon juice, honey, and lemon oil.
I made the lemon oil by grating the peel off a lemon and adding this to a small bottle of oil.
Chicken, fried with herbs, bacon fried alone, and halved black olives and half cherry tomatoes.
Topped with cilantro and roasted sunflower seeds.


Result:
The olive/bacon combination would be SO much better in an omelet or something. Also, the dressing didn't work as it should (again) needed more aroma, and less sourness. Also, honey was a mistake.
It was a pretty good combination though, with bacon, chicken, tomatoes, and olives.

Hummus, at last

Finally came around to a Sunday to try off hummus again.
I found out that you should first mix the hard ingredients and the spices.
Then add half the lemon, and liquid, until it has the viscosity you want the final product to have.
Then you whisk olive oil in a drizzle, and the tahin in the same manner. It will change texture and mouthfeel, but not viscosity, because of the aquaphobic properties of the oil.

Details:
1 can of chickpeas (250g) rinsed thoroughly to get rid of the "dogfood-aroma". Blended with 2 large cloves of garlic, ½tsp cumin, some salt, and a pinch of chili powder, until a mush. Water added, and blended in with the juice of half a small lemon. 1 tbsp olive oil, and a little more than 1tbsp tahina were mixed in, a little at a time. Adjusted with salt and lemon. Served in bowl with halved cherry tomatoes, cilantro, roasted pine nuts, paprika, and olive oil. For dipping, a red bell pepper cut into fans, 2 washed but unpeeled carrots, and a slice of momma' awesome ryebread.


Result:
What a meal! But this is definitely the go-to method for hummus, and all the topping works so well.

Gumbo revisited

The last gumbo was dry and weird, so this time it was by the Price brothers' recipe:
http://www.dr.dk/DR1/SpisemedPrice/Opskrifterne/Chicken_gumbo_m_krydret_poelse.htm

Details:
Fried chorizo and chicken with cajun spicemix (one I had around). Then made the roux. Let it turn nutty brown, and added the "holy trinity". Added spices and standard chicken stock, then meat, and simmered for half an hour.


Result:
THIS is gumbo! A little too spicy, and could have used more "body" in the taste. But it was good... Too much sauce though, but who cares. Ate it with wheat tortilla for dipping.

Spicy omelet

Just wanted to use some spare eggs and the rest of my smoked ham.

Details:
Omelet of 2 eggs and an eggwhite. A little milk, nutmeg, dried cilantro (I think...), poured over butterfried mushrooms and onion, and topped with aubergine in oil, and thin slices of smoked ham.
A small piece of bread on the side.


Result:
This was really tasty, with the nutmeg. Went well with the aubergine and the meat. Also, mushrooms are always great in omelet.

Dry Porridge

This was suppose to be a porridge, to see if I could make a savory porridge. Unfortunately, there was more mushroom than porridge, and too little water.

Details:
Finely chopped mushrooms and onion, fried with garlic, rosemary, thyme. Added stock, and then porridge. To add protein I added deer culotte chopped into cubes.. Topped with thyme, chili oil, piece of meat, and pecorino.


Result:
It was good, but next time there should be more porridge, or it should be blended with the submersion blender.

Kebab kabob

I don't care what is called what where, I'm calling this kabob!

Details:
Mango, chicken, tomato, and red onion on wood skewers, "grilled" on panini grill.
Simple salad with a dressing of mango chutney, extra roasted tahini, grated ginger, chopped chili, ketchup, chopped cilantro, and lime juice.
Inspiration: Mango-chicken kabobs

Result:
It was good, though took some time to grill. The dressing was really nice, like a variation of satay.

Hearts

Soon I will have to live on a really low budget, but that shouldn't stop me from getting my protein.
Therefore, in a search for cheap protein-rich food, I decided to try pigs heart.
This was made from this danish TV chef recipe: http://www.dr.dk/DR1/SpisemedPrice/Opskrifterne/Program_5_-_Krise_Med_Price/

Details:
Same as recipe. Yasmin rice, and cilantro on top, in lack of parsley. Also, used 38% creme fraiche. 18% could have done the trick if mixed with a little flour. But it is tricky to get right, and will taste slightly "worse".. Also, 1-2 tbsp of creme fraiche isn't THAT bad. 

Result:
This var really good! Maybe a little more than 70 minutes would have done the hearts good, making them slightly less chewy.

Another awesome israeli dish

At almost every meal in Israel, I was served a small salad. Usually of iceberg, cucumber, tomato, and bell pepper. On top of it was a typical herbal sweet/sour dressing (the kind we call "italian").
Also served often was bread with tahin-dip. This was "raw" tahin (just the very liquid paste) mixed with water, lemon juice, garlic, and salt.
Thought I'd make a slightly different salad, and use the tahindip as dressing instead.

Details:
Diced cucumber, sliced red onion, and chopped red bell pepper. Crumbled soft feta-like cheese.
Tahin-dressing, and topped with roasted almonds and cilantro. Also mixed in some cottage cheese to get it used, and eaten with a slice of dark bread on the side.

Result:
The cottage cheese did nothing for the experience, but the tahin is awesome! Also nice with something that didn't cater to the umami or sweet tastebuds. Very summer-like, for the grey weather.

Pretty purple, ugly eggs

So I realised that fried rice with eggs is really good... But I kind of made it the wrong way :(
Learned by it, however!

Details:
Glutinous purple rice, fried with red onion, chicken stock, and with an egg just mixed in. Added a little bit of red wine.
Topped with carrot and spring onion, for colors.

Result:
This did not work! Fried white rice with eggs and chicken stock is good. Probably with a squeeze of soy sauce, garlic, and maybe onion.
Fried purple rice with red onion and redwine is pretty, and maybe with beef stock and garlic, it would have been real nice. But the eggs in this dish turned green! :S And the taste wasn't that damn awesome. 

Shakshukaaaaa!

Yes, of course I should try with some israelian food :P

This is shakshuka. A tomato casserole with porched eggs on top. In this case topped with cilantro and salted soft fresh cheese.

Details:
Onion, bell pepper, chili, garlic, paprika, cumin, fried in olive oil. Canned whole tomatoes added, and simmered a bit. Eggplant fried for a bit in olive oil, then added to the simmering sauce. Eggs added on top for poaching, and lid was put on the pot.
For "cosmetic reasons" the eggs were taken up again when done, and the sauce poured into a suitable dish. Then eggs added back, and the dish topped with cheese and cilantro. Served with large "pita".


Result:
The dish was pretty good, and the different spicing was a nice different. Fresh cheese was a great addition to the dish, and I think I like cilantro again :) Only thing wrong was that the eggplants still need a little more time to get done.

Emptying the Fridge

This is from before I went on vacation. I had to use up whatever I had, so I felt like something umami and fulfilling...

Don't remember all the details though :(

Details:
A tomatosauce with mushrooms, peppers, onions, and chopped fresh tomatoes. Topped with grilled aubergines, which was then topped with roasted mushrooms and 1000 days gouda.


Result:
I don't know what does wrong when I try to make roasted aubergines.. They try out and get boring :/
Mushrooms, onions, and cheese are a sure winner.

Continuing the Trend with Chicken

This one is ALSO chicken :P
Had to use som ricotta, so I tried to use it in a sauce. kind of thing.

Details:
Chicken, onion, broth, lemon zest and juice, and redwine cooked in pan. Mixed with a little tomato paste, basil leaves, and ricotta afterwards. Served with boiled rye kernels.


Result:
Nice purple color, nice mouthfeel, but could use a little more "filling" taste. But really munchy :P

MORE Chicken!

Time for an old time favorite

Details:
Chicken with yellow pepper, carrots, leek, and a sauce of peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar, lime juice, and chicken broth. Served with basmati rice with pandan


Result:
This was as always really good! It is really easy, quick, and tasty. Easy to find a recipe like it. I really recommend it.

Tortilla Wrap In a Different Style

Opened another bag of tortilla wraps, so again, this is what will be shown.. Sorry...

Details:
Chicken fried on the pan with honey mustard.
Chinese cabbage and slices of carrot. 
Ricotta with spiced olives, some of the spices and oil, garlic, kapers, and a tiny chopped onion.


Result:
Once wrapped and lifted, it could not really be put down again. But it was tasty, fresh, and not as messy as expected.

Everything but the Kitchensink

I am going away on a small trip tomorrow, so just threw together everything I had in the fridge.

Details:
Some salad mix, some cottage cheese, the rest of the tagliatelle, snack pepper, an orange, two hardboiled eggs, some roasted pumpkin seeds for the toasty flavor, some dried cranberries for something sweet, and a dressing of honey, lemon juice, olive oil, and the last of the fresh herbs.


Result:
No special "taste experiences" but it was a good and filling meal.

When You don't have a Grill

This should have been bbq'd, but the grill on the terrace turned out to be useless (Which I found out AFTER spending over an hour getting materials for it home).
A nice big lump of clarified butter and plenty of heat yielded some really good results on the pan anyway.

Details:
Rib Eye Steak seared in ghee on a hot pan, seasoned with salt and pepper.
Boiled haricot verdes and small potatoes, fresh tomatoes, and a mixture of porcini-tapenade, roasted chopped hazelnuts, rosemary, and salt.


Result:
This time around I made sure I had "elbowroom" to handle the steak, and that the side was easy to just munch into. The steak was dark red inside, but nicely browned on the outside.
Potatoes, haricot verdes, and tomatoes were a good combination. Especially with the added cream.

Omelet

Well I wish I had some pictures of the thin omelets I made this weekend, but instead I made this one.
I have grown up with an omelet being a deep pan dish with lots of ingredients. This is my attempt af something like that, but with the ingredients prepared by itself, and added on top of the not-yet-coagulated egg mass.

Details:
Omelet of 2 eggs and an eggwhite, with a splash of milk and salt. Topped with mixed mushrooms, fried in the fat from the rind of a piece of smoked ham. After a bit of time a leek and the lean of the smoked pork was added along with garlic, salt, pepper and fresh sage.
It was all topped with a puré of tomatoes, snackpepper, and bird's eye chilies grilled in the oven, mixed with garlic, salt, sugar, and vinegar. This was thickened with a bit of corn starch.
Homemade sour dough pumpkin seed bread on the side...


Result:
It was the best omelet I've made to date! Only problem was that the puré did not really taste as I'd like it to. Should have heated it to a boil in a pan after adding the starch, adn should have used less sugar.

Summer!!!

And for that a nice salad!

Details:
Bottom of halloumi-like cheese and butterbeans.
Salad with chopped apple, blueberries, dried cranberries, roasted pumpkin seeds, and roasted cashew nuts. Drizzled with some lime juice and acacia honey.


Result:
The whole idea with the butterbeans and cheese was not good, that should have been in a completely different dish! Rest was really good though :)

Gumbo

This was me going for a "gumbo", with a darkened roux.
A roux is a thickener from french cuisine, and the dark version is the predecessor to "brown color" for sauce. It is a basically flour that has been fried in butter.. Or, it IS flour fried in butter ;)

Details:
More of the purple tagliatelle, with a gumbo on, made by frying peppers, onions, garlic, chilies, and minced beef. Added rosemary, thyme, oregano, chili powder, paprika, chipotle, liquid smoke, and caramelised onions and mushrooms. Sauce was part port wine, part stock, and thickened with the roux.
Topped with corn from cob. Cooked in microwave and just cut off the stem.


Result:
It was kind of flat tasting, but spicy! Gumbo is good, but I should use less roux next time. This was about 1½-2tbsp of flour and same of ghee.


And yea, tagliatelle and gumbo? Quite a bastardisation :P

Pesto pesto!

Did you know that you can't buy a real Pesto Genovese in stores?
Ok, maybe some specialty-store somewhere, but not in the supermarket, not at all...
Unlike Bearnaise the problem is not that it won't stay fine in glass. The problem is the price.
Basil is not the big issue here. Instead it is the pine nuts. It is the ingredient you will almost never find in any real quantity in store-bought pesto.

But why is that a problem? Why not just make it yourself? Well for me, the problem with that has been that the taste has always been thin and salty.

I thought that couldn't be true, so I looked through the standard process, and adapted it to blending. Worked like a charm!

Details:
Smoked cured pork slices. Grilled "grilling cheese" (sort of halloumi-like, probably called something else because of regional protection). Oven-grilled tomatoes with salt and pepper. Boiled small potatoes with skin. Pesto made by blending garlic, salt, and roasted pine nuts to a paste. Then adding basil leaves, blend, scrape, add, blend, scrape. Then added grated Pecorino at the end (because Parmesan is a bit too salty I think). It was slightly diluted with olive oil, which I also used a drop of to loosen the paste before adding basil leaves.


Result:
Smoked pork was good with the grilled cheese and potatoes.
Maybe the potatoes could have used a light frying, but that would propably have gotten a little too greasy. Pesto was very round in flavor, and almost lacked salt this time. Next time I need more basil...

Steak!!

Beeeeeeeeeeef!!! Nom nom nom!
First time I make a steak, and it was gooooood!

Details:
Roasted potatoes and bell peppers, with cumin, garlic and lemon (juice + zest).
Salad with sliced tomatoes, and a dressing of lemon zest, chopped basil, lemon juice, and oil.
Portobello mushroom and half a tomato, with cheese and rosemary between.
And finally, a hereford rib eye steak! With a ball of butter, blue cheese and garlic :P


Result:
Salad was good, portobello was... a little dry.
The potatoes didn't get cooked, despite getting 40 minutes in the oven! Sucky oven...
Also, cumin didn't quite match the rest...
Steak was niiiice! But could use some more elbow-room for cutting that beef :P
And the butterball was perfect ;)

Canned Thai

Is it just me, or can you can more asian foods than european? Or is it just that we have no idea how it should taste, so we just go with all the conserve and frozen?
Anyway, this was to use my instant coconutmilk powder, and try this galanga paste.

Details:
Thawed cooked chicken, boiled with a bit of premade bouillon, with organic coconut milk powder.
Added galanga paste, garlic, and lemongrass. Then added baby corn, mushrooms, and adjusted with fish sauce, lime juice, and a bit of syrup. Added whole grain noodles at the end.
It is a very standard recipe. I even have it in a very generic cookbook. Otherwise one that is precisely like this one can be found here: http://blog.seasonwithspice.com/2012/04/thailand-chicken-galangal-soup-recipe.html


Result:
Creamy and spicy. This is really some of the most awesome tasting dishes you can throw together in less than an hour. Never tried with mushrooms, really good! Couldn't taste the galanga. Might as well use ginger.. Lemongrass is nice (and you can freeze it)...
And really need a bigger bowl! What a mess!

Purple Pasta and Coffee-Molasse-Porkchops

Only thing I really knew about this dish before I started was that it would be with porkchops marinaded in molasse... I found a good recipe for this here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/molasses-coffee-marinated-pork-chops-recipe/index.html
My last potatoes had turned green, but luckily I bought this wonderfully weird beet tagliatelle yesterday.
The rest was what was left in the fridge...

Details:
Purple tagliatelle, with a little butter for taste, and some rosemary (again).
Raw, chopped onions, red and green peppers.
Pork chops with molasse, sage, ginger, garlic and coffee (see recipe). Marinaded for almost 24 hours.
"garnished" with chopped spring onions and roasted salted almonds.

Result:
Everything here was perfect, except for the pepper and onion. It just doesn't mix with the tagliatelle. Definitely not the right was to use tagliatelle. Some small pasta would have been better...



A little lesson: Molasse (Melasse) is the end product from sugar refinement. It is the byproduct of when you take naturally brown sugar and turn it into pure sugar. It has a burned, liquorice-like, bitter taste, and is what you mix with pure sugar to get processed brown sugar... Don't ask why...

Another Tortilla...

So yea, repeatative, but I had less than half an hour to prepare at consume this...
It was good though! Wild smoked salmon is just really good!

Details:
Smoked wild salmon sliced thinly and put in a whole wheat tortilla wrap with steamed asparagus, smoked cheese, thinly slice snackpepper, and a salsa with tomatillo, chipotle, ketchup, and some things I can't remember...


Result:
Asparagus and salmon is a clear win. The peppery addition was a really good complement to this, and the whole package was very hand-friendly :P

I'm sorry, Global Conscience...

I was craving something with walnuts, and went hunting for ricotta. I wanted to make some kind of dip with roasted walnuts and walnutoil. Didn't find it, but found cheap tuna!
Tuna is actually blacklisted as a fish you should not support the fishery of. But I thought I saw the MSC logo on this wonderful steak, so kind of just thought "Oh that's nice! I can actually lend myself to buying this". So without looking closer, I grapped it and went to the counter...
Turned out the package was just cleverly designed with a logo for "no dolphins harmed" designed like the MSC one... So damn you impulsive shopping!

Details:
Tuna steaks seared on both sides till browned, with a bit of rosemary.
Folded whole grain tortilla heated in panini iron.
Mixed salad with walnut oil, topped with fresh raspberries, and roasted walnuts.
Chopped orange grapefruit with strawberry/balsamico glaze.

Result:
Everything was really good here, but wanted a more intense walnut taste.
Walnut goes well with raspberry though.
Tuna is really tasty, too bad it's threatened :(

Cold dish

Summertime! And salmon again... Bought some wild MSC-approved low fat bright red salmon, so just awesome... Except it expires soon, apparantly...
So today I made a nice sandwich to go along with the sunshine outside :)

Details:
Whole wheat bun, toasted in the panini iron. Salad with lime. Thin slices of salmon. Egg salad with mayo, mustard, dried tarragon, and fresh rosemary.


Result:
Mmmmmmmmmh, creamy egg salad, how come I haven't made it for a year! Goes well with salmon!

Leftover noodles

I'm sick... And have no drive to really cook. So this time it was chicken from the fridge, and some of the teriyaki from last time.

Details:
Simple whole wheat one minute noodles.
Teriyaki sauce from last time. Marinated, cooked, thawed chicken cubes that I got from a buffet leftover at work, fried on the pan to give the a little charring. Blanched fresh spinach. Some different mushrooms, like shiitake and button mushrooms.


Result:
Nothing special, but a good easy meal.

Veggies!

Sunday is vegetarian, and as said, I wanted to break the standard mold for dinner composition.
So here is my vegetarian komposition. With both egg and cheese present though...

Details:
Top left: Half grilled red pepper with chopped olives, baked garlic,  gorgonzola intenso, and pine nuts.
Bottom left: Half grilled green pepper with polenta with onions, red pepper, and garnished with spring onions.
Top right: Hollowed beef tomato, with egg, thyme, pecorino, and topped with basil leaves.
Bottom right: Grilled portobello mushroom with 1000 days gouda, baked garlic, roasted onion, chipotle, grilled aubergine, and garnished with rosemary and chili.
Small dish on the side: Dessert of kvark with blackcurrant syrup, sweetener, dried candied cranberries, chocolate, and honey granola.

Result:
The egg was too gel-y, and runny. SHould have been scrambled before put in the oven.
The polenta was almost tasteless. The portobello and the red pepper were delicious though! But they had all the good savory stuff anyway, so...