Coffee cup as candle light holder

At the shop  Cafebutikken Vejle, where I have had these serving items created (Christmas serving item & Blå Blomst serving item), I have also located this candle light holder created from a small coffee cup.

I think you can guess, why it had to be this specific coffee cup, which I brought ? And yes, you are correct, the colour of the coffee cup is green :-)

Brownie with chili and nuts

I have found this recipe on brownie with addition of the "usual nuts", but also chili is used as flavouring ingredient as well. I have located this specific recipe in the magazine "Isabellas" issue 2018/8. I find the chili flavour to be very, very delicate, it is almost impossible for me to detect the taste of chili in this brownie. The brownie has a great taste of chocolate.

As I did not have enough pistachio nuts (50 g is stated in the recipe), I used a combination of pistachio and pecan nuts as well as the walnuts. I still have plenty of pecan nuts after a recent trip to USA.

Regular readers of my blog will noticed, that I am in a period, where chili is used regular in my kitchen (spaghetti arrabbiata & pasta with mushrooms in spicy tomato).

Brownie with chili & nuts: - 1 cake

• 250 g butter
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 4 eggs
• 250 g sugar
• 150 g (cake) wheat flour
• 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
• ½ fresh chili - de-seeded and finely chopped
• 100 g walnuts - medium chopped
• 25 g pistachio nuts - medium chopped
• 25 g pecan nuts - medium chopped

1. Heat up the oven to 180'C.
2. Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a medium size cooking pot over medium heat.
3. Whip the eggs and sugar together to a foamy mass.
4. Add in the wheat flour and cocoa powder, and whip until the mass is homogeneous.
5. Gently stir the melted butter-chocolate mass together with the chopped nuts and chili.
6. Cover a baking tray of 20 x 30 cm with baking parchment. 
7. Fill the cake dough into the baking tray.
8. Bake the cake at 180'c for 30-35 minutes in the middle of the oven.
9. Cool down the cake, before you cut it into pieces.

Gin bowl glasses from Spiegelau - kitchen equipment 34

As a member of the Danish supermarket COOP´s locality program you can here in the period October 2018 - February 2019 collect "stamps", which can be used for discount on different glass type and cocktail mixing equipment from Spiegelau.

I have used some "discount stamps" to buy these big gin bowls, so I have something to serve gin tonics in or other cocktails/mocktails such as these raspberry lemonade. For these raspberry lemonade I did also use the mixing jug as well as this cocktail set. The price with "discount stamps" for two cocktail glasses is 50 DKK (6.60 €) instead of 220 DKK (29.10 €).

ORANGE POWER

The colour of this juice reminds me about drinking liquid sunshine, which is a great feeling to get on grey Winter day. The taste of this juice is also fantastic :-)

Your fingers and other things getting in contact with the turmeric part of the juice will get a yellow colour, which can last for some time. My finger nails had yellow colour for approx 1 day after making this juice.

ORANGE POWER: 6-8servings

• 1000 g orange - peel the orange before juicing the citrus fruit
• 500 g clementines - peel the clementines before juicing the citrus fruit
• 1000 g carrots - no need for peeling the carrots, only washed
• 20 g turmeric - no need for peeling, only washed
• 20-40 g fresh ginger - no need for peeling, only washed

1. Clean all the ingredients.
2. Juice everything together.
3. Store cold, can be stored 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
4. Enjoy :-)

Pasta with mushrooms in spicy tomato sauce

Apparently I have come into a period, where I am making various pasta dishes in spicy tomato sauce (I recently made this spaghetti arrabbiata), perhaps it is due to, that on cold Winter days it can be good to eat some food with a certain level of spiciness.

My mother would probably decide this pasta sauce as spicy, I would call it delicate in it´s spiciness, so you could consider to increase the level of chili seeds from 1 teaspoon to 1½ teaspoon.

This pasta dish is very filling, which I think come the tomato sauce, being filled in fried mushrooms. So all in all it is a dish, what I would to cook again.

I found the recipe in the weekly magazine "Søndag" (issue 52/2018). I have made the following modifications. I decided to use a combination of both onion and garlic. And I decided to add in the chili seeds, when I started the cooking time of the tomato sauce instead of first adding the chili seeds just before serving the sauce.

It is not a quick fix to too cook this sauce, as it takes minimum 20 minutes to cook the pasta sauce as well as frying the fresh mushrooms.

Pasta with mushrooms in spicy tomato sauce: - 4 servings

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 onion - finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic - finely chopped
• 70 g of tomato concentrate
• ½ dl of white wine
• 800 g canned tomatoes
• salt & pepper for seasoning of the sauce
• 1 teaspoon of chili seeds
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 400-500 g fresh mushrooms - thinly sliced
• 400 g dried pasta
• Parmesan cheese - freshly grated
• Basil leaves - optional

1. Fry the chopped onion and garlic in hot olive oil in a medium size cooking pot, until the onion is clear in it.
2. Add in the tomato concentrate and let it fry for ½-1 minute.
3. Add in the white wine, and let is boil down.
4. Add in the canned tomatoes, season with salt, pepper and chili seeds.
5. Bring the tomato sauce to a gentle simmer for min. 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile fry the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan. 
7. When the mushrooms have be reduced in size and change colour as well as texture, they can be added into the tomato sauce
8. Meanwhile cook the pasta.
9. Serve the pasta with the mushroom-tomato sauce together with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some basil leaves.
10. Enjoy :-)

Spaghetti arrabbiata

I have found this recipe on shaghetti arrabbiata in the one the weekly newsletter coming along with my weekly vegetable box from Årstiderne. I know it is not the season for fresh tomatoes from your own garden, but on a cold and windy Winter day it can be good to eat some food with a certain level of spiciness.

I used fresh cherry tomatoes. You can use other fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes. I am considering to add in some tomato concentrate next time to have a more intense flavour of tomato. I would also consider to use more chili, as the taste was not very strong.


Spaghetti arrabbiata: - 4 portions

• 400 g dried spaghetti 
• ½ chili - de-seeded and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
• 2 tablespoon of olive oil
• 400 - 500 g fresh cherry tomatoes - cut into half size
• salt for seasoning
• fresh basil
• Parmesan cheese - freshly grated

1. Start by boiling the spaghetti for 9-10 minnutes
2. Meanwhile heat up the olive oil on a frying pan.
3. Start by frying the garlic and chili for 1-2 minutes.
4. Afterwards add the chopped tomatoes.
5. Let the tomato sauce simmer gently, until the spaghetti is ready.
6. Remove the spaghetti from the water and add into to the tomato sauce.
7. Serve together with fresh basil leaves and freshly grated Parmesan cheese
8. Enjoy :-)

Raspberry lemonade

After I tested out this raspberry-lemon lemonade at the annual Christmas lunch for the wonderful women, I realised that I needed to do some work on improvement of this drink, as the colour was yellow and the taste was like boring soft drink. I have maintained, that this lemonade should be without addition of alcohol, so it can fit perfect into the month of January, where some people will use this first month of the year for detoxing after a Christmas month full of alcohol and food.

So my first attempt on modifying this raspberry lemonade is a good first step, however, I still find the taste to be too sweet and soft drink like, so here there is still room for improvements. I also think, that this lemonade would be very good with some addition of alcohol.

Raspberry lemonade: - 2 drinks

• 60 ml Monin raspberry syrup
• ½ l raspberry soft drink
• 30 ml lemon juice
• 4-5 fresh raspberries
• ice cubes

1. Fill all the liquid ingredients into a cocktail mixing jug.
2. Stir the drink ingredients together using a cocktail stirrer.
3. Add the ice cubes into the gin bowl glasses.
4. Divided the content from the mixing jug into two glasses.
5. Add in some fresh raspberries for decoration purpose
6. Serve and say cheers :-)

Pirog with rice, ham, cheese, egg and mushrooms

For my recent Sunday dinner with my mother I made this pirog with a filling of rice, cheese, egg and mushrooms. I recall, that the original recipe was a part of the magazine "Samvirke" issued by COOP back in 80's. And here I actually made this dish very regular, when I was cooking at home at my parents. However, the recipe disappeared, and it is first recently, that I have located the identical recipe here Allans opskriftssamling.dk.

So it was really a trip down memory lane making this pirog again and serving it for my mother last Sunday.

I have made a few adjustments. Instead of margarine I have off cause been using butter :-) and on top I have been adding in some mushroom from glass. And instead of kneading the dough by hand, I used a stand-alone mixer for the "hard work" of kneading :-)

Any leftovers of this pirog can be re-heated in the microwave oven or serve cold in your lunch pack.

Pirog with rice, ham, cheese, egg and mushrooms: - 4 servings

• Dough:
• 50 g butter
• 125 ml water
• 15 g fresh yeast
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 250 g wheat flour
• Rice filling:
• 15-20 g butter
• 1 onion - medium chopped
• 1 clove of garlic - finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon ground paprika
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 2 dl rice
• 4 dl vegetable stock
• Extra addition into the rice filling after boiling:
• 90-100 g cooked and smoked ham - medium chopped
• 2 eggs
• 50 g grated cheese - I used Cheddar
• 1 glass of mushrooms
• 1 egg/egg wash for glazing of the dough

1. Add all the ingredients to the dough into the mixing bowl of the stand-alone mixer. Keep the yeast and salt away from each other.
2. Knead the dough ingredients together at speed 2 for 6-8 minutes.
3. Afterwards increase the speed to 4, knead for 2 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough. If it is not OK, when knead it at speed 4 for another 2 minutes. Again check the consistency. If needed, knead again for 1 minute and when check consistency of the dough.
4. Let the dough raise in the mixing bowl covered by a tea towel for approx 45 minutes.
5. Meanwhile prepare the filling for the pirog.
6. Fry the onion and garlic in the melted butter in the medium size cooking pot for 1-2 minutes.
7. Add in paprika, turmeric and rice, and let it fry for 2 minutes.
8. Add in the vegetable stock, bring the rice filling to the boil.
9. Let the rice simmer gently boil for approx. 20 minutes.
10. Remove the cooking pot from the heat.
11. Heat up the oven (conventional) to 200'C.
12. Roll out the dough on a piece of baking parchment in the size of 40x50 cm.
13. Place the rolled out dough with baking parchment on a baking tray.
14. Add in ham, cheese, eggs and mushrooms into the boiled rice.
15. Add the pirog filling on one part of the dough.
16. Cover the pirog filling by the other part of the dough.
17. Press the end of dough firmly together. I use a fork to do this.
18. Glazing the surface of the dough with egg wash.
19. Bake the pirog in the middle of the oven at 200'C for approx 30 minutes.
20. Serve warm.

Farewell to Christmas Calendar 2018

Today it is three kings day, so what better day to say farewell for my Christmas Calendar of 2018 and pack it way. I have had a great time making this Christmas Calendar and I hope, that you have enjoyed the Christmas journey in my kitchen during the month of December.

I keep myself entertained during the dark and grey Winter time creating my very own Christmas Calendar just like the ones on TV ! For me it is a way for keeping my mood up during a long, dark, gray and rainy Winter season with days having around 7 hours of sun light in case, that the sun actually shows it´s face ! as it keep me busy instead of hiding under my duvet like a little moody and sleepy brown bear !!!


So I  have baked different stuff and made Christmas sweets, which I have been using as stocking fillings for a good colleague at work as well as filling up all the empty tins of my mother and off cause to serve it at various occasions such as the royal Christmas afternoon tea, the annual Christmas coffee for local friends and finally but not least the Christmas lunch for the wonderful women.

Reviewing your visits to my Christmas Calendar of 2018, I have made a TOP 5 over the most popular Christmas Calendar Daily entries according to your preference:

1. Stollen bites
2. Apple aqua vita with spices - my good friends preferred this aqua vita with Christmas spices
3. Christmas gin tonic
4. Peppermint xylitol sweet
5. Speculoos cookies

So it seems like, that you like to have drink and something during a busy Christmas time :-), which fits perfect into the behaviour of most Danes during December :-)

I will already now promise you, that I will make a new Christmas Calendar in 2019. If you have an idea, please feel to leave a comment. You are also more than welcome to share your opinion on the Christmas Calender 2018 at the same time.

I think, that I as many other bloggers appreciate your comments, so we actually get the feeling, that someone is reading and enjoying our blogs !! So do not be shy, but leave me a comment.

Raspberry-lemon lemonade

I served this raspberry-lemon lemonade as the annual Christmas lunch for the wonderful women. I decided to serve this lemonade as it was an alcohol-free drink, as some of my guests had to drive back home in their cars. This idea of an alcohol-free still fits perfect in the month of January, as some people will use this first month of the year for detoxing after a Christmas month full of alcohol and food.

I was a bite disappointed about the colour of this lemonade drink, as the word raspberry for me indicated the colour of red (I do know, that you have yellow raspberries), and the flavour of the drink as well needs some serious flavour adjustments, as it has this taste of  sweet lemon soft drink !!! So all in all plenty of room for improvement in the coming year of 2019.

Raspberry-lemon lemonade: - 4 drinks

• 60 ml Monin raspberry syrup
• ½ l lemon soft drink
• 40 ml lemon juice
• ice cubes

1. Fill all the liquid ingredients into a cocktail mixing jug.
2. Add in some ice cubes.
3. Stir the drink ingredients together using a cocktail stirrer.
4. Add one ice cubes into the cocktail glass.
5. Divided the content from the mixing jug into four glasses.
6. Serve and say cheers :-)

The last meal of 2018

As tradition demands the the last meal of the year is enjoyed in the great company of my good friends in Horsens. Typically my friends in Horsens have been finding the meals at various places, however, this year I had located, that the local Michelin place in Vejle (Memu) was selling out of the house meal for New Years celebration, so we decided to try this option out for the transition from 2018 to 2019.

The starter was a creamy soup of Jerusalem artichoke with chorizo crunch and pea leafs. The smoked cod was missing, as the received cod as judged to unfit for serve. Therefore all the buyers received a free bottle of either white, rose or red wine as compensation for the missing cod.





The in-between dish was braised pork jaw with celery puree, raw red beets and truffle cloud.










The main course was beef tenderloin fried as wild together with mustard seeds and rosemary, slice of bacon,  pickled onions, fried imperial hat, small potatoes with herbs and sauce with pickled cherries and peppers.







The sweet closure to this last meal was a dessert of dark chocolate fondant with light-frozen passion fruit mousse, ginger caramel and crisp oat flakes.

The price for this four course menu was 395 DKK (approx 52 €) per person. It was all in all a very good last meal of 2018.