This really has turned into project day. We had turkey stew for dinner tonight – another Jamie Oliver recipe from his ‘Jamie’s America’ cookbook. I wanted to make it because it looked really good in the book, but I was also a bit weary because it has papardelle dumplings and I have never made pasta before. But turns out  it’s not that difficult. The stew turned out great, very tasty. The sauce didn’t turn out as thick as I would have liked but I’ll fix that next time. The dumplings did however turn how a bit too thick, but cooked perfectly however. I think that the thing that sets this turkey stew apart from a regular stew is the fresh...

My second recipe for my Jamie Oliver domestic project is cinnamon orchata. I had never tried or heard of the drink before I saw it in the book. But it sounded delicious and exactly like something I would like. And I was right. It’s a bit like Christmas in a cup, a lot like the rice porridge, risengrød, we eat around Christmas time in Denmark. Lovely and very easy to make. I did a little research and can tell you that it’s a actually the name of several kinds of traditional beverages served in Spain, Latin America and the US, made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley or tigernuts. In some countries the drink is usually tan and “milky”,...

This is very very simple but oh so risky to make. In Denmark schnapps (or snaps as we call it) and Christmas lunches go hand in hand.  And I am not a fan of schnapps at all, but in the recent years I have tried alternatives to the regular cumin schnapps. Last year it was elderflower I tried and this year Sillas and I have made our own. We made this honey schnapps for a Christmas lunch we went to last weekend. We got the idea from my friend and Sillas’ cousin. So thank you Rie. When I say that its risky to make, I mean it’s the result and not the actual making of the schnapps. See its so...

  This is one of Sillas’ favorite dishes. I made it for dinner last year as a side dish to salmon steak – that I thought would really ‘sell’ the dish. But it turned out that it was the quinoa salad that he absolutely loved. I like it too, its very simple, healthy and quick. One ingredient in the dressing might sound a bit funny, but I swear it works. It was supposed to be Dijon mustard but somehow I took the wrong jar in the supermarket and I came home with sandwich mustard-mayo. I decided to use it anyway and have stuck with it ever since. We have served it for guests multiple times and it’s a success every...

I love Mexican food and it had been a while since we had it for dinner. So tonight I made shredded chicken tacos. I have shredded chicken breasts before, but for soup, never like this. I turned out great and it was pretty easy and not too time consuming. I found the recipe at The Food Network, but reworked it a bit here and there. I served it in square taco shells with salad, tomatoes, jalapenos, corn, cheddar cheese and a dollop of cream fraiche. I also added some fresh basil leafs, I know its not as Mexican as cilantro, but I’m just more of a basil girl. Here’s the recipe. 

Tuesday was a very good but long day. I was up at 6 Am and off to work till 4 PM, but then I going to a cupcake course at ‘Specialkøbmanden’ in Lyngby. Specialkøbmanden (specialty merchant) is such a wonderful store for a cake nerd like myself. They sell cake decoration supplies and accessories for cakes and a well of spices, teas and coffees. They have stores all around Denmark. A few months back I attended one of their cake decoration courses, which was amazing I a came home with a very good looking cake if I say so myself. This Tuesday I tried their cupcake course, and it was just as great. It’s a small class, with only 7...

I was so excited to make vanilla fudge. I had all the ingredients, a good recipe and I was ready to go. And it all looked, smelled and felt good, until the next morning when I took it out of the fridge and my lovely fudge had turned into sweet and very sticky thick caramel. So not a bad thing at all – but just not the fudge I had hoped for. I can’t tell you were I went wrong, I followed the recipe and did exactly as it said.  Perhaps it has something to do with the temperature. I didn’t use a thermometer; perhaps I’ll try that next time. Does anyone know what could have gone wrong? Any good...

Here we go. My Jamie Oliver project has begun. I arrive home from work at around 6 PM if I need to go shopping for dinner first. So I had to find a somewhat quick recipe for today. The choice was green chili. I was excited to try it out because it had a few ingredients I don’t use very often; mint leaves and dried sage. I really like chili but just not too much, I still need to be able to actually taste to food. And this dish turned out quite hot, but I liked it a lot. It was borderline too hot, but maybe that’s just me. Sillas can eat much hotter food than I can so I...

I decided to try and make homemade fudge after seeing another blogger put up a post with really good looking fudge pieces. And also because Sillas loooves fudge, I usually buy a batch of it for him when I’m at Torvehallerne here in Copenhagen. But now I decided to give it a try myself.

I have a new domestic project – I’ve decided to cook my way through one of Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks.  I have quite a few cookbooks but have not been using them as much as I’d like. So I decided to pick a book and cook as many recipes from it as possible. The book of choice is Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s America. I chose it for a few reasons; one, Jamie Oliver is one of my favorite chefs and I have watched his programs since the late 90’s. I love his style and the dishes he creates. His dishes are rustic and full of fresh ingredients and heavily influenced by the Italian kitchen – all things that I like. After living...