sunday night dinner

i think sunday night dinners are my favorites. it's then that i poke around in the corners of the refrigerator, freezer and the cupboards and throw something together. something that will likely never be duplicated, but which often is some of the most delicious food that we eat. a few leaves of kale that survived winter in the garden, the last of the leeks (also plucked from the garden today), a bag of oven-dried tomatoes from the freezer (also from the garden), and a couple of thick pork chops from pigs we raised ourselves, half a container of mascarpone. add to that a bit of butter and a glug of white wine to sauté down the leek and a package of frozen mixed beans. with some red rice from the cupboard to accompany it. it's in the oven now and i can't wait.

the view from sunday night

some time spent with sharpies. as a person who is utterly unable to sit down and meditate, the adult coloring books are the next best thing. precisely what i needed late friday afternoon.

frieda, with her eye on a bird out the window. she brought in two live ones, one dead and also released a live mouse in the house. she's very thoughtful and so hopes that pretty soon we'll catch on ourselves and she'll have to stop working so hard.

on saturday, betty went her new home with a young girl who appreciates her. it's always good to know you've found a good home for the horse. with the child away at efterskole, we decided we'd go out for dinner. we tried the newly renovated kro in billund and it was brilliant. totally unexpected for billund, but they have apparently hired a real chef and they made truly delicious, exciting, innovative food that delighted us and made us think and prompted conversation. this photo above, however, is our sunday night dinner at home - steak & halloumi tacos using authentic corn tortillas from the mexican food truck that now comes to...you guessed it...billund (it's like billund is almost a real place now) on thursdays. with mild temps and some sunshine, and a whole afternoon moving hostas (20 of them), i feel rejuvenated by the weekend. and maybe just a small bit of that spark i've been missing is creeping back in.

memories of food

i read a sweet story by brett martin in GQ on his meeting with chef jacques pepin at a low moment in his life. it illustrates the powerful healing capacity of sharing a meal and it's worth the long read. i also watched the great netflix series chef's table, which tells the story of 6 world-famous chefs. very inspiring and i burned through the six episodes far too quickly. all of this got me thinking about memorable meals. many of them came before the age of instagram and the incessant documentation and sharing of every plate, so they linger in the echoes of laughter of remembered conversations, the clink of glassware, the memory of garlicky tenderness of the cubes of beef at that tapas place in manila, the way my eyes welled up with tears at the deliciousness of the walnut-encrusted shark filet at the linn street cafe in iowa city, those foie gras pops so good we ordered a second round for dessert at elan in nyc, the time my sister licked limoncello off the table at that italian place at serendra in manila (hmm, the food must be good in manila).

we are so bound to food and so often we eat it mindlessly rather than thoughtfully, simply fueling our bodies because we have to instead of fueling our souls because we should. i go in streaks here at home, at times more conscious (read: creative) about what we have for dinner and other times being stuck in a rut of the same omelettes and BLTs. but again and again i return to the feeling that most of my moments of conscious happiness and contentment are spent in the kitchen; i feel better about everything when i'm cooking.

it's easier to be creative in the kitchen in the summer, when produce is delicious and abundant. when i can step out into the garden and pick strawberries for a sorbet or shortcake or broad beans for a hummus, or asparagus for a risotto. it is deeply satisfying to make our dinner from our own garden. and while our summer meals can bit one-ingredient intensive during the short time when asparagus or those broad beans are in season, there's just something about eating those things only when they're here that makes my soul sing. we appreciate them so much more because they are fleeting and they become so intertwined with long summer evenings in the garden. they're the food that memories are made of.

what are you eating this summer?

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speaking of food, did you know that personal gardens at russian dachas produce 40% of the food that's consumed in russia? and there are also people like rené redzepi of noma who are thinking about food and using local producers.

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salad as art!

100 happy days :: day 73

experiencing simple, exciting food in a restaurant.

100 happy days :: day 47

homemade nettle pesto.

and you thought nettles were a nasty weed.

actually, they're way better than basil.

especially these new, tender shoots.

(dear google, please stop "enhancing" my photos aka painting them purple.)

100 happy days :: day 46

the blt. with homemade nettle pesto, aioli, avocado and thinly-sliced red onion.

possibly the world's most perfect food. 

100 happy days :: day 41

those dinners where you just take a bit of whatever's in the fridge and in the cupboard and combine it through some magical alchemy into something delicious.

100 happy days :: day 40

homemade oven-dried tomatoes. because yum!

and because the child wanted them in her lunch "packse*."

plus, they are dead easy...cut them up, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with seasoning, put in the oven on 50°C, pour a glass of wine, watch a few episodes of buffy on netflix, go to bed, sleep in, wake up and voila! oven-dried tomatoes.

*"packse" is sabin's baby word for "package" and we love it so much, we've taken it into regular usage.

100 happy days :: day 18

mid-afternoon, when i bought the grillables and charcoal, the sun was shining and the nettles were visibly growing. by the time dinner rolled around, the clouds had rolled in, but we still fired up the grill, made quesadillas and grilled pork and sausages. and made the first batch of nettle pesto. food cooked outdoors simply tastes better, don't you think?  definitely today's happy.

eating my way through the usa: the new york edition (round 1)

funny, the street food in denmark never includes lobster rolls.

or awesome greek chicken pitas that claim to be made of all sustainable ingredients.

and oddly, the main station in copenhagen does not have a gorgeous oyster bar with 25+ kinds of oysters to choose from.

nor are there macaroons with the most creamy, velvety filling ever on every corner.

and i've never been served heavenly, creamy mushroom croquettes that make you wonder how on earth they did that amazing combination of crunchy and creamy.

tho' i'll admit foie gras pops with a surprise fig filling do seem vaguely new nordic.

our pizza runs more to mince and bernaise (yuck. i tell you.)

and we do not do our crust nearly thin and crispy enough.

i've never seen green bean tempura with a zesty mustard dipping sauce on a danish menu.

nor has my spinach craving ever been assuaged in denmark.

some things are just bettter in new york.

eating my way through the usa: seattle edition

the crab salad at lowell's, pike's market, seattle.

seared scallops on corn succotash at miller's guild, the restaurant in hotel max.

crab cakes for breakfast at 14 carrot.

french toast and bacon at 14 carrot

the omelette at 14 carrot

crab cake (again) at blue acre

the heirloom tomato salad at blue acre

seared tuna - very sashimi-like - at blue acre

shrimp, crayfish and andouille sausage with cheesy grits at toulouse petit

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more soon. i just didn't want you to think i'd fallen off the face of the earth.

jamie, please bring your italian to denmark!

spicy pork cracklins

a few weeks ago on our holiday, we ate at jamie's italian in oxford. if you must eat at a chain restaurant, this is the one. relaxed surroundings, food served on chunky wooden bread boards and simple, delicious food. what more could you ask? i find myself rather longing for it on this rainy, grey sunday.

super food salad with grilled mackerel

i probably have most of the ingredients for this super food salad (minus the mackerel), but it's just not the same if you have to make it yourself, is it? avocado, quinoa, sprouts, quark (we call it skyr around here), pomegranate. it was delicious and healthy. and i'd like someone to bring one to me right now.

burger with polenta chips

the burger was on good bread, grilled perfectly and with plenty of fresh lettuce and tomato. polenta fries (or chips as the brits call them) gave a twist on the usual french fries. a bit of rosemary and parmesan on top - delish!

polenta chips

i didn't know what to expect with polenta chips, thinking that sounded awfully heavy, but they weren't at all, they were light and crispy and quite delicious. i'm not sure i could duplicate it at home, as when i make polenta it seems heavy and porridgy. i'll have to see if he's got a recipe on his website, because it could be fun to try it. but really, at the moment, i'd rather just hop a ryan air flight to stansted and find the nearest branch of jamie's italian and tuck in.