Jambalaya

Jambalaya was incredibly easy, hearty and mouth-watering delicious (and with a bit of a kick, with lots of cajun seasoning.)

You start with onions, bell peppers and celery if you have it - the holy trinity of cajun cooking. Add fresh garlic and cook in a big pot like this one.
Then comes the meat - we went with chicken and chorizo. Brown the meat in a separate pan, then add to the pot.
Next pour in all the crushed tomatoes, broth, seasoning, and cooked rice (we used couscous). Cover and let simmer on medium-low for up to 30 minutes for the flavors to come together, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp and okra at this point, if you have.
Season with additional salt and pepper, then parsley and scallions for garnish. Voila! Jambalaya!

Lomo Saltado

After a long period of not posting I decided to get in touch with my fake Latin American roots with Peru's traditional dish, Lomo Saltado - a stir fry with a soy marinade, a tomato base, and interestingly, fried potato wedges. Very hearty and delicious, and doesn't take more than 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients (2 servings):
Marinade:
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon  soy sauce
salt and black pepper to taste
Stir-fry:
meat of choice, cut into strips (chicken or steak)
1 medium red onion, cut into strips
1/2-1 can diced tomatoes
2 potatoes, cut into strips or wedges
1 jalepeño pepper
some cilantro/parsley
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Make a paste by combining the garlic & salt. Whisk together the garlic paste, rice vinegar, soy sauce, canola oil, cumin, & ground black pepper.Place the meat in one bowl & the onions in another. Divide the marinade between the 2 bowls & let set in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

1. Pour a small amount of oil in a wok & turn on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the meat with marinade & cook until brown. Add the tomato & simmer for a few minutes.
2. Add the jalapeño, cilantro, & onions with marinade to the wok, slowly stirring until well blended. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

1. As the ingredients are cooking in the wok, sprinkle the potatoes with paprika & fry in a separate pan. Once done add to the other ingredients.

1. Serve with a dish of white rice, which you can flavor with garlic and/or lemon.

Comforting Sweet Chicken Curry

After a long week of travels, some comforting chicken curry over noodles was what I needed. I used a simple Indian recipe that is very alterable, but essentially uses thinly sliced chicken breasts sautéed with curry powder and other spices and vegetables in an aromatic and sweet curry sauce. The taste and spice of this dish will vary a bit depending on how much and what type of curry you used. Here is how I went about doing things:

Ingredients

• Rice noodles
• 1-1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2-1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 can coconut milk
• some chili powder
• some red pepper blakes
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons sugar

veggies of choice

garnish of choice, such as fresh cilantro, parsley, or chopped peanuts

optional: yogurt as dipping sauce

• Instructions

1. Sprinkle the chicken evenly with 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon curry powder, as well as some chili powder and chili flakes (you can keep adding these throughout).
2. Heat 1-1/2 tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned but still pink in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1-1/2 tablespoons oil to the skillet and set heat to medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger and remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons curry powder and other spices and cook until fragrant, about a minute more.
4. Add the coconut milk to the skillet along with the sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sauce is nicely thickened, about 5 minutes. Can add cornstarch as well to make thicker.
5. Add the veggies and partially cooked chicken to the skillet, turn the heat down to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, a few minutes. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the cooked rice noodles, or over rice, such as basmati rice.

Smørrebrød

Smørrebrød (pronounced Smurlllllbrud?) is another traditional Danish dish. It usually consists of a buttered piece of dark brown or rye bread, and then toppings of choice. For some reason Danes try to stack them as high as possible, thus making it really hard to eat with your hands, so you end up using a fork and knife. We made four different kinds in our house, and had a competition to see who could make the best smørrebrød presentation. Our group didn't win (which is utter BS because Papadam knows what's good and what's not) but these bad boys tasted delicious regardless. I didn't think I would like some of the weird toppings - like liver pâté - but I was pleasantly surprised. The rich toppings balanced really well with the hearty bread, and left you full and content.

Starting with the top-left: shrimp, hard-boiled egg, cucumber, dill, and lemon.
Top right: roast beef, remoulade, horseradish, cucumber, and fried onions.
Bottom right: a Danish bologna-like cured meat, beef liver pâté, onions, some jellatin-like paste, and soro, a fresh red herb.
Bottom left: sliced avocado, parsley, salt and pepper, soro.

Noma!!!

Yes, Noma, previously ranked the #1 Restaurant in the world (now it's #3, but who cares). I'm pretty sure my life just peaked. The only reason I got a reservation is that a friend who could not go gave us hers. The only way to do justice to this 17-course, 4 hour culinary experience is by going through each dish individually - I loved them all, and ranking them would be impossible. But what also distinguished the restaurant was the impeccable flow of the service, the open kitchen feeling, and the hour-long tour of the kitchen and facilities after the meal. At Noma the servers also help in the kitchen so they know everything about each dish, including where each ingredient comes from. Sometimes you'd have to ask a lot of questions just to give yourself a break from eating - the dishes come nearly right after each other, and they take control of the timing. If you take a bathroom and schnapps break, for example, they'll warn you that your next course is prepared. Anyway, here is a tour for those who can't handle the best culinary experience ever, because I certainly know it's all downhill from here (until I make some more $$$ to support my lavish eating lifestyle).

Hard to say which I enjoyed more, the friends or the food.

1. Fresh Berries and Lemon Thyme. Right off the bat, you're in flavor heaven. With gooseberries, dried currants, other herbs and berry flavors and a cold, smooth broth, each bite was different. 

2. Cabbage Leaves and White Currants

3. Green Shoots of the Season with Scallop Marinade. Hand-foraged the day of, I could name one of these Nordic herbs (mint). They were each incredibly flavorful and different, but they were all crispened a little bit, and served over what they called scallop fudge - a simple paste that didn't detract from the uniqueness of the herbs. 

4. Sweat Peas, Milk Curd and Sliced Kelp. What you see on the left are the freshest, tastiest peas ever. I didn't even know I liked peas that much. The brown slices are kelp, or seaweed, and underneath is fresh homemade Ricotta-like cheese. Served with a green, fruity broth. The highlight of the dish was definitely the peas, however.

5. Grilled Onion. A couple of my friends said this was their favorite dish. Cooked on their special grill, the onion absorbs a ton of flavor. There was no clean way to eat it, and interestingly, the waitress encouraged us to eat with our hands.  

6. Grilled Baby Corn with Egg Yolk and Beef Marinade. This was the most flavorful, sweet and juicy corn ever. It was so good that when the tiny piece of baby corn was gone, I ate the stalk. 

7. Danish Potato and Nettle. What you see is a potato wrapped and cooked in leaves, and cooked over salt and yeast to absorb the flavor. You are supposed to open the leaves, spear the potatoes and dip them in creme fresh. Tons of flavor in  each potato slice.

Myself twigging a potato.

8. Flower Tart. The flowers had a very subtle, but delicious and interesting flavor. 

9. Sea Urchin and Hazelnuts. I had never eaten sea urchin before, but now I love it (at Noma at least). It's all texture. It's kind of spongey, almost like a squash. It was also really sweat.

10. Sweet Shrimps wrapped in Narsurtium Leaves. This one was pretty weird. They were similar to shrimp dumplings, albeit using leaves and served with a yeast sauce. The waitress recommended eating them in one bite to get the full explosion of flavor.

11. Mahogany Clam and Grains. These guys are roughly 100 years old - you can count the rings on the back for exact number of years. The server loved to tell us about Noma's insane diver, who gets these things from the cold Norwegian waters. They were quite good.

12. Monkfish Liver. These smoked strings of liver were served frozen, but they melt quickly as soon as you start eating them. This may have been my favorite dish. It tasted smokey, livery, and seafoody all at once. Served on a toasted peace of bread, this may set the standard for smorresbord for the rest of my stay here in Denmark. Now you can see why I said it's all downhill from here.

13. Pumpkin, Rose Petals and Barley. Another soft and delicious soup with squash/pumpkin. So simple but so good.

14. Pickled Garlic Flower. Yes, this is a piece of garlic, somehow. They pickle it and it turns black and tastes like a natural fruit rollup. You could probably fool someone by placing a fruit roll up there instead, but then again, the presentation wouldn't be as beautiful. 

15. Roasted Bone Marrow. They showed us the grill/oven hybrid where they cooked these things, so you can tell where it got its serious, smokey character. You could eat it plain with a spoon, or make it into a taco using the leaf and the flowers, which were in a vinegary sauce. I'm a big bone marrow fan and this was amazing for me - fatty, but so much flavor, and it seems to melt in your mouth.

16. Hazelnut Oil and Vacuumed Ice Cream. Yes, they showed us the device used to vacuum this ice cream. What that means is that when you take a spoonful - even a massive one - it will melt and contract down to very little in your mouth. Fun...

17. Chocolate Covered Forest Flavors. Highlight here was the chocolate covered moss.

Desert Egg Nog - at this point we were all feeling fat, happy, and nearly speechless.

After a tour of the facilities, our experience wouldn't be complete without a picture with some of the chefs in the kitchen. And they all screamed "Cock!" which is "cook" in Danish.

Everyday Eats

Pasta with Homemade Beef Bolognese

This pasta with beef bolognese sauce may become my go-to shovel-in dish. The recipe says it could serve five people once, or one person five times - my case was the latter (albeit it was more like three times). To get all the ingredients, I had to use Google Translate in the Danish supermarket which was slightly embarrassing. The red wine I of course already had though. Here is the recipe:


2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to cook the pasta 

1 pound lean ground sirloin 
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves) 
1 tablespoon dried oregano 
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 
1¼ cups dry red wine 
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes 
2 tablespoons tomato paste 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
¾ pound pasta of choice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 
¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed 
¼ cup heavy cream 
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving 
Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground sirloin and cook, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the meat has lost its pink color and has started to brown. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 more minute. Pour 1 cup of the wine into the skillet and stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1½ teaspoons pepper, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. 
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a tablespoon of salt, a splash of oil, and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the box.
While the pasta cooks, finish the sauce. Add the nutmeg, basil, cream, and the remaining ¼ cup wine to the sauce and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour into a large serving bowl. Add the sauce and ½ cup Parmesan and toss well. Serve hot with Parmesan on the side. 

Homemade Burgers

We went all-out on burger night, with every topping you could imagine. We used ground beef for the burgers, packing them into balls which we filled with mozzarella, smothered in BBQ sauce, and salted and peppered. To cook them cooked them in a pan for a few minutes, then finished them in the oven for a couple minutes. Topping included blue cheese, bacon, sautéed onions and mushrooms, tomato, arugula, and avocado. Delicious.

Quinoa and Sweet Potato Salad

An old classic in the Freedman house due to the dish's shovel-in, refridgeratable nature, this quinoa and sweet potato salad is also pretty healthy and tasty. 

I used diced sweet potatoes roasted with a little olive oil, salt and pepper in a 400 degree oven. Then I roasted brocolli, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds, and added raisins and cooked chicken for a fully balanced meal. Add some fresh herbs like parsley. For dressing, use walnut oil and sherry vinegar if you can, and add a little maple syrup. The good thing with this quinoa salad is you can play around and adapt it however you want. 

Glass Market Fridays

This time at the Glass Market (Torvehallerne, in Danish) I wanted to try new things for dinner.  So first, I went to this famous taco stand called Hija de Sanchez, where the creator was a former chef at Noma. Everything is made from scratch here, including the soft shell tacos (you can smell how fresh they are. Also you can tell how proud of the place the owner is). The menu changes continuously every few days, but basically you can get a nice taste-testing of three different tacos for 100 kroner (~$15), or one taco for 40.

I got ground beef tongue, served with cilantro, onions, guacamole, lime, and a little habanero salsa. I had never had lengua before, but it was surprisingly good - tasted kind of like briscuit but crispier. Instantly fell in love with this place.

Hija de Sanchez was also written about in the New York Times: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/dining/noma-taco-shop-rosio-sanchez.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&_r=0 

"Tarteletter"- A traditional Danish Dish

Last night the housemates rented a culinary school kitchen , and made "tarteletters" - traditional Danish puffed pastries, filled with whatever you want in them. We made several different kinds, all with fresh ingredients, and they tasted good. The idea was we filled these hollow-shaped cups of puff pastry with toppings of choice - my group used smoked salmon, créme fraîche, a tiny bit of some Danish smoked cream cheese, dill, grilled radishes and fried snap pees.


Here's some facts about the tarts that I copied from the internet: The puff pastry was invented by a French pastry Chef - Claudius Gele - around 1645. He discovered that by folding pastry dough in many layers - obtained a special crunchy baked puff pastry - a recipes still used today by professionals baking patty shells. The first filled patty shells to be eaten in Denmark were in the late 19th century - and for many decades considered as an upper-class gourmet dish. The first cookbook that described the recipes - was from 1842 by Danish cookbook author Madame Mangor - and in 1880 by recognized cookbook author Louise Nim. In 1900 the patty shells with various fillings slowly became an everyday common meal in the Danish household - and is still a very popular dish up to our time. The dish has become more provincial during this century - and the Copenhageners eat patty shells with quite a sense of humour. There are more than 110 recipes and different ways of making the patty shell fillings and over 40 million patty shells with appropriate fillings are consumed every year in Denmark. In 1901 - the recipes with chicken mixed with asparagus is mentioned for the first time in Miss. Jensen’s cookbook. During the last 20 years the patty shell with filling has had a successful renaissance. 

Our smoked salmon and créme fraíche filling. 

Radishes and snap pees, tosses with some olive oil and flour to make it extra crispy.

Adding the snap pees, radishes and fresh dill garnishing atop the smoked salmon filling and toasted pastry puffs.

Our tarteletters were ready to serve! To the left is our finished product, and to the right is another group's, with beets, spinach, almonds, and goat cheese. They were both delicious and incredibly fresh tasting, but ours was better.

Sean and Claire, congrats on making the blog.

Here are the full recipes:

Beetroot and goat cheese (8 pieces):

300 g beetroots, 1 tablespoon oil, 2 pears, 100 g spinach, 175 g goat cheese, 50 g salted almonds 

Peel the beetroots and slice them into smaller pieces and cook them. Slice the pears and wash and dry the spinach. Put the beetroots in the forms with spinach, pears and goat cheese. Top with some olive oil and chopped almonds. 

Chicken & mushrooms:

2 onions, 2 apples, 30 g butter, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 350 g chicken, 3 tablespoons flour, 1.5 dl broth, 1.5 dl cream, 250 g mushrooms, salt, pepper, parsley.

Cut the onions and apples into smaller pieces and fry it carefully in butter until it’s light brown. Pour the vinegar in the pan and let it “cook” together. Cut the chicken into small pieces and dip them into the flour. Fry the chicken on all sides in butter. Salt and pepper the chicken. Pour broth and cream in the pan and let it cook on low heat until the chicken is done. If the sauce is to thin, thicken it with butter and flour. Fry the mushrooms. Put the sauce with the chicken, the apples, the onions and the mushrooms in the forms and top with chopped parsley. 

Ham and cabbage:

1 point cabbage, 3 carrots, 25 g butter, 4 dl broth, 2 dl cream, 200 g smoked ham, 1-2 teaspoons mustard, parsley, salt and pepper.

Chop the cabbage and slice the carrots and cook it in some water with salt in 5 minutes. Pour away the water. Melt the butter. Put the flour in the pan. Pour the hot broth in the pan little by little while you whip it. Pour the cream in. Let it all cook for about five minutes and make sure to whip it every now and then, so it dosen’t burn. Add slices of ham, cabbage, carrots and some parsley and cook together. Taste it and add salt, pepper and mustard. Add the filling to the forms. Serve them with chopped parsley on the top. 

Salmon and radish:

200-300 g salmon, 2 dl crème fraiche, 1 dl ”rygeost” (optional), 20 radishes, 2 packages of sugar snaps, salt and pepper, dill.

Cut the salmon into smaller pieces. Mix it with creme fraiche, rygeost and chopped radishes. Taste it and add salt and pepper. Add the mix into the forms. Fry the sugar snaps carefully and use it as topping together with the dill. 

How to prepare the tarteletter: Put the tarteletter in the oven for a few minutes. Put the filling in just before you serve them. The tarteletter are supposed to be warm, but not so hot that you burn yourself on the tongue when you eat them.

A familiar-foreign Copenhagen

And Papadam is back, taking my extraordinary palette, food-tasting, and amateur cooking abilities to the beautiful, sunny Copenhagen (and the rest of Europe?). Before I even bothered trying to butcher an order for Smorrebrod (a cold, open-faced sandwich), or find the best pickled herring, or drop $500 at a pop at a 2-Michelin star restaurant, I tried to start with what I know and add some Nordic ingredients for an interesting twist. Denmark's cuisine is famous for fresh, local ingredients, especially seafood, vegetables, meats and spices.

August in Copenhagen is filled with lovely cafes with people eating traditional Danish lunches, drinking cappuccinos or Carlsberg beers, or simply eating hamburgers, hotdogs and kebabs. While I'll have plenty of time to show you what Danish cuisine is all about, let me start off with what my budget allows and what I've stumbled upon by chance - Denmark's cuisine and local ingredients are quite adaptable to central European, asian and latin american cuisines. Here are the highlights till date:

"Beef al pan," or a beef sandwich at Tango Grill in the Glass market in central Copenahgen is one of the best finds I've made so far. Grilled steak, pickled onions, and a light green chili sauce topped with a sort of garlic aoli made for this mouthwatering sub. The place is to the side of the market, near the street, and almost looks like a bar. The chefs were from Colombia and Argentina, and seemed to really care about what they were doing. Perfect with a draft beer on a warm, sunny weekend afternoon.

Stumbled upon a Brazilian stand called Brasa in the market at Paper Island in Christiansvahn, Copenhagen. Here they served mixed grilled meats - pork, chorizo, and chicken - when they have them all. Served with spiced potatoes, cherry tomatoes, pineapple salsa, and a light green chili sauce. The smoked flavor permeated all the rich, savory meats, which were balanced by the sweet sauce and fresh fruits.

Since hotdogs are the national food in Denmark, it wouldn't be right to refrain from eating them because they're not like the Fenway Franks I am used to. With my housemates I made Danish hotdogs, buying pork sausages (which are hot dogs here), and making rolls from scratch, as well as garlic aoli, ketchup, pickles, and pickled onions. The combination of homemade, fresh ingredients and fresh bread made this a weener a winner. I put down two.

Pardon my picture/selfie taking abilities. I'll do better. #foodintheair #foodinmymouth

Made a mean panini today - fresh bread, grilled chicken with spices, sliced cheese (swiss?), carmelized onions, chorizo and pesto. Tasting absolutely amazing but maybe because I was just really hungry.

Here is the recipe for Danish hot dogs:

Hot dog buns (15 buns):
50 g yeast, 250 ml finger-warm water, 500 ml yoghurt, 3 tsp salt, 3 tbsp honey, 1300-1400 ml flour. Crumble the yeast in a bowl. Add water and mix until the yeast is gone. Add yoghurt, salt and honey. Add flour little by little and work with the dough until it’s smooth and elastic. Let the dough rise 45 minutes. Divide the dough in 15 smaller pieces and shape like hot dog buns. Let the breads rise 15 minutes. Bake 8-10 minutes at 250 degrees C.

Ketchup:
1 tbsp oil, half yellow onion, 1 garlic clove, half a chili, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 50 ml sundried tomatoes, 1.5 tbsp apple vinegar, 1 tsp pepper, 1-2 tsp salt, 40 ml brown sugar, 1 pinch of cinnamon. Chop the onion, garlic and chili. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, garlic and chili. Fry until it’s soft. Add the two kinds of tomatoes. Boil for 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar and cinnamon. Let it simmer for 45 minutes. It’s supposed to turn thick. Blend the ketchup. Taste it and see if it needs more salt, pepper or sugar. If your ketchup isn’t thick enough, you can add cornstarch and a bit of water.

Mayonnaise:
2 tbsp lemon juice 0.5 tsp pepper, 0.5 tsp salt, 300 ml oil, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp mustard. Mix all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl. Pour the olive oil in the bowl slowly – one drop at a time – while whisking fast. When the mayonnaise starts to thicken, add more olive oil – continue to whisk all the way through. When the mayonnaise is done, taste it and see if it needs more salt, pepper or lemon juice. Bonus-tip for the mayonnaise: If you want you can add a flavor to your mayonnaise, like chili, garlic or basil – use what you like and find in the kitchen.

Cucumber in vinegar:
0.5 cucumber, 100 ml vinegar, 100 ml water. Slice the cucumber in thin slices. Add vinegar and water in a small bowl and add the cucumber slices.

Update from Italia

Here is an update from Florence, Italy - where I spent two weeks in at the beginning of the summer. While the food at Georgetown's Villa Le Balze was amazing in itself - and every meal came with endless Chianti Classico - venturing into the city for some of the fresh, local foods was always an extra treat. Here are some highlights:

While I'm a firm believer that a good pizza is defined by its crust, Gusta Pizza in central florence reminded me its about the ingredients, too. Fresh basil, mozzarella and tomato sauce layered on crispy, wood-oven fired dough was a winning combo. I got two of these they were so good, though first one had fresh salami on it. 

Here we have have the most expensive truffle in the world, for a special price of 330,000 euros. I hope they have some good security in the Mercato Centrale in Florence.

Also in the central market was the best salami and cannoli I've ever had in my life, alongside a nice 1 euro cappuccino. 

 Now, on to Denmark, and hopefully some further travels. Ciao and farvel!