meat

Caramelized onion relish for hamburgers

| Eva

To me, August is peak grilling season. Or at least it was, until last year. Last year August was splendid: warm, sunny, perfect for eating outside. This year August is giving me mixed feelings about the eating outside part: colder, rainier, definitely not BBQ-friendly. Still, when you want your August to feature hamburgers you gotta do something about it, so when rain is disrupting your grilling plans, hamburgers will be cooked in the pan and hamburger night will happen anyhow. Continue reading →

Roasted pork loin with hazelnut sauce

| Eva

In the region in Italy where I come from we pride ourselves with a few selected foods that include some types of wine and cheese, chocolate and hazelnuts (hazelnut chocolate being the most delicious thing you can find). My mom likes to bring me a couple of packages of hazelnuts from our region everytime she visits, and it’s a gift I always accept very happily and save for special occasions. Continue reading →

Cashew chicken noodles

chicken cashew noodles
| Eva

Browsing Thai recipes lately I found cashew chicken and thought this could be an interesting thing to try. Comparing several recipes found all over the net, I realized that all of them were unanimous on the use of hoisin sauce. This is an ingredient I have never used before, and I was afraid I would not get to buy it here, so I even looked for recipes to home-make it. Then, while shopping for the other ingredients, I discovered that hoisin sauce was among the things that I can get at my local supermarket, so I was happy that I could spare myself that further level of experimenting and bought a jar of it, ready to use. Continue reading →

Denmark-inspired smørrebrød

smørrebrød danish open sandwich
| Eva

While flying back from Italy two months ago, I kept myself entertained reading Finnair’s inflight magazine Blue Wings. I loved everything about Finnair (it’s all here) and of course I could but love their magazine. Browsing through it, my eye caught the picture of a hamburger with an egg yolk on top – I immediately started reading the article related to that food picture. It was about a Danish restaurant that serves very classy and interesting versions of smørrebrød, the Scandinavian open sandwich. I kept this delicious idea in mind, with the intention to recreate it at home. Continue reading →

Mini leek pies

mini leek pies
| Eva

Some time ago I posted the recipe to one of my favourite vegetable dishes I prepare on a regular basis: broccoli pie. I was genuinely overwhelmed with the response that that recipe got: I received several messages from many friends who made it and were super happy with the result. It is indeed a delicious way to get to eat a vegetable like broccoli, a type of food that is not loved by everybody. Today I want to share another vegetable pie recipe, but this time it is baked in a muffin tin and it features leeks. Continue reading →

Leek “lasagna”

| Eva

Lasagne (in Italian we more commonly call this dish in the plural form) is my favourite food. It comes before pizza, guacamole, Norwegian chocolate, shrimps and all other foods I love. It’s my very favourite dish and I can never get tired of it. To me, it’s Italian food at its best! Generally, when I think lasagne I have in mind the basic type, with bolognese – ragù – meat sauce and bechamel, but there are several variations I have also tasted and loved, such as lasagne al pesto or lasagne with cream walnut sauce. In this post I will speak about another variation, a bit more eccentric but not less awesome: pasta-less lasagne. Continue reading →

Chicken broccoli noodle stir-fry

chicken broccoli noodle wok
| Eva

It’s getting colder and the temperature in my apartment in the past few days has been gently dropping. I realized it the other night, when I let an arm out from under my duvet and felt how cold it was in comparison with the nice warmth I was feeling wrapped in my bed. I had further proof yesterday while preparing lunch: the coconut oil, that in the warmth of August had completely liquefied, solidified again in its jar. Overcast skies give the impression that the days are getting much shorter, as darkness these days seems to come earlier than last week. Autumn is coming, and in a way I’m loving it. Continue reading →

Tacos meat (perfected)

tacos
| Eva

Say tacos and I’ll think Norway. Norwegians love to eat tacos and all supermarkets in Norway are equipped with a large selection of items for the perfect tacos night: hard and soft tortillas (the basic supply a decent supermarket carries counts at least wheat, corn, and possibly also a whole grain version), guacamole dips, salsa in all shades of spicy, nachos (round and triangular; salty, spicy and cheesy to name the basics) and various powdered spices, herbs and other condiments. I was surprised the first time I have been offered tacos for dinner in a Norwegian house, but after that first time I came to notice the taco section in supermarkets and I understood that there must have been something more than just my hosts being fancy. Continue reading →

Reindeer stew with polenta

| Eva

I had my first portion of reindeer meat on my first trip to Finland a few years ago. It was in a fancy and pricey Saami restaurant, and the dish had a poetic Finnish name that translated as “reindeer of the northern lights”. My friend who is currently visiting us bought a package of frozen reindeer meat at the local grocery store because she wants to make the most of her Swedish holiday and that includes eating local delicacies such as reindeer meat. I don’t know how to prepare the Finnish “reindeer of the northern lights”, but I have learned another way of making reindeer meat, the Swedish way, and this is how I served it to my friend. The “northern lights” part came as a plus (for real). Continue reading →