This recipe for baked Brie with brandy pears, almonds and tarragon is truly a celebration of this wonderful cheese! Brie has been one of my favorite cheeses since I was a kid. I think I first discovered Brie when I was about 7 years old, and I was immediately won over by its deliciously soft and creamy texture. In fact so much so that I often found myself snacking on Brie to the point where I would eat up a whole one…sometimes in less than an afternoon. Oh, how I miss being a kid before I knew anything about calories! The good thing though about cheese, Brie included, is that…
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Pretty cheeky
Pork cheeks are an overlooked cut of pork in my opinion. So when some friends of mine told me they had bought too large a bulk of cheeks from Ibiric black foot pigs, I didn’t hesitate to say yes to the offer of taking them of their hands. One of the most efficient ways of tenderizing pork cheeks is adding wine or beer and letting them stew slowly for a few hours, so I decided to go all in on the booze and literally drown the cheeks in Marsala, and what do you know? All the dinner guests ended up with af smile on their faces. A cheeky one of…
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Not too hot for kids
When the weather turns cold, I like to eat something that’s a little hot and spicy to get the warmth back in my body. The problem is that my kids won’t eat anything hot and spicy, except this very mild version of the Indian dish murgh makhani or butter chicken as we Westerners like to call it. I only use the hot spices in this recipe in sparse amounts, and I use honey to soothe down the taste to accommodate the delicate taste buds of little ones, and yet there is still heat enough to get the internal fire going, but not enough to burn or scare off anyone. And…
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A pot and a pumpkin
The other day I bought three pumpkins at the local supermarket. I guess that’s a perfectly normal thing to do this time of year if it hadn’t been for the fact that our porch and front steps were already packed with little orange, green and yellow pumpkin faces. But I simply couldn’t resist buying just a few more of these gorgeous little veggie heads. And the great thing about pumpkins is that not only do they light up your home and mood on cold and dark days, they make for wonderful food too. Now, I’m not a big fan of winter, but one of my great consolations this time of…
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Creamy fish and lemon
Since Denmark is a country that basically consists of islands only connected to Germany in the south by the big peninsula Jutland, the tradition of eating a lot of fish for dinner should be a given. But actually I grew up in a home where we didn’t have fish for dinner at all (except the 2 times a year when my mom treated us to a piece of salmon). And chowder would have been a completely foreign word. It’s not that we didn’t eat fish, because I can’t remember a lunch at home that didn’t include pickled herring, but for dinner fish simply wasn’t an option. Now I love fish…
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Lasagna dressed for Halloween
Last week we celebrated Halloween, and what a fun night for kids and adults alike! While the kids of course are mostly focused on all the candy and treats they are going to haul in, it’s nice if the adults can look forward to being treated to some nice comfort food as a consolation prize after following the little munchkins around the neighborhood in the cold and the rain. If the little people have any appetite left for real food after stuffing themselves with candy, I find that traditional lasagna is a great option, as you can make it in advance and just heat it up, giving you time to…
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A little extra something for your cheese board
Up for a cheese feast? In our family we love cheese, and having guests over is the perfect excuse to serve a cheese board. Whether it’s a substitute or a supplement for dessert or something you want to do for a casual Friday night get-together with friends, it’s fun and easy to put together. Well, maybe it’s not so easy to choose between all the great cheeses at your local cheese dealer?! Well, ask them if they’ll let you taste and then choose your favorites. If they all turn out to be favorites, another good pointer is to choose a variety of mild and mature cheeses, to include both soft…
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Cod by a Frenchman
Last week my oldest friend from Denmark came to visit me in Toronto, and I was excited to show her around and had just bought a great book about strolls in Toronto. To me walking through neighborhoods in a city is the best way really to get a feel of the diversity a city has to offer. I guess it’s a bit as with food, you have to smell it to really know it and enjoy it. When we got home from one of our walks, we were tired in that pleasant way where you are ready for a nice glass of wine and comfort food. None of us, however,…
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The lox and the fennel
Whenever I think of lox or smoked salmon as a starter it somehow brings me back to the ‘80s. Probably because growing up in the ‘80s I remember my parents would almost as a rule serve smoked salmon as a starter when they had guests over. Back then my parents were all for convenience, and it was a very easy, and still delicious, starter. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with a dish being easy and convenient, especially if you’re trying to juggle a homemade two- or three-course dinner. While you might grow a little bored with the smoked-salmon-served-on-bread-and-maybe-an-asparagus-on-top classic, lox or smoked salmon is still a great option: liked…
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Perfect side dish for BBQ
In my house we have 3 barbecues!! You might think that we would never have the need for using all 3 at the same time, but we do. If we are making different dishes for a family gathering it is nice to have the option to cook at different temperatures and have room to cook more than one thing at the same time. While I am busy barbecuing, I don’t have time to make a complicated potato dish to go with the meat or sausages. That is why it’s necessary to have a potato side dish that I can make ahead and that goes perfectly with almost anything with the…
