Un jour...

One of my current colleagues apparently has 3 interests outside of work: Wine, women and tennis.

Recently I asked him for some recommendations for wines and he gave me a list of 5 wines currently available at Systembolaget. He was almost apologetic about the fact that there were no Italian wines on his list - but there simply weren't any available that were good value for the price.

One of his recommendations was "Un Jour..." 2011 from Le Clos d'un Jour in Cahors, France. I forgot to mention to my colleague that Cahors is one of the most well-known French wine districts in Denmark. Why? You might ask.. Because the husband of the Danish queen is from Cahors.

The wine was quite good, very easy to drink. When I first poured it I noticed immediately how dark it was - more purple than red.

Bear Roast

Do you remember when I graduated? Although I took the time to celebrate this back then, there was something that bothered me - something that nagged. More specifically, what nagged was that although I did graduate the one big project that I'd worked on during my entire Ph.D. - the project which I'd estimate I spent some 60-80% of my time on, the project that took up the first 250 pages of my thesis - wasn't finished. It wasn't finished and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I had to move on. I had to leave it to persons unknown to me, to a future unknown to me. Would it ever be finished? Would I ever see that work published in any other form than the highly limited edition that was my thesis?

Several months ago now, I heard rumours that it had in fact been finished, but it wasn't till recently that it was submitted to one of the more prestigious journals in my field - and a few weeks later it had been accepted for publication after peer-review. This past Friday it appeared on the web site of the journal in question. In a week or so it'll be two and a half years since I graduated, so this all comes with a sense of justification: if it took this long to finish the project, I couldn't have finished it by just staying 3 months more.

But enough about that. This calls for a celebration! And what better way to celebrate than to take some time to cook a very special meal.


Other recent events include the beginning of bear hunting season in Sweden. I've been eager (to put it mildly) to taste bear for quite a while, so when a few weeks ago I saw a piece of frozen bear at one of the butchers in Östermalmshallen (one of the big in-door markets in Stockholm) I decided to splurge and bought it.

In a moment of karmic balance I decided to thaw the piece of bear on the very day the paper appeared online - that is: before I knew that it was going to be released on that day.

Ingredients:
roast:
- lard
- 4 small cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1.3 kg (~ 3 lbs) bear roast
- salt & pepper
- ~500 g (~ 1 lb) red boiling onions
- 1 L (~ 1 quart) water
sides:
- boiled potatoes
- 3 thin slices of bacon
- 170 g (6 oz) crayfish tails
- 200 g (7 oz) black chanterelles
- ¹/₂ dL (¹/₅ cup) cream
- ¹/₂ dL (¹/₅ cup) pan juices
- salt & pepper
- pickled green tomatoes
salad:
- green leaf lettuce
- pea sprouts
- sun-dried tomatoes
drink:
- Bollinger Special Cuvée


First I took the piece of bear and slit several deep narrow holes in it with small sharp knife. In each hole I stuffed several thin slices of garlic. Secondly, the roast was rubbed on both sides with generous amounts of salt & pepper. In a large pan on high heat, the roast was seared in lard on both sides until darkened appreciably. The roast was then placed in an oven-proof tray together with the boiling onions and 1 L of water. The roast went in the oven at 175 C (350 F) for 2 ¹/₂ hours (opening the oven occasionally to pour some of the pan juices over the roast) before being removed to a cutting board, covered with foil and left for 20 minutes before slicing.

The boiling onions were transferred to bowl (to be served as a side with the roast). ¹/₂ dL of the pan juices were set aside for the sauce and the rest (about 5 dL) was frozen as 'bear stock'.

While the roast was still in the oven, the salad was prepared, and the potatoes were boiled in lightly salted water.

While the roast was resting before slicing, the bacon was fried till crisp, then removed from the pan, chopped and set aside. The crayfish tails were fried in the bacon fat for a minute before adding the black chanterelles. After a few more minutes, the cream and pan juice were added. Once heated through, the sauce was ready.

Slices of bear roast were served with mushroom-crayfish sauce and bacon bits on top - salad, potatoes, onions and pickled tomatoes on the side.


So how was it?

The bear was excellent. Very tender and very tasty. This is most 'game' meal I have ever cooked - the meat was clearly recognisable as red meat, but it did have notes of something 'different' and these notes were stronger than when I've cooked venison or moose.

The black chanterelles were as delicious as I expected - this is the first time I've had them fresh (previously I only had dried ones), but I have to admit the crayfish didn't really do so much for the dish as I had hoped. I was going for some sort of Swedish surf^turf, but in the end the crayfish were too anonymous against the rest of the ingredients - so if I ever do this again, I'll leave those out (or maybe try to find something more bold).

This was the first time I tried my own pickled green tomatoes. They were a little firmer than I thought they would be, but the taste was pretty close to what I had in mind - sour, sweet and vanilla flavoured all at the same time. Perhaps a little too much vanilla. My muse didn't really like them, but I thought they went very well with the meat.

Potato-Parsnip Mash & Beef-Chanterelle Stew

Around the New Year I was visiting friends who introduced me to something I hadn't really considered: adding other tubers to mashed potatoes. This works quite nicely, so I had to try my hand at it making this potato-parsnip mash.

To go with that I decided on trying a variation on this beef stew - more specifically a wine based beef-tube chanterelle stew.

Ingredients:
mash:
- 4 parsnips, peeled
- oil
- 10 potatoes, rinsed and quartered
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) sour cream
- a little milk
- salt and pepper
stew:
- oil
- 1 onion, chopped coarsely
- flour
- 225 g (¹/₂ lb) beef strips
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) red wine
- 450 g (1 lb) tube chanterelles
- 5 dL (2 cups) beef broth
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 3 dried juniper berries
- fresh rosemary
- salt and pepper

The peeled parsnips were drizzled with oil and baked in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for 1.5 hours.

While the parsnips were baking, I started on the stew: the chopped onion was sautéed in a large pot with a little oil, then removed from the pot. The strips of beef were coated in flour and browned on all sides in the same large pot with a little extra oil, then added the wine - stirred well to ensure no bits of flour left on the walls of the pot. Then the beef broth was added together with the tube chanterelles, crushed garlic, dried juniper berries and fresh rosemary. The pot was brought to a boil (took some time as the chanterelles were frozen), then the onions were added back, the heat was reduced and the stew was simmered for 45 minutes. At the very end it was seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

While the stew was simmering, quartered potatoes were boiled in unsalted water. When tender the water was poured off and the baked parsnips were added. The tubers were mashed with a ladle, and sour cream and milk were stirred in till a good texture was attained. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

The stew and mash was served with baked green beans (basically a very basic version of this baked green bean salad) and a glass of the red wine...

Liver with Bacon and Capers

Not so long ago I went out for lunch. My eyes scanned the short menu and upon seeing the 'Veal liver with bacon and capers in red wine sauce' there was no turning back. I had to try that. And after trying it, I had to make it myself as well.

Ingredients:
- potatoes
- green beans
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 50 g (2 oz) thinly sliced bacon
- 650 g (1.4 lbs) beef liver, sliced
- salt & pepper
- 1 dL (¹/₂ cup) red wine
- 1 dL (¹/₂ cup) cream
- capers
salad:
- lettuce
- baby plum tomatoes
- pea sprouts

I started by preparing the salad, then rinsed the potatoes and boiled them in lightly salted water. The green beans were boiled in lightly salted water in a separate pot (on account of needing less time).

The bacon was fried till nicely crisp, then removed from the pan and chopped - in the same pan, the liver slices were fried with salt and pepper. When the liver slices were done, they were removed from the pan, and the onion rings were caramelized - then removed. Lastly, the red wine was added to the pan, allowed to concentrate a little before adding the cream to obtain a sauce.

The fried liver slices were served with bacon bits and capers on top. The potatoes with onion rings, and red wine-cream sauce, green beans and salad on the side. And a glass of the red wine..

Next time, I think I'll try a different approach with the red wine sauce - it wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite like the one I had at the restaurant either..

Grilled Zucchini & Eggplant Pizza

Although I was quite happy with the recipe for pizza dough I picked up recently, one tiny detail did bother me: That the dough has to stand and rise for an hour makes for some rather late dinners if I make the dough when I come home from work.

So, I started thinking: what happens if I make the dough the evening before? Will it work? Or does yeast dough 'un-rise' if left for too long?

Well, only one way to find out.

The dough was mixed and kneaded just like in the other recipe, but after coating the ball of dough in a little olive oil and placing it in a bowl under film it was left standing overnight. The next morning the dough was parted in two equal portions, each wrapped in film and stored in the fridge until after work. The doughs were rolled with a little durum flour as usual - and the result was just as great as always. So, now the question is: for how long can I store pizza dough in the fridge?

Anyway - this batch was topped with:
- tomato sauce
- mozzarella, sliced
- black olives, sliced
- 1 eggplant, sliced and broiled
- 1 zucchini, sliced and broiled
after baking sprinkled:
- salt
- pepper
- dried oregano
- fresh rocket salad
served with:
a glass of Chilean Errariuz Pinot Noir - a very smooth red wine

Chanterelle Risotto

At the urging of my muse, I tried out a variation of the risotto using seasonal mushrooms - that is: chanterelles.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 medium onions
- 330 g (11.5 oz) chanterelles
- 500 g (1.1 lb) arborio rice
- 3 x 1 dL (3 x 0.4 cup) white wine
- 7 x 1 dL (7 x 0.4 cup) chicken stock
- 1.5 dL (0.6 cup) cream
- 50 g (1.7 oz) parmigiano reggiano
- salt & pepper
served with:
- one head cauliflower

Crushed garlic and and chopped onion was sautéed in a little olive oil in a large pot. After a few minutes the rinsed and coarsely chopped chanterelles were added and the heat was reduced to medium. After an additional few minutes, the rice was added followed by the first portion of white wine. The volume was reduced with occasional stirring before adding the second portion of wine. And so on with the third portion of wine as well as the portions of chicken stock.

While the risotto cooked, the head of cauliflower was boiled in lightly salted water.

When the last portion of chicken stock was absorbed by the rice, the cream and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano was added and the risotto was seasoned to taste with salt and black pepper.

Served with the cauliflower on the side - dense, so don't serve too much.

The white wine, by the way, was an Argentinian sauvignon blanc and quite respectable.

Systembolaget - Part I

In the 19th century, having seen alcoholism as the scourge of mankind, the state of Sweden introduced to the world the concept of alcohol monopolies: the first was in Falun but other local monopolies soon followed. By 1955 all the local monopolies were united into a national alcohol monopoly: Systembolaget.

Systembolaget's monopoly isn't 100% - f.ex. rare wines and whiskies are sometimes sold at auctions, and supermarkets can sell anything with an alcohol content up to 3.5% ABV. I can't tell you why the limit was set at 3.5%, but I can tell you how I know the limit is at 3.5%: In supermarkets one sees all kinds of otherwise familiar beers (e.g. Carlsberg and Pilsner Urquel) that are suddenly only 3.5% ABV (or even less).

In times when the exchange rate was different many people in southern Sweden going to Denmark to buy alcoholic beverages, but currently the traffic is going in the opposite direction (as dictated by the current exchange rate). Supposedly Systembolaget used to be a very drab experience: more like going to the pharmacy and requesting specific items, but in recent years the stores have changed into much more customer friendly boutiques: one can walk the aisles and take a good look at everything. The goods are usually really well described and the staff is friendly.

Had I lived in Sweden 10 years ago I would have undoubtedly been frustrated with the lack of any cheap beers for mass consumption - but these days (being perhaps more mature) I appreciate the wide selection of quality products (and having moved on from student aid to something reminiscent of a real pay I can also much better abstract from the details of prices).

My First Duck Roast

Traditionally the big Christmas dinner in Denmark is on Christmas Eve - and I guess most Danes would have duck roast.^[1] This year I decided to try my hand at a whole duck for the first time. Well, let me be frank: a few mistakes were made, so there's room for improvement ...

Since I was going to be cooking only for two I took the smallest duck I could find at the store, at 1.5 kg (~ 3 lbs). Traditionally the duck is stuffed with apples and prunes, but I decided to go for a different flavour: I stuffed it instead with onion, leek, and fresh sage. I closed it using a couple of wooden toothpicks. The skin was rubbed with generous amounts of salt.


One of the tricky parts is getting a crisp skin, while not drying out the meat. I read beforehand that a nice result should be obtained by roasting it first for 20-30 minutes at 225 C (450 F) with the breast up and then turning it over on the grid, filling a little water in the bottom of the pan and roasting at 160 C (320 F) for about 30 minutes per lb. This is exactly where I made my mistakes: for one thing, I don't think the early roasting at the higher temperature was sufficient. Worse, when I turned it over and poured water in the pan, the water reached the skin (because the grid was too low over the bottom of the pan). Consequently, the skin wasn't anywhere near crisp when the duck was roasted. I tried turning on the broiler for a some minutes, but I never got the skin quite right.

The meat, however, was delicious - I really liked the hint of sage. It was served with peeled, boiled potatoes, broiled green beans, red cabbage sauerkraut, gravy made from the drippings, salad (made from corn salad, cucumber, tomato, caper berries, and roasted pine nuts), and a pinot noir Burgundy wine with a very Christmas like label (click picture to enlarge).

For dessert this heavy flourless chocolate-brazil nut cake.

^[1] It's not uncommon in larger families to find both duck roast and pork roast.

Creamy Chicken Pasta

I picked this concept up from a book on pasta dishes years ago - it was a favourite with the dormitory crowd and has stayed with me in some form or other for many years now. Below follows a typical example - with some notes.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (1/2 lb) mezze maniche rigata [1]
- olive oil [2]
- 140 g (1/3 lb) chicken breast, sliced thinly
- salt and pepper
- 4 scallions, cut
- 1 dL (1/2 cup) white wine [3]
- 1 dL (1/2 cup) cream
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 125 g (1/4 lb) crimini mushrooms, sliced [4]
- 50 g (2 oz) Lodigrana Bella Lodi, grated [5]

First the pasta was boiled. Then drained and kept warm.

The chicken meat was seasoned with salt and pepper and sautéed in a little olive oil. When the chicken pieces were nicely brown all over, the scallions were added and stirred for a few minutes. The wine was added, and the volume was reduced (to about half). Adding also the cream, the boiled pasta was added, and stirred well to coat evenly with the wine/cream sauce. Finally the garlic, the mushrooms and the grated cheese was added - the whole thing was left on low heat for a couple of minutes before serving with a glass of white wine and a salad made from corn salad, cherry tomatoes, and freshly roasted pine nuts.

[1] Like rigatoni, only shorter. I've done this dish with lots of different pastas - penne, fettuccine, and linguine all work nicely. I probably wouldn't try it with spaghetti or angel hair.
[2] I have taken a liking to using the olive oil sun dried tomatoes come in.
[3] The one I used this time was the Morning Fog Chardonnay from Wente, but I didn't really like that one, so don't consider that a recommendation.
[4] Could easily be another mushroom.
[5] Practically any hard cheese will do.

Sausage and Lentil Stew

While this isn't an authentic French recipe (so far as I know) it IS heavily inspired by dishes I had in Lyon when I went there recently. Yes, both the sausage and the wine are Swiss, but I'm sure proper French substitutes could be found.

Ingredients:
- 100 g (3.5 oz) smoked bacon, diced
- 6 small onions, quartered
- 2 smoked sausages ("Freiburger bauernwurst")
- 500 g (about 1 lb) green lentils
- 3 dL (about 1 cup) red wine (Dôle Romaine, Martigny, Switzerland)
- 1 L (about 4 cups) vegetable bouillon
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- fresh thyme
- 6 bay leaves
- 6 peppercorns

In a large pot the bacon was browned, then the onions were added and sautéed for 5 minutes before adding the lentils and the sausages cut in large pieces. The wine was added, and the pt was left on medium-high heat until the volume of liquid was nearly gone. Then the vegetable bouillon was added together with garlic, fresh thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns. The heat was reduced a little and the stew was allowed to simmer for 20 minutes (uncovered).

The stew was served with thick slices of bread and a glass of the red wine - a nice wine from the Swiss canton of Valais.

Venison & black chanterelle whiskey cream sauce

Some years ago Mrs. Throat-Erator wanted to give me a special experience and took me out to dinner in Copenhagen at a nice place. It was quite the success, as I had the chance to try venison for the first time in my life. More specifically it was a steak of red deer, and it blew me away. So there was no hesitating when I recently found venison at a local supermarket. It was even a relatively good price... it must be hunting season or something around here. I figured it would probably go well with a black chanterelle whiskey cream sauce...

Ingredients:
- water
- 20 g (ca. 1 oz) dried black chanterelles
- potatoes
- oil
- salt & pepper
- venison
- 1 medium red onion, chopped finely
- 0.5 dL (1/4 cup) whiskey
- 1 dL (2/5 cup) cream
- the leaves of 2 twigs of fresh rosemary

Since I could only find dried black chanterelles the first thing to do was to put these in a bowl and pour ca. 1 L (1 qt) of hot water over them and let them stand for at least 20 minutes. When they were drained, the water was saved for later.

The potatoes were washed and boiled in lightly salted water.

The venison was cut like small steaks, which were seasoned with salt and pepper. In a pan with a little oil they were cooked to the desired degree (medium for us). After removing the venison from the pan the onion was added, and after a few minutes the drained black chanterelles. A few minutes later the whiskey and cream was added, and brought to a boil. After a few minutes 2 dL (4/5 cup) of the black chanterelle water was added followed by the rosemary leaves. After simmering briefly it was served.

The result was fantastic. I still really like venison.

With dinner we had a bottle of pinot noir from the canton of Vaud. I'm pretty sure this is wine made closest to here I've had so far. The colour was surprisingly pale, but it went well with the meat.

Lapin au Vin

This week rabbit was on sale at the supermarket so we decided to have our hand at cooking it. Having no experience with this particular meat I sought inspiration in Tyler Florence's Eat This Book, although my approach was somewhat cruder.

Ingredients:
- ca. 650 g (1.5 lb) rabbit (4 pieces)
- 1/2 bottle of red wine
- flour
- salt
- pepper
- oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp honey
- Italian herb blend
- 0.5 L (2 cups) chicken broth

Side:
- 6 potatoes
- 1/2 celery root
- 2 beet roots
- 2 small onions

Salad:
- romaine lettuce
- capers
- sun dried tomatoes

The rabbit pieces were wetted in the red wine, then coated with a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper. The rabbit pieces were then browned in batches in oil in a large pot (turning them over with tongs). While browning the rabbit, crushed garlic, honey and Italian herb blend was added to the wine. After browning all the rabbit pieces (and all removed from the pot) the wine was added to the pot, brought to a boil while making sure to stir up any flour left in the pot from the browning of the rabbit. To this was added the chicken broth, and the rabbit pieces were put back. The pot was covered and allowed to simmer for about one and half hours.

While the rabbit was simmered, a mixture of crudely cut potatoes, beet roots, celery root, and onions (drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper) was baked in the oven at 225 C (450 F) - beet and celery roots require longer time than potatoes to become tender.

This left plenty of time for a quick salad: romaine lettuce, capers, and sun dried tomatoes were mixed in a bowl.

The rabbit was very tender; the meat was practically falling off of the bones. The texture and taste was somewhat reminiscent of chicken, although more 'game'. Overall it became a fall/winter style dish which fitted well with the pouring rain outside. With dinner we drank the other half of the bottle of wine.

Roast with tubers (Sunchokes ]I[)

Roast is something I have relatively little experience with. My parents would make it sometimes, but cooking most oftenly just for myself I have tended to make it only seldomly. Well, trying to get by on a tight budget probably played a part too. Then I lived for a couple of years with a guy who would grill a tri-tip every so often and after moving out of that house I find myself being more interested in cooking roast (although I don't plan on getting a grill any time soon). As mentioned recently cooking sunchokes brings out the flavour nicely so for this roast there'll be tubers on the side.

Ingredients:
- 1 tri-tip roast
- salt & pepper
(tubers)
- 8 potatoes
- 8 sunchokes
- salt & pepper
- rosemary
- oil
(mushroom relish)
- 3 shallots
- 100 g (4 oz) mushrooms
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 1 dL (1/2 cup) red wine [1]
- salt & pepper
- tarragon
(salad)
- red leave lettuce
- 1 roma tomato
- kalamata olives

Season the tri-tip roast with salt and pepper, then seared it on all sides for a few minutes before putting it in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for about 50-55 minutes. After it comes out of the oven, let it rest for a few minutes, then slice it thinly.

Cut the potatoes in 3-4 pieces each, and put them in a oven proof tray together with the sunchokes. Drizzle a little oil over them and season with salt, pepper, and rosemary. This tray also goes in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for about 50-55 minutes.

Sautee the finely diced shallots, then add sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, tarragon, and red wine. Reduce the volume for a few minutes, then add the sour cream and stir well.

Cut the lettuce, dice the tomato and add some kalamata olives.

Serve everything together.

[1] While I'm somewhat of a beer and whiskey snob, I am quite the opposite when it comes to wine. Usually a $5 bottle of cabernet sauvignon will do just fine for me.