What a beautiful day today!

As you can see I´m training for my norwegian barista championship competition. This is at home, so my own coffee machine isn´t as professional as the one I´m competing with obviously, but the temperature can be as good ;)

I use a lot of my free time training for this competition so I really hope I´ll do good.

Coffee has been a passion of mine since I began working in a coffee shop 3 years ago! I got to learn a lot about the process, the hard work that is put into picking the berries and the roasting. Every coffee has its own taste and body. When bitten by the coffee bug, you never go back to pre-grownd cheap coffee.

Chicken Risotto

Sorry for the time between my posts, I have been busier than ever this 2 weeks! 

Following the recent post White wine Poached Chicken, here is the second recipe made with the same chicken: a nice and creamy risotto. Again, this dish is very simple but so excellent and will always be impressive to serve, moreover made from scratch like this one.

After you finished the White wine Poached Chicken recipe, you were left with the rest of the chicken back in the stock. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and let the chicken stock cook for 5 hours. Just skim the top of the stock with a spoon every 15 minutes during the first hour. It is long but it really cooks by itself, keeping all the flavor for your dishes!

To make the risotto, I recommend you to follow Alex's recipe: Mushroom Risotto.

While you cook the risotto, take the chicken out of the stock, remove all the meat and add it to your preparation just before the end. Few slices of parmesan on top of it and here is your second delicious meal made with the chicken. And there are still the wings and legs for the third recipe!

Taste sensation!!

I got to be honest with you guys. I cannot stop eating!! I love creating new taste! I love having so much creativity even if I´m ill! I love food!

Now my girlfriend thinks I´m crazy! I honestly eat all the time (only healthy stuff of course), but it´s so great...

Today I made a aubergine caviar. Cut the aubergine in 2, cut into the inmate (but not too deep). Season with salt and pepper. On one half, put some rosemary in the gaps. On the other half put some timian in the gaps. Put some olive oil on both half and rejoin them. Roll it in aluminum foil and put it in the oven at 190 degrees celsius for 40 min (or until it´s soft inside).

Scrap off the inmate, mix it with creme fraiche and some extra timian. Delicious on a piece of toasted bread with garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

With this I sauteed half a onion until soft, then I added ground beef. When cooked I added parsley, lime juice (half a lime) and cayenne pepper. Put this in a mold, cover with a beautiful piece of goat cheese and cover with pastry dough. Add some olive oil on top and put in the oven until the pastry is properly cooked.

Great with a glass of Italian red wine.

rustic soufflé

Hey guys!

I´ve always wanted to make a great soufflé! and today I made it... This is seriously my second attempt on a chocolate soufflé, and I honestly ate 2! I loved it so much....

I made this in 3 different parts...

First off:

Mix

1 tbsp of flour

1,5 tsp of sugar

1/2 tsp cornflour

1 egg yolk

1 whole egg

bring 2 tbsp of double cream and 2 tbsp of milk to the boil and add 25 g of 70% quality chocolate and 1 tsp of cocoa powder. Turn off the heat and mix until a smooth liquid is created.

Gradually stir the flour mix into the chocolate. Be aggressive with it! you do not want some hard flour bits in the mix. But it bask on low heat and whisk until you get a smooth thick paste. Then take is of the heat and let it rest.

Secondly:

Bring 2,5 tbsp of double cream to the boil. Stir 40 g of quality 70% chocolate into the cream and add 1 tsp of cocoa powder.

Take it off the heat and let if cool when you get a smooth textured liquid.

Thirdly:

Whisk 3 egg whites to soft peaks and then gradually add 3 tbsp of sugar (one at the time). You should get a beautiful meringue.

Finally mix the first and second liquids together. Then add the meringue 1/3 at the time. Be careful not to destroy the fluffy texture!

For the molds, butter them twice! then add cocoa powder around the corners. Add the soufflé mix into the molds until 2/3 is filled, hit the molds on the bench so that you do not get any air pockets inside! fill it up to the top and level with a knife.

A little extra tip is to go around the top edge of the mix with your finger so that the soufflé can rise properly. As you can see, my didn´t. But I think it´s because I didn´t butter them enough...

Hope you can make one! A light delicious finish on a great meal!

I´ll try to make one rise beautifully next time :-)

White wine Poached Chicken

You want to cook for someone special but you think it will cost you too much so you wait until an occasion comes along to prepare a good dinner. I stop you right there: it doesn't need to be expensive to make it great.
Instead of buying chicken breasts or wings, buy an entire chicken for example. It is way cheaper and you can make 3 different meals with it!

The first recipe I present you is a poached chicken. Ideal to keep the meat moist and really tender, it is another dimension from roasted chicken (which is also delicious).

Cut the legs and wings off and store them in the fridge for another dish. Place the chicken in a saucepan with one half of onion, 2 shallots cut in half, thyme, chive and bay leaves. Add 50ml of oil on the chicken, pepper and salt. Then cover until 1 cm above the chicken with 3/4 of water and 1/4 of white wine. Buy the cheapest wine you can find, as it cooks it really doesn't matter so don't waste a good bottle. Let it poach over medium heat for 20 minutes.
Take the chicken out of the saucepan (just the chicken, leave the stock in it) and cut the breast off and put the rest back in the stock (we will use it for the next dish). Heat up a frying pan with olive oil and cook the breasts until the skin has a nice crisp. Glaze regularly by putting some of the hot oil on the meat with a spoon.
Serve with any vegetables you want, I chose sautéed potatoes.

For the sauce, reduce 100ml of your stock in a sauce pan, add one shallots finely chopped, add 200ml of crème fraîche and finish with chive. There is your first meal for two, a very tender and moist chicken with a beautiful poached flavour! The two other dishes coming soon.

My perfect mousse :)

For the dark mousse in the bottom I used:

70 g dark quality chocolate

150 ml of double cream

2 small egg whites

3 tablespoons of sugar

Melt the chocolate in a “bain marie” and add 75 ml of boiling double cream. To get the process going, continue stirring in ice water... While stirring add the remaining 75 ml of cream (if you want to add flavor, add a table spoon of coffee or other...). Stir until you get a soft textured chocolate mix.

Whisk the egg whites and add one spoon of sugar at the time. You should get a great meringue.

Stir gently and set it in a chilled glass. Put the glass in the fridge while preparing the white chocolate mousse!

For the white mousse on top I used:

100 g white quality chocolate

45 ml of milk

2 egg whites

3 tablespoons of sugar

120 ml of double cream

First off, melt the chocolate in a “bain marie” and stir in the milk. To get the process going, continue stirring in ice water...

When smooth, se aside and begin whisking the egg whites.. When you get peaks, add it to the chocolate mix.

Whisk the cream until soft peaks can be formed and add it to the chocolate mix. Stir gently so that the mousse still keeps its fluffiness. Pipe into the glass with dark chocolate and let it rest for at least 2 hours. If you have questions, don´t hesitate to ask!!

You should get a dens great chocolate flavored mousse in the bottom, with a fluffy light white chocolate mousse on top.

Simply delicious!!

Valentine's dinner n°2

Bonjour à tous! Hope you had a great Valentine's day. As you can guess, mine was based on the dinner I planned to cook for my girlfriend. Nothing fancy, just a simple and romantic meal perfectly done. Don't hesitate to steal the recipes if you want to cook for her next time!

I started the menu with ginger and chilli caramelized scampi on top of a spinach salad. I wanted the two scampi to look like heart-shaped but it didn't work, but still looked delicious. Moreover, the spiciness of this light plate is exactly what you need to start the dinner.

Fry the chilli and the ginger in oil, add the scampi for approximately 5 minutes and pour just a bit of soy sauce. Prepare the spinach salad by cooking them very quickly with olive oil and salt in a frying pan, if you overcook them you'll lose all the texture so be careful.

Next on the menu was a Duck Confit on string beans and mushrooms with a red wine and blueberry reduction. Of course! I couldn't make a romantic dinner without cooking duck, we love it both too much ; and Duck Confit was the first dish I made to impress my girlfriend so I had to do it again. You can find my recipe HERE. 

This time I cooked the mushrooms in the duck fat, and for the reduction I deglazed the pan I used for the duck with 100ml of red wine then I added the blueberries and let it cook over high heat until it thickens.

And then the dessert!

I made a "very revisited" Norwegian omelette. First, place the pistachio ice cream in a mixing bowl and let it melt. Prepare the fruits you want (I wanted to use cherries but couldn't find any so I used mixed berries), add them to the ice cream and mix well. Put it a mold and store it in the freezer. Beat two egg whites until stiff and add sugar. Take the ice cream out of the freezer and cover it with a thick layer of the meringue. Brown the meringue with a cooking torch (which was my girlfriend's present to me for Valentine's day, definitely the best) and place the "very revisited" Norwegian omelette back in the freezer until you are ready to serve. Just before you do, flamber 20ml of rum and drizzle it on the dessert.

Did anyone cook for Valentine's day? Comment this post and tell us what you made:)

The day after valentines

Hello again!!

This is a dish I´d like to call: the day after valentines...

The day after valentines I used the rest I had of the duck legs and chestnuts and made a delicious light salad. I made the cups out of two rice papers brushed with sunflower oil and put in the oven over a shape with a flat bottom. For the salad I used a great light mix, then added the duck and some fresh goat cheese. Finally I added chestnuts that I cooked in a frying pan with moroccan 5 spices, soy sauce and honey. Do not add a lot of chestnuts in the salad because they get salty when you add the soy sauce! but the mix is great, and just enough after a delicious meal the day before.

Valentines dinner!

My tasty and romantic valentines dinner!!

This evening was very romantic! Red roses, a funny letter with love hearts candy (quite childish, but it was inventive!), Champagne and great food!

I made duck leg in a chestnut sauce, with peach and anis chestnut brick...

Add 300 ml of milk, half a fine chopped shallot onion, and 6 sweet peeled chestnuts. Bring it to the boil, then add some butter and a tablespoon of sugar. Turn down the heat and let it cook for 30-45 min.

In a frying pan add some duck fat and cook the duck leg on its fatty side for 3 min. Take it off the heat and add it in the sauce. Put a lidd on the saucepan and let it cook for another 30 minutes. I know it may seem like a long time to prepare this dish, but it´s totally worth it! The chestnut sauce and duck together is just amazing!!

For the peaches, use conserved ones. They are sweet and very easy to make soft! Add 200 ml of white wine, and some star anis in a sauce pan with 4 half peaches. let it cook at low heat with the lidd on for 20 min. If the wine disappears, add some water to keep some liquid in the pan. After 20 min, they should be a bit soft and you should be able to turn off the heat.

For the bricks, brown 3 chopped shallots in a saucepan. Add your chestnuts (5-6) and a little part of the duck leg meat. Then add some cream for the texture and season! If you need more, just add more;) Use 2 rice paper to make the bricks, and fry them in sunflower oil.

Great dish, and a success!

Then the dessert!!!

I made a double mousse au chocolat (part white part dark!)

This had a thick, dark chocolate fluffy mousse in the bottom! and a light fluffy white chocolate mousse on top!

Want the recipe? I´ll be posting it tomorrow! I promise you, this mousse was one of my best mousse experiences!! I truly loved it...

Vegetarian Curry

My girlfriend has been ill for a month now, and typically It´s my turn now... When I´m ill I like to feel healthy. And what is more healthy than Indian food?

For this dish I chopped a whole onion with a clove of garlic, a bit of chili, a branch of ginger and half a lime juice. Put this in a frying pan and add some butter to soften the onion. At the same time you can boil 2 carrots.

When the onion is nice and soft, add some curry-paste, salt, pepper and 3/4 of a box of chopped conserved tomatoes. Bring it to the boil, and let it cook for 4 minutes. Then add 165 ml of coconut milk. This will give the mix a nice and creamy texture. The coconut flavor will always be present which is just perfect!

After 4 more minutes, put the mix in a blender with the soft carrots. Mix everything (be careful not the blend it to a pure, but just blend a few seconds!) and serve with wild basmati rice (anis infused), mango chutney and papadums.

This indian dish is just strong enough for a soar throat, and fantastic on a sad evening! I love to eat this dish as evening snack with papadums and a strong mango chutney.

Enjoy my Indian curry.

Magret de Canard au Thé

I know: duck again. What can I say? I just love it and my girlfriend loves it even more. And this bird is way too expensive in Norway so I bought a lot before I came back from France. But this is so delicious I could actually eat only duck everyday... The lady agrees. If you can find some wherever you live, the recipe could be a great idea for your Valentine dinner guys.

For the recipe, you need (2 pers):

• 1 duck breast fillet
• 4 potatoes
• 8 asparagus
• 1 shallot 
• 30 cl milk
• 10 cl white wine
• 2 bags of earl grey tea
• white grapes
• Nutmeg
• Sugar / Salt / Pepper

Peel the potatoes, put them in a saucepan with enough water to cover them and bring to boil until they are ready. It should take approximately 15min but to make sure, stick a fork in the potato and it should go through very easily. Remove the water, mash the potatoes, add salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg powder and pour milk until you get a soft puree. If it's too liquid, just keep the puree over low heat to reduce it. To cook the asparagus, bring to boil water with salt in a saucepan and put them in it for 5 minutes so I recommend to cook them just at the end.

Use a sharp knife to score across the duck breast through the fat but just barely to the meat. Rub the skin with salt and pepper. Put it in a preheated frying pan, fat down over medium-high heat for 6 minutes and turn it on the meat side for 3 minutes. Put it in another pan with 1/3 of the grease and store it in the oven (low heat, just to keep it warm) covered with aluminium foil. While the duck rests in the oven, deglaze the frying pan with the white wine over a medium heat and add the shallot finely chopped. Put the 2 earl grey tea bags in a cup and fill 1/3 of it with boiling water. Wait 1 minute, press the tea bags to get all the flavor in the water and throw them away. Add the tea in the frying pan. Peal a dozen white grapes and put them also in the pan with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Let it reduce until the sauce thickens, add a pinch of salt and a turn of pepper just before serving.

Take the duck out of the oven and cut it in few slices, the meat should be pink and not bloody. The bitterness of the tea in the sauce with the sweetness of the grapes really work with the duck.

Are you going to cook for Valentine's day? If you need any advice or idea, just comment this post:)

Moroccan dinner!

Today I decided to make a dish I´ve come to love. I´ve been to morocco several times (5 to be exact) and I have enjoyed every visit. Among all the great moroccan dishes I like to make, bricks are simple but delicious. For my tuna bricks I only use:

- 1 boks of tuna

- A pinch of parsley

- Half an onion

- 1 egg

- salt and pepper

- Spring roll dough

Fry the chopped onion in some butter with couscous 5 spices. When they are soft, mix it with the chopped parsley, tuna, salt, pepper, lime juice and cayenne pepper. Take 2 thin spring roll dough leaves, put some of the mix on the leaves. Continue by putting an egg on top of the mix. Close the dough as a rectangle.

Warm up some frying oil at low temp and fry it for 3 min on each side. The egg yolk will make the sauce! With the bricks I made a couscous with raisins, 5 spice mix and some extra cinnamon.

I really couldn´t stop at just one brick, so I ate 2! But who cares! they are great, healthy and easy to make!

Hope you like it :)

Beetroot snack!

Today I made a little Gordon Ramsay recipe... Balsamic caramelized beetroot with sesame seeds and blue cheese. Begin with a dry pan, add some olive oil and turn up the heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced pre-cooked beetroots. After 5 min in the pan, add some balsamic vinegar and let it caramelize. The result has to be dark (almost black) beetroot slices. Let it rest on a plate while you prepare the sesame seeds.

Then get a new dry pan for the sesame seeds. Do not add any oil, just the seeds. Turn up the heat and keep the seeds moving. You do not want to hear popcorn popping! When they are golden brown, put them in a little bowl for resting. After some minutes they will be crunchy and fantastic to eat.

Get the blue cheese, and as you can see on the picture, just put some bits and pieces on top of the plate.

Put it on the table, and eat it with a great salad and chicken! It´s different from all the regular potatoes and it´s really healthy!! If you are skeptical, I understand, but it really is great!

Pastiscake ice cream

I do not want to wait for any replies... My girlfriend wants me to share this great, creamy and fresh dessert with you, so i will...

For this fantastic dessert, it really important to have an electric whisk! without that you wont get the cream that you´re after...

First off you need 160 g of sugar, 1.1 dl of water and 20g of fresh star anise. Bring it to the boil for 5 minutes before turning down the heat and letting it cook a bit. It very important not to swirl the mix or do anything with it. If you do so, the sugar will begin to crystallize and become lumpy... What you are looking for is a syrup and not a caramel. If you have a thermometer, stop cooking the sirup when it reaches 120 degrees celsius.

Add 8 egg yolks in a bowl and begin whisking at high speed until you get a great cream, then add the sirup little by little while the wisp whisks at low speed. Turn the speed up again and create a cold cream. Add 5-6 tablespoons of pastis and continue whisking for a minute.

Whisk 1/2 a liter of cream until you can create small tops in the bowl and turn in the pastis mix.

Set the cream mix in steel forms (a big cake form or small ones) and put it in a freezer with aluminum paper on top for at least 12 hours.

Plate and serve with a great coulis! Perfect way to end a great dinner.

Teatime Darling!

Nothing better on a cold and snowy Sunday afternoon in Oslo than baking pastry. The oven keeps the kitchen warm, and in my opinion, near the hobs is the place to be right now. After all my girlfriend loves tea and even more when there´s a blizzard outside!

So I decided to bake for teatime.
Unfortunately I didn't have many ingredients so I used creativity. I made Muffins Tatin: do a normal muffin preparation and while you let it rest, caramelize small pieces of apple with butter and sugar and add it to the preparation just before you place it in the molds. Tadaaa! The delicious taste of a Tarte Tatin in a muffin:)

So to make a preparation for 4 muffins, you need:

• 50g butter
• 300ml flour
• 200ml milk
• 1 egg
• 3 (big) spoons of sugar
• Spoon of cream

Melt the butter, add it in a bowl with the flour, milk, egg, sugar, cream and mix it until you get a nice and smooth texture. Add the caramelized apples, put it in greased molds, and then in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 200°c.

What's your favorite muffin? Comment the post with your answer and I'll try to bake it!

Gourmet menu

Hello people!

This weekend I invited some friends for dinner (including Camille and his girlfriend), and I just had to impress. We had a wonderful time talking about school, future vacation plans and food.

First off, I prepared a foie gras dish consisting of raspberry/lime coulis, balsamic reduction and figs.

Then I made quail in a creamy shallot sauce, with celery root puré. For the quail, cook it very slowly in 300 ml of white wine and 5-6 cut shallots for about 1 hour. Then 10 minutes before serving, add some cream and bring it to the boil to create a more creamy textured sauce. Cut the celery root and cook it in a frying pan with water and aluminum paper on top to get them soft enough for the purré. When they are soft enough, put them in a mixer and add some cream. They do not have to be mixed to a soft purré, but just mix a little at the time so it still is a bit lumpy.

Then after some cheese, I made a star-anis and Pastis creamed ice cake with a raspberry and lime coulis. Now if you want the recipe, comment this post! And I´ll gladly share my secrets...

Hope you like my menu, and hope you comment my blog post!

Parmesan Soufflé with Magret de Canard fumé

I have the honor to present you my very first Soufflé! I'm actually very proud as I'm not a big baker at all and making Soufflés was a challenge for myself. Unfortunately, it went done a little bit before I had time to take the picture but I think it still looks very good, don't you?

To make 4 cheesy soft Soufflé, you need:

• 50 cl milk
• 6 eggs
• 100g butter
• 50g flour
• 150g parmesan
• A pinch of Nutmeg powder

Start by melting 40g of butter to apply it in the ramekins and store them in the fridge. Melt another 60g of butter, add the flour and mix under med temp control. At this point, I took few slices of Magret de Canard fumé, cut them into very small pieces, cooked them very quickly and added it with the grease to the butter and flour. Then boil the milk and put it with the rest, keep mixing for 3 minutes. Season it, and perfume it with a pinch of Nutmeg powder. Fill up the ramekins and put it in the oven at 200°c for 20 minutes.

On the side, I prepared a simple tomato, lettuce and cucumber salad with mustard vinaigrette and slices of Magret de Canard fumé.

I made two small Soufflés and two bigger ones. They were really soft and the taste was perfect. Of course, you don't have to add the duck as I did and a "simple" cheese Soufflé will always be a great and impressive dish to serve;)

Paris, c'est la vie !

Yes, I've been spending a few days in Paris with my girlfriend.

This city must be the best place in the world to find inspiration. Of course I'm talking about food. These food markets in the streets of Paris are amazing! The sellers shouting about their beautiful merchandise, the smell of fresh fruit and vegetables, the huge range of products and of course the warmth and friendliness of the people.

I´ve always had great experiences in Paris. Now I´m heading for Norway again, and I´m sure you understand that I just had to bring back a few products. This is a little list of what I bought: pâté, rillettes d'oie et de porc, magret de canard, magret de canard fumé, aiguillette de canard, mousse de canard, etc.

I´m afraid that I love these products so much that I know they will disappear quickly... But look at the bright side! I´ll be posting recipes!!

Have you had a great culinary experience in Paris? Please share your story on our blog :)

Norwegian Barista Championships

Hello people!!

As you know, and as it says in my history, I´m a barista at Stockfleths in Oslo! And last week I entered the Norwegian Barista Championships. I got to say that it´s going to be difficult posting a recipe a day, but I will do my best!

Being a barista is very inspiring! I get to taste plenty of different coffee, and serve one of the most delicious beverage of all. The cappuccino is a beverage drink, perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the steamed milk and acidity of the espresso. Once you get to know the characteristics of the different coffee coming from different countries, you get the opportunity to filter out the mediocre coffees from the best!! And when you get to drink the best coffee on the marked, you never go back to anything else but great coffee.

For the championships I have to invent a signature drink. Any idea what I could use for a great floral, acid, warm espresso?

I have great ideas, but I always like inspiration from you guys!!

Thanks everyone :)

Perfect chocolate fondant

Hello everyone!

This week my challenge was to make a great chocolate fondant!! And guess what? I did it!

I must say that I´m really proud of myself. Even if it´s a simple recipe, to cook it perfectly is quite hard!!

As you can see I used small ramekins. The only reason is that it´s the only thing I have for the moment... So let´s begin with the recipe shall we?

First of all you need the following ingredients:

- 80-85 g of chocolate

- 50 g of unsalted butter

- 2 eggs

- 50-60 g of sugar

- 5 tablespoons of fine flour.

Use some extra butter for the ramekins and put them in the refrigerator. Then make a "bain marie" for melting the chocolate and butter. Be careful not to burn the chocolate! when it´s silky, leave it to rest for a couple of minutes while you´re preparing the rest.

Mix the eggs and sugar, and whisk them until you get a creamy texture (you should be able to draw some lines in the cream that sets for 3 seconds before falling together again).

Then swirl the chocolate and cream together until you get a nice brown smooth cream.

Add the flour little by little.

fill 3/4 of the ramekins, and put it in the oven at 200 degrees celsius for around 10 minutes.

Right before plating, use a knife to separate the fondant from the ramekins. Set the ramekins up side down to separate the fondant from the ramekins. It´s great with a sorbet or a coulis!!

And by the way, my girlfriend just loved this desert on a wednesday.

Hope to get comments on this post.