Veal in puffed rice noodles and purees

This dish had some very good elements and some elements were off. For instance, the dish should have been served on a shale plate - this would have brought out the colors of the purées nicely like in this picture, which actually was my inspiration. http://sjoenne.com/blog/en-twisted-gang-wienerschnitzel-kalvemorbrad-paneret-i-risnudler-aerte-og-gulerodspure-og-mayo-dreng/

I high-jacked the idea of veal tenderloin in rice noodles and the carrot and peas purees, because these things I actually had in the fridge.

The idea of the veal breaded in noodles instead of the normal breadcrumbs was very interesting to me, although I was pretty skeptical that it would actually work.

So the dish was pretty easy. Take a nice piece of meat and cut it into small thick schnitzels, dip in flower, then egg and finally in crushed rice noodles. When using rice noodles, it is important to have enough oil to cook the schnitzels in, so that every little noodle pops up. Unfortunately, we did not have enough oil, so some of the noodles were not cooked through, and made the dish a bit too crispy.

For the puree on peas, I shortly blanched the peas, and blended with some salt, pepper, butter and a little lemon. For the carrot puree I used the same ingredients (switching peas with carrots) but I also added some thyme, which is a good match for the carrots. This puree tasted a little like mashed potatoes, although carrots - probably I used enough butter :P.

Finally we had some grilled cabbage (it has to be the kind on the picture, but I do not know the English word for it) and grilled tomatoes on the side. The grilled cabbage has become a favorite side dish at home. Very easy, just cut it in quarters and drizzle olive oil over, and grill for about ten to fifteen minutes on a grill pan. Tastes surprisingly good.

Again, sorry for the rather blurred picture

Mashed potatoes and "millionbøf"

This dish is in Danish pronounced: "Kartoffelmos med millionbøf". As I do not know what the dish is called in English  I have kept the danish word "millionbøf" - roughly meaning a million beef. The dish is made out of minced beef and cooked to a kind of bolognese, but no so tomato like.

Mashed potatoes is a great way to eat potatoes, and even though not perfectly healthy - the more butter used the better. At a restaurant I actually once had mashed potatoes, where the potatoes were cooked in melted butter. Sounds grose? The taste was great, although you might want to consider to just lye on the couch for an hour after eating. My boyfriend always has the job of doing the actual mixing of the potatoes with butter, salt, pepper, maybe milk or some cooking water. This time was no difference. I mean he does so well, so I will not be responsible for screwing it up.

Ingredients for the mashed potatoes.

For the beef sauce I fried some onion, garlic, chili, tarragon and paprika. Then added minced beef, and fried until brown. At this point the tomatoes, and tomato concentrate was added together with grated carrots, broth, a dash of sesame oil, and a big dash of balsamic vinegar and a glass of red wine. Season to taste and add thickener if needed.

The final result. Omnomnom. Not that healthy, but nice and tasty. And luckily for me - leftovers for tomorrow, when I am home alone.

Spicy chorizo pasta

This post is going to be short. Partly because the dish was not that interesting and partly because my keyboard acts out.

Sometimes you just need an easy dish, and since I have found this lovely chorizo, I thought why not make a spicy chorizo pasta.

Ingredients were: chorizo, tinned tomatoes, bell pepper, chili, garlic, onion and of cause pasta.

I chopped and fried the onions, garlic and chili. Added small chunks of chorizo - it is important to fry the chorizo hard, so it gets kind of crispy, without blackening it of cause. Add peppers and cook for a short while. Finally add the tomatoes and let it simmer until the pasta is cooked. Remember to undercook the pasta a bit, since it continues to cook when added to the sauce.

Ingredients

As a side dish, I followed a recipe for corn on the cob with pecorino and cayennepepper.

When the corn is cooked (approx. 8 min), I rolled it in melted butter and afterwards cayennepepper mixed with grated pecorino. Unfortunately the corn was way hot, and it therefore melted the cheese, which actually was undesired.

Corn on the cob

As you can also see below, the result were not that flattering to look at, and the dish was kind of bland to eat. Next time, I will fry the chorizo harder (it had no crust), add more spices, and let the corn cool a bit before rolling it in cheese.

Final result

So this means, that I will actually try this dish again. An easy, tasty dish is very important to include in your repertoire.