Maybe you recall our annual thirteen course dinner at Anne’s? Every year on Twelwth Night we have a gourmet dinner at her place. Every couple prepares one starter, one main course and one dessert. This year the dinner party had a twist, every course had to have a movie or a TV series connection… The main course and dessert was quite easy to decide, but I had problems coming up with a clever starter. At last I decided to channel Pingu in a starter… I found a very intriguing recipe for savory Dijon mustard ice cream that I wanted to give a try. I decided to serve it just as the original recipe suggested with gravad lax (cured salmon), regretfully store bought as I didn’t have enough time to make my own, roe and dill. And as a final touch I baked crackers that I shaped like small fish. I was very happy when the fish came out from the oven, all fluffed up looking like small fish! The result of the whole dish? It was a very strange but interesting dish. I should have skipped the dill as it clashed, but the ice cream it self was actually great. Smooth, creamy ice cream with a Dijon mustard flavor and a small hint of curry! But remember now that due to the 13 courses, each course including this one was very small. I’m not sure I would have managed a larger serving…. For pictures of all movie themed dishes that we had, click here to get to the round up.

Savory Dijon Ice cream
(adapted from Gourmet)

1 cup heavy cream
0.5 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
0.5 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Bring cream, milk, curry powder, vanilla, and salt just to a boil in a heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, whisk together yolks and brown sugar in a large metal bowl until thick and creamy. Add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly, and pour back into pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 77°C / 170°F on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil). Remove from heat.

Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean metal bowl and cool in an ice bath. Whisk in mustard, then continue to chill, stirring occasionally, until cold.
Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up.

Serve the ice cream with gravad lax, roe and home baked crackers shaped as fish (for recipe see below).

Crackers shaped as fish

200 ml all-purpose flour
150 ml rye flour
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
100 ml water, warm
flaky sea salt

Mix all ingredients but the flour in a kitchen aid. Add the flour and work into a dough. Let the machine knead for at least 5-10 minutes. Cover the dough and let rise during 1,5 hours.

Roll out the dough very thinly between two pieces of parchment paper. I didn’t have any fish cookie cutter, so I made a fish in cardboard that I used. Brush the fish with water and sprinkle with salt.

Bake the crackers in 175°C for 15-20 minutes.

After making the raspberry marshmallows I got the idea of substituting the raspberries with pineapple and the icing sugar with desiccated coconut. I also considered adding rum, but decided to skip it in the very last minute. I like the outcome, but not as much as the raspberry ones. I believe that the pineapple flavor is too vague despite the hint of tartness added by some fresh lime juice. I will try making a new batch with some adjustments as I want to intensify the pineapple flavor, but the marshmallows are still very tasty as they are!

(Virgin) Piña Colada Marshmallows

1 small can of unsweetened pineapple (I used Dole’s, around 227 gram including pineapple juice)
475 gram caster sugar
1 cup water
20 gram powdered gelatine
2 egg whites
juice from 1 lime
pinch of salt
desiccated unsweetened coconut for dusting

Line a cake pan (mine is 22 cm x 30 cm) with parchment paper. Dust it generously with desiccated coconut.

Mix the pineapple in its own juice in a blender or mixer until you have a smooth puree. Add juice from 1 lime. Combine with gelatine and set aside.

Combine caster sugar and water in a pan. Cook over medium heat while stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat a bit and cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 125 degrees C. Remove from heat and let cool for max 1 minute. In the meantime beat egg whites and a pinch of salt until frothy. Carefully add the pineapple puree to the sugar/water mixture and stir until the gelatine dissolves. Gradually add the warm pineapple mixture to the egg whites while continuing to beat on medium speed. When the mixture has doubled in size decrease the speed and continue to mix until the mixture is about 40 degrees C. Pour the mixture into the cake pan, spread evenly and dust the top generously with coconut. Let the marshmallow batter set in room temperature for at least 3 hours. Make sure that it’s firm before you start cutting with a sharp knife. Cut into squares and dip in desiccated coconut.

Store the marshmallows in an airtight container in room temperature. They will last up to two weeks, but you’ll probably eat them all long before that…Don’t forget to put a sheet of parchment paper between each layer.

As a teenager I had a long period when I made vanilla marshmallows on a regular basis, but as the years passed the marshmallow making slipped my mind. One week ago I found this amazing raspberry marshmallow recipe at Butter Sugar Flour. I would have never thought about combining homemade marshmallows with fruit. Do I need to mention that these lovely marshmallows were a hit at both my and my husband’s office?

Raspberry Marshmallows
(adapted from Butter Sugar Flour. The original recipe calls for raspberries, making your own puree, but since I already had raspberry puree in the freezer I went with that instead. I also decreased the sugar a tiny bit and used icing sugar for dusting as I don’t have snow sugar which was called for in the original recipe).

200 gram raspberry puree
475 gram caster sugar
1 cup water
20 gram powdered gelatine
2 egg whites
pinch of salt
Icing sugar for dusting

Line a cake pan (mine is 22 cm x 30 cm) with parchment paper. Dust it generously with icing sugar.

Combine the raspberry puree with gelatine in a bowl. Set aside.

Combine caster sugar and water in a pan. Cook over medium heat while stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat a bit and cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 125 degrees C. Remove from heat and let cool for max 1 minute. In the meantime beat egg whites and a pinch of salt until frothy. Carefully add the raspberry puree to the sugar/water mixture and stir until the gelatine dissolves. Gradually add the warm raspberry mixture to the egg whites while continuing to beat on medium speed. When the mixture has doubled in size decrease the speed and continue to mix until the mixture is about 40 degrees C. Pour the mixture into the cake pan, spread evenly and dust the top generously with icing sugar. Let the marshmallow batter set in room temperature for at least 3 hours. Make sure that it’s firm before you start cutting with a sharp knife. Cut into squares and roll in icing sugar.

Store the raspberry marshmallows in an airtight container in room temperature. They will last up to two weeks, but you’ll probably eat them all long before that…Don’t forget to put a sheet of parchment paper between each layer.

Is just the thought of baking a whole gingerbread house too cumbersome for you? An easy way out is to make only one wall with gable that you decorate with icing and a ribbon. I used my normal gingerbread dough and rolled it out thinly directly on a parchment paper. I cut out a wall with a gable and a chimney on free hand with the help of a ruler. I used a small square shaped cookie cutter for the windows. I then carefully placed the parchment paper on a baking sheet and baked it for 6 minutes in 200 degrees C. When it was completely cool, I decorated it with icing, silver dragees and a ribbon. Don’t forget to make holes in your gable before you bake it if you want to thread it with ribbons.

According to our weekly menu we were supposed to buy take out yesterday. But my husband came home and said that he wanted to make us burgers. And who am I to decline him? He made us delicious burgers with blue cheese and bacon on top. And I made my favourite guacamole from Dos Caminos in New York City. I’ve been there two times now, last year with Lena & Anne and the year before that with my husband. In a couple of week’s I’ll visit again. I just love their guacamole and Mexican street corn. Yum! Anyway, back to last night. I decided to make some coconut vanilla milkshake to go along with the burgers. I found a nice recipe in Bobby Flay’s cookbook “Bobby Flay’s Burgers, Fries, and Shakes”, but I decided to use different proportions and quantities. The outcome was wonderful, creamy and delicious!

Coconut vanilla milkshake
(Makes two very large glasses)

250 coconut cream (this is not the same as coconut milk!)
250 ml whole milk
400 ml high quality vanilla ice cream, packed into a measuring cup (yes, ml/dl is actually used for volume too)
optional: desiccated unsweetened coconut

Combine milk and coconut cream in a blender until smooth. Add ice cream and blend until incorporated and fluffy. Pour into two large glasses and serve immediately. Optional: add some desiccated unsweetened coconut on top.

We’ve never been much into planning weekly menus. But a month ago we decided to give it a serious try. Every Sunday morning after breakfast I look through my cookbooks and browse the net for inspiration. After discussing back and forth with my husband we decide the meals for the coming week. A grocery list is written and then we go grocery shopping.

I have to say that so far we’re sticking to the plan pretty well. It’s great to only have to go shopping once a week, in some periods we’ve been planning for only 1-3 days ahead and that was quite stressful and time consuming since we had to shop quite often. To make it more fun we’ve bought a blackboard and a liquid chalk pen so we can put the menu on display. I want to believe that it actually helps us to stick to the planned menu and it makes you look forward to the meals as it reminds you every time you pass by.

This week we’re eating:

Mon: Spicy lamb patties in pita bread with salad and yoghurt.
Tue: Tom Ka Ga with duck ( with roasted duck left overs from Sunday).
Wed: Spicy chorizo potatoes with fried egg.
Thu: Homemade pasta with tomato sauce.
Fri: Take out.
Sat: Chicken skewers with amazing satay sauce.
Sun: Teriyaki Salmon. Polish apple pancakes (racuchy z jablkami) for dessert.

Last week’s menu:

This week’s menu:

This morning I was amazed by the news that Saveur has included my blog in their list of 55 great global food blogs. I feel extremely honoured and surprised to be listed along with all the professional and fantastic food blogs on the list. Thank you Saveur!