Herring on rye

Sometimes (not always) it is ridiculously easy to be healthy. With a little help from local bakeries and fisheries; moist, delicious rye bread (from Charles&De) and elegantly spiced herring (Utsira-sild from Haugesund´s Sildakongen). Serve with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a steaming hot cup of joe.

In Norway herring is very popular around Christmas, but herring is something that could and should be enjoyed all year. Healthy, easy and good! Decorate and lift the flavor with dill or parsley.

Or how about your own mustard herring?

A picnic focaccia sandwich

Although I love to grill and “do it big” during the summer season, every now and then a nice sandwich is just right (especially when the kitchen is a construction zone). Salty, moist focaccia, the creamy, cheesy eggs, the smooth garlic kick from the aioli, the Danish salami – packed up nicely and ready to go! Fingerlickin´good…

Two engineers´quest for the perfectly poached egg

5 eggs. A pot of water. A little vinegar (for the pot). 2 intimidated engineers. Some wine (for the intimidated engineers).

Herring in mustard

One of the things that is Christmas to me, growing up on the Norwegian south-west coast, is pickled herring. I think pickled herring is something you either love or don´t like at all. I´ve inherited my dad´s taste buds, and we love it!

For the first time ever I´ve made my own. A good friend of mine and myself dove into printed and electronic media, did some research, decided on three different types of herring, popped open a couple of Christmas beers and got to chopping and mixing. It was much easier than we thought! Let me present the first of the three: creamy, delicious, slightly spicy herring in mustard. Oh yeah.

Corn-flake crispy chicken nuggets

A good friend of mine gave me this recipe, and I totally love it! This is the type of thing that everyone (and their mother and their children etc) will love… just vary the dip and you have a snack for everyone.

Now just don´t be alarmed when I tell you to roll your raw chicken bits into corn flakes, just trust me aight?

From the north of America to the south of Spain

I feel like the start of the fall has been spent on the road. From lovely, busy days in New York City (with time for good food, of course) to lazy, sunny days in the south of Spain. While in transit I have been sampling everything from lovely Nouveau American cuisine in the West Village to equisite sushi, Asian/French fusion in the Meatpacking district, tasty tapas in Malaga, traditional Spanish Paella and the freshest of fish in Pedregalejo. Not to mention all the magnificent grilling on the roof terrace in the little lazy town Almayate.

I bought a new camera (yay! but unfortunately toward the end of my stay) in New York, so instead of pics of the food, I scored some menus… :D. The food in Spain is well documented though 🙂

A Brie & Company sandwich

It is Saturday and the cafés are packed and filled to the rim with stressed shoppers, families, whiny kids and strollers are blocking all escape routes. It is impossible to get a table, so you have to drink your coffee standing up and being constantly pushed around. If this sounds familiar, let me give you some advice…

Bring the café home instead!

Sumptuous ceviche

Ok. My absolute favorite this summer is the Latin American dish ceviche. Hands down. I suspect many different interpretations of ceviche will swim out of my kitchen this summer!

This one is quite basic, however a bit untraditional as I´ve used salmon rather than a white saltwater fish. The elegance of the “raw” fish, the tang of lime, the crispness of koriander and the slow, warm heat of the chili is perfect as a lunch snack in the shade – accompanied by ice-cold beer and some salty tortilla chips!

Smoked salmon summer salad

Fresh, light, crisp and tasty salads belong to the lovely summer season. This takes 5 minutes to throw together, seriously! Perfect for picnics or on your terrasse on a warm summer day!

5 gourmet minutes

This is a magical combination: asparagus, plenty of good olive oil, arugula (rocket), parmesan and a fried egg, sunny side up. It will take you 5 minutes, and you will have a beautiful plate in front of you. And just one little secret ingredient pushes this to the top of my appetizer chart!