The Susanne

Thinking about Hellstrøm earlier today reminded me that I’ve been wanting to try making risotto for a while now. Risotto has always been one of my ’scary foods’, especially since watching Hell’s Kitchen where it seemed as if not a single episode went by without someone getting yelled at by Gordon for making inedible(according to him) risotto.

The network (TV3) publish a recipe from each episode of Hellstrøm Rydder Opp on their website, and the recipe for the first episode was risotto. I decided to try it, but couldn’t figure out the measurements (8 small cups? what’s that? especially as we use the metric system here in Norway and a ‘cup’ might be anything from an espresso cup to a huge mug). So I followed the recipe on the back of my rice packet instead.

Also I’d been planning to make this for dinner today — so I settled on a compromise: risotto with garlic and tuna! I added some carrot to get some colour in there as I didn’t have any fresh chilli, and I must say I’m quite pleased with the result. The risotto turned out creamy, the rice was cooked perfectly al dente, and the flavours of the tuna, garlic, and parmesan complemented each other really well. Delicious! Will definitely be making more risotto in the future now I’m no longer intimidated by it! And because tuna is so inexpensive I do believe I’ll be trying to eat more of that, too. I really do love a piece of warm toast with tuna and salt — but today’s risotto success has inspired me to get out of my comfort zone and try different things. What else would be good with tuna, I wonder?

So far three episodes of the Norwegian version of ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ have aired, and I must say my opinion is pretty much unchanged. Eyvind Hellstrøm is undoubtedly an excellent chef (and is the president of the Bocuse d’Or Europe), and as far as his abilities in the kitchen I’m not going to go into any sort of comparison to Gordon Ramsay. As far as his suitability for hosting a tv series like Kitchen Nightmares, though, I’ve no scruples about comparing them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: what I love the most about Kitchen Nightmares is Gordon’s passionate reactions, his foul mouth which is so touching because the desperation which darkens his face makes his exclamations so very understandable.

Eyvind Hellstøm might be very passionate about his food (actually I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t) but he’s not very adept at expressing that passion. It all seems quite orchestrated and he comes off a little silly, exclaiming ‘I can’t eat this’ in his calm voice, usually followed by an awkward pause. Maybe it’s all down to the producers, maybe Ramsay’s tv crew is simply doing a better job than Hellstrøm’s… But the end result is still that I find myself every Thursday night in front of the tv — longing for Gordon’s passionate exclamations of ‘Fuck Me!’ and feeling a little hopeless at the bland, though obviously heartfelt performance of Norway’s own Hellstrøm. Bless him.

And, to end with a memorable quote from episode two of Hellstrøm Rydder Opp:

If you spend five minutes eating something which isn’t that nice tasting, instead of a juicy roast beef or something, then you’ll have more energy the rest of the day. If you’ve sacrificed those five minutes and eaten something which tastes, well, not so good, then you’ve made an investment in your future. That is my philosophy when it comes to food.

-Owner of vegetarian restaurant in Oslo (and self-proclaimed vegetarian missionary)

…was yesterday! I’m gutted I missed it. I’d even been out and bought a kilo of mutton and a head of cabbage and was only going to take a quick little nap before I started cooking… And whaddya know, I woke up this morning at 8, feeling nowhere near rested and completely horrified that not only had I missed out on National Fårikål Day, I’d also missed the first episode of Hellstrøm Rydder Opp, the Norwegian version of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. I’d been looking forward to it for months now, swaying between excitement at the show and disgust at the old Norwegian man trying to ‘be’ Gordon Ramsay. In the end, though, nothing was to keep me from watching the show. Oh yea, except falling asleep! Or should I say going into hibernation. Or a coma. Not sure what to call it, but I’m very surprised that I actually managed to sleep that long. Almost twenty hours straight — I didn’t even wake up once, so when I finally awoke this morning I was fully dressed, on top of my bedspread and with only a woollen blanket protecting me from the frosty morning air. After getting up, somewhat gingerly, and chatting to my mate R on msn for a little while, I dragged my sorry beehind into the shower and came out fifteen minutes later feeling refreshed — and got started on my fårikål!

Now, just because I missed out on the actual day it does in no way mean I’m willing to miss out on fårikål. I just love fårikål, it’s so delicious in all its simplicity! Mutton, cabbage, salt and whole peppercorns, who knew that would make such a scrumptious combination? I know wikipedia claims you’re supposed to add flour to the dish to thicken the sauce, but I’ve never had it with flour and frankly I can’t imagine it tasting any better with flour in it. Actually I’m willing to take on anyone that claims fårikål is supposed to made with flour — I’ll fight till death!

Boiled potatoes, though, are a must. And a cold beer to go along with it. Luckily some people left behind the odd can of beer when they were unceremoniously kicked out of my party on Saturday night (after I passed out, I’m ashamed to admit) so I’ve got the beer thing sorted. For those who want to avoid alcohol a non-alcoholic beer would be good, or even just a glass of ice cold water!

I posted my own recipe for fårikål way back in June when there wasn’t a piece of mutton to be found anywhere. So I have had to wait until now — but good things come to those who wait and this is definitely a very good thing! I think I’ll make traditional Irish Stew next — as good as the modern version with beef and Guinness and loads of yummy vegetables is I do love the traditional recipe very much also. And I’m definitely hoping to be able to make fenalår — cured leg of lamb. This is a lengthy and smelly process though, so I’ll probably have to do it at the parents’ house.. So we’ll se if I get around to it! Mmmm, and now I’m on the subject of delicious lamb and mutton dishes my mouth is watering at the thought of mum’s amazingly delicious lamb stew with green beans and tomato. Ohh, yum! I guess I’ll be eating a lot of both mutton and lamb this autumn. What a lovely thought! I just love autumn!

Also I did end up going to the network’s website looking for a rerun date for Hellstrøm Rydder Opp. I didn’t manage to locate it, but what I found instead was much, much better: Web TV! Yey! So I’ve now watched the first episode and my feelings about the show are just about unchanged. On the positive side I realised that as this show is shot in Norway and mainly in Oslo, I’ll be able to visit some of the places after the makeover! Which is something I’ve dreamt of since Kitchen Nightmares came out. As for the entertainment value of Hellstrøm Rydder Opp, though, the whole thing was a little bland and the dialogue somewhat staccato. Oh, how I missed Gordon’s passionate excalmations!  But to give credit to the poor man (Hellstrøm) it can’t be easy trying to fit into Gordon Ramsay’s shoes. And he really is an amazing chef. I’m just not sure if he’s really the right man for this kind of thing… I guess I’ll just have to keep watching the show to find out ;)

After a long day at uni filled with frustrations and with no opportunity for eating (from 10 am till 4 pm) I got home craving something filling and autumny. A quick stop at the supermarket gave me the answer: Shepherd’s Pie! Mmmm! I used Gordon Ramsay’s recipe with a few alterations: I used twice the amount of both onion and carrot, as well as loads of green beans, as I wanted more vegetables. I also didn’t grate the onion and carrot, but rather chopped them quite finely so that I had small pieces which still had some ‘bite’ to them. Lastly I changed the butter for non-dairy margarine. It turned out great! This is one meal I won’t mind eating night after night (as there’s so much it’ll probably take me all week to finish)– no problem at all with something as good as this!

My oral exam for the phonetics course went really well. It was basically just a pronunciation test and I do have pretty good pronunciation. My lecturer opened by saying it was really a little unfair to those of us who had to do the test this early in the semester as we haven’t covered the things we’re being tested in, but that she didn’t think I’d have any trouble as I’d probably just get it right instinctively. Which I took as a compliment! And I did get it all right. She said she noticed a hint of my Australian accent as I pronounced the name ‘Carl’, and my Scottish accent as I said ‘Scotland’. I was intrigued by the fact that she was able to point it out so accurately and explain to me how and why she noticed it. I really like her, she and Juan (my lecturer in Shakespeare) are my definite favourites this semester. I really love having lecturers that inspire me to do well. I notice it more and more, but especially this semester as it’s the last semester of my BA — that extra little incentive to do well really does make a difference in the amount of effort I put down! Now let’s just hope my inspiration stays up until the end of the semester and throughout the exam period, and I’ll be looking at some pretty spectacular exam results. Yey! (Yea please bear with me and let me toot my own horn a little. I’ve no one else doing it for me at the moment ;) )

This tomato sauce is so delicious you’ll be cheating yourself if you don’t try it! It’s inspired by both Gordon Ramsay’s roasted tomato soup and my mum’s delicious roasted tomato sauce. Basically all you do is roast tomatoes, onion, garlic and fresh herbs at 220 degrees celsius for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing up the tomatoes a bit. Absolutely scrumptious! I’ve taken it a step further here and used a blender to get that lovely smooth texture that is perfect for pasta dishes, and also used some red wine for that extra little something. Here’s my recipe for the perfect roasted tomato sauce:

• a splash of olive oil
• 1 kg fresh, ripe tomatoes (halve the large ones, leave small ones like cherry or plum tomatoes whole)
• 5 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 2 large cloves of garlic, halved
• 1 onion, sliced
• a medium-sized bunch of fresh thyme sprigs (or any herbs you like, I guess)
• a splash of red wine (I use about 1-2 dl)
• a little tomato paste, to taste
• 1 tbsp sugar
  

Heat your oven to 220 degrees celsius.

Start the sauce by pouring some olive oil in a roasting tin, and placing it in the oven until almost smoking. Take the tin out and add the tomatoes, onion, garlic and thyme. Sprinkle a little olive oil on top, and season well with salt and pepper.

Roast for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 30 minutes, turn the heat down to 180 degrees, and mash up the tomatoes to get a sauce-like consistency. Add some red wine, to taste. I use about 1-2 dl as I really enjoy the taste. Add some tomato paste if you want, and the sugar. Return it to the oven for the last 15 minutes.

At this point you have a delicious tomato sauce which is great as it is — unless you want it smooth.

If you want a smooth texture, pour the sauce into your blender and blend on high for about one minute or until you get the texture you want. Serve — or put back in the roasting tin if you want to add meatballs!