Tea time with sick daughters, Santa Sunniva Cookies

None of us got much sleep last night, up in her bedroom in the attic, Marta was coughing badly, down in the basement Ingrid's coughing was even worse. Today they have both been home from school, and as it often is with choughing, it is better in daylight. Fortunately.

Both girls slept long and then they spent the morning planning dinner and starting their own blogs. Marta is an easy learner, so when Ingrid was busy preparing the food, she found the white table cloth I usually use for my food photographing, unwrapped it just like I do, and took series of photos. Both girls are laughing. For years they have teased me for my blogging and for my food photographing, now they are both walking in my footsteps :-)

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Not long ago I bought several packets of dates at the grocery store. Left overs from Christmas, still soft and sweet. I love dates, but there certainly is a limit of how many I can eat at a time, so I had to find other ways to use them. Sick daughters are in need of comfort food, even though they feel well enough both to cook and to blog, so I decided to make a plate of cookies. The smell from freshly bakes cookies is always a very good medicine

The dates gave the cookies a very nice, sweet taste, and to make them even better I added some Norwegian Santa Sunniva Liqueur, therefore the name; Santa Sunniva Cookies.

Santa Sunniva Cookies

5dl white flour

1 1/2 dl sugar

200gr salted butter

cut the butter into small pieces and knead the dough together by your hands

add about 20 sliced dates and an egg cup of liqueur

make round cookies

press them down with a fork

bake at 200C for about 15 minutes

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My choice of music this time is a little different. Not any of the old classics, but charming Josh Groban with a collection of evergreens. Not a music I listen to every day, but for a cookie baking night it filled the kitchen perfectly :-)

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By the way, here is Marta's blog

and here is Ingrid's

Cod Paella, risotto med torsk

One of the pleasure is life is to visit fishmarkets. We don't have one like the Rialto market here in Trondheim, still the one we have is a nice one with quite a good selection of choices according to the season. When Terje and I visited Ravnkloa (the fish market here in Trondheim) yesterday, I was looking for fish for a paella, and the cod filets looked perfect.

I have a favorite restaurant out at Murano (in Venice) where I have discovered a marvellous risotto with fruits from the sea. Unfortunately you have to be two to order the dish, I remember one time Terje and I had it, we almost licked the plates at the end, the taste was too good to let go. I was not able to create the same juicy taste in my paella, but I am on the right way. Give me some more practice, and I am there.

cod paella

dice the cod filet into small pieces
fry in an extravagance of extra virgin olive oil
add salt and pepper
cut an onion and a green sweet pepper
fly in more olive oil

fry the rice in the leftover oil in the pan
add fish bouillon and white wine
add the fried fish and let boil for about half an hour
add the onion and the sweet pepper

serve with olive bread dipped in olive oil, the one we had is baked in Lom, sold in the delicatessen at the fish market.



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I fist fell for Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 because of the beautifil painting on the cd cover. The music is just as beautiful, and suits well on an icy, wintry Sunday morning.

Yoghurt, orange and chocolate

I am in need of some comfort food today, as I am home taking care of a cold. Wrapped in a huge Indian wool shawls, music on the cd and a stack of book from and about Venezia accompanying me, I almost felt tempted to greet the cold as a good, old friend :-) Some days are almost meant to be stay at home days.

The Venezia book on top of my pile is Toni Sepeda's Brunetti's Venice, Walks through the novels. Being a Donna Leon and a Comissario Brunetti fan for many years, this book met me like a long waited for friend, when I found it at an airport bookstore a couple of weeks ago. We are planning to visit Italy and venezia again in June, and then I'll make sure to find room for a Brunetti walk.

The Blue Café is supposed to be a food blog, but I can't resist the temptation to talk about books, and you all know that I can never resist the temptation to talk about music as well. The Venezia mood I am in this morning, took me to the Verdi part of my music collection. Nabucco is not my favorite Verdi opera, but a good kind of different choice from time to time. And the dramatic music is a good curtain for the easy, comfort food I am enjoying

No recipe, just a small bowl of plain yoghurt topped with dark chocolate.
A red plate of juicy slices of orange.

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Pizza with anchovy and aubergine

Fridays are pizza days, and days when we usually eat our dinner late. I still remember when pizza came to my Norway, some time in the mid-70ies. The thick American pizza, rich with melted cheese. It didn't take us long to know that we loved this food, and it soon became something everybody ate. Many, many years l learned about another type of pizza, the thin Italian one, crispy, salty and with a number of toppings I'd never dreamed of. I will never forget my first pizza eaten in Roma. I was there for the first time in my life, it must have been in 2001. The purpose of my trip was studying the diaconia, and at the same time my brother was there with his orchestra and his viola. We met for lunch hour, sat down at a small outdoor café not far from the St.Peter's Cathedral and ordered a pizza. I will never forget the thin salty dream I got, topped with mozarella.

After visiting Intaly several times a year since 2001, I have learned to make alot of different pizzas, and I have learned to make them with whatever I can find in the fridge. Last week I couldn'r resist a fat, tempting aubergine when I was shopping for groceries. The aubergine spent a few days in a basket in the kitchen untill Friday came, and I decided it was time to use it in a pizza. In the fridge I had some leftover anchovy since Christmas and the topping was all set. The result was a perfect crcisp, salt pizza.

pizza with anchovy and aubergine

for the pizza dough:

25g yeast

water

olive oil

white flour

salt

for the topping:

a sliced aubergine, salted for about an hour

anchovy

cheese (I used Edamer from Norway)

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Andrea Bocelli's music is perfect for pizza.

My choice this time is his Verdi cd where he sings with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

(let the choice of archestra be my prayer for peace in the Middle East)

Grønnsaksuppe, red vegetable soup

Sunday dinners are family dinners here in The Blue Café. The boys know that extra plates are set for them around the table, and today my parents are also coming. I love making food for alot of people, as I also love to prepare meals for only myself of for me and my husband. It is not always easy to plan what to grocery shop though, as we seldom know on Saturdays how many we will be around the table for the next day's Sunday dinner. Today Ingrid had to go to work (7-eleven) and would not be here for dinner. "Oh mamma, can you make something for lunch or an early dinner before I leave", she asked this morning. In my mind I went through the fridge and the pantry, what could I possibly make without shopping? I also knew that the chicken we have bought for dinner might be a little short for 7 people, may be I could combine something?

Of course I could. There is always vegetables around, and the solution was easy. "Ingrid, what about some red vegetable soup and some homemade bread?" "Perfect mamma, you are an angel" The soup is made, late breakfast for Marta which slept long this morning and was not hungry when she wake up, lunch for Ingrid and there is still enough for a starter before the chicken for the rest of us.

red vegetable soup

slice two onions and fry them in olive oil

add three sliced carrots and fry some more

add 1 1/2 liter water

four tomatoes cut into boats

salt

pepper

safan

let boil smowly for about 15 minutes

serve with homemade bread

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I have a Tivoli Ipal radio in the kitchen and with a cable I am able to connect my Ipod to this radio. So since the livingroom was busy with family members watching sports today, I could still have my own music in the kitchen through the radio and my Ipod.

Enjoy with me Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón

Opera and a bread baking day

Once a week I have a bread baking day. Sometimes just the ordinary grain bread we always eat, sometimes I have more time at hand and can bake different types. During the winter these days are perfect to make the house warm, with the cosy smell of fresh bakery.

At our cabin we don't have electrisity and I dream of an outdoor oven where I can bake our breads. The minus with no electricity though is that we don't have a freezer, only a small room in the gas fridge where I could put a couple of breads, but would it be worth warming up a whole bread oven for just two or three breads? Well, my dream is still there, so I'll wait and see what we do with it.

Here at home we have a big fridge, and as long as I bake once a week, there is always room for the extra breads there.


I am not good at following recipes. When making our everyday bread, four pieces of big loaves and 15 small ones, I start with a mixture of differemt types of flour. I add salt, oil, 100gr fresh yeast and 1,8l of water, mix it, and then add white flour untill I have a smooth dough. I let it raise for about an hour, make the breads, let in raise some more and it is ready for baking, 240C for about 15-20 minutes for the small loaves, 220-200C for about one hour for the big ones.

The small baguettes was made of white flour, water, salt, olive oil and fresh yeast. In half of them I added dates, they were so cheep at the grocery store this week, and these baguettes are perfect with cheese.

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During my baking days I play opera. Give it a try, opera goes perfect with breadbaking :-)

Marinert torsk, marinated cod

I went to the local fishmarket downtown after work yesterday. Down near the harbour the fishmarket has been situated for ages, I remember it from my childhood, though they did a great restauration some years ago. I try to go there at least every second week, and always find temptations. I sometimes make plans for what to buy, or what to look for before I go, more often I go with an open mind, to see what they have, to see what tempts me.

This time my eyes soon found the marinated cod, but it was only a few pieces left. No problem, fishmonger Ketil said, I'll make you some more, and soon I had five good pieces. Ketil grew up in the same neighbourhood as I did, and we always get a good chat when we meet. Mostly fish stories and how to make the best fish dishes.

I baked the cod filets in the oven, 200C for 40 minutes, and served them with small potatoes and a paprika salad.


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I have connected music to my food for almost thre weeks now. I would like to hear from my readers what you think of this. Music plays a very important role in my life and it feels natural to combine it to my cooking, and I love to share it with you. Now I am curious to hear your responce.