Fish – Page 8 – Myfrenchkitchen

I thought I was in love with Helsinki, but Oslo swept me off my feet! Norway is breathtaking and Oslo is as stunning. I still feel in harmony with the Norwegian culture and living and can’t stop enjoying salmon. An easy and quick way to serve it…with créme fraîche, chopped dill and mint, lemon juice and a touch of honey.

…sitron-og urtebakt laks …

Adapted from a recipe found in Mat & Vin – Norges største matmagasin.

Suggestions:

Don’t bake salmon too long, or it will be dry. When the flesh is white when coked, it is overcooked. It still needs to be pink.
Use individual baking dishes and bake each person’s portion in its own dish…serve directly from oven to table.
Serve the salmon with some steamed or oven baked courgettes.
I love dill with salmon, but try coriander(cilantro) or chervil, instead of dill.
Use sour cream, or cream or thick cream if you can’t find créme fraîche.

This first encounter with Norway made me realize once again how beautiful our world is and how different the continents and cultures are and just how exciting those differences are. I found Oslo beautiful, different and exciting.

The ocean forms a big part of everyday life with ferries coming and going, fresh fish and seafood sold from the boats, shopping centers overlooking the ocean and eateries to pick and choose from on the quai. Lovely architectures hide among the now bare trees, parks with benches and people eating lunch and abundant bird life.. Walking, skiing, cross country skiing… the ski slopes are just on the edge of town, people are equipped with skis in the metro and buses – part of everyday life. So much I can say and express, but sometimes it is better to enjoy without words and discover for oneself…

My next stop…Grønland!!

…the titles can be read by scrolling over the image…

Oysters lead to digging up old favourite films. Like Vatel, by Roland Joffé. A wonderful gastronomically seductive film.

But before taking up your place under the blanket… clean some oysters and make a vinaigrette and chill a bottle of white wine in the fridge. Or better yet, in the spirit of Vatel, let’s make it a sparkling one.

Suggestions:

Open the oysters about an hour before eating, because they form some liquid whilst standing. Throw off the first quantity of liquid jsut after opening and leave the secoind forming of water if you like it. Or throw it off as well.
Use the liquids for cooking in the case of cooked oysters.
Serve on a bed of rough salt orcruched ice to keep them in place and the cruched icve will keep them cold too.
Always serve with extra lemon slices.
When eating raw oysters, choose the smaller size and the big sizes for cooked/baked oysters. the smaller the number, the bigger the oyster. The favourites size for eating raw, are 5, 4 and 3. Use 2, 1 and 0 for cooked oysters.
don’t forget to serve a warmed wet napkin when serving any kind of seafood. I usually fold a wet, warm napkin into a small square, insert a lemon slice and cover it in foil to keep the warmth insied a little longer – place on the side in a small glassbowl.

In spring and summer, time doesn’t allow watching movies. Life is to be lived ouitside, drinking up the sun during the day and the moon and stars by night. On the rainy days you can do a little vacuming…

Winter, and especially January after the festive season, is time for nesting. Reading in front of the fire. Catching up on a new movie and then on those old ones you so love.

Vatel. Or Babette’s feast. Or how about Like water for chocolate, Or Woman on top … Mostly Martha(Bella Martha), or the recent c0py of it, No reservations…

For those living in the hemisphere where summer is at its peak now, well…keep on enjoying the sun and summer evenings the way you do and remember this for when the cold starts chasing you inside…

Vatel is one of those movies where the beauty lies in the scenes behind the scene…the kitchen and the grounds of the chateau de Chantilly de prince de Condé , where Gerard Depardieu is the Maitre d’hôtel, FrancoisVatel, responsible for the entertaining and gastronomic pleasures of the le roi Louis XIV and his entire shallow entourage.The preparation of the exquisite foods is a feast on its own. The creations for entertainment. The movie itself is total splendour at the chateau with all its indulgence and frivolity that would disgust, were it not a movie. Although, truth it is, or was…thankfully, now we can only find it entertaining and amusing and a pleasure for the eye…

ENJOY!

…chocolat chaud…