Category Archives: Activities and hobbies

Cooking

Pumpkin curry with black-eyed beans and coconut milk

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1 kg pumpkin or butternut sqash, cut into large chunks

Olive oil to drizzle

1 tblsp garam masala

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tblsp olive oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 green chilis, slit lengthways

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

500 g (after soaking and cooking) black-eyed beans

150 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 x 400 ml tin coconut milk

 

Place pumpkin pieces in a bowl, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with garam masala, salt and pepper. Mix to coat evenly and arrange in an oven-proof plate in a single layer. Roast at 180 degrees until the pumpkin is soft and tender.

Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the chilies and the onion and cook till the onion is soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the beans, mix well, and add the tomatoes. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Now add the turmeric, a good pinch of black pepper, 1 tsp salt and the coconut milk. Heat gently and add the pumpkin. Cover and heat through, checing for salt and chili.

 

 

 

Cooking

Chicken curry

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For one kilo of chicken thigh meat (without skin and bones – METRO has it)

3 tblsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 (real) cinnamon sticks

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

6 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated

6 cloves garlic, crushed

Chili to taste, for example 1 tsp chili powder, or 2 fresh chilies

1 tsp salt

200 g tinned tomatoes or tomato passata

2 tblsp tomato concentrate

1,5 tsp ground cumin

A half tsp ground turmeric

3 tblsp full-fat yoghurt

1 tsp garam masala

 

Heat the oil and fry cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks shortly. Then add the onions and cook on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

Blend the ginger, garlic, chilies and salt with just enough water to make a coarse paste.

Add the paste to the onions and simmer for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomato and cook for a few minutes to a thick paste, stirring occasionally.

Then add the tomato concentrate and the rest of the spices. Simmer.

Whisk the yoghurt and incorporate it, once tblsp at a time. Cook through and let all the flavours meld.

Add the chicken and simmer for arund 30 minutes. Before serving, add the garam masala and heat through.

Cooking

“White” lamb curry

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Spice blend for 1 kilo of lamb cubes:

2 tblsp fennel seeds

Seeds from 1 tblsp green cardamom pods

1 tsp cloves

1 (real) cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

Dry roast all of the above for a minute or two until lightly toasted. Then grind to a powder.

Mix the powder well with the lamb and 4 cm grated ginger, five cloves garlic finely crushed, and 100 g full-fat yoghurt. Marinate for at least half an hour.

Blend 100 g cashew nuts to a paste with 1 tblsp boiling water.

Heat 100 g ghee over medium heat and soften (do not brown) one medium-sized onion, coarsely chopped. Add the meat with all the marinade and enough water to almost cover the meat.

Cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Add a heaped tsp salt and 1 tsp ground seeds from green cardamom pods.

Add the cashew nut paste and 50 ml double cream. Add water if needed. Heat through before serving.

Cooking

Ground lamb and chickpeas in spicy cashewnut sauce

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lambchickpeasMany years ago, I won third prize in Politiken’s meatsauce competion (ten bottles of very nice redwine) for sending in this recipe :-).

Before and after that, it has been an old faithful dug out from time to time since then, and I last served it at my third house-warming party in early December 2016 (following a late-afternoon glass or two of glögg, some of my own interpretation of panforte, home-made marshmallows, and some goodies from Leysieffer in Friedrichstraße).

This time, I needed halal meat (2 kilos) which I had ordered in advance from the very friendly (and very reasonable-priced) Fleischerei Kasap, Kottbusser Straße 7.

I served it accompanied by aubergine in a tomato and ginger sauce, and white and brown rice.

 

4 tblsp olive oil

375 g onion, finely chopped

2 tblsp or more garlic, finely chopped

1 tblsp fresh ginger, chopped

2 tsp cumin, roasted and ground

2 tsp coriander, roasted and ground

1 tsp turmeric

Chili in some form or other, to taste

2 bayleaves

1 kilo ground lamb

500 g tomatoes, peeled and chopped

3 tblsp cashew nut butter

500 g dried chickpeas, soaked and boiled (keep approx. 1,5 dl of the water)

Brown the onions slowly, stirring regularly, till they start to caramellise (takes about 20 minutes)

Add garlic and ginger and fry, stirring, for another couple of minutes.

Turn up the heat a bit, and add the spices, fry for about a minute, mixing well.

Add the meat and stir till it is no longer red.

Add salt and freshly ground black pepper, tomatoes, cashew nut butter, chickpeas and water.

Turn heat down and simmer 45-60 minutes till the dish has thickened. Stir from time to time and add more water if needed.

Cooking, Uncategorized

LUNCH!

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I first met Sulaiman in February 2016 when my new flat in Berlin was being renovated and he was one of the workmen. I learnt that he had fled from Syria in July 2015 and was curious to know more, also about his current situation, in case there was something I could do to help. Back then, between his almost-non-existent, and my rusty, German, communication was difficult but the other workmen helped, and I also got help from another Syrian who already had job, accommodation, and good German.

Sulaiman was desperately looking for somewhere to stay other than in a camp where life can be extremely difficult. His wife and daughters were in a camp in Lebanon, waiting for a visa to join him in Berlin.

It made a big impression on me that he was able to turn up every day with a smile on his face, and it was a pleasure to listen to the quiet Arabic-German language exchange whenever they were working in my flat.

Since then, I have heard more about his flight from Damaskus, where he had his life, and where he lost everything (except his wife and daughters of whom he is clearly very proud), and at one of my house-warming parties he told some of us about his gruelling journey – on foot, then like sardines in a tin in a truck for four days, then likewise on a boat until they were picked up by a container-carrier, then by train from Italy to Berlin, then “living” outside LAGESO (the German authority for refugees) for many days to have his case processed. In other words, a “classic” story which we all hear about all the time, directly and in the media.

His initial accommodation was in one small room which he shared with five other male refugees of different nationalities and without going into detail, tensions arose on a daily basis. The situation was becoming untenable and through his employer, he found a room which he was able to use all by himself, very small (from what I have heard, tiny does not cover it) but at least he could be private and get a full night’s sleep every night and thus be able to hold on to his job.

Sulaiman went to German class every day, but said that the teacher was not very good (there is a severe shortage of trained German teachers here) and he felt he learnt a lot more during the workday. Any which way, communication has become a lot easier.

Needless to say, he was sorely missing his family – wife and two daughters aged six and seven. Earlier this week, he sent me a text message to tell me that a couple of weeks ago, they were FINALLY reunited in Berlin. In terms of collecting heart-warming moments in my life, that one certainly comes close to the top of my list.

Today they are coming to lunch! I am so looking forward to meeting them. I also have not seen Sulaiman for a while since there is not much more work to be done in may flat, and the most recent house-warming party is already a couple of months away.

How do you pick up where you left off after 18 months, especially considering what they have been through in the meantime? How do you heal, individually and as a family, while at the same time tackling the emotional, practical and financial challenges ahead? How are the girls coping? How about accommodation? I am hoping to learn a lot more about that in the future while finding out how I can help. But first: lunch.

By the way, if you are in Berlin and looking for halal meat, Istanbul Supermarket, Kottbusser Tor, is good. There is also a butcher round the corner in Kottbusser Straße. (I am not sure I approve of the method, but until I know how strict – or not – my guests are, I am willing to use halal-butchered meat).

This is some of what we are having:

IN PROGRESS ……..

 CHICKEN BRAISED IN SPICES

Ten chicken pieces (I am using thighs and drumsticks)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Olive oil
2 brown onions, sliced
100 grams ginger, cut into matchsticks
5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 small red chillies, or to taste
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
5 sprigs thyme, leaves only
1 lemon, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons honey
300 ml chicken or vegetable stock
½ bunch coriander, leaves only

Coat the chicken pieces in the mixture of salt, cumin, cinnamon, pepper and turmeric.

Brown the chicken pieces on all sides in the olive oil. Remove chicken and add onion, ginger, garlic and chili and cook for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, cumin seeds and thyme and cook for another couple of minutes.

Return chicken and add the lemon juice and zest, honey, stock powder and enough water to just cover the chicken.

Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer for another ten to 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through, and the sauce is slightly reduced.

Stir in the coriander and serve with couscous or rice.

 

AUBERGINE-DATE STEW

 

100 g onion, chopped

At least one clove garlic, chopped

1 chili, chopped

1 lemon

400 g aubergine, cut in 2 cm dice

50 g dates, quartered

50 g hazelnuts, coarsely chopped and dry-roasted

1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground

1 tsp sumak

1/2 tsp cardamom seeds, roasted and ground

1 tsp coriander seeds, roasted and ground

Olive oil

1 tblsp tomato paste

300 ml chicken or vegetable stock

Heat the oil and lightly fry cumin, sumak, cardamom and coriander. Add onion and garlic and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add aubergine and chili for another couple of minutes. Add stock and tomato paste, stir, cover and simmer for about ten minutes.

Add nuts and dates, stir well, turn off heat and let sit for ten minutes.

Serve with rice or couscous and yoghurt mixed with herbs (f.ex. mint).

 

Cooking

How to make basmati rice in an OBH rice cooker

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Rinse and soak 500 g rice as you would normally, till the water runs clear.

Put a little bit of oil in the bottom of the cooker.

Add the drained rice, salt and 800 ml water. Et voilà – the cooker does the rest.

Selling

Painting by Josef Petersen for sale

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DSC_0190

66 cm x 82 cm. From the early 1950s.

Josef Petersen was the grandson of the Norwegian Poet Johan Sebastian Cammermeyer Welhaven and I don’t know much about him, nor the painting, except it was first given to Mr and Mrs Harremoes, Lundtofte, Denmark, for the silver wedding, by Mr Carl Castenskjold. Mrs Harremoes then gave it to my mother, Marie Møller, f. Skovmand, when she moved to Buegården, Bagsværd, in 1984. Contact me if interested.

Thoughts and opinions

Pænt goddaaaaaarrrrrrgh

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Er jeg den eneste, der får lyst til at slå ihjel hver gang nogen siger “pænt goddag”? Det var muligvis morsomt første gang man hørte det. Dengang børn forventedes at opføre sig ordentligt og mor eller far kunne finde på at sige ting som ”sig pænt goddag” og der så var en opvakt møgunge, der lod som om han eller hun tog det bogstaveligt. Men det må være omkring 40 år siden, og i mellemtiden lyder det ulideligt præpubertært, når stort set ALLE efterhånden siger det – og det er ikke længere kun  telefonsælgere, der plaprer det lige ind i ens øregang – sågar voksne TV-personligheder, ingen nævnt, ingen glemt, siger det ustandseligt.

For et stykke tid siden var der en der i et læserbrev i Politiken skrev, at hun havde været til en – ovenikøbet potentielt meget alvorlig – samtale med en læge på et hospital, og var blevet mødt med et “pænt goddag” (fik jeg nævnt, at det var af en læge!?!). Det er jo komplet useriøst og en uhørt fornærmelse. Jeg havde omgående bedt om at komme til at tale med en anden.

Cooking

Lamb shanks with pumpkin and dates

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8 lamb shanks (1 per person)

Plain flour, salt and pepper, to coat

600 g pumpkin, deseeded (but the peel can be left on), and cut into 2 cm wedges

Olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

1 whole garlic, chopped

500 ml chicken stock

250 ml full-bodied redwine

400 g peeled tomatoes, crushed

150 g dates, pitted and halved

3 cinnamon sticks

6 star anise

Chili to taste (chipotle works well here)

Salt and pepper

Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil in a large pot till soft and add all the other ingredients except the pumpkin and the lamb shanks. Bring to a simmer.

Brown the coated lamb shanks well and add them to the pot.  Simmer for 1,5 hours. Shanks should be almost covered. Add more stock or wine if needed.

Add the pumpkin and simmer for another hour or till the pumpkin is tender and the meat even more so.

Check for salt and serve with bulgur, rice or your favourite mash.

Thoughts and opinions

Fresh-smelling laundry minus conventional fabric softener

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Most fabric softeners contain toxic chemicals and are bad for you and for the environment. For example, phthalates are added with the only purpose of providing scent.

Furthermore, they clog up your washing machine and render for example towels and tea towels ineffective. In short, they are bad for you, for your washing machine and for the environment.

Instead, fill up the container with white vinegar. It will soften your laundry and help keeping your washing machine clean inside.

It will not make your laundry smell of vinegar, but if you want to add a scent, add up to five drops of essential oil to the vinegar. If you are not (yet) into essential oils, lavender is a good one to start with, but it could also be bergamot, patchouli, geranium or whichever oil you like.

Here is a slightly more ‘cumbersome’ recipe for home-made fabric

Ingredients:

  • 10g baking soda
  • 150-200 ml hot water
  • 800 ml apple cider vinegar
  • 20 drops essential oil

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine water, baking soda and apple cider vinegar. It will bubble up quite spectacularly. When it settles, pour into a bottle and add essential oil of your choice. Close and shake well before each use. Four tablespoons is enough per wash.