nok-i

it's cool that you can make chicken gnocchi for cheaper than a big mac meal.

roasted chicken and capers with gnocchi.

topped with arugula and fried chicken skin.

fridge cleaner: twice cooked pasta

we've all been there.  the fridge is nearly empty, and, usually out of sheer laziness, we have to just make something from what's left.

luckily i had some decent ingredients -- six to be exact: ground beef, cottage cheese, pasta, hot sauce, garlic and olive oil.  and salt, pepper and various herbs and spices, of course.

probably the first pasta dish i learned to make was my parents' "twice-cooked pasta."  basically you make pasta, then pan fry it in olive oil and garlic.  that's exactly what i did; except i cooked the ground beef first, added garlic, then fried the pasta in the mixture. delicious.

i was about to eat it when i got a brilliant idea.  i love cottage cheese on a warm omelette in the morning, which is usually what i make if i just have a variety of random items in the fridge, so why not on my pasta?  then, as i usually do with the omelette, topped it with some hot sauce -- in this case, chipotle tabasco.

it was actually quite good.  very good.  i would, and will, make it again, even when i have other options in my fridge.

københavn

bye oslo 

hi oslo

scandesign: bulletin board

check out this ingenious norwegian bulletin board i found in the entrance to my friend's apartment building -- no tape or pins needed.

spot check: olivia's

olivia's is a great italian cafe/restaurant.  they have two locations, one in majorstuen and the other in aker brygge, and both have great outdoor areas.

the pizza is also delicious.  my favorite, which is an idea i had thought of before but never seen executed, is carpaccio pizza.  that's right, carpaccio pizza.  the pizza is cooked first, then the thinly-sliced raw beef is added right before it is served.  the pecorino and lemon wedge -- two staples of carpaccio consumption -- bring the pizza to a whole new level.

half & half: picante chicken on the left/carpaccio on the right

halloween.

unfortunately, the costume was popped by the end of the night.

magnus as grapes.

more classics?

sliders with salad.

fusilli bolognese with salad.