Rosehip Jam (less chunky)

I hadn't been living in Stockholm for a long time before I started noticing that rosehip bushes were by no means scarce around here - I saw them on my way to work, I saw them when I went jogging and at various other places around town. As I passed them daily it was easy to follow their progress: By September there were lots of ripe berries on the bushes and I decided to make an excursion (it's no coincidence that the Swedish word for 'autumn' is 'höst' which also translates as 'harvest').

Not wanting to ingest more exhaust fumes than I have to I wanted rosehip bushes not standing next to major streets. I knew two good spots off of the top of my head: one which I usually pass jogging and one which I pass on my way to work - the latter was further from my home and so lost out. So, at the end of a quiet street that ends into the park next to it I was able to quickly pick 1.25 kg (2.75 lbs) of suitably ripe rosehips.



At the time I was a little afraid that I would end up being sorry I didn't pick any more (there were plenty more to be picked).

Now, looking back, I'm glad I didn't pick any more than I did - I literally spent hours on rinsing them. Fortunately, after being rinsed they can be stored in the fridge overnight before proceeding.

After rinsing them, I was left with some 800 g (1.75 lbs) of rosehip shells, and given the results last time, I cut them in smaller pieces this time (quarter shells or smaller).

I also decided to change the taste a little by adding vanilla.





Ingredients:
- 800 g (1.75 lbs) cleaned rosehip shells
- 5 dL (2 cups) water
- juice of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lime
- 500 g (1.1 lb) + 66 g (2.3 oz) sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2.5 tsp red label Melatin^[1]
- 4 times 2 tsp Atamon^[1]
Storage:
- Three 0.5 L (2 cup) glass jars









The rosehip pieces were put in a large pot together with the water, the lemon juice and the lime juice and brought to a boil. As another tool towards reducing the chunkiness of my previous batch, I let them boil for 35 minutes under a lid before adding the larger portion of sugar. Simultaneously, I added the seeds from a vanilla pod and let it boil for another 15 minutes (no lid this time, and keeping an eye on it that it didn't foam too much). A pre-stirred mixture of the red label Melatin and the smaller portion of sugar was added along with 2 tsp Atamon. After boiling an additional 2 minutes the pot was removed from the heat.


Each jar was shaken with 2 tsp Atamon - excess liquid was poured out (but the walls of the jars should be moist with Atamon for preservation of the jam) before filling the jars while the jam was still warm.

I am happy to report that this batch is indeed less chunky than the previous one - and that I quite like the added taste of vanilla. A success.

^[1] Fortunately, the brand that sells both Atamon and Melatin in Denmark also operates in Sweden - both products were easily found at the supermarket. See previous post for more details.

Chickpea Soup 2

As the title implies, I always intended to post variations on this recipe - but somehow I forgot. Well, I recently thought about it again, and wanted to try (again) a variation in which lemon juice and soy sauce are added to taste. As things turned out, it also became a somewhat thicker soup, and the onion/parsley topping was done with an interesting twist.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 4 leeks, cleaned, sliced
- 4 cans chickpeas^[1], drained, rinsed
- 2 L (¹/₂ gallon) vegetable broth^[2]
- 4 tsp salt
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp brown sugar
- 0.25 L (1 cup) cream
- juice of 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- bacon fat
- 6 brown onions
- bunch flat leaf parsley
- salt & pepper
- bread for serving

In a large pot, a the leek slices were sautéed in a little olive oil (until they 'collapsed' a little), then the drained, rinsed chickpeas were added together with the vegetable broth. While the soup was brought to a boil, salt, ground cumin, brown sugar, and cream was added. Once boiling the heat was reduced, the pot was covered and allowed to boil gently for 40 minutes.

While the soup was boiling, the onions were peeled, rinsed and cut in boats. The onion boats were caramelised in bacon fat, seasoned with salt and pepper and then mixed with coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley.

After boiling the soup, it was partially liquefied using an immersion blender. Finally lemon juice and soy sauce was added to taste (I ended up using all the juice of one lemon and 4 tbsp soy sauce).

The soup was served in bowls with some caramelised onions on top and bread on the side.

Apart from the added taste of the lemon juice and soy sauce the soup was quite a bit thicker than last time - not all that bad, but I might aim for somewhere between these two extremes next time.

The most interesting part was how much flavour the bacon fat imparted on the caramelised onions - I had kind of expected the bacon notes to drown out in all the other flavours, but that wasn't the case at all. I'll use that trick again, for sure.

^[1] That was 4 cans of 410 g (14.4 oz) each, giving a total of 1 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) chickpeas when drained.
^[2] I would likely have used more if I had had a larger pot.

Finnish Beer II / Kukko Tumma

In Finland several of the major beer brands make both a lager, a pilsner and a dark beer.

When I went to the restaurant Sokeri Jussin Kievari in Oulu I decided to have a Kukko Tumma (dark) with my reindeer stew.

I was quite pleased with this - both the beer itself and the combination.

I don't know if Kukko beers are available outside of Finland, but so far I haven't seen them in Sweden (where all we seem to get is Lapin Kulta and Kahru).

Coconut Macaroons

I had most of a can of sweetened condensed milk left over and wondered what to do with it, so I started browsing for inspiration. I got a few ideas, some of which were much more complicated than what I was looking for (not least for requiring ingredients I couldn't get at the time). When I happened upon the notion of coconut macaroons I knew I had something doable - I even had some grated coconut lying about.

Ingredients:
240 g (8.5 oz) sweetened condensed milk
150 g (5.3 oz) grated coconut
8 g vanilla-sugar ^[1]

The ingredients were stirred together, then loosely shaped with a tea spoon into 20 balls which were placed on baking paper and flattened slightly. They were baked at 175 C (350 F) for 12 minutes, at which point they were browning at the edges. After removing from the oven they were transferred to a grid to cool (and they were loosened from the paper before cooling completely). Tasted great while still warm - those left-over were kept in a paper lined cookie tin.


^[1] Aiming for the equivalent of 1-2 tsp vanilla extract.

Pork Wok w/ Thai Basil

Until I saw one at the supermarket I had no idea there was such a thing as 'Thai Basil'. In hindsight it makes perfect sense, though: all those times in Asian food I had something which was almost exactly like basil, yet unmistakeably somehow ... different.
When we first got it home it looked kinda sad, but after being watered and allowed to stand in our eastbound kitchen windowsill it looked much happier. Now, weeks later, it's still going strong and I hope to have it for a while yet even though the hours of daylight here are rapidly declining.

I decided to use some leaves of it one day when I was in the mood for pork..

Ingredients:
- oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 medium-strong chilli, seeds removed
- 350 g (12 oz) thinly sliced pork chops, cut in strips
- 3 red onions, cut in boats boats
- 1 head cabbage, coarsely chopped
- 1 can coconut milk
- freshly cooked rice
- roasted peanuts
- fresh leaves of Thai basil

The pork chops (which were only some 3-4 mm (¹/₆ inch) thick) were cut in strips about 1.25 cm (¹/₂ inch) wide and stir-fried with crushed garlic and finely cut chillies till browned all over. Then the onion boats were added, and a few minutes later the cabbage together with the coconut milk. When everything was warm, it was served on rice with roasted peanuts and fresh leaves of Thai basil sprinkled on top.

Grolsch Kanon

On my most recent trip to the Netherlands, I didn't really have time to shop around for beer (although I did enjoy a lot of witbier at a dinner - it was summer, after all).

As if to make up for that a friend had done some shopping for me and send me home with a couple of bottles of Grolsch Kanon. At first I didn't give the name much thought, in fact I didn't even read the fine print on the label until after I tasted it and found it surprisingly alcoholic. Turns out that was with good reason: it holds some 10-11% ABV.

Moose roast

The meat section of the Swedish supermarkets are dominated by beef, pork and chicken - which in itself is neither particularly unusual nor surprising, but it is a bit more extreme than I expected. Add to that the selection of cuts available is also narrower than I have been used to, and it becomes quite intriguing that apparently there are practically no butcher shops here.

Nevertheless, a few exotic specialities native to the region are available - particularly frozen: moose and reindeer roasts, f.ex. Having heard much praise thereof (and having already tried a variety of preparations of reindeer) I decided that to try a moose roast and since they are in season now I went for using some chanterelles as well.

Ingredients:
- 900 g (2 lbs) moose roast
- oil
- salt & pepper
- potatoes
- 2 brown onions, cut in rings
- 300 g (²/₃ lb) yellow chanterelles
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) cream
salad:
- fresh spinach
- red lettuce
- caper berries

The roast came in a net. It was rubbed with salt and pepper and seared on all sides in a pan using a little oil. When nicely browned on all sides, the roast was transferred to an oven-proof tray with a little water (ca. ¹/₂ cm (¹/₄ inch)) and roasted in the oven at 150 C (300 F) for 2 hours.

While the roast was in the oven potatoes were rinsed and boiled in lightly salted water.

A salad was prepared from fresh spinach, red lettuce, and caper berries.

After removing the roast from the oven and transferring to a board, the onion rings were sautéed for a few minutes in a large pan, then added the rinsed and coarsely chopped chanterelles. After an additional couple of minutes the cream was added together with the liquid from the roast.

After resting while preparing the sauce, the roast was sliced and served immediately.


So, how was it? Weee-eeell, it was definitely good. It just wasn't as much better than beef as I expected. Perhaps not enough to justify the price difference.