in-throat-erator

Bloglagged 3

2011-10-14T10:10:00.000+02:00

It's been quiet around here lately - unusually quiet.

Since my last posting our daughter was born and we've moved again (still in the Stockholm area).

Days just fly by. It's not that I don't have time for cooking these days (I'm tempted to add: obviously .. but maybe that isn't all that obvious) it's just that I'm not finding the time for sitting down and writing about it. This is something that I hope will change in the future, but I have no idea when things will start happening around here again or how much activity there'll be.

Maybe one day - when/if things start happening around here again - I'll be posting some recipes inspired by this book I recently received as a little surprise gift. I am looking forward to reading it.

Bacon Hueva-/Quesadilla

2011-06-18T11:08:00.000+02:00

Remember the 'huevadilla' ?

I must admit I forgot about it for a while myself, but now it's back.

And how! ..in the shape of a hearty breakfast: bacon, eggs, cheese, beans and all.

Ingredients:
- 50-60 g (2 oz) thinly sliced bacon
- 4 wheat tortillas, ~ 22 cm (8-9 inches) diameter
- 4 eggs
- cheddar, grated
- 1 avocado
- pico de gallo
- refried pinto beans

The pinto beans were refried and left over low heat while preparing the rest.

Thinly sliced bacon was fried crisp, then removed from the pan and cut in smaller pieces. The fat was poured off (and saved for other cooking purposes).

Over medium heat a tortilla was placed in the pan. Grated cheddar was put in wide ring along the rim leaving a spot for 2 eggs and half of the bacon bits in the middle. This was topped with another tortilla and left on medium heat for a few minutes - it was flipped over when the eggs were sufficiently set to do so without making a mess of it.

When suitably done on both sides, it was removed from the pan and cut in slices to be served with avocado wedges and crude salsa on top and refried pinto beans on the side.

This I'll do again for sure.

Almond-paste Rolls

2011-06-15T19:05:00.000+02:00

When I first started baking egg-free treats I thought I would need to bake and bring for work more often than turned out to be the case. In fact, now I've been here for 2 years and the position is over, so there will be no more group meetings for me to which I have to bring egg-free baked goods. This leaves me with a surplus of ideas, so if I find the time the series will continue on this page.

These rolls are based on a recipe I got from my mother when I first told her I needed egg-free cake recipes. I baked them recently for one of the last work-related occasions: the celebration of the acceptance of my latest paper.

For these rolls I used an almond paste not sold as marzipan^[1] but I think marzipan should work quite well also.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (8.8 oz) margarine
- 2 dL (⁴/₅ cup) milk
- 50 g (1 ³/₄ oz) fresh yeast
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar (+ extra for sprinkling)
- ¹/₂ tsp salt
- 500 g (1.1 lb) flour (+ extra for rolling)
- 250 g (8.8 oz) almond paste^[1]
- 1-1.5 dL (²/₅-³/₅ cup) heavy cream (for brushing)

The margarine was melted over low heat, then milk was poured in and heating on low was continued until the mixture was lukewarm. The milk-margarine mixture was transferred to a bowl and fresh yeast was stirred in followed by sugar, flour (in portions) and salt. This dough was set aside to rise for half an hour.

The risen dough was parted in 4 roughly equal portions, and each of these were rolled to a circle some 24-25 cm (10 inches) in diameter. Each circle was divided into 8 triangular slices. Each triangle was added a thin layer of almond paste and rolled.

The rolls were placed on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and allowed to rise an additional 15 minutes before brushing with heavy cream^[2] and sprinkling with granulated sugar.

The rolls were baked 225 C (450 F) until golden (12 minutes) and transferred to a grid to cool.

The rolls were quite popular - more have already been requested...

^[1] The almond paste I used is 50% almond, 50% sugar - marzipan is often a different composition (usually less almond and more sugar).
^[2] If you are not in need of strictly egg-free rolls, you could certainly brush with a lightly beaten egg in stead of heavy cream.

White Asparagus Tagliatelle

2011-06-12T14:05:00.000+02:00

White asparagus are in season around here these days, but we've never had a habit of using these. One reason for that is that Mrs. Throat-Erator isn't a big fan of the hollandaise sauce often suggested served with white asparagus.

When we saw a recipe for a starter with white asparagus and no hollandaise we decided to try some elements of that - along the way it became a meal rather than just a starter.

Ingredients:
- 6 large white asparagus
- juice of 1 small lemon
- same volume olive oil
- salt
- white pepper
- tagliatelle
- ¹/₂ dL (¹/₅ cup) sunflower seeds
- ¹/₂ dL (¹/₅ cup) pumpkin seeds
- 25 g (~1 oz) walnuts
- 125 g (4.4 oz) mozzarella
- fresh chives
- fresh dill

The asparagus were peeled and boiled gently for 10 minutes in water containing 1 tsp salt. The water was drained from the asparagus and they were allowed to cool a bit while preparing a marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and white pepper. The boiled asparagus were then marinaded while preparing the rest.

Tagliatelle was cooked.

The seeds and nuts were chopped coarsely and roasted in a dry pan with constant stirring till turning slightly golden and fragrant.

The marinaded asparagus were served on a bed of tagliatelle, drizzled with some of the marinade and added toasted seeds/nuts, sliced mozzarella and fresh herbs.

It was quite nice, although based on this I see little reason to prefer white asparagus over the green kind we normally get...

BBC: Bacon, Bean & Cabbage (Soup)

2011-06-05T12:29:00.003+02:00

I'm behind here - this was something I cooked in the fall (which I'd say is a much more appropriate season for this dish). Once again with heavy inspiration from James Villas I went for a soup combining some of my favourite ingredients: bacon, beans and cabbage..

I'll trust him on his claim that this is a Serbian soup. The original recipe calls for green cabbage, but I went for red cabbage - more on this in a bit.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (~ ¹/₂ lb) bacon^[1]
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium large head of red cabbage, chopped
- 2 L (~ ¹/₂ gallon) beef broth
- 3 cans cannellini beans (drained)
- flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

The bacon was fried in a large pot until a good amount of fat had been rendered out of it, then removed from the pot. The onions and garlic were rendered soft in the bacon fat before adding the cabbage together with beef broth, beans, bacon and parsley. The pot was brought to a boil and allowed to simmer for 45 minutes before serving.

I found the soup delicious, but I have to admit the red cabbage gave the soup a special colour. A colour I personally have no problem with but which I can see why some people might not like. So I guess going for white cabbage or maybe even kale would be a good idea.^[2]

^[1] I used thinly sliced bacon, which I think was a mistake - I think this recipe would work better with diced bacon.
^[2] I'm not sure Villas means kale when he writes 'green cabbage' (which is what think of when I use that term). I think maybe he means what I'd call white cabbage - but there's no picture for this dish in his book, so I am not sure.

Chickpea Salad

2011-05-25T19:30:00.005+02:00

Sometimes I see a recipe and I instantly know I want to try it out. Such was the case the chickpea salad I noticed in the April 2011 issue of Bon Appétit. I've adjusted the amounts a little bit, but the most significant change to the original recipe is the additional of rocket.

This salad isn't merely a side - it's a meal in itself!

Ingredients:
- 2 cans chickpeas, about 460 g (1 lb) drained
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon (2 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, very finely diced
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 65 g (2 ¹/₃ oz) rocket
- fresh basil, chopped
- 40 g (1 ²/₅ oz) freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano

The chickpeas were rinsed, then mixed with the rest of the ingredients and tossed to mix.
Delicious - I know I'll be making this again. As promised the lemon juice, chickpeas and parmigiano-reggiano make for a really nice combination. Personally I think the rocket blends really well with that trio.

Koldskål (2)

2011-05-16T22:03:00.001+02:00

Remember the "cold bowl" ? After a long winter it's like it's suddenly summer in Sweden and we recently found ourselves craving a good cold bowl of.. well.. cold-bowl.

However, as I've lamented around here before, one cannot buy buttermilk in Swedish stores, and buttermilk is the cornerstone of koldskål as I've always known it. For other purposes I've tried substituting various kinds of thickened milk (fil as they are known in Sweden) for buttermilk, and I figured it might work for koldskål as well.

Ingredients:
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon (2 tbsp)
- 50 g (4 tbsp) granulated sugar
- vanilla sugar
- 1 L (1 quart) of fil

The sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon juice was whisked together and the fil was poured in with continued whisking.

Served chilled with either rusk or roasted oats.

Roasted Oats

2011-05-16T22:02:00.001+02:00

I guess it's some kind of simplified, very simplified, granola. I use them for koldskål when I don't have any rusk handy.

Ingredients:
- 25 g (~ 1 oz) unsalted butter
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 2 dL (⁴/₅ cup) rolled oat

The butter was melted over high heat, then the oat and the sugar was added and stirred over medium high heat for until the oats turned golden (about 10 minutes). The oats were then transferred to baking paper to cool.

Served on koldskål.

Naan...ish

2011-03-27T12:45:00.000+02:00

Given that naan simply means 'bread' the recipe below does of course qualify. But in terms of giving the kind of breads I was thinking off - the kind you tend to get when you order naan at an Indian restaurent - it's no so successful. However, I think they are quite nice in their own right.

When I started looking up naan recipes and asking my Indian friends, I quickly realised I was in trouble: Almost every source advocated the use of a baking stone in order to achieve the desired product. I didn't want to get a baking stone, nor did I want to give up just yet - so in the end I got what follows:

Ingredients:
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) lukewarm water
- 50 g fresh yeast
- ¹/₂ tsp sugar
- 880 g (almost 2 lbs) wheat flour + more for rolling
- ¹/₂ L (2 cups) A-fil ^[1]
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 tsp nigella seeds

The yeast was stirred into the lukewarm water, followed by sugar, about half of the flour and the A-fil. Then the salt and the nigella seeds was added and the rest of the flour was stirred/kneaded in in portions. The resulting dough was slightly sticky.

The dough was left to rise for 2 hours (1 hour most likely would be sufficient), before dividing into 8 parts. Each piece of dough was rolled into oblong breads about ¹/₂ cm (¹/₅ inch) thick using plenty of flour.

The breads were placed on a baking sheet lined with baking paper - the size of oven I have now fits three bread on one sheet. They were baked at 225 C (450 F) for 15 minutes.

As I said, they weren't quite what I originally had in mind, but I still liked them - especially as a side to curries.

^[1] Lactobacillus acidophilus-containing thickened milk. Buttermilk, unsweetened yoghurt or a mix thereof are probably good substitutes (although this may then change the amount of flour needed).

Hummus

2011-03-21T19:15:00.003+01:00

The other day when I was about to make some hummus, I search my archive for the recipe and realised I never did get round to adding the good hummus recipe here. Well, this needs correction..

Ingredients:
- 2 'cans' chickpeas ^[1]
- juice ¹/₂ lemon (2 tbsp)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3-4 tbsp tahini
- salt & pepper to taste

The chickpeas were drained and puréed in a blender (I added as little water as the paste is otherwise very thick) in portions. The chickpea paste was transferred to a bowl and the rest of the ingredients were stirred in. Depending on your preferences you might adjust the amounts of tahini and olive oil - although I personally find it hard to believe, I know some people are not fond of tahini. Paprika also adds a nice touch.

^[1] Actually the stores around here have taken to selling various beans in a new paper based container. My guess is this is motivated by environmental concerns. Anyway, these new packages are roughly the same size as the usual can, so that each holds 230 g (8 oz) after draining the liquid.

Red Basil

2011-03-08T19:26:00.002+01:00

Not unlike other varieties of basil, I was unfamiliar with red basil until I came across it at the store. As before when faced with such options, the new item went directly into the shopping basket - what to do with it could always to be found out later.

I found this plant to be surprisingly (and a bit disappointingly) mild and subtle in flavour - I haven't seen any more since, so I don't know if this is general. Because of this, using it for wok and curry dishes is almost kind of wasted as the flavour is easily trumped by other strong flavours - although I must say it does look beautiful.

I did use it with some success for baking fish: pieces of white fish (e.g. cod) were wrapped in foil together with leaves of red basil and baked in the oven.

Carne de res con sol

2011-02-28T19:34:00.002+01:00

One day I was flipping through my copy of Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico looking for inspiration, when I noticed the recipe for Carne de res con sol - ground beef with cabbage. After trying it out, I decided I would like it better by adding a little ground cumin and allspice to the recipe.

And so, with slight modification from Diana Kennedy, it goes...

Ingredients:
- 360 g (~ 13 oz) ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¹/₄ tsp allspice
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 jalapeño (w/ seeds), diced finely
- 800-900 ml (~ 3.5 cups) cabbage, chopped finely^[1]
- fresh coriander, chopped
- oil
- ~ 1 dL (~ ¹/₂ cup) water
served in:
- hard taco shells

Crushed garlic, black pepper, cumin and allspice was mixed into the ground beef (using the hands), which was then allowed to stand while chopping the other ingredients.

In a pan, the onion and chilli was cooked in a little oil for 1-2 minutes before adding the tomatoes. When most of the juices from the tomatoes were absorbed the spiced meat was added to the pan. When the meat as browned, the cabbage, fresh coriander and water was added. After about 15-20 minutes of cooking over medium heat with occasional stirring, the amount of liquid was reduced significantly (but not completely gone).

I like serving it in hard taco shells.

^[1] Personally I like it equally well with white or red cabbage, but Mrs. Throat-Erator finds the dish visually unappealing with red cabbage.

Eggplant Pasta Salad

2011-02-19T18:42:00.001+01:00

Another quick delicious pasta dish.

Ingredients:
- 2 eggplants
- balsamic vinegar
- 300 g (²/₃ lb) pasta
- salt
- 70 g (2.5 oz) rocket
- 2-3 tbsp sun-dried tomato pesto

The eggplants were cut into square rods (¹/₂ inch to the side, half the length of the eggplant), placed on a foil lined baking sheet, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and baked in the oven at 250 C ( F) for 10-15 minutes.

The pasta was boiled in lightly salted water.

Boiled pasta, baked eggplant, rocket and sun-dried tomato pesto was tossed in a bowl and served immediately.

Pickled Tomatoes (1)

2011-02-12T17:54:00.002+01:00

Last fall I tried my hand at pickling to-ma-toes.

By now all I have left is one jar of my jalapeño pickled yellow cherry tomatoes. These were the least popular with the various guests I served them for. The basic principle worked as intended: the tomatoes really took up the hotness of the jalapeño. Personally I like them, but I am not surprised the other two went faster. If I try to to pickle yellow cherry tomatoes again I shall be careful to boil them less.

The cinnamon pickled red cherry tomatoes were quite popular with some of my guests. The cinnamon flavour, acidity and sweetness made for a delicious whole. When I do this again, I shall a larger batch - and also for these try less boiling than the first time around.

As previously mentioned the vanilla pickled green tomatoes turned out pretty nicely. Unlike the other two kinds these were certainly not overcooked - rather the opposite (if anything). I think I might try using vanilla bean instead of vanilla sugar, just to see if it makes a difference.

Frikadeller - Updated recipe

2011-02-05T17:28:00.005+01:00

I have a confession to make: I generally chop quite coarsely. And for the most part I am quite happy with the result.

But when making meat balls too coarsely chopped onions tend to towards undesirable effects when shaping and frying the meat balls. So, lately I've started chopping the onions for my meat balls not by hand as I've always done in the past but in the cutter that came with our new electric hand-held mixer/whipper/cutter unit (a purchase of debate in the household - while the need for a new one was indisputable, the type I bought met with some critique).

I've also recently discovered that making meat balls with bread crumbs and milk tends towards juicier meat balls (as opposed to flour and milk - or neither of the two). Here follows an updated recipe for frikadeller (a type of Danish meat ball).

Ingredients:
- 850 g (1 lb 14 oz) minced pork/beef^[1]
- 4 small onions, very finely chopped
- 3 eggs
- ~5 dL (~2 cups) bread crumbs^[2]
- 5 dl (2 cups) milk
- salt and pepper
for frying:
- margarine
to serve:
- rye bread
- red cabbage sauerkraut

The onions were chopped very finely using an electric cutter, then mixed with minced meat, eggs, salt and pepper. Milk was stirred in in portions until the texture was as desired (for frikadeller I usually aim for a little more on the liquidy side than I would for most other types of meat balls).

The meat balls were shaped using a teaspoon (see the original post on frikadeller for pictures of the shaping procedure) and fried in a large pan (medium heat) with some margarine, working mostly in batches.

As you can see I made a heap of them. We ate some right away on rye bread with red cabbage sauerkraut - a perfect combination. I put a lot of the rest in the freezer.

^[1] I used a 50:50 mix available from the local store. This kind of meat balls could also be made mixed pork/veal or even pure pork - but pure beef wouldn't be 'right' for frikadeller.

^[2] I don't buy bread crumbs. I simply grate some old dried out white bread. Whenever I buy fresh bread and don't manage to eat it all before it goes dry, I just leave the bread in a dry place for a couple of weeks (or even longer - it usually doesn't go mouldy if stored in a dry place) to make sure it is really dry - then it is easy to grate to bread crumbs.

Pebernødder

2010-12-25T11:38:00.005+01:00

Having not found the time to bake a whole series of Christmas cookies this year, I opted for one cookie that really brings the holiday spirit for me: pebernødder (which would translate as 'pepper-nuts').

Realizing I had never made them myself, I requested my mother's recipe and once I had that I went looking for ingredients. The tricky part turned out to be the ground (dried) bitter orange peel that the recipe called for an ill-defined amount of. This I didn't manage to find before making the dough, so I substituted finely chopped candied orange peel - ironically, I did find it in the local store while the dough I had made was resting in the fridge at home. Which brings up another point: my mother's recipe strongly recommends leaving the dough in the fridge for a day or two before shaping and baking.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (~ ¹/₂ lb) flour
- 125 g (~ 4 oz) unsalted butter
- 125 g (~ 4 oz) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ¹/₂ tsp ground ginger
- ¹/₂ tsp ground cloves
- ³/₄ tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of white pepper
- zest of ¹/₂ lemon
- very finely chopped candied orange peel (about the same volume as lemon zest)^[1]

The butter was worked into the flour by hand, then all the other ingredients were added and kneaded to an only slightly sticky dough. The dough shaped into a ball, wrapped in film and stored in the fridge for a day before continuing.

Coming right out of the fridge, the dough is fairly hard - but with a little patience you can pry off a chunk and roll it into a rod approximately 1 cm (²/₅ inch) thick. As the rod becomes thinner and your hands warm up the dough it becomes progressively easier to work. The rod was sliced into approximately 1 cm (²/₅ inch) thick pieces. Each little piece was rolled to a small ball and placed on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

They were baked at 212 C (415 F) for 10 minutes - and should be allowed to cool off completely before eating. I sampled one while they were still warm and was afraid I botched them, but by the time they were old I could taste I had done it right after all.

^[1] As mentioned above the original recipe called for "a little ground (dried) bitter orange peel" instead of candied orange peel.

Mint Julep Cake (Round 2)

2010-11-15T19:24:00.000+01:00

Remember the Mint Julep Cake? I thought it was delicious, but I still felt that it could be optimised a little bit.

Most importantly I was disappointed that the mint wasn't sufficiently prominent in the ganache. I realise this was my own fault for using mint syrup instead of mint extract. When I tried it a second time I used a LOT more mint syrup than I did the first time, but we still couldn't really taste the mint. That's when I started considering caving in and actually buying mint extract - but then I realised that the mint extract you can buy (at least around these parts) is always peppermint extract. Peppermint is banned in the Throat-Erator household.^[1] I realise I could try to make my own mint extract (and maybe one day I shall), but in the interest of having a quick procedure I decided to see what I could squeeze out of some fresh mint...

I bought 2 mint plants at the store, picked all the leaves and mashed them (I used my garlic press for this). The mass of mashed mint leaves didn't volunteer any juice, but when placed in a small fine sieve and pressed I was able to obtain about 1 tsp of a dark liquid with a rather peculiar smell. Now, I know that smell is highly concentration dependent, so the peculiar smell did not concern me - in fact, it encouraged me since I was aiming for a highly concentrated mint extract substitute. I went ahead and used it all - scroll to bottom for the result.

While I was at it, I also adjusted the amounts of both ganache and butter bourbon sauce.

Updated recipe as follows...

Ingredients (day 1):
- 340 g (12 oz) flour
- 400 g (14 oz) sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 225 g (8 oz) margarine
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) A-fil^[2]
- 4 eggs
butter bourbon sauce (day 1):
- 100 g margarine
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 6 tbsp bourbon (I used Jack Daniels)
minty, white chocolate ganache (day 2):
- 265 g (²/₃ of a 14 oz can) sweetened condensed milk
- 200 g (7 oz) white chocolate
- juice squeezed from the fresh leaves of 2 mint plants

In a large bowl, flour was mixed with sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla sugar.

In a separate bowl, softened margarine was whisked together with A-fil and eggs.

The liquid was poured into the dry mix and everything was mixed until a smooth homogeneous batter resulted. The batter was poured into a greased and floured spring form of 22 cm (9 inch) diameter. The cake was baked at 175 C (350 F) for an hour (the difference in baking time since the previous edition is due to the fact that I moved in between - the oven in my new apartment is different).

While the cake was baking, the butter bourbon sauce was prepared: powdered sugar, water and margarine was stirred over medium heat till melted and homogeneous (shouldn't reach boiling). Then it was removed from the heat and stirred for an additional two minutes before the bourbon was stirred in.

While the cake was still hot holes were poked in the top (with a knife) and the butter bourbon sauce was poured over. Then the cake was allowed to stand and cool while absorbing the butter bourbon sauce.

Later, the cake was covered with film and stored in the fridge overnight before making and applying the ganache.

For the ganache I first squeezed the juice out of my mint leaves as described above. Then I melted white chocolate together with sweetened condensed milk over low heat with constant stirring. When homogeneous the heat was turned off and the mint juice was stirred into the mixture.

The ganache was allowed to cool for half an hour before applying it to the cake - after which the cake was immediately put in the fridge in order for the ganache to set (I did check up on it to make sure the ganache didn't flow too much - like the first time I made this cake).

I have to say I was very pleased with the result - the extra bourbon was spot on, as was the amount of ganache. But the best part was that this time we could taste mint!

^[1] To quote Mrs. Throat-Erator: "Makes me feel like I'm eating toothpaste!!"
^[2] The original recipe called for buttermilk - however, this is not available in Swedish stores as all buttermilk produced is currently delivered directly to bakeries. I decided to opt for A-fil because of it's tangy freshness - for more on A-fil see here.

Lamb & Potato Kheema

2010-10-28T18:38:00.001+02:00

As it happened, a colleague of mine started talking about making curries and dhal for dinner, and we go to talking about various kinds of curries. When the subject turned more specifically to kheema, I felt a sudden urge to make something along those lines.

I can't say this is a very authentic recipe - I came up with it by reading some 10 different recipes after googling 'kheema' and applying the bits of each recipe that appealed the most to me.

Ingredients
- oil
- 2 red onions, chopped
- 800 g (1 ³/₄ lbs) minced lamb
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 red jalapeños, chopped
- salt
- ground cumin, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and smoked paprika
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 3 leaves bay laurel
- 5 potatoes, diced

In a large, deep pan, the onions were fried in hot oil until softened, then added the minced meat and the spices. After the meat was browned all over, tomatoes, potatoes and bay laurels were added. The pan was covered and allowed to simmer for 40 minutes.

The kheema was very good - this time I served it with sabanekh bel hummus, brown rice and a very nice chutney.

Sabanekh bel Hummus

2010-10-28T18:34:00.001+02:00

I was wondering if it might be an idea make something with spinach and chickpeas - as it turns out it is a good idea, just not a new one. According to Claudia Roden variations on this theme are common through-out the middle east. I decided to base my first attempt off of her recipe (which is supposedly an Egyptian version) but with the addition of onions and chillies.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- generous amount of ground coriander
- salt
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 900 g (2 lbs) frozen spinach (whole-leaf, not chopped)
- 2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
- 3 cans chickpeas, 400 g (14 oz) each
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon

The oil was heated in a large pot, then added crushed garlic, ground coriander and salt - after stirring the spices in the hot oil for about half a minute the chopped onions were added. When the onions were soft, the spinach was added together with chopped jalapeños (seeds included). The pot was covered and left on medium heat until the spinach was thawed. The chickpeas (drained and rinsed) were added and the dish was heated through. Sprinkled with lemon juice just before serving.

I was quite happy with the result - which I served on this occasion with a lamb & potato kheema, brown rice, and an apple-walnut chutney, which I'm going to have to see if I can learn how to make myself..

Bean-stuffed Zucchini

2010-10-22T19:19:00.000+02:00

I was thinking about beans and zucchini when it occurred to me that maybe I could stuff zucchini with beans - making a variation of this theme. I would have preferred to make this with some nice large home-grown zucchini, but I couldn't wait for some to magically appear so I went ahead and did it with the small ones I can get at the stores - picking the largest ones they had.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (~ ¹/₂ lb) dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
- water
- lard
- 1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 large clove of garlic, chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
- 4 medium sized zucchini, halved lengthwise and hollowed
- grated cheddar cheese
to serve:
- pico de gallo

The pinto beans were soaked in an excess of cold water overnight.

The coarsely chopped onion was fried in lard until starting to brown. The soaked beans were added WITH the water they were soaking in. Added salt, chopped garlic, chopped jalapeño (including seeds). The pot was brought to a boil and kept boiling for 2 hours, adding more water as needed.

The zucchini were halved, hollowed with a tsp and arranged in a deep baking pan. The beans were distributed evenly between the zucchini halves and the whole thing was baked for 40 minutes at 200 C (400 F).^[1]

After removing from the oven, the bean-stuffed zucchini were sprinkled with grated cheddar cheese - served immediately with pico de gallo on the side.

^[1] If I had used large zucchini, I would probably have baked them a little longer to make sure they were done.

Bacon-Chanterelle-Blue Cheese Meatloaf

2010-10-16T19:10:00.006+02:00

Fall is here, which means two things: (1) the shops have a wider selection of mushrooms than normally; (2) I tend the want heartier foods. This idea was built up in stages: first Bon Appétit planted the idea of a mushroom meatloaf in my mind. Then I thought of the bacon explosion, but didn't want to go all the way. Finally while shopping, trying to make up my mind about a few final ingredients, I remembered this stew and settled on blue cheese and fresh rosemary.

Ingredients:
- 125 g (4.4 oz) thinly sliced bacon
- 2-3 dL (~ 1 cup) chanterelles, chopped
- 100 g (3.5 oz) blue cheese
- 1 kg (2 lbs 3 oz) mixed beef-pork minced meat
- 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
- 2 dL (almost 1 cup) milk
- 2 eggs
- fresh rosemary, chopped
- salt & pepper
side: leek quinoa pilaf
- 3 leeks, sliced
- 4 dL (1 ²/₃ cup) quinoa
- 8 dL (3 ¹/₃ cup) water
- salt
salad:
- mixed lettuce
- mushrooms
- grape tomatoes

The bacon was fried till crisp, then removed from the pan and chopped into smaller pieces. In a bowl the bacon pieces were mixed with chopped chanterelles and crumbled blue cheese.

In a second bowl, the minced meat was mixed with finely chopped onions, chopped fresh rosemary, milk, eggs, salt and pepper.

Half of the meat mixture was placed in an oven-proof tray. The bacon-mushroom-blue cheese mixture was spread out on the meat and the rest of the was put on top as a lid. More salt and pepper on top. Baked at 200 C (400 F) for 1 hour.

Brunost

2010-10-10T10:10:00.000+02:00

Brunost (= brown cheese) also known as Myseost or Geitost (= goat cheese) is a Norwegian speciality, and one of those food items that I remember switching from hating to loving. Different varieties are made either from cow's milk, goat's milk or mixtures - but it is always made from whey.

As a child I remember being highly suspicious of this product: not only was it made of goat's milk - it was brown. But my mother loved it (still does) - back then I wasn't sure if this wasn't just part of her loving everything Norwegian. You could buy it in Denmark, but it was rather expensive, so whenever anyone we knew went to Norway my mother would ask them to bring her back a kg or two. Which would always be consumed surprisingly quickly upon delivery: thinly sliced on bread, possibly with slices of cucumber on top. My mother even had a special cheese cutter she only used for this cheese. The latter was due to its unusually soft texture.

Some years ago I saw it in a store in the US and was suddenly curious - would I still not like it, like I used to as a child, or had my tastes developed ? As you can probably guess, my tastes had indeed developed. Suddenly I found the sweet caramel with a hint of sharpness oddly pleasing. I still don't think I am as crazy about as my mother (quite frankly, I don't think I ever will be) - I certainly don't consume as much of it as she does, but from time to time I get some (here in Sweden it is of course readily available).

Russian Tea Cakes

2010-10-05T19:29:00.004+02:00

This is how it happened: We were getting close to the day that it would yet again be my turn to provide some egg-free baked delicacies for a work gathering, when suddenly Mrs. Throat-Erator tugged my sleeve and said: "Please make these so I can bring some to work for my birthday". I checked the recipe .. no eggs required. Then I checked with my boss about the detail of the nut allergy: "I'll survive pecans". And so I decided to make a large batch of cookies.

Ingredients:
- 760 g (~24 oz) margarine
- 860 g (~30 oz) flour
- 140 g (~5 oz) powdered sugar + more for rolling
- 3 tsp vanilla sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- 350 g (~12 oz) pecan nuts^[1]

The margarine was worked into the flour using the hands - the resulting mixture was quite sticky. The vanilla sugar, powered sugar, water and chopped pecans were worked into the dough - which was still rather sticky.

The dough was rolled into balls of about 2.5 cm (1 inch) diameter - in the end the cookies were a bit on the large side of what I'd expected, so I guess I'll aim for smaller somewhat balls next time, say 1.5-2 cm (³/₅ - ⁴/₅ inch) instead. The balls were placed on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and flattened slightly - to about 1 cm (²/₅ inch) thickness with the bottom of a drinking glass (this required a little patience and practice since the dough tended to stick to the glass). I got some 80 cookies out of this batch.

The cakes were baked at 162.5 C (325 F) for 25 minutes, then moved to a rack to cool.

The cool cakes were rolled in powdered sugar - and mighty delicious.

Since these go both by the name of Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies, I don't really know if they are truly Russian (or Mexican) - both seems unrealistic. But I do know that they go very well with tea, and I find them most appropriate since I'm currently drinking mainly Russian tea.

^[1] You'll find these cookies made with hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, macadamias... you name the nut, basically. I think I'd like to try some other nuts in this recipe one of these days.

Bacon & Egg (Spelt) Pizza

2010-09-30T18:43:00.000+02:00

Here's a concept that might be somewhat controversial: eggs on pizza. I know Some people don't approve - even I wouldn't want it all the time, but when I do want I think it's absolutely divine.
I made it this time on a spelt dough, but obviously that is optional.

Ingredients:
- 1 portion frozen spelt pizza dough
- durum flour (for rolling)
- ~ 250 g (~ ¹/₂ lb) chunky tomato sauce with garlic
- 125 g (4.4 oz) mozzarella, sliced
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 3 thin slices of bacon
- 2 eggs
- dried oregano
served with a salad:
- mixed lettuce
- chickpeas

The rolled dough was topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella slices, onion rings and bacon pieces. It was baked in the oven at 225 C (450 F). This time I baked it for 15 minutes, before taking it out of the oven and cracking the two eggs on top of it and putting it back in the oven for another 5 minutes. This was perfect for cooking the egg-whites but leaving the yolks runny.^[1] After removing from the oven the second time, the pizza was sprinkled with dried oregano and served with a simple salad.

And how was it?? In the words of my muse: "Honey, this is the best pizza you've ever made!"

^[1] If you want firmer yolks, I'd try baking 10 minutes before the eggs, 10 minutes with the egg. If you leave the eggs on for the entire baking time they get too much.

Pickled Red Tomatoes 1

2010-09-27T18:53:00.000+02:00

I decided to complete my (first) 'traffic light series' of pickled tomatoes with some red cherry tomatoes pickled with cinnamon - another experiment the outcome of which I am looking forward to learning.

Ingredients:
- 450 g (1 lb) red cherry tomatoes
- 220 g (8 oz) sugar
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) vinegar
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) water
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 2 + 2 tsp Atamon
for storing:
- 1-L (quart-sized) glass jar

In a pot the sugar, cinnamon, vinegar and water was brought to a boil before adding the rinsed tomatoes. The pot was brought back to boiling and the tomatoes were boiled for 3 minutes, causing the skin to come off of most of them.

Meanwhile the jar was prepared by filling it with boiling water, letting it stand for a few minutes to warm up the glass, then discarding the water. Immediately before filling 2 tsp Atamon was swirled around in the glass and then discarded.

The tomatoes were transferred to the jar using a slotted spoon.

The liquid in the pot was added 2 tsp Atamon and brought back to a boil before pouring it over the tomatoes in the jar and closing the jar tightly.

As can be seen the jar isn't all the full - I think I could have fit another 300 g of tomatoes in that jar (although maybe I should have reduced the volume of the liquid then).

I'm not sure how long these should stand before they're ready, but I guess I'll give them a couple of week for good measure.

Spelt Pizza Dough

2010-09-24T18:20:00.004+02:00

Having discovered how easy it is to make pizza dough, I decided to start making variations. Following my previous recipe for 4 portions of pizza dough, and substituting about half of the ordinary flour with spelt flour gave a dough that was somewhat darker.

Ingredients:
- 5 dL (2 cups) lukewarm water
- 50 g (ca. 2 oz) fresh yeast
- 500-600 g (1.1-1.3 lbs) wheat flour
- 500 g (1.1 lbs) spelt flour
- 4+2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp salt

The yeast was crumbled into lukewarm water, which was then added 4 tbsp olive oil. The first 500 g of wheat flour was stirred in before adding the salt. The spelt flour was kneaded into the dough in portions - towards the end I added just a little more wheat flour to get the right texture. The dough was then kneaded for a couple of minutes more before adding 2 tbsp olive oil, covering and leaving in a warm place to rise for 1.5 hours.

The dough was parted in 4 portions - some was used immediately for a potato pizza and the others were frozen for later use. The final result is a bit different from the standard recipe, but still very good.

Bear Roast

2010-09-19T18:51:00.008+02:00

Do you remember when I graduated? Although I took the time to celebrate this back then, there was something that bothered me - something that nagged. More specifically, what nagged was that although I did graduate the one big project that I'd worked on during my entire Ph.D. - the project which I'd estimate I spent some 60-80% of my time on, the project that took up the first 250 pages of my thesis - wasn't finished. It wasn't finished and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I had to move on. I had to leave it to persons unknown to me, to a future unknown to me. Would it ever be finished? Would I ever see that work published in any other form than the highly limited edition that was my thesis?

Several months ago now, I heard rumours that it had in fact been finished, but it wasn't till recently that it was submitted to one of the more prestigious journals in my field - and a few weeks later it had been accepted for publication after peer-review. This past Friday it appeared on the web site of the journal in question. In a week or so it'll be two and a half years since I graduated, so this all comes with a sense of justification: if it took this long to finish the project, I couldn't have finished it by just staying 3 months more.

But enough about that. This calls for a celebration! And what better way to celebrate than to take some time to cook a very special meal.

Other recent events include the beginning of bear hunting season in Sweden. I've been eager (to put it mildly) to taste bear for quite a while, so when a few weeks ago I saw a piece of frozen bear at one of the butchers in Östermalmshallen (one of the big in-door markets in Stockholm) I decided to splurge and bought it.

In a moment of karmic balance I decided to thaw the piece of bear on the very day the paper appeared online - that is: before I knew that it was going to be released on that day.

Ingredients:
roast:
- lard
- 4 small cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1.3 kg (~ 3 lbs) bear roast
- salt & pepper
- ~500 g (~ 1 lb) red boiling onions
- 1 L (~ 1 quart) water
sides:
- boiled potatoes
- 3 thin slices of bacon
- 170 g (6 oz) crayfish tails
- 200 g (7 oz) black chanterelles
- ¹/₂ dL (¹/₅ cup) cream
- ¹/₂ dL (¹/₅ cup) pan juices
- salt & pepper
- pickled green tomatoes
salad:
- green leaf lettuce
- pea sprouts
- sun-dried tomatoes
drink:
- Bollinger Special Cuvée

First I took the piece of bear and slit several deep narrow holes in it with small sharp knife. In each hole I stuffed several thin slices of garlic. Secondly, the roast was rubbed on both sides with generous amounts of salt & pepper. In a large pan on high heat, the roast was seared in lard on both sides until darkened appreciably. The roast was then placed in an oven-proof tray together with the boiling onions and 1 L of water. The roast went in the oven at 175 C (350 F) for 2 ¹/₂ hours (opening the oven occasionally to pour some of the pan juices over the roast) before being removed to a cutting board, covered with foil and left for 20 minutes before slicing.

The boiling onions were transferred to bowl (to be served as a side with the roast). ¹/₂ dL of the pan juices were set aside for the sauce and the rest (about 5 dL) was frozen as 'bear stock'.

While the roast was still in the oven, the salad was prepared, and the potatoes were boiled in lightly salted water.

While the roast was resting before slicing, the bacon was fried till crisp, then removed from the pan, chopped and set aside. The crayfish tails were fried in the bacon fat for a minute before adding the black chanterelles. After a few more minutes, the cream and pan juice were added. Once heated through, the sauce was ready.

Slices of bear roast were served with mushroom-crayfish sauce and bacon bits on top - salad, potatoes, onions and pickled tomatoes on the side.

So how was it?

The bear was excellent. Very tender and very tasty. This is most 'game' meal I have ever cooked - the meat was clearly recognisable as red meat, but it did have notes of something 'different' and these notes were stronger than when I've cooked venison or moose.

The black chanterelles were as delicious as I expected - this is the first time I've had them fresh (previously I only had dried ones), but I have to admit the crayfish didn't really do so much for the dish as I had hoped. I was going for some sort of Swedish surf^turf, but in the end the crayfish were too anonymous against the rest of the ingredients - so if I ever do this again, I'll leave those out (or maybe try to find something more bold).

This was the first time I tried my own pickled green tomatoes. They were a little firmer than I thought they would be, but the taste was pretty close to what I had in mind - sour, sweet and vanilla flavoured all at the same time. Perhaps a little too much vanilla. My muse didn't really like them, but I thought they went very well with the meat.

Roast Chicken with Spinach-Mushroom Stew

2010-09-16T18:47:00.001+02:00

This came about with quite some inspiration from the 'Sunday supper' of the September issue of Bon Appétit. Some ingredients were changed but the main idea is quite similar.

Ingredients:
tubers:
- 8 medium-sized potatoes, diced
- sunchokes (about half as much as potatoes), diced
- fresh thyme
- a little olive oil
- salt & pepper
chicken:
- a 1.3 kg (shy of 3 lbs) chicken
- salt & pepper
- fresh oregano
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) dry sherry
- 2 dL (⁴/₅ cup) water
spinach-mushroom stew:
- oil
- 2 yellow onions, chopped coarsely
- 3 portabello mushrooms, sliced
- salt
- 1.2 kg (2 ²/₃ lb) frozen spinach
- 1 jalapeño chilli, finely chopped
- pan juices from roast chicken

The potatoes and the sunchokes were rinsed, diced and put in a an oven-proof tray together with leaves of fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and a little olive oil. The tubers were roasted at 200 C (400 F) for 1.5 hours.

The chicken was rubbed with salt and pepper - and leaves of fresh oregano was put wherever I could find a spot (inside, under the wing, under the leg, in every crease of the skin .. etc.). The chicken was placed in an oven-proof tray and added the sherry and the water. The chicken was roasted in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for 1 h and 10 minutes.

The coarsely chopped onions were sautéed in a little oil, then added sliced portabello mushrooms and salt. After some additional minutes, frozen spinach was added together with a finely chopped jalapeño (not de-seeded). The pot was covered, but stirred occasionally until the spinach was thawed and heated through. Finally, the pan juices from the chicken roast were added and the stew was seasoned to taste with salt.

The tubers could quite possibly do with shorter roasting time, but the chicken - meat falling off of the bones goodness. The spinach-mushroom stew was a nice touch, and one that I think I'll be making variations on in the future.

Pickled Yellow Tomatoes 1

2010-09-12T18:37:00.003+02:00

When I recently pickled my first own batch of green tomatoes, I started thinking about pickling other tomatoes and using other spices.

First up are some yellow cherry tomatoes, which I decided to try out with jalapeño.

Ingredients:
- 450 g (1 lb) yellow cherry tomatoes
- 200 g (7 oz) sugar
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) vinegar
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) water
- 1 jalapeño chilli, halved
- 1 + 1 + 2 tsp Atamon^[1]
for storing:
- 2 ¹/₂ L (pint-sized) glass jars

The jalapeño was rinsed, halved but not de-seeded. The two jalapeño halves were put in the pot together with sugar, water and vinegar. After bringing to a boil, the rinsed tomatoes were added. The pot was brought back to boiling and allowed to boil for 2 minutes. This caused the skins to come off of the tomatoes and I decided they had probably had enough.

Meanwhile the glass jars were prepared by filling them with boiling water, letting them stand for a couple of minutes, and then discarding the water before swirling a tsp of Atamon around in each of them (Atamon discarded afterwards).

Using a slotted spoon the tomatoes were transferred to the warm glass jars, making sure to put one half of the jalapeño in each jar.

The liquid in the pot was added 2 tsp Atamon and brought back to a boil before being removed from the heat and poured over the tomatoes in the jars. The jars were then closed tight.

It looked like I could have used another 100-200 g of tomatoes and still have them fit in the jars I used - although it might have required concentrating the juices a little after boiling the tomatoes.

I'm not sure how long these should stand before opening and tasting them. According to my little pickling book, pickled chillies need some 4 weeks before they're ready...

^[1] Brand-name aqueous solution of sodium benzoate used as preservative.

Oude kaas

2010-09-08T20:33:00.003+02:00

When you go out for a drink in the Netherlands you can typically order some snacks with your meal. The selection of snacks varies from place to place, but there are certain classics which you find time and again.

One of those is Oude kaas: quite simply blocks of aged Gouda. Simple, yet brilliant.

On the way back from my most recent trip to Amsterdam I couldn't resist the temptation of bringing home a nice big piece of it. I had a lot of nice cheese this summer, but I think this one takes the prize ... so gooooooooooooooood!

Cucumber Chilli Salad

2010-09-04T17:08:00.001+02:00

The inspiration for this came partly from a traditional simple cucumber salad - and partly from the likes of green papaya salad.

Ingredients:
- 2 cucumbers, very thinly sliced
- 4 tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 4 red chillies, de-seeded, thinly sliced
- large bunch scallions, sliced
- large bunch parsley, chopped
dressing:
- juice of 1 lime
- approx. same volume of sesame oil
- 1 tsp honey
- salt and black pepper

The cucumbers were sliced and left in a sieve to allow excess juice to drip off while slicing the other ingredients. After mixing the dressing all the ingredients were tossed in a large bowl. The chillies and lime add a nice spicy and fresher touch to this cucumber salad.

Swedish Beer - Part VIII / Wisby Klosteröl

2010-09-01T18:56:00.000+02:00

This summer I spent a little time in Visby, home of Gotlands Bryggeri - makers of Wisby Pils (which I had already encountered). It turns out they make a whole range of beers, something which became clear to me during my time on Gotland.

While there I tried a couple of their beers, and I found Wisby Klosteröl ('monastery beer') particularly pleasing. They call it a 'fresh' beer because it's neither filtered nor pasteurised, but I found it a very refreshing and tasty as well.

I'm currently looking forward to tasting their Bulldog series of pale ales...

Pickled Green Tomatoes 1

2010-08-29T20:00:00.006+02:00

Here is something I've been wanting to do for a while - ever since I had pickled green tomatoes as a side at a steak house I went to 2 years ago. I had a reminder last year when a friend served me green tomato jam, but somehow it got postponed again. Lately I started thinking about it, and have been on the look-out for some nice green tomatoes. This morning I found some lovely green tomatoes at the local market - pretty small too, which is the best kind for pickled tomatoes.

Ingredients:
- ~ 500 g (1 lb) small green tomatoes
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) vinegar
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) water
- 200 g (7 oz) sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla-infused sugar^[1]
- 4 tsp Atamon^[2]
For storing:
- 2 ¹/₂ L (pint-sized) glass jars

The tomatoes were rinsed, and deep holes were punched in them with a small fork. In a pot, the water, vinegar and sugar was brought to a boil and the tomatoes were added - I used a pot large enough to hold all the tomatoes in a single layer, but if this isn't possible it might be a good idea to do them in batches. The heat was reduced and the tomatoes were boiled for 7-8 minutes.

While boiling the tomatoes, the jars were prepared: to warm them up they were filled with boiling water, allowed to stand a little before pouring out the water. Each jar was then added 1 tsp Atamon which was swirled around in the jar and discarded.

After boiling, the tomatoes were immediately moved to the jars with a slotted spoon. The liquid in the pot was brought back to a boil, then removed from the heat before adding 2 tsp Atamon and the vanilla. The liquid was poured over the tomatoes in the jars, and the jars were closed tight.

Now comes the waiting time - I understand they should stand for at least a couple of weeks before trying to enjoy them.

Update: It turns out they are pretty close to what I was going for. They are a little firmer than I expected and perhaps the vanilla flavour is a bit too much. For uses see here.

^[1] I'm really not sure if I should have used vanilla pod or simply vanilla seeds. Crossing my fingers here.
^[2] Brand-name aqueous solution of sodium benzoate used as the preservative here.

Lentil Potato Stew

2010-08-27T19:23:00.000+02:00

With heavy inspiration from this recipe, I first tried this dish back in January when the land was covered in fluffy white blanket and it was possible to walk on the ice from island to island. It's not nearly that cold yet, although the weather is changing more and more for fall these days. In my hands this soup became so think I'd call it a stew - or at least borderline so.

Ingredients:
- 125 g (4-5 oz) bacon, cut in smaller pieces
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 jalapeño chillies, finely chopped
- fresh ginger, finely diced
- yellow curry powder
- turmeric
- 1.8 kg (4 lbs) potatoes, diced
- scoop of flour
- 2 L (¹/₂ gallon) chicken stock
- 500 g (~ 1 lb) green lentils
- salt
- cilantro, for serving

In a large pot, the bacon was fried on medium-high. When crisp the bacon was removed, but the fat that had been rendered out was left in the pot. To this was added onion, garlic, chilli, ginger, curry powder and turmeric.^[1] When the onion had softened, the potato dices where added. A scoop of flour was added and the contents of the pot were stirred - just so the flour coated the potatoes. Then the chicken stock and the lentils were added. The pot was brought to a boil before covering and reducing the heat. After simmering for about an hour the stew was seasoned to taste with salt and served with bacon bits and freshly chopped cilantro on top.

^[1] Yellow curry powder of course contains turmeric, but I wanted a blend that was richer in turmeric.

Almonds

2010-08-23T19:09:00.000+02:00

When my parents came to visit me in California we rented a car and headed for a national park. While I was busy at the wheel observing the road ahead, my parents were busy observing everything else, discussing plants and animals as we went along. Somewhere in the Central Valley, I understood, we were passing by some almond plantations. And for all I know that's about as close as I've ever been to an almond tree.

Interestingly, I never saw fresh almonds for sale while I lived in California (despite California being the single largest almond producer world-wide). While on vacation in southern France this summer, I suddenly found fresh almonds at the supermarket one day. Needless to say, I bought a handful just to have a look.

The fresh almonds (lower left corner) could be peeled (with some effort) to leave the shell bare (upper right corner). Cracking the shell of a fresh almond revealed the skin of the almond below which there was a white, rather soft nut that didn't taste all that much like the almonds I usually get - I'd say the taste was reminiscent of fresh beechnuts (although I haven't had those in many years).

Letting the almonds dry for a month or so, the peel could no longer readily be removed from the shell. Cracking open the shell at this stage revealed a dried, shrunk almond (upper left corner). Although very thin and having a funny texture, this almond tasted much more like the almonds I usually get. Soaking the dry almond in cold water overnight, produced nuts (lower right corner) there were quite similar to the ones found when cracking open the fresh almonds.

Serbian Stuffed Peppers (2)

2010-08-16T19:46:00.004+02:00

As I believe I have mentioned around here recently, I suddenly find myself with better options for shopping chillies after I moved. When I saw the nice big bags of dried Anaheim and New Mexico chillies I remembered I had been told that Serbian stuffed peppers could be made using dried peppers. This excited me as I have had a hard time finding suitably hot, large chillies here in Sweden, so I decided to give it a go.

For the stuffing, I followed the old recipe (except for using a mixture of ground beef and pork). For the peppers I took a total of 12 dried Anaheim and New Mexico chillies, and let them soak in hot water for 20-30 minutes before de-seeding them. In hindsight I think it might have been easier to remove the veins before soaking them, but it wasn't too bad.

Unfortunately the chillies weren't as large as I had expected them to be after soaking. This meant that they were rather tedious to stuff, and that most of the 'stuffing' had to go in the tray not inside any peppers. For the water, I used the same water as I had soaked the chillies in (in order to add more flavour to the dish).

The chillies used had a very nice flavour - but I was quite disappointed regarding their hotness. Not nearly hot enough.

Kladdkaka

2010-08-01T18:16:00.006+02:00

There's chocolate cake and there's chocolate cake - and then there's kladdkaka. I guess it's symptomatic of my level of proficiency in Swedish that until recently I though kladdkaka was simply an abbreviation from chokladkaka, meaning 'chocolate cake' (yes, I assumed wrongly that chocolate in Swedish was spelled chokladd with double 'd') - when in fact it simply means 'goo cake'. The name hints at the fact that when done right, the centre of the cake is in fact quite gooey - soft, viscous and not at all dry.

By now you might be thinking of a good moist brownie - which is essentially what kladdkaka is. Tradition dictates that it is round and that wedges are served with a dollop of whipped cream. This was how I first encountered it, in the cafés in Stockholm where it is one of the staple cakes along with the ubiquitous cinnamon rolls.

I'd been wanting to try my hand at it for a while when a friend directed my attention towards the winning recipe (in Swedish) from the 2009 Swedish championships in kladdkaka (!!) - which I proceed to describe below (with minor modifications). The spiced fudge included in this recipe is pure luxury - the kladdkaka without the fudge is perfectly delicious in it's own right - although I suspect the fudge was part of what set it apart to become the winning entry in the kladdkaka competition.

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 340 g (12 oz) sugar
- 90 g (¹/₅ lb) flour
- 40 g (1.4 oz) powdered cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- ¹/₄ tsp salt
- 100 g (3.5 oz) unsalted butter, melted
fudge:
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) cream
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tsp powdered cinnamon
- 2 tsp powdered cardamom
- 200 g (7 oz) milk chocolate
to serve:
- whipped cream

The eggs and the sugar were whipped to a white foamy mass. Separately, the flour was mixed with cocoa, vanilla sugar and salt before stirring it into the sugar-egg mass. Lastly, melted butter was stirred in before pouring the batter into a greased and floured spring form (diameter ~ 22 cm / 8.5 inches). The cake was baked in the bottom of the oven at 175 C (350 F) for 20 minutes.

While the cake was cooling a bit, the fudge was prepared. This is where I deviated from the original recipe: as I don't have a mortar I used powdered cinnamon and cardamom rather than freshly (lightly) crushed cinnamon sticks and cardamom seeds. The original recipe brings the cream, honey and spices to a boil, then lets it stand for minutes to extract flavours from the spices before reheating, filtering off the bulk of the cinnamon sticks and cardamom seeds and mixing with the milk chocolate. Since I used powdered spices, there was no need for filtration, and thus no real reason to let the warm cream stand to extract flavours - I simply let the cream stand long enough to break the milk chocolate to bits before mixing.

The fudge was applied on top of the cake and the whole thing was cooled in the fridge for 1.5 hours before serving with freshly whipped cream - delicious perfection.

It's rather heavy, so I didn't have enough guests to finish it off right away. Leaving it in the fridge overnight, I found that the texture wasn't quite right the next day - at least not when coming straight out of the fridge. Also, I do think less fudge could suffice.

Ch'ti

2010-07-25T16:35:00.004+02:00

On a recent trip to France, I finally had an occasion to try Ch'ti Blonde - something I've been wanting to ever since I saw the French comedy Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis. Once again a French beer brewed quite close to the border with Belgium..

It was a quite pleasant experience on the whole. Very drinkable - the 6.4% ABV are well-masked.

Ungerslaw

2010-07-02T18:47:00.001+02:00

For a couple of years I lived together with some friends in a house in California. On of them made - from time to time (and as I recall it often as a side to a nice grilled roast, tri-tip or something like that) - a coleslaw that was IMHO the best I've ever had. When I asked him about the recipe he said the 'secret' was the fresh, home-made mayonnaise - and then told me how to make it. As a tribute to him I name it "Ungerslaw".

Ingredients:
- 1 head of cabbage, finely sliced
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 red long sweet pepper, diced
- 1 can of corn
- bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
Mayonnaise:
- 1 egg yolk ^[1]
- zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
- 2 tsp mustard
- 3 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- salt
- pepper
- smoked paprika
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) rapeseed oil ^[2]
- 2 tsp lemon juice

The mayonnaise was prepared first: The egg yolk was beaten for 15 seconds before adding lemon zest, mustard, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika. After beating for an additional 30 seconds, the oil was poured in slowly with constant beating - the mixture emulsified as planned. Finally the taste was adjusted with lemon juice, salt and pepper. As the picture shows the resulting mayonnaise was rather yellow - no doubt my choice of vinegar and the amount of paprika used played a part in this. The mayonnaise was covered and stored in the fridge while cutting the vegetables for the 'slaw. The 'slaw was mixed in a large bowl and served immediately.

For this occasion, I served it with a beef roast that was covered (I didn't prepare, so there wasn't time to marinate) with a mixture of olive oil, vinegar, chopped chipotle chillies^[3], and salt; roasted at 175 C (350 F) for 1 hour and sliced thinly. The chillies made the roast nicely spicy - but only on the outside.

^[1] Since all chickens in Sweden are supposedly free of salmonella I just used an egg yolk from a fresh egg - had I been elsewhere, I might have gone shopping for pasteurised egg yolks or tried to sterilise the egg shell before breaking it.
^[2] Rapeseed oil is a comparatively taste-neutral oil (I see from the label on the jar of store-bought mayonnaise in my fridge that it also based on rapeseed oil). In particular you should be careful basing it on extra virgin olive oil, as it can give an off taste.
^[3] Chipotle chillies are smoked, dried jalapeños. In one of the shops near my new home there's a really good selection of dried chillies - a subject which I am sure I shall return to on this page.

Paprika Glazed Shrimp & Sausage Skewers

2010-06-22T17:17:00.002+02:00

The June edition of BACC sneaked up on us: not only have we been busy moving, we haven't even received our June edition of Bon Appetit. Fortunately there's Fluffy White Icing to remind us about it, and the original recipe available at the Bon Appetit website.

As always, a few modifications were made:

We didn't want to buy a bottle of sherry vinegar just to use 4 tsp of it for this dish, so we used instead a combination of red wine vinegar and actual sherry.
I thought (as often before) the amount of oil suggested sounded excessive, so I cut it in half - this did mean that there was only enough glazing for the initial glazing and nothing left over for serving, but I didn't really feel I was missing any.
We couldn't get the suggested sausages at the store we went to. It was hard to tell if any of the sausages at the store were in fact fully cooked or not. We ended up picking up a couple of beef/lamb merguez, which may have been a slight mistake (see below), and slicing them so thinly that we thought they had a chance of getting cooked during the broiling.
Yes, that's right: we used the oven broiler instead of a grill.

Ingredients:
- ~ 20 shrimp, peeled
- 300 g (²/₃ lb) beef/lamb merguez
- 1 red onion, cut in wedges
- 8 small tomatoes
- bamboo skewers
glazing:
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) olive oil
- 5 tsp sherry
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ¹/₂ tsp salt
- ¹/₂ tsp pepper
- 3 tsp smoked paprika
- bunch of fresh thyme
to serve:
- asparagus, broiled
- lettuce on the side

The glazing was made by stirring all the ingredients together.

Shrimp, sausage slices, onion wedges and small tomatoes were skewed, placed on a foil-lined baking sheet and glazed with the glazing.

After 8 minutes under the broiler, they came out and were allowed to stand while broiling the asparagus (which took another 10 minutes).

Then served. The glazing worked really well on the shrimp, but the merguez were too spicy in themselves for the glazing to really make a difference, so in that sense I think another sausage would have been more interesting.

And in writing this, I've just realised that we've ended up using asparagus for every single BACC we've entered into so far... honestly, I swear we don't eat asparagus as often as that might make you think.

Salami & Pesto Pasta

2010-06-15T19:24:00.003+02:00

Being out to lunch one day I noticed on the menu that a special of the day was pasta with pesto and salami - I didn't order it, but I thought it sounded pretty good so I made a mental note of it. By the time I got round to trying it I had decided that it would work nicely to add some rocket to the mixture. I've been using Milanese salami for it so far, but that's hardly essential.

Ingredients:
- wholegrain linguine
- pesto
- fresh rocket
- Milanese salami

The pasta was boiled in lightly salted water, the rocket was rinsed and the salami was cut in strips - everything was stirred together with some pesto. Served immediately..

Swedish Beer - Part VII / Carnegie Porter - Part II

2010-05-31T20:49:00.001+02:00

Since I'm about to move, I figured it would be a good time to bring out one the bottles of Carnegie Porter I have been storing in a dark, undisturbed corner of a cupboard in my kitchen since last fall and see how the taste has developed over the 7-8 months that passed since I had my first taste of it.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but it managed to surprise me no less: Not only is it smoother than I remember it from last fall, but it most notably quite a lot sweeter too - almost (certainly) too sweet for my taste.

However, as I am not moving very far this time, I plan to bring the rest of them with me to my new residence and see how they develop upon further ageing.

To be continued...

Asparagus & Pancetta Linguine

2010-05-19T19:40:00.004+02:00

For the May BACC various circumstances forced a number of modifications on the dish - although I believe it still carries the spirit of the original recipe - to wit:

Fettuccine did not appear to be available where we went shopping, so instead we went for wholegrain linguine.
Peas are not yet in season here in Sweden and as we did not feel like using frozen peas we left the peas out.
Turns out we did not in fact have any garlic (and we did not want to fetch some by the time we started cooking...)
Although we could easily have gotten some Parmigiano cheese, I decided to use the rest of our Pecorino cheese instead.
Since we are getting ready to move all our graters had been packed down, so for the cheese and the lemon zest we had to go for 'finely chopped' rather than grated - lending the dish a slightly more rustic feel.
I did not add any olive oil as that seemed a bit superfluous.
The dark green parts of the scallions were not stirred in but instead sprinkled on top together with last of the basil and parsley.

Ingredients:
- ~ 250 g (~ 9 oz) wholegrain linguine
- 80 g (2.8 oz) very finely sliced pancetta, cut in strips
- 250 g (8.8 oz) asparagus, cut in inch-long pieces
- 125 g (4.4 oz) scallions, sliced - parted by colour
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) cream
- ~ ¹/₂ dL (~ ¹/₅ cup) pecorino romano, finely chopped - parted
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon
- zest of ¹/₂ lemon, finely chopped
- fresh parsley, chopped - parted
- fresh basil, chopped - parted
- salt & pepper

The pasta was boiled in lightly salted water - when cooked the water was poured off, but about 2.5 dL (1 cup) of it was retained for later use.

While cooking the pasta, the pancetta was fried crisp.^[1] The pancetta was removed from the pan and the asparagus pieces were sautéed in the pancetta drippings for 3-4 minutes before adding the paler ²/₃ of the scallion slices. After an additional 2 minutes this mixtures stirred into the cooked pasta and added cream together with lemon juice, lemon zest, about 1 dL (²/₅ cup) of the pasta ccoking liquid, most of the cheese, half of the parsley, and half of the basil. The mixture was tossed and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

It was served immediately, sprinkled with pancetta pieces, the dark green slices of the scallions and the rest of the cheese, the parsley and the basil.

Delicious - despite all the short cuts performed. I've had pasta dishes with lemon before, but I cannot think of one where the lemon blended as nicely with the other flavours as in this one.

^[1] Pancetta is sometimes referred to as 'Italian bacon' - like other types of bacon it has been salt cured, but in contrast to most other types of bacon it has been spiced. This was actually my first time ever using it, and I found the spicy bacon smell from frying quite interesting. The variety of pancetta I bought was very thinly sliced (I would say that ordinary thinly sliced bacon is about 5 times as thick as this pancetta) - but since it was my first time buying it I don't know if that is the norm for pancetta.

Potato-Spinach Curry

2010-04-28T19:06:00.001+02:00

Around New Year I went to London - for the first time ever (as being in Heathrow for a few hours doesn't really count). On one rainy day we went to a busy Indian restaurant and had a lunch special which included three different dishes. This is an attempt to emulate one of those dishes - and the following makes for rather a lot of it.

Ingredients:
- 2.7 kg (6 lbs) small potatoes
- 5 onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 orange adjoema chili^[1], finely diced
- salt
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground allspice
- 3 tbsp mustard powder
- 500 g (1.1 lb) frozen chopped spinach
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) cream

The rinsed potatoes were boiled in lightly salted water.

Meanwhile, the chopped onions were sautéed in oil in a large pan. After a few minuted the onions were softened and all the spices were added, followed by the spinach. The pan was covered while the spinach thawed. At last the cream was stirred in and left on the heat for a minute or two before removing.

The boiled potatoes were mixed with the onion-spinach mixture in a large bowl (or in this case in two large bowls) and served immediately. Goes nicely with naan - but the later will have to wait for some other time.

Update: For the bread, see here.

^[1] I happened to have one of these Surinamese chilies - in case you can't find one, a habanero would most likely work as a good substitute.

Sweet chili glazed salmon

2010-04-23T19:16:00.000+02:00

Mrs. Throat-Erator decided we should join in on the Bon Appetit Cover Challenge (BACC) hosted by White Fluffy Icing. Although we didn't start in January, this is not the first dish from that series that we made - but it is the first one to make it to this page (so far).

We scaled the dish down a bit and decided on sherry rather than rice wine - we didn't have either of the two so we had to get one or the other. As it turns out I expect to more readily find uses for the rest of a bottle of sherry and it was also easier to locate sherry in the specific Systembolaget store we ended up in that day. Finally we decided to add some grilled asparagus and serve the whole thing with wild rice.

Ingredients:
- 4 salmon fillets
- ¹/₂ dL (¹/₄ cup) sweet chili sauce
- 2 + 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 + 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely diced
- 1 large garlic clove, finely diced
- bunch of asparagus
- sesame oil
- 150 g (¹/₃ lb) sugar snap peas- 100 g (3.5 oz) pea sprouts
- 2 tbsp dry sherry
- boiled wild rice

The salmon fillets were placed on a foil lined baking sheet and covered with a glaze made by mixing the sweet chili sauce with 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp ginger. The salmon fillets were allowed to stand at room temperature for half an hour.

While waiting, wild rice were boiled.
The rinsed asparagus were placed on a separate piece of foil in the same baking sheet. The salmon and the asparagus were broiled for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile a little sesame oil was heated in a wok. To this was added the garlic and the rest of the ginger. After stirring for 30 seconds to a minute the sugar snap peas were added and stir fried for a couple of minutes. The sherry was added together with the pea sprouts and the rest of the soy sauce and stirred for about a minute.

I quite liked the end result. A reminder that marinating salmon isn't such a bad idea - most of the time I just have it 'plain'. I also liked the stir fried pea sprouts - in the past I've used them only in salads.

Pear Pie

2010-04-18T19:29:00.003+02:00

When I recently discovered I had never made this pie for my muse I was stunned: I didn't make this pie one single time in the past five years? Really? But I used to make it quite often..

Ingredients:
- 150 g (5.3 oz) margarine
- 240 g (8.5 oz) flour
- 125 g (4.4 oz) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- ¹/₂ tsp ground ginger
- 1 egg
- 1 can of halfed pears in syrup
optionally for serving:
- whipped cream

The margarine was cut in small pieces and worked into the flour by hand before adding sugar, vanilla sugar and ground ginger. The dough was then completed by working the egg into the mixture. The dough was left in the fridge for an hour before parting in two and rolling each piece.

One piece of dough was placed in a buttered and floured pie shell. Pear-halves were arranged on this pie bottom (in this case as many as could be fitted in - there were an excess of pear-halves in the can I used). The other piece of dough was used to form a lid over the pear-halves, and the pie was brushed with the syrup from the can of pears.

The pie was baked at 200 C (400 F) for 40 minutes - is delicious served warm with a dollop of whipped cream, but also works quite well cold.

Bean-Onion Salad

2010-04-14T18:53:00.003+02:00

This is a quick attempt to copy a very nice bean-and-onion salad I tried at a vegetarian buffet not that long ago.

Ingredients:
- 4 cans of beans (mixed brown, white and red)
- 1 large red onion
- 1 large yellow onion
- a large bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- salt & pepper

The canned beans were rinsed with cold water and left to drip off a bit.

The onions were peeled and quartered along the axis, each quarter of an onion was further quartered to give onion wedges.

The parsley was chopped coarsely.

The oil, vinegar, salt & pepper was mixed in a large bowl and everything else was stirred in.

I like the raw onions in this salad - but they become overpowering if not balanced by a reasonable amount of beans. On this occasion I had this salad as a side to some baked potatoes and a piece of baked fish.

Red Seafood Curry

2010-04-11T19:30:00.000+02:00

A good friend of mine concluded, after moving to Singapore, that all his previous attempts at making curries had been suboptimal at least in part due to the inferior curry pastes that has been available to him in the US. To back up his claims, he brought me over a selection of curry pastes from Singapore when we met up before Christmas - so thanks to him for providing the curry paste used here.

Generally, mini-eggplants are not available around here, so when I found some when I went to a new store, I immediately picked some up - thinking already of using one my packs of parallelly imported red curry paste.

Ingredients:
- sesame oil
- red curry paste^[1]
- 200 g (7 oz) crayfish
- 100 g (3.5 oz) shrimp
- 200 g (7 oz) squid rings
- 10 mini eggplants, quartered
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- coconut cream
- kaffir lime leaves
- salt
- large bunch scallion, chopped
for serving:
- boiled rice
- roasted peanuts
- fresh Thai basil

A little sesame oil was heated in a wok, then added a dollop of the curry paste, followed by the crayfish. After frying for 1-2 minutes, the shrimp were added and after an additional 1-2 minutes the squid rings. 1-2 minutes later, the quartered mini-eggplants were added, then the chopped bell pepper, dried kaffir lime leaves, the remaining curry paste and the coconut cream. The contents were brought to a boil before reducing the heat and letting it simmer for a few minutes. The dish was seasoned to taste with salt. At last the scallions were added and after a minute or so the wok was removed from the heat.

Served with boiled rice, roasted peanuts and fresh Thai basil.
Delicious. For my taste the spiciness of this dish was just right.
Now I just have to find out where I can buy more of similarly good curry paste - or if I can emulate it from more basic ingredients...

^[1] Curry paste brand: Dancing Chef.

Easter 'Hen'

2010-04-05T09:44:00.004+02:00

It's funny how sometimes nostalgia creeps up on you and you end up doing things that your parents used to do. Take Easter as an example: admittedly, I don't have a whole lot by way of Easter traditions, but recently I found myself wanting to bake this hen-shaped bread that I remembered my mother making for Easter. As I recalled it, it was mostly the shape that set it apart and I suspected that my mother had simply used her standard bun recipe for the dough. Upon asking I was informed that there was a special recipe, which I would receive via e-mail later.

After receiving said recipe and reading it, I concluded that it was in fact pretty close to the aforementioned bun recipe if only half portion, less sugar, more salt.
Ingredients:
- 50 g (1 ³/₄ oz) margarine
- 3.2 dL (1 ¹/₃ cups) milk
- 1 tsp sugar
- 50 g (1 ³/₄ oz) fresh yeast
- 1 + 2 + 1 eggs
- 700 g (ca. 25 oz) flour
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 walnut piece
- white and black sesame seeds
The margarine and milk was heated on medium until the margarine had melted, then the mixture was transferred to a large bowl and allowed to cool to about body temperature before adding the sugar and the fresh yeast. One egg was added and the first 500 g (ca. 1 lb) of flour was stirred into the dough. Then the salt was added and the rest of the flour was kneaded into the dough in portions. After kneading thoroughly the dough was left to rise for 40 minutes.

A baking sheet was lined with baking paper, and a hen was shaped - (NB: this was my first attempt and I'm sure there are other ways to do it) - a piece of dough was made into a flat, roundish piece to serve as the body of the hen, while two smaller pieces were cut to make them roughly resemble a tail and a head. For the nest, two rolled pieces of dough were braided. Still having more dough a piece was cut to roughly resemble a wing and with the odd bits of remaining dough some small 'stones' were added beneath the nest.

Two whole, raw eggs were washed and then placed so it looks like the hen is sitting on them in the nest. Finally the entire hen was brushed with a beaten egg, decorated with sesame seeds and a walnut piece (as the eye), and baked at 200 C (400 F) for 20 minutes.

Served while still warm. The baked eggs in the nest are very much like hard-boiled eggs and my mother would usually add one for each person taking part in the Easter brunch. As I made it just for two people, I only used two. If one wishes, one could easily get more creative with the decorations.

'Shish Shawarma'

2010-04-02T10:01:00.000+02:00

In the past, I resorted to buying my shawarma spice mainly because I couldn't find out exactly what went into the mix. When I recently came across a good recipe it turned out the only ingredient I didn't already have was cloves.

Although perhaps not very authentic, I decided to try out broiling the pieces on bamboo skewers after marinating - making it some kind of 'shish shawarma'.

Ingredients:
- ¹/₄ tsp ground cloves
- 1 ¹/₂ tsp ground allspice
- ¹/₂ tsp ground coriander
- ¹/₄ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- ¹/₂ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- juice of ¹/₂ lime
- 350 g (12 oz) strips of beef
- 2 onions, cut in wedges
- 4 potatoes, sliced 6 mm (¹/₄ inch) thick
bulgur:
- 2 dL (⁴/₅cup) bulgur
- water
- salt
- juice of ¹/₂ lime
- 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- fresh parsley, chopped

All the ground spices were mixed (this is what I'd consider the shawarma spice mix itself), then added salt, crushed garlic, olive oil and lime juice. The strips of beef and the onion wedges were marinated in this mixture for a little over an over.

Potatoes were peeled and sliced. The marinated beef and onion were put on bamboo skewers together with the raw potato slices and broiled for 12 minutes.

The bulgur was boiled in lightly salted water, then mixed with lime juice and chopped parsley and chopped cherry tomatoes.

The end result might not be conventional: 'shish' is normally as in 'shish kebab', and I don't think I've ever had shawarma or kebab with broiled potato before - but I thought it was quite good.

Cauliflower in Vinaigrette

2010-03-31T18:17:00.000+02:00

After seeing this recipe in a newspaper I wanted to try it - it was suggested as a side for roasts, but I felt like something fast, so I just had it as a main with some creamy polenta on the side.

Ingredients:
- 2 heads cauliflower
- 2 red onions, finely chopped
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp mustard
- salt & pepper
- 2 tbsp capers
- large bunch fresh parsley, chopped
creamy polenta:
- 5 dL (2 cups) vegetable broth
- 1.25 dL (¹/₂ cup) cream
- 2 dL (⁴/₅ cup) polenta
- pepper
- grated pecorino cheese

The cauliflowers were rinsed and cut into florets, which were boiled in lightly salted water for 5 minutes.

While boiling the cauliflower florets, the vinaigrette was mixed by stirring together oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.

The boiled cauliflower was mixed with the chopped onions, the capers, the chopped parsely and the vinaigrette in a large bowl.

The cooking time of polenta varies quite a bit, but the general guideline is to boil with stirring until a suitable thickness has been attained. To make creamy polenta, the vegetable broth and the cream was brought to a boil, the heat reduced and the polenta was stirred in. It turned out that the polenta I used was of a fairly quick-cooking type, so after a few minutes I had a polenta the texture of a thick porridge. The pot was removed from the heat, and pepper and freshly grated pecorino cheese was stirred into it.

Served immediately. Upon tasting, the first thing we noticed was that somewhat reminiscent
of this potato salad - which in hindsight isn't surprising.

Huevadillas

2010-03-28T12:12:00.001+02:00

One Sunday morning I found myself with a few taco-sized flour tortillas that needed using and a couple of eggs. Thinking back to how I like melted cheese sandwiched between tortillas, I decided to have eggs in a similar fashion.

Ingredients:
- oil
- small flour tortillas
- eggs
A little oil was heated in a pan, and a flour tortilla was placed in the pan - on top of the tortilla, an egg was placed, the yolk was punctured and a second tortilla was placed on top. Cooking on medium-high heat the egg quickly solidified sufficiently to flip the thing over without getting bits of egg all over the place.

I call them 'huevadillas' - and ate the first batch with some ketchup, but I think I will revisit them later with some more elaborate fixings.

Stromboli

2010-03-19T19:26:00.000+01:00

Stromboli - or 'pizza roll' as one might be tempted to call it - is nothing less than American addition to the palette of Italian food, supposedly named after a 1950 American-Italian film starring a Swedish actress as a Lithuanian on the volcanic island Stromboli (near Sicily). One month ago I hadn't heard of ANY of these, but that all changed when a colleague brought some stromboli to work for lunch one day.

Ingredients:
- 1 portion frozen pizza dough
- durum flour for rolling
- ca. 150 g (5.3 oz) tomato sauce
- 120 g (4.2 oz) thinly sliced smoked ham
- 200 g (7 oz) mushrooms, sliced
- 1 red onion, cut in boats
- 125 g (4.4 oz) mozzarella, sliced
- 1 jalapeño chilli, finely cut
- bunch of fresh marjoram
- egg for brushing

The dough was taken out of the freezer the night before and left in the fridge to thaw, then rolled with durum flour just as when making pizza.

The rolled dough was topped with everything - not getting to close to the edges is a good idea here. The dough was then carefully rolled and transferred to a baking sheet lined with baking paper, brushed with a beaten egg and baked at 200 C (400 F) for half an hour.

After baking served as slices with a little rocket (arugula) - looks quite pretty doesn't it..

Linguine with Feta and Pickled Beets

2010-03-16T19:27:00.004+01:00

My muse introduced me to this idea in the purest form: simply pasta, feta cheese and pickled beets. Here it's given a little extra..

Ingredients:
- 200 g (7 oz) wholegrain linguine
- 100 g (3.5 oz) feta cheese
- 100 g (3.5 oz) pickled beets
- rocket (= arugula)
- 1/2 red onion
- 4-5 tbsp beet pickling juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- dried rosemary

The linguine was boiled in lightly salted water.

While boiling the linguine, the rest was prepared: the rocket was rinsed and left to drip off. Feta cheese, pickled beet and the onion were all chopped semi-finely.

When the linguine was cooked, the water was discarded and everything was stirred together in a large bowl - served immediately.

Italian Sausage Pizza

2010-03-13T18:02:00.000+01:00

Long time ago - when I was still living in California - I made a pizza with Italian sausages. Recently, I started thinking about this one again, and I thought I'd give it a go when I found some salcissia at the supermarket - although I was somewhat doubtful that these would be exactly like American "sweet Italian sausage".

Ingredients:
- 1 portion frozen pizza dough
- durum flour for rolling
- 285 g (10 oz) salcissia fresca
- ca. 150 g (5 oz) tomato sauce
- 1 onion, cut in thin boats
- 125 g (4.4 oz) mozzarella, sliced
- bunch fresh basil
- salt and pepper

While frying the sausages in a pan, the pizza dough was rolled out using durum flour for dusting. The tomato sauce was spread evenly on the dough. The onion was cut in boats by dividing into 16 pieces along the axis. The onion boats were laid out on the pizza.

When the sausages were done, they were sliced and placed on the pizza, followed by slices of mozzarella and leaves of fresh basil. The pizza was baked at 225 C (450 F) for 15 minutes.

Sprinkled with salt and pepper and served hot!

Chickpea and Red Pepper Soup

2010-03-10T19:39:00.001+01:00

Chickpeas and red peppers are some of my very favourite ingredients, so when I stumbled upon this soup, I knew I had to try it.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 5 large red peppers, de-seeded, coarsely chopped
- 3 onions, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 red chillies, de-seeded, finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground coriander seed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 3 cans chickpeas, each 240 g (8 oz) drained
- 2 L (¹/₂ gallon) vegetable broth
to serve:
- fresh mint
- lime juice

In a large pot, using a little oil, the onions were sautéed till just soft before adding the bell peppers. After an additional 10 minutes the garlic, spices, chickpeas and vegetable broth were added. The pot was brought to a boil before reducing the heat and letting the soup simmer for 40 minutes. The soup was partially liquefied with an immersion blender and seasoned to taste with salt and black pepper.

Served immediately with a little freshly squeezed lime juice and a few leaves of fresh mint.

Juullip Immiaa

2010-03-07T18:20:00.001+01:00

Someone close to me recently went on a business trip to Greenland and brought me back a bottle of Godthaab Julebryg (Nuuk Yule-brew).

Many elements of Greenlandic culture are in a sense also Danish - perhaps particularly the beers, as the brewing tradition was introduced to Greenland by the Vikings. Godthaab Bryghus (Nuuk Brewhouse) operated in close collaboration with a small chain of local breweries in Denmark, and true to Danish tradition they make this semi-dark Yule-brew. Fortunately for me bottles were still available when my friend was there in February.

Of course I'm interested in trying their other products, but it appears I may have to go to Nuuk and visit their bar to accomplish that...

Moose Meatballs with Pistachios

2010-03-05T19:35:00.000+01:00

This is based on some pistachio containing 'game' meatballs I had the good fortune of tasting a while ago. This didn't turn out quite the way those meatballs were - but still quite nice.

Ingredients:
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 64 g (2 ¹/₄ oz) pistachio nuts, chopped
- 500 g (1.1 lb) minced moose
- pepper
- 2 eggs
- a little milk
served with:
- boiled potatoes
- cornichons
- sliced pickled beet
- lettuce
- tzatziki

Minced moose, diced onions, chopped pistachios, pepper and eggs were added just enough milk to be able to stir the mixture - shouldn't be too liquid. Meatballs were shaped using a tea spoon and fried on the pan in a little oil.

The meatballs were served with potatoes boiled in lightly salted water, lettuce, tzatziki, slices of pickled beet and cornichons.

Onion Pizza

2010-03-03T18:44:00.002+01:00

For testing my first batch of my frozen pizza dough, I let myself be heavily inspired by this recipe.

The night before I wanted to make the pizza I took out one of the doughs I had put in the freezer.

Ingredients:
- 1 portion frozen pizza dough
- durum flour for rolling
- olive oil
- mustard
- 2 white onions, sliced
- balsamic vinegar
after baking:
- salt
- pepper
- parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
- rocket salad

The dough rolled out nicely, no differences to the freshly made variety. The rolled out dough was brushed with a little olive oil and mustard.

The onion rings were caramelised in a large pan and added some balsamic vinegar towards the end. The caramelised onion rings were spread on the pizza dough and it was baked at 225 C (450 F) for 13 minutes - when out out the oven, sprinkled with salt, pepper, freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano and served with rocket.

Delicious. Now I have three more easy pizzas waiting for me in the freezer.

Chicken with Pearl Onions

2010-03-02T21:07:00.003+01:00

Over the holidays I had occasion to do some shopping, and I happened to pick up a bag of nigella seeds. This is a spice I had been curious about for some time, and now I have a good amount to play with and try out some ideas. First, I tried it with chicken..

Ingredients:
- 900 g (2 lbs) chicken pieces
- salt
- pepper
- smoked paprika
- cayenne pepper
- ground coriander seeds
- nigella seeds
- 250 g (9 oz) red pearl onions
- 250 g (9 oz) white pearl onions
served with:
- quinoa, boiled
and:
- 360 g (13 oz) grilled red peppers
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon
- fresh coriander leaves

The chicken pieces were fried in a large, deep pan with all the spices, until well browned on all sides. The peeled pearl onions were added whole, the pan was covered and the heat was reduced to medium. Left while preparing the rest:

The quinoa was boiled in lightly salted water.

The grilled peppers and the coriander leaves were chopped coarsely and mixed with the lemon juice.

I was quite happy with the note the nigella seeds added to the chicken.

Shrovetide Buns (Egg-free)

2010-02-27T14:45:00.008+01:00

While it is pointless to whip up an egg-free dough for a bun filled with an egg-based custard, it makes sense if you remember that Shrovetide buns can also be jam-filled. For these I used extra margarine as well as extra milk to make up for the missing egg in the dough.

This is a wee bit late for the season this year, but here goes anyway..

Ingredients:
- 150 g (¹/₃ lb) margarine
- 1.5 dL (²/₃ cup) whole-milk
- 50 g (ca. 2 oz) fresh yeast
- 5 tbsp sugar
- 400 g (14 oz) wheat flour
filling:
- ca. 200 g (7 oz) raspberry jam
glazing:
- powdered sugar
- optional powdered cocoa
- water

The margarine and milk was heated on low heat in a small pot until the margarine had melted, then transferred to a large bowl and allowed to cool until lukewarm. The fresh yeast was crumbled into the lukewarm milk-and-margarine, then the sugar was stirred in followed by the flour. The dough was kneaded for some minutes, then covered and left to rise for 1 hour.

After rising, the dough was rolled out to approximately 40 x 45 cm (ca. 15" x 18") and cut in 12 pieces. A largish tsp of raspberry jam was placed in the middle of each piece of dough and the dough was folded around the jam and the resulting buns were placed on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. The buns were then covered and left to rise on the sheet for 45 minutes.

The buns were baked for 10 minutes at 225 C (450 F) - and it appears I need to improve my technique for closing the buns as some jam ran out onto the baking sheet during baking.

The buns were served with a freshly applied glazing made by stirring together water and powdered sugar - approximate amounts (for one bun): 1 tsp water + 6 tsp powdered sugar (for a nice chocolaty variation substitute 1 or 2 tsp of the powdered sugar with powdered cocoa).

Frozen Pizza Dough

2010-02-26T17:32:00.002+01:00

The next logical step after establishing that pizza dough can be made the day before and kept in the fridge until use was to try to freeze it. This would also allow me to make such a large batch of dough that I could use an entire pack of fresh yeast..

Ingredients:
- 5 dL (2 cups) lukewarm water^[1]
- 50 g (ca. 2 oz) fresh yeast
- 1050 g (2.3 lbs) wheat flour
- 4 + 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp salt

The fresh yeast was crumbled into the lukewarm water and stirred, then added 4 tbsp olive oil and half of the flour. The salt was stirred in before adding the rest of the flour in portions while kneading the dough. The dough is perfect when so much flour has been added that the dough is neither sticky nor crumbly when pressing it between your thumb and your index finger - after kneading it for some extra minutes, the ball of dough was coated with 2 tbsp olive oil, the bowl covered and the dough allowed to rise for 2 hours before parting in four (each portion good for a pizza some 30 x 40 cm (12" x 15")). They were then immediately put in the freezer.

^[1] Conveniently made by mixing 3 dL cold tap water and 2 dL boiling water - needed only to stand for a short while to cool to lukewarm.

Banana cake (test)

2010-02-23T19:34:00.000+01:00

Last time I was baking my banana cake, I realised halfway through that I didn't actually have any baking powder - the packet I thought I had turned out to be baking soda. Now, baking powder is (or at least can be) a mixture of baking soda and an acid, so in order to use baking soda in stead of the baking powder the rest of the ingredients have to be sufficiently acidic. This - as I've understood it - is not merely a question of leavening, but also one of taste. Baking soda in a batter with too little acid might result in a somewhat alkaline taste, which is not desirable in any cake I'm familiar with.

For these reasons it's not given that baking soda can be substituted for baking powder, but then a friend of mine pointed out that bananas are in fact somewhat acidic (as per this list) and therefore the banana cake might work out just fine with baking soda..

Naturally, such an idea had to be tested: are bananas sufficiently acidic to make banana cake using baking soda?

Ingredients:
- 100g (3.5 oz) margarine
- 140 g (5 oz) flour
- ²/₃ tsp baking soda
- 200 g (7 oz) sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 well-ripened bananas
frosting:
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate

While the margarine was melted in a small pot, the other ingredients were prepared in 3 separate bowls: the bananas was mashed with a fork, the flour was mixed with the baking soda, and the sugar, vanilla and eggs were whipped to a pale foamy viscous mass. The flour-mix and the melted margarine (which should be too hot) was stirred into the egg-foam and finally the mashed bananas were stirred into the batter as well.

The batter was poured into a greased and floured bread pan and baked at 175 C (350 F) for 52 minutes. After cooling in the bread pan, the cake was moved to a large plate and covered with melted dark chocolate.

After standing for several hours to let the chocolate harden, the cake was tested: it tasted just fine - so, bananas are sufficiently acidic...

Spicy Carrot Soup

2010-02-22T18:46:00.003+01:00

This is a soup that is guaranteed to warm you up on a cold day: intensely flavourful, spicy and with a touch of sourness too.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- fresh ginger, finely diced
- 1 habanero chilli, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 onions, diced
- 265 g (9 oz) celery root, coarsely diced
- 345 g (12 oz) carrots, coarsely diced
- 5 dL (2 cups) beef (tongue) broth^[1]
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon
- 170 g (6 oz) Turkish yogurt
for decoration:
- 350 g (12 oz) carrots, finely diced
- a large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
to serve:
- some bread

In a large pot, using a little olive oil, the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli was sautéed for about 5 minutes before adding the coarse cubes of carrot and celery root. After an additional 10 minutes, the beef tongue broth^[1] was added. The soup was brought to a boil before reducing the heat and letting it simmer for 40 minutes. The soup was liquefied using an immersion blender (carefully - as it was quite thick, it had some tendency to spatter if not taking care) before stirring in the lemon juice and the yogurt.

In a frying the pan, the small carrot cubes were roasted in a little olive oil and when done mixed with the parsley.

The soup was served with the carrot-parsley mixture on top and a freshly baked bun on the side.

^[1] Last time I made tongue taco I concentrated the broth down to 5 dL (2 cups) - this made for a rather concentrated broth. To obtain an equivalent one would probably need to use a combination of beef and vegetable broth - concentrated to half volume.

Buns (Egg-free)

2010-02-21T18:50:00.004+01:00

Continuing the egg-free baking theme I wanted to have an egg-free version of my basic bun recipe. To achieve this goal, I needed two slightly different egg-substitutes: some extra liquid for the dough (I went for soured/thickened milk) and something for brushing the buns immediately prior to baking (I went for whole milk). As an aside I felt like using whole wheat flour - and so it went..

Ingredients:
- 150 g (¹/₃ lb) margarine
- 5 dL (2 cups) milk
- 50 g (2 oz) fresh yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs) whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2.5 dl (1 cup) A-fil^[1]
- 130 g (4.5 oz) flax seed
- 100 g (3.5 oz) sunflower seeds
- a little whole milk for brushing
- poppy seeds for decorating

The margarine was put in a small pot together with the milk and heated on medium-low heat till the margarine was melted. This mixture was transferred to a large bowl and allowed to cool to lukewarm before adding crumbled fresh yeast and sugar. The first half of the flour was stirred in, followed by the salt, thickened milk, flax seed, and sunflower seeds. The rest of the flour was added little by little and kneaded into the dough until the dough had the right texture (I aimed for neither sticky nor crumbly). When enough flour was added the final dough was kneaded for an additional couple of minutes before shaping 32 buns and placing them on baking sheets lined with baking paper - with good distance between them. The shaped buns were covered with a cloth and left to rise on the baking plates for 45 minutes.

The risen buns were brushed with a little whole milk and sprinkled with poppy seeds before being baked in the middle of the oven at 200 C (400 F) for 15-16 minutes. After baking the buns were immediately moved from the baking plate to a grid for even cooling.

This worked quite well.

^[1] Lactobacillus acidophilus-fermented milk.

Banana-Chocolate Herring

2010-02-20T12:30:00.001+01:00

When I first came across the Icelandic speciality banana herring I was at a loss for words at first.

The sheer outlandish oddness of the dish never fails to stun people who encounter it for the first time.

That being said, it wasn't actually that long before we started brainstorming how to top this freakishness.

Credit should go to one of my dormitory friends for suggesting adding chocolate to the dish.

Once it was said I naturally had to try it. At least once. I don't make this often, but it still happens from time to time..

Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 4 tsp honey mustard
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 banana, diced
- 40 g (1.4 oz) 72% dark chocolate, diced
- 250 g (¹/₂ lb) plain pickled herring

The sour cream, mayonnaise and honey mustard was stirred together, then the paprika, banana and chocolate pieced were stirred in. Finally the pickled herring was added and stirred in so the herring pieces were coated in mixture. Covered and left in fridge overnight (or longer) before being served on wholegrain dark rye bread.

But how does it taste? Interestingly, the chocolate functions as a rather subtle addition to the flavour, but when served chilled the chocolate pieces add a welcome "crunch" to the texture. I should add that banana herring - with or without added chocolate - is quite rich and as such goes better as part of a larger selection of herring as well as other choices, such as a Danish Christmas lunch or similar..

Green peas (in white gravy)

2010-02-18T18:21:00.000+01:00

This is food I grew up with, and in my parents house it was simply known as 'grønærter' (literally 'green peas'), but in reality we're talking about more than just that. Peas and bits of carrot in a white gravy with parsley - to go with boiled potatoes and certain varieties of pork. Interestingly, my muse doesn't like it very much, so it went on the list of things-to-cook-while-home-alone. One of the things it is traditionally served with (and which goes well in my opinion) is the Danish speciality medisterpølse - a long, spiralling sausage which is first boiled, then fried. Sadly I haven't seen it here in Sweden, and for the moment I have no ambitions about making my own sausages - so I simply went for some nice bratwursts.

Ingredients:
- 300 g (²/₃ lb) carrots, peeled and diced
- 300 g frozen peas
- 50 g (2 oz) shortening
- flour
- milk (around 5 dL = 2 cups)
- salt and pepper
- parsley, chopped

The carrot pieces were boiled in a minimal volume of water for 5 minutes before adding the frozen peas. The pot was brought back to boiling and boiled for another 5 minutes.
In a separate pot, margarine was melted, then stirred in flour (the amount which I could take with my large ladle). This paste was stirred into the carrot and peas, adding milk in portions and stirring constantly until a decent texture gravy was obtained. Chopped parsley (NOT flat-leaf parsley) was stirred, the gravy was seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

Served with potatoes boiled in lightly salted water and a bratwurst.

Potato-Parsnip Mash & Beef-Chanterelle Stew

2010-02-17T19:20:00.000+01:00

Around the New Year I was visiting friends who introduced me to something I hadn't really considered: adding other tubers to mashed potatoes. This works quite nicely, so I had to try my hand at it making this potato-parsnip mash.

To go with that I decided on trying a variation on this beef stew - more specifically a wine based beef-tube chanterelle stew.

Ingredients:
mash:
- 4 parsnips, peeled
- oil
- 10 potatoes, rinsed and quartered
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) sour cream
- a little milk
- salt and pepper
stew:
- oil
- 1 onion, chopped coarsely
- flour
- 225 g (¹/₂ lb) beef strips
- 1 dL (²/₅ cup) red wine
- 450 g (1 lb) tube chanterelles
- 5 dL (2 cups) beef broth
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 3 dried juniper berries
- fresh rosemary
- salt and pepper

The peeled parsnips were drizzled with oil and baked in the oven at 200 C (400 F) for 1.5 hours.

While the parsnips were baking, I started on the stew: the chopped onion was sautéed in a large pot with a little oil, then removed from the pot. The strips of beef were coated in flour and browned on all sides in the same large pot with a little extra oil, then added the wine - stirred well to ensure no bits of flour left on the walls of the pot. Then the beef broth was added together with the tube chanterelles, crushed garlic, dried juniper berries and fresh rosemary. The pot was brought to a boil (took some time as the chanterelles were frozen), then the onions were added back, the heat was reduced and the stew was simmered for 45 minutes. At the very end it was seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

While the stew was simmering, quartered potatoes were boiled in unsalted water. When tender the water was poured off and the baked parsnips were added. The tubers were mashed with a ladle, and sour cream and milk were stirred in till a good texture was attained. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

The stew and mash was served with baked green beans (basically a very basic version of this baked green bean salad) and a glass of the red wine...

Cinnamon Rolls (Egg-free)

2010-02-07T18:55:00.006+01:00

Now that I'm living in Sweden I partake in 'fika' on a regular basis - to fika is to sit down with friends/colleagues/whoever and have some coffee and cake (although in my case it's tea and cake as I don't drink coffee). The majority of my fika experiences take place at work, and a substantial part of them occur at our weekly group meetings, for which we take turns at bringing bread and/or cake. It's sort of an unwritten rule that it should be home-baked, but that should be doable for someone like me.

Then my new colleagues told me about the tricky bit: our boss is allergic not only to nuts, but also to eggs. Off the top of my head I couldn't think of a single cake recipe in my repertoire that didn't include eggs - although after thinking a bit more about it I came up with one. Naturally, I felt compelled to overcome this challenge. Upon researching the subject, I found that there are in fact lots of recipes for baking without eggs on the internet. Never-the-less, I will post about here about my experiences with it.

For the first round, I chose the perhaps most quintessentially Danish/Swedish cake: the cinnamon roll. These are ubiquitous (if in somewhat different versions) in both Sweden and Denmark.

Ingredients:
dough
- 50 g (2 oz) fresh yeast
- 5 dL (2 cups) milk
- 125 g (4.4 oz) margarine
- ½ tsp salt
- 125 g (4.4 oz) sugar
- 5 tsp cardamom
- at least 900 g (2 lbs) flour
filling
- 150 g (¹/₃ lb) margarine
- 12 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 6 tbsp cinnamon

The milk and the margarine was mixed in a small pot and heated on low heat until the margarine was melted. The lukewarm mixture (let it cool for a little while if too warm) was poured over crumbled fresh yeast before adding sugar, cardamom, salt, and flour. The dough was kneaded for some minutes until smooth. The dough was covered and left to rise for a couple of hours (this was definitely plenty of time - if allowed to stand until the volume has doubled it should be sufficient).

While the dough was rising, the filling was made by mixing all the ingredients on low heat and then cooling the mixture to get a dark brown paste - if it's too runny it will cause problems later.

The risen dough was rolled out using a little little extra flour. The filling was spread evenly on the dough and then it was rolled into a log. The log was sliced and the slices were placed on a sheet of baking paper.

Tip: to prevent the rolls from uncoiling the outer end was stretched slightly and placed under the roll.

They were baked at 200 C (400 F) for 13-15 minutes.

Served warm - they can easily be frozen and re-heated in the oven. For the luxury version, they can be decorated with a frosting made from water and powdered sugar.

Cachaça

2010-01-31T20:18:00.004+01:00

As I mentioned previously, the farmland of the state of São Paulo was once used for coffee production, but not any longer. But what is it being used for? Somewhat ironically, it is being used for exactly the same crop which the coffee originally displaced: sugar cane.

Whereas sugar cane was originally cultivated for the sugar which was back then exported to the hungry sweet-toothed European markets, it is now grown with an other purpose in mind: production of 85% ethanol (i.e. 170 proof alcohol) - primarily for the fuelling of cars on the home market, but I saw the basically same product used also as a cleansing/disinfecting agent.

Then as now, some proportion of the sugar cane was channelled for a rather for a by-product. Letting raw, unprocessed sugar cane juice ferment and then distilling it results in cachaça. Cachaça is available in literally hundreds of different varieties - ranging in prize (and rawness) from the very, very affordable (well, in Brazil anyway) to the exceedingly expensive. If you're in Brazil you just need to find yourself a cachaçaria to be able to sample a range of them.

Naturally, I brought a bottle home for myself. While you can drink it neat, the more famous way is as caipirinha. I believe it's traditionally made by crushing limes and sugar, then pouring over sugar and cachaça. I opt for a somewhat different approach because I find it easier to mix it properly (and because it's easier for me to learn the right relative proportions this way): I squeeze out the juice of one lime, add about the same volume of cachaça, 2-3 tsp sugar, ice cubes and smaller pieces of the lime I just squeezed.

Delicious!

Yerba Mate (more applied mathematics)

2010-01-17T20:30:00.004+01:00

One morning at a pousada in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, I found myself with limited tea options. True: there were a number of different bags that I could chose to make a hot infusion from, but none of them were a straight tea. Personally disliking most flower, berry and/or spice teas I opted instead for the joker - the to me previously not encountered yerba mate. I was quite pleased with my choice. The resulting drink wasn't entirely unlike tea - straight tea, mind you - perhaps a bit smokier, but by no means too much for my taste.

When I found bags of yerba mate for sale at very reasonable prices in the supermarket I decided to import some myself (being back home again I see that I can buy it here, although not nearly as cheaply). It might not be the most authentically Brazilian thing to bring home, seeing as it is considered the national drink of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, but it's also commonly enjoyed in southern Brazil (as well as in other countries in South America).

While the drink made from yerba mate, commonly known as mate (pronounced ma-te), is quite like tea, there are a number of differences. For starters, the plant is actually a species of holly and the caffeine content is generally higher than in tea (though not as high as in coffee). Supposedly, a strongly bitter and disagreeable taste results if one pours boiling water on yerba mate. Water at 80 C (176 F) is recommended. Not wanting to find a thermometer, I opted instead for mixing proper amounts of boiling water (i.e. 100 C = 212 F) and tap water, which I assumed to be at room temperature (20 C = 68 F). Since I'm mixing water with water I don't have to worry about the specific heat capacity and the calculation simplifies quite a bit. Setting the volume of boiling water to x and the volume of tap water to y, we get (ignoring units):

100x + 20y = 80(x+y)
20x = 60y
x = 3y

which is to say that I should use 3 parts boiling water to 1 part tap water.

Another interesting difference to tea: The dried ground leaves end up as a very fine powder - much finer than any tea I've ever had. Accordingly, when I made my first pot of mate, some of the powder wasn't retained by the sieve I used. The drink had a slight cloudiness to it at first, but then the particles settled to the bottom of my tea cup. Of course, I have no right complain - drinking, as a I am, mate like a know-nothing barbarian. Tradition dictates that mate be drunk through a specially designed metal straw (called a bomba or bombilla) from a hollowed gourd.

Swedish Beer - Part VI / Yule Ales

2009-12-30T18:39:00.002+01:00

Living now in Sweden, I expected certain traditions regarding Christmas and beer to be observed. I was not let down. After I returned from Brazil, Systembolaget had rearranged some of their goods to make space for a few shelves dedicated to Christmas beers. Anticipating pre-Christmas visitors I picked up a handful.

Åbro Julbock didn't quite live up to my expectations - while it was dark and clearly in the style of Scandinavian Christmas beers in general, it seemed lacking in taste when compared to the two excellent Christmas beers from Nynäshamn Ångbryggeri and Nils Oscar. The Winter Ale from Oppigård was a pleasant surprise: true to its name, and unlike the others it is actually an ale.

Jackfruit

2009-12-23T15:00:00.000+01:00

I recently went to Brazil and one of the cities I visited was the city of Ribeirão Preto, in what was once the heartland of Brazilian coffee production. Now, according to locals, the only coffee trees that remain in Riberão Preto are those separating the two directions of traffic down the middle of Avenida do Café. On the grounds of what used to be one of the very largest coffee plantations in Brazil, but which now belongs to the Ribeirão Preto campus of USP (Universidade de São Paulo), one finds the Plínio Travassos dos Santos municipal museum and it's direct neighbour, the Coronel Fransisco Schmidt coffee museum.

Shortly after entering the municipal museum a lady working there inquired as to my origin, and my attempts to explain Sweden were initially stumped by my lack of proficiency in Portuguese (as far as I could understand the only language she spoke). Then when I found the museum's collection of coins which contained a few Swedish coins, I was able to tell her Suécia. After trying to explain to me some details of a painting of the coffee plantation that used to be there she gave up on me for a while, only to come to me later to make sure that I also visited the neighbouring coffee museum.

Guiding me through the garden towards the coffee museum, she suddenly pointed to some rather large fruits sitting several meters up a tree in the garden and exclaimed "Jaca". Judging alone by size of the fruits I guessed that these might be jackfruits - which is correct according to wikipedia. Not thinking much more of it I entered and quickly toured the coffee museum. The quickness of my tour was due mainly to (a) the relatively modest size of the coffee museum (b) my poor ability to read Portuguese (even if better than my ability to speak it) - more so than the fact that I don't actually drink coffee. Upon exiting the coffee museum, I found my new friend approaching with a plate of palish yellow pieces of fruit flesh.. yes, it was time for me to taste the jackfruit.

My new friend proceeded to show me how each seed sits in a coat of fruit flesh, which can be torn from the fruit and eaten. It was quite sweet and personally I rather liked it.

Bowmore Laimrig

2009-12-12T19:16:00.002+01:00

As it turns out this purchase was more special than I realised at first.

Passing the shelf with whiskey, someone nudged me and asked if I didn't want a bottle. Well .. put like that .. how could I not? I glanced over the selection.. what to choose: something new or an old favourite?

When I did pick Bowmore Laimrig, it was based partly on my previous experience with Bowmore and partly on the lovely amber colour. Little did I know that what I was buying was something I couldn't have bought any old place: Bowmore Laimrig is made especially for the Swedish market and is sold exclusively by Systembolaget.

The beautiful colour that caught my attention in the first place is no doubt influenced by the two-stage ageing: first in old bourbon casks and then in old Oloroso sherry casks. The latter of these is likely what lends the taste a particularly smooth edge - the smokiness comes out much in the after-taste in this one.

Liver with Bacon and Capers

2009-12-08T18:20:00.000+01:00

Not so long ago I went out for lunch. My eyes scanned the short menu and upon seeing the 'Veal liver with bacon and capers in red wine sauce' there was no turning back. I had to try that. And after trying it, I had to make it myself as well.

Ingredients:
- potatoes
- green beans
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 50 g (2 oz) thinly sliced bacon
- 650 g (1.4 lbs) beef liver, sliced
- salt & pepper
- 1 dL (¹/₂ cup) red wine
- 1 dL (¹/₂ cup) cream
- capers
salad:
- lettuce
- baby plum tomatoes
- pea sprouts

I started by preparing the salad, then rinsed the potatoes and boiled them in lightly salted water. The green beans were boiled in lightly salted water in a separate pot (on account of needing less time).

The bacon was fried till nicely crisp, then removed from the pan and chopped - in the same pan, the liver slices were fried with salt and pepper. When the liver slices were done, they were removed from the pan, and the onion rings were caramelized - then removed. Lastly, the red wine was added to the pan, allowed to concentrate a little before adding the cream to obtain a sauce.

The fried liver slices were served with bacon bits and capers on top. The potatoes with onion rings, and red wine-cream sauce, green beans and salad on the side. And a glass of the red wine..

Next time, I think I'll try a different approach with the red wine sauce - it wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite like the one I had at the restaurant either..

Black Balzam

2009-12-04T18:54:00.000+01:00

Having noted my taste in various spirits, a friend of mine picked my a bottle of this potion when he went to Riga this summer.

I hadn't heard of it before, and so was intrigued. Turns out its a herbal bitter - think along the lines of Gammel Dansk, Jägermeister, or Killepitsch.

I was also happy see that someone out there is keeping alive the old tradition of selling spirits in earthenware bottles.

Potato Pizza 2

2009-11-30T18:42:00.002+01:00

We read about a variation on this concept .. and realised it was sufficiently different to merit a post on its own. I think the two are equally good - just different.

Ingredients:
- 2 portions pizza dough
- olive oil
- 4 yellow onions, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- fresh thyme
- salt & pepper
- 8-10 potatoes, thinly sliced
after baking:
- parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated
for serving:
- fresh arugula (rocket)

The finely diced onions were caramelized in a little olive oil together with crushed garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper - then set aside.

Each portion of the pizza dough was rolled aided by durum flour.

Each pizza was topped with a layer of caramelized onions, then potato slices and sprinkled with oil, salt and pepper.

The pizzas were baked in the oven at 225 C (450 F) for 20 minutes.

After baking the pizzas were sprinkled with more fresh thyme and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano - and served with a little fresh arugula.

Danish Beer - Part VI / Bear Beer II

2009-11-26T18:14:00.000+01:00

Danish brewery Harboe's is probably most famous for Bjørnebryg^[1] - which would translate as 'Bear Brew', but in the US I saw it sold under the name 'Bear Beer' (in Trader Joe's) - with the trademark polar bear on the label. Interestingly, when I bought Bjørnebryg in the US it was probably the first time in my life I ever bought it - and mainly for warped nostalgic/patriotic reasons. Thing is - to my mind Bjørnebryg has a rather dismal reputation: it's not famous for being a particularly good beer, but much more so for being a relatively cheap strong beer (traditionally 7.7% ABV). In short, it has the reputation of being a beer for alcoholics.

But if Bjørnebryg's raison d'être is it's comparatively good alcohol/price ratio rather than the taste experience itself, then that begs the question of why the Swedes seem to want a low-alcohol content version of that beer? While Systemet sells Bjørnebryg holding 7.2% ABV, some Swedish supermarkets sell a version with 2.8% ABV. Naturally, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, as I expected, there is no good reason for buying this beer. And the real one is so intensely alcoholic that I ended up mixing the two for a more drinkable (if not memorable) compromise.

^[1] While Danish brewery Carlberg also sells a strong beer leaning on the imagery of the raw power of exotic animals (Carlsberg Elephant Beer, 7.2% ABV) this sales tactics not unique to Danish breweries as witnessed by e.g. the Finnish Kahru and the American Rhino Chasers.

Yggenyk Cookies

2009-11-22T19:12:00.000+01:00

When I was a child one of the stories I really enjoyed was the story about the yggenyks (which are three-legged birds) stealing the round tower in Copenhagen. The yggenyks then demanded a ransom of yggenyk cookies for returning the popular tower. The book even had the recipe for authentic yggenyk cookies - complete with a warning not to leave the window open when baking them since yggenyk might get attracted by the lovely scent. I, of course, loved these cookies as a child too.

Earlier this year, I felt like making yggenyk cookies myself and googled the subject. This is when things got complicated. Spellings varied 'yggenyk', 'yggenyg', 'ykkenyk' and I suddenly had three fairly different recipes all claiming to be the recipe for authentic yggenyk cookies. The three recipes were quite similar except for a few key issues: one didn't include eggs (seemed at the very least unusual), another didn't include any obvious leavening agent, while the last one called for both eggs and hartshorn.^[1]

It seemed the confusion stemmed at least partly from the fact that the author had in fact given two different recipes for authentic yggenyk cookies - one in the book I remembered, and another one in the book in which the yggenyks steal the queen's palace in Copenhagen demanding a cookie ransom (yes, a fairly similar plot).

After discussing the matter with my external consultant^[2] I opted for the recipe including both eggs and hartshorn... and was somewhat disappointed with the resulting cookies. They were not as hard as I remembered them, and in hindsight I guess I used too much hartshorn (the recipe calls for 'a pinch'^[3]). Some time went by and I tried again - the result was better, but still not quite to my satisfaction. On the third attempt I was finally learning to use sufficiently little hartshorn for the cookies not to rise too much.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (9 oz) granulated sugar
- 250 g (9 oz) margarine, chunks
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate chopped
- 3 eggs
- pinch of salt
- pinch of hartshorn
- 500 g (18 oz) flour
optional coating:
- 130 g (4.5 oz) milk chocolate

The margarine was cut in chunks and worked into the sugar using a ladle.^[4] The eggs were stirred in one by one, and then the chopped dark chocolate. Salt and hartshorn were added and lastly the flour was stirred in in three portions.

The dough was rolled into 50 balls which were placed on two baking sheets and baked sequentially on the top rack at 200 C (400 F) for 16 minutes each. Once out of the oven the cookies were transferred to a rack to cool.

The cooled cookies were flipped upside down and the bottoms were coated with melted milk chocolate (melted with three 20 second pulses in the microwave oven). The milk chocolate was allowed to harden before storing in cookie tins.

The resulting cookies were much like I remembered them (if still less hard), although the grown-up me has to concede it's basically just a chocolate chip cookie. I'm not sure I'd bother with the milk chocolate bottom coating next time - it didn't add that much to the overall result.

^[1] Hartshorn = Ammonium bicarbonate (aka 'powdered baking ammonia').
^[2] i.e. my mom.
^[3] In Danish 'a pinch' is 'en knivspids' - i.e. "as much as lies on the tip of a knife".
^[4] This part is clearly easier if the margarine is allowed to warm to room temperature first.

Green Enchiladas with Prawns and Chèvre

2009-11-18T18:30:00.001+01:00

I admit it: when I was living in California, I neglected enchiladas. Why? I'm not sure, I was vaguely aware that they existed, but for some reason I underestimated their potential. Last year I realised this had been a mistake when I went to dinner at a friend's place and had some enchiladas there. Then I kinda forgot about it for a while, until I saw a recipe for green enchiladas in bon appetit, but thought I couldn't do anything about it as I hadn't seen tomatillos anywhere since leaving California. But recently I found some at a market right here in Stockholm, and here follows the result.

Ingredients:
- 12 tortillas (medium sized)
salsa verde:
- 4 tomatillos
- 7 jalapeño peppers
- 2 cloves garlic
- juice of 1 lime
- salt
filling:
- 400-500 g (1 lb) tiger prawns
- 1-2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 large red onion
- small bunch fresh oregano
- 2 jalapeño peppers
- 8 scallions, chopped
- 150 g (¹/₃ lb) chèvre
topping:
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 avocado

I started with the salsa verde:
The tomatillos were de-husked, rinsed and boiled for 15 minutes, then blended with crushed garlic, jalapeño peppers, lime juice and a little salt.

The prawns were fried with ground cumin, then added onion boats, oregano, and finely chopped jalapeño peppers.

The bottom of an oven-proof tray was coated with a little less than half the salsa verde.
Working one at the time, the tortillas were added a line of prawn-onion mixture down the middle, then added chopped scallion and a little chèvre. The tortilla was then rolled and placed in the tray. The tray was nicely filled up once all the tortillas were rolled and the rest of the salsa verde was spread over them. They were baked at 200 C (400 F) for 20 minutes.

The enchiladas were served with freshly chopped cilantro and avocado wedges.

Delicious! Now I really want to make more enchiladas...

Grilled Zucchini & Eggplant Pizza

2009-11-15T19:22:00.005+01:00

Although I was quite happy with the recipe for pizza dough I picked up recently, one tiny detail did bother me: That the dough has to stand and rise for an hour makes for some rather late dinners if I make the dough when I come home from work.

So, I started thinking: what happens if I make the dough the evening before? Will it work? Or does yeast dough 'un-rise' if left for too long?

Well, only one way to find out.

The dough was mixed and kneaded just like in the other recipe, but after coating the ball of dough in a little olive oil and placing it in a bowl under film it was left standing overnight. The next morning the dough was parted in two equal portions, each wrapped in film and stored in the fridge until after work. The doughs were rolled with a little durum flour as usual - and the result was just as great as always. So, now the question is: for how long can I store pizza dough in the fridge?

Anyway - this batch was topped with:
- tomato sauce
- mozzarella, sliced
- black olives, sliced
- 1 eggplant, sliced and broiled
- 1 zucchini, sliced and broiled
after baking sprinkled:
- salt
- pepper
- dried oregano
- fresh rocket salad
served with:
a glass of Chilean Errariuz Pinot Noir - a very smooth red wine

Swedish Beer - Part V / Oppigård

2009-11-11T18:56:00.003+01:00

Systemet carries a whole selection of beers from Swedish microbrewery Oppigård - so far I have seen Golden Ale, Single Hop Ale, Summer Ale and Starkporter - and they are generally very good. I'm looking forward to trying the Winter Ale, which I expect to be available any time now...

The great beer aside, there is another detail which I quite like. The brewery started selling beer as recently as 2004 and the labels say Gott öl från Dalarna - Början på en tradition which translates as Good beer from the Dales - The beginning of a tradition. I say: Skål to that.

Leek-Lemongrass Soup

2009-11-07T18:39:00.001+01:00

Seeking inspiration for a soup I came across the notion of a leek and lemongrass soup - and immediately thought: that sounds good... soup with lemongrass sounds like just what I want right about now.

Ingredients:
- 6 leeks, sliced at 45 degree angle (to give oval slices)
- 3 sticks lemon grass, finely cut
- oil
- juice of ¹/₂ lemon
- 3 egg yolks
- 6 tbsp Turkish yogurt
- 1.5 L (6 cups) vegetable bouillon
- ground nutmeg
- salt & pepper
coriander raita
- juice of 1 lime
- same amount olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 8 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 bunch coriander, coarsely chopped
for serving
- bread

The coriander raita was prepared first, so it could stand while preparing the soup. The juice of a lime was stirred with an equal amount of olive oil, then added salt and pepper. Finally, coarsely chopped coriander and finely sliced scallions were stirred in.

For the soup, leeks and lemon grass were cleaned, cut and mixed. The leek-lemongrass mixture was sautéed quickly in a little olive oil in portions (if you have a really huge pan you might get away with doing it in one go) making sure not to give them so much that the leeks browned or turned soft. The sautéed leek-lemongrass mixture was collected in a bowl and added lemon juice.

The egg yolks were stirred together with the yogurt and this mixture was stirred into hot (recently boiling) vegetable bouillon. Then the leek-lemongrass mixture was added together with ground nutmeg. The soup was brought to a boil and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. Then removed from the heat and served immediately with coriander raita on top and bread on the side.

Mint Julep Cake (Round 1)

2009-11-03T18:55:00.017+01:00

I happened upon this concept one day as I was searching for ways to use the rest of a can of sweetened condensed milk - I didn't go for it on that day as I lacked several other key ingredients, but it wasn't long before I returned... that it ended up being a project which took me several days to complete, is then another matter.

Ingredients:
- 340 g (12 oz) flour
- 400 g (14 oz) sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¹/₂ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 225 g (8 oz) margarine
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) A-fil^[1]
- 4 eggs
butter bourbon sauce:
- 75 g (2.6 oz) margarine
- 85 g (3 oz) powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tsp bourbon (I used Jack Daniels)
white chocolate ganache:
- 1 can (397 g / 14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 300 g (10.6 oz) white chocolate
- 6 tbsp mint syrup

In a large bowl was stirred together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla sugar - this dry mixture was then left with a crater in the middle.

In a separate bowl was whisked together margarine, a-fil, and eggs (hand-hell mixer on low setting). This wet mixture was then then whisked into the dry mixture (above) - at first on low speed to merely mix the two, and then 3 minutes on medium speed to create a homogeneous batter.

The batter was poured into a buttered and floured 9 inch spring form and baked at 175 C (350 F). It took an hour and 10 minutes before the cake was sufficiently done (knife inserted at the middle came out clean) - obviously a bundt cake or a sheet cake would require different baking times.

While the cake was baking the butter bourbon sauce was prepared: powdered sugar, water and margarine was stirred over medium heat till melted and homogeneous (shouldn't reach boiling). Then it was removed from the heat and stirred for an additional two minutes before the bourbon was stirred in.

While the cake was still hot holes were poked in the top (with a knife) and the butter bourbon sauce was poured over. Then the cake was allowed to stand and cool while absorbing the butter bourbon sauce.

Later, the cake was covered with film and stored in the fridge for a couple of days before I could continue.

The ganache was prepared by heating condensed milk and white chocolate on low heat with constant stirring until the chocolate melted and the mixture became homogeneous. Then mint syrup was stirred in (again till homogeneous) and the ganache was allowed to cool for 10 minutes before trying to apply it to the cake.

At this point the ganache was far too runny and only about half was applied. Then the cake was placed in the fridge for 15 minutes to let the applied ganache set (and let the rest of the ganache cool down further). Then more of the ganache was applied, but it was still a bit too runny - after cooling the cake in the fridge for an additional 20 minutes the rest of the ganache could finally be applied.

The cake was served with a few leaves of fresh mint - very delicious. However, next time, I think I'll try more bourbon in the butter bourbon sauce, as well as more mint in the ganache - and quite possibly less ganache and of course more cooling before applying it.

Update: For an updated version of this recipe see here.

^[1] The original recipe called for buttermilk - however, this is not available in Swedish stores as all buttermilk produced is currently delivered directly to bakeries. I decided to opt for A-fil because of it's tangy freshness - for more on A-fil see here.

Mint Syrup & Quick Mint Julep

2009-10-30T17:10:00.001+01:00

Since we started growing our herbs we became interested in trying some cakes with mint. Towards this goal, the first can be the production of a mint syrup.

Mint syrup:
- 1.25 dL (1/2 cup) fresh mint leaves
- 167 g (1/3 lbs) sugar
- 2.5 dl (1 cup) water

Water and sugar was brought to a boil in a small pot, then added the rinsed and chopped mint leaves. The heat was reduced to allow the pot to simmer for 10 minutes. Then the pot was removed from the heat and allowed to cool before filtering and storing syrup.

Cake recipe(s) to follow.

As an added bonus, this syrup is an excellent starting point for a quick mint julep: mint syrup and bourbon was mixed in a roughly 1:1 ratio and added a couple of ice cubes and fresh mint leaves.

Bacon, Beef & Blue Cheese Stew

2009-10-26T18:55:00.007+01:00

I see I haven't been particularly diligent about my promise to follow up here with dishes from the bacon book I got a while back. Well, time to do at least something about that.

Browsing aforementioned book, a beef, bacon & blue cheese stew caught my attention, and decided to have a go at it - with some minor modifications.

Ingredients:
- 125 g (4.4 oz) bacon
- 3 large onions, coarsely chopped
- sunflower oil
- 1.13 kg (2.5 lbs) beef cubes
- 8 tbsp flour
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) Bedarö Bitter^[1]
- 5 dL (2 cups) beef broth
- fresh thyme
- dried rosemary
- 3 leaves bay laurel
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- salt & pepper
- blue cheese^[2]
- bread for serving

In a large pot, the bacon was fried over medium/high heat till crisp, then removed from the pot. The heat was reduced to medium/low and the coarsely chopped onions were added. The onions were cooked with occasional stirring for over an hour till caramelised - actually I think this part need some optimisation: the recipe said to caramelise the onions at low heat for 20 minutes, but this appeared to be far too little for proper caramelisation - then onions were removed and the heat upped to medium/high and oil was added.

The beef cubes were coated in the flour, and browned in the pot after removing the lightly caramelised onions. Then the beer and beef broth were added. After stirring well (to ensure that no lumps of flour were still stuck to the bottom and sides of the pot) the thyme, rosemary, bay laurels, vinegar, salt and pepper were added and the were onions returned to the pot. Contrary to the recipe I was following I did not return the bacon to the pot at this point. The pot was brought to a boil, covered and let simmer for two hours.

The stew was then served with crumbled bacon and crumbled blue cheese on top - and a piece of bread on the side. The reason I didn't add the bacon before simmering for two hours, but instead afterwards was that I wanted to retain some crispness in the bacon.

It was truly delicious - very intense flavours and quite a heavy dish too. I'm strongly considering trying this again with some mashed potatoes and a green salad on the side.

^[1] Obviously not essential which ale - I'd go for any good, strong IPA.
^[2] The original recipe recommended Maytag (from the US) blue cheese, and I used Swedish Kvibille Ädel (30%), but any good blue cheese sufficiently hard to crumble should work.

Swedish Beer - Part IV / Bedarö Bitter

2009-10-22T18:25:00.001+02:00

Bedarö Bitter was the first beer made by Swedish microbrewery Nynäshamn Ångbryggeri (Nynäshamn steam-brewery) when they started out in 1990's and it is named after an island in the Nynäshamn archipelago.

I can see why it's sufficiently popular to be widely available in systemet: It truly is a bitter ale - very fresh and delicious. The bitterness is reminiscent of excellent pale ales from the West Coast of the US, but the alcohol content is more modest than those.

Chocolate Porter Layer Cake

2009-10-18T17:46:00.010+02:00

After reading about a chocolate stout layer cake in bon appetit the Mrs. wanted to try it out, and since I'm all for cooking with beer I was most supportive of the idea and went myself to systemet to procure a good porter. After buying all the ingredients, we thought the amount of frosting suggested in the original recipe sounded a little over the top (1 lb of chocolate and 2 cups cream) and decided to go for only half the amount of frosting.

Ingredients:
- 280 g (10 oz) flour
- 85 g (3 oz) 90% chocolate
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 200 g (7 oz) margarine
- 250 g (8.8 oz) + 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1 ⁷/₈ dL (0.8 cups) Carnegie Porter
- 1 ²/₃ dL (0.7 cups) freshly brewed coffee
frosting:
- 250 g (8.8 oz) 57% chocolate
- 2.5 dL (1 cup) cream
- 1 tsp powdered instant coffee

First some coffee was brewed, the egg yolks were separated from the whites, and the 90% chocolate was melted over hot water. Meanwhile the salt, baking powder and baking soda was stirred into the flour in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, the margarine was beaten (using an electric mixer) together with the large portion of sugar until fluffy. The egg yolks were added to the margarine-sugar mixture and beaten well into it. Subsequently, the melted chocolate, porter and freshly brewed coffee were beaten into the mixture one after the other. Finally the flour mixture was beaten into the dough.

In a separate bowl (and with clean beaters) the small portion of sugar was beaten with the egg whites until stiff. This egg-white foam was gently mixed (not beaten) into the dough, which was baked in two portions in baking paper lined baking pans (vertical sides, 22 cm (9 inch) diameter) at 175 C (350 F) for 25-30 minutes (until a knife inserted into the centre came out clean).

The two cake pieces were allowed to cool 20-30 minutes in the pans before taking them out and letting them cool completely.

For the frosting, the cream was heated in a small pot together with the coffee powder with occasional stirring - once it reached simmering, it was poured over the 57% chocolate (broken into large squares). After letting it stand for a minute, it was easily stirred into a homogeneous mixture. The frosting was covered and chilled in the fridge - with occasional stirring - until it had thickened sufficiently for easy assembly of the cake: some 2-3 hours.

One cake piece was placed upside-down on a large plate and approximately half the frosting was spread on it in an even layer before placing the other cake piece on top (upside-up) and spreading the rest of the frosting evenly over the entire cake.

We had the first piece of it the same day but although it's not as heavy as certain other chocolate cakes, we still had to save some for later. Interestingly, the notes of coffee and porter were much more notable on the first day - which could be good or bad depending on your point of view. Personally I liked it that way and was a little disappointed that it was 'merely' a very good chocolate cake the following days as we ate the rest.

And no, we never thought there was too little frosting on it...

Update: I have since made this cake again a couple of times and note the following improvements to the procedure: (1) Rather than melting the dark chocolate separately, it can simply be dissolved in the freshly brewed coffee. (2) The electric mixer is only really good for beating the egg whites with sugar to a white foam - for everything else, I find it's preferable to just mix using a ladle. (3) With a spring form that is 5 cm (2 inches) tall all the batter can be baked in one pan (takes about 60-70 minutes at 175 C (350 F)) - once cooled it is reasonable easy to cut the cake in two and assemble the layers as above.

Chanterelle Risotto

2009-10-14T19:03:00.000+02:00

At the urging of my muse, I tried out a variation of the risotto using seasonal mushrooms - that is: chanterelles.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 medium onions
- 330 g (11.5 oz) chanterelles
- 500 g (1.1 lb) arborio rice
- 3 x 1 dL (3 x 0.4 cup) white wine
- 7 x 1 dL (7 x 0.4 cup) chicken stock
- 1.5 dL (0.6 cup) cream
- 50 g (1.7 oz) parmigiano reggiano
- salt & pepper
served with:
- one head cauliflower

Crushed garlic and and chopped onion was sautéed in a little olive oil in a large pot. After a few minutes the rinsed and coarsely chopped chanterelles were added and the heat was reduced to medium. After an additional few minutes, the rice was added followed by the first portion of white wine. The volume was reduced with occasional stirring before adding the second portion of wine. And so on with the third portion of wine as well as the portions of chicken stock.

While the risotto cooked, the head of cauliflower was boiled in lightly salted water.

When the last portion of chicken stock was absorbed by the rice, the cream and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano was added and the risotto was seasoned to taste with salt and black pepper.

Served with the cauliflower on the side - dense, so don't serve too much.

The white wine, by the way, was an Argentinian sauvignon blanc and quite respectable.

Chicken Spinach Quesadilla

2009-10-10T18:53:00.005+02:00

Heavily inspired by real simple, this variation on the quesadilla was tried.

Ingredients:
- oil
- 1 chicken breast fillet
- salt & pepper
- juice of 1 lime
- 70 g (2.5 oz) fresh baby spinach
- 200 g (7 oz) white cheddar, grated
- 6 flour tortillas, 22 cm (8-9 inches) diameter
served with:
- sour cream
- guacamole
- black beans

The chicken breast was seasoned with salt and pepper and browned on both sides before adding the lime juice and covering. While the chicken breast was cooking, the beans and the guacamole was prepared.

When done the chicken breast was sliced and then mixed in a bowl with freshly grated white cheddar and rinsed spinach leaves. A tortilla was placed in a pan over high heat, loaded with ¹/₃ of the cheddar-spinach-chicken mix and another tortilla on top. After a few minutes the cheese had melted enough to allow flipping the whole thing over on the other side without things falling out (with a little luck and/or experience). Care should be taken not to leave them for too long as they char quickly after being done. The finished quesadilla was removed from the pan and parted before continuing making the rest.

The spinach actually worked quite nicely.

Swedish Beer - Part III / Carnegie Porter - Part I

2009-10-06T18:16:00.002+02:00

Now, after covering some of the basics, the time has come for considering some quality Swedish brews.

The old school label of the Carnegie Porter was the first thing about it that appealed to me. Turns out that this label is authentic as well - unchanged since they started brewing this beer in Gothenburg in 1836.

You'll notice that the top of the label reads "Årgang 2009", which translates roughly as "Year 2009" or perhaps "Vintage 2009"... Yes, the Carnegie Porter supposedly matures over time, changing the taste notably towards the smoother and more balanced in a year or two. But the process is supposed to continue for years and years after that, so that a 10-year-old Carnegie Porter is a taste sensation of both extreme richness and extreme lightness. Curiously, however, the smaller label on the back clearly states a Best Before date already some time in 2011 !?!?

At present, the bottle I opened was already a good beer. A good dose of hoppy bitterness makes for a quite balanced taste and thus a comparatively non-sweet porter. Next time I go to Systembolaget, I shall buy some more and store them away for future tasting.

To be continued... here...

Ratatué

2009-10-02T18:24:00.000+02:00

Yes, I know it's conventionally spelled 'ratatouille' - but I have my reasons for spelling it as I do. Other than the spelling, I guess the most important difference is that I like it spicy.

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 2 onions, coarsely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 green bell peppers
- 1 zucchini
- 1 yellow squash
- 1 eggplant
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 orange habanero chilli
- 800 g (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- concentrated tomato paste
- 400 mL (1 ²/₃ cup) water
- ^[1]
- salt and pepper

In a large pot, the coarsely chopped onions were sautéed in olive oil till translucent, then added diced bell peppers. The zucchini, the yellow squash and the eggplant were each quartered along their longer axis and then cut in roughly 1 cm (¹/₂ inch) thick slices and added to the pot. The seeds and stems were removed from the habanero chilli and it was chopped finely before adding to the pot together with crushed garlic. At last the crushed tomatoes and the tomato concentrate was added together with water. The pot was brought to a boil before reducing the heat and letting it simmer for 50 minutes. At last seasoned to taste with salt and black pepper.

Served with bread.

^[1] If none of those about to eat this dish object to celery, this can be added as well.

Rosehip Jam (less chunky)

2009-09-28T18:46:00.001+02:00

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

2009-09-24T19:05:00.008+02:00

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 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

2009-09-20T18:34:00.002+02:00

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

2009-09-16T19:40:00.004+02:00

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

2009-09-12T18:56:00.005+02:00

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

2009-09-08T18:56:00.000+02:00

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

2009-09-04T18:35:00.010+02:00

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.

Finnish Beer I / Bear Beer I

2009-08-31T18:03:00.002+02:00

I first saw Kahru (Finnish for bear) in Arlanda airport (outside Stockholm), and the label appealed to the mood I was in.

It was also my first encounter of Finnish beer, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out it's a decent, strong lager.

Later I learned that Kahru tries to set itself apart from the competition on the home market by being sold in pint sized cans (rather than the half litre cans the other ones are sold in).