Chickpea Salad

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)

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

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.

Eggplant Pasta Salad

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.

Salami & Pesto Pasta

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..

Bean-Onion Salad

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.

Cauliflower in Vinaigrette

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.

Linguine with Feta and Pickled Beets

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.

Mint Syrup & Quick Mint Julep

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.

Coconut Macaroons

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

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

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


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

Garden cress

The new residence has east-bound windows and thus the herbs in the kitchen window sill can take full advantage of the 4 am sunrise we enjoy this time of year. Amongst other things we have been growing garden cress: A small tray was lined with cotton pads on top of which were placed seeds of garden cress. The cotton was watered daily and over the course of two weeks the seeds sprouted and grew to some 1-2 inches.


We generally use the cress for sandwiches, and a particularly classic combination is with boiled eggs on rye bread (and butter or a favourite substitute).

Hot dogs

No, there is nothing wrong with colours of your monitor: these sausages really are bright red.

I don't know why there's a tradition for bright red sausages in Denmark, but kids do seem to love them (I know I did). When I recently went to Denmark for a short trip one of my new Swedish colleagues - who is from Scania in south-western Sweden and therefore has been to Denmark several times - asked me to bring back some red sausages because he missed them so.^[1]

Since I was at it, nostalgia got the better of me and I decided to get a pack for myself and make some good old-fashioned hot dogs. I'm not sure what the colouring agent used is, but is has some water-solubility as the water I boiled them in was nicely red by the time they were done.

For the hot dogs I used ketchup, remoulade, roasted onions and cornichons - had I been in the mood for spending a little more time on it, I would have added finely diced raw onion and substituted the cornichons with home-made cucumber salad. Many next time

^[1] Since that I have discovered that a supermarket close to where I live actually does sell these, so hauling them back from Denmark seems silly...

Trout and Noodles with Poppy Seed and Lemon

Finding ways to use yet more poppy seeds, we tried out this idea, which we found on the internet - only adding quite a bit more poppy seeds than the original recipe called for.

Ingredients:
- 250 g (1/2 lb) wide egg noodles
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- zest of 1 lemon, freshly grated
- 1 bunch chives, cut
- trout filets
- lettuce
- tomatoes

The noodles were boiled in lightly salted water till tender.
While the noodles were boiling, the poppy seeds were toasted lightly, the chives were rinsed, and the lemon zest was grated. When ready, the drained noodles were stirred with poppy seeds, lemon zest, chives, and butter.

Served with pan fried filets of trout and a very quick salad of lettuce and tomato slices.

Bacon wrapped green beans

Due to bad weather I was stuck in an airport most of New Year's Eve and by the time I made it home it was rather too late for preparing dinner - so we had our New Year's dinner on New Year's Day instead.

I know I have been served bacon wrapped green beans somewhere before, but I can't remember where or when. It is of course similar to bacon wrapped asparagus, although perhaps more winter-like.

Ingredients:
- 6 thin slices of bacon
- 24 green beans

After rinsing the beans, they were collected in bunches of four each, wrapped in bacon, and baked at 225 C (450 F) for about 15 minutes.

I guess they could be used as a starter, but here they went on the dish for the main course: steak, mashed potatoes de luxe, and a leek-mushroom-cream-Gorgonzola sauce..

Happy New Year! Cheers!

Nutty Spread

Years ago in a store I saw a jar of peanut butter mixed with chocolate hazelnut spread [1] .. a kind of spreadable Snickers bar, if you like to see it that way. Since, I have been forever hooked on the rich, salty, and sweet mixture. I've never really re-encountered said product, but it's too easy to just spread peanut butter and then a layer of chocolate hazelnut spread on top, if you have both.

I try not to indulge in this guilty pleasure/heart-attack-in-the-making too often.

Please enjoy responsibly.

[1] Amongst chocolate hazelnut spreads Nutella is probably the most famous, but by no means the only one.

Couscous Salad

OK, so this isn't a very unique recipe - it's quite similar to other couscous salads I've made in the past. The point is more to illustrate that this is possible without a stove, if you have an electric kettle.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 1 cup boiling water
- salt, pepper
- 1 bunch spring onions
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes
- 1 red bell pepper
- fresh basil
- fresh flat leave parsley

- to serve also: arugula, flat breads, and sour cream.

The couscous was placed in a bowl with salt and pepper, the boiling water was added and the bowl was covered. After 5 minutes or so the water was absorbed and the chopped reds and greens were added. Served on flat breads, with arugula and a little sour cream on top.

Kippers

No, I didn't actually split, gut, salt and smoke these herrings myself. I just bought a can of it, served is on whole grain rye bread and garnished it with chives from the newly installed balcony herb garden.


This is being one of the kinds of foods possible in my currently unfinished kitchen...

Tuna Taco Tower

This idea is blatantly stolen from the restaurant The Bell Tower on Polk St in San Francisco - I dined there about 3 years ago and shared something similar as an appetizer.

Ingredients:
- 1 bowl guacamole
- 2 tuna steaks
- 6 tostadas

First I made the guacamole, then I pan seared the tuna steaks (in the original only the outer rim of the tuna was seared, but I wasn't sure I had sashimi grade tuna so I went for a more 'done' version). The tostadas were heated in the oven, and the towers were built after slicing the tuna steaks.

Tuna Salad 2

This is another of my favorite tuna salads - it's less runny than #1, which goes nicely with how I like to use it for lunch sandwiches.

Ingredients:
- 2 cans tuna
- salt & pepper
- 6 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp plain yogurt
- 140 g (5 oz) green peas
- 2 hard-boiled eggs

The eggs were cut coarsely, the cans of tuna were drained and everything was mixed - served on toasted bread with leaves of lettuce (or sandwiched between such).

Bean Salad 1

This is a really simple bean salad with green & white beans.

Ingredients:
- 500 g (1 lb) green beans
- water
- 2 tbsp read wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bunch Italian parsley
- salt & pepper
- 425 g (15 oz) white beans (1 can)

If necessary clean the green beans, then boil them, and when they are done drain them.

While the water for the green beans is coming to a boil, mix in a bowl the oil and the vinegar, then add chopped parsley. Mix in the drained and rinsed white beans as well as the green beans. Add salt and pepper to taste.