Herb braised lamb

You don't have to leave a lamb to braise for five hours - it will be good at higher oven temperatures as well. This one is rubbed with a herb mixture of fresh garlic greens, sage, thyme and rosemary, quickly browned on all sides, and then braised in white wine in a rather warm oven (about 175°C) until the inner temperature was about 65°C. Delicious!

Saffron White Chocolate Truffles

I have some hesitations about posting this right smack in the middle of summer, since saffron is so very much a christmas spice here in Sweden, but really, don't let that deter you from making these delicious truffles. I also know that many people aren't very fond of white chocolate. Well, I'm not one of them, and apparently, neither are any of the girls here at work because they scarfed these down like crazy when I brought them in for our morning coffee. I don't think I've ever had so many beg me for a recipe!

So - I'm pretty confident about these. They really are easy to make, and they're totally delicious. Even in the summer.

Saffron White Chocolate Truffles
makes 30

200 g white chocolate
100 ml cream (full-fat)
0,5 g saffron
1 tbsp honey
powdered sugar

Finely chop the chocolate and place in a bowl. Mix cream, honey and saffron and bring to a boil. Add this to the chocolate and stir well until it's melted. Place in the fridge to cool and to firm up. It needs to be pretty stiff before you can roll it. Shape small balls and roll them in powdered sugar. I then placed mine on a baking sheet and froze them for a few minutes, and then I just kept them in a bowl in the fridge. They kept very well!

Recipe in Swedish:
Saffrans- och vitchokladtryffel

Cheese Toppings

I still find having preserves with your cheese to be quite a new and exciting concept. Falbygdens, a cheese producer, is taking it to the next levels with these cheese toppings. They're released five flavors (pear-truffle, strawberry, orange, fig-truffle and honey-truffle) and they mostly consist of dried fruit, mustard seeds and spices. What you do is dip your cheese in it - or actually, try to cram as much of the things on top of your cheese, because it doesn't stick very well. Tasty? Um, sure. Not bad. But I really find it more of a novelty. Honey-truffle was my favorite, by the way.

Oooh, ooooh, Opera Cake!

Daring Bakers time again! I was pretty excited when the theme for this month was announced: Opera Cake! As you might be able to tell from my photos, I didn't really have much of an idea what it should look like, so I decided to just go my own way on that. It has four, or five components:

-nutty meringue-like cake layers
-syrup to moisten the cake layers
-buttercream
-mousse
-glaze

While normally done in chocolate versions, we were asked to keep things light and spring-timey, and we were given recipes for almond cake layers, a neutral buttercream and a white chocolate mousse and glaze. I decided early on that I'd go with raspberries and pistachio, so pistachio-almond cake layers, a simple vanilla syrup, a raspberry buttercream, and a white chocolate mousse. I opted to skip the glaze - I feared it would make the cake overly sweet, and besides, I don't trust my frosting skills enough to pour a smooth glaze. (Oh, we're supposed to be... daring? Sorry.) I added some whole raspberries for a nice, fresh and fruity touch.



So. The cake layers! I used about 150 g of pistachios, and 75 g blanched almonds. I ground them together in my almond grinder (which is technically my neighbor's, I still haven't returned it...) and then proceeded with the recipe. I used round springform pans (as I didn't have a rectangular pan of a size that would work here), but... well, I had a bit of a problem. I was aiming for three cake layers, but I guess I didn't estimate well enough because one ended up much thicker than the others. I did keep it in the oven for longer, but when I went to assemble the cake, it turned out to be almost completely uncooked in the center. Oops! So, my cake only has two layers. Never mind...



Syrup. I actually didn't make this, as I had some vanilla syrup in the fridge from previous experiments.

Buttercream. I was a bit scared, because people in the forums had said that they'd had problems with this. I was in fact so scared that I turned to my own buttercream recipe, adapted from Rose Levy Berenbaum, instead. I didn't have quite enough unsalted butter at hand, so instead of the 225 g I used in that recipe last time, I only used about 185. No difference as far as I can tell, though. And I added cold-pressed raspberry extract rather than raspberry purée - and, the flavor is at least as good as when I used actual raspberries. Go figure! I did add a smidge of color as well, raspberry buttercream has to be pink, right?



On to the mousse. Where I again, didn't trust the recipe. I've tried the "fold melted chocolate into whipped cream" before, but I like my mousses to be a bit sturdier than those... So - I went for a slightly different approach: I chopped about 200 g of white chocolate finely and put in a bowl. I then heated 300 ml of cream, and poured it on top of the chocolate. I stirred it all together until the chocolate was completely melted and then I put it in the fridge overnight. Next day, on the day of cake assembly, I whipped it like you would any whipping cream, and it turned into a beautiful, thick, silky mousse. (This is a great method for making cake filling actually - it works with pretty much any chocolate, and I've used melted candy before, very yummy. But you MUST leave it to cool overnight.)



And no glaze. So for assembly, I moistened my cake layers, covered the first layer with raspberry buttercream and raspberries, placed the second layer on top, covered it with more buttercream and then frosted the sides as well. I refrigerated it until it was really firm, and then used the white chocolate mousse all over the cake. A final touch: a sprinkling of pistachios.

This cake was a huge hit! I served it for my birthday party and everyone really loved it. I personally am not a big fan of buttercream in cakes, I find it too stiff and well, too buttery. But the whole raspberries lightened things up, and kept the cake from being too sweet. And the white chocolate mousse was delicious!



You can find the recipes here, the blogroll here, and the discussion forums - open to everyone! - here. The four hosts this month was Ivonne of Creampuffs in Venice, Lis of La Mia Cucina, Fran of Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shia of Whiskful.

Thai-ish Noodle Salad

Wow, it's pretty hot here today! I think summer is definitely coming, even though it's been fairly cold the past few weeks. When the heat really hits (and yes, it *does* get warm even here in the cold north... for a little while) I know I'll be wanting plenty of cool salads to eat with meat from the barbecue. This salad has a thai-ish vibe, and is particularly good with grilled pork, glazed with soy, ginger and honey.

It keeps really well in the fridge, so feel free to make a double batch and eat it for several days.

Thai-ish Noodle Salad
Serves 4

200 g egg noodles
1 carrot
1 red bellpepper
1 small can of water chestnuts
1 small leek

Dressing:
1 garlic clove
1 jalapeño pepper
2 limes, juiced
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp demerara sugar (or brown sugar)
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Boil the noodles according to the instructions on the package, drain and rinse with cold water. Peel the carrot and cut it into thin julienne strips. Do the same with the bellpepper and the leek. Slice the water chestnuts.

Finely dice the garlic and jalapeño for the dressing. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients, and toss with the noodles and vegetables.

Recipe in Swedish:
Nudelsallad med thaikänsla

Kung Pao Chicken

Need a dinner idea for tonight, or the upcoming week? Well, head over to Dagmar at A Cat in the Kitchen and check out her version of Kung Pao chicken! I loved this recipe - it was really delicious! When I make it again, I think I'll use cashews instead of peanuts for a variation, and perhaps add some carrots.

Potato Asparagus Salad with Mustard Dressing

Potato Salad is really, really popular in Sweden. It comes in many different varieties - creamy being more popular then vinaigrette-based in general, at least when it comes to ready-made. I've never liked store-bought potato salads at all, and it took a long time to appriciate home-made as well. I still don't like those heavy on the mayo, but I like many other kinds. This particular recipe is inspired by one in Ica Buffé, a large Swedish food magazine.

This one is nice - especially if you want to eat loads of asparagus. Now that it's finally in season and easy to find, I find myself craving it. The asparagus and the carrots go really well with this creamy mustard dressing, and with the lovely new potatoes.. that are still outrageously expensive, so you might want to try this recipe in about a month when it'll be a lot more affordable. At least here in Sweden!

If you want more potato salads, I have a few other recipes and I'll bet I have many more to share after this summer.
-Herbed potato Salad
-Mustard Vinaigrette Potato Salad
-Potato Salad with Mozzarella

Potato Asparagus Salad with Mustard Dressing
Serves 6-8

1 kilo new potatoes
500 g asparagus
500 g carrots
100 g scallions
300 ml (1.2 cups) sour cream
3 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp coarse mustard
salt, black pepper

Boil the potatoes and let it cool slightly. Cut into bite-sized pieces.

Snap off the ends of the asparagus, as it's usually woody and dry. (It will automatically snap off in the right place - try it!) Boil the asparagus in lightly salted water for 3 minutes, and immediately plunge it into a bowl filled with ice cold water to stop the cooking. Let it cool completely, then halve lengthwise.

Peel and cut the carrots into smaller pieces. Boil in lightly salted water for 6-8minutes, and immediately plunge it into a bowl filled with ice cold water to stop the cooking. Let the carrots cool completely.

Slice the scallions.

Stir the sour cream with both kinds of mustard, and some salt and pepper. Toss with the potatoes, carrots and asparagus, and finally the scallions. You might want to save a few asparagus stalks for decoration.

Recipe in Swedish:
Potatissallad med sparris och senapsdressing

Rhubarb time!

Need ideas for what to make this weekend? You can't go wrong with rhubarb! Here are some of my favorite rhubarb recipes:

Rhubarb Caramel Tart (sort of like a caramelly cobbler)

Rhubarb Cardamom Cake

Rhubarb Elderflower Crumble

Or what you see above, a very simple Rhubarb Crumble.

Curry Cashew Carrots

Thank you all so much for your congratulations yesterday! I had a great birthday! And there are more celebrations to come - we're having a party on Saturday, in honor of the Eurovision Song Contest (Sweden's in the semi-final tonight - vote for us!) and then a birthday party for my family on Sunday. (That's when I'll actually make a cake - a pretty exciting one, actually.)

Something I'm always on the lookout for is fun side dishes. Something that can be served as part of a buffet is always nice. This carrot dish, found in a large food magazine (Ica Buffé) is tasty enough to serve on its own, as a lovely bowl of golden comfort on a hot day, but it's also really nice with barbecued meat or chicken. And, as with most of my food, it's really easy to make.

Curry Cashew Carrots
Serves 4-6, or more if it's part of a larger spread

1 kg carrots
olive oil
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric (optional)
300 ml orange juice
100 g cashews, toasted and coarsely chopped
1-2 tbsp fresh basil, shredded

Peel the carrots and halve them lengthwise. Cut into smaller pieces, about 2-3 cm. Fry in a splash of olive oil in a deep skillet for a few minutes. Add the curry and turmeric and fry for a few more minutes.

Add the orange juice and lower the heat. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes until the carrots are soft, and the orange juice has reduced to a sticky syrup. (Turn the heat up if the liquid hasn't evaporated.)

Arrange on a large platter or in a bowl, and scatter with cashew nuts and basil. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

Recipe in Swedish:
Currymorötter med cashewnötter

Happy birthday...

...to me!

(That cake? White Chocolate Cheesecake. Delicious!)

Smokey sea salt

One of the latest in Falksalt's flaky sea salt round-up - Smoke. It's quite nice. Not as nice as actually smoking your food, but certainly more convenient. I like their other flavors - especially chili and lemon. Rosemary is quite nice as well. I haven't tried their newest - with black olives.

Green Pea Tagliatelle with Bacon

I'm always on the lookout for quick things that can be whipped up in an instant - perfect weekday meals. We often get home fairly late, and then we're most definitely not in the mood to go the store. For those days, it's really convenient to use ingredients out of the freezer - and this is such a meal. Totally no need to thaw anything - and I always have bacon, peas and green beans in my freezer. I used Swedish Västerbotten cheese, but if you don't have that, Pecorino or Parmesan would be awesome as well.

And, of course, you can definitely double the recipe.

Green Pea Tagliatelle with Bacon
Serves 2

200 g tagliatelle
100 g haricot verts (green beans, frozen are fine)
70 g bacon, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1-200 ml water from the pasta
300 ml (that's about 1.2 cups) green peas (frozen are fine)
1/2 lemon, both juice and zest
salt, black pepper
handful of shredded cheese (Västerbottensost, Parmesan or Pecorino.)

Boil the pasta in lightly salted water. Add the haricot verts when there's about 3 minutes left of the cooking time.

Get your onion and garlic ready. Dice the bacon and fry until crispy. Remove from the pan and let it drain off on some paper towels. Pour out any excess bacon fat (or not) and then fry the onions and garlic on low heat until softened. Add the olive oil and the peas. Add about 100 ml of cooking water from the pasta, and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Use an immersion blender (or a regular one) to mix the sauce until smooth. Add lemon juice and lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper. You can save some of the zest for decoration, if you'd prefer.

Drain the pasta and beans - reserve the water- and stir with half of the sauce. You might want to add a bit of that water now, to make it creamier. Top each serving with more sauce, the crispy bacon, extra lemon zest and a small handful of cheese.

Recipe in Swedish:
Tagliatelle med grön ärtkräm och bacon

Cookbook Watch - summer specials

I have tons of new books that are just about summer cooking. Most of them deal with grilling, but some are about other things as well. (And there are problably many more coming - I'll keep you updated!)

First, a nice one called "Sommarmat med Fredrik & Fredrik" (Summerfood with Fredrik & Fredrik). Both Fredrik and Fredrik are new to me - one is called Klein and the other, Hed. They're both fairly young chefs, working in Stockholm. The book is all about easy, casual summer dining - the type you'll make for warm summer nights on the patio with friends. And I really, really like that. The book has many gorgeous photos of both the food and summer "lifestyle". There's no real culinary theme, but it seems to be recipes that the chefs genuinely enjoy making, and eating. As for what I'm dying to make - I think I'll start with a Raspberry Mojito, followed by Tuna Carpaccio and Poached Halibut. The meat section looks the weakest to me, so I'll skip straight to the side dishes, and try their Fennel Slaw or Balsamico Marinated Mushrooms. The dessert section is short - but the Rhubarb Soup with Strawberry Salsa stands out. In all - a book that seems very useable.



Then, Linda Tubby has written "Grilla För Finsmakare" which is a translation of "Grill - Stylish food to Sizzle" that came out a few years ago. Swedes love to grill. They really, really, really do. Most people grill easy things though - ready marinated pork steaks, sausages, maybe a salmon fillet or some corn on the cob. Few ever wander beyond that - but for those who do, this book is for you. Here, you'll find things like Chicken Kebabs with Cashew Sambal, Grilled Fennel with Olives, Grilled Lobster with Basil Mayo or Whole Mackerel stuffed with Bacon. Wow. Conveniently, the book is divided according to how much time a recipe takes, so you can really choose how much of an effort to make. And this book has sausage too by the way - homemade from scratch. Which is probably not what I'll be grilling this summer. But I'll make a point of trying *something* from this book - after all, it's nice to give a little extra at times.



Finally, "Gott till Grillat" ("Good with Grilled") by Jan-Erik Hagbom which is all about the side dishes to go along with a good grilled or barbecued meal. It's a fairly small and compact book, nicely designed, and with sections on seasoners (sauces and marinades), "foody" stuff like salads, veggies or potatoes, fruity things which is mostly salads with fruits in them, and an intriguing section on "beany and nutty". The emphasis is definitely on salads, in general. Which is quite nice, because if you don't feel like trying something new on the grill, you can at least vary your side dishes.

Hollywood - the drink

The producers of AIVY Vodka - a new, Swedish designer vodka with flavors - predict this to be the new summer hit. Oh, I don't know. But it sure tasted good! It uses the new AIVY Tutti Frutti vodka, which tastes just like a Swedish candy (also called Tutti Frutti). I bet it'd work nicely with any fruit-flavored vodka though, so give it a try!

Hollywood
1 drink

4 cl AIVY Tutti Frutti
6 cl cranberry juice
8 cl lemon-lime soft drink, like Sprite or 7up
ice
wedge of lime

Simply build it in a glass, over ice. Stir and serve with lime.

Banana Wholewheat Muffins

It's finally Friday! And you know what usually happens around here on Fridays, don't you? Well, I try to post about something sweet. And this week, let me tell you about these lovely little banana muffins. I found the recipe at Foodbeam, and since I as usual had some brown bananas on my counter, I decided to give them a go. What meakes these different from most muffins is that they're really light and fluffy. Not at all dense or heavy, just cloud-like and delicious. I wish I had made them a bit smaller though - I think their lightness lends themselves very well to a mini-size instead of maxi-size as mine were. But yummy in any case! And they keep very well in the freezer, too.

Banana Wholewheat Muffins
Makes 10 large muffins

100 g butter
180 g wholewheat flour (I used wholewheat spelt)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
140 g muscovado sugar
2 eggs (at room temperature, if possible)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla sugar)
3 bananas (about 300 g, peeled weight), mashed
1 banana, sliced

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Beat the melted butter with the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients, and stir in the mashed bananas. Dollop into muffin tins (don't fill them more than 3/4 to the rim - they will rise) and top each one with a few slices of banana.

Bake for 20 minutes. (Adjust if you're making smaller muffins!) When they're done, they will be crunchy on top and no longer sticky in the middle if you try them with a toothpick.

Recipe in Swedish:
Bananmuffins med fullkornsmjöl

Peanut Chicken Salad

So simple, so good. This peanut dressing. Romaine lettuce. A cooked chicken breast. (Which I grilled on my iPinium baking sheet by the way.) Some red onion. Some snow peas. Perfect.

Egg Salad Bites

I'll do a quick morning post today - I'm off to see Art Smith, Oprah Winfrey's personal chef, who's in Stockholm to launch a new book today. Very exciting!

Anyway, this is a quick and easy starter, perfect to serve to your guests with a drink or two while you're putting the finish touches on the food. Or serve this as part of a buffet! You can easily adapt this to your liking - skip the curry perhaps, use chili instead, add some mayo if you want to, and so on. Have fun with it!

I use kavring which is probably not available in most places. Use a nice rye bread instead, but preferrably one with a hint of sweetness.

Egg Salad Bites

3 hard-boiled eggs
1 tsp curry
2 tbsp thick yogurt (10% fat)
salt
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 green apple (like Granny Smith), finely diced
50 ml (oh, say 1/4 cup) pecans, finely chopped

kavring (or other rye bread)

Boil the eggs if you haven't already, and let them cool completely. Mash them and mix with curry, yogurt and salt. Add the onion and the apple.

Toast the bread and cut into triangles. Spread some of the egg salad on top, and finish with a sprinkle of pecans.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kavringsnittar med äggsallad

Cookbook Watch - cooking with kids

I have gotten two books recently about cooking with - and for - kids. I'm not a mom (yet) but when I am, I certainly plan to get my kid involved in cooking. These books - and there are many more out there - are really nice to have at hand when that happens. One of them is more geared towards parents wanting to have fuss-free dinners with their kids, and that's "Millas mysmat" (Milla's Cosy Food) by Camilla Tubertini. Here, you'll find suggestions for quick weekday wonders that the kids will love, and for special treats for parties or weekends. Much of it is simple enough to let the kids make it themselves - supervised of course - even though that might not be the fastest way, obviously.



The other one is geared towards slightly older children, who knows the basics of the kitchen already. It's called "Gastros Kök" (Gastro's Kitchen) and is written by Karl Bengtsson and Per Dahlberg, who have a restaurant in Helsinborg called Gastro. It's a gourmet restaurant, and this is a gourmet cookbook - but for young chefs. The recipes are decidedly advanced, but in an accessible manner. The restaurant also has a program for kids to actually come there and cook, and the book is a result from this project. There are seven complete menus, and the intention is clearly that a kid can make everything themselves. It's not kiddie food though - oh no, not at all. A sample menu for you: Spring rolls with noodle salad and sesame-fried entrecôte, Chicken Saltimbocca with baked tomatoes and risotto, and for dessert, Raspberry Soufflé with vanilla ice cream and crumble topping. If a kid can make that.. well, it'd be pretty impressive! So, get this book - if you speak Swedish - for your aspiring chef, and I'm sure you'll enjoy rich rewards.

Green Olive Quinoa Salad

I've been cooking all morning before work today. We're having a small girl's dinner, and I thought it'd be wise to prepare ahead. I'll be serving Cinnamon Chicken with Orange Cous-cous and Red Onion Apricot Chutney - yum! Dessert: White Chocolate Pannacotta with Blackberries. Sounds good, doesn't it?

I promised you a perfect side dish to go with lamb, and here it is! It comes straight from the lovely book Isabel's Cantina (or well, straight-ish at least) by Isabel Cruz, and it has lovely flavor combinations. The lemon and cumin are perfect together, and with the olives... mmm! I don't even like olives all that much, but in this recipe, they're absolutely perfect. This will also be a great side dish with anything that goes on the grill this summer - I think salmon would be an awesome match.

You can prepare it well in advance if you'd like - it could even stay in the fridge overnight. Very handy!

Green Olive Quinoa Salad
Serves 4

250 ml (1 cup) quinoa, well rinsed
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
150 ml (0,6 cups) green olives, halved
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp cumin
bunch of fresh coriander
salt, pepper

Bring a pot of water to boil, add the well-rinsed quinoa, and boil for 10-12 minutes. Drain it, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pan. Fry the onion until it's softened, and then add the red pepper for a few minutes. Add the olives. Mix all these veggies with the cooked quinoa. Stir in the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, cumin and coriander. Mix well, and serve at room temperature.

Recipe in Swedish:
Quinoasallad med gröna oliver

Chocolate Mousse for one

Sometimes, it's just what you need. This recipe is easy to cut in thirds. (Although, it still makes quite a bit, so if you're not so greedy, it might be enough to share.)

Braised Lamb according to Heston

I don't make lamb very often - but every time I do, I love it. And on my Del.icio.us, I had marked a recipe by Heston Blumenthal for slow-cooked lamb, that was actually written in the Guardian back in 2001. (Original, here.) So, when I finally got around to lamb cooking again, I knew I wanted to try it this way - a very, very slow braising in a barely warm oven. (Not ideal for summer cooking maybe - but there will always be rainy days.)

I shortened the time a little bit, and had to raise the heat towards the end to make sure the lamb wasn't too red (we had a pregnant guest) but it was still extremely tender, juicy and flavorful. Delicious! We served it with a green olive quinoa salad that I'll try to remember to post really soon - it was a great and unusual match.

Braised Lamb according to Heston
Serves 4-5

1 de-boned leg of lamb, about 900 g
olive oil
salt, pepper
2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
1 garlic (peel the cloves)
350 ml white wine (a fruity kind is good)

Preheat the oven to 65°C. Season the meat with salt and pepper and rub it with olive oil. Bind it using string or FoodLoops (always my preference) so that it'll keep it's shape. You can stuff it slightly with the fresh herbs, where the bone used to be.

Brown it in some oil in a fairly small and snug pot, alongside the onions and herbs. Add the garlic towards the end - don't let it brown too much. Add the wine, and bring to a boil.

Cover with a lid (or foil) and place in the now warm oven. After 45 minutes, remove the lid and make sure there's at least 1 cm of liquid. (I had way more but I used a fairly small pot.) If you don't, add water.



Leave the lamb for 4-5 hours. Check to see that the pot isn't drying up, every now and then, and if you feel ambitious, baste the lamb a little. Use a thermometer to check the lamb towards the end - you might have to raise the heat a little bit if you prefer your meat more done. We served our lamb at 68°C and felt that it was quite perfect.

Remove the lamb, garlic, onions, and sieve the sauce into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce slightly, then serve with the meat.

Recipe in Swedish:
Bräserad lammstek

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Cookies

It's Friday, so I have a perfect sweet weekend treat for you to try. It all started when I was leafing through Martha Stewart's massive "Cookies" and trying to decide which recipe to try first. I decided on the Oatmeal Raisin cookies.. without raisins. And with chocolate. And walnuts. And hey, let's have some wholewheat flour instead of regular! (Actually, that was mostly because I had run out of regular and didn't feel like shopping.)

The result? Lots and lots (this is a pretty big recipe) of delicious cookies. I gave some away at once (a very stable strategy against overeating) and the rest are stashed in my freezer - they don't need thawing, so you can just grab one whenever you need a nutty, oaty, chocolate fix.

How many you'll get all depends on size. Don't make them too big, because they spread out very much during baking and my first two sheets turned out to be mostly square cookies since I had to cut them apart.

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Cookies
About 50 cookies

750 ml (3 cups) rolled oats
250 ml (1 cup) wholewheat flour
2 tbsp white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
250 ml (1 cup) granulated sugar
250 ml (1 cup) brown sugar
220 g butter (softened, if you have the time)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
80 g walnuts, chopped
150 g dark chocolate, chopped

Mix oats, both flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

Beat the two sugars with the butter until really fluffy - for about five minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Stir in the oat-flour mixture, and then the walnuts and chocolate.

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Place walnut-sized pieces of dough with plenty of space on the baking sheets, and flatten them slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or a little bit longer if they don't look done yet. Let them cool slightly on the baking sheets before moving them to a rack.

Recipe in Swedish:
Havrekakor med choklad och valnötter

Eurodream Chocolates

Ever wondered what Sweden would taste like if it was a piece of chocolate? Or Germany? France? How about Greece?

John Messinger, chocolatier, knows. Or at least, he has an opinion. He's the producer of Eurodream, a special chocolate box with 25 different flavors - each one inspired by a European country.

So, about the flavors - according to Messinger, Sweden tastes like cloudberry, Germany like hazelnut, France is all about champagne and Greece about anise. Interesting! I especially like the choice for Poland - vodka! In fact, I'd love to try a box of this - but it's pretty pricey, 249 SEK for a box with 25 chocolates. I wonder if they're any good - let me know if you've tried them!

Baked Sliced Vegetables

Here's something quite different! At least I've rarely made anything like this - but now that I've tried, I'll definitely make it again. It's a really easy vegetable dish that you can either serve on its own, or have a simple side. You could use any vegetables you want - I had a few small zucchinis to use up, and I was craving fennel, so that's why this particular combination came about.

I served it with sausage, a fairly new one on the Swedish market called Txistorra. It's subtly flavored with tomato and thyme, and went very well with the veggies.

Baked Sliced Vegetables
Serves 2, generously

3 small potatoes
2 small zucchinis
1 small fennel bulb
1 tomato
olive oil
flaky sea salt
75 g feta cheese, diced

Heat the oven to 200°C.

Slice all the veggies very thinly. (A mandolin is very helpful.) Place potatoes and zucchini in small oven-proof dishes (or one large), alternating as you go and making sure that they're pretty much standing up. Add fennel and tomato at regular intervals.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the veggies have softened. Add the cheese, and bake for 10 more minutes so that the cheese softens and browns slightly.

Recipe in Swedish:
Ugnsbakade grönsaksskivor

Läkerol Wild Strawberry/Mint

Läkerol makes sugar-free candy. Or not really candy, but throat lozenges, really. Although some of the flavors are really guilt-free candy - my favorite is violet and salty licorice. (Yes, combined!) They recently launched the two-tone candies ("Split!") in the picture - first, three flavors with half licorice, half berry (raspberry, lingonberry and cloudberry) and now, two flavors with half mint, half fruit. The ones I've tried? Mint and Wild Strawberry. (I think the other one had blood orange - not completely sure, I haven't seen it in many stores yet.) Anyway - it works a lot better than I'd expected. The mint is mild, providing more of a background to the vibrant wild strawberry flavor. Tasty! Oh, and I did mention they're guilt-free, right?

Chorizo Bean Soup

I've been holding back on this recipe because.. I don't have a photo. I simply forgot to take one when I was making it, and I've been thinking for months that I need to make it again, and take pictures, but.. that's not been happening. Honestly though, soups rarely photograph all that well, so... perhaps you won't mind? The recipe is good, anyway - really good. It's another one by Gordon Ramsay, from his "Fast Food"-book. (Which by now you should know that I really, really liked)

This has clean, strong flavors, and even a non-beaneater like me enjoyed it a lot. I used a can of cannelini beans (not great) and one of soybeans (much better!!) but you can pick and mix as you please. You could even soak and cook your own beans, but that would severely take away from the "fast" element of this dish.

Chorizo Bean Soup
Serves 4

250 g chorizo sausage
1 tbsp olive oil
2 small red onions
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp thyme - dried, or a few stalks of fresh thyme
2 cans (each about 400 g) of beans
salt, pepper
freshly squeezed lemon
flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

Chop the red onion, slice the chorizo thinly and slice the garlic. Rinse the beans and drain them. Bring some water to a boil in a kettle - about one litre.

Fry the onion, garlic and thyme in the olive oil in a deep pan or a saucepot. Add the chorizo and fry until the oil starts to color from the sausage, and the chorizo turns crispy. Add the beans. Cover with hot, preferrably boiling water, and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, some lemon juice and finally scatter over the parsley.

Recipe in Swedish:
Chorizo- och bönsoppa

Weekend Cat Blogging: my cats, a random weekend

Glinda, peeking up from a laundry basket that Hamlet has worked his magic on - note the raggedy edges. *sigh*


Kelly, rudely awaken from one of her many, many naps. (This is the one we hope is pregnant - things are looking quite positive, but we don't know for sure yet.) And for those who might wonder, didn't she use to be fluffier? Yes, indeed. She's been to the hairdresser, and now sports a much shorter look.


Hamlet, keeping watch of the perimeter.


Ywette, preferring the high ground.


Glinda, who knows that the bed is the best place for sleeping.

Cookbook Watch: Singular Cookbooks

I love well-written cookbooks that capture all sorts of food, but there's also something to be said for very singular books that just deal with one, narrow subject. I've ended up with plenty of those lately, and here are some of them...

"Västerbottensost" - Västerbotten Cheese - is one of my favorite cheeses. It's very sharp, and with a lovely nutty flavor. (I've written about it before.) There's now a book, by Susanne Jonsson, with the same name. And it's all about the cheese, I'm happy to say! It's only available in Swedish - but then again, the cheese itself is pretty hard to get outside of Sweden. You might get lucky at IKEA though, or in some special cheese stores. It's produced on such a small scale that the dairy runs out, every year, and most of the cheese isn't exported. It's extremely suitable for cooking, and I love making pie with it. The book has several varieties on pies, but also recipes for everything from bread (a gorgeous cheese-filled bread with walnuts and basil) to desserts (hazelnut-crusted cheese with cloudberries) and not forgetting salads, soups, pancakes or anything else in between. So - singular cookbook as for the subject, but certainly still with a very wide variety of dishes. If you read Swedish, you can go on to the website.



Then, we have.. "Chocolate Epiphany". This is just completely amazing. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. The cover alone made me drool. And it is *so* well-written! Francois Payard comes from a line of chocolatiers and he's sharing many of his "secrets" in this book - recipes that it's clear that he makes himself, and has made for many years. The book is surprisingly undaunting and accessible - I haven't tried anything yet, but he explains everything so well (yet without being overly detailed like some cookbooks authors I might mention can be) that I feel well-equipped to take on anything. Well, maybe not the chocolate crepe cake with matcha pastry cream - while it looks breathtaking, it also looks majorly difficult. I think I'll begin with his chocolate Tiramisu though! This book has desserts, cakes, cookies and chocolate confections, but also a few brunch items which I found very interesting. Chocolate granola, anyone? If you love chocolate as much as I do, well, then this is definitely the book for you.



What goes well with chocolate? Coffee? Yes, indeed. Coffee. And I have two books about coffee! One is called "Svensk Kaffebok" (Swedish Coffee book) and it's not really a cookbook so I won't say all that much about it, but it does talk about coffee (production, history, brands, different types, etc) in very much detail. It's written by journalist Anne Nilsson who I met at Barista Cup, and she says that the book might be translated into English sometime soon-ish. Coffee fans - I'll let you know when that happens.

The other one - which you see above - isn't available in English either, and it's even more particular, subject-wise. It's about coffee - Italian coffee. And Italien coffee bars! It's written by Tomas Tengy (journalist) and Matts Johansson (who owns Da Matteo in Gothenburg, where I was fortunate enough to have coffee a few weeks ago) It's not just about the coffee, but also about the sandwiches or sweets you might encounter at such a bar. It has sections on pasta - of course! - and ice creams and cheeses, too. And, as a bonus towards the end: addresses to great coffee bars in Italy. Very handy.



I've mentioned GI - Glycemic Index - on the blog before, and it's very popular in Sweden. It's not a diet - but it is, of course, but more of a lifestyle. According to the followers. And well, if a diet is just something short-lived, then no, this is not a diet. If you choose to eat according to GI, it's something you do for life, more or less. And if you do, you're definitely going to need some inspiration for cookbooks, at leats to get you started! Klara Desser has written several books about this, and her husband Hans Desser has taken all the beautiful, beautiful photographs. I really like Klara's writing - even though GI is not particularly interesting to me, she makes it much more accessible than most writers. And her recipes are well thought-out, clear and fun. Her latest book - "Klaras GI-desserter" is as you might deduce from the name all about desserts. As GI means you avoid sugar, you'd think it's pretty hard to make dessert, but here are no less than 70 recipes. And many of them sound very appealing - or how about warm mango with lime yogurt? Phyllo pie with pears and ginger? Chocolate cheesecake with a nutty crust? It all sounds very good to me - low GI or not.



Pies aren't particularly GI-friendly, so this book is for someone else: "Pajer" by Caroline Hofberg is all about pies. Hofberg is extremely productive - she seems to get at least one book out every year, and has done so for several years now. This is the first one that I really like - and I'm not even a big fan of pies! This book though, is just so inventive... how about a chicken pie with chorizo and saffron? Cheese pie with fig- and pear salsa? Broccoli pie with mushrooms and blue cheese? Yummy! Half the book has dessert pies, half savory pies. I have to say that the savory section is more appealing to me - probaby because I'd rarely choose to make a pie for dessert.

Kiwi Vanilla Granita

Do you happen to have some leftover kiwi fruits? I did - and it's something that happens from time to time. The store will have a good deal on a basket of fruit, I'll buy it, eat three or four and.. then they'll just grow old. So - why not make it into a useful dessert? I made this little granita to serve after a heavy meal, and added some sliced blood oranges that had been soaking in a vanilla simple syrup for a few hours. (Just make a simple sugar syrup and add a few vanilla beans to infuse. It'll keep in the fridge for a long time if you don't use it all at once.)

A sad thing though: when I ate this, my mouth started to tingle. In a bad, getting-an-allergic-reaction way. And again when I was served a great drink with kiwi a while ago. So, I'm staying away from kiwis for a while - I haven't noticed anything when I've ate them straight up, but they're usually a little less ripe by then and possibly it's just ripe kiwis that I can't eat. Oh, I don't know - but I'm not taking any risks with it, either.

Kiwi Vanilla Granita

400 g kiwi fruits(7-8)
65 g homemade vanilla sugar
130 ml water

Peel the kiwi fruits and cut them into pieces. Place with sugar and water in a food processor and mix until smooth. Pour into a shallow pan and place in the freezer. After about an hour, scrape down the icy crystals that will have formed on the sides of the pan, and stir it. Repeat this every half hour or so until it's all frozen.

When serving, scrape it with a fork to form loose crystals.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kiwi- och vaniljgranita

Risoni with Halloumi, Avocado and Coriander

The combination of cumin, lemon and coriander is really my favorite at the moment. I'm completely in love with it! The inspiration is really from Isabel's Cantina, a book by Isabel Cruz which I've written about before. I made a great quinoa salad from that a while ago (I'll post about that, too, soon) and ever since.. I've been craving the combination.

I liked this salad even more than the original actually - halloumi cheese and avocado are great together, and they really soak up the flavors.

Risoni is a small rice-shaped pasta - I think it's called Orzo in some places. You can use any small pasta though - it won't matter. And halloumi is a cypriotic cheese that doesn't melt when it's heated. It retains it's shape and gets a great golden crust - delicious! Nigella describes it as eating styrofoam and she has a point as it's wonderfully squidgy.

I love this alongside grilled meat, but it'd go well with a nice piece of salmon as well, or chicken for that matter. It's a very versatile side dish - but it'd work great on its own, too.

Risoni with Halloumi, Avocado and Coriander
Serves 2

150 g risoni or other small pasta
125 g halloumi cheese, in small cubes
1 avocado, diced
100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 large buch of fresh coriander, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper, cumin

Boil the risoni in plenty of salted water. Drain and rinse in cold water. Fry the halloumi with a little bit of oilve oil until it's golden brown. Mix the risoni with avocado, tomatoes and red onions. Whisk together lemon, vinegar, a tiny bit of oil, salt, pepper and cumin. Add this to the rest of the ingredients with the halloumi, and finally, the coriander.

Recept på svenska:
Risoni med halloumi, avocado och koriander