Chicken Feta Salad

Delicious, gorgeous dinner a few nights ago. We simply cut up some chicken thighs, fried them in a little bit of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Towards the end, we added a small handful of pine nuts and let those brown slightly.

We then did a simple dressing with balsamic vinegar, oil, honey, salt and peppar. Used this to dress some arugula/rocket, and tossed the whole thing with kalamata olives, feta cheese, the chicken and pine nuts, and some red onion that had been left to marinate in a mixture of white vinegar and white balsamic vinegar for about half an hour. It was absolutely amazing!

Serve with a nice, crusty baguette.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kycklingsallad med fetaost och marinerad rödlök

Yum!

My fellow Daring Baker Dagmar cooked this for me last weekend - homemade macaroni & cheese, and roasted chicken. Wow, am I lucky to have her for a friend! It was super yummy - and so was dessert, which was eton mess with vanilla ice cream, meringues, raspberries steeped in cherry syrup and whipped cream. Wish I had a photo of that - but I was much too busy eating.

Daring Bakers - tuile it is!

It's official: I can't do cute. I can't do dainty, I can't do pretty shapes, I just can't. Especially not when I'm trying to do something at the last minute. Surprise, surprise. Anyway, I've been feeling very unexcited about this month's challenge for some reason, not due to the recipes themselves but I just haven't been inspired. So, I held it off until last minute, and then I decided to go for nougatine which I at least know I like. I did a fraction of the original recipe - about one fifth - and since my patience was wearing a lot thinner than the hot, sticky, gooey almond mess, I shaped rustic (very) baskets.

For the fruity pairing... I made cherry ice cream. Sounds impressive, tasted fab, but was really a big cheat. I softened vanilla ice cream, stirred in cherry preserves and a great cherry syrup from Poland. It was seriously one of the tastiest ice creams I've ever had, including many home made ones, so cheat or not, I'll make it again. Would I make nougatine? Uhm. Maybe. Probably. But I'd have to wait to feel quite inspired! As did many of my fellow daring bakers, so do go to the blogroll or the forums and check out what everyone else made!



This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

A more kid-friendly salad

For the same occasion as the one I wrote about yesterday, I made this salad for those who might be a bit less adventurous. It has lettuce, red and yellow peppers, de-seeded cucumbers, pineapple and sweetcorn. Very simple - and really popular.

Blood Orange Halloumi Salad

Here's something I made over the holidays, for a large family gathering. I made a huge amount, so I won't even give quantities here - it's a salad, just use as much of each ingredient as you'd like! Do go heavy on the blood oranges though, they're so lovely this time of year!

Blood Orange Halloumi Salad

Boil quinoa according to packet instructions. (Don't forget to rinse it well first!!) Marinate some thinly sliced red onion in white balsamic vinegar (sherry vinegar would be nice too) for half an hour. Fry diced halloumi cheese in a little bit of oil until golden. Leave the quinoa and halloumi to cool a bit.

Arrange arugula (rocket) on a large platter. Mix the quinoa, red onions and halloumi with coarsely grated carrots, lots of diced blood oranges and dried cranberries. Drizzle with some olive oil if you'd like, and perhaps some of the vinegar that the onion has marinated in. Place it all on top of the arugula. Top with a large handful of pomegranate seeds.

Recipe in Swedish:
Blodapelsinsallad med halloumi

Chicken Broccoli Risotto

Very, very yummy. And no real recipe - I used a basic risotto recipe (check out any of mine from the drop-down menus - they're pretty much the same!) and added lightly cooked broccoli florets and some cubed, cooked chicken. Lots of parmesan, and my secret weapon for any risotto: a little bit of honey, and chipotle paste. It tastes incredible.

Mustard Pork Chops with Creamy Risoni

Here's a quick and simple dinner we had a few nights ago. Risoni pasta is called orzo in some places - it's tiny and shaped like grains of rice, but is regular pasta. I love it - especially in a creamy sauce. Sweden has tons of different flavored crème fraîches, so I used one with french herbs, but if you don't have that - use plain crème fraîche and add a garlic clove to the mushrooms, and perhaps some fresh herbs instead. Either way, I'm sure it'll be utterly delicious.

Mustard Pork Chops with Creamy Risoni
Serves 2

2 good-sized pork chops

Marinade:
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tbsp worcestershiresauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp runny honey

Risoni:
150 g risoni pasta (called orzo in some places)
200 g mushrooms, cut into smaller pieces
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
100 ml crème fraîche with french herbs

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and leave the meat to steep for at least a few hours. Remove, pat dry and fry.

Boil the pasta according to packet instructions. Fry mushrooms and onions in some butter (or oil) and add in the risoni. Finally, stir in the crème fraîche.

Recept på svenska:
Honungskotletter med svamprisoni

Street Food: Noodles

Ate this at the Central Station last week, in Marcus Samuelsson's Street Food restaurang. Not bad - but not excellent. I've definitely had better noodles, but it was nice and flavorful and a good portion. Would buy it again.

Sorry for not updating much this week - I've been so hysterically tired and haven't been able to concentrate on anything.

Some nice stuff!

I recently went to Formex, a large design show, and saw some fun kitchen-related things I thought I'd tell you about. Above, though not extreme kitchen-related I suppose, are my new camera straps that I ordered from Straps By Leslie on Etsy - I love that site so much. These are for my new compact camera, but I've ordered another one from another Etsy shop for my large Nikon - I hope it shows up soon.



Don't want a huge espresso maker in your kitchen? Or are you perhaps an avid hiker? Then the Handpresso might be for you. I was sceptical, but the coffee tasted really nice - definitely not worse than any other espresso made from pods that I've had.



I love my ceramic knife by Kyocera, but the handle which is made from regular plastic can be quite slippery if your hands are wet. So, these knives, by Satake and sold by Vikingsun looked really interesting. The handle feels rubbery and has a really nice shape to it - definitely a future investment for me!



Vikingsun also sells this really cool grinder, the Spice Boy. What's special is that it's really, really strong, and you can easily make custom blends - including notoriously hard things like star anise or long pepper - for it. And it looks good. I have a red one that I use for pink rock salt, but I'd love to have more.. say, one for salt, one for black pepper, one for more exciting mixes... at least.



Speaking of salt - in Sweden, regular salt is generally sold by just a few manufacturers, and it usually comes in rather ugly large sifters. SaltDeco to the rescue - these are specially designed stickers that you cover up the ugly sifter with, to make it much prettier thing that you won't be ashamed to put on the table. Well, in theory at least - I think some of the patterns are quite hideous, but the idea is nice.



Last, but most definitely not least, something that's been on my wishlist for quite a while. Nytta Design makes these gorgeous, gorgeous aprons... they look so good, and I can't even decide what color to get. If you order 50, you can get a custom color - maybe that'd be something to do for my blog readers! :) Well, until I manage to decide *that*, I know that I at least want a red one...

Peanut Butter Brownies

So here's the recipe I've kept you waiting for for a few days. Don't worry, it's worth it. The photo sucks - I packed half of these to give away and tossed the rest in the freezer, meaning to arrange them nicely for a photo before eating. Well, I forgot about that, took the bag to work, and just managed to snap this photo before they were all gone. That should tell you how very popular they were, despite not looking incredibly pretty.

The recipe comes from The Boastful Baker, but I've made a few minor changes - no espresso powder, less sugar.. slightly different measurements.

So. For this recipe you have to have Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Yes, I know they're hard to find in Sweden, but it isn't impossible. My local ICA has them, and so does most City-Gross stores I've ever been to. Talk to your local store if they don't have them in stock. You'll be needing about four packets, which means eight cups. And if you've never had them before... buy an extra packet and try them with a glass of milk, they're really quite good. (I suppose, in a pinch you could make your own peanut butter cups first, but it would be quite a bit more work.)

Oh - and keep these small. They're really, really, really quite rich.

Peanut Butter Brownies
makes about 36 small pieces

240 g chocolate (mostly dark, I used 200 g dark and 40 g milk chocolate)
115 g unsalted butter
4 tbsp cocoa powder
3 large eggs
250 g sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract (you can use vanilla sugar instead)
4 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt
150 g flour
200 g Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (about eight cups)

Start by peeling off the paper from the Peanut Butter Cups and freeze them in a plasic bag for a few hours. Then chop into coarse pieces.

Heat the oven to 175°C. Butter a pan or line it with baking paper - mine is about 20 cm square so use something similar in size to that.

Dice the chocolate and butter and melt together in the microwave or over a waterbath. Stir in the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Add cocoa powder.

Beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and salt and add the chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour and last, the chopped Peanut Butter Cups.

Spread into your prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out mostly clean, but don't overbake them, either. Leave to cool completely before cutting into small squares. Keep them cool, I recommend freezing them.

Recipe in Swedish:
Jordnötssmörbrownies

Finally.

The semla-season is definitely upon us, and you'll find these in every café. Good, because it's the one thing I've really been craving - since September. And they're not sold until January.

What it is? Oh, a simple cardamom-scented bun with almond paste and whipped cream. Heaven.

Gingerbread Waffles

I tried these right before christmas, and it was a pretty luxurious dinner! No need to re-post the recipe as I followed it exactly, but the waffles didn't turn out very crispy so next time I think I'll just add a large pinch of gingerbread spices to my usual waffle batter. (Which generally comes from a box. Yes. And I eat waffles about twice a year or so, so I *could* certainly make my own...)

I ate them with whipped cream, raspberries and maple syrup. Delicious!

Raspberry Collins

Yum, yum, yum! I made this drink for my guests on Twelwth Night, and I think everyone liked it. It's perhaps not super traditional - the original Raspberry Collins uses strained raspberries rather than cordial, but hey, I'm lazy. And pregnant. (It's a good excuse.)

Simple syrup is exactly that - simple. Mix equal parts sugar and water, heat until the sugar is dissolved, and cool down completely. It'll keep well in the fridge so you can make a larger batch if you want to.

Raspberry Collins
makes one drink

50 ml Bombay Sapphire gin
30 ml raspberry cordial, concentrated
30 ml simple sugar syrup
30 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
sparkling water

Mix gin, raspberry cordial, simple syrup and lemon in a shaker with lots of ice, and shake for five seconds or so. Strain into a glass with more ice, and top up with some sparkling water.

To make this alcohol-free, skip the gin and add some extra cordial.

Recipe in Swedish:
Raspberry Collins

Coconut Truffles

I was going to tell you about SUCH a wonderful recipe today, but sadly I didn't observe that my old card reader didn't like my new high-capacity memory card that I got for my likewise new compact camera, so the photo is stuck for now. Watch out in a few days time though - and you might want to save up some calories, because, wow. :)

Anyway. This isn't half bad either. I made these for Christmas, and while they might look a lot like classic Swedish chocolate balls with coconut, they're not very similar in taste.

You can give these your own twist, by adding perhaps a little lime zest, or a splash of rum.

Coconut Truffles
about 60 very small truffles

100 g dark chocolate
50 ml cream (double/heavy/whipping - whatever it might be called where you live, but as fat as possible)
100 g coconut flakes (unsweetened!)
100 ml powdered sugar

Start by putting two tablespoons of the coconut aside.

Melt the chocolate and mix in the cream, coconut and powdered sugar. Leave to set in the fridge for a few hours, then shape into small balls that you roll in the coconut you have left. Place in small paper cases and keep cool.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kokostryffel

Fika at Vurma

I really meant to post a recipe today, but I am just plain exhausted and so, won't. Tomorrow!

For today, please enjoy this photo from my fika with Pia at one of our favorite cafés, Vurma. I had a lovely huge cardamom bun and a latte - or actually a latte made from skim milk which is ingeniously re-named "lätte" which is a great play on words as "lätt" is "light" in Swedish, and our skim milk is called "lätt"-milk.

Per's birthday cake

I have to show you the cake I made for Per's birthday - he turned 30 right before christmas, and had requested a "classic" cake, nothing fancy. So, I made a children's favorite - cake layers with mashed banana, vanilla custard and strawberry jam. It's covered in whipped cream, non-stops (which is similar to Smarties) and gummy bears. He declared it a huge success, and my mom said it was one of her favorite cakes ever. So much for fancy, huh?

Lemon Sill

Sill. What's that? Basically, it's large herrings, and while they are also sold as they are, most people refer to pickled herring when they just say sill.

Sill is something very important to most Swedes. It's always present on Smorgasbords, and definitely a staple for almost all holidays - Christmas, Easter, Midsummer's... People think you're quite strange if you don't eat sill - believe me, because I'm not much of a sill-eater.

However, I'm learing. I now rather enjoy the creamy versions, but still have a hard time with the "clear" ones that are mainly just spiced. You can buy many versions at any grocery store, but it's very popular to make your own, and I tried out two kinds for christmas - both with really good results.

You have to have a neutrally pickled herring to start with, so I realize this will be useless to many of you out there. Maybe IKEA has it? It's a tin made by Abba called "five-minute sill".

Lemon Sill

50 ml thick yogurt (greek or turkish style)
50 ml crème frâiche
zest from one lemon
juice from one lemon
1 tbsp runny honey
salt, black pepper

1/2 tin Abba's Five-Minute Sill (about 200 g)

Cut the sill into thin strips (or leave them larger if that's your preference.) Mix all the other ingredients together, stir in the sill and season to taste. Serve cool, and keep in the fridge - it'll keep for a few days.

Recipe in Swedish:
Citronsill

Weekend Cat Blogging - nine weeks old!

Lotus, who's moving in with my cousin - glad to have him "still in the family".

The adorable, adorable kittens are nine weeks, and definitely growing into "little cats" rather than just cuddly kittens. They are excited explorers, and very daring. They've had their first shot, which went very well, and all but one are now spoken for and will move into their new homes in about one month. You can see the full photo set on Flickr.


Lincoln, definitely the star according to breed standard. And still for sale.


Land Rover, cuddly and with huge paws - he's going to be a very big boy


Lexus, adorable in his classic tabby pattern


Lamborghini, who will move in with a bengal cat - suits him well, because he's probably the liveliest one of the bunch.


Lancia, the only girl, and looking more sweet and feminine than her rougher brothers

Nigella's stuffing

Cornbread, orange and cranberry stuffing, from Nigella Lawson's Feast. I don't plan to make it again, so no recipe this time. It can, however, be found at this lovely blog. Nothing wrong with it, but frankly, I've never met a stuffing (in bird or not) that I like much. Maybe it's just not in my DNA. :)

Deconstructed Apple Pie

Well, sort of anyway. It was a really simple dessert I made a few weeks ago, and I bet it'd be perfect after a light weekend meal - say, after a soup?

Three components. One - apples. Cut up a few apples (about one per person) and fry in butter and a few spoonfuls of sugar until softened and caramelized. Add spices as you see fit - cardamom and cinnamon are obvious, but very tasty choices.

Next, the cream. It's a simple mixture of cream cheese and lightly whipped cream. You can use mascarpone if you'd like. Or just whipped cream, or crème fraîche. Yogurt, too! Be innovative! Add a little sugar and vanilla, to taste.

And finally, the topping. It's mainly rolled oats and chopped nuts, fried in butter and sugar with a little bit of maple syrup stirred in. You can see this recipe for a more exact idea, though I used less butter and hazelnuts rather than pecans this time around.

Thirteen courses on Twelvth Night, 2009

Raspberry Collins

By now, some of you know that me and some of my friends have a party each year on Twelvth Night, or Trettondagsafton as it's known here. (2006, 2007, 2008.) It's a gourmet dinner with 13 courses, and each couple cooks three courses. (I, as hostess, also make a welcome drink and something to nibble on.) So, it's essentially a very exciting tasting menu, and usually quite eclectic! I'll post my recipes soon-ish, and I'm sure Dagmar and Lena will share their recipes on their blogs as well, Tesse isn't blogging, though. So - here's what we ate! We started with drinks, a Raspberry Collins with Olive Hazelnut Cantuccini. And of course, alcohol-free versions for some of us.


Olive Hazelnut Cantuccini

On to the appetizers. We started with a light Vietnamese Pomelo salad, with chicken, papaya and fresh coriander. (Dagmar.) More asian - we then got a spring roll filled with mushrooms and fennel, with rosemary dipping sauce. (Tesse.) Next was a Petit Choux filled with smoked moose. (Lena.) I went last with chicken thai bites - a savory sour-sharp salad in cucumber cups.


Vietnamese Pomelo Sala


Spring Rolls with Mushrooms and Fennel, Rosemary Dipping Sauce


Petit Choux with Smoked Moose


Chicken Thai Bites

Main courses: Tesse offered a very exciting kangaroo filet with Dijon mustard sauce and mashed potatoes. That was followed by one of Dagmar's specialties - potstickers with dipping sauce. I made Jalapeño Shrimp, and Lena finished with a blue cheese pork tenderloin in puff pastry, with a refreshing melon salad.


Kangaroo Filet with Dijon Mustard Sauce & Mashed Potatoes


Potstickers with dipping sauce


Jalapeño Shrimp


Blue Cheese Pork Tenderloin with Melon Salad

Dessert is always my favorite. Lena went first, with a vanilla pannacotta on top of blackberries, finished with flambéed Punsch, a sweet Swedish liquour. I then served a Parfait with orange, strawberries and dark chocolate, with a chocolate glaze. Dagmar hade made the cutest little mini-semlas, a lovely Swedish pastry. And finally, a very light citrus cocktail with candied walnuts and balsamic vinegar.


Punsch-flambéed Pannacotta


Orange-Strawberry-Chocolate Parfait with Chocolate Glaze


Mini-Semlas


Citrus Cocktail with Candied walnuts


I feel extremely lucky to have such talended foodie friends. This is really a lovely tradition, and I hope we can keep it up for many more years!

Get them now!

Just a reminder - buy pomegranates while they're still in season. These particular ones were huge, about the size of a cantaloupe rather than the normal size. And delicious! I de-seeded both of them and kept the seeds in a container in the fridge, and snacked on them for at least a week. I can't wait to get more though - they're so tasty! (And, an excellent source for anti-oxidants, too.)

And a handy tip for de-seeding, unless you want pink juice all over yourself and your kitchen: do it underwater. Get a bowl with cold water, divide the fruit into four segments, and gently break apart under water. The seeds will sink, the membranes will float. Very handy!

Almond Shortbread

Here's the recipe I promised you, for the almond shortbread. It can be pressed into individual fluted tins - but make sure they are *very* well buttered - or just pressed into one large tin and scored into squares or sticks. This is a very rich and delicious cookie - and it freezes well.

You really should try to use a grinder for the almonds - a food processor won't give the same texture. As it's a fairly small amount of almonds in this, you might get away with it - but if you have a grinder, definitely use that.

Almond Shortbread

100 g margarine
150 g unsalted butter
150 g sugar
30 almonds, ground
1 tsp almond extract
360 g all-purpose flour

Place margarine and butter in a bowl at room temperature for at least one hour before baking. Then, beat it with the sugar until it's soft and fluffy. Add the almond extract and the ground almonds. Finally, stir in the flour.

Press into well greased tins, and bake at 225°C for about 7-8 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
Mandelmusslor

Mandelmusslor - a very traditional Swedish dessert

Here's what we had for dessert after Christmas dinner! It's a Swedish classic, and something my grandmother used to make. Mandelmussla literally translates into "Almond Mussel", or probably "Almond Shell", and it's made from an almond shortbread. You'll get the recipe soon - I'm just to tired to type it at the moment, but I promise to share it. You bake it in small fluted metal tins, that come in various shapes and sizes. The prettiest ones are no longer sold though, so you have to try your luck at fleamarkets...

It's served with softly whipped cream and jam - here's a mixed jam with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Update: here's the recipe.

Thai-style Potato Leek Soup

Enough baby talk. (Although I assure you there will be much more of that on this blog, later on. It's hard to resist.) I got this great soup recipe from a dear friend who recently turned food-blogger - Feline. She only writes in Swedish, but she has really great recipes and a wonderful writing style, so visit her!

Potato and leek are common in soups, and a classic combination - but this soup uses spices and coconut milk to turn it into a much more exciting dish with definite thai inspiration. For a more genuine touch, you could certainly use fish sauce rather than soy sauce.

This is very adaptable - you can add more water to serve more people, just up the spices a little bit too. And you can easily add more potatoes. It's really good on its own, but serve it with extra wedges of lime, and for something special, maybe some grilled shrimp on top?

Thai-style Potato Leek Soup
Serves 3-4

4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 leek, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4-5 cm fresh ginger, chopped
2 fresh jalapeño peppers, de-seeded and chopped
oil for frying
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
water
400 ml coconut milk
1/2 - 1 tbsp japanese soy sauce
1 lime, zest and juice
salt

Heat the oil, and add the spices. Fry the potato, leek, garlic, ginger and jalapeño for a few minutes. Don't use a huge pot, but a fairly snug one, so you won't have to add so much water in the next step.

Add enough water to cover. Salt well, bring to boil, cover with a lid and lower the heat. Cook until the potatoes are soft.

Blend the soup, either in a blender or with an immersion blender, until smooth. Add the coconut milk, soy sauce, lime zest and juice. Add more water if you want a thinner soup.

Season to taste with more salt, soy sauce and lime, and possibly more chili.

Recipe in Swedish:
Thai-smakande Potatis & Purjosoppa

Yep, a little Chef is on the way...

Baby Chef, 14 weeks

Most of you figured out my not-so-subtle hint yesterday. Yes, I do indeed have a "bun in the oven"! It's really very, very, very exciting, and feels very weird at the same time. Some of you might have noticed that I've posted a bit less, and definitely fewer recipes, and this is the reason. I have felt very uninspired to cook, and while I've been lucky enough not to have had any morning sickness (or anytime-of-the-day-sickness, really) I haven't been eating a whole lot, either. No cravings, as far as I can tell...

The baby is due in mid-May (actually, the tentative date is the same as my own birthday, May 21, but I'm sure it'll be any other day) so I'm about halfway there. So far, it's been really easy, except for a lot of hormonal roller-coaster mood-shifting - let's hope it stays as easy as this!

Anyway - I probably won't post a whole lot about this, but I really wanted to share with all my friends out there, across the world. Many hugs!