Contest time - make a superfood sandwich!

I bake most of my own bread at the moment, but that certainly isn't always the case. I'm glad that we have so much store-bought bread to choose from, and that it's becoming better and better. Just out (in stores from Monday) is the new Frökusar from Fazer - a dark bread with rye, spelt wheat, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and linseed that's both tasty and good for you. (And no scary ingredients!)

I'm partnering up with Fazer for a competition - you can enter by composing a superfood sandwich, and sending a photo plus description to contest@annesfood.com

The first prize is a half-year supply (coupons for 52 packets) of this bread! The first and second runner-up will get 26 packets! And since this is pretty Sweden-specific, one winner outside of Sweden will get a wonderful book about Swedish bread, cookies and baking: In Grandma's Arbor by my friend Kinna Jonsson.

(When you enter, tell me if you want to go for the bread, or for the book.)

The contest is open until October 21, so you have three weeks to come up with a great idea. Any photos might be published on this blog.

What's superfood? Well, that's up to you. The general idea, according to Wikipedia, is that it's a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that may confer health benefits as a result. But I'll leave the definition to you - if you feel that your sandwich is superfood and can argue for that, that's fine.

Personally, I feel that the sandwich above - my lunch - was pretty super! It had cream cheese (which is pretty low in fat, compared to butter. Avocado, which contains lots of good fats. Red pepper, which is high in phytochemicals (anti-oxidants, really). And if I had planned ahead, I would have added some crumbled bacon, which as we all know, is superfood for the soul.

Pretty cupcake

Isn't this gorgeous? No, I didn't make it. I ate it, though!

It has Swedish "messmör" in it, which might sound scary - it's soft whey butter, and a popular sandwich spread here. It's sweet, caramelly and slightly salty at the same time, and I get a hankering for it about once a year. Here, the messmör is used to flavor a white chocolate cream, and it's paired with a cloudberry mousse and a dark chocolate cake. Delicious, in every way. I wish I had another one.

Chicken Marsala Pasta

This is a recipe for my friend Linda in Gothenburg. She has a favorite pasta dish from her local take-out, and I tried it when I was there. It really was delicious, and this is my attempt (over a year later) to re-create it. It might not be just like the original, but it's very tasty!

Chicken Marsala Pasta
(printable recipe)
Serves 3-4

400 g boneless chicken thighs
1/2 lemon - zest and juice
black pepper
salt
100 g mushrooms, in small pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
butter
50 ml marsala wine
250 ml cream
freshly grated parmesan
1-2 fresh tomatoes, diced

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and mix with lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Leave for half an hour.

Fry with mushrooms and garlic in butter. When the chicken is just about cooked through, add some marsala wine and let it reduce for a few minutes. Add cream and let it cook for a few more minutes.

Meanwhile, boil some pasta, drain and mix with the sauce. Add grated parmesan and fresh tomatoes, and serve right away.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kycklingpasta med marsalavin

Fika at Brygghuset

Svindervik's Café Brygghuset is Open Thursdays to Sundays, and it's quite lovely. I had a rhubarb-strawberry cake with cardamom cream.

Creamy Caramel Sauce

A creamy caramel sauce is a great little thing to have up your sleeve! Or well, the sauce itself might get sticky... but the recipe is good. Real good.

I like caramel a lot, and will gladly eat a sauce like this with nothing but ice cream, but it also works really well with other desserts - brownies in the photo, would be perfect with some mixed berries, or with an apple pie. Leftovers? Just dip your finger.

However you make it, caramel can be scary. It does involve melting sugar and it does get hot. So be careful, and keep the kids away from the stove for this one.

Creamy Caramel Sauce
(printable recipe)

100 g sugar
150 ml heavy cream (35-40% fat content)
pinch of salt

Melt the sugar in a heavy pot, over medium heat. Don't stir it. Wait until the sugar is golden brown, and remove the pan from the heat. Stir in half the cream. It will bubble and sizzle a lot. Stir until all the caramel has melted, and place the pot back over medium heat if you need to. Add the rest of the cream and a pinch of salt. Serve warm or at room temperature. It will keep in the fridge for a few days, and can easily be re-heated.

Recipe in Swedish:
Krämig kolasås

Panic dessert

I invited guests for dinner, without realizing that I would get home about half an hour before. I needed a super fast dessert. This fit the bill. Vanilla roasted plums from the freezer with whipped cream and crunchy walnut topping.

Yummy crackers!

I don't talk all that much about new products on this blog, but I have to tell you about these delicious crackers! Carr's is a pretty old brand, but I always associated them with "Water Crackers" that I felt was mostly tasteless. These new little "Melts" though... they're wonderful! Rosemary & Thyme is herby and great with goat's cheese. Cheddar is perfect as it is - just as a quick nibble before dinner.

Pistachio Macarons

Here's my first macaron "failure", and it's really just due to the filling. I was going for a simple ganache, but got too lazy and didn't look up a proper recipe. I just winged it - I used about 200 g milk chocolate and 100 g of cream, and as you can see, that wasn't great. Next time, I'll add 100 g of dark chocolate, both to stabilize and to make it a bit less sweet. However, this was delicious, even if it wasn't very pretty.

Pistachio Macarons
(printable recipe)
about 20

3 egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp caster sugar (or in my case, homemade vanilla sugar)
200 g powdered sugar
110 g pistachios
green gel (or powder) food coloring

Combine powdered sugar and pistachios in your food processor, and grind until very fine. Sieve. Re-grind any lumps or big pieces of pistachios. Mix carefully (they tend to separate a little bit when sieving, since the sugar falls through first.)

Beat egg whites and sugar until you have a thick, glossy meringue. Don't overbeat. Stir in the pistachio-sugar powder, and food coloring if you'd like, and fold together. Don't overmix this - most seem to say that you should use less than 50 strokes. (You can try it by dolloping a little batter on a baking sheet - if the peak falls down, it's ready. If it doesn't, try a few more strokes.)

Pipe small rounds on a baking sheet with baking paper. If you'd like, sprinkle some extra ground pistachios on half of them. Leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, to form a skin.

Bake at 150°C for 15-20 minutes. (I have a convection oven, and 15 minutes was perfect for me.) Let them cool completely before filling. Unused shells can be frozen, or kept in an air-tight container for a day or so.

Recipe in Swedish:
Pistagemacarons

Cream Wedding Dress

Dear Anonymous,

Sorry for the late reply, i didn't reply on the comment site coz i'm afraid u might not notice it. Anyway, i'm not so sure who's the designer for the cream wedding dress but i did find few websites which have the similar dress and probably you can check it out from there.

http://fashionsave.blogspot.com/2009/07/2009-wedding-dress-collection.html

http://www.links2love.com/weddings/peach_fall_wedding_bouquets.htm

http://shop.perimart.com/product.php?productid=111

Orange-Apricot Lamb Stew

This is incredible! It's such a perfect dish for the transition between summery hot weather and the cooler, crisper fall, and lamb is really at its prime now. The candied orange peel does take a little bit of effort, but the reward is great so don't skip it. In fact, I had to make a lot more than I had originally planned on because when I tasted it... I really had a hard time stopping.

Orange-Apricot Lamb Stew
(printable recipe)
Serves 4

700 g lamb, cut into large dice
3 yellow onions, thinly sliced
3-4 carrots, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
5 cardamom pods
2-3 tsp cinnamon, ground
3 oranges, the juice of
2 oranges, supremed (that means each segment cut out, no pith.)
1 lime, the juice of
10-15 dried apricots, diced
salt
cayenne pepper
pistachios to garnish

Candied orange peel:
30 g butter, unsalted
3 oranges, thinly sliced peel (no pith!)
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt

Start with the orange peel. Cut very thin slices of the zest, without getting any of the pith. A zester is perfect for this. Bring a small pot of water to boil. Add the peel, and let it boil rapidly for three minutes. Drain.

Put the peel back in the saucepan with the butter, sugar and salt. Fry on medium heat until the sugar caramelizes and the peel turns very lightly golden. Don't let it burn!

Use tongs to take the peel out of the pan and place it on baking paper or a silpat mat. (Don't try placing it on regular kitchen paper - it will stick.) Reserve the butter!

Now, get started on the lamb. Brown the lamb pieces in olive oil in a heavy pot, a little at a time. Set aside. In the same pot, add the butter from the candied orange peel and fry the onion in this for a few minutes on medium heat. Add the cardamom pods and cinnamon, stir well. Add the lamb back into the pot, and squeeze over all the citrus juice. Add water so that the meat is just about covered.


Bring to boil. Cover with a lid and let it cook on low heat for about an hour. Add the carrots and cook for another 20 minutes. Add the orange segments and the apricots, and cook for a final 10 minutes. (The meat cooks for a total of 90 minutes.)

Season with salt and cayenne pepper. Serve with chopped pistachios and the candied orange peel, and something like bulgur wheat, quinoa, cous-cous or rice.

Recipe in Swedish:
Lammgryta med apelsin och aprikoser

Freshly baked

I felt inspired by the bread books, but too lazy to bake. So, I went
to get morning bread at Gamla Enskede bageri, which is always delicious.

Cookbook Watch: Great books on bread

If you're a Swedish bread-lover, you're in luck. Two new books just came out and both are really incredibly good! The first one has been talked about quite a lot - it's Surdegsbröd (Sourdough Bread) by Martin Johansson who blogs at Pain de Martin. It's a real blogging success story - he started baking, got into it, blogged about it and eventually got to write a book! I've tried several of his recipes from the blog and they've all turned out nicely. The book has a lot of all sourdough recipes, with no added yeast, and since that's my current obsession (it's just so much fun!) I really look forward to baking my way through this one. And yes, he has a lot of recipes on the blog, but the book is so well structured it's well worth getting.



And then we have Bröd (Bread) by Heléne Johansson. Ah. She runs a bakery called Brunkebergs Bageri that consistently gets great reviews, but I've never managed to go there while they're actually open. After reading through the book, I clearly need to make more of an effort! Everything sounds lovely - and surprisingly approachable. It has great variety - from parmesan crackers to the darkest of sour rye breads - and sourdough as well as yeasted breads. I wish there had been a recipe for their cinnamon buns, which apparently are quite famed, but other than that, it's pretty perfect. In fact, I can't wait to get baking - and that is truly the mark of a great cookbook.

Soft Serve Ice Cream Dreams

As I've said before in this blog and for anyone who knows me, one of my fave things EVER is a perfect soft serve ice cream cone! When I was in Japan visiting my sister and best friend Tara, I would have green tea and vanilla soft serve swirl ice cream almost every day-- whenever I saw it I would get it! In Japan they also have amazing flavours like black sesame soft serve, purple taro soft serve... This place in New York Momofuku makes crazy flavours too-- I've never been there but I'd like to try! There are some reviews on the ice cream here and here.

Basically whenever there is a chance to get soft serve, I will try it. I've had ice milk soft serve, high butterfat soft serve, soft serve that tastes like plastic, frozen yogurt soft serve of many different brands from different shops... soft serve sandwiched between chocolate cookies as an ice cream sandwich... It always looks like magic to me. That hum of the compressor and the motor, a pull of a handle and the smooth pouring out of white billowing fancy swirls of ice cream... Wonderful! When there is a choice of twist, I usually get vanilla. Vanilla gets a harsh rap for being boring... No way! Delish! Unless it's green tea on the other side, in which case I get swirl.

Today I got the pleasure of a real live soft serve ice cream demonstration, at a food machinery sales demo kitchen located in Port Coquitlam! Deep fryers, milkshake machines, hot holding display cases, slushie machines, the test kitchen looked like a little mini mart. Yes, I got lost on the way there, and I got lost on the way home, but my excitement kept my mood high! My new friends Sam and LK (see below!) walked me through the process of how a soft serve ice cream machine works... I even got to pump a few of my own, and try their "Razzle" maker too, which is essentially how you make a Dairy Queen blizzard. FUN!

Sam and LK also answered all of my queries, such as:

"What on earth is behind those handles that you pull down when you make the soft serve?"
Behind the handles are these little party chambers that are like big long frozen tubes. Above is a pic of the handles removed, revealing the inside. The turning mechanism attachment (as seen above, partially pulled out of the chamber) scrapes off the perfect amount of ice cream from the sides of the frozen tubes and pumps it out into a beautiful ice cream swirl. Apparently Taylor soft serve machines are the only ones with a fully frozen chamber using liquid technology; other machines use a frozen "coil" technology.

"How do you get the ice cream mix all up in there??"
On top of the machines are chambers called "hoppers". Basically where you pour your ice cream mix, which is then covered with a lid. The hoppers have a tiny hole in which a stick is inserted into it with an even TINIER hole. The mix seeps through the tiny hole, and when you pull down the lever, the right amount of mix gets sucked into the hole, to then get frozen in the frozen tube, which then billows out onto your cone. This is where you would pour in test batches of your own flavour creations: I want to try making some delighftul new flavours! Of course green tea, as I LOVE green tea soft serve, but also raspberry, caramel, etc... The key to the soft serve is texture, and my pal LK said it's tricky getting the right homemade formula. But I am gonna try!

"Can I try this thing??"
Yes, most certainly!!

Wheeee!! So fun!! My dream job!!!

My haphazard soft serve ice cream pile!

My ice cream... so fun!!!

I drove home with a whole lot of information about soft serve machines: water cooled vs. air cooled, the importance of servicing these puppies, how to replace parts, how to wash the parts, and an operating manual and a spec sheet for a specific Taylor Soft Serve ice cream machine, as well as my little ice cream cup. YAY! Now I know how these crazy machines work!! Too fun...

Sleep well, Ywette.

Heaven has another kitty today.



Last night, Ywette passed away. We had our veterinarian friend come over and give her a shot, and it was all very peaceful. We held her until she wasn't there anymore.



Ywette came to live with us on 9/11 - THAT 9/11. So, we had her for eight wonderful years, and she was the mother of many, many beautiful kittens. In the past few months, we'd noticed her losing a lot of weight. Her fur lost its shine, and started to become matted and tangled. In combination with an increased thirst, that pointed to kidney problems.



We took a blood sample, and our fears were realized - she had hypertyreosis. Quite common in humans, and not exactly uncommon in older animals (Ywette was 12), and the prognosis can vary. In this case, it wasn't good. Her kidneys were already quite damaged, and the chance of her responding well to daily and lifelong medication was so-so. We decided that it was better for her to have a good ending.



This is the hardest thing one has to do as a pet owner - to decide, when they can't. Give your kitties an extra hug tonight, and send a thought to our Ywette, who was such a good companion for so many years.

Sysco salsa competition

There are several reasons to pay a visit to Bisbee, the fair weather, Victorian homes nestled in the mountains, or the abundance of art galleries and local musicians playing into the night. But there is also Santiagos, that provides the best Southwestern flavors ever imagined.
In the strive for excellence, they have again achieved a new height in the restaurant business. Karina Franco-Batty, Chef at Santiago's, won the salsa competion held at the Tucson convention center by Sysco Foods Cooperation.
She went up against 10 other Arizona chefs and won for her use of organic local vegetables and peppers for her roast salsa. She has consistently brought her talents to the table, being always creative and innovative in both Santiagos and The Bisbee Grille. Congratulations Karina, and know that you are always developing as a serious Chef and we look forward to your next dish.

Carrot Raisin Salad with Nuts

Ridiculously tasty! This salad hits all the spots - it's sweet, sour, crunchy, chewy and just incredibly satisfying. Try it tonight!

Carrot Raisin Salad with Nuts
(printable recipe)

2 carrots
50 ml yellow raisins
a small handful pine nuts
a small handful pistachios
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
salt

Toast the nuts in a dry frying pan until they're fragrant and slightly golden. Peel and grate the carrots coarsely. Mix with raisins and nuts, and add sherry vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt.

Recipe in Swedish:
Morotssallad med russin och nötter

Lamb-Feta Meatballs with Ajvar Relish

You can have these as little snacks, stuff them in pitas with some sort of yogurt-based sauce (some variation on tzatziki would be nice) or eat them with pasta and tomato sauce. Very versatile! Ajvar Relish is a great condiment - bright red from roasted peppers, and slightly sweet and sour, while subtly spicy. It's also really good to stir into créme fraîche for a quick sauce.

Lamb-Feta Meatballs with Ajvar Relish
(printable recipe)
Serves 3-4

500 g lamb mince
1 egg
2 tbsp ajvar relish
75 g feta cheese
2 tbsp capers
1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ancho chili powder

Mix all ingredients, and shape into small balls or patties. Fry on medium heat until they're just cooked through.

Recipe in Swedish:
Lammfärsbiffar med feta och ajvar

Fika at Anna's

Driving home from Motala, we decided to stop and visit an old friend I
hadn't seen in a very long time. She made this super blackberry-red
currant crumble - the perfect balance between sweet, sour, soft and
crunchy.

Surprise!

We just had dinner at P:s parents. Lovely packages made from parchment
paper, filled with potatoes, carrots, spring onions and snow peas.
They were served with fillet of lamb, and a chanterelle-bacon gravy.
Yummy!

Blueberry Nectarine Muffins

Remember the blueberry syrup I made for my macarons? Well, that landed me with a little bit of blueberry preserves, as well. Not being one to waste, I used them to make these fabulous muffins. The recipe was based on one I'd previously used, but instead I added the blueberry preserves to the batter, and finely chopped nectarines as well.

Blueberry Nectarine Muffins
(printable recipe)
Makes 15

250 ml all-purpose flour
250 ml cornmeal (or possibly polenta)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
110 g butter, melted
1 egg
3-4 tbsp honey
75 g sugar
180 ml milk
100 g blueberry preserves
3 nectarines, diced

Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the egg with the butter, honey, sugar and milk. Mix in the blueberry preserves. Add this to the dry ingredients, and stir as little as possible to just combine the ingredients.

Fold in the nectarines. Divide into normal-sized muffin cups, and bake at 200°C for 15-18 minutes. They should look golden, and feel springy to the touch. If you insert a toothpick into the middle of one, it should come out mostly clean.

Recipe in Swedish:
Blåbär- och nektarinmuffins

Welcome To The Saanich Fair!

Rich admiring a very decadent pair of fur pants

Pickle on a stick!

I ate this. Guilty. Bratwurst.

Me and Candyland!

Did you know soft serve ice cream is like my most favourite thing??

Saanich Fair Kid's Cake Decorating Competition!

Saanich is in Victoria BC, which is on Vancouver Island. There are lots of farms in Saanich-- corn, tomatoes, blueberries, pumpkins... last weekend, with my in-laws, we hit up the old Saanich Fair, in its 142nd year of country fair party-times. A really amazing fair with lots of community groups running fundraising foodbooths, live animals of every kind (good GOD turkeys are unbelievable looking!! All that hanging sagging brightly colored bumpy skin and Elizabethan collar-ish rounds and rounds of stark feathers!) My favourite part was the children's barn, where everything was made by kids! So wholesome, so cute! So amazing. Sewing, crafts, cake baking, pie baking, cake decorating, art... children should absolutely be immersed in learning things other than sitting in front of a computer or video game console! Get them to bake a pie! These kids did it with no fear!!

The theme for this year's fair, BTW, was "How The West Was Fun". Welcome to Canada everybody.

I bet even a KID made this sign!! Go kid!

The cake decorating competition!! By KIDS!

10 to 12 year olds. You can picture these young gals being so stoked...

Second place in the cookie contest!! It doesn't make dimensional sense but who cares!! It's a watermelon slice sugar cookie, made by a KID!

Mexican cowboy? Third place ribbon!! Those fingers got a bit toasty but it's tough to evenly bake when you have tiny parts such as those cowboy fingers. Black licorice rope!! By a KID!!

Turd pile cake! With straw, dirt and plastic flies!! This won first place blue ribbon!!

This is darn cute. By a KID!

This is cool too. How the west was fun!! Get it?? Reese's Pieces accoutrements!

This one was feeling the literal and figurative burn of the hot lights and the being-out-all-day situation. Little Miss Lady riding a cake buggy! Great work, KID!

Shoestring potato chips as hay, Sesame Snaps as snacks... Dyed coconut flakes as grass... KID!!

So, so awesome!!!! I just want to high five them all!

Tomato Nectarine Salsa

Here's another fast and easy side dish - absolutely yummy with barbecued meat of all kinds. It goes well with fish as well as beef, pork or chicken - extremely versatile! Nectarines are only in season for a short while, so make this while you can!

Tomato Nectarine Salsa
(printable recipe)

2 tomatoes
2 necarines
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 lime
handful of fresh coriander
salt, pepper

Dice tomatoes and nectarines. Finely mince the onion and chop the coriander. Squeeze the lime, and mix everything together. Leave for at least half an hour before eating, it'll help the flavors to develop.

Recipe in Swedish:
Tomat- och nektarinsalsa

Puy Lentils with Dijon Mustard

Lentils is not something I eat a lot, and few of my friends seem to be big fans. However, I like serving lentils or chickpeas as a simple side dish, and this one has big flavors. It's super simple to make, and it keeps well in the fridge. You can serve this cold, warm or at room temperature.

Puy Lentils with Dijon Mustard
(printable recipe)

350 ml Puy lentils
1 shalott, finely minced
1-2 tbsp dijon mustard
1-2 tsp sherry vinegar
salt, black pepper

Boil the lentils in plenty of water until tender but not mushy - about 25-30 minutes.

Whisk shalott, mustard and vinegar. Stir into the warm lentils, and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe in Swedish:
Puylinser med dijonsenap

Cookbook watch: Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Ok, if you're even slightly inclined towards baking, you should get this book. It's all about cupcakes - every imaginable flavor. There are plain ones, but most are decorated, and they range from very simple frostings to elaborate piped designs. The photos are absolutely beautiful, and as with so many Martha Stewart publications, they're incredibly inspiring. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but I did place a huge order for cake decorating supplies. Oops.

I can't tell you any one recipe I'll try, because I'm pretty much aching to make all of them. I just need someone to eat them all - because sadly, I'm not that fond of actually eating cupcakes. But I'm most definitely bringing out this book for my next party!