Weekend Cat Blogging - Ywette

Ywette is real happy that it's now autumn. That means that I have started knitting and crocheting again, and that means lots of yarn for her to play with.

Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted at Paulchens Food Blog this week. Head over there to find more beautiful kitties!

Cookbook Watch: Pink!

I have to tell you about this book - from all the ones I've seen this fall, this one really does stand out. It's the first book by Swedish chef Peter Norman, and he has created something called "Pink! - the pink cookbook" and it's touted as a "gay lifestyle cookbook". So what does that mean? Well, at the release party Peter explained it as being the kind of life where you have two adults with reasonable incomes, no kids and lots of time to cook. So, essentially - time for the good things in life!

I have to say right off the bat that it's somewhat of a shame to plug the gay angle of this book so very much. See, it's a wonderful, brilliant book - with lots of gorgeous food, beautiful pictures, lovely inventive recipes and many photos of very beautiful models (all Peter's friends, in different parts of the world), but I'm afraid that the gay angle will prevent some people from buying it. And that's a big shame, because this book is one of my new favorites and I think it has endless appeal!

The book is divided into different cities, rather than the usual "appetizers, mains, desserts". The trip starts at Färingsö where Peter and his husband has a summer cottage, and it then moves on to Ibiza, Barcelona, London, Sydney and many other cities around the world. The publisher said that "a book very rarely starts with the buying of three around-the-world tickets, but this one did!"



Here's some of the food that we were served at the release party. Flatbread, a delicious coconut-lemon rice (that was the first thing I cooked from the book - hugely successful, I'll tell you all about it!), halloumi chilli skewers, chicken, an avocado-wasabi raita (the only thing I didn't care for much) and then a yummy salad with peanut dressing.

In addition to the nice writing and the good recipes, the photos are absolutely mouth-watering. Good job by Mikael Strinnhed! I also like that they've chosen a rather luxurious paper quality - thick, glossy pages! It's a real treat to leaf through, and I can't wait to cook more from it. This book is only available in Swedish, and it's published by Prisma.

Playing Catch-up

This post is an attempt to tell you about many things all at once. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

First, a very cool gadget, the one you see in the picture up top. It's called a NusCup, and what it is is a.. sort of measuring cup. One that can measure cups (1/2 cup, 1/4 cup etc), tablespoons, milliliters AND ounces. It has a slide thingy that you push back and forth, and thus changing the capacity of the cup. It's extremely cool, and for all of those who like me, enjoy recipes from other countries and don't want to bother with conversions - it's a godsend. A particular nifty thing is that it has a magnet on back, so it can be stuck to the fridge or wherever you want - always within reach! It's made by Dalla Piazza and it'll be in stores all over Sweden soon.



Next, something that sadly probably won't be sold in Sweden. Remember the Food Loop? Well, Fusionbrands have created a bunch of new cool silicon gadgets, including this: the poach pod. This is pretty brilliant! It's the first egg poaching gadget I've tried and actually got to work - and I plan to use it to make things like panna cotta or chocolate fondant as well! Now, I just want to get some more - but there's always Ebay!



I met a lovely lady name Nina a while ago. She runs a company called Ninas Skorpor - skorpor is a Swedish cross between bread and biscuit, some are more traditional, others are, like these, more like cantuccini. So, essentially, they make cantuccini. In many, many delicious flavors! I really liked her saffron variety - brilliant for christmas! Available in gift shops and some gourmet food stores, you can e-mail them for the nearest retailer. Just in Sweden though!



Chocolate! Can't have a whole post without them, can I? This was a gift from some visitors from Waalre in Holland, and apparently it's locally produced. Great stuff!



As much as I like chocolate, I was almost more excited to see a display of Jelly Belly pick & mix at English Shop a few weeks ago! Jelly Belly is not sold here, but sometimes available in tiny, expensive packets. Here, it was a fairly big display with.. oh, at least fifteen flavors. Yum! The sour ones are probably my favorite, but I also chose Strawberry Cheesecake, Juicy Pear, Vanilla, Watermelon and Very Cherry.



A sandwich from my new favorite café - Vurma! I absolutely love it - they have two locations, soon to be three, but I've only been to one of them. They have their own bakery, and bake wonderful sourdough bread and lots of cookies and buns. Their cardamom buns are to die for! The sandwiches have funny names - mine was a Ragata (meaning.. um.. a bitch, basically) and my friend Pia had a Rugguggla (which is pretty hard to translate - but it's not a very endearing term). Most of all, they're very yummy and I can't wait to go back. They make good coffee, too, and the only drawback is that it seems to be very popular with the pram-crowd, so it can be a bit crowded at times. Oh well, it's worth it!

Swedish Cinnamon Buns

Today is National Cinnamon Bun Day!

When I announced this fact in my Daring Bakers post, many people asked me to share a recipe for Swedish cinnamon buns. And oh, you know, I just couldn't resist - of course I will! I took this opportunity to try out a new recipe from a new book on the Swedish market called "Bara Bullar". This translates into "Just Buns" and it's a whole book with only different bun recipes. Very nice! The author is Åsa Swanberg, and it's photographed beautifully by Wolfgang Kleinschmidt. It has tons of recipes that I want to make, but these ones were labeled as "the best cinnamon buns" and obviously I want to try the best first.

This recipe differs slightly from others I have used. First and foremost, it uses more yeast than others, and it has a pre-rise at a batter-like stage before it becomes a dough. It might sound fiddly, but it helped me get really light and fluffy buns, and I'd definitely do it again. The total rising time is no more than two hours anyway, so it's well worth it. The recipe calles for "raw sugar" which is here interpreted as demerara or possibly muscovado sugar. This gives the dough a slightly darker color, and a less intensely sweet taste - I like it!



You can use finely chopped or flaked almonds for the topping as well as the pearl sugar, but I made these for Per (and I) to take into work today, and as there are people with nut allergies there, I skipped them. The buns are delicious no matter what!

What makes these different from American cinnamon buns then? Well, while there are many recipes out there, I'll point out a few things. First - cardamom in the dough. Very important. Second, these are baked in a very hot oven for just a few minutes. This makes them light and fluffy, with a nice brown surface yet not dry or overbaked. Third, they're always baked in individual paper cups. (Bun cups - they're like slightly lower muffin cups.) Fourth, no glaze!

A few notes on the recipe. You might need a little more flour than stated. It's hard to give an exact amount, as it really depends on a lot of things, but the dough should be soft and never dry, but it shouldn't stick to your hands, either. Remember, you're going to roll this out, and you don't want it to stick to the rolling pin or whatever surface you're using. (You can use extra flour when rolling it out - but not a lot, or your buns will be tough.)

I don't have exact amounts for the filling - I just sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon until I have a fairly even amount on the whole dough. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it right, too.



Swedish Cinnamon Buns
based on a recipe from Bara Bullar of Åsa Swanberg

Makes 40

80 g fresh yeast
2 eggs
500 ml finger-warm milk (2 cups)
1 kg wheat flour
200 g demerara or muscovado sugar
150 g butter, softened
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cardamom

Filling:
80 g butter, softened
demerara or muscovado sugar
cinnamon

Decoration:
1 egg, beaten with 1/2 tsp water, and a tiny pinch of salt
pearl sugar

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add some of the tepid milk, and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the rest of the milk, half of the flour and both of the eggs. Leave to proof, covered, for one hour.

Add the rest of the flour, the sugar, salt, cardamom and butter. Work into a smooth and silky dough. Here's when you might need a bit more flour. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover and leave to proof for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into two. Roll out each part to a large rectangle. Spread with butter, and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll each rectangle into a tight roll, starting at the long edge, and cut each roll into about 20 pieces. Place each piece in a paper cup on a baking sheet (covered with parchment paper so you won't end up with a mess), cover and leave to proof for 30 minutes.

Beat the egg with a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of water, and brush this carefully on the buns. Finish by a light sprinkling of pearl sugar.

Bake at 250°C for 6-8 minutes, until they're as golden as you like them.



Recipe in Swedish:
Bästa kanelbullarna

Long-Cooked Broccoli

I got Nancy Silverton's book Sandwich Book a long time ago, but I haven't really cooked very much from it. However, her long-cooked broccoli somehow stuck in my head, and I've been gearing up to try it. I finally did a few nights ago, when I was home alone. I was in the mood for comfort food, and I had an idea that this might hit the spot. Indeed!

I know it's not pretty - it's not the photo, it just doesn't photograph very well. At all. After all, we're talking green-grayish mush. Not the most appetizing. But really, get over that, because the flavor is fantastic! Nancy Silverton pairs this with scrambled eggs and feta cheese. I didn't have any feta in the house, but I did eat it with scrambled eggs, and that was nothing short of delicious.

Long-Cooked Broccoli

1 head of broccoli
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 yellow onion
1-2 small, dried chillis
2 tbsp olive oil
salt

Cut the head of broccoli from the stem. Peel the stem if it's tough. Slice it, and the entire head, into 5 mm slices.

Bring water to a boil in a large pan, with some salt. Cook the broccoli for two minutes, and immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water.

Dry the broccoli with some paper towels, and put in a sauce pan with the onions, garlic, chilli, oil and a little bit of salt. Let it cook covered on very low heat for about an hour and a half. Stir every now and then.

Recipe in Swedish:
Långkokt broccoli

Cookbook Watch: Desperate Housewives Cookbook

I have to admit it: I'm a TV-addict. I love watching TV-shows! (My current favorites? Heroes, Prison Break and Dexter.) And I have to admit a certain fondness for spin-off products. Obviously, cooking related ones are extra fun, so I already have the Sopranos cookbook, Cooking with Friends, and now; The Desperate Housewives Cookbook. Which is charming - just charming.

Those of you that have never watched the show, you might want to take a pass, but all those who gleefully follow the lives of Bree, Susan, Lynette, Gabrielle and Edie, this is the book for you. I really enjoy the concept here - each housewife has a chapter with recipes that she'd enjoy making. Bree's section holds elaborate, from-scratch recipes that will take a long time and yield fantastic results. Susan's section holds "idiot-proof" recipes - or even "Susan-proof". Lynette's has a lot of family favorites, Gabrielle's some fabulous party food and also some beautiful Latino recipes, and Edie's? Well, Edie doesn't cook much. So it's all about making an impression without much effort. And who doesn't like that?

It also has a few recipes from "the neighbors". Nice touch. In addition to the recipes, the book has a lot of photos from the show, and some trivia snuck in here and there. The actual recipes are written by Christopher Styler, who has previously written several other cookbooks. I haven't tried anything just yet - but everything looks easy enough to follow, and much of it looks really good. So, in conclusion - if you love the show, you'll probably enjoy this one a lot! If you don't like the show - well, don't bother.

Link to Amazon.
Link to Adlibris - Swedish online bookstore.

Chicken Cabbage Salad with Feta

After all those cinnamon buns yesterday, I'm in severe need of "temple food", as Nigella would call it. I don't know about you, but sometimes, a tasty salad is all I can bear to make. This particular salad takes about five minutes - if you have good knife skills, or like me, a mandolin slicer. That's something I really recommend for every kitchen by the way - it helps so much!

I have a ceramic mandolin from Kyocera, and it's worth it's weight (admittedly, it's not very heavy) in gold. If you're in Sweden, you can order this from one of my favorite online stores, Eventkock.se. If you're not in Sweden, I know Williams-Sonoma carries it.

Chicken Cabbage Salad with Feta
Serves 3

300 ml (about 1 1/4 cup - no need to be exact) finely cut cabbage
1/2 large fennel, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
3 small carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 chicken, cooked, in small pieces
100 g feta cheese, crumbled

Dressing:
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2-3 tbsp olive oil
dried oregano
pinch of sea salt
pinch of ground, dried chilli peppers

Mix the dressing. Toss all the other ingredients in a large bowl - add the dressing right before serving, and toss well.

Recipe in Swedish:
Vitkålssallad med kyckling och fetaost