Chocolate Mint Pannacotta

This is one of my favorite dishes from the 13-course dinner we had the other day. Not only is it ridiculously easy to prepare in advance, it's also extremely delicious and it was a big hit with everyone. The recipe comes from Elisabeth Johansson who is a great pastry chef and has written several lovely books in the past few years. I admire her very much, and am happy she's sharing her excellent recipes.

You do need to prepare this well in advance, since the layers need time to set. If you're really pressed for time, I think you could skip the final layer of mint jelly - it was good, but it would have still been great without it.

The decoration is a mint-chocolate toffee, a classic Swedish candy that I remember well from my childhood. The whole dish is definitely inspired by their flavor, so that's why it's so good to decorate with (plus it's unusual and makes people laugh a bit) but you could also use a few raspberries or other berries for that matter. Or just a sprig of fresh mint, or some chocolate curls. Anything!

Chocolate Mint Pannacotta
8 small servings

Mint pannacotta:
1 gelatin leaf
250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
50 ml (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) sugar
peppermint extract

Chocolate pannacotta:
1 gelatin leaf
250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
50 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Mint jelly:
1 gelatin leaf
50 ml (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) sugar
100 ml water
peppermint extract

To decorate:
cocoa powder
Mint Chocolate toffees, or berries, or anything you'd like.

Start with the mint layer. Soak the gelatin in cold water for five minutes to soften. Mix cream and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the gelatin and stir until it's dissolved. Flavor with mint extract - you have to taste it and add a little at a time, drop by drop, until it's as strong as you want it. You'll only need a little bit! Pour into small glasses and place in the fridge for two hours.

For the chocolate layer, do exactly the same thing - soak the gelatin, heat cream and sugar, add gelatin and stir. Then add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour gently on top of the mint layer, and place back in the fridge for two more hours.

For the jelly, again soak the gelatin in cold water. Heat sugar and water until boiling, and add the gelatin. Flavor with mint extract. Let this cool at room temperature, and then gently pour it on top of the chocolate layer. Place back in the fridge to set (this sets fairly quickly, since it's a much thinner layer).

To serve, dust over some cocoa powder and decorate as you wish.

Recipe in Swedish:
Mintkoladessert

Parma Ham Rolls with Avocado

Sweet yesterday, savoury today! This is a brilliant little appetizer that I made for my mom's birthday (well, that'd be Christmas eve) and it was incredibly popular. The plate was cleared in no time, and everyone who tried them went back for seconds.

It's great party food because you can prepare it well in advance. In fact, you *have* to prepare it beforehand, since the rolls need to be sliced when they're frozen. They go way too soft when they're thawed.

They're still pretty frozen in the photo, and not yet topped with toasted pine nuts, but you'll have to imagine how good they looked. Or just make them yourself!

If you don't like air-cured ham, use any ham at all! I'm sure it would be delicious with something smokier. Or hey, why not use large slices of bresaola instead? Or.. smoked turkey, even! The possibilities are endless.

Parma Ham Rolls with Avocado
Makes 3 rolls - about 24 bites

3-4 avocados
1/2 lemon, squeezed
1 red onion
150 g Philadelphia cheese (or other neutral cream cheese)
18 thin slices of Parma ham
salt
pepper
tabasco or chipotle chili sauce

To serve:
Pine nuts, toasted

Mash the avocados with the lemon juice and the cream cheese - use a handheld blender if you have one. Finely dice the red onion and add that. Season with salt, pepper and chili sauce. (I really prefer chipotle sauce if you can find it, it's slightly smokey and delicious.)

Place six slices of ham on top of a sheet of plastic foil, slightly overlapping. Spread a third of the avocado mixture on top, and roll into a tight roll. Wrap in plastic and freeze. Repeat with the rest of the ham and filling.

Remove from the freezer 1-2 hours before serving, and top with the toasted pine nuts.

Recipe in Swedish:
Parmarullar med avocado

Star Cookies

I made these simple but beautiful cookies for my mom's birthday. I used the sugar cookie dough from Nigella's book "How to be a Domestic goddess", made double stars using a special cutter, and filled the holes with crushed boiled sweets. (I had a bag of Fox's Glacier Fruits, divided by color.) Simple as that! And I think they turned out great! The fruity center really flavors the cookie, and makes what is otherwise quite plain into something special.

(The original plan was to do hearts, and remove "70" from the middle, but that proved to be way harder and indeed quite impossible.)

Lemongrass Claypot Chicken

This is not a great photo, but it *is* a great dish! I love using my claypot - I don't bring it out very often, but whenever I do I am positively surprised. It really does keep everything nice and moist, no risk of overcooking! And it's so easy - just toss it all in and let it bake. The flavors will come together beautifully!

Lemongrass Claypot Chicken
Serves 3

3 chicken breasts
3 bellpeppers - red and yellow
4 cloves of garlic
3 lemongrass stalks
1 piece of fresh ginger, thumb-sized
50 ml water
2 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
1 tsp sambal oelek chili paste
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar

Soak the pot in cold water for at least half an hour, and don't forget to soak the lid, too.

Cut the chicken into smaller pieces. De-seed and cut the peppers into smaller pieces as well. Grate ginger and garlic finely. Halve the lemongrass stalks lengthwise, and
give them a good bash with a heavy pot or the back of a knife to release the aromas and flavors. Place it all in the pot.

Mix water, chicken stock, sambal oelek, salt and sugar, and pour this into the pot. Place the pot in your COLD oven, set the temperature for 225°C, and leave for about two hours. Check to see that it's not too dry, you might want to add a spoonful of water.

Serve with rice, cous-cous or bulgur wheat.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kyckling i lergryta med ingefära & citrongräs

Frozen Lettuce

I had a lot of e-mails yesterday about what on earth the Frozen Lettuce was all about, so I decided to move it up in my posting schedule and tell you about it right away. It comes from Maraharu Morimoto's (the Japanese Iron Chef!) book "The Art of New Japanese Cooking" and while the flavors are definitely not far out, and fairly close to those of a Caesar Salad, the textures are wildly different. The lettuce is indeed frozen, and it melts in your mouth.

Really - do try this! Even if you don't make your own dressing - try it anyway! It's really fun! And tasty, but I don't need to tell you that.

The original recipe includes anchovy paste and white miso as well but I omitted those as my supermarket didn't have the first, and only had huge packs of the latter. There are other small changes as well, so if you want the original recipe - buy the book. (It's brilliant!)

I am going to try this again, but probably try to make the dressing a little bit lighter, possibly yogurtbased.


Frozen Lettuce
8 small servings

1 large head of iceberg lettuce

3 small cloves of garlic
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) vegetable oil (I use rapeseed)
1 egg yolk
8 tbsp (1/2 cup) mayonnaise
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp Worcestershiresauce
1 tbsp shallots
1 tbsp parmesan, grated
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
zest of a lemon

salt
black pepper
chèvre (goat's cheese), crumbled
tiny croutons (If you don't fancy making your own, buy ready-made crostini and break into small pieces. Put in a sieve to get rid of any "dust".)

Cut the lettuce into eight wedges and place in a tight-lidded container. Freeze for 1-2 hours before serving.

Blanch the garlic cloves in boiling water for three minutes. Combine them with all the other ingredients for the dressing (except salt and pepper) in a small food processor or with a handheld blender. (Or whisk by hand, but then you must finely mince the garlic and shallot.) Season with salt and pepper. This can be prepared in advance, just put it in the fridge for a while.

To serve, pour the dressing on top of the lettuce, and top with crumbled goat's cheese and a small handful of croutons.

Recipe in Swedish:
Frusen sallad

Thirteen Courses 2008

It's that time of year again! Twelwth Night in Sweden is Trettondagsafton - "Thirteen-Day-Eve", and what better time for a great gourmet dinner with your friends? We each made three dishes (I also made a drink and a snack) to make a total of thirteen dishes, tasting-menu-style. This year, we also managed to keep the portions as small as they needed to be, which was definitely an issue last year.

So, without further ado - here's our menu. Up top you have the Pineapple Chili Margarita, from Mesa Grill Cookbook. I used more juice and less pineapple, and probably a different type of both chili and tequila than what Bobby Flay had intended, but it turned out very good nonetheless.



Served with this was his Mesa Grill Pretzels, or as I prefer, Jalapeño Breadsticks. I didn't use roasted chillies in mine, but instead a chipotle chili paste. There's also a whole head of roasted garlic involved, and generally very little effort. I'll share the recipe soon.



The first appetizer: Lobster on Pumpernickel with Saffron Sauce. Delicious! Dagmar made this.



Next, Lena's Salmon Mousse, served with fresh shrimp on a round of crisp bread. Very tasty!



Then, Tesse's tortellini, filled with a mixture of cheese and bacon, and served with a Cheddar-Chanterelle Sauce. I could have eaten just this for the rest of the night and been happy.



My appetizer was this Frozen Lettuce, from "The New Art of Japanese Cooking". It's sort of a take on Caesar Salad, in a very different way. I loved it - it was really different and unique, without being over the top. (Recipe to come.)

We had a lovely French white wine with the appetizers - Les Fumees Blanches. We then moved on to red wine, Opal Springs from Australia, and the main dishes.



First out, Tesse's Pheasant with roasted Jerusalem Artichokes, and a Calvados sauce. Great flavors!



Next, I made a soup from Lisa Förare Winbladh, called Bak Kut The. (From her book "Ditt Nya Skafferi".) It's apparently a Cantonese health soup - perfect to battle colds. It was indeed excellent, and I'm happy to say that I have lots of leftovers since we served it in tiny bowls. Recipe to come, soon-ish.



Dagmar served "frost bump" from moose, with a wonderful gratin from potatoes, carrots, jerusalem artichokes and other root vegetables.



Final main course was another soup, Lena's intriguingly named "Red Sea Soup" which turned out to be a creamy tomato soup with crawfish tails and crab. Yum!



On to desserts! I was first out and served a chocolate mint pannacotta, topped with mint jelly and a chocolate-mint caramel. Amazing! And I'll be sure to share the recipe, which is from Elisabeth Johansson's book "Lakrits Mint & Choklad" that I have previously reviewed.



Lena served a Lemon Meringue Pie, that was deliciously sharp and sweet at the same time. We had a small glass of chilled Limoncello with it, which nicely polished off my last bottle of homemade stuff - I'll make more in time for summer.



Tesse had gone all out in making these beautiful Chocolate Drops with White Chocolate Mousse and Raspberry Sauce. (Don't lick your screen!)



As the perfect finish to this evening, Dagmar served us Apple Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts with an Apple Cinnamon ice cream, and it was truly lovely.

You can find recipes eventually at Dagmar's blog, and at Lena's (in Swedish). Tesse unfortunately doesn't keep a blog - she should!

A cheese with my name on it. Literally.

Remember when I was in Switzerland? I never did get to the second part of that post - wow, I wonder what happened? Life, probably. Anyway.



We got to do our very own Emmenthaler Cheese - right there in Emmenthal valley - and a few weeks ago, it was delivered to my house! It had been stored in Switzerland to mature properly and now that it's done, it's done. L-O-V-E-L-Y!!



Here are some photos from the cheese making: