IMBB #25 - Chèvre Toast

For Is My Blog Burning? #25, Derrick asked us to make something with stale bread. Well, when I have stale bread, nine times out of ten it is baguette from Ica Maxi in Nacka. (They have an excellent bakery - not what you'd expect in a supermarket.) And I make four different things with my left over bread.

1. Croutons
2. Flavored bread crumbs (take stale bread, mix in food processor with a bit of parmesan, garlic and basil or whatever else you have laying around. Great stuff!)
3. French Toast
4. Just toast.

And this time, I went for.. just toast. I happened to be home alone and had a couple of Chèvre Toasts for dinner. It was so successful - definitely something to eat again, and again... And it's too easy to give a recipe - just cut bread thickly, top with a decent slice of chèvre cheese, and top with.. whatever you'd like. In the picture, you can see tomato slices with black pepper, honey on the middle ones, and honey and pecan halves on the ones farthest from the camera.

For many more ideas on how to use up your old bread, make sure you visit Derrick and An Obsession with Food for the round-up!

Weekend Cat Blogging #47 - We don't need no kittens here

"Perhaps you headed over for an update on the kittens, eight weeks old now and cute as buttons. (And yes, one is still for sale.) Well, too bad. Because Anne hasn't shown ME in months."

Ywette is right. I've really been focusing on kitten pics for a while, so you should all get to see something else. Above, my grand old queen Ywette, nine years this summer. ALSO cute as button, of course. (And she is the grandmother of the kittens.)

And hey - bonus time - here's four of my five cats, enjoying an afternoon nap on my embarrassingly unmade bed. Hrm.



For more cats - go to Clare at Eatstuff! (And for more kittens - I'll take some new pics on Monday and give you a link. Promise.)

Chicken Stew with Lentils

I know, the title isn't particularly appealing (or at least not to me, the lentil-hater) but the dish - oh, the dish. See, this tastes so incredibly good, there's just no way you can't make it. Everyone should make it. Tonight. Yes! Reading down the ingredients list, it's really more of a winter dish, but it works fine for a chilly spring evening as well. And perhaps you'll be surprised to see the apple juice in there - but it really ties the whole thing together. Don't skimp on the lentils - buy the best you can get, preferrably small French Puy Lentils. And feel free to omit the crème fraîche if you want to, it's still very good without it.

The recipe is from a book I haven't used very much - The One-Pot and Clay-Pot Cookbook, by Jenni Shapter.

Chicken Stew with Lentils
Serves 6

350 g yellow onion
350 g leeks
250 g carrots
450 g swede (rutabaga)
2 tbsp oil
6 portion-sized chicken pieces, preferrably thighs
115 g small green or black lentils
500 ml chicken stock
100 ml concentrated apple juice
2 tsp corn starch
3 tbsp crème fraîche
2 tsp strong, coarse mustard
dried herbs - tarragon and sage are good, a pinch each
fresh oregano
salt and pepper

Prepare the vegetables - peel and cut the onion, the carrots, leeks and swede into small dice. Heat the oil in a large pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and brown them in the oil. Remove.

Fry the onion gently in the same pot, until it softens slightly. Add the other vegetables and the lentils, and fry for a couple of minutes.

Put the chicken back in the pot, on top of the vegetables, and pour in the concentrated apple juice and the chicken stock. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, and a few pinches of dried herbs. Put a tight lid on the pot and let it simmer for about an hour or until the chicken and the lentils are done. You can also do this in an oven, at about 190°C.

Stir the cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water. Stir this into the pot along with the mustard and the crème fraîche. Let the stew thicken for a few minutes, and then serve, topped with fresh oregano.

Fransk kycklinggryta med linser

Fame!

Radishes and Cheese

Oh, well, almost anyway. I've had some exciting blog-related things happening this week. The main one: I picked up the latest issue of the digital photography magazine Kamera & Bild only to find that they had published some of my food photos! I had sent in a couple of pictures to be judged by a professional food photographer (the very talented Matilda Lindeblad) and lo and behold: she chose three of them to be published! And, she also had some very kind and helpful comments. In general, she thought I should put more efforts into my Photoshop work. And I agree with her. That's really not my strong point.

What makes my food photography different from hers - hrm, well, one of the things at least - is that I put maybe five minutes, tops, into any given picture. Because after that, I eat it. She can spend hours perfecting a plating - it won't show if the food is cold. However, I can't really fiddle around too much with the actual picture taking. So that's a good reason to learn more about post-processing. Anyway. These are the three pictures that were published. (Click on them to see the recipes.)


Caramels with sea salt


Meadow Food Soup

Foodie Gifts: Care Package from Brownie Points

I am seriously so spoiled.

Just look at what I got in the mail the other day. It was a huge care package, from the awesome McAuliflower, keeper of the delicious Brownie Points blog. It totally made my day - I'm so very thankful to have a friend like her! And, while I'm not completely US-lingo-riffic, I believe she earned herself some major "brownie points". (Ha, ha, ha.)


Starbucks. Oh, Starbucks. And peanut butter candy. What else does a girl need?


My first Caramel Mocha.

Spicy Ham Pasta

This is a very quick dinner, and surprisingly tasty. You can, of course, vary the spices according to your preference. Fresh ginger would certainly be nice - I didn't have any around though.

Spicy Ham Pasta
Serves 3-4

200 g smoked ham, finely diced
1/2 yellow bellpepper, finely diced
handful of corn
1 tbsp cornstarch
150 ml milk
200 ml crème fraîche (low fat is fine)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1-2 tsp sambal oelek (hot chili paste)
pasta of your choice

Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water. (If you're using frozen corn like I do, toss it in the hot pasta water when the pasta is ready.) Mix corn starch into the milk in a saucepan. Add the crème fraîche, and the garlic, sambal oelek, ginger, ham and pepper. (And corn, if you're not using frozen.)

Let the sauce cook on medium heat for a few minutes, and adjust seasoning. When pasta is ready, drain and add to the sauce. Serve immediately.

Het Skinkpasta

A favorite dessert - Pineapple with Mint Sugar

This is a great little dessert. I think I first saw it on The Naked Chef on TV, and I've done it many, many times since that. Not much of a recipe really, but the result is a lot more than just the sum of its parts.

You need a pineapple, a couple of spoonfuls of sugar, and some fresh mint. Clean the pineapple and cut into small slices. Get a pestle and mortar, and bash the mint together with the sugar until it resembles bright green wet sand. Sprinkle over the pineapple. Indulge.

Fresh Mint

One of my favorite herbs. I hope to grow some in my new garden, that I'll get *very* soon. Our big move is coming up!

Weekend Cat Blogging #46 - Kittens, seven weeks

Yes. It's time for the kittens again.


Ikaros, who has had a visit from his new owner today, all the way from Estonia!


Ismene, who is moving to Gothenburg this summer.


Io, who is moving to the south of Sweden to live with a whole bunch of Devon Rex cats.


Ixion, who will be a big city boy right here in Stockholm


Ida - who is not yet sold.

And for more cats, you know where to go.

Apple Cake with Almonds

This is the first thing I made from Claes Karlsson's book "Mer än bara Äppelkaka", which translates to "more than just apple cake". The book is indeed filled with apple recipes - many apple cakes, for sure, but not just apple cakes. Everything sounds delicious, and the pictures are to die for! Besides, I picked it up very cheaply at our annual book sales. A great deal, all in all.

This cake is a rather dense little thing, from all the almond paste, and it has a delicate flavor that contrasts well with the rustic pieces of cinnamon-scented apples that are scattered throughout. It freezes well, too, which is definitely a bonus.

Apple Cake with Almonds
from Claes Karlsson "Mer än bara äppelkaka"

300 g almond paste, at room temperature, diced
150 ml (about 130 g) sugar
125 g butter, at room temperature
3 eggs
200 ml flour (about 120 g)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
100 ml crème fraîche (light versions work fine)
2 large apples, preferrably Jona Gold)
2 tbsp golden syrup
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Beat almond paste and sugar with a handheld beater on low speed until it's grainy. Add the butter and beat well. (The recipe specified ten minutes - I think I gave up after two. That was fine.) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating all the time. Stir in flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar, and finally, the crème fraîche.

Pour into a buttered and floured baking pan. (I use a 24 cm springform)

Wash and core the apples, but don't peel. Dice. Mix them with the golden syrup and the cinnamon, and scatter them across the batter.

Bake at 175 °C for 45-50 minuter. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream, vanilla sauce, ice cream - or what I did, mascarpone beaten with a little powdered sugar and vanilla.

Äppelkaka från Brösarp

Swedish Paper Chef - now on!

Today is a very special day - it's time for the first edition of Cyberkocken, a Swedish version of Paper Chef. (Which in turn is a food blog take on the tv-show Iron Chef.)

Ilva is the host - and I'm one of the judges (very proud!) and YOU should all participate. Anyone who blogs in Swedish can enter, even if you're not a food blogger. You have from now until Monday noon to create one of more dishes featuring this month's ingredients: pistachios, red lentils, rocket and a yellow ingredient of your choice. Head right over to Ilva at her Swedish blog to read the details!

(Oh, the picture? My new tea light holders, a gift from dear friends.)

Shrinagar

This is the fabulous tea I was talking about. It's a mixture, hand blended by Chaikhana's tea master, of black and green tea, and flavored with crushed almonds and cardamom. It's wonderful, with a fairly delicate flavor. I loved it so much I bought a big bag of it, and enjoying it on chilly spring mornings.

Beet Salad

This is just so delicious! My sister made this a while ago, and I had to try and recreate it. I, stupidly, used spinach rather than rocket since my store was out of rocket - but I preferred the rocket version, so do try to get that. You can use any cheese, but blue cheese really gives a good flavor punch.

Beet Salad
Serves 3-4

1 bag (about 100 g) of rocket or baby spinach
4-5 medium beets
150 g cheese - feta, chèvre or blue cheese, crumbled
100 ml (a little less than 1/2 cup) wheat berries
140 g bacon, diced
50 g cashew nuts

Dressing:
2-3 tbsp neutral oil
1/2 lemon, the juice
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tsp dijon mustard

Boil the beets - peel on - until soft. It'll take about 45-60 minutes. Peel (the peel is very soft, just rub them) the beets and cut into wedges. Meanwhile, boil the wheat berries according to instructions on the packet.

Rinse the rocket or spinach. Fry the bacon until crispy. Whisk together all ingredients for the dressing - and then it's all just a matter of assembly.

Serve with a good, crusty bread.

Spenatsallad med rödbetor

Chaikhana

I'm trying to get into tea, more. I'm a novice - and I don't really appriciate the more expensive teas. Yet, at least. In fact, I'm partial to flavored black teas, preferrably fruity or sweet ones. And I always add sweetener. (Don't tell England, or I'm sure I'll be tossed out if I try to vacation there again.)

Anyway. When Kristina of Clivia's Cuisine suggested we'd meet up for an After-work-afternoon Tea at Chaikhana Teahouse in Old Town, Stockholm, I didn't have to think twice about it. We went. And I drank tea. The most glorious tea, ever. More on that later - because I bought some to take home.

We ordered the English Afternoon Tea, which is essentially a three-course meal with your choice from a selection of weekly tea specials. I went with the fab tea I'll tell you all about tomorrow, and Kristina chose an unflavored black tea that was very tasty. We each got a pot of our selection.

For our first course, we got English sandwiches, tiny little triangles of soft white bread with delicious fillings. One was with ham and dijon mustard, one was with salmon, and one had cucumber and watercress. Yum!

Then it was time for the scones. Oh, excellent scones! They were huge, fluffy and buttery, and served with clotted cream, orange marmalade and raspberry jam. We each got two - one plain, and one with raisins. I was so excited I didn't have time to take a picture. Sorry.

When dessert was nearing, Kristina got excited when she saw that some people at a neighboring table had slices of what she proclaimed to be the best dessert she ever tasted. Needless to say, we both ordered that. (But they had a fairly large dessert case which we could choose from.) This was a tea-flavored mousse cake with a mango core, and there was also some hazelnut truffle in there. Perhaps it wasn't the best dessert I've ever had, but it came pretty darn high up on the list. Great stuff! And sorry for the lousy picture. It was getting pretty dark at this time.



Before we left, we looked over their large selection at beautiful tea jars, and Kristina ended up bringing one home. If it wasn't for the little fact that I'm moving soon and should not bring anything else into my home right now, I'd have gotten one too. As it was, I settled for just the tea. Oh, the glorious tea...

Chaikhana Teahouse
Svartmangatan 23
111 29 Stockholm
www.chaikhana.se

(Ps! Chaikhana does tea tastings, too. Any other Stockholm foodies who would like to get together for one? That'd be a lot of fun!)

Easter Eggs

Today is the last day of Easter - tomorrow it's back to work. It's been great to have five days of holiday in a row, and we've managed to clean out some stuff, and even pack a little bit for the Big Move. But, most of all, I've spent many hours on the couch, catching up on my favorite tv-shows (Gray's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost and The O.C.) and watching movies. And, even more importantly, eating candy. In Sweden, as in so many other places, Easter is really the big candy holiday. Everyone gets easter eggs - usually decorated cardboard eggs - filled with candy. This year, mine was filled with what you see in the picture - candy eggs by the Danish chocolatier Anton Berg. The large one are filled with marzipan, the smaller have almond centers and sweet chocolate inside their thin crunchy shell, and the purple balls are hazelnuts covered in dark chocolate and candy. Delicious, all of them - and very pretty.

Risotto Milanese

Behold my Easter dinner. It's a risotto milanese, a risotto with saffron. Gorgeously golden, and deliciously aromatic, it's actually the first time I've made one. Why? No idea. It's so very tasty. And saffron, even though it *is* very expensive, isn't all that elusive. (And no, you don't need the finest stuff for this dish - a cheaper one will work very well.)

I served it with a Green Butter Lemon Chicken, that I'll tell you all about in a few days!

Risotto Milanese
serves 4

2 small yellow onions, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
pat of butter
splash of olive oil
1/2 g of saffron (one sachet)
400 ml arborio rice (about 330 g)
250 ml white wine
approx. 1,2 liters of vegetable stock
two small handfuls of freshly grated parmesan
1 tbsp runny honey

Heat the vegetable stock. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and olive oil, and gently fry the garlic and the onions. Add the rice, and stir on high heat until rice turns slightly golden. Add the wine, and let it cook in. Add the saffron. Start adding stock - one ladlefull at a time - stirring all the time. When the risotto looks dry, add more stock. Keep tasting - it'll take about 20 minutes in total. You might not use all the stock, and you might need more (just use hot water).

When done, stir in the honey and the parmesan, and add seasoning to taste if you want to.

And, to make this appropriate for Barbara's new challenge "The Spice is Right!", I'm reminding you that saffron is indeed an ancient spice. I won't bother with details, but head over to Wikipedia to learn more! In Sweden, it's mostly used at christmas time, and especially in saffron buns - soft yeasted buns with a strong saffron flavor. Deee-lish. But very christmassy - this risotto can be enjoyed all year round.

Edit: I better add that honey and garlic are not usually included in a risotto milanese. Just so you know. But in my opinion, it sure makes it a lot tastier.

Risotto Milanese

Weekend Cat Blogging #45 - Caesar

Caesar, my sister's Sacred Birman. He's an old boy, but very, very beautiful and friendly.

Happy Easter!

More cats over at EatStuff!

Clementine Cake

Here's a perfect recipe for Good Friday, also called Long Friday. Because long it is. Isn't it strange how one day can be so much longer than all the others? Anyway. This recipe may take some time, but it's a breeze - anyone could do it. The result is a luscious, moist cake with the heady aromas of vanilla, almond and citrus. Delicious!

This comes from Nigella's How To Eat - I've added a vanilla bean, but no other major modifications.

Clementine Cake
from Nigella Lawson's How To Eat

3-4 clementines or other small citrus (about 375 g total weight)
1 vanilla bean
225 g sugar
250 g ground almonds (I just tossed mine in the food processor for a long time)
6 eggs
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder

Wash the citrus. Put them in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, and leave the clementines to boil for two hours. (Yes, you read that right. Two hours.) After that, take them out and split them, so you can remove any pips.

Then put the whole thing - peel and all - in the food processor. Score and scrape out the vanilla bean into the food processor too, and whirl for just a few seconds.

Beat the eggs until fluffy. Add almonds, sugar, baking powder and the clementines. Pour into a prepared spring form, and bake for about an hour at 190 °C. Check closely after 40 minutes, you might need to cover the cake with foil so it doesn't go too brown.


Nigellas Clementinkaka

Green, green apples

When I was a kid, this was almost the only apple I'd eat. Ok, with an exception - the apples from one of the trees in our garden (we had at least six or seven kinds) were brilliant, too - huge, red, bursting with juice.. and very often, infected by worms. Oh well.

I now like more apples - Jona Gold, Pink Lady, Royal Gala - but Granny Smith will always have a special appeal for me.


Besides, they photograph so well.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ok, I really hope this will work. I am out of vanilla extract, but I'm still very well stocked with actual vanilla. (And yeah, you guessed it - vanilla extract is not to be found here. At least not REAL vanilla extract - just fake imitation stuff, and that at outrageous prices. As you can see, I'm whining again.)

Anyway. So this is an attempt to make my own extract. If anyone has a better idea, let me know - I still have loads more vanilla...

Vanilla Extract

Pour 500 ml of liquor into a jar. (I used vodka for one, and a mix of dark and light rum for another.) Score five vanilla beans per jar, and stick them in. Let them stand dark for a month (mine still has over two weeks to go) and shake them every now and then.

After that, I plan to sieve the mixture and pour into small bottles, and maybe stick a bean in each. Sounds like an idea, yeah?

Vaniljextrakt

Roasted Asparagus

Enjoying my allioli on some freshly roasted asparagus with a little squeeze of lemon. Excellent. We also had roasted salmon and boiled potatoes. Yum..! If you have fresh asparagus, also try them with parmesan!

Ugnsbakad sparris

Raspberry Boats

This is one of my favorite candy types - raspberry gummy boats. In Sweden, they're called Pim-Pim. Delicious!

Easter is coming! Just a few days left! And for me - easter equals candy. And lots of it.

Banana-Chocolate-Walnut Muffins

I sometimes - ok, quite often - find myself with over-ripe bananas. I don't eat bananas much, and when I do, I like them to be almost under-ripe. As soon as they start turning brown, I refuse to eat them. (Not like my aunt's dog, Stumpan - she loves banana, and has one for her night-time snack EVERY single night. And she'll eat them green, yellow or brown.) But, the good news is, over-ripe bananas are excellent in baked goods. This morning, I felt like making muffins. I don't really eat a lot of muffins myself, but everyone else seems to love them, especially my dad. And they're so easy to stick in the freezer.

I started with a recipe from Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, then changed it slightly by adding walnuts and chopped dark chocolate to spruce things up a bit. (Oh, and I fiddled with some other things, too - for instance, I'm totally out of vanilla extract, so I used an entire bean instead.) The nice thing about these is that they're not very sweet, nor are they very rich. They're low on fat, and use honey instead of sugar - and not very much, either. Best of all - they taste wonderful.

Banana-Chocolate-Walnut Muffins
Based on a recipe by Nigella Lawson
makes 18 small muffins

30 g salted butter
60 g honey
1 vanilla bean
3 medium very ripe bananas
150 g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash of cinnamon
100 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
small handful - about 50 g - of walnuts, broken into pieces

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Melt the butter and the honey in a small saucepan, set aside. Mash the bananas. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds into the banana. In a bowl, mix flour with baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the melted butter-honey mixture to the bananas, and add this to the flour mixture. Blend carefully, but don't overmix it. Add the chocolate pieces and the walnuts. Spoon into paper muffin liners in muffin tins, and bake for 14-16 minutes.

Bananmuffins med choklad och valnöt

Weekend Cat Blogging #44 - Kittens 5 weeks old

Hey! You haven't shown us to your readers in weeks! Come on!

Little Ida, above, is right. The kittens are already five weeks old. And cute as buttons, every single one.

Here's Ikaros, who might be moving all the way to Estonia:


Sweet Io, who's not yet booked:


Ismene, who looks like a doll but is really quite the fighter. She'll gladly pounce on her sleeping siblings, and knows to take to the high ground for her own naps.


And finally our little black blob, who has grown into a gorgeous kitten. He's loudly expressing himself, demanding to be picked up and cuddled. Oh, allright then!


For some more pictures of these kittens, head on over to Flickr and watch the set.

Or, if you're sick of my cats (gasp!), why not go to Clare and Kiri for other food bloggers cats

A Swedish Food Community

I'm the moderator of a food community called Matlust iFokus. I think I've told you about this forum before, but I thought I'd do it again as it's actually really nifty. It's in Swedish (sorry, to all you non-Swedes out there) and it has a really nice mix of people. It's, of course, completely free. The really cool thing about iFokus is that it's not just about food. This particular community is, but there's a whole network of sites on different topics. Head on over!

Will return later with Weekend Cat Blogging - with new kitten pictures! - and a yummy recipe for Banana-Chocolate-Walnut Muffins. Stay tuned!

Chocolate Nut Tray Bake

Andrew posted this on Slashfood a while ago, and I just had to try it. And so should you! It's really delicious - a chewy chocolate base topped with oodles of caramelized nuts. Yum! If you want to make it extra spectacular, you could drizzle some melted chocolate on top. And - 300 grams of nuts is *quite* a lot - feel free to use a bit less. It's still going to be great!

Chocolate Nut Tray Bake

For the base:
50 g dark chocolate, chopped
80 g dark muscovado sugar
100 g butter
225 g flour

For the topping:
300 g mixed nuts (I used hazelnuts, walnuts and pecans)
120 g dark muscovado sugar
40 g golden syrup
70 g butter
1 tbsp cream or milk (I used milk)

Start with the base. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Melt the butter, muscovado sugar and chocolate in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, and stir in the flour. Press out into a smallish oven tray, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Make the topping by melting the sugar, butter, golden syrup and cream in a small saucepan. Stir in the nuts, and spread the topping over the base. Bake for an additional ten minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.


Chokladnötkaka

Foodie Gifts: Allioli

My sister Eva was just in Spain for a month. She returned home with this sunny yellow plastic jar of allioli, also known as aïoli - a very garlicky mayonnaise, basically. Absolutely delicious as a dip, a spread or a sauce. I love it on roasted veggies.

Amazing Broccoli Cheese Soup

I can't emphasize the goodness of this soup enough. It's just SO yummy! The recipe comes from the huge yellow brick - that'd be the Gourmet Cookbook. I played a little with the spices, but it's pretty true to the original.

Broccoli Cheese Soup
2-3 servings

one bunch of broccoli, about 250 g
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 red bellpepper, diced
pat of butter
salt, pepper, dried chili powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder (optional)
2 tbsp flour
175 ml cream
150 g cheese, grated

Cut the broccoli in to small florets. Cut away any hard bits of the stalks, and finely chop the rest. Blanche the florets in lightly salted water for 2-3 minutes, then plunge them into an ice bath. Make sure you save the water that you cook the broccoli in!

Melt the butter in a large pot. Fry onion, garlic, red pepper, potatoes and the chopped broccoli stalks for 5-6 minutes or until they start to soften. Add salt, pepper and the other spices. Start with a little, and gradually add more to taste.

Add the flour, and stir well while it's frying, for about two minutes. Add about 600 ml of the saved broccoli water. Cover with a lid, and let it boil softly for about ten minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

Add the cream and the cheese, and let it melt. Get your immersion blender (or a regular one) and blend the soup for a few seconds - I like mine to still have chunks, so I don't make it entirely smooth. Taste, and add more spices if you want to. Finally, add the blanched broccoli florets, and let them get warm for a few minutes. Serve immediately.

Fenomenalt god soppa med broccoli och ost

My sister...

... always finds the coolest stuff. This is a really pretty light holder, I love it. It matches her leather chairs perfectly. Very cool.


She also has this neat salt and pepper set.

Wild Meat

Wild meat - game - is sometimes so much tastier than regular, bred meat. I had a wonderful venison steak at my aunt's the other day - fabulous flavor and texture! And these wild meat patties, or meatcakes, are truly excellent. They include a little bit of bacon - ground game (this one a blend of moose and venison) is very lean and can be dry, so some extra fat does a lot for the flavor.

I like these served with boiled potatoes, gravy (I cheated and used a store-bought cream sauce this time) and of course, lingonberries. Every swede eats lingonberries with food like this.

Wild Meatcakes

serves 4

3 tbsp breadcrumbs
75 ml water
1 egg
500 g ground meat from game (a mix of venison and moose)
100 g bacon, in small dice
1/2 yellow onion, in small dice
salt, white pepper, dash of cinnamon
butter, for frying

Mix the breadcrumbs with the water and the egg. Let it swell for a minute. Fry the bacon and the onion. Mix everything - the breadcrumbs, the meat, the bacon and the spices - and form small, flat cakes. Place on a damp cutting board until you're ready to fry. Fry, a few at a time, in butter.

Viltfärsbiffar med bacon

Around the World on a Meme

Ooh, another meme! I love playing in this sort of games. (Although I do admit, I have an old one from the Swedish bloggers that I still haven't done.. I will, soon. I promise.) I've been tagged twice for this one - once by Anna at Doughboy and once by the Kitchen Queen. So, here we go!

1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from food blogs to try:
Umm. Three? Ok. I keep a running list in a word document called "Blog Recipes to Try". I admit that it's just getting longer and longer. I do try lots - but not nearly as many as I want to. These are the three latest:
Thai Noodles from Tea and Cookies
Beehive Pasta Timbale (!!!) from Lex Culinaria
Almond Honey Cookies from Accidental Hedonist

2. A food blog in your vicinity:
There are, as far as I know, two other food bloggers in Stockholm that blog in English. If you haven't already visited - do! They're both great!
Kristina at Clivia's Cuisine
Dagmar at A Cat In The Kitchen

3. A food blog located far from you:
Everything is far from Sweden. Or at least, that's how it often feels. One faraway blog that I enjoy a lot is Dessert Comes First, from the Philippines.

4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (and where did you find it?)
Some of the most recent ones that I've started reading in my RSS feed are Pleasure Cooker, The Traveler's Lunchbox and Lex Culinaria. (I know, I'm so late to the party.)

5. Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this meme?
Right! I'm not sure who's tagged already, so I'll go with some of my usual suspects - who happen to be very well spread around the world - Kevin from Seriously Good, Pille from Nami-Nami and Niki from Esurientes.

Weekend Cat Blogging #43 - Mommy, I'm cold

Poor Glinda has to warm her paws on the heater. Spring is not in Sweden just yet.

More kitties? Head over to Clare at Eatstuff!

Dinner with my sister and Peter

Last Sunday, we were invited to dinner over at my sister Åsa and her fiancé Peter (the Sushi Chef, I've talked about him before). They just rebuilt their entire kitchen, which included knocking down a wall and incorporating a spare room into their now very spacious kitchen. It's absolutely gorgeous.

And the food was great. We got a hearty salad with wheat berries, cooked beets, blue cheese, aragula (rocket), cashew nuts and a vinaigrette with lemon, garlic and dijon mustard. We're definitely trying this ourselves - soon. It's the kind of food that I almost can't stop eating, the flavors are so delicously played off against another.



For dessert, Åsa had made a vanilla panna cotta with a raspberry coulis. Mmm! The whole meal felt wonderfully summery and sunny. Which was much needed, as the snow just kept falling. Come on, is spring ever going to come?