New Cookbooks

This is a great fall for cookbooks - SO many new ones are out, and many of them are really good. Here are three - I promise many more reviews to come. (Including Nigella Express and Jamie At Home - both on their way to me from the bookstore! Yeay!)



Njuta ("Enjoy!")
Håkan Lönnberg
Ica Bokförlag

Håkan Lönnberg is one of the more successful business owners within Ica, Sweden's largest chain of grocery stores. This is his first book, and it has all of his favorite recipes. All of them are easy to cook, and most are suitable for parties as well as for weekday cooking. And all of them has fairly easy-to-find ingredients. The photographer is Bruno Ehrs, who makes the food look really good - and I notice that they've been using the same pottery as I do, from Mateus - the brightly colored plates and bowls that I so often use. No surprise there really, they look pretty in pictures. (Which is partly why I have so many, of course!) The book is well structured, and I like that the author also gives suggestion for menus, and for suitable wine. I'm particularly keen to try his chocolate pancakes with vanilla ice cream, or maybe the reindeer tenderloin with parmesan soufflé!



Persiska Bufféer (Persian Feasts)
Maria Masoomi
Ica Bokförlag

Another book from Ica, and another book with the same photographer, Bruno Ehrs! His photos are really different in this book as compared to the one above though - this has many pictures of large spreads, and fewer large photos of the individual dishes. It's also shot outdoors, for the most part, rather than in a studio.

Maria Masoomi has worked with food for many years, and she's catered for tons of people. She know what works for a buffet - and what doesn't. What I really like about her book is not only that the recipes sound delicious, but also that she has a section about middle eastern (persian mostly) food habits that I found fascinating. Something I'm definitely going to try is Sekanjebin, a salad dressing with sugar, water, mint and vinegar that's supposedly also great with fruit. And another lovely-looking dish is broad bean triangles - sort of a tortilla. Yum!



Brownies
Linda Collister
Damm Förlag

And finally, a book that you can find in English. And I suggest you do, quickly! Linda Collister has written several books about sweets, but this is the first one to find its way onto my bookshelf. Brownies - I mean, really? Who can resist that? This essentially has three chapters: brownies, blondies, brownie desserts and then some sauces. And everything; EVERYTHING! - sounds brilliant. Really. I have no idea where to start. The choko rum brownies? The blondies with white chocolate and raspberries? Brownie cheesecake? Extra nutty brownies? (Probably those!) I better invite lots of friends over - quickly!

Saganaki

I got up very early this morning (3.30!) to drive my mother and two sisters to the airport. They're going to my mom and dad's house in Spain, just south of Torrevieja, for three weeks. Jealous? Just slightly. (Although to be fair, they did ask if I wanted to come.)

Saganaki is not Spanish, but a greek dish of fried cheese. The cheese used probably varies, but I used one that's marketed specifically as saganaki, made from goat's milk. It's extremely delicious - and although it's something I made right here at home, it'd also be the perfect holiday dish to eat in hot weather, under blue skies. Oh, I shouldn't complain - the sky outside my window is blue, too, and this weekend's weather forecast looks pretty good!

This is a pretty rich appetizer (come on, fried cheese?) so serve something fairly light for the main dish.

Saganaki
Serves 4 as an appetizer

300 g of cheese for saganaki (I bet a mild feta would do in a pinch)
100 ml (0.4 cups, but go ahead and just use 1/2 C) flour
1 egg, beaten
200 ml (0.8 cups, but no need to be exact) breadcrumbs. I suggest panko, Japanese breadcrumbs, they're much better.)

salt
fresh lemon wedges
salad
watermelon
olive oil

Cut the cheese into 12 sticks. Roll them in flour, then in the beaten egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan, and fry the cheese until golden all around. You need to do this on fairly high heat, since the cheese will melt before you get a crispy surface if it's not hot enough.

Divide salad on four plates. Add the cheese sticks, and serve with wedges of lemon, flaky sea salt and if you'd like, some watermelon.

Recipe in Swedish:
Saganaki

Mustard Vinaigrette Potato Salad

You can probably tell by now that I have quite a backlog of summer recipes! I'll keep going for a while - bear with me. I promise to post more about fall-ish food soon, and about all my new cookbooks too. Just yesterday I picked up Kinna's book, which I wrote about a few days ago. I leafed through it when I got home, and it really is beautiful. She had a great pick-up-your-book-party, with coffee, loads of cookies and homemade dandelion wine. I only wish I could have stayed longer!

This salad was a real favorite this summer, I made it a lot. I'm really warming to the taste of mustard. I used to hate it, but now? Getting better, a lot. I still don't eat it as it is, but maybe soon - I don't know. For this one, you want a sweet, grainy mustard and not a smooth, dry one like Dijon.

Mustard Vinaigrette Potato Salad
Serves 4

600 g new potatoes
1 small red onion, sliced
1 handful of kalamata olives
1/2 small jar of capers
1 bunch of radishes, sliced

Mustard Vinaigrette:
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sweet grainy mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Boil the potatoes until soft. Mix all ingredients for the dressing. Slice the potatoes while they're still warm and mix with the vinaigrette. Add all other ingredients and serve.

You can either use pitted olives (not recommended), pit them yourself (just smash them with a knife and pick out the stone) or leave the stones in, but make sure you warn your guests.

Recipe in Swedish:
Potatissallad med senapsvinaigrette

Cod with Chèvre Sauce and Beetroot

This is more of a sketch than a recipe. I had something similar in a restaurant last year, and it was delicious! I tried to make it myself and while very very good, I still don't feel that it's as good as the one I had. So, no recipe today, but feel free to experiment!

Basically - wrap a nice piece of cod or other firm white-fleshed fish with a thin slice of dried ham of some sorts. (Parma ham, serrano, something local - even bacon will do.) Fry it, or bake it, until the ham is crispy and the fish cooked through.

Serve with wedges of roasted beetroot, boiled potatoes, large caper berries and a sauce made with chèvre, goat's cheese. The sauce is where I didn't really find a perfect solution. I wanted something light, yet creamy and flavorful, and preferrably foamy like a cappuccuino. This was a bit more soupy and a little too watery. In fact, I can't even remember exactly what I did - it just wasn't very good. So, next time, I'll try harder. In any case, it's a great flavor combination.

Pimentón de la Vera Glaze & Bacon Spinach Salad

I know that I've written that summer is just about over, but supposedly it'll be warm again next weekend! Perfect, I really hope we can make something more on the barbecue before it's time to pack it all up. This is something we made this summer, and it's really tasty. The meat - any meat that you'd usually barbecue - is glazed with a smokey paprika sauce, and then served with a bacon spinach salad. Add some grilled asparagus if you can! Super tasty!

I use filmjolk, Swedish fermented milk that's somewhat similar to buttermilk and yogurt, in the dressing, but you can substitute regular yogurt. Pimentón de la Vera is a very special paprika powder, from Spain. For the glaze, make sure you use the picante version of the paprika, and not the sweet.

Both recipes are from Jonas Borsséns book "Killen vid Grillen", which translats into "The guy at the grill".

Pimentón de la Vera Glaze

150 ml red wine vinegar
75 ml demerara or muscovado sugar
1,5 tsp pimentón de la vera, picante
1/2 tsp salt

Mix vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 5-10 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Add the pimentón and the salt, whisk well and boil for another minute. Remove from heat and let it cool, before liberally glazing meat with it during barbecuing. Use any remaining glaze as a sauce.

Bacon Spinach Salad
Serves 4

140 g bacon
160 g baby spinach
50 ml filmjolk or yogurt
2 tbsp dijon mustard
50 ml olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp red wine vinegar
salt, black pepper

Whisk olive oil and filmjolk or yogurt with the mustard, garlic and the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Fry the bacon until crispy. Arrange the spinach on plates or a large platter. Drizzle with the dressing and top with the crunchy bacon.

Recipe in Swedish:
Pimentón de la Vera Glaze & Spenatsallad med bacon

Another visit to Chaikhana

Jessika and I had tea at Chaikhana tea house a few weeks ago. Iced tea, this time, as it was extremely warm. I had a rooibos, delicious! And with it, this excellent hot sandwich, with both blue cheese and some sort of cheddar. Yum!



Chaikhana is well worth a visit if you're in town, and if you're a tea lover.

Puy Lentil Salad with Feta Cheese

Phew - almost one week without posting anything terribly unhealthy! See, I really can do that :) I cook way more healthy things than I bake or make desserts, but somehow, it's more fun to blog about the cookies, buns or ice creams, meaning that the other dishes sit unpublished for a while. Like this one!

I made this about two weeks ago, and it was really wonderful. Like I've said several times, I'm trying to eat more beans and lentils, and I've never had a problem with puy lentils or with green beans so this dish is perfect. I got the idea from an old Is My Burning, where I found a recipe by Moira who used to blog at Who Wants Seconds? I really like reading through old event round-ups - it's great for inspiration.

Puy Lentil Salad with Feta Cheese
Serves 2 as a main dish

100 g Puy Lentils
250 ml water (1 cup)
1 bay leaf
150 g haricot verts
1 large carrot, or two small
1 red onion
75 g feta cheese
bunch of coriander
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp runny honey
salt, pepper

Place lentils and the bay leaf in a small saucepan. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are soft but not mushy.

Slice the carrot, and boil in salted water until the slices have softened but still retain some bite. Move to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

Boil the green beans for 2-3 minutes in salted water. Immediately move them to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

Dice the onion finely. Whisk together the oils, the vinegar, honey, salt and pepper for the dressing, and chop the coriander.

Rinse the lentils in cold water and drain. Put them on a large serving plate and toss with the beans, carrot, onion and coriander. Drizzle with the dressing and finish by crumbling over the cheese.

Recipe in Swedish:
Linssallad med gröna bönor och fetaost