Haddock with almond pesto

It's been a while since I posted but I guess Christmas gets the best of all of us! The kids have been unwell so not a lot of excitement food wise lately anyway. Today is the once-a-week-fish-day and I made one of my favourites. Growing up in Gothenburg, Sweden, the food in school was generally nothing to call home about, especially not the fish ones, but there was this one fish dish that I liked and it had some sort of almond covering. I found a recipe in a kids cook book a few years back and made a more grown-up version of it. It is simple and quick! Served with oven roasted root vegetables and maybe a dollop of lemon mayonnaise.

Ingredients
500g of haddock (or cod or any other white fish)
2 garlic cloves (or 1 large)
10g chopped parsley
1 dl breadcrumbs
1 dl of almonds
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp rapeseed oil

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. 

Add chopped garlic, chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, almonds, salt and rape seed oil in a food processor and whiz until blended. 

Put the fish in an oven-proof dish and spread the fish with the almond pesto. Leave to cook in the oven for 15 mins. It smells divine when it is cooking. Serve with oven roasted root vegetables like sweet potato, parsnips and carrots.  

New style salmon sashimi

My quest to get the entire family, not just the kids, to eat salmon continues. A friend of mine commented on my Salmon teriyaki recipe and suggested I try Nobu's New style sashimi dish. I digged out the, now kind of old-fashioned-looking, Nobu cookbook, bought some good quality salmon and there it was, this divine thing. You are supposed to use Yuzu, which is a Japanese lemon juice. It is not stocked at my local store so my friend recommended to mix orange and lemon juice instead. You can grate the ginger on top of the salmon but I grated and squeezed out the juice to mix with the rest of the marinade instead. You can find lots of recipes of this dish online but this is how I did it. 

Ingredients

500 g of salmon fillets 

1 thumbsize of fresh ginger

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 orange

1/2 lemon

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp agave syrup (or honey)

toasted sesame seeds to sprinkle

chives to sprinkle

6 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp sesame oil

Preparation

Peel and finely chop the garlic and place in a bowl. Peel and grate the ginger, squeeze the ginger juice into the bowl, discard the ginger fibres you are left with, add the orange and lemon juice, add soy sauce and syrup. Cut the salmon fillets in fine slices and place on a large plate or on several smaller ones. Make sure not to place the salmon pieces too close to each other. Pour the marinade over the salmon and sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped chives. 

Heat the olive and sesame oil in a sauce pan until they just start to smoke. Spoon over the salmon. You will hear a sizzling noise as the oil sears the fish. 

Eat as starter or serve with basmati rice and mange tout as a main course. 

Sausage bake with tomato sauce and lentils

Not the most sophisticated dish. Although the "with tomato sauce and lentils" at the end of the name does give it a bit more flair...On Tuesdays my oldest has ballet after school so we need something quick and easy and this is. It can be prepared beforehand and just baked in the oven for 15 mins before serving. Tomorrow we return to the more glamorous world of cooking with "New Style Sashimi"...see you then! 

Ingredients
6 sausages (I used fennel and lemon veal ones today but my preferred is chorizo for this dish)
1 dl red lentils
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 dl water
1 tbsp chicken stock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp honey or agave syrup
some chopped flat leaf parsley
2 dl of breadcrumbs (panko or just some old white bread that you pulse in a food processor)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Wash the lentils thoroughly then place drained lentils in a pan and cover with cold water. Simmer briskly for 10 minutes than reduce heat and simmer for another 10 mins.

If the sausages are quite large cut them into smaller pieces. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and brown the sausages for 5 minutes, then place in an ovenproof baking dish.

In a bowl mix the can of chopped tomatoes with 1 dl of water, chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey or agave syrup, parsley and add salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked lentils and then pour everything over the sausages. Top with the breadcrumbs and some olive oil. Place in the oven and bake for 15 mins. Cover with tin foil if the breadcrumbs browns too quickly and continue to bake until ready. Serve with couscous and vegetables.

Really grown-up food

Roast chicken...grown-up food and I don't mean that it is grown up just because adults like to eat it. It is food that only really proper adults cook. People who spend a lot of time at home cooks this because it takes a long time in the oven. So, that is it, I am admitting to myself that I have grown up, there is no turning back because I now know how to cook roast chicken and potatoes with gravy...on a Monday. So, adults cook it but really teenagers could, it is simple. It is so simple that I am not sure I am even allowed to post it on a food blog. It has no fancy ingredients, no cool tricks up its sleeve and really doesn't look much either. But the kids (including husband) love it. The recipe is my mother's, it was a good dish for a family with five kids and even better now that there are also 8 grand children. So here's to you Mum!

Roast chicken

1 whole chicken, 1-1,5kg

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

salt and pepper

Roast potatoes

4 large potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp melted butter

salt and pepper

Gravy

2 dl hot water

1 dl cream (I use double cream, only the real deal is good enough for this)

1 tbsp white flour

1/2 tbsp chicken stock

1 tbsp lingonberry jam or cranberry sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat oven to 200º C. 

Melt the butter and mix with olive oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Put the chicken in a roasting tray and brush the chicken with the mixture. Place in the oven and bake for 1-1,5 hours (1 hour per kilogram usually). If the chicken looks dark then remove, cover with tin foil, return to oven and continue to cook. To check whether the chicken is cooked, push a skewer into the thigh at the thickest point. If the juices run clear the chicken is done. 

Wash and cut the potatoes into wedges. Place in a roasting tray, add olive oil, melted butter, salt and pepper. Make sure all potatoes are covered with the mixture. Place in oven when the chicken has about 35 mins left to bake. 

When the chicken is done, remove from roasting tray, cover with tin foil and leave for 10 mins. Pour 2 dl hot water into the roasting tray and whisk so that you get all the burnt bits out, then pour the water into a pan through a sieve. Reduce for 5 mins. Mix the cream with the flour then pour it into the pan, add the stock. Bring to a boil and boil until it thickens, add the lingonberry or cranberry sauce, thin with more water if necessary. Season to taste. Serve the chicken with roast potatoes, gravy and steamed broccoli and mange tout. 

Carrot soup

The mother of my daughter's school friend said she often cooks soup for her kids and amazingly they eat it. I have tried several times and failed. Well, let's give it another try, I thought, as I looked through one of my favourite cook books. I found this unassuming little carrot soup, checked the ingredients, made it and, oh goodness, it was fabulous, did I actually make this?!

So, you ask, did the kids eat it? Nope, is the answer, but you know what, it did not matter because I had their portions too before saving this (smallish) bowl for my husband!

The original recipe (in Swedish again I am afraid) can be found at the below link. I changed my soup a little bit though. http://hemmafru.taffel.se/2009/04/03/randig-morotssoppa-med-vanilj-citron-och-kanel/

Ingredients (four our small family)
1 kg organic carrots
1 cinnamon stick
1 lime leaf (can be excluded)
50 g butter
1/2 tsp vanilla bean dusting
1 lemon
1-1 1/2 tbsp agave (or maple) syrup
creme fraiche to serve

Preparation
Peel and chop the carrots. Put them in a pan with the cinnamon stick and lime leaf and add water to cover plus a little bit more.  Leave to cook until very tender. Remove the cinnamon stick and lime leaf. Mix the carrots and its water with a hand mixer into a purée. Add the butter, vanilla, lemon zest, the juice of half (add more if you want) and syrup. Add water to thin if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour into bowls and add a dollop of creme fraiche for serving.