Finally

I am so very sorry for not having posted a single recipe for 4 months but the morning sickness of my third pregnancy came quickly and lingered for far too long. We have now escaped London for our house in southern Sweden where we intent to stay put for the entire summer. I can slowly feel the taste buds returning to some sort of normality as well as my desire to cook. 

My 5-year old went for a swimming lesson today but after about 10 minutes she was almost frozen solid. So we rushed home, put her in a steaming shower, dressed her warmly, snugged up under a duvet and made Austrian pancakes, Kaiserschmarrn, for lunch. My association with this dish is from fun days skiing with a bunch of friends as a child. After adventures in the slopes we would head for one of those rustic, genuine Austrian alp cottages to meet up with our parents for lunch. We would eat the most delicious Kaiserschmarrn with jam and defrost from the cold wind and snow. So apart from the snow the feeling is actually not too different to what we are experiencing in a cold and windy July in Sweden right now.

I hope that I will get the chance to share some of my summer recipes in the next couple of weeks. Although I typically have more time to cook when I am here it is also a place where there are so many other things to enjoy so practically all year around I am on the lookout for easy, guest and child friendly recipes for summery barbecue days. Especially taking advantage of all the amazing ingredients you can find growing in the fields around us. 

This recipe is very similar to regular pancake ones but with the difference that you beat the egg whites. 

Ingredients for 2 big and 2 little people with the addition of sausages or bacon. 

3 eggs

1 3/4 dl flour

1 tsp sugar (optional)

1/2 tsp vanilla sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 dl milk

butter for cooking

raisins or sultanas optional

jam and powdered/icing sugar

Preparation

Mix the egg yolks, flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt and milk. Then beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Add the egg whites to the flour and egg mix very carefully. Add raisins if you wish. Melt the butter and add the mixture to the pan. Cook on a low temperature until golden, then turn over, rip into pieces and continue cooking until finished. Place on a serving plate, sprinkle generously with powdered/icing sugar through a sieve and serve with your preferred jam and maybe sausages or bacon. 

See you soon again. 

Soba noodles with chicken

Oooh, nice Monday surprise. This easy peasy lemon squeezy dish was a sheer delight to make and was enjoyed by everyone. Soba (buckwheat) noodles in a chicken and dried mushroom stock with roast chicken left-overs, black beans, broccoli and spring onions. Not much to add really, just another addition to the favourite family dishes and I wave the flag for victory against predictable and unappealing family dinners. 

Good thing dinner was an easy task on Monday as I had an appointment at the physio for my lower back. Has been slightly achy for a while but thought going to the physio was all about getting rid of the pain...nooo, I am wearing the biggest plasters along my spine to keep me from overstretching or arching. Can't actually reach the top shelf of my spice collection so this week there will be no ready made fajitas, guacamole, lemon or rosemary salt (expiry date some time in July, 2010 though!!!). Instead we are cooking fish cakes, pasta with salsiccia and veal escalope with tabbouleh. 

Ingredients (original recipe here Soba med kyckling)
8 dried mushrooms (any kind will do but Chinese are preferred)
200 g soba noodles
1/2 roast chicken
2 tbsp concentrated liquid chicken stock + 1l of water
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 bunch of spring onion
1 tin of black beans
1 head of broccoli
a little bit of grated horseradish for those with grown-up taste

Preparation

Place the dried mushrooms in a pan and cover with hot water. Leave to soak according to instructions (can be left over night too). 

Cook the noodles according to the instructions. When cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Return to pan and cover with a lid. 

Remove the meat from the chicken and tear it into smaller pieces. Chop the mushrooms and save the water it soaked in. Slice the spring onion finely and cut the broccoli into florets. 

To do the stock, add the water to a pan, add the concentrated chicken stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chicken and mushrooms. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Season to taste with the left over mushroom water, salt and pepper. 

Add the spring onion, black beans (rinsed), broccoli and noodles. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for one minute. Serve in bowls and top with some grated horseradish. 

Chicken on lemon grass skewers

Mummy, I like the chicken lollipop! These chicken mince skewers with ginger wrapped around lemongrass have just become a favourite at our dinner table. The kids can bite tender pieces of chicken holding the lemongrass in their hands. The only thing that takes a little bit of time is making the chicken mince and you need something heavy to pound on the thick end of the lemongrass so it breaks up into splinters and leave that perfume of lemon and lime on the chicken. Served with rice, sesame seeds and cashews and salad of melon and cucumber its an instant hit among the small people in our house. 

I have a casserole of knuckle of pork (yep, had no idea what it was before trying to explain this particular cut at the butchers this morning but it is basically the pig's leg) cooking for tomorrow's dinner. Mixed with cinnamon, fennel (supposed to be star anis but had run out), chopped tomatoes, soy sauce, honey, ginger and black beans (might have to be replaced with lentils as I couldn't get any today) and cognac (supposed to be calvados but didn't have any in that cupboard of alcohol that I haven't opened for about 5 years or since our firstborn). It will probably be completely disgusting so might have to keep a back up of my italian meatballs so the kids won't starve. This should teach me not to mess with proven recipes. 

I am spending the weekend husband less, but I think I already told you, so need to head off to bed to cope with the two monsters when they wake up tomorrow morning. Happy Saturday!

Ingredients (original recipe here kycklingspett pa citrongras)
500 g chicken fillets (I think thighs should work ever better so will try that next time)
1 thumbsize fresh ginger
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
breadcrumbs (preferably Panko but there is one from Waitrose's cook's ingredients which has the same texture)
about 16 lemon grass (less if they are very thick)
1 dl toasted, chopped cashews
2 tbsp sesame seeds
soy sauce and lime to serve

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Whizz the chicken into mince with a food processor or a hand mixer. Grate the ginger and squeeze out the juice and discard the fibrous left-overs. Mix the chicken, ginger juice, egg, salt and enough breadcrumbs to keep the mixture together.

Pound on each of the lemon grass until it breaks up into splinters. Put some oil on your hands and roll the mixture into oval balls and place the lemon grass in the middle of the ball, fold the mixture around the lemon grass. Roll the skewers in more breadcrumbs. Add some neutral oil (like rape seed oil) into a pan and fry the skewers until they are golden all around. Place them in a baking tray and leave them in the oven for about 20 mins. Remove and place on a serving dish, sprinkle with the chopped cashews and the sesame seeds and serve with rice, soy sauce and wedges of lime. We also did a simple salad of cucumber and melon with a dressing of  limejuice, sugar and green tabasco (no tabasco for the kids though).

Childfriendly tuna pasta

I really like this simple tomato based tuna sauce. It's basically my bolognese recipe but with tuna instead of veal or beef. The kids love it which is why it's called childfriendly. I do have another recipe which is the unchildfriendly one as its a mix of basically everything my kids don't like. Anchovies, capers, olives and chili to name a few. 

This week I have also made a jerusalem artichoke soup (for adult indulging), a filo pastry pie with lamb (not greatly appreciated by the kids but I loved it), chicken skewers on lemongrass (Mummy, I like the chicken lollipop). Monday was salmon teriyaki. Tomorrow the kids will probably need something familiar so perhaps meatballs or bolognese. I am spending the weekend husband-less so will stick to simplest of the simplest to survive! 

Ingredients

Pasta of your choice (this is a very girly household so we chose butterflies today)

1 tin of tuna (I use white tinned tuna)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 anchovy fillets

2 mini or 1 small zucchini

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

zest of 1 lemon and juice of half
1dl of water

1/2 tbsp of honey
1 bunch of parsley
Maybe 1 tbsp of vegetable liquid stock

salt and black pepper

Preparation

Cook the pasta according to instructions. 

Peel and chop the garlic and onion finely. Grate the zucchini (or just slice finely on a mandolin). Grate the lemon zest. Chop the parsley. 

Heat a pan and add some olive oil, then add the anchovies, garlic, onion and zucchini. Cook it until the onion is transparent and the anchovies have melted. Then add the chopped tomatoes, lemon zest, and lemon juice, water, honey and salt and pepper to taste. If you want you can add the liquid stock. 

Let it simmer for 10 mins, then add the tuna and separate it with a fork into small pieces, add the parsley and remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with lots of parmesan cheese and a green salad (or green beans for the kids). 

Chinese pancakes

For some reason I have to plan family weekend dinners better than mid-week ones.We tend to spend most of the day out and about and by the time we get back dinner needs to be quick and easy.  But then again I do want them to be a bit more luxurious then normal. Not an easy task but last Sunday's was seriously good. Slices of pork shoulder marinated in soy sauce then roasted in the oven for an hour. Tender and juicy, placed on a chinese pancake with spring onions, cucumber, roasted plums, hoisin sauce and sesame seeds. Works for the family but I'd easily treat friends to it too. There is only so much messing about with, filling pancakes and trying to eat it by yourself when you are only 20 months, that I can take so I had cooked some rice for the kids too.  

I got another cookbook over the weekend so am going to try and sit down with a cup of tea and imagine making the recipes and tasting the dishes in a little bit. I am starting to compile recipes for the summer already. Things that we can eat after spending a whole day at the little beach by our summer house in Sweden or when friends come over to enjoy the long summer nights. Yep, definitely slightly obsessed with cooking since I am at the same time starting to think about what to treat my relatives to this Christmas when we will be hosting it for the first time! Endless searches on favourite foodblogs and flicking through cookbooks. 

Ingredients (for the 4 of us)
3 slices of sliced pork shoulder (the butcher will slice it for you), about 1,5cm
1/2 dl of Chinese or dark soy sauce
8 plums
1 bunch of spring onions
1/4 cucumber
2 tbsp sesame seeds
hoisin sauce
10 chinese pancakes

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Rub the soy sauce on both sides of the pork slices. Place on a baking sheet in a baking tray and cook for 1 hour, perhaps a bit longer depending on your oven.

Halve the plums and remove the stones. Sprinkle some salt on to the fruity side of the plums. Once the meat has cooked for 30 mins, place the plums, fruity side up, on top of the meat. 

Peel and slice the cucumber into 'juliennes", do the same with the spring onions. Dry roast the sesame seeds in a pan until they are golden brown. 

Remove the meat from the oven and slice it finely. Let everyone do their own pancakes with hoisin sauce, pork slices, plums, cucumber, spring onion and sesame seeds. 

Chicken with Pimenton de la Vera

Things are really busy around here. I am still cooking every day but for some reason when I intend to sit down and share the recipes I have kind of forgotten the quantities of all the ingredients I use. Well, I will just have to make them again then! Here's a really easy chicken casserole with a favourite spice, Pimenton de la Vera, smoked paprika powder. It's what makes Chorizo taste chorizo. My kids love chorizo so now I can make them eat chorizo without actually serving it. 

This casserole has chicken, parsnips and carrots. I served it with rice and green vegetables. Quick and easy. Original recipe here which I have changed. Chorizogryta utan chorizo

Ingredients

400 g chicken thigh fillets, cut in chunks

100 g pancetta, in cubes

1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced

6 small onions, peeled

2 small carrots, peeled and cut in small pieces

1 parsnip, peeled and cut in small pieces

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp pimenton de la vera, dulce

1 dl of white wine

1 tbsp of liquid chicken stock

olive oil

salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan (one with a lid) and add the pancetta. Cook until crips, remove from pan. Add the garlic, onions, carrots and parsnip. Cook until the they have a nice golden colour, then remove. Add the chicken and cook until golden, then add a little bit of olive oil in a corner of the pan and add the pimenton in the oil. Stir a bit and then add back the pancetta, vegetables, chopped tomatoes, wine and stock. Stir and add salt and pepper. Put the lid on and cook for about 20 mins on a low heat. Then serve with rice or other grains and green vegetables of your choice. 

Lemony lasagna

Oh dear! What happened? It's practically been a month since my last post. Well, the life of this blog is very much at the mercy of my family life. It lives on the margin. Any unexpected events and my plans for a creative moment in the kitchen, with the camera or in front of the computer quickly has to jump to the end of the queue and patiently wait its turn. The past month has been full of such events, pleasant, like our trip to the sun but also tiring such as children, poorly with mean colds, needing heaps of tender and loving care. Then, when the colds are getting better and appetites return they need to fill their tummies with healthy but comforting food. Here is one of those. 

If you search for a recipe of a lasagna on the internet you will be overwhelmed. It will win any popularity contest single handily. It's hard, though, to make that perfect one and I find that it often gets a bit dry. The secret is adding fresh mozzarella and loads of bechamel. This recipe adds  lemon zest and nutmeg. You've probably noticed by now that I really LOVE using lemons in my food especially anything that has tomatoes in it. Sorry, but it makes such a difference.  

Lemony lasagna

I have not been very precise with the amounts in this recipe, it doesn't really matter much just make sure you add bechamel on top of every lasagna sheet. I had made a double recipe of bolognese and used what was left from dinner to make the lasagne. I think that is the way to do it otherwise it just takes too long. If you do make it from scratch probably about 400 g of beef (or veal or lamb) mince will be enough.

Ingredients
1 recipe of your favourite bolognese sauce (or this one, Bolognese)
fresh lasagna sheets
1 packet of mozzarella
tomatoes

Bechamel
2,5 tbsp flour
2,5 tbsp butter
6 dl milk

200 g of grated cheese (any mature one will do, gruyere or cheddar for example, I used this cheddar from the Park Farm which I bought at my local farmers market on Sunday).

the zest of one lemon

grated nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and stir for a bit until it is mixed, then quickly add the milk and stir so that the flour and butter mixture is dissolved, then let it simmer for three minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the flour taste disappears. Then remove from heat and add the grated cheese, but save some to sprinkle on top of the lasagne, let it melt and then add the lemon zest, and nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the mozzarella and tomatoes in slices. In an oven proof dish add a layer of a third of the bechamel sauce, then lasagna sheets, then half the bolognese, tomatoes and mozzarella, lasagna sheets, a third of the bechamel, the rest of the bolognese, tomatoes and mozzarella, lasagna sheets, the rest of the bechamel. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until it looks golden brown.

Weekly menu and shopping list

Dear readers, 

I have taken the leap into committing to offering up the service of a suggested weekly menu including a shopping list. I will put together a menu of already existing recipes from this blog, add a shopping list and post it every Thursday (or so I'll try) so you have time to do the relevant shopping for the following week. In the meantime I am trying out new recipes on my little family and if they are received with standing ovations, empty plates and full tummies I'll post them here for you to try out too.  

This week I've done a lamb shank recipe from my favourite food blogger and another recipe of adobe from the Swedish food blogger of the year 2011. They were only just ok on my palate but I've had a bad cold which might have played up with my taste buds. The rest of the family seemed to like them both. Recipes now up for re-trial. 

Lamb shanks with couscous, peaches and pistachios

Weekly menu Feb 6, 2012

Monday: Kalops

Tuesday: Salmon Teriyaki (I have doubled the recipe in the shopping list to be enough for 4 people)

Wednesday: Lamb with sweet spices

Thursday: Coq au vin

Friday: Italian meatballs (for a good batch and some to put in the freezer)

Shopping list

400 g chuck steak 

4 salmon fillets 

400g lamb mince

4 chicken thigh fillets

800 g minced beef

100 g cubed pancetta

1 egg

3 dl of milk
1 dl grated parmesan

a dollop of greek yogurt 

4 carrots

2 parsnips

4 onions

6-8 small brown or red onions

12 cloves of garlic

1 tumbsize piece of fresh ginger

2 portabella mushrooms
2 handfuls of babyplum or cherry tomatoes

a couple of sprigs of lemon thyme
1 dl frozen soya beans

zest of 1 lemon

25 g of chopped parsley

2 cans of chopped tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes)

1 dl of white wine

1 dl red wine
1 tin of chickpeas

1 dl creamed coconut (or open a tin of coconut milk and use only the thick cream that usually gathers at the top of the tin)

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 dl breadcrumbs

6 apricots, chopped
1 pomegranate (for two dinners)
1 small bunch of fresh mint leaves

2 tbsp corn flower

3 tbsp chicken stock 

2 tbsp veal stock

3 bay leaves

10 allspice berries

1 tsp white peppercorns

2 tbsp japanese soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sesame oil 

sesame seeds

1 tsp cardamom seeds
2 cinnamon sticks

butter

olive oil

Good night! 

Seriously ugly looking food

Ok, now don't be put off by the look of this beef casserole. It's lack of beauty is made up for in taste, honestly!  It's a traditional Swedish dish but actually has an English name. Kalops comes from collops which is the plural word for collop or slice of meat.

My paternal Grandmother would invite our family of seven and my Aunts family of six for dinner in her beautiful flat in Gothenburg. It was a very stately affair and all five of us kids would be dressed up and well behaved, at least during dinner. I remember the smell when entering her flat and this is exactly what our house smelled like yesterday when I cooked Kalops. Ritz crackers with various cheese for starters, then kalops with perfectly cooked potatoes as main. I had to think a bit about dessert, by that time the kids had probably been excused.  We  would find our way into my father's old room to look at his toys. I remember thinking of him as a little boy lying in his bed or doing his homework at his desk. This dish is a small homage to my Grandmother, the woman who raised my beloved and deeply missed Dad. 

Kalops

Ingredients
400 g chuck steak in 2 cm pieces
1 tbsp butter

2 carrots

2 parsnips

1 onion
1 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

10 allspice berries

1 tsp white peppercorns
water to cover
extra salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Peel and cut the carrots, parsnips and onions into large pieces. Heat the butter in a pan and brown the meat on all sides. Then remove the meat and add the carrots, parsnips and onion for a few minutes. Place the meat, carrots, parsnips and onion in a casserole, add the salt, bay leaf, allspice berries, white pepper. Add enough water to cover everything. Cover with a lid and cook for 1,5-2 hours. The meat should be very tender and almost fall to pieces when you cut it.

Remove the meat, some of vegetables and bay leaf. Whiz the remaining vegetables into a sauce and thin with water if desired. Add back the meat and vegetables, heat if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

The kids and husband ate with good appetite and it is a dead easy dish to prepare but as I said, not a looker!

You can't eat soup every day!

The cold I caught just before my birthday managed to get the best of me last week too. Only really did the most essential stuff so that I'd have some energy left for the girly lunch I had planned at my place on Friday. Which of course meant I didn't manage to take photos or post here. During the weekend the rest of the family followed my lead and so we have spent it convalescing. Around lunchtime on Saturday I put the little one to sleep and left the other two in each others' company watching a movie in bed, grabbed a quick lunch and my new cookbooks for an hour of exhilarating inspiration. See, I am so easy to please! 

The soup was left-over from Friday's lunch and I've had it for lunch both Saturday and Sunday to the point where my oldest said "Mummy, you can't have soup every day!" She probably thought it was some sort of treat, like the Saturday sweets she is used to, as I made these aaahs and ooohs every time I tasted a spoonful. Parsnip and coconut soup with ginger and lime. Today I had it with a toasty of my homemade sourdough fruit and nut bread full of delicious gruyere cheese, then a latte and my healthy muesli biscuits baked from one of my newly acquired cookbooks. 

I've just put all the food shopping away for next week's dinners. We are starting off with a Swedish dish called Kalops, a beef stew with succulent meat and allspice served with beetroots. 

Tuesday: favourite salmon teriyaki

Wednesday: Lamb shanks with couscous and peaches

Thursday: Pasta with tuna and tomato sauce

Friday: Adobo on chicken

By end of this week, you'll have these recipes and then I'll put together a shopping list for you so if you want, you can just copy paste the dinner recipes from this week to the next including the shopping list. 

Hope you've had a good weekend! 

Parsnip and coconut soup 

Original recipe Parsnip and coconut soup

Ingredients for 4 

3 parsnips

1 large leek

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp vegetable stock (I use liquid)

400 ml tinned coconut milk

2 lime

1/2 thumb of fresh ginger

green chili 

fish sauce to taste

Preparation

Peel the parsnips and chop into 2 cm pieces, slice the leek and garlic. Place in a large pan, cover with water, add 2 tbsp of vegetable stock. (I added half a small medium hot green chili too since the kids were not eating this). Cook until the parsnips are soft. 

When cooked, whiz into a smooth texture with a hand mixer. Add the coconut milk, add water to thin if necessary. 

Grate the zest of the lime. Peel and grate the ginger then squeeze out the juice and discard the fibrous left-overs. Add the ginger juice and lime zest, add a bit of lime juice and season to taste with fish sauce, salt and pepper.

Girly lunch! 

Ottolenghi, Blumenthal and I

I love birthdays, especially my own, as it was on Friday. We had a real foodie day, my husband and I for breakfast and lunch and then our little family for dinner. We'd planned lots of things but I had woken up with a cold the day before so it became a more muted affair. But ah, what a treat! First Ottolenghi every foodie's favourite café packed with beautifully composed cakes, biscuits, sandwiches and salads. Then lunch at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the  Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Mr Blumenthal has come up with a menu inspired by historic British gastronomy and dates the dishes on the menu so that you know when they used to be popular. I had the Meat Fruit (first picture) from around the 1500's as a starter and my husband Salamugundy (second pic) c.1720 which was chicken oysters (supposedly the most flavourful and tasty part of the chicken).  We had dinner at home with the kids and I had chosen to do gnocchi with gorgonzola (sorry no pic) which is one of our favourite dishes. Utterly decadent! 

The inspiration of the day translated into cooking a couple of traditional Swedish dinners this week. Namely Kåldolmar (stuffed cabbage rolls) and Fiskgratäng med dillsås (fish pie with dill sauce, cooking tomorrow so pics and recipes to follow) but then not to overdo it I had to mix it up with something Asian so today I did minced chicken with lime and ginger (pics and recipe to follow). On Thursday we are having beetroots and parsnips with goat's cheese and steak haché. Every Wednesday I usually start thinking about what to cook the following week. Do you have any inspiring ideas you'd like to share with me for next week's menu? 

My husband said the cabbage rolls were the best thing I had ever cooked. However, you should know that it's a dish his Grandmother used to make him quite often as a small boy so he probably has very fond memories to go with the taste. Try them if you like. The kids liked them too. Original recipe here Savoydolmar pa lamm. 

Savoy cabbage rolls with lamb
Ingredients for 4
1 savoy cabbage
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 apple
1,5 dl of pecan nuts
400 g of minced lamb
1 tbsp of Agave syrup (or honey)
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
3 dl of cream
1,5 tbsp of liquid veal stock
black pepper

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 175ºC.
Remove the first couple of loose leaves from the cabbage then pick off as many as you need. I used about 12. Blanche the leaves you are going to use 1-2 minutes in boiling water, then leave to cool.

Roast the pecan nuts in a dry pan then whiz in a food processor. Grate or chop finely onion and apple and slice the garlic finely. Mix the pecans, onion, apple, garlic, lamb mince, syrup, soy sauce and season with some black pepper.

Remove the thickest part of the leaf vein on each cabbage leaf. Then wrap as much of the lamb mix as you can on each leaf. Place tightly in an oven-proof dish. Heat the cream (no need for it to boil) and stir in the veal stock. Poor the cream sauce over the cabbage rolls. Place in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes. Serve with potatoes and lingon- or cranberry sauce.

Simplest noodles with chicken and vegetables

If you prepare the vegetable chopping this takes about 10 mins to make. Ah, I can hear a sigh of relief. It is not a particularly sophisticated dish and might not beat the competition to a Saturday dinner but it works a treat on a Thursday when the weariness starts kicking in. Everybody eats and for the adventurous there is a jar of sambal oelek to cleanse the taste buds.

Ingredients
Medium sized egg noodles
4 chicken fillets
2 carrots
2 handfuls of mange tout
1 red onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 mini courgettes
a neutral oil like rapeseed oil
1 lime (another to serve if you like)
1 thumb size fresh ginger
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 handfuls of cashews to serve
fresh coriander (for those who like it)
Sambal oelek to serve

Preparation
Peel and slice the carrots, onion and garlic finely. Slice the mange tout on the diagonal, slice the courgettes finely. Peel the ginger and grate it, then squeeze the juice out and discard the fibrous left-overs. Grind the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar. Chop the chicken fillets in smallish bits.

Fill the kettle with water once it is boiling pour it into a pan and add the noodles. Cook according to instructions, then drain and cover with a lid.

Heat a frying pan and roast the cashews for a few minutes. Remove the cashews and pour in some rapeseed oil, add the chicken and season with salt. Cook for a few minutes, then remove, pour in some more oil and add the vegetables. Cook for a few minutes and then add back the chicken, ginger juice, coriander seeds, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar. Cook for a few minutes then mix in the cooked noodles. Serve with cashews and fresh coriander.

Pork belly ribs with plum sauce and root vegetables

I first had roast pork belly at the Boxwood cafe in Knightsbridge (Gordon Ramsay's restaurant, now closed) quite a few years ago. Although the sound of it and indeed the look of it with all that fat would put any health conscious person off, it is such a treat for children. Cooking it slowly makes the meat juicy, very tender and full of flavour. Easily chewed down by little teeth. It was the first time I cooked it today but it seemed to go down well. I served it with a plum sauce and baked root vegetables; parsnips, onions, cauliflower, hazelnuts. I meant to add the remaining plums from the plum sauce but somebody had eaten them...

I bought the pork belly with ribs as my original recipe called for it and I wasn't experienced enough to question it but the guys at my local butcher, The Parson's Nose, helped me out. They are used to an international crowd arriving with requests for weird cuts of meet and always try to accommodate their customers. 

Roast Pork Belly (with or without ribs). Ask your butcher to score the crackling for you. 

Ingredients

1 kg for 4 persons ( I cooked 1,5 kgs with ribs but there is some left)

2 tbsp soy sauce

olive oil

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

salt and pepper

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 240ºC grill

Grind the fennel and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar. Rub the pork belly with soy sauce, olive oil then sprinkle the skin with the seeds, leaving about 1tsp for the plum sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Place skin-side up in an oven-proof dish and leave to cook for 30 minutes. Then lower heat to 160º, pour 2,5 dl of water in the dish and leave for about 1,5 hours. Add more water if it dries up. When it is cooked you can wrap it in aluminium foil but keep it open on top not to soften the crackling. 

Plum sauce

6 plums

1 thumb size fresh ginger

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp of fennel and coriander seeds (as mentioned above)

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

8 tbsp brown sugar

olive oil

6 tbsp water

Preparation

Chop the plums in small pieces, remove the stones. Peal and grate the ginger, squeeze the juice out of it and discard the fibrous left-overs. Heat some oil in a pan and add the plums, ginger juice, cinnamon sticks, fennel and coriander seeds, vinegar, sugar and water. Cook until it is as thick as syrup. 

Vegetables (original recipe, changed a bit by me, can be found here Lotta Lundgren)

half a small head of cauliflower

4 medium sized parsnips

2 red onions

4 plums

2 handfuls of hazelnuts 

salt and pepper

olive oil

agave or maple syrup

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Separate the cauliflower into small florets, peel and cut the parsnips into 2 cm chunks, peel and cut the onions into 4 wedges, de-stone the plums and cut in half. Place in a baking tray, pour over olive oil and syrup then season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and leave for 30 mins. When there is about 5 mins left of the cooking time add the hazelnuts. The cauliflower goes a bit brown but it is supposed to happen. 

Timing wise I cooked the pork earlier in the day and left it out wrapped in aluminium foil while I did the rest. It was still nice and warm when we ate it. It might sound complicated but is a very forgiving piece of meet to cook. 

Default food

Since starting this blog I have made an effort to cook new food a couple of days a week but some days you need to do something that you know works and can be made with minimal effort. I make it even easier on myself by preparing either the day before or during my little ones mid-day nap. For this dish all you need to do is to chop the vegetables, wrap the fish and put it in an oven-proof dish. Then, when you get home everything can be done with one hand while the other hand is stuck around a couple of chubby legs that squeezes around one of your hips. The whole family ate with good appetite and half of us are now asleep in their beds while the remaining ones are almost asleep in front of each other with a computer each.

Parma wrapped haddock with risotto

Ingredients

as many fish fillets as you think your family will eat

enough parma ham to wrap around the fish

baby plum or cherry tomatoes

a lemon

olive oil

salt and pepper

sugar

any type of onion

2 cloves of garlic

some sort of mushrooms

any other vegetables you like for example courgette, peas, asparagus, mange tout, soya beans

some left over white wine

vegetable stock (I use liquid stock+hot water)

2 dl of risotto rice

butter and olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.

Pour a little oil in an oven-proof dish, season the fish fillets with salt and pepper, wrap them with ham, place in the oven-proof dish. Place the tomatoes around and on top, pour some olive oil over the tomatoes and the fish and sprinkle a little sugar on the tomatoes. Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 15 mins depending on the thickness of the fillets.

While the fish is baking, chop the onion, garlic, mushrooms and courgettes. Pour some olive oil and a dollop of butter in a pan. Cook the onion, garlic, mushrooms and courgettes until all the moisture has been absorbed then add the rice and stir for a few seconds. Then add the wine and let it absorb, then add a some water mixed with stock at a time and stir. Cook until the rice is soft but still has a chewy centre. Then add some grated parmesan, soya beans and black pepper. Squeeze some lemon on the fish and serve. 

Salmon parcels with olive oil, salami, basil, tomatoes and mozzarella

I know,  the story about eating salmon when my husband is travelling is getting old but it is totally worth it because this is delicious. Salmon wrapped in foil accompanied by olive oil, salami, basil, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. Just reading that sentence is mouth watering. After dinner, my 4-year old, who's been going through an anti-Mummy streak this week, softly said "mummy, please can I have some more salmon" and later on after dinner "mummy, I have thought about what we had for dinner tonight and it was so good, please can we have it tomorrow too". I will happily admit that I have been purposely "starving' the kids giving them only one piece of fruit at school pick-up and what a difference it makes at dinner time. But there can be no dragging feet when preparing dinner or they'll be raiding the snack cupboard. I am glad it is Friday tomorrow so I can loosen the grip a bit on the military regime I am running here at the moment. Not quite there yet though so tonight I have managed to cook dinner, tidy the kitchen, get the kids in bed, prepare for tomorrow's breakfast, do the laundry, feed the sourdough AND I have a chilli con carne slowly simmering on the stove for tomorrow's dinner party. As you can see this energy spurt is bound to run out by the weekend. Well, that's ok, I'll just hand over the reins to my husband. I am sure he'll be delighted as he's been travelling all week! At ease and enjoy the salmon parcels: 

Ingredients (for 4 people)
4 salmon fillets
8 salami slices (I used Unearthed Milano Salami)
8 large basil leaves
4 plum tomatoes
1 packet of mozzarella
olive oil, salt and black pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Place each salmon fillet on a piece of aluminium foil large enough to wrap around into a parcel. Add a slug of olive oil to each fillet, season with salt a pepper. Then layer with salami, basil, sliced tomatoes and sliced mozzarella. Close the aluminium foil. Place the parcels in a baking tray and leave for 15 minutes. Take care when opening the parcels! They'll be steaming hot. Serve with potato wedges or mash. 

Lamb with sweet spices

It was my oldest daughter's first day back at school yesterday. At drop-off (after a hectic morning trying to remember all the bits and pieces she has to bring) she seemed very content as she chatted to her friends and hardly noticed me and her little sister waving goodbye. Everyday after school I try to get her to tell me a thing or to about what has happened but it is usually "I can't remember, mummy" and then she's off on her scooter to catch up with one of her friends. Good thing I know from the school bulletin what she has for lunch, at least, so I can ask leading questions like "were the fish fingers nice today" when I know that she's had pasta. That usually triggers an answer. One thing I have thought about is this lamb obsession that is going on. Once a week they get served lamb like lamb lasagna or lamb bolognese. Also, from friends in Sweden using a service where you get sent home ingredients for the week's dinners which you then cook yourself, I know that there is some sort of lamb fetish among chefs with lamb burgers being served left, right and centre. Not being a huge fan myself apart from perfectly cooked lamb racks I thought I had to give a couple of child friendly recipes a try. Here's one that might have won me and my kids over by the look of their plates last night. 

Lamb with sweet spices (original recipe in Swedish can be found here http://hemmafru.taffel.se/2009/09/03/arabisk-lammfarsgryta-med-sota-kryddor

Ingredients (for 4 people)
400g lamb mince
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 carrots
1 tsp cardamom seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
1 dl of white wine
1 tin of chickpeas
1 tbsp honey
1 dl creamed coconut (or open a tin of coconut milk and use only the thick cream that usually gathers at the top of the tin)
6 apricots, chopped
1 small pomegranate
1 small bunch of fresh mint leaves
a dollop of greek yogurt to serve

Preparation
Chop the onions, garlic and slice the carrots. Heat a pan and add some olive oil and then cook the onions, garlic and slice on low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a plate.

Add the lamb mince to the pan and cook through. Then add back the onions, garlic, carrots and chopped apricots.

Grind the cardamom seeds in a pestle and mortar then add to the pan along with the cinnamon sticks, rinsed chickpeas and white wine. Cook until the moisture has absorbed a bit.

Add the coconut cream and let it melt in the pan. Add honey, salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle with chopped mint, pomegranate seeds and serve with rice and a dollop of greek yoghurt.

I am back! With fishcakes and remoulade sauce!

Hello! Happy New Year 2012! We've spent, what feels like, a long holiday in Sweden over Christmas and New Year's. It's been both intense (skiing with 18 relatives) and relaxing (the four of us in our house in the south of Sweden). Right now we are enjoying a few days of calmness to get ready to take on London again!

Our skiing adventure over Christmas was fantastic but after a week of restaurant food I was relieved to be back in the kitchen cooking. The kids lived off meat balls, pancakes, pizza and McDonald's (ouch!) so a fish dish was imminent. This one was greatly appreciated among small and large people around the table. For the more reluctant ones there was the homemade remoulade sauce (for non-scandi's that's like a tartar sauce) to enhance the experience. It is a really easy fish recipe which can be varied with lots of different flavours but as I also made a remoulade sauce I kept it simple today. So here goes: 

Fishcakes

Ingredients (for 4 people)

300g white fish (haddock or cod)

1 egg

a couple of cooked potatoes (peeled and mashed)

1 1/2 dl breadcrumbs (panko preferred as always)

1/2 tsp salt

butter to fry

Preparation

Cut the fish in smaller sizes and whiz to fish mince in a food processor. Then add the egg, potatoes, 1/2 dl of breadcrumbs and salt. Mix and then shape into round fishcakes. 

Put the rest of the breadcrumbs in a shallow plate and turn the fishcakes in the breadcrumbs until covered. Heat the butter in a frying pan and then cook the fishcakes four minutes on one side, turn once, reduce heat and cook for a couple of more minutes. Recipe for remoulade sauce further down! 

Remoulade Sauce
Ingredients
(This makes quite a big portion but it keeps for a few weeks in the fridge)
1 1/2 dl mayonnaise
1 carrot, cut into juliennes (I use my new mandolin!)
1/2 dl finely chopped pickled cucumbers
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp finely chopped pickled onions
1 tsp lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
1/2 tsp curry powder

Preparation
Mix everything and leave in the fridge for an hour so that all the flavours blend nicely.

I served the fishcakes and remoulade sauce with oven-baked sweet potatoes and cooked cauliflower.