Kerala Prawn Curry

Saturday's dinner. Delicious, quick and so simple anyone can make it!

Kerala Prawn Curry
Adapted from BBCGoodFood
Serves 2

1-2 red chillies, de-seeded and cut into larger pieces
1 small red onion, peeled and cut in four
2.5 cm ginger, peeled and cut into pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½-1 tsp black mustard seeds
½  tsp fenugreek seeds
14, or less, curry leaves
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cracked peppercorns
250 g jumbo prawns, or scampi
150 ml coconut milk

1. Blitz chillies, the onion and the ginger in a food processor. Add a little water, but no more than 3 tbsp.

2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves to the hot wok. Be careful, the seeds will crack and pop. Fry for about 10 seconds before adding in the chilli paste. Turn the heat down a little bit, then cook for 5 minutes. Pour in some water if it starts sticking to the bottom of the pan.

3. Add the turmeric and the peppercorns. Stir to mix in the spices before adding the prawns and the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute until everything is heated through and the prawns are done.

Serve with rice, sprinkle some coriander/cilantro and a wedge of lime on top.

Homemade pizza

This recipe needs no explaining, it's just simply delicious!

Homemade pizza
Makes 2 pizzas

Pizza dough

25 g fresh yeast
2 ½ dl finger warm water
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
7 dl all-purpose flour

Filling

tomato sauce
mushrooms
red onion
ham
yellow peppers
dried oregano/basil
mozarella cheese
or whatever you like

Set the oven to 230 C.

1. Crumble the yeast into a small bowl. Pour over some water, and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the rest of the water, oil and salt. Put the flour in a bigger bowl. Make a small well in the flour, add in the yeast-mix and by using your hands, make a dough. Add more flour if needed. Cover with a cloth, and set to rest in a warm place until the dough had doubled in size.

2. Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a flour-dusted surface (preferably a piece of parchment paper). Kneed the dough for a bit, knocking the air out of it. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Keep one covered while working with the other. Roll out the dough into a large disk. Spread half the tomato sauce on top of the pizza and then put the fillings on top. 

3. Place the pizza on a warm pizza stone, or a warm oven tray and bake for 13 minutes or until the dough is golden and the cheese has melted.

Golden spicy fish soup served with homemade naan

I've had this recipe for "Spicy fish soup with chapati" for a little over a week now, meaning to cook it but always finding myself cooking something else for dinner instead.

But last night, Friday night, I finally went to the supermarket to buy some fish, went home, and got cooking!

I must admit I don't really have any fond memories, or any memories at all, as a matter of fact, of fish soup growing up. I'm not complaining though, fish soup can be tricky to make and I'm a bit of a picky eater. Plus, I don't even think I have a proper mental picture of what a good fish soup should look like... Come to think of it, that's pretty sad.

Maybe my new mental image of good fish soup should be the soup I made last night. It was golden, creamy, spicy, and just delicious. My bf scored it as a 5 out of 6 (fresh fish, I used frozen, would have made it a 6), and I must agree with him, but not because of the fish, but because I didn't like that there were so much lentils in the soup. Next time I'm gonna half the amount of lentils I use. And maybe add in a splash of white wine. The original recipe calls for chapati bread but I make an awesome naan bread, so...!

Golden spicy fish soup served with homemade naan bread
Adapted from Arla.se
Serves 4

300 g firm fish, for example pollock (coaley), cod or salmon
1 leek, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp ground chili, or to taste
1½ tsp ground cumin, or to taste
2 cubes chicken stock
5 dl water
1 ½ dl red, or green lentils
5 dl cooking cream
½ tsp salt

Naan breadAdapted from bbcgoodfood.com
Serves 4

450 g all-purpose flour
7 g fast action yeast
300-350 ml water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt

PS! If you are planning on using green lentils, either soak them in water for 1 hour, or add about 10 minutes cooking time.

Cut the fish into bite size pieces. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and sauté the leeks. Stir in the spices, chicken stock cubes, water and lentils. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Turn down the heat, add the fish and the cooking cream. Simmer for 3 minutes or until the fish is done. Add salt to taste.

While the soup is cooking, prepare the naan dough. Heat the grill in your oven to high. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and water and oil. Mix to a rough dough. Leave it as it is for 5 minutes, than knead the dough for 1-2 minutes until smooth and springy. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to sit for 10 minutes. It won't double in size, but don't worry.

Roll the dough out into a circle on a floured surface. Cut the circle into pizza slices, 8 in total. Transfer to a lined baking tray and grill for 3-4 minutes, turning half way.

Serve the soup in individual bowls, sprinkle chopped leeks on top and drizzle with olive oil.

I am...

too busy to blog. Is that blasphemy?

Happy new year

Long time no see folks. I am sorry but things have been kind of hectic since just before xmas, really. First we had a friend from the US visiting for a couple of days, then I went home to Sweden to celebrate xmas with my mum and my brother. (Oh before I forget, I bought myself a new camera for xmas. A Nikon D3000 SLR). I went back to Norway a few days before new years and started an internship at the study abroad office at Telemark University College on Monday. So, at least compared to my usual lazy standards, I've been busy.

However, I haven't been too busy not to cook up some delicious food to feast on while the temperature outside has been dropping to a freezing -15° C. Let me tell yall, it's freezing outside, it's so cold outside that the lock on ,the inside of, our front door has frost on it. That's cold!!!

I made this delicious chocolate raspberry pavlova for new years, and I'm sure I'll be making it again, it was yummie!

Chocolate raspberry pavlova
(Adapted from Nigella Lawson)
Serves 4-6

For the meringue base:

3 egg whites
150 g caster sugar
1 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
½ tbsp balsamic or red wine vinegar

25 g dark chocolate, grated

For the topping:
250 g double cream
250 g raspberries/exotic fruit/mixed berries
1 ½ tbsp dark chocolate, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

2. In a bowl, beat the egg whites until they resemble fluffy white clouds.Continue to beat, adding a tablespoon of sugar at a time until the mixture is thick and glossy. Pour in the vinegar, chocolate flakes and cocoa powder, fold in gently.

3. Pour the mixture on to the lined baking tray and flatten some so that you have a fat circle.

4. Place the tray in the oven, then immediately turn down the temperature to 150° C and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. When it's ready the top and the sides should look crisp and dry but if you press down on the top you should be able to tell it's still soft on the inside. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and leave the meringue to cool completely.

5. Whisk the cream and place on top of the cooled meringue (that you have preferably moved to a serving plate). Scatter the berries over the whipped cream and sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top.

I'm on....

CHRISTMAS BREAK!!

I'll be back in 2010. I have a bunch of recipes in "draft"-mode that I'll post during the holidays.

To be continued...

Moussaka

You should know by now that I love my food magazines and websites such as BBC GoodFood, Martha Stewart and Jamie Oliver. I love how easy it is to find good, healthy and affordable recipes online, especially since I can't afford to buy all the fancy food magazines each month.

Browsing through BBC GoodFood yesterday I came across this recipe for moussaka. I have never made moussaka, can't even remember ever eating mousaka but this recipe intrigued me, so I decided to give it a go.

I was very happy with how the dish turned out, however, next time I'm making it I'm going to fry the aubergine (not microwave it as the recipe tells you to, and as I therefore did), and I am also going to make a proper sauce since this sauce got a rubbery surface.

But over all I was delighted with this easy to make moussaka and I will definitely be making it again.

Moussaka
Adapted from BBC GoodFood
Serves 4

500 g lean ground meat
1 large aubergine
150 g non-fat Greek yogurt
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp Parmesan, grated
400 g can crushed tomatoes in garlic and herbs
4 tbsp tomato-purée
400 g boiled potatoes, cold and cut into disks

Set the grill on high

1. Start by browning the meat in a hot pan for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prick the aubergine with a fork, and place it in the microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until soft.

2. In a bowl, mix yogurt, cheese and egg. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir the crushed tomatoes, tomato-purée and the potatoes in with the meat, and allow to heat through. Place the meat mixture in an oven-proof dish. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Slice the aubergine and place on top of the meat. Pour over the yogurt sauce.

4. Place the moussaka under the grill and grill until the sauce has set and turned golden.