Italian pork chops

Yum, yum, yum! These pork chops are tasty! And so easy to make. There's no reason for you not to try this recipe at home.

Italian pork chops
Adapted from "alltommat.se"
Serves 4

4 pork chops
½ tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 dl cooking cream
½ dl parmesan cheese

1. Dry off the pork chops on kitchen paper, season with salt, pepper and sage.

2. Heat olive oil and butter in a pan. Brown the pork chops for 1-2 minutes on each side.

3. Add the cooking cream to the pan, cover with a lid and braise for 5 minutes or until the pork chops are cooked all the way through.

4. Sprinkle the grated parmesan on top and serve the dish with oven-roasted potatoes and a simple salad.

Spicy, honey glazed chicken wings

Sometime last year I bought a little Chinese cookbook at the local supermarket. You know, the small cookbooks with no author but published by one of the more well-known publishing houses. I have a whole stack of them, they are so practical when you don't have a lot of time to search for a recipe for a quick and cheap dinner.

The recipe for "Spicy, honey glazed chicken wings" was really easy to make. It didn't call for a lot of preparation, all you have to do in advance is to marinate the chicken wings 1-2 hours before you plan to start cooking dinner. The ingredients are store-cupboard essentials for most of us, and if you don't have them at home they aren't very expensive to get at the store.

So, from me to you, on this Valentine's Day, enjoy!

Spicy honey glazed chicken wings

Adapted from Den lille kokebokserien "Kinesisk"
Serves 4

450 g chicken wings
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Marinade

1 crushed dried red chilli

½-1 tsp chilli powder
½-1 tsp ground ginger
zest from 1 lime

Sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp clear honey
2 grated garlic cloves
1 tsp sesame seeds

1. Start preparing the chicken wings about 2 hours before you plan to start on dinner. Make the marinade by mixing the crushed dried chilli, the chilli powder, the ginger and the lime zest in a small bowl. Transfer the spices into a large ziploc bag, add the chicken wings. Lock the bag and massage to mix the spices with the wings. Place in the fridge to marinate.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok pan. Add the marinated chicken wings and fry for 10-12 minutes until golden and crisp. Be sure to stir continuously to keep the wings from sticking to the bottom of the wok.

3. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, garlic and sesame seeds. Pour the sauce over the chicken wings, stir to coat.

4. Lower the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the chicken wings are cooked. Make sure to stir continuously.

These wings are freezer friendly, meaning you can freeze them cooked or raw (+ the spices for the marinade).

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.