Curry-scented beef soup

I am not a big fan out what Swedes and Norwegians call "husmanskost". I can't seem to remember the English translation, but I guess it's somewhere along the lines of "traditional home cooked food". A little googling by my friend Titta came up with the term "homely fare".

However, let me rephrase, I am not a very big fan of Swedish and Norwegian "homely fare". The way I see it, I like Thai food, and Indian food, and Chinese food, and Mexican food and, yeah other kinds of food and I assume the foods I like from these countries are their "homely fare".

Anyways, what I am getting at is that I am not a big fan of Swedish and Norwegian "homely fare", but my bf is, unfortunately, a huge fan. He longs for boiled potatoes, and other things he is used to from his childhood. I on the other hand can't stand boiled potatoes, except for new potatoes cooked with large twigs of dill and served with sour cream and chopped chives on a warm summer day.

So, I don't cook boiled potatoes and other Scandinavian homely fares, I make Thai curries, Chinese stir-fries and Mexican enchiladas. But from time to time I cook traditional foods, and yesterday was one of those times. I didn't want to make it all traditional though, so found a recipe combining the traditional Swedish beef-soup with the flavours of Indian curry powder. Yum!


Curry-scented beef soup
Serves 4
Adapted from tasteline.com

400 g beef
2 onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 tart apple, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp butter
3 tsp curry powder
1 l water
3 tbsp reduced veal stock (in Swedish: kalvfond)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 can (400 g) crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper

1. Start by browning the meat, onions, garlic and apple in the butter in a sauce pan. Sprinkle in the curry powder, stir to mix and allow to fry for a couple of minutes.

2. Add in the water, tomato paste, reduced veal stock and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. Serve with a dollop of cream fraiche on top and a slice of garlic bread on the side.

Penne with salmon and creamed spinach

Yum, this was a great little dinner for one tonight. I just cooked some Penne pasta, wilted some spinach in a frying pan, tossed in some thinly sliced garlic, some sweet corn and poured in some heavy cream. Salt & pepper.

Delicious, simple and quick!

Mexican egg rolls

I was invited to attend "Den store gavefesten" at Ibsenhuset last Tuesday. It's a big concert featuring local talents, not only singing but also line dancing, football skills and agility, sponsored by one of the local banks here in Skien. There was a great orchestra entertaining us in the foyer and we were served an assortment of finger foods, Spanish meatballs, little mini-quiches and tasty little Mexican egg rolls.

I ate quite a few of these Mexican egg rolls, hello it was free and I was hungry! and quite enjoyed myself. But I couldn't help but think of how I could improve on the flavour.

Here's my first attempt

Mexican egg rolls
Makes lots

400 g ground beef

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 packet taco seasoning
1 dl taco salsa
100 g sweet corn
2 tbsp chopped jalapeños
1 dl water

1 packet spring roll wrappers
oil for deep frying

1. Start by browning the beef and the onion in a frying pan. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and fry for 10 minutes.

2. Take out a spring roll wrapper, if using the large variety cut it in half. Place about 1 tbsp of the taco beef at one end of the wrapper. Fold in the corners and roll into a finger-looking thing. Do this until you either run out of filling or wrappers.

3. Heat the oil and deep fry until golden and crispy.

4. Serve with an assortment of dipping sauces.

Under construction

As you can see my blog does no long look like it used to... this is due to a silly misstake by me. I am trying to solve it, but I am afraid I have lost the old design. I need to find another design that I'm happy with, but in the meantime you'll see some different designs.

Sorry!

Potato and spinach quiche

I'm back, as per usual I don't have a good reason for being away from such a long time.

I found the recipe for this quiche well over a year ago on the back of the bag that the potatoes came in. I scribbled it down and put it in my recipe folder thinking I'd get around to trying it out sometime soon. This was not the case, I forgot all about the recipe and only came across it again a few days ago when I was rummaging through the recipe folder looking for inspiration for dinner. Next time I make it I'm going to add in some feta cheese for a little extra flavour!

Potato and spinach quiche
Serves 4

Crust:
150 g butter
3 dl flour
2-2½ tbsp ice cold water

Filling:
300 g boiled, cold potatoes
200 g baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 red onion, cut into thin rings
50 g sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
4 eggs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 dl heavy cream
1 tbsp dill, chopped
salt & pepper

Set your oven to 200° C.
1. Start by making the crust. In a food processor, combine flour and butter. When crumbly, add in a little water at a time until the mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic film and place in the fridge to chill for about 1 hr. When chilled, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and line a springform pan, letting the pastry come up around the edges about 5 cm. With some aluminum foil, cover the edges so when you bake it the edges will not collapse. Pre-bake the crust for 10 mins.

2. While the pastry is chilling in the fridge, prepare the filling. Cut the potatoes into slices and then cut the slices in half. Mix with the spinach, red onion and the sun-dried tomatoes. In a separate bowl, crack the eggs, add the heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, dill and salt & pepper, whisk to combine.

3. Place the dry filling in the now pre-baked crust, and pour in the egg mixture.

4. Bake the pie at (the recipe says 170° C but I had to use 200 ° and my oven is only about 3 years old- I say, if it doesn't set at 170° C up the temp to 200° C) 170° C for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Valentine's chicken pot pie

This chicken pot pie is a staple in my family in Sweden. We have probably served it to every single guest we've ever had, at one time or another. I am sure I've had it for every birthday for the last 10 years. It's so delicious.

My bf made this for me for Valentine's Day.

Try it, you won't be disappointed!

Valentine's Chicken Pot PieServes 4-6 people

Pie dough:
3 dl flour
1 pinch salt
75 g unsalted butter
1 small egg
2-3 tbsp cold water

Filling:
 pulled meat from 1 rotisserie chicken
400 g whole canned mushrooms

2 ½ dl heavy cream
1 ½ tbsp flour
3 tbsp chilli sauce or ketchup (Heinz)
1 ½ tsp  salt
2 pinches pepper
1 tsp paprika powder
1-2 cloves of garlic, grated
½ dl sesame seeds
1 dl chopped chives

Preheat the oven to 225°C

1. Combine all the ingredient, except for the egg and the water, in a food processor until the dough crumbles. Mix in the egg and 2 tbsp of water. Add in more water if the dough does not come together to form a ball in the mixer. Kneed for a minute or two, flatten to a disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Fry the pulled chicken meat and the mushrooms in a pan.

3. Pour the heavy cream into a bowl, sprinkle over the flour, add in the chilli sauce/ketchup and the spices. With an electic beater, whisk the cream until foamy. Stir in the garlic and sesame seeds. Add the mix to the pan and allow to heat through. Add the chives and stir to combine.

4. Pour the filling into a oven dish. Roll out the dough, quite thinly, and place it to cover the oven dish, as a lid. Cut off any excess dough and cut out little shapes to put ontop of the lid for decoration. Use a sharp knife to make small holes in the lid, to allow hot steam to escape. Brush the lid with a beaten egg.

5. Bake at 225°C for 20-25 minutes.

(Excuse the crappy photo)

Pan-fried pollock with curry sauce

I love the little recipe-booklets you get for free at the supermarket. They might not be filled with the most sophisticated recipes but they are good enough for a mid-week dinner.

I found the recipe for "Pan-fried pollock with curry sauce" in a booklet called "Fisk" (Fish in English) from Meny, which is one of the upscale supermarket-chains in Norway.

Pan-fried pollock with curry sauce
Serves 4

800 g pollock fillet

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper
2-3 tbsp butter

The curry sauce:
2 tbsp butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tart apple, chopped into small cubes
1 tbsp curry powder
4 dl fish stock
2 dl cooking cream
2 tbsp chopped chives
1-2 tsp corn starch/flour
salt and pepper

1. Dry the fish by patting it carefully with some kitchen paper. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

2. In a saucepan, sauté the onion, apple and the curry powder in the butter. Add the fish stock and bring to the boil, boil until the sauce has reduced to half.

3. Add the cooking cream and allow to simmer for 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the corn starch or flour if the sauce is too thin. Add in the chives right before serving.

4.While the sauce is simmering, fry the fish in the pan.

5. Serve the fish and sauce on a bed of rice.