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.

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.