Egyptian food

Check out the recipes for these flavoursome and delicious Egyptian dishes over at The World On Our Plates.
 
Tagin samak bi-al-kuzbara (White fish in garlic tomato sauce)

Michoteta (Feta cheese salad with cucumber and red onion)

Sushi, take 2

Today's dinner was homemade sushi filled with cucumber, leeks, red pepper, baby corn and smoked mackerel or salmon. Served with wasabi and soy sauce.

Lunch at Wagamama

My main reason for going to Copenhagen was to go eat at my favourite restaurant Wagamama. Wagamama only has one restaurant in the whole of Scandinavia, at the Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen. I haven't decided if it's a good thing or a bad thing that there's only one Wagamama in Scandinavia. On the one hand it's good because you can't go there too often and risk getting tired of the delicious Japanese food, but on the other hand it's really not very good as you go there way too seldom, plus, even though I love Copenhagen, it would be good if I didn't have to go there to visit a Wagamama restaurant.

Since going to Wagamama for the first time sometime in 2004 I have only ever had one other dish than the one featured above (Ebi kare Lomen). Ebi Kare Lomen is my absolute favourite though. It's ramen noodles in a spicy coconut and lemongrass soup topped with prawns or grilled chicken, beansprouts and cucumber, garnished with coriander and lime

Susanne had this dish, which I think is noodles in a spicy chicken soup topped with a marinated grilled and sliced chicken breast, fresh chillies, sliced red onions, bean sprouts, coriander, spring onions and a wedge of lime.

Sushi

I went to Sweden last week and got to spend some time with my best friend Hanna in Gothenburg. We made homemade sushi. Neither of us had tried making sushi at home before, but we were very proud of how it turned out. We made some great tasting, and pretty good looking sushi, and served it with the normal condiments of miso soup, soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi.

The Nigiri is topped with avocado and salmon. The Maki is filled with cucumber, avocado and prawns.

Grilled marinated shrimp

Prawns + garlic + lemon juice + olive oil + grill= drop dead combination!

I can't believe I didn't come up with this recipe myself, I guess I love the plain ol' prawn too much. But from now on I am going to be making this grilled version of my beloved prawn whenever the weather allows me to fire up my grill.

We made this recipe this past weekend when my friend Hanna and her boyfriend Jamal came to visit. Hanna actually came across the recipe while looking through one of my many food magazines. We served the shrimps as a starter for our Saturday dinner, chicken grilled whole on the BBQ with a side of oven roasted potatoes and toum, my new favourite sauce. The recipe for toum will be added shortly.

Grilled marinated shrimps
Serves 4
Adapted from Maison Mat & Vin 3/2010

0,5 dl olive oil
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
600 g pre-cooked shrimp with the shell on
you can also use raw shrimps

1. Combine the olive oil, the grated garlic, the lemon juice and the salt in a bowl.

2. Place the shrimps in a ziploc bag, and pour in the marinade. Close the bag and massage it gently to ensure that the marinade covers all the shrimps. Place the bag in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. Thread the shrimps onto wooden or steel skewers and grill the shrimps until the shell turns a little white or golden brown. It will take a little longer if you are using raw shrimps.

Serve with mayo, warm baguettes and a glass of white wine.

Fish & Prawn Gratin

I was lucky enough to grown up in a little town in Bohuslän and we always had access to the best and freshest fish, and I remember eating prawns that had been caught that very same morning. It was like eating a little piece of heaven!

This dish reminds me of where I grew up - the Swedish west coast; fish and prawns in a creamy dill sauce is about as close as you get to being a Bohuslänning (a person from the province of Bohuslän) without actually being from Bohuslän.

Fish & Prawn Gratin
Serves 4
Adapted from Tasteline.com

400 g fish, I used Pollock
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp lemon infused black pepper
1/4 leek, chopped
1 dl peeled prawns
1 dl blue mussel meat (optional)
2 ½ dl cooking cream
½ dl chopped dill

Set the oven to 225°C.

1. Start by seasoning the fish with the salt and pepper, and then place the fish in a lightly greased oven proof dish.

2. Mix the cooking cream with the leeks, the prawns, the mussels and the dill. Pour the mixture over the fish.

3. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Garnish with a wedge of lemon and some fresh dill sprigs.

Serve with rice or riced potatoes.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Frutti de mare

My boyfriend said he wanted frutti de mare for dinner tonight. Great! I said and cooked frutti de mare á la Angélica.

Frutti de mare
Serves 2

pasta for 2 people
2 salmon cutlets
10 tiger prawns
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2,5 dl (1 cup) tomato sauce
salt, pepper, red chili flakes

1. Cook the pasta according to the intructions on the packet.

2. Remove skin and bones from the salmon cutlets. Peel and de-vein the prawns. Cut salmon into bite size pieces, and cut the prawns in half. Season with salt, pepper and red chili flakes.

2. Fry the salmon pieces until done in a frying pan. Remove. Fry the prawns until pink. Remove.

3. Heat some oil in a sauce pan. Sauté the garlic for a minute. Add the tomato sauce and heat. Tip in the salmon and prawns. Cook for a few minutes.

4. Drain pasta and return to pan. Pour the tomato sauce over the pasta and toss to mix.

5. Serve in deep plates, sprinkle some fresh basil or parsely, grated parmesan cheese and drizzle with some EVOO.

Lunch: Salmon sandwich

Ever since I was a little girl I've never been very good at what we in Sweden call "fika". For those of you who are not familiar with the word "fika", let me explain it. Fika is what other people call coffee break with a few cakes or cookies, and can be enjoyed all through the day.

Growing up, on Saturdays, almost without fail, we had 11 o'clock fika at my house. This meant mum and dad drinking coffee, me and my brother drinking a glass of strawberry lemonade, and we all enjoyed a cinnamon bun and a few cookies each, most likely a Ballerina cookie and a Digestive biscuit.

My mom was, and still is, the queen of homemade cinnamon buns. I remember once, my friend Lena came home with me after school for a play date and mum served us cinnamon buns for our after school-fika. Lena didn't eat just one bun, she ate a whopping 6 buns, and when her parents came to pick her up mum gave her a bag of buns to go.

I have never tried making cinnamon buns, but maybe one day I will. However, they will never beat mum's homemade buns. They're the best. If I close my eyes I can still see the mountains of buns stacked on mum's kitchen counter, and I can smell them, the sweet smell of soft, warm, straight from the oven- cinnamon buns...

Sometimes fika also included a sandwich.

Sometimes we went on shopping trips to the local mall or to Gothenburg on Saturdays, and then dad always had a coffee craving at some point. Mum, dad and my brother always had a piece of cake or a cookie, but I almost always had an open-faced prawn sandwish. I don't know why I never felt in the mood for a piece of cake or a cookie, but I never did. So I always had a prawn sandwich made with a peice of white bread, lettuce, mayo, hardboiled eggs, prawns and a wedge of lemon and a slice of cucumber.

So, when I made today's lunch I was reminded of my childhood's fikas.

Salmon sandwich
Serves 1

1 slice of bread
butter
1 leaf of lettuce
potato salad
1, 2 or 3 slices of smoked salmon
chopped red onion
squeeze of lemon juice
black pepper

Just put the ingredients on top of the piece of bread in the order they appear above.

Sunday dinner

A quick, easy and delicious Sunday dinner. Salmon cutlets sprinkled with lemon-infused black pepper, pan fried for a maximum of 3 minutes per side. Served with oven-roasted veggies (potatoes, onions and carrots) and a fresh herb- and garlic sauce.

Homemade Chinese takeout

Buying takeout food, even something as simple as McDonald's or pizza, here in Norway is ridiculously expensive. A medium pizza cost anywhere from $15 and up- that's expensive!

With expensive takeouts in mind me and the bf decided on making our own takeout food at home. We decided on Chinese as we both love it.

Earlier that week we had talked about different chores around the house and I had half-heartedly complained that I always do all the cooking. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking (as well you know) but sometimes a little help goes a long way. He then said, and I have to agree that he was on to something, that whenever he tries to help I always watch him like a hawk and end up taking over because he's not doing whatever it is that he's doing the way I want it to be done... (It's not my fault that my way is the right way!!)

Anyways, I decided on handing over the responsibility for an ENTIRE dish, and lo and behold, he did brilliantly. Ok, I tried to "guide" him a few times when I sensed disaster was near, but he just told me to "shoosh and mind my own business". I was very proud of him for making an entire dish on his own, read: he chopped a lot of prawns and onions and spread them on top of bread....! But he was very proud of himself and who am I to take that pride away from him?!

Here's what he made

Sesame prawn toasts
Serves 4 as part of a meal

225 g peeled, de-veined and chopped tiger prawns
1 spring onion/scallion, chopped
½ tsp salt
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch/potato starch
1 egg white, lightly beaten
3 thin slices bread, crust removed
4 tbsp sesame seeds
vegetable oil for deep frying


In a bowl, combine prawns, spring onion/scallion, salt, soy sauce, corn/potato starch and egg white.

Spread the mixture on the slices of bread, sprinkle with sesame seeds and press down hard to ensure the topping doesn't fall off when deep frying.

Deep fry for 2-3 minutes, turning half way through, until golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper. Eat!

My contribution to the Chinese takeout was, apart from being food"gestapo"incarnate, deep fried king/tiger prawns.

Here's the recipe:

Deep fried king/tiger prawns
Serves 4 as part of a meal

16 king/tiger prawns
oil for deep frying
200 g all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
2½ dl milk
1 pinch chili powder

Peel and de-vein the prawns, but keep the tail intact.

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the batter. Pour in the wet ingredients and stir until you have a thick batter.

Heat the oil in a wok. Hold the prawn by the tail and dip into the batter. Carefully drop each batter coated prawn into the hot oil. Deep fry for about 3 minutes, take out and drain on kitchen paper. Eat!

Midsummer tart

Shrimp-, crayfish-, tomato-, artichoke- and button mushroom pie
Serves 6

Pie crust:
3 dl flour
1 pinch salt
150 g unsalted butter
water

Filling:
2 tomatoes
6 button mushrooms
1 can artichoke hearts
300g crayfish tails
or 150 g crayfish tails and 150 g shrimps
4 eggs
2 dl heavy cream
2 dl milk
salt and white pepper

1. Start off by making the pie crust. Mix the ingredients in a food processor or by hand. Add water, a little at a time, until you have a ball of pie crust dough. Chill for 1 hour.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 200° C. Roll out the pie crust and pre-bake it for 15 minutes.

3. Dice the tomatoes, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts. Fry the mushrooms in a little butter until all the liquid has evaportated.

4. In a bowl, combine the eggs, cream, milk, and salt and pepper. Place the filling the pie crust, pour over the egg mix.

5. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. After 12 ½ minutes cover the pie with aluminum foil.

I must have done something wrong when I made this because I had to have it in the oven for well over 1 hour before I got it to set properly... Hope yours goes better.

Midsummer is a really big thing in Sweden. More in the olden days than these days, Swedes danced around an upside-down phallic symbol, something to do with fertility apparently. These days people get together with friends and family to enjoy traditional Swedish summer food and to enjoy each others company.

Being a Swede abroad I thought I'd bring Swedish midsummer to me, rather than the other way around. I invited a friend from Sweden to come celebrate with me and all was good. I had planned on making mum's traditional midsummer dinner (probably the same as everyone else has at midsummer); herring, dill-boiled potatoes, meatballs, mini sausages, sour creme and chopped chives. But for some reason I got side-tracked, and we ended up having a savoury pie for a first course, shrimps in baguettes from our main course, and sticky chocolate cupcakes for dessert. We had already started off the festivities with a delicious, and super easy to make, salad for lunch.

Shrimps, sweet corn, tomatoes, apples, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, romaine lettuce, red onions, and yesterday's garlic chicken leftovers.

Shrimp-, crayfish-, tomato-, artichoke- and button mushroom pie. Click for recipe

Sticky chocolate cupcakes with chocolate- and coffee flavoured frosting.

Friday treats #2

It was a little runny, but oh so good!! Maybe if I had used a little more mayo and a little less sour cream...oh well, maybe next time. This dish is called "Västkustsallad" in Swedish. Translated into English- "West coast salad". In England we used to call it "The prawn thing". It's made from sour cream, mayo, prawns, button mushrooms, dill, and lemon juice, salt & pepper.

We ate this with baked potatoes on Friday night. I don't know why, but I always have trouble getting my baked potatoes perfectly cooked. They are always real hard in the middle, no matter how long I have them in the oven for. Unless I microwave my baked potatoes, of course. Then they come out perfect, but then I have to put them in the oven to crisp up the skins... What a hassle!

Thai Red Curry

Thai Red Curry
Serves 4

500 g boneless chicken (I used pork), sliced
1 generous tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp sugar
5-6 lime leaves, shredded
1 can sliced bamboo shoots
400 ml coconut milk
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce

1. Pour one cup of coconut milk into a wok, bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Add in the curry paste and stir until red oil appears at the surface.

2. Add in the meat, simmer until cooked.

3. Add in the rest of the coconut milk, lime leaves, and bamboo shoots. Also stir in the sugar, and the fish sauce. Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few more minutes.

4. Serve with rice

(As always I didn't use the exact ingredients. This time I used my trusty frozen wok vegetable mix instead of just the bamboo shoots)

- You can make this with other kinds of meat, or with no meat at all, but you will then have to add mushrooms or aubergines or something similar to make it a bit "meaty".

På svenska:
Thai Röd Curry

Lazy girl's Paella

I am starting to hate this diet we are on... All we get to eat is chicken and rice, and ground meat and whole wheat pasta... It's starting to bore me stiff. I long for some fish, some meat that is not ground to a disgusting-looking mess, and lo and behold, potato. I normally hate potatoes, I hate the texture and how it doesn't really taste of anything, and just seems to grow in my mouth into a disgusting mash... Maybe this is due to too many over-boiled potatoes in Swedish school cafeterias? The only kinds of potatoes I like are, mashed potatoes, oven-roast potatoes, and new potatoes, but only the small new potatoes. I love new potatoes, especially how we eat them in Sweden during the summer months, boiled with a few twigs of dill tossed into the water, served with a side of sour cream and chopped chives. YUM! Try it!

Yesterday I made what I have chosen to call "Lazy girl's Paella". It was really easy and went down a treat, most of my foods seems to go down a treat, which I guess is pretty awesome, come to think of it!


Here's how you make
"Lazy girl's Paella"
- diet version (with a cheat as no Paella is complete without some seafood)
Serves 2

140 g cooked rice
8 raw tiger prawns, peeled and de-veined
1 large chicken breast, cut into bit-size pieces
½ onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 pinch saffron, I don't want to call what I used Saffron though. Even though it said saffron on the packet, it was more like something coloured orange with food colour.
½ dl water, or vegetable stock
1 dl frozen peas
lots of frozen broccoli
1-2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
chili salt, pepper

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in a hot pan. Add the bits of chicken (seasoned with chili salt and pepper) saffron and water/stock.

2. When most of the water/stock has evaporated and the chicken seems almost done, add the vegetables, rice and prawns and stir through so everything mixes well. At this point, lower the heat just a tiny bit and leave the paella until the rice has formed a fine crust at the bottom of the pan, just like on an authentic paella.

Sprinkle with some chopped parsley and serve.

Enjoy!

På svenska:
En lat flickas Paella

Nu finns även dessa recept på svenska:

Thailändska räk"bollar"
Köttbullar
Spagetti med köttfärssås á la Angélica

Saturday treats

The day before Norway Day, the day Norway won Eurovision Song Contest!

Saturday afternoon: the sun disappeared behind some clouds, but that did not stop me from putting some din-din on the BBQ. Salmon marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I also finished off the last of the asparagus I had laying around from Friday. This time, instead of marinating them, which did not really work as I only let them marinate for 1o minutes, I put some lemon juice and a clove of garlic in the water when I blanched them. It worked out well, I recommend it.

15 minutes later: Dinner's ready. Served it with new potatoes (13.90 NOK/kg) and a sauce made from sour cream, garlic and salt & pepper. It was yummy!