Salami- and feta cheese tart

Don't look at a recipe and go "oh no, I don't have all the ingredients to make this, so I can't make this today". Instead, go "what ingredients do I have that can replace the ones I don't have at home right now". I never go "oh no", but go "ok, let's be creative". Admittedly sometimes you can't substitute one thing for something else, then you just have to deal with it, and either not cook that particular dish, or go grocery shopping. But most of the time it really pays off to go creative.

I am always quite 'oh well' when it comes to recipes. I don't always read them through thoroughly and it is not uncommon for me to somewhere down the line realize I have missed something and will have to go rummaging through my pantry for this particular thing. But I almost never discourage, except for the other day when I tried making naan bread and ended up binning the whole thing as the dough kept crumbling..., anyway, I almost always pull through and come up with something inventive way of saving the "day".

Like yesterday. I had planned on making Salami- and feta cheese tart. I had had my eye on this particular recipe ever since I saw it in one of those free recipe folders I picked up at the supermarket the other day. I mean, doesn't it sound delicious?! Salami- and feta cheese tart. (Gosh I hate that word, tart... pie sounds so much better).
I didn't have salami, or spinach, or black olives at home. So what did I do? I used chorizo, button mushrooms, and green olives instead. Not the most off-the-wall substitutions, but still.

Here's the original recipe:


Salami- and feta cheese tart
Serves 4-6

Pie crust
3 ½ dl all-purpose flour
150 g margarine, or butter
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp water

Filling
100 g fresh spinach, or 50 g frozen
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
100 g feta cheese
8 cherry- or cocktail tomatoes, cut in halves
10 black olives, pip removed
50 g pepper- or regular salami, cut into strips
1-2 tsp dried oregano
3 eggs
3 dl Low fat Creme Fraiche

1. Make the crust by blitzing all the ingredients in a food processor, or by hand until you have a solid but pliable dough. Set to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Press the chilled dough into a round, loose-bottomed mould (24-26 cm) allowing the pasty to come up around the edges about 5 cm. With some aluminum foil, cover the edges so when you bre-bake it the edges will not collapse. Pre-bake the pastry for 10 minutes in a 225 C hot oven. Remove the foil.

2. Wilt the spinach in a hot pan, season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the spinach, feta cheese, tomatoes, olives, and salami to the baked crust.

4. In a bowl, mix the eggs and the creme fraiche. Season with the oregano. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

5. Bake the pie, on 200 C, on the bottom rack of the oven until the filling has set nicely and the top has turned golden.

(My tart came out a little loose, don't really know why).

På svenska:
Salami- och fetaost paj

Harvesting the garden

Not much is ready to be eaten yet in my miniature garden, except for the occasional Arugula leaf, and these bright red jewels. Aren't they just beautiful?

Garden visit # 3

Sugar snap plant.

Wild strawberries. I picked these plants in the forest the other week. Some seem to be coping really well with being relocated, while some are taking it rather badly, and I am afraid to admit it, but I don't think all of them will survive.

Radishes, soon ready to be enjoyed in salads and as a snack. Can't wait!

Flat leaf parsley, looking good!

Chicken curry, "Indian" style

Walking through my local supermarket earlier today I picked up a bunch of free recipe folders, you know the kinds that different brands make to show you what fantastic dishes you can make by using their products. I love these little free cookbooks! I can never afford to buy my own cookbooks, they are way too expensive, and anyway I usually get one of two new ones to add to my collection for my birthday and for Christmas, so really, there's no reason for me to buy cookbooks. No reason other than that I love cookbooks. But the truth is I very seldom cook anything from them, especially not if the cookbook's got a glossy cover and a nice picture on the front and are not adapted to everyday cooking. Normally I find most cookbooks too complicated, and quite frankly, quite uninspiring. This, I know, is very contradicting. What I love about cookbooks is the sense of knowing that I have them, that if I one day fall down and hurt my head and on a whim decide to cook something utterly complicated I have cookbooks to back up my crazy idea. You know what I mean? I also love reading them, I love looking at all the pretty photos, and I love seeing them on my shelf. (Without my Jamie Oliver, Nigella and Tina cookbooks I'd be lost).

Ok, let's get back on track... where was I? Oh yes, the free recipe folders I picked up at the supermarket today. In one of them, "Så enkelt - og så godt!" from Tine, I found the recipe for today's dinner - Chicken curry. Actually, the original recipe calls for shrimps and some other things I kind of over-looked at first glance, which resulted in my adaptation of the dish. (I did not over-look the shrimp/chicken thing, but some other stuff- I'm not that absent-minded!)

Oh yes, this recipe did not only give me the best food experience I have had in a while, it also taught me how to cook with yogurt without it curdling.

This is how you prevent the yogurt from curdling when added to hot food:
For every 3 dl of yogurt, add 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour. Mix it together by using a hand blender. This will make the yogurt more watery, but it will also keep the yogurt from curdling, which is the main thing.

Now to the main recipe.

Chicken curry
Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 ½ tbsp spicy curry powder
10 sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
100-150 g frozen wok vegetables
2 dl water
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 dl yogurt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ketchup
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sambal oelek, or spicy chili sauce

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large pan, or wok. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft and translucent. Stir in the curry powder, and allow to heat through. Add in the sun-dried tomatoes, wok vegetables, water and the chicken. Cook until the chicken is almost done

2. Mean while, mix the yogurt with the flour, as described above. Stir in the mix little at a time to ensure further that is does not curdle. Also add in the salt, ketchup, sugar, and sambal or chili sauce.

3. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and some freshly ground pepper.

4. Serve with rice, naan-bread or poppadoms/papads, and a dollop of yogurt, if it's too spicy for you.

På svenska
Kyckling curry på "indiskt" vis

Dim Sum

Dim sums are one of my favorite Chinese dishes. I tried dim sums for the first time when my Chinese friends Ruby, Vivi and Shirly made them for me one night at uni. Up until then I had always thought they looked kind of slimy. But watching my three Chinese friends make them from scratch with such speed and dedication, impressed me to the point where I had to try them for myself + they looked pretty darn tasty. And they were tasty, oh so tasty! The girls served the dim sums with a dipping sauce, and three sides (spicy cucumber salad, fried shredded potato, and steamed egg rolls filled with chicken).

Dim Sum
Makes lots

Dough:
4,5 dl all-purpose flour
1,5-2 dl cold water

Put the flour in a bowl. Mix in a little water at a time until you have a smooth dough that does not stick to your fingers or the side of the bowl. Cover with a damp towel, and set to rest in the fridge. You can also use ready made store bought wonton wrappers, - very convenient!

Filling:
300-350 g minced meat, chicken, pork or beef
1/5 (about 10 cm) leek, chopped
1 cm root ginger, finely chopped or grated
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 cm red chili, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame seed oil
salt & pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

Dipping sauce:
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar, rice- or white wine-
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
2 cm leek, chopped
1 cm root ginger, chopped
a pinch of sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a small serving bowl.

Making the dim sums:
Take the dough from the fridge. Kneed it for 5 minutes. Cut the dough in two, and cut then each
half in half. Take one piece of dough, set the other three pieces aside under the damp towel. Using a rolling pin, roll the piece of dough into a large, very thin, square. Using a mold, I made a mold (9x9 cm) from a piece of paper, and used a glass jar Ø 9 cm, cut out squares and circles. Put 1 tsp of the filling in the center of each sheet. Fold the dim sums like this 1) or 2).

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Drop in 1/4 of the dim sums into the water. When the dim sums float to the surface, cook for another 5 minutes. Take one out of the water, cut in half to check that the meat is cooked. Take cooked dim sums out, and tip in the next load, until all the dim sums are cooked.

NOW - EAT!

Filled mushrooms

I haven't made filled mushrooms since I don't know when. It's not the most healthy thing out there, but it's so delicious. Try it!


Filled mushrooms
Makes 10

10 button mushrooms
50 g butter
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried or fresh basil
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 spring onions, chopped
salt & pepper

Mix the butter and herbs in a bowl. Remove the stem form the mushroom. Fill the cavity with the butter. Grill or place in a 210 C warm oven 'til the butter has melted.

Any left over butter can be frozen.

På svenska:
Fyllda champinjoner

Chicken hamburgers

Yet another day of blue skies and blazing suns. It's been absolutely lovely, I've spent the day in a chair on the patio, reading the book Body Surfing by Anita Shreve. Can it get much better? It's been a perfect day.

Due to lack of inspiration, and possible heat stroke (no, not really), I felt like grilling some hamburgers for dinner. I make my own hamburgers, I hate the ones you buy ready made at the supermarket. Home made is always much tastier, and you can decide yourself what you want to put in them, no unnecessary additives! And let me tell you.... Yum! This was really, really, really delicious!


Chicken hamburgers for lazy days
Makes 4

450 g ground chicken

1 onion, grated, or finely chopped
1 clove garlic, grated
50 g Parmesan, or other cheese, (or no cheese,) grated
3 cm red chili, de-seeded and finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Set to rest in the fridge for 1 hour. Make four hamburger patties, and fry or grill 'til done.

På svenska:
Kyckling hamburgare