CHRISTMAS BREAK!!
I'll be back in 2010. I have a bunch of recipes in "draft"-mode that I'll post during the holidays.
To be continued...
Monday, 21 December 2009
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Moussaka
You should know by now that I love my food magazines and websites such as BBC GoodFood, Martha Stewart and Jamie Oliver. I love how easy it is to find good, healthy and affordable recipes online, especially since I can't afford to buy all the fancy food magazines each month.
Browsing through BBC GoodFood yesterday I came across this recipe for moussaka. I have never made moussaka, can't even remember ever eating mousaka but this recipe intrigued me, so I decided to give it a go.
I was very happy with how the dish turned out, however, next time I'm making it I'm going to fry the aubergine (not microwave it as the recipe tells you to, and as I therefore did), and I am also going to make a proper sauce since this sauce got a rubbery surface.
But over all I was delighted with this easy to make moussaka and I will definitely be making it again.
Moussaka
Adapted from BBC GoodFood
Serves 4
500 g lean ground meat
1 large aubergine
150 g non-fat Greek yogurt
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp Parmesan, grated
400 g can crushed tomatoes in garlic and herbs
4 tbsp tomato-purée
400 g boiled potatoes, cold and cut into disks
Set the grill on high
1. Start by browning the meat in a hot pan for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prick the aubergine with a fork, and place it in the microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until soft.
2. In a bowl, mix yogurt, cheese and egg. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Stir the crushed tomatoes, tomato-purée and the potatoes in with the meat, and allow to heat through. Place the meat mixture in an oven-proof dish. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Slice the aubergine and place on top of the meat. Pour over the yogurt sauce.
4. Place the moussaka under the grill and grill until the sauce has set and turned golden.
Browsing through BBC GoodFood yesterday I came across this recipe for moussaka. I have never made moussaka, can't even remember ever eating mousaka but this recipe intrigued me, so I decided to give it a go. I was very happy with how the dish turned out, however, next time I'm making it I'm going to fry the aubergine (not microwave it as the recipe tells you to, and as I therefore did), and I am also going to make a proper sauce since this sauce got a rubbery surface.
But over all I was delighted with this easy to make moussaka and I will definitely be making it again.
Moussaka
Adapted from BBC GoodFood
Serves 4
500 g lean ground meat
1 large aubergine
150 g non-fat Greek yogurt
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp Parmesan, grated
400 g can crushed tomatoes in garlic and herbs
4 tbsp tomato-purée
400 g boiled potatoes, cold and cut into disks
Set the grill on high
1. Start by browning the meat in a hot pan for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prick the aubergine with a fork, and place it in the microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until soft.
2. In a bowl, mix yogurt, cheese and egg. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Stir the crushed tomatoes, tomato-purée and the potatoes in with the meat, and allow to heat through. Place the meat mixture in an oven-proof dish. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Slice the aubergine and place on top of the meat. Pour over the yogurt sauce.
4. Place the moussaka under the grill and grill until the sauce has set and turned golden.
Cinnamon swirls/buns
Cinnamon buns... oh the word sends my taste buds spinning and my nose fills with the smell of freshly baked goods!
The sweet smell of cinnamon buns takes me back to my childhood. I dare say my mum is the queen of cinnamon buns. Whenever we had a birthday party, guests or a school event my mum always made cinnamon buns. She would get up early in the morning to prepare the dough, and put the first tray in the oven just in time for us wake up to the promise of a cinnamon bun for our 11 o'clock fika.
I made cinnamon buns for the first time today!
Cinnamon buns
Makes 25
25 g fresh yeast
75 g butter, melted
2 ½ dl milk
1 ml salt
½ dl sugar
1- 1 ½ tsp ground cardamom
7 dl flour
Filling
50 g room temp butter
½-1 dl sugar
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
Decoration
pearl sugar
1. Crumble the yeast into a large bowl. Mix the melted butter with the milk and heat until tepid. Pour some of the liquid over the yeast, allow the yeast to dissolve completely before adding the rest of the liquid.
2. Add in salt, sugar and cardamom, mix. Now, slowly add in a little flour at the time until you have a dough that does not stick to the edges of the bowl or to your hands. Set the dough to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into two. Roll out each part to a large rectangle. Spread with butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll into a long snake-shape, starting at the long edge. Cut each "snake" into about 12 pieces, 1 ½ cm thick. Place each piece in a small muffin paper cup. Place the cups on an oven tray.
4. Brush each piece with the beaten egg, and sprinkle the pearl sugar on top. Set to rest for 30 minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 225°C and bake the cinnamon buns for 8-10 minutes on the middle shelf.
Allow to cool, covered, on a wire rack.
Enjoy with a cup of coffee, tea, or a glass of lemonade.
The sweet smell of cinnamon buns takes me back to my childhood. I dare say my mum is the queen of cinnamon buns. Whenever we had a birthday party, guests or a school event my mum always made cinnamon buns. She would get up early in the morning to prepare the dough, and put the first tray in the oven just in time for us wake up to the promise of a cinnamon bun for our 11 o'clock fika.
I made cinnamon buns for the first time today!
Cinnamon buns
Makes 25
25 g fresh yeast
75 g butter, melted
2 ½ dl milk
1 ml salt
½ dl sugar
1- 1 ½ tsp ground cardamom
7 dl flour
Filling
50 g room temp butter
½-1 dl sugar
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
Decoration
pearl sugar
1. Crumble the yeast into a large bowl. Mix the melted butter with the milk and heat until tepid. Pour some of the liquid over the yeast, allow the yeast to dissolve completely before adding the rest of the liquid.
2. Add in salt, sugar and cardamom, mix. Now, slowly add in a little flour at the time until you have a dough that does not stick to the edges of the bowl or to your hands. Set the dough to rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into two. Roll out each part to a large rectangle. Spread with butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll into a long snake-shape, starting at the long edge. Cut each "snake" into about 12 pieces, 1 ½ cm thick. Place each piece in a small muffin paper cup. Place the cups on an oven tray.
4. Brush each piece with the beaten egg, and sprinkle the pearl sugar on top. Set to rest for 30 minutes.
5. Heat the oven to 225°C and bake the cinnamon buns for 8-10 minutes on the middle shelf.
Allow to cool, covered, on a wire rack.
Enjoy with a cup of coffee, tea, or a glass of lemonade.
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Gingerbread cookies
My entries are few and far between, I have no excuse other than that I don't do all that much "inspirational" cooking these days. And when I do cook something that might be suitable for the blog I don't have a camera around.
Anyways, Christmas is around the corner and what better way to celebrate that than to bake gingerbread cookies. It's such a Swedish/Scandinavian tradition and I love it.
Growing up I can't remember my mum making her own dough, I just remember her buying the dough and then trying, and mostly failing, at keeping me from eating the dough before it was time for us to bake the cookies. I can still remember some of my more clever ways of eating the dough without her noticing. Once she bought the dough in a plastic tub/box kind of thing and I figured out that if I took the dough out of the box, and cut myself a piece of dough from the bottom, the bit that would be laying on the bottom of the box, she wouldn't notice that I had been there for a treat. That idea worked brilliantly and I don't think she ever figured that one out.
Other not so smart ideas by me involves me stealing chips/crisps from the bag. I am a real sucker for chips and especially Dill & Chive flavoured chips. Growing up my brother and I were allowed a bag of chips to share on Friday nights, as a treat. Mum always bought the bag real early in the week, which meant that knowing the bag was in the cupboard without having any of it was pure torture. I remember once I opened the bag in the bottom, took out some chips and glued it back together. Once I stapled it shut, and once I taped it, those where the less good ideas as staples or tapes along the bottom of the bag is a real give-away for suspicious activity.
Ok, let's get back on track again. Where were we? Gingerbread cookies. My bf's mother makes her dough, I have to say I prefer the bought version, maybe I wasn't too keen on the home made dough because she put pepper in her dough, I don't know. Anyways, she and I made the dough on Thursday and yesterday she invited her grand kids and me and my bf to come bake cookies. It was great fun, however the kids got fed up real quickly and left us adults with a rather large batch of dough to deal with on our own.
Excuse the quality of the photos. I didn't bring my camera so had to rely on the camera on my mobile.
Anyways, Christmas is around the corner and what better way to celebrate that than to bake gingerbread cookies. It's such a Swedish/Scandinavian tradition and I love it.
Growing up I can't remember my mum making her own dough, I just remember her buying the dough and then trying, and mostly failing, at keeping me from eating the dough before it was time for us to bake the cookies. I can still remember some of my more clever ways of eating the dough without her noticing. Once she bought the dough in a plastic tub/box kind of thing and I figured out that if I took the dough out of the box, and cut myself a piece of dough from the bottom, the bit that would be laying on the bottom of the box, she wouldn't notice that I had been there for a treat. That idea worked brilliantly and I don't think she ever figured that one out.
Other not so smart ideas by me involves me stealing chips/crisps from the bag. I am a real sucker for chips and especially Dill & Chive flavoured chips. Growing up my brother and I were allowed a bag of chips to share on Friday nights, as a treat. Mum always bought the bag real early in the week, which meant that knowing the bag was in the cupboard without having any of it was pure torture. I remember once I opened the bag in the bottom, took out some chips and glued it back together. Once I stapled it shut, and once I taped it, those where the less good ideas as staples or tapes along the bottom of the bag is a real give-away for suspicious activity.
Ok, let's get back on track again. Where were we? Gingerbread cookies. My bf's mother makes her dough, I have to say I prefer the bought version, maybe I wasn't too keen on the home made dough because she put pepper in her dough, I don't know. Anyways, she and I made the dough on Thursday and yesterday she invited her grand kids and me and my bf to come bake cookies. It was great fun, however the kids got fed up real quickly and left us adults with a rather large batch of dough to deal with on our own.
Excuse the quality of the photos. I didn't bring my camera so had to rely on the camera on my mobile.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Gaeng Chöt- soup
I gave my boyfriend a task yesterday; to find a soup to have for dinner before going out last night. He found a soup called Gaeng Chöt- a pork meatballs and glass noodle soup from Thailand ( I would say it's more Chinese, but who am I to judge?), over at the Norwegian site "Mat Prat" (Food talk).
It's a really easy soup to make and it tastes surprisingly good. I wasn't all too excited, it doesn't look like much at all... but I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't have any ground pork at home but I had plenty of store bought meatballs in the freezer, so... And I really hate the look of glass noodles, they remind me of jellyfish tentacles, so I used Chinese wheat noodles instead.
To make this dish vegetarian friendly, simply substitute the meatballs for tofu.
Gaeng Chöt
(Adapted from matprat.no)
Serves 2
Meatballs:
300 g ground pork
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Soup:
4 dried Chinese mushrooms- shiitake
50 g glass noodles or other kind
5 dl / 2 cups water
½ dl soy sauce
1 spring onion, chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 tbsp coriander/cilantro leaves
1. Soak the mushrooms in hot water for at least 20 minutes. Soak the noodles, or cook until almost done.
2. Mix the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Make small meatballs.
3. Bring water and soy sauce to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the meatballs for 5 minutes.
4. Cut the mushrooms in half, add the mushrooms and the noodles to the soup.
5. After a couple of minutes, add in the vegetables, take the pan from the heat. Sprinkle the soup with the coriander soup, and serve.
It's a really easy soup to make and it tastes surprisingly good. I wasn't all too excited, it doesn't look like much at all... but I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't have any ground pork at home but I had plenty of store bought meatballs in the freezer, so... And I really hate the look of glass noodles, they remind me of jellyfish tentacles, so I used Chinese wheat noodles instead.
To make this dish vegetarian friendly, simply substitute the meatballs for tofu.
Gaeng Chöt
(Adapted from matprat.no)
Serves 2
Meatballs:
300 g ground pork
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Soup:
4 dried Chinese mushrooms- shiitake
50 g glass noodles or other kind
5 dl / 2 cups water
½ dl soy sauce
1 spring onion, chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 tbsp coriander/cilantro leaves
1. Soak the mushrooms in hot water for at least 20 minutes. Soak the noodles, or cook until almost done.
2. Mix the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Make small meatballs.
3. Bring water and soy sauce to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the meatballs for 5 minutes.
4. Cut the mushrooms in half, add the mushrooms and the noodles to the soup.
5. After a couple of minutes, add in the vegetables, take the pan from the heat. Sprinkle the soup with the coriander soup, and serve.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Wilderness flavored cottage pie
I have been away for quite some time now... I just haven't been cooking very inspirational food, and/or not had a camera around to capture my foods.
The wilderness flavored cottage pie is a dish I remember my mother cooking all through my childhood. And I loved it each time. I must admit, I don't like meats such as veal or moose quite frankly I think meats like that tastes like the forest, yuck! But thankfully this dish, even though it's called "wilderness flavored..." doesn't contain either veal nor moose. The wilderness flavor in this dish comes from juniper berries. I don't know if juniper berries are hard to come by in other parts of the world, but here in Norway they're in all the supermarkets.
The wilderness flavored cottage pie is a dish I remember my mother cooking all through my childhood. And I loved it each time. I must admit, I don't like meats such as veal or moose quite frankly I think meats like that tastes like the forest, yuck! But thankfully this dish, even though it's called "wilderness flavored..." doesn't contain either veal nor moose. The wilderness flavor in this dish comes from juniper berries. I don't know if juniper berries are hard to come by in other parts of the world, but here in Norway they're in all the supermarkets.
Serves 4 people
400 g ground meat
1 tbsp butter
1 can whole button mushrooms
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp flour
½ dl water
½ dl liquid from the button mushroooms
2 tbsp cremé fraiche
1 tsp juniper berries, crushed
salt & pepper
mashed potatoes
1. Heat a frying pan and melt the butter. Fry the ground meat, onions and button mushrooms until done. Sprinkle with flour and add liquids, cremé fraiche, juniper berries, and salt & pepper. Allow to cook for 5 minutes.
2. Take an oven proof dish and spoon the mashed potatoes along the sides. Put the meat in the middle.
3. Place in a 225° C hot oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Serve with black currant jelly and a light green salad.
PÅ SVENSKA
Köttfärs med viltsmak i potatismoskrans
Thursday, 12 November 2009
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.
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.
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