Lemony chicken wings

I saw this recipe a while back and I immediately knew I had to try it. I have been enjoying chicken wings quite a lot lately but have only ever made Spicy, honey glazed chicken wings and it felt like I needed a change of scenery, if you will.

And boy, the recipe for Lemony chicken wings was just the change of scenery that I needed. They were just delicious, just incredibly juicy and lemony!

YOU need to make these, YOU need to try them for yourself. They're really that good, I promise!


Lemony chicken wings
Serves 6
Adopted from Leila på landet

1 kg chicken wings
2 cloves garlic, grated
2,5 cm (1 inch) ginger, grated
2-3 lemongrass stalks
the zest from 2 lemons
3 tbsp tomato purée
3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
2 tbsp light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp sesame seed oil

1. Place the grated garlic and ginger in a bowl.

2. Peel off the outer layers of the lemongrass, discard. Smash the lemongrass with the back of your knife. Finely chop the white part of the lemongrass and discard the more green and woody part. Add the chopped lemongrass to the bowl with ginger and garlic.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to mix.

4. Place the chicken wings in a large Ziploc bag or in a 5 litre plastic bag (you might want to put one bag into another bag to ensure that if the bag rips the marinade won't cause a mess). Pour the marinade into the bag with the chicken. Close the bag, pressing out as much air as you can while you close the bag. Massage the chicken wings to ensure each wing is coated with the marinade. Place in the fridge to marinade, preferably overnight.

5. Fire up the barbecue and grill the marinated chicken wings until done. To check if the wings are done, pierce the thickest part of the wing with a knife, if the juices run clear, then the wing is done. If the juice is a little bloody, keep grilling the wing until the juice runs clear. If you use small wings, like I did, you can place a double layer of aluminium foil on top of the grid/grate to keep the wings from falling onto the charcoal.

6. Serve as finger food at a party or as part of a BBQ-meal.

Enjoy!

Last day at work...

Today was my last day as an intern at the International Office at Telemark University College. It's been a blast working there, I have had wonderful colleagues and I have learnt so much about internationalisation and student exchanges. It's been so much fun.

As a farewell gift I was given this HUGE tomato plant! There's also some parsley, coriander/cilantro and rosemary in the pot. It's awesome and I am so thankful. Can't wait to try some new and exciting tomato dishes this summer.

Takk alle sammen på FA for en fantastisk tid sammen med dere, og takk for den fantastiske tomatplanten som jeg fikk av dere. Gleder meg til å lage masse spennende tomat retter i sommer. Håper vi ses igjen til høsten!

Quiz-gruppen, denne er for dere: hva er den laveste temperaturen som noen gang blitt målt på sydpolen?

Mushroom, mozarella and spinach ravioli

I have been wanting to make ravioli for ages but have never gotten around to it, until now that is. I set out for the store yesterday to buy myself some ingredients for the filling. I had in my mind decided on making a mushroom, spinach and mascarpone filling, but they didn't carry mascarpone at the supermarket. What kind of a country do I live in wherea decent supermarket doesn't carry mascarpone? The answer is Norway, also known as "FSC" or "friend-stealing-country" to some of us!

Well, I had to rethink and decided on putting some shredded mozarella in the filling instead. What a wonderful idea, and I am sure it would have been so tasty had I invested in some proper mozarella instead of relying on the pre-shredded stuff we bought at the supermarket the other week.

I was also a little worried the process of making the actual ravioli would be extremely time consuming, but all went well, it didn't take long at all. Maybe all that dumpling making finally paid off?!

Anyway, to make a long story short, the ravioli were good, but could have been so much tastier had I used the ingredients I first intended to use. Ah well, next time I'm making ravioli I'm going to have a go at making homemade mascarpone. Wish me good luck, I think I'll need it!

The filling

Ravioli. I made some different shapes, mostly because my
ravioli folding skills need some work.

Yum, the finished product!

Mushroom, mozarella and spinach ravioli
Serves 1-2

pasta dough for 1 person
5 smallish button mushrooms, thinly sliced
125 g baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
150-200 g mozarella (a little less than a ball)
salt and pepper

1. In a frying pan, melt some butter and add in the garlic and the spinach, allowing it to wilt. Remove and place on a plate to cool down.

2. Using the same pan, tip in the mushrooms and cook until most of the water has evaporated. Add in just a little butter and salt and pepper, stir. Remove and place on a plate to cool down.

3. Make the pasta dough while the vegetables cool down.

4. Using a pasta machine, roll the pasta dough to desired thickness.

5. Place the rolled dough on a clean and floured surface. Cut out squares.

6. Place the cooled vegetables in a mixing bowl, add the mozarella, stir to combine.

7. . Place 1 tsp of the filling in the centre of each pasta square.

8. Fold the square diagonally to create a triangle. Press down on the edges to ensure the filling doesn't leak out. Lift up the triangle and place it on your index finger with the base pointing towards the palm of your hand. Wrap the two corners that stick out around your finger to create a ring. Pull the ring off of your finger and place on a floured plate. Do this until you have no dough left.

9. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Tip in the ravioli and boil for 2-3 min or until the tortellini float up the surface.

10. Drain and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a few shavings of parmesan cheese on top.

Spicy pork noodles

Tonight I found myself with a piece of pork, some noodles and about a ton of button mushrooms. I decided to make a noodle stir fry. It turned out great, but be aware of the chilli bean sauce as it's super hot.

Spicy pork noodles
Serves 1

100 g ground pork
1 pack (60 g) uncooked egg noodles
4 button mushrooms, cut into 4
1 small red onion, sliced finely
1 spring onion

Sauce:
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
½ tsp chili bean sauce
½ tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
75 ml water

1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.

2. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat a wok, when hot drizzle in some oil and fry the onions for about 30 sek. Stir in the pork and allow to brown (about 5 min). After about 3 min, add the mushrooms to the wok.

4. Stir in the sauce, and add in the noodles. Wok until the noodles are hot.

5. Serve with a drizzle of toasted sesame on top.

Roasted Chickpeas

Last Friday we arranged a farewell-/birthday for friends who are leaving to go back to Germany this summer after a year in Norway working as volunteers at our church.

A few days before the party I stumbled across a recipe for "ROASTED CHICKPEAS WITH GARLIC, CUMIN AND PAPRIKA" at The Perfect Pantry. I didn't want to just serve the girls potato chips so decided to make the chickpeas.

I also made a pavlova, which was tasty, but the girls liked the chickpeas better I think. (Correction: Hannah LOVED the cake but "you can't eat too much of such a cake"). I had to give most of the cake away the next day but I didn't have a single chickpeas left by the end of the evening.

Michaela turned 20

Roasted chickpeas with garlic, cumin and paprika
Serves about 6
Adapted from The Perfect Pantry

1 can (400 g) chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, grated
3/4 tsp ground sweet paprika
3/4 tsp ground cumin
salt
pepper

Set the oven to 220C.

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Dry them off on kitchen paper. Place then in a bowl, add the olive and garlic to the bowl and shake to ensure that all peas are covered.

2. Spread the chickpeas on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Roast the chickpeas for about 20 minutes, shaking the tray every few minutes so that the peas are roasted evenly.

3. While the chickpeas are roasting, line a plate with kitchen paper. Place the roasted chickpeas on the kitchen paper to drain. While still warm, sprinkle over the rest of the spices. Transfer the chickpeas to a serving plate or allow them to cool down before storing them in a airtight container.

Sorry Doro, but that's the only photo I have of the almost empty plate!

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.

Hawaij spice mix

(Photo to be added shortly)

Hawaij spice mix
Yields 3/4 cup
Adopted from The Chef Maven

6 tbsp whole black pepper corns
3 tbsp whole cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp green cardamom pods
1 tsp whole cloves
3 tbsp ground turmeric

1. Place all the spices, except for the turmeric, in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often to keep the spices from burning.
2. Heat the spices for a good 5 minutes, then transfer the spices to a plate to cool.
3. Take the cool spices and grind them using a spice grinder, or in an electric coffee grinder.

Note: Please don't use your everyday coffee grinder as the spices will make your coffee taste horrible.