Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Rainbow trout filled with fresh herbs



A lot of people are intimidated by the thought of cooking a meal form a whole fish, with the head and everything still on. I know I was! But my mum taught me that if you have a good fish, it really doesn't have to be very complicated. So we went to the fish market this Easter holiday and got some beautiful fresh rainbow trout. It's a pretty cheap fish with white meat, and very tasty in itself which means you don't really have to do a whole lot to it to make it taste like heaven. 


All you need to make my herb filled rainbow trout is:
4 rainbow trouts
1 lemon
1 hand full of fresh thyme
1 handful of fresh rosemary
1 handful of fresh basil
butter
salt and pepper

The how is just as simple:
Put the oven to 200 degrees.
Put the fish in tin foil in an oven safe dish.
Season with salt and pepper and fill the fish with butter, herbs and a wedge of lemon.
Close the tin foil around the fish to make it a little package, and put in to the oven for about 20  minutes. 
Serve directly with a nice salad and (Swedish) new potatoes!





Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Energising berry water


The perfect refreshment on a hot day; cold water, frozen berries and a cool straw. 

That's all you need!

Monday, April 28, 2014

Medeteranian lentil mash with aubergine wedges, caramelized red onion, black olives and sun dried tomato yoghurt



This is one of my favorite meals; so much flavor in one dish! Its pretty healthy because its low on carbs, its vegetarian which suits me perfectly and its looks very pretty with all the different colors!
Its easy to make as well, 

All you need is
2 aubergines
2 red onions
2 dl red lentils
a handful or two of black olives
fresh thyme
3 tomatoes
butter
Turkish or Greek yogurt 
a handful of sun dried tomatoes
a pinch of sugar
salt, pepper

How to make it
Boil the lentils in lightly salted water for about 30 minutes. 
Slice the sun dried tomatoes and mix with the yogurt, add some salt and put in the fridge until its time to serve.
Cut the aubergines into wedges and put them in an oven safe dish with olive oil. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees until softer. 
Peel and wedge the red onion and dice the tomatoes. 
Fry the red onion in butter in a pan, add some sugar to caramelize them (I know, it hurts to put sugar in this otherwise healthy dish, but it really makes the onions taste so much better!).
Add the tomatoes and let fry for about 10 seconds before adding the finished lentils. 
Add black olives and fresh thyme, plate up and add the softened aubergine wedges on top. 
A dollop of sun dried tomato yogurt sauce completes this great tasting and easy to make vegetarian meal!



Thank you Arla for the inspiration!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Carrot and poppy seed cupcakes with lime and pomegranate frosting



I've never been a baker, a cook, yes, but a baker with exact precision... Hell no. I find it difficult to know how much I should knead a dough without it getting too compact and gross, I have a tendency to use too much flour because the dough sticks to my hands and I almost always use too little of some super important spice, like salt. 


But I am also extremely stubborn and am therefore determined to become great! ...or at least okay, at baking. Cupcakes in all kinds, shapes and sizes are super trendy so I thought I would give them a go. 

One of my best mates makes an amazing carrot cake, so I thought I'd steal parts of her recipe and mix in some of my own flavors. 

The What:
3 eggs
3 dl white sugar
3 dl flour
1 tsp vanilla sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp poppy seeds
1 ½ dl sunflower oil
5 dl grated carrots


and for the frosting you need
60 g of soft butter
5 dl icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
100 g Philadelphia cheese
the peel from one lime + 1 more for garnish
lime juice from ½ a lime
pomegranate seeds, also for the garnish

The How (for the cupcakes)
Put the oven to 175 degrees.
Beat eggs and sugar until white and airy in consistency. If you have an electric whisk or mixer, use this because beating it by hand is haaaard. I used my boyfriend. 
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and carefully turn them into the egg mixture. 
Add the sunflower oil and the carrots.
Place the paper cupcake forms in an oven safe dish and fill the forms up to about 2/3 with batter. 
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven. 
Let the cupcakes cool before you add the frosting.


and The How to make the frosting:
Beat the butter, icing sugar, vanilla sugar, the grated lime peel, lime juice and the Philadelphia cheese until nice and creamy.
Spread the frosting over the cupcakes and garnish with poppy seeds, lime peel and pomegranate seeds. 



They actually turned out pretty good, although I may have overdone the frosting on a few of them. If you have a muffin dish to put the paper forms in, I highly recommend that you use it; with out that stability, the cupcakes float out a bit too much. They still taste great but they don't look as pretty!


We enjoyed these babies outside in the grass with a cup of lungo coffee. 

Mmmm finger lickin' good!!! (sorry for stealing your line Colonal Sanders!)


Thank you Nathalie Eklund for the inspiration <3
(and thank you Leila Lindholm for inspiring her)

5 Ingredients; Vegetarian Salad

I really felt like something light and easy a few Fridays ago, so I started of thinking about some of my absolute favorite things to eat;

oven roasted aubergine
chevre goats cheese
soy beans
sourdough bread
spinach and arugula salad mix

I had some left over sourdough bread that was getting a bit stale so I cut it into crouton sized bits and quickly roasted it in the oven with some olive oil and garlic
I sliced the aubergine, salted it and let it sit for about 15 minutes to draw out the bitter tasting water, after which I washed it and oven roasted it in 200 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes. 
In the meantime, I blanched the soy beans in salted water, quickly cooled them down and removed the outer layer of skin on the bean. 
Add all the ingredients in a big bowl, cut down the aubergine when its nice and soft and add the cheese. 

I made a lovely dressing, inspired by an old friend, using olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey, salt and pepper. It goes SO well with the chevre. 

There´s your light and tasty Friday night meal :)



Saturday, April 26, 2014

Tagliatelle Naepolitan with Pan Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Feta Cheese

Sometimes, less is more. 

When the current food trends seem just a tad too pretentious, it´s nice to go back to the basics. This classic tomato based sauce is so simple, yet so good, and can be varied indefinitely. Make your own version and change it depending on your mood; spicy, extra garlic, with Parmesan, with pecorino, with basil, with thyme... the combinations are many and all are good. I made mine a bit more basic and added my standard feta cheese and some quick pan roasted cherry tomatoes. 


The What: 
2 cans of crushed tomatoes, I recommend Mutti if you don't want to make it all yourself from scratch, tastes a lot better than many other brands!
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Piri piri chili, to taste
1 cube of vegetable stock
½ cup of water
feta cheese
fresh basil
cherry tomatoes still on the vine
olive oil
a pinch of sugar, if you want
salt, pepper


The How: 
Carefully roast the cherry tomatoes in olive oil on low heat in a pan, until softened. Put to the side.
Gently fry the garlic and chili in olive oil in a pan, be careful not to burn the garlic. 
Add the crushed tomatoes, vegetable stock and the ½ cup of water and bring to the boil. Add salt and pepper to taste as well as a pinch of sugar if you want. Let simmer until the tagliatelle is ready.
Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. 
Add the tagliatelle to the Napoletana sauce and make sure the sauce covers all of the pasta. 


Add basil to taste, arrange on a plate, crumble the feta over the pasta and top with the pan roasted cherry tomatoes. 

Serve while hot! 

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

A very berry smoothie

Last night I forgot to make my lovely overnight oats which really annoyed me this morning since I was in a bit of a rush to get to work. I will never wrap my head around the fact that 10 more minutes in bed always means 20 minutes late for work in the morning, how does that work..?? Anyway, so I had to improvise a quick and healthy breakfast using basically the same ingredients as I would to make my oats;

The what
Almond milk
Vanilla yoghurt
Fiber oats
Chia seeds
Psyllium seed husk
Frozen raspberries 
Dried blueberries


The how
Mix all the the ingredients together using a mixer or a hand blender.
Top with dried blueberries and chia seeds, serve in a jar or something equally trendy with a nice coloured straw!


Monday, April 14, 2014

Beetroot & kidney bean patties with feta cheese & soy bean cream

So me and the boy have decided we need a bit of a healthy streak from all the snacking we've been doing lately, so we're cutting down on the carbs for a while. Easier said than done when you're a pasta lover like I am, but so far it's going pretty well. There are a lot of great alternatives and it leaves you feeling a lot better to be honest... Don't get me wrong, pasta will ALWAYS be my go to dish when I want to splurge!! I didn't get the nick name Pasta Girl for nothing... ;)

Beetroot and Kidney bean patties are really tasty, extremely healthy and have a great purple / pink color to it. They're easy to make and taste even better the next day which means they're great to bring in the lunchbox :)

The What:
3 beetroots, peeled and grated
400 g precooked kidney beans
1 egg
breadcrumbs
coriander (if you want)
salt
pepper

feta cheese
soy beans
creme fraishe
pepper

Salad of your choice to serve.

The How:
Peel and grate the beetroot. 
Rinse the beans and put in a bowl together with the beetroots. Add the egg and mix together until smooth. Add the breadcrumbs, the salt and pepper as well as the coriander. 


Crumble the feta cheese in a bowl, add the soy beans and mix together with creme fraishe, finish with pepper. 
Heat a pan with butter and make the patties straight in the pan. Be careful not to burn them!
Let cool before serving them with a nice salad and the feta cheese and soy bean cream.






Sunday, April 13, 2014

Souffle au Brie - this weeks homework!

I haven't had homework since I finished university so I was super excited when our teacher and chef gave us some in this weeks class. I had to make souffle! Any kind I wanted, but I have to take a picture and bring to class for inspection next week. 

I decided to make a savory souffle since my sweet tooth is not what it used to be. I Googled around to find my recipe base, and I kept meeting story after horror story of how hard it is to make soufflé, how precise everything has to be and how difficult it is to get it right. Needless to say, I had butterflies and was super nervous and excited to give it a try myself!

I love cheese, so I fell for a soufflé with Camembert cheese. I already had some brie at home so I decided to go with that. Despite the nervousness, the butterflies and the terrible soufflé horror stories, it turned out to be pretty awesome :) I made an olive and tomato tapenade to go with it. 


The What: 
(4 portions)
2 dl milk
2 tbsp potato flour
2 tbs butter
4 eggs
100 g bire
Cayenne pepper
Nutmeg
Salt

Tapenade:
A hand full of black olives
5 cherry tomatoes
1 garlic clove
Fresh oregano
Olive oil
Salt 
Pepper

The How: 
Separate the egg yolk from the whites in two separate bowls. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without it spilling. 
Melt the butter on low heat in a pan, add the potato flour and milk and heat up while continuously stirring. Add cayenne pepper and nutmeg, then the brie and the egg yolks. Let cool.
While the batter is cooling, make the tapenade. Finely chop black olives, cherry tomatoes and garlic. Mix together in a bowl. Add a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and top with fresh oregano. 
Prepare the serving plates so that it's all ready to go when the soufflé comes out of the oven.  
Put the oven on 175 degrees, butter forms with straight high edges. 
Carefully fold the whisked egg whites into the cooled batter and pour the batter into the buttered bowls. 
Bake in the bottom part of the oven for 30 minutes and make sure NOT to open the oven until earliest after 20 minutes or the souffle will fall. 
Serve immediately. 




Thank you Michael Krantz for lending me your base recipe, check his out here!

Hopefully I'll pass the homework assignment, I'll let you know!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Let's play - what's in the fridge?? or Avocado and cherry tomato linguine

My super smart and hot friend Lisa gave me the brilliant idea to do a post on "What do I have at home RIGHT NOW?" (Thanks Lis!! I will prove to you now that I can do a lot more than just burn electric kettles on gas stoves...)

I had this at home: 
Avocado
Feta cheese (of course)
Cherry tomatoes
Garlic
Lemon 
Linguine
Cream (because I'm a Swede at heart and stomach apparently, although perhaps also a little Italian?)

(salt, pepper, chili and olive oil are a given in my kitchen)


This became an avocado and cherry tomato linguine with feta cheese! Super easy and as you can see above, not a lot of ingredients!

The How
Finely chop the garlic clove and fry until soft on low heat in some olive oil. 
Throw in the tomatoes and let sizzle for a bit, add the cream and season with salt, pepper and chili (if also addicted, like I am). 
In the meantime, cook the pasta until al dente.
Carve out the avocado meat and throw into the now simmering cream sauce.Squeeze some lemon over it and throw in the pasta and top with the feta cheese - mix and serve. 

Super tasty!! 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Hot Salad

Do you ever feel like someone else should do all the work for you in the kitchen? Can't get your best mate to come over and make you dinner? 

Step away from the pizza menu!!

This Hot Salad is super easy and super healthy, and best part of all, it basically cooks itself! Use your favorite veggies; 

I used
Aubergine
Zucchini
Red and yellow onion
Beetroots
Whole garlic cloves (with the skin still on!)


Chop them up (no need to make it all fancy, unless you really want to make them Julienne or Brunoise!), put them in an oven safe dish, pour over some olive oil, salt, pepper, whatever other herbs you want to use and stick them in the oven at about 180.200 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they are done (cooking time depends on what veggies you've used). 


Top with arugula or baby spinach (maybe even both if you're feeling adventurous) and crumble over some feta cheese (yes, I do use it for everything. But that's because it goes with ANYTHING! Amost anyway). Give the black pepper grinder a twirl over the veggies and serve when it's still warm.

Easy, healthy and basically carb free!

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Linguine with fresh asparagus, mushrooms, avocado and Parmesan cheese

My week of pasta started with a simple but amazing linguine with fresh asparagus. Unfortunately the asparagus wasn't local but I just couldn't help but to buy it anyway - and it tasted amazing, despite it being transported a few miles. It really is a sign that spring is on it's way!


The What
1 bouquet of fresh green asparagus
200 g forest mushrooms
1 ripe avocado
2 dl cream
1 tps of chili flakes (depends on how spicy you want it!)
½ freshly squeezed lemon
1 clove of garlic
salt and fresh ground black pepper

The How
Gently fry the garlic in some olive oil in a pan. Add the mushrooms and fry until they have gotten a little color, but are not burnt. 
Add the chili flakes, lemon and cream. Add salt and cracked pepper. Bring to the boil and then let simmer. 
Pick up one asparagus and hold it between the your thumb and forefinger on both sides. Bend it until it snaps and throw away the root part of the veggie. This part can be eaten, but it's more chewy and has a tendency to be a bit bitter. Repeat on the rest of the asparagus. 
Boil the linguine until tender. 
Throw the asparagus into boiling water with a bit of salt, boil for about 1 minute so that it's still nice and crispy. 
Slice the avocado.
Add the linguine to the cream sauce, add the avocado and mix together. 
Serve the pasta topped with asparagus and Parmesan cheese and some more cracked pepper, if you like. 


Enjoy!

Prawns and champagne - simple luxury

My absolute favorite thing to do on a Friday night; drink champagne and eat seafood <3 

It's so simple, the pictures say more than enough - no fancy recipe needed!
What can be better than this?
Fresh asparagus with chili oil and Parmesan cheese
Fresh prawns and langoustines
Simple luxury
What's your favorite Friday night meal?