New website launching soon!

I've been taking a bit of a break from the blog lately to be able to concentrate more on my upcoming website launch! It's really exciting stuff!!! My apologies to all my followers, but I promise it will be worth the wait!

A sneak preview of what to expect on the new Foodie Declarations website

www.foodiedeclarations.com, coming soon... to a kitchen near you!

Asian fusion; udon noodle soup with tofu and korean miso sautéed enoki mushroom

There are few things that taste as good as a nice hot and spicy noodle soup on a cold and rainy day. I've been making my version of this for years and it never turns out the same as the time before; sometimes frustrating, sometimes a source of new creative possibilities. I tried to make this one as basic as possible so that I would remember what I used. I'm calling it Asian Fusion since the noodles are Japanese, the Pak Soi and silk tofu originally Chinese and the miso paste I've used is Korean. If you have any, I think this soup would be great to top off with some kimchi; I'll come back to that in another post!

The What for the Soup

Udon noodles

Silk tofu

Mini Shanghai Pak Soi (or bok choi if you prefer)

chili

garlic

ginger

coriander roots (and leaves for garnish)

Korean Miso Paste

vegetable stoclk

lime juice

water

Coconut oil 

The What for the Miso Sautéed Enoki Mushroom Side

Enoki mushrooms

Sesame seeds

chili

garlic

ginger

Korean Miso Paste

tamari or soy sauce

Soup: The How

Finely chop garlic, ginger and chili and crush the coriander roots. Gently fry in coconut oil in a large pan. Add the Korean Miso Paste and stir. 

Pour in the water, bring to the boil and add the vegetable stock and the lime juice. Add more miso paste to bring up the taste if needed as well as some soy sauce if you want it more salty. 

Wash the pak soi and cut into quarters, add to the soup. 

Cut the silk tofu into cubes. 

Add the Udon noodles and let simmer for about 4-5 minutes until they start getting softer. 

Finally add the tofu, stir gently and let it get warm before serving. 

Serve in a deep bowl, top with coriander and freshly cut chili.

Enoki Mushroom Sauté: The How

Wash the mushrooms thoroughly.

Finely chop garlic, ginger and chili and gently fry in coconut oil in a frying pan along with the sesame seeds. Add the enoki mushrroms as well as the Korean Miso Paste and stir.

Season with tamari or soy sauce, be careful not to use too much as it is quite salty.

Serve the mushrooms warm or cold as a side or as a part of a buffet style meal.

You can vary this soup endlessly; make it your own and I promise it will be your go to meal on a cold and rainy night when you're longing for a beach and some sunshine!

Spicy guacamole and kale burger

I get these occasional cravings for sauces like salsa, guacamole, sour cream... and when those cravings set in, it's impossible not to satisfy them..! I made this burger when one of those cravings got particularly bad, who says you can only have salsa and guacamole with Tacos?? Probably no one, but especially not me. Put it on a burger and call it fusion! There's nothing better. Like that Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown episode where he visits Korea Town in L.A, goes to Sizzler and has Italian meatball tacos that made my mouth water! I made them immediately and they tasted as amazing as they sounded. Don't underestimate the power of random fusion! Like he says "No one judges at Sizzler". Will have to get that recipe down in the blog as well! I'll save it for a later date. Here's the video of it from the show, for those who are too curious to wait for my version of it: 

Whats not to like?? Meatballs, good! Tacos, good! Guacamole, good!! (A Joey reference for all those of you who aren't as die hard Friends fans as I am). Anyway, here's what you need to make my Spicy Guacamole and Kale burger: 

The Burger:

ca 500 g minced meat

2-3 eggs depending on how fatty the minced meat is

ca 125 g breadcrumbs

salt and pepper, and some water if needed

The Guacamole:

2 avocados

chili

lemon

grarlic

salt and pepper

The Tomato Salsa:

Tomatoes

Red onion

Chili

balsamic vinegar, to taste

coriander

salt and pepper

Sriracha HOT chili sauce

green kale

chèvre cheese

The How: 

Mix the minced meat with breadcrumbs, eggs and a bit of water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. 

Make into patties, make sure they're even and not too thick as the cooking time will then vary too much and the burger will end up burnt on the outside and raw on the inside (you learn from your mistakes..!).

Finely chop garlic and chili, squeeze the lemon juice and mix together with the avocado for the guacamole. If you want a smoother guacamole use a hand mixer, otherwise just use a spoon or a fork for a chunky version (I love the chunks!).

Finely chop the red onion, chili, tomatoes and coriander. Mix together and add balsamic vinegar if you like, salt and pepper. Let stand in the fridge for at least 10 minutes so that all the flavors are drawn out. 

Wash and chop the kale, heat the burger bun or bread quickly in the oven or in a pan.  

Now the order: 

Bread, Sriracha HOT chili sauce, green kale, burger, chèvre cheese, salsa, guacamole, bread. 

DONE.

Blackened chicken drumstick with sweet potato fries, kale salad & yogurt sauce

Kale; the super food that has recently turned up on almost every foodies and health freak blog in every shape and form. Chips, in a smoothie, various pie constellations and just the way it is, raw. I'm surprised no ones made a kale cupcake yet. Oh wait! I take that back, according to Brooklyn Magazine, "Kale Cupcakes Are a Thing", read their post about them here. I'm not surprised, why not do a mash-up of two foodie trends? I'm just pissed I didn't think of it first. More and more people are getting hooked on the kale trend; what kind of foodie would I be if I didn't join the craze?

I went with a kale salad to match this blackened chicken and sweet potato fries, because to be honest, you really don't have to do much with kale. It tastes great just the way it is (you can always dress it up a bit like Cupcakes and Kale has done, with apples and walnuts. See her recipe here!). Add a bit of olive oil and some freshly squeezed lemon juice if you like and you're all set for a salad packed with fiber, protein, iron, magnesium, vitamin A, C, B6 and calcium, to name just a few. You can read more about it here.

The What

4 portions

4 chicken drumsticks

2 large sweet potatoes

4 handfuls of kale

Greek yogurt

feta cheese

fresh thyme

Marinade

1 dl olive oil

½ dl soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

1-2 garlic cloves

salt & pepper

The How

Mix the marinade in a large plastic bag or in two smaller bags. Add the chicken. The marinade should completely cover the chicken. Close the bags and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, turning the bags once. 

Set the oven to 200 degrees. 

Cut the sweet potatoes into sticks, I cut mine a bit bigger than regular fries, but you can do as you like. Keep in mind that thinner fries have a tendency to get dry faster so keep an eye on them in the oven. Spread the fries on an oven tray, season with salt & pepper as well as chili flakes, if you like. Drizzle over olive oil and put in the oven for about 20 minutes, depending on the size. 

Put the chicken in an oven safe dish and set in the oven. The chicken is done when the juice is clear, the meat is white and comes easily off the bone. If you're unsure, cut one open and check. Better safe than sorry! 

Crumble the feta cheese, add the yogurt and some pepper. Mix together and top with fresh thyme. 

Serve with the kale salad, just as it is or with some freshly squeezed lemon, olive oil and salt & pepper. 

Chicken pie with asparagus and broccoli, topped with Parmesan

If you have a lot of ingredients at home that you can't really use for a full meal, like 1 chicken breast or 4 mushrooms or ½ a piece of ham, then make a pie! Easy and good, gets rid of all your leftovers and it's easy on your wallet too.

This is what I used:

Dough

3 dl flour

125 g butter

3 tbs cold water

Filling

6 eggs

6 dl whole milk

thyme

1 chicken breast

½ piece of smoked ham

300 g broccoli

6 mushrooms

asparagus

1 spring onion

2 cloves of garlic

grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

The How: 

Start making the dough as it needs to sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge before pre-baking it in the oven. Cut the butter in small pieces, put in a bowl together with flour and use your fingers to "nip" the dough together. Add the water and mix to a doughy consistency. Put the dough in your pie form and use your fingers to press it out evenly in the form. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the dough and stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Set the oven to 225 degrees and while it heats up, start with the filling.  

Cut the chicken into slices and fry in oil until cooked all the way through, add salt and pepper while it fries. Don't cook it too long, you don't want it to get dry! Put to the side for now. 

Cut the ham into smaller pieces, put to the side. 

Cut the mushroom, slice the onion and finely chop the garlic cloves, add salt and pepper. Fry in oil in a pan until soft and until the mushrooms have let out most of their water. Put to the side. 

Cut the broccoli in smaller bunches and break the asparagus to get rid of the thready part. Blanch in salted boiling water and quickly cool down under cold water. Put to the side for now. 

Mix the eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add fresh thyme. 

Take out the pie crust from the fridge and pre-bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and put the chicken, mushrooms, ham, onions, garlic and broccoli in the crust. Pour in the egg and milk mix and top the pie with the asparagus. 

Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes. You may have to cover the pie with some foil after about 30 minutes so that it doesn't burn. When there's about 10 minutes left, take out the pie and top it with Parmesan cheese. Finish off in the oven. 

Serve with a nice salad!

I realize the HOW looks super difficult, but I promise, it's not. It's just a lot of steps. The prep time is only about 20 minutes and worth it to get a really good pie, bursting with flavor. And you can use whatever ingredients you like, which means that you can minimize the prep time. 

Get going, make use of your leftovers!

Hungry? Here's a 10 minute meal that tastes amazing

I LOVE gnocchi. I love it so much that I even tried to make it myself (major fail, will tell you more about that another time). The good news for us that apparently aren't very gifted in the make-your-own gnocchi department, there are now hundreds of different types of fresh pasta available in almost all standard grocery stores. Hooray!!

I had a wonderful day off today, finally being able to spend some quality time on my blog and my glorious plans for the future. Glorious plans for the future made me hungry but it needed to be a quick meal so as not to disturb me too much when I finally got my creative juices flowing. 

This is what I had at home: 

1 packet of fresh gnocchi

1 can of crushed tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

fresh thyme

Chili flakes

Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

The How: 

Throw the gnocchi into boiling, lightly salted water. Cook until they start popping up to the surface of the water. Remove from water and put aside for now. 

Chop garlic, fry in olive oil in a pan together with chili flakes, until soft. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper and let simmer. 

Add the gnocchi and stir. 

Serve with fresh thyme and grated Parmesan. 

This is turned into a beautiful (super quick and not at all classic) Gnocchi Neapolitan in just under 10 minutes!

Now to get back to creating my Declarations of a Foodie empire!

Beautiful Farmers Salad

As you might have already guessed, I love vegetables! I love them in every way; oven baked, seared in a pan, fresh in a salad, as a side dish, as the main... well, you get the point. You've already seen my Hot Salad, hopefully you've even tried it :)! This beautiful and rustic farmers salad is made in the same way; hot in the oven. What makes it different is the veggies used and the fact that they are mostly roasted whole.

The What:

A bundle of asparagus

1 butternut squash

about 5 or 6 carrots

1 bundle of large spring onions

fresh thyme

olive oil

salt and pepper

Crumbled feta cheese and arugula to serve.

The How:

Turn the oven to 200 degrees. 

Peel the butternut squash and cut into smaller pieces, not too small though since the rest of the veggies will be roasted whole.

Cut the spring onions into halves. 

Break the asparagus in two to get rid of the "stringy" part. 

Wash the carrots and cut off any rough bits you don't want to eat. Keep the skin on. 

Put all the vegetables together in an oven safe pan, drizzle over olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 

Put the dish in the middle of the oven, keep an eye on the onion so that it doesn't burn!

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the veggies are nice and roasted. 

Serve with a piece of meat, chicken or, as I did, all on it's own! 

It really doesn't need anything else!

The Best Chili Ever

The best chili ever, yeah, it's pretty cocky. But to be perfectly honest, it really WAS the best chili I've ever made and to be frank, it really WAS the best chili I've ever tasted. You want to challenge me? I always want to improve my cooking skills so if you have any tips, please, let me know! 

A warning for those under the age of 18; there is a lot of food porn going on in this post!! Keep reading at your own risk...

850 g of chuck beef

This chili takes about 20 minutes to prepare and about 2,5 hours to cook so make sure you don't start cooking at 10 pm on a Monday or you won't be eating until Tuesday!

The side dishes:

You need some guacamole, make it how you like it best, but there are a few key ingredients that you need to make it good; avocado, lemon, chili, garlic, salt and pepper. I also had coriander and a bit of sour cream in mine to give it a bit more flavor. 

You also need some salsa, sour cream and lime wedges on the side.

The What:

about 850 g of chuck beef (högrev for you Swedes)

5 garlic cloves

2 piri piri chili (or Spanish pepper if you're sensitive to spicy food)

2 pinches of salt

2 tbsp of ground cumin

2 tbsp of ground coriander

2 tbsp chili flakes (again, use less if you don't want it very spicy)

2 tbsp of oregano

1 tbsp honey

1 bottle (ca 33 cl) of lager or pale ale

2 tbsp of concentrated beef stock

butter to sear the meat in

The How:

Cut the meat into smaller pieces. 

Peel and chop the garlic as well as the chili. Take out the seeds if you want it less spicy.

Sear the meat in butter in a large pan until it has a nice color without being burnt. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. 

Let simmer with the lid to the pan on, for about 2,5 hours. Make sure you stir it during this time and add extra liquid (more beer or just water) if needed. You can also use a fork to pull the meat every now and then, just like you did when you tried my Pulled Chicken!

Serve the chili in a blanched savoy cabbage leaf (or in a tortilla bread if you wish), don't be stingy with the sauces!

It tasted so amazing, I may have to make it a reoccuring dish at My Place!

Oven baked avocado filled with egg, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and chili oil

An easy, healthy meal filled with healthy fats and proteins - the eat after your workout!

The what:

1 avocado

2 eggs

Parmesan cheese (or any other cheese that you like)

Chili oil

Balsamic cream (if you want)

Salt and pepper

The How:

Put the oven to 200 degrees.

Slice open the avocado, making two halves. Remove the pit.

Crack an egg into the hole made by the pit, in both halves. 

Season with salt and pepper, and stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. After 15 minutes they are creamy, after 20 they are hard boiled. 

Take out of the oven, carefully pour over a bit of chili oil, sprinkle over some Parmesan cheese and season with some balsamic cream. Serve immediately and enjoy!

It's very filling and super healthy, you'll be happy you tried it!

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! 

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.

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!

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?

Chicken burger on sour dough bread with mango dressing, spicy fries and baby spinach salad.

You know when you really feel like having a burger? But then you're like "No, I really shouldn't, I have to think about beach 2014...". Living in Sweden I will only get about 2 months (if I'm lucky) of sun and it won't even be strong enough to make me tanned. To be honest with you, I would love to have that will power to say NO to pasta, NO to cheese, NO to wine, NO to the occasional pizza or burger and really go for that tight sexy beach bod this year.. But I just can't, food is just too damn good!! ... and also, I am a bit too lazy.

Chicken burger on sour dough bread with mango dressing,
spicy fries and baby spinach salad.

Take some advice from one of the greats: 

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

Or as I like to say:

"The belly rules the mind".

- Spanish Proverb

The burger below is actually quite easy to make your own; you can eat it without the bread and you can use whatever dressing you like, add or take away anything really to make it more, or less, healthy. This is what I used (and it tasted amazing!):

Prepping; sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, baby spinach
 and the mango dressing.

The What:

500 g minced chicken breast

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 egg

Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese

200 g baby spinach

Tomato(es)

2 dl creme fraiche

Mango Chutney to taste

10-12 potatoes

chili flakes

salt and fresh ground pepper

Sour dough bread

Making the chicken patties; It's a lot easier using a spoon
and make the patties right in the pan!

The How:

Put the oven to 200 degrees.

Slice the potatoes into halves and slice the halves into sticks. Put the potato sticks in an oven safe dish, add olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper and chili flakes to taste. Put in oven for about 20 minutes. 

Put the finely diced red onion, the grated garlic and the egg in a bowl. Using a spoon, mix together with the minced chicken breast and finish with some salt and pepper.

Mix the mango chutney with the creme fraiche to taste, add more if you want it extra mangoey!! Add salt and pepper here too if you want, although it's not necessary.

Slice the tomatoes, the mozzarella and wash the baby spinach.

Heat a pan with olive oil and use a spoon and make the chicken patties straight  in the pan. Fry until they are a golden brown and cooked all the way through. They burn quite easily though so be careful!

Cut the bread into slices and put them in the oven on top of the fries when they've been in the oven for about 15 minutes. 

Home made fries in the oven; letting the bread soak
up the oil and spices.

Put the bread on a plate, add the chicken patty, mozzarella, tomato, baby spinach and finish with the mango dressing. Serve with the chili fires and a nice spinach salad.

Seafood and bubbles, indulgence on a budget - It's possible!

I work as a Key Account Manager in my "real" life and some days are great; the clients are happy, the boss is happy and I'm happy, cause everyone else is happy and maybe I've closed a big deal. Happy happy happy! Those are the days I remember why I love working in sales. Other days are not so great and I remember why I love alcohol and food! One particularly awful day when  had just started at the new job, I got yelled at for things that happened  all the way back in 2009 when I was no where near the company or the job or even the city. Back then I still dreamed of taking over Kofi Annans job with the UN, I was still at University and still stubbornly defying my natural talent within sales and  never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd end up selling, specially not within the heavy industry and construction business. Needless to say, I felt the urge to indulge. I called my ever pleasing boyfriend and gave strict instructions to buy seafood; I envisioned king crab legs, prawns, crab and langoustine (or Norway Lobster or just plain old havskräfta in Swedish). So the boy went over to Söderhallarna by Medborgarplatsen and headed over to Melanders Fiskbutik, who had everything I wanted: 

Unfortunately this time, the wallet wasn't as thick as my appetite, end of the month and all. I couldn't afford one king crab leg for 170 SEK a pop or 690 SEK/kg, so we went all out on the prawns and a few langoustines instead, added some gorgeous sour dough bread from Borgs Brödbod and great cheese from Söder Cheesen, both at Söderhallarna.

We served this lovely meal with roe sauce and hovmästarsås, a mustard and dill sauce that goes great with prawns as well as smoked salmon, (a swedish favourite!) and easily finished a bottle of Dopff Brut Cuvée Julien (nr 7410 at Systembolaget, only 68 SEK for you Swedes). All in all it was a relatively cheap meal with all the luxury of indulgence on a budget.

And we had the pleasure of meeting and eating Poseidon, God of the Sea! Sorry dude.