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. 

Lime Chicken with a Green Curry Sauce, Beer and Good Friends

All you really need for a great night is good friends, a table, some drinks and of course some good food that doesn't take all night to make. 

We started with a bottle of Langlois Crémant de Loire Brut (no 7404 for 121 SEK at Systembolaget for all the Swedes), a fresh dry sparkling wine from the Bollinger Family and a few Bruschettas to match the liquid gold. 

 The What 

4 medium sized ripe tomatoes

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, to taste

10 fresh basil leaves, finely diced

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 rustic baguette, sliced

The How

Finely dice tomatoes and put in a bowl. Crush the garlic clove into the tomatoes, add the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, the basil leaves and stir carefully with a spoon. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let stand in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. Put the baguette slices in the oven at 120 degrees and toast lightly. Spoon the tomato mix on to the toasted baguette slices and serve with a basil leave on top. 

While the guests finished the Bruschetta I got started on the Lime Chicken, which is really easy to prepare and gives you plenty of time to hang out with your guests. 

The What (serves 4)

4 chicken fillets

1 lime, zest and juice

2 tbsp green curry paste

1 tbsp honey

1 can (400 ml) of Coconut Milk

1 cube of chicken stock

Half a cup of water

The How

Sear the chicken in olive oil in a pan until they are a nice brown color. Be careful not to burn them. Mix together the Coconut Milk, the green curry paste, the honey and the half a cup of water in a bowl. Zest the lime and squeeze the juice over the chicken fillets, let simmer for about 1 minute. Add the coconut milk mixture, add the cube of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 15 minutes, round off with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with jasmine rice and stir-fried beans. 

This dish is a little bit spicy with a lot of flavor which makes a nice light lager perfect to serve it with. I chose one of my favorite beers, Miller (no 1579, 15,20 SEK per bottle at Systembolaget), which actually brings out the flavors of the dish instead of taking them over. 

A Saint Albany and a Camembert to round things off, a few more beers and the night was made.