Posts filed under 'Recipe'
September 6th, 2007
INGREDIENTS:
* 250 g butter, softened
* 1 ½ dl (150 ml) sugar
* 4 dl (400 ml) flour
* 1 dl (100 ml) Marzan custard powder
* 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
* 1-2 dl (100-200 ml) firm raspberry jam or preserve
METHOD:
1. Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F).
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Mix the dry ingredients and work them into the butter mixture.
4. Roll the dough into a rope; cut into 20-25 pieces.
5. Shape each piece into a ball.
6. Place the dough balls in small paper baking cups placed on a baking sheet.
7. Press to make rather large holes and spoon jam into the holes.
8. Bake in the middle of the oven for ab. 10-15 minutes
9. Cool the cookies.
The Swedish “Ekströms® Marsan powder” needs an explanation. The Swedish custard powder is always sweetened. Usually you mix this powder with milk to cook vanilla sauce or to cook vanilla custard. Maybe there are similar vanilla custard powders in other countries. Maybe not.
This is website with a few Swedish cookie recipes in English 4 Quick and easy traditional Swedish cookies . The dough of The Raspberry Caves is different from mine. The measurements are not metric.
Actually there are loads of cookie recipes in my country. Many of these very small sweet “cakes” are based on old traditions. Certain cookies, buns and cakes are tradition tied. A matter of memories to each individual - in a way.
Once there was an old tradition, no longer valid, to serve an assortment of seven kinds of cookies, cinnamon rolls and a cake at a Swedish coffee party. These coffee parties were called “kafferep”. I looked up the word “kafferep” in my Swedish-English Dictionary. Translation: Coffee fight. I was puzzled for a while. Then I remembered something.
Coffee was totally forbidden in Sweden in 1756, 1766 and 1794. Between 1817 -1822 coffee was prohibited to drink in public places. Why? Well, it had something to do with Swedish balance of trade. The purpose was to diminish Swedish imports. Were these events “coffee fights”? Who knows?
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September 3rd, 2007
Flesh of pork. Nothing exciting about that, but wait and see ….
INGREDIENTS:
Serves 4
* ab. 6 hg600 g) pork of fillet
* butter
* 1 teaspoon salt
* ab. 3/4 tablespoons pepper corns, black or white
* 1 - 2 dl (100 - 200 ml) whipping cream
METHOD:
1. Cut the pork of fillet into slices, 2 ½ cm thick [1 inch].
2. Give each slice a blow with the fist.
3. Fry and brown the slices in butter (the smallest amount possible).
4. Fry 3 - 4 min. on each side, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Put the slices in a hot pan to keep them warm.
6. Pour cream into the skillet, stir well and salt to taste.
7. Pour the cream gravy over the slices.
Serve with oven roasted potato wedges and a tomato salad.
This easy pork recipe can certainly lead you to a peak of sensuality.
Restaurant´s menus offer flambeed pepper steak. Stylish restaurants with complicated etiquette procedures and formalities.
The restaurant bill will be without rhyme and reason.
How to flambé the peppery pork fillet: Pour ½ dl (100 ml) hot cognac over the ready-fried pork slices. Ignite with a long match at the edge of the skillet. Blaze the flames with 2-3 tablespoons cream or put a lid over the flames. Remove pork from the skillet to a serving platter. Pour cream into the skillet and stir around. Spoon gravy on pork.
Warning: Keep your head away from the flames if you want to keep your face, hair and eyelashes undamaged!
If the meat is fried in too much butter, the pepper will fall off the meat. Avoid using purchased dried ground pepper. Use a mortar and pestle rather than a pepper grinder to crush the pepper corns. You shall really feel the etheric oil of roughly cracked pepper corns.
Here´s a website 4 How to flambé
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August 31st, 2007
Sweet beetroots add flavor and color to dishes. Now it is root vegetable season in Sweden. Carrots, white cabbage and beetroots are very low at price. I always cook a beetroot soup at this time of the year. A rich and healthy soup with lots of fibres, minerals and folic acid.
My husband is a big fan of this soup and if there are any leftovers, I put them in the freezer.
INGREDIENTS:
serves 8-10
* 2 ½ l beef stock
* 500 g boneless beef
* 1 yellow onion, cut into chunks
* 1 carrot, cut into chunks
* 10 pepper corns
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/4 head white cabbage
* 1/4 celeriac
* 3 cloves garlic
* 1 bunch parsley
* 2-3 tablespoons butter
* 4-6 raw beetroots
* 4-5 potatoes
* ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
* lemon juice to taste
METHOD:
1. Bring beef and stock to the boil, skim off scum.
2. Add onion, carrot, leek (green parts only), parsley stalks, pepper and bay leaf.
3. Simmer slowly for 1 ½ - 2 hours, or until beef is tender.
4. Meanwhile shred white cabbage, celeriac and potatoes.
5. Cut the remaining leek into rings.
6. Chop the parsely, peel the beetroots and coarsely grate them.
7. Fry all the vegetables in butter without browning them.
8. Add pressed garlic.
9. Add strained stock and cook for ab. 10 minutes.
10.Cut beef into small cubes, remove all visible fat.
11.Add beef to the soup and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
12.Taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
13.Finally add the chopped parsley.
Serve the soup hot with crème fraiche, sour cream or whipped cream.
Beetroot is a popular ingredient in East European cookery. The ingredients of a Borsjtj (Borscht) vary depending on its origin - Russian or Polish. Sometimes this soup is served as a side dish. If you want it to be completely vegetarian, omit the beef and use vegetable stock.
I happened to be in Leningrad, Russia, in 1991 (The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991). Then Leningrad had not changed back its name to St. Petersburg. It was not a holiday trip. No. The purpose was to study another culture, and to bring some school things to a school. It was an overwhelming journey, but I hardly remember any food at all. The hotel I stayed in served breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The only dish I can remember is a cabbage soup. They served cabbage soup every day. At the end of my stay, the soup resembled diluted dish water, if you know what I mean. I also remember a side dish. There were some shredded beetroots laid crosswise on a plate.
Now, a lot has changed, I suppose. For the better, I hope.
A Russian-theme dinner party idea: Invite your friends and make borsjtj, (borscht), pasties and buckwheat pancakes.
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August 28th, 2007
INGREDIENTS:
serves 4
* 4 egg yolks, preferably free range
* 4 tablespoons sugar, or icing sugar
* 4 dl whipping cream
* 1 vanilla bean, or 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
* 1 liter (1000 ml) fresh strawberries
* 4 tablespoons orange liqueur
METHOD:
1. Cut vanilla bean open and scrape out the seeds.
2. Beat the egg yolks with sugar and vanilla.
3. Whip the cream and fold it into the egg mixture.
4. Pour your prepared mixture into a wide plastic freezer container.
5. Put it, covered, into your freezer for a couple of hours.
Optional: You may take the ice cream out of the freezer after 30-40 minutes, break up the ice crystals by beating it and making it smooth again, and repeat this now and then. However, there is really no need to stir this ice cream while it freezes. I don´t do that. When there are so many egg yolks in the ice cream mixture, I find it unnecessary.
TO MAKE THE DESSERT:
1. Soak the strawberries in orange liqueur and place them, covered, in the refrigerator for an hour or more. Gently stir around now and then, without mashing the strawberries.
2. Place the strawberries in serving glasses and spoon the ice cream on top.
So, even if you are not the owner of an ice cream maker, and even if you only got a refrigerator with a small freezer, you can easily make a delicious strawberry ice cream dessert.
Parfait or ice cream?
Perhaps you prefer to call this “ice cream” a “parfait” instead. That´s fine with me. I find the difference between “parfait” and “ice cream” exceedingly fine. In Sweden, a parfait is always made with cream and has a creamy, porous texture.
It seems to me that in English it has several meanings. The more I read about the difference, all the more the English meaning of the words “ice cream” and “parfait” puzzles me. Can anyone explain, please?
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August 25th, 2007
Horiatiki Salata
INGREDIENTS:
serves 4
* 1 kg (1000 g) hard salad tomatoes
* 1 medium sized red onion
* 1 green bell pepper
* 1 cucumber
* ab. 80 g Kalamata black olives
* ab. 180 g Feta Cheese, diced, sliced or crumbled
* dried oregano
* 80 g (80 ml) olive oil
* red wine vinegar (or lemon juice) and salt to taste
METHOD:
1. Cut the tomatoes in segments and the cucumber in slices.
2. Arrange on a plate and season with salt to taste.
3. Add the onion and the green pepper cut in thin rings.
4. Add dried oregano, the Feta Cheese and olives.
5. Pour the olive oil and vinegar to taste over the salad. Too much vinegar makes the salad too sour.
If you should ever find yourselves in the Greek countryside or on any of the beatiful islands of Greece, seek out the Greek Country Salad.
My husband and I visited Greece in 1993, and again in 1995. There, in small in size taverns we found the most delicious “Horiatiki salatas” for our lunches or snacks.
Why does this salad tastes so good in Greece?
The Greek olive oil - probably the best in the world.
The olives of Kalamata - smooth and with a meatlike taste.
Feta Cheese - the most popular cheese in Greece; an excellent accompaniment to this salad.
Oregano - a low bush, which grows throughout all Greece; tastes more like oregano than most oreganos. This herb is used extensively in Greek cooking.
The vegetables - onions sweet in taste; perfect tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers. I don´t know why, but for some reason vegetables taste better in Greece than they do elsewhere.
However, when the vegetables are in season, everyone can make an awesome Greek Country Salad - whereever you are. There are other quality olive types and good olive oils. Try to find a Feta cheese which has a rich and creamy taste and a mildly salty edge.
Enjoy!
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August 22nd, 2007
My sister-in-law accompanied me to a forest the other day, where there were loads of raspberries. In other words - “a raspberry forest”. I would never go alone, because they are not easy to pick. There are brown bears in the forests, but I am not afraid of them. I am more concerned about my legs, my ancles, my wrists or so. You have to watch your steps to avoid falling.
After five hours fighting in thorny thickets, I went home again with nearly 6 kg (ab. 13 pounds) sweet tasting raspberries.
Into the freezer they went, packed and labeled, waiting for rebirth. The most beautiful raspberries were placed in one layer on a tray. They went into the freezer for a couple of hours. When frozen, the berries were put into a freezer container, waiting for future treats.
Chocolate Muffins (a dessert for 6 people)
INGREDIENTS:
* 150 g dark chocolate
* 100 g butter
* 2 eggs
* 1 dl (100 ml) sugar
* 2 teaspoons orange zest, grated
* 1 dl (100 ml) flour
TOPPING:
* 50 g dark chocolate, whipped cream, raspberries
METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 180° C [= 350° F]
2. Grease a muffin tin or 6 large muffin paper cups.
3. Melt chocolate & butter in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of almost simmering water.
4. Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Fold in the chocolate batter and orange zest.
6. Finally fold in sieved flour.
7. Pour batter into the muffin cups.
8. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 15 minutes.
9. The muffins should be sticky in the middle.
TOPPING:
1. Melt chocolate and spread it evenly on top of cooled muffins.
2. Serve the muffins with raspberries and whipped cream.
Wild raspberries are extremely fragile; easily crushed and bruised. If you are going to pick your own; use small containers. Otherwise you end up with a terrible mess of mashed raspberries.
I am living in another mess right now. My husband and I recently started a renovating project of our house. So, if I am not writing blog posts, you know, that´s why.
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August 19th, 2007
INGREDIENTS:
* ab. 400 g raspberries
* 2 - 5 tablespoons icing sugar
* 3 kiwi fruits
* 1 small fresh pineapple
* 1 small melon
For non-weight watchers:
*2 dl whipping cream + 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (optional)
Raspberry Sauce
METHOD:
1. Pass the raspberries through a fine-meshed sieve.
2. Discard the seeds.
3. Add enough icing sugar to make a syrupy and not too sweet sauce.
THE PLATE:
1. Prepare the fruits as usual, wash and peel.
2. Cut melon into wedges and slice kiwi fruit.
3. Cut pineapple into slices, then into smaller chunks.
4. Divide sauce among six serving plates.
5. Make a decorative fruit arrangement in the raspberry sauce,
6. Top with a vanilla scented dollop of whipped cream (optional).
A quick warning! This dessert can´t be done in advance because the rasberry sauce has a tendency to discolour the fruit. It doesn´t look nice.
I grow raspberries in my garden. They also grow wild where I live, and in many other polar regions down through temperate climates of North America, Asia and Europe. I find the flavor of wild raspberry much more sweet and aromatic than the garden raspberry.
Last summer was too hot and too dry. I was not able to find any wild raspberries at all. This summer has been both rainy and warm. In my surroundings there are large forests where I can find delicious and healthy raspberries.
My father used to say that raspberries ripen in the darkness of August. This may not be the truth everywhere. Harvest time depends on other things.
In the beginning of July every year, there is a Raspberry Festival held in a very tiny village in France. This small village (Concèze) celebrates raspberry, and holds the official world record for baking the biggest ever raspberry tart. Over 6.000 visitors are provided with treats made from raspberry (la framboise). I have never visited France. There´s the festival I wouldn´t mind visiting!
Raspberries are versatile. Other than in cakes, pies, in preserves, as a salad ingredient, and in boozy cocktails, they also work very well in a dessert combined with fruit.
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August 16th, 2007
A simple, straight-forward recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
Serves 4
* 1 large yellow onion
* 200 g fresh mushrooms
* 300 g ground meat
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 3 cloves garlic, pressed
* 2 teaspoons chinese soy
* 3 - 4 dl (300 - 400 ml) cream
* cayenne pepper
* salt
METHOD:
1. Chop the onion and slice the mushrooms thinly.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet, fry and crumble the ground meat.
3. Add onion and mushroom.
4. Lower the heat, simmer for 5 - 7 minutes, and give it a stir now and then.
5. Add garlic, and season to taste with cayenne pepper.
6. Stir in cream and soy.
7. Simmer, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes.
8. Taste with salt.
Let´s have a Pasta Sauce Potlock Party!
There will be a large bowl with cooked tagliatelli, grated parmesan and salad on the table. I serve my sauce. You bring yours. I am thrilled! What will it be? A ragout or a sauce?
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August 16th, 2007
I promise. I would never force you to eat fermented herring (sw. surströmming). It is a northern Swedish delicacy food. However, many people never get used to neither the smell nor the taste. They are avoiding this fermented food dish forever. Those who are familiar with the durian fruit say that fermented herring stinks worse.
The Baltic herring is caught in spring, when it is just about to spawn, then fermented in barrels with a minimum of salt for one to two months, and finally tinned where the fermentation continues.
The third Thursday in August is traditionally the right time to eat fermented herring (surströmming). It smells so bad you have to open the can outdoors. It is best eaten indoors because the smell attracts the flies. Then “the gas” will fill the whole house for at least a couple of days. Despite the disgusting smell, this is how we like to eat fermented herring.
INGREDIENTS:
serves 2 - 4
* 1 tin fermented herring (10 - 12 herrings )
* new potatoes, boiled with dill
* red onion, finely chopped
* tomatoes, finely chopped
* dill, finely chopped
* crème fraiche
* soft thin bread
* butter
* beer
* a mix of Swedish spiced vodka (Reimersholm Swedish Schnapps)
METHOD:
1. Fork a whole fish from the tin, and slice it down the middle.
2. Remove its soft insides, and open the herring.
3. Stamp it with the fork, the bone loosens and it can be filleted.
4. Cut it into small pieces.
5. Take a piece of soft “tunnbröd” (thin bread), plaster the bread with butter.
6. Slice boiled potatoes, place the slices evenly on the bread.
7. Sprinkle with herring pieces and the tomato-onion mixture.
8. Finally put a big dollop of crème fraiche on top.
9. Roll it up, make a wrap, take a bite and wash it down with beer.
A Herring Wrap
Schnapps
A spiced schnapps is often a must. There should be a great variety to choose from. A warning though: Eating fermented herring and drinking too much alcohol will get you hangover. “You open your eyes the next morning, wishing you had not”.
Singing schnapps songs when lifting the glass is an old tradition. The most well-known Swedish schnapps song is “Helan går”.
Hell and gore
Chank happ fallerallan-lay
Hell and gore
Chank happ fallerallan-lay
Oh handsome in the hell and tar
and hell are in the half and four
Hell and gore
Chank happ fallerallan-lay
(An English version)
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August 16th, 2007
Daim is a Swedish chocolate bar which I like very much. It is a thin bar, covered with a thin layer of milk chocolate. Crunchy, because inside the milk chocolate layer, there is hardened caramel. The caramel is not enjoyed by everyone because it has a tendency to get stuck between the teeth. However, Daim works very well in desserts.
I believe Daim can be purchased in other countries too, for instance Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway and United Kingdom. If there is an IKEA store near you, there might also be a Swedish food market, where you are able to purchase the Daim bars. Perhaps they sell the Marabou milk chocolate brand too. I use that brand for this chocolate mousse recipe.
Anyway, there is always the possibility of ingredient substitution.
INGREDIENTS:
serves 4-6
* 200 g of Marabou or other light milk chocolate
* 3 organic free-range egg yolks
* 3 dl (300 ml) whipping cream
* 2 Daim bars
DECORATION:
whipped cream, chopped pistage almonds, chopped Daim bars, finely grated orange zest, candied fruit, or whatever you like …
METHOD:
1. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
2. Melt the chocolate, let it cool down a bit if it is very hot.
3. Mix in the egg yolks, one at a time.
4. Allow the chocolate mixture too cool.
5. Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
6. Fold in the cream gently.
7. Chop the Daim bars finely, and fold into the mixture.
8. Spoon into dessert cups.
9. Put the cups into the refridgerator for 2 - 3 hours.
A quick and easy dessert recipe.
The mousse must not remain in the refridgerator for more than 2 - 3 hours. If you leave it too long, the chopped chocolate bars will lose their crunchiness.
Make sure it compliments the rest of the meal. You know, a brown chocolate mousse is not the perfect ending to a brown beef stew.
Chocolate mousses in general freeze well, they say. I am not sure. I have never tried to do that. Maybe that would make a cool treat, and pretty close to a semifreddo. Do anyone know?
What to do with the three leftover egg whites? Don´t toss them away. Do something useful with them. Have a look at Patricia Scarpin’s meringue dessert. Such an easy and lovely dessert. You will only need fresh strawberries, whipped cream and meringues.
So, choose a dry, not humid day and make meringues 4How to make meringues
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Now, I’m going to take a break. I’m a wife and a mother. I’m also a grandmother. My grandchildren are coming to stay for about 3 weeks. They range in age from 4 to 14 years old. There will be a lot of things to do. I’m sure.
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