French Salad with Broad Beans, Bacon and Poached Egg

Happy Halloween! I have a great salad to tell you about today, but I have to warn you: some people might find it scary. Because, see, it involves poached eggs. And poaching eggs? That can be very scary indeed. If you don't know how to. And I, sadly, don't. So what to do? I used a gadget, of course.

I've already told you about Poach Pods, a great little invention by FusionBrands. And perfect for poaching eggs. It just makes it so easy! Well, I guess it's probably quite easy to do it the old-fashioned way too, but I don't know - I find it scary.

The salad though, that's not scary at all. It's just really, really good. And it'll serve two, as a light dinner or a hearty lunch. Using frozen broad beans are ok, but I would never use canned or dried. Much too mealy for my liking.

French Salad with Broad Beans, Bacon and Poached Egg
Serves 2

1 head of romaine lettuce
100 g bacon
3 slices day-old bread (preferrably sourdough)
500 g fresh broad beans (unpodded weight)
handful of cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2-1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tsp dijon mustard
flaky sea salt

Dice the bacon and fry until crispy. Remove from pan, and place on a piece of paper towel to de-grease. Don't wipe out the pan! Cut the bread into small dice and fry in the bacon drippings until golden and crispy. Remove to a plate and let the croutons cool.

Pod the broad beans and boil them for three minutes. Then peel off the white, thick membrane - unless they're very tiny. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

Poach the eggs, or if this is just too scary, just boil it. You'll be fine.

Whisk oil, red wine vinegar, mustard and sea salt together. Clean the romaine lettuce and arrange on a platter. Scatter the other ingredients on top, finish with the egg, and drizzle the dressing to finish.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fransk sallad med bondbönor & bacon

Roasted Veggies with Chèvre

Ah, this is one of my favorite dishes to eat with a nice piece of lamb. It goes so well together! And it's so simple. Use your favorite soft-ish vegetables (no roots here, that will take much longer), like zucchini, bellpepper, broccoli, red onions and I used mini asparagus as well. Drizzle with olive oil and some flaky sea salt, and bake for, say, 15 minutes at 200°C. Crumble a round of chèvre cheese over it. Enjoy. Enjoy very much.

Daring Bakers: Bostini Cream Pie

My third challenge already! And this time, I was afraid. Seriously afraid. Not because of the steps involved in this recipe, chosen by Mary at Alpineberry, but because of the *extremely* high calorie count. This felt like I would gain a pound just from looking at it. Two if I actually ate. So what to do? I couldn't skip a challenge just because of that, could I? Solution: cut the recipe in fourths. I did. It was fine. No problems. I then served ten mini portions of it, for my Tupperware party. That was a mighty fine solution, if I dare say it myself. (And I do!) That means that the full recipe would have served 40 and not 8 - certainly a massive improvement for the calorie count!

Anyway. I should also admit that I didn't like the sound of the recipe very much. Vanilla custard, cake and chocolate sauce. Huh. I felt that it was going to be so-so, and wasn't very excited. In fact, I had to force myself to reach out for the tiny cup and try it. But then! Oh then, I had no problems wolfing it down - because this was delicious! Really, really delicious! The custard was smooth and creamy, the cake light and airy and delightfully orange, and the chocolate glaze was slightly salty (I used salted butter) and rich with dark chocolate. It all went perfectly together. And a mini portion was just the right size.

I encountered no problems while cooking - this was very straightforward, and easy to make. The custard held together nicely, which was no huge surprise since it contained corn starch. The cake - I baked mine in the bottom of a regular loaf pan and then cut out ten nice squares. And I used freshly squeezed orange juice, straight from the orange, to make it more flavorful. (Worked out nicely!) The glaze - took about two minutes to make, couldn't be easier. All in all, a very nice challenge, and I'm so glad to be in the Daring Bakers because without it I'd have never chosen to take it on. Now, I'm glad I did!



You can find the recipe here. And don't forget to visit the Daring Bakers blogroll and see how everybody else did!

My other challenges:
August - Milk Chocolate Caramel Tart
September - Sticky Buns

Swedish Crisp Bread with Sunflower seeds

I know it took me ages to finally try my hand at Swedish crisp bread, but once I did, I did it several times. Here's another recipe - it's really good, and it's really easy. The only labor intense part is rolling out the dough, but it's not difficult in the least. Use plenty of flour so it doesn't stick to your rolling pin (and yes, you do want a special knobbly rolling pin, a kruskavel, for the final rolling, and you'll do fine. This bread is great to serve as a small appetizer with some interesting dips, or to eat with the food. It's nice for a late night snack too. Or for breakfast. Really, it's hard to think of time when this wouldn't be appropriate. Oh - wait, I got it. Don't eat this in bed.

Swedish Crisp Bread with Sunflower seeds

25 g fresh yeast
500 ml tepid water
3 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey
800 ml coarse rye flour (3.2 cups)
200 ml wheat flour (0.8 cups)
200 ml wholewheat flour (0.8 cups)
150 ml sesame seeds (0.6 cups)
100 ml sunflower seeds (0.4 cups)
3-4 tbsp linseed

Decoration:
More sesame seeds
flaky sea salt

Dissolve the yeast in the water, and add salt, honey and rye flour. Stir and add all other ingredients. Knead by hand or in a machine, and add some extra wheat flour if the dough is too sticky. Move the dough to a clean bowl, cover with tea towel and leave to rise for one hour.

Roll out the dough into a long sausage shape, and divide into 15 pieces. Roll out each piece into a thin round. Use flour so the dough doesn't stick, and turn it often. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sea salt before the final rolling.

Roll a few times with a kruskavel. If you don't have one, prick the dough all over with a fork. Use a small glass or a cookie cutter to remove a hole from the middle of the round, or just cut a cross in the middle of the bread before baking it so it will easily break into nice pieces after baking.

Place directly on a baking sheet and bake at 200°C (that's for a convection oven, use 225°C in a regular oven) for 10-12 minuter. You have to turn them after half the time or they will burn.

Recipe in Swedish:
Knäckebröd med solrosfrön

Garlic bread

Oh, come on - another batch of cinnamon rolls? But no. No, not at all. This is a tear and share garlic bread. It just happens to look a lot like cinnamon buns. Which isn't very surprising, since it's made the same way - a yeasted bread dough, rolled out into a rectangle, and spread with spiced butter. In this case, butter, garlic and herbs. Rolled up, cut into thick pieces, placed together in a pan to rise, and then baked.

Was it great? Honestly, I've had much better garlic bread so I won't even bother with the recipe. Make some cinnamon rolls instead.

Innocent - Finally in Sweden!

I was very excited when I was invited to the launch of Innocent smoothies in Sweden a few weeks ago! I've encountered Innocent in the UK, but I'd never seen them here. Well, now they're finally available! (You can find them at Seven Eleven and Pressbyrån, for example.)

I have to say, Innocent is a really, really nice company. In fact, so nice that I'd like to work for them! (Hope they'll be hiring soon!) Honestly, I love their ethics and their policies in general. And their drinks, obviously. They're launching four smooties in Sweden (they've been in Denmark for a while now) and that's Mango Passionfruit (my very favorite), Raspberry Cranberry (Nice too!), Strawberry Banana (too sweet for me) and Blackberry Blueberry (a bit too thick for my liking).

If you've never had an Innocent smoothie, you're in for a treat. First - read the label. It'll read something like this: "2 apples, 1 orange, 1/2 banana, 1/2 mango, 2 passionfruits." (Not having one in front of me at the moment, but something like that.) That's right - no sugar, no water, no additives. At all. I love that. I really, really do. It's something you can feel good about drinking.

And another reason why I love them is that they really think about the environment. Yes, shipping fruit all over the world can be a problem. So can shipping drinks. Yet Innocent really strive to leave a very small footprint, and I wish more companies did that.

And finally, I love the basic philosophy that we're all lazy but want to be healthy, and it's all about making the choices just a little easier. So - thumbs up, I hope Innocent does really well in Sweden!

Red Lentil Soup

Brrr! Today is *really* cold. There's a thick fog, and everything feels damp and chilly. And typically, we just had a fire alarm go off, and had to assemble in the parking lot for a good half hour. Cold, cold, cold! At least I had my coat - a lot of people didn't, they'd been in the middle of lunch.

We try to eat soup at least once a week, which also means that I should, theoretically, post about soup once a week. Right? Well, I'll try. Today for something really, really warming. And completely vegetarian - in fact, vegan. If that's just too scary, go ahead and add some bacon. Or sausage. Chorizo would be very nice. But, I assure you, it's very nice on its own, and you won't feel like your missing something. Promise!

Red Lentil Soup
Serves 2

100 ml (0.4 cups) red lentils
1 yellow onion
1 large carrot
2 tomatoes
1 tbsp curry paste
1 vegetable stock cube (optional)
750 ml water
2 bay leaves
1 tsp oil
salt, pepper

Chop the carrot, tomatoes and the onion. Heat the oil in a pot, and fry the onion and the curry paste. Add carrots, lentils, tomatoes, the vegetable stock cube (if using), bay leaves and water. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe in Swedish:
Linssoppa

Mini Asparagus

This was something I'd never seen before. These are tiny, tiny, tiny asparagus. Not as flavorful as regular one, but crunchy and nice to snack on.

Canneloni with Spinach and Chicken

Per made dinner the other night - these yummy canneloni filled with spinach, ricotta and chicken, and topped with a tomato sauce, parmesan and sundried tomatoes. Yum!

Algarve, Portugal?

My friend is leaving for a week in Algarve next Saturday. Do you have any recommendations for her? What to do, where to eat, what to buy? They'll be golfing most of the time, but they have plenty of free time as well. And what should I ask her to bring home for me? :)

Happy birthday, blog!

Can you belive it? It's my third blog-birthday already! Time sure flies when you're having fun! And I am, most definitely. And hopefully, so are you. Thank you, thank you so much for reading. And for commenting, and for e-mailing, and for just being there. Thank you.

I wish I could have all of you over for coffee and cake, but as that's not really possible, let me at least share a recipe for a delicious cake. As it happens, this is probably the most sought-after recipe that I get e-mails about. By far. See, this simple little cake, with almond meringue layers and almond buttercream, was Oscar II:s favorite cake. (He was the king of Sweden between 1872-1907.) Nowadays, it's many people's favorite, and most of them across the world can find this at Ikea. It's produced by Almondy and sold frozen.

In fact, that's how we get ours as well - at any supermarket, frozen. They make a few versions - one with chocolate, one with Daim, even one with Snickers - but I've always liked this one the best. In fact, it's the cake we served for our wedding! (Yes, bought ready-made, frozen. Yep. It's that good.) So, since we always buy this ready-made, I've never had a recipe for it. For this blog-aversary, I thought I'd make an effort to actually make one from scratch. Turned out that it wasn't hard at all, and a lot of fun. And delicious - a bit fluffier than the bought version, but still very similar. Give it a try! This one has almond toffee in the buttercream, but you could use chopped up Daim if you want to make that version, or why not a few spoons of instant coffee to make a mocha variety? A bonus: it's gluten-free.

Or check out the archives:

Three years ago.
Two years ago.
One year ago.


Oscar II:s Cake

Cake layers:
100 g ground almonds
150 g sugar
4 egg whites

Buttercream:
4 egg yolks
100 g sugar
200 ml heavy cream (35-40% fat)
150 g butter, softened

Almond toffee:
20 almonds
5 tbsp sugar

Decoration:
almond flakes

Start with the cake layers. I made four layers, but you can do two or three, depending on what size you want it to be. My layers were about 20 cm across. (I have a pretty small cake stand that I wanted to use, which is why I chose that particular size.) You need to draw circles (or whatever shape you want, obviously) on parchment paper, and spread the batter carefully within those shapes. They'll keep their shape nicely in the oven and not run out. And you can not bake just one cake in a pan and cut it into layers - it won't have the same texture at all.

Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold in sugar and ground almonds. Bake at 175°C for about 15 minutes. The layers should be fairly golden.

Make the buttercream. Mix egg yolks, sugar and cream in a saucepan, and cook on low heat, stirring all the time, until it's thickened. It'll thicken when you least expect it to, so don't leave it! You might need to turn up the heat a bit if nothing happens. Remove from heat, add the butter gradually and stir until it's all incorporated. Leave to cool completely.

Make the toffee: melt the sugar in a small saucepan. Coarsely chop the almonds, and throw those in the pot. Stir and cook for a few minutes until the almond is fully caramelized, but make sure it doesn't burn! Pour onto an oiled baking sheet or a silpat mat. Leave to cool, and then pulverize it in a pestle and mortar. Mix into the buttercream.

Toast the almond flakes in a hot, dry pan or in a hot oven. Leave to cool.

Sandwich the cake layers with buttercream, and top with a lot of buttercream over the entire cake. You can freeze it at this point - in fact, I recommend it. It'll keep together much better that way, otherwise it can be a bit slippery-slidey. Just let it thaw at room temperature for about half an hour, and sprinkle with toasted almonds just before serving. (They'll go soft if they're on the cake for too long.)

Ps - this cakes fits the bill for this month's theme of "Waiter, there's something in my... Layered Cake." Hosted by Andrew - check it out!

Recipe in Swedish:
Oscar II:s tårta

Zucchini Salad

Mm, something smells really good in my kitchen right now! I'm baking something very special for my third blog-aversary, which is tomorrow. That's right - three years of blogging! Anyway, it's something I've gotten a ton of requests for, but never made before. Curious? Check back tomorrow.

For now, something real simple. It's another recipe that I've tried from Pink! and just like the others, it's lovely. This is a very easy veggie side dish that takes virtually no time at all to make. It's easy to scale, too, if you want to make lots, or just one serving.

Zucchini Salad

1 zucchini, about 350 g
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
flaky sea salt
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, small
2 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
black pepper

Peel the zucchini and discard the peel. Keep on peeling fine strips, and place in a bowl or on a plate. Whisk olive oil and vinegar with mustard, minced garlic and sea salt for the dressing. Add the tarragon. Drizzle over the zucchini and finish with a good deal of black pepper.

Recipe in Swedish:
Zucchinisallad

Weekend Cat Blogging - Mother and daugther

Ywette and Glinda enjoying a grooming session, side by side.

Ywette and Glinda enjoyed the sunlight today. They spent a lot of time sleeping on the windowsill, waking up for a quick grooming session. They really do love each other, and often cuddle like this. I'm thankful - it's not always a mother and daughter gets along like this.







For more cats, visit Tuxedo Gang Hideout for this week's round-up.

Tosca Cake for Dad, and a movie recommendation

This week has really rushed by for me! I can hardly believe it's Friday already, but hey, it is! And Friday means you get something sweet - so today: my dad's favorite recipe.

And, with a weekend coming up and all - I really want to recommend a movie: No Reservations (Kärlek på Menyn) with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart. I saw this a while ago, and loved it! Really, really loved it! It's a simple feel-good romantic comedy, but with a foodie twist. And Aaron Eckhart is just irrisistably charming. (I also loved him in Thank you for smoking which is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.) I heartily recommend this one. Although fair warning is in order - you might feel like cooking afterwards. Pizza. Or saffron sauce. I know I did. And I also felt the strangest need to make some aprons. I've come as far as buying some fabric and finding a pattern, so we'll see how that goes...

My parents are coming over for dinner tonight. My dad has just spent two weeks touring Spain on motorbike, and it's nice to have him back home again. I've told you briefly about his favorite cake, but not with a picture, and besides, it was a long time ago. I've changed the recipe a bit too, to make the nut layer thicker and thus, better.

Tosca Cake for Dad

2 eggs
125 g sugar
100 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g butter
2 tbsp cream

Topping:
50 g butter
100 g sugar
2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp flour
50 g flaked almonds
75 g hazelnuts, chopped
75 g almonds, chopped

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter and flour a springform pan, about 24 cm in diameter.

Beat eggs and sugar until very fluffy. Melt the butter. Stir in flour and baking powder with the eggs, and then fold in butter and cream. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwile, prepare the topping. Just mix all ingredients in saucepan and bring to a obil. Spread it on top of the cake, and bake for another 15 minutes. Let it cool more or less completely before taking it out of the pan.

Recipe in Swedish:
Toscakaka

Nature's candy!

Juicy blackberries, home-grown and picked by Chris. Thank you SO much!

Red Onion Apricot Chutney

Ok - you have to try this recipe with the cinnamon chicken. They go so well together! Or, try it with some nice cheese - that's really tasty too. Really, just try it. You'll be glad you did. This is spicy, savory and sweet, all at the same time. And it's made from stuff you usually have at home, so you can whip it up in an instant to spice up any meal!

Red Onion Apricot Chutney
Serves 4-5

3 small red onions
3 garlic cloves
100 g dried apricots
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
100 ml honey

Slice onions and garlic thinly, and dice the apricots. Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan, and cook on low heat for 30 minutes, until the chutney is thick and sticky. Serve warm, or cold, as you prefer it. (And remove the cinnamon stick before serving.)

Recipe in Swedish:
Rödlökschutney med aprikoser

World Bread Day 07 Rye-Wheat Cakes

Today is World Bread Day, a blogging event hosted by Kochtopf! I decided to make something that I feel is very Swedish: rågsiktskakor. However, I could not for my life think of a good translation! So, Rye-Wheat cakes will have to do. They are baked with rågsikt, which is a special flour mixture that you can buy everywhere here, but I think it's almost exlusive to Sweden. No fears, you can make your own, very easily. What it is is sifted rye flour, and sifted wheat flour, all sifted together. Not in equal proportions - it should be about 60% wheat flour, and 40% rye flour.

This is a fairly sweet bread, as are many breads in Sweden. My husband loves this for breakfast, with butter and some sharp cheese. It must be eaten fairly fresh, or it will be very crumbly. They freeze well, so you can just defrost what you need for a day, and thus always have fresh bread. Perfect.

Rye-Wheat Cakes
Makes 4

50 g butter
500 ml swedish filmjolk, buttermilk works fine
50 g fresh yeast
3 tbsp dark syrup (molasses)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp aniseed, ground
2 tsp fennel seeds, ground
750 g rågsikt

Melt the butter. Add the filmjolk or buttermilk, and heat until about finger-warm, 37°C.

Crumble the yeast into a bowl, and stir with some of the liquid until dissolved. Add the rest of the liquid, the syrup, salt, fennel and aniseed. Add most of the flour, work well and add some more. Work well until the dough is elastic.

You might need some extra flour if the dough is very sticky.

Leave to rise, covered, until doubled in size. Roll out round cakes, 2-3 cm thick, and place on baking sheets. Prick them carefully with a fork, all over.

Leave to rise again, covered, for 30 minutes. Bake at 225°C for 10 minutes. Remove and brush with warm water, at once. Leave to cool covered with a tea towel.

Recipe in Swedish:
Rågsiktskakor

Cinnamon Chicken & Orange Cous-Cous

Seriously, Monday again? Already? I feel like it's not even weekend yet - I'm stuck in last week! Which was really busy. And I have spent my weekend cleaning out old stuff - bags and bags of clothes, and a *huge* amount of make-up. It feels really good - and not only because there is now more room for new stuff! It's really liberating to get rid of stuff - and come on, if you haven't used it for a year (or two, three, five...) you probably won't use it much in the future either.

Now, I should do the same with my kitchen cupboards, I have a feeling some things may be lurking in the back... And I have a perfect occasion coming up soon - I'm hosting another Tupperware party on Sunday (anyone wants to come, just e-mail me! You're all very welcome!) and I'll order some more containers, to properly organize.

Now, for some recipes! I made this tasty chicken and cous-cous a while ago, when my sister came to dinner. It was really delicious! I served it with a great red onion chutney - but I'll save that for tomorrow!

Cinnamon Chicken
serves 4

1 kilo of chicken pieces, preferrably thighs, but use your favorite
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flaky sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients, and let the chicken marinate for at least a few hours. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the chicken in the oven for 30-40 minutes until it's cooked through and the skin is browned and crispy.

Orange Cous-Cous
Serves 4

500 ml (2 cups) cous-cous
500 ml (2 cups) chicken stock or water
150 ml orange juice
1 tsp flaky sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp cumin
100 ml almonds, coarsely chopped

Start by toasting the almonds in a dry frying pan. Set aside when they're nicely toasted.

Put the cous-cous in a bowl, and add salt, black pepper and cumin. Bring the stock and the orange juice to a boil, and pour this over the cous-cous. Cover with palstic foil and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and stir in the almonds.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kanelkyckling med apelsincous-cous

The simplest of appetizer

This doesn't take any cooking skills whatsoever. Really.

-Sourdough bread, toasted. Homemade if you have it.
-Great-tasting Serrano ham
-Oozing camembert (mine could decidedly have been bit riper)
-Fresh figs, cut into wedges

You can add a bit of arugula/rocket, or maybe a smattering of black pepper - but I don't think either is necessary. For another take on this, check out Johanna's picnic sandwiches!

Weekend Cat Blogging - Kelly & Hamlet

Kelly, our Princess Fluff. We're waiting for her to get in the mood, her boyfriend is impatiently waiting for her.



Hamlet, our darling, darling hero. He's such a friendly cat, always the first to greet any guests, and the one to happily jump onto your lap with a loud purr.

Coffee Latte Cookies

Friday! Cookie time! Or actually, chocolate time! It's the annual Chocolate festival at Nordiska Museet this weekend, and I'm heading over there after work today.

I saw these cookies over at one of my favorite baking blogs, Baking Bites. Nicole called these cookies Chocolate Marble Cookies, but after following her suggestion and using white chocolate for the white dough, and dark chocolate for the chocolate dough, I had to go with Coffee Cookies. The dark part is much more intense, and tastes strongly of coffee and chocolate, whereas the white part is rich and buttery, with strong hints of vanilla. Lovely! In fact, so lovely that while normally cookies can live for quite a while in my freezer, these ones somehow disappeared...

Coffee Latte Cookies
Makes about 30

220 g butter, at room temperature
125 g brown sugar
125 g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
275 g flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
30 g cocoa powder
1 tsp instant coffee
150 g dark chocolate, finely chopped
150 g white chocolate, finely chopped

Beat butter and both sugars until the mixture is fluffy and feels light. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Mix the flour with salt and baking soda, and stir this into the cookie dough.

Now, remove half of the dough and place in a separate bowl. Add cocoa powder, instant coffee and dark chocolate to one of the bowls, and the white chocolate to the other bowl.

Scoop about 1 tbsp of each cookie dough, and place together on a baking sheet. Make sure to leave a lot of room between each cookie - I could fit about 10 on one cookie sheet.

Bake at 175°C for 8-10 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kaffe Latte Cookies

Anne's Food in Amelia

Me and my blog are featured in the latest issue (22) of Amelia, a Swedish women's magazine that comes out twice per month. I was interviewed for it *quite* a while ago, so some of the things in the article is a little bit outdated, but oh well!

Anyway. If you're new to this site, I hope you'll feel very, very welcome. Here's how things work. I blog about food, almost every day. Occasionally about other things, but mostly about food. I post recipes 3-4 times a week, and those are available in Swedish too. Just click on the link at the bottom of every recipe post (except for the ones written prior to 2006) and you'll be taken to the Swedish translation. Or if you want to check out my Swedish recipe archive, go here.

As for the things mentioned in the article - you can find my Cyberkocken creation here, the latest edition of Cyberkocken over at Brazilian Linda, and the infamous pear pie, here.

Please enjoy yourself! Leave a comment if you feel like it, or drop me an e-mail!

Sweet, sweet Swedish Cookbooks!

There has really been a storm of Swedish cookbooks this fall - especially about sweets. Let me tell you about four of them that I like very much - even though I'm sorry to say that they're only available in Swedish.



First out, Bara Bullar ("Just Buns") by Åsa Swanberg (Forum förlag). I made her recipe for cinnamon buns on National Cinnamon Bun Day, and that was a huge hit. I really enjoyed it - it was a very easy recipe to work with and the buns were fantastic. This whole book has nothing but buns - buns in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Not sure what to try first! Maybe her Custard-filled buns? Or Tosca-buns - topped with caramelly almond slivers! Blueberry buns? Maybe traditional Lucia buns with saffron? This book has recipes for all of that and much more. A definitey must for the avid bun-baker!



Passion för desserter ("Passion for desserts") by Jan Hedh. (Prisma förlag.)
Jan Hedh is legendary - he's a wonderful pastry chef and has written several brilliant books already, about chocolate, desserts in general, bread and marmalade. In fact, his book about bread was recently published in English so if you enjoy baking bread, try to find that! His first chocolate book is also available in English.

His recipes are always quite fiddly and involved so it's nothing for the beginner, but the results are always well worth the trouble. This book is a new book about desserts, sort of an updated version of his older one. All the desserts are new, but some of the basic recipes and the techniques described are obviously the same. I like this one better, it has a much clearer layout and it's easier to find what you're looking for.

And the desserts.. well. Klas Andersson is the photograher on this as well as all of Hedh's books, and he's absolutely amazing. Everything looks so good it makes me want to lick the pages! Or at least get in the kitchen myself - but honestly, daring baker or not, making something from this is quite a project, and I need to build up confidence a bit first! But when I do, I think I'll try his Hazelnut Praliné Cake. It's incredibly beautiful - one of those where you put layers in circles, to make the whole cake sort of striped when you cut into it. (Did that make sense at all? I guess I'll just have to make it and show you... eventually.)



Lakrits, Mint & Choklad ("Licorice, Mint & Chocolate") by Elisabeth Johansson. (Natur & Kultur förlag). Elisabeth Johansson is also a pastry chef, one who's been working on the Nobel Prize dinners and won a lot of awards for her outstanding work. She's recently started writing cookbooks, and this one is her latest. It's divided into candy, baked goods, dessert, drinks and additions, and it has so many unique and interesting combinations I'm swooning as I read through this. I'm especially excited to see so many licorice recipes - that's not very usual at all. The licorice caramels covered with chocolate and dipped in crushed candied violets caught my attention right away (they're on the back of the cover!) and so did licorice ice cream with cherries cooked in Port.

Then there's chocolate cream with whisky and lemon curd. Or Lemon Mint Martini? Really, I could write down every single name in this book, because everything sounds amazing. It has more licorice recipes than mint though, and the chocolate desserts are usually quite exciting - not your standard recipes at all. This is for those who feel that they've gotten a bit bored with the classics, and are ready to try something new.



Vinterns Söta ("Sweets for the winter") by Lisa & Monica Eisenman. (Forum förlag)
Finally, a new book by Lisa & Monica Eisenman, the owners of the Cookbook Café! They've done two books before, another one about sweets, and one about soups and bread that I didn't like half as much as the first one. In this one, they go back to sweets, and I personally think that that's what they do best. This has loads of recipes - lots of candy, many variations on truffles and fudge, and also a lot of baked goods. There's a frozen candy cane cake that I'm dying to make! They also say that there's another book in the works - Sweets for the Summer - and I personally can't wait!

Coconut Lemon Rice

I have to share this dish with you! It was the first one I made from Pink - the cookbook I told you about the other day, by Peter Norman. This recipe is amazing - I tasted this rice at the press release party and knew I had to make it as soon as I could. I wasn't disappointed - it's dead simple to make, and mine turned out just as good as his had been.

It's a great side dish. I served mine with chicken, but it would have been great with some fried or grilled fish, as well. Maybe with the lentil-fried fish Per made? That would be a nice echo of the crunchy lentils in this dish.

Mind you, I'd be happy to eat just a large bowl of this rice, with nothing more to accompany it. Or serve it as part of large spread. Either way, this is really a new favorite for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.

Coconut Lemon Rice
Serves 2

150 ml basmati rice
225 ml water
1/2 tbsp neutral oil
50 g cashew nuts, unroasted and unsalted
1 tbsp red lentils
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tiny dried red chili (peperoncino)
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp fresh coriander
50 ml coconut flakes
50 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

Rinse the rice thoroughly, until the rinsing water is clear. Place in a small saucepan, add the water, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and cover with a lid. Cook for ten minutes, then remove from heat and leave it for ten more minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan, and toast the nuts, lentils, mustard seeds and chilli until the seeds start to pop, and the nuts color slightly. Stir this into the rice with the turmeric, coriander, coconut and lemon. Serve, ideally with some nice chicken or fish.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kokos- och citronris

Broad beans & Bresaola on toast

This is one of the most brilliant little dishes I've come up with this fall. It's completely irresistable! And sadly, I don't know what to do now that broad beans are no longer in season. I have some stashed in the freezer, so I'm good for a little longer!

What you do is simply toast some brilliant bread. Mash some broad beans with a little bit of lemon juice and a few drops of olive oil. Add some black pepper. Spread on the bread. Crumble over some of your favorite blue cheese. (Mine is St. Agur.) Top with a rumpled slice of bresaola or anything else really, parma or serrano ham would also be great here. Or simple bacon, cooked to a crisp. It's your call. But do make it. You won't regret it.

Chèvre Lemon Cabbage

I don't know about you, but whenever I buy a head of cabbage, I end up having to throw some of it out just because I can't think of one more thing to make with it. To remedy that, here's a recipe that's perfect for a little leftover cabbage - or by all means, buy it for this recipe! I have another cabbage recipe lined up as well, so check back in a few days. And check out these ones too:

Chicken Cabbage Salad with Feta
Cole Slaw

This is a good side dish - I like it with just a slice of meat, steak or pork chops of some kind. It's very flavorful and complex, even though it has so few ingredients.

Chèvre Lemon Cabbage
Serves 2-4 depending on what you serve with it

150 g chèvre cheese
About 5 dl (2 cups) shredded cabbage
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt
pepper
fresh coriander

Crumble the chèvre into a bowl, and add lemon, oil, salt, pepper and coriander.

Blanch the cabbage for one minute in boiling water, drain very well and then add to the rest of the ingredients. Toss well and serve straight away!

Recipe in Swedish:
Vitkål med chèvre och citron

Weekend Cat Blogging - Ywette

Ywette is real happy that it's now autumn. That means that I have started knitting and crocheting again, and that means lots of yarn for her to play with.

Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted at Paulchens Food Blog this week. Head over there to find more beautiful kitties!

Cookbook Watch: Pink!

I have to tell you about this book - from all the ones I've seen this fall, this one really does stand out. It's the first book by Swedish chef Peter Norman, and he has created something called "Pink! - the pink cookbook" and it's touted as a "gay lifestyle cookbook". So what does that mean? Well, at the release party Peter explained it as being the kind of life where you have two adults with reasonable incomes, no kids and lots of time to cook. So, essentially - time for the good things in life!

I have to say right off the bat that it's somewhat of a shame to plug the gay angle of this book so very much. See, it's a wonderful, brilliant book - with lots of gorgeous food, beautiful pictures, lovely inventive recipes and many photos of very beautiful models (all Peter's friends, in different parts of the world), but I'm afraid that the gay angle will prevent some people from buying it. And that's a big shame, because this book is one of my new favorites and I think it has endless appeal!

The book is divided into different cities, rather than the usual "appetizers, mains, desserts". The trip starts at Färingsö where Peter and his husband has a summer cottage, and it then moves on to Ibiza, Barcelona, London, Sydney and many other cities around the world. The publisher said that "a book very rarely starts with the buying of three around-the-world tickets, but this one did!"



Here's some of the food that we were served at the release party. Flatbread, a delicious coconut-lemon rice (that was the first thing I cooked from the book - hugely successful, I'll tell you all about it!), halloumi chilli skewers, chicken, an avocado-wasabi raita (the only thing I didn't care for much) and then a yummy salad with peanut dressing.

In addition to the nice writing and the good recipes, the photos are absolutely mouth-watering. Good job by Mikael Strinnhed! I also like that they've chosen a rather luxurious paper quality - thick, glossy pages! It's a real treat to leaf through, and I can't wait to cook more from it. This book is only available in Swedish, and it's published by Prisma.

Playing Catch-up

This post is an attempt to tell you about many things all at once. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

First, a very cool gadget, the one you see in the picture up top. It's called a NusCup, and what it is is a.. sort of measuring cup. One that can measure cups (1/2 cup, 1/4 cup etc), tablespoons, milliliters AND ounces. It has a slide thingy that you push back and forth, and thus changing the capacity of the cup. It's extremely cool, and for all of those who like me, enjoy recipes from other countries and don't want to bother with conversions - it's a godsend. A particular nifty thing is that it has a magnet on back, so it can be stuck to the fridge or wherever you want - always within reach! It's made by Dalla Piazza and it'll be in stores all over Sweden soon.



Next, something that sadly probably won't be sold in Sweden. Remember the Food Loop? Well, Fusionbrands have created a bunch of new cool silicon gadgets, including this: the poach pod. This is pretty brilliant! It's the first egg poaching gadget I've tried and actually got to work - and I plan to use it to make things like panna cotta or chocolate fondant as well! Now, I just want to get some more - but there's always Ebay!



I met a lovely lady name Nina a while ago. She runs a company called Ninas Skorpor - skorpor is a Swedish cross between bread and biscuit, some are more traditional, others are, like these, more like cantuccini. So, essentially, they make cantuccini. In many, many delicious flavors! I really liked her saffron variety - brilliant for christmas! Available in gift shops and some gourmet food stores, you can e-mail them for the nearest retailer. Just in Sweden though!



Chocolate! Can't have a whole post without them, can I? This was a gift from some visitors from Waalre in Holland, and apparently it's locally produced. Great stuff!



As much as I like chocolate, I was almost more excited to see a display of Jelly Belly pick & mix at English Shop a few weeks ago! Jelly Belly is not sold here, but sometimes available in tiny, expensive packets. Here, it was a fairly big display with.. oh, at least fifteen flavors. Yum! The sour ones are probably my favorite, but I also chose Strawberry Cheesecake, Juicy Pear, Vanilla, Watermelon and Very Cherry.



A sandwich from my new favorite café - Vurma! I absolutely love it - they have two locations, soon to be three, but I've only been to one of them. They have their own bakery, and bake wonderful sourdough bread and lots of cookies and buns. Their cardamom buns are to die for! The sandwiches have funny names - mine was a Ragata (meaning.. um.. a bitch, basically) and my friend Pia had a Rugguggla (which is pretty hard to translate - but it's not a very endearing term). Most of all, they're very yummy and I can't wait to go back. They make good coffee, too, and the only drawback is that it seems to be very popular with the pram-crowd, so it can be a bit crowded at times. Oh well, it's worth it!

Swedish Cinnamon Buns

Today is National Cinnamon Bun Day!

When I announced this fact in my Daring Bakers post, many people asked me to share a recipe for Swedish cinnamon buns. And oh, you know, I just couldn't resist - of course I will! I took this opportunity to try out a new recipe from a new book on the Swedish market called "Bara Bullar". This translates into "Just Buns" and it's a whole book with only different bun recipes. Very nice! The author is Åsa Swanberg, and it's photographed beautifully by Wolfgang Kleinschmidt. It has tons of recipes that I want to make, but these ones were labeled as "the best cinnamon buns" and obviously I want to try the best first.

This recipe differs slightly from others I have used. First and foremost, it uses more yeast than others, and it has a pre-rise at a batter-like stage before it becomes a dough. It might sound fiddly, but it helped me get really light and fluffy buns, and I'd definitely do it again. The total rising time is no more than two hours anyway, so it's well worth it. The recipe calles for "raw sugar" which is here interpreted as demerara or possibly muscovado sugar. This gives the dough a slightly darker color, and a less intensely sweet taste - I like it!



You can use finely chopped or flaked almonds for the topping as well as the pearl sugar, but I made these for Per (and I) to take into work today, and as there are people with nut allergies there, I skipped them. The buns are delicious no matter what!

What makes these different from American cinnamon buns then? Well, while there are many recipes out there, I'll point out a few things. First - cardamom in the dough. Very important. Second, these are baked in a very hot oven for just a few minutes. This makes them light and fluffy, with a nice brown surface yet not dry or overbaked. Third, they're always baked in individual paper cups. (Bun cups - they're like slightly lower muffin cups.) Fourth, no glaze!

A few notes on the recipe. You might need a little more flour than stated. It's hard to give an exact amount, as it really depends on a lot of things, but the dough should be soft and never dry, but it shouldn't stick to your hands, either. Remember, you're going to roll this out, and you don't want it to stick to the rolling pin or whatever surface you're using. (You can use extra flour when rolling it out - but not a lot, or your buns will be tough.)

I don't have exact amounts for the filling - I just sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon until I have a fairly even amount on the whole dough. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it right, too.



Swedish Cinnamon Buns
based on a recipe from Bara Bullar of Åsa Swanberg

Makes 40

80 g fresh yeast
2 eggs
500 ml finger-warm milk (2 cups)
1 kg wheat flour
200 g demerara or muscovado sugar
150 g butter, softened
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cardamom

Filling:
80 g butter, softened
demerara or muscovado sugar
cinnamon

Decoration:
1 egg, beaten with 1/2 tsp water, and a tiny pinch of salt
pearl sugar

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add some of the tepid milk, and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the rest of the milk, half of the flour and both of the eggs. Leave to proof, covered, for one hour.

Add the rest of the flour, the sugar, salt, cardamom and butter. Work into a smooth and silky dough. Here's when you might need a bit more flour. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover and leave to proof for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into two. Roll out each part to a large rectangle. Spread with butter, and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll each rectangle into a tight roll, starting at the long edge, and cut each roll into about 20 pieces. Place each piece in a paper cup on a baking sheet (covered with parchment paper so you won't end up with a mess), cover and leave to proof for 30 minutes.

Beat the egg with a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of water, and brush this carefully on the buns. Finish by a light sprinkling of pearl sugar.

Bake at 250°C for 6-8 minutes, until they're as golden as you like them.



Recipe in Swedish:
Bästa kanelbullarna

Long-Cooked Broccoli

I got Nancy Silverton's book Sandwich Book a long time ago, but I haven't really cooked very much from it. However, her long-cooked broccoli somehow stuck in my head, and I've been gearing up to try it. I finally did a few nights ago, when I was home alone. I was in the mood for comfort food, and I had an idea that this might hit the spot. Indeed!

I know it's not pretty - it's not the photo, it just doesn't photograph very well. At all. After all, we're talking green-grayish mush. Not the most appetizing. But really, get over that, because the flavor is fantastic! Nancy Silverton pairs this with scrambled eggs and feta cheese. I didn't have any feta in the house, but I did eat it with scrambled eggs, and that was nothing short of delicious.

Long-Cooked Broccoli

1 head of broccoli
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 yellow onion
1-2 small, dried chillis
2 tbsp olive oil
salt

Cut the head of broccoli from the stem. Peel the stem if it's tough. Slice it, and the entire head, into 5 mm slices.

Bring water to a boil in a large pan, with some salt. Cook the broccoli for two minutes, and immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water.

Dry the broccoli with some paper towels, and put in a sauce pan with the onions, garlic, chilli, oil and a little bit of salt. Let it cook covered on very low heat for about an hour and a half. Stir every now and then.

Recipe in Swedish:
Långkokt broccoli

Cookbook Watch: Desperate Housewives Cookbook

I have to admit it: I'm a TV-addict. I love watching TV-shows! (My current favorites? Heroes, Prison Break and Dexter.) And I have to admit a certain fondness for spin-off products. Obviously, cooking related ones are extra fun, so I already have the Sopranos cookbook, Cooking with Friends, and now; The Desperate Housewives Cookbook. Which is charming - just charming.

Those of you that have never watched the show, you might want to take a pass, but all those who gleefully follow the lives of Bree, Susan, Lynette, Gabrielle and Edie, this is the book for you. I really enjoy the concept here - each housewife has a chapter with recipes that she'd enjoy making. Bree's section holds elaborate, from-scratch recipes that will take a long time and yield fantastic results. Susan's section holds "idiot-proof" recipes - or even "Susan-proof". Lynette's has a lot of family favorites, Gabrielle's some fabulous party food and also some beautiful Latino recipes, and Edie's? Well, Edie doesn't cook much. So it's all about making an impression without much effort. And who doesn't like that?

It also has a few recipes from "the neighbors". Nice touch. In addition to the recipes, the book has a lot of photos from the show, and some trivia snuck in here and there. The actual recipes are written by Christopher Styler, who has previously written several other cookbooks. I haven't tried anything just yet - but everything looks easy enough to follow, and much of it looks really good. So, in conclusion - if you love the show, you'll probably enjoy this one a lot! If you don't like the show - well, don't bother.

Link to Amazon.
Link to Adlibris - Swedish online bookstore.

Chicken Cabbage Salad with Feta

After all those cinnamon buns yesterday, I'm in severe need of "temple food", as Nigella would call it. I don't know about you, but sometimes, a tasty salad is all I can bear to make. This particular salad takes about five minutes - if you have good knife skills, or like me, a mandolin slicer. That's something I really recommend for every kitchen by the way - it helps so much!

I have a ceramic mandolin from Kyocera, and it's worth it's weight (admittedly, it's not very heavy) in gold. If you're in Sweden, you can order this from one of my favorite online stores, Eventkock.se. If you're not in Sweden, I know Williams-Sonoma carries it.

Chicken Cabbage Salad with Feta
Serves 3

300 ml (about 1 1/4 cup - no need to be exact) finely cut cabbage
1/2 large fennel, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
3 small carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 chicken, cooked, in small pieces
100 g feta cheese, crumbled

Dressing:
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2-3 tbsp olive oil
dried oregano
pinch of sea salt
pinch of ground, dried chilli peppers

Mix the dressing. Toss all the other ingredients in a large bowl - add the dressing right before serving, and toss well.

Recipe in Swedish:
Vitkålssallad med kyckling och fetaost