Broad Bean Gruyere Salad

This is a yummy little side salad, perfect to eat on a slice of baguette or piece of toast. I urge you to try it, because although broad beans are a bit of a hassle to peel, this flavor combination is well worth it. A bonus  - Dante, age 1, loved this.

Broad Bean Gruyere Salad

300 g broad beans (shelled, but not peeled)
70-100 g gruyère cheese (or other flavorful cheese), coarsely grated
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
black pepper

Tip the beans into some boiling water and cook for about 3-5 minutes. (Mine were frozen and needed 5.) Drain and splash with cold water to cool them down. When cool enough to handle, peel of their tough skins, and save all the little green kidney-shaped beans in a bowl. Add the cheese, olive oil (start with the smaller amount), lemon juice and a good grind of black pepper. Taste to see if you want a bit more oil, lemon, cheese or perhaps salt.

Red-wine marinade for beef

Here's a good, basic marinade that goes well with beef. Perfect to when you want to cook a few steaks on the barbecue.

Red-wine marinade for beef

200 ml red wine
100 ml water
50 ml red wine vinegar
50 ml oil (I use canola)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
few sprigs of fresh rosemary
3-4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients together, and marinate beef for at least a few hours. This makes enough for about 1 kg of meat.

A golden oldie...

Here's something we used to cook a lot, but haven't for a few years! I suddenly got a hankering for this yummy bulgur salad with crawfish, avocado and orange, but decided at last minute to mix in some golden-fried halloumi cheese as well. Inspired! So good I'll share the recipe, again. After all, it's been a few years....


Crawfish Bulgur Salad
Serves 4

300 ml bulgur wheat
600 ml water
200 g halloumi cheese
1 leek, white part only and finely sliced
170 g crawfish tails, ready to eat
2 orange
2 avocado
pat of butter
salt
black pepper

Yogurt dressing
100 ml thick greek yogurt
1 tbsp water
1 teaspoon french mustard
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sambal oelek
1 small garlic clove, crushed

Boil the bulgur - according to instructions on the package, or just use twice as much water as bulgur, put in a pot with the bulgur, bring to a boil, put on a lid, turn down heat, and let stand for about fifteen minutes.

Start by mixing the dressing - very easy, just stir it all together. Thin with some more water if you need to.

Dice the halloumi  cheese and fry it until golden and crispy. Let it drain on a piece of paper.

Fry the leek and the crawfish tails briefly in butter, add salt and pepper. Peel and dice the orange, dice the avocado.

And then the magic happens. Take a big bowl. Add everything - the avocado and orange,  the halloumi, the leeks and crawfish, the bulgur. That is it. Add the dressing. Enjoy.

Potato Salad 2013

There are countless ways to make a potato salad, and I rarely follow a recipe. This was a really delicious one so I thought I'd better write down the recipe while I still remember it! Perfect with anything from the barbecue, or cold cuts. It's a real multi-tasker.

Potato Salad 2013

1 kg new potatoes

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp white wine vinegar (white balsamic is good if you have it) 

1-2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp capers

handful of black olives, coarsely chopped

5 cm (or so) piece of leek, finely sliced

150 g feta cheese

handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered

Peel and cook the potatoes until tender. Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing olive oil, vinegar, dijon mustard, capers, olives and leek in a large bowl.

Cut the warm potatoes into quarters (or halve them if they're small) and toss them with the dressing. They seem to take up more dressing if they're still warm. Finally add in the cheese and tomatoes. 

A good gadget

I'm sure most people are already aware of Microplane graters and how good they are. Right? Well, up until recently I only used a fine one, mostly for lemon zest or garlic. For cheese, I used my old box grater instead. But then I got one of the new-style microplanes in coarse, for review. And I'm pleased to report that its rarely in the box, meaning it gets used a lot. Two thumbs up!

Lemon-basil-garlic roast chicken

Ok, ok, the photo kind of sucks. I never take pretty photos of roast chickens - probably because it's too hard to fight off the husband, trying to cut into it. And wow, this was a delicious one. Definitely one of the best ones I've tried. Unfortunately, also one of the most unhealthy ones, with all that butter. But once in a while, do try it. It's well worth it, I promise.

Lemon-basil-garlic roast chicken
1 chicken (mine was about 1.4 kilos)

50 g butter, softened

Zest from one lemon

1 garlic clove

Large bunch fresh basil

Salt

1 tsp Dijon mustard

4 tbsp creme fraiche 

Mince the basil and the garlic, and mix with the butter and lemon zest. 

Put the butter all over the chicken. Get some inside the skin, and some inside the chicken. Salt all over. Place in a snug oven-proof dish and roast at 175 degrees for about an hour. Check with a thermometer or a knife to see that the juices run clear. 

Now, for the sauce. Drain off the juices from the chicken (mostly highly flavored butter) into a small saucepan. Add the Dijon and creme fraiche and whisk well over low heat. 

Serve the chicken with the sauce, and some rice. We also has fried asparagus and zucchini 

Peter Beier chocolate

On a recent trip to Copenhagen, I happened upon a new-to-me chocolate shop in the airport: Peter Beier Chokolade. Titus was drawn in by a gigantic chocolate fountain near the entrance, but was unfortunately scared to tears by the gentle and friendly employee actually handing out free samples. No idea why - but nevertheless, I quickly bought a few samples to bring home. One melted in my purse (that one's not pictured obviously, except for some of it that stuck to another one, at about two o'clock in the photo.) but the rest - very good! Very good indeed! They deliver world-wide, and I plan to order more some time - they were definitely on par with the best chocolates I've tried.