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. 

Rhubarb Raspberry Crisp

Oh, this is one dreamy dessert. I started out with rhubarb - I had a bag of frozen rhubarb from last year, begging to be used up before this year's harvest starts to come along. I didn't want to make just a basic crumble though.. I wanted more. And this is the result. Rhubarb and raspberries, and a little bit of sugar and lemon zest to help them get along. A topping made with melted butter - makes everything a little tastier - with white chocolate and bright green slivered pistachios.

Serve this with best-quality vanilla ice cream, or home made vanilla sauce. Don't even think about using the pre-bought stuff.

Substitute almonds if you don't have pistachios.

Rhubarb Raspberry Crisp 
serves 4-6 (or possibly more, it depends on your guests...)

500 g rhubarb, peeled and cut into 2-cm pieces
200 g raspberries (fresh or frozen, then thawed)
zest from one lemon, finely grated
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp potato flour

Topping:
100 g butter
50 g rolled oats
50 g sugar
90 g all-purpose flour
100 g white chocolate
4 tbsp slivered pistachios

Mix the rhubarb and raspberries with the sugar, lemon zest and potato flour in a pie dish.

Melt the butter for the topping, and stir in the oats, sugar and flour. Finally add white chocolate and pistachios, and mix. Divide the topping all over  the pie, no need to make it super-even, just do your best.

Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes, but watch to make sure it doesn't burn. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Crock-Pot Tomato Soup

It's great to let your crock-pot do all the work! I put mine on just before picking up Titus from pre-school, and then, with minimal effort, dinner is ready when we're all home again.This is a super tasty and simple soup. and most of the ingredients are easy to have in your basic cupboard at all times.

Crock-Pot Tomato Soup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 grilled red peppers (from a jar is fine)
400 g crushed tomatoes
400 ml water (just use the empty tomato tin)

Later:
200 ml cream
salt, pepper
cooked pasta
large bunch fresh basil

Start by mincing the onion and garlic. Place in the crock-pot with the olive oil and tomato paste. Finely chop the red peppers and add those, too. Cook on high for half an hour.

Add the tomatoes and water. Cook on high for two hours.

Add the cream, and let the soup get warm again. Just before serving, add cooked pasta, basil and season with salt and pepper. A little grated parmesan doesn't hurt, either.