Västerbotten Pie

Ok, you can all understand the last part of the title - pie. But what the heck is Västerbotten? Well, the most common explanation is that it's a region of Sweden, located way up north. Homepage - here. Another answer, which is more relevant here, is that it's also the name of a cheese. It's a very strong and sharp cheese, and it has tiny holes in it. I can't really compare it to anything else, but use any similar hard, sharp cheese and I'm sure you'll end up with a delicious pie!

This recipe comes from Lena, who made it for us for Easter. It's absolutely wonderful, creamy and voluptous but with quite a bite. It's best served with a bleak roe sauce, which I sort of improvised when I made this dish for my parents a few weeks ago.



Västerbotten Pie

1 unbaked pie shell (just use your favorite pie crust recipe. I used one which combined butter, flour, water and quark, to get a bit less fat.) No need to bake blind!

3 eggs
300 ml cream
200 g shredded Västerbotten cheese, or any other sharp, tasty cheese
pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (about 350 F.) Whisk together the eggs, cream, cayenne and cheese, and fill the pie shell. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the filling is set, and lightly golden.

Serve with creme fraiche, finely minced red onions and bleak roe. Or make a sauce from bleak roe, creme fraiche or yogurt, finely minced onions, a pinch of sugar, salt, some dill and black pepper.

Nutella cake

*sniff* I'm slowly recovering from a killer cold that knocked me out for most of last week. (I'm betting I got a nasty virus on the plane home from Paris - air travels seem to do that to me, no wonder with all that bad air. Eww.) However, I managed to have my brother and sister, with significant others, over for a small birthday celebration, since I was away for my actual birthday. I decided to bake something very simple, but I wanted to try something new, too. When my other sister called and said that she and her boyfriend wouldn't be able to make it, I instantly knew what to make. See, her boyfriend is allergic to nuts, all kinds, so I had been calculating on making something nut-free. But, when I have free realm, I much prefer things with nuts. So, a nutty cake it would be. And I knew just which one to choose.

Despite having been a bit upset with Nigella lately, her recipes are generally wonderful. They're tasty and very dependable. I decided to give her another chance, and finally try out the amazing-sounding Nutella cake from How To Be A Domestic Goddess. The results were smashing - we were just six people and we finished off pretty much the whole cake, leaving one tiny sliver. It's not as sweet nor as rich as it sounds, the eggwhites really lighten the whole affair.

A few notes - I used chopped hazelnuts to decorate, simply because you can't find peeled hazelnuts in the stores here. I find it too much of a bother to peel them manually, so I just roasted them and rubbed them in a towel to get rid of some of the skin, and then chopped them up. And I used water instead of Frangelico, even though I had it at home - and it was still great. Oh, and my store was OUT OF UNSALTED BUTTER. So I used regular - and I actually think that improved it. Salt goes so well with chocolate, it really brings out another dimension. But next time, I think I'll add a little less cream to the ganache topping - it didn't thicken quite as much as I would have liked. (But it tasted heavenly.)



Nutella Cake
Serves 8
Nigella Lawson: How to be a Domestic Goddess

for the cake
6 large eggs -- separated
1 pinch salt
115 g soft butter
1 jar of Nutella (400 g) (Yes, an entire jar.)
1 tablespoon Frangelico or water
100 g finely ground hazelnuts
120 g dark chocolate, melted

for the icing
100 hazelnuts
125 ml double cream
1 tablespoon Frangelico or water
125 g dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. (350 F).

Prepare a 9-inch springform pan: grease and line with parchment or wax paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, then add Frangelico (or what you're using), egg yolks, and ground hazelnuts. Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time. Pour into the prepared pan and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on rack.

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upward and the nuts are golden brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others. If you use unpeeled nuts, transfer them to a kitchen towel, and rub, rub, rub. Most of the skins should come off. Transfer to a plate and let cool. Leave them whole or chop them up, depending on how much skin you actually managed to get off.

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, add the cream, liquer or water, and chopped chocolate and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice just the top of the cake. Unmold the cooled cake carefully. Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and decorate with the hazelnuts. Serve with a lightly sweetened whipped cream.

One of my favorite new dishes - Crawfish Bulgur Salad

This is one of the best things I've tried lately. I found the recipe in Buffé, a magazine by Ica, which is one of the largest food companies in Sweden. It doesn't sound too exciting, I know, but somehow - it just really works so well. Definitely, definitely try this one. It's super fast, super tasty, and generally just so rewarding for the simple effort you put into it.

Crawfish tails are sold in plastic jars here, weighing about 170 g minus the liquid. One such jar is perfect. You can substitute frozen tails, or frozen shrimp for that matter.

Crawfish Bulgur Salad
Serves 2 generously

200 ml bulgur wheat
400 ml water
1 leek, white part only and finely sliced
170 g crawfish tails, ready to eat
1 orange
1 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.

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 leeks and crawfish, the bulgur. That is it. Add the dressing. Enjoy.


And I couldn't resist a picture "in the nude"...

Has My Blog Jelled? White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Peaches

Elise is this month's host for the ever-fun blog event Is My Blog Burning? That means, for my new readers, that food bloggers all over the world come together and cook on a specific theme. This time, the theme is.. jelly - the use of gelatin. A bit scary, especially considering what I did for the Taboo-issue of IMBB... Well, I wasn't about to go down that route again, but I did know of something awesome that you could make using gelatin: Panna Cotta.

Panna Cotta is essentially boiled cream. You add flavorings, sugar and gelatin, and either flip it out from a mold, or serve it in glasses or cups. Very versatile. I found this recipe in Donna Hay magazine, last year's summer edition, and I really like it. I opted to make a fruit salsa to go with it, rather than just serve it with more peaches, and I strongly encourage you to try that, too!

White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Peaches
Serves 4

500 ml (2 cups) single cream (I used 20% fat)
85 ml (1/3 cup) icing sugar
100 g white chocolate, chopped
62,5 ml (1/4 cup) water
2 teaspoons gelatin powder
2 perfectly ripe peaches

Start by slicing the peach into thin slices. (This can be pretty hard - just toss whatever's not perfect into the fruit salsa.) Lightly oil (using a neutral oil) four ramekins or cups, and arrange the slices in the bottoms.

Place the icing sugar and the cream in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until slightly reduced. Add the white chocolate, and stir until smooth. Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatin over the water. When it's set, melt it in another saucepan over low heat, and once it's melted, add to the cream mixture. Simmer for a minute. Pour the panna cotta mixture over the peaches, and place in fridge for at least four hours, or until set. When it's time to serve, loosen the edges and invert the molds over a plate - it can be a bit tricky to get them out.


Fruit Salsa
Serves 4 - with enough leftovers for 2

500 g strawberries, halved
2 ripe peaches, diced
juice and grated peel of 1 lime
1-2 tbsp demerara sugar

Mix everything together, and let it stand for at least an hour to help the flavors blend.

Sugar High Fridays #8 - Citrus Tacos

It's that meme-time of the month again! And I'm not late - I am indeed early. And I have to be, because in a few short hours, I'll be on a plane to Paris. We're going there over the weekend, to celebrate my birthday. I'm *so* excited - it'll be great. I've only been to Paris once, on a very short trip. I was fifteen, and on my way to a language school in England. We went by bus, and stayed in Paris for.. I think two days. Per has never been there at all. We plan to look at as much as possible, and eat as much as we possibly can. Of course.

So. I had to post this a bit early - and my IMBB on Sunday will probably be posted a bit late, on Monday morning. This months theme is "Pucker up with citrus!" and it's hosted by Alice of My Adventures in the Breadbox. (I love that name.) I wanted to make something fairly different, and I was having my parents over for an early birthday celebration dinner. I leafed through my (numerous) cookbooks, and finally something caught my eye. It's from Mattias Dahlgrens cookbook - he's a celebrated Swedish chef, very innovative. It was called Citrus Tacos, and was a tuile-type cookie filled with a citrus cream. I decided to do more of a florentine cookie, but stick with the cream. Both components were quick and easy to make - although the cream made me a bit nervous, as I had a weird idea that it might split. (It never did though.) And it was my first time around this type of cream - which is basically just a custard, I believe.

Citrus Tacos
Serves four, generously, with leftover florentine cookies

Orange Florentines:
100 g flaked almonds
90 g sugar
1 tbsp honey
100 g butter
grated peel of an orange
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the sugar, honey, almonds and oranges. When the butter is melted, add the milk and the flour, stir well and let simmer for a minute or two. Make into thin shapes on silpat or teflon sheets, and remember that they will spread a LOT. (But no worries, you can always cut them apart later.) Bake for 4-5 minutes, until desired goldenness appears. While warm, shape over a bottle if you want a taco-type shape. (Or don't bother.)

Citrus cream:
500 ml full-fat milk
grated peel of a lemon
grated peel of an orange
6 egg yolks
125 g sugar
40 g cornstarch

Use a free-standing mixer if you've got one. Whisk the yolks with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and fluffy. Heat the milk in a LARGE pot, and when it's hot, pour over the yolks, while still whisking vigorously. Add the mixture back into the pot, and keep on whisking. Bring to a boil, and stir all the time until it's thickened. Pour back into the bowl of the mixer, and mix on high speed until it's cooled down. You can also fill your sink with cold water, and whisk while the bowl is partly submerged, this will cool it down more slowly. When it's cool, add the citrus peel, and either divide into small pots, or pipe into the taco shells or on pieces of cookie.

A perfect summer drink

I have a huge cupboard filled with liquor bottles - sadly, I rarely drink. But, the other day, I was really in the mood for a pre-dinner coctail on the sunny balcony, so I improvised a bit and came up with this:

-Splash 2 cl Parfait Amour in a glass
-Add 4 cl Bombay Sapphire gin
-Top up the glass with at least 10 cl Schweppes Lemon (for you non-Swedes, this is a bitter lemon fizzy drink - substitute with what you've got)
-Add ice cubes

And isn't it pretty?

Stay tuned - I'll be posting my Sugar High Friday entry tonight. I know it'll be early, but I'm leaving for Paris - PARIS!! - in the morning tomorrow, and won't be able to post then.

Terrific grilled lamb salad

Last weekend was really summery - the first truly warm spring days here. We cleaned the apartment, cuddled with the cats, got a lot of shopping done, and relaxed with a wonderful dinner on the balcony. This grilled lamb salad really hit the spot. I love lamb, and I'm always excited to use it in new combinations. This one isn't earth-shattering by any means, but it's very flavorful, well-balanced and in general a must-try.

The recipe comes from an issue of Donna Hay's magazine, that I picked up in the US last summer. A great magazine by the way, I really wish it was available here. As it is, I only have that one issue, and I would love more. Many more. Oh well.

Grilled Lamb Salad
Serves 2

350 g of lamb fillets
2 teaspoons of olive oil
ground cumin
sea salt
coarse black pepper
1/2 cucumber, halved and sliced
handful of ripe cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 shallots, sliced into thin rounds

Yougurt dressing
100 ml thick greek or turkish yogurt
handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
squeeze of lemon
1 tbsp or more of water

Start by mixing the oil with the cumin, salt and pepper. Brush this onto the fillets of lamb, and grill them - outdoor if you have the equipment and the weather, or in a regular indoors grill pan. (That's what I did, and it was great.) Don't overcook them - just grill for a few minutes on each side. Meanwhile, get the veggies ready and arrange on plates. Chop the mint for the dressing, and mix together the yogurt with water and lemon, and the mint. Add more water if you think it needs it.

Slice the lamb, arrange over the veggies, and drizzle with dressing. Done! This is also great with a garlicky tzatziki, or my own little version, "raitziki". I happened to have some in the frige, and it blended very well with the other flavors. This is something we'll eat often during the summer, I'm sure.


Can't resist putting up a picture of it in its nude state, too. Mmm.

Sweet Onion Poppy Seed risotto

I had a great dinner a couple of nights ago, thanks to Mcauliflower of the lovely blog Brownie Points. (This girl has a real talent with graphic arts, too - and her pictures are great!) Anyway - you can find the recipe here, I'm not going to repost as I followed it pretty much to a T. My one exception was to stir in the fried shallot rings with the bacon and the cheese, rather than sprinkling them on top - to each their own.

Next time - there will be a next time, or rather, many next times - I think I'll skip the poppy seeds. That seems a bit dumb as this is a poppy seed risotto, but.. I didn't really feel that they added much beyond a slightly irritating texture and very annoyingly, a lot of seeds stuck in my teeth.

Now I just really want to make that roll that Mcauliflower talks about in the beginning of her post. All those flavors - in bread? Please. It sounds amazing.

What all chickpeas want to be when they grow up

Roasted. Yes, that's right. Roasted chickpeas. Who knew? Well, I read about this on Linda's blog quite a while ago, and filed it away in my mind as "well.. that's interesting. But as I generally can't stand chickpeas or beans, I doubt it."

Saturday night, Lena and Nico came over for dinner and to watch the hockey game. (Miserable - Sweden lost.) Perfect time to try it out - and besides, there were plenty of chips and carrot sticks in case the chickpeas were nasty. As I suspected.

But boy, was I wrong! These were great! Well, for chickpeas. They were a lot better than I would ever have expected, crunchy, tasty and very spicy. I changed things a little from Linda's version, so I'll reprint it here.

Roasted chickpeas

1 can of chickpeas (about 400 g)
1 teaspoon of olive oil
salt
cayenne pepper
cumin

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Heat the oven to 225 degrees C. Put the chickpeas on a baking sheet, and roast for 20 minutes. Shake them a little bit half way through.

Take them out and put into a bowl. Add the oil and the spices, as much as you want, and mix well. Turn the chickpeas back onto the baking sheet, and back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. They're done when they're bronzed and VERY crunchy. (Some came out a bit softer, and those were very much inferior.)

Omelet with roasted asparagus and chevre

Today was a perfectly relaxed Sunday. We started out by going to an electronics store that had a huge sale, and I scored a cool ionic hairdryer. Huh. Well, I'll report back on how that works. Also got some misc stuff, including batteries and photo paper, for very cheap. Per found a much sought-after computer game.

Then my friend came over for lunch and kitten-cuddling. (Oh, and advice on clothes for my wedding. Sigh. Big trauma. Not having a white wedding - it's a small civil ceremony, outdoors, and I'm definitely NOT wearing a wedding dress.) The kittens are coming along nicely, they're six weeks now and starting to roam the entire apartment.

For lunch, I made an omelet with roasted asparagus and some leftover goat cheese. Incredibly yummy. Perfect to eat on our glassed-in balcony, tiny kittens in lap.

Omelet with roasted asparagus and chevre
Serves three

6 eggs
about 150 ml milk
butter
fresh asparagus, about 15 spears
dash of olive oil
100 g bacon, diced (if you're vegetarian, just skip this.)
100 g chevre, crumbled
salt
pepper

Start by roasting the asparagus - just snap off the woody bottoms, put in a roasting pan and drizzle over some olive oil and sea salt, and let them have ten minutes in a hot oven. (200 degrees C, 390 F) Or you can boil them quickly in a bit of water if you're in a hurry.

Fry the bacon untíl crispy. Drain and set aside, clean the pan. Cut the roasted asparagus into 1 cm pieces, reserving the tips. Now, make the omelets one at a time (unless you magically have three pans and a huge stove, of course. I don't.)

Crack two eggs into a bowl, and add a bit of milk. Add salt and pepper, and beat for about 30 seconds. Melt a pat of butter in your omelet pan (or just your regular frying pan, which is what I use.) Add to the eggs 1/3 of the asparagus pieces (but not the tips!). Fry the omelet, stirring a bit in the beginning so it sets evenly. Sprinkle one half of the omelet with asparagus tips, crumbled bacon and chevre. When the omelet is cooked, fold it (as good as you can) and serve with a fresh salad or just some chopped up tomatoes.

Repeat.

Daimgrottor

This is a cookie with daim-candy, Daim is made by Marabou, which is in turn owned by Kraft. I don't know how easily available it is worldwide (Clotilde can apparently get it in Paris), but it's generally sold abroad at Ikea - so if you're at an Ikea, pick up some Daim and try this recipe! It's really good!

The original recipe specified margarine instead of butter. I, being a bit snobbish, substituted butter. And I think that was a mistake. At least I wasn't as pleased with mine as I had been with the ones I've tasted before so.. well, maybe you should go with margarine instead. Maybe. But I'm not sure.

Daimgrottor (translates to Daim Caves)

100 g of Daim pieces (if you can only find Daim bars, use three-four, crush them roughly)
175 g melted margarine (or butter)
3 dl flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 dl sugar

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Use small foil cups. Put 7-8 pieces of Daim in each, enough to nearly cover the bottom of the cup. (Obviously this depends on the size of your cups.) Mix the flour, sugar and baking soda. Add the melted margarine or butter, and mix into a paste. Divide this paste on top of the Daim pieces, and bake for about ten minutes. They should *not* color.

Fika at Vetekatten

Vetekatten is one of Stockholm's oldest cafés - established in 1928. It's a wonderful place to stop for a cup of coffee and some of the very best pastries around. They always use the highest-quality ingredients, and treat them with a lot of loving care - and well, it doesn't exactly come cheap but it's so worth it once in a while. The atmosphere is really unique - it has a plethora of small rooms, all with their own style. Very homey, very living-room-ish. Definitely worth paying a visit to if you're in Stockholm!



I was there with one of my sisters a few weeks ago. I had the thing pictured up top -I can't remember what they called it, but it had a small daquoise bottom, and was filled with white chocolate mousse and passionfruit panna cotta, and then topped with a very thin (spraypainted, I think) layer of white chocolate. Mmm. My sister had a chocolate budapest-roll. Budapest-roll is a sort of roly-poly, generally consisting of a hazelnut bottom, rolled around cream mixed with canned tangerines. (And it's much better than I just made it sound.) This one had a chocolate-hazelnut bottom, and was filled with cream and fresh raspberries. Delicious!

They also have a bakery, and you can buy cakes or bread to take home. Definitely do. And they do have a cookbook. I got it for christmas a couple of years ago, and while it's nice, I wish they had more recipes. It has a lot of history though, and some very pretty pictures.

Konditori Vetekatten
Kungsgatan 55
111 22 Stockholm
Open weekdays 7.30-20, Saturdays 9.30-17

Lamb burger

Let's have a look at one of the best burgers I've had in a long time. Mmm. Yum. Can you almost taste it? It's a lamb burger, and in addition to the freshly formed and fried lamb patty, it has a feta-cheese cream (I'm guessing feta cheese and creme fraiche), cucumber, purple onions, tomato, fresh basil and lettuce. It's from a company called DeliBurger, and if you happen to be in Stockholm, check it out.

Deliburger
Regeringsgatan 48
Stockholm

Rättviks marknad

Sorry for the lack of posts! Me and my mother have spent five days in our wonderful cabin in Dalarna, about four hours north of Stockholm. It's been very relaxing, and we've spent our days reading, sleeping and playing golf. And eating - although nothing very exciting, we've stuck to very light meals. With one noticable exception. See the collage up top? (Isn't Picasa cool?) These are pictures from Rättviks marknad, a huge market that's held for three days every year in the small town of Rättvik. (About half an hour from our cabin.) We strolled around, looked at stuff for sale (ranging from hand-carved full-sized rowboats to socks and garden gnomes) and.. ate. Top left picture - the most wonderful waffle known to man. It was fluffy and vanilla-y, and with a gorgeous golden crust that tasted of caramel. Ah. Topped with whipped cream and strawberry preserves, it was heaven.

Bottom right - that's a kokosboll. Literally, that means coconut ball. (Not to be confused with something else that I need to blog about one day - negerboll.) It's a coating of chocolate and coconut, surrounding.. fluff. I can't describe it much more accurately than that - it's fluff. White, delicious fluff. Probably mostly sugar, eggwhite and maybe some gelatin. Mmm.

Korean beef - Bulgogi

A year or so ago, my daily newspaper har a recipe for what they called "Korean Fire-Beef". Irresistible, right? I made it, we loved it. I made it again, and again. Mmm. It's basically very thinly sliced meat (I use entrecote, um, I think that's sirloin in some countries), marinated in ginger, garlic, sesame oil and japanese soy sauce. The proper name is Bulgogi - but doesn't Korean Fire-Beef sound so much better?? I certainly think so!

I made it the other night for Lena and Nico, who were visiting their new kitten. The little rascal Habanero is moving in with them when he's old enough. They already have a cat - Eminem - who's actually the father of this litter. Let's hope he likes his son.

This made plenty for four people, with some leftovers that were perfect for lunch. You can skip the rice and just eat the bulgogi, if you're so inclined.

Bulgogi - Korean Fire-Beef
Serves 4-5

800 g beef (preferably entrecote/sirloin)
2 very ripe pears
3 small yellow onions
1 leek, white and light green part
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
50 ml sesame oil
200 ml korean or japanese soy sauce
7-8 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp cracked black pepper

rice
lettuce cups

dipping sauce:
equal amounts of japanese soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce
1 clove of garlic

Slice the meat very, very thinly. I usually freeze mine, and slice it when it's partly defrosted. Mash the pears, and mix with the meat as a pre-marinade. Slice the onions into half-moons, grate the ginger, grate the garlic, slice the leek into thin rounds. Set aside half the onion and leek. Mix the rest of the onions, leek, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, pepper and sesame oil. Pour over the meat, and marinate for at least two hours. (And not a whole lot longer, I'd say - this is not something you want to leave overnight.)

Rinse and dry the lettuce, and separate into cups - try to keep them as whole as you can. Get the rice ready - and if you can, use a fragrance jasmine rice. For the dipping sauce, simply mix soy, chilli sauce and grated garlic.

Heat up a big pan or a wok, and start frying the meat and the marinade, adding the reserved leek and onions as you do so. You'll have to do it in batches. Keep the heat on high.

To eat, put some of the meat mixture in a lettuce cup, and pour over some of the dipping sauce. Fold into a package. (Or indeed, dip the whole lettuce package, if you can.) I like my rice on the side, but you can pack it, too, into the lettuce. Or just skip the rice altogether.