My very favorite comfort food

Chicken in curry sauce. Creamy, not hot.

Quick Pad Thai

I've made Pad Thai several times before. It's one of my favorite take-out foods, and I like the homemade versions as well. This one - well, I'm not going to claim that it's authentic, but it *is* good. Really good. Using frozen wok vegetables obviously speed up the process - a lot.

Feel free to use any noodles - I normally prefer rice sticks, but my husband much prefers egg noodles and he got his way this time.

Add some chicken, shrimp or beef if you'd like!

Quick Pad Thai
serves about 3

400 g frozen wok vegetables
1 tbsp oil (peanut, or a neutral cooking oil)
1 egg
200 g noodles

sauce:
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 lime, juiced
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
3 tbsp water
1/2 tsp sambal oelek (chili paste - you can use fresh red chili instead)
1 garlic clove, minced

to serve:
fresh coriander
lime wedges
toasted cashew nuts, coarsely chopped

Start by cooking the noodles according to the package instructions - some need soaking in hot water, others might require boiling.

Mix the sauce - just add all the ingredients in a bowl and stir together.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok, and fry the vegetables until crispy. Push them to one side and add the egg. Stir-fry until set, then add the noodles and sauce. Stir well.

Cook for a minute or two and serve - preferably with extra lime wedges, fresh coriander and chopped cashew nuts.

Recipe in Swedish:
Turbosnabb Pad Thai

Simple

This was so good. A perfectly ripe, but firm, avocado. A red bellpepper. A little bit of cucumber. Lemon juice and a basil olive oil. Some freshly ground black pepper.

We had it for lunch, alongside an omelet with potatoes, parma ham and Västerbotten cheese.

Exciting dinner

I'm at a very exciting girl's night for foodies at Kicki Theander, the CEO of the company Middagsfrid. The food looks very promising!

Crispy Waffles

Today, March 25, is Waffle Day in Sweden and since I've written about it before, I'll be lazy and quote myself:

"Waffle Day actually started as a linguistic misunderstanding - it's Lady Day today (that is, nine months before Jesus was born so.. well, let's not go into details) and in Swedish that's called "Vårfrudagen". That was quickly transformed into "Våffeldagen" which sounds somewhat similar."

I usually use a waffle mix, but I thought I'd do a little better this year and actually make some from scratch. After all, it's easy. And I got a great recipe from my friend Kristina, who's sadly no longer blogging. It seems that everyone has their own recipe for waffles, yet every waffle I've ever tried tastes remarkably similar. Isn't that strange? The recipes vary quite a bit! My mineral water wasn't all that sparkly, so I added a teaspoon of baking powder right before baking, just to get some extra crisp. You can probably omit it.

Anyway. These were great - very light and crispy. And thus perfect for loading with whipped cream and cloudberry jam.

Crispy Waffles
makes at least 12

360 g all-purpose flour
500 ml milk
125 g butter melted
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
200 ml ice cold sparkling water
1 tsp baking powder

Whisk together all ingredients except for the baking powder, and leave for fifteen minutes. (You might be able to leave it for longer, but I think it's better to add the mineral water when you're close to baking.)

Add the baking powder when you're ready to bake.

Bake, using a waffle maker. You might have to grease it slightly before the first waffle. Don't use too much batter, or the waffles won't be as crispy.

Recipe in Swedish:
Frasiga våfflor

Pork tenderloin with mushrooms

Here's a quick and easy dish that's perfect if you happen to have some leftover uncooked meat. I had pork tenderloin, so that's what I used, but you could use beef instead if you'd prefer. You can serve it with anything - potatoes or rice would be easy choices, but I wouldn't mind a good pasta either.

As you can see, this was so tasty I had to photograph the leftovers. Sorry. What can I say, I was hungry!

Pork tenderloin with mushrooms
serves 3-4

300 g pork tenderloin, in small dice
300 g mushrooms, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tbsp dry sherry
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
1-2 tsp soy sauce
200 ml cream
Salt, pepper
Fresh oregano
oil for frying

Brown the meat in some oil. Add the mushrooms, onion and garlic, and fry until the meat is nearky cooked through.

Add the sherry and let it reduce for a minute or two on high heat. Add concentrated chicken stock, soy sauce and cream and cook for a few minutes,. Season with salt, pepper and fresh oregano.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fläskfilégryta med champinjoner

Wednesday bookmarks, March 23

Taken on my way to work. As you can see, blue skies and melting snow.

Ready to discover some new blogs? I'd love to share my bookmarks from the past week - really not that many this time, I've been really busy and haven't had time to read as much blog posts as I usually do. Anyway!

I have two Swedish blogs to tell you about today. One is Kalasgott, which is run by the Jennie who's still just a teenager but oh-so-talented! She's one of the participants in the very first edition of Masterchef in Sweden, and she's still in the running - it's very exciting, and I'm cheering for her every Wednesday night. She posted about this Crème Brûlée tarte with raspberries, and I think it's pure genius.

Then we have Tea, who's as sweet as her blog Söta Saker ("sweet things"). She's also published an awesome cookbook, which I heartily recommend if you're into baking. (And can read Swedish...) She wrote about a bread called Sirapsrutor, which is the sort of dense, sweet bread I know my husband will love. I'll try to make them soon, as a departure from my sourdough experiments.

A blog that's new to me is Smashed Peas and Carrots. I was drawn in by this step-by-step instruction for a Banoffee Pie, and maybe it'll be just the thing to actually make me try to make Dulce de Leche! (I can't help finding it just a bit scary, all that boiling...)

(All of my bookmarks are here.)

Spring is here!

Or at least, almost here! It's sunny and not as cold as before, and most of the ice seems to be melting off the streets, leaving gravelly slush behind. Ok, that part is not so appealing, but I hope it will be gone completely in a week or so. I can't wait to get out my new spring jacket, and I already have to use sunglasses. Spring. At last.

What you see in the photo: potato pancakes, one of the tastiest and simplest things there is. Just take potatoes, grate them - some coarsely, some finely. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Add an egg, salt and pepper. And fry. Top them with anything you'd like - I had sour cream, bacon, red onions and Västerbotten Cheese, or eat them plain, I like them like that too. They're irresistibly crispy and salty, and always hit the spot for me.

As you might have noticed if you read my Twitterfeed, I'm also pretty interested in makeup, and read a lot of makeup blogs as well as food blogs. One of them is called Lip Gloss Bitch, and she's always a good read - it's in Swedish though. She's hosting a giveaway for a MAC Mineralize skinpowder - let's hope I win, I sure could use some bronzer!

Cold-Rise Pizza

Pizza is not really my favorite thing in the world. Sure, it's ok every now and then, and I admit there has been a lot of nights when cooking sounds like such a chore, and then; pizza night. Usually take-out, because baking pizza yourself.. well, again, quite a chore.

We haven't had pizza lot since Titus started to eat, because he does not like pizza very much at all. I wanted to try home made, partly because I had a hankering for a pizza with loads of garlic, no tomato sauce, and parma ham, and partly because I wanted to see if he'd like it better. (I made him one with just garlic and red onion and he found it ok but wasn't very enthusiastic about the whole thing.)

I liked the dough a lot - it was really easy to just make before work, and then let it proof in the fridge for the whole day.

Cold-Rise Pizza
Serves 3-4

20 g fresh yeast
250 ml cold water
180-240 g all-purpose fkour
120 g durum flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oil

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add the water and stir until it's dissolved. Add flour, salt, sugar and oil and work into a supple dough. (Start with the smaller amount of all-purpose flour and add more if you need it. My dough was too sticky and almost runny, so I added a bit.) Work the dough very well, so you get a good gluten development.

Place the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge until it's doubled in size. I made it before I left for work and took it out when I got home, and that was perfectly fine. Let the dough sit at room temperature for an hour or so before baking.

Divide into smaller pieces, shape pizzas and top them with whatever you'd like. Bake in a really hot oven until they're as well done as you want them to be - preferences (and ovens) vary so much I don't want to give any specific recommendations).

Recipe in Swedish:
Kalljäst pizzadeg

Orange Buttercream Macarons

Orange Buttercream Macarons
about 25 filled macarons

3 egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp caster sugar (or in my case, homemade vanilla sugar)
200 g powdered sugar
110 g almonds, blanched
1-2 tsp powdered orange food coloring

Combine powdered sugar and almonds in your food processor, and grind until very fine. Sieve. Re-grind any lumps or big pieces of almonds. Mix carefully (they tend to separate a little bit when sieving, since the sugar falls through first.)

Beat egg whites and sugar until you have a thick, glossy meringue. Don't overbeat. Stir in the almond-sugar powder, and fold together, and add the color, too. Don't overmix this - most seem to say that you should use less than 50 strokes. (You can try it by dolloping a little batter on a baking sheet - if the peak falls down, it's ready. If it doesn't, try a few more strokes.)

Pipe small rounds on a baking sheet with baking paper. Leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, to form a skin.

Bake at 150°C for about 10 minutes. (I have a convection oven.) Let them cool completely before filling. Unused shells can be frozen, or kept in an air-tight container for a day or so.

Orange Vanilla Buttercream :
3 egg yolks
75 g sugar
82 g corn syrup (or if you're in Sweden, white baking syrup works perfectly)
225 g unsalted butter, softened
finely grated peel from 1 orange
seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Beat the egg yolks until fluffy. Bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil, and immediately remove from heat. Pour over the egg yolks and beat at high speed until fully cooled. (Try not to get any on your beaters, or it will spin to the sides of your bowl.

Add the butter, a pat at a time, until fully incorporated. Finally add orange zest and vanilla.

Spread - or pipe - the cream onto half of the macaron shells, top with the remaining shells. Eat right away or freeze.

Recipe in Swedish:
Macarons med apelsinsmörkräm

Lunch at La Neta

Stockholm's best and only authentic Mexican restaurant. Check them out if you're ever in the neighborhood!

La Neta
Barnhusgatan 2
Stockholm

Titus cooked lunch!

Recently, Titus has started to move his chair over to the kitchen counter, so he can play with the kitchen tools, and reach things. I thought this meant it was time to let him cook, so today, he helped make a farmer's omelette with potatoes, onions, bellpepper, mushrooms and cheese. He cracked the eggs, whisked them with a pinch of salt and some water, poured it into the pan and sprinkled the cheese. Pretty darned good for a not-even-two-year-old boy, right?!

He also helped clean up, and wiped down the counter. Good boy.



And as a bonus, he loved eating what he cooked.

Lemon Vanilla Icebox Cookies

Happy St Patrick's Day! I thought I'd celebrate by piping some green shamrocks on cookies. Great, in theory - right? In reality, my piping skills pretty much suck, and I'm not even sure if a shamrock is supposed to have three or four petals. I went for four, which is considered lucky in Swedish.

The cookies are excellent, and very easy to make. Just mix the dough, chill, slice and bake.

Lemon Vanilla Icebox Cookies
makes about 50 cookies

200 g butter
1/2 tsp salt (if you're using unsalted butter, if not, omit)
100 g sugar
250 g all-purpose flour
1 vanilla bean (the scrapings of)
zest of 1 lemon

Beat butter, salt and sugar until fluffy. It's easiest if the butter is at room temperature, but if you're in a hurry (like me) you can slice it thinly to make it soft much faster.



Add flour, vanilla and lemon zest, and work into a smooth dough. Don't overwork it, or it might become tough. (Due to the gluten development.)

Shape two sausages and wrap in plastic foil. Chill until firm - an hour in the freezer, or overnight in the fridge.



Slice fairly thinly (my slices were about 5 mm) and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake at 175°C until the edges are lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Drizzle with melted chocolate if you wish. I used white chocolate with some green powdered food coloring.

Recipe in Swedish:
Citronkakor med vanilj

Wednesday bookmarks, March 16

Oh, I really have so much food to talk about, but I don't want to miss out on Wednesday bookmarks, so let me share just a few of what I've bookmarked in the past few weeks. (All of my bookmarks are here.)

First, an Orange Vanilla Cinnamon Poundcake. I'm no huge fan of pound cakes, but the flavoring here sounds divine. Speaking of cinnamon, there's also this Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread that's much like a giant cinnamon bun. Mmm.

While I recover from the sugar coma, how about trying some Parmesan-Roasted Potatoes? I often do roast potatoes but have never thought to add cheese - how strange of me! I also don't think I've thought to combine blue cheese and tomatoes in a pasta sauce, but the Amsteur Gourmet did just that and it looks great.

I'm a bit scared of very-long-cooking, something about leaving the oven on (even on low) when you're out all day... well. Annika from Swedish blog Smaskens does it all the time though, and her veal in beer, onions and thyme might be just the thing to push me to try.

Flank Steak with Chimichurri

I cooked this back in January, for our annual 13-course dinner, and I have no idea why it's taken me so long to blog about it. Also, it was my first time cooking with flank steak, and again, why did it take me so long? It's a super flavorful cut of meat, and it's fairly cheap, too. I had to special order it, though, and it does benefit from marinating, so it's not exactly great for spur-of-the-moment cooking.

As you might remember, we had to do courses from different countries, and I drew Argentina. Hence the chimichurri. It's awesome with the flank steak, which is flavorful in itself but the sauce takes it to a whole new level. I heartily recommend this.

Marinated Flank Steak
375 ml dry sherry
60 ml sherry vinegar
60 ml red wine vinegar
4 small red onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
125 ml olive oil
800 g flank steak
salt, pepper

Mix the sherry, both vinegars, onions, garlic and olive oil in a big plastic bag. Add the meat and make sure it's covered. Place in the fridge to marinate over night.

Drain the meat, and season well with salt and pepper. Grill on very high heat for about 3-5 minutes per side, depending on how red you like your meat. Let it rest for five minutes before slicing, thinly. Serve with chimichurri.

And yes, this recipe does use a whole lot of sherry vinegar. Try to find a fairly cheap kind, or substitute red wine vinegar. It'll still be great.

Chimichurri
240 ml olive oil
160 ml sherry vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
250 ml flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp fresh basil, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp fresh oregano, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2-1 tbsp flaky sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Mix everything except for the salt and pepper in a food processor, and whizz into a smooth sauce. Don't process it too much though - you're not making a purée. Season with salt and pepper.

Recept på engelska:
Flank Steak with Chimichurri

Learning about bread

Passionate. That's what I'd say if I had to describe Sébastien Boudet with one word. (Good thing I don't have to - or it'd be a pretty short blog post.) He's burning with passion for his craft. He's not afraid to call out those in the business who do cheat, and he refuses to do so himself. And in his opinion, there are many ways to cheat, and many people do. It's not many who truly take pride in their baking anymore, but he wants to change that. And, after spending two days with this extremely charismatic and charming Frenchman, I believe he can make a big difference.


Baguettes

He bakes, with completely natural flour, water and salt. And time. And passion. A lot of both. His flour is free from additives, it's stone-ground just the way he likes it, and he's even bought a few fields to grow exactly what he wants. (That's taking things a bit far, perhaps.) He never uses yeast in his sourdough, and he always lets the bread proof for at least 12 hours.



He's a classically trained French pastry chef, and ended up in Sweden out of love. He met his wife, who is Swedish, and then moved here ten years ago. Three years ago, he opened Petite France, which is his bakery and café. He wanted to set the standard for excellent bread and pastry, to give everyone a point of reference. To know, this is good. His croissants, his loaves of bread, his macarons. All perfect.


Bread we actually baked during the class. (And perhaps not exactly perfect.)

In his bakery, it's perfect, never so-so. (He taught us how to roll croissants, and gently corrected us along the way. He applauded our attempts and called them very good. One of the students asked; would these be sellable? Short laugh. Non. But we got to take them home instead - much better!)


Flat bread baked from poolish, with garlic and olives. Extremely tasty!

I was really happy I decided to take a class with him - he offers them to home bakers from time to time, and they book very quickly. He also does classes for pro bakers, and he really wants to teach future bakers as well, as many of them don't learn proper baking anymore but are expected to bake from ready-made mixes. I spent a day and a half with him and ten other eager students, and we soaked up all kinds of useful information.


His massive stone-oven.

Sure, I don't have the same kind of controlled environment as he does, and I need to tweak proofing times to suit my own kitchen, but at least I have an idea now of what kind of bread can be made with just water, flour and salt. A GREAT one! (And so far, one that I can absolutely not replicate - it's definitely not as easy as it looked. I have three failed attempts in as many days.. well, I guess I'll keep on practising.)


Pain raisin - a croissant dough with vanilla cream and raisins.

Interestingly, he uses one sourdough starter for all his bread. Not one for rye, one for wheat and so on - just one, with a mixture of both. (He calls it a Michael Jackson starter - a little dark, a little light.) It works great in all breads, and there's no need for other kinds. He feeds it - a little bit of flour, a little water, nothing too exact - and bakes from it every day. He also has one simple recipe for all of his breads: 1 liter of water, 1500 grams of flour, 40 g salt. And a dollop - perhaps 200 g - sourdough starter. Any flour - he uses wheat, durum wheat and rye - in any combination, as long as the total is 1500 g. Instead of feeling nervous about such a loose recipe, I feel that it's empowering. It's saying that everyone can make their own bread, their way, and not just follow a recipe. That way, when you produce great bread, it's truly yours. I love that. (Or I will, when I succeed.)


Scoring the bread just before baking - very important. Sébastien uses a lamé which is basically a really sharp razor.

The class was a lot about technique. How to work dough, how it should feel when it's done. (A lot firmer than most dough I've made, by the way!) When to let the dough rest to activate autolys, when to work it, when to shape it, flour it, cut it, bake it. We talked about all of that, and I'm really excited about trying it out. It's all about love. He even shapes the bread loaves against his tummy rather than on the table, because it feels better and more organic, and makes a more natural seam in the bread. (And this was really charming to watch - I hope he makes a video of this.)



We also baked croissants and pain au chocolat - delicious, and not difficult to make. He uses cold butter for all his baking - obviously with laminated doughs, but also with brioches and yeasted buns which is a bit unusual. I got his croissant recipe, and will be trying it out once I have some more space in my freezer which is completely packed at the moment (with lots of bread!)



We had dinner - cheese, bread and wine - on top of the conveyor used to put the breads in the oven. See?



Sébastien blogs, too - as a way to record his work, and also as a way to share his passion. The blog is called, aptly enough, Brödpassion (which I'm sure you can all translate easily - Bread Passion!) and it's a great read. It's where he announces his new courses, shares technique movies (that he often records as he's alone in his bakery in the middle of the night - check out this one about making Choquettes, for example!) and shares some recipes.


Duck confit, simmering away for four days at the bottom of the oven.

If you're in Stockholm, do visit Petite France. It's a great place for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon treat. (Hurry though - it's for sale.) And if you see a café offering macarons from Macarong, those are the ones made by Sébastien and his brother Damien, and I think they rival those of Pierre Hermé and by far outclass Ladurées.



And most of all, if you have the chance to learn from Sébastien: do so. I'm sure the world will be seeing a lot more of him in the future. This is one bright star.

Fresh green olives

A real treat!

The best caramels in town

Or well, the best ones you can buy, at least. (Homemade are always just a tad nicer.) They're made at Pärlans Konfektyr and come in four flavors: almond, mint-candy cane, sea salt vanilla, and licorice. All are absolutely lovely, but the first two were amazing. It's a good thing I'm rarely in the area, or I'd buy these all the time.

Salmon, Spinach & Zucchini Pasta

I haven't forgotten about my Wednesday links - they just have sort of slipped for a little while. I'll get back to them though - promise! Maybe not on Wednesdays though... what's a better day? Friday? Saturday? I keep thinking I should work out some kind of schedule for posting, but I never get around to it.

Oh well. On to the food. How about a quick weeknight pasta? We eat much less pasta now that Titus is eating with us - he just doesn't like it. Or at least he hasn't up until very recently, he seems to be starting to at least tolerate it which makes things easier for us. Because pasta is, let's face it, easy.

Salmon, Spinach & Zucchini Pasta
Serves 2-3

200 g pasta
300 g salmon, in 2 cm dice
1/2 zucchini, sliced into thin half-moons
250 g spinach (frozen and thawed is fine)
1/2 leek, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp cream cheese
200 ml cream (use a bit less if you'd like)
salt, pepper
pinch of nutmeg
olive oil

Boil the pasta according to the instructions.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat a little oil, and fry the leeks, zucchini and garlic for a few minutes. Set aside. Heat some more oil and fry the salmon for a few minutes. Add the spinach, and the leek, zucchini and garlic from before. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Add cream cheese and cream, and let it cook for a few minutes. Finally, toss with the pasta and serve right away.

Recipe in Swedish:
Pasta med lax, spenat och zucchini

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

And no, I didn't bake any semlor this year either! These little lovelies are from Petite France. Cardamom buns, homemade almond paste (stirred with some vanilla) and whipped cream. Delicious!

If you're looking for a recipe, head over to Dagmar, who has a good one.

Dinner, right by the oven.

Learning

I'm taking a bread class today - so much fun! I'll tell you all about it, eventually...

Classic shrimp sandwich

The perfect weekend lunch: a classic Swedish shrimp sandwich. It's made on soft, rather sweet bread, and has some mayo, salad, boiled egg, lots of shrimp and some cucumber and tomatoes. Avocados are nice too, if you have them.

Ranch Dip

It was pretty recently I discovered this recipe for ranch dip at one of my favorite mommy blogs - Weelicious - but I've already made it twice. (Ok, almost, I left out the dijon and lemon the second time - it was still great.) (And oh, sure, I changed the quantities - check out the original, too!)

It's super delicious and easy to make, and it went really well with crispy coconut chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries, and an assortment of veggies.

Ranch Dip

100 ml greek yogurt
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix everything, and let it sit for an hour or so before serving.

Recipe in Swedish:
Ranch-dipp

Limpa from Gotland

Gotlandslimpa, which translate's into "loaf from Gotland" is what many people perceive as a very Swedish bread. It's a classic "limpa" which is really just another word for "loaf" but usually used for slightly sweet, dense breads. This is a classic bread, and it uses bitter orange peel to give it a special hint of flavor. Do try to get that, or it will not be the same.

Also, the recipe uses rågsikt, which is a mixture of fine rye and wheat flour in roughly 40/60 proportion. I imagine it's hard to get outside of Sweden, so mix your own.

This is not a very fast bread to make, and it's a little fiddly. The flavor is well worth it - enjoy it with a salted butter and a strong cheese to set off the sweetness!

Limpa from Gotland
Makes 2

On day 1:
850 g rye/wheat flour (see above)
1/2 tbsp salt
1 liter boiling water
7 g whole bitter orange peel, dried
1/2 tbsp distilled white vinegar

Day 2:
35 g fresh yeast
75 ml molasses or dark syrup
1 tsp sugar
the orange peel from day 1, in fine dice
720 g bread flour

To bake:
100 ml bread flour
1/2 tbsp molasses or dark syrup, in 50 ml warm water

On day 1, morning:
Soak the bitter orange peel in 100 ml of boiling water. Leave to soak all day.

On day 1, evening

Bring 1 liter of water to the boil, and pour over the rye and wheat flour. Add the liquid from the bitter oranges, salt and distilled vinegar. Work the dough really well - either use a wooden spoon (that'd be the traditional way) or in a stand mixer (my way) for at least 10-15 minutes.

Cover the surface with flour, wrap in two kitchen towels and a blanket to keep the dough warm, and leave overnight.

Pour a little bit of warm water over the peel, to make sure they're soft for the next day.

On day 2, morning

Drain the peel, and cut into fine dice. Mix with the yeast, sugar, molasses and bread flour. Work all this into the dough from last night. When it's well mixed, leave to rise for 45 minutes.

Turn out the dough on a well-floured surface, and carefully shape two loaves. Use lots of flour, as the dough is very sticky. Move the loaves to lined baking sheets, cover with towels and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Bake at 200°C for one hour. Before you place them in the oven, brush them with syrup mixed with water, and keep brushing a few times during the baking if you want a deeper, cracklier surface.

Cover the baked breads with towels and leave to cool completely at room temperature before slicing.

Recipe in Swedish:
Gotlandslimpa

Making sushi

Sushi! All made by me and Dagmar.


A few weeks ago, I was invited to a sushi cooking class by the Swedish food producer Touch of Taste. (They make stocks and I don't know what that had to do with sushi, but hey.) The sushi chef was Joakim Lundblad who's definitely one of the most influential Swedish sushi chefs, and has been the chairman of the jury for "Sushi chef of the year." He also works closely with my ex-brother in law Peter Forsberg, who is also a very talented sushi chef that I've written about before (here, here and here). You can find a lot of Joakim's recipes - in Swedish - here.



Anyway. I was happy to be invited since I like Joakim's style of sushi: not very traditional. He had prepared everything - the rice (but he showed us how to do it, too - he rinses it really well, and then soaks it for at least two hours or overnight. After that, it's cooked in a rice cooker), and tons of ingredients. The table was covered in little bowls and plates with all kinds of things.


The bowl in front holds the most divine smokey squid salad - I love it!

There were common things like salmon and tuna (which he taught us how to slice properly for sashimi), and Japanese omelett, but also asparagus, water cress, eel, mackerel, a lovely dilled crawfish salad, cucumber and tons of other stuff. We were invited to play and combine as we please. Our rolls contained eel, cream cheese and asparagus (my least favorite), smokey squid salad and cucumber (yum!!) and eggs, cucumber and the crawfish salad (awesome!).



All in all, a really fun night, and I really want to try to make sushi on my own now.