Ratatouille Chicken in Crock-Pot

Still really loving the slowcooker! I need to try much more with it, but I haven't had that much time to plan or cook lately. I hope to get a lot done this summer though - it'll be nice to have some time off.

This was the first, but certainly not last, time cooking chicken. I decided I want something simple to go along with it, and settled on a kind-of-ratatouille. It turned out a little watery for my taste, but still very good. The chicken was awesome - very moist and flavorful.

Ratatouille Chicken in Crock-Pot
serves 4

1 1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 zucchini, diced
100 ml (a little less than 1/2 cup) fennel, finely sliced
1 red bellpepper, diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (400 g) tomato "fillets", or regular crushed (or even whole) tomatoes
2 tbsp chunky salsa sauce
1 whole, fresh chicken
salt, lemon pepper

Prepare all the veggies, and mix with the salsa, the tinned tomatoes, and some salt and cumin in the crock-pot.

To prepare the chicken, remove as much skin as possible. (It won't be great slow-cooked.) Season with salt and lemon pepper. Place the chicken, breast down, on top of the veggies. Cover with the lid, and cook on high for four hours.

Serve with some sort of grain - we had bulgur wheat, which was great.

Recipe in Swedish:
Ratatouillekyckling i crock-pot

Giveaway: Electrolux Mixer

I'm kind of liking these giveaways lately - and I hope you do, too! Today, I have a brand new Electrolux Powermix Silent Blender to give to a lucky reader - but, you have to live in Sweden for this one. Sorry!

To win the blender, you have to answer two questions:
1. What year was the Husqvarna brand introduced?
2. What is your favorite smoothie recipe?

E-mail your answers to annesfood (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll make the smoothies that sound the most interesting, and pick a winner! Don't forget to include your contact details.

This giveaway is open until Sunday, June 5.

I get to do this giveaway because I'm on the jury for another Electrolux contest - design your own kitchen. (You can win a lot of kichen appliances from the new series Husqvarna Premium 1689 in that one, and it's open until June 3.)

And the cookbook winner is...

The winner of the Thinkfood cookbook is Kiki! Congratulations!

Check in tomorrow for another giveaway - a really good one.

New picnic date

Me and Tea decided that it's really no fun to have a picnic in the rain, so we're re-scheduling. New date is next Monday, June 6, which is also Sweden's National Day. The facebook event is here, and if you'd like, please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail, I'd love to know if you plan to show up!

Picnic in the rain?

Just a short note. If you're planning on coming to the blogger's picnic today, drop an e-mail to me! It's raining, a lot, at the moment, and it doesn't look very hopeful.

Banana Yogurt Muffins

Yet another way to use up over-ripe bananas.. I know I have many recipes along these lines but I never tire of them. Or more honestly, I rarely turn back to them, always on the hunt for more. This time, I also had some greek yogurt that needed using up, and I was in the mood for some nice spice.

Banana Yogurt Muffins
makes 12

2 bananas, very ripe
120 g greek-style yogurt
2 eggs
120 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
150 g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger, ground

Mash the bananas with the yogurt, and stir in the vanilla.

Beat the eggs and sugar until very fluffy. Add the banana yogurt, then the baking soda, baking powder, flour and spices. Stir together until combined. Divide into 12 lined muffin cups, and bake at 175°C for about 15 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
Bananmuffins med yogurt

Sweet Potato Risotto

Ok, here's another one of those posts where I don't have an actual recipe, because I didn't write it down at once. I don't do it very often (anymore) but it still happens. Does it happen to you, too? You know - "oh, this was great, but it was so easy and obvious, I'm sure I'll remember how I made it in a few days when I sit down to blog about it." And I'm sure I *did* remember, for a few days. But it's been a few months now, and frankly, I'm not sure.

I *think* I baked the sweet potatoes, diced, in the oven for about 20 minutes or until very soft. And I'm pretty sure I had some fried chorizo in there. Other than that, a standard risotto. Results = great. I'll definitely try to re-create it, and next time, I promise to write a recipe.

Cookbook giveaway

It's giveaway week at Anne's Food! (No, not really - it's just a coincidence.) The winner of Pascal Le Chef is Sol. And keep your eyes open, I have a really, really cool giveaway coming in a few days!

And today, I have a cookbook for you. With one of my recipes in it! (And recipes from 50 food bloggers - all with healthy ingredients that are really good for you.) I told you about this collaboration about a year ago, and it's finally time for the actual book giveaway. In order to win, just leave a comment on this post, telling me what's your current favorite cookbook!

Open to all readers, world-wide. Giveaway will close Friday, May 27, at midnight.

Wednesday Bookmarks, May 25

I've done a LOT of bookmarking in the past few days, so I won't post all of them. I keep all of my bookmarks here. For non-food-stuff, I've just started using Pinterest!

Now - let's get to it. I hope you'll discover some new blogs!

I don't just bookmark new stuff, but also some old. I've been looking for suitable picnic recipes, because of the food blogger's picnic this Sunday. (Are you coming? I hope to see you!) There's a great round-up of "Waiter, there's something in my... picnic basket", which is highly recommended reading! I'm eyeing Chicken Wraps with Apple, Bacon and Pine Nuts from Spittoon Extra, and a Quinoa, Prawn and Asparagus Salad from The Passionate Cook, my friend Johanna.

Summer is coming, so I'm collecting ice cream (or popsicle) ideas. Minted watermelon pops perhaps, or Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles from Pass the Sushi? Both sound very cooling.

Also cooling, but less kid-friendly: Fruity Frozen Vodka Slush. I'd love to have a container of this in the freezer. (But probably won't, I'm too afraid Titus will eat it.)

And then four things that I can't wait to make. Skirt Steak Tacos from Steamy Kitchen (hello dinner Saturday night!), Cinnamon Roll Muffins (there's a smart idea!) from The Baker Chick, Choquettes from Like a Strawberry Milk and an awesome-looking Lemon Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake from 17 and Baking.

Soft Breakfast Rolls

These are very soft and comforting rolls. Just the thing to eat in the morning, with cheese and orange marmalade. They're slightly sweet, but not over the top. I've added a hint of cinnamon to make them a bit more interesting, but you can definitely leave that out. If you do, decrease the syrup a little, and they'll be perfect to use as hamburger buns!

Soft Breakfast Rolls

500 ml milk
50 g fresh yeast
100 ml melted butter
50 ml golden syrup
1-2 tsp cinnamon
about 950 g bread flour
2 tsp salt

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Heat the milk until tepid and mix with the yeast until it has dissolved. Add everything except for salt and flour, and stir.

Gradually add the flour, and knead well for about ten minutes. (I'm using my Kitchen-Aid.) Add salt, and knead for five more minutes. Cover with a towel and leave to rise for about 30 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and divide into 20 pieces. Roll into buns, and leave to rise until doubled in size - about 1 hour.

Bake at 250°C for 8-10 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
Mjuka frukostfrallor

Do you need some help in the kitchen? Giveaway!

I'm sure we can all use some help in the kitchen sometimes. Pascal Le Chef to the rescue! He's a little Voodoll and according to his description:

Pascal cultivates that innovative cooking artist inside of you, and gives you the power to perform even greater deeds in the kitchen than you already posses.

Sounds good, right? Do you want Pascal to move in with you? Just leave a comment on this post, telling me about your worst kitchen disaster. I'll randomly choose a winner, and Pascal will be flying to your rescue!

Giveaway closes tomorrow, Tuesday, May 24, at midnight.

Flourless Almond Brownies

If you make the macarons I posted about yesterday, you'll find yourself with some leftover almond praline. Not a huge problem, obviously, but I did - and these brownies are what I made with it. You can totally leave it out if you don't happen to have it, but it adds an extra touch of caramel which I found very welcome. (Just use more ground almonds.)

These are great on their own, but absolutely divine with a dollop of whipped cream. And as a bonus, they're gluten free!

Flourless Almond Brownies

225 g butter
225 g dark chocolate
200 g sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
150 g ground almonds
50 g almond praline



Melt butter and chocolate, and add sugar and vanilla. Let it cool slightly, then add the egg, almonds and almond praline. Stir until smooth.

Pour in a buttered cake tin and bake at 175°C for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool before taking them out of the pan.

Recipe in Swedish:
Mandelbrownies

Almond Praline Buttercream Macarons

Ah, macarons again! I actually made these quite a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to posting about them since the recipes are so long. Regardless of that, macarons are fun to make and easy to love. If you haven't yet, do give them a try!

I've made similar macarons before, but this time I'm folding the almond praline into a buttercream rather than into a chocolate ganache. They're simple, clean-tasting and rather crunchy. And delicious, but I don't need to tell you that.

Due to very popular demand, I might invite some people into my kitchen for very tentative "classes" on macarons. We'll see how that turns out...

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

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. 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. If you'd like, sprinkle some extra ground almonds on half of them. Leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, to form a skin.

Bake at 150°C for 10 minutes or so. (I have a convection oven, and in my earlier attempts, I baked them for 15 but am now down to about 10.) Let them cool completely before filling. Unused shells can be frozen, or kept in an air-tight container for a day or so.

Almond Praline Buttercream:
1/2 recipe for buttercream
100 g almond praline

Almond praline:
100 g sugar
65 g almonds, blanched and peeled

Lightly toast the almonds, either in the oven or in a dry frying pan. Chop coarsely.

Place the sugar in a heavy saucepan, and heat (on medium heat) until it's starting to melt. Don't stir it! Shake the pan lightly to help the sugar melt evenly, and when it's all turning golden brown, quickly add the almond and stir. Pour onto a silpat or teflon mat, and try to make it as thin as possible. (It's very very hot, so do this by covering with a second silpat or teflon mat, and press with an oven mitt.)

When the caramel has cooled, coarsely chop it and place in a food processor. Run into a very fine powder. This is your finished praliné - keep it in a tight-lidded jar.

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

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. Divide into half, and mix one half with the almond praline. (The other half keeps well in the fridge or freezer, but might need to be re-beaten before using.)

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 mandelsmörkräm

The simplest of dinners...

One cool thing about having an old, well-established food blog is that I get samples. And it's fun trying out things that I would perhaps have overlooked in the store, or just to find out about new stuff before it hits the market. I don't write about that many, and I never ever promise to write when the PR agencies ask me, but sometimes I find stuff blog-worthy. I hope you readers are ok with that policy.



Anyway. Recently I got two things in the same day - a lovely prosciutto di parma (which is my favorite anyway - I love that it doesn't contain any additives and is a natural product of protected origin), with grissini, and a new cheese for grilling from Swedish dairy-giant Arla. The latter also came with pears, melon and lime, so we quickly decided that dinner would be finger food.



And since you can never have too much cheese, we went to a lovely cheese store in Stockholm called Gamla Amsterdam ("Old Amsterdam") and bought a hard goat's cheese and the one in the picture above: Reypenaer. And wow, it was amazing. In the end, that and the prosciutto were my faves. The Apetina cheese was too tasteless - it was salty but that was really it. I prefer halloumi, if I want fried cheese. (And don't get me wrong, I love fried cheese!)

Wednesday bookmarks, May 18

Time to share some more bookmarks! I'm seeing all sorts of summery things in the blogosphere, so that's the focus.

First - and some would say most important - how about a drink? Smitten Kitchen posted about Vermontucky Lemonade and I can't wait. I also love her super cute glasses. Perfect!

Then, three chicken recipes in a row. Salsa Ranch Wraps from Kitchen Simplicity/, a Pot Pie with Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits from Joy the Baker, and a wonderful-looking Slow-Cooked Chicken Marbella.

Can't resist sweet stuff. Ever. How about Congo Bars from Curvy Carrot? It's a bar cookie with all sorts of goodies - dark chocolate, white chocolate, coconut, almonds... I'll try it sometime.

Here's something simpler, but quite intriguing: Cake Batter Chocolate Bark from Live Love Pasta. It uses ordinary cake mix to flavor chocolate bark. Weird! But certainly interesting...

Chocolate might not be what you're craving for summer, but how about gelato? This raspberry version from Apple a Day looks yummy, and since it doesn't need to sit overnight like egg-based custard ice cream it's quick and easy to make.

Want more? I keep all of my bookmarks here. For non-food-stuff, I've just started using Pinterest!

Quinoa Jambalaya

This recipe is the first thing I tried from Jacob Wismar's book that I wrote about here. It's a riff on a classic jambalaya, but with many differences. We liked it - it was a good weeknight dish that didn't take a lot of time to cook, and it felt fairly healthy as well. Quinoa is one of my favorite grains, and it works well here! I've mostly used it for cold salads before.

Beware of the spice measurements. I've adapted the original recipe to my taste and to fit the heat level of the spices I use, and I suggest you adapt as well. You might very well have spicier chili and curry than I do, and then using my amounts might make your dish very hot. Just saying!

Quinoa Jambalaya
Serves 4-6

1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp chili powder
200 g chorizo sausage, diced
200 g chicken (I used a boneless thigh), diced
1 red bellpepper, in strips
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
1 small sweet potato, diced
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
400 g crushed tomatoes (1 tin)
200 ml quinoa
300 ml water
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt, pepper

Start by rinsing the quinoa well, or it will taste bitter.

Next, heat the oil in a pot (you'll need a lid later!) and fry the curry and chili for a minute. Add the chorizo and chicken and fry along with the spices for a few minutes. Add the bellpepper, carrot, sweet potato and onion, and fry for a few more minutes.

Add garlic, tomatoes, quinoa, water and lemon. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover with a lid. Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with a dollop of yummy aioli.

Recipe in Swedish:
Quinoajambalaya

Lemon Buns

I threw a small birthday party for my sister last month, right before we went off to Spain. It was a simple cake-and-coffee affair, and because I really didn't feel like actually making a cake, I focused on buns instead. Namely, these deliciously spring-y lemon buns. I used a normal yeasted bun dough with cardamom, then filled the buns with lemon curd. (Oh, go ahead and use homemade if you have it, but I didn't.) After baking, I dipped the buns in melted butter and sugar. Absolutely great.

I don't think they'll keep very well though. I sent what few leftovers we had home with my guests, so I can't really say, but I strongly suspect they're best on the day they're made.

Lemon Buns
makes 24

25 g fresh yeast
200 ml cold milk
1/2 tsp salt
70 g glucose - I use white baking syrup, I suspect corn syrup will work as well
1 egg
1 tsp cardamom
zest from 1 lemon
500 g all-purpose flour
100 g cold butter in thin slices
1-200 ml lemon curd

For serving:
melted butter
sugar

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add some of the milk and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the rest of the milk, then the salt, syrup, the egg, cardamom and lemon zest. Stir well. Add the flour, gradually, and at last, the butter. Work into a smooth and supple dough. I used my Kitchen-Aid for about 6 minutes on medium speed.

Let the dough rest for about an hour, covered with a kitchen towel.

Divide the dough into two parts. Roll out the first part into a rectangle. Divide into twelve squares. Place a small spoonful of lemon curd on each, and fold the corners towards the middle, so you end up with a ball. Pinch the seams, and place, seam-side down, in a cupcake liner. Keep going with the remaining dough.

Let the buns rise, covered, for 45 minutes. Heat the oven to 225°C, and bake for 7-8 minutes.

Before serving, dip the top of the buns in melted butter, and then in sugar.

Recipe in Swedish:
Citronbullar

Happy birthday, Titus!

Titus is turning two today! How is that possible? Time is flying.


may, 2011


may, 2010


His very first day. May 14, 2009.

BBQ potatoes

YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!

Sorry, I don't usually shout. But really. This time. You have to.

This is the perfect side dish to go with grilled meat (or chicken), and it's absolutely great now that new potatoes are starting to pop up in the stores. There are a few unusual ingredients - chipotle paste which is a smokey chili paste, and smokey paprika which is really lovely and you should seek it out. There are two versions - picante (hot!) and dulce, and this time, I used dulce.

It also went really well with this parmesan sauce.

BBQ potatoes
serves 6-8

1,5 kilo new potatoes
2 red bellpepeprs
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp chipotle chili paste
2 tsp smokey paprika powder (Pimentón de la Vera)
1 tsp salt
4-5 tbsp canola oil



Clean the potatoes and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Cut the bellpeppers into large dice or strips, and add those. Mince the garlic, and mix with chipotle, paprika, salt and oil in a bowl. Toss with the potatoes - it's easiest if you use your hands.

Roast at 200°C for about 30 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
BBQ potatis

Wednesday bookmarks, May 11

Time to share a few new bookmarks again! It's a bit cake-heavy, since we have a lot of birthdays coming up in May. Titus is turning two and I'm turning.. 25, is it? Again? Anyway.

I'm thinking about making this Hummingbird Cake, from Bluebonnets & Brownies. Doesn't it look good? I've never tried one, but apparently it's like a sweet, fruitier carrot cake.

Another option, provided I can get some decent strawberries, is this gorgeous Strawberry Cornmeal Pound Cake! If not now, I'll definitely make it later in the summer.

I'm not the biggest pizza lover, and as it turns out, Titus won't eat it at all. Despite that, I'm eager to try this homemade pizza crust from my blogging friend Kari at Spisat.se - he blogs in Swedish - since it looks so good.

And pasta always looks good to me. This Tagliatelle with Orange Zest and Prosciutto? Oh, divine. Must try! It's from Bon Appétit, via The Bitten Word.

And finally, something to snack on, that's actually good for you! Honey-roasted chickpeas with cinnamon, anyone? They're from one of my fave mom-bloggers, Weelicious.

More bookmarks here.

Pan-Fried Gnocchi with mushrooms & spinach

Gnocchi is delicious. Little fluffy pillows, made from potatoes and flour - what's not to love? I've promised to make gnocchi myself, many times. However, I just can't seem to get around to it. I've tried, once, and failed miserably. (Thanks Jamie Oliver, for saying "use as little flour as possible" - NO, don't. Because they will turn to mush after cooking. You need a fair amount of flour, actually.)

So, I usually just stick to store-bought gnocchi. It usually contains additives that I don't really like, but once in a while, I can't resist. Besides, they're a quick dinner solution, and making them from scratch would pretty much take away from that.

This recipe might seem a bit fussy, and it does dirty several pans. Sorry about that. But I hope you'll like it anyway.

Pan-Fried Gnocchi with mushrooms & spinach
Serves 2-3

500 g gnocchi
200 g mushrooms
100 g spinach (fresh - or frozen, then thawed)
50 g bacon
250 ml cream (lighter versions are fine)
50 g parmesan, grated
butter or olive oil for frying
salt, pepper

Dice the bacon, and fry until crispy, in a dry pan. Slice the mushrooms, and fry them in the same pan, until they've lost all of their liquid and start to color. Add the spinach. Pour in the cream, and cook on low heat for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper if you'd like.

Boil the gnocchi in plenty of salted water. Meanwhile, heat a large grying pan and melt some butter. The gnocchi is cooked through when it starts to float - so fish out all the floating gnocchi with a skimmer, and move them to the frying pan. Fry all the gnocchi until lightly golden. Serve with the sauce.

Recipe in Swedish:
Smörstekt Gnocchi med champinjoner & bladspenat

Raspberry Quark Muffins

I love involving Titus in the kitchen. Sure, he's small, but he's definitely able to do a lot of stuff. And he is so interested! He'll move his chair, climb up and see what we're doing, and he often plays with various kitchen utensils... not always a good thing, we recently had an incident involving both Nespresso machines, a cupful of sugar and a lot of salt. Oh well. It cleaned up, eventually.



Anyway. Arla - the Swedish dairy producer - sent me two flavored quarks to review, raspberry and rhubarb. They also included a box of really cute cupcake liners, and a recipe for raspberry muffins. Well, how could I resist that? And after all, it's the perfect project with kids. To be honest, he only really showed interest in the mixing part, and later, with the tasting part.

They turned out pretty good! I know it's a rather specific recipe and revolves around a product many of you won't ever see. I don't really like doing that but I think raspberry-flavored yogurt might make a nice substitute, though!



Raspberry Quark Muffins
12

3 eggs
100 g sugar
50 g melted butter
250 g Kesella Raspberry (quark)
1 tsp baking powder
250 ml flour
24 frozen raspberries (or fresh!)

Beat eggs and sugar until very fluffy. Add the melted butter and the quark. Stir in baking powder and flour and mix gently. Divide into cupcake liners, placed in a muffin tin.

Stick two raspberries into each muffin. Bake at 200°C for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe in Swedish:
Hallonmuffins med kesella

Come picnic with me!

NEW DATE!

Summer is approaching fast, and that means the season for picnicing, too! I was talking to a blogging friend, Tea of Söta Saker, about this on Twitter, when we realized we should organize one big picnic to celebrate the warmer weather. Who's invited? Well, everyone! We thought it'd be really fun to invite all of our readers, as well as all our blogging friends, so feel free to spread this invitation to anyone who might be interested!

Bring whatever you'd like to eat or drink - enough to share, if you'd like, the more the merrier! And don't forget a blanket or something to sit on. If you have Facebook, you can respond to the event, but it's perfectly fine to just show up.

Date:
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Monday June 6

Time:
12-15

Place:
Djurgårdsbrunn, Stockholm.

Paella, my way

I've been promising you my recipe for paella for a while, so finally, here it is! I'm not saying this is The Way, but it's my way, and it turned out really good. I made this while we were in Spain, and we have a great big electric paella pan there. It's really perfect for this, but you can certainly make it in any big frying pan. Just make sure you have a lid.

I like to eat this with lots of garlicky allioli, which is the Spanish version of aïoli. It's always the first thing I buy when we're there - a little bright yellow jar, incredibly yummy.

Paella, my way
serves 4-5

3 small, raw chorizo sausages, chopped
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1,5 litre water
2 cubes chicken stock (bouillon cubes)
300 ml risotto rice (I prefer avorio)
1/2 g saffron
1/2 red pepper, diced
100 ml green peas (frozen are fine)
1 kg mussels, cleaned
1/2 kg shrimp, prawns or langoustines
some cooked chicken (optional)
lemon wedges, to serve
allioli, to serve



Start by frying the chorizo sausage in a paella pan, or a very large frying pan. It should get some color. Add the onion and garlic and fry for an additional minute or two.

Add water, chicken stock cubes, rice and saffron. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat until the rice is softened. Add the pepper and peas when you have a few minutes left. When the rice feels soft, add mussels and shrimp and cover with the lid. Wait for five minutes, by which time the mussels should be opened. (If they're not, I'm not taking any chances, so out they go.)

Serve straight away, with lemon wedges and allioli. Add some cooked chicken at the end if you'd like, instead of or in addition to the seafood.

Recipe in Swedish:
Paella på mitt sätt

Crema Catalana

Crema Catalana is the Spanish version of crème brûlée. It's actually quite similar, but apparently it's often milk-based rather than made with cream, and it often has cinnamon and orange. I haven't made it myself - do you have a favorite recipe?


After one minute.

In Spain, since we mostly ate in, we bought some ready-made Crema Catalanas for dessert, to eat with sliced strawberries. They were delicious - and quite fun, because to get the crispy caramelized top, they had a little packet... of something. I'm not sure what. Sugar and something else, because as you sprinkled it on top of the custard, it actually turned into caramel.

Sure, you get much better results by sprinkling sugar and using a torch to caramelize it - but as that wasn't an option, this was a pretty good substitute.

Tarragon Pork Tenderloin

Life of a food blogger: when you're really hungry, a photo of the leftovers will have to do. Also, this was very tasty. It's very rich, due to the cream and crème fraîche - feel free to use lighter versions if you'd like. (Even milk instead of the cream will work well, although this will make a runnier sauce.)

Tarragon Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4 (at least)

600 g pork tenderloin, in thin strips
200 g mushrooms, divided into smaller pieces
200 ml crème fraîche
200 ml cream
3 tbsp cognac
3 tbsp chili sauce (Heinz or similar - that means thick, and without much heat)
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt, pepper
butter for frying

Fry the meat in some butter. Let it color and then remove it from the pan. Brown the mushrooms and fry until they release their liquid. Add the meat back to the pan.

Whisk together cream, crème fraîche, cognac, chili sauce, tarragon and cayenne pepper, and add to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until your sauce looks good, and the meat is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice, and whatever fresh herbs you might have.

Recipe in Swedish:
Fläskfilé i dragonsås

Crochet a cat!

Totally, totally off topic. One of my blogging friends posted a link the other day, to Hjärtekatten. ("Heart-cat") It's a voluntary effort to collect crocheted cats for kids with heart disease. Everyone who wants to crochets, from the same pattern, and adds a heart with a few stitches on it, then sends it to the organizer. The cats are then distributed to sick kids. Isn't that just wonderful? I thought so, and immediately started to crochet. I'm happy to say that my first kitty was mailed today, and I hope she can cheer up someone's day. I named her Edith, after my own little cat with a heart disease, who passed away several years ago. (You can read about her here and here.)

I'm pretty sure I'll be making a few more of these. If you crochet, it's a fun and easy project, so join up!

Hjärtekatten's webpage
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