Chocolat Coconut Brûlée

 I rarely make desserts nowadays, or at least, so it seems. (I eat plenty of sweets, just not anything fancy. Or well, prepared.) So, as we haphazardly invited friends for dinner, I decided it was well about time to make something proper. And I had a lot of rhubarb to harvest. I decided on a variation on crème brûlée, with a rhubarb compote at the bottom. And coconut milk in lieu of regular milk, for a tropical touch. The recipe I used, from the cookbook "Strawberries and rhubarb" (a Danish book, by Sandra Leigh Dreznin) stated that it was enough for four servings. Instead, I got twelve. For the last four, I didn't have enough rhubarb since I was a bit too generous in the beginning, so I added a small handful of chocolate chips to each ramekin before pouring on the coconut-cream mixture. THAT turned out to be genious. The rhubarb ones turned out too watery and soggy, but the chocolate ones were delicious.

Chocolate Coconut Brûlée
12 small ramekins
12 tbsp chocolate chips
250 ml cream
400 ml coconut milk (1 can)
1 vanilla bean
6 egg yolks
8 tbsp sugar

Extra sugar, for brûlée-ing.

Combine cream and coconut milk in a saucepan, scrape out the vanilla bean and the seeds and the whole bean, and heat until boiling.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add a spoonful of the warm cream mixture and whisk well, to temper the yolks. Then pour the yolks into the sauce pan and whisk well to combine. Heat on medium heat for a few minutes, but don't let it boil. It should thicken slightly.

Divide the chocolate between the ramekins, and then top with the cream-egg mixture. Place the ramekins in a large roasting dish. Pour warm water in the dish, to about half the height of the ramekins. Bake at 150°C for about 40-50 minutes. They should be just set. Cool, and let sit in the fridge for at least one hour but preferrably more.

Just before serving, sprinkle with sugar and use a small torch to caramelize the surface.

Lamb Meatballs in Coconut Sauce

Another really yummy dinner. I loved this, my husband did as well, and the little ones ate a fair share. Well, the four-year old found it a bit on the spicy side, but he's in a very picky phase. I can't figure out why I didn't take a photo - I rarely forget but sometimes, apparently, it happens. You'll have to make do with this happy picture of Dante, who really enoyed this. Update: found the photo on My iPad!

Lamb Meatballs in Coconut Sauce
serves 4

500 g lamb mince
1 egg
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
100 ml water
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
butter, for frying

Sauce:
400 ml coconut milk
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lemongrass stalk
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1-2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ancho chili
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
100 ml cream (optional)

Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs, and roll into large round balls. (About ten.) Brown in butter on medium heat.

For the sauce, pound the lemongrass to get maximum flavor and cut into large pieces. (You'll be fishing them out later!) In a large pot, mix coconut milk, garlic, lemongrass, ginger and all the spices. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and let them simmer until done, a few minutes. At this point, I decided to add a little cream as the sauce was pretty spicy, but you can leave it out if you prefer.

Serve with rice, and fresh coriander. We also had red bellpepper, and had I thought ahead, I'd have added some toasted cashews.

Blueberry Macarons with Coconut & White Chocolate

Another macaron variation! I found these to be particularly delicious, probably because of the filling which was just.. yum. I happened to have white chocolate with coconut in it, which was way too sweet to eat on its own, but it works here. If you can't find that chocolate, you can just use regular white chocolate, and add, perhaps 3-4 tablespoons, of lightly toasted coconut flakes.

Blueberry Macarons with Coconut & White Chocolate
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 tbsp blueberry powder (I found this in a health food shop)

Combine powdered sugar, blueberry powder 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. 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.

White Chocolate Coconut Ganche

200 g white chocolate with coconut (Lindt makes this)
100 g cream (35-40% fat content)

Coarsely chop the chocolate and place in a bowl. Heat the cream until boiling and add to the bowl, and stir until smooth. Let the ganache cool and thicken, so you can pipe it on top of the cookies.

Recipe in Swedish:
Blåbärsmacarons med kokos & vit choklad

Cardamom Chicken with Coconut Rice

This is an oh-so-delicious dinner, based on a recipe by Lotta Lundgren in an awesome new Swedish cookbook called "Om jag var din hemmafru" ("If I was your housewife"). I'll tell you about the book in a little while, I need to review it properly as it's really one of the best cookbooks to come out in a long time.

I'll make this again, but I'll change a few things. I think I'll use cream instead of milk to soak the coconut, and add it to the chicken mince. And I don't think the breadcrumbs are necessary in that case, since cream seems to bind the mince fairly well. And I might skip toasting the cardamom, to me, it didn't make a big difference.

Serve it with something fruity. Lotta suggests mango chutney, and I happened to have a bottle of Mango-Ginger Habanero Sauce that was awesome. Stir-fried veggies would be good as well, and a pinch of cilantro is always a good idea.

Cardamom Chicken with Coconut Rice
Serves 4

450 g chicken thighs (or breast)
1 egg
50 ml breadcrumbs
50 ml coconut flakes (unsweetened)
3 tbsp milk
salt
1 tsp whole cardamom seeds
butter, for frying

300 ml basmati rice
1 can - 400 ml - coconut milk
200 ml water
a pinch of salt

Start by soaking the coconut in the milk for about half an hour.

Toast the cardamom in a dry skillet for a minute or so, and then grind to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar. Cut the chicken into large dice, and mince in a food processor - it'll be super fast, so don't overmix.

Drain the coconut flakes, and mix with the chicken mince, cardamom, egg, breadcrumbs and salt. Shape flattened patties, and fry in a little butter for about 5 minutes on each side.

For the rice, mix the rice, coconut milk, water and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and let the rice simmer, covered, until the rice is soft and the liquid is absorbed. (20-25 minutes.)

Recipe in Swedish:
Kardemummakyckling med kokosris