Pork and Apple Sausasge

This is not a step by step recipe... you can pretty much figure it out by looking at the pictures. Today I went by a local sausage store and bought some pork and apple sausages.  Buying sausages at a specialty store is not in my mind the same thing as buying hot dogs or other mass produced sausages.  These sausage are made on site, they are fresh and made with pure product.  I would love to make my own but don't have the equipment to do so yet (anyone want to sponsor me?). Anyhow I bought some good sausages, boiled some potatos, seared the sausages in a pan and then put them in the oven.  Then in the pan which I seared the sausage in, I seared some red onions, beans,  cocktail tomatos and the cooked potatos  with some olive oil and when it was almost done I added some baby spinach as well I sprinkled some manchego cheese over it but you can use parmesean or whatever you have.  I served a little dijon creme fraiche with this meal.  It was fast and very tastey!

Vegetarian of the Week: Red Vegetable Rice with Paneer

As a lot of Indian food is vegetarian and as we try to eat vegetarian at least once a week, I decided to do an Indian inspired meal.  This might seem a little complicated but its not that hard once you get started it's just a lot of ingridients.  Paneer is an Indian cheese it turned out to be like a mix between feta and haloumi sort of... I made my own paneer but I suppose you could try buy it or even a halloumi would work (if, how should I say this... you are lazy). Papadums is a thin crisp Indian bread.  I used red rice because i like the taste and the texture of it and its also healtier than white rice.

paneer

2 liter milk

1dl yougurt

1/2 lemon

salt & pepper

1 bunch of dill

3 papadums

2 eggs 

Bring the milk to a boil, let it boil for two minutes while stirring costantly.  Add the yogurt and squeeze in the lemon juice, add salt and pepper.  At this point the milk will now break and that is suppose to happen.  Take it off the heat and add the dill strain it threw a kitchen towel, letting all the liquid run off then put it in a baking form put another form over and then put some weigth on it (I used a packet of milk). The weight is to give a nice dense cheese as well to shape it.  Place it in the refridgerator for one hour. START HERE IF YOU BUY CHEESE: Fry the papadums in oil quick so they get crunchy, then crush them into small crumbs.  Cut up the paneer, first dip it in the eggs then the papadums, then sear them in oil on both sides.  Put aside.

the rice

3dl red rice

1/2 cauliflower

4 potatos

1 spring onion

1 bunch of cilantro

1yellow onion 

4 slices of red chili

1tblsp of fresh ginger

2tblsp of minced garlic

2tblsp of grounded coriander seeds

2tblsp of black mustard seeds

2tblsp of cumin

2tblsp of grinded chili

2tblsp of curry leafes

2tblsp of turmeric

3dl of chicken stock(veggie stock if your vegetarian)

Start by boiling the rice. Then slice up the potatos, yellow onion and the caluiflower. Warm up some oil in a pan add all the spices and the chili, ginger and garlic and let it all sweat in the pan for a minute then add the vegetables and let it sear for a while before adding the stock.  After the stock is added put on a lid and let it cook for 10 minutes then add the cooked rice and let it cook together for another couple of minutes.  At the last minute add the spring onion and the cilantro.  

Warm up the paneer in the oven and we're done.  I served this with a cucumber yogurt (just chop up some cucumbers and mix it with yogurt and squeeze in some lemon).  

Fried Herring

Here comes another Swedish classic"stekt strömming"(fried herring).  Herring is  one of the fishes that you still can buy without spending a fortune.  In Sweden we eat herring on our holidays like midsummer, easter and christmas although on these occasions it is usually pickled.  This recipe is a good everyday dinner.  In the western part of Sweden they eat lingonberries (of course ) to this dish so try that if you like,  I don't do this.  I get my fair share of lingonberries with other dishes.  Herring is very rich in omega 3 so that's a good reason to try this.  In this recipe I use a cider vinegar mustard which I think is very good but use what ever mustard you prefer.

700g of herring 

1 bunch of dill

3 tbs  mustard (cider vinegar flavored)

2 egg yolks

2dl bread crumbs

2dl whole grain flour

salt  & pepper

Start by putting the egg yolks, mustard and dill in a bowl, mix it togehter. Then mix the flour and the bread crumbs and put them out on craftpaper (baking paper), place the herring with the skin side down in the flour mix then put on the mustard mix and then put another herring on top of the first herring filet then put the flour mix on top as well.   Sear it on medium heat in a pan until golden brown.  I serve this with mashed potatos and browned butter.

The mashed potatoes I do like this: boil potatoss, warm up some milk and butter, when the potatos are done drain the water and then smash them then beat them together with the warm milk and butter.  Season with salt and pepper.

The browened butter: put butter in a pan and melt until golden brown be careful you don't want it to get burned it should look like the picture below.  When it starts to smell nutty it is ready.  Take it off the stove and strain it.

Potato Pancake (Raggmunk)

This is a Swedish classic, and as you might know by now there are three ingredients which keep turning up in any sentence that has the words "Swedish" and "classic", that is potatos, pork (often thick cuts similar to Canadian bacon) and lingonberries.

Raggmunk is one of those classics that modern Swedes don't eat that often anymore but when they see it on a menu... ahhh raggmunk! Trust me I know, we have it on the menu at my work and I make quite a few everyday. It's also very kid friendly as it's almost like eating pancakes for dinner...

my daughter says its her favorite dish.

Raggmunk

8-10 potatos

1 yellow onion

4 eggs

5 dl flour

1 liter milk

salt & pepper

Start by doing the pancake batter mix the eggs with 2 dl of the milk then whisk in half of the flour then add the rest of the milk and the flour. Mix it well so you don't have any lumps in it then shredd the potatos and the onion and place that into the batter. Add salt and pepper. Fry it on medium heat in butter and oil until golden brown.  Serve it with canadian bacon or regular bacon and lingonberries (my lingonberry recipe is found HERE)

Tomato Ketchup

Making your own ketchup is easy, fast and tastey. It may not taste exactly like store bought ketchup but at least you are sure what is in it! Homemade ketchup will last for approximately three weeks in the fridge.

ketchup

6 tomatos

1,5 dl brown sugar

1,5 dl apple cider vinegar

3 gloves of garlic

1/4 of red chili

1 tblsp tomato puree

1 yellow onion

Boil the tomatos for 1 minute then put them in cold water and peel of the skin. Then place them with everything else in a pot and simmer for 12-15 minutes. Give it a good mix with the hand mixer or processor then strain through a strainer. Let it simmer for 15 more minutes until it has the right ketchup consistency put in salt and pepper.  Done.

Swedish Semla (Fat Tuesday)

On Tuesday it's "fettisdagen" here in Sweden, translated fat Tuesday. Here in Sweden we take it literally and therefore it is semlor day. This year I am two days ahead (but they sold semlor in the bakery as ealry as just after christmas so it's okey). Semlor are a very filling and not at all healthy bun which is filled with whipped cream and sweet almond paste. They are very good but you kind of feel sick after eating one so once a year is good for me!

buns

1 egg

50g yeast

100g butter

3 dl milk

2 teaspoon cardamon

1dl sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda (or 0,5 teaspoon ammonium carbonate, hjorthornsalt)

1 liter flour

brushing

1 egg

filling

3dl sweet almonds

2dl sugar 2 dl milk

4dl heavy cream

To make the buns put the yeast in a food processor. Seperately, melt the butter and add the milk. Warm it up to 37C. Pour the milk and the butter over the yeast and blend it. Add the egg and then everything else. Blend it until it is smooth dough. Let it rise for 40 minutes. Take it up and roll small balls. Brush them with a whipped egg. Let it rise for 35 more minutes (under a towel). Place them in the oven at 200C for 10 minutes. Let them then cool off. While the buns are cooling place the almonds and the sugar in a bowel, bring the milk to a boil and then pour it over the almonds. Mix it with hand mixer or processor. Slice the top of the buns. Take out some of the bottom filling. Put the filling in the almond paste, mix, then put the paste back into the bun. Add the whipped cream and the put the bun top back on top. Add powdered suger.