Monday 31 July 2017

Fake aoli with lemon - recipe

Today we went to Lidl and bought few grosseries after the playground. Kids wantd chips and meatballs but I craved calamaries and aoli. Of course, i had to come up with a fake aoli as i had no time to make one from scratch. It turned out really nice. Baby ate it with chips and approved it too :)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp Mayo
Dash of lemon pepper mix
Salt and pepper
Paprika powder 
Lemon juice

Method:
1. Mix everything in a bowl and served it chilled with the calamaries.I took a pinch of the spices, so add more or less, to your taste. Soo good and creamy, you won't be disappointed !




Enjoy!

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Leek and potato soup - recipe

When we are all I'll, I tend to make something simple but warm for us. Ideally a soup that is easy to eat, especially for kids. The one soupi came to think of to make few days ago, was this easy pieasy leek and potato soup. Very good and supricingly filling. You will definitely get more energy once you eat this soup.

Ingredients:
1 whole leek, sliced
4-5 potatoes, dices
2-3 tbsp cream fraiche
1 tsp cumin, ginger and nutmeg
1 small onion

Method:
1. Slice the leek and onion and put in a deep non stick pot. Add few tbsp of oil and fry on medium heat. Peeland dice the potatoes and add them in the pot. Mix and season with the spices and salt aswell as pepper to to taste.

2. Add few cups of boiling water and the cream fraiche, then let it simmer for good 20-30 min.

3. Blend it with food blender until the soup becomes smooth and silky. If to thick, add more boiled water until you have the desired consistency. Serve with a nice fresh baguette.



Enjoy!

Mediterranean style omelette with vegetables and fried aubergine

In our family, we tend to keep breakfasts simple. But sometimes we like to make a nice big meal, which involves frying and most likely eggs. We love eggs. Hubby made this really lovely omelette that has mushroom, tomatoes and paprika in it, surrounded by fried aubergines. So tasteful and filling.


Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 small onion
Few cherry tomatoes
Few mushrooms
Half paprika
Oil for frying
Seasoning to taste: 
Paprika,curry
Toscan spice mix
Garlic
Oregano
Half aubergine, sliced in circles


Method:
1. Frychopped tomatoes, mushrooms and paprika in few tbsp of oil until soft and golden. Add four raw eggs and mix well. Add the seasoning and mix few times until the scrambled egg is done. Put a side.

2. Slice the aubergine in round circles and season with salt and pepper to taste. Fryon high heat until well done.

3. Serve the scrambled egg in a round plate and put the fried aubergine slices in a circle on top. Serve it with a nice baguette and cup of hot tea. Delicious at any time of the day.


Enjoy!!

Bulgur pilaf with chickpeas and chicken - recipe

I would like to experiment little with bulgur and add more taste to it when I use it in my cooking. Today I decided to make a bulgur pilaf with chicken and chickpeas, as that was what I had at hand. It turned really good and fluffy. I think I will make this my picnic dish when we go out with the whole family. It can be served with alot really: a salad, pieces of meat, fish or just a bowl of yoghurt seasoned with mint and g,arlic. The choices are endless.



Ingredients:
1 cups bulgur with vermicelli
1 tbsp tomato puree
3-4tbsp oil
400g can of chickpeas
1 tsp cumin, garam masala, paprika powder
0,5 tsp ground ginger, garlic

Fried chicken:
4-5 chicken tenders cut to bite size
3-4 tbsp oil to fry in
1 tsp curry, paprika, cumin, parsley, ginger and garlic

Method:
1. Begin with cutting the chicken tenders in bite size pieces and marrinate in all the spices. Let sit for ten min. Then fry in an non-stick pan with few tbsp of oil on high heat. Turn ocassionaly and set aside once golden brown.

2. On a pot add few tbsp oil and the bulgur with vermicelli on medium heat. Add all the spices and the pure as well. Add the drained chickpeas. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add 2,5 cup of boiled water and let it come to a boil on high heat. Then turn the heat to the lowest setting and let it simmer for 20-30 min until the bulgur is soft and fluffy.

3. In a big serving dish, mix the bulgur pilaf with the chicken pieces. Serve with a nice tangy salad and maybe minty yoghurt.


Enjoy!

Friday 14 April 2017

Pasta with sausage and vegetables - recipe

Sometimes we go through the day so quickly and in such rush I don't have time to pick up toddler from nursery and have food ready when come home. That means I have to cook after while he play a little more. I tried one day to make this fast recipe and it turned out actually really nice.

Ingredients:
Half cup double cream
2-3 tbsp tomato pure
Toscana mix blend
2 pieces sun-dried tomato
1 cup frozen vegetables
2 chicken sausages 
Pasta of choose, 1 cup
Oil 


Method:
1. Cut the sasauge and as to a pain together with the vegetables with few tbsp oil.

2. Brown a little and add spices and salt. Add the pure and cream and let it come to a boil. Then let it simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Serve with green salad. Toddler approved by eating two bowls. Happy mummy ;)


Enjoy!

Milk stewed macaronies and chicken meatballs - recipe

Eating pasta every week, makes toddler and hubby requesting different dishes that don't have a red sauce. I agree with them, after few weeks even I get tired of the red sauce.

So today I made a favourite from when I went to school. I loved when they served milk stewed macaronies and meatballs. Toddler and baby approved so I will try to remember to make it more often. 


Most often, we would to get husmanskost at school and it is basically a term that refers to traditional home cooked Swedish food. I used to love it and will try make more recipes from traditional Swedish cuisine. It will be nice have a collection here where my kids will find useful in the future. This is my recipe of how to make milk stewed macaronies.

Ingredients:
4-5 dl macaronies
6-7 dl milk
1cup water
1 dl double cream
Salt, pepper nutmeg to taste

Method:
1. Put the liquids in a non-stick pan and let it come to boil. Add the seasoning to taste and add the macaronies. Lower the heat and let simmer slowly until sauce has thickened and macaronies are soft. Keep sterring so that it does not burn. 

2. Serve with meat of choice. I prefer meatballs and ketchup. The best combo when it comes to milk stewed macaronies. 



Enjoy!

Friday 7 April 2017

Bulgur with chicken and potato stew - recipe

As we are starting to eat less rice, I have made more dishes with bulgur. Tastes really good and my kids love it. It is still filling and goes well with almost any stew. I made it together with a nice chicken and potato stew this time. Nothing fancy really, only tried to use up whatever I had in pantry and freezer before doing the next big food shopping.


I always worry that the kids will not like it, but so far I have been actually lucky. They have accepted everything I have put on the table and they do eat with good appetite. I can only see myself as a lucky mum.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
3 potatoes
2 onions
1 bell pepper
half zucchini
fresh parsley
paprika, curry, 7 spices mix powder
1 vegetable stock
salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp tomato pure

Method:
1. Dice the chicken in 1 cm pieces and add to a deep pan with few tbsp of oil. Add rest of the vegetables and add the spices. Mix and let everything fry on high heat for 5 mins. Add 1 cup water and lower the heat. Add the tomato pure and let simmer for a good 30 min. Taste it and season if necessary.

2. Boil the bulgur according to the instructions of the package. I generally do the following: 1 cup of bulgur is added to a pot with few spoons of oil and salt. I mix well before I add 1 1/4 cup boiled water to the pan and throw in the vegetable stock too. I lower the heat to 1 and let it simmer for 20 mins. Afterwards I fluff the bulgur with a fork. 



3. Once the stew and bulgur is done, serve them together with a nice tangy green salad.


Enjoy!



Fried tortilla bread with chicken stuffing (quesadilla) - recipe

Taco and Mexican food is delicious to eat and I would say it is rather easy to make. But we always have tortilla bread as leftovers and they go hard as we never use them again.  But since I have a no waste policy I try to include them in a new dish some other day. This time I decided to make fried tortillas with chicken and potato stuffing. We liked it a lot and therefore I have decided to make these as nice snacks to take with us, when we go out for picnics once the weather is warmer.
Ingredients:
few tortilla breads
2 chicken breasts, cut in bite size pieces
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 dl sweet corn
1 yellow bell pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 dl grated cheese

Method:
1. Cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Fry it in a deep pan on high heat. Add some of the spices. Add slices potato, onion and bell pepper and add the remaining spices. Add the sweet corn as well and mix well. Put on the lid and lower the temperature so that the stuffing becomes little soft and mushy. 

2. Once the stuffing is done, put one of the tortilla breads in the pan and put stuffing of half of the bread. Fold over the other half and let it fry until golden brown. Turn to the other side and let both sides become golden. Add few tbsp oil if needed. Serve with a nice green salad. 




Enjoy!

Teriyaki salmon with vegetables and noodles - recipe

Hubby has mentioned a few times now, that we eat to much rice and should choose other options. So I will be trying some new priceless meals now :) Today I mad salmon with homemade teriyaki sauce, wok vegetables and egg noodles. 

I was worried that the sauce would not be good enough or taste completely different, as I do not often do this type of cuisine. But I felt that I need to try it and surprisingly it was really nice. What really made me happy was that even my toddler ate it with good appetite. 

Therefore, I think I will try to be brave enough to make more from the Asian cuisine. We generally love to eat it outside, so not it is time fore me to make it home cooked as well.


Ingredients:

3-4 pieces of salmon
Egg noodles cooked according to the package
Pack of frozen wok vegetables, 500 grams
sesame seeds
1/2 dl soy sauce
1 tsp sweet chilli sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp curry powder
few tbsp oil
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil


Method:
1. Start by putting the frozen wok vegetables in a deep pan and fry it in a few tbsp of oil on high heat. Add 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce and curry powder. Once it is golden brown, put aside.

2. Make the teriyaki sauce by adding soy sauce, 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic powder to a sauce pan on medium heat. Stir it and add the cornstarch so that it starts to thicken. Taste it and add whatever you feel is missing. Lastly, add the sesame oil and sesame seeds.

3. Take have of the sauce and brush it onto the salmon pieces. Bake them in the open until golden brown for about 20-30 minutes in 200 degrees.

4. Once the salmon pieces are done, it is time to assemble the dish. Start with the noodles, then the wok vegetables and put on top a piece of the salmon. Brush more of the teriyaki sauce of the salmon.





Enjoy!

Wednesday 15 March 2017

Vegetable wok with chicken tenders and rice - recipe

Today I tried to use up some of the things I had in the freezer. I had a bag of frozen wok vegetables and a few chicken tenders. Together with soy sauce and rice that are always available at home, it was a piece of cake to put them together to this delicious wok meal. Quick dish that don't require alot of work as the vegetables were already cut, which is nice. Here it goes.

Ingredients:
A bag of frozen wok vegetables
Few chicken tenders
Rice
Oil
Soy sauce
Seasoning: ground ginger, paprika, curry powder, cumin, salt pepper

Method:
1. Cut the chicken tenders in bite sizes and fry in a pan with few tbsp of oil. Add some curry powder and salt to taste. Once golden brown set aside.

2. Fry the wok vegetables in oil in same pan on medium/high heat. Add the seasoning and few drops of soy sauce. Once done, set aside.

3. Cook the rice according to the package. Add some seasoning. I used ginger powder, curry, turmeric and few pods of cardamom.

4. Once everything is cooked, serve it all together, rice, wok vegetables and finish with the chicken. Add more soy sauce. It was really good and full of flavours. Nothing authentic, still wonderful and filling. 



Enjoy!

Berry pie with vanilla icecream

Often when hubby is asked to buy stuff, he buys many of the same category to safeguard from getting told of in Case he buys the grown item. Instead of puff pastry he bought pie dough. Oh well, no in harm in that. It is always nice to find new items to experiment with in the kitchen. 


So before the pie do experied, hubby reminded me to use it up. I had frozen berries and vanilla ice cream in the freezer. So I thought let's make a nice dessert.

Ingredients:
Bought pie dough
Frozen or fresh berries, blue berries and strawberries
Ripe pear
Vanilla sugar
Vanilla ice cream 

Method:
1. I rolled out the dough and placed it in an oven form. All excess dough I cut in long strips. Then I cut the berries in thin slices. I put the pear slices first and then the blueberries and strawberries. Sprinkled over the vanilla sugar to taste, roughly 2 tsp. 

2. I folded down the pie dough from the form and added the strips of the leftover. It almost covered it all. Then baked the pie in the oven for about 40 minutes at 180 degrees. I took out once it was golden brown.

3. To be served with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream. It was so tasty. The pie was not to sweet so it was perfect with the ice cream



Enjoy!

Tuesday 14 March 2017

Spagetti with this lovely cheese sauce and toscan dip spice blend works heavenly together. Today hubby craved a white pasta as he was tired of the red pasta he declared. So we made up a version together. He cooked the spaghetti, I explained that we needed to make a cheese sauce so he grated cheese. After max 30 min, it was all put together. The taste is so rich and flavourful, thanks to this lovely dip blend. I bought it from the oil and vinegar shop.
Ingredients:
Spaghetti, boiled according to package
2-3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp flour
1-2 cup grated cheese
1 cup milk
Toscana dipper spice mix to taste
1 tsp grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper
Olive oil to taste

Method:
1. Boil the spaghetti according to package, drain it and sprinkle over some of the spice mix.

2. Add flour, oil and milk in a deep pan and mix well to prevent flour to become lumpy on medium/high heat.

3. Add the cheese and mix well until it has melted and the sauce thicken a bit. Add salt, peppar, spice mix to taste. 

4. Once sauce is done, mix it with the spaghetti and sprinkle some dried herbs over and some grated parmesan cheese over. You will love this rich, yet simple vegetarian meal, I promise!


Enjoy!

Monday 13 March 2017

Basbousa (semolina and coconut) cake - recipe

When I visited a friend who got a new baby she served us this delicious cake. It was home made and very tasty. I said you should not have gone trough the trouble and made a cake, you must be tired. But she shared her secret with me and I have to admit, it was one of the easiest cake recipes I have seen and baked. All you need is a glass!



The cake is named Basbousa, a famous Middle Eastern cake that is drenched in a sugary syrup. But I find it to sweet so I simply serve it as is without any syrup. This semolina cake should be tried, as both young and old have approved it every time I make it. Use the same glass to measure the ingredients.

Ingredients:
1 glass oil, 1 glass semolina, 1 glass natural yogurt, 1 glass coconut, 1 glass sugar,

1-2 tsp vanilla,
1 tsp baking powder,
2 eggs
Almonds

Method:
1. Break the eggs on a bowl and add the sugar and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix slowly so that everything is incorporated well. You can also add few drops of orange flower water to add more flavour if you want, but I don't add it.

2. Coate the cake form well in oil and coconut flakes, so that it prevents the cake from sticking to the form, once it is done.



3. Add the dough to the oven form and put almonds on top. You should think of squares, where each should have one almond in it, to measure the distant between the almonds.

4. Bake it in the oven (180 degrees) for roughly 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

5. Once it has cooled down put a kitchen paper under so that all excess oil is removed from cake, when you cut it. It is a very light and fluffy cake, that just melts in your mouth.



Enjoy!

Guacamole with creme fraiche - recipe

I bought a net of avocados at Lidl thinking baby will like it. But he spat it out no matter what I mixed it with. So I forget them in the fridge. After few days I saw them and decided to use them up. They were perfectly ripen and perfect for a guacamole. To make it a healthier option, I used crisp flat bread instead of tortilla crisps. Equally yummi!


Ingredients:
4-5 small ripe avocados
2-3 tbsp creme fraiche
Handful chopped fresh parsley
1 ripe tomato, chopped
Juice from 1 lemon
Seasoning to taste: salt, garlic powder, cumin, paprika

Method:
1. Cut out the avocado flesh and mash it with a fork in a wide bowl. Press the lemon juice over it, to prevent the avocados to become brown. Add the creme fraiche and mix well.

2. Chopp the parsley and tomato finely and add it to the bowl. Season it with the spices to taste. Mix well and cover with plastic foil and keep it in the fridge.

3. Serve with crisp flat bread or tortilla chips. I made the flat bread crispier by putting it in the toaster for few seconds. Be careful not to burn it though.

Enjoy!


Wednesday 8 March 2017

Homemade hot chocolate

When you thought that it is time to remove all winter clothes and shoes, the weather suprices us with 20 cm of snow during the night. Oh well, the smile on toddler's face in the morning when he looks out through the window, so worth it. But I had to treat myself to a nice hot cup of homemade chocolate. Super easy!!


Ingredients:
Roughly 1-2 dl double cream
4-5 dl milk
2 tbsp kakao powder
2 tsp sugar
Season of choose: I chose a sprinkle of vanilla powder and ground cardamom

Method:
Mix everything in a sauce pan on medium heat until well mixed and piping hot. Don't let it boil though. Gives enough chocolate for two cups in case you like to share it. 

I enjoyed it with a nice cheese sandwich ;)

Enjoy!

Monday 27 February 2017

Swedish chocolate balls or rolls, chokladboll - recipe

Today toddlers and I wanted something sweet, but we did not have anything åt home. But as I always have baking ingredients at home I decided to make Swedish chocolate balls with toddler as they don't require baking, just your hands. With kids it can get messy but oh so fun!


Recipe:
2 dl oats
50- 75 g butter
3 tbsp cacao powder
2 tsp vanilla powder
2 tbsp water or instant coffee
1 dl sugar
Sugar pearls or shredded coconut or nuts of your choice


Method:
1. Put all dry ingredients on a bowl and mix well.
2. Put the room temratured butter in the bowl while making it into chunks with ur hand. Mix then everything well. It will get greasy and messy.
3. Take some of the dough and roll into a round ball and dipp it in sugar pearls or any other topping of your choice. In Sweden we also often use coconut to roll them in. But you can also use almond shavings or nuts cut in smaller pieces.


Enjoy!