Salmon baked with creme fraiche - recipe

We often enjoy rice with some kind of stew or curry at home because it's the kids favorite dish. 

However,it is also important to incorporate fish into our diets. My favorite way of enjoying fish is by baking it in the oven and serve it with boiled potatoes, which is what this recipe will focus on. Baking salmon fish with a delightful creme fraiche sauce. 

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillet
1 container of creme fraiche
6-7 boiled potatoes
steamed vegetables
cherry tomatoes
herbes de Provence
paprika powder
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Place the salmon fillets in an ovenproof dish. Mix the creme fraiche with the herbs and spices, and pour the mixture over the fillets. Add halved cherry tomatoes on top. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and golden.

2. Serve the baked salmon with boiled potatoes and steamed vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. Enjoy this flavorful and nutritious meal!

Enjoy!

Spinach and Mozzarella Pastry Baked Salmon - recipe

As much as I adore classic salmon with potatoes, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes that offer a fresh take on this beloved dish. Scrolling through Instagram's quick food videos, I stumbled upon a tantalizing idea: pastry baked salmon. Eager to experiment, I decided to recreate this recipe at home, adding a delightful twist to our salmon repertoire. 

Ingredients:

Three boneless salmon fillets

1 ready-to-use pastry roll

1 mozzarella cheese ball

1 onion

1 handful of fresh spinach leaves

2 tbsp creme fraiche

spices: fish mix, herb blend, paprika powder, garlic powder to taste

Method:

1) Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and line a baking dish with parchment paper. Unroll the pastry dough and place it in the prepared baking dish. 

 2) Arrange the salmon fillets evenly on top of the pastry dough.

 3) In a skillet, gently sauté the chopped onion and spinach leaves with creme fraiche until the mixture is fragrant and the spinach is wilted. Season with your preferred spices, such as fish mix, herbs, paprika powder, and garlic powder.

 4) Spoon the spinach and onion mixture over the salmon fillets, ensuring an even distribution. Slice the mozzarella cheese ball into thin slices and layer them on top of the spinach mixture.

5) Using a knife, cut the pastry dough into strips as shown in the picture. Carefully lay one strip of dough over the filling at a time, weaving them together to create a braided effect.

Brush the pastry with oil and sprinkle dried herbs on top for added flavor and visual appeal.

Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the salmon is cooked through.

6) Once baked, remove from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Slice into portions and enjoy your delectable spinach and mozzarella pastry baked salmon with a side salad. 

Enjoy!

Sandwich Ideas

Sandwiches is something I eat often and for every meal if I may choose. Bread is my biggest problem. I love it and I love it a lot. But I have come to the conclusion that it is OK as long as we eat them in moderation. For a girlfriend's birthday party I opted to do the sandwiches, as I have done so many different ones and with lots of variations in my life. No one protested :). I used white and brown  square bread as well as brown bread rolls. Tried to use different spreads and fillings, but ended up with classic fillings to make sure there were no surprises for picky eaters.

1. Smoked salmon and cucumber. For the first sandwich I used cream cheese as a spread and added smoked salmon and shavings of cucumber that was made by using the cheese slicer to get them evenly thick.
                           

2. Turkey and vegetable sandwich. The second sandwich has a cream cheese spread, roasted onions, cheddar cheese, turkey slice, cherry tomatoes and lettuce.

3. These two sandwiches where cut in 4 squares and served with some crisps. I have never seen any where else where they add crisps in their sandwiches, but here they do. Have to say that the crunchy sandwiches are delicious.

 4. Egg and potato sandwiches. This filling was little more dense than the other two but they got a high mark too. Boiled eggs and boiled potatoes were mixed in a bowl. I added 2 tbsp of mayo, curry powder, paprika powder and water cress. Salt and pepper to taste and then cut in halves.

5. Scrambled egg sandwiches. The last filling was scrambled eggs on buttered toast with water cress. All sandwiches got thumbs up and the plates were soon empty to my happiness. 

Hope this post will give a few ideas of different sandwich fillings from the normal everyday sandwich.

Enjoy!

Seared Salmon with Mashed Potato and Vegetables - Recipe

Whenever I cook my seared salmon with mashed potato and vegetables, I think of the lunch meals we were given at school in Sweden. This meal used be one of the many tasty ones served at my school. I was fortunate to go to a grade/high school that made lovely food at school which was healthy and delicious. I remember when I finished 9th grade and was going to high school, one thing that worried me was the food. So I shared my thought with the food lady in the school canteen and she started to laugh. She told me that they actually cook food for that high school as well. I was so happy that the next three years' school meals would be equally good. I often find me thinking of the various meals given during that period and try to cook it. Whatever recipe I use, It always turns out as good as it used to be several years ago.

Ingredients:

2 big salmon fillet

3-5 potatoes

1 cup frozen peas and sweet corn

1-2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp corn oil

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

sesame seed

paprika powder

ca 1 cup milk

Method:

1- Start by seasoning the salmon fillet with salt, pepper, paprika powder and sesame seeds. Heat a non-stick pan on high heat with the corn oil or any other oil of your choice. Place the salmon fillet with the skin side down  and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes or until browned and cooked half way through. At this point, reduce the stove to medium heat. Don't be tempted to move it to much. Then turn the fillet and cook for another couple of minutes until cooked through.

2- Boil the potatoes according to your own special way, until tender. Then add milk, and butter and season with salt, pepper and some paprika powder. Mash it up and put aside.

3- Last step is to fry the frozen vegetables in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Serve them together with the mashed potato and seared salmon and sprinkle a few extra sesame seeds over the vegetables.

Enjoy!

Swedish Salmon, Broccoli and Potato Gratin Dauphinois (laxlåda) - Recipe

One of my favorite memories from my Uni time is the various dishes we used to have for lunch or dinner while studying til late when we were about to have exams. A dear friend and I used to have Laxlåda (Salmon Gratin Dauphinois) every Tuesday at the restaurant on the ground floor of the Science Park building. Their salmon gratin was so creamy and cooked to perfection, that I never grew tired of it. One thing that annoyed me though, was that I could never wait for it to cool down and would always burn my mouth with the first bites.  But I simply had to have it once every week. So this is my take on that luscious and creamy gratin.

Ingredients

2 big salmon fillets

3-4 potatoes, sliced

1 cup of broccoli

1/3 cup of leek sliced

grated cheese

1 cup of double cream

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Seasoning: dried dill, chives, parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard

Method:

1- Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Cut the salmon to bite size pieces and layer them in a deep baking dish. Add a layer of leeks, broccoli and some of the grated cheese on top of the salmon.

2- Layer the sliced potatoes and pour over the cream sauce. Make the cream sauce, by simply mixing the double cream, milk, eggs and the seasoning, to your taste, in a bowl and pour it over the ingredients in the baking dish. If there is any element of the seasoning you don't like, simply leave it out.

3- Finish it of with another layer of grated cheese. Bake it in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until everything is golden brown and cooked through.

Enjoy!

Pan-fried Salmon with Couscous - Recipe

One of my favorite healthy meals are pan-fried salmon with couscous and fried vegetables. Why? Because it is so quick to do it. You might think that frying the salmon and vegetables are not particularly healthy, but it depends on what oil and what frying pan you use. I had some couscous left over from a previous dinner and decided to make a fish meal. Since salmon is one of my favorite fish it had to be my couscous and salmon dish. By adding vegetables, fried or boiled, it fills you up without adding too many calories.

Here, I used olive oil and a good non stick frying pan, for the salmon as well as the vegetables. A true 15 minute meal. Beat that Jamie Oliver :) 

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet, chopped into pieces

3 tbsp  chilli olive oil

1/2 cup frozen vegetables

1/3 cup instant couscous (leftover from a previous dinner)
2 tsp lemon juice

Spices: Pinch of salt and pepper, dried dill, lemon and garlic powder, fish spice mix
Spices for vegetables: Garlic and lemon powder, salt and pepper, smoked paprika, dried dill

Method:

1- I took out the left over couscous and heat it up in the microwave. Alternatively, make a cup of couscous according to the instruction on the package. Set aside.

2- Let the salmon fillet come to room temperature. Heat up a non stick frying pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Mix all the spices and the lemon juice and pour it over the fillet and make sure it is coated on both sides. Fry the fillet skin side down for about 2-3 minutes. Then turn the fillet and fry the other side for another 2-3 minutes or until you see the fillet is cooked through. With a wooden spoon cut up the fillet into bite size pieces and give the salmon cubes another minute in the frying pan. Set aside.

3- Wash the frozen vegetable mix to remove any ice lumps. Then add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil or less if needed in same frying pan. Sprinkle over the spices for the vegetables and fry them for few minutes until they are golden brown.

4- Serve the salmon together with the vegetables and couscous. Squeeze over some lemon juice for to keep it tasty and moist.

Enjoy!