Tafelspitz with seasonal veggies

Tafelspitz

• 1 kg Tafelspitz (beef from ox) or roast beef
• 1 Onion
• 1 Carrot
• 1 clove Celeriac
• 1 Leek
• 8-10 Parsley stalks
• fresh Thyme
• 2 Bay leaves
• 8-10 White peppercorns
• Salt

Cover the meat with water in a saucepan. Bring it to boil for a few minutes. Take the meat out and rinse it with water. Put the meat back in the saucepan with new water, make it boil again.

In the meantime prepare the vegetables and spices. Cut the onion, the leek, the celeriac and the carrot in smaller pieces. Add it all into the water and simmer together with the meat for 1,5 – 2 hours.

After 2 hours take out the meat and let it cool, strain the stock and save it for another time. Put the meat back in the saucepan and put a weight on it, for example a mortar. Leave it for a couple of hours.

Sauce

• 2 hardboiled Eggs
• 1 Red onion
• 2 tbsp Capers
• 1 dl Parsley
• 1 small Pickled gherkin
• 2 tbsp Horse radish

We served our Tafelspitz with potatoes, carrots, leek and radishes that we boiled in the stock.

Music: Salem al Fakir’s singel – Keep on Walking

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

We both had a cold this last week and needed something to cheer us up so we started planning a menu with the very healthy apple as the connecting ingredient.

Oysters with apple

• 8 Oysters
• 2 tbsp Vinegar (apple cider)
• 2 tbsp dry apple Cider
• 2 teaspoon Sugar
• 2 teaspoon Olive oil
• zest from half a Lemon
• White pepper
• 1/2 frozen Apple

Open the oysters and marinate them in the vinegar, cider, sugar, olive oil, lemon zest and white pepper. Clean the oyster shells and put them in the freezer.

Grate the frozen apple. Take out the frozen shells, put some grated apple in the bottom, add an oyster and little of the marinade and garnish with some more frozen apple.

Smoked lamb, cucumber salad and chervil foam

• 150 g Lamb fillet or other tender pieces
• 1 Cucumber, peeled and cored
• 1 dl Yoghurt
• 1 tbsp Cumin
• 3 Shallots
• 4 dl Chicken broth
• 2 dl Apple juice
• 2 dl Milk
• 2 dl Cream
• zest and juice from 1-2 Lemons
• 50 g Chervil (or mint, Thai basil)
• Salt and black pepper

Start with the lamb. Mix a litre cold water with 1 dl salt to a transparent fluid. Add the lamb and salt for 5 min. Dry the lamb and smoke it for 5 min. You could also buy smoked lamb or duck.

Make long “noodles” of the cucumber. Salt and squeeze out the water. Chop 1 shallot in fine pieces and mix with cucumber, yoghurt and cumin.

Chop 2 shallots in fine pieces. Braise in butter, add chicken stock and apple juice. Boil untill half of the fluid remains. Add cream and milk and cook until it got a creamy consistency. At the end add chervil and lemon juice and mix with a hand blender to a foam.

Serve the foam with the lamb topped with the cucumber salad.

Thick fillet of cod with leek cream

• 600 g thick fillet of Cod
• 1 tbsp Bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp Apple, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Shallot, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Tomato, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Parsley, finely cut
• 1 tbsp Horse radish, grated

Put the cod raw in a bol with 1 l water and 1 dl Salt for about 20 minutes. Then rinse the fish in cold water, cut it in 4 pieces and put them on oven paper or on a buttered tin. The oven temperature is 80⁰ Celsius and the fish is done when it reaches 45-50⁰ Celsius.

Decorate the cod with the vegetable mix and the bread crumbs

Leek cream

• 300 g Cream, 40 %
• 200 g Leek, sliced
• 150 g Potatoes, peeled and sliced
• Salt
• White pepper

Boil cream, leek and potatoes together until the potatoes are soft. Mix, strain and spice.

Blend rape oil with lemon juice and decorate the leek cream with it.

Roasted quail, black salsify x 2, cider juice

• 4 Quails (boaned)
• fresh Thyme
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 300 g Black salsify
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 dl Cream
• 1,5 dl Chicken stock
• 1 dl Apple cider (dry)
• 1 teaspoon White wine vinegar
• 4 twigs Tarragon
• 1 dl stock from Veal

Cook vinegar, tarragon and cider until 3 tbsp remains. Add chicken- and veal stock and simmer to wanted consistency. If you want it to be like a glaze add some thickening. Before serving add a tbsp butter, salt and pepper if needed.

Peal the black salsify. Make four sticks (10 cm long). Fry the sticks in sugar and butter. Cook the left over pieces in 1/2 dl chicken stock and cream. Boil until the salsify is soft. Mix with salt and pepper to a purée.

Fry the quails in thyme, garlic and butter on the skin side. When colored bind together and roast in 100⁰ C in the oven until it reaches 57⁰ C.

Goat cheese with lemon and rosemary cooked apples

• 1 Ciabatta or baguette
• Olive oil
• Salt
• 2 dl Sugar
• 1 twig Rosemary
• 1 Lemon slice
• 1,5 Apple
• 150 g creamy Goat cheese

Slice the bread in wafer-thin slices. If you put the bread in the freezer for 30 min it is easily done. Heat a pan with oil and salt. Bake the slices until they have a nice color.

Slice the apple into 1 cm apple rings. Cook 2 dl water, 2 dl sugar, lemon slice and the rosemary for 2 min. Add the apple rings and simmer for 3 min. Take out the apples and let them rest until served. Cook the syrup until it has the consistency of a glaze.

Put apples, cheese and the thin bread in layers. Garnish with the glaze and some rosemary.

Apple compote with cardamom cream and Calvados jelly

Apple compote

• 2 Apples
• 0,5 dl Applejuice
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• half a Cinnamon stick

Peel and core the apples, cut them into pieces. Boil them with the applejuice, the sugar and the cinnamon stick until they are soft. Take out the cinnamon stick and mix the rest to a smooth pureé.

Cardamom cream

• 200 g Cream
• 100 g Milk
• 4 Egg yolks
• 50 g Sugar
• 20 g whole green Cardamom
• 1 Gelatine leaf, soaked

Boil milk and cream together with the cardamom, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar. Pour the milk cream over the egg yolks and the sugar. Heat to 85 degrees Celsius, add the gelatine leaf and strain.

Calvados jelly

• 0,5 dl Calvados
• 0,5 dl Water
• 1-2 Gelatine leaves, soaked

Heat up the Calvados and the water carefully, add the gelatine leaves and let them melt.

Use a dessert bowl or a soup plate. The applecompote at the bottom, add the cardamom cream and then the calvados jelly. Leave it in a cold place (the fridge) until serving. We served it with a home made yoghurt sorbet, apple crisps and candied hazelnuts.

Last but not least we made an espresso and enjoyed a glass of really nice Calvados.

Music: The White Stripes wonderful  Apple blossom, together with the classic Glenn Miller song – Don’t sit under the apple tree

Mary’nate a little lamb

This dish is done in 30 minutes but the aftertaste will stay much longer. A bottle of Chianti and your Friday night is home free.

• 700 g Lamb fillet or other tender pieces from the lamb
• 4 large Potatoes
• 200 g goat or Feta cheese
• 1 Zucchini
• 2 handful of Peas
• a bunch of Basil
• Parsley (half as much as the basil)
• Mint (half as much as the basil)
• Olive oil
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp Capers
• 2 Lemons

Marinate the lamb

Marinate the lamb for 15 min in 1/2 dl olive oil, 2 chopped garlic cloves, juice and skin from a lemon, pepper.

Salsa Verde

When finishing the marinate mix1/2 dl olive oil, 1/2 dl water, 1 garlic glove, the fresh herbs, capers, juice from a lemon, salt and pepper in a blender. You can use any fresh herbs you have at home.

Vegetables

Cut the potatoes in 3 mm thin slices and slice the zucchini in sticks. Fry in a pan with olive oil and a cloves of garlic. Cook the peas for 1 min.

Lamb

Roast the lamb shortly on each side in a pan. Put in oven on low temp 100-125⁰ C until the temperature reaches 63⁰. Don´t forget salt and pepper

Serve with balsamic glaze.

Music: The Breeders – Last splash

Kroppkakor

This is an old dish from the region of Småland. Recipes have been documented as far back as 1775. Normally the potato dumplings are stuffed with bacon and onions. They can be filled with anything and since it is season for chanterelles we’ve used the mushroom as filling. The recipe will give you 12 dumplings. The inofficial eating record is 20 kroppkakor. That´s a challenge.

• 1 kg potatoes
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 dl flour
• nutmeg
• 200 g chanterelles
• 50 g bacon
• 1 onion
• parsley
• 100 g lingonberries
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 200 g butter

Kroppkakor

Mash the cooked potatoes. When the potatoes are room temperated add eggs and flour. Work it to a dough. Divide into 12 pieces.

Make the stuffing. Fry chanterelles, bacon and onions in butter until they are slightly coloured. Add salt, pepper and parsley. When the stuffing is cold make small hole in the potato dumplings and add 1 tbsp stuffing in each dumpling. Cook the dumplings 5 min in water.

Garnish

Firmly stir sugar and lingonberries.

Melt the butter and serve with dumplings and lingonberry

Music: the local hero Eddie Meduza

Three courses for 5€

Short of time and money? This dinner is prepared before your guests have finished the first drink. And, it costs less per person than a Gin&Tonic in your local bar. Enjoy.

Starter: Salad with sardines and egg.

• 3 eggs
• 2 small cans of sardines in oil
• Lettuce
• Parsley
• Oil, lemon juice, mustard, pepper and salt

Boil the eggs. Separate yolk from egg white, chop. Slice your favourite salad

Sauce: 4 tbsp oil, 1 teaspoon mustard, 2 tbsp lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.

Arrange salad in bowls, add yolk and white, sardines and top with seasoning. Voila!

Main: Porc medallions, lemon and fennel salad

• 700 g porc medallions
• 2 fennels
• 2 spring onions
• 3 lemons
• 2 tsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp sugar

Start with the delicious lemon sauce. Peel 2 lemons, blanch the skin twice. Mix the skins, fillets of lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. This sauce is a must and is also perfect for fish or chicken dishes.

Slice the fennel as thin as possible.  Chop the spring onions. Marinate in lemon juice from one lemon and 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.

Grill the medallions in a hot pan. Serve with salad and lemon sauce. If you find blackberries, they are perfect as deco.

Dessert: Chocolate creme, sea salt, roasted bread and olive oil.

• 150 g chocolate (at least 65% cocoa)
• 200 g double cream
• 1 vanilla pod
• baguette
• extra-vergine olive oil
• sea salt

Chop the chocolate into fine pieces. Cook cream and vanilla pod. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir. Cool to room temperature and serve with roasted bread, olive oil and salt.

Music: Fast cooking needs fast music – Rage against the machine

We’re making meatballs

Meatballs with mashed potatoes, cream sauce, pressed and pickled cucumber and lingonberry jam was served to us by our grandmothers and mothers. And I guess it will always be a favorite. Forget the ones from IKEA. This is the real thing!

Meatballs

• 500 g minced Beef
• 2 Egg
• 1 tbsp Mustard
• 1 bread Roll, only the content (or other fresh white bread)
• 0,5-1 decilitre Milk or Cream
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 5-6 Cloves
• 5-6 Pimentos
• Salt
• Black pepper

Blend everything together, crush the pimento and the clove in a mortar, let the mixture draw for a few minutes. Form the meatballs with wet hands and fry them in a pan with butter.

Mashed potatoes

• 8-10 Potatoes
• 1 decilitre Yoghurt
• 1-2 decilitre Milk
• a knob of Butter
• Nutmeg
• Salt
• Black pepper

Boil the potatoes, when they’re done pull out the water and mash the potatoes. Use an electric mixer, add a knob of butter, nutmeg and yoghurt and mix. Gradually add the milk until you get preferred consistency. Spice it with salt and black pepper.

Pressed and pickled cucumber

• 1 Cucumber
• 1-2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 decilitre Water
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Vinegar essence
• Parsley

Slice the cucumber thinly, put it in a bowl with the salt. Put a lid (or a plate) on top of the cucumbers and add a weight to press it down. Leave it for 30 minutes. Blend water, sugar and vinegar essence.

Pour out the water from the pressed cucumber and put the cucumber in a glass jar, add chopped parsley and pour the fluid into the jar. Leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours before you eat it.

Brown sauce

• Cream
• Beef broth
• Soy sauce
• Sauce thickener
• Salt
• Black pepper

Make the sauce in the pan where you fried the meatballs without washing it in between. Add the ingredients depending of your own taste, you can of course exchange the cream for milk. Stir everything until you have a nice consistency and a tasty sauce.

The lingonberry jam is bought in Sweden and not homemade.

Music: CEO – the swede Eric Berglund – and his latest record White Magic.

The swedish chef makes meatballs

Chanterelle sandwich

As a starter we made a very easy but oh so delicious chanterelle sandwich.

Clean the chanterelle and put them in a heated pan, fry them until most of the fluid is gone then add butter, half an onion finely chopped, salt and black pepper.

Finally pour 4 tbsp double cream into the pan and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

Put the fried chanterelles on top of a slice of really tasty bread. Sprinkle chopped chives on top.

The north sea burger

After eating a whole lot of Asian food, which we love, we decided to go crazy with the Scandinavian food this week.

Burger

• 100 g smoked Norwegian Salmon
• 500 g Saithe (or other fish)
• 1 Egg
• Chives
• Salt
• White Pepper

Use a food processor and mix the fish together with the egg until the mixture has a good consistency. Add salt, pepper and chopped chives and stir everything together. Make four burgers out of the mixture. Fry the burgers in butter.

Shrimp sauce

• Dill
• 2-3 decilitre Sour cream
• 1 tbsp Mustard
• 100-200 g Shrimps

Pour the sour cream in a small bowl, add the chopped dill and the peeled and chopped shrimps. Flavor the sauce with mustard.

Serve the burgers with a tasty bread, for example Ciabatta or baguette, and add a slice of lemon for the burger. We also made a salad with cucumber, avocado and Romain lettuce with a nice mustard salad dressing.

Music: the cooking was accompanied by the Swedish band Kent and their record – Röd

Fishing for compliments?

Many friends of mine do not understand the greatness of cod. The reason is that we Swedes have grown up with over cooked cod served for lunch in school. If you can get hold of a thick cod loin I promise you, you’ll change your mind about this culinary treasure.

This is an easy recipe that will get you many compliments – Cod fillets with lemon flavoured vegetables and foam from heads of dill.

• 600 g thick fillet of Cod
• 5 decilitre water
• 30 g Salt
• 6 Carrots
• 6 Parsnips
• 2 Spring onions
• 1 Lemon, the juice
• 4 tbsp double Cream
• 3 heads of Dill
• 4 decilitre Milk
• 2 Tomatoes
• Chives

Cod

Make four pieces out of the cod and put it in salted water for 15 min. Wipe the cod dry with a piece of kitchen paper, put the pieces on oven paper and bake it in the oven at 100⁰C until the fish temperature reaches 45⁰C. It takes about 10-15 min depending on the thickness of the fish.

Vegetables

Slice the parsnips and carrots in to roundels (3 mm thick). Braise the vegetables in lemon juice, a pinch of salt and sugar, water (just enough to cover the veggies) and the cream. When the veggies are al dente, add chopped spring onions and pour out the fluid. Use a strain, that is the easiest way.

Foam

Pour the milk, heads of dill, salt and pepper in a saucepan, heat it until it simmer. Take the saucepan off the stove and mix the fluid to a foam with a hand blender.

Garnish

Peel the tomatoes, remove the core and cut the tomato flesh into small pieces. Mix it with chopped chives and a pinch of salt.

Music: the cooking was accompanied by the great last album from Robyn – Body talk pt. 1