Dineathon.com - A meal together saves lives

dineatohon.com - A meal together saves lives

I just saw a post about this on Guardians blog. It looks like a good idea, you invite people over for dinner and they donate money to this cause as payment for their dinner.

I'd probably not be able to ask anyone to pay for a dinner at mine, I'd end up donating the money myself. Still a good and worthy cause.

Have a look at their site and see if you can't get some event together.

Recipe - Ovenbaked falukorv with creamy mustard mash

This is about as close to pure comfort food you can come with Swedish food. For me this is the perfect little 'food blanket' that I can wrap myself in. The creaminess of the mash paired with the bite of the onion, ketchup and mustard is just divine. But that's just my opinion, why not cook this yourself to see what you think?

I've posted some falukorv recipes before and you can find it in the Swedish food court at IKEA shops worldwide.

I need to thank my 'not-really-all-that-old landlady' for thinking of me and picking up a falukorv and some other nice stuff the last time she went to IKEA. Hmm, that last sentence might earn me another angry comment. ;)

It's getting late and I'm feeling a bit tired so I won't post any detailed description of how to make the mash. Just make your normal creamy mash and add wholegrain mustard to your own liking.

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)
1 falukorv
1 onion, finely diced
1 part yellow mustard (Slotts preferably)
1 part ketchup
Butter

Method
Heat the oven to 225c.

Mix the onions, mustard and ketchup thoroughly in a bowl.

While the oven is heating make cuts down about three quarters of the falukorv. Space the slices to about 1 - 2 cm apart. Spread the onion/mustard/ketchup mixture evenly between the slices. If you like, save some to spread on top of the falukorv.

Put the falukorv into a buttered ovensafe dish and into the oven once it's heated.

Let the falukorv stay in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes or until it has changed colour to a nice dark brown and the top is crispy.

Serve with some creamy mustard mash and a fresh salad.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Spaghetti Carbonara

I was watching Saturday Kitchen the other day, well last Saturday to be honest. One of the things they showed was an episode of Rick Stein in Sardinia. He cooked Carbonara and since I had some lardons at home I thought I'd give it a go too.

According to Rick and his show you should never use Parmesan in Carbonara. Apparently you should use Pecorino cheese instead. I normally respect Rick but since all I had was Parmesan I decided to disregard him and his advice ;)

As you might, or might not, see in the background of the photo there's some garlic bread that I made as well. It's always nice with some garlic bread with your pasta and I had some leftover bread that needed using up.

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)
Spaghetti, about 400g
200g lardons
3 - 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Olive oil
3 - 4 medium eggs, beaten
50 g parmesan, grated
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Method
Boil the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package.

While the spaghetti is boiling away heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Once heated, add the lardons and let them fry away.

When the lardons start getting some colour, add in the garlic. Let this fry until the lardons start turning a little bit crispy. Put the frying pan to the side.

Make sure not to overcook the spaghetti, al dente is good. Drain the spaghetti.

Put the frying pan back on the stove on a low heat and mix in the spaghetti with the lardons and the garlic. Add most of the parmesan and give it all a good stir.

After that, turn off the heat and stir in the eggs. Keep stirring to make sure that they coat all of the spaghetti.

Season to taste, remember that the lardons already have added quite a bit of saltyness to the dish.

Finally mix in the chopped parsley. Plate up and add the last of the parmesan to each plate.

Enjoy!

How do you milk innocent kids?

I know that supermarkets try and corner different target groups but this might be a tad bit wrong. ;)

I guess they'll be reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves in that department at Sainsbury's now. A game of spot the missing apostrophe could be in order.

I wonder how they milk these innocent kids for their juices anyway?

Tomorrows post will be more in the line of a proper food posting, I promise ;)

Recipe - Pan fried Hake with creamy Garlic Potato Puree

This is another attempt at cooking some fish to try and vary my diet. Simply pan frying the fish is a very easy way of cooking it and if you season the fish properly it also tastes very nicely.

This was the first time I've tried to cook the potatoes for mash in stock. Trust me, this won't be the last time. I shouldn't be banging my own drum too much, but this was probably the best mash I've ever made. Nothing for vampires though, it had one hell of a garlic kick to it.

If you wonder what the 'brown blobs' that are circling the plate is, they're button mushrooms that's been fried in butter.

And yes, I know that I served quite a lot of mash given the size of the hake fillets. It would have made a better photo with less mash. However, that mash was so divine that I just had to get lots on to the plate from the start ;)

Ingredients (serves 2)
Two hake fillets, skin on
1 liter chicken stock
500g potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1 - 2 cm cubes
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
Olive oil
125 ml Milk
1 - 2 tablespoons Double cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Fresh parsley, chopped or torn
Salt
Pepper

Method
Bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the potatoes and garlic cloves. Let this boil away until soft, 10 - 15 minutes. Drain. Push the potatoes and garlic through a food mill or a potato ricer back into the pan.

Season the hake liberally with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan on a medium to high heat. Add the hake fillets skin side up. Fry for about a minute and then flip them skin side down. Cook for 6 - 7 minutes more on a medium heat, until the fish flakes easily.

While the fish is cooking, heat the milk and cream until it simmers. Slowly stir this into the potato and garlic mixture until it's a smooth puree. Cook very gently for 3 - 5 minutes, making sure to stir the whole time. Beat the butter and parsley into the puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the fish on top of the puree.

Enjoy!

Ciabatta with Chicken Milanese

This is a nice way of using Chicken Milanese.

Split your ciabatta in half, put some Marinara sauce on the bottom half. Put two pieces of Chicken Milanese on top of that. Add some sliced tomatoes, top those with sliced buffalo mozzarella. Finish it all off with some salt and pepper on top off the mozzarella. If you got some, add torn fresh basil leaves and then put the top back on to the bread.

Heat in your sandwich press until the cheese melts nicely.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Ovenbaked Chicken Milanese

Chicken Milanese is a quite versatile way of cooking chicken breasts. You can have it with pasta, some nice gravy or why not have it with... Tell you what, let's save that one for another day. I'll post a recipe where I use Chicken Milanese in a day or two.

I choose to oven bake this version to keep it a bit healthier. If you want to, you can always pan fry it instead. If you want to go half and half you can start by pan frying it and then finishing off in the oven.

Ingredients (makes 2 pieces)
1 chicken breast, halved lenghtwise
Plain flour
Grated parmesan
Smoked paprika
Salt
Pepper
1 egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs

Method
Heat the oven to 220c.

In the meantime, put the chicken halves between clingfilm and bash them with a mallet until the are about 3 - 5 mm thick.

On one plate mix the flour, paprika, parmesan, salt and pepper. Beat the egg in a deep plate and finally put the breadcrumbs onto a third plate.

Coat the chicken pieces thoroughly with the flour mixture. Dip in the egg and finish off with a thorough coating of breadcrumbs.

Put the chicken pieces on a oventray and put into the oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until cooked. Flip them half way through the cooking time.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Chicken in a creamy mustard sauce with pasta

I had some double cream at home that was well on its way to the expiry date. After some thinking I decided that it might be a good idea to introduce it to some chicken and a dollop or two of wholegrain mustard.

It worked out very nicely indeed, but be warned it can't be considered to be a light meal so don't you go exercising after eating a plateful of this.

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)
Pasta
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 - 2 yellow onions, diced
1 - 4 garlic cloves, minced
284 ml double cream
2 - 3 tablespoons of wholegrain mustard
Olive oil
Fresh basil, torn into pieces
Salt
Pepper

Method
Boil the pasta according to the instructions on the package.

In the meantime heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat. When it's hot enough, chuck in the chicken pieces and season them. Let the chicken fry away and stir now and then.

Once the chicken starts to colour add in the onions and the garlic and continue frying until the chicken is nice and golden and cooked through.

Add the cream and mustard, bring the mixture to a boil. Let this simmer and reduce to a consistency you like. It should be quite thick. Adjust the seasoning.

Once the pasta is done let it drain. Put it back into its pan and stir in a couple of tablespoons of the pasta sauce.

Put the pasta onto plates and serve the sauce on top.

Enjoy!

Recipe - Hotdog and Potato soup

This is a soup that you can chuck together very quickly. Given the recent weather here I thought it could be nice with a warming soup, so this is what I came up with.

It's quite a filling soup but serve it with some bread rolls if you're really hungry.

I had a thought after I cooked it and I think that it could work quite nicely if you added a bag (or just half of one) of the Taco Spice Mix you can buy in the supermarket. I used some Caribbean Jerk Seasoning to kick my version.

Ingredients (Serves about 4)

8-10 potatoes, ca 600 g, peeled and cut into chunks

1 yellow onion, diced

1 can crushed tomatoes

700 ml beef stock

1 pack of hotdogs (about 300g - 400g), cut into pieces

1 green pepper, diced

1 can Sweetcorn, ca 340 g, drained

Salt
Pepper
Parsley, finely chopped.

(1/2-1 bag Taco spice mix)

Method
Put the potatoes, onions, beef stock and tomatoes into a big pot and bring to the boil. Let this boil for about 10 minutes.

Add the hotdogs, pepper, sweetcorn, and the taco spice if you are using them. Bring it back to the boil and let it boil until the potatoes are soft, about 5 - 8 more minutes. Taste as you are cooking away and season to taste.

Serve with some parsley as a garnish.

Enjoy!

Homemade Beef Jerky

I've always been a big fan of beef jerky. Since I got my own dehydrator I'm lucky enough to be able to make my own and I do quite a lot of experiments with different types of spices and marinades.

I normally use beef mince to make my jerky, as opposed to thinly sliced beef which is the normal way. Now that I got a Jerky Pistol it's even easier. You just fill the tube with mince, pull the trigger and it pushes out the mince in a neat fashion.

This particular batch has been marinated with chili powder and smoked paprika. Added to that was some pineapple chunks that I pulverized with my Bamix. Sounds like a weird combination but it works very nicely indeed.