Month: December 2012

Red deer roast with rosemary, port and juniper berries, roasted almond potatoes and girolle sauce

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Sorry about the world’s longest heading, but this meal was a special one.

Not special in the sense that it was a special occasion, it was just a Saturday night at my parents’ house in the countryside last time I was visiting.

But it is special in the way that this is the type of food my family and I love. The taste of course, and the preparation. But also the produce. Especially the produce.

The venison is from Red Deer and it roamed around free in the local area until shot by someone at an estate near by. It had a good life, died instantly and nothing is wasted on the animal.

The other ingredients are local too, the potatoes were dug up in my parent’s garden, the rosemary picked in the same garden and the girolles my aunt picked in the woods nearby. Sure, the port was not local, but most ingredients were and that is the way I prefer to eat.

And boy, does it taste good, when it is so close between produce and table.

Red deer roast with rosemary, port and juniper berries, roasted almond potatoes and girolle sauce, serves 4

1 Red deer roast, about 1.2 kilos once cleaned off tendons

3 sprigs rosemary

50 ml  port

1 tbsp juniper berries

butter and oil for frying

800 g almond potatoes, washed but not peeled

rapeseed oil

The sauce:

1 handful dried girolles

1 shallots, finely chopped

butter for frying

meat juices

300 ml cream

sauce colouring  

salt and pepper

perhaps another splash of port

Pre-heat the oven to 150C. Cut the potatoes in half lengthways and place in a greased roasting tray flat side up. Drizzle with rapeseed oil and season. Put the girolles in a bowl and cover with hot water. 

Brown the meat on all sides in butter and oil on high heat. Season. Add a spoonful of rapeseed oil in another roasting tin. Crush the juniper berries in a pestle and mortar and add to the roasting tin. Place the meat on top and pierce the meat with the rosemary sprigs. Pour in the port and place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat. Place in the oven until the inside temperature is 68C, it takes about 30-40 minutes. Remove the roasting tin and transfer the meat to a plate, cover with tin foil and leave it to rest.

Turn the oven up to 180-200C so the potatoes will colour. 

Squeeze the water out of the mushrooms. Add a knob of butter to a (preferably non-stick) saucepan on medium heat. Fry the onions until translucent and then add the mushrooms and fry until golden brown. Add the juices from the roasting tin through a fine sieve and add the cream. Bring to the boil while stirring. Add more port if needed. Season and colour.

Carve the meat into thin slices, serve with the potatoes, sauce and vegetables of your choice. (We had romanesco, but cauliflower, broccoli or carrots work too.)

Smooth chicken liver mousse with red wine and thyme

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I had a little gathering on the first Sunday of Advent treating my friends to some traditional Swedish Christmas treats as well as some other things. We started off with this heavenly smooth chicken liver mousse served with crispy crostinis. It went down really well and I am very pleased with the flavour combination of liver, red wine and thyme.

Even if you are not a serious charcuterie or offal fan, a chicken liver mousse is always a good place to start. Chicken liver is very mild in flavour compared to calf’s or lamb’s liver. And the other ingredients in this mousse don’t really enhance the liver flavour; it mere complements it.

To make the crostinis, all you need is a day-old baguette and some oil. Slice the baguette in 5 mm thick slices slightly on the diagonal and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with a nice olive or rapeseed oil, place in 200C oven until crisp and golden brown; it takes about 15 minutes.

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Chicken liver mousse with red wine and thyme, 1 batch

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tbsp oil for frying

450 g chicken livers (about 350 g once tubes/tendons removed), roughly chopped

1tbsp butter + 1 tbsp butter

50 ml red wine

1 anchovy

1/2 tsk dried thyme

salt and pepper

65 ml double cream

Fry the onions in the oil on low heat until translucent, add the garlic and fry for another minute.

Turn the heat up and add 1 tbsp butter and the liver. Fry until the liver pieces are cooked all the way around but pink in the middle. Add the anchovy (whole), more butter, red wine and thyme. Fry while stirring until half the liquid has evaporated. Add salt and pepper. 

Remove from heat and pour into a food processor. Add the cream and mix until as smooth as possible. Season to taste with salt, pepper and maybe a pinch of sugar. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve, into the serving container. The mixture is a  bit liquid at this stage but it will set in the fridge. Refridgerate for several hours (about 4-5) for the mousse to set and the flavours to develop. 

Pasta with lemon ricotta and roasted vegetables

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I had some leftover ricotta in the fridge one day and rather than repeating what I used it for, I tried to come up with a new (and simple) dish.

This is a perfect warming (and rather healthy) meal for a regular weekday when you’re lacking energy. The ricotta is mixed with parmesan for more flavour, and lemon zest for a fresh kick. The roasted vegetables are kept quite plain but because they’re roasted they have a deep sweet flavour.

Pasta with lemon ricotta and roasted vegetables, serves 2

 250 g pasta of your choice

2 sweet potatoes, diced

1 courgette, in half circles

1 yellow pepper, diced 

olive oil

120 g ricotta

1 tbsp grated parmesan (more to serve)

the zest from 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

Mix the diced vegetabled in a roasting tray and toss with olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Roast in a 200C oven for about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet. 

Mix ricotta with lemon zest and parmesan, salt and pepper. Once the vegetables are done, mix the drained pasta with a spoonful ricotta in a bowl. Top with vegetables and another dollop of ricotta. Sprinkle over parmesan.

Butterscotch pecan cheesecake

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For the monthly cakes in November I had originally thought of making a pecan pie as a nod to Thanksgiving, but most my colleagues it seemed had actually been celebrating Thanksgiving so a pecan pie didn’t seem as such a good idea anymore.

I still wanted to make something similar and looking through a cookbook at home, I found the perfect compromise – a butterscotch pecan cheesecake.

It basically tastes like a pecan pie, pairing the nuts with the butterscotch, but in the form of a cheesecake. Genius!

Everyone in the office loved it, and so did I. Definitely a good autumnal recipe to have up your sleeve. IMG_2005

Butterscotch pecan cheesecake, serves 10

Adapted from a Hummingbird Bakery recipe from the book Cake Days.

Biscuit base:

220 g digestives

100 g melted butter

Cheesecake layer:

700 g full-fat cream cheese

120 g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

80 g pecans, finely chopped. Plus 10-12 pecan halves, to decorate.

Butterscotch glaze:

60 g butter

45 g soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp whole milk

120 g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 160C. Line the base of the cake tin with baking parchment, then, in a food processor, mix  the digestive biscuits into fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix until the crumbs have the consistency of wet sand. Press them into the vase of the tin, then either place in the fridge to set for 20-30 minutes or bake the base for 10-15 minutes. Leave to cool before adding the cheesecake mixture. 

Using a hand-held whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the chopped pecans by hand and then pour the cheesecake mix on to the biscuit base. 

Wrap the cake tin in tin foil and place in a roasting tin. Fill with water to about 5 mm from the top of the cake tin, creating a water bath,to prevent the cake cracking on top while cooking. Place in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the cheesecake is a light golden colour, especially aronud the edges, firm to the touch and with only a slight wobble in the middle. (It is possible to bake the cake without a water bath on a lower heat keeping an eye on it all the way through, but I would only recommend that to experienced bakers. You need to know exactly when to take it out.)

Allow the cheesecake to cool down to room temperature, and then place in the fridge to set for a few hours. When the cheesecake is fully chilled, make the butterscotch glaze.

Put the butter, light brown sugar and milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the icing sugar and vanilla essence, then whisk until the glaze is smooth. Pour the glaze on top of the cheesecake and let it set for a few more hours. Decorate the top with the pecan halves. Remove from the cake tin before serving. 

Milk chocolate pannacotta with salt

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The combination of sweet and salty has been a favourite of mine since I was a child and had milk chocolate and salty popcorn together. Recently this combination is everywhere, and especially salted caramel is a bit trendy, and has been for a while.

These babies, mini pannacotta with milk chocolate and salt, are just heaven and I made these in plastic shot glasses for work last week. It is a small sample portion, perfect for a buffet or when having lots of goodies at once.

You can make pannacotta i several ways, but I prefer to make it with gelatin. And preferably the gelatin leaves, although the powder is fine too. It is good to know that 1 leaf gelatin is the equivalent to 1/2 tsp gelatin powder.

For a vegetarian option, use agar agar (or veggie set) and follow the instructions on the packet.

Milk chocolate pannacotta, about 40 mini ones in plastic shot glasses

1050 ml cream

4.5 tbsp caster sugar

4 gelatin leaves 

210 g milk chocolate 

vanilla salt or regular sea salt to decorate

Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water. Chop the chocolate and place in a mixing bowl. Heat upp the cream and sugar in a nonstick saucepan while stirring. Bring it to the boil and then remove from heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin leaves and add them to the cream. Stir to dissolve. Pour the cream over the chocolate, stir until the chocolate has melted and it is all combined. Leave to cool for 10 minutes or so, then divide into the cups. Leave to cool completely then let it set in fridge over night. Sprinkle on the salt just before serving.