Category: Quick suppers

Yummy frittata

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It is sometimes needed to clear out the fridge, and I love when some leftovers result in a lovely meal. For this frittata I used up some new potatoes, asparagus, feta and sunblush tomatoes. It was lovely and the different ingredients really work together! It doesn’t matter how much filling you have really, it is the right amount of eggs to the right size pan that matters. For this large pan I used four eggs.

Frittata, serves 3

olive oil

150 g new potatoes, boiled

sliced chorizo

6 cooked asparagus

1/2 feta cheese

some sunblush tomatoes

4 eggs

4 tbsp cream

salt, white pepper

Heat up the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the potatoes and chorizo and fry for a few minutes. Add asparagus, tomato and feta. Beat the eggs and cream and season with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and turn the temperature down. Pour in the eggs and put a lid on the pan. Fry on low heat and make sure not to burn the bottom of the frittata. Serve when it has the consistency you prefer (I like mine runny and creamy on the top). Serve with a nice sallad.

Re-run: Nigella’s steak slice with lemon and thyme

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I know I have posted this recipe here before, but I just have to do it again. Because I have found the perfect accompaniment!

The recipe is from Nigella’s cookbook Nigella Express (a book that is improving to me) and it is the perfect way to make a rougher cut of meat really tender. You use rumpsteak and when you’re done you could think it is sirloin, that’s how tender it becomes. In the recipe Nigella recommends serving it with broccoli dipped in the marinade, and that is lovely, I agree, but I still want potatoes with my steak. Last time I made potatoes au gratin, but that was not the perfect combination. But a jacket potato with sourcream and chives is!  Christopher bought a nice bottle of red to go with it, so we really enjoyed our dinner last night. The dessert was delicious too, will post that recipe tomorrow.

Steak slice med citron och timjan, serves 2

300 g rump steak (preferrably thick)

2 cloves of garlic, smashed up

1/2 lemon, zest and juice

1 tsp salt

black pepper

40 ml olive oil

3 stalks of thyme, just the leaves

Cut the fat off the meat and fry it in olive oil a couple of minutes (2-3 mins) on each side. Meanwhile mix the ingredients for the marinade. Put the meat in a dish and marinate each side for 4-5 minutes. Slice it into small pieces and put it back in the dish and serve it.

The sides:

2-3 baking potatoes

300 ml soured cream

chives

broccoli

Cut a cross on the top of each potato. Bake for 1 1/2 hours in 200C. Press the sides towards the middle to ‘open’ the potato. Pour soured cream over it and sprinkle chives on top.

Cook the broccoli until almost tender. Drain. Remove the garlic from the meat marinade and pour it over the broccoli. Serve.

Sweet potato soup with coconut milk and cumin

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I like sweet potatoes in any shape or form, but it is a vegetable I have only got to know the last couple of years. It is very easy to cook with sweet potatoes because they cook through so quickly and have so much flavour in themselves.

A warming dish is this soup with cumin, coconut milk and chilli. I made some cheese straws from left over puff pastry and grated cheese, and they are really nice too.

Sweet potato soup with coconut milk and cumin, serves 4

4 sweet potatoes

a dash of concentrated vegetable stock

water

400 ml coconut milk

3 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp chilli flakes

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into even pieces. Place in a pan and just cover with water. Add a splash of stock and bring to the boil. Cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Drain the sweet potatoes but keep the water. Purée the vegetables and add the coconut milk to the pan. Bring to the boil, season with cumin, chilli, salt and pepper. Add some water if the soup is to thick. Serve with perhaps a dollop of creme fraiche and chopped coriander.

Cheese straws, serves 2

ca 20 cm x 10 cm puff pastry

100 ml grated mature cheddar

Cut the pastry into inch-thick straws and sprinkle cheese on them. Place in 200C oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the straws are a golden brown. Serve with soup or with drinks.

Caesar salad with quick dressing

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

I just love this salad! And I actually really like salads in general, but because of my way-less-fiber-diet-to-keep-the-stomach-happy, most salads are difficult for me, but a Caesar sallad is in a way a non salad. I know it has lettuce in it, but that is the only green, the rest is just nice proteins to make it taste nice, and that is the best kind of salad to me. One that fills you up, makes it feel lighter than a carb-heavy meal but still tastes absolutely delicious. Chicken, bacon, parmesan, croûtons and dressing – what’s not to like?!

For us it was nice with a break from the heavy food we tend to eat during the cold months. I really have to remember to eat more soups in the winter and more salads in the summer, because as much as I like my meat, fish and potatoes, I really do like soups and salads. Especially this one.

The reason for making a quick dressing was just that I was out of eggs, and if you have the bacon and chicken ready since the day before, this is a quick meal to whip up. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. In fact, this very minute I am really looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch. 🙂

Caesar sallad eith quick dressing, serves 2-3

2 romaine lettuce heads

3 fried chicken thighs (prefferably fried in the oven)

5-6 slices crispy bacon

3 slices stale bread

1 clove garlic

olive oil

parmesan

Dressing:

100 ml creme fraiche

100 ml mayonnaise

 2 anchovies in oil, finely chopped 

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 pressed garlic clove

1-2 tbsp finely grated parmesan

a tiny pinch of salt

white pepper

Mix the ingredients for the dressing and leave it while preparing the salad. Trim the edges off the bread and cut into large cubes. Heat up olive oil on medium-low heat and add the pressed garlic, throw in the bread and fry them until golden all around. Add more oil if needed and take care not to burn the garlic.  Rinse the lettuce and tear into pieces. Put on plates. Take away the bones and skin from the chicken and distribute it on top of the lettuce. Tear the bacon in pices and scatter on top, add croûtons and slices of parmesan. Drizzle the dressing on top. Alternatively, dress the lettuce before putting onto the plates and place everything else on top. Finish off with some black pepper.

Spaghetti with lemony garlicky tiger prawns

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Several years ago the TV-programme Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was quite popular. It was not one of my favourite programmes, but sometimes I ended up watching it anyway. Already then I enjoyed the food clips the best, and this recipe is actually partly from there. The prawns were called lemony garlicky shrimps and were made in a similar way to these, but I think grated parmesan was included as well, and they were cooked in the oven and used as a snack. I have made these several times as a canapé or starter, but thought that pairing them with pasta would be nice. And it was! 

The prawns are marinated in lemon juice, olive oil and garlic and taste a lot and absolutely delicious. The breadcrumbs give the dish a bit of crunch, and makes it a bit more interesting, where as the sauce is there mainly to complement the dish and enhance the prawns instead of stealing their glory.

Spaghetti with lemony garlicky prawns, serves 2

200g raw peeled tiger prawns

1 lemon, the juice

3 garlic cloves, pressed

2 tbsp olive oil

100 ml breadcrumbs

250 g spaghetti

100 ml single cream

100 ml passata

1 tbsp Heinz chilli sauce

1 tsp persillade

white pepper, salt

olive oil

Mix lemon juice, oil and garlic in a bowl. Add the prawns and leave to mariante for about 10 mins. (If longer, cover and store in fridge.) Cook the pasta according to the instructions. Turn the prawns in the breadcrumbs and fry on medium heat until crispy and golden. Mix cream, passata, chilli sauce in a sauce pan and bring to the boil. Season with persillade, salt and pepper after taste. Save some of the pasta water, drain the pasta and mix with the sauce, oilve oil and if needed some of the pasta water. Plate the spaghetti and sprinkle over some persillade and place the prawns on top. Enjoy with a salad and a crisp white wine. 

Steamed mussles in white wine, cream and saffron

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We had some dear friends over for supper on Saturday. The first course was a pre-starter with Jerusalem artichoke soup. I only added a pinch of dried thyme to the recipe and served it in small glass cups with a teaspoon and sprinkled some finely chopped shallots on top. Simple and lovely, in my opinion. 🙂

On Saturday morning Christopher went to the fishmongers and came home with some really big and juicy mussels. We de-bearded them, which was the only hard task in cooking this dish, you need some finger strength here. 🙂 The rest was simple reall; chop carrots, leek and onions, sauté in olive oil, add cream, wine, saffron and the mussels. Put the lid on and after a few minutes they are ready to serve.

I read this article recently about why you shouldn’t discard mussles that are closed after cooking, and I was looking forward to try a closed one and see if it was true. Of course they all opened! 🙂

Steamed mussles with white wine, cream and saffron, serves 6 as a starter

1,5 kg mussels, rinsed and de-bearded

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 baby leeks, chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

olive oil

400-500 ml single cream

300-400 ml dry white wine

2 pinches saffron

salt

white pepper

chopped parsley

Use a large pan. Heat up some olive oil on medium heat and sauté the vegetables for a few minutes. Add wine, cream, saffron, salt, white peppar and the mussels. Add the mussels. Put on the lid and wait for the liquids to boil.  The mussels don’t need to be covered with liquid, the steam will open them up, that is why it is so important to keep the lid on. When they’re done, taste the liquid and add saffron, salt or pepper if needed. Serve in bowls with plenty of the liquid and with some bread and butter. Sprinkle over some chopped parsley before serving.   

Oven baked trout

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I really do like everything from the ocean (apart from poached cod – bad hildhood experience) but I still tend to eat quite a lot of meat. Don’t get me wrong, I love meat, but fish is so much better for you.

 

Fish is healthy, tasty and makes you full in a nicer lighter way then when you eat meat, so I will really try to incorporate more fish into my diet.

If you want to keep it simple but still eat something really nice, I suggest fish in tin foil cooked in the oven. It is a piece of cake to make and has the benefit that your whole house doesn’t smell of fish. 🙂

Ovenbaked trout with lemon and persillade, serves 2

2 trouts, heads and tails removed

butter

4 lemon slice

persillade

salt

white pepper

oliv oil

Rinse the fish. Put two pieces of tin foil on a large baking tray. Pour some olive oil onto each piece and put the fish on top. Place a few dollops of butter and 2 lemon slices in the opening of each trout. Also add salt, pepper and persillade. Shape the tin foil into two parcels and put the tray in the oven, 180-200C for about 20 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.

Chorizo stew with carrot and parsnip

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

Both Christopher and I are fond of the chorizo. It is so versatile and gives so much flavour to its company. I came up with this recipe the other day and it was a real hit! The sweetness from the root vegetables and brown sugar together with the paprika heat from the chorizo and the the sourness from the tomatoes really worked. The cumin just took it that step further and added some earthiness.

Chorizo stew with carrot and parsnip, serves 2

chilli oil

1/2 chorizo ring

2 carrots

1 large parsnip

1 red onion

400 g chopped tomatoes

150 ml water

1 pressed garlic clove

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dark brown sugar

2 tbsp Heinz chilli sauce (or other mild chilli sauce)

salt

concentrated chicken stock

white pepper

Slice the chorizo and fry it in chilli oil in a large sauce pan. Remove to a bowl. Peel and dice the root vegetables and the onion, and add to the pan. Fry on medium heat for a few minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and the water. Bring to a boil and let it boil for a few minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the spices, seasoning and stock. Add the chorizo. Serve with rice and a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Really tasty!

Tuscan bean soup

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Tuscan bean soup with croutons and sage

I really like soup, and ideally I’d like to eat soup at least twice a week. But because I have some issues with my stomach and too much fiber in the food, I haven’t had as much soup as one should during the autumn. At the moment it is trial and error to see where my level for eating fibre is. I always thought that beans were too fibery and would make you bloated, but I don’t think that is true. I read somewhere that all beans apart from green beans contains more soluble fibers than insoluble fiber, and therefore gave this soup a go. So far so good, and it was really tasty and filling.

Freshly made garlic croutons!

The recipe is from the olive oil company Zeta, and I did follow it for once. 🙂 It needs a lot of salt and pepper towards the end, but it was really nice. Not really four portions though…

Tuscan bean soup, serves 2

homemade croutons (fry bread cubes in olive oil and garic and some salt until crisp)

1 red onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 cans of cannellini beans (and the water they are in)

350 ml chicken stock (or water + stock cube)

15 fresh sage leaves

1 tsp tomato paste

Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil without browning. Add the sage and cook for another minute or so. Add the beans, stock and tomato paste. Bring to boil and cook for a few minutes. Mix the soup smooth with a stick blender. Add plenty of salt and white pepper. Serve with the croutons.

Pasta with mussels and sambal oelek

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My mother used to have a wall full of copper pans and moulds in the kitchen when I was younger, which looked great in a country kitchen. And when she cooked paradise prawns on Fridays she always used a copper sauté pan. Unfortunately that pan can’t be used anymore as the tin has worn off and it is not easy to find someone who does re-tinning anymore as people in general have stopped using copper pans. A shame, because they are both pretty and very good to use.

When I was back home last time I found an unused copper pan in a charity shop for less than £4, which of course made me very happy. My mum has also managed to spare a few copper things for me. For me it is happiness to melt butter in a teeny tiny copperpan with a spout, on my gas hob instead of using a microwave (that we don’t even have).

Start with onions, garlic and leek.

When people ask me which country I prefer out of Sweden and England, I can never give anyone a straight answer – I love both countries! The conservative part of me loves England and all its old buildings and the fact that you don’t change anything unless there is a strong reason for it while the efficient part of me never will understans why people still have two taps on a basin instead of a mixing tap in England and why triple glazing is so rare. The old-fashioned part of me is appalled by the ‘out with the old, in with the new’ mentality Swedish people sometimes have while English people appreciate most old things. There are always two sides of things and I happen to like them both. 🙂

Add everything but the mussels and let it reduce to intense the flavours

Back to copper pans. On Monday when I got home from work and was really tired it made me happy to cook a pasta sauce in my £4 copper pan. 🙂  

Add the mussels last and let them warm up

Pasta with mussels and sambal oelek, serves 2

250 g pasta

1 large schallots or 1 small regular onion

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

10 cm leek, cut lengthwise and sliced

400 g chopped tomatoes

50 ml water

4 tbsp creme fraiche

2 tbsp or more sambal oelek

a pinch of sugar

2 dashes concentrated vegetable or fish stock

salt

white pepper

chopped parsley or Gourmet Garden parsley

180 g mussels in brine

perhaps some lemon/garlic or truffle oil for serving

Cook the pasta according to the packet. Heat up some olive oil in a pan and cook the onions soft on low heat for a few minutes. Add the garlic and leek and let it cook for a few more minutes. Add everything but the mussels and let it reduce a littl. Season to your taste. When the pasta is nearly cookes, add the mussels to the sauce to warm up. Drain the pasta. Serve with oil of your choice.