Tartar Sauce

This little bowl of sauce doesn't exactly look like a momentuous occasion or anything, but it actually contains my first-ever batch of homemade mayo. (Usually when I call for mayo in the recipes posted here, what I actually use isn't even the best commercial stuff, but low-fat artificial gunk. Where do I hand in my food cred, again?) To summarize: mayonnaise - not impossible. Also quite high-fat. Funny how making stuff from scratch drives these things home (puff pastry, I'm looking at you).

Although invented to go with steak tartare (duh), tartar sauce is generally served with fish over here (fish fingers in particular - this was a regular and popular lunch at school) and we had some of this with simple breaded fish fillets that were devoured before I had any chance to take pictures and then threw the rest in a potato salad - this makes a lot of sauce but the batch is easily halved.

Tartar Sauce
adapted from the Swedish food blog Kärlek, mat och folköl, served three people twice, but your mileage may vary

2 egg yolks
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp cider vinegar
a few drops tabasco sauce
250 ml oil
150 ml finely chopped pickled cucumber
100 ml capers, rinsed, drained and chopped
a big bunch each of parsley and chives, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together egg yolks, mustard, vinegar and tabasco until well combined. Add the oil a little at a time in a slooooow trickle, still whisking (I did this in a food processor). Mix in the cucumber, capers and herbs. Season with salt (if needed) and pepper to taste.

Recipe after the jump!

Radish & Mint Sandwiches

Oh man. Remember when I used to post about every other day? I haven't been out of town or anything. I haven't even stopped cooking, although you may want to brace yourself for a slew of posts on the joys of fabulous sandwiches - for example, I've had the world's best BLTs twice this week, but more on that later - once I get around to it. The pictures just keep piling up on the hard drive, and doing something about them seems disproportionally momentous (it was probably the five thousand cat photos from my vacation that did me in) and so nothing really gets done.

Except, as I said, sandwiches. I'll have something on egg sandwiches and BLTs and some other things later (see, I'm writing that here in the vain hope that something will happen) but for now let's talk about the ones I actually took, edited and uploaded pictures of, namely these radish and mint ones. The original recipe was for tea sandwiches which is all very good if you want something dainty and thin and deceptively light-looking, and it's not that I didn't, but accomplishing thin-enough slices of bread just felt beyond me, and besides I happen to like this dark, partly whole-grain, pre-sliced bread, both for its taste and because it looks pretty next to the vibrantly colored radishes.



You know what would be the greatest thing since sliced bread, though? Thinly sliced bread. Again, if you live somewhere with easy access to said commodity, please don't tell me about it unless said place is Helsinki, Finland. Sometimes people talking about their groceries makes me want to cry. If you happened to have a recipe for a basic sandwich loaf (preferably not-completely-white) that is easily sliceable and doesn't crumble, that is a different story altogether. I have great faith in my kitchen cooling down to temperatures at which I could justify turning on the oven again. Maybe in November.

Anyway. Radishes. Mint. Bit of mayo mixed with lemon peel (and juice) and salt and pepper. Sliced bread. Enjoy.

Recipe after the jump!

Goo Cake

kladdkaka

Look, I'm just translating the name literally here! Kladdkaka is, as I see it, the Swedish version of a brownie, but generally it's baked in a thinner layer, and also left deliciously sticky. Not a fancy dessert by any means, but very easy and popular. The only tricky part is getting it out of the oven at the right time - too long and it's just your average boring cake, too short and, well, it's still a batter. (That said, the batter is, um, extremely edible. Or so I hear.) You want the edges of the cake to be quite firm, but a large area in the middle should still be well wobbly, as it'll firm up as it cools.


This time I went with the zest of an orange for extra flavor, but like with brownies, there's really no end to how you can spice it up - nuts, liquor, flavorings like peppermint or coffee, you name it. (Another favorite of mine is a few tablespoons of cognac and about a cup of toasted nuts.)

Goo Cake

300 ml (1¼ cup) sugar
150 ml (5 fl oz) all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla sugar
½ tsp salt
75 ml (5 tbsp) cocoa powder
finely grated zest of one organic orange
150 g (generous 5 oz) butter or baking margarine, melted
2 eggs

Mix together the dry ingredients and orange rind. Stir in the butter and then the eggs one at a time, just until it's evenly mixed. Pour into a buttered, floured pan and bake at 175°C (350°F)for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool and serve with whipped cream or ice cream and maybe some fruit or berries (raspberries are especially good).

Recipe after the jump!

Cauliflower & Spring Onion Dal

I eat a lot of lentils, usually in vaguely Indian stews, and so far these have been sadly underrepresented on this blog. This was pretty much what I lived on during my vacation, at least on the chillier days, but I actually went almost three weeks without taking a single food picture, so what you see is a reconstruction. (And wow, gas stoves are SO MUCH QUICKER than my regular electric one.)

I don't have a particular source for this recipe, but I think it's safe to say that everything I know about Indian cooking I learned from food blogs.

Cauliflower & Spring Onion Dal
serves 1 greedy person as is, probably two with rice

¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground coriander
½ dried red chile
2 pods cardamom
3 whole cloves
about ½ cup moong dal (split, skinned mung beans)
about a cup of cauliflower florets
one fairly mature spring onion, chopped
oil for frying
about a cup of water
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp dried coconut, toasted
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp black mustard seeds
salt & pepper to taste

Rinse the dal well. Heat the oil in a medium-sized pan until sizzling, add the first five ingredients and stir for about 30 seconds. Add cauliflower and the white bits of the onion and fry until the cauliflower is nicely browned. Stir in the dal and add some water, reduce the heat to a minimum and cover. Let simmer until the dal is very soft and starting to go mushy. Stir in the green bits of the spring onion, cover again and take off the heat.

In a small frying pan, heat the ghee and add the mustard seeds. Let sizzle until the mustard seeds start to pop, pour over the dal and stir to mix.

Note: if you're serving this with rice, it's probably a good idea to make it a bit less dry. So increase the water a bit!

Recipe after the jump!

Vietnamese Grilled Chicken Sandwich

banh mi ga

In my quest to master the art of Grilling Edible Food, I meant to explore a number of different marinades and glazes for chicken - we tend to eat a lot of chicken breast which really needs a bit of a kick to be worthwhile. Unfortunately, the first thing I stumbled upon was this recipe for five-spice chicken in vietnamese sandwiches, and we've pretty much been eating just this nonstop since. The marinade works wonderfully on chicken and almost as well on pork ribs, and it's pretty much perfection regardless of how you prepare it - grill, oven, pan.


Despite all the times we've had these sandwiches lately, they've been almost impossible to photograph. Not because they're ugly, it's just that the photos don't... happen. (If you come here for the pretty pictures, please be advised that the one above was taken around 9 PM while I was walking the cat. Also: yes, after three weeks of constant sunbathing, I'm still this pale.)

The meat is all well and good, then, but banh mi are really so much more. Thinly sliced meat chucked into a mayo-slathered baguette* along with cucumber, just lightly pickled julienned carrot and daikon, thinly sliced red onion and jalapeno peppers may not sound like the best summer meal ever, but believe me, it IS. In general I'm not much of a fan of pickled things, but together with the spicy-salty chicken... it's just divine. Everyone I've served them to has loved them.

I know julienning this much carrots and daikon radish may seem like a lot of work - I happen to find it soothing - but making a big batch is definitely worth it as they'll keep for several days in the fridge. (I just had some on a slice of sweet-ish rye bread. Talk about fusion.)


*you're meant to use light bread and I must say I prefer it, but sometimes you've just got to make at least a game attempt at health-consciousness, hence the more rustic baguette in the pictures.

Vietnamese Grilled Chicken Sandwich
adapted from Bon Appétit, Dec 2005, serves 4

3 skinless, bonless chicken breasts
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp five-spice powder
1 star anise, ground

100 ml sugar
100 ml white wine vinegar
pinch of salt
½ l julienned carrots
½ l julienned daikon radish

4 20-cm (or so) pieces of baguette

mayonnaise
thinly sliced red onion (soak in cold water for milder taste)
thinly sliced cucumber
1 jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
(fresh cilantro)
worchestershire sauce

Mix together the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Turn the chickens in it to coat and let marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

Stir the ingredients for the "pickle" marinade until the sugar's dissolved. Mix in the julienned vegetables and let stand in the fridge for at least a few hours, or overnight. Drain well before serving.

Grill the chicken on medium/high heat until cooked through. Let cool just a bit and slice thinly.

Cut the baguette slices open and grill the cut sides until slightly crispy. Spread mayo on the bottom half of the baguette, top with chicken, cucumber strips, carrot-radish pickle, red onion and (if using) cilantro. Sprinkle with jalapeño and worchestershire sauce, top with the top half of the baguette and eat.


(As for the original epicurious recipe: if you live in an area with ready access to "skinless boneless chicken thighs" please don't tell me about it, because I'm going to CRY.)

Recipe after the jump!

Tuuletuksia ja elokuun ruokahaaste

[I won the Finnish food blog challenge for June-July (whee!) so there'll be some food challenge-related blather here every now and then, since I'm the host for August. Scroll on past if Finnish is not your thing!]

Grillatut nektariinit näköjään purivat muihinkin sen verran hyvin että veteraanihoustaaja Polkkapossun isännöimän grillaushaasteen voitto tumpsahti tällä kertaa rahkalaan! Kiitoksia kovasti kunniasta, meikäläinen virnuilee täällä kuin hangon keksi konsanaan.

Elokuun ruokahaasteen aihe olikin sitten vaikeampi juttu, jota miettiessä meni tovi jos toinenkin (itse asiassa jouduin turvautumaan entten-tentteniin kahden vaihtoehdon välillä). Pari viimeistä etappia on kisattu valmistus- ja jalostusmenetelmän pohjalta, nyt palataan kesäisen iloittelun jälkeen tiukkaan raaka-ainekuriin. Elokuun raaka-aine on monipuolinen, nopeavalmisteinen (ja -liikkeinen), terveellinen ja ennen kaikkea MAUKAS vedenelävä eli kala.

Inspiraatiota voi hakea vaikkapa Pro Kala ry:n kotisivuilta, ja myös Maku-lehden sivuilta löytyy ihan kiitettävästi kalankäsittelyneuvoja.

Osallistuminen

Haasteeseen voivat osallistua kaikki blogia pitävät henkilöt. Osallistua voi vain yhdellä ruoalla per blogi. Jos haasteruoan resepti ei ole postaajan oma viritelmä, on postauksessa kohteliasta ilmoittaa ohjeen alkuperä.

Haasteruoka tulee postata 1.-25.8.2007 välisenä aikana.

Haasteeseen osallistutaan ilmoittamalla haastepostauksen URL joko tämän postauksen kommenttiosioon tai sähköpostitse osoitteeseen deinin [at] gmail.com. Ilmoittautuminen päättyy lauantaina 25.8.2007, jolloin haastepostausten osoitteiden on oltava tiedossani.

Äänestys

Haasteeseen määräaikaan mennessä ilmoitetut postaukset julkistetaan sunnuntaina 26.8.2007, jolloin alkaa myös äänestys. Äänestystapa ilmoitetaan haastepostausten julkistamisen yhteydessä.

Äänestysaika päättyy torstaina 30.8.2007. Elokuun ruokahaasteen järjestäjänä jäävään itseni ulos sekä kilpailusta että varsinaisesta äänestyksestä. Jos äänestysajan päättyessä useammalla postauksella on yhtä korkea äänimäärä, valitsen minä voittajan näiden postausten joukosta.

Voittaja julkistetaan perjantaina 31.8.2007.

Syyskuun ruokahaaste

Elokuun 2007 ruokahaasteen voittaja järjestää syyskuun 2007 ruokahaasteen. Aiheen valinta, aikataulu, äänestystapa ja säännöt ovat hänen päätettävissään.

Recipe after the jump!

Paahdejälkkäri (Grilled Nectarines with Balsamic Syrup and Mascarpone)

This is my entry for the Finnish food blog challenge for June-July, the theme of which was grilled food. There's a writeup and recipe in English after the Finnish versions, as usual.

Hupsista! Ihan meinasi unhottua koko ruokahaaste kesähuumassa vaikka jatkoaikaa saatiin peräti kuukauden verran. Teemana siis Polkkiksen valitsema grilliruoka, mikä kyllä allekirjoittaneelle oli iiiihan vieras toimialue, rahkalassa kun noudatetaan perinteisiä sukupuolirooleja keittiöhommissa ja jätetään grillaaminen miehille. (Tai äidille. Tai kelletahansa vaan tulta pelkäämättömälle.) Nyt on sitten koko kesä grillailtu, ja meikäläiseltä sujuu jo ainakin vihannesten ja kalan grillaaminen Ihan Hyvin. Kanallekin on löytynyt suosikkigrillimarinadi jonka itse asiassa piti päästä haastevastaukseksi kun sitä on jo monenmonta kertaa kokeiltu ja aina hyväksi todettu, mutta kuinka ollakaan aika loppui kesken ja piti keksiä jotain kivaa pikaruokaa.

Tai siis pikajälkiruokaa. Ettei vaan makeiden haastevastausten suora katkea. Noin yleisesti ottaen en ole mikään hedelmäfani - c-vitamiinit uppoavat paremmin marjojen ja vihannesten muodossa - mutta kuinka ollakaan grillissä nektariineistakin kehkeytyi ihan muhkea jälkkäri, pieni pala auringonpaahdetta sateista iltaa ilostuttamaan. Tästä voitaneen kiittää varsinkin balsamicosiirappia, jota voisi melkein syöda ihan sellaisenaan jäden tai marjojen kera...

Paahdejälkkäri näyttää vaikeatekoisemmalta kuin on, lähinnä ehkä siksi että se koostuu neljästä osasta: sokerissa paahdetuista pistaaseista (voi korvata tavallisilla pähkinöillä), sitruunamehulla notkistetusta mascarponejuustosta (voi korvata esimerkiksi vaniljajädellä), balsamicosiirapista (koko reseptin juju, ja suoraan sanottuna ihan ilmiömäisen hyvää) ja sitten itse nektariineista (voi korvata vaikka persikoilla). Kaikki osaset kuitenkin valmistuvat alta aikayksikön, ja kaiken paitsi grillaamisen voi sitäpaitsi valmistella hyvissä ajoin.


In English: I seem to be making a habit of running very very late with my food challenge posts. This time I have an excuse though: after spending the first half of the summer learning how to grill (when it comes to cooking we subsrcibe to traditional gender roles in this household, and so as a girly-girl I usually stay well clear of the grill), I completely forgot about the whole thing until Polkkapossu posted a reminder. Yesterday. For today. Eeek!

This may seem like a complicated recipe, and it does consist of several different parts: a pistachio brittle type thing (I'm sure plain nuts would also be lovely); mascarpone softened with a bit of lemon juice (I wouldn't say no to vanilla ice cream); a syrup made with balsamic vinegar (this is, quite frankly, genius, so shouldn't be fiddled with) and grilled nectarines (peaches would do as well, I think). So, sort of involved, yes, but all of these are fairly quick and very easy, and you can make everything except the grilled nectarines well ahead.


The balsamic syrup is really amazingly good, both sweet and tart and somehow rounded - I actually think it could stand completely on its own as a sauce for ice cream or berries. As it is, it made a fabulous glaze for the grilled fruit, and I'm not even someone who likes fruit very much (give me berries any day).

Grillatut nektariinit mascarponella ja balsamicosiirapilla
neljälle, inspis haettu täältä

pistaasit:
noin desi kuorittuja pistaasipähköitä, karkeasti rouhittuna
½ rkl voita
2 rkl fariinisokeria

Sulata voi ja sokeria kasarissa, sekoita joukkoon pähkinät ja pidä liedellä kunnes sokeri kuplii ja tihenee. Levitä pähkinäseos lautaselle ja siirrä jääkaappiin jäähtymään.

balsamicosiirappi:
25 g voita
2 rkl balsamicoviiniettikkaa
¾ dl fariinisokeria

Sulata voi ja sokeri kasarissa, lisää balsamico ja kiehauta. Anna kiehua miedolla lämmöllä kunnes seos tihenee, 5-10 min.

mascarpone:
200 g mascarponejuustoa
4 rkl sitruunamehua
(1 rkl tomusokeria)

Notkista mascarpone sitruunamehulla. Sokerisyöpöt (esmes minä) lisäävät hiukkasen tomusokeria makeuttamaan.

nektariinit
4 suht pehmeää nektariinia
1 rkl sokeria
1 rkl sitruunamehua

Halkaise nektariinit ja poista kivi. Ripottele leikkuupinnalle sokeria ja sitruunamehua ja anna seistä sen aikaa kun grilli lämpiää. Sivele balsamicosiirapilla ja grillaa keskilämmöllä kymmenisen minuuttia, pari kertaa kääntäen. Annostele kuumien nektariinipuolikkaiden päälle mascarponea ja pistaaseja ja kruunaa koko komeus lopuilla kastikejämillä. Oli muuten hitusen vaikea kuvattava.

Grilled Nectarines with Balsamic Syrup and Mascarpone
serves 4, inspired by this recipe

for the pistachios:
about half a cup of pistachios, roughly chopped
½ tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the pistachios and sugar and stir on medium heat until the sugar starts to bubble and thicken. Spread the pistachios on a plate and transfer to the fridge to cool

for the balsamic syrup:
25 g (2 tbsp) butter
2 tbsp red balsamic vinegar
75 ml / 2½ fl oz brown sugar

Melt sugar and butter in a pan, add balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil. Simmer on a medium-low heat unti the syrup starts to thicken.

for the mascarpone:
200 g mascarpone cheese
4 tbsp lemon juice
(1 tbsp confectioners' sugar)

Soften the mascarpone with lemon juice. If you have a sweet tooth like me, add some confectioners' sugar.

for the nectarines
4 more or less ripe nectarines
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Halve the nectarines, remove the pits. Sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice. Heat the grill to medium-high, brush the nectarines with the balsamic syrup glaze and grill until nice and soft (about ten minutes for me), turning a few times. To assemble, dot each fruit half with a bit of mascarpone, sprinkle with pistachios and drizzle with leftover balsamic syrup. Serve immediately.

Recipe after the jump!

Summer Soup

kesäkeitto / snålsoppa

It's been a while since I featured a really really Finnish dish on this blog, bilberry pies aside. This is a somewhat controversial one, I think mostly because either the thought of vegetables in boiled milk puts you off, or it doesn't. (Insta-poll of six Finns in their mid-twenties to early forties says four in favor and two vehemently against.) It also has a slightly sweet taste to it, not just because of the milk but also because you're using the newest of the new season's vegetables, which of course are naturally sweet.


The recipe comes from Farmors Café, a restaurant in the Finnish archipelago close to where our summer island is. I've never actually had summer soup there, but it's worth a visit for the cakes alone. :P

Summer Soup
serves four

1½ l (6 cups) season's new vegetables, cut into chunks (carrot, spring onion, leek, caulflower, parsnip, sugarsnap & radish)
½ l ( 2 cups) small new potatoes, cut into chunks
1 l (4 cups) vegetable broth

2 tbsp flour
200 ml (7 fl oz)milk
200 ml (7 fl oz) "cooking" cream (about 5-15% fat)
100 ml (3&frac; fl oz) cream cheese

salt, pepper & sugar to taste

parsley & a few thinly sliced radishes to serve

Simmer the vegetables (save for the green parts of the spring onion) in vegetable broth until about half-done, then add the onion greens. In a separate pan, heat the milk and cream until almost boiling, then whisk in the flour. Pour into the soup pan (through a sieve if it's lumpy in spite of the whisking), add the cream cheese and continue cooking until the vegetables are done - you want them to be fairly soft but by no means mushy or anything. Season with salt, pepper and (optionally) a pinch of sugar. Serve with parsley and sliced radish sprinkled on top.

Recipe after the jump!

Women's Week Bilberry Pie

mustikkapiirakka / blåbärspaj

We're in the middle of Women's Week, (naistenviikko / fruntimmersveckan), which is what we call July 18th to 24th, when a lot of ladies with popular names celebrate their name day (including me, if only for my middle name). Scandinavians tend to acknowledge name days, usually with baked goods of some sort, and for my family (I share my middle name with my mom and grandmother) the tradition is to bake a bilberry pie from bilberries picked on our summer island - if there are any, which is the subject of much fretting during the preceding weeks.


Not this year though, as I got the first pie baked almost two weeks ago. This is, in fact, the third one I've had since - the summer's been both warm and rainy so far, so it's an excellent year for bilberries. I think English speakers could probably debate the pieness of this particular dish; it might be more of an, erm, double-sided... crisp? To be honest, the crumbles, cobblers, slumps and grunts kind of blur together for me. Anyway, the dough is incredibly simple, just the kind of thing to throw together in a poorly equipped cabin (although for gas ovens, heat it to 250°C and then turn down to 225), and while it might not be the neatest of desserts to eat, it's very very good. Especially with a bit of cream.


The recipe is my mother's, and I think she got it from her mother, although it's not My Grandmother's Bilberry Pie which uses a different kind of dough. (Actually, I think the original uses only flour, whereas I went for part rolled oats for more texture.) If you can't get hold of bilberries, blueberries would probably work, although they're a bit bland in comparison.

Bilberry Pie
75 g (2½ oz) cold butter
200 ml (7 fl oz) flour
100 ml (3½ fl oz) rolled oats
50 ml (generous 3 tbsp) soft brown sugar (fariinisokeri / farinsocker)

500 ml / 2 cups bilberries
1½ tbsp sugar
½ tbsp potato flour

Mix together the dry ingredients for the pie crust. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. With your fingertips, press half of this "dough" into the bottom of a 10-inch pan (don't bother with getting crust on the edges).

Mix together bilberries, sugar and potato flour and spread onto the pie. Crumble the rest of the flour mixture on top and bake at 225°C (~450°F) for about 25 minutes, until the topping goes light brown and the filling beneath it is bubbly. Let cool for a while, but it is extremely good when still a bit warm.

Recipe after the jump!

Sommar & kål-och-lökröra (Summer and Cabbage-Onion Stew)

Scroll past the foreign blather to get to the recipe in English.

Efter några månaders mer eller mindre gediget matbloggande är det riktigt skönt att glömma allt som har med intressant matlagning att göra och bara röra ihop diverse ingredienser utan att bry sig om hur det ser ut. Mina barndomsminnen från sommarholmen utgår mer på väderlek etc (regn, regn, vind som blåser rakt igenom den skrangliga stugan, mygg, ågan om blåbären skall mogna i tid för en paj innan semestern tar slut, den årliga återläsningen av kåseriböcker äldre än jag själv, bromsar, sol och heta släta klippor, doften på Niveas solkräm - den som inte är vattentät doftar fortfarande helt rätt) än mat. Likaså bra, kanske, för nu när jag tänker efter handlar det mest om vattenkakao och sikanauta burkkött (med ris och burkmajs blir det rådigågga) - det känns som ett mirakel att vi överlevde, faktiskt. Eller åtminstone att mitt matinresse blev som det blev.



När man har en hel stuga och ett helt (litet, gasdrivet) kylskåp för sig själv så kan man faktiskt laga kakao helt med mjölk om man vill. Och burkköttet ersätts med fördel med diverse linser. När man har en hel stuga och en hel (minimal, stökig) köksvrå för sig själv har man inte heller nån mamma där att laga mat, så man får själv försöka lista ut gasugnens förvecklingar. Det är mindre roligt än mjölkkakao.


Gasspis skall vara det bästa i mattillredningsväg, heter det. Nåt motsvarande lär ingen påstå om gasugnar, som väl mest är bra för att sticka huvet i om man vill sätta slut på sin miserabla tillvaro efter ett (ojämnt!) vidbränt frukostbröd för många.


Här följer ett recept som faktiskt inte är vackert, eller ens särskilt somrigt, men som passar bra att värma stugan med en kulen dag (alternativt då man försöker få slut på en nästan tom gasbytta så man kan byta in en ny och baka bröd utan att vara rädd för att ugnen skall slockna mitt i). Går bra med lite ris och en bit överblivet grillkött, en skiva stekt halloumi, eller helt som så. Som plus är ingredienslistan möjligtvis den kortaste jag nånsin skrivit, och både lökar och kål håller länge.



In English: I had a wonderful vacation; gas stoves are lovely; gas ovens are mostly good for suicide; the shot below is as close as I got to taking a food picture. (What do you mean, it was a lot wordier in Swedish?)



Lök-och-kålröra

två små lökar
ett halvt (pytte)litet kålhuvud
1-2 msk smör + 1 tsk olja
(&frac2; tsk kumminfrön)
salt & peppar

Skiva löken fint. Strimla kålen. Värm smör och olja i en kastrull med tätt lock. Häll i löken och stek under omrörning tills den börjar få lite färg. Tillsätt kålstrimlorna och lite salt (+ ev. kummin), vrid ner värmen så lågt det går, sätt på locket och låt sjuda i en halvtimme eller så (rör om alltid nu och då!), tills det hela är en sötaktigt brunaktig röra. Smaka av med peppar & mera salt. Mums.

Cabbage & Onion Stew

two small onions
half a head of cauliflower
1-2 tbsp of butter + 1 tsp vegetable oil
(½ tsp whole cumin seeds)
salt & pepper

Slice the onion and cabbage finely. Heat the oil and butter in a pan with a tight-fitting lid. Pour in the onion and cook, stirring, until it starts to get a bit of color. Add the cannage and a bit of salt (+ cumin, if using), lower the heat to as low as you can, cover and let simmer for about half an hour. Stir every now and then! You'll wind up with a brown, sweetish mush that looks terrible. Season with salt and pepper and eat it.

Recipe after the jump!