Do you know what I am looking forward to?

This...

A delicious braai (barbecue, grill, whatever you want to call it)! There is no better way to spend a warm summer evening than sitting around a fire with the company of family and friends, and the smell of freshly grilled meat. It makes me long for summer yet at the same time I can't help loving this...

The crisp freshness of winter and snow. Cosy nights snuggled up around candles, drinking hot chocolate. This is one of the things I love most about living in Sweden...the clearly different seasons. The new life of spring, the exuberance of summer, the bright colours of autumn and the crispness of winter. It is beautiful!

 

Here comes a recipe for one of my favourite meals to create some warmth in the winter cold. A delicious Thai chicken curry. You can adjust the heat of the curry by adding more or less curry paste.

 

Have a great week!

 

Love,

Heidi

 

Posted with Blogsy

Delicious memories

I remember many years ago I had the opportunity to go with my family and some Dutch friends to a luxurious private game farm in South Africa. The excitement before the trip was insurmountable and rightly so.

It is an experience that I remember clearly...for several reasons: firstly, in my young and impressionable mind who hadn't experienced many of the luxuries of the world, the opportunity to stay in a luxury chalet with an amazing view, fantastic service and a private outdoor shower.

The other thing I remember was the private safaris that we had, with our very own private (and oh so handsome) game ranger. The safaris were full of many laughs and fun times together with my family, with cosy tea-times on top of hills with fantastic views. Another thing I remember from this trip was the beautiful animals that we saw, we got about 6 m away from a mommy cheetah with 4 cute little cubs and we went walking through the bushes tracking elephants and learning how to put a "bush-thinking" cap on.

Finally, one of the last things that have stayed with me from that trip was the delicious food that we got to feast on. It was on this trip that my passion for food really started awakening. It was on this trip that I tasted the most delicious soup of my life - Butternut and orange soup. Since then I have been on a mission to recreate this soup and I have finally gotten close enough to be able to share the recipe. Be prepared for the best soup of your life! Butternut is one of my favourite vegetables to use, as it has so much flavour. It isn't that common here in Sweden, but lately I've been able to find it at most of the big grocery stores. This is what a butternut looks like:

Butternut and orange soup:

(This recipe makes enough to feed many people)

To see this recipe in Swedish click here.

1 butternut
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
50g butter
1 celery stalk
½ red chilli, finely chopped
2 cups (5 dl) chicken (or vegetable) stock
½ orange, zest and juice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch white pepper
1 bay leaf
½ tsp curry
1 dl cream

1. Roughly chop the onion and celery. Sauté them lightly in the butter together with the crushed garlic and chilli in a big pot.
2. Peel the butternut and chop into large cubes. Put the butternut in the pot together with the stock, orange zest and juice and all the spices. Boil for about 30 minutes until the butternut is soft. Remove the bay leaf and blend until smooth.
3. Season with Salt and pepper. Stir in the cream just before serving.

I hope that you enjoy this soup! What is your favourite soup?

Have a great day!

Love,
Heidi

Quick and easy meals: Cottage Pie

Hello everybody!

In the last few weeks there has been an increase in the amount of readers that I have, so I want to give all you new readers a very warm welcome. And a big thank you to my faithful readers for your lovely support. I hope that you enjoy what you see. Feel free to write comments and come with suggestions and ideas!

I'm in the middle of doing my internship at the International Office at my university.I have such wonderful colleagues...well at least they feel like colleagues, even though I'm just there for a little while. So now I'm getting a feel of what it is like to be a working woman. It's fun, but quite a change of routine. I'm used to studying and being on maternity leave for the past few years, so even though I've had lots to do, my time has been much more flexible. Now I know what it is like working and coming home in the evening and having to quickly prepare a meal.

Sometimes a meal thrown together in 20 minutes can be the best...both because they go so quickly to make and also because they can be really delicious! Last night we had some friends over for dinner, so it was one of those times when I needed to throw a meal together quickly. So I made a creamy version of cottage pie. And it was DELICIOUS! Easy to make and really tasty. It's also great to make a big batch and then freeze it in smaller portions for a quick and easy lunch.



When I made it I kind of just threw together different ingredients that I had at home, but I will try and give you the approximate amounts.

This recipe makes about 8 portions:

500 g mince
1 tbsp oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp soya
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 dl creme fraiche
2 dl cream
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp ketchup
1 bag of frozen peas, carrots and beans
Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the mince and fry for a few minutes. Add the crushed garlic, soya, vinegar och Worcestershire sauce and let it fry a few more minutes.
2. Add the cream, creme fraiche, tomato puree, ketchup and frozen vegetables and fry another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper (If the sauce is to runny, thicken with some corn starch).Put the mince into an oven-proof dish.

For the potato mash:
15 potatoes
2 dl creme fraiche
Salt and pepper
A handful of cheese

1. Peel the potatoes and boil them.
2. Mash the potatoes together with the creme fraiche. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Spread the potatoes over the mince. Sprinkle some cheese on the top and bake in the oven at 220 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.




What are some of your favourite quick meals to make?

Happy eating!

Love,
Heidi

"Pork Wellington"

Hello everybody!

Hope you are all having a fantastic week!

At the moment I’m in a Gordon Ramsay craze. It feels almost like the whole of Sweden is in a Gordon Ramsay craze! It all started when I watched ”Christmas with Gordon” where he cooked some typical British Christmas food. With a gran that had an English background, I love my good old roast potatoes and cornish pasties, so his cooking made me feel right at home. The next program to air on Swedish TV starring Gordon was America’s Masterchef and finally a series about his adventurous, culinary travels to India.

Photo courtesy of TopNews.in

Gordon is extremely entertaining to watch! He is so passionate about food and so inspiring. The only thing that burns my ears is the swear words that flow from his mouth every second word or so.

During the Christmas shows he made a beef wellington that looked amazing and I have been longing to try it out since then. So I decided to make it…but budget style. Meat, especially a good beef fillet, is pricy here in the north so I used pork tenderloin instead. The pork is wrapped up in a duxelle (mixture of finely chopped mushrooms and marinated garlic cloves) then in some parma ham and finally in puff pastry. It came out delicious! The best thing with the wellington is that it can be prepared in advance and then baked in the oven just before serving. A perfect meal to impress your friends with! Serve it with a scrumptious potato bake and a delicious salad to make a perfect meal.

To see this recipe in Swedish click here.

Serves 6 people



1 pork tenderloin
80 g (about 20) marinated garlic cloves
10 large button mushrooms
1 onion
Some fresh thyme
1 tsp butter
100g parma ham
1 ready-made roll of puff pastry
1 egg


1. Sprinkle some black peppar on the tenderloin (Don’t add any extra salt to the meat as the parma ham already has a very salty flavour). Brown the meat all around and then let it cool off.

2. Duxelle: Chop the mushrooms, marinated garlic, onion and thyme very finely or mis it briefly in a blender. Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the mushroom mixture on medium heat so that the liquid from the mushrooms disappear but without the mixture getting any colour. It takes about 7 – 10 minutes. Once done, remove from the heat and cool completely.

3. Roll the pastry out until just larger than a A4 sheet of paper. Put the parma ham on the dough, covering as much of the dough as possible. Spread the duxelle over the parma ham.

4. Put the tenderloin in the centre and roll up as tightly as possible. Pinch the ends of the dough closed. If there is excess dough on the sides, cut it off and use it to decorate the roll. Store in fridge until 1 hour before serving.

5. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Place the roll on an oven tray. Brush some lightly beaten egg over the pastry. Bake for about 40 minutes.

Enjoy your day!

Love,
Heidi

Romantic dinner...part 2

Hello everyone!

It's Friday and I'm looking forward to an exciting week-end! My sister-in-law and her family are coming out from America to visit. It's going to be wonderful to see them again!

But now, part 2 of my romantic dinner...the main meal. Bacon-wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with feta and sun-dried tomatoes, served with a mediterranean vegetable bake, a salad and tzatziki...Delicious!!!



The chicken may sound advanced to make, but it's actually really easy...a great way to impress that special someone ;-).

The recipe:
4 Chicken fillets
1 packet bacon
70-100 g feta cheese
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes

1. Put the oven on 180 degrees celsius.
2. Slice the chicken so that you get a little pocket to stuff in the filling.
3. Mix the feta and tomatoes together and divide it between the chicken fillets.
4. Roll the chicken up and wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each fillet. Secure with toothpicks if needed.
5. Bake the chickens for about 20 -30 minutes. Take them out of the oven and then cover them with foil and let them rest for about 10-15 minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy your masterpiece!

The mediterranean vegetable bake consisted of potatoes, zucchini, red peppers, red onions and yellow onions, all sliced. I mixed oil together with salt, pepper, finely chopped thyme and garlic and poured it over the vegetables and baked it in the oven for about 30 - 40 minutes.

I actually had the vegetables and the chicken in the same oven, to save time. It worked really well, as long as you use 2 pans that can fit together in the oven.

Hope you all have a wonderful week-end!

Happy eating!

South African inspired bean curry

Winter is here…today has been the coldest day of the year so far. I woke up and the world was white with frost, and even though the sun was shining, the frost stayed put all day...it was COLD! And on a cold day there's not much better than a real spicy curry, so today I made a bean and potato curry. It was DELICOUS. The smell of curry frying is one of the most appetizing smells I know. This curry can be made as mild or hot as your taste buds can handle. The secret with a good curry is using a good curry powder which can be bought at certain specialised stores. Or you can use Garam masala which can now be bought in Swedish grocery stores. The second secret for a good curry is to fry the curry powder first for a while. This recipe feeds about 6-8 people, and is a good economical meal. So heat up your stove and let the aromas flow.



Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp curry powder (a good quality garam masala) – for a spicy but not hot curry
- 2 onions, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp salt
- 375 g red kidney beans
- 1 cup (250ml) red lentils, rinsed
- 375 g cannellini beans
- 1 tin (400g) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup (250ml) water
- 5 potatoes, chopped in large chunks

Method:
1. Put the oil and butter in a big pot and fry it until it stops bubbling.
2. Add the curry powder and let it simmer on medium heat for 7 minutes. Add the onions and half of the crushed garlic and fry until soft (about 10 minutes).
3. Add the beans, lentils, tomato and water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours with a lid on. Stir every now and then, adding more water if needed.
4. Add the potatoes half an hour before serving. Serve with some pita bread and a carrot salad.

Mama's Apricot Chicken

Food has an amazing ability to create memories. It's amazing how the smell of certain dishes can take you back down memory lane...this is one of those recipes for me. It takes me to a place of love, joy and home. This is one of my mama's favourite recipes and is often on the table when there are guests visiting or for special occasions.

This dish is so easy to make, even though it has to sit in the oven a while. The flavour is unexpectedly delicious...by looking at the list of ingredients, it may not sound good...but OH MY GOSH!!! It's amazing! The sweetness of the apricot jam complements the chicken. Give it a try and I promise you won't regret it!

Thank you Mama Monica for your love and inspiration!

this recipe can be found in Swedish here.

Apricot Chicken 6 people
-6 chicken fillets
-1 onion, chopped finely
-1 cup smooth apricot jam (you can change this quantity, depending on how sweet you want it)
-1 packet white onion soup powder (or French soup powder)
-450g mayonnaise
-3 cups milk
-1 tsp salt

Method:
1. Set the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Spread the chicken fillets in an oven-proof dish.
3. Scatter the onion over the chicken, spread the jam evenly over the chicken pieces, and then sprinkle the soup powder.
4. Put the mayonnaise in a bowl. Add the milk, a little bit at a time, mixing continuously. Pour the milk mixture over the chicken.
5. Bake in the oven for 1½ to 2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. After about 30 minutes, mix the sauce around to make sure the flavours mix together. If the top is getting too brown, cover with foil and continue baking.
6. Serve with rice and vegetables like peas and carrots.