Far behind...

Ohh I've gotten so far behind in posting the newest recipes from our food project and it will last until this weekend, where I get the time to catch up with Carina. I've been so busy making cakes, that I've totally forgotten to post the recipes... I still remember how the dishes were and how we liked them and that's the most important part right...

I just have to get this one wedding cake done for pick up on Friday and then I'll get back on track - until then I hope you'll  bear with me...

sinful chocolate brownies with berries

Yum-O! That's the best word to describe this delicious brownie. I served it with a scoop of really great vanilla ice cream and some leftover fresh blueberries and I was floored! My guests really dug in even though they were still full from the main course and that must be a compliment to the chef (baker?) I will definitely bake these brownies again and just give them 20 minutes in the oven - they could have been a bit more moist but they were fine with the vanilla ice cream. Quick and simple to make and not too expensive. Just be on the lookout for cheap fresh berries and you're on a roll. I made mine with blueberries and I know Carina used raspberries so I'm excited to find out what she thought of this our 18th dish - well strictly speaking it was really a cake right... The first cake of the cooking project... See Carina's brownies on her blog...

This portion makes about 10 slices

100 grams butter

2 dl brown sugar (I ended up using half brown sugar and half regular sugar as I ran out of brown sugar)

100 grams dark bitter chocolate

2 eggs

1 dl all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

100 grams berries (raspberries, blueberries or blackberries)

Decoration:

1½ dl double cream

200 grams fresh berries

Confectioners sugar or cocoa powder to sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F) and line a small 8" springform tin.

Put the butter, brown sugar and coarsely chopped chocolate into a pot and melt it slowly while stirring until it has uniform texture. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool of a bit. Then whisk in the eggs one at the time. Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture and fold it in carefully with the berries.

Pour the dough into the springform tin and bake it in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes. The cake is supposed to be a bit sticky in the middle.

Let the cake cool off and serve it with a side of whipped cream and extra berries. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar or cocoa powder if you feel like it.

Bon appetit...

Funky prawn cocktail with mango and tiger prawns

This our 17th dish in the food project is probably the dish where I've deviated the most from the recipe. My husband and I are not very big fans of basil, romaine lettuce and well asparagus is just so darn expensive. I replaced those ingredients with ones we liked and so I got a really good result. I also made another dressing as we don't get along with chili at all in our household. We really liked this dish with my small adjustments and I will defiantly make this again. It was so easy to make and healthy as well. I served bread along side my cocktail just to get a bit carbohydrates in there as well.  

I'll post both my dressing and the one in the original recipe. Once again Carina beat me to the punch and has been so kind as to translate the recipe, so I'll just repost what she has already posted a few days ago - see her experience with this recipe on her blog HERE

Funky prawn cocktail with mango and tiger prawns
16 tiger prawns without shell, but with tail (I used Royal Greenland shrimp)
1 mango
2 romaine lettuces (I used iceberg lettuce)
8 green asparagus (I replaced this with freshly podded peas and cucumber)
50 grams of sunflower sprouts or bean sprouts (I used small bean sprouts)
20 leaves of basil (I left this out)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin oil (I left this out)
2 limes cut in halves (I left this out)
salt

Phi Phi Island-dressing:
1 dl of mayonnaise
1 dl of crème fraiche (9%)
1-2 teaspoons of Sriracha chili-sauce
Zest of one lime

My dressing:

1½ dl sour cream

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

 

Boil the shrimps in lightly salted water for 2 minutes  (This is only if you use uncooked tiger prawns or shrimp)

Peel and cut the mango into 3×1 cm slices (I cubed the thing when I was done cutting around that darn stone in the middle)
Chop the salad finely. Break the “wooden” lower part of the asparagus and boil them in lightly salted water for 2-3 minutes. Let them cool down and cut them into mouthpieces. (If you use peas and cucumber instead then pod the peas and rinse them under running cold water and let them dry off. Meanwhile cut the cucumber into smaller cubes. You can remove the seeds if you don't like them.)

Dressing: Whisk the mayonnaise together with crème fraiche and chilisauce. Season it with lime zest and salt.
Turn the shrimps, bean sprouts, asparagus and basil leaves together olive oil and season it with salt. 

My dressing: stir together sour cream and tomato paste. Then add in the Worcestershire sauce and the soy sauce to your liking. I don't use exact measurements for this dressing as it comes out best if you just feel your way. 

Arrange the shrimp cocktails: Pour the dressing in the bottom of the glasses and then salad. Add the shrimp/mango salad on top and serve it with a half lime.(I didn't bother with the whole arrangement as you can see in the picture below - I didn't have glasses that would fit a whole dinner size cocktail so I just used our regular dinner plates)

Bon appetit...

Fish burger with fish steak chopped by hand and soft onions

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of fish of almost any sort so when I got the pick between a fish burger and some veggie dishes it was an easy pick... It was kind of weird eating fish like a burger but it really tasted good! I made a dressing for our burgers that just made it all come together and because we don't like chewing on onion pieces I just minced it in with the fish. Well I have a small confession to make as well... This recipe says that the fish steak is to be chopped by hand but I took out my food processor and minced the fish with all the other ingredients in that... It came out good but I cheated a little... I could do it so you can do it too...

For four people you'll need:

500 grams white boneless skinless fish fillet (e.g. codfish, haddock or pollack)

3 tablespoons chopped dill

1 tablespoon coarse mustard (I used recept mustard from Søstrene Grene)

1 egg

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

Butter

Salt and pepper

Soft onions:

3 large onions

1 tablespoon oil or butter

Salt and pepper

Fresh salad leaves

1 handful rocket

1 bundle watercress

4 large whole wheat buns

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon coarse mustard

Chop the fish thoroughly with a sharp knife on a cutting board until it has the desired texture. Fold together the fish, dill, mustard, egg and bread crumbs in a bowl (add the onions here too if you don't like onions on the side) and then shape the mixture into 4 fish steaks. Fry the steaks in a skillet with a little butter and season with salt and pepper.

Peel the onions into thin slices and fry them in butter in a skillet over low to medium heat. Fry them for about 10 minutes so they go soft and become somewhat caramelized. Season with salt and pepper.

Rinse and fling the salad and the watercress free of water. Split the buns into halves and heat them up on the toaster. Stir together the mayo and mustard and spread it on the buns. Put the salad and fish steak on the bottom of the bun and top it of with watercress and onion and put the lid on.

Bon appetit...

Take a look at Carina's experiences with this dish - HERE 

Pirogue pastry with Moroccan filling

I have to say it is a must that you like Moroccan food to really enjoy this dish. Our 15th dish is made from leftovers of the Basic Bolognese we made on Monday spiced up with traditional Moroccan spices and ingredients (cumin, cinnamon and chickpeas) wrapped in puff pastry. I like those spices separately but mixed together it just doesn't make my taste buds dance. My husband and I have decided to stay away from that kind of food in the future as we have not yet tried anything from the Moroccan cuisine we actually enjoyed. However I will not rob you of reading Carina's experiences with this dish on her blog - HERE and share the recipe with those of you who are fans of Moroccan food. 

For four people you'll need:

1 can of chickpeas

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 batch of basic bolognese

2 tablespoons harissa (you can leave out the harissa or substitute with chilli powder)

100 grams fresh baby spinach leaves

4 sheets of ready-to-use puff pastry

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds

Salt flakes

Accompaniment:  salad, natural yoghurt and lemon wedges

Pre-heat the oven to 200C (about 400F). Let the water drain from the chickpeas and heat up the oil in a large sauté pan. Toast the chickpeas in the pan with cinnamon and cumin for about 2 minutes.

Add the basic bolognese and bring it to a boil. Add the harissa and spinach and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Let the mixture cool down again.Season with salt and more harissa.

Divide the puff pastry sheets in two and roll them out. It gives more room for the filling. Put about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the middle of each pastry sheet fold it together around the filling and press the edges with a fork to make sure the filling stays inside. Put the pastry pirogues onto a baking sheet brush them with the egg yolks and sprinkle with whole cumin seeds and salt flakes.

Bake the pirogues in the oven for about 20 minutes until they are golden and crisp. Leave them on a grid to cool off for about 5 minutes and serve with salad, yoghurt and lemon wedges.

Bon appetit...

Lemon Soda

The second drink in our food project and I dare say, that this was an even greater success than the first drink. Both my husband and I were totally crazy about this slightly acidic but very soda pop like drink. It is not the last time I'll be making this drink and I better make plenty because it's very irresistible. See how Carina liked this drink on her blog - HERE

For a portion of 4-6 glasses  you'll need:

2 dl water

200gram cane sugar

juice of 4 lemons or 12 limes (I decided to use half lemon and half lime so 2 lemon and 6 limes)

1 litre of sparkling water

ice cubes

1 lime in slices

Make the syrup first: Boil water in a pot and melt the sugar in it.

Let the syrup cool down for about 4 hours before mixing it with lemon juice. Add the desired amount of sparkling water when serving and serve the drink in cold glasses or in a big glass jug with ice cubes, lime or lemon slices and extra sugar.

Bon appetit...

Mango Fool

I finally got around to making this dessert, which Carina made what seems ages ago. I don't really have the time to make desserts on weekdays and on weekends I forget. But this weekend I (surprisingly) had the energy and just went ballistic and made a dessert AND a drink! I'll post he drink recipe later and now I'll share my experience with this dessert which is the first dessert in the food project.

It tasted soooo good! My husband was practically licking the bowl in hopes of getting more sweetness out of it. I made some small alterations to the recipe as I saw fit and this dessert was a mixture of crunch, sweetness, creaminess but it also had an acidic taste to it. I found that you have to be careful to use ripe mangos because the sourness of a mango that's not ripe will punch through in the end. This is a really good summer dessert and would be a fantastic conclusion to a summer garden party or a light coffee accompaniment on a sunny afternoon...

For four people you'll need:

2 ripe mangos

Juice of 2 lime

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest (I didn't add this)

6 dl double cream

2 tablespoons confectioners sugar (I used 2 handfuls of crushed meringue to give the cream some texture)

Peel the mangos and scoop the pulp off the mango stones. Blend the mango with lime juice and 1 teaspoon of finely grated lime zest.

Whip the cream in a bowl with confectioners sugar until it's lusciously thick but not stiff. This is where you fold in the crushed meringue if you want to use that.

Put the cream into 4 tall glasses. Add the mango purée in a plastic bag and spray it into the whipped cream. Or carefully fold the whipped cream into the mango purée and put it in the glass. 

Bon appetit...

Take a look at Carina's experiences with this recipe on her blog - HERE

Basic Bolognese

I love a good bolognese made from scratch and this bolognese was one of the fastest (if you don't count pouring Dolmio bolognese over ground beef and serving that) and easiest to make. This is a basic recipe intended for further use so it only had to contain the most basic vegetables and spices so they won't overwhelm whatever it is supposed to be a part of later on. I thought it tasted quit well but as Carina said, there is absolutely nothing funky about it. Take a look at Carina's experiences with this dish - HERE

Anyway here's the recipe for a large portion, which you can split up into smaller portions and freeze for an easy dinner on a busy day.

2 onions
4 carrots
4 sticks of celery
2 cloves of garlic
500 grams of ground beef
2 tablespoons of extra virgin oil
1 tablespoon of tomato purée
4 bay leaves
10 sprigs of thyme
2 cans of skinned tomatoes (I used organic ones)
1 teaspoon of sugar
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cut the onions, carrots and celery into fine squares. Peel the garlic cloves and chop it finely, then fry it in the pot with olive oil. Add the meat and brown it. Add the chopped vegetables along with tomato purée, bay leaves, and thyme and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the skinned tomatoes and the sugar and let it simmer for another 20 minutes. Season it with salt and pepper.

Bon appetit...

 

Tortilla on toast with garlic mayo and rocket

And so I've gotten far behind on posting the recipes once again... sorry... I'll try to make it up to you at one point or another but for now this is the 13th dish in our food project and a pretty good one at that. So if you have some leftover tortilla from the Spanish Tortilla dish, this is a great way to create a new dish.

Carina tried out the real recipe with the grilled toast, I just tried it with Danish rye bread instead and brought it in my lunch box on monday. It tasted really good! Because I was in a hurry during my lunch break I totally forgot to take pictures so you'll have to do with Carina's picture and to read her experiences with this dish go to her blog - HERE

For four people you'll need:

4 pieces of toast
1 dl mayonnaise (or drained yoghurt) I used miracle whip light
½ clove garlic (I used garlic powder instead)
4 pieces of tortilla leftover
50 grams rocket (I forgot the salad but it tasted fine without it)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Grill the bread in the oven or toast it on the toaster. Stir the mayo together with garlic and season with salt. Spread out the garlic mayo on the bread and put a piece of cold or hot tortilla on top of it. Arrange with rocket dressed in olive oil, salt and pepper.

Bon appetit...

Spanish Tortilla with sweet potatoes and tiger prawns

I chose to make this our 12th dish today because I put the tiger prawns in the tortilla and because we decided to try out a follow up recipe with the leftovers for lunch. I then had to make this where I had two consecutive days avaliable to make such food so the prawns wouldn't go bad...

This dish was perfect for this evening - it has been a HOT day in Aalborg and we really weren't that hungry so this easy dish was just what we needed. It took me no time to make and it tasted really good! My husband liked it as well but we agreed on it needing a bit more seasoning as it was a bit bland. You could also easily substitute the prawns with chicken or Italian ham. That would also go very well with the sweetness of the potatoes. I just LOVE sweet potatoes... if they weren't so expensive I would buy them more often. They go really well with grilled food and are quit quick to get tender compared with other types of potatoes.

So if you need a quick and easy dinner for tomorrow evening or for lunch, this is what you could whip up and serve for your family or friends. They'll love it too...

For four people you'll need:

2 kg onion

600 grams sweet potatoes

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 organic eggs

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

16 tiger prawns without shell


Accompaniment: 300 grams cherry tomatoes, 4 spring onions, 1 dl. teriyaki dressing*


Peel the potatoes and onions and cut them into coarse cubes of 2 by 2 cm. Fry the onion and potato cubes in a skillet with olive oil for about 7-8 minutes without it taking too much colour.


Whisk the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Add the prawns to the eggs and pour the mixture into the skillet with the potatoes and onion.


Stir a bit with a spatula until the eggs start to stiffen. Let the tortilla cook slowly on the stove until it's done or let it cook the last 10 minutes in the oven at 200 C (about 400F)


Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves and finely slice the spring onions. Mix it with the teriyaki dressing. Serve the tortilla in the skillet sprinkled with roughly chopped parsley and the tomato salad. I made the salad a bit different - I didn't make the dressing, so i just quartered the tomatoes, finely chopped the spring onions and mixed it together in a bowl. When the tortilla was dine I sprinkled the salad on top and decorated with parsley before serving.

Bon appetit...

*Teriyaki dressing:

5 dl soy sauce

3 dl mirin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirin)

2 dl Sake

3 tablespoons sugar

2 organic limes


Stir the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar together in a bowl. Grate the lime zest and squeeze out the juice. Stir both the zest and juice in with the rest of the ingredients and you have a teriyaki dressing.