All posts by Johanna

Knäckebröd (Swedish Crisp Bread)

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knackebrod
One of my food memories from school was when one guy threw a slice of ”knäckebröd” (Swedish crisp bread) up in the air. The sandwich got stuck with its buttered side up on the ceiling, and I mean really stuck. No one seemed to pay any attention or tried to get the bread down. In fact it would have been a project by itself as the dining room was like a ball room with very high ceiling. Hm, I wonder if it still up there!

This recipe is by Alice at Brax on Food (freely translated by me).

twelve crisp breads
25 gram yeast (I used  ½  package of ¼ oz Active Dry Yeast)
1 tablespoon honey
200 ml (almost 1 cup) yogurt
400 ml (1 2/3 cup) water
600 ml (2 ½ cup) rye wholegrain flour
600 ml (2 ½ cup) wholewheat flour
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 teaspoons salt
and
100-200 ml ( ½ – 1 cup) regular flour for rolling the breads

Prepare the yeast depending on which yeast you are using. When the yeast is ready, blend it with honey, yogurt, water, rye and the wholewheat flour. Cover the bowl and keep at room temperature in a non-drafty area for at least 6 hours.
Roast the caraway seeds in a dry pan and crush them finely in a mortar. Blend in the salt and wholewheat flour. When the dough is ready, work in the wholewheat flour/caraway mixture. Add some of the regular flour to make a smooth dough. Divide the dough in 12 equal parts and roll them into balls. Preheat the oven to 225°C (435°F). Use a rolling pin and some regular flour to roll out every ball of dough into a thin round cake, approximately 1/8” (3 mm) thick. Place as many as you can fit on a baking tin and nibble the breads with a fork (or you can use a special rolling pin with small knobs). If you want to, you can make a hole in the middle with a small ”snaps” glass. Bake the breads immediately for about 8-10 minutes in the middle of the oven.  When finished let the breads cool down on an oven rack. Keep uneaten ”knäckebröd” in a sealed container. (Hanging on a broom stick will make them dusty).

See also my recipe for Rosemary and Seasalt Crackers

Gravlax Juniper

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dalek dancing

I just became a Resident Alien. This I celebrated by making gravlax…

1 kilo (2 lb) salmon fillet
1 teaspoon crushed pepper
4 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons sucanat or regular sugar
40 crushed juniper berries
lots of fresh dill

If you use fresh salmon you should  freeze it for at least 24 hours, to make sure that there are no parasites in the fish. Clean the salmon fillets of any bones but keep the skin. The skin makes it easier later on when you are going to slice it up. Crush the junipers in a mortar. Mix together with salt, pepper and sucanat. Rub the fillet with some of the mixture. Divide the rest of the mixture on top and add the dill. If you have two fillets, place them together, meat against meat with dill in between. Place the fillet in a plastic freezer bag and close it carefully. Let the fillets rest in the fridge for 1-2 days and turn them now and again. Thinner fillets can be done in 24 hours but thicker pieces need 48 hours to be ready to serve. Unwrap and clean the fillets. Start to slice the gravlax into thin diagonal slivers by using a fillet knife starting at the small end of the fish. Gravlax can be stored in the fridge for nearly a week or longer in the freezer.
This type of Gravlax I prefer to serve on a small piece of home made “knäckebröd” topped with Sabine’s lingonberry cream and decorated with new fresh dill.

See also my previous recipe on Gravlax…

M’s Herring for Easter

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kiss fishkiss fishkiss fish

Polish herring is a little different from the sweeter Swedish herring that I am used to.  The herring M grew up with is fresh and salty.  His specialty herring dish is simply served on lettuce, topped with sour cream and apple. Superb and excellent for an Easter buffet!

for the herring you need

1/2 lb (250 gr) matjes in oil or plain cured herring (most often German brands in NYC)
one butterhead lettuce
2/3 cup (150 ml) sour cream (or equal parts Greek yogurt and sour cream)
half an apple

Drain the herring and if necessary cut the herring into bite size pieces. Wash the lettuce and divide the leaves on a serving plate and place the herring neatly on top. Cut the apple in small pieces and mix them with sour cream. Spoon the sour cream mixture over the herrings. Serve with Swedish “knäckebröd” or dark bread.

* OK, this recipe have nothing to do with eggs, but you can have painted eggs with something else. Happy Easter!

eggs

Venison Sausage

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sausage2

One sunny day in November I finally got to do something I have been wanting to for a long time, home-made sausages. As our friend Russel has a food grinder and a sausage stuffer kit we went to his house in Brooklyn. On the way we stopped by at the butcher to get the meat and the pork casings. The butcher got so excited about our project that he gave me plenty of pork fat for free! This was what we made…

4 lb venison
1 ½ lb pork fat
some red chili, fresh or flakes
15- 20 juniper berries
rosemary
sage
4 teaspoons mustard seeds
5-6 garlic cloves
salt
pepper
and
pork casings – They came 50 feet long in a small container. I used hardly any. However the casing can be stored sealed in the fridge for a long time.

Clean the pork casing by rinsing it in water. Let it soak in fresh water while preparing the filling. Mush the juniper in a mortar, together with chili, mustard seeds, rosemary and sage. Cut the venison and the pork fat into smaller pieces and ground the meat in a food grinder.  Its important to keep the meat cold, in fact it can actually be a little frozen. Add the prepared spices to the ground meat,  and season with salt and pepper. To be sure the sausage has enough flavor, I recommend you fry some up to taste before you start stuff the casing. Get your stuffer ready and slip on the casing to the pipe and finish with a small knot at the end. Feed the grinder (*or whatever you are using) and gently fill the casing. At last, when all meat is filled, make “knots” in between the sausages by twisting the casing.

As the weather was lovely, we decided to have a barbecue. I served the sausages with a warm tomato salsa and a fresh salad.

*If you don’t have a sausage stuffer kit you can try to use a cake decorator.

Also check out my Pork Sausage

Pear Marmalade

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the scout 2

I don’t know what this has to do with marmalade… but I have a friend who once poisoned a whole scout camp, just because he didn’t wash his hands!

for the marmalade you need

some pears
less than a ¼ part of brown sugar
small piece of fresh ginger, minced
a splash of water

Peal the pears and chop them into small pieces. Pour the sugar over the pieces and stir. Add the ginger and a little water. Bring mixture to boil, then lower to a gentle heat and cook for about an hour until pears are soft. If you want a smoother texture, process the jam in a blender. Pour the warm jam into a clean jar, screw the lid on and turn the jar upside down on the counter. Leave to cool. Serve with ripe goat cheese or / and aged cheese that has been taken out of the fridge for at least a half hour.

Note: as this jam is not conserved I suggest you eat it while its fresh!