Raw Stirred Cranberries (rårörda tranbär)

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kokblog_turkey

When I was a child, I often helped my mother picking lingonberries. Unfortunately we didn’t live in the north where there are lots of them so it was kind of tedious. I also didn’t like the taste so I couldn’t really get the point of wasting my time. It was different with blueberries.

Well it is even harder to find fresh lingonberries in NYC. But luckily there are plenty of cranberries. You may even find organic berries. Uncooked Cranberries Preserved Jam or what you may call, Raw Stirred Lingonberries (rårörda lingon) is a very common side dish to plenty of Swedish dishes. I have also heard that it is very similar to a cranberry and orange relish that is common on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. In my jam or relish I used lime instead of orange and (of course) sucanat instead of white sugar.

½ kg (1 lb) cranberries or lingonberries
150 ml (0.6 cup) sucanat
peals of one lime

Rinse the berries carefully. Crush the berries with a potatoes masher to make the berries softer. Add the sugar and start stirring with a big spoon. Keep stirring and stirring and stir until the sugar is completely melted and you have a nice consistency. For quicker results, run the berries very briefly in the food processor before adding the sugar. It will make it easier to stir. But please don’t use the food processor too long as it will mash them and its nice to see some whole soft lovely berries in the jam. Finally add the lime peals and let the jam rest overnight.

Serve the jam with duck, chicken, turkey, meatloaf, body cakes (kroppkakor), potaoe panncakes, patties or meatballs. M likes it on his breakfast oatmeal (if there is any left…)

Pierogi

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kokblog_pierogi

In Manhattan it’s hard to find great pierogi. I often find them too thick and heavy. Well M:s mother happens to be a great pierogi maker. She makes them so thin and light and fills them with sauerkraut and mushrooms, meat, or cheese and potatoes. I easily end up licking the plate. After all she is from Poland and as lovely as she is, she makes tons of them when we are around.
This summer I asked her for her dough secret. I was hoping to get the whole recipe written down, but her answer and recommendation was very short, “make them with warm water”!

dough (approximate 75 pierogi which serves about 6 people)
700 ml (3 cups) regular flour
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk (I used the egg white in the potatoes and cheese filling later)
1 tea spoon salt
175 ml (¾ cup) warm water (heated up, not directly from the tap)

Mix the flour and the salt together with the eggs. Heat up some water and mix small parts at a time into the flour mixture. I did it by hand but I think it works perfectly well to use a food processor. On a flat surface knead the dough until it’s firm and soft. Cover with a damp tablecloth and let it rest on the counter top while you are making the fillings.

mushroom filling
Here I made M:s Spicy Portobello Mushrooms. I used less water, as I didn’t want the filling to be too loose. Instead I used some cream to make it thicker.

cheese and potatoe filling
4 – 5 boiled potatoes
4 table spoons butter or olive oil
50 ml (0.2 cup) milk
1 egg white
about 120 ml (½ cup) farmers’ cheese
salt and pepper
cilantro

topping
melted butter
fine chopped and fried bacon
fine chopped and fried onions

Mash the potatoes with the egg white, some melted butter and milk. Add the farmers cheese as noted or to your own taste. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Lastly add chopped cilantro. Note that cilantro is not really a traditional ingredient for a pierogi filling but I don’t think there are any strong rules on how to make fillings. You take what you have at home. I used a very mild type of cilantro. However many recipes seem to use fine chopped onions or chives. I will try garlic next time.

filling the pierogi
Uncover the dough and if necessary knead it some more. Divide into 4 pieces. Use lots and lots of flour while rolling one piece at the time to a 1/16” (1 mm) thickness. Make 3” circles and divide the fillings on top. Cover the filling and pinch the edges firmly to seal. Pat some more flower on every pirogi so they don’t stick together. If necessary add some more warm water to the dough as the flour makes it dryer in the process. Repeat until you have about 75 lovely pierogi.

Heat up salted water. When the water is boiling drop some of the pierogi in the water. When they are floating up to the surface let them boil approximate 1 minute more. Fish them out with a strainer. Top with melted butter and fried bacon and onions (chopped finely). Serve with a salad and some sour cream.

Well it is a long process… but luckily it was worth every minute. The pierogi ended up super thin and didn’t last very long.

There are many different versions on how to make pierogi. Some use sour cream and some use the egg yolk in their dough. My dough was inspired by several recipes but are quite similar to Kate Hopkins version.

Carrot Muffins

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kokblog_carot

When my sister and I were young and innocent, we used to be out in the vegetable garden ‘helping’ our father. Both of us loved picking and eating carrots directly from the earth. But if one carrot was too small or not fully ready to eat, we kindly placed it back into the earth, so the carrot could continue growing. Our father wasn’t as happy as we were. He wondered why some carrots seemed to stop growing and withered and others didn’t!

2 eggs 200 ml (0.8 cup) sucanat
75 gram (2.6 ounces) butter
100 ml (0.4 cup) milk
250 ml (1 cup) flour
1 ½ tablespoon bicarbonate
4-5 carrots
200 ml (0.8 cup) walnuts
2-3 tea spoons cinnamon
some grated nutmeg
some juice from a fresh lime

Whisk eggs and sucanat until fluffy. Heat up milk and margarine and pour mixture over the egg mix while mixing intensely. Blend flour and bicarbonate before you stir it into the cake mixture. Peel the carrots and grate them nicely. Add the carrots and chopped walnuts. Squeeze some limejuice over the mixture and season with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake in the oven at 200°C (392F) for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how big muffins you chose to make.

Pear and Almond Tart

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pears

I didn’t have much candy or chocolate this Easter. Besides eating plenty of herring, eggs and lamb I had some lovely cakes… this one was crunchy and juicy at the same time.

crust
300 ml (1 ¼ cup) flour
100 g (3.5 oz) butter
2 tablespoon sucanat
3 table spoon cold water

filling
2 pears
4-5 tablespoons rum or juice from one lemon
100 g (3.5 oz) butter
4-6 table spoon sucanat
120 ml (½ cup) almonds

Mix the crust ingredients together and let them rest in the fridge for one hour. Place the crust in a greased 9” baking tin and trim to fit. Stick this shell a few times with a fork and pre-bake for 10 minutes at 200º (400F).

Peal and slice the pears thinly. Soak the pear pieces with rum or juice from a lemon. Roast the almonds at 200º (400 F) for about 8-10 minutes. When they have cooled down chop them into smaller pieces. Melt the butter and then add sucanat and the roasted almonds. Divide the soaked pears in the pre-baked shell and pour the filling on top. Bake in the oven at 200º (400F) for about 15-20 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Maria’s Shrimp Stew

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waterpipe in the garden

My friend Maria and I used to spend long evenings out in her garden, playing backgammon and smoking water pipe. At that time, we often start the evening by cooking something together, while listening to Middle East pop music and drinking some exotic tea. Well Maria spent over a year in the Middle East working at a rehabilitation center. In her free time she learnt scuba diving or went for long overnight walks in the desert all by her self. She must be one of the bravest persons I know.

This shrimp stew has nothing to do with Maria’s adventure in the Middle East. This stew is inspired by one of her original recipes. However I have changed it a bit. She made it as a creamy soup and it was perfectly suitable for our long early summer backgammon session in the garden.

half kg raw shrimps
two or three cloves of garlic
chili flakes
mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
three fresh tomatoes
one yellow onion
150-200 ml (0.6-0.85 cups) cream or heavy milk
paprika powder
thyme
fresh dill
one red pepper
salt and pepper
fresh cilantro

Heat up some olive oil and sauté one clove of chopped garlic together with some chili seeds. When the garlic starts to get a little yellow add the shrimps. Sauté on high temperature until they are done. Put the shrimps on the side and pour 150ml (0.6 cups) water in the sauté pan and let it boil for a minute. The liquid is going to be used later. Peel the shrimps when they become cooler.

Heat up new olive oil and add a teaspoon of mustard seeds. When the seeds starts to pop add cumin, coriander, turmeric and chili flakes. Sauté for ½ a minute before adding the chopped onion and one or two cloves of chopped garlic. Slice the fresh tomatoes and add them to the onions as they are getting soft. Sauté for a short moment before adding the shrimp water. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the cream and bring it to the boil. Lower the heat and season with paprika powder, thyme, salt and pepper. The stew should have a nice balance of sweet and spiciness. Just before serving add the shrimps, chopped cilantro, dill and the red pepper. The red pepper should be crispy.

Serve with rice and a simple salad (I often do arugula with apples and walnuts).

See also recipe for Grilled Spicy Shrimps