Tag Archives: fennel

Lentil Dip

5 Comments


It may be silly to suggest cooking dried legumes when you can get them ready to eat in a can. But I still insist that there are so many benefits to cooking them yourself that it’s worth every step. And it’s pretty easy to do. You can also cook large quantities at a time and store smaller portions in your freezer.

Legumes like lentils or beans work all year round in different ways. Cold in salads and warm as a side to eggs, beets or with any green vegetable. Chickpeas are wonderful as a starter together with toasted almonds. Green lentils with beets, feta and parsley create a simple and delicious salad alone or together with baked vegetables or meat. Hummus or any other dip (see below) are perfect treats and easy to whip up with any fresh produce that the summer can provide.

I always cook my legumes together with some herbs, vegetables and salt (see simple version below). Sometimes I add bones or small pieces of meat when cooking the legumes. It gives a specific flavor but it’s far from necessary. Cooking time depends on what type of legumes you have, for example cooking lentils is far quicker than chickpeas. It also depends what you are planning to do. If you are making hummus you may want to cook the chickpeas until they are almost mushy but for a salad they should just be soft.

Some legumes such as most beans and chickpeas you will need to soak for at least 8-10 hours (but longer is better). Change the water a couple of time to keep them fresh (it can smell really bad). Lentils, split peas and mung beans do not need soaking.

The lentil dip below can be served together with fresh vegetables such as raw carrots, cucumber and celery. Slightly cooked cauliflower and broccoli also work well. You can also use the dip as a spread on freshly baked bread and crackers. Enjoy!

lentil dip
(Plenty of dip)

one cup dried french lentils (almost 2 cups cooked)
1-2 bay leaves
A sprig of sage
½ onion (and/or other vegetable scraps such as carrot, celery or fresh fennel)
about one tablespoon of salt

for the dip
about 2 cups cooked lentils (as above)
one shallot
chili (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
2-3 garlic cloves
2 teaspoon coriander*
2 teaspoons cumin*
one teaspoon fennel*
reserved lentil liquid
juice from a ½ lime

seasoning
smoked paprika powder (e.g. bittersweet Pimentón de la Vera)
sea salt
some olive oil
cilantro

First step is to cook the lentils. Rinse the lentils and cook them gently together with about two cups water, bay leaves, sage, salt and onion (etc) until soft (about 15-20 min). You may need to add a little more water. It’s important that you don’t cook the lentils dry and there should be about a cup of tasty liquid left when the lentils are done. When done reserve the liquid as it will be used later. Let the lentils cool and remove all bits and pieces of the sage, bay leaves, onions etc.

Chop the shallot into tiny pieces. Saute on very low heat until it starts to caramelize. Raise the temperature a little and add chili together with the spices. Stir everything together and add the lentils to the pan. Poor some of the water over and let cook for just a little bit. (You could stop the cooking here and just enjoy the lentils as a side to eggs, meat or vegetables).

Let the lentils cool a little before blending together with garlic in a food processor. Add lime juice plus some of the reserved lentil liquid to create a smooth texture. Season with flakes of sea salt and smoked paprika powder. Lastly add as much cilantro as you wish. Just before serving add some olive oil and a splash on top.

* I prefer to toast whole coriander, fennel and cumin in a skillet at high heat. When they start to “pop” remove them immediately from the pan into a mortar and pestle. Grind until fine. The flavor will be richer.

 This article was originally published at EcoSalon on 10 July 2012.

Knäckebröd Crackers

20 Comments

After being tired of not finding great Knäckebröd, Scandinavian Crisp Bread in the stores around my neighborhood in East Village, I started to make my own. Traditionally they are made as round wafers with a hole in the middle so you could store them hanging on a stick in the roof. They are often made with rye flour and rolled out with a special rolling pin with knobs. However I usually don’t use this tool and I like my home made knäckebröd as small crackers flavored with either or a combination of some: caraway seeds, fennel seeds, sesame and rosemary. My recipe is based on Alice Brax knäckebröd recipe.

first
25 grams fresh yeast
1 tablespoon honey
200 ml (almost 1 cup) kefir or yogurt
400 ml (1 2/3 cup) water
600 ml (2 ½ cup) rye flour
about 600 ml (2 ½ cup) regular flour

and later
100-200 ml ( ½ – 1 cup) regular flour
caraway seeds, toasted and crushed
fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
sesame seeds, toasted
dried Rosemary, crushed
flaky sea salt

Warm the yogurt with the water to 37°C (100°F). Dissolve the yeast in some of the warm yogurt mixture. Add the rest of the liquid and blend in honey and rye and regular flour. The dough will be quite sticky. Cover the bowl and keep at room temperature in a non-drafty area overnight or for at least 6 hours.

When the dough is ready, work in just enough of regular flour. Knead the dough on a floured counter top until the dough is smooth. Preheat the oven to 225°C (435°F).

Divide the dough into 15-20 equal parts. With your fingers sprinkle either caraway, fennel, sesame or rosemary together with flaky sea salt over each part and roll them into balls. Use a rolling pin and some regular flour to roll out every ball of dough very thinly. Using a cookie cutter or a sharp knife, cut into approximately 5 cm (2 inch) shapes. Place as many as you can fit on a greased baking tin. Bake the crackers immediately for about 8-10 minutes in the middle of the oven. depending on your oven you may have to turn them around to get nice all around color. When finished let the breads cool on an oven rack or a clean table. Keep the crackers in sealed containers.

This recipe was first published at Honest Cooking, 21 September 2011

Also check out my Wild Fennel Knäckebröd I baked in Sicily, with sourdough and Perciasacchi semola.


Akvavit

11 Comments

In the old days they used to add different kinds of herbs to vodka. Back then it was often for healing purposes but also as a way, I think, to take out some of the sharp taste in pure spirits. Wormwood was used to cure loss of appetite, both Caraway seeds and Fennel was used to treat digestive problems and St John’s wort was supposed to heal angst and depression.

Whether these cures are true or not my husband and I enjoy flavoring pure vodka with different kinds of herbs and plants. Some of the herbs we find during the summer in the woods (St John’s wort and Bog Myrtle) or in our own garden (black currant, wormwood and coriander). My husband has even engaged one of our friends, who has a backyard garden in Brooklyn, to grow wormwood (for Swedish Bäsk) and sweetgrass (to make Polish Zubrówka).

To make aquavit you don’t really have to go to the woods, you just need three simple spices that you may already have in your pantry: (one table spoon) coriander seeds, (one table spoon) fennel seeds and (one and half tablespoon) whole caraway seeds. Crush them roughly with a mortar and pestle and soak them in 200 ml pure vodka for a day or so. Let it soak longer for a stronger essence or less if you want a lighter taste. Strain and dilute with more vodka to the taste that you like. I recommend using the lightest pure vodka that you can find. For example, outside of Sweden I suggest Swedka or triple-distilled Smirnoff and in Sweden I recommend Renat.

Enjoy Snaps with different kinds of cured herrings, crayfish (Swedish style), caviar and oysters.

This recipe was first published on Honest Cooking, 28 April 2011.

Rhubarb Chutney

4 Comments

I can’t remember if it was the possibility of fast internet or the fact that there was rhubarb growing in the garden that made us buy this house. Anyway both me and M love rhubarb in every possible way… crumble pie, cordial, jam or chutney. For maximum treats, I cut the plants down completely when harvesting them so new shoots can develop. If I’m lucky I can have 3 harvests every summer!

Here is my latest… a quick and simple Rhubarb Chutney:

1 liter rhubarb
half an onion
small piece of ginger
one teaspoon fennel, roasted and crushed in a mortar and pestle
¼ liter sugar
½-1 teaspoon chili flakes
one slice of lemon

Rinse and peel the rhubarb by stripping off the outer layer. Cut them into smaller pieces. Chop the onion and sauté on low heat with some butter until soft and sweet. In the meantime chop the ginger into small pieces.
Place all the ingredients in a pot and cook on medium heat until mushy. Take out the lemon slice and run the rhubarb mixture in a food processor for a smoother texture. Pour it in a clean jar, close and turn upside down and let cool.

Store in the refrigerator. Serve the chutney with meat or on toast with cheese.

Nutty Bacon Quinoa

5 Comments

kokblog_grassfed
I have some non-vegetarian friends who don’t eat bacon.  I have no problem with that, I have my own principals. For example I try not to eat any meat that has been fed hormones or antibiotics (tough here in the US). Anyway, I didn’t know about their attitude to bacon when I recently served them my nutty Bacon Quinoa. The funny part was they kept eating even when I told them that it contained bacon. I guess they liked my standpoint in cooking!

This recipe is perfect when you have some left-over Quinoa.

(serves 2-3)

8 slices of bacon
one onion
¼ – ½ fennel root
one cup brown quinoa (dried)
one teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
one teaspoon coriander seeds, roasted and ground
one teaspoon mustard seeds, roasted and ground
chili flakes
oregano
garlic, crushed
salt

fresh cilantro
toasted walnuts

Chop the onion finely and slice the fennel into thin strips. Sauté on low heat with butter until soft and almost transparent. If you want you can add some of the left-over bacon fat to the onion mixture. Slice the bacon and sauté in a separate pan until a little crisp. When ready add the bacon to the onion mixture. Feed the mixture with chili, cumin, coriander and mustard seed. Raise the heat and let cook for about 2 minutes and then add the garlic, oregano and finally the cooked quinoa (see below). You may need to add some olive oil or a splash of water if it gets too dry. Season with salt. Top with fresh cilantro and toasted walnuts.

I have also made this with other vegetables such as: celery, kale, spinach and cabbage

my way of making quinoa
I cook quinoa a little bit like I cook rice by using a 1:2 ratio (one cup quinoa gets two cups of water). Rinse the quinoa and put into a pot together with water and some salt. Cover and bring to a boil and then let the covered quinoa simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. The quinoa should start to “sprout” (not really but you should see their curly germs). Turn off the heat and let stand covered until all the water has dissolved. With this method your quinoa will not be over-boiled and can be sauted with the recipe above.