Tag Archives: Johanna Kindvall

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!

Lamb Patties for BBQ

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kokblog_lamb

This summer we went to a great barbecue in one of our friend’s lovely garden. We all (about 60 people) brought our favorites to have on the grill and the hosts served us with lots of joy and a great bean salad. The evening started with some drops of rain but that didn’t really bothered anyone. Everyone was busy making fires and preparing for their treats. Eventually the sun showed up, just in time for us to sit down in the grass and be able to really enjoy the evening.

for the patties

0.4 kg (almost 1 lb) minced lamb or beef
1 egg
1-2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
¼ cup (50 ml) milk
salt and pepper
10 black olives
one or two shallots
2 gloves garlic
1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
chili flakes
some rosemary
feta cheese

Mix together the minced meat together with the egg yolk, breadcrumbs and milk. Slice the olives in small pieces and add them to the mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Let the mixture rest for at least an hour in the fridge. Chop the shallots fine. Sauté with butter on low heat until soft. Heat up a frying pan with some olive oil and sauté the mustard seeds with some chili flakes. When they start to pop, lower the heat and add squeezed garlic and rosemary. When they start to get color its done. Let the shallots and the mustard mixture cool before adding them to the patties batter. Cut up the feta cheese in pieces. Start to form the patties and place some feta in the middle. Wet your hands in between each pattie, that will make them easier to form!

Now they are ready for a barbecue with a fine mesh. Please don’t grill them over too high a heat, that will only make them dry and boring instead of juicy and tasty.

These patties also work with brown rice and sautéed bok choy (Chinese cabbage).

Rye Bread with Linseed

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baking 3

I have been so good this summer making my own bread and jams. Unfortunately this great habit only lasted for 3 months!

100 ml (½ cup) linseed
some water
3 tablespoons olive oil
500 ml (just over 2 cups) kefir or yogurt
50 gram (1 ¾ oz) fresh yeast (or other)
2-3 tablespoons roasted and crushed caraway seeds
200 ml (7/8 cup) roasted sunflower seeds
1-2 teaspoons salt
1-2 tablespoons dark syrup
400 ml (1 ¾ cups) rye flour
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) wholegrain rye flour
about 700 ml (3 cup) wheat flour

Soak the linseeds in some water. Heat up kefir and the olive oil to 37° C (almost 100° F). Dissolve the fresh yeast (or follow the description on the package) with some of the warm kefir mixture. Add the rest together with salt, syrup, caraway seeds, sunflower seeds  and the soaked linseeds.

Start to work in the rye flour and the wholegrain flour. Finally you add as much of the wheat flour as you can until the dough is smooth and doesn’t stick to the edge of the bowl. Cover the dough with a towel and let rise for one hour in a warm and draft-free place.
After about an hour or two, when the dough has doubled in size, place it on your counter top and knead in more regular flour until flexible and firm. Form two loaves and place them on a baking tin. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes at 175-200° C (350-400° F) depending on what kind of oven you are using. When the bread is done place the baked breads on a rack and cover. I know it can be hard to resist new baked bread, but they should rest for at least a half day so the taste can develop to its best.

Lamb Stew

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In the middle of cooking I realized that white wine wouldn’t be the best for this meal. I turned off the heat and ran down to the wine shop asking for an earthy and hearty red for my lamb stew with anchovies. We started to discuss different options when the wine guy suddenly asked me if I had already started cooking. Until then I hadn’t realized that my clothes had a very strong smell of cooking!

for the stew
1 lb lamb (shoulder or any other piece with bone)
2-4 gloves of garlic
red chilies, fresh or dried
3-5 anchovies
1 big onion
rosemary (dried or fresh)
some warm stock (I used my own stock made from lamb bones )
butter

for the stock
bones and the parts you don’t want to be in the stew
2-3 garlic, chopped
chili, fresh or dried, chopped
bay leaves
herbs (rosemary,thyme or sage)
half an onion
whole pepper corns
salt

Trim any excess fat and bones from the meat. Cut the rest of the meat into mouth size cubes. You will only use the bones and the fat for the stock. Keep the rest of the meat cool for later.

It’s a little hard for me to describe how I make a stock as it always end up different. Its really depends on what I have at home. Sometimes I add carrots, parsnips, dried and soaked shiitake mushrooms, dill or wine, etc etc. So what I will describe here is my basic recipe…
To make the stock, start by heating up a pan with olive oil. On high heat sauté the bones with chili, chopped garlic and onion. Sprinkle herbs before covering with water. Add salt, pepper and bay leaves. Bring to boil on high heat, then reduce heat and cover partially. Let it simmer for about an hour until the stock is reduced and flavorful. Strain stock into a bowl. Keep warm for use in the stew, otherwise cool and store in a refrigerator.

Now its time to make the stew. Heat up a sauté pan with some butter and sauté the lamb cubes on high heat on all sides for about 3-5 minutes. Lower the heat and start feeding the meat with chopped garlic, chili, anchovies and rosemary. The anchovies will melt completely in the pan and give the meat and sauce an excellent taste. Spoon over some warm stock now and again. The meat should not be bathing in stock, just make sure it never gets too dry.
Chop the onion into rings. In a separate pan, sauté the onions in butter (I use a lot) on very low heat until soft. Put aside.
When the lamb is ready (between1-2 hours) feed with more garlic and rosemary and add the onions and the rest of the stock. If necessary season with salt and pepper. (This is also a good time to let the stew rest while you go get the wine.) Before serving, let it cook for about 5 minutes. I normally serve the stew together with sautéed collard greens, baked potatoes and parsnips (and of course with a matching red wine).