Tag Archives: illustration

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

Pannbiff med Lök (patties with onion) and Lingonberry Sauce

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kokblog_doors

In Sweden I once lived next to a lovely girl. We weren’t only neighbors, we also shared the toilet that was out on the staircase. After a while we became really good friends and started to share other things. I only had a black and white TV, so we spent many evenings on her sofa watching color TV. I had a freezer and she had a toaster. One day when I was frying bacon for my Sunday breakfast, she banged on my door. I thought I had upset her with the bacon odor, as she is a vegetarian (who eats fish!). But she just wanted to stop by and say how wonderful the smell was coming from my apartment. So without any regrets I continued flavoring the staircase with my cooking. Another day she came again and told me she couldn’t take it any more. My dear neighbor wanted meat. I suggested pannbiff med lök (flat meatball or rather patties with onions).

the patties

0.7 kg (1.5 lb) ground beef (or half pork and half beef)
one onion
three cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
150 ml (2/3 cups) half and half or milk
1 eggs
salt and pepper
some fresh or dried herbs, such as oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary and/or parsley

Chop the onion and the clove of garlic very thinly. Sauté them in some olive oil until soft. In the meantime mix together the breadcrumbs, half and half and the egg with the ground meat. When the onions are ready mix them with the meat mixture and season with herbs, salt and pepper. Let the mixture rest for awihle. I always start by sauté-ing only one piece of the mixture, to make sure I have the right amount of spices. When the meat mixture has the taste you want, start rolling and flattening the patties. Take one tablespoon full, roll it in your hands and flatten it a little. Sauté them on quite high temperature. You can lower the temperature when they start to get some color. Take out the finished patties and keep them on the side. When you have done all of the patties, pour some water into the pan. Let it cook a bit and take the pan off the heat. This gravy will be used in the sauce.

lingonberry sauce

3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon flour
100-200 ml (1/2 to 1 cup) gravy from the meatballs
400 ml (1 2/3 cups) milk
100-200 ml (1/2 to 1 cup) cream
3-4 tablespoons lingonberry or cranberry jam
salt and pepper
oregano or thyme
a little soy sauce

Melt some butter in a saucepan and mix in the flour. Add the gravy and let it boil. Pour in the milk followed by the cream and let the sauce boil for 2-3 minutes. Add the lingonberry jam and season with salt, pepper, herbs and a little soy sauce. Sometimes I even drop some red wine into the sauce.

caramelized onions

2 yellow onions
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Chop the onions in rings. Heat up some butter and sauté the onions. Add the sugar and cook until onions are soft and golden brown.

finally…

Heat up the frying pan again together with some oil or butter. Place the patties in the pan and pour over the sauce. When the sauce starts to boil it’s done. Serve the dish with boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam and some pickled gherkins.

When I moved, my friend went back to being a fish-eating vegetarian…

Note: There are many ways to make your patties or meatballs. For example some say eggs are not needed and some say it makes the mixture more porous and easier to sauté. Most recipes tell you to soak the breadcrumbs in the milk for 5-10 minutes to avoid a bread taste in your meatballs. That may be a good idea, but I have never done that and my meatballs have never ever tasted of bread.

Curry

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kokblog_on_the_train

One friend of mine was on a train and overheard a conversation between to guys. The conversation was about how to make the best curry. One of the guys was bragging about his curry and he even stated that it was the best. My friend thought the conversation was inspiring and decided to listen carefully and memorized the whole recipe. Excited about his new discovery my friend went home to give the curry a try. He managed to get all the ingredients and everything seemed to be great. But the bragging guy on the train had talked a little too much. The curry dish didn’t stand out at all. In fact the curry was a big disappointment for my friend.

M:s curry is probably not the best curry either, but it is tasty, quick and simple to make.

serves 3-4 people

1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2-3 cloves of garlic
½ yellow onion
more or less chili
2 teaspoons coriander powder
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
4-5 whole cardamoms
235 ml (1 cup) chickpeas
handfull raisins
handfull cashew nuts
½ cauliflower
one zucchini
two carrots

Heat up some olive oil and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds are popping in the pan, add chopped garlic, onion and the chili together with the coriander, cumin and turmeric. When the onions starts to get soft, about 3 minutes, add the vegetables. Mix and sauté for another 2 minutes before adding some water, cardamom, raisins and chickpeas. Cover and cook until vegetables are done. Add the cashew nuts at the end of the cooking. Serve with couscous or rice, simple dill cucumber salad and some nice yogurt on the side.

Note If you are using dried chickpeas I suggest the following: soak the chickpeas over night. Boil them in salted water together with one bay leaf and one clove of garlic for 30 minutes. Prepare some extra and you can make humus as well.

Spinach Lasagna

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dinnerparty

Well Alice on her lovely Swedish food blog Brax on Food asked me for a kitchen confession and here is one of them…
The other day we had some friends over for spinach lasagna. Just a half an hour before everybody arrived there was a small crisis in the kitchen. I had forgotten about the cheese sauce on the stove, it cooked for at least 45 minutes too long. Even though it was on very low heat the sauce had separated and the cheese had transformed into some kind of porridge that was floating in the saucepan. It did not taste burned or bad it just looked a little uneatable. One solution could be to try to get some new cheese in the supermarket. But they would probably not have a great replacement for the Gorgonzola that was floating in my saucepan. I had nothing to lose, so I poured everything in the blender and out came the smoothest cheese sauce I have ever done…

(Serves 4-5 people)

You will need lasagna noodles enough for three layers. Precook the noodles in a big pan or use already precooked noodles.

spinach sauce

2 bunches of spinach
olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
chili
40 ml (1/6 cup) tamari sauce
40 ml (1/6 cup) of water

Clean the spinach carefully and let it dry while you peel and chop the garlic into small pieces. Heat up some olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic and the chili. When the garlic starts to get a little golden brown, add the spinach and sauté until it gets softer. Add the water and the tamari, cover the pan and let it cook for five minutes. If necessary season with salt and pepper.

blue cheese sauce

50 gram (about ½ stick) butter
50-60 ml (¼ cup) flour
700 ml (3 cups) milk
about 250 ml (1 cup) of any blue cheese (depending how strong taste you want)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and stir in flour. Cook under very low heat for 2-3 minutes. Constantly stir the flour mix. Add the milk gradually and stir to a smooth blend. Add the cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper.

Grease a baking tin. Start the layering with some cheese sauce and some spinach in the bottom. Keep layering with pasta in between layers of both cheese sauce and spinach. At last cover the last layer of pasta with only the sauce. Bake the lasagna in the oven at 375º for about 20-30 minutes. When the lasagna is nearly done sprinkle some fresh grated Parmesan over. Put in the oven for further cooking until the cheese is melted and got a nice color. Serve with a nice mixed salad, for example arugola, apple, grated carrots and walnuts.

… and the guests loved the lasagna.

Hot Sauces for Ice Cream

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Nearly every Friday, our friend Andrea comes over to watch a movie with us. It’s a little like a ritual. We make some simple food and often Andrea brings dessert. Even if none of us are particularly bored, we nearly always fall asleep in front of the screen.

Andrea’s Chocolate Sauce with Blueberries

1 bar of bittersweet dark chocolate
some cream or milk
blueberries

Melt the chocolate over low heat in a saucepan and gradually add some cream. Stir continuously until the chocolate has melted.
Serve the hot chocolate sauce over vanilla ice cream and top with the fresh blueberries.

As I like hot sauces to ice cream, here are some more…

Rhubarb Sauce

about 3 sticks of rhubarb
sucanat
lime

Rinse the rhubarb and chop them into small pieces. Heat up some water and boil the rhubarb until its soft and falling apart. Add as much sucanat as you like and squeeze some lime into the mixture. Serve hot over vanilla ice cream.


Hot Peaches with Rum

two peaches
two or three cardamom capsules
sucanat
chopped almonds
rum

Cut the peaches in pieces (half moons). Heat them up with a little water and the cardamom. When the peaches start to get soft add as much rum and sucanat as you want. Lastly add the chopped almonds. Before serving take out the cardamom capsules, they are too ripe to bite! Serve with vanilla or even rum ‘n’ raisin icecream.