Roasted Bell Pepper Pizza with Feta and Olive Tapenade

The Cheeseboard Collective Works by the Cheeseboard Collective

Adam Tenstas Indiska Gryta med Quorn, Cashewnötter & Ingefära (Adam Tenstas Indian dish with quorn, cashews and ginger)

ICA Buffé

Laxburgare (Salmon Burgers)

Mmmmmm. Another hit from Anna Bergenström! I don't think I've ever had a salmon burger, but this sounded so good! The local market had a great price on salmon, so I gave this a try. They didn't have nice bread for buns, so I took Anna's advice and made my own. They were super simple if you have an hour to let then rise, and really good! I'm glad I made them, it was cheaper that way, too. I first boiled the salmon for abou 8min. I was a little afraid of boiling the fish, it didn't sound very good. But decided to stick with the recipe this time. And I think it tasted great, was fast and easy. I then mashed up the fish with a fork, added an egg, bread crumbs and finely chopped onion. Formed those into patties and sauteed for about 6min. The were so juicy and full of flavor! They were awfully small. I didn' mind so much, as I don't eat that much, but if I were serving them for guests, I would probably make fewer larger burgers. I put the patties on the homemade bread with lettuce, cucumber, red onion and a summer sauce from Fårö (?) made with sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, a ton of dill, salt and pepper. It called for some other thins (scallions, italian salad spices...) but I called it good with this. It was such a yummy sauce, too. I liked these a lot and will definitely make them again. Unfortunately, Johan's still sick so wasn't able to fully appreciate these or judge them on his scale. So I am, with his permission, acting in his behalf to grade these.

Johan Scale: VG

"Kärlek, Oliver och Timjan: mat för välbefinnande" by Anna Bergenström and Fanny Bergenström

Tofu and Dumplings

My mom used to make Chicken and Dumplings all the time when I was growing up. I always loved the dumplings! So I decided I would try to make Julie's vegetarian versions. The recipe starts with boiling water, onion, marjoram, dried basil, salt and the chicken for 25min. I figured that would be enough time to also flavor tofu, so I substituted tofu for chicken. And I was right, the tofu sucked up a ton of flavor! I then added some sliced carrots, sliced mushrooms and peas and boiled another few minutes. The dumplings are simples- flour, baking powder and oregano mixed with milk, an egg and a little oil. I spooned 6 dumplings on top of the vegetable and simmered that for about 10 min. Now the recipe said to make some gravy, but I remember my mom's being more like soup. I decided to try the gravy, so poured off the broth, added a little more water and flour. Boiled that until it was thickened, then I just poured it back in with the vegetables, so it was kind of soupy. And I think it turned out pretty good! Johan was feeling a little under the weather so couldn't give an accurate score to the dish. It maybe could have used a little more spice, but I don't think using tofu instead of chicken made any real difference- except to the chicken! So I'm happy with my variation and will definitely make it again!

Johan Scale: yet to come

"New Cook Book" by Better Homes and Gardens (Chicken and Dumplings)

Macc and Two Cheeses with Caramelized Shallots

I love maccaroni and cheese, but because it lack a few vitamins and has a bit more cholesterol than I desire, I haven't made it for years. Finally I thought, what the heck, I'll try some. I found this recipe in my Bon Appetit and it sounded tempting- the cheesy, creamy pasta covered with caramelized onions and dotted with goat cheese. Although that was about it. So I added some diced tomatoes and fresh spinach- just to help justify eating the stuff. I began with caramlizing the onions (although the recipe called for shallots), in 3Tbs butter. I then cooked the maccaroni. I made the cheese sauce by boiling some milke and adding shredded cheese (Greve, but I'd try Präst next time) and a little flour. Whisked until smooth, added the pasta and veggies then spread it in a baking dish. I topped it with the caramlized onions then spread the soft goat chees on top. It baked for 15min just to heat through, then was done! It did taste good. And we liked it last night, but for left overs today Johan decided it was maybe a little too cheesey. Maybe not healthy enough to justify. So, we'll see if it comes around again. Maybe if there are kids over or something!

Johan Scale: G

Bon Appetit December 2008

Gingerbread Cookies (Pepparkakor)

Here it is, the kick-off to Christmas season! I decided to try my hand at making these delicious cookies. I got a recipe from an expert- Johan's mom! And I needed them for the weekend. The reipe says to let the dough sit in the fridge for 2 days (I think I'm seeing a trend) so I made the dough a couple days ago. I began by boiling some light syrup, sugar and water together. I added that to the butter, cinnamon, cloved and kardemum. One the butter melted and the mixture came close to room temp, I added the flour and baking soda. Then it looked like this:

I had so much fun rolling these out! Unfortunately, it was by myself, but I still have 1/2 the dough left, so Johan can help me next time. Does anyone have a good technique to keep the pastry cloth in one place while trying to roll stuff out?

Johan' mamma was so kind to lend me some cookie cutters! These are traditional shapes for the pepparkakor. I have no idea why they use a pig, but they taste the same whatever shape! The trees are the perfect size- bite size.

This is my stack of cookies after one cooking session. Okay, there were a few more. I can't expalin what happened to those.

And here they are ready to head off to the First Advent celebration! I know, I know. Way more pictures than necessary of cookies. But I just had fun making them and it really got it feeling like Christmas! And got my house smelling so good!

Indian Vegetables like in Kerala (Indisk Grönsaksgryta som i Kerala)

I know, another indian dish! But I love indian food, and have almost done without it since my move to Sweden. I've heard a lot about this cookbook author Anna Bergenström. I had one of her books on my Christmas Wish List, but then decided I wasn't so sure I wanted it- they're kind of expensive. Then, I found out that the local library has a great selection of her books! I stopped by and picked up a book called "Love, Olives and Thyme" and it's wonderful! The book is beautiful with such nice photos! It also contains a lot of information about nutrition. It talks of eating healthy, which rices are better than other, what's good to eat for breakfast, why protein is important and which foods contain a high amount of protein, which fats are good for us and so on. And yes, that is all in Swedish and I understood it (hooray for Swedish class!).

I agree, it seems a little random to find an indian dish in a swedish cookbook, but whatever. So this is the first one I tried. It is also simplified from what a true indian dish would be. There was quite a bit of prep work, but the entire meal didn't take too long to cook. I boiled some potatoes, then sauteed them in some oil. I then sauteed the cauliflower in the same pan, put that all aside. I then sauteed some curry and cummin. I added to that garlic, wedges of yellow onion and diced ginger. I then added a can chopped tomatoes and let that simmer for about 10min. Meanwhile, I cooked some basmati rice- cheaper than the naan I bought before, but still really tasty! I added the potatoes and cauliflower along with some hericots verts to the veggies and simmered another 8min or so. I added a little garam marsala, threw in a little fresh cilantro and dinner is served! Johan liked it a lot, as did I. It did, however, make our house REEK of indian food, the stench is still lingering! I like my food to smell like it, but not my clothes and hair so much. Nevertheless, I will make it again. That is, if it's legal to copy the book from the library...

Johan Scale: VG

"Kärlek, Oliver och Timjan" by Anna Bergenström

Best/Worst Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

I have always been an enormous fan of chocolate chip cookies. They were a weekly occurance at my house growing up. I have to stock up with bags and bags of chocolate chip when I visit the US so I can make the little angels- they don't sell chocolate chips here. So, a while ago I read a blog post from orangette which referred to this article in the NY Times. I suggest you read it for yourself. There was an extensive search for the world's best chocolate chip cookie recipe. They spoke to famous bakers around new york and accumulated the best tips to make this recipe. So of course, I had to try it. I was lukcy enough to aquire some of these chocolate disks (which the recipe recommends to get layers of chocolate) from my mom (thanks, mom!) so last week was the week.

The recipe doesn't call for much that is unusal. It calls for bread flour and cake flour, but those don't exactly exist here, so I used regular flour. And it said to cream the butter and sugar for 5 min in a stand mixer. I don't have a stand mixer, so I used my good ol' electric hand mixer for 5 min. And, I didn't have quite enough butter on hand, so I was a little short. So, I creamed the butter and sugar, added eggs one at a time, added vanlila, then the sifted flour, baking soda and salt, 'til just combined. The dough was really thick. Then it called for 20oz chocolate discs, next time I'd put just a little less. It sounded like a lot, and it was a lot. But it didn't make them taste bad. This was stage 1:

So the first trick/thing that makes these different, is that one should refrigerate the dough for at least 24hrs, 3 days is prefered. Apearantly because the moisture in them (butter) is not very liquid, it takes a long time for the flour to properly absorb the moisture. Well, I'm not asking questions, I just obeyed. So this sat in my fridge for 3 days. The second trick is to make the cookies big- dough ball about the size of a large golf ball. This gives the cookie dimension. The outer rim is crispy, the next inch is normal, and the inside is nice and soft and gooey. So, I put these huge balls of dough on my sheet, followed by the third trick, a little sea salt. I sprinkled just a touch of sea salt on top of the cookies, before they were baked. They baked for about 18min and looked like this:

So, why does the title of this post include "worst?" This made so much dough, I was constantly picking at the delicious dough for the 3 days it sat in the fidge. The yield said 6 cookies. Not quite. I made about 12 cookies, with a little dough left over to continue snacking on the dough. Keeping in mind that Johan isn't too big on sweets, one can conclude that I at so much cookie dough/so many cookies in the last week! I probably gained 5lbs. Don't get me wrong, these cookies were fabulous. I was so happy with them. I could have bought the anywhere and would be satisfied. The salt was an interesting contrast to the sweetness, I totally agree with the layers of chocolate the discs provide, and the 3 consistencies where delicious! Theses were amazing, and obviously worth the 5lbs I gained. But next time, I'll need to share a few more of them.

krämig (creamy) Daal

Mmmmm. I loved this one! For so many reasons! I found this winner in my ICA Buffé, distributed by the local market. It's and indian dish. I've never made any indian food, but love the taste! I think this is probably a very simplified version of anything traditional from India, but who knows. So I made this by sauteing an onion and a little garlic in oil, with some ground koriander and cummin. I then added some red lentils, water, a buljong cube and a can of coconut milk (the star of the dish!). That simmered for 10min, I then added some diced tomatoes and fresh spinach and let that simmer another 5 min, and done. I sprinkled some fresh cilantro on top and served it with some yogurt and store bought naan. Although the yogurt was good, I don't think it was necessary, next time I'll skip it. And I like the naan, but maybe cheaper with some rice. That I'll try next time. It was so delicious and pretty healthy, I used light coconut milk. Best of all, it was super fast. It probably took about 20min from start to finish. Wonderful on those days I just don't want to be cooped up in the kitchen. It made plenty for Johan and me, en riktig succé!

Johan Scale: VG

ICA Buffé 11, 2008

note: I noticed the Buffé recipes are online through www.ICA.se as well, so I will like to the online recipes.

Böngryta med Tomat och Spenat (Beans with Tomatoes and Spinach)

I found this under the "30 minutes" section of my Swedish Elle Mat & Vin magazine. It sounded pretty good, so I made it last night. I began by sauteing an onion and garlic. Added 1 Tbs ground cummin, then some water and canned tomatoes. I added a can kidney beans, a can cannellini beans and some hericots verts. Boiled all that for 5 min, added some fresh spinach and boiled for 5 more, then it was complete. I went to my Swedish class, and 2 1/2 hours later we ate it with some fresh bread I bought. It was surprisingly good! For how healthy and quick it was, we were really pleased (as evident by the grade). I added more water than it called for to make it a little more like soup. But it was hearty, warm and full of flavor. A success.

Johan Scale: VG-

Elle Mat & Vin, Nov-Jan 2009

Broccoli and Red Pepper Soup with Sunflower Bread

I found this soup recipe kind of randomly. I was just looking on the vegetarian times website, it caught my eye, so decided to make it last monday. I began by boiling the broccoli and some rice in veggie stock for 40min. I roasted 4 red peppers and pureed them. Then I sauteed some onion with garlic, thyme, tarragon and cayenne pepper. I added that to the broccoli and pureed that. Then, I mixed in the pepper pure, juice from a lemon, white pepper, apple cider vinegar and salt to taste. Then it was finished! It was delicious. The rice made it a little thicker and it had so many dimensions of flavor! It was a little acidic, but sweet with the peppers. And pretty healthy, too. I used brown rice and olive oil. I also wanted some bread to make it a more filling meal, so I made this sunflower bread out of my Swedish Elle Mat & Vin. And I have to say, this turned out the best of any bread I've ever tried to make! It was moist and soft. It needed much more flour than the recipe called for and I would have added some salt. It called for herb salt (whatever that is), honey and oats along with the flour, yeast and water. It was a success, I'll definitely make it again!

Johan Scale: VG-

Soup: Vegetarian Times

Bread: Elle Mat & Vin, Nov-Jan 2009

Mammas fiskgratäng (Mom's Fish Gratin)

This was a fun one! Another recipe from my Hela Sveriges Husman (All of Sweden's Husman). Husman is a type of traditional Swedish food. The local market has compiled recipes from folks all over Sweden into this book, which cost me a $3 coupon- not bad! The recipe used a really inexpensive white fish called Sej, I don't know what it is in English. The frozen fish cost almost as much as fresh and since it's crappy fish anyway, we went and bought some nice, fresh crappy fish. I baked it in the bottom of a casserole dish for about 10min. Then I piled (with the help of Johan!) some mashed potatoes around the fish and filled the dish with a mushroom sauce I made- milk, butter, sauteed mushrooms and a little flour. Lastly, I layered some sliced tomatoes on top and back in the oven for 15min or so, mostly to lightly brown the top of the potatoes. And this turned out great! It made a lot of food and the sej was surprisingly good! Well, how could it not be with all that milk and butter added! But it was a great combination with the mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes and the mildly flavored fish. And fun to add another type of fish to our diet!

Johan Scale: VG-

"Hela Sveriges Husman" by ICA

Red Cabbage Pizza with Gorgonzola and Walnuts

Another pizza from the Cheeseboard book! This one was great, as are all the rest. But it was pretty unique, I thought. I was surprised to find red cabbage at the market so thought it must be a sign, I must make this pizza! I made my usual dough (Mario Batali's pizza crust) then layered it with cheese- recipe says Mozzarella, i used Herrgård cheese. Then some caramelized onions, sliced cabbage mixed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little salt and pepper, more mozzarella then some blue cheese crumbles. My half had chopped walnuts- Johan's allergic. I thought it would be a good idea to try to make calzones for lunch the next day- I was wrong! They tasted just as good, but where such a mess! I didn't have enough dough to stretch over the insides. But the pizza looked and tastes fabulous! On the health scale this might not rank so high, but my belly was more than satisfied!

Johan Scale: VG

"The Cheese Board Collective Works" by the Cheese Board Collective

Hearty Lentil Soup

This was a new one, I found it on a blog that was recommended by my friend Jessie. And it was really good! A fairly basic lentil soup, but it was different than what we usually eat and with the rice, made a 'hearty' meal! I started with a chopped onion and 2 chopped carrots. I let them soften in some oil. I then added garlic, canned tomatoes, the lentils, some herbs and a little red wine. That boiled for some minutes, I then added a little balsamic vinegar, and viola! Pour that on some rice for a delicious dinner! I have half of it saved in the fridge, can't wait to finish it off! It's extremely healthy, which contributes to it's high grade on the Johan Scale. The only fat is just a little olive oil. And filling with the rice and lentils. It had many dimensions of taste, a perfect fall (okay, I'll finally realize it's winter!) dinner!

Johan Scale: VG-

Super Spark

Blåbärsgrött (Blueberry Oatmeal)

This was really fun. I found this recipe in a swedish cookbook I have- although you don't really need a recipe. All it is is regular oatmeal, but adding as many blueberries as oats (I used frozen blueberries) and adding a bit of honey to sweeten it. You see mine with milk on the left, Johan's on the right. It was really tastey! It was fun to mix up our usual breakfast a bit. It was quite sweet, I wouldn't make it every morning (and 'cause blueberries aren't cheap!) but it was a fun treat. I added flax seed to mine, because it's healthy, but also because I thought it was a little to gummy. It had the consistency of pudding to me. But with that, it was perfect, and what a fun color!

Hela Sveriges Husman by ICA

Clam Chowder in Pumpkin Breadbowl

Yesterday was Halloween. For a while growing up we had this tradition- every halloween my mom would go to the Provo Bakery and pick up some pumpkin breadbowl and we'd have them with clam chowder. I've made the chowder before, so there's nothing really to report on it. But I don't have a Provo Bakery in Uppsala, so I had to make my own. The first problem I had was that once the dough was kneaded, it was near impossible to distribute the food coloring through it. But, that's okay. Then they didn't rise so well, and when they were risen they were super flat. A bunch of people had this problem in the reviews of the recipe, so why I thought it wouldn't happen? I don't know. But the bread was really good anyway and the soup, as always was deliciou! It was really fun to have them for Halloween, seeing as how that's the only Halloween celebration we had. Unfortunately we left the soup out on the counter all night and spoiled a huge pot of left-overs. I even have more pumpkin bowls! I'll have to find some way to blame this one on Johan.

Johan Scale: VG

Bread Bowls: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Bread-Bowls/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Quinoa with Grilled Zucchini, Garbnzo Beans and Cumin

Bon Appetit, August 2008

White Chocolate Pistachio Brownies

I hesitate posting this one, because I wasn't wowed by this recipe. But at the same time I wasn't disappointed, i ate the whole pan! In fact, it's an extremely rare occasion that I find a brownie I don't care for. But I was just a little excited about these- White chocolate and pistachio brownies. I love pistachios in chocolate bars so thought this was a great idea! But The pistachios had almost no flavor and became quite soft when the brownies were baked. The brownie batter called for butter and olive oil, an odd addition I thought, but I like adding oil because it always makes whatever I'm baking SUPER moist. These were no exception. Super gooey, moist brownies. I will take some of the blame for these, I don't usually use the finest possible chocolate when baking. In fact, I just buy whatever's at the nearest supermarket- I bake too often to be able to afford fancy chocolate! And I (knowingly) used the wrong kind of chocolate. It was not baking chocolate, but regular sweetened chocolate. I reduced the sugar, but the chocolate had such a strong flavor it defintiley would've been better with nice chocolate. The same goes for the white chocolate- I couldn't taste it at all. I may as well have left it out, but maybe if it were nicer quality it would have made a difference. I just wanted to post because the recipe came from my Swedish food magazine, the same one my friend Jessie got!

Elle Mat & Vin, Sept-Nov 2008

Risotto

This is one of the first recipes I've tried from my Swedish food magazine. And, it's just plane ol' risottos, but I really liked it! I began by sauteeing a yellow onion in olive oil, then added arborio rice. Added a vegetable buljong and then slowly added water and white wine over 5 min. Then it simmered for 25 min, then sat for another 15min. Meanwhile, I roasted a zucchini, red pepper and onion in the oven. I added some parmesan cheese to the rice and a little butter and extra wine. I then served the rice, vegetables on top, some toasted sesame seeds and a little extra parmesan. It was pretty simple, but good! The risotto had just a little hint of a crunch but was also very sticky. The wine added a great scent! It was quite simple, didn't take too long and tasted good, I'd say a success! I think Johan liked it a little less, but he did like it. It was fun to try a recipe from the Swedish magazine! Next time I would probably use more vegetables and maybe shrimp- if I can ever find frozen raw shrimp again! It just could have used a little more flavor.

Johan Scale: G+

Elle Mat & Vin 5/08

Pomodori al forno

I read an article in my sep Bon Appetit about these tomatoes. Then I read about them on a blog (by the same writer). Then I read about them on another blog, stolen from the first blog. So I thought, I have to try this, I'd be a fool not too. And my intuition was right! One recipe was for the tomatoes to be put on baguette with goat cheese, the other to be put on pasta with parmesan, so I put them on pasta with goat chesse! A good compromise, I thought. I began by buying 1 kilo plum tomatoes and de-seeding them. I put them in a swimming pool of olive oil and sprinkled on a little sugar, salt and dried oregano. I roasted them slowly at 250F for a total of 2 1/2 hrs! Then the pasta recipe said to peel the guys. But as soon as I peeled one, I thought, these peels can't go to waste. So, I just ate them. It was at that point I knew I had something magical. I then put the tomatoes in a bowl with the olive oil and added garlic and parsley. I let all that sit for another 2 hrs. When Johan finally came home, I took 1/2 the tomatoes and gently chopped them in a bowl, then threw them together with some cooked whole wheat penne pasta. We put a little goat cheese on top and smaklig måltid (bon appetit?)! It was so, so good. I was blown away at how much flavor came out of these little tomatoes. They were juicy and soft and delicious. We licked the bowl clean. And it really didn't take long at all, if you subtract the 5hrs of waiting time! So, if you know you'll be home for a day, please do yourself a favor and try these. And don't forget that once you've eaten the tomatoes, you still have a deliciously infused olive oil you can save for dipping bread! Hmmmm, I wonder if I can can this...

Johan Scale: VG+

The Wednesday Chef

Orangette

Cravin' Corn Chowder

I've made this one a few times before, it is probably the most inexpensive dinner I make! It contains and onion, 3C corn and 1 medium potato. That's roughly it, maybe a little thyme and vegetable broth. But it's really inexpensive, really simple and has a surprisingly big flavor! Johan and I both really like this one, it's great when I'm not in the mood to put a lot of thought into dinner.

Johan Scale: G+

"The Native Foods Cookbook" by Tanya Petrovna

Pumpkin Scones

The first use of the rest of the pumpkin pureed I have stacked in the freezer. I found this recipe in my Cheese Board cookbook and they sounded great! I began by mixing the puree with buttermilk (well, some kind of buttermilk substitute) and cream (how could things possibly go wrong from here, you're thinking?). I sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg. Added some salt and pepper then cut in a bunch of butter. Gently mixed everything together. I was supposed to form balls with the batter, but mine was way too sticky, so I just plopped a spoonful on a baking sheet, sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on top and baked. They were really good! The pumpkin flavor wasn't too strong and they were prefectly moist for a scone. I think they're a little flatter than supposed to be, but that was obvious when the dough was too sticky to form a ball. It was a perfect fall treat! I wouldn't call them amazing, I've made other scones I've liked better, but I was not disappointed in these. And Johan loved them.

Johan Scale: VG

"The Cheese Board Collective Works" by The Cheese Board Collective

Oopa Moussaka

"The Native Foods Cookbook" by Tanya Petrovna

Quinoa with Mango and Curried Yogurt

I have no idea how I came across this recipe, I can't remember why I found it. But it's off of epicurious.com and it's been in the back of my mind for some time. The recipe kind of suggests it's supposed to be served as a side dish, so I decided to just make it for lunch one day. I boiled some quinoa, mixed yogurt, curry, lime juice, fresh ginger, salt, pepper, and a little oil. This was the sauce, I mixed the quinoa into it. I roasted the red pepper (the recipe calls for a raw one) and topped the quinoa with that, some roasted peanuts, mango and cilantro (the recipe called for mint). The recipe also called for a jalepeño. I chopped it up and it was so super hot I ended up sauteeing it for a while to loose the heat. I intended to serve it with some arugula, but kind of forgot. But it was really good! It had great flavors and a combination of textrures and colors. It didn't made a whole lot, I would probably make 1 1/2 recipe next time. But I was really happy with it and will definitely be making it again.

Johan Scale: G+

epicurious

Pumpkin Lasagna

Thanks to Jessie for recommending this one! It was so fun to make something so different than what I we usually eat. I can think of only one other time that my maing dish had pumpkin as a main ingredient (pumpkin ravioli, also amazing!). I've never made my own pumpkin puree, so that was fun and I am happy to have some left-overs. The lasagna was quite simple. I baked and pureed the pumpkin and mixed in a little salt and dried sage. I mixed some ricotta and parmesan cheeses with some salt and pepper (was there one more thing?). Then I layered the noodles, puree, cheese, over and over then baked the thing for quite some time. It not the most beautiful dinner I've made, but it sure tasted good! It was really soft and creamy and the pasta added a nice balance to that. Overall, a really fun recipe to try!

Johan Scale: VG

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/:

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9771?section=

Greek Bean Casserole

I found this recipe a long time ago and really like it. It came from an ICA Buffé. I begin by mixing some cherry tomatoes (which I smash a little), onion, garlic and some oil in a bowl. I add "big white beans" to a casserole dish, then olives and sliced mushrooms, topped with the tomato mixture. I bake it for a while, then add feta cheese. I love this served with whole grain bulgur. And it has so much nutrition! The recipe calls for okra, I used it once but am not so used to the taste, so jut kind of thought it was odd. I skip it now. And the recipe calls for canned tomatoes. Fresh are much, much better. Johan doesn't like it as much as I do, but hey? I do the cooking, right? So I keep making it on occasion.

Johan Scale: G+

ICA Buffé 4, 2008

Rocket Burgers

I love these burgers! Well, they're more like sandwiches. The recipe is from my never failing Native Foods book. Instead of patties, the recipe calls for portabello mushrooms, sauteed in some olive oil. I love portabellos! I use these buns usually. I'm not a huge fan of the bread hamburger buns are usually made of, these buns are much better. But, i don't know what they are. In swedish- småfranska which literally translated means little french. So whatever, they're good! Then I add some arugula (or spinach depending on who gets their way between Johan and me) and some Yugoslavian Ivar (Ayvar?). This is the secret. I begin with 2 red peppers and 1 yellow, and one eggplant. I roast all, take away the skins and seeds from the pepper. Then dice them really small and mix with some vinegar and other stuff. Then I usually puree 1/2 of it to make a smoother consistency. It has such an amazing flavor! I will make it just to dip a baguette in, too. The recipe calls for mayonnaise, but I think it's unnecessary, so never add it. Once the Ivar is made, the recipe is super simple and quick. One of my favorites from the book!

Johan Scale: G+

"The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook" by Tanya Petrovna

Apple Sauce

In another attempt to fully live out fall this year, I thought I would try to preserve some swedish apples by making apple sauce! I found a recipe in my most recent issue of Bon Appetit, bought some apples and finally gave it a go! I began by peeling and coring the apples, this took up the most time. I then boiled them in a little lemon water with cinnamon and allspice (called kryddpeppar in swedish) and a lot of sugar. They boiled, or simmered for about 20min which seemed to be plenty of time. I tasted it and added more cinnamon and allspice. And that was it! Not to tricky. And I'm pretty happy with it! I considered leaving out the sugar because I usually buy unsweetened applesauce anyway, but thought the first time I'd stick to the recipe. And, I think it's too sweet. Next time I'd leave out the sugar and add even more spices! I love cinnamon and apple together! The consistency was a little gummy, but I attribute that to that I didn't use the apples the recipe suggested (Granny Smith, Fuji and Johnathon), I used an assortment of swedish apples (called Ingrid-Marie, Red Summer Apples, Katja or Discovery). But it turned out good. Nothing super exciting, but not disappointing! I really need to get some real canning equimpment, it would make this process much easier!

"Three-Apple Applesauce" from Bon Appetit, Oct 2008

The Johan Scale

Johan and I were talking and both decided that there is a little problem with the Johan scale. When it began, a 4 was a very high score. But, in order not to offend, Johan began giving mediocre dishes 4's thus causing an inflation in the Johan Scale. Although I do think that overall, the dishes I've made lately have really been successful, it seems most dishes are getting a score of 4.5. To make the scale more useful, we came to the conclusion that we need to re-scale the scale. And to avoid confusion, we decided to not use numbers, but letters just as the Swedish school grades are given. It will be as follows:

Johan Scale
U: (underkänd) fail
G(+): (godkänd) pass
VG(+/-): (väl godkänd) pass with honor
MVG(-): (mycket väl godkänd) Pass with high honor

Anything that recieves above a G will be worthy of being made again. Hope it's not to confusing for all my many, many readers!

Butternutsquash Bisque

Here it is, the use of my second butternut squash. This recipe I got from my friend Erin. It started with sauteing an onion, leek and carrot, then adding the baked squash. Adding vegetable stock, an apple, bay leaf and a touch of sugar, as opposed to the last recipe which was pretty much onion and squash. I was hesitant to use this one because of all the ingredients, I didn't want them to be overpowering. But, that they weren't! This did take a while to make, but the time was worth it! It was so full of flavor and nice and think, as I think a bisque to be. To serve, we poured the soup over bits of soft brie and sprinkled a few chives on top. The brie melted in the soft soup (as shown in photo) and was such a smart combination of flavors! I really liked the cheese in there. This soup was wonderful, a definite regular in my book, as long as I can find the squash!

Johan Scale: VG-

Recipe from Erin

Caramel-Pear Butter

The Swedish pears and apples are amazing. I regularly eat both throughout the year, so when the Swedish varieties popped up, I was quick to try them. And have been eating them by the plenty. But now it's getting cold and I'm afraid to loose these. So I've been thinking of ways to preserve the apples and pears. This month in my Bon Appetit, they offered a recipe for Caramel Pear Butter, which sounded perfect. My mom used to buy a delicious apple butter, so I thought I must give it a try. I went to a local market and bought a kilo pears for less than $2 (10SEK) and I was set. I boiled the pears in a little lemon juice and apple juice for 20 min or so. The recipe then said to "Press the pear mixture through a fine plate of food mill..." well I certainly don't have a food mill, so I just puréed the stuff in a blender, that worked perfectly. I returned it to the pot, added some brown sugar and nutmeg, then simmered for an hour to let thicken. And it was done- and amazing. I was truly shocked at how good this was! Sweet, with such a strong pear flavor! I couldn't wait to put some on some toast. I considered just serving myself up a bowl of it, it was so good. But I managed to seal a jar for later use and then enjoyed the bit I'd allowed myself for now. I am so tempted to go buy more pears and make more.

Julie Scale: 5.5

Bon Appetit, October 2008 or http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Caramel-Pear-Butter-350119

The Hollywood Bowl

Wow. I can't believe I waited so long to try this one! Due to a confusion about allergies, this recipe was never made, but once that was cleard up, I had to give it a try. And I've just noticed this is my first post about a dish which contains tofu. I do use tofu, much more than it seems, I promise! This recipe comes from my Native Foods cookbook. It consists of brown rice topped with steamed vegetables and marinated tofu topped off with a peanut coconut sauce, extra toasted peanuts and red bell pepper. This was so good! And quite simple. The tofu marinated for about 30 min in soy sauce, rice vinegar and garlic, but once that was done the dish was quite quick (especially with a little help from Johan!) I hesitated on the cauliflower because it wasn't the best price, but really glad I didn't! It added great flavor! I followed my friend, Jessie's suggestion to cut back on the vinegar in the sauce a bit, that worked out great. And thankfully, I'm an idiot and accidentally made 3 times as much sauce as it needs! So the rest is in the freezer for next time I make this dish, which will likely be sooner than later. Although it said it was enough for 2 servings, it made 4 for us. Another hit!

Johan Scale: Strong 4.5

"The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook" by Tanya Petrovna

Mushroom Soup with Hazelnut Gremolata

I this recipe caught my eye on epicurious.com. It just sounded so good! I was quite shocked to find some dried porcini mushrooms and so decided this soup was meant to be! Overall it wouldn't have taken to long to make. But I didn't have a carrot, so off to the store I went. I came home, chopped the carrot and onion, roasted the hazelnuts, soaked the dried porcinis then opened the 0.5Kilo bag of mushrooms I bought Tuesday to find a big bag of mold! I need to learn how to keep mushrooms, they're never good for me after a day! So BACK to the store I went to buy another 0.5Kilo mushrooms- this time without a scale to know how much I was buying. But I apparently have a good eye, I got exactly what I needed! Then back home, sliced up the mushrooms and sautéed it all for a bit. I then added some veggie broth and simmered for about 20min before puréing. I started on the gremolata- parsley, garlic, chopped toasted hazelnuts, olive oil and a bit of orange zest. It was really good! But strong. I ended up with much too much gremolata! But the soup was superb with the gremolata and some reserved sautéed mushrooms. It was thick and creamy, without any cream. The porcinis added a wonderful flavor and the spicy gremolata added crunch and pleasant aroma from the orange. My complaint (of course there'd be one, right?)- it didn't make much. I like to have enough left over for lunch for both Johan and I, but now I'm left with no lunch. Well, next time I'll just make more!

Johan Scale: 4.5

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mushroom-Soup-with-Hazelnut-Gremolata-350094

Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice

I have been following the blog www.orangette.blogspot.com for a little while. The author, Molly, writes an article for Bon Appetit magazine every months and that's where I heard about her. But I haven't yet tried any of her recipes. She referred her readers to the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, which I have plans to try (as soon as the fancy chocolate chips arrive from my mom!) but these stuffed tomatoes were the first thing I tried. I definitely could have made them better. I just used regular old tomatoes, whatever was at the grocer. I'm sure heirloom would have been much tastier! And I was lazy and used boxed bread crumbs instead of fresh. But the dish was still quite good! It baked for a while, but the prep time was pretty short. I liked the rice and tomato mixture which was just the insides of the tomatoes, arborio rice, onion and basil. I would maybe put in a little more basil next time, but I don't think you could ever have too much basil! I love potatoes too, so I really liked the sliced potatoes on the side. It was nothing too fancy, but good and I will definitely make it again.

Johan Scale: Strong 4

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-cue.html

Butternut Squash and Lemongrass Bisque

This soup has been long awaited. I have been craving some butternut squah bisque for a while, but butternut squash is hard to come by here. Finally, I found some squash in Stockholm last weekend. I'd like to thanks Johan for carrying the 2 1/2 kilos of squash around Stockholm for me! So I was really worried about making the bisque, I have never made it before and for how much trouble went into finding the squash, I wanted it to turn out. So I decided to rely on my never failing Native Foods cookbook. I think that was a good call! This turned out great! I just peeled the butternut squash and chopped it up, carmelized two onions then boiled it all for 25min. puréed the soup, then steeped a lemon grass stalk in it for 10min. I served it with dried cranberries, chives and yummy fresh bread. I would have preferred it a little thicker, next time I would reduce the water. Otherwise, pretty good! And I was really glad Johan liked it so much. I wanted him to think all this searching for the squash was worth it! Luckily I have another squash left, so another bisque is soon to come!

Johan Scale: Strong 4.5

"The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook" by Tanya Petrovna

Sushi!

For some time now, Johan has been wanting to make sushi at home. I have never done this, and I really wasn't feeling making it. But today was the day. I went to the best fish source I have here and bought some salmon and a little tuna. Went and bought the sticky rice, cucumber and avacado and even some miso soup! And what a success! I had no idea how easy it was! we just cut up the fish- I guess it is cut a little nicer at the sushi restaurants, and slapped it one a hunk of sticky rice. I was nervous not using a recipe for the roll, but avocado cucumber and salmon was so good! We added a little too much wasabi to the sashimi, but that was fixable. This was delicious and so much cheaper than going out. So far, neither of us are sick from the raw fish. We'll see how it is tomorrow!

Johan Scale: Strong 5

Tuna Noodle Bowl

I've had a couple of cans of tuna in the cupboard for a long time, so Johan suggested that we use them this evening. All I usually use canned tuna for is tuna sandwiches, so I wasn't so sure what to make. I found this recipe on realsimple.com and to be honest, wasn't feeling so good about it. It calls for bowtie pasta, carrots, peppers, capers, tuna, paremsan cheese with a dressing. It just sounded a little boring, but for some reason I decided to try it and what a success! It was so good! It probably took about 15min max to make and I had all the ingredients except carrots and peppers, so was super inexpensive! This is the second recipe I've made off this site and have loved them both. Things are looking good for this site in my book! Johan loved it, too.

Johan Scale: Super Strong 4.5

Real Simple, April 2000

http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=633290

Vegetable Lasagna

I was feeling like making lasagna tonight. And after my recent discovery that Italian lasagna does not contain ricotta cheese, I wasn't sure which kind to make. But I decided I don't care, and made American lasagna. I found this recipe in my "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook, which I clearly don't use often enough. This turned out excellent! I am so glad that I tried it, it was delicious! I began buy roasting some red peppers, I fried some onion, garlic and mushrooms, then mixed the vegetables. Then I mixed some spinach, parmesan, ricotta and mozzarella cheeses with dried basil and oregano and a couple eggs. Then the layering accured with a tomato sauce. It baked for 30 min and that was it. It had a lot of health value as it had a fair amount of vegetables. The recipe said it made 8-10 servings, but that must be for small children, as it made about 4 for us, not big eaters. But Johan loved it, probably even more than I. He cut the ricotta a break, as he's a strong believer in the Italian lasagna. This will become a regular on my dinner menu!

Johan Scale: Strong 4.5

"Better Homes and Gardens: New Cook Book"