Visiting Sweden- Part II

So to continue my stories, here are some more places I checked out while overseas. The above picture is the the greatest tasting wedding cake ever, a princess cake, a recipe I have asked for in hopes I can recreate the great cake that is hidden underneath the decor.

Nationalmuseum- Cafeteria or museum are two words that do not usually inspire hunger, yet Sweden throws our sad concept of mass produced food out the window. This was such a great lunch, with smoked salmon or the great chicken Caesar salad that Em had. I would say it's better than the art :)

Grill Ruby- Don't go, don't even bother. Horrible service and overpriced food. We didn't even make it to the water on the table before we left and went to seek food elsewhere.

Restaurant Stortorgskallaren- where we sought food elsewhere. Nice little place in the square, I had some really good fried sole in a butter sauce.

Vette Katten- Pastry shop that will blow you away with its looks and tastes. This was a stop-off for some really good snacking.

Ice cream- According to our Swedish friends, Swedes consume more ice cream per capita than anywhere else in the world. There is an ice cream stand or store about every 20 feet, and it's all really good.

Backfika and Restaurangen- Two of the places I really wanted to visit, but unfortunately both were closed. A lot of restaurants are closed during the summer for vacation, so if you travel there during the warmer months this is something you might run into.

Grace Tea House- Yummy tea and dumplings, they offer a three-course "healthy lunch" every day that is quite nice and refreshing.

Hot dogs- almost as common as ice cream.
The picture below should say it all. I love hot dogs. They are my weak spot. Also common are really good sandwiches.

Places that I recommend you see if you visit Stockholm- The Vassa Ship, Skansen, Sergels Torg, the Hoterget Market, and the Ice Bar are just a few of the many great things about Stockholm. I'm sure I missed so many, but then again, I may return.

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Visiting Sweden- Part I

After recently returning from Stockholm on a fantastic trip (and my first to Europe), I wanted to share my food related experiences for anyone who enjoys that kind of thing but also for future travelers to the area. I found doing some research when picking out places to eat was the best thing to do, so I hope this aids others who go searching for a good meal. I will try not to ramble too much, as I did a lot of eating while I was there. But before I get into specifics, I want to touch on a few general bits I came across while there.

First, I ate a huge breakfast. Breakfast is big there, and our hotel (Nordic Sea) provided us with an extravaganza. Yogurts, granola, oatmeal, eggs, sausages, bacon, potatoes, meats, cheeses, fresh baked breads, and tons of fruit were available everyday that we ate. Oh my gosh, I have never had options like that. Fantastic. The cheese and bread in Sweden (and probably in most of Europe) is delicious, mainly because it's fresh and not processed. No pre-sliced loaves or small blocks of cheddar. Bread came in large nutty mounds and cheese came in huge wedges. Be still my heart.












I also enjoyed the abundance of markets (shown above is the Omstermalm Saluhall) with fresh meats, cheeses, breads, fish, and produce. How great is it that you can easily walk down the street and get fantastic fresh fish any day you like? Or for that matter, that you can find great food in department stores or fresh pastries in 7-11? It's such a stark contrast to the drive through context of our food culture, which I find is years behind what the Europeans enjoy on a daily basis. Delivery? I think the only thing you can have delivered is pizza (and that's only a few places).

On to a few specifics.
Cattelin's Restaurant, Gamla Stan- If you are looking for authentic Swedish cuisine, I recommend a stop here. The herring is fantastic, and the Swedish meatballs are mighty yummy.










Erik's Bakfickan- A famous chef by the name of Erik has a few restaurants in Stockholm, I guess this would be classified as his moderate restaurant. Em had "the best cheeseburger of her life", which I know is high praise, but it was seriously good. I had seafood casserole, which is actually more of a seafood stew. My favorite dish of the entire trip. A great place, though sadly my camera ran out of battery so there is not a picture of my dish.









Lisa Elmquist- In the Omstermalm Saluhall (the greatest food market ever, go if you get the chance). A bit overpriced for what I found to be just an alright meal. I think there are other restaurants in the food hall that offer better value.









Bla Porten- Our first real Swedish meal did not disappoint. A no-nonsense place, their quiche is good as well as their poached salmon with dill sauce. Lunch here is something you don't want to miss.

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Greetings From Sweden

As I write this, there are boats passing by in the nearby sea. The sun has not quite set and really never will in the summer, and I am experiencing great things in Sweden. The wonderful thing about their food is how much they care about it. Breakfast is an ordeal, lunch is often outside and with friends, and dinner is wonderful. I love their food and how much they put into making it an experience. I feel it is something that is sometimes lacking in everyday life, that people need to just stop and enjoy some food with friends while taking a break. I will be sure to write more when I return, but I hope these pictures convey some of what I am loving about Swedish cuisine.

You can follow some of my travels here

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Strawberry Goodness

This will be the last post for probably two weeks, I am headed to Sweden for some much needed vacation. I will certainly take notes of what I eat and experience and share them soon :)

This sauce was the result of some late night ice cream hunger, strawberries on sale, and some extra bananas. It takes about 5-10 minutes to make and is great. I think next I'm going to try it on pancakes. I like spontaneous cooking.



Strawberry Sauce

1 pound strawberries, sliced
1/4-1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon amaretto
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a sauce pot over medium heat whisk together the cornstarch and water until no lumps remain. Add the strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce is slightly thick. Add the vanilla and amaretto. Taste and add remaining sugar if necessary. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature before serving. Try over ice cream, fruit, pancakes, or even yogurt.

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Herb Frittata

Yesterday I stopped off at the farmer's market for my weekend haul of fruits and veggies. In addition to some yummy potatoes, snap peas, and free milk(which is so good I am now second guessing my purchase of all other milk), I picked up some spring onions. These are onions resemble large scallions but are actually just a white onion picked early. Or, if you refuse to let go of the whole scallion thing, really big bulbous scallions. I returned home and went about making breakfast with them. Onion pancakes don't sound good, so left was the incredible edible egg. I had leftover goat cheese and some fresh basil as well, so I decided to go with a frittata.

Eggs take very well to multiple vehicles, so this is by no means the limitation of a frittata. Ham and Swiss, tomato and Parmesan and sausage, the combinations are endless. I use this as a template for adding whatever you want into your tasty breakfast.



Fresh Herb and Goat Cheese Frittata

4 eggs
4 egg whites
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 spring onions, diced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 ounces goat cheese
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
pinch cayenne pepper

Whisk the eggs, egg whites, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a bowl. Add the parsley and basil and set aside. Preheat broiler to low

In a 12-inch non stick skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onions and a pinch of salt, stirring constantly. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions become wilted and start to caramelize. If you have a lid for the pan, clamp this on, it will speed up the process. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the eggs, stirring lightly with a spatula. Once the eggs start to set up, use the spatula to pull the eggs away from the edge of the pan and allow the runny part to run underneath the frittata. Continue doing this until most of the runny part has been removed from the center. Sprinkle the goat cheese over the top and place the pan in the oven. Broil until the top is just set, about 2-3 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve.

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Lentils

I sometimes wonder if these had a better name if people would eat them more. What if we called them "little orbs of deliciousness" or LOOD for short. Would you eat lood or lentils? Well, as my fiancée will testify, she does not like lentils. Or rather, did not (I think it was the name aversion). I made them for myself in a "fine, but I'm still making what I want" moment, and she ended up eating half of them. That will show her. Well, this time at least.



I read a lot, and I enjoy reading cookbooks. I came across a recipe in Tom Collichio's book for lentils and it piqued my interest, mainly because it contained under 10 ingredients. Sign me up. However, cooking them with only a little bit of stock made them pretty crunchy. I have optimized the recipe and it has not failed me yet. Do not feel like you have to use all of the stock, it varies by lentil variety. I like green lentils, but other varieties will work quite nice.

Lentils

1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed and picked through for stones.
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups chicken stock
Salt and Pepper

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat until quite hot. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and some salt to the pan, cook until the veggies begin to soften, about 10-15 minutes. Add the lentils to the pot followed by enough stock to cover them (it helps to use a more narrow pot here). Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer the lentils until a good amount of the stock has been absorbed, about 10-15 minutes. Repeat with more stock and some salt, cooking the lentils until they are tender, about 20 minutes more. You may have to repeat the stock adding process a few times (hence 3 cups of stock, it depends on your lentils). Discard the vegetables and serve.

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What E-Scapes Me

I never get tired of making horrible puns in the titles of my blog posts. And today is no exception! I was at the farmers market a few days ago (yummy) and was perusing through a booth when I was informed of these lovely little green strings called garlic scapes. Garlic, but green and long? Say what? Well, since I'm a sucker for pretty much anything that has the word garlic in it, away I went with my little bag of them.



When I got home I figured I should probably do something with them. But what? A trip to Mr. Google revealed that scapes (the green shoot that comes up from garlic in the late spring) are a relatively new addition to most people's kitchens. They make great pesto (note to self for the future), steam well with other veggies, and are nice in stir fry. I figured they would go well with the snap peas I got at the market, so stir fry was decided, dinner was changed (from chicken with almonds) and into the pan they went.

The result? Well, first I tried them raw. Not so good. Great flavor, but really tough. So I sauteed them in my wok and gave them a bit of a quick pan roasting. I might have gone a bit too long on the flavor (they actually cook pretty quickly) and from now on Im treating them like green beans. But the flavor, oh the flavor was awesome. It's all the garlicky goodness without the big bite at the end. Even though the season is short, I plan on picking up some more of these tasty tendrils.

Spicy Chicken Stir-fry with Scapes and Snap Peas

1 pound chicken sliced thin
1 egg
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon chili paste with garlic
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup peanut oil
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 pound snap peas, ends trimmed
1/3 pound garlic scapes or scallions, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil or hot sesame oil (optional)

Combine the egg, cornstarch, and salt until smooth. Add to chicken in bowl or bag, marinate for 30 minutes. Combine the sugar, sherry, soy sauce, chili paste, hoisin, and water in a small bowl or cup and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Oil should be shimmering, or about 375°F. Add the chicken, stir frying until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Pour off all but about 1 1/2 tablespoons oil (you can pour out the oil and refrigerate for another later use). Add the ginger and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the scapes and peas, stir frying for about 2 minutes or until just starting to soften (I actually like to cover them for about 30 seconds of this process). Add the sauce followed by the chicken and stir fry until the chicken is warmed through. Add the sesame oil if desired. Serve over rice. Serves 4

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Romesco Sauce

There is a pub here in Lafayette called the Black Sparrow. They serve a delicious romesco and goat cheese dip that I have had quite a few times. However, during this past weekend the pub was not an option, so I went about making my own. I started with a recent recipe from Bon Apetit magazine that dealt with a good paring sauce for pork. I made the pork (delicious) but the romesco sauce was a little heavy on ingredients that I do not usually have around in the kitchen, such as Spanish salted almonds or fresh marjoram.



This posed a problem, but nevertheless, I was determined to make something (and if that failed, there was always take-out). Thanks to a few substitutions, some alterations, and the labors of my food processor I was soon rewarded with a thick sauce that was really really good. And not only does it keep well, but I have started putting it on all kinds of things. Burgers, crackers, rice (oh yeah, that makes a good lunch), stuffed in pita bread, all kinds of things. This sauce will now probably take a place next to fresh salsa as something I always try to keep on hand.

The sauce itself is a bit non traditional (as I do not live near a supermarket that carries some of the more exotic ingredients). But I find it fully rewarding and pretty easy to make.

Romesco Sauce

15-16oz jar roasted red peppers (about 4 peppers)
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 ripe plum tomato, chopped or 1/2 can diced tomatoes drained
2 T olive oil
2/3 cup roasted almonds (see below)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 T sherry or red wine vinegar
pinch dried oregano
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 425°F. Place red peppers in pie dish, sprinkle garlic and chopped tomato over. Drizzle with olive oil. In a seperate pie dish add the almonds and a bit of salt (you can use peeled or unpeel almonds, it does not really matter). Place both dishes in the oven. Roast the almonds for about 20 minutes, the peppers for about 30-40. Remove and let cool slightly.

Combine the now roasted almonds and the breadcrumbs in a food processor, chop until fine. Add the contents of the pie plate with peppers, the vinegar, the oregano, and some salt and pepper. Blend until smooth, season with salt and pepper.

Alternatively, if you make this dish with roasted meat, put the pan you roasted the meat in over a burner over medium heat. Add 1 cup sherry to the pan and reduce down to 2 tablespoons, scraping up the bottom bits. This will replace the vinegar.

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Foodbuzz

Woo, exciting times! I am now a featured publisher on Foodbuzz (see the big banner to the right). It's a great community for online foodies where I have managed to find some great recipes and ideas. This leads me one step closer to my goal of world domination. Ok, not so much, but I'm still really happy about this :)

You might notice some changes to the site over the next week, the layout and such is a bit dark so I might be messing around with it some.

Oh, and on the food end of things, I have a great recipe for romesco sauce to share tomorrow.

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Bolognese (that has nothing to do with bologna)

Pasta has, and always will be a great comfort food to me. I love eating it, and I love having an easy sauce to throw together (along with carbonara) to smother it in. This recipe is one I have adapted over the past few years and is my primary red sauce. I prefer the turkey simply because it lets the tomatoes and the body of the sauce shine through more. So beef is totally an option for you if you prefer. The sauce also freezes very well for a rainy day.



Turkey Bolognese (Inspired by Emeril Lagasse)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped carrots
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 pound ground turkey (at least 90% lean)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
2 teaspoons fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
½ teaspoon red pepper flake
2 teaspoons salt
2 bay leaves
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup milk

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions to the pot and sauté until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Stir the celery, carrots and garlic into the pot and cook until the vegetables are slightly wilted, about 3 minutes. Next add the ground turkey to the vegetables, breaking up the meat, and cook until starting to brown and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add thyme, oregano, red pepper, and salt, to taste. Add all remaining ingredients except the milk, lower the heat and simmer uncovered until thickened, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring from time to time. If the sauce reduces quickly add a bit more stock and continue to reduce

About 10 minutes prior to serving, add the milk to the sauce and stir well to incorporate. Season to taste.

Serve over cooked pasta, such as spaghetti or rigatoni. Serves four.

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