Maple flavored roasted sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes always bring back memories to me of my grandmother. She used to fry slices of sweet potato until they had a golden caramelized crust and I was standing next to her and couldn´t wait until a batch was ready to eat them straight from the pan, burning my mouth and fingers... yum

This warm salad I served together with the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin. A good match.

click here for a printable version

Serves 4

850 g       sweet potatoes, (the ones with the orange coloured flesh!!)
2 tbsp      olive oil
                coarse sea salt
                freshly ground black pepper
50 g         walnuts
4              spring onions, cut into thin slices
4 tbsp      roughly chopped flat leave parsley
1/4 tsp     red chili flakes
35 g         raisins

Dressing:

4 tbsp      olive oil
2 tbsp      maple syrup
1 tbsp      sherry vinegar
2 tbsp      lemon juice
2 tbsp      orange juice
2 tsp        freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp     ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Wash and trimm the sweet potatoes but don´t peel them. Cut the potatoes into 2 cm big cubes. Spread them out on a baking sheet covered with parchment, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Mix everything with your hands until the potatoes are eavenly coated with the oil. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning the potato cubes carefully after 15 minutes.

Toast the walnuts in a non-stick frying pan, cool and brake into pieces by hand.

Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and season with salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are just tender transfer them to a large bowl while still hot. Add the parsley, spring onion, chili flakes, walnuts and raisins. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to blend. Serve still hot or at room temperature.

Potato Gratin

Almost forgot that I still had to post the recipe of the potato gratin we had with the leg of lamb last week.

For me the best potato gratin goes without cheese and eggs. I just love the creamy consistancy of this gratin with a hint of garlic. Also a nice lunch with a fresh salad.

click here for a printable version

Serves 4

1 kg             waxy potatoes
250 ml         milk
250 ml         heavy cream
40 g             butter + some butter to grease the casserole
1                  garlic clove
                    sea salt
                    white pepper
                    nutmeg

Cut the garlic clove in halves and rub the casserole with it. Crush the remaining garlic.

Butter the casserole. Peel the potatoes and rinse them in cold water. Then slice them very thin on a potato slicer (about 1,5 mm) and layer them in the casserole dish immediately. 

Whisk together the milk and cream. Add some nutmeg, the crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the potatoes (the dish should be filled by 2/3). Top with butterflakes and bake in the preheated oven (170 °C) for 70 minutes.

Merquén flavored brussel sprout pasta with crispy breadcrumbs

An easy to prepare pasta dish using brussel sprouts that are in season here at the moment. Another vegetable that isn´t always loved at first sight but combines deliciously with the other ingredients in this dish. A scrumptious combination of flavors and textures.

Serves 4

click here for a printable version

400 g              spaghettini
4                     thin slices sourdough bread
2 tbsp             good quality olive oil
4                     garlic cloves
160 g              butter
500 g              brussel sprouts, trimmed and sliced
100 g              bacon, finely diced (optional)
                       merquén, what it is and where to buy , spanish link to Wikipedia                                                                                         
                       sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp              fresh lemon juice
                        freshly grated parmesan to serve

Cook pasta in a pot of salted boiling water as indicated on the package. Drain and keep warm. Save some of the cooking water - you might need to add some if the pasta should be to dry.
How to cook pasta

In a small pan fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp, let excess fat drip off on paper towel.

Cut the bread into smaller pieces and place in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until roughly chopped.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add breadcrumbs and half of the garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium, add the butter, sprouts, merquén and remaining garlic to the pan and cook about three minutes until the sprouts are tender. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, parmesan and pasta and toss to combine. Top with breadcrumbs, bacon bits  and more parmesan and merquén to serve.

©just cook!

Pasta alle olive verdi - Pasta with green olives

It must of been in 1994 that I read the first Donna Leon novel featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti - this sympathetic crime commissioner living in Venice with his wife Paola, professor for english literature, and their childred Raffi and Chiara.

Back then, I just came back from spending a couple of days in Venice. So when I started reading this first novel I was able to picture exactly where the commissario was moving which made it even more fun reading.  One more aspect for me loving the books was, that Commissario Guido Brunetti loves food and wine and his wife always prepares the most delicious dishes for her family (I haven´t figured out yet how she manages to serve a two-course dinner every day - actually she seems to be cooking like this even twice a day - having a fulltime job.) Obviously these lucky people have a different rythm of life as we do.

Anyways, ever since this first book I couldn´t wait until the next one of the series was published every year in July.

All the more I was rejoicing when I found out about the plans of publishing a cookbook with the recipes Paola prepared with so much love. (I´m still waiting for this to happen with the series on Commissario Montalbano written by Andrea Camilleri). Of course I had my copy in hand more or less the day it was published (have I mentioned before that I´m a "cookbook-addict"??) . Brunetti´s cookbook
I like it a lot, it´s entertaining to read with text excerpts from the respective novel and it seems to bring you this family even closer (I always wished to have been born in Italy...).

One of the pasta recipes was an instant eye-catcher. If you like olives, you will love this pasta! So try it!!

click HERE for a printable version

Serves 4

350 g             Fusilli (I used Trofie yesterday because I didn´t have any Fusilli in the house)
    2                Cellery stalks, cut into brunoise
                      How to cut using a Chef´s knife
    1                Carrot, cut into brunoise
    1                Shallot, cut into brunoise
    8 tbsp        Olive oil of good quality
1-2 tsp           Sea salt
                      Learn about gourmet salt
                      Peperoncino, crumbled (the amount you desire)
130 g             Green olives, pitted and chopped (be sure to
                      buy good quality green olives with the pit
                      that have a firm flesh like e.g. french picholines.)
                      How to pit olives
 40 g              Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
   1 bunch       Fresh basil leaves
                    

Heat the olive oil in a big, coated frying pan to medium-low heat. Add the cellery, carrot, shallot, salt and peperoncino (dried chili pepper). Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes adding a little hot water once in a while.

Once the vegetables are cooked, add the olives and sauté for two more minutes.
Cook the pasta, drain and add to the saucepan together with the parmesan cheese, a shot of finest olive oil, some freshly ground black pepper and lots of fresh basil leaves .

Serve immediately with more Parmesan and basil on the side.

Buon appetito!

Oriental style eggplant with tahini sauce

What could I prepare today?? A look outside - snowstorm - a look into the fridge - one eggplant left.
That´s not really much of a basis to prepare a tasty dish for my blog I thought  but I must say that I am quite pleased with the outcome. Actually the ingredients used are more or less the same as in Babaganoush - a well known oriental mezze recipe. The only difference is that this recipe uses basil instead of Parsley and  it´s not a puree but more a salad. I think it´s a perfect dish in summer with a barbeque but also served as an appetizer with some crispy - maybe even ovenfresh? - bread it is quite appealing.

The recipe source is from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook with some adaptions.

Last weekend I was searching the web for new and interesting sites. I stumbled over RouxBe. What is RouxBe? It´s an online cooking school that teaches cooks of any level to become better and more confident cooks. Here´s a link to a video about the school: The RouxBe cooking school  The school  guides users along the same learning paths used to teach aspiring chefs in professional culinary schools around the world. I´m sure that by learning fundamental cooking skills and techniques you will enjoy cooking a lot more and will be satisfied and proud with the results you´ll achieve. I hope this might encourage and inspire you to cook more at home.

So in future I will add some links in my recipes that will take you to short videos which will explain e.g. a certain technique. Hope you´ll like it. There´s always something more to learn..

click HERE for a printable version


Serves 8 as a side dish or small appetizer:

4               Eggplants, medium sized
4-5 tbsp    Olive oil
                 Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To marinade the eggplant:

6 tbsp       Olive oil
6 tbsp       Lemon juice
1-2           Red chili peppers
1              Garlic clove
4 tbsp       Fresh basil
                Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tahinisauce:

100 ml      Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
100 g        Tahini
75   ml      Water
  1             Garlic clove, chopped
3-4 tbsp    Fresh basil leaves, chopped
                 Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 200 °C and line a baking tray with parchment.

Trim the ends of the eggplants, then cut the eggplants into halves transversely and cut these halves into equal wedges. Set the wedges skin side down on your baking tray and brush them with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until golden brown for about 20 to 25 minutes.

In a large bowl combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Cut the chile peppers and the garlic into brunoise (what is brunoise?)separating the seeds from the chili peppers beforehand if you don´t like it too spicy. Add to the bowl.
Cut the basil into chiffonade (how to chiffonade) and add to the bowl as well.

Once the eggplant has reached an appetizing golden colour and brown tips, remove from the oven and mix immediately but with care so the eggplant will keep it´s shape with the marinade. Let sit at room temperature for one hour.

Combine all the ingredients for the tahini sauce in a food processor and mix well.

Serve the eggplant toghether with the tahini sauce and crispy, fresh bread.

Grilled vegetable terrine

click HERE for a printable version

Since I take my second "profession" as a part time tourist guide for our visitors quite seriously I did not find the time yesterday to do my work on my postings. We´ve been  roaming the streets in and around Stockholm for the last two days. But since some "complaints" have reached me that my friends family is not having any food on the table due to a lack of recipes I will catch up on this today.

I had prepared a Grilled Vegetable Terrine yesterday and luckily summer came back to Stockholm so it turned out to be just the right dish for a sunny and warm day.

If you would like to prepare it, you will need the following ingredients: (serves 6 as a starter)

3-4                      red bell peppers, cleaned, seeded and cut in quarters
2                         yellow bell peppers, cleaned, seeded and cut in quarters
1                         large eggplant, cut into slices of 0,5 cm lenghtwise (use a breadslicer
                           if you have one)
2                        small zucchini, cut into slices of 0,5 cm lenghtwise
6 tablespoons     olive oil
1                        large red onion, sliced thinly
75 g                   raisins
1 tablespoon      concentrated tomato puree
1 tablespoons     red wine vinegar
600 ml                tomato juice
3 tablespoons      gelatine powder (or 3-4  sheets of gelatine)
                           salt, pepper
                           fresh basil leaves

Vinaigrette:

6 tablespoons  olive oil
2 tablespoons  red wine vinegar
                       sea salt, black pepper

• Set the bell peppers on a baking sheet and place them underneath your oven grill until the skin turns black. Place them in a freezer bag and let them cool off a little. Then peel the skin off and set aside.
• Place the eggplant slices and the zucchini slices on separate baking sheets. Paint them with olive oil and grill them in the oven until they turn golden brown, turning them once.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan and stew the onions for 3-4 minutes. Add raisins, tomato puree and red wine vinegar and let the liquid reduce. Set aside.
• Paint a terrine mold or loaf cake pan (1,5 L) with some oil and line it with clingwrap letting it hang well over the sides.

• Heat half of the tomato juice in a sauce pan. Season with salt, pepper and e.g. sellery salt, tabasco, lemon juice.... as you like. Add the gelatine powder (if you´re using gelatine sheets, soak them in water before until soft, drain the water and add to the warm tomato juice) and let dissolve over low heat.
• Place a layer of red bell pepper on the bottom of your mold/ cake pan and cover it slightly with the tomato juice. Then repeat this with the other vegetables - having the onion in the middle - always covering with a little juice. The last layer should be the other half of the red bell pepper.
• Add the other half of the tomato juice to the remaining juice in the saucepan, Rectify the seasoning and pour it onto the terrine. Move it around a little so the juice can spread in the mold. Cover the mold with the overhanging cling wrap and set into the fridge for a couple of hours.
• Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Turn the mold and take off the clingwrap from the terrine. Cut with a sharp knife into thick slices, drizzle with vinaigrette and sprinkle with the fresh basil.

Bon Appétit!