Potatoes With Bacon And Green Beans

I found this recipe together with a recipe for cocoa and chili covered pork. The pork wasn't the best but this has become a staple of my family.

8-10 potatoes
1-2 onions (yellow or red)
1 package of bacon (ca. 140g)
1 can of green beans (ca. 400g)
ca. 2tbl vegetable oil
salt
pepper


Set the oven to 175ºC.

Clean or peel the potatoes and cut them in half.

Put them flat side down on a greased baking tray or similar.

Peel the onions and cut them into big chunks and spread them among the potatoes.

Drizzle the potatoes and onions with the oil and salt and pepper.

Place in the middle of the oven for 45min.

While the potatoes are in the oven cut the bacon into small pieces or strips.

When the bacon is crispy drain the green beans and add them to the pan with the bacon.

Turn of the heat to the pan and mix them together a bit and let the beans soak up the bacon fat.

When the potatoes and onions are done put them in a large bowl or container (something like Corningware or similar works well).

Mix the bacon and beans with potatoes and onions until it's evenly distributed and looks like a potato salad.

Serve with any kind of meat or fowl.


Enjoy!

French Toast

French toast (known as Poor Knights in Sweden) makes a special breakfast or a filling dessert depending on your mood.

1 egg
3dl milk
1dl flour
8 pieces of bread (usually unsweetened white but whatever you prefer)
sugar
cinnamon


Whip the egg together with a little of the milk.

Mix in the flour and whip until the batter is smooth.

Add the rest of the milk and stir together.

Lay the bread slices in the batter until they have gone soft and soaked in batter from both sides.

Fry them until they are wonderfully golden brown on both sides.

Turn them over in sugar mixed with cinnamon or sprinkle it over them.

Serve freshly fried with jam, marmalade or fresh berries.


Enjoy!

Brian's Fillet Of Pork Special

This is a recipe that I've modified to have a little more zing to it by adding white wine and replacing the dill with parsley, these flavors work better together i feel.

500g fillet of pork
1tbl butter
1 1/2 - 2 glasses of white wine
2dl crème fraiche
2tbl french mustard (Dijon or similar)
1dl chopped parsley (half this amount if it's dried parsley)
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the fillet into slices about 1 1/2 - 2 cm thick.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and brown the meat on both sides so it gets some color.

Add the wine and let it reduce for a while until there is about half of the liquid left.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with boiled potatoes, pasta or rice and maybe a mixed salad.


Enjoy!

Caramel Cake

This cake is very tasty and not very heavy, so it works quite well even after a big dinner. It traditionally has arrak punsch in the almond base but that is difficult to get outside of Sweden but you can replace it with rum or skip the alcohol altogether.

Base
300 g almond paste
1-2tbl arrak punsch (optional)
3 eggs

Caramel
1 1/2dl cream
1/2dl sugar
1/2dl light syrup (golden syrup)

Take a baking tin with removable edges and clad the bottom with baking paper and butter the sides.

Grate the almond paste finely in a bowl and add the arrak punsch or rum.

Add one egg at a time and mix carefully between each one.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake it for 30 min at 175ºC.

Let the cake cool off.

Whilst the cake is baking make the caramel.

Mix the cream, sugar and syrup in a wide, thick bottomed sauce pan.

Boil until the caramel thickens, stirring often.

Don't boil it for to long but just enough so that you can create "streets" in the caramel when you drag a spoon along the bottom of the pan, which allows you to temporarily see the bottom of the pan.

Let it cool off a little bit then spread it over the cake.

Is favorably served cold.


Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

I have made one major modification to this meatloaf  and that is what it is baked in, which happens to be a regular rectangular bread tin. This helps keep the shape and makes it easier to get the bacon around it. I only bind the meat together with one egg and don't add any milk or water to the mixture because I want it to be quite compact and therefore easier to slice without breaking apart. You can also fill it with any number of things like olives and sun dried tomatoes to pickles and capers.

400-500g minced meat (usually 50/50 pork and beef but whatever you like)
1 egg
1 1/2tsb salt
1 pinch white pepper
1 package of bacon (around 140g)
ca. 100g cheese cut into sticks


Set your oven to 175ºC.

Line the bread tin with the bacon so that the ends of the bacon hang over the long side of the tin.

Mix the minced meat with the egg, salt and pepper (add any other spices you feel like).

Take half the meat and press it into the bottom of the tin.

Push the cheese sticks in vertically in the  meat at regular intervals.


Add the rest of the meat on top and push down so that it becomes one loaf.

Fold over the ends of the bacon so that they cover the top of the meatloaf.

Put it in the middle of the oven for 45-60 min.

Lift out of the bread tin with a sturdy pair of forks or similar and put it on a cutting board to drain and be ready to slice.

Serve with any type of brown sauce or gravy, fried or boiled potatoes and lingonberry jam or red/blackcurrant jelly.

It is also extremely delicious to have cold on a sandwich.

Enjoy!

Farmers Omelette

This omelette is perfect if you have leftovers in the fridge. Use what you have at home but here is a basic recipe that you can modify depending on what you have available and best of all you don't have to flip it.

1 chopped yellow onion
2tbl butter or margarine
150g smoked ham in cubes
3-4 boiled potatoes in cubes
6 eggs
5tbl water
2 pinches of salt
1/2 pinch ground pepper


Fry the onion in the butter until it starts to get transparent but not gained any color.

Put in the potatoes and ham and fry until it's all warmed up.

Whip together eggs, water and spices and pour it over the potatoes, ham and onions in the pan.

Drag a plastic fork underneath it so that fresh batter can reach the heat and harden.

Serve when the batter has just hardened on the top with some freshly chopped parsley on top if you like.

Enjoy!

Sweet And Creamy Fish Soup

This recipe is something my dad got from a friend of his, I have no idea why but I am grateful for it because it is very delicious.

1 leek
3 bell peppers (different colors)
1 jar of taco sauce (230g pineapple salsa if you can get it)
1 jar of water (use the salsa jar)
1 cube of fish stock
2 1/2dl cream
2dl crème fraiche (paprika and chili flavored if available)
1 small can of sweetcorn
400g cod or other similar white fish
salt and paprika powder to taste

Slice the leek and chop the peppers in to medium sized pieces and fry them until they have softened somewhat.

Add the taco sauce, water and fish stock and let it boil together a little bit.

Mix in the cream and crème fraiche.

Chop the cod into pieces (not to small).

Add the cod to the soup, carefully so it doesn't break.

Cook at low heat until the cod is done.

Drain the corn and add it.

Let it all heat up and add the spices to taste.

Serve with tasty bread.


Enjoy!