Creamy Chicken Soup

A soup with classic flavors that works well for parties and for everyday use.


8tbl butter
1 leek, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 carrots, cut into small pieces
6dl chicken stock
600g chicken fillets, cut into strips
6dl cream
4tsp chives, chopped
8tsp basil, chopped


Heat the butter in a pan and fry the leek, garlic and carrots for a few minutes.

Pour in the chicken stock and chicken strips and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Add cream, chives and basil.

Stir constantly until the soup has gotten on a nice creamy texture.

Serve with some nice bread.


Enjoy!

Potato And Tomato Casserole

A nice vegetable dish with a nice mix of sweet and savory flavors.

2tbl butter
2 large yellow onions, finely sliced
1 crushed garlic clove
450g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3dl vegetable stock, warm
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
50g grated cheese
1tsb chives, chopped
salt and pepper


Melt the butter in a pan and fry the onion and garlic lightly.

Make alternating layers of the sliced potatoes and onion mixture in a casserole dish. Salt and pepper thoroughly between each layer.

Pour over the warm stock and place a lid on the dish.

Place in the oven at 160ºC until the potatoes feel soft and the stock is absorbed, should be around 1 hour and 15min.

Lay the sliced tomatoes on top and sprinkle the cheese over them.

Place the dish back in the oven without a lid until the cheese has gained some color.

Sprinkle the chives over the top just before serving.

Serve with pork chops, beef steak or hamburgers.



Enjoy!

Calabrian Mushroom Soup

A delicious soup with nice big pieces of mushrooms from the southern part of mainland Italy. Use a variety of mushrooms to get a mix of flavors and colors. The use of bread might seem odd but it's an old Italian tradition to use up stale bread and make soups more filling at the same time.


2tbl olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
500g mixed mushrooms (porcini, oyster and ordinary white mushrooms all work very well)
3dl milk
9dl hot vegetable stock
8 baguette slices, toasted
3tbl melted butter
2 garlic cloves, pressed
ca. 2dl grated cheese (Gruyère and Cheddar both work)


Heat up the oil and fry the onion for 3-4min or until it's soft and golden.

Clean the mushrooms and cut any too large ones into nice morsels.

Put the mushrooms in the frying pan and turn them over quickly in the oil.

Pour in the milk and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and let simmer under cover for 5 minutes.

Stir in the warm stock a little at a time and add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together the melted butter and garlic and spread it thick over the toasted bread.

Place the bread at the bottom of a large soup terrine or spread evenly in 4 deep dishes/bowls.

Pour the hot soup over the bread, sprinkle over the grated cheese and serve immediately.


Enjoy!

French Mushrooms

This recipe is a simplified version of mushrooms à la grecque. You do not cook the mushrooms in this version and you use vinegar instead of white whine.


200g mushrooms
1tbl vinegar
1/2tsb salt
1 pinch of ground pepper
3-4tbl oil
1 clove of garlic, pressed
finely chopped parsley


Mix the vinegar, salt and pepper.

Then add the oil and pressed garlic and let the dressing sit for a while.

Clean the mushrooms and rinse them if need be.

Cut them into slices.

Place them in a bowl or deep dish and pour the dressing over them.

Let the mushrooms sit in the fridge for about an hour.

Decorate by sprinkling some parsley over the top.

Serve as a side dish with meat or fish.


Enjoy!

Red Pesto

A nice variation of the ordinary green pesto that gets it's red color from the sun dried tomatoes in it. The pine nuts have been replaced with walnuts or hazelnuts.


10 sun dried tomatoes in oil
25g Parmesan cheese in pieces
1 garlic clove
25g walnuts or hazelnuts
1dl basil, roughly chopped
2 pinches of salt
1dl olive oil


Place the tomatoes and pieces of cheese evenly in a food processor.

Add the garlic, nuts, basil and salt and blend until you have an even mixture.

Whilst you are blending add the oil a little bit at a time so that the mixture has time to absorb the oil before you add more.

Serve with grilled or fried beef, with lamb or game, or mix it with spaghetti for a quick pasta dish.

Moms Marinade

This marinade is something that my mother has used through my whole life and for almost every type of meat, be it pork, beef or chicken. And after you've marinade the meat you can make delicious sauce with it by heating it up to kill any bacteria left by the meat and add crème fraîche. Because the original recipe uses the American measuring system the amount of soy it is written in in cups and tbl. This amount is good for about 1-1 1/2kg of meat.


4tbl sugar
2tbl oil (a neutral vegetable oil, like corn oil, works best)
1/3 cup of (mushroom) soy (1/3 cup is 78ml so about 5tbl of soy works if you want to be somewhat exact but a little less than a dl works just fine)
1 pressed garlic clove


Use a container large enough for your meat and that won't get stained from the soy.

Mix everything together until the sugar is completely absorbed.

Then place the meat in the container and roll it around so it get's coated and poke hole in it with a fork so that the flavor can really penetrate the meat.

Let it marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours but the longer you leave it the better. (My mother once forgot about it for 2 whole days and it turned out delicious)

Then you can grill, fry or cook the meat in the oven.

Serve the meat with anything you like.



Enjoy!

Roman Lamb Stew

Roman dishes tend to be fairly quick to cook and with loads of herbs and spices. The main reason for this seems to stem from the fact that Rome was the major trading hub of Italy and therefore had access to lots of spices and had to have the food ready for travelers.

1tbl oil
1tbl butter
600g lamb cut into 2 1/2cm cubes (1 inch)
4 garlic cloves
leaves from 3 thyme sprigs
6 anchovy fillets (sardeller to the Swedish)
1 1/2dl red wine
1 1/2dl lamb stock
1 tsp sugar
ca. 60g black olives, halved
2tbl chopped parsley


Heat the oil and butter in a large pan that can fit a lid on it and fry the lamb for 4-5min until they are nice brown all the way around.

Crush the garlic, thyme and anchovy into a smooth paste using a mortar and pestle.

Pour the wine and stock into the pan and then stir in the paste, adding the sugar at the same time.

Bring to the boil, then lower the temperature and let simmer with a lid on for 30-40 minutes or until the meat is tender. Remove the lid for the last 10 minutes so that the sauce can reduce a little bit.

Add the halved olives and mix thoroughly.

Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the top and serve with fluffy mashed potatoes.


Enjoy!

Spiced Vinegar

This vinegar makes for a nice addition for dressing or as a condiment on its own. You can easily add a sprig of your favorite herb to add more flavor. You may have to make the stick shorter so that you can place a lid on the bottle you use.

2 cloves of garlic
2 shallot onions
1 thin wooden stick (barbeque skewer or similar)
2dl white wine vinegar
herb sprig (optional)


Peel the garlic and onion and halve them if they are too big.

Carefully thread the garlic and onions on the stick so they don't come apart.

Place the stick in a wide necked bottle or similar and pour the vinegar into it.

(Add the herb sprig at this stage if you want it).

Heat the vinegar in the microwave for about 1min.

Put a lid on it and let stand for a couple of days before using it.

Keep in a cool place with a lid on and leave the onion, garlic and herbs in.


Enjoy!

Chili And Garlic Shrimp

I had a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer and I wanted to do something with them, so I checked what else i had and this is what I came up with.

400g peeled shrimp
1-2 red chili
6-8 garlic cloves
1/2dl oil (olive oil or vegetable oil)
1tsb mushroom soy
parsley to taste

Deseed the chili and cut it into thin slices.

Peel and slice the garlic.

Fry the chili and garlic in the oil for about 5 min.

Add the shrimp and fry them briefly.

Stir in the soy and parsley.

Serve with rice or noodles.


Enjoy!