loveliness

The other day I had some very good news. You see, I have been ill for some time, but after the last trip to the doctor's I got the all clear. Good news indeed.

I celebrated by treating myself to sushi after the dr's apt. And whilst eating my sushi I sent a text message home to share my good news. I recieved a message saying "Damn good news. we should celebrate tonight!". I thought nothing more of it, finished off my sushi and did some errands around town before heading home.

But as soon as I came home I found the mr. by the cooker - making the most amazing dinner. There were beers in the fridge. A bunch of flowers on the dinner table. Chocolates for afters... So thoughtful! Such a wonderful treat!



We had a lovely evening. Like most evenings really, but in a different kinda way. And posh dinner and beer on a worknight doesn't happen every day for sure. I'm not used to being pampered like that. I think it almost topped our roadtrip last weekend, where we went to see the eminent Ed Harcourt. That says alot.

Good news, yummy food and lovely, wonderful thoughtfulness all in the same day. Who could ask for anything more?

yummy yummy for your tummy

The other day I found a dirt cheap piece of pork tenderloin in the shop. Didn't really have any inspiration to do anything with it that same night, but last night I bought some goodies and felt an urge of experiment coming on. And boy did it turn out nice!

So here goes:

- slice the tenderloin lengthwise, almost all the way through. Fold it open and smash it a bit (I used a rolling pin) to make it flat as a pancake (but not as thin...).

- salt and pepper the meat.

- Slice a piece of Gorgonzola cheese and spread it out all over the meat.

- Chop up some fresh chantarelles and sprinkle it over the cheese.

- Roll up the meat like a Swiss roll. I used a piece of string to tie the roll together, so all the goodness would stay inside the roll whilst cooking.

I placed the meat roll in a greased, ovenproof tray, stuck it in the oven on 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. Then I poured a creambased chantarelle sauce over the meat and left it in the oven for another 10 minutes, et voila - heavenly delicious!

I sliced the meat in appox. 5 cm slices and served with potatoe wedges and an avodado, red onion and tomatoe salad.

Give it a go. You won't regret it!

yet another culinary concoction

Last night I had no inspiration to cook dinner. Nor did anything look tempting for my tastebuds as I stood with my nose deep in the fridge, looking for something to jump out and bite me and tickle my fancy.

So I started cooking aimlessly. Boiled some beetroot that's been lying around for a few days. Boiled some asparagus that were meant for last weekends dinnerparty...

... And the result was soooooo nice I thought I'd share it with you!

Boil approx. 10 beetroot, peel them and cut them in wedges. Put in an ovenproof dish.

Boil a load of asparagus and put them on top of the beetroot in the dish.

Fry a couple of chicken fillets (cut in bite sized chunks) lightly with salt and pepper. Throw on top of the rest.

Fry a packet of bacon (sliced into small pieces) and throw on top of the rest.

Pour over a bit of olive oil, some red wine vineagar, a big chunk of fresh rosemary, sage and chives.

Chuck it in the oven for a while, then serve with bits of feta cheese.

Now, if you're cooking for one you might want to at least half everything above, as we were two eating last night and it still was some leftovers. And I do think the asparagus could be exchanged for a couple of fennels (or whatever tickles your fancy). I might give that a go next time. I do love my fennel, I do.

recipe of the week

Place a little olive oil on a large baking tray and place it in the oven whilst the oven heats up to 150 degrees.

Then peel and cut the following into approx 7 cm long, thin sticks:
2 parsnips
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
2 large sweet potatoes
3-4 carrots

Throw the above into the baking tray and make sure the olive oil gets everywhere on the veggies. Add plentiful of salt, coarse black pepper, oregano, sage and a tad of rosemary. Leave in the oven for at least an hour, during which time you should stir it a couple of times.

For the last 15 minutes: add a salmon fillets (or chicken, corn or whatever you fancy) on to the tray.

Serve with a big dollop of Turkish yoghurt and sprinkle some feta cheese over the concoction.

Enjoy!

can't stop thinking about a spaghetti omelette

thanks emeril !

to cook or not to cook

The last week has been so hectic I haven't had time to eat properly. I've eaten more sandwiches than I could count and plenty of junk. I simply haven't had time to shop, let alone cook. And so I decided to order ready packed ecological groceries on the internet. It is home delivered together with recipies.

And when I got home today two huge bags of food was waiting for me outside my door. Pure bliss. Lots of nice veggies and really fresh products that I'd never think of buying myself. All the recipies looked scrummy and as I unpacked everything I nearly drooled.

But then I just flopped. Felt completely drained and just couldn't bare to slave in front of the cooker. And so now I'm sat in my sofa hoping I'll gain some new energy tomorrow so that I will cook!

Kif is a bit surprised with the contents of the grocery bag!

Baguio(09)

some jumpin for my harem!haha!

i dunno if that's cute!haha!

Last December, my block went to Baguio for our annual Student Advertising Congress which we organized. I actually didn't bother to roam around the city anymore since I'm no new to it. Though we discovered some amazing restaurants/cafe.

the 50's diner!
Very good food! and cheap ones too!

Kamille in her newly permed hair!


Friends much!

After lunch, ukay-ukay!!!
For dinner, we went to PNKY's Cafe.
(we were planning to eat at the 50's diner again, but it was too full to accomodate us)

this is not a vase used as a decor but our drinking water!haha!
"pag special holiday may fish!"
- Neps(friend)

the cafe's chef
I'm not convinced with his looks as a chef.haha.judgy much!
One of my friend Elena had hots for him that's why she took this stolen shot.

and look at this cute "suitcase!"
it's where they put the bill!

the owner of the cafe is a photographer/traveller so you'd see different
shots of the places she's been.

tea for all occations

I love tea. Really love it. When in the UK nothing beats a cup of Tetley's. But in Sweden it's a different story. Here's my top 6 list. For all occations.

when you feel like a candy in a cup: lichee

when it's cold, dark and you feel under the weather: lapsang suchong

when it's cold, dark and you feel good: chai

when you need a "get your arse in gear"-drink: earl grey

when you have friends around for tea: brunkullan

for a long, lasy breakfast in bed: black currant

Mera mums!

På allmän begäran kommer här ett par recept på förrätter! :-)

Chevre-toast

Placera en stor skiva chevreost på en skiva vitt, lätt rostat bröd.

Smeta på en rejäl klick honung på osten och toppa med pinjenötter eller valnötter.

Släng in i ugnen på 200 grader tills osten har blivit lite smält.

Basilikatomater

Dela 2 bifftomater på mitten och placera på en bakplåt.

Pensla tomaterna med olivolja och lägg på en skiva mozarellaost ovanpå varje tomathalva.

Blanda:

1 knippe basilika

1 hackad vitlöksklyfta

salt och peppar

Lägg blandningen ovanpå mozarellan och ställ in i ugnen på 150 grader tills tomaterna är mjuka och lite krispiga i skalet.

Moules Mariniere (min favorit!!)

Borsta och skölj ca 2 kg färska musslor. (släng alla som är öppna/spruckna!)

Hacka:

 ½ fänkål

3 vitlöksklyftor

5 sharlottenlökar

 och stek i en stor kastrull.

Släng i musslorna och 3 dl vitt vin och koka allt under lock tills musslorna öppnat sig.Sila över kokspadet till en annan kastrull och häll i 4 dl grädde. (OBS! Låt musslorna ligga kvar i den varma kastrullen under lock så de inte kallnar).

Koka, och tillsätt sedan en smör-& mjölredning så såsen får bra konsistens.Häll såsen över musslorna och avsluta med att röra i ett knippe hackad persilja.

ett par smaskiga recept

Jag lovade några vänner att dela med mig av två recept som jag bjöd på i helgen som var. Jag tyckte det var lite roligare att dela med mig av dom så här, på bloggen. Så enjoy!

Kikärtsbiffar

1 dl bulgur kokas och läggs i en stor skål tillsammans med:

1/2 gul lök

1 vitlöksklyfta

massa bladpersilja eller koriander

3 1/2 dl kikärtor

1/2 tsk salt

1 krm cayennepeppar

1 tsk spiskummin

2 krm kanel

2 msk vatten

Mixa allt med en mixerstav så det blir en tjock smet. Vill man kan man slänga i ett ägg också för att hålla ihop biffarna bättre vid stekning. Forma smeten till lagom stora biffar och stek i stekpanna. Vänd eventuellt biffarna i sesamfrö innan du steker dem.

Servera gärna lite yoghurt smaksatt med rivet limeskal och/eller koriander till. Eller varför inte creme fraiche med lite chutney?

Chocolate cheesecake

12 st digestivekex smulas och blandas med

100 gram smält smör.

Tryck ut smeten i en form.

3 äggulor

130 gram philadelphiaost

1/2 dl strösocker

2 dl creme fraiche

Blandas i en skål. Tillsätt

200 gram smält mörk blockchoklad (ju högre kakaohalt desto godare!)

3 äggvitor vispas till ett hårt skum och vänds försiktigt ner i resen av smeten.

Häll smeten på kexbottnen. Låt stå i frysen i minst 4 timmar innan den serveras. Mums!

fashion-blackjack taco...man...why didn't i think of this!

http://www.garbagedress.com/

sugar rush

I have stopped buying sweets, cakes and ice cream, and it's by far the hardest thing I've done.

Every visit at the shop I walk pass the ice cream department thinking "but I deserve an ice cream today". The thing is, an ice cream in my world equals a whole tub. At least a litre, which I used to eat every night. And so I tell myself that I've turned into a fat bastard and only have myself to blame for it and walk on. To the bread department.

At the bread department I stop and drool. "But a bag of cinnamon buns isn't too bad" I think, before remembering I would eat the whole bag in one go.

And so it goes on. So far I've been good for 4 weeks and only bought sweets once. The first week without a hefty sugar rush every evening was pure torture - I emptied my cupboards in search of something sweet several times. Now I'm doing OK, but still miss the evening hour in my settee with a tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

I'll give it until New Year. If I haven't lost any weight until then I'm going back to Sugarland. Because I love it.

advise

Here's my tip of the day:

DO NOT SCRATCH YOUR EYES WHILST EATING CHILI & GARLIC SALAMI.

It hurts. A lot.

soup time

It's been a while since I wrote down some of my culinary concoctions. A while back my friend made this lovely lentil soup and I asked her to write the recipe down. I then lost the recipe (surprise surprise) but had a vauge idea of how she'd made it.

Here's my own modified version of her fabulous soup. Do give it a go - it is lovely!

1 chopped onion
4 thickly sliced carrots

fry the above in olive oil for a few minutes. Add water, a veg stock cube and some

chunks of broccoli

leave to boil until carrots are soft. Then use a blender/mixer to make it all mushy but still a little chunky.

1-2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 dl red lentils
1-2 tablespoons paprika
a dash or two of tabasco
salt
black coarse grounded pepper
cayennepepper or chilipowder

Add all the above and leave to boil for a good half an hour. Keep adding water if the soup turns into a stew.

Crumble up a big chunk of Feta Cheese into the soup just before serving. Yum yum. Enjoy!

books, balcony and bechamel sauce

The day was spent working (on my day off), sunbathing a bit, reading my book, talking on the phone and doing loads of errands around town.

I have long known that I love the sun and the heat more than most people - I even loved it in the Attacama desert where the locals thought I was "loco" for being out walking in the 45-degree heat. But I love it, love it , love it.

Today has been warm and really rather hot on my balcony. So much so that the cats have chosen to lie indoors!!! My cats are light weights!?! I thought cats were known for sunbathing like noone elses buissness? I might have to rethink about coming back as a cat in my next life if that isn't the case...

However, dinner was made today again (i'm getting good at actualy cooking again rather than buying ready made food. Well done, me!) Today I made an even stranger concoction for dinner than the last thingie I shared with you here on my blog, but it was looovely so I thought I'd share this recipe too with you:

I made a normal Bechamel sauce (i.e. flour, butter, milk) and added lots of lemon juice, coarse lemonflavoured black pepper, salt and Tabasco sauce. To that I added crayfish tails (yes I do love it and eat lots of it), corn and peas and left to boil a few minutes.

That lovely concoction was then poured over spaghetti, and it was YUMMY! Give it a try, why don't you?

a recipe for you

Today's lunch was a different one:

I grilled slices of peppers, sugar peas and carrots in olive oil and loads of herbs.

Meanwhile I boiled bulgur, then mixed it all up together and added feta cheese and crayfish tails.

Give it a try - it was really lovely!

midsummer's eve

Today is Midsummer's eve!

Midsummer is a big bank holiday in Sweden. Tradition has it we're supposed to dance around the pole, sing songs and eat loads of pickled herring, chives in sour cream and new potatoes. Preferably with boiled eggs.

However, the weather is usually crap, and this year was no exeption.

I was working all day, and we managed to do some garlands of flowers (very traditional!) and eat some herring, eggs and all that jazz. Well, I didn't, because I don't like it, but staff and patients did.

The rest of the day was spent in the office, writing stuff, drinking coffee and making sure all is up to date.

Once back home I hoovered the flat, gave my flowers a good rinse down in the bath and finished my essay that was due in today.

Not a very exciting day, but there you go.

The recipe of the week

Risotto a la Dana - I made this tonight and it was loooooovely! (oh, and I made this for 6 people, hence the amounts of everything)

1 onion
mushrooms
2 crushed cloves of garlic
the zest of 1 lemon
a big chunk of chopped parsley

Fry all above in a big saucepan. Add half a bottle of dry, white wine, 1 litre of chicken stock and 4 cups of Arbori rice. Boil for 15-20 minutes.

Whilst the above is boiling I fried chicken pieces in olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Mix the chicken with the risotto concoction, and then stir in loads of grated parmesan cheese.

Yummy, yummy - enjoy!

I did some cooking

I have just eaten the best lasange I have ever done. (I'm not saying it's the best lasange ever - because no lasange in the world can beat Diane's wonderful lasange). But it was the best I'VE made.

It started off with me buying a huge pack of mince meat thinking I should do some serious lunch box cooking for work. And so I started frying the mince only to realize I had no onions at home... And what is a mince sauce without onions??? I got a bit pissed off but felt too lazy to go to the shop to buy some. And so the experiment began.

I wish I could repeat what I threw into that pan, but I seriously have no clue. Et voila - it turned out delicious!

And because I so obviously had a great cooking day I made a fish pie too - also gorgeous, and here is the recipe:

loads of baby spinach
a tin of chopped tomatoes
a box of cherry tomatoes
a tin of mussles
a dash of white wine

throw all the above into a pyrex dish and add fish - I used frozen haddock.

Add salt, pepper, chili and herbs (oregano, thyme, sage etc)

Add mashed potatoes on top of it all and finish off with a layer of cheese.

Chuck it in the oven and leave for an hour.

Yum yum!

apple pie

After work today I went for a long walk with my friend. The sun was shining and it was one of those really lovely autumn evenings.

We stole a couple of apples along our walk from peoples gardens (never grow up! Keep knicking apples!), had a nice chat and as we took our third lot of apples we got talking about apple pie. With custard or ice cream. Mmmmmmm!

Once back home I made dinner but the thought about apple pie wouldn't leave my head. No apples in the flat. No ice cream... And then I remembered - sure enough I had enough ingrediences to make a chocolate fudge cake! So now the flat smells of lovely home made chocolate cake and in about 10 minutes I will stuff my face.

Bon Apetite everyone!