Thai sweet potato curry*

The competition is high but I think this Thai sweet potato curry, that I saw on the blog Pinch of Yum, is my favourite curry recipe of all times. Besides using both red and yellow curry pastes, which is delicious, it contains one of my favourite ingredients: sweet potato. I have done this recipe countless times now and I just don't know how could I not share it here before.

Time: 30 min.

Ingredients (4 people):
1 tbsp oil 
2 shallots, thinly sliced 
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed 
3-4 cups fresh baby spinach 
2-3 tbsp curry paste (red, yellow or both) 
400 ml coconut milk 
½ to 1 cup broth or water 
½ cup chopped peanuts and coriander 
Fish sauce to taste 
Rice

1. Start preparing the rice.

2. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and stir fry until soft and fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes and stir to coat with oil. Add the curry paste and stir until well-combined.

3. Add the coconut milk and broth and let it simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes Until thickened. Stir in the spinach until wilted.

4. Add half of the peanut/coriander mixture, reserving the rest for topping. Add a quick splash of fish sauce to the curry (this will just make the whole thing sing harmony in your mouth).

5. Serve over rice, topped with remaining peanuts and coriander.


*Thank you Pinch of Yum for the inspiration!

White beans curry stew*

Here at home we do a no-meat day at least once a week and we have tried really tasty vegetarian recipes. This white beans curry stew is our latest find. It's very rich in nutrients and it tastes great when combined with a cucumber salad. 

Time: 45 min
Ingredients (4 people):
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 carrot
200g celery 
800g white beans (mix small and big if possible) 
1 tbsp rapeseed oil 
1-2 tbsp red curry paste 
2 bouillon cubes 
4 dl water 
4 tomatoes 
Salt 
Chili (optional) 

Cucumber salad
½ cucumber 
½ red onion 
1 tbsp lemon juice 
½ tsp salt 
1 tsp sugar

Mint yogurt 
2 dl Turkish yoghurt  
2 tbsp dried mint 
½ tsp salt  
Fresh mint  
Curry powder or turmeric for garnish

1. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Peel and grate (thick) the carrot and celery. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the shredded and chopped about 2 minutes, stirring. Add the curry powder and cook for about 1 minute. Pour in water, crumble in the bouillon and simmer covered for about 15 minutes. Stir every now and then.

Meanwhile prepare the cucumber salad, the mint yogurt and cook the rice.

2. Cucumber salad: Rinse the cucumber and slice it thinly, preferably using a mandolin. Peel and slice the onions thinly. Mix with lemon juice, salt and sugar.

3. Mint Yoghurt: Mix the yoghurt with dried mint and salt. When serving garnish with fresh mint and a little curry powder or turmeric on top.

4. Drain the beans in a strainer and add them to the stew, together with the tomatoes cut into large pieces. Let simmer about 3 minutes. Season with salt, and possibly with finely chopped chili.

5. Serve the stew hot with cooked rice, the cucumber salad and the mint yoghurt.


*Inspired by recipe on Allt om Mat

Chicken with blood orange, sriracha sauce, fried rice and yogurt

Chicken is the most consumed meat in Sweden. Many eat chicken almost every day and even though we don't do that, we are still always looking for new recipes to try. In this recipe, the chicken is combined with blood orange and the spiciness of the sriracha sauce, giving it an exotic flavour. Served with fried rice and yoghurt is just perfect!

Go ahead and try yourself!

Time: 30 + 30 min. in the oven

Ingredients (4 people): 
4 chicken legs (~1 kg)
Basmati rice 
2 tbsp + 4 tbsp light soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp sriracha sauce (or chili sauce) 
3 tbsp of honey 
½ tbsp of canola oil 
2 fennel bulbs 
2 blood oranges
1 small bunch spring onions 
3 eggs 
70g baby spinach 
2 dl natural yoghurt 
Salt, pepper

1. Preheat oven to 225 ºC. Cook rice according to the package. Let cool on a large dish and mix with 2 tbsp of soy sauce.

2. Cut up the chicken legs and thighs and transfer to an oven dish. Whisk 4 tbsp of soy sauce, sriracha, honey and sesame oil. Brush the marinade over the chicken. Clean and cut the fennel into wedges. Add the fennel around the chicken.

3. Rinse one of the oranges and cut into slices. Squeeze 2 tbsp of juice from the other orange. Add orange slices around the chicken and pour over the orange juice.

4. Cook in the oven about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through (80 ºC internal temperature).

5. Clean and chop the spring onions. Whisk the eggs with 2 tbsp of water and 2 pinches of salt. Fry the eggs in a frying pan. Add the rice and onions and let cook 2-3 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir in the spinach and remove from the heat.

6. Serve the chicken with rice, fennel and yogurt.

Cauliflower curry

I love curries and I make them often at home. They make a good hearty meal and are rich in flavour. I enjoy trying different recipes and different kinds of curry. My most recent experiment was this vegetarian curry with cauliflower. The best however, is the sauce rich in peanut taste. The combination is simply superb and as soon as I tried it for the first time, I know I would be making it again and again.

Time: 30 min.

Ingredients (4-6 people): 
1 kg cauliflower 
300g potato 
2 cans coconut milk (2x 400ml) 
3 tbsp peanut butter 
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice

Curry paste 
1/2 onion 
2 garlic cloves 
1/2 red chili 
1 stalk lemongrass
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp finely grated ginger 
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Garnish: 
1 cup diced spring onions
1 cup peanuts 
coriander 
rice or naan bread
 
1. Curry paste: Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Chop the chili and the root of lemon grass (about 6 cm). Mix all the ingredients for the curry paste and mix to smooth consistency.

2. Clean and break the cauliflower into florets. Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes.

3. Fry curry paste on medium heat in a pan, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and peanut butter and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook for about 4 minutes.

4. Add the cauliflower and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add the fish sauce and lime.

5. Serve curry topped with spring onions, ground peanuts and coriander. Serve with rice or naan bread.

Granola*

I thought making your own granola was a lot of work. It's not. Store bought granola is full of unnecessary sugar and they always have at least one ingredient I don't like. Making your own granola solves both problems. Here is my recipe of granola. You can mix and match other ingredients until you find your own recipe. Try it and you will never buy granola again.

Makes about 3 liters
Time: 20 min + 1h in the oven

Ingredients:
200g walnuts (or hazelnuts or peanuts or mix)
2 large oranges
650g spelt flakes
400g sunflower seeds
300g pumpkin seeds
200g coconut flakes
1 tablespoon cinnamon (or cardamom)
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 dl honey
1 dl rapeseed oil
1 dl water
250g dried apricots (or dried figs or dried plums or mix)
1 dl cranberry raisins
1/2 dl regular raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 175 ºC. Coarsely chop the nuts. Squeeze the juice out of both oranges.

2. Mix the flakes, seeds, nuts, cinnamon, vanilla powder and salt. Mix with your hands.

3. Separately, mix orange juice, honey, oil, and water. Pour the mixture over the grits and mix with your hands.

4. Spread 1/3 of the mixture on an oven tray (those the same size as the oven) lined with with parchment paper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the granola gets some colour. Stir occasionally. Repeat 2 more times with remaining mixture.

5. Allow to cool. Cut the apricots into small pieces. Add them to the granola. Add the raisins, cranberries and coconut flakes. Mix. Store in air-tight flasks (it keeps for weeks, if you can resist...).

Tips: Granola is really very versatile. Mix and match different ingredients to your liking. The original recipe had orange rind, for instance.

My favourite combinations
Yoghurt, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 sliced banana, topped with granola.
Frozen blueberries and raspberries microwaved for 30s, topped with yoghurt and granola.
Diced mango, yoghurt and granola.
Grapes, yoghurt and granola


*Inspired by a recipe from Allt om Mat.

Apple pie with a Swedish twist

Swedes love baking and they have some sort of fever for pies. I have always associate baking with winter, but pies can be eaten all around the year, varying the filling. Apple pie is one of the classics but there are many different recipes. The recipe below has a Swedish twist: cardamom seeds, also a classic in Swedish baked goods. The result was a super delicious apple pie and a recipe that turned out very simple and fast to make. 

Ingredients (26 cm diameter):
30 min + 20 min baking

Base:
175 g butter, room temperature
1 dl sugar
3 dl flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

Filling:
3-4 apples
25 g butter
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cardamom seeds (black part inside the green pods), crushed in mortar and pestle

Lemon glaze:
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Base Preheat the oven to 200 ºC. Whisk butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix the dry ingredients until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and quickly combine into a dough. Transfer to a pie form and press evenly.

2. Filling Cut the apples in quarters and remove the seeds. Chop each quarter into slices. Lay the slices in two circles over the dough. Spread on top the butter, the sugar and the cardamom.

3. Bake the pie in the center of the oven for 20 minutes or until the apples are golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

4. Mix honey and lemon juice. Brush over the pie. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Baked Chicken Nuggets and Root Vegetables with Dill Sauce

I love chicken nuggets, especially when they are crispy. Until I found this recipe, I thought that to get the right crispiness one had to fried the nuggets. Now I found a way to get super yummy and crunchy chicken nuggets and I want to share it with you. The trick is to use panko instead of regular breadcrumbs. Yes, it was as simple as that.

Ingredients (3 people):

40 min.

400g chicken breast

1 cup maizena flour

2 ägg

1 cup panko

2 carrots

2 sweet potatoes

10-15 brussels sprouts

1 dl greek yoghurt

1 tsp mustard

Dill

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven to 225 ºC. Cut the chicken breasts into long fingers, of about 3 cm width. Salt them. On separated plates place flour, beaten eggs and panko season with pepper. Roll each chicken finger individually in first the flour, then the egg and then panko and pepper mixture. Place the nuggets on half of an oven tray pre-arranged with baking paper. Set aside.

2. Chop the potatoes and carrots into thin matchsticks pieces. Mix with olive oil and salt. Transfer to the empty half of the oven tray. Place the tray in the middle of the oven and cook for 20 min. turning the nuggets around half way through. 

3. Meanwhile, halve the brussels sprouts and mix with salt and pepper. Place them in the oven with 10 minutes to go (when you turn the chicken nuggets around).

4. Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing the yoghurt, mustard and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

5. Garnish the nuggets and vegetables with extra dill and serve with the sauce.

Parmesan Chicken Gratin

There's nothing better than a good cheese crust, especially if it is of Parmesan cheese. This recipe combines the cheesy crust, with creamy spinach and tasty chicken. It is perfect for a midweek winter dinner.

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 chicken file
500g frozen spinach, defrost in advance
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
75 g Parmesan, grated
1 1/2 dl cream
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 dl chicken stock
1 garlic clove, minced

Salad, rice to serve

1. Set the oven to 225 ºC. Squeeze out the water from the spinach. Lay them on a slightly buttered oven tray.

2. Seal the chicken file on a frying pan, just until they get colours all around. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Lay over the spinach.

3. In a saucepan add the cream, stock, mustard, garlic lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Drizzle over the chicken and spinach. Spread the parmesan on top.

4. Put the tray in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through and the parmesan should form a crust.

5. Serve with a mixed salad and white rice.

Tips: The parmesan cheese adds a salty flavour to the dish, so the creamy mixture can be slightly under salted. 


*Inspired by recipe in Allt om Mat, Sweden

Baked Apple Tosca

Apple season is here and we got a bag full of freshly picked ones. It was difficult to choose which recipe to do first but when I saw the one for Baked Apple Tosca I just had to try it! It was a first for me but definitely not a last...

Ingredients (2 people):
4 small (or 2 big) firm apples
20 g butter, room temperature
1 dl almond slices
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp potato flour (or maizena)
Salt

1. Set on the oven to 175 ºC. Cut the apples in halves and remove the core with a small spoon. Lay the apple halves, cut side up, on a slightly buttered oven tray. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 min. (or 15 min. if you use big apples).

2. Mix butter, almond slices, sugar, honey, flour and a pinch of salt.

3. Remove the apple halves from the oven and set the oven to 225 ºC.

4. Spread the almond mixture in the center and on top of the apples. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 min. or until the tops get golden.

5. Allow to cool down a few minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream.


*Recipe adapted from Buffé magazine, distributed by ICA Sweden.

Milk Bread

Milk bread reminds me of my home country: Portugal. I remember growing up eating this fluffy and slightly sweet bread with ham and cheese or butter and jam. Now that I live abroad, I decided to make my own milk bread buns. Besides the normal breakfast/snack use, I also tried them with chicken burgers (recipe here) and it was fantastic! Now that I saw how easy it is to make these buns myself, I will hardly buy burger buns again. It also works with hot dogs.

Ingredients (12 round buns):
500 g flour
50 g sugar
40 g butter
220 ml milk
20 g fresh yeast
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
1 egg yolk, beaten

1. Heat up the milk to lukewarm and dissolve the yeast in it. It's important that the milk is not to hot, to not deactivate the yeast.

2. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and butter pieces. Slowly add the milk and mix with your hand. Add the whole egg and a pinch of salt and mix well. Knead well until the mixture is homogeneous and it doesn't stick to your hands anymore. Add more flour if needed.

3. Make a ball with the dough, leave it in the bowl, cover with a clothe and let it prove for an hour.

4. Afterwards, make buns of about 80g each. Place the buns on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Let them prove for another hour. 15 minutes before time is up turn on the oven to heat to 180 ºC. Brush each bun's top with the egg yolk. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Note: You can increase the amount of sugar if you are looking for a more sweet bread. I prefer mine less sweet.

Inspired by the recipe found at Sweet Gula.