Deliciously filled mini meatloaves

A muffin tin, an appetite for new recipes and a bunch of webpages was all it took us to come up with the idea to make filled mini meatloaves for the weekend. Below is the recipe we used, but it is quite versatile and you can just add whatever filling you like. Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes about 8):

500g minced beef
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 1 / 2 dl milk
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 egg
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tsp thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch of pepper
2 slices of ham, cut in half
4 cheese cubes
1 cheese slice, cut in 4
2 slices of pineapple, cut in 4

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Place bread crumbs and milk in a bowl and let them swell for 5 minutes. Fry the onion in olive oil, in a skillet. Mix eggs, tomato puree, spices, fried onion and minced meat in the bowl with the breadcrumbs, and stir to a smooth mince. Shape the mince into a half ball and place in a greased hole of the muffin tin. Press the cheese or pineapple wrapped in ham in the middle of the meatloaf, and cover with more mince mixture forming a perfect round loaf. Additionally you can place some cheese slices or pineapple pieces on top of the loaf. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Serve with boiled potatoes, green salad and lingonberry jam.

Curry Soup

The temperatures outside dropped, the clouds are gray and the rain is imminent. In this kind of evenings there's nothing better than a bowl of hot soup. We love the classics like mushroom soup or vegetables cream. However, we are always looking for new tasty soups and we found that curry brings a very interesting taste to the soup. Give it a try and let us know.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
3 cups of sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 cups of carrots, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt

 Plain yogurt to taste

 
Add all ingredients to a large pan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.  Process the soup until creamy or leave some chunks if you prefer. Serve with plain yogurt.

Banana & Walnut healthy muffins

 The running season is starting in about 3 months and now it's time to get fit and ready for it. A big part of it is nutrition and what we eat is as important as the actual training. We are always looking for new healthy and tasty snacks, as sometimes we are short of time between work and training. This time we tried a new recipe of healthy muffins. They were easy to make and even easier to eat.

Ingredients (about 12 muffins):

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups bran flakes
1/2 cup of walnuts, roughly crushed
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger powder
1 cup milk
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 190C. Combine the flour, bran flakes, walnuts, cinnamon, baking powder and ginger. Set aside.
Heat together milk, butter, honey and sugar until butter had melted and sugar is dissolved.
Stir in baking soda and mashed bananas.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing to just combine. Do not over-mix.
Spoon into 12 greased or paper covered muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Leave to stand for 2 minutes before removing from tins.

Recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Mushrooms "Bulhão Pato"

Bulhão Pato was a portuguese author that loved eating clams. One day, one of his friends, that worked as a chef, created a recipe of clams for him called clams "Bulhão Pato". Until today, this is a well known dish in the portuguese cuisine. As fresh clams are not always easy to find, especially when you live in a country far away from the sea, other core ingredients can be used. Prawns and shrimps are frequently used, but the Swedish and the Chef tried this recipe with mushrooms instead. The result was a tasty, healthy and easy to make recipe.

Ingredients (2 people):
200g button mushrooms or Cremini, diced
200g white button mushrooms, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
100g white wine
1/4 lemon, juiced
Small bunch of coriander, grossly chopped
Salt
Black pepper

Heat up the olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and stir. When the garlic is turning golden add the white wine and the mushrooms. Mix, reduce the heat and let it cook for 6-7 minutes. Add the coriander. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Serve immediately with pasta.

Notes:
Other combinations of mushrooms can be used.

Nachos

The first time I had nachos was in a pub in Edinburgh, Scotland. The waiter wisely told us that it was a big portion, even for two. We ordered them anyway and they were the best nachos I ever had. We went back there several other times and until today, every time I think of nachos, I think of that same place in Scotland. This recipe does not reproduce that experience, but it is as close as it can get right here right now. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely diced
500g beef mince
1 package of spices for tacos
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
400g can of chili red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
Corn chips
1/2 cup grated edam cheese
Fresh coriander, to serve

Guacamole:
1 tomato, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 soft avocados, mashed with a fork
1/2 lime juice
Fresh coriander
Salt
Pepper

Sour cream dip:
150g sour cream
1/4 red onion, finely diced
Chives to taste


Preheat oven to 180ºC. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the medium onion diced. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add minced meat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up lumps, for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned all over. Add tacos spices and a splash of water. Mix well and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato and the beans. Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Arrange corn chips in a deep ovenproof dish or tray. Spoon over mince mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

In the meantime,  prepare dips for garnish. For guacamole mix all ingredients, adding the avocados last, and season with salt and pepper to taste. For sour cream dip mix all ingredients.


Top nachos with guacamole, sour cream and fresh coriander.

Notes:
Parsley can be used instead of coriander, if preferred.

This recipe was adapted from Taste.com.au 

Strawberry Mini Tarts

Do you know that moment when you crave something sweet but you fresh at the same time? Something that reminds you of spring days - getting longer, sunnier and warmer. 

The Swedish and the Chef did take a long break, but a lot of things have changed since the last recipe, including the kitchen. We do not live anymore in a tropical country, but we are back in Europe, and it has been a roller coaster trying to cope with all the changes. This was supposed to be our first real winter in years, but life had different plans for us... No snow, no cold, no rain. Instead, we got warm sunny days with birds singing outside. Well then, we better make a spring dessert, I say!

Ingredients (makes 3 mini tarts):

Shortcrust Pastry
150g all purpose flour
15g icing sugar
65g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 egg

Topping
250 ml cream
10g vanilla sugar + some to sprinkle
Strawberries

1. For the pastry, combine flour and sugar in a food processor, and process until mixed evenly. Add butter and process again to a fine crumbly texture. Add the egg and process until it comes all together. Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth. Pat the top to flatten it. Wrap in baking paper and refrigerate 20 minutes or until is firm enough to roll out.

2. Roll the pastry to a 3 cm thickness. Place it on top of the mini tins, with a loose base, and trim off the excess of pastry. You should have enough pastry for 3 x 10 cm diameter tarts. Prick the bottom with a fork and refrigerate for another 10 minutes.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 200 ºC (no fan).

4. Place some baking paper on top of the pastry and fill it with baking beans or rice (to 3/4). Blind bake for 15 min. or until edges are golden. Remove the baking beans or rice and cook another 10 min. or until the base is dry. Cool down in the tins and transfer to a serving plate.

5. Whip the cream with the sugar, until thick. Spoon the cream into the pastry. Scatter some strawberries pieces on top, and sprinkle some more vanilla sugar on top.

Notes:

Double the recipe to obtain 1 normal sized tart (e.g. 24 cm).

Replace strawberries by other fruits you may like.

This recipe was adapted from Masterchef Australia.

Chocolate Salami

Neighbours can be a pain in your life, but if you got the right ones they can be like a second family. There are different kinds of neighbours: the ones to whom you go to when your are missing a cup of flower or an egg, the ones you avoid in the supermarket aisles, the ones you wish nice day to and that's it, and the ones you go to when you need a friend.

As we have been moving a lot, we have also met all kinds of neighbours. That is ok, because for me the real neighbours are back in my hometown are I know they are the best! 

I remember eating this chocolate salami at my neighbours house all the time and now I got the recipe from them. It is an easy and delicious recipe, perfect for all the chocolate lovers. Kids love it too!

Ingredients:

3 eggs
125g butter
200g sugar
150g powdered cocoa
400g Marie cookies
Splash of Port wine

Heat up the butter until melted and cool down for a couple of minutes.

Use an electric beater to beat the sugar and the eggs, until it's creamy. Reduce the speed and incorporate the butter and then the cocoa powder. Add a splash of Port wine and mix well. 

Lay some of the cookies on a kitchen clothe and break them using a rolling pin or a wooden spoon. Add the pieces to the chocolate mixture and mix using a spoon, so that the cookies get a little bit wet. Keep adding the cooking pieces until the mixture is solid enough to be molded.

Lay a piece of alumina foil on the kitchen bench and transfer the mixture onto it. Roll the foil to make a sausage like shape and close the ends like in a candy bar.

Refrigerate for at least 2h. Slice and serve.

Notes:

The cocoa powder can be replaced by a mixture of cocoa and chocolate powder (for drinks). 

Other kinds of alcohol can be used as well.

Tuna Salad

Does some food speak to you? Some does to me. This salad speaks summer to me. Wherever I eat this, I feel I'm in my hometown, in my parents backyard, enjoying a summer meal, under the dawn light. I don't know how to explain it... it just speaks to me...

Ingredients:

5 tomatoes

1/2 onion

2 eggs, hard boiled

1 can of tuna (in natura)

Olive oil

Salt

Slice the tomatos and the eggs, and transfer into a bowl. Add the tuna and the onion in thin slices. Season with a drizzle of olive oil and salt. Mix all the ingredients and set aside for at least 10 minutes, to develop the flavours. 

This salad is best served with fresh baked bread. 

Light Chicken Fusilli with Yoghurt Sauce

Recently, I came across a story of determination and courage that inspired me. 

Once upon a time, a girl got tired of being overweight and started thinking thin*. More than thin she wanted to be healthy, and to be able to move more and better, and as everybody else, she wanted to be happy! Her determination was so great that she did it, rather fast I would say, by exercising a lot and eating healthy. A lot of people think that healthy food has no flavour and it's boring but I strongly disagree. 

With this story in my mind I was also determined to create something different, tasty and healthy, just by using simple ingredients I had in the fridge. The result was approved by both here. What about you? Are you thinking thin?

Ingredients (serves 2):
250g integral fusilli
150g chicken breast
1 carrot
50g peas, cooked or frozen
1 low-fat yoghurt
1/2 orange, juiced
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt

Chop the chicken breast in cubes and put in a plastic container. Chop the garlic finely and add to the chicken. Add the orange juice and a pinch of salt as well. Mix everything with your hands, cover the container and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes, to marinate.

For the yoghurt sauce, chop a clove of garlic finely and add to the yoghurt. Season with salt and drizzle with olive oil to taste. Mix well and taste. Correct seasoning if needed. Set aside for at least 10 minutes, to develop the flavour of the garlic in the yoghurt.

When the marinate is ready, peel off the carrot and slice it in thin slices using a mandolin. 

Cook the fusilli in salted water until it is al dente. 

Heat up a drizzle of olive oil in a non-sticky frying pan, and add the chicken. Cook for about 8 minutes, tossing now and then, until the chicken is almost cooked through. Add in the carrots and the peas and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the yoghurt sauce. Serve on top of the pasta.

Notes: If you are a garlic lover add some extra to the sauce. 

If you don't have a mandolin just slice the carrot as thin as you can. If it's a bit thicker it might take longer too cook, so add it to the chicken a couple of minutes before. 

*You can read the full story here, written by the brave girl herself. It is in Portuguese though...

Banana Ice Cream - the easy way

Did you know that bananas contain a bunch of good nutrients for our body? Yes, of course, who doesn't!

But did you also know that ripe bananas can act as anti-cancer agents? 

Japanese scientists found that the black spots formed on the bananas, as they mature, contain a substance called TNF (tumour necrosis factor), that can combat abnormal cells. The degree of anticancer effect depends on the ripeness level of the bananas, so the more dark patches the banana contains the higher its immunity enhancement quality. (source here)

Should we then start eating black bananas? No, there is an easier way. Let's make ice cream out of them!

Besides all that, as the bananas ripen, their starch is broken down into sugar, meaning they taste sweeter at this stage and you don't even need to add extra sugar to the ice cream. Therefore, not only are we using those bananas that don't look so good anymore, but we are also eating a healthy delicious ice cream that protects us against cancer. It can't get any better, can it?

Ingredients (4 portions):

6 ripe bananas
20ml of cinnamon liqueur
2 tbsp of powdered cinnamon
10 Maria cookies

Peel off and roughly slice the bananas. Put the pieces in a container and freeze for 2-3h. 

When frozen, transfer the banana into a food processor and mix until it's soft and creamy. Add the liqueur, the cinnamon and the cookies and process for a few more seconds. 

Transfer to a container and freeze again, for about 4-5h. If you freeze for longer stir it now and then, to avoid the formation of ice crystals.

Serve cold with a drizzle of liqueur and a cinnamon stick as decoration.

Notes:

Depending on how mature the bananas are the ice cream colour will change. If your ice cream became less dark than desired, just leave it for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator before freezing. The oxidation will be faster and you will get a darker colour.

This recipe was inspired by Sami, from the blog Sami's Colourfulworld. Find her recipe here!