Chantarelles with bleak roe and Jerusalem artichoke cream #119

When I was making the two previous posts I ended up with some leftovers and decided to try to combine them and it worked way better than expected. Fresh fried chantarells with a creamy puré of Jerusalem artichokes and some bleak roe turned out to be a great combination.

Chantarelles with bleak roe and Jerusalem artichoke cream

chanterelles

Jerusalem artichokes

cream

chives

butter

salt, pepper

white wine

shallots

Peel the artichokes and the shallots and fry them on medium heat in a pan for a few minutes, add salt, pepper and white wine and bring to a boil. Add water and some cream and let the artichokes simmer until cooked through. Once done remove the liquid and set aside and the blend the artichokes to a smooth puree. If it get´s to thick then thin it with the liquid.

Fry the chanterelles in butter and season with salt and pepper. Serve the artichoke cream with the bleak roe and the chanterelles, when serving add some sliced chives.

Jerusalem artichoke soup with parsnips & salami #118

Jerusalem artichokes are in full season and probably the most classic way to serve them is to make a soup, so let´s keep it simple and do just that. If you are serving it as an tapa I recommend serving it in a cup or smaller plate than in my photos.

I used some left over salami that I fried with some parsnips and onion for this recipe but bacon or pork are great as well so feel free to replace the salami with that.

Jerusalem artichoke soup with parsnips & salami

Jerusalem artichokes
cream
water
garlic
butter
shallot onion
white wine
parsnips
salami
chives
olive oil

Peel the artichokes and put in cold water with some lemon juice, this will keep the artichokes from going brown. Chop the garlic and shallots and fry them until soft with the butter, add the artichokes and fry them for a few minutes without browning.

Add salt, pepper and white wine let the wine reduce until half is left and the cover with water and simmer until the artichokes are cooked through. Add some cream and bring to a boil and then blend the soup until completely smooth. Season with salt, pepper and a splash of olive oil. Adjust the thickness and creaminess with water and cream if necessary.

Peel and dice the parsnip, dice the salami and slice the chives. Roast the diced parsnip in some butter, remove from heat and combine with the salami and chives. Serve the soup with the parsnip and salami mix and a few drops of olive oil. Good luck.

Grated potato pancakes with bleak roe, sour cream and onions #117

This dish is well known in Sweden and are called "Rårakor" and they are absolutely fabulous. They are usually served at restaurants with roe, sour cream and freshly chopped onions the way I do in this recipe.

They can also be served as a rustic main course with salted fried pork and lingonberries that´s an truly amazing dish and if you´re ever in Sweden it´s a must try. This way with the roe is however a bit more elegant and I think it´s better suited as a tapas or appetizer.

For the roe I used a cheaper bleak roe which is fine but the king of roe is the Kalix bleak roe from the north of Sweden which I think is the beast one in the world, Russian and Iranian caviar included. The Kalix one has smaller eggs and is more red in color and the flavor is more elegant, once again if you get a chance to try it don´t hesitate.

Grated potato pancakes with bleak roe, sour cream and onions

potatoes
butter
salt, pepper
red onion
sour cream or creme fraiche
chives
bleak roe

Chop the chives and red onion and combine. If the roe is very wet you need to let it drip of some of the liquid. Put it in a coffee filter and let it drip of for an hour or two. You want it to be dry enough to be able to shape an egg using a wet spoon.

Peel the potatoes, melt butter in an pan on medium heat. Grate the potato and put a spoonful of potato in the butter for each pancake, flatten it out into a pancake and fry until golden, season with salt and pepper. Flip the pancake and fry until golden on the other side. Plate the sour cream, onions and roe and put the pancake on the side. Serve immediately.

The pancake should be crispy on both sides but not all the way through. If you´ve never tried this before then make a few practice ones before your guests arrive so they will be great when it´s time for serving.

French fries with truffle mayonnaise #116

If you haven´t done home made french fries before you really should give it a try, it´s not very difficult. If you´re own a deep frier then there´s no problem at all. If not you can deep fry in a big pot, but make sure to use a thermometer to be able to control the temperature. If you´re feeling insecure about frying in a pot then don´t do it because it can get dangerous. Instead you can roast the fries in an oven, not quite as tasty but still good enough.

For this recipe I use a quicker version of Heston Blumenthals three day fries but I´ve shortened each so you won´t have to spend three days waiting for some fries. 

French fries with truffle mayonnaise

potatoes

neutral oil for frying, I use rapeseed oil but use your favourite

salt

egg yolks

Dijon mustard

red wine vinegar

salt, pepper

neutral oil for the mayonnaise

olive oil

truffle oil

black truffles (optional)

Cut the potatoes into fries, i like mine thin and crispy but cut them to your liking. Leave the skin on. Rinse the cut potatoes in cold water and then parboil until almost done. Remove from the water and let cool in the fridge for about one hour.

Meanwhile start making the mayonnaise, combine egg yolk, Dijon mustard and the vinegar in a bowl and whisk, carefully add the oil a little bit at the time, remember to whisk during the entire process. When it´s thick enough season with salt, pepper, truffle oil, olive oil and some grated or diced truffle.

Fry the fries on low temperature without letting them get any colour until they are cooked through. Remove and chill again for 1-2 hours. You can prepare these two steps the day before and then fry the fries before serving.

Fry the fries until golden on high temperature, remove and salt. Serve with the truffle mayonnaise.

Parma ham with balsamic vinegar glazed plums & goat cheese #115

This is a great and unusual way to use plums, try to get firm and red ones because the won´t get to soft when heated with the vinegar. The combination between sweet and sour plums the salty ham and creamy cheese is a great one that you can apply to other dishes like salads or bruschettas. 

It also works well as a side to grilled meats, if you think it would get to heavy on the meat you can exclude the Parma ham.

Parma ham with balsamic vinegar glazed plums & goat cheese

Parma ham

balsamic vinegar

fresh plums

goat cheese

parsley

olive oil

sugar

Cut the plums in half and remove the pit. In a pan add a little bit of sugar and let it melt, add the plums flesh side down and let cook for a few seconds. Add some balsamic vinegar and bring it to a boil, add a splash of water in case it gets to dry.

On a plate combine the Parma ham with the plums and the vinegar from the pan with crumbles of the goat cheese. Add a few leafs of parsley.

Potato soup with bacon & lemon oil #114

Potato soup can be one of the most boring things you can serve but if you add some love, bacon and lemon olive oil it will make a huge difference. Use any good tasting potato, be generous with the olive oil, cream and bacon and it will make a boring potato soup turn into a great tapas dish.

Potato soup with bacon & lemon oil

potatoes

cream

water

onion

garlic

thyme

olive oil

lemon flavored olive oil

parsley

bacon

salt, pepper

Peel and dice the potato, garlic and onion, save some onion and garlic for the bacon and add the rest to a pan with some olive oil and gently let it cook for a few minutes, add some thyme and cover with water. Let the potatoes simmer until cooked through and then add a little bit of cream. Blend the soup until smooth, you may need to thin it with some more water and cream. Season to taste and the bring it to the boil before serving.

Finely dice the bacon and fry until almost crispy in a pan, add the onion, garlic and some chopped parsley and season with some pepper. Pour the soup into cups and add the bacon and onions. Top of with a little bit of lemon oil and a few drops of cream.

Grilled mackerel with lemon & tomato salsa #113

Mackerel is not something I cook a lot, usually I buy smoked ones but fresh ones are great too but the taste and texture is quite different in comparison to white meat fishes. Make sure you don´t grill it for to long because once it´s dry it won´t be good. And if you´ve just bought some smoked mackerel then don´t worry, I´ve got a recipe for that too, just click here!

Grilled mackerel with lemon & tomato salsa 

fresh mackerel fillets

lemon

tomato

paprika

cucumber

parsley

olive oil

salt, pepper

De bone the mackerel and brush it with some olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Dice all vegetables very finely and combine, season with salt, pepper and a little bit of olive oil. Cut of the skin of the lemon and cut out the fillets and add to the salsa. Squeeze out the juice of the lemon into to salsa. 

Get your grill as hot as you can and grill the mackerel fillets, start with the skin side and flip it over when it starts to get cooked half way through. The skin have a tendency to stick (at least on my grill) but this can be solved using a thin spatula and loads of cursing, fortunately this won´t keep it from tasting great. Good luck!

Pickled pear with blue cheese and rye bread #112

Pears are in season and if you´re lucky enough to have your own tree then you will probably have to much, so why not pickle a few. I only served this kind of sweet pickled pears as an dessert before, usually with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

But since I got my hands on some high quality blue cheese I decided to try it with the pears. With some fresh slightly bitter endive and some roasted rye bread it turned out great.

The recipe is for ten pears but if and they will keep for a while in the fridge so make some extra. They will come handy. I also added some measurements for this recipe because when it comes to pickling it´s hard to adjust flavors once it´s done.

Pickled pear with blue cheese and rye bread

10 fresh firm pears
1 lemon
250 grams of sugar
a pinch of saffron (used mainly for colour, can be excluded)
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod
200 ml white wine
1000 ml water

endive salad
rye bread
blue cheese

Cut away the bottom of the pears and peel them, put them in cold water together with some lemon juice to keep them from browning. Combine sugar, cinnamon stick, vanilla pod, water, white wine, saffron and bring it to a boil. Add the peeled pears and simmer until cooked through, it usually takes about half an hour.
Remove the pears from the heat and let cool in the liquid.

Rinse the salad and remove a leaf, trim if necessary. Cut a big piece of blue cheese and put on top of the salad. Dice some rye bread and toast in a dry pan until crunchy, put the bread on top of the cheese and serve.

Chanterelle soup with Parmesan bread #111

Chantarelles are in season and besides serving them on toast or as a side to mets I also like to make a soup and serve them as a starter or light lunch, or like here served in a small cup like a tapas or an appetizer while sipping on a drink.

Chantarelle soup with Parmesan bread

fresh chanterelles
shallot onion
garlic
thyme
butter
black pepper
cream
salt
fresh bread
Parmesan cheese

Dice the onion and garlic, add butter to a pan and add the chanterelles, garlic and onion and fry until golden and they start to dry out. Season with salt, black pepper and thyme. Add water until the mushrooms are covered and simmer for about fifteen minutes.

Add a little bit of cream and bring it to a boil and then blend into a smooth soup, adjust the thickness with cream or water if necessary and season to taste.

For the Parmesan bread I just take a good fresh bread and grate loads of Parmesan on top and roast it in the oven until golden. Serve warm with the soup.