Tomato bruschetta with Parmesan cheese and dried kalamata olives #184

A good tasting bruschetta is a great go-to dish when you run out of ideas, usually you´ll even find some stuff left over in the fridge that will work which is exactly how this one was made. I had a few tomatoes, a piece of cheese, some salad, dried olives and luckily some fresh bread.

There are only two things that are a bit complicated about this dish, first if you haven´t boiled and peeled tomatoes before that could be a bit tricky if it is your first time and then the olives that I have dried in my oven, it will take a day or two so if you don´t want to spend that much time simply use some good chopped olives instead.

This is how the olives are made, it is also described in my recipe for Burnt cod with grated kalamata olives (link, new window).

The drying of olives is not difficult but it will take a few days, I use fresh Kalamata olives, that is only fermented olives which is way higher in taste and quality so see if you can get your hands on some of those in a good grocery store. Then I simply put them on a plate and let them dry in the oven on low heat (about 50°C / 120F). If you have a dehydrator I´m sure this will work fine to but since I don´t have one myself I really don´t know. This took me four days to dry but I only turned on the oven whenever I was at home and awake. 

Also the olives should not get dried all the way through but only enough to be able to be grated. What I did was to simply grate an olive now and then until they were dry enough. Also if I forgot to mention it, the taste is simply amazing.

Now on with this recipe, and remember get great tomatoes, tasteless ones will give a tasteless dish.

Tomato bruschetta with Parmesan cheese and dried kalamata olives

tomatoes, small

fresh basil

olive oil

dried kalamata olives

a few leafs of salad, arugula or similar

balsamic vinegar

salt, pepper

Parmesan cheese

bread, white

Bring water to a boil and keep it boiling at the highest temperature, bring out a big bowl of ice cold water and add some ice to the water if you have it at hand. Cut a small cross at the tip of every tomato, add the tomatoes a few at a time to the boiling water. Let them cook for only a few seconds, once the skin of the tomato loosens immediately remove the tomato and cool them in the ice water. 

Repeat until all tomatoes are done. Then gently peel the tomatoes and put the in a oven proof tray, season them with a few leafs of chopped basil, olive oil, salt and pepper and let them dry out in the oven on low heat (about 100°C / 212 F), this will give the tomato a more intense flavor and infuse the oil and tomato with the basil.

Slice the bread and roast in a pan with olive oil, remove and place the salad on the toast, then the tomatoes and add some of the oil as well. Grate the Parmesan cheese and the olives on top, serve.

10 Easter appetizers!

Easter is up and what better way to spend it but eating loads of delicious food. I´ve put together some of my spring and easter favorites into this great collection, after each photo there is a link where you will find the recipe, now go cook and have a great easter!



Salmon with cucumber, dill and wasabi



Crayfish salad with dill on toast



Grilled asparagus with Parmesan cheese



Smashed peas with mint on toast



Soused herring with egg, chives and potatoes



Fennel, shrimp, carrot and orange salad with dill



Soft boiled egg with broad beans and shrimp



Gazpacho salad



Lamb with goat cheese and herbs



Caesar salad

Crostini with Parma ham, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese #168

Easy to do, easy to enjoy, making crostini is a good way of serving great snacks that everyone will appreciate without spending the entire day in the kitchen. This is simply what it looks like, roasted slices of bread with Parma ham, good Italian sun dried tomatoes and some Parmesan cheese.

Crostini with Parma ham, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese

baguette
Parma ham
Parmesan cheese
sun dried tomatoes
olive oil

Slice the baguette and roast the slices in olive oil until golden and crisp. Add Parma ham, a piece of tomato and grate some Parmesan on top. Serve!

Pan fried mussels with chives & croutons #158

Mussels in all forms are one of the most affordable and tastiest seafood you can make. It´s also very simple so if you´ve never cooked it before now´s the time. There´s not that much you need to worry about when cooking mussels besides over-cooking them, this will turn them chewy so keep the cooking to a minimum.

For this recipe I pan fried the mussels which give them a bit different flavor, what I do is that i steam them in water until they open up then quickly remove them and pick them from the shell. Then I simply pan fry them in butter and olive oil on high heat for a few seconds with a little bit of garlic and chives and serve straight away.

Pan fried mussels with chives & croutons

mussels
garlic
chives
white bread
butter
olive oil
salt, pepper

Rinse the mussels i cold water and remove any dirt that might be attached to the shell, add a bit of water to a big pot and bring to a boil. Add the mussels and steam until they open up, as soon as they have opened remove them from the water and leave to cool. Discard any mussels that have not opened.

Add a little bit of butter in a pan and cut the bread in croutons, roast the croutons in the butter until golden. Peel and slice the garlic, slice the chives. Add butter and olive oil to a pan and then fry the mussels with the garlic for about a minute, season with salt and pepper and then add the chives. Serve immediately with the croutons. Good luck!

Caesar salad #157

It´s time for a classic, few salads can beat a classic Caesar salad and it´s it works really good served as a starter or tapas dish. Usually I do it as a side dish to grilled meats during the summer but now it was time to let this classic get all the attention. Instead of croutons I used a fresh white bread and sliced it a thin as I could using a normal kitchen knife, then roasting it in a pan with a little bit of butter. This make the croutons a little less hard to chew on and I prefer them that way for this dish. Besides that just make the bacon crispy, get great cheese and romaine lettuce. I got my hands on some really small ones that was perfect for this serving size, if you can´t find small ones then get normal size and just cut them up in smaller pieces.

Caesar salad

romaine lettuce

Parmesan cheese

bacon

white bread

butter

Dressing

2 anchovy fillets

1 egg yolk

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup neutral oil, I use rapeseed oil

lemon juice, salt, pepper

water

2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese 

Using a blender mix egg yolk, anchovy and garlic, then slowly add the oil until the dressing thickens. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice, then add the Parmesan cheese. If the dressing gets to thick then thin it with a few drops of water.

Wash and cut the lettuce if necessary, slice the bread thin and roast until golden in a frying pan. Fry the bacon until it´s crisp. Combine the lettuce with the dressing and then arrange lettuce, crouton slices, bacon and some extra Parmesan cheese on a plate, serve. Good luck.

10 great Super Bowl snacks!

Super Bowl is just around the corner and what greater opportunity to put a little bit of extra effort into some great snacks! Below you will find my personal top ten favorites that will be great snacks when enjoying the game. For each picture there´s a link that you can follow if any of the snacks look to complicated, have a great Super Bowl and may the best team win!

First let´s start with something very simple, some roasted pumpkin seeds with sea salt.

Roasted pumpkin seeds with salt.

And follow it with a little bit of vegetables (don´t worry there´s chips and other great stuff coming right up).

Radishes with cream cheese and herbs.

And you just can´t get tired of edamame beans can you?

Edamame beans with salt.

Now for a classic with a twist, home made potato chips with a spicy Sriracha dip!

Potato chips with herb salt and Sriracha dip.

And who doesn´t love popcorn with lime and chili butter!

Popcorn with chili butter and lime.

 

No snack table is complete without some of this delicious middle eastern classic.

Hummus on toast.

Nachos, gotta love it!

Nachos with peppers and avocado mayonnaise.

Broccoli is probably not what you´re thinking of when planning you Super Bowl snack selection, but then make some room, this is great stuff.

Broccoli with Sriracha mayonnaise.

Home made grissini wrapped in delicious Parma ham.

Grissini with Parma ham and cream cheese.

And why not some more crostinis, this time with a garlic packed white bean dip!

Crostini with white bean dip.

Portobello mushroom toast with gruyere cheese #153

This is a very simple toast with only one Portobello mushroom and some Gruyere cheese on top that has been gratinated and served on a toast. Portobello mushrooms are a good choice since they are bigger than most other kinds of mushroom so you can serve mushroom for each toast.

The Gruyere cheese is simply amazing and one of my favorite cheeses, however if you can´t find it you can replace with some other mature hard cheese like Parmesan, Comté or English Cheddar.

Portobello mushroom toast with Gruyere cheese

white bread for toast
Gruyere cheese
butter
portobello mushroom
salt, pepper

Remove the stem from the mushroom and fry it in a pan on both sides in butter, season with salt and pepper. Slice the toast and fry it in a pan with a little bit of butter and place the portobello mushroom on top. Grate a generous amount of Gruyere on top of the toast and then gratinate it in the oven. Once the cheese starts to get brown, remove from the oven and serve.

New Years recipe ideas when you´re not on a budget

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you!

This is part four in this series and for this post I will focus when you have an unlimited budget and want to treat yourself and your guests to something extra.

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

New Years menu when you´re not on a budget

Appetizers - these three appetizers can more or less be eaten using your hands and of course you will be serving loads of Champagne on the side.

Duck liver paté with rosehip jam and bread
Grilled asparagus with Parmesan cheese
Grissini with Parma ham and cream cheese

Starter

Tuna tartar with avocado and chives

Tuna is always appreciated and I love the freshness and elegance of this recipe, since the budget is not an issue get the best tuna you can find.

Main course

Lobster tail with caper aioli
Linguine with truffles cream and Parmesan

Combine these two recipes but instead but skip the caper aioli for the lobster and you can serve the lobster warm instead of cold.

Roasted red pepper & walnut dip with crostini #143

Dips are always appreciated and a great go to food for when you´re want something simple that easily can be eaten in front of the TV but don´t go for anything ready made.

Roasted red pepper & walnut dip with crostini

red peppers

vegetable oil

olive oil

garlic

walnuts

bread

parsley

salt, pepper

smoked paprika powder

Brush the red peppers with the vegetable oil and roast on high heat in the oven for about ten minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then de seed and peel the peppers. Blend the peppers with olive oil, walnuts, garlic and parsley until it´s a rough paste. Remove from the blender and season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika powder. 

Slice the bread and roast in a pan with a little bit of olive oil and salt. Add the pepper dip to the crostini and decorate with a walnut on each crostini.