Egg with truffle caramelized onion and beef broth #185

Eggs and truffles always go good together, to make that into a complete dish I added some caramelized onions, fresh herbs and a flavorful but still mild beef broth. Only tricky thing about this dish is getting a good beef broth, sometimes you can find good broths or stocks at good supermarkets, if you don´t want to cook your own then look for one or ask around if there are any to be bought near where you live.

Egg with truffle caramelized onion and beef broth

eggs

beef bones with a bit of meat left on

onion

mixed fresh herbs, for example chives, parsley, chervil

truffles, fresh or oil (I used summer truffles in truffle oil in this recipe)

carrot

garlic

bay leaf

salt, pepper

butter

The beef broth

In a frying pan roast the bones and meat until golden, season with a bit of salt and pepper, add a chopped carrot, a clove of garlic, a bay leaf and cook for a few minutes. Add water until it´s covered and let simmer on low heat for at least 6 hours, this is usually best to prepare a day or two ahead and then keep refrigerated until serving, then just heat and check the taste before serving.

Keep adding water as it will evaporate during cooking, once time is up strain the stock and discard the bones and vegetables, check the flavor and reduce if necessary.

The onion

Peel and slice the onion, add to a frying pan with a little bit of butter and some salt and pepper, cook on low heat until it starts to brown and the onion is completely cooked through, check the taste and add a bit of sugar if it´s not sweet enough.

The egg

In a small frying pan cook the egg with a little bit of butter on low heat until the egg white are done, season with salt.

Final steps and plating

Chop the herbs, heat the beef stock, add the fried egg in the middle of a bowl or soup plate, put the onions on top and add the truffle and herbs. Pour the warm beef broth on top, serve.

Cod with Italian Salsiccia & tomatoes #176

Cod is an amazing fish, especially if you can get your hand on a big one, or at least a piece of a big one. This one is a small piece of the loin or back of the cod. The price is usually higher for the bigger ones but so is the quality so if you want the best you´ll need to spend a bit extra. 

I think cod is a great fish to serve with a bit more meatier sides like bacon, red wine sauces or like in this recipe a quick ragu with Italian Sasiccia and chopped tomatoes. It´s a bit rustic dish that suites the cod perfect.I pre-salted the cod a few hours before, this will make the fish a bit firmer. 

The ragu is simply diced raw Italian Salsiccia that is fried in a pan and then cooked with some fresh chopped tomatoes into a ragu. The Salsiccia was seasoned with fennel and garlic so if you can´t find a Salsiccia with that flavor you could add some crushed fennel seeds and a clove of garlic. 

The recipe can also be varied in many ways and of course served as a main course. Why not replace the fish for halibut, pork loin or maybe the Salsiccia for Spanish Chorizo.

Cod with Italian Salsiccia & tomatoes

fresh loin of cod

tomatoes

raw Italian Salsiccia

olive oil

parsley

salt, pepper

Cut the cod in serving size pieces, salt them and leave in the fridge for about two hours. Dice the Salsicca and tomatoes. Add the Salsiccia to a pan and add a little bit of olive oil and cook until they are done, about 5-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and lower the heat to low and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Add a bit of water if it gets to dry, season with salt and pepper. Chop the parsley and add to the ragu.

Take the cod and pad dry with paper and then cook skin side first in olive oil. Once they have a golden colour on the skin remove and finish cooking in the oven on medium heat. Serve. Good luck.

Iberico ham with Jerusalem artichoke and olive oil mayonnaise #175

Iberico ham is the luxurious type of Spanish Serrano ham. It is made from a special breed of pigs called Iberico that is also known as the black Iberico. The ham or Jamon as it is called in Spain is therefore called Jamon Iberico but is also known as Pata Negra. 

I have used the standard version of the ham, if you want the best one you need to get an Jamon Iberico de Bellota, then the pigs are free-range and fed loads of acorn that flavors the meat. Usually the ham is cured for a longer time as well. If you want to know more about the different variations of Spanish ham then Wikipedia has a short but good post on Iberico ham. 

Now for some cooking, as long as the ham go you should use a Iberico one since it has more fat that is one of the key elements in this dish. I serve the ham at room temperature with deep fried Jerusalem artichokes and a olive oil mayonnaise. The Jerusalem artichokes gives a little bit of texture as well as paring really good with the intense ham flavor. 

The olive oil mayonnaise make the dish a bit more moist and the taste of olive oil mayonnaise i great in a small dish like this. Use a mild olive oil, if it is to intense it will be to powerful, if the oil you have is to intense you can replace half of the amount of oil with a neutral vegetable oil. As the dish is quite fatty you won´t need to serve very much, that will be a relief when it´s time to pay for the ham, on slice or two for each serving is enough.

Iberico ham with Jerusalem artichoke and olive oil mayonnaise

Iberico ham

egg yolk

Dijon mustard

red wine vinegar

salt, pepper

olive oil

Jerusalem artichokes

vegetable oil for deep frying

Whisk the egg yolk with the vinegar and egg yolk, start adding the oil during whisking until it starts to thicken. Add salt and pepper and then the rest of the oil until you are satisfied with the thickness. I use about half a teaspoon of mustard and about 1dl / 0,4 cups of oil for one egg yolk.

Wash and slice the Jerusalem artichoke as thin as you can, a potato peeler works good unless the artichokes are too big. Rinse the slices in cold water and the pad dry with kitchen paper. Deep fry on medium heat until crisp, season with salt.

Add the Iberico ham to a plate and add the mayonnaise and fried artichokes, add a little bit of salt if necessary, serve. Good luck.

Pulled beef tacos with apple & fennel coleslaw #160

Pulled pork and pulled beef are great to put on tacos, the other day I´ve got some pulled beef left over from making tacos and decided to make some mini tacos and add a fresh coleslaw and a few drops of Sriracha sauce on top. I made my pulled beef in a clay pot with some chillies, onion, garlic and some steak sauce and it turned out great, of course you don´t need to get a clay pot if you don´t have one, just use any other pot with a lid that can be used inside an oven or you could roast the meat without any pot but I think it sometimes gets a bit dry when I do that.

The coleslaw is made with fresh apples, fennel, yogurt, mayonnaise and a little bit of cress. I use the yogurt the make it a little bit lighter in both fat and taste. If you´re not into fennel you can of course replace it with any cabbage you like. For the bread I bought regular wheat tortillas and cut them i nacho size pieces so the tacos would be small enough to eat in one bite.

Pulled beef tacos with apple & fennel coleslaw

beef, one big piece that´s good for slow cooking (I used chuck roll)
dried chillies, (I used ancho and cayenne)
garlic
steak sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
onion
water
salt, pepper

fennel
apples
mayonnaise
yogurt
cress
salt, pepper

tortilla bread
Sriracha sauce

Chop the onion and garlic and add in a pot with the meat, chillies, steak sauce, salt and pepper, add a little bit of water and put the lid on. Place the pot in an oven and cook on low temperature (about 120°C / 250F) for 6-8 hours or until the meat is tender enough to pull. Once done pull the beef and add more chillies, salt, pepper and steak sauce if necessary.

Slice the fennel thinly and cut the apples in julienne, combine with equal parts yogurt and mayonnaise, add the cress and season with salt and pepper.

Cut the tortillas into small round pieces, add a spoonful of pulled beef and top it off with the coleslaw and a few drops of Sriracha, serve.

Pork belly with red cabbage #148

Pork belly is as always a great way to serve pork, as always with cuts like this try to do a little bit extra so you can serve leftovers a day or two later. Why? Well the taste is amazing and since the belly needs to be cooked for about a day there is no extra effort in to doing a bit extra once you do it. Also it´s better to do the meat one day ahead of serving to give it time to set and get cold. This will make it easier to cut in serving size pieces and the won´t fall apart as easy.

Pork belly with red cabbage

fresh pork belly
red cabbage
butter
salt, pepper
vegetable oil
sugar

Season the pork belly with salt and pepper and roast whole in the oven on low to medium heat until it´s tender. This will take somewhere between six and ten hours. Leave it to chill in the fridge over night. Cut the belly in serving size pieces and remove and excessive fat. Sear the belly in butter and vegetable oil in a pan until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut the cabbage in big chunks but remove any thick stems. Fry the cabbage with salt, pepper and a little bit of sugar in butter until almost cooked through. You want to keep a little bit of crunch but still have it soft and without the raw cabbage taste. Serve.

New Years recipe ideas for meat lovers

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 five in this series and for this post I will focus on all you meatlovers out there.

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 for meat lovers

Appetizers - for the appetizer we have some seared beef, duck breast, bacon with potatoes and Italian breasola, all to get your hands on a lot of different great tasting meats.

Duck breast with apples and mustard

Potatoes with bacon and sour cream
Breasola with Parmesan cheese, arugula and pumpkin seeds
Beef with dijon mustard and red onion

Starter

Whipped ricotta cheese with proscuitto, figs and truffle honey

After indulging in a few different meats as appetizers it´s time to move on to some Italian ham with figs, honey and truffles. The ricotta is actually the star of this dish but it would be nothing without the ham.

Main course

Slow cooked leg of lamb with potato cream
Onion rings

The main course is a bit heavier, but slow cooked meats are great tasting and always appreciated plus you´ll get a great chance to open up that old heavy red wine that´s been sitting in the cellar for a while. Some onion rings on the side completes it.

Miso soup with roasted pork belly & wakame and egg #146

This may look a bit complicated but the only thing that´s hard is to wait for the pork belly to get ready. I use an instant miso soup that I season with a little bit of soy, holy basil and add dried wakame algae to. With the miso, the roasted meat and a creamy egg it´s look and taste way more unusual and complex than what it is. If you have the time you can serve this same dish with a home cooked broth made with beef or chicken stock and season it with the holy basil and soy. Try to make the pork belly a day ahead, and make more than
you´ll need because if you happen to have ready made roasted pork belly sitting in the fridge you tend to need in the end.

Miso soup with roasted pork belly & wakame and egg

fresh pork belly
instant miso soup
Japanese soy
dried wakame algae
eggs
holy basil
salt, pepper
vegetable oil

Brush the pork belly with vegetable oil and season heavily with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven on medium heat until it´s tender, this usually take somewhere between six and ten hours. Make sure to baste the meat every hour or so. Chill the meat if you are making a day ahead, otherwise leave it to cool until serving and then slice it.

Bring the instant miso to the boil with some wakame and check the flavor, season with soy and a few leafs of holy basil, set aside. Boil the eggs for about five minutes and then quickly chill and peel it. Slice the meat and serve it in a bowl with half an egg and the warm miso soup and some wakame. Chop and sprinkle a little bit of holy basil on top.

Chorizo with white polenta & roasted red peppers #136

White polenta is just what it sounds like, white polenta. The taste and texture are the same but I think you can get really nice colors if you combine the white polenta with something colorful. I cooked the polenta in a light chicken stock and added some Parmesan before serving. Fried fresh chorizo and some peppers gives the dish some more flavor and using some of the fat from the chorizo when serving gives the polenta great contrast.

It´s very easy to start adding green herbs and other stuff to a dish like this and of course there is nothing wrong in doing so but I think it looks really nice to just use these two colors and keeping it very simple, your choice.

Chorizo with white polenta & roasted red peppers

fresh Spanish chorizo
red peppers
white polenta
light chicken stock
salt, pepper
Parmesan cheese

Bring the chicken stock to a boil together with some water and a few drops of olive oil, add the polenta and let it simmer for half an hour on low heat. Keep adding water and stock if necessary (it will be necessary because polenta seems to be able to hold an insane amount of water), season the polenta with salt, pepper and grated Parmesan cheese.

Slice the chorizo and dice the red peppers in big chunks, fry them together on low heat until heavily roasted. Roasting them on low heat makes the chorizo release a lot of it´s fat and it will give the peppers a smoky very powerful chorizo flavor.

Serve the polenta in a small bowl, put the peppers and chorizo on top and add a few drops of the now dark red fat from the pan.

Bresaola with Parmesan cheese, arugula & pumpkin seeds #134

Bresaola is such a good product that there is no need to complicate things, thin slices served with fresh arugula, shaved Italian Parmigggiano Reggiano, some olive oil and a few roasted pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch and you are good to go.

Bresaola with Parmesan cheese, arugula & pumpkin seeds

Bresaola
Parmiggiano Reggiano
arugula
pumpkin seeds
salt, black pepper
olive oil
lemon or vinegar (optional)

Roast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan or the oven until they are getting a bit brown on each side. Arrange the Bresaola on a plate, combine the arugula with a little bit of olive oil and a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice if you like a little bit of acidity. Shave the Parmesan cheese and then put the salad, cheese and pumpkin seeds on top of the Bresaola. Serve.

Meatball sandwich with Parmesan & herbs #124

It´s great fun to take something that´s usually served as an main course and make it smaller, this is a variation to sliders with meatballs cooked in tomato sauce with loads of fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese. Served on a bun with some extra cheese on top makes it a fun dish to serve tapas style.

Meatball sandwich with Parmesan & herbs

ground beef and pork
eggs
milk
parsley
thyme
chives
Parmesan cheese
sage
salt, black pepper
olive oil
garlic
canned tomatoes
onion
baguette
butter

Roughly chop the herbs, garlic and onion and combine in with the ground meat. Add eggs, milk, olive oil, salt, grated Parmesan cheese and pepper. Use the same proportions as you would for normal meatballs or ground meat patties.

Take a bit of the mixed meat and fry it in a pan to make sure you´re satisfied with the seasoning. Once done roll all of the meat into meatballs. Fry on medium heat in some olive oil and butter, when the meatballs are starting to get some color then add the canned tomatoes and let the meatballs simmer for one hour on low heat. Season the sauce if necessary.

Cut the baguette into pieces that will fit one meatball, toast the bread in an toaster or dry pan. Add a meatball to the bread and grate some extra Parmesan on top. Put the lid on and put a wooden skewer trough the bread and meatball to stop it from rolling away, good luck.

Grissini with Parma ham & cream cheese #120

Making your own Grissini is really simple and a good way to make use of leftover or extra dough. I usually make Grissini whenever I make regular bread, just make a bit too much dough and make some Grissini with a small amounth of dough because it will make a lot of Grissinis. However if you´re not into baking then just buy some Grissinis, they usually available in most food stores.

Another great thing about Grissini is that they will keep for a long time so why not make a big batch while you´re at it. They are perfect for snacking or serving as a side for all sorts of stuff. Plus you can brag about them no matter what you´re serving for main course.

Grissini with Parma ham & cream cheese

wheat flour
yeast
water
sea salt
olive oil
cream cheese with herbs
Parma ham

Combine wheat flour, yeast, water, sea salt and olive oil into a dough (use same proportions as you would for regular bread) and knead the dough until it´s smooth and not to sticky. Cover the dough and let it rise for about one hour.

Put the dough and a baking surface and cut it into long Grissinis, roll or twist them to make the shape a bit irregular, let them rise again and then bake in oven until golden. If the Grissinis are not crisp but are starting to brown you can remove them and lower the heat in the oven and put them in later to let them get dry enough.

Smear some cream cheese on each Grissini and then roll the Parma ham around it. Serve!

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.

Parma ham with cantaloupe #98

Well this is not much of a recipe but that´s the great thing about serving tapas, you can keep it as simple or complicated as you like. However, serving Parma ham and cantaloupe is of course all about the ingredients.

You can replace the Parma with any other high quality Italian ham, but I usually stay away from the Spanish hams when I do this because I think they can be a bit to powerful for this dish. Have your shop slice it for you and then find a decent cantaloupe to go with the ham.

Parma ham with cantaloupe

Parma ham
cantaloupe
olive oil
black pepper

Remove the seeds and peel the cantaloupe and cut in pieces, arrange with the ham on plates with a few drops of olive oil and a twist of black pepper. Done.

Pork skewers with lemon grass & Sriracha #97

Ground pork meat is not something I use that often but with Asian flavors and a little bit of heat it´s great, it´s also a great way to serve something really tasty when you´re on a budget since ground pork is usually really inexpensive.

I shaped the meat around lemongrass but I also put some finely chopped lemongrass in the meat so you can replace the lemongrass with wooden skewers, but don´t forget to soak them in water before you use them, this will keep them from splitting and catch fire when on the grill.

Pork skewers with lemon grass & Sriracha

ground pork meat
mixed fresh herbs for example, cilantro, parsley, chives
red chili flakes
lemon grass
garlic
lime juice
salt, pepper
Sriracha sauce, or your own favorite (for serving)

Finely dice the thick part of the lemon grass with the herbs and garlic. (Only use the thick end of lemongrass when it will be chewed because the closer you get to the top the chewier and woodier it will be.) Combine with the ground pork, salt, pepper, chili and a few drops of lime juice. Fry a piece of the meat and taste before you start making the skewers, adjust the taste if necessary.

Shape the meat and put them on the skewers. Grill the skewers on medium heat until they are cooked through. Serve with some Sriracha sauce or your favorite hot sauce.