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.

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.

Asparagus soup with shaved asparagus #172

Asparagus is in full season and at this time of year I always try to have some at home since it such a versatile vegetable and can be used for so many things. This time I made some soup using some left over white asparagus and some fresh green ones. You don´t need to use any white asparagus for this recipe since I only used them since they got left over and was getting dry and boring. This is also why my soup is not very green in my photos, it will of course be more green if you´re only using the green ones.

If you´re in the mood for some green asparagus and don´t feel like serving soup why not try some of my other asparagus recipes like Crayfish lasagna with asparagus or Grilled asparagus with Parmesan cheese. But since it´s been cold for a few days here in Sweden (yes colder than our usual cold) I felt like soup.

Asparagus soup with shaved asparagus

green asparagus

shallot onion

chicken or vegetable stock

cream

water

salt, pepper

olive oil

Slice the asparagus, save some of the tips for serving. Chop the onion and add asparagus and onion to a pot and sauteé with the olive oil on medium heat, add the chicken stock and leave to simmer for about ten minutes. Blend into a smoot soup, add the cream, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Adjust flavor to taste. 

Using a potato peeler slice the saved tips into thin slices, add the soup to a bowl and decorater with the sliced asparagus and a little bit of olive oil.

Home made dried tomatoes with arugula & garlic #170

Home made dried tomatoes is a great way to serve tomatoes and I think they are good enough to serve as simple as this, just the tomatoes with a few leafs of arugula and the oil and garlic from the drying. The technique for this is simple, all you need are good tomatoes, some herbs and garlic, olive oil and a few hours to spare.

What you are doing is simply to dry the tomatoes in your oven until they are about half their original size, this will concentrate the flavors and make taste amazing, however the result is very dependent on what tomato you will choose, you don´t have to spend a fortune but there is one simple rule, if the tomato is not good before drying it won´t be afterwards.

Home made dried tomatoes with arugula & garlic

tomatoes
some herbs, I used some chives, parsley and basil
garlic
olive oil
salt, black pepper
arugula

Bring water to the boil, prepare a big bowl packed with ice and water beside to boiling water. Cut through the skin of the tomatoes on the end sides, this will help the skin open up when you boil it. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and leave in the water for about 10-20 seconds and then lift out and chill them immediately in the ice water. If you are making a big batch then boil them in batches, otherwise the tomatoes will chill the water and either the skin won´t come off or the cooking will take too long and make the tomato soggy.

Peel the tomatoes and cut in half and put on a tray with the skin side up, drizzle with olive oil, add sliced garlic and a few leafs of chopped herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for drying at 110°C / 230 F. The drying will take anywhere between 4-8 hours, check them every hour and take them out when you like them. Add the tomatoes to a plate and add a few leafs of arugula and some olive oil and garlic from the drying.

This can of course be prepared one or two days ahead of serving, make sure you gently warm them in oven before serving. And I think it goes without saying that this is also great for all tomato dishes like a Caprese salad, on home made pizzas or as a side dish with some grated Parmesan cheese! Good luck!

"Burnt" cod with grated Kalamata olives and olive oil #161

This recipe is both simple and a bit complicated, simple that it only consists of four ingredients but complicated since you´ll need a blowtorch and spend a few days drying olives, it is still delicious so you won´t be disappointed if you decide to give it a try.

The recipe for the cod is quite simple, you cut out a piece of fresh cod loin and salt it for about one hour and then burn it using a blowtorch, this will give it a really nice slightly burnt (in a good way) taste and get the cod semi cooked. Then all you need to do is slice it.

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.

"Burnt" cod with grated Kalamata olives and olive oil

fresh cod loin

sea salt

olive oil

fermented Kalamata olives, dried as described

Cut and salt the cod, leave in the fridge for one hour. Pad the cod dry with paper and then burn it using a blowtorch. Slice thin and plate. Add some olive oil and sea salt. Grate olives on top, serve.