Hummus! (for Jens)

I, Martina, go through hummus phases, another one has just been started... here's my tahini free recipe, you can replace the sesame oil with another nut oil if you prefer, walnut or almond is fantastic!

Hummus

1 can chickpeas

1 clove garlic

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

juice of 1 lemon

rind of same lemon

salt to taste

fresh coriander and olive oil to garnish

Take all of the ingredients except for the herbs and place them in your food processor or a bowl to hand blend them. Toast your herbs in a pan until they are fragrant. Sprinkle them on the rest of your ingredients puree until the chickpeas are soft. When the mixture has no more visible chickpeas, taste it to see if you have salted correctly and adjust it to your liking. Put it in a bowl and serve it with a drizzle of olive oil and some cilantro. You can add all sorts of fun stuff to this recipe like pesto or sundried tomatoes or use different dried herbs. It should keep in your fridge for about a week... depending on how adventurous you are. I serve it with pita bread or knäckebröd. Yum :)

 

Enjoy!

Martina & Andreas

Smoked Chicken Summer Salad

Salad is for sure summer food. In most parts of the world vegetables are best in the summer. In Canada and in Sweden vegetables are only available in the summer unless you import them from another country. Martina was working a bit later yesterday so I wanted to make something summery for her when she came home. I decided to do a salad and summer it up with strawberries. This is a very easy salad to do and it takes no time at all really. Please proceed to the recipe:

Smoked Chicken Summer Salad 2 persons
200 g Smoked chicken
150 g Mâche salad, but you can use any baby greens
100-200 g Strawberries
50 g Sundried tomatoes
50 g Cherry tomatoes
1//2 Baguette
Dried herbs (any you like)
1/2 Yellow onion

First, find a big bowl and put all of the Mache salad into the bowl.Second, slice the smoked chicken into thin slices, about 3 millimeters, unless you bought is sliced. Now put them into the bowl as well.
Third, slice each strawberry into 4 pieces. Not to thin, otherwise there will be no strawberry texture when chewing them. Put them in the bowl.
Fourth, slice the sundried tomatoes into thin long slices and put them in the bowl.
Fifth, chop the onion in very small pieces. The onion should not give any texture, only a flavour that works in the background in the salad. Put the onion in the bowl too.
Sixth, it is time to do some croutons!

Slice the bread in pieces that have the size 1.5*1.5*1.5 cm or any size you like, we all have different taste. Put them in a pan and pour some olive oil on. Start the heating under the pan so the pan gets hot. Just make sure it gets hot enough for the bread to get that nice golden color. Spice it with the dried herbs and salt. The more salt the more the crutons will taste. Now, you will see that the bread will suck all the olive oil up pretty fast which means that you have to add more. It is fantastic how much oil, bread actually can absorb. Stir the bread in the pan so it does not get black from the burning. Taste the croutons in the meanwhile and add more herbs and salt until you have got the taste you like. The croutons are done when they are crunchy. Now put them in the salad and mix the whole thing. Be careful though, so you do not damage the strawberries.

Dressing
6 part olive oil
2 part balsamico vinegear
dried herbs, we used herbes de provence
1 part honey
salt and pepper

Mix all above and drip it over the salad. You should keep the freshness and crunchiness of the salad so do not drip too much of the dressing into it.

I would recommend a white wine that is semi sweet. When you want to match wine to food you should think of this. If the food is sweet, then drink a wine that is sweet. If the food is spicy, then drink a wine that is spicy. If the food is rich with texture and flavour, then drink a wine that is rich with flavour which is most often red wines. The reason for this is that you should drink wine that enhances the flavours of the food. If you drink a dry almost bitter wine to something that is sweet then the wine will subtract from the taste instead of enhancing the taste.

Enjoy a healthy and tasty summer salad.

Bye.
Tack!
Andreas & Martina

Panerad Spätta / Battered Sole fish

We all know how healthy fish is so we decided that we wanted to cook fish again. This time it is my, Andreas, favorite fish. Sole fish taste different compared to other white oceans fish such as Cod and its relatives.

When I was a child my family used to go out to the ocean for the day in the summer to taste the water and the beach. On our way home, by car, we used to stop at a fisher man and buy fresh sole fish. What me and Martina did is that same recipe but with our own personal touch to it.

This fish goes best with boiled potatoes in my opinion. Preferably small potatoes that have a bit more concentrated flavour. It will be served with melted butter and creme fresh. We also added some asparagus cause it was in the fridge.

Boiled potatoes with dill, coriander, chives and basil:
500 g small potatoes
Some dill
Some coriander
Some chives
Some basil! ;)
2 garlic cloves
1 onion

some pieces of lemon rind
Salt

You'll want to start boiling the potatoes so you can concentrate on the fish. The fish wont take a long time anyway.

Boil water and put in the Potatoes, garlic, onion, some strips of lemon rind and then lots of salt. Now just let it boil for 25 -30 minutes.

Finishing the potatoes:
When the potatoes are finished pour the water out and prepare a clean bowl. Glass or porcelain will make it look nicer than if it is in stainless steel, unless you have a thing for stainless steel. Now put only the potatoes, not the onion, garlic or rind remnants, into the bowl and mix it dry with your fresh herbs; dill, coriander, basil, chives and course salt. It won't need any fat like butter or oil because the water we boiled them in was so flavourful and they will have a slight hint of all the flavours in the water!


Battered Sole fish:
4 Sole fish
Bread crumbs (or flour if you like)
1 egg
Salt and Pepper
Butter

First thing for the fish is to place three plates one after the other. The first plate, deep preferably, should contain the egg, so crack it open and whip it a bit so the yellow and the white scrambles. Then put a mix of salt and pepper in the egges because this is the only extra taste the fish will get. The second bowl should contain the bread crumbs. The third plate is where you put the battered fish.

Take a sole fish and put it in the bowl with eggs and cover the fish with egg. Then sling it over the the plate with bread crumbs and cover the fish with it. Now put it gently on the last plate. If you do not handle them carefully here the end result will not end up as nice. Do this for all the fish and then go over to the pan.

I cook fish on quite a low temperature because the fish flesh is very fragile. So heat the pan to just below or on medium temperature. Then put in butter and wait for it to melt. We also put in almond oil which gave the fish a bit of a nutty flavour. If you choose to do this then make sure the temperature does not get too high in the pan.

Put on the sole fish and let it fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side. The more flour or sugar the bread crumbs contain the easier it will burn. Also make sure that you only have to flip the fish one time in the pan because again the fish is fragile and you do not want to damage it.

Melting the butter.
We served this with melted butter and if you would like to try this deliciously unhealthy variation then go ahead and put some butter in a pan and let it melt on low temperature. You know when it is done when you can see that the different things in the butter has separated. There will be a top layer of a thicker substance and I want this to be removed because it subtracts more from the taste than adds.

Add some asparagus:
We had this with asparagus. The small green ones. Just put them into boiling water with salt and let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Any longer will make them loose their crunchiness.


Now you should have 4 battered sole fish with a bowl of boiled potates with fresh herbs and melted butter and a plate with asparagus. Serve it however you like but a tip is to put only one fish on the plate at the time and then only 6 small potatoes. It will look nicer for the eye and you will have a chance to eat more.

Thank you and we hope you can enjoy this as much as we did.

Andreas & Martina

Friends and Pasta — Tagliatelle with Sausage

I had close friends come and stay with me at the end of May, all 3 of which love to eat, drink and talk. We spent an evening making and cooking fresh pasta. The result was tagliatelle with a sausage sauce.

The recipe I will post for the fresh pasta is one which I grew up with, my grandmother taught me how to make it when I was young and I've been making it steadily since I've learned. The measurements will therefor be approximate and I go more for feel rather than what should and shouldn't be in the dough!

Andreas can attest it's quite easy to make and the second time we made fresh pasta he almost made it all by himself having just done it once before with me.

Obviously you don't need to make the pasta in order to enjoy the sauce, I would suggest to serve it with rigattoni or bought tagliatelle if you opt out of making the fresh stuff

Fresh Pasta (you need a pasta machine)

6 people

4 eggs

(the trick with pasta and eggs is you count one per person until you get to 3 people, then you only add one egg per 2 persons and add an extra one when you get to 10, it evens out i promise, so 6 people 4 eggs, 8 people 5 eggs, 10 people 6 - 7 eggs, confusing?)

3 1/2 cups semolina flour

1 - 1 1/2 cups white flour

Mix your flours and pour them on your work space in a heap. Create a little well in the centre and break your eggs into it. With your hands mix the eggs so they scramble. When scrambled start bringing the flour into the eggs constantly mixing with your fingers. When all the flour is incorporated into the egg, knead the dough, it should feel like playdough! If the dough doesn't want to take in anymore flour just leave it and don't force it in, if however it wants more just sprinkle some more white flour on the work surface and knead the dough into the flour until it's that playdoughy consistency. Keep kneading the dough for a good 10 minutes until it's nice and yellowy smooth. Let it rest for about 30m - 1hr and it's ready to be rolled, roll it out to the second thinnest setting. Cut into 2cm wide and 30cm long strips and boil for 5 minutes in extra salty water! DONE!

Sausage Sauce

6 people

4 sausages

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup whipping cream

1 medium tomato diced

2 cloves garlic

1 medium onion

handful of toasted pinenuts

salt to taste

pepper to taste

De-case your sausages by squeezing all the meat out into a bowl so it resembles ground meat. Add 2 tbsps of oil into a medium hot pan and drop in your onion and garlic, both finely chopped. When they become fragrant add your diced tomato and fry it for about 2 - 3 minutes. Always on medium heat add your sausage meat and cook it until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Because some sausages are saltier than others we suggest you taste the meat once it is cooked and salt and pepper to your liking. Once the sausage is cooked through and you have salted to your liking pour in your whipping cream and turn the heat to low. Let the cream cook for about 10 - 15 minutes on low heat until it thickens a bit, dip a spoon in, it should coat it lightly. Take your sauce off the heat because it's done. Toast up your pinenuts and add them to the sauce when you are about to toss the pasta into it.

A tip — save some pasta water 3 - 4 tbsp and when mixing the pasta and sauce together in the pasta pot add some of the water to it, it will add some body to the sauce because of the released starches in the water.

Enjoy!

Andreas & Martina

Here, fishy fishy fishy — Spaghetti alle Vongole & Red Snapper

I really wanted to make this meal because it reminded me of home (Martina speaking) my mum and dad would make this often and I remember how much fun I had picking the pasta up with clam shells and dropping it into my mouth (not recently). My brother was visiting here in Amsterdam and Andreas and I decided it would be fun to cook up some fresh fish and stir up some memories. And really, fish is way easier to cook than most people think! :)

 

Spaghetti alle Vongole
4 people

1 bunch parsley
2 large garlic cloves crushed with a knife
1/4 — 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
600 grams clams
splash of white wine

400 grams spaghetti or spaghettini
Wash the clams thoroughly to get rid of sand on the shell

If you have a pot with a fairly large flat bottom I would suggest using it for this recipe so the clams all steam at the same time.

Heat up olive oil on low heat, put in garlic and red chilli flakes sautee for 1-2 minutes not letting the garlic burn. Just swish it around until it's fragrant. When the garlic becomes a little transluscent gently drop clams into the pot and put 3 sprigs of parsley on top splash some wine around I would say about just under a half of a wine glass. Turn heat to med/low and cover. The clams will steam open in about 5 - 10 minutes and release all of their juices. Check every once in a while if they are open and when they are all open turn the heat off and your sauce is done.

The sauce needs no salt as the clams juices are salty enough for a good flavour.

Boil water and salt it, always over salt pasta water, it should be as salty as ocean water. Throw in your spaghetti and stir them. Cook pasta according to the directions on the pack, I suppose about 7 minutes, stirring every minute or so to make sure they don't stick.

Drain your pasta once cooked and mix it with the sauce.

I never de-shell the clams cause i think it looks pretty on the pasta and it's also fun to pick them out at the table.

Cut up some parsley and sprinkle it fresh on the pasta and also drizzle some olive oil on top, mix it all in and serve.

Fish alle Oven
4 people

1 Red Snapper - 800 g
Salt & Pepper
1 Lemon
Parsley leftovers
Olive Oil
1 Oven - 180 Degrees Celcius

First of all you need to purchase the fish. The best way to do this is with money, unless you know a fisherman who gives them away for free. When buying fish you just have to have one guide line in mind. Fresh! Fish tastes best when it is fresh and it is highly possible to find fresh fish, it just requires a bit more effort and money than buying it frozen. We bought it at the fish market and payed about 7 euros for it. Please ask the fish monger to take out the intestants but leave the head. The head will give the fish a natural look when serving it but it will also keep the juices in the fish better. So let us go home to the kitchen and start to cook the Red snapper.

Put the Oven on 180 degrees Celcius. Make an aluminum foil strip twice the length of the oven pan and put half of it on the oven pan. Now place the fish on the foil and dress it with Olive oil. Do not be sparse but don't over do it. Then sprinkle rock salt on the scales. This will make the fish a bit more crisp. Do the same for the other side of the fish. Now pour some Olive oil inside the fish, you know where the intestants once was. Also put salt and pepper in there. What to think of here is that this will not give the whole fish a lot of flavour so do not be afraid of salting and peppering too much. Put the Parsley left overs like the stalks, into the fish. Cut some half moons of lemon and put as many as you can fit into the fish and put the rest of the half moon lemon slices around and on the fish. The only thing you have to do now is to fold the rest of the aluminum foil over the fish and tighten the edges. You do not want much air to go into the foil house that the fish now should be in, when you bake the fish in the oven. It should take about or maximum 45 minutes for the fish to be ready. A way to check if the fish is ready is to look if the white meat is glossy anywhere. If it is then the fish is not done. Of course you have to open the fish a bit to see this so try to find the correct time for you oven.

When the fish is done, take it out and serve it as it is or cut out the pieces you want to put on the plates.

Enjoy!

Andreas & Martina

A seed is planted.

It is not long ago that we met though now here we are in each others company trying to plant a seed. That is metaphorically speaking but no words are better than their deeds. So, a couple of weeks ago we decided to plant some seeds. What seeds are better to plant, if your favourite place is the kitchen, other than herb seeds? Well, that is why we planted Basil, Chives, Coriander, Dill and Tomatoes. They are soon ready to be harvested if the pigeons that live around the same area do not decide to use the pots as resting beds. Me, Andreas and she Martina want to spread our love for food to maybe inspire others to do the same or for others to simply enjoy but the biggest reason, and probably the only true reason, is because we just love to do it.



We hope that you feel welcome already and that you will come back and read our recipes.

Goodbye.
Martina and Andreas