Oven-baked ham - Ugnsstekt skinka

OVEN-BAKED HAM
Ugnsstekt skinka

A fresh large slice of ham becomes a delicious, juicy roast.

4 servings

2 lbs fresh bone-in ham,

approx 2 inches thick
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/3 to 2/3 cup white wine
½ red bell pepper
½ yellow bell pepper

Chutney butter:

1 ¾ oz butter or margarine
3 tablespoons mango chutney
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
grated zest from ½ orange
salt, pepper

You can substitute the mango chutney with

some other nice chutney, e.g. Pineapple
Sweet & Sour Chutney.

Rub the meat with salt and pepper. Melt the fat and brown on both sides until coloured.

Stir the fat until smooth and mix with chutney, parsley and orange zest. Flavour to taste with salt and pepper. Put the meat in an oven-proof dish and spread with about half of the chutney butter. Pour on good 1/3 cup white wine and put in the middle of the oven at 350F for 30 minutes.

Chop the bell peppers, put them around the meat in the dish and dab remaining butter on top. Continue cooking in the oven for another 30 minutes or so, or until the meat is done. Dilute with some more wine towards the end, if necessary.

Let the meat rest for 10 minutes. Flavour the gravy to taste with salt and pepper, slice the meat and serve with the sweet pepper gravy.

Enjoy!

Bella

Oven chicken with bacon rice - Ugnskyckling med baconris

OVEN CHICKEN WITH BACON RICE
Ugnskyckling med baconris

Chicken can easily be made into festive food. Here you bake the chicken breasts in the oven on a bed of unpolished rice mixed with bacon and vegetables. Delicious and easy to make!

4 servings

4 chicken breasts

2 tablespoons sherry or orange juice
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
paprika

Rice bed:

¾ cups unpolished rice
water, salt
2 slices bacon
1 celery stem
4 spring onions
6 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 crushed garlic clove
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper
ground nutmeg

Boil the rice according to package instructions. Cut bacon and celery in pieces. Chop the onions and drain the spinach well.

Melt the fat in a frying pan and sizzle bacon, onions, celery and garlic on medium heat for 5 minutes. Blend in the spinach and simmer slowly for about 5 minutes. Flavour with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Stir together spinach mix and rice and put it in a greased, oven-proof pan. Put the chicken breasts on top. Mix sherry, melted fat and paprika. Brush the chicken and pour remaining mixture on top. Bake in the middle of the oven at 390F for 30 to 40 minutes until the chicken is done.

Serve and enjoy!

Bella

Large meat loaf - Stora köttfärslimpan

LARGE MEAT LOAF
Stora köttfärslimpan

A large, juicy meat loaf filled with vegetables and with a cover of bacon. If you’re many hungry people around the table, this is what you should make.

6 to 8 servings

1½ lbs ground meat (50% beef,

50% pork)
1 large onion
1 green bell pepper
1 celery stem
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1½ teaspoons salt
½ to 1 teaspoon powdered chili
2 eggs
1/3 cup oatmeal
1 can whole tomatoes, 14 oz
4 slices bacon

Peel and chop the onion. Trim the sweet pepper and chop it and the celery. Melt the fat in a frying pan and sizzle onion, sweet pepper and celery until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Mix the minced meat with salt, powdered chili and eggs in a bowl and add oatmeal, tomatoes and veggies.

Put the meat in a breadbaking pan and top with the bacon slices. Bake in the middle of the oven at 350F for 1 to 1½ hours or until the meat loaf is done. Take it out and let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Bella

PS. Any leftovers is great for sandwiches!

Oven-baked tomatoes with blue cheese - Tomatlåda med ädelost

OVEN-BAKED TOMATOES WITH BLUE CHEESE
Tomatlåda med ädelost

The fantastic aroma of the blue cheese together with the basil and garlic fragrances are delicious and made for being blended with tomatoes …

4 servings

2 to 3 spring onions

5 to 6 fresh basil leaves
or ¾ teaspoon dried basil
4 to 5 tomatoes
½ teaspoon herbal salt
1 ¾ oz blue cheese
½ cup crème fraîche
1 to 2 crushed garlic cloves
black pepper

Chop the onion stems and basil leaves. Slice the tomatoes and onions. Alternate tomato and onion slices in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle with the chopped onion stems and sprinkle with basil and herbal salt.

Mash the blue cheese with a fork. Mix cheese, crème fraîche and crushed garlic and flavour with black pepper. Pour this mixture over the ingredients in the dish and bake in the middle of the oven at 440F for about 20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Bella

Minute steaks with tomato and corn mix - Tomatbiff med majsröra

MINUTE STEAKS WITH TOMATO AND CORN MIX
Tomatbiff med majsröra

The minute steaks are braised in the tomato juice until they’re tender and delicious. A tasty vegetable mix is a good accompaniment.

4 servings

4 minute steaks

¼ cup flour
salt, pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
¾ cup meat bouillon
4 to 5 tablespoons mild chili sauce
a few drops tabasco (optional)

Corn mix:

½ onion
2 tomatoes
½ green bell pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 can corn off the cob, 12 oz
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 crushed garlic clove
salt, pepper

Coat the steaks with flour and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Melt the fat in a frying pan and brown the meat on both sides. Add bouillon, chili sauce and optional tabasco. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn the meat after half the time.

Finely chop the onion for the corn mix. Cut tomatoes and bell pepper in pieces. Heat up the oil and sizzle onion and sweet pepper until tender. Blend in tomatoes, corn, vinegar and garlic and simmer slowly for a minute or so.

Flavour to taste with salt and pepper and serve the mix with the steaks.

Enjoy!

Bella

Quick and easy veggie omelet - Snabbomelett med grönsaker

QUICK AND EASY VEGGIE OMELET
Snabbomelett med grönsaker

A veggie omelet with cheese is excellent for lunch or supper, if you’re in need of something that doesn’t take forever to make.

4 servings

8 eggs

1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper
6 oz fresh broccoli
(or frozen and thawed)
1 middle-sized zucchini
1 piece leek, approx 4 inches
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons cooking oil
8 cherry tomatoes or 2 normal-sized
tomatoes in wedges
2/3 cup grated cheese, e.g. Cheddar
or Jarlsberg
1 tablespoon chopped parsley or dill

Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper with a fork. Cut the broccoli in pieces, slice the zucchini and shred the leek. Heat butter or margarine and oil in a large frying pan and sizzle the broccoli on low heat while stirring for about 5 minutes. Add zucchini and leek and sauté on low heat while stirring for about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and pour the egg batter over it all. Stir lightly with a fork.

Sprinkle with cheese, cover with a lid and bake the omelet on low heat until set and the cheese has melted, approx 10 minutes. Loosen it gently with a spatula and slide it onto a serving plate. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with a salad and/or bread.

Enjoy!

Bella

Wheat swirls - Vetesnurror

WHEAT SWIRLS
Vetesnurror

Golden yellow wheat swirls with a delicious nut filling. You can pimp the glazing by flavouring it with coffee.

48 swirls

5 oz butter or margarine

2 cups milk
1 ¾ oz fresh yeast
good ¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
5 ¼ to 6 cups flour

Filling:

3½ oz hazelnuts
5 oz soft butter or margarine
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons strong coffee

Melt the fat in a saucepan. Add the milk and heat to 37°C, body heat. Crumble the yeast in a mixing bowl and stir it with some of the liquid. Add remaining liquid, salt and then the flour, little by little. Work the dough until pliable and no longer sticking to the bowl. Cover and leave to prove for about 30 minutes.

Turn the dough up onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth. Divide it in 4 parts and roll each part out to an oblong cake.

Grind the nuts for the filling and mix them with fat, sugar and vanilla sugar. Spread the filling over the 4 cakes and roll them up. Cut each roll in 12 pieces and put them, cut side up, in paper tins. Cover and leave to prove for about 30 minutes.

Bake in the middle of the oven at 390F for about 10 minutes.

Stir powdered sugar and coffee until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the buns and let set. Serve and enjoy!

Bella

Warm cheese-and-ham sandwiches - Varma ost- och skinksmörgåsar

WARM CHEESE-AND-HAM SANDWICHES
Varma ost- och skinksmörgåsar

A warm sandwich is good with a cup of tea or a glass of juice (or milk for me, please!). These are made with cheese, ham and mustard butter.

8 sandwiches

8 hamburger buns

Mustard butter:

3½ oz butter or margarine
2 tablespoons mustard
2 teaspoons grated horseradish
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon poppyseeds (optional)

8 slices smoked ham

8 slices cheese, strong if you like that

Split the hamburger buns. Stir together fat, mustard, horseradish, onion and optional poppyseeds and stir until smooth. Spread the mustard butter on the bread halves.

Put 1 slice ham and 1 slice cheese on 8 of the bread halves and then top with the other halves. Wrap the sandwiches up in aluminum foil and put them on a baking plate. Bake in the oven at 390F for about 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the sandwiches are heated through.

Serve with a salad of iceberg lettuce, shredded red bell pepper and split blue grapes.

Enjoy!

Bella

Oven-baked strawberries - Ugnsbakade jordgubbar

OVEN-BAKED STRAWBERRIES
Ugnsbakade jordgubbar

A lovely summer dessert to make when there’s plenty of strawberries. In the winter you can use frozen berries.

4 servings

4 cups fresh strawberries

or 1 lb frozen berries
1 piece of vanilla stick
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup white wine
1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
¼ cup flour
2 eggs
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped Almonds

Trim the strawberries and put them in an oven-proof dish. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla stick and mix them with powdered sugar, wine and lemon juice, pour it over the berries and marinate them for about 30 minutes.

Pour the marinade in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix fat and flour and beat it into the marinade. Boil for a few minutes until it thickens. Beat the egg yolks into the sauce. Beat the egg whites stiff and turn them into the crème. Pour the crème over the strawberries and sprinkle with almonds.

Bake in the upper part of the oven at 480F for about 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

You can substitute the white wine with cider or elderberry drink.

Enjoy!

Bella

Summery Swiss roll - Sommarrulltårta

SUMMERY SWISS ROLL
Sommarrulltårta

The strawberry is the summer berry no 1 here in Sweden. Fill your Swiss roll with mashed strawberries, slice it and enjoy the summer.

1 Swiss roll, 18 to 20 slices

3 eggs

¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon sugar

Beat eggs and sugar white and fluffy. Mix flour, potato starch, vanilla sugar and baking powder in a bowl, then gently stir this into the egg batter. Pour in a roasting pan dressed with baking paper, approx 16 x 12 inches, and bake in the middle of the oven at 390 to 440F for about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the surface with sugar and unmould onto waxed paper. Pull off the baking paper.

Mash the strawberries and flavour with sugar. Divide the strawberry mash over the cake and roll it up from the long side. Leave it wrapped in the waxed paper until serving.

Enjoy!

Bella

Quick and easy goulash - Snabblagad gulasch

QUICK AND EASY GOULASH
Snabblagad gulasch

This goulash is made in approx 30 minutes. The time might vary depending on the tenderness of the meat. This is ideal when you have to get dinner on the table in a hurry.

4 servings

1 1/3 lbs boneless beef, e.g.

thick flank or rump steak
½ onion
½ red bell pepper
½ green bell pepper
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1 ¾ cups meat bouillon
4 tablespoons red wine
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ to 1 tablespoon paprika
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon caraway
white pepper

Thinly shred the meat. Chop onion and bell peppers. Melt the fat in a frying pot or large frying pan and sizzle the onion for a couple of minutes. Add the shredded meat and brown all around until coloured. Sprinkle with flour, stir and dilute with bouillon. Add sweet peppers, wine, vinegar, salt and spices.

Simmer slowly for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Flavour to taste and adjust if necessary. Serve and enjoy!

Bella

Castle roulades - Slottsrulader

CASTLE ROULADES
Slottsrulader

Elegant but still easy to make. The filling is flavoured with anchovies.

4 servings

8 slices shoulder of pork or ham

salt, pepper
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 ¼ cups meat bouillon
1/3 cup cream, 15% fat
¼ cup chopped parsley
1½ tablespoons tomato paste
½ to 1 teaspoon Chinese soy sauce
2½ tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Filling:

½ chopped onion
1 can anchovies with liquid, 3½ oz
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons tomato paste
black pepper

Chop the onion for the filling and cut 8 anchovy fillets in pieces. Mix onion, anchovies, parsley, egg yolk, tomato paste and black pepper. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and put on a dab of the filling. Roll up and secure with a toothpick. Melt the fat in a frying pan or pot and brown the roulades on all sides until coloured.

Pour 1/3 cup of the meat bouillon in the pot, put a lid on and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Take up the roulades and keep warm.

Beat in remaining bouillon in the pot plus cream, parsley, tomato paste and soy sauce. Mash remaining anchovies and add them with the liquid from the can. Boil for about 5 minutes. Mix flour and fat and beat it into the sauce, then simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes. Flavour to taste.

Serve with boiled rice and a green salad with orange wedges and red sweet peppers.

Enjoy!

Bella

Sofia's raspberry squares - Sofias hallonrutor

SOFIA’S RASPBERRY SQUARES
Sofias hallonrutor

On a soft, slightly tough chocolate layer is a delicious crème made from raspberries. Cut it in squares and serve as pastries – they’re delicious!

16 pastries

10 oz dark baking chocolate

3½ oz butter or margarine
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
¾ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

Raspberry crème:

1 ¼ cups raspberries
¾ cup heavy cream
1/3 cup Kesella, if you can find it, or thick
Greek or Turkish yogurt
¾ cup powdered sugar

Decoration:
pecans or walnuts

Melt chocolate and fat in a saucepan and allow to cool slightly. Blend in eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar. Mix flour and baking powder and stir it into the batter. Put the baking paper in an oven-proof dish, approx 12 x 10 inches. Pour the batter in the pan and bake in the middle of the oven at 350F for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Mash the raspberries and beat the cream until thick. Blend in raspberries, Kesella or yogurt and powdered sugar into the cream. Spread the cream over the cold cake and cut in 16 squares. Decorate with fresh raspberries if you wish and serve the pastries.

Enjoy!

Bella