Fried Falu Sausage with Stewed Potatoes - Stekt falukorv med stuvad potatis

FRIED FALU SAUSAGE WITH STEWED POTATOES

Stekt falukorv med stuvad potatis

Serves 4

1 lb 8 oz Falu sausage or 

suitable replacement

2 tablespoons butter

Stewed potatoes:

3 tablespoons flour

1.6 cups regular milk

1 vegetable bouillon cube

0.8 cup water

1 lb 10 oz boiled potatoes

½ teaspoon salt

some ground white pepper

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

or dill

Beat together flour, milk, bouillon cube and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring. Simmer the stew for 5 minutes. Dice the potatoes. Stir them into the stew, bring to a boil again and flavor to taste with salt and white pepper. Add parsley or dill last.

Slice the sausage and fry in butter. Serve with stewed potatoes, mustard, ketchup (if you wish, many Swedes have ketchup with everything, even pancakes!!!) and boiled broccoli.

Enjoy!

Bella

Fillet of Pork Rydberg - Fläskfilé Rydberg

FILLET OF PORK RYDBERG

Fläskfilé Rydberg

Serves 4

1 pork fillet, approx 1 lb 10 oz

1 lb 12 oz firm potatoes

2 onions

oil for frying

butter for frying

4 egg yolks

0.4 cup chopped parsley

Mustard creme:

0.8 cup creme fraiche

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons coarsely ground, sweet mustard

Cut meat and potatoes in cubes, approx ½ x ½ inch. Put the potatoes in a bowl with cold water to prevent from darkening. Dice the onion, about the same size as the potatoes. Pour off the water from the potatoes, heat up some oil in a frying pan and fry the potatoes over high heat while stirring. Lower the heat to medium after 2 to 3 minutes and continue frying until done while stirring gently. Flavor with salt and pepper and keep the potatoes warm.

Stir all ingredients together for the mustard creme.

Fry the onion in some butter while stirring until slightly colored. Flavor with salt and pepper.

Clean out the frying pan and heat up 1 tablespoon butter. Put in the meat when the butter starts to turn brown. Fry over high heat until nicely colored all around. Don't stir if not necessary. Flavor with salt and pepper.

Put onion, potatoes and meat on a warm serving plate and top with egg yolks and parsley. Serve with the mustard creme.

Enjoy!

Bella

Ground Chicken "Wallenbergers" - Wallenbergare på kycklingfärs

GROUND CHICKEN "WALLENBERGERS"

Wallenbergare på kycklingfärs

"Wallenbergers" is a classic Swedish dish, basically it's patties made from ground veal. Here we use ground chicken instead.

Serves 4

1.1 lb ground chicken

1 teaspoon salt

some ground white pepper

2 egg yolks

0.4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

For serving:

lingonberries

mashed potatoes

green peas

Mix the ground chicken (it's important that it is cold) with salt, pepper and egg yolks that you carefully stir into the meat. Add the cream little by little, the batter should be slightly tough, but do not overstir. Shape into 8 patties and fry them in butter over medium heat until cooked through.

Serve with mashed potatoes, lingonberries and green peas.

Enjoy!

Bella

Clap Porridge - Klappgröt (Swedish classic)

CLAP PORRIDGE
Klappgröt

This is a very old dessert but it's well-liked by many people even nowadays. I remember being served this when I was in kindergarten and I loved it. These days, when people have beaters and mixers and stuff, it's much easier to beat it until light and really fluffy.

Serves 4

1.6 cup berries, e.g. lingonberries, cranberries,
gooseberries or redcurrants
4 cups water
0.4 to 0.6 cup sugar
0.4 cup semolina
1 tablespoon potato starch
3 to 4 tablespoons water


Rinse and trim the berries. Mash them up with a fork. Boil them in the water, strain the juice and flavor with sugar. Bring the juice to the boil again and beat in the semolina. Let the porridge boil until ready, approx 20 minutes.

Stir the potato starch in cold water and pour the thickening in the porridge while stirring. Let the porridge only just simmer and then let cool slightly. When cooler, beat the porridge until fluffy, preferably with an electric beater. Pour it up and serve when completely cold, in a deep plate with cold milk.

Enjoy!

Bella

Angel Food - Änglamat (Swedish Classic)

ANGEL FOOD
Änglamat

This is a dessert with good old-fashioned charm. Easy-made and delicious. If you don't have any cookie crumbles left, you can crush some rusks and use them.

Serves 4

0.8 cup Heavy Cream
5 tablespoons lingonberry or cranberry jam
0.4 cup cookie crumbles or crumbled rusks


Beat the Cream and beat in the jam. Blend in whichever sweet crumbles you happen to have. Save some for decoration.

Put the dessert in a bowl and sprinkle with remaining crumbles. If you serve it in cones it's even more festive.

Enjoy!

Bella

Salmon Pudding - Laxpudding (Swedish classic)

SALMON PUDDING
Laxpudding

Salmon pudding is an old-fashioned Swedish Classic that belongs to the traditional home cooking. It's easy to make and minds its own business in the oven. A good dish to make when you have guests, if they like salmon.

Serves 4

Approx 7 oz cured salmon or trout
10 to 12 middle-sized potatoes
1 leek
coarsely ground white or black pepper

Egg cover:
4 eggs
1.6 cup milk


Quickly rinse the fish, then leave it in cold water for about 8 hours, depending on how salty it is. If it's lightly cured 4 hours will be enough.

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes. Rinse and shred the leek. Cut the fish in thin slices and cut the slices in smaller pieces. Grease an oven-proof pan and alternate layers of potatoes, onions and fish in it. Flavor with pepper between the layers. The top layer should be potatoes.

Beat together eggs and milk and pour this over it all. Bake the pudding in the oven, starting at 390F, for about 40 minutes. Increase the heat to 440F and bake for Another 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, the "omelette" has set and the dish is nicely colored.

Serve with melted butter.

Enjoy!

Bella

Gravlax (Swedish classic)

GRAVLAX

Here's another one of the Swedish classics, for which Sweden is known outside its own borders. In the very old days, they simply dug the fish down in the ground (hence the name "gravlax", "grav" meaning "grave" and derives from the word "gräva", "dig". Now we're a bit more civilized when making it. You will get an excellent result if you just follow the recipe to the point - no improvs here. It's chemistry! And the mustard sauce to go with it is a classic too. This is never missing on a Swedish smörgåsbord. If it should, I fear there would be an uprising in Sweden …

Serves 4

2 lbs fresh Salmon in a whole piece, preferably a middle piece
(they have the most meat)
0.2 cup salt
0.2 cup sugar
10 crushed white peppercorns
1.2 cup roughly chopped dill

Mustard sauce:
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon mustard
1 egg yolk
0.3 cup oil
salt, white pepper
2 tablespoons chopped dill


Scrape and wipe off the fish, but do NOT rinse it. Split it alongside the backbone, then remove the backbone and visible bones (there are special tools to be able to more easily remove them). Rub the salmon with a mixture of salt and sugar. Cover the bottom of a shallow pan with chopped dill and put one half of the fish on top of the dill, skinside down. Sprinkle generously with dill and pepper on the meat side, then put the other half of the fish with the skinside up. Cover the fish with remaining dill and cover the pan with aluminum foil or put the pan in a plastic bag. 

Store the fish cold and dry for 48 hours before serving. Yes, 48 hours. Turn it over now and then. If you store it somewhere really cold you can keep it for a week. 

Make the sauce. Mix vinegar, sugar, mustard and egg yolk. Add the oil while stirring vigorously. Flavor with salt and pepper and blend in the chopped dill.

Cut the salmon in thin slices and serve with the mustard sauce, toast, dill and lemon.

Enjoy!

Bella

Vinegar Herring - Ättiksströmming (Swedish classic)

VINEGAR HERRING
Ättiksströmming

When you fry Baltic herring for dinner (if you ever do that), make a double batch and pour a liquid of pickling vinegar and some other things over the cold, fried fish and voilà - you have yet another delicious dish to serve. This is a classic on the Swedish smörgåsbord, especially at Christmas, and very well-liked. Un-peeled potatoes, rye bread or crispbread and butter are excellent accompaniments with this vinegar herring.

Serves 4

2 lbs fresh Baltic herring (whole fish)
or approx 1 1/3 lbs fillets of herring, skin on
1 bunch dill
1 large egg
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
4 tablespoons rye flour

Pickling liquid:
0.8 cup water
0.4 cup pickling vinegar, 12% acidity
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
6 to 8 whole white peppercorns
dill
½ red onion, sliced

½ red onion, sliced, for decoration


If you don't use fish fillets (which I recommend), fix the fish so that you have fillets. (You have all the knives you wish to come and gut them like a fish …) Put half the fillets on a carving board, skinside down. Sprinkle the meaty side with chopped dill and put remaining fillets on top, skinside up. 

Beat the egg. Mix salt, pepper and rye flour. Turn them over, first in the egg and then in the flour mixture. Fry on both sides in fat in a frying pan until golden brown and done.

Allow to cool. Meanwhile, make the pickling liquid. Pour the ingredients in a saucepan and bring the liquid to a boil. Let cool. Put the fish in a deep plate and pour the liquid over it so that it completely covers the fish. Store in the fridge for 24 hours and decorate with sliced red onion when serving.

Enjoy!

Bella

Boiled Brisket of Beef with Horseradish Sauce - Kokt nötbringa med pepparrotssås

BOILED BRISKET OF BEEF WITH HORSERADISH SAUCE
Kokt nötbringa med pepparrotssås

Boiled meat is both good for you and for the economy, as you can choose cheaper cuts of meat. Yes, it takes a little longer to cook, but once the meat is in the pot it minds its own business. It's a lovely dinner if you serve it with horseradish sauce and boiled vegetables.

Serves 4 to 5

Approx 2½ lbs brisket of beef
salt
3 carrots
2 leeks or 2 onions
8 to 10 whole white peppercorns

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons flour
2.4 cups liquid from boiling the meat and maybe some milk
3 to 4 tablespoons grated horseradish


Quickly rinse the meat in running cold water and put it in a pot. Pour on enough water to cover. Add salt, 2 teaspoons per 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and skim well.

Trim the vegetables and cut them in pieces. Add them with the peppercorns and let it all boil slowly, covered, until the meat is tender. Try with a skewer. Take up the vegetables when they are tender. The meat needs to boil for 1½ to 2 hours.

Melt the fat for the sauce in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Dilute with liquid from the meat and let the sauce boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Flavor with 2 to 3 tablespoons grated horseradish.

Carve the meat and put it on a serving plate and sprinkle with remaining grated horseradish.

Enjoy!

Bella

Matjes Herring Cocktail - Matjessillcocktail (Swedish classic)

MATJES HERRING COCKTAIL
Matjessillcocktail

A piece of herring can be served in so many different ways. And Swedes love their herring. Here's a little appetizing version of something we call "Sunny Eye" with chopped beets, chopped onions and chopped chives. An egg yolk to mix it all with is always served, and you can flavor with some black or white pepper.

Serves 4

2 cups finely chopped beets
4 tablespoons finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
2 matjes herring fillets
some onion rings
4 egg yolks
beet and herring liquid
white or black pepper


Drain beets and herring well but save the liquid. Prepare all ingredients and chop rather finely. If you use already chopped beets from a can you can chop them some more. Mix beets and onions.

Serve this dish in serving bowls. Put the beet mixture in a ring around the bowl or the plate. Put the herring, cut in even-sized pieces, on top. Sprinkle with some chives and put one or two onion rings in the middle.

Separate the eggs and put an egg yolk in its shell on each onion ring so it stands up straight. When you're eating, you simply pour the egg yolk over herring and beets. Blend with the fork and sprinkle with some pepper. You can also mix some liquid from beets and herring in when you stir it at the table. Serve with a good bread.

Enjoy!

Bella

"Castle Roast" - Slottsstek

"CASTLE ROAST"
Slottsstek

A whole roast is really festive. A roast of beef with sauce, potatoes and carrots is a real Sunday dinner for many of us, by tradition not least. And if it's a family dinner, stakes are high that we put a real, old-fashioned "castle roast" on the dinner table.

Serves 8

Approx 2 lbs boneless beef
1 teaspoon salt
some black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Sauce:
1.6 cups liquid (pan juice + bouillon)
2 tablespoons garlic
0.4 cup heavy cream
salt, white pepper


Rub the meat with salt, pepper and thyme. Put the meat in a roasting pan and insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat (the whole tube should be inside the meat). Put it in the oven at 350F until the thermometer shows 158F for light pink, approx 1½ hours. At 167F the meat is done, approx 2 hours.

Take up the meat and Place it on a carving board. Cover with aluminum foil and leave for about 15 minutes.

Whisk out the roasting pan with some water. Strain the liquid into a saucepan and dilute with bouillon until you have 1.6 cups. Bring to a boil and thicken with flour stirred with cream. Boil for a few minutes and flavor with salt and pepper. If you need more flavoring, use your imagination - I put lots of things in the sauce if I think it needs it. Applesauce, blackcurrant or redcurrant jelly, mashed anchovies … whatever.

Thinly slice the meat and serve with boiled potatoes, fried small onions (whole) and boiled vegetables for a classic "castle roast".

Enjoy!

Bella

Raggmunk with Fried Pork - Raggmunk med fläsk (Swedish classic)

RAGGMUNK WITH FRIED PORK
Raggmunk med stekt fläsk

The name of this dish, "raggmunk", is impossible to translate. But it's basically a pancake of grated, raw potatoes that's mixed with flour, salt, milk and egg and then fried. It's especially good with fried pork and lingonberry jam, and it's still keeping its position on the restaurant lunch menus in Sweden.

Serves 4

0.8 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1.6 cups milk
1 egg
1 lb 11 oz firm potatoes
butter or margarine

14 oz salty pork
lingonberry or cranberry jam


Beat flour, salt and some of the milk until smooth and lump-free. Beat in remaining milk and egg. Peel the potatoes and grate them coarsely straight into the egg batter. Melt some fat in a frying pan - take 0.2 cup of the batter for each "raggmunk". Fry for a minute or so on each side until they're nice and golden.

Fry the pork and serve the raggmunkar with pork, jam and grated carrots.

Enjoy!

Bella