Stewed Green and Yellow Fish - Stuvad fisk i grönt och gult (retro)

STEWED GREEN AND YELLOW FISH
Stuvad fisk i grönt och gult

Serves 4

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons flour
1.6 cup milk
1½ to 2 teaspoons salt
white pepper
some dried thyme
dill
approx 14 oz frozen cod fillets
1 leek
2 hard-boiled eggs


Melt the fat in a wide, shallow saucepan. Stir in the flour and pour on the milk. Bring the sauce to a boil and stir now and then. Flavor with salt, white pepper, crumbled thyme and dill. Cut the fish block in approx 3/4 inch thick slices and put them in the sauce.

Rinse and finely shred the leek and put it on top. Let it all simmer on low heat, covered, for about 10 minutes without stirring. Chop the eggs and sprinkle them on the surface when serving.

Serve with boiled potatoes or rice and vegetables.

Enjoy!

Bella
(who fondly remembers this dish from her earliest years in the late 60s)

Fillet of Pork with Cheese Sticks - Fläskfilé med oststavar (retro)

FILLET OF PORK WITH CHEESE STICKS
Fläskfilé med oststavar

Serves 4

1 large or 2 smaller pork fillets
salt, paprika
3½ oz mild cheese
1 tablespoon flour
1 3/4 to 2½ oz butter or margarine
1 small onion
2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 oz tomato paste
0.8 cup soured cream


Trim the pork fillets well and rub them with ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon paprika. Cut the cheese in small sticks, approx 1½ inches long. Stick them into the meat on all sides with the help of a small, pointy, sharp knife. Let a piece stick out from the meat.

Sprinkle the meat with a thin layer of flour and Brown well in a rather deep pot. Add finely chopped parsley, chopped onions, tomato paste and soured cream and let simmer, covered, on low heat until the meat is done through and tender. Flavor the pan juices to taste.

Serve with potatoes and some boiled vegetables (sprouts is almost never wrong).

Enjoy!

Bella

Meat Loaf Fantasy - Fantasifärs (retro)

MEAT LOAF FANTASY
Fantasifärs

Serves 4

1 lb ground meat (50% beef, 50% pork)
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons finely chopped celery
1 finely chopped garlic clove
2 tablespoons oil
0.4 cup red wine
2 slices white bread
salt, black pepper
finely crumbled dried sage
1 egg

For serving:
chili sauce
soured cream


Sauté onion, celery and garlic in oil without coloring, until tender. Add red wine and simmer it all for 5 minutes. Trim the crusts off the bread, finely dice it and add it to the mixture. Allow to cool. Pour the wine mixture in the meat, flavor with salt, black pepper and sage.

Stir in the egg and work the ground meat well. Shape to a roll and put it in a greased, oven-proof pan. Heat the oven to 350F and fry the meat for about 50 minutes. Make sure it's done.

Serve with chili sauce and soured cream in separate Bowls, and also some boiled vegetables.

Enjoy!

Bella

Ground Meat Cake with Apples - Färskaka med äpple (retro)

GROUND MEAT CAKE WITH APPLES
Färskaka med äpple

A lovely retro dish.

Serves 6

7 oz lightly smoked ham
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 lb ground meat (50% beef, 50% pork is the best mix)
2 onions
2 apples
0.4 cup dried breadcrumbs
0.8 cup water
salt, white pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tomatoes


Finely chop the ham and sauté lightly in half of the fat. Take it up. Chop onions and apples and sauté in the pan together with remaining fat. Allow to cool. Mix breadcrumbs and water and leave to swell.

Work the ground meat with the cold ham, onions and apples, breadcrumbs, egg and spices. Add more water if the mixture is too firm to the touch. (I ALWAYS work ground meat with my hands, with surgical gloves on of course). Slice the tomatoes and put most of them in the bottom of an oven-proof pan. Cover with the ground meat and put in the middle of the oven at 390 to 440F for about 50 minutes.

Decorate with sliced tomatoes and serve with boiled potatoes and green beans.

You can substitute the sliced tomatoes with sliced apples that you have sautéed for a short while in some fat.

Enjoy!

Bella

Entrecôte with Spicy Sauce - Entrecôte med kryddsås (retro)

ENTRECÔTE WITH SPICY SAUCE
Entrecôte med kryddsås

Who wouldn't want to be served a nice, juicy entrecôte and a flavorful, spicy sauce? If you eat meat, that is. Far from everyone does. A golden rule is to never fry or grill meat for too long and to never flavor with salt until after browning or grilling.

Serves 4

4 slices entrecôte, in all approx 1 lb
½ teaspoon coarsely ground white or black pepper
salt

Spicy sauce:
0.4 cup strong bouillon
0.4 cup cream, 15% or the like
1 teaspoon flour
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 teaspoons green pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley


Trim the meat and leave it in room temperature for a while Before cooking.

Make the sauce. Mix bouillon and cream and stir in the flour. Bring to a boil while stirring and then simmer for 5 minutes. Add mustard, salt, tarragon, green pepper and parsley and check for seasoning. Keep warm.

Fry or grill the meat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side in a dry, hot frying pan or on the grill. Flavor with salt and pepper, put on hot plates, pour the sauce on top and serve with e.g. baked potatoes and a salad.

Enjoy!

Bella

Bell Pepper Pork Fillet on a Potato Bed - Paprikafilé på potatisbädd (retro)

BELL PEPPER PORK FILLET
ON A POTATO BED
Paprikafilé på potatisbädd

This is a real 70s dish, the food I grew up with and love so dearly. I had a special name for such food: "Trevliga Maträtter", which means "Nice Dishes". The Friday grocery shopping with Mom was always a feast. There was always much too much month left at the end of the money, but she was a wizard when it came to getting much food for a small sum, and in no way inferior food either. She would never have settled for inferior food. And I used to help out with the cooking ever since I was very little, and we laid the table a little fancier on the weekends and could sit down and eat in peace. Those memories, and the smell of the lovely cooking …

Serves 4

10 middle-sized potatoes, approx 1 3/4 lb
1 teaspoon salt
some garlic salt
1 lb fillet of pork
salt, pepper
margarine
3 tablespoons butter
1 to 2 teaspoons paprika
finely chopped parsley


Cut the potatoes in thin slices. Sprinkle with salt and spread them out in a well-greased oven pan. Put them in the oven at 440F for about 40 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil the first 20 minutes.

Brown the whole fillet of pork all around. Flavor with salt and pepper and lower the heat. Cover with a lid and continue frying slowly for 10 to 15 minutes. Mix the butter with paprika and parsley. Slice the meat and put it on top of the potatoes. Spread with the paprika butter. Pour any pan juices over the potatoes and bake for a few minutes at 480F, so that the butter melts down. 

Serve with a tossed salad.

Enjoy!

Bella

Fillet of Pork O'Porto - Fläskfilé O'Porto (retro)

FILLET OF PORK O'PORTO
Fläskfilé O'Porto

A real retro classic in my family - the darling pork fillet with a refined taste of orange.

Serves 4

1 lb fillet of pork
3/4 teaspoon salt
some coarsely ground black pepper
grated zest from ½ to 1 orange
1 to 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Port sauce:
1 cup pan juice + bouillon (I use chicken)
3 to 4 tablespoons port (if I'm out of port, I use sherry)
fresh juice from ½ to 1 orange
2 teaspoons arrowroot or potato starch


Cut the meat in rather thick slices and flatten them out a Little. Mix salt, black pepper and orange zest and rub the meat with this. Fry in the fat for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. It's important for pork to be really done. Take it up and keep warm.

Add 1 cup water in the pan, boil together and strain it into a small saucepan. Add ½ to 1 bouillon cube, port and orange juice. Bring to a boil and check the taste (make sure it's not too salty as the bouillon is salt - we made that mistake the first time we made it way back in the 70s). Stir the arrowroot or potato starch in some cold water and whisk it down into the saucepan. Bring to a boil but no boiling after that. Pour over the meat and serve with what you prefer to have that day. 

Enjoy!

Bella

Antonio's Spaghetti Speziale - Antonios Spaghetti Special (retro)

ANTONIO'S SPAGHETTI SPEZIALE
Antonios Spaghetti Special

This was made now and then when I was about 10 years old (1974). It was good and somehow felt hearty and wholesome, and I have taken it up on the menu again to recall some childhood memories.

For each serving you take 2 slices salty pork, 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion and 2 to 3 tablespoons grated cheese, preferably parmesan. Shred the pork and fry until crisp, add the onion and a Little extra butter or margarine. Flavor with pepper and melt it all together.

Mix it into freshly boiled and very well drained pasta together with cheese and serve with a salad.

Enjoy!

Bella

Apple delight - Äppellust (retro)

APPLE DELIGHT
Äppellust

4 servings

6 middle-sized apples

3½ oz almonds
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons cognac or sherry
cocktail cherries for decoration

Core and peel the apples and put them in a greased, oven-proof dish. Scald and grind the almonds. Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add the almonds and the now cooled fat. Flavour with cinnamon and some cognac or sherry to taste.

Fill and cover the apples with the batter and bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or until the apples are golden brown. Decorate with cocktail cherries and serve with chilled, whipped cream or a dab of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Bella

Jellied wine dessert - Vingelé (retro)

JELLIED WINE DESSERT
Vingelé

8 servings

1 bottle of red or white wine, what you like best

8 to 10 gelatin sheets or 4 - 6 teaspoons powdered gelatin
1/3 cup hot water
sugar to taste

Decoration:

grapes or other fresh fruit

Vanilla cream:

2 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
vanilla sugar to taste
¼ cup whipped cream

Soak the gelatin in water for 30 minutes. Melt it in the hot water and gently stir it into the wine. Flavour with sugar and pour the wine in a rinsed cake ring (bundt pan) to set. Unmould the jellied wine for serving and decorate with the fresh fruit. It is easier to move the jelly ring if the serving plate is moist when you unmould it.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, add whipped cream and serve the vanilla cream with the wine jelly.

You can make jelly like this on any fruit juice of your choice instead of wine, and you can also serve it in portion-sized glasses.

Enjoy!

Bella

Viennese steak - Wienerbiff (retro)

VIENNESE STEAK
Wienerbiff

4 servings

4 beef steaks

salt, white pepper
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon oil
4 lemon slices

Spicy butter:

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon grated horseradish
chopped parsley

Stir the fat for the spicy butter until soft, then add horseradish and lots of chopped parsley. Shape to a roll and put it in the fridge.

Heat up the fat in a frying pan and put in the beef steaks, flavoured with salt and pepper. Brown them for 2 to 4 minutes on each side, depending on how thick they are, and put them on a warm serving plate.

Cut the spicy butter in 4 slices, place each of the butter slices on a lemon slice and decorate the steaks with this.

Raw-fried potatoes or fries are very good with this, but also boiled vegetables or a salad (guess what I choose? Yep, a tomato salad!).

Enjoy!

Bella

Filled wheat ring - Vetekrans med god fyllning (retro)

FILLED WHEAT RING
Vetekrans med god fyllning

½ oz fresh yeast

¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 cups flour
1 ¾ oz butter or margarine
2/3 cup milk
1 egg

Filling:

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
¼ cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped, candied fruit peel
1/3 cup chopped, candied orange peel
1/3 cup chopped or ground almonds

Brushing:

beaten egg

Glazing:

powdered sugar and water
chopped, toasted almonds

Stir the yeast with 1 teaspoon sugar. Put remaining sugar, salt, cardamom and half of the flour in the mixing bowl. Melt the fat, add milk and warm to 37°C/body heat. Pour this liquid in the bowl together with the yeast and the egg and work to a dough. Gradually add more flour until the dough is smooth and no longer sticks to the bowl. Cover and leave to prove until double in size.

Put the dough on the work surface, knead it and roll it out to a rectangle. Spread with the fat and sprinkle the filling on top. Roll up and shape to a ring on a greased or baking paper lined baking plate. Use a pair of scissors to make cuts in it and let rise again for about 30 minutes.

Brush with beaten egg and bake in the middle of the oven at 395F. Allow to cool before mixing powdered sugar and water to a glaze and drizzling it on top. Sprinkle with the almonds.

Enjoy!

Bella

Oven-baked ham with salad - Ugnsbakad skinka med frisk sallad (retro)

OVEN-BAKED HAM WITH SALAD
Ugnsbakad skinka med frisk sallad

1 lightly salted, boneless ham, approx 10 lbs
water

Coating:

1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Salad:

2 endives or iceberg lettuce
3½ oz grapes
3 tangerines
juice from 1 tangerine
3 tablespoons oil
salt, white pepper

Rinse the ham and wipe it off. You can either remove the net now or wait until it’s done – I always remove it when it’s done. Put it with the rind up on a rack over a roasting pan. Make a cross in the rind with a sharp knife and insert a meat thermometer in the thickest part. Put the ham in the oven at 260F, and when the thermometer shows 170F, the ham is done – it takes about 50 to 60 minutes per kilo. Pull off the rind while the ham is hot. (At this stage, I remove the net.)

Mix mustard and egg yolk and spread this on the surface. Mix breadcrumbs and sugar and sift it in an even layer on top, then bake at 480F until nice and brown and crisp, about 25 to 30 minutes. If it is to be consumed hot, wait for 10 minutes or a little longer to cut it up.

Salad: Shred the lettuce and split the grapes. Remove the pips. Cut well trimmed tangerines in thin slices or wedges. Blend together a dressing of oil, tangerine juice and spices and pour it over the salad. Blend well and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Bella

Spaghetti with Falu sausage - Spaghetti med bräckt falukorv (retro)

SPAGHETTI WITH FALU SAUSAGE
Spaghetti med bräckt falukorv

4 servings

Spaghetti for 4 

water, salt
10 oz Falu sausage or 7 oz lightly smoked ham
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
3½ oz grated, mild cheese
3 tablespoons cream

Boil the spaghetti in lots of lightly salted water and drain it.

Dice the sausage or the ham and quickly fry them up in the hot pot together with fat and Parmesan cheese. Pour the well-drained spaghetti in the pot and blend really well.

Spread the mixture out on an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with the grated, mild cheese and drizzle the cream over it all. Bake in the middle part of the oven at 275°C/525F until nicely colored on the surface.

Serve the spaghetti with a fresh, light green salad.

Enjoy!

Bella

Rhubarb suisse - Rabarbersviss (retro)

RHUBARB SUISSE
Rabarbersviss

4 servings

1 lb rhubarbs

approx ¾ cup sugar
3 bananas
8 to 12 meringues
1 ¼ cup thick cream
1 ¾ oz flaked, toasted almonds

Clean, trim and cut the rhubarbs in pieces, about 1 ¼ inches long. Put them in a greased, oven-proof dish and sprinkle with the sugar. Put a lid or aluminum foil over the dish and put it in the oven, 200°C/390F, until the rhubarbs are tender. Allow to cool in its own juice and then pour off some of the juice.

Slice the bananas and beat the cream until foamy and rather thick. Alternate meringues with whipped cream, rhubarbs and bananas to form a nice pyramid. Decorate with flaked, toasted almonds and serve this festive dessert well chilled.

You can substitute bananas with strawberries.

Enjoy!

Bella

Lightly salted rolled pork roast - Rimmad rullstek på fläsk (retro)

LIGHTLY SALTED ROLLED PORK ROAST
Rimmad rullstek på fläsk

6 to 8 servings

1 piece lightly salted side of pork,

approx 2 lbs, or shoulder

Filling:

10 oz ground meat, 50/50
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can mushrooms, finely chopped
1 egg
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Coating:

1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons mustard
¾ cup fresh orange juice
1 egg yolk

If the pork is very salty, it’s better to first soak it overnight.

Mix all ingredients for the filling and also include the mushroom liquid. Spread the filling out on the inside of the pork and roll it up. Tie it up tightly with cotton string. Brown the roll all around in a hot frying pan or pot and then fry on low heat, maybe in the oven at 350 to 390F, covered, for about 1½ hours. Put the roast on a roasting pan dressed with aluminum foil.

Blend the ingredients together for the coating and brush this all around the roast. Put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes so that the surface is deliciously brown.

Serve this rolled roast hot with the gravy as a sauce, maybe lightly thickened, potatoes and a green salad.

Cold meat cooked like this is delicious summer food with new potatoes and pickled gherkin.

Enjoy!

Bella

Prune ring with ice cream - Katrinplommonkrans med glass (retro)

PRUNE RING WITH ICE CREAM
Katrinplommonkrans med glass

4 servings

2½ cups boiling water

7 oz prunes
5 gelatin sheets or 2½ teaspoons powdered gelatin
fresh juice from ½ lemon
sugar to taste

For serving and decoration:

2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 oranges

Pour the boiling water over the prunes and soak them for 4 to 8 hours. Soak the gelatin in cold water for an hour or so. Remove the stones from the prunes, save a couple of whole ones for decoration and cut the rest in pieces. Heat up some of the fruit liquid, add gelatin and let it melt. Mix fruit liquid, gelatin and lemon juice, in all approx 2 cups, and sugar to taste.

Put the prunes in a rinsed cake ring (bundt cake pan), pour on the fruit liquid and allow the dessert to set. Unmould the fruit ring, fill the hole in the middle with ice cream and decorate with orange wedges all around and a couple of whole prunes on the top.

You can substitute the water with medium-strong tea.

Enjoy!

Bella

Almond knights - Mandelriddare (retro)

ALMOND KNIGHTS
Mandelriddare

4 servings

8 slices white toast bread

2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Filling:

5 oz almond paste
1 egg white

Coating:

1 egg
1 tablespoon flour
¾ cup milk

Decoration:

2 apples
butter or margarine
sugar
ground cinnamon

Trim the crusts off the bread. Stir the almond paste with the egg white until smooth, then put the slices two and two together with the filling in between. Beat together egg, flour and milk and dip the almond knights in the coating with the help of two forks.

Heat the fat in the pan and fry until golden and crisp – not too hot. Sautée thin apple slices in the fat and turn them over in a mix of sugar and cinnamon. Decorate the delicious almond knights with apple slices and fresh or frozen berries (if you wish), then serve them with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Bella

Luxury risotto - Lyxrisotto (retro)

LUXURY RISOTTO
Lyxrisotto

A well-tasting, delicious dish, liked by all.

4 servings

14 oz tender beef

8 oz liver from young cattle
2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
salt, white pepper
½ can mushrooms, 8 oz or 7 oz fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon Chinese soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1/3 cup thick cream
3 tomatoes
2 to 3 onions
1 /3 cup pimiento, pickled
¾ cup long-grained rice
1 ¾ cups water

Put the liver in water for a few hours (in my family we always put it in milk, whether it’s necessary or not). Dice meat and liver. Heat up some fat in a frying pan until really hot, then quickly brown first the beef, then the liver. Transfer to a saucepan.

Whisk out the pan with some water and pour this over the meat. Flavour with salt and white pepper and add mushrooms, soy sauce, tomato purée, cream and tomatoes in pieces. Cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, brown the chopped onions until golden. When the cooking time is nearly finished, you take the lid off and reduce the sauce almost completely. Boil the rice for 18 minutes. Pour the meat in the middle of a big serving plate and place the rice in a ring around it. Then everyone can mix as the want.

If you wish, you can serve some grated cheese in a separate bowl.

Enjoy!

Bella