Ham and pasta dish - Pastalåda med skinka

HAM AND PASTA DISH
Pastalåda med skinka

With pasta, ham and eggs you can make a really good dish. This one is perfect for using up leftovers of pasta and/or ham.

4 servings

Boiled pasta for 4, e.g. tagliatelle

7 oz smoked or boiled ham
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 chopped onion
3 eggs
1 ¾ cups soured cream
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2/3 cup grated Cheddar cheese
salt, pepper
cayenne

Boil the pasta until almost ready according to package instructions. Dice the ham. Melt the fat in a saucepan and sizzle the onion until tender and glossy. Mix eggs, soured cream and parsley in a bowl and stir in ham, onion and cheese. Flavour to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne. Grease an oven-proof dish and put in the boiled pasta. Pour the egg mixture on top and stir slightly so that it runs all the way down to the bottom.

Bake in the lower part of the oven at 350F for about 45 minutes. Serve the pasta dish with a green salad.

Enjoy!

Bella

Party skewers - Partyspett

PARTY SKEWERS
Partyspett

Grilled meat skewers is nice food both in the summer and in the winter. I have a friend who is so obsessed with barbecue that she does it even in the coldest and darkest nights of winter, using a head light and looking like a maniac! She's wonderful! ("Mamma Mia", if you ever read this - I love you!)

4 servings

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

fillet or roast beef
16 middle-sized mushrooms
4 slices bacon
1 large red onion

Marinade:

1/3 cup chopped spring onions or leek
1 crushed garlic clove
4 tablespoons Chinese soy sauce
3 tablespoons oil
1/3 cup meat bouillon
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
cayenne

Cut the meat in even-sized cubes and put them in a dish. Blend together the ingredients for the marinade and pour it over the meat. Add half of the mushrooms. Cover the pan and marinate meat and mushrooms in the fridge for about 3 hours, or preferably overnight.

Cut the bacon in half and wrap a piece of bacon around each remaining mushroom. Peel the onion and cut it in wedges. If need be, you can boil the wedges in some water for a few minutes until tender. Drain well.

Alternate meat, mushrooms and onion on skewers, which you put in a roasting pan or an oven-proof dish. Brush with the marinade and grill the skewers rather large up in the oven for 4 to 8 minutes. Turn them occasionally and brush with the marinade.

Serve with e.g. rice pilav, broccoli and a green salad with cherry tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Bella

Coated minute steaks - Panerade minutbiffar

COATED MINUTE STEAKS
Panerade minutbiffar

Minute steaks can very well be coated before frying. This makes them extra juicy and tasty. Here, they’re served with a hearty cream sauce.

4 servings

4 minute steaks

2/3 cup dried breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon salt
dash white pepper
1 beaten egg
3 to 4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Cream sauce:

2 tablespoons flour
1 cup meat bouillon
2/3 cup cream, 15% fat
½ to 1 teaspoon Chinese soy sauce
salt, white pepper

Decoration:

chopped parsley

Flatten out the thin meat slices slightly with your palm. Mix breadcrumbs and spices on a plate. Dip the meat in egg and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Melt the fat in a frying pan and fry the meat on both sides on medium heat until golden brown and done. Transfer to a serving plate and keep warm.

Beat the flour into the pan and dilute with bouillon and cream. Simmer for a couple of minutes on low heat, then flavour to taste with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Pour some of the sauce over the meat, sprinkle with parsley and serve, with remaining sauce in a separate bowl.

Serve with mashed potatoes, sliced tomatoes and a cabbage salad with cucumber sticks, grated carrots, sweet peppers and fresh lemon juice.

Enjoy!

Bella

Cheese-filled Falu sausage - Ostfylld falukorv

CHEESE-FILLED FALU SAUSAGE
Ostfylld falukorv

Oven-baked Falu sausage is a Swedish favorite. Here's a different twist, with a creamy garlic cheese that adds extra delicious flavour.

4 servings

1 lb Falu sausage

1 ¼ cups grated cheese
2½ oz garlic cheese (the spreadable type)
5 tablespoons chili sauce
1 can whole tomatoes, 14 oz
1 onion
½ meat bouillon cube
1/3 cup water

You can substitute the garlic cheese with

other spreadable cheese, e.g. chives or
horseradish.

Pull off the skin and make some cuts in the sausage. Put it in an oven-proof dish. Mix ¾ cup grated cheese, garlic cheese and 2 tablespoons chili sauce. Spread the cheese mixture in the cuts and on top of the sausage. Cut the tomatoes in smaller pieces. Peel and split the onion and cut it in thin wedges.

Put tomatoes, tomato juice and onions around the sausage in the pan. Mix bouillon cube, water and remaining chili sauce and pour it over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake in the oven at 440F for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the sausage is slightly coloured.

Serve and enjoy!

Bella

Rich breakfast bread - Mustigt matbröd

RICH BREAKFAST BREAD
Mustigt matbröd

The bread is very rich in taste from the wholemeal flour and sunflower seeds. An excellent bread to serve with soup or to turn into sandwiches.

2 breads

1 ¾ oz fresh yeast

2 cups water
1/3 cup oil
¼ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sunflower seeds
3 ¼ cups wholemeal flour
2½ cups wheat flour
1 egg yolk for brushing

Crumble the yeast in a mixing bowl. Heat water and oil to 37°C, body heat, and stir the yeast with some of the liquid. Add remaining liquid. Blend in sugar, salt, sunflower seeds and wholemeal flour and work the dough together. Add wheat flour, little by little, and work the dough until smooth and pliable. Cover and leave to prove until double in size, approx 45 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide in two and shape each part into a loaf. Put them in greased bread pans or on a greased baking plate (or use baking paper). Cover and leave to rise for about 30 minutes. Brush with egg yolk and bake in the lower part of the oven at 30 to 35 minutes at 350F.

Allow to cool under a cloth.

Enjoy!

Bella

Mocha fudge - Mockafudge

MOCHA FUDGE
Mockafudge

Home-made fudge can be a good present to bring to a party. Wrap the pieces in waxed paper and put them in a nice can.

Approx 30 pieces

1 ¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1½ tablespoons cocoa powder
¾ cup whipping cream
1 ¾ oz butter or margarine
2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 tablespoon hot water
1/3 cup scalded, chopped almonds

Mix sugar, vanilla sugar, cocoa, cream and fat in a saucepan and boil for 20 to 25 minutes, until you can shape a little of the mixture into a soft ball, when it’s been dripped into a glass of cold water. Stir occasionally while boiling. Then add coffee diluted with 1 tablespoon hot water. Stir the mixture vigorously until cooled and thickened.

Add the almonds and pour the fudge into a lightly oiled, square pan, approx 6 x 8 inches. Leave to set and then cut in pieces. Wrap them up in cellophane or waxed paper.

Enjoy!

Bella

Soft cherry cookies - Mjuka körsbärsformar

SOFT CHERRY COOKIES
Mjuka körsbärsformar

Juicy cherries make these cookies what they are. Serve them with a dab of whipped cream!

18 to 20 cookies

3½ oz butter or margarine

2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups flour
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon crushed instant coffee
½ teaspoon ground cloves
4 tablespoons milk
fresh juice from ½ lemon
¾ cup canned cherries

Stir fat and sugar until fluffy and add the eggs, one by one. Mix flour, cocoa baking powder, cinnamon, coffee and cloves in a bowl. Blend the flour mixture into the egg batter and then add milk and lemon juice. Blend in the cherries.

Drop out the batter into greased small baking tins or double muffin paper tins. Fill to approx 2/3 and bake in the middle of the oven at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes or until done. Allow to cool slightly, unmould onto a rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Bella