Swedish Meatballs

If there was one thing I can associate with growing up eating Swedish food, it has to be Swedish meatballs.  My grandma used to make them frequently.  After she no longer made them, my mom started making them.  She even has made them several times when she came to visit...with extras so I could freeze them for later.  So with being spoiled that so many people made them, I had never made them before the Scandinavian brunch that I had.   I would quite please with the results and resolve to make them more often.

Having enjoyed cooking Scandinavian foods, I am going to try and cook a bunch from one cookbook this year.  This means that I won't have quite the variety as I usually do, but I will still be cooking other things as well.  Last year my goal was to post 52 times throughout the year, but I made.  To revise that goal a bit will be to post regularly instead of sporadically.  So my two goals are to explore one cookbook in depth and to post once a week.

Swedish Meatballs
2 pounds ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup instant potato flakes
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 bunch parsley
2 teaspoons onion powder

Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.  Roll into 1.5 inch meatballs.  Seal with water if they are not sticking together very well.  Fry in olive oil or butter or a combination of both.  These reheat well in the oven.

Serve with ligonberries and cream sauce.  Makes about 4 dozen.

Stuffed Peppers

Sausage, Potato and Onion Stuffed Peppers

I have to admit I am a little bit crazy when it comes to collecting recipes.  If I find something that looks or sounds like it would be good, I have to get the recipe or keep the recipe.  More often than not, I find that cooking is not difficult and I can't understand people who don't like to cook or have never learned to cook.  Personally, I think about half of any type of cooking, is preparing the ingredients which anyone can do.  The more difficult part is actually cooking the ingredients in a way that showcases the flavors of the dish.  This takes some practice and skills, but there are so many great dishes that anyone can prepare without much time or effort.  Home cooking is the only way to go in my opinion and if I had sufficient time every day, I would cook every day.

Sausage, Potato and Onion Stuffed Peppers

1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Kosher salt and pepper

4 large bell peppers

1 small onion, chopped

1 small potato, diced

1 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 pound spicy Italian sausage

In the bottom of a casserole dish, combine the tomatoes, oregano and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and pepper.  (I used the tomato mixture to help the pepper remain upright.)  If the peppers do not stand up, slice a little off their bottoms to make it even.  If you chopped off any of the pepper, finely chop it and place it into a medium sized bowl.  Add the onion, potato, parsley and crushed red pepper.  Mix together, and then add the sausage and mix again.  Cut off the tops of the peppers.  At this point you can choose to chop them up and add them to the sausage mixture or leave them to cover the peppers during baking.  Discard the seeds from the peppers.  Spoon the sausage mixture into the peppers.  Arrange the peppers into the baking dish.  Bake at 350 F for about 50 minutes or until the sausage stuffing is sizzling and cooked throughout the pepper.

Sausage, Chicken, Peppers and Potatoes

Farewell to March and heavy winter foods...It was 70F today and it makes me look forward to spring with all of my flowers and vegetables beginning to grow. The other day I saw the ground cracked and the daffodils and crocus' are starting to push their way up to see the sun. Not far behind will be the irises and the phlox; I love the color they are bring to my yard, not to mention the yummy fresh herbs which will start to appear.

This recipe is one from Elodia Rigante's Italian Immigrant Cooking. My boyfriend is half Italian and when we started dating I found this cookbook was just the sort of Italian food that he would eat. I wouldn't say he is a picky eater, but once I started cooking from this cookbook I couldn't stop. I had to finally put it down in order to eat less heavy foods in summer. It also made me aware of just how much olive oil and garlic one could actually consume in a meal was far greater than I had ever used before. I broke down and bought a gallon of olive oil. However, the food is hearty; the portions generous. I haven't even tried out any of the dessert yet.

Sausage, Chicken, Peppers and Potatoes
Serves 4

Rinse a large skillet. While pan is still wet, put over medium heat and add the sausage. Turn the heat down low and sauté until the sausage is browned. Remove the sausage and set aside the bowl.

Sauté the chicken pieces in the oils from the sausage in the skillet. Turn the heat down low and sauté, covered, until the chicken pieces are very tender. Transfer them to the bowl with the sautéed sausage.

In the same skillet, heat up the olive oil, and add the potatoes, peppers, and onions. Brown the vegetables over low heat. Stir in the oregano, and when the vegetables become tender, season them with salt and pepper.

Add the browned sausage and chicken and sauté until all the flavors are mixed together and the sausage and vegetables are tender. For additional spiciness, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes or other chili seasoning.
This reheats very well. Enjoy!

Fight Snow Day Woes with Fresh Bread and Soup

So what do do you do when you have the day off of work unexpectedly and it is freezing cold out with even colder winds?  You dig in and make soup!  Since I had the ingredients to make fresh homemade soup and I thought a wonderful addition to it would be fresh bread.  Plus, an excuse to turn on the oven was also welcome given the cold wintery day outside.  My boyfriend said this soup only rated 3 stars in his book because everything else we have been eating has been so much better.

So today's variation of Irish Clam Chowder comes from New Covent Garden Soup Co.cookbook which was given to me years ago by a friend from Scotland.  The twist on the Irish Soda bread was found on the 101cookbooks.com website.  Both recipes have been modified as that is just my way.

Irish Clam Chowder
Serves: 6

About a pound of scallops

3 leeks, sliced very finely

2 medium potatoes

About 5 slices of bacon

12-16 oz of sweetcorn

6 oz sour cream

1 cup cream

2 cups chicken stock

2 oz. butter

1 teaspoon honey

2 teaspoons flour

Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh parsley to garnish

Saute leeks, potato and bacon in butter for about 20 minutes until soft.  Add 3/4 of the stock and cook for 10 minutes, then add sweetcorn. Mix flour with remaining stock and add to the saucepan and heat until warmed through.  Add the sour cream, cream and scallops.  Heat gently until the scallops are firm.  Be careful not to cook too quickly or for too long or the scallops will become tough.  Add honey just before serving and season to taste.  Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Seeded Soda Bread

Seeds: 12 Tablespoons seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, poppy, flax etc.)

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 cup spelt flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400F.  Combine chosen seeds.  Sift flours, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.  Stir in all but 2 -3 Tablespoons of the seeds.  Make a well and pour in the buttermilk.  Stir just until combined.  Add extra buttermilk if needed.  Knead on lightly floured surface for one minute.  Place dough on a lightly floured baking sheet and mark with an X cutting 2/3 of the way through.  Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle remaining seeds.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Cool on a wire rack.  Makes 1 loaf.