Happy new year - resolutions for 2016

Happy new year, dear blog readers!

My 2015 has been a good year. No life-changing events for me, but unfortunately plenty of bad news for people close to me. I've tried to show them a lot of love and support and I hope everyone will have a better year in 2016.

I thought I'd try to make a few blog-related resolutions. Most importantly, I will try to blog at least once a week. More, ideally - I really miss doing this regularly - but at least once a week.

In order to do that, I really need to make more of an effort in cooking again. We get stuck in ruts as I'm sure most families do, and I need to feel inspired again and plan out weekly menus. So I'll definitely attempt to do this.

And related to that, I need to use my cookbooks more. I want to try at least a new recipe, from a book, every other week.

So, to sum it up:

1. Blog posts every week
2. Plan what we eat - maybe not every week, but most
3. Try new things from cookbooks at least every other week

Do you have any food-related resolutions? Let me know! And have a very, very happy new year!

Cod with mushrooms and bacon

I don't eat fish all that often, but I always feel like I should. Here's a fine dish to add into the fish rotation - it's rustic and almost meaty, in fact. Make sure you use the best quality cod you can afford, I prefer organic and from a sustainable source. It will make a difference.

We ate this with mashed potatoes.

Cod with mushrooms and bacon
Serves 4

600 g fillet of cod (or other white, firm fish)
salt
2 tbsp butter
140 g bacon, chopped
300 g mushrooms, quartered
1/2 red onion, in thin wedges
1 tbsp balsamic wine vinegar
salt, pepper
handful of flat-leafed parsley, chopped

Salt the cod about ten minutes before you want to eat, and let it sit at room temperature.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove from pan. Add a little butter to the pan and fry the mushrooms and onion until browned and soft. Add the bacon back to the pan, and add the vinegar. Let this cook for a few minutes and season with salt and pepper. Just before serving, add the parsley.

For the fish, just heat the butter in a non-stick pan, and fry until lightly golden and cooked through. It's a delicate product, so treat it gently!

Breakfast idea

I think I've posted this exact same thing before but oh well. It's just so good. You know McDonalds has an Egg Mc Muffin? Well, this is that. But at home. The only caveat is that you need english muffins which are generally not sold in Sweden (but occasionally they can be found at The English Shop). So you either need to bake them yourself, which is quite hard work (anyone has a failproof recipe?) or you need to find them somewhere else. I found these particular ones in my freezer, since I stocked up last summer. 

So. Grab your muffin. Split it. Toast it. Fry bacon. Add bacon and a slice of cheddar cheese, and a perfectly fried egg. For those I use oiled metal rings. I fry in butter and I break the yolk before briefly flipping the over. Perfection. 

Dinner idea

Not a recipe as much as an idea - soft tortillas, filled with spiced pork tenderloin, softened peppers and onion, a wonderful guacamole, pickled red onion, grated cheese, and sour cream. 

Pistachio Feta Coriander Dip

Rarely do I read through a list of ingredients where every single thing sounds great. It didn't happen this time either, but it was pretty darn close. I was leafing through Persiana, the cookbook by Sabrina Ghayour that's at the top of my christmas wish list, and I stumbled upon a creamy dip with pistachios, feta and coriander as the stars. It had dill as well, which I don't like at all, and I changed the quantities to go with what I had at home. The result was glorious! Mostly salty and lemony but with a lovely crunch from the nuts.. oh, I can't wait to make this again!

Pistachio Feta Coriander Dip

one small bowl 

50 g pistachios (unsalted) 

1 tbsp olive oil

140 g feta cheese

large handful of coriander leaves (or two handfuls, really. Lots!)

1/2 garlic clove 

1/2 tsp sambal oelek (feel free to use red chili instead, and as much as you'd like - I like things mild...) 

zest and juice from 1/2 lemon 

2-3 tbsp greek yogurt 

Use a food processor. Start with the nuts and the oil and process briefly until coarsely chopped. Add everything else, and pulse until lovely and creamy. Taste to see if you want to adjust the seasonings. Then serve. Eat. Enjoy. Lick from bowl. 

Lamb meatballs

I've done so many variations on lamb meatballs, really. These were inspired by the lovely Persiana cookbook by Sabrina Ghayour, which I found at my local library a few days ago. Her version contained pine nuts and raisins as well, but as I was out of pine nuts I had to omit those, and I'm not the biggest fan of raisins so I skipped that as well. But feel free to add in both! I changed a bunch of other things too, but loved the idea of adding cinnamon. My kids LOVED these - they're both pretty fussy eaters so I was thrilled that we could actually enjoy something together for a change. I 

Lamb meatballs

serves 4 (at least 2 adults, and 2 kids - I'd do more for 4 adults) 

500 g lamb mince

1/2 yellow onion, very finely minced

large handful of coriander, stalks and leaves, very finely minced

1 egg

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp cumin

salt 

Oil and butter for frying

Mix all the ingredients for the mince. Mix pretty well, it'll help the meatballs hold their shape and stay intact. Shape little meatballs, or any shape you like - I went for the fairly traditional oblong k�fte (kefta) but that's up to you. 

Heat the oven to 150�C. Fry the meatballs in butter and (or) oil, until well browned but then move them to the oven and let them cook through. (I check mine with a thermometer, and I want them to be at least 70�C.)

Serve, with anything - we ate tomato bulgur and pistachio-feta dip. 

Tomato Bulgur

One of my favorite fast food restaurants served different varieties of chicken, and side dishes. I always got the crispy chicken fingers, and for sides always a tomato bulgur salad and really good noodles. And a chilli aioli, too. Oh I loved that place. It's sadly no more, and I never did figure out exactly how they made their tomato bulgur salad. It was served cold, and a little bit like this one but with added raw red onion, tomatoes, red pepper and coriander.

This isn't that, exactly, but it's a really good base. We ate this with lamb meatballs - k�fte - and a yummy pistachio feta dip that I will soon tell you about.

Tomato Bulgur
serves 3-4

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, very finely minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp butter
250 ml bulgur wheat
500 ml water
salt, black pepper

Heat the oil in a large frying pan (that you have a lid for). Fry the onion on medium heat for two minutes - it should soften but not brown. Add the tomato paste and stir well, fry for a few more minutes. Be careful, you don't want this to burn. Add the butter and when it's melted, the bulgur. Pour in the water and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Special pop-up banquet - and a chance to win tickets!

Lidl is a grocery chain, present in several European countries. I mostly go there for their fun seasonal stuff, ice cream, and their really great fruit and veg department. I don't have a store very close to me, or I'd definitely shop there more often.

Last year, they partnered up with a famous chef to create a pop-up restaurant, to showcase their ingredients. This year, they have something even more special planned: a one night only pop-up banquet called Le Bon, on December 10. The chef is Titti Qvarnstr�m from restaurant Bloom in the Park, who was the first Swedish female chef to receive a Michelin star.

So - some facts. The banquet will be held at Globen Annexet, on December 10. Anyone can buy a ticket tomorrow, December 2, but you better hurry - they'll sell out fast. Titti will have 50 more chefs to help her serve everyone - 1300 guests! The proceeds from the banquet will go to cancer research, Barncancerfonden. The menu - and therefor the recipes - are secret until the big night, but after that I hope I can share them with you.



Careful readers might note that this is on the same night as the big Nobel banquet. If you're not invited to that - I know I'm not - this is your chance to go to another big, fun, spectacular party! I've been given the opportunity to give away two tickets to Le Bon. If you want to win, tell me your favorite party recipe in the comments. Two readers will win one ticket each. Last date to enter is Sunday December 6, and the winners will be contacted via e-mail shortly after that.