Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Let them eat ...

cake?

In one sense, I feel like this is reinventing the wheel. Cake is so delicious that cake should be cake. On the other hand, I have been forced to stop "eatertaining" myself lately, which means no cinnybuns and no madeleines. It's quite trying. So a healthier cake that still tastes great? Something to mull over. Or try a recipe or two?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Lydmar Hotel Review

My review of the new (old) Lydmar Hotel restaurant is available in the Swedish Bulletin magazine. It was tasty! It's on page 26.

Smoothie Deconstructed

Though I don't have as elegant tableware available to me as the Top Chef Masters do, I still have a fondness for playful food.



Here is my smoothie deconstructed. It is essentially a sweet lassi and a plate of nature's finest strawberries. This is obviously a very flexible dish with a touch of the theatre -- because you pour the chilly smooth lassi over the fruit and eat it much like a soup/dessert.

Deconstructed Smoothie

1/2 c kefir or Swedish a-fil
1/2 c milk
1 - 2 T sugar (according to taste)
Sliced fruit: strawberries, blackberries, cherries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, or mango

In the 1/2 of milk, stir the sugar in until combined, add the kefir or fil. In a bowl, lay out the fruit, place the lassi mixture next to it. If you're feeling particular hot, place the lassi mixture in the freezer to get it extra cool before serving.

Guaranteed delicious!

Sunday, August 02, 2009

White Nectarines & Summer Sun

I've been trying to eat local for a few years now, but this was the year of, I-can't-calculate-carbon-miles-for-the-life-of-me, so I bought more than kilo of sweetly fragrant nectarines from the supermarket. People often ask me how I know a fruit will taste good, and I point out that if the fruit smells sweet, that's a good sign (it should not smell overripe), feel for firmness/give (nectarines in particular should be firm, not mushy), and if you see brown on the skin of the fruit, that is often a mark of high sugar content.

Anyway, I was invited to a bring-your-own-meat bbq today at Vintervik in Aspudden (it's lovely there), and I decided on a tuna steak. I had once read a menu that said, tuna burgers with peach and jalapeno chutney on it. I didn't actually get to eat that burger, but the idea stuck with me, so today I made a quasi-chutney.
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I couldn't bring myself to cook the nectarines because they were already so lovely, and why bother peeling the skin when the skin is delicioso also?

White Nectarine Un-Chutney

2 large white nectarines in small pieces
1 large shallot minced
1 lime's worth juice
dash of whatever vinegar you have
1 chili pepper -- serrano or jalapeno
salt

On a gas stove or grill, blacken the outside of the chili pepper and the let it cool. Peel off the capsicum (the outside papery part), and chop. For less heat, remove the seeds.

Mix all of the above and let rest for awhile to let the flavors really meld. Serve with seared tuna!

Would also taste good with some pork too, I bet!