Filled vegetables

I was born and raised in a family and a nation (or even part of the world) that is largely fed on high-carb diets. We’re amazing at underground veggies. Root vegetables can be and is used in so many different ways. Above the ground veggies on the other hand is something still a little exotic in this part of the world. And there are of course reasons for that. Living on the coast far north wind and rain is more common that not. Root vegetables are safe, they grow here, just like the sheep.

Above the ground vegetables are thus sort of a little intimidating. Honestly, ten years ago I had never tasted a courgette (zucchini), paprika is something I knew three uses for: diced in salads, sliced on top of cheese on a slice of bread, or on our (I call it ours, it’s as Norwegian as komle!) Grandiosa pizza. Google that last one, it’s not something we eat often and not something I’ll blog about. But I think youtube would have some treasures for you.

However, trying to incorporate as many vegetables in our diet as possible I have to turn to the above ground types, and find new ways to use them. One dish that blew my mind, thankfully not literally, was a dish I was served at Lou Pistou in Nice last year. It was typical for the area, very simple, and just soooo good. The recipe was no secret, so the wonderful, lovely lady explained it to me. I have now tried making it myself, and this is too good not to share.

You need vegetables that you can fill, and I believe anything goes. Try making a local version! I had onions (those are a must), courgettes (zucchinis), aubergines (eggplants) and peppers (paprika). You can serve this as a full meal (mine was served with a salad – and  talk about getting your five a day!!) or you can something with it (fries, rice, or similar). Here’s what you need:

Serves 4:

• 2 onions
• 1 courgette
• 1 aubergine
• 2 peppers
• 250 grams of ground beef
• four slices of bacon
• 2 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper
• thyme, oragano or basil
• two good handfulls of parmiggiano (or similar cheese)

First boil the vegetables for about five minutes. Put the whole veggies in the pot. At the same time you fry the bacon in a pan. Afterwards cut in half and scrape out what’s inside (throw away the insides of the pepper). Use the now empty and halved veggies as serving bowls. Finely chop everything else and mix together. Fill the halved veggies then bake at 200 degrees celsius for about 35 minutes.

Summer dinner

Husband, Son and my father-in-law went fishing and came back with four wee mackerels. Mother-in-law did the dirty work, and a few minutes later dinner was served.

One mackerel each. Fried in a pan with a heavy dose of butter, a spoon or two of sour cream and a good sprinkle of freshly cut parsley. Served with boiled potatoes fresh from the soil and a light cucumber salad.

The dish should be followed by rhubarb soup for desert, but unfortunately it is already out of season.

Simple Sunday chicken

Some time back, after being inspired by this Scottish lady, I tried for the first time to cooka whole chicken. It’s one of those things that took me a very long time before I tried for the first time, and also one of those things I’ll be doing a lot of in the years to come. I never imagined it to be as easy as it was. And now I’ll show the easiest way to make chicken.

Before we often bought store-grilled chicken. Already spiced, marinated and cooked. I used to love them as a kid, but the quality of them aren’t all that, and so I wanted an alternative. This was one of those days where we all came home form work/kindergarten and were just worn out. We had a slice of bread when we came home, and decided on a late dinner. Still keeping it simple, this is what we did:

We had chicken thighs, but these were in the freezer and frozen solid when we started cooking. Not the perfect start, but we work with what we have. Whip together a marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. The marinade is good when it’s a little too salty and a little too acidic. Put it all in a bag with the chicken while chopping the veggies. Now put the oven to about 200 degrees. Chop potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and red onions in small chunks, the larger the chicken, the larger the pieces. Add a good dose of oil to a casserole and spread the chopped veggies to form a thin layer. Get the chicken out of the bag and try to massage in as much of the marinade as you can. Place the chicken atop the veggies, pour over some of the marinade and sprinkle over some rosemary. Place in the oven and cook until the chicken is done, the chicken should then be a little brownish on top, and when stabbed with a knife the liquid coming out should be clear and free of blood. The time in the oven varies from 20-30 minutes for room temperatured chicken thighs, an hour (or more) for frozen chicken thighs, to about two hours for an whole chicken (depending on the size). Turn the veggies every now and then if left in the oven for a long time.

This dish is so easy and so good. The chicken is tender and succulent, while the veggies caramelize and bring out the best flavours.

Simple salmon

Fish dinners are not my strong side. I know more about various fish types now than I did a few years ago, and I know how to prepare most of them, but still I feel like there is little variation in the fish dinners I serve and I often find them a little bland. There are a few exceptions though, both are salmon recipes. I will show you one today. 

This recipe is the easiest fish recipe you can imagine – and it is also very good! For three people you need:

• A bit of oil
• One leek or 2-3 spring onions
• Three carrots
• A handful of parsley
• 450-600 grams (about a pound) of salmon filet
• One lemon
• Pepper
• Salt

I also often add asparagus or broccoli, depending a bit on what we have in the fridge.

Get a bit of aluminum foil, sprinkle it with a bit of oil. Add the vegetables, starting with the leeks or spring onions and finish with the salmon. Sprinkle the juice from half a lemon over the fish and, if you like, add a few lemon slices over the fish. Add a wee bit of salt and a bit of black ground pepper ( I sometimes add a bit of butter or flavoured butter with garlic or herbes). Wrap the foil around the food and cook in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for about 45 minutes. Serve with potatoes, rice, or as is. Enjoy!

Mutton-in-cabbage – How Norwegian traditional dishes translate beautifully

This is not going to be a linguistically inspired post, but another post with a recipe for another Norwegian dish. As many traditional Norwegian dishes, it is easy to make. It takes some time to finish, but it’s as easy as cooking gets.

You need one cabbage and about 800grams of lamb meat for 3-4 people. Chop the cabbage into large pieces and layer it in a tall pot, first one layer of cabbage, then a layer of meat, continue until you run out of meat. Add a little bit of water, about half a litre, and whole pepper and a little salt. Leave on low heat with a lid on for some hours. Serve with potatoes.

Images are not mine, but we had already started eating when I thought of taking pictures, and they did not turn out well.

 

Codfish dinner

As mentioned before Trine has the most amazing recipes, with a new one added every day! This post is just to credit her for one of her codfish recipes

. If you’d like the recipe you could either try google translate at her site, or give me a winke and I’ll post it in English.

Som nevnt tidligere har Trine mange gode oppskrifter, og hun oppdaterer daglig! Vi prøvde denne torskeretten tidligere I uka. Jeg kommer bare med oppskriften på engelsk, vil du prøve den selv så har Trine den HER.

 

Bearnaise butter

We had the best steak dinner last Sunday. Steak with bearnaise butter, fresh salad, homemade dressing and fried mushroom. I found the recipe for bearnaise butter in a book by and about a local grocery store and I just have to share it. It really bring a steak to new heights!

Vi hadde den beste biffmiddagen jeg noensinne har hatt forrige søndag. Løvbiff med bearnaisesmør, salat, hjemmelaga dressing og stekt sjampingjong. Jeg fant oppskrift på bearnaisesmør i en bok om og av Helgø (en lokal butikkjede) og den må bare deles! Den hever biffmiddagen til nye høyder.

 

You need:

2 tablespoons of freshly chopped tarragon (dragon’s wort)

2 tablespoons of freshly chopped onion

1dl of whitewine vinegar

2 dl of white wine (or applejuice)

100grams of unsalted butter

Salt, pepper and lemon juice

 

Du trenger:

2 ss finhakket frisk tarragon

2 ss finhakket løk

1 dl hvitvinseddik

2 dl hvitvin (kan erstattes med f.eks eplejuice)

100 g usaltet smør

Salt, pepper og saft fra en halv sitron

 

Place the butter in room temperature so that it is soft and easy to work with by the time the rest is done. Chop onions, tarragon and a little garlic (if you like) and add to a pot with the vinegar and wine. Let it boil until all liquid has vapourised. Mix everything together and add salt, pepper and lemon as you please.

Sett smøret i romtemperatur så har det fått greit temperatur og mykhet før resten er ferdig. Finhakk løk, estragon og evt ett fedd hvitløk, ha i en gryte med eddik og vin og kok inn. All væsken skal fordampe. Bland etterpå alt sammen og smak til med salt, pepper og sitron.

Lasagne

Thought I’d share my lasagne recipe with you. It’s a bit of an ‘add what you have’ type of recipe and very easy to make. I assume you already have butter/margarine, flour and pepper. Here’s you shopping list: Minced meat, two boxes of chopped tomatoes, two carrots, pasta plates, 1-2 stock cubes, milk, and cheese.

Jeg tenkte jeg skulle dele lasagne oppskrifta mi med dere. Den er veldig enkel å lage og så utrolig mye bedre enn Toro sin. Jeg pleier å hive I litt rester og se litt hva jeg har I kjøleskapet. Jeg går ut I fra at du allerede har smør/margarin, mel og hvit pepper, og her er hva mer du trenger: karbonadedeig, to bokser hakkede tomater, to gullerøtter, lasagneplater, 1-2 buljongterninger (klar kjøttsuppe), melk og ost.

 

Fry the meat in a deep pan. While the meat cooks, melt about a tablespoon of butter in a different pot, almost any type of butter will do. If you have any type of herb or garlic butter, use it, and keep some of it for the meal if you serve some type of bread with it. Melt the butter and add a tablespoon of flour, mix it well before you add a wee bit of milk. Stir it while it thickens then add more milk, about half a litre in total, a little at the time. Turn it down on low heat.  Now back to the meat, add the chopped tomatoes and the stock cube(s). If you prefer your own seasoning, just go for it. Grate the carrots directly into the pan. Stir the pan then get back to the white sauce. Add a hand full of cheese, any type of cheese will do, and as with the butter any type will do, and if you have any leftovers of some fancy cheese, put it in there. Make sure the cheese has melted then leave both on low heat while you grease a casserole.

Stek kjøttet I en dyp panne. Mens kjøttet stekes smelter du en klatt med smør I en gryte. Nesten alle typer smør funker, urte- eller hvitløkssmør vil fungere ekstra bra, og fungerer veldig godt på brød viss du serverer det til lasagnen. Smelt smøret og tilsett en spiseskje mel, rør det godt sammen og tilsett litt og litt melk, omtrent en halvliter totalt, rør etterhvert så sausen holder seg tjukk. Skru temperaturen helt ned og gå tilbake til kjøttdeigen. Tilsett tomatboksene og buljongterningen(e), foretrekker du eget krydder framfor buljong, så kjør på! Rasp gullerøttene rett I panna, rør om og se tilbake på den hvite sausen. Ha I en håndfull med ost, som med smøret er det samme hvilken type du bruker, men ost med litt smak er ikke å forakte. Pass på at osten har smeltet før du skruer begge platene ned på laveste temperatur. Smør en ildfast form.

Now comes the important part, the layering. Start with a layer of white sauce, then pasta plates, continue with meat sauce, white sauce, pasta plates, meat sauce, plates and finish with white sauce and a layer of cheese. Cook at 220 degrees for about half an hour. Serve with bread or a delicious salad and enjoy!

Nå kommer den viktige delen, lagene. Start med hvit saus I bunn, deretter ett lag med pastaplater, så kjøttsaus, hvit saus, pastaplater, kjøttsaus, pastaplater, hvit saus og et lag med ost. Stek på 220 grader I omtrent en halvtime. Server med lyst brød eller en herlig salat, og nyyyyt!

 

Tomato soup / Tomatsuppe

I have just finished my lunch, leftover from yesterday’s dinner; homemade tomato soup. I made it yesterday for the first time, but definitely not for the last time!

Jeg har akkurat fullført lunchen min, rester fra gårsdagens middag – hjemmelaga tomatsuppe. Jeg lagte den for første gang i går, men det blir absolutt ikke siste gang!

This was actually my first meeting ever with home made tomato soup. Which is insane, considering how easy it was to make and how delicious it was compared to what I’m used to.

Det var faktisk første gang noensinne at jeg smakte hjemmelaga tomatsuppe – noe som er helt håpløst med tanke på hvor fantastisk mye bedre den var. Og så enkel i tillegg!

This is what I’m used to, and probably a large percentage of the inhabitants of Norway.

Denne er hva jeg er vant med, det samme er sikkert en stor prosentandel av den norske befolkningen.

And this is the content of this wee bag:

Dette er innholden I Toros tomatsuppe:

Corn starch, tomatoe, wheat flour, sugar, salt, milk, vegetable fat, flavour enhancer, aroma, onion, colour (paprika extract, beta apokarotenal)

Maisstivelse, tomat 23 %, hvetemel, sukker, salt, skummetmelk, vegetabilsk fett, smaksforsterker (natriumglutamat), aroma, løk, farge (paprikaekstrakt, beta apokarotenal).

I used Jamie Oliver’s recipe from Ministry of Food, and this is the contents of that:

Jeg brukte Jamie Olivers oppskrift fra Ministry of Food, og her er innholdet i den:

1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 2 carrots, 2 boxes of chopped tomatos, 3 tomatos, 1 handfull of basil leaves, 2 stock cubes and olive oil.

1 løk, 1 fedd hvitløk, 2 gulerøtter, 2 bokser hakkede tomater, 3 hele tomater, 1 håndfull basilikumblader, to buljongterninger og olivenolje.

What would you prefer?

Hva hadde du foretrukket?

If anyone’s interested in the ‘how to’ of the soup, give me a wink, and I’ll post

Hvis noen er interessert i fremgangsmåte, så gi meg et lite vink så skal jeg poste.

The Dinner Challenge

It’s Sunday again and I am once again face to face with my form/list of next week’s dinners. Unfortunately I often feel like I am repeating some dinners over and over again. Of course, it is only natural, as some dishes are easy to make, the entire family likes them and they are good, healthy meals. But it gets boring.

So here is a small challenge for you, answer these questions, or some of the questions. Either as a comment to this post, or make a post about something similar where you answer these at your blog.

1. What dish do you feel like you repeat most often?

I feel like I very often serve boiled, lightly salted codfish with boiled potatoes and carrots. I am not very creative when it comes to codfish.

1. What is your favourite everyday dinner?

These days it would be a dinner that makes itself and cleans itself. Last time that happened I had homemade cauliflower soup with bacons, sausages and broccoli. I love soups during the cold seasons.

1. What dinner is you childrens’(husband’s, boyfriend’s, wife’s, girlfriend’s) favourite?

My husband would probably prefer a good steak, I think, with a butter based sauce, gratinated potatoes and boiled vegetables. Son is not that much of a dinner person, but the last meal he truly loved was the homemade fish fingers.

 

As we all probably have dinners that often find their ways to the dinner table, if there are gathered we’ll have a list of healthy, easy and tasty dinners.