Posts Tagged ‘recipe’
A Strawberry Cake to Celebrate Swedish Midsummer
Summer solstice marks the longest day of the year, and that’s cause for celebration. This week is one of sunshine stretching into the evening, carpets of wildflowers in the midst of grassy fields, bare feet and picnic blankets.
For me, it marks the celebration of Swedish midsommar, which will be celebrated this Friday. The traditional midsommar spread of food is one of my favorites, featuring some of my favorite dishes like marinated cucumbers, pickled herring (which you can even use in a savory cake), and plenty of knäckebröd.
But my favorite part of midsommar has to be dessert. Strawberry cake is one of the most common desserts on the Swedish midsommar table, and it puts seasonal berries front and center. It’s a simple dessert, topped with plenty of whipped cream and bright red berries.
I like to make the cake with cardamom, and even marinate a few strawberries in honey and cardamom to use as the center filling. The cake is cut in half, so that you can layer it, but if you want to make an even fancier cake, consider making two of them and layering them.
Outdoor Cooking: Cilantro and Tomato Bruschetta
This summer, I embarked on a bicycle tour – a pedal-powered book tour, in fact! – from my house, west of Seattle, all the way down to San Francisco. As was to be expected, I cooked a lot of food along the way, and now that I am back in front of the computer (far less interesting than being on a bicycle, I assure you) I’ve been busy compiling all the recipes.
The first one went up this week on Adventure Journal and I wanted to share it here because it’s perfect for using up late summer tomatoes. And even if you’re not on a bike trip, this works well as an at-home appetizer too. But soak up those final rays of summer and go enjoy it outdoors!
Cilantro and Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta
- 2 to 3 medium-sized heirloom tomatoes
- 4 to 5 cloves garlic
- A small handful of cilantro leaves, chopped (about 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped leaves)
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- 8 to 10 slices of bread
- Olive oil
Chop the tomatoes into small pieces and place them in in a bowl or pot. Finely chop two of the garlic cloves and add them to the tomatoes, along with the cilantro and a pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle a little olive oil over it and mix together. Taste. Add more salt and pepper as needed.
Place a frying pan or pot over medium heat on your stove and pour in a little olive oil. Grill a slide of bread on both sides, until both sides are a golden brown. Remove the bread slice from the pan and place on a plate. Take a clove of garlic and lightly rub the grilled bread with it. Top with a generous scoop of the tomato and cilantro mixture.
Repeat until you’ve grilled all the bread and used up the tomato and cilantro mixture.
Read the full post here.
Cranberry and Orange Buckwheat Porridge
Why make oatmeal when you can make buckwheat porridge?
My latest recipe for Adventure Journal is sweetened with honey, studded with dried cranberries and orange peel and a perfect addition to any outdoor morning ritual. You can snag the full recipe here.
Make These Chocolate Covered Figs with Almond Paste
These chocolate covered figs have become a favorite holiday recipe of mine. I just recently posted the recipe over on Foodie Underground and I thought I would share it here too. If you’re willing to spend some time in front of a bowl of melted chocolate dipping in dried figs, then making your own decadent holiday treats is totally doable. Don’t have figs? This recipe is also good with dried apricots.
Chocolate Covered Figs with Almond Paste
Ingredients:
About 50 dried figs (I prefer Black Mission figs)
7 ounces (200 grams) bittersweet dark chocolate
Turbinado sugar for garnish
For the almond paste:
1 cup raw almonds, blanched
1/4 cup (1.75 ounces, 50 grams) natural cane sugar
1 tablespoon whiskey (optional)
Other:
Parchment paper
Preparation:
Begin by preparing the almond paste. To blanch the almonds, place them in a bowl and cover them with hot/boiling water. Let sit for a few minutes until you can put your hand in the water. The skins should be loose and you should be easily able to pop the almonds out of them. Place the skins in one bowl and the blanched almonds in another.
Compost the almond skins and pour off any water that is in the bowl of blanched almonds. Place the blanched almonds in a food processor with the sugar and whiskey and mix until well blended. The mixture should be sticky and moldable.
Lay out a piece of parchment paper on your countertop. Take a small amount of almond paste and mold it around the bottom two thirds of each fig (approximately). They will look like this – complete with terrible lighting if you make these at night like I did!
Melt the chocolate by placing it in a heat-proof bowl inside of a saucepan with hot water. Dip the figs covered in almond paste into the melted chocolate, so that the chocolate covers the almond paste, and place on the parchment paper.
Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and leave to dry until the chocolate has hardened.
Store in an airtight container, out of direct sunlight (for example, in a cupboard). If you want to give some away – if you manage not to eat them all yourself that is – a nice way to gift them is to place them in a sealable glass jar.
Read the full post on Foodie Underground
Make Your Own Fruit Bars
I am excited to have my latest recipe up over on Adventure Journal!
It’s a recipe for Blueberry Rye Bars, perfect as a packable snack, and a recipe that takes full advantage of summer berries. In fact, you can switch out the berries in this for whatever you have on hand. I’ve even made them with dried figs.
Most fruit bar recipes are heavy on brown sugar and butter, but this one uses honey and olive oil instead. You can catch the full recipe here.
Recipe: No-Bake Blueberry Cake
Did you know that if you mix honey and yogurt you can make a super simple frozen cake? Like ice cream cake, except way better for you.
I made this last summer and recently threw it together with a batch of blueberries that I had on hand. It’s the perfect cold summer treat. The crust is flourless too; made with almonds and hazelnuts, and a dash of whiskey for those who dare.
Reduce Food Waste: Make Pesto from Radish Greens
Did you know that you can cook with radish greens? Instead of throwing them away, you can use them for all kinds of things. They can be sautéed, added to smoothies or thrown into a salad. But my favorite way to use them is to make pesto.
It’s as easy as radish greens, some almonds or hazelnuts, garlic, olive oil and a little salt, pepper and lemon juice. Put it all in the blender and away you go.
The full recipe is up over on Foodie Underground if you want to try your own version. No point in tossing those radish greens anymore!
