Recipes

Meatballs with Cream Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients
250gm minced beef
250gm minced pork
1 egg
200-300ml cream and water (or milk and water)
2.5 tbsp. finely-chopped onion
50ml unsweetened rusk flour
2 cold boiled potatoes
4-5 tbsps butter, margarine or oil
Salt and pepper


Procedure:
Heat the onion till golden in a couple of tablespoons of lightly browned butter. Mash the potatoes and moisten the rusk flour in a little water. Mix all the ingredients until there is consistency and flavour generously with salt, white pepper and (optional) a little finely crushed allspice. Use a pair of spoons to shape the mixture into relatively large, round balls and transfer to a floured chopping board. Fry them slowly in plenty of butter.

Meatball casserole with apples
Serves 4

Ingredients
30 - 40 READY-MADE MEATBALLS "KÖTTBULLAR"
3 APPLES
4 POTATOES
400G WHITE CABBAGE
1 TSP. SUGAR
1 CUBE OF CHICKEN OR BEEF STOCK
3 DL CIDER
MILLED ALLSPICE
SALT

Procedure:
Peel the potatoes, roughly slicing both them and the cabbage. Peel and de-core the apples and cut them into segments. Heat the potatoes and cabbage in a little butter. Add the sugar and continue heating until the mixture colours a little. Add the segments of apple and heat for another minute or so. Add the cider and stock cube. Add salt and allspice to taste and cook for about 5 minutes. Fry the meatballs as per the instructions on the packages. Add them when ready and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve the casserole in deep plates; crispbread makes a good accessory.

Ginger-glazed fillet of a salmon with warm potato salad
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 PKTS OF SALMON FILLETS (4 X 125G) "LAXFILË"
400G POTATOES BOILED AND SLICED
1 LEEK, CUT DIAGONALLY INTO THIN SLICES
1 MEDIUM-LARGE CHINESE CABBAGE, SHREDDED SALT, BLACK PEPPER
DILL

For the glaze:
1/2 DL SUGAR
1 DL APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
4 DL CHICKEN STOCK OR SUCH LIKE
50G FRESH GINGER, PEELED AND SHREDDED FINE
1 CLOVE OF GARLIC, PRESSED
1 TBSP. SPANISH PEPPER
CORN FLOUR
SALT

Procedure:
Melt the sugar to a pale caramel in a saucepan. Add the vinegar and stock. Boil briskly, skim and add the ginger, the garlic and the Spanish pepper. Boil for about 15 or 20 minutes. Add salt to taste and thicken to the right consistency with corn flour. Salt the pieces of salmon and put them into an ovenproof dish. Brown in the oven at 200°C for about 8-12 minutes. Brown the potato, leek and Chinese cabbage lightly in a little butter over a low flame. Add salt and pepper to taste. Make a bed of the warm potato salad on the plate, with the salmon on top and pour the ginger glaze over it. Garnish with a sprig of dill. A green vegetable makes a good companion piece.

"Apelsinchokladkaka" or Orange chocolate cake

Ingredients
Grated skin of 2 oranges
½ dl orange liquor
½ dl squeezed orange juice
100g butter
200g dark chocolate
4 eggs
2 dl (170g) castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 dl (60g) wheat flour

Method
Grate the orange skin and mix with liquor and orange juice in a saucepan. Simmer gently until about 2 tablespoons of liquid remain. Leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 175° C. Melt the butter in a saucepan and remove from heat. Melt the chocolate in the butter. Whisk the egg, sugar and vanilla sugar together until white and fluffy. Mix with the orange juice mix, butter and chocolate mix together with the flour. Put the mixture into a heart shaped cake tin (approx. 1½ litre capacity). Bake in the lower half of the oven for about 55 minutes. Leave to cool in the cake tin. When cool, remove from cake tin and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Note - Instead of one large heart cake, you could divide the mixture into small cakes. In this case they will only need 20 minutes to bake.

"Våfflor" or Waffles
10-12 waffles

Ingredients
150g margarine or butter
2½ dl cold water (preferably ice water)
2dl milk
½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ dl wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Method
Melt the butter and leave it to cool.
Pour water and milk into a bowl.
Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt and stir into the bowl.
Whisk until the mixture is smooth.
Stir in the melted butter.
Fry waffles and serve with jam and cream.

Note - A typical Swedish waffle is a very specific shape! It's at least four hearts side by side in a flower shape.

"Kantarellsoppa" or Chanterelle soup

Ingredients
300g fresh chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned
1 finely chopped yellow onion
6dl mushroom flavoured or vegetable stock
1 dl milk
1 dl whipped cream
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Method
Sauté the chanterelles and onion in the fat long enough so that they become crisp.
Add the stock, milk and cream and simmer for 15 minutes until the soup chickens.
Liquidise with a hand blender and season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with fresh chanterelles, onion and flat leaf parsley.
Serve with crusty bread.

"Äppelkaka" or Swedish Apple Pie
6-8 portions

Ingredients
200g butter
300g sugar
5dl wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 coffee spoons vanilla sugar
6-8 peeled and grated apples

Method
Mix together the flour and baking soda and then rub in the butter with your fingertips until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Then mix in the sugar and vanilla sugar. Gather together to create pastry, using a little water to bind the dough if necessary. Knead lightly and roll out the pastry and line the inside of an ovenproof dish, saving enough pastry mixture to cover. Fill the dish with the apples and cover with the remaining pastry. Bake at 250°C for about 25 minutes. Serve with vanilla sauce.

"Ärtsoppa med fläsk" or Pea soup with bacon
6-8 portions

Ingredients
6 dl yellow peas
400-500 g salted shoulder or side bacon
2 bay leaves
1 carrot
4 cloves
1-2 yellow onions
½ tablespoon marjoram
½ tablespoon thyme
salt
fresh thyme

Method
Soak the peas in water overnight. Drain the peas and then add fresh water so that the peas are well covered. Add the bacon, bring to the boil and skim. Add the bay leaves, the peeled carrot and onion, which has the cloves stuck into it. Simmer gently and add more water as necessary. Skim off the pea skins from time to time. Add the marjoram and thyme when the soup has been cooking for about one hour.

Remove the bacon when it is cooked, after 1- 1½ hours. Dice some of the bacon and put back into the soup. The rest of the bacon should be sliced and served on a plate on the side. The soup is ready when the peas are soft. Remove the carrot and onion and stir the soup with a whisk. Check the seasoning, and if necessary add more salt. Serve the soup with bacon, mustard and freshly chopped thyme.

"Skånsk äppelkaka" or Apple cake from Skåne
4 persons

Ingredients
4 dl grated dark rye bread
150 g butter
2 apples
3 dl lightly sugared apple purée

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Grease a round cake tin.
Fry the bread crumbs in batches in 100g butter.
Grate the apples.
Put half of the bread into the tin, spread with the apple purée and grated apple.
Put the rest of the bread on top, smooth and fine.
Dot the remaining butter on top.
Bake the cake for half an hour.
Serve the apple cake lukewarm with vanilla sauce or whipped cream.