Römertopf Lergryta Kotlettstek i tomatröra Romertopf Pork Cutlet in Tomato sauce

I decided to 'play' with my new kitchen toy, a Römertopf clay baker I got as a birthday present from my brother-in-law. I was eyeing it for a while but was waiting for an interesting recipe to inspire me to get it. This originally came from Germany but googling it didn't turn up too many recipes although the clay baker came with a recipe book already (in swedish though). I got Johan to pick something to make with pork (since we got some pork cutlet the other day) and he picked this. It turns out to be surprisingly good, although I was joking with Johan that it's obvious why he likes this recipe - it's sort of like a pizza topping without the pizza bread. However the pork turns out quite nice and moist, not dry at all.

The preparation is easy enough, it's just the time taken to bake it at a high temperature that may turn some of you off. As it was my first time making it, I decided to halve the recipe but in the end, I wish I had done the full recipe instead. We had this with pasta, but the suggestion to serve with rice and potatoes sounds good too.

Recipe / recept

750g-1kg pork cutlets in cubes/750g-1kg fläskkotlett i bit

salt

pepper/peppar

4-6 slices of smoked ham /4-6 skivor rökt skinka

2 dl coarsely grated cheese /2 dl grovriven ost

1 can crushed tomatoes /1 burk krossade tomater

black pepper /svartpeppar

2 teaspoon of dried basil or oregano / 1 tsk basilika eller oregano

1 minced garlic clove /1 krossad vitlökslyfta

Steps

1. Soak the clay baker in water for at least 20 minutes, covered in water thoroughly. Drain and set aside.
   Lägga Romertopf lergryta i blöt för 20 min, torka av och sätten åt sidan.
   
   
   
2. Season the pork with salt and pepper and lay it in the soaked clay baker.
   Krydda köttet med salt och peppar och lägg det i den genomfuktade lergrytan.
   
   
3. Cover it with sliced ham and cheese.
   Täck med skinkan i strimlor och den rivna osten.
   
   
   
   
4. Mixed the crushed tomatoes with black pepper and dried herbs (you can use 1 teaspoon basil and 1 teaspoon oregano also) and minced garlic (can grate or use a garlic press) in a bowl and spoon it around the pork cubes.
   Blanda tomaterna med svartpeppar, örtkrydda och vitlök och häll blandningen runt köttet.
   
   
   
5. Cover the clay baker and put in a cold oven. Then turn the heat on at 250°C and bake for 1h 30 mins - 1h 45 mins.
   Lägg på locket och ställ in grytan i ugnen. Sätt på ugnen och ställ termostaten på 250°C och stek 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 timme. Servera med ris eller potatis.
   
   
   

Spicy Aubergine Pot 茄子煲

I like aubergine or eggplants, especially in curries and all manner of spiciness. This is a deviation from the fried sambal one and is also one you will find in most Chinese restaurants. This is from one of my more frequently-used cookbook, Fuchsia Dunlop's Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, which I would highly recommend both her books if you like Sichuan and Chinese cooking. I normally cook half of this recipe as Johan doesn't like eggplants that much.

Ingredients

650g aubergine

salt

2 shitake mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes

75g minced pork

2 tablespoons chili bean paste

2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger

2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic

1 fresh chili, finely sliced

150ml stock

1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce

2 spring onions, green parts only finely sliced

1 teaspoon sesame oil

cooking oil for deep frying

Steps

1. Peel the aubergines (if desired, I normally don't) and cut them into long chunks. Sprinkle them with salt and leave it to drain for about 30 minutes.
2. Drain the shitake mushrooms and squeeze dry before chopping them finely and set aside.
3. Rinse and pat dry the aubergine. Heat the oil for deep frying over high flame and add the aubergine to fry until they are tender and faintly golden brown. Drain off excess oil and set aside on some paper. Depending on the scale of the recipe you are doing, this may be performed in batches.
   
   
   
   
4. Leave about 3 tablespoons of oil in the wok and return it over high flame. Add the pork and stir fry until it separates and loses its water content. Add the chili bean paste and stir fry until the oil is red.
5. Add the ginger, garlic, mushroom and chili and stir fry until they are fragrant. Add in the stock and dark soy sauce, mix well before adding the aubergines and simmer for a few minutes over medium heat. Season with salt if necessary.
   
   
   
6. Finally turn up the heat to reduce the sauce if necessary, add in the spring onion and stir fry until they just turn bright green. Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the sesame oil and serve hot.
   
   
   

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I finally got the courage to try this cupcake, after Evelyn, a professional baker in London told me about the recipe from Hummingbird bakery. I got the recipe off their website (under 'Download Our Baking Tips') and it turned out quite well! Mind you, if you are not into so much food coloring, you might not make this so often. I didn't think of getting their icing recipe and made up one my own, so it was a bit runny, but I found the right one should be:

300g icing sugar, sifted
50g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
125g cream cheese, cold

Beat the icing sugar and butter together, than add all the cream cheese and beat until incorporated, not more than 5 minutes so it will not be too runny.

Ingredients

60 g unsalted butter,at room temperature
150 g caster sugar
1 egg
10 g cocoa powder
20 ml red food colouring (preferably
Dr. Oetker Red Food Colouring)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
120 ml buttermilk or filmjölk if you are in sweden
150 g plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1½ teaspoons white wine vinegar

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Beat the butter and the sugar in a freestanding electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy and well mixed.
3. Turn the mixer up to high speed, slowly add the egg and beat until everything is well incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, red food colouring and vanilla extract to make a thick, dark paste. Add to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly until evenly combined and coloured.
   
   
   
5. Turn the mixer down to slow speed and slowly pour in half the buttermilk. Beat until well mixed, then add half the flour, and beat until everything is well incorporated.
   
   
   
6. Repeat this process until all the buttermilk and flour have been added. Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat until you have a smooth, even mixture. Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Beat until well mixed, then turn up the speed again and beat for a couple more minutes.
7. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling
   rack to cool completely before icing. Decorate if desire.
   
   
   

Stir Fry Scallops with Asparagus Steka Kammusslor med sparris

Had a really nice reunion dinner with my Swedish family here in Lund and we did some dishes, including homemade yusheng, which gave me an excuse to get a Peel Appeal Julienne Cutter from a kitchen supplies shop here called Hasselgrens. It cost 125kr, and I thought it was still ok to fit into my overcrowded kitchen drawer. I also just celebrated my birthday and had a cosy steamboat/bbq dinner with some friends on Friday and did some bulgogi pork which went down quite well :)

My mother-in-grace asked about the recipe for this dish (so they liked it!) and hence, a Swedish version comes with it. If any of my Swedish readers like a translation of any recipes, do drop me a note, I can definitely use it as a practice for my fledgling Swedish, heh.

Jag hade en riktigt trevlig kinesiska ny år middag med min svenska familj här i Lund och vi gjorde några rätter, inklusive hemlagad Yusheng, vilket gav mig en ursäkt för att få en Peel Appeal Julienne Cutter från Hasselgrens. Det kostade 125Kr, och jag tyckte det var okej att passa in i min överfulla kökslåda. Jag har också precis firat min födelsedag och hade en mysig steamboat/ BBQ middag med några vänner på fredagen och gjorde en  bulgogi fläsk som gick bra:)

Min svarmör frågade om receptet på denna maträtt (för att de gillade det!) och därmed kommer den svenska versionen med den. Om någon av mina svenska läsare vill ha en översättning av alla recept, bara skicka mig en komment så kan jag definitivt använda den som en praxis för min svenska.

Ingredients

12 frozen scallops, thawed and halved horizontally (12 frysta pilgrimsmusslor, tinats och halverade horisontellt)

2 bundles of asparagus (2 buntar av sparris)

2 cm of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin silvers (2 cm färsk ingefära, skalad och skuren i tunna delar)

1 clove of garlic, minced (1 vitlöksklyfta, hackad)
splash of Shaoxing wine (2 tsk Shaoxing vin eller sherry)
salt

2 turns of freshly milled black pepper (salt och peppar)

2 teaspoons of oyster sauce (2 tsk ostronsås)

Sprinkle of chicken stock granules (granulat kycklingbuljong)

Steps

1. Coat the bottom of a hot pan with oil, and add the scallops flat side down and cook on one side for about 4 minutes, then turn to saute the other side for about 1 minute. Add a splash of Shaoxing wine (or sherry) and sprinkle some salt and black pepper over the scallops before setting it aside while you prepare the asparagus.
   
   (Täck botten på en het panna med olja och lägg pilgrimsmusslorna platt nedåt och koka på ena sidan i ca 4 minuter, sedan vända sig till stek den andra sidan i cirka 1 minut. Lägg till Shaoxing vin (eller sherry) och lite salt och svartpeppar över pilgrimsmusslor och ta bort från av spisen)
   
2. Wash and break the asparagus off around the woody part and bias slice (cut at 45 degrees angle to the vegetable)the rest in about 1.5cm sections.
   
   (Tvätta och bryta sparris bort runt vedartade del och bias slice (skuren i 45 graders vinkel mot vegetabiliska) resten i ca 1,5 cm sektioner.)
   
3. In a pan, add about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil over medium heat. Add the ginger first and stir fry until it is slightly brown before adding the minced garlic.
   
   (I en stekpanna, tillsätt ca 1 matsked matolja på medelvärme. Tillsätt ingefära första och stek tills det är något brun innan du lägger till hackad vitlök.)
   
4. Add the asparagus and stir fry it until it is al-dente before adding about 50ml water, oyster sauce and chicken stock granules.
   
   (Tillsätt sparrisen och stek den tills den är al dente-innan du lägger om 50ml vatten, ostronsås och kyckling granulat lager.)
   
5. Return the scallops to the pan and mix it well and serve hot.
   
   (Tillsätt pilgrimsmusslor i grytan och blanda det väl och servera varm.)

Our little reunion dinner feast