Humble Mushrooms on Toast & 20% off My Book

Happy Black Friday or Happy Friday as it just learnt that they call it over in Norway, you learn something new everyday, right?

So since you are all probably spending ALL your silvers on other things than food, I thought of giving you a cheap, healthy and fantastically tasty recipe for a humble dish that is easy to forget about sometimes - Mushrooms on toast! Have you got some leftover mushrooms to spare? Mix them up if you have several kinds or just use plain white mushrooms like I did here - frying them until nice and golden releases all the flavours that they hold.

This toast topper is special enough to buy mushrooms for exclusively, I can tell you that much!

Humble Mushrooms on Toast
(Serves 1)

2 generous handfuls of mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp light butter
Salt and pepper
Parsley (freshly chopped or dry)
Other herbs and spices (not necessary, I used some Nigella seeds)
2 slices of toasted bread to serve

- Start by heating the oil in a medium frying pan. Turn it up high, add your mushrooms and seasoning. The pan should be so hot that it literally sizzles from the moment the mushrooms touch the pan.

- Add butter and turn down a little once they start browning and toast until they are the way you like them.

Serve with toasted bread and a little extra butter to serve, and enjoy with a hot cuppa for breakfast, or as a comforting evening snack.

What is your favourite mushrooms, and do you have a mix that works well? I'd love to get some tips and ideas from you!

And since it is Black Friday Blurb the booksite is having a sale as well, and you can now get 20% off my little poetry collection by quoting CYBER20 in the promotion code section!

Earthbound Little Lines by Julie Skogedal Hole | Make Your Own Book

Recipe by yours truly,

- Jules

Pear-Slice Pancakes

Fluffy pancake batter and slices of succulent Autumn fruits - how can you lose?!

This was easy enough to whip up in the morning , and you can mix slices of apple and pear for a bit of a surprise. The cinnamon spice really compliments the fruit, but that goes without saying!


Pear-Slice Pancakes
(Serves 1)

The top fell off a couple of times as I was taking the photos, go figure... I think it looks a little bit like a kiwi-bird...

1 pear (or apple) sliced about 3-4mm thick
1 cup fluffy, thick pancake batter (I used 1 egg, amaranth flour, coconut flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, almond milk and 1 tbsp xylitol - whisk, whisk - leave for five minutes, and it's ready!)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
A pinch of cardamom or nutmeg
1 tbsp butter or coconut oil

Syrup to serve!

- Make the pancake batter and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

- Slice the pear into rings, and heat the butter or oil into a frying pan on medium-high heat.

- Dip the slices into the pancake batter and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.

- Stack them high, and douse your favourite syrup or butter over the top and tuck in!

And on the note of sweets, today my friend Rhea and I went on a little cafê crawl, OK...we only went to two but it was so nice to get to catch up, I hadn't seen her in months!

We came across this tiny little almost Disney-like place where there were three tables, old china plates and saucers hanging on the wall, along with printed fabric bags and cloths, and handmade art for sale. It was great, and as the gingerbread they were selling had come straight out from the oven and had juuuust had the icing drizzled over it, we couldn't help but share a piece. Along with the cake, I had a Mulled Wine latte and Rhea had a deluxe minty hot chocolate.....

Just looks at it! Guess christmas came early ^ ^ What is your absolute sweet Winter comforter? It can be a drink or a cake, or anything else! Perhaps there's a place you visit as a tradition around this time of year?


Original source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheComfortOfCooking/~3/xSfBYbtWrtQ/apple-pancake-rings.html

- Jules

Aloo Gobi

Good morning!

After five days at work, I am finally off, and I am making the most of it! I have already been doing some experimenting in the kitchen, as I tried to make vegan Tiramisu Pancakes, but I find vegan pancakes tend to not set very well, so I ended up with delicious mush instead - I am not complaining, buuut it might not be posted up on this here blog in the future. And will you believe it if I said my stick blender broke when I tried to whizz up the pancake batter feat. diced courgette/zucchini? So I'm going to hunt me down a new one today, haha.
On another note, I have tried a few more of the Oatmeal Artist's recipes which have been a success though, so ch-ch-check her out!

So I settled on savoury for today's recipe instead!

I am used to this being "Gobi Aloo", but I suppose turning the words doesn't make it any less of a dish, it's just "cauliflower potato" or "potato cauliflower" anyway!

This is a dish I used to make when I was working at Babu Kitchen in town, and so I was wondering what Miss Dahl's version would taste like in comparison!

They are both delicious, and fragrant, and definitely worth a try! Serve it with rotis, dosa, flatbread, with rice, or simply enjoy on its own!

Oh, and as I have said before, don't be intimidated by the ingredients list, it's mainly spices and herbs!

Aloo Gobi
(Serves 2-3)

1 tbsp oil or ghee
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 small green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground or fresh ginger
1 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leaves
250g chopped tomatoes plus 1/3 cup water (I used 400g tomatoes)
4 medium potatoes, diced
1/2 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 tsp sugar
A squeeze or lemon juice
A pinch of cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

Dosa, flatbread, raita, natural yogurt, rice or anything else you want to serve it with!

- Start by heating oil in a casserole and soften the onion for about five minutes. Then add the spices, curry leaves and the fresh chilli and fry for about a minute.

- Now, add the potatoes, tomatoes and the water and simmer for about 15 minutes, then you want to add the cauliflower, the sugar and lemon and cook for a further 15 minutes and it is ready to serve up!

I hope you have a lovely day!


Original source:
From Season to Seaon, p. 63

- Jules

Sunshine Sweet Potato

Note to self - when it states "large sweet potato" get a laaaarge sweet potato, especially when you intend to bake it and stuff it with all the goodness of the world. Sadly, I had to leave out some of the goodness in the world here, but worry not, I had the rest in a bowl as I was waiting for the egg to bake.

Note to you - this was really delicious! I used a vegetarian Quorn sausage instead of spicy sausage as the original recipe calls for, but the chilli and smoked paprika added spice aplenty!

Sunshine Sweet Potato
(Serves 1)

1 XXL sweet potato (just sayin')
1 tbsp butter
1 Quorn sausage, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 tsp fresh chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
A good dash smoked paprika
15g grated cheddar
Chopped fresh coriander (optional)
Salt and black pepper
1 egg

- Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. If you want, peel the sweet potato, or wash it and bake for about 50 minutes until tender.

- Once it's ten minutes left of the cooking time, heat the butter in a small frying pan and fosten the onion along with the sausage, once soft, todd in the chilli and seasoning and fry for another minute or two.

- Now, scoop out most of the sweet potato, but making sure the outer layer is intact. In a bowl, mix the excess sweet potato with the sausage mix, and cheese and place back into the potato (if it doesn't all fit, just eat it ^ ^). Make a well in the middle of the mixture and crack the egg into it. Return the potato to the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the egg is cooked.

Serve up and eeeeenjoy! This was so easy and tasty - will definitely be making it again, with a BIG sweet potato next time!

For some reason, sweet potato is one of those vegetables that I prefer peeled, I usually never peel carrots or other potatoes, because - it's good for you, and it doesn't taste any different. I think it's because I went through a sweet potato phase (yes, these exist) and I had it too frequently. Anywho! The one I got in the shop turned out to have white flesh, which doesn't bake as well as the more common orange sweet potato.

Oh and by the way, sorry for the few days' absence, I have been working non-stop this weekend, and on Friday I went to the cinema with a friend. I hadn't been to the cinema since I-don't-know-when - I saw the new Hunger Games movie. Then, yesterday Mari-cat treated me to dinner at her place, which was lovely! She made her now infamous pancake-cake-cake (sadly no photgraphic evidence of this phenomenon. One day though!) I hope you have had a lovely weekend! Have you been up to much?


Original source:
Spice it Up! p. 94

- Jules

Healthy Mutant Ninja Turtles

Candy turtles.. candy..wait, sweet turtles, as a... snack? What? How does this work?

This was pretty much my reaction the first time I saw someone writing up the recipe for these amazing little treats! The first time I made them, I did it with the Rolo chocolate, the "proper" way one might say, but then... THEN, I decided to make some healthified turtles, they tastes just as good as the original, but the "chocolate" is darker - which, in my humble opinion, is a good thing! My flatmate quality checked it as well, and couldn't believe they were healthy!

And the best thing? They're whipped up in minutes, and it hardly takes any longer to double, or treble the recipe, if anything, it might make it easier with a bigger batch of dates to make the chocolate paste - score! These disappeared pretty much the instant they were served up, mainly thanks to me...oops!

Healthy Mutant Ninja Turtles
(Makes 7-10 turtles)

Lightly salted pretzels
Pecan halves
7 dried dates, soaked for five minutes - then drained and roughly chopped
2 tbsp cocoa powder
A splash of water (1-2 tbsp)

- Start by having the cocoa, dates and water in a bowl, or a processor (you might need to make a bigger batch for it to work in a food processor). Whizz until combined, scraping out the stick blender from time to time to make sure it all gets mixed up.

- Once the chocolate paste is done, you're ready to roll! Plate up pretzels, and take some of the date-chocolate and roll into hazelnut shaped balls, place one on top of each pretzel. Once you've run out of chocolate paste, top each of the chocolate pretzels with a pecan and gently press down. You can make them look a little prettier, using your fingers to smoothen out the edges.

What are you waiting for? Serve these badboys up... Perfect with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk, yum!

Aaaaand speaking of chocolatey sweets.....

I finally got around to uploading some new photos on my little digital camera, and so I can show you my first creation in the chocolate factory! Spiced apple. Originally, I had toffee apple in mind, then when I tasted it - I thought about apple crumble, but the others thought the cinnamon was a little too powerful for it to be called that, so it ended up being Spiced Apple. It has a light crunch when you bite into it, pretty all right for a first I thought!


And I will finish off posting a picture of little Morrow, a lurcher who was waiting for his owner (who when turned up, told me that the dog's name was Morrow ^ ^).

Such a beautiful scruffy thing, with one brown eye and the other icy blue! I keep telling myself - when I win the lottery....Then I'll finally get a dog. One day! For now, my loyal little goldfish - Seamus and Finnegan will be there by my sice, I cannot believe they're five and a half years!

Do you have any pets?


Recipe by yours truly,

- Jules

Chilli Sin Carne

You might have had chilli con carne plenty of times before, but have you tried a good chilli sin (without) carne? It's cheap, healthy and really easy to whip up using store cubboard ingredients!

Chilli Sin Carne
(Serves 2-3)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
400g tin white beans (I used broad/fava beans)
400g tin kidney beans (or black beans)
1 tbsp tomato purée
1/2 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp (smoked) paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/2-1 tbsp cajun seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Tortilla chips or good bread to serve, optionally top with a bit of cheese, or serve with guacamole!

- Start by heating the oil in a medium-sized casserole, add the onion and garlic and soften for about 5 minutes before adding the fresh chilli.

- Now, add the remaining ingredients and heat through. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with whatever you want, or just the way it is. Perfect for a chilly Autumn day *smiles*

Also, last night I was so lucky to go to my friend Rowan Ross' second album launch, this time for his album "Fireflight" - check it out!
It was another friend who did the support act for it, and his performance was magic as well. I have to go to more local gigs in the near future, it's too good *smiles*

Today I am off and having a few friends over for dinner in the evening. I hope you have had a leisurely weekend and a great start to a new one!


Original source:
Sunnere & Sterkere med Proteinrik Mat, p. 104

- Jules

Spiced Kale Crisps (Not for Rabbits)

Kale crisps, whether it's "in" or out, I don't really care, because I reckon it is flippin' deeelicious!

The first time I tried it was in a wholefoods here in Glasgow, they had tasters by the counter and I could not help myself - and that I discovered was with good reason. The lovely greens, that taste nothing but the greens you were scared of as a child, but crisp, lightly salted, and so so sooo good!

I have been meaning to make it myself for some time, I mean... it's kale crisps, how hard can that be? The prices they charge for them in the shops can be extortionate, so why pay more when you can pay less, and make them fresh at home? Beats me.

There are various ways of doing it when it comes to the baking of the crisps; some take a handful of minutes, and others... slightly longer, I decided to go for the latter version, as I had a bit of time in my hand and the brain behind the recipe, who seemed like an experienced kale-crisper-upper recommended allowing them to bake on lower heat for longer.

Spiced Kale Crisps (Not for Rabbits)
(Makes 1 large cereal bowl)

1 small packet/ 1/2 large packet of fresh, green kale, roughly torn
1/2 tbsp olive oil - or coconut oil

1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper (optional)

- Pre-heat the oven to 150ºC.

- Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl.

- Have the kale in a large bowl and pour the oil over it. Massage the kale until all of it is nice and shiny. Pour over the seasoning and toss well.

- Transfer to a baking tray and place in the middle of the oven. bake for 10 minutes, turn the tray, and bake for a further 15 minutes. If they still haven't crisped up properly, toss a little and keep baking for five minutes intervalls whilst checking on them.

- Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving, and enjoy!

Have you tried kale crisps before, aaaaand do you have a favourite? Be it home made or bought, I'd love to hear it!

Aaaaand speaking of green stuff, as I mentioned yesterday I did a little "gardening" in the kitchen, and after having tended to the herbs in the windowsill, I took a few snaps of my carnivore plants, they're of the specie Nepenthes Alata, and I got the biggest of them from a dear friend about four years ago when I was working with him in an office and there were some flies buzzing. The plant didn't really do a good job as far as fly-catching went, but I reckon it looks beautiful! The little one is a cutting from the bigger one, I reckon it's fascinating how plants can multiply like that, and I remember when I was young, my grandmother would give me lots of "baby plants" that she would show me how to take care of, I used to have quite a collection. Yes, I was a geeky child, I guess some things never change....

Anyway, I hope you have a fantasmic weekend! I will spend most of it in work, but hopefully that'll be all right, and then I have a friends's album launch. You can check out his first video here starring yours truly in the beginning, and his brand new single Heavy Rain here! What have you got in store for the coming days? Hopefully something nice ^ ^


Original source:
http://ohsheglows.com/2014/03/12/6-tips-for-flawless-kale-chips-all-dressed-kale-chips-recipe/

- Jules

Skinny Potatoes & Eggs

Let's talk potatoes!

Chips straight from the oven, or roast potatoes - crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, surrounded by lots of goodies, it's what you want right? Well come on and follow me then, and whip up this easy peasy meal in no time! You can also add mushrooms to it if you like.

Add one egg for a good lunch, and two - dinner's served!

Skinny Potatoes & Eggs
(Serves 1)

200g salad potatoes, halved
1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
A dash black onion seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs

- Simply start by pre-heating the oven to 200ºC.

- Now, half the salad potatoes, and boil ten minutes. Drain and set aside.

- In a bowl, mix the chopped onion, potatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, and onion seeds (if using, you can also use nigella seeds). Place in a medium baking dish, or in a foil "bowl" (like the one you see in my picture). Bake for 20 minutes.

- Then, simply make two gaps in between the vegetables, and crack the eggs in and place back in the oven, baking for a further 10 minutes.

Cool slightly before serving, and tuck in!

What's your favourite way of serving egg? Feel free to link me to some good recipes ^ ^

Today, I've got a late shift at work, so I am just having a leisurely morning, before walking into town. I hope you have a great day! Much love x


Original source:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5588/healthy-egg-and-chips

- Jules

Lime Cupcakes

I saw this lovely, healthy recipe for lemon cupcakes, and decided to try and make them, adding a few bits here and there and using what I had at hand. They turned out really lovely, not too sweet, just the way I like it - and you can make some lime or lemon frosting or a cream cheese topping if you want, I kept them eu natural this time...

Lime Cupcakes
(Makes 6)

1 egg
Juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon)
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup milk of choice (I used almond)
2 tbsp vanilla protein powder
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tbsp sukrin gold/xylitol/brown sugar
A pinch of both bicarbonate of soda and baking powder (optional)
A handful of currants (optional) or you can use chocolate chips!

Lime cream cheese frosting or lime icing to serve

- Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC.

- Mix all the ingredients together well and pop into cupcake tins, moulds or papercups. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes.

- Leave to cool before frosting, or simply serve, I hope you like them!

What is your favourite fruit or vegetable cupcakes?

It is getting chilly out, but not nearly as cold as one would expect at this time of year on my side of the globe, but that i no excuse not to cozy up even still!

It's starting to go dark around 4 or 5 these days, and yesterday the moon was hanging beautifully in the sky when I saw it outside my window.

"Hello Mister Moon, how do you do?"


Original source:
Sunn & Sterk med Proteinrik Mat, p. 32

- Jules

Sweetpotato, Carrot & Spinach Soup

Hey!

I hope you're doing well, any grand plans for today? I myself have been working all week, and even covered in the kitchen for a couple of days! Today was my day off though, and after having caught up with a friend in town until the late hours yesterday - I ended up going to Ikea to wind down, and to buy a chair! I have a little office space set up in my room now with my ever so faithful laptop (going on its 7th year!) and new printer, sorted! I also bought another few things there, because y'know - it's Ikea! But onto a different subject!

It is Autumn, late-Autumn no less! I came across this lovely recipe on one of my favourite blogs, but decied to try and alter it a little as I had some spinach that needed used. In addition to this I used Chaat Masala instead of curry powder, but you can totally stick to tje original recipe.

Sweetpotato, Carrot & Spinach Soup
(Serves 2-3)

1 tbsp oil
1 onion or 1/2 leek, finely chopped (optional)
About 500-600ml stock of choice (enough to cover the vegetables)
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 sweet potato, finely chopped
1 tsp chaat masala or curry powder
A pinch of cayenne or a little chilli powder
A couple of handfuls of spinach leaves, torn (optional)

- Heat the oil in pan, and - if using - add your leek and onion to soften for a minute.

- Then, throw in the carrots and sweet potato along with some salt and pepper, stir until coated and add stock, and a little salt and pepper plus cayenne/chilli powder and chaat masala or curry powder.

- Simmer for about 20-30 minutes until the carrots are tender, and add the spinach leaves, these should wilt within a minute and so, after that, use a processor or stick blender and whizz the soup until it's nice and smooth.

I topped mine with some diced crabstick (making it non-veggie), but that was really not necessary as this soup was better on its own with some bread for dipping, and mopping, yum!

I pretended to look down on the canteen in Ikea earlier today, and "Spot the Norwegian" came to mind (Hint: She was denied meatballs at 10 a.m. and had to settle for a prawn and egg open-sandwich and blueberry cheesecake, and might have been wearing a knitted zipper hoodie... Just maybe...). Now I have built a chair, and later on I'm going to catch up with a friend - and make Irish stew! Feet up, and relax, mmmmm.

What are your plans for the weekend?


Original source:
http://www.kriweb.no/2014/10/20/sotpotet-og-gulrotsuppe/

- Jules

Easy Spiced Banana Kakemix Cake

HA! Try and say that lots of times and fast, quite the tongue-twister, eh?

It has been quite a long day - I was covering in the kitchen today, and I got to make lots of delicious things, and prepare meals for customers. But now I am beat! It's Bonfire Night here in Glasgow, and so now - with my feet up - I see the occasional fireworks outside my window, it's so nice!

But onto something completely different, but that sort of applies whenever you have had a long day and want to take a little shortcut (I am sure fellow Norwegian will have heard of this.....).


Kakemix.... I know there are quite a few fellow Norwegians who drop by this blog regularly, and I really appreciate that. Many of you might have bought the infamous "kakemix", and today, I though I would give you a lovely and super easy recipe that you can use it for. The cake base is sugarfree, but I decided to make the icing with real icing sugar instead of sukrin icing sugar. This cake bakes really fast, and within 35 minutes, your cake will be ready!

Easy Spiced Banana Kakemix Cake
(Makes 1 cake which is about 18cm in diameter)

125-150g kakemix
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
A pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp coconut oil (or sunflower oil)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk of choice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 banana, mashed

For the frosting:
1/2 cup icing sugar
Juice of 1/3-1/2 lime

- Pre-heat the oven to 180-200°C.

-Have all the dry ingredients in a bowl, stir well to combine before making a well in the middle. Pour in the oil, vanilla extract, eggs, milk and banana and mix well.

- Pour the batter into an 18-20 cm cake tin or mould, and place in the middle of the oven - bake for approximately 30 minutes. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes before preparing the frosting. Squeeze the juice of 1/3 of a lime and mix well, the icing should be quite thick, but still be able to drizzle. Add an extra squeeze of lime if it is too thick.

- Drizzle over the cake and serve! This went down a treat with my friends, and myself... The lime frosting goes amazingly well with the lovely, sweet cake. I hope you enjoy it too! The whole cake was out of sight before I got the chance to take a picture of an actual slice, but I suppose that's a good sign if anything!

Have you ever used kakemix before? Aaaaand will you celebrate Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes'?


Recipe by yours truly,

- Jules

Bulgur, Date & Clementine Salad

I dug up some recipes I wrote down last year but had yet to get around making. After having been to the BBC Good Food Show last week, I needed something that wasn't too heavy, and I decided to make this really lovely filling warm salad. It turned out to be a treat! Soft bulgur paired with chickpeas and the zing from the lemon and a subtle sweentess from the tangerine - delicious!

PS I used shelled pistachios instead of flaked almonds, but I imagine you can use either, just remember to toast them lightly!

Bulgur, Date & Clementine Salad
(Serves 2)

1/2 cup bulgur wheat
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cumin
3 dates, chopped
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
400g tin chickpeas, drianed and rinsed
1 clementine, peeled and cut into segments
1 handful pistachios, shelled, or flaked almonds
2 handfuls baby spinach, or spinach, roughly torn

Dressing:
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

- Start by having the bulgur, water, cumin, allspice and chopped dates in a small pot. Leave to cook for ten minutes, and add a little splash of water more if it goes a little dry. In the meantime - make the dressing and set aside.

- Once the bulgur is cooked, tip in the chickpeas, and parsley and heat through. Once done, take it off the heat and swirl the dressing through it. Set aside and toast your pistachios or almond flakes until golden, this should only take a couple of minutes.

- Have two handfuls of spinach on each plate and divide the bulgur mixture between them, top with the clemetine segments and the toasted pistachios/almonds, and tuck in!

This could definitely be served in a bowl and considered one of those amazingly tasty, healthy and clean super bowls, and should you be on a gluten-free diet, just use quinoa or barley in place of the bulgur and cook as instructed ^ ^

Roque before carving!

What is your favourite warm salad?


Original source:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2853678/bulghar-wheat-date-and-clementine-salad

- Jules