Happy New Year 2010!!

French Plum Tart

It is one of the most easy tarts I ever made. And extremely fast and easy to make, as all you need is 3 ingredients.

I used:
- french dough
- plums
- sugar



I washed the plums, cut them in four pieces and put them in a bowl with sugar to set.



I put the dough in a tart pan. On top I put small butter cubes and sugar. Into the oven, 180 Celsius degrees for a few minutes until it melts.



I took the tart out of the oven and arranged the plums in circles. Sprinkle lots of sugar on top. I put it back into the oven until it's done.



It's a very delicate tart, sweet in the beginning and then sour as we bite into the plums, and crunchy from the dough... For me it is a delicate, easy and delicious desert!

Bacon, potatoes, eggs and broccoli gratin

I am crazy about any kind of gratin. The golden crust on top makes me wanting to eat one each day. Only if they wouldn't be such caloric bombs... Of course, one can make lighter versions, but it wouldn't taste the same, would it? :)
This recipe I don't think is any news for anybody, but it's something that I make pretty often, and it never goes wrong. You can have guests over, or just eating alone, and every time ittastes incredibly.

I used:
- potatoes
- bacon
- eggs
- broccoli
- cheese
- butter
- milk
- flower
- salt and pepper



Boil the potatoes with a pinch of salt and cut them into slices. Same with the eggs, boil and slice them. Fry the bacon in a pan and put it on absorbent sheets to get rid of the extra fat. My broccoli was frozen, so I put it in the same water the potatoes boiled, for 10 min.

I made a bechamel sauce out of the butter, flower and milk. I melted the butter and added the flower by stirring continuously. Then I added the milk and stirred again. Leave on low firefor 10 more minutes to get rid of the flower taste.



In a buttered baking pan I put layers of potatoes, egg, broccoli and bacon.









I sprinkled on top the cheese and poured half of the sauce.





Repeat the operation, but this time leave aside the cheese layer. This one will come on top of everything, after the bechamel.



Leave it in the hot oven, 25-30 minutes at 200 Celsius degrees, until it becomes golden brown.



It is extremely tasty when you take it out of the oven, but it can be served the next day too, after you microwave it!

Salmon en croute

I wanted to make a salmon en croute for some while now. And considering that I do love both salmon and pastry, it seemed like a naturally choice for me.

I used:
2 salmon filet's
chopped fresh dill
1 sheet of puff pastry
lemon juice
1 egg
salt and pepper

I marinated the salmon ina mix of lemon juice, salt and pepper, chopped dill. From my pictures you can see that I added a orange spice. It's not curry, even though it looks like that. It's a Swedish spice called Citrus, that has, among other ingredients, lemon zest, onion, garlic, different herbs, and that is perfect for fish and chicken dishes. The marinated salmon I put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.



I cut the pastry in two and layed in the middle one salmon filet.



Fold the sides together and make slits in the top with a knife, to allow steam to escape. I brushed all over with the egg-wash.



I baked it in the oven, 200 Celsius degrees for about 20-25 minutes.



We served it with sauteed veggies and sauce made from yogurt, mayo and fresh chopped dill!



We licked our fingers, that's how tasty it was :)

Kärleksmums

Some while ago, Salmi made "something sweet for the week-end". I liked it very much and I decided to try it as well. I wasn't disappointed!
In the magazine she found the recipe, the cake was called "MUMS med lyxtopp", but after my Swedish boyfriend saw it, he said: "But this is kärleksmums!" Translated as "Yummy love bites"
Here you can find the original recipe posted by Salmi on her blog.

I used:
- for the dough:
225 gr butter
3 eggs
4dl granulated sugar
6dl all purpose flower
1/2 dl cocoa
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2dl milk
- for the topping:
100gr melted butter
5dl powder sugar
1/2 dl cocoa
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
2 1/2 tbsp strong coffee

For the dough, I mixed together the flower, cocoa, vanilla sugar and the baking powder.



I melted the butter in a saucepan and let it cool off. I beaten the eggs with the granulated sugar, until they became white and fluffy.



Over the mix of dry ingredients I added, alternatively, the melted butter, the eggs and the milk.



Pour the mixture into a pre-buttered pan.



Set the oven on 200 Celsius degrees and bake it for around 20-25 minutes. Feel free to use the toothpick test! Let it cool off.



With the topping it went extremely easy: just mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.





Pour the topping over the dough and cut it into small pieces.





It can be ornated with any kind of small bonbons, coconut flakes, small flakes of white chocolate.



It is a very easy to make delicious cake, and you can find it all around Sweden in different cake-shops!

Scallops with butter sauce on a bed of spinach

I am a huge fan of "Hell's Kitchen". I think I have seen all the seasons so far. And if they have one thing in common, that's the scallops recipe. I have never tasted scallops before, but I've seen them in the stores, so that is why I decided to buy and cook some!

I used:
- 250gr scallops
- 2 garlic cloves
- baby spinach leaves
- 80gr salted butter
- parsley
- juice from half a lemon



I defrosted the scallops and dried them off with a piece of cloth to absorb the water. I melted the butter in a pan with veeery little oil. I added the scallops and fried them on medium fire, 2-3 minutes on each side.



Add the garlic cut in small flakes, the chopped parsley and the lemon juice, and let them stay there for another 1-2 minutes, but not more.



Take out the scallops from the pan and add the baby spinach leaves. Cook them for 2-3 minutes or until they become soft.



On a plate I put the spinach, added the scallops on top and poured the sauce.



They are extremely tender, with a sweet and sour taste. They're worth a try!

Blueberry Crumble

I wasn't a huge fan of crumble tarts until I came to Sweden, because in Romania we don't usually do the tarts this way. But I tasted it here and I fell in love with it! I've been given the recipe, and I was absolutely stunned by how little time it takes to make it :)
The original recipe comes from England and for the filling we can use almost any type of fruits: apples, peaches, plums, blackberries, blueberries etc.

I used:
-for the crumble:
2-3 tsp vanilla sugar
3 tbs white sugar
2 tbs brown sugar
150gr butter
75gr almonds
100g oatmeal flakes
350gr flower
-for the filling:
2 tbs flower
2 tbs brown sugar
250-300 gr blueberries



To make the crumble, put in a large bowl and mix together the brown sugar, flower, white sugar, vanilla sugar, oatmeal flakes and almonds.



Add the butter, room temperature and cut in small cubes. Mix it all together and don't worry if chunks of butter still remain, they will melt in the oven.





In another bowl I put the blueberries with the brown sugar and the flower and mixed them.



Put the blueberries in a tart form.



Sprinkle the crumble on top.



Put it in the oven, 200 Celsius degrees for around 25-30 minutes.



Serve with vanilla icecream or vanilla cream mousse. It's wonderfully delicious!