basil ice-cream

The last time I made this was for a good-bye dinner for my friends before I moved from Stockholm to Portland, OR. It tastes even better now than it did then! 

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1.5 dl white sugar

3 dl cream (40% fat - yum!)

1.5 tsp. vanilla sugar or some drops of vanilla extract to taste

1 dl of basil leaves

Separate yolks and whites. Whisk the yolks with sugar until its white and slushy. Whisk the whites well. Whip the cream together with the vanilla sugar until its nice whipped cream (but don't overdo it. You don't want to make butter!). Chop the basil leaves finely and mix add them to the bowl with the yokes. Add the whipped cream and egg whites carefully. Place in a container (or ice-cream machine) in the freezer for at least 6 hours. I found that the ice-cream tasted even better after 24 hours. Then the basil had really infused itself. Don't be afraid to really add lots and lots of basil. It's not the most common ice-cream flavor but the basil is so fresh and sweet. Serve with extra basil leaves (and do eat them. They're not just garnish.).

(source: recipe leaflet from konsum store)

I used basil that my mom grows on her balcony. So fresh and local!

Can You Feel the Beet (Pesto)?

Ingredients:

½ kg beets

2 dl grated parmesan cheese

1 dl olive oil

1 dl peeled almonds

1 garlic clove

ground black pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tbl sp lemon juice

 

Boil the beets and then peel them by hand under cold running water. To peel the almonds boil them in water for a few minutes and after that you can just kind of squeeze them out of their skins. Combine all the ingredients (cut the beets into smaller pieces) and blend in a food processor or with a mixer staff.

 

Serve with pasta. Pretend you’re eating your meal with Lisa Lisa ca 1985. In her video she wore purpleredish gloves, top, and  headband at different times. And her date takes her to a diner called roast beet. We all know what vegetable kept the Miami/NYC freestyle scene pumpin’.

 [Recipe from Sjöö, Björn and Sjöö, Kristina, Matkultur: Världens Kök, Max Ström, China, 2006.]  

little ears, big stomach

this tasty summertime pasta dish is traditionally made with orecchiette pasta, which means 'little ears' in italian - I have used corkscrew cavatappi noodles here, which are equally as delicious ...

Ingredients

1 package (500g)  of orecchiette pasta (or any pasta that you like, though I would not use long pastas like linguini or spaghetti as they will not hold the sauce)

4 cups of arugula, spinach, or any variety of mixed greens

10 (or to taste) sun-dried tomato pieces packed in oil, chopped (you could also use olives as an alternative or as an addition - the key to both is the NaCl)

1/4 to 1/2 a cup of feta cheese (cow or goat) or any kind of soft goat cheese - i love the Macedonian feta from the Parthenon deli in Vancouver, but I am not sure if it can be found elsewhere?)

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup of flat-leaf italian parsley and/or basil

pepper and salt to taste

Instructions

• put a large pot of water on to boil
• cook the pasta, 8-10 minutes or until pasta is cooked but still has a bite to it
• drain the pasta but reserve 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the pasta water for later

• in a medium bowl combine the greens, feta, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, most of the parsley, and most of the parmesan cheese (leaving a little of each of the last two for garnish)
  

• top the above mixture with the hot pasta, add the reserved pasta water a 1/2 cup at a time, combine the ingredients adding the hot water until the desired 'sauce' consistency is reached 
• finish the dish off with salt, pepper, parsley, and parmesan cheese

• serve with crusty buns
• stuff in your gob and enjoy

stay tuned for a Kaslo Caswell cook-off coming later this week

midnight tea

This recipe was inspired by the mint patch in my Oma's old backyard on Shaw street in downtown Toronto. I kind of made it up a few weeks ago during a rare and lovely hot spell in Vancouver and have been making it every few days since. I like this recipe because you can modify it to taste, and experiment with different teas/herbs/ types of honey and thus it nerdily makes me feel like a witch when I "brew" it.

Midnight tea is best made before bed (and easily fits into a nighttime regime!) so that the ginger can soak in the tea overnight for an added zing for days to come. This is my first time writing a recipe so here goes:

Ingredients

Roughly 1 litre of tap water

4-6 "thumbs" worth of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped into 2 cm chunks

1 tea ball/ bag dried chamomile flowers (easily found at progressive grocers)

1 tea ball/bag jasmine or jasmine green tea

2 c. loosely packed fresh mint leaves (including tips)

4 wooden spoonfulls honey (4-6 tbsp.)

Instructions for tea (and bed)

Put tap water and ginger into a pot, cover and boil on high for 2-3 minutes (brush teeth). Add tea bags/ balls (insert joke while doing so), turn down heat to a simmer, uncover, and let jasmine steep for 5 minutes and chamomile steep for 10 minutes (floss, get into jammies). Add mint leaves and make sure all are sumbmerged. Let them soak for about 10-12 minutes. Leaves will turn a dark greenish grey (wash face, brush hair 100 strokes, arrange teddy bears on bed, etc). Remove all leaves (but not the ginger!) and add honey with wooden spoon for more witchy effect. Turn off the heat. Leave the pot on the stove covered and let ginger soak overnight (get someone to read you a bedtime story). In the morning, remove all ginger chunks from the pot and transfer tea to a 2 litre glass bottle or jar (apple cider bottles work well). Add an additional liter of tap water. Chill. Drink up, its hot out.

*Oma's tips for this recipe*

Don't let mint soak for too long or it will turn bitter. Nice girls never go to bed with dirty feet.

scalded rye bread

Today I baked bread and borrowed a RUN-DMC album from the library.

skållat rågbröd – scalded rye bread

day 1

1l (aprox. 500 g) rye flour
7dl water

Boil water and pour it over the flour in a bowl. Mix well. Place a moist cloth towel over the bowl to keep the dough moist. Let stand for 11-12 hours or over night.

day 2

100 g fresh yeast (or equivalent in dry form (two satchels??))
2 tbl. sp. water
3 tbl sp molasses
2 tsp salt
aprox. 9 dl wheat flour (white)

Dissolve the yeast in luke warm water. Add molasses, salt, and additional flour. Work the dough on a tabletop with flour on it. Knead the dough. It's kind of sticky at first. Make two loaves. Let rise under cloth towel for an hour or until cracks start to form on the bread. Place in oven (175 C.) for aprox. 1 hour. Towards the end gently brush with some water and oil for color. Let cool in a cloth.

(source: Agnsäter, Anna-Britt(ed.), vår kokbok, raben och sjögren, Stockholm, 1973.)

energy salad

My mom and I made an energy salad (energisallad) for lunch on Saturday.

ENERGY SALAD

1 carrot in thin match like shapes

1/6 cabbage head

10 cm of leek in thin strands

½ dl fresh algae (or dried soaked in water for 10 mins.)

1 sliced avocado

1 dl sprouts (lentil or some other kind)

1 dl fresh snap peas

8 strawberries in slices

8 asparagus stalks (boiled)

MIX 'EM

 

DASHI DRESSING

 

½ dl fish sauce (or other salty veg. sauce)

1 dl water

1 tbl. sp. rice wine vinegar

1 tbl. sp. finely chopped ginger

1 shredded nori sheet

 

Boil all the ingredients. Let stand for 10 minutes. Strain the dressing and pour over the salad. (We had some quinoa left over from the day before which we added to the salad. 

 

[Recipe from Sjöö, Björn and Sjöö, Kristina, Matkultur: Världens Kök, Max Ström, China, 2006.] 

My mom enjoying our lunch (and wearing white!)

And my mom's friend's niece Sara was our guest.

goodbye gazpacho

welcome to eat this!

this blog is a collaboration between three friends - max, meg, and kaitlin - planning school graduates located in stockholm and vancouver. we came together through a mutual love of dancing, cities, robots, food, bikes, and mouth trombones. 

our intention is to share our favourite recipes, to celebrate food and cities, and to keep in touch with each other.

_________________________________________________

this first post is dedicated to max. who inspired this blog, and us. come back soon.

Goodbye Gazpacho

we enjoyed this cold soup as our last supper before max flew the coop

Ingredients:

1 can of tomato sauce (15 oz)                                       

2 tbsp red-wine vinegar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp honey

   

1 cucumber, coaresly chopped    

1 tomato, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1/2 a green pepper, coarsely chopped

1/2 a red pepper, coarsely chopped

1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp minced red onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 tsp hot sauce

pepper and salt to taste

To Make:

Combine -- tomato sauce, vinegar, oil and honey in a large bowl 

Drink --a refreshing beer or glass of sangria (optional)

Stir -- in all the remaining ingredients

Refrigerate -- in a covered container or bowl until chilled (around three hours or around 5 minutes as we did - still tasty)

Garnish -- with parsley, basil and/or dill, and homemade croutons

Serve -- alongside salad, crusty bread, and square cubes of cheese

Stuff -- it in your mouth

*For Salad: combine favorite garden things, add the dressing your tongue and stomach like best and enjoy

recipe from: Mitchell, P. (2004). "A Beautiful Bowl of Soup: the best vegetarian recipes", San Francisco: Chronicle Books