The Swedish Chef Diaries – Cod on Bacon with Mushroom and Potato Puree

After a week without and seafood, I decided to dive back in with a FANCY lookin dish that caught my eye on the official Sweden blog. This one sounded / looked complicated, but was actually pretty simple. Its basically easy mashed potatoes, easy baked fish and a somewhat complicated sauce. By “somewhat complicated”, I mean you sauté bacon, onions and mushrooms then put in some stock and red wine. Let that simmer for 20 minutes and BAMMO, taste explosion.

I added some sautéed spinach to it to get a little green in there, but all in all it was very simple to put together. The picture on the blog looked well put together, so I insisted that I bring out the plates put together, rather than the usual “family style” we normally do.

Overall, I think this might be our big winner so far. Fancy enough to look impressive, but simple enough to pull together quickly / easily. And tasty – that’s the important part obviously

Jon – 5 BORKS

Lisa – 5 BORKS

DOUBLE 5!!!!! FIRST PERFECT SCORE !!!!!

http://blogs.sweden.se/food/2012/01/12/cod-on-bacon-with-mushrooms-and-potato-puree/

The Swedish Chef Diaries – Dill Chicken with Leeks and Potatoes

As I mentioned last time, Sam got lucky with chicken breasts on sale during her visit. I don’t think that chicken was a major staple protein of the Vikings, and I couldn’t really find anything that jumped out at me from the Swedish blog or the Annesfood blog. This is when I had to expand my search to “Scandinavian” recipes. It worked like a charm – like going from “Georgian” recipes to Southern. All of a sudden there were TV shows, tons of cookbooks and a bunch of options.

I found one that seemed pretty good on the website for a PBS show – New Scandinavian Cooking. When they said that “you can’t use too much dill”, I figured it was my kind of recipe (no measuring).

This one was actually really easy – just a lot of dill and cutting up everything. Drop it all into the casserole dishes and coming back in 30 minutes.

Overall it as good – I might not be a HUGE fan of dill, but considering chicken is on sale once every 10 weeks, I don’t think it will overwhelm us.

Jon – 3 BORKS

Lisa – 4 BORKS

Samantha – 4,5 BORKS

http://www.newscancook.com/recipes/dill-chicken-with-leeks-and-potatoes/

The Swedish Chef Diaries – Swedish Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (and lingonberry jam)

Samantha was the first brave soul to visit us out here, coming in all the way from LA. I knew that there was only one option to greet her at the door when she arrived after a long day in the air. The original Swedish dish - MEATBALLS

Evidently the grocers were taking care of Sam (not a fan of seafood) and had chicken breast and ground beef for sale during the week. First time I had seen either of those options discounted, so we wanted to take full advantage. After some quick research I found a traditional Swedish recipe at the Annesfood blog (link below) and went to work.

I’ve made meatballs pretty often – usually using recipes from my mom or the Giovanello’s family secret. This recipe was a lot different with much “sweeter” spices used (probably not the correct word). Instead of basil and oregano, it called for cinnamon and allspice (among others). One problem we’ve run into so far is that our spice rack is still in route – so we haven’t bought too many temporary replacements. We have pepper, salt, paprika and an Italian mix. After checking out the spices and potential substitutes, I figured that I could just buy cinnamon and it would give a pretty good replication of the taste.

I decided to traditionally fry the meatballs, and they were just finishing up as Sam walked in the door. I quickly transitioned to the gravy (using greek yogurt instead of cream), and the mashed potatoes. Gravy – solid. Potatoes – oddly shiny….not sure why, probably bought the wrong type of potatoes?

Overall, we had a few substitutions and some things that didn’t exactly as planned, but I think it was a pretty solid “welcome to swwwweeeeeden”

Overall Score (out of 5)–

Jon – 4 BORKS

Lisa – 3,5 BORKS (the potatoes really hurt the overall score)

Samantha – 5 BORKS!!!

http://annesfood.blogspot.se/2006/12/swedish-meatballs-oven-baked.html