Pepperkaker (Norwegian ginger buscuits)

So I made these for the first time for a little Christmas get together I was having in Oslo and they were so good I had to make them again a week later in Scotland. They are a Christmas tradition in Norway, but I think they are good all year round :)


Pepperkaker


Makes shitloads!

• 150g butter
• 100ml sugar syrup
• 160g golden caster sugar
• 100ml whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground balck pepper
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 450g plain flour

Method

1. Mix butter, syrup and sugar in a pot. Heat until sugar is completely melted. Let is cool slightly and add cream. 
2. Sift in spices, baking powder and most of the flour. Stir until it forms a stiff dough. 
3. Leave in the fridge over night. 
4. Then kneed with rest of flour and roll out about 3mm thick. 
5. Cut using cookie cutters to make different shapes.
6. Place on baking sheet on oven tray and bake at 180C(gas mark 4) until golden brown (about 10 mins). Cool cookies before decorating.

Tip: Dip cookie cutters in flour first so the cookie mixture doesn’t stick.

Chicken Paprika

This is another very easy recipe. Surprisingly delicious.


chicken paprika  


Serves 4

• 4 chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks)
• 1 heaped tablespoon of paprika
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 dessertspoon plain flour
• 2 pinches of cayenne pepper
• 450g ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 150ml chicken stock
• 2 long sweet red peppers, seeded and chopped into small strips
• 500ml of soured cream
• salt and freshly milled black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven at 170C (gas mark 3).
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of flavorless oil in a frying pan and gently fry the chicken until golden. Transfer the chicken to a casserole dish once done, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Fry the onion in the oil and chicken juices left in the pan. Do this for about 10 minutes until they are soft and transparent. Whilst the onions are frying skin the tomatoes. This is easy to do. If you pour boiling water over them, the skins should slide right off. Then chop them.
4. Now stir the flour, cayenne pepper and paprika into the onions. Next stir in the chopped tomatoes and then add the stock and bring everything up to a simmering point.
5. Then simply add the mixture to the chicken legs and place in the oven for 45 minutes.
6. Take the dish out of the oven, add the chopped pepper and place back in the oven for a further 15 minutes.
7. Lastly and the sour cream, mix right in and cook for a further 15 minutes. Serve with fluffy basmati rice or mashed potato.

Sweet and sour chicken

This is not a particularly healthy recipe, but is does taste just like a good take away. Perfect for those hangover days, and quicker than waiting for a delivery :)


Easy sweet & sour chicken 


Makes about 4 generous portions

• 9 dessert spoons of tomato ketchup
• 3 dessert spoons of malt vinegar
• 4 dessert spoons of dark muscovado sugar
• 3 big garlic cloves
• 3 chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 red peppers, seeded and cut into chunks
• 1 can of pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 pack of sugar snap peas, chopped
• big handful of roasted and salted cashew nuts

Method

1. Put a splash of flavorless oil in a wok and put over a medium heat.
2. Add the onions, chicken, garlic, ketchup, vinegar and sugar. Cook for around 10 minutes.
3. Add the peppers, pineapple and and peas and cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Finally, add the cashew nuts and serve with some lovely basmati rice.

Yorkshire Puddings

crispy golden yorkshire puddings

So I LOVE yorkshire puddings, and personally feel that no roast dinner is complete without them, and certainly not a Christmas dinner.
I don't think there is any excuse in buying the ready made ones as making them is so so simple and they taste much better!


Makes about 8 

75g Plain flour
1 egg
75ml milk
50ml water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (beef dripping gives a better flavor if you have it)
salt and freshly milled black pepper

NB: I tend to double the ingredients if there are more than 4 people. If you cook too many, people always tend to have seconds or snack on them later.


Method:
1. Preheat oven at gas mark 7, 425F (220C)
2. Add a little (about half a teaspoon) of vegetable oil to each of the individual pockets in the roasting tin, and place that in the oven.
3. Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
4. Break the egg into the well and beat, gradually incorporating the flour.
5. Beat in the milk, water and the seasoning.
6. Get the roasting tin out of the oven and place the tin over direct heat while you pour the batter into the sizzling hot fat. You want to fill each pocket up about half way depending on how deep they are on your tin.
7. Return the tin to the oven on the highest shelf. The puddings will take 20-25 minutes to rise and become crisp and golden. Serve as soon as possible.

Creamy Norwegian Fish Soup (Fiskesuppe)

So I decided to make this fish soup as it was one of the few things that seemed to be part of the 'original' Norwegian cuisine menu. I have never tasted it, (other than my own now) so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out quite lovely and warming on a very snowy day in Norway!




creamy norwegian fish soup (fiskesuppe)

• 100g butter
• 100g plain flour
• about a pint of fish or vegetable stock
• 2 medium carrots, chopped into discs
• 1 large leak, finely chopped in strips(just the white bits)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 or 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
• 12 peeled raw tiger prawns  (approx)
• 12 small scallops (approx)
• 2 whole fish fillets (white fish)
• 300ml double cream
• 1/2 small bunch chopped fresh parsley
• salt and freshly milled black pepper

1. 
   Method:
   1.Melt the butter, add the onion and let the onion sweat on a medium heat.
   2. Once the onions have gone soft and see through, add the flour, stir for about 2 minutes without browning the flour.
   2. Add the stock at intervals, stirring all the time, let it boil gently for 5-10 minutes.
   3. Add the garlic, carrots, leek and potatoes and turn the heat right down.
   4. Let simmer for about 30 minutes, then add the prawn, scallop, fish and the cream.
   5. Simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the fish and shellfish are tender.
   6. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.