Quiche met spinazie, geitenkaas en aardappel

Je hebt quiche en je hebt quiche. Een zompige quiche is stom. Maar een quiche met een brosse bodem en een smakelijke vulling: dat is heerlijk. Dat doe je door het deeg voor de bodem zelf te maken, dus geen klef gedoe met bladerdeeg uit de diepvries. Het deeg wordt eerst een half uur te ruste gelegd in de koelkast en daarna blind gebakken. Alles om de bodem bros, brosser, brost te krijgen. Het is dan wel even wat werk, maar de noeste arbeid wordt beloond! Laten we zeggen dat het een fijn zondagmiddag recept is.

Het recept voor deze quiche komt oorspronkelijk van Rachel Allen, en ik vind het de lekkerste quiche die ik ooit heb gegeten. Echt waar! Ik wilde 'm al een tijdje maken, en nu opeens voegde ik de daad bij het woord. Terwijl ik niet eens eters had. Maakt niet uit, in mijn eentje met een glas koude witte wijn heb ik enorm genoten van mijn eigen kookkunsten.




Quiche met spinazie, geitenkaas en aardappel

stap 1: de bodem

keukenmachine (of zie tips onderaan)
200 g bloem
100 g koude boter
1 ei uit de koelkast, losgeklopt (dan bedoel ik gewoon net totdat eigeel en eiwit gemengd zijn)
1/2 tl zout

* doe de bloem in de keukenmachine
* snijd de boter in stukken en voeg toe aan de bloem
* zet de machine aan tot de bloem en boter samen kruimels zijn geworden
* voeg het ei toe en mix totdat het een bal begint te worden en haal het uit de keukenmachine
* kneed het met je hand heel kort door, totdat je echt een bal hebt en druk dit plat tot een schijf van ong 2 cm dik
* wikkel in met plasticfolie en plaats een halfuur in de koelkast
* zet de oven aan op 180 C
( evt kun je nu ook vast beginnen aan de vulling - zie onder)
* bekleed een springvorm van 24 of 26 cm met bakpapier
* haal de schijf deeg uit de koelkast een sla er een paar keer flink op met een deegroller, en rol het daarna uit tot een dunne lap
* doe de lap in de vorm en druk met je vingers totdat er geen scheuren meer in zitten en je een opstaande rand hebt van ongeveer twee vingers hoog
* leg daar weer een stuk bakpapier op en vul deze met gedroogde bonen of kikkererwten, zodat de bodem helemaal bedekt is (blind bakken)
* bak de bodem 15 minuten

stap 2: de vulling

3-4 aardappelen (middelgroot), vastkokend en geschild
300 g verse spinazie
4 eieren
250 ml slagroom
25 g parmezaanse kaas, vers geraspt
snuf zout
1 tl nootmuskaat, bij voorkeur vers geraspt
1/2 tl cayennepeper, of anders gewone peper
150 g zachte geitenkaas

* zet de aardappels op en kook ze net gaar in 15-20 minuten
* giet de aardappels af na het koken en snijd ze in plakken van een halve cm
* zet ondertussen de spinazie op met een klein kopje water in een grote pan en kook 4-5 minuten totdat deze geslonken is
* plaats de spinazie in een vergiet, en druk er zoveel mogelijk vocht uit. probeer daarna met je handen er nog meer vocht uit te knijpen
* hak de spinazie grof
* klop in een kom de 4 eieren los en klop daar slagroom, parmezaanse kaas, zout, nootmuskaat en cayennepeper doorheen. roer er ook de spinazie door.

stap 3: en dan..

* haal de quiche uit de oven en beleg de bodem met de plakjes aardappel
* verdeel hier de geitenkaas over
* schenk het ei/spinaziemengsel erover
* bak ongeveer 35-45 minuten in de oven

tips tips tips:

* let op bij het maken van het deeg: alles moet steeds koud blijven, dus raak zo min mogelijk aan met je warme handen
* heb je geen keukenmachine, snijd dan de boter door de bloem met 2 messen in een kom. kneed daarna het ei erdoor met koele handen
* als je het bakpapier een samenkreukelt tot een bal, blijft deze daarna makkelijker in vorm
* bewaar de bonen voor het blindbakken in een blik of pot, dan kan je het steeds opnieuw gebruiken
* deze quichebodem kun je voor allerlei quiches gebruiken

Apple and almond cake

That was a while ago! I'll just pick up where I left off, get straight to it. Because it's not as though I haven't been cooking, au contraire. This morning I even went a bit overboard: two cakes and a Middle Eastern lamb stew.
I'll share with you first the sweet. This cake is a bit juicy, it has apples in it, and nuts. Lovely combinations. The top caramelizes a bit, creating a nice crunch.



Apple and almond cake

125 g butter from the fridge
150 g selfraising flour
150 g caster sugar (NL: fijne kristal suiker)
40 g almonds with the skin on, chopped
40 g almond flakes
2 small apples, core removed, unpeeled and cut in cubes
1 large egg, whisked separately

* preheat the oven to 180 C
* place the butter and flour in a kitchen machine and mix until it looks like crumbs
* transfer to a large bowl and stir in the sugar, nuts and apple
* stir the egg into the mixture
* make sure you only stir enough to mix all the ingredients: don't stir too much
* place the mixture in a cake tin
* bake for around one hour
* let it cool in the tin

The recipe was inspired by Liz Franklin's Bread and Cake. She used pecan nuts instead of almonds, which sounds just as delicious. I think you can use any nuts you have at hand.

Serve the cake as dessert or with a cup of coffee.

Fred's brownies

When I was working in Amsterdam at the local television station, I had a sweet colleague from the US. Once he treated the whole floor to brownies and a huge New York cheesecake. Both were delicious. On request he gave me the recipes, and just now (years later) I finally made the brownies. Why did I wait that long? They were yummy yummy yummy. So please try them if you are in the mood for something very chocolaty, fudgy, smeary and yet crunchy.



Fred's brownies

230 g butter
225 g dark chocolate (70% cacao), roughly chopped
125 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
380 g sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
140 g walnuts, roughly chopped

* preheat the oven to 175 C
* grease a baking pan that is around 25x30 cm (or a little bit bigger or smaller) and then line it with two sheets of baking paper. also grease the top layer of baking paper. the paper can stick out some centimeters on the top to prevent the brownie mixture to overflow
* melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave at 350 watt, stirring each 30 seconds until completely melted
* in a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt
* in another, large bowl, whisk the sugar with the eggs and vanilla extract until fluffy and white
* pour in the melted chocolate/butter mixture while stirring, and then add the flour mixture. continue stirring from the edges of the bowl to prevent lumps
* when all is mixed, stir in the chopped walnuts
* pour the mixture into the baking pan and place in the oven for around 40 minutes, the top should be shiny and edges should curl up a little
* let it cool down completely on a rack (yes, this is the hard part!), be patient.
* flip it over carefully and remove the paper. cut into squares and enjoy.

The brownies will taste even better the day after, so make them in advance, or try to save some for the next day.

Thanks Fred!

Raspberry and banana muffins

Writing the introduction and conclusion to your thesis seems to be the easy part, but it's not! I've been staring at the screen for a few hours now, until I decided to just forget about it and bake some muffins instead. I kind of hoped they would give me some inspiration, but here I am again, in front of the screen, staring at the same letters and words. Oh, well. At least they tasted really good!



Raspberry and banana muffins (makes 6)

80 g butter
2 eggs
100 g sugar + 1 teaspoon
100 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 handfuls of muesli
1 ripe banana, squashed with a fork
6 muffin cases
12-18 raspberries (NL: frambozen) frozen or fresh

* preheat the oven to 200 C
* melt the butter in the microwave on the lowest heat
* whisk the 2 eggs with 100 g sugar until fluffy and white
* add the 100 g flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 handfuls of muesli and the squashed banana and stir with a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients
* leave some lumps: it's good for the muffins, and don't stir too long either
* place your muffin cases in a muffin pan (if you have one) and fill the muffin cases half way up using a spoon
* put 2 or 3 raspberries on each muffin and sprinkle a little sugar on top
* place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown

I used extra large muffin cases, and made enough filling to spoon them half full. Use medium sized cases, or make 4 muffins instead if you want the muffins to pop a little over the edge. Never fill the cases more than 3/4 though, as the muffins will rise in the oven.

By the way, I think these muffins are great to take on a picknick or to the beach as a little snack!

Tunnbrödsrulle - Swedish wrap with real potato salad

On nearly every street corner in Sweden you will find some sort of a 'gatukök' - literally a street kitchen, where you can buy different kinds of snack food. The most common is a grilled hot dog, optionally served with a prawn salad and roasted onions. It is the weirdest combo, but tastes pretty good - especially at 3 AM in the morning when you are so drunk that you can hardly stand on your legs. This of course never happened to me, and if it did - hey, I'm just trying to integrate with Swedish culture.



Anyway, you can also get Swedish wraps. Much healthier and also easy to make at home. The wrap is made of 'tunnbröd', which is a thin and soft bread. The most common tunnbrödsrulle is served with roast beef and potato salad. I love these, and I happened to have some roast beef left over. I made the potato salad myself: much tastier and you spare yourself from a lot of E-numbers.



Potato salad (serves 4)

500 g waxy potatoes (NL: vastkokend), unpeeled
4 big tablespoons low fat sour cream/crème fraiche
1 big tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
handful of parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped chives (NL: bieslook)
1 red onion, finely chopped

* cut the potatoes in even sized chunks
* boil them in salted water until just tender when pierced with a knife, around 15-20 minutes
* in the meantime: stir 4 big tablespoons of crème fraiche, 1 big tablespoon of mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon mustard, a handful of chopped parsley, 3 tablespoons of chopped chives and plenty of salt and pepper together
* when the potatoes are ready, discard the water and let the potatoes cool down until you can easily touch them
* remove the skins and cut the potatoes in slices of 1-2 cm
* carefully stir in 1 finely chopped red onion and the crème fraiche mixture
* leave to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour

This potato salad is also great when you have a barbecue and you can easily make a bigger amount. Don't serve it ice cold - take it out of the fridge a while before serving.

Tunnbrödsrulle

To make the tunnbrödsrulle you simple fill a soft bread (or a tortilla; softened in the microwave) with some roast beef, potato salad and rucola. If you want to do it the 'gatukök' way, skip the rucola and add some roasted onions, ketchup and mustard. Roll it up and eat!

Oatmeal and raisin cookies

The nice thing with these cookies is that they feel a bit healthy. Of course you know that there is some sugar inside, but it's brówn sugar. Plus: oatmeal is really healthy, right? So dig into these cookies without feeling guilty - they are really good. And as they fill you up with complex carbohydrates, it's an ideal cookie to bring to work, school or a trip.



Oatmeal and raisin cookies (makes 30)
adapted recipe from Coming Home by John Burton Race

150 g butter, softened
225 g soft brown sugar (I used cane sugar)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I only used one teaspoon)
125 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
235 g rolled oats (NL: havermout)
125 g raisins

step 1

* preheat the oven to 180C
* line baking tray with baking paper
* stir the 150 g butter with the 225 g sugar until it's creamy
* stir in 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* sift (NL: zeef) 125 g flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt into the bowl, stirring in between. make sure it's mixed, but don't over stir it
* add 235 g oats and 125 g raisins and stir. I also used my hands to make sure the oats and raisins were well divided

step 2

* roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place on the baking tray with 5 cm of space in between
* flatten the balls with a fork dipped in flour
* bake in two batches and put the remaining half in the fridge while the first is baking
* bake the cookies for 20 minutes
* remove from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes on the baking tray
* transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely (but eat some while they are still warm)

Moroccan Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Whilst a butternut squash is mixing its flavours with some onion, garlic and coriander to form a beautiful soup, I will tell you about something completely different. The soup's recipe will follow later!

Remember that I made a couscous plate a few days ago? I also made a tomato and cucumber salad that is amazingly good. I think it's the roasted cumin that does the trick, but this salad is really quite special.
The recipe comes from a cookbook that I found in a discount book store in London. I have made several recipes from it and they all turned out deliciously. The book is called Feast Bazaar, by Barry Véra, and is about food from India, Morocco and Syria. A rather strange combination, geographically seen, but it's a great book.



Morrocan Tomato and Cucumber Salad (serves 4)
(adapted recipe from Feast Bazaar by Barry Véga)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 roma (plum) tomatoes (make sure they are ripe and smell good)
1 cucumber
1 red onion
1 green capsicum pepper (NL/S: paprika) (I used a red one instead)
1 handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tablespoons lemon juice
100 ml olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

step 1
* heat a frying pan over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
* dry-roast the seeds for 2 minutes on medium heat, while stirring
* place in a mortar and pestle (NL: vijzel, S: mortel) and grind to powder

step 2
* cut 6 tomatoes in 4 quarters, cut the seeds out and cut the tomatoes in dices
* cut the cucumber in half, scoop the seeds out with a teaspoon and cut the cucumber in dices
* finely dice the red onion and cut the paprika in dices
* put all this in a serving bowl

step 3
* chop a handful of parsley
* put parsley, ground cumin, 4 tablespoons lemon juice and 100 ml olive together in a bowl
* stir thoroughly
* pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix well
* add salt and pepper to taste

You can serve this salad as a side dish to accompany grilled fish or meat, or with couscous. It's also nice to serve as a starter together with some bread, or as part of some various 'mezzes' (small dishes).

Feta cream / hummus

Back to my Moroccan plate. You got the couscous recipe earlier and now I will let you in on the sauces. A thick cream of feta, a nutty and earthy hummus and some harissa form the ideal company to some couscous or serve well as a dip with other dishes.



Harissa is a hot North African sauce made of chillies and garlic. In Morocco it's served with couscous and other food. I found it in the regular supermarket, otherwise a North African store will have it. You can substitute it by sambal, or hot ajwar.



Feta cream (half bowl)

The feta cream is made by mixing 100 g of feta with a few tablespoons of Turkish yogurt. Put it together in a bowl and mix into an almost smooth paste with a fork.

About the feta: there is feta and there is feta. Feta should be made of sheep and/or goat milk, but definitely not of cow milk. Check the ingredients. Real feta might be a bit more expensive, but there is such a big difference between the real feta and the fake, that it's worth paying a little bit extra.
Turkish yogurt is almost like mascarpone: it's very thick and creamy. Can be substituted by ordinary full fat, thick yogurt.

And then the hummus. I tried making hummus with my handheld mixer (NL: staafmixer) but that didn't work. My mixer is not very strong though, so you could try it and maybe it works. I have a little food processor that is more like a small chopping machine that did the trick (wish I had a real machine though..)



Hummus (makes a full bowl)

1 can chickpeas (400 g) (NL:kikkererwten, S: kikärtor)
juice of 1/2 small lemon
3 tablespoons tahin (sesamepaste)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8-10 tablespoons of olive oil
3-4 tablespoons of liquid from the chickpeas

* place all the ingredients in the mixer bowl
* mix it
* stir and mix again
* repeat until it has become a smooth paste, add more olive oil/liquid if necessary
* drizzle a little olive oil on top before serving, or some paprika powder

If you have the time: make the hummus a day in advance. That way the flavours work together to get an even better tasting substance.

The hummus and feta cream also serve very nicely as a snack, with for example some toasted pita breads or sliced red bell peppers and sticks of cucumber.

Spicy muffins

After eating lunch, I didn't feel quite ready to face the computer and books again and I really felt like eating something 'lekker' (tasty/delicious). Desperately rummaging through my cupboards and fridge, I ended up with flour, sugar, one egg, a little bit of butter and some cream. Hmmm...
Flipping trough an old cookbook I came across this recipe for cardamom muffins. Yippee, it fitted exactly with what ingredients I had on hand.



Cardamom is a favourite spice here in Sweden: the famous kanelbullar have some cardamom in it, so do 'semlor' and you even have cardamom cakes and buns.
But cardamom is not every one's favourite. A visiting friend thought they had put black pepper in her cake! She refused to eat it.
I agree that too much cardamom is no good, so I took a little less cardamom than the original recipe requires, and replaced it with some cinnamon.

Cardamom muffins (cupcake size)
(12 pieces)

50 g melted butter (original recipe requires margarine, but I think that's all wrong)
paper cups + little butter for greasing
1 egg
130 g sugar
120 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 dl cream (NL: slagroom, S: vispgrädde)

* grease the bottom of the paper cups lightly
* preheat the oven to 170 C
* melt the butter: put it in the microwave on 450 watt for 1,5-2 minutes
* mix 1 egg with 1,5 dl sugar until it's white and foamy with a whisk (NL: garde)
* add half of the flour (60 g) and stir it in with a wooden spoon
* add 1 dl cream, stir
* add rest of the flour (60 g) with 1/2 teaspoon cardamon and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, stir
(don't stir too much: with muffins it is better to leave some lumps in the batter, even if it seems strange)
* add 50 g melted butter, that has cooled down a little bit and stir shortly, just so it's mixed
* put one big tablespoon of batter (NL: beslag, S: smet) in each paper cup, dividing it equally. it's best if the cups don't become too full
* place in the oven for 15 minutes

I think these fluffy cakes or muffins are really nice. A little bit spicy and not too heavy. Happy that I found the recipe in Mildas bästa recept from 1976!

EDIT: keep your muffins in a airtight container (NL: koekjestrommel, wat een leuk woord) and two days later they still taste great! The texture becomes a bit more dense, which is also quite nice.

Kanelbullar - Swedish cinnamon buns

Last week I made some typical Swedish buns: kanelbullar. They turned out so nicely that I decided to take a picture of them. That turned out to be a nice picture (or at least not awful) and actually that's when I decided to join in and start a blog. Why not?

The recipe is from a bag of flour from Willy's, a supermarket here in Sweden. Try it!



Kanelbullar (18-25 pieces)

7 g bag of dried yeast
125 g butter (of which 50 g on roomtemperature)
2,5 dl milk
salt
1 dl sugar
1 small teaspoon ground cardamom
7 dl plain flour
1 large teaspoon cinnamon
paper baking cups
1 egg

step 1
* take the butter out of the fridge, and put 75 g of it in a saucepan
* melt the butter (don't let it get brown) and add 2,5 dl milk
* warm it up to bodytemperature
* put the yeast in a big bowl and add a bit of the milkmixture
* stir and then add the rest of the mixture
* add a pinch of salt, 0,5 dl sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cardemom and stir again
* add 7 dl flour in stages; stir in between
* when you can't stir anymore, start kneading until it becomes a supple dough
* put a kitchen towel over the bowl, put the bowl somewhere warm and let it rise for 30 minutes

step 2
make the filling by stirring together 50 g butter (roomtemperature) with 0,5 dl sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon

step 3
* sprinkle a little flour on you worksurface and on a rolling pin
* roll out the dough to a rectangle of 20 x 50 cm
* spread the filling out on the dough and roll the dough up (start with the long side)
* cut this into slices of 1,5 cm
* place these in the baking cups and put them on a baking tray
* cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise again for 30 minutes
* preheat your oven to 225 C

step 4
* whisk 1 egg and coat the buns (use a brush if you have one, or your fingers)
* sprinkle some pearl sugar on top
* place in the oven for 10-15 min until goldenbrown and firm
* place them on a rack to cool down

These kanelbullar are best eaten fresh. If you don't eat them all in one day, put some in a bag in the freezer. When you get the munchies, put one in the microwave for 30-60 seconds and let it stand for 30 seconds. Yummie!

* the recipe requires 25 g of fresh yeast, but dried worked fine for me