LAMB TAGINE

I never liked lamb until I tried this tagine and I can tell you that getting all those spices is really worth it. I've made this just a tad spicier than in the original recipe because I only wanted to use enough meat to make four servings. You can add chickpeas, augergines, tomatoes and whatever vegetables you like about halfway through cooking if you'd like to have a one-dish meal.

Serves 4.

Spice mix:
oil
2tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp salt
small piece crystallised or fresh ginger (about the size of a medium or large grape)
pinch of saffron
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp ground coriander

225g carrots
large onion
300ml chicken stock
550g lamb, separate some of the fat
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tomato puré
t tsp sugar
6-8 dried apricots


Cut the lamb the night before and leave to marinate in the spice mix. Remember to keep the excess fat for later.




Cut the onions, carrots and apricots and chop the garlic.




Fry the lamb fat until about half of it has melted and the solid bits are brown.




Add the onions, garlic and carrots and sauté until the onions are slightly transparent.




Add the sugar, lemon juice, chicken stock and tomato puré. Also stir in the apricots.



Mix this in with the meat and bake with a lid on in 100°C for 3 hours and an extra hour in 80°C if desired.

Before:


After:


Serve with couscous or boiled green lentils fried in plenty of butter until nicely crispy. Merlot goes well with this dish if you like wine.




Original:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lamb-Tagine/Detail.aspx

PLAYBOY SALAD

This salad was inspired by a recipe in Arto Paasilinna's Finnish novel Kymmenen riivinrautaa which unfortunately hasn't been published in English yet. The book revolves around a ladies man whose driver prepares food to please women at one point.




2 large avocados
1 large pear
250g cherry tomatoes
125-200g brie
1 portion (bag, punnet, etc.) lettuce, not iceberg.


The avocados, pear and tomatoes need to be perfectly ripe.


Wash and cut the ingredients and place everything in a bowl or on plates.




Remember to de-seed the pear like this.

DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE

This is the best chocolate layer cake recipe I've found so far. Here's a picture of a graduation cake I made for my other half. He's a software engineer and a Mac man as you can see.




This is for a 28cm (11 inch) cake tin. Bake the cake one or two days before serving.

335g flour
535g sugar
85g cocoa powder
2.75tsp bicarbonate of soda
1.25tsp baking powder
0.75tsp salt
3 small eggs
200ml cold coffee
430ml milk
2.75tsp vinegar or lemon juice
160ml mild vegetable oil

For the filling:
200ml milk
250ml double cream of whipping cream
Sugar to taste
500g strawberries

For the icing:
200g dark chocolate
2ooml double cream or whipping cream


Measure all the wet ingredients into a large bowl and mix together. The bowl should be big enough to hold all of the batter so it needs to be a lot bigger than in the picture. (Oops!)




Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl add to the liquid though a sieve. Stir gently so no lumps will appear.




Pour into a prepared cake tin and bake in 175°C until a toothpick comes out dry. Wrap well and leave the cake in the fridge until the next day.

Whip the cream and slice the strawberries. Cut the cake, dampen the layers with the milk and fill it with the strawberries and cream.




To make the icing:
Melt the dark chocolate gently and stir in the cream. Allow to cool and whip up. Spread on the cake.

I had another problem here when the chocolate I used refused to cooperate so I had to make some adjustments. That's why the chocolate icing looks a bit runny in the picture. It's my second disappointment with Rainbow dark chocolate (sold in Finland) so I'm never using it for baking again.


If you want to make the chocolate Apple logos, use a MacBook and a bit of cling film. Melt the chocolate, put it in a small piping bag and just squeeze onto the logo. The edges are elevated so the chocolate will set nicely. Move the cling film to make another one. You can put the apples upside down on the cake to make them look perfectly smooth.




This recipe is a version of one found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dark-Chocolate-Cake-II/Detail.aspx

TIGER CAKE

This is cake substitutes some of the flour with potato starch for a dense but soft result. It simply melts in your mouth. Delicious with a cup of tea.

An Englishman might call this a marble cake but I think the Finnish tiger cake has a stronger pattern, proper stripes instead of a touch of colour. Someone will disagree, I'm sure.






200g unsalted butter
3 eggs
150ml sugar
200ml potato starch
100ml all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
50ml (or more) cocoa powder
vanilla or vanilla flavouring



Beat the butter and sugar until white and fluffy.



Mix in the eggs.




In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients excluding the cocoa powder. Add to the butter mixture with the vanilla and stir well.




Separate one third of the batter and mix in enough cocoa powder to give a chocolatey colour.




Prepare a ring-shaped cake tin or a loaf tin and spoon in half of the light batter.




Top it with all of the brown batter. Spoon in the rest of the light batter.




After this you can stick a knife in the cake and gently 'cut' a full circle around the whole cake. This will mix the two colours together just enough to make a nicer pattern.

Bake in 175°C for about 50 minutes. Don't forget to decrease the temperature to 150°C if you're using a fan-assisted oven or the surface of the cake will swell and rip like it did when I made this cake...

COKE BUM CHICKEN

Here's an idiot-proof recipe for juicy yet crispy chicken. This method of cooking seems to be quite popular in the US where they often use beer instead of Coke.


Serves 3-6 people.

1 medium chicken (3-4kg), room temperature
330ml can of Coke
lemon juice
basil
salt


Remove the top of the Coke with a tin opener. Pour half of the contents out.




Rub lemon juice and spices on the chicken and place it sitting down on the Coke so that the can is upright inside the chicken. Use the legs to prop it up. It will be quite steady, don't worry.



Bake in 150-170°C for about two hours for a medium chicken. We used one that was a little over 3kg.



Get someone to help you remove the can because it's hot! Serve and enjoy.

I mixed some mayo with orange juice to make a sauce and served this with ratatouille.

ENGLISH-ITALIAN SAUSAGES

Quick, simple and tasty. Serves two.


1 pack English pork sausages
6-8 large mushrooms
2 handfuls broccoli
2-4 tomatoes
spinach
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, more if you like
salt
pepper
herbs


Fry the sausages until evenly brown and cooked. Add the quartered mushrooms and after a few minutes, the quartered tomatoes and chopped broccoli. When done, mix in some spinach and spices and serve.

MARINATED MUD CAKE

This is a very firm mud cake that is then marinated to create a more traditional, soft and moist cake with extra flavour.


100g dark chocolate
100g cocoa powder
200g unsalted butter
50ml fructose or 75ml regular sugar
5 eggs
50ml ground almonds, maybe a little less if you like

Marinade:
Irish cream, rum, Cointreau, etc.


Grease the edges of a small cake tin (about 18cm or 7 inches) and sprinkle with ground almonds. Place a greased piece of greaseproof paper on the bottom of the tin.




Melt the chocolate and butter and mix in the fructose and cocoa powder. You may want to use more sugar than I did if you like sweet. Let the mixture cool down a little. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed every time.




The batter may turn grainy like in the picture below but don't worry; it just means it's a little too warm. Pop it in the freezer for a couple of minutes and then continue as before by beating in another egg.




The batter will then turn smooth. Keep adding eggs.




Mix in the ground almonds and pour the batter in the cake tin.








Bake in 200°C for 10-15min.




When the cake is closer to room temperature, pour plenty of marinade on it and spread all over. It's better to do this while the cake is still in the tin because it gives an evenly moist result.






Repeat two or three times. Let the cake absorb as much liquid as it can. It will turn very dark and shiny.




Serve the next day.

TZATZIKI

Serves two

200ml Greek yoghurt
Clove of garlic
Tablespoon of grated cucumber, squeezed dry
Pinch of sugar
Salt
Pepper
(Fresh herbs)


Chop the garlic, grate the cucumber and squeeze it dry. Mix everything together. Don't even try using low-fat yoghurt!

FALAFEL

The blog was getting too meaty so here's my favourite vegetarian recipe. Serves two.


200g (or 250ml) soaked and boiled chickpeas
Small egg
3 tablespoons ground almonds (or fine breadcrumbs)
2 cloves garlic, or more
Half small onion
Plenty of herbs
Salt
Pepper

For the coating and frying:
Ground almonds (or breadcrumbs)
200ml oil, or more


Soak 100ml of dried chickpeas overnight. After boiling you'll have a total of 250ml of beans. Roughly mash them.






Chop the onion and garlic and add to the beans with the egg, ground almonds and spices.




Mix until the falafel is firm. It may be necessary to add more almond.




Form balls and coat them with some more ground almonds.




Fry the falafel in a large amount of oil until evenly brown. You can also deep-fry them but I think that's a waste of oil. Semi-deep-frying is enough for me. Don't use extra virgin olive oil because it burns very easily.




Serve with salad and tzatziki. This is also great with pitta bread, tzatziki and some fresh vegetables, maybe tomato and cucumber.