Tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce

This is what we had for lunch today, much to the delight of the children. It tasted delicious and was so easy to make. And being liquidised-left no bits for the children to leave behind. The mushrooms give a certain texture when liquidised (which I love), so if you're no fan, try substituting yellow pepper, courgette or cauliflower. Mascarpone is something not everyone uses in cooking. It may seem a waste to buy a whole tub just for one recipe, but try planning in two recipes in your weeks shopping not to waste it. The mascarpone I used today was the leftovers from my meatloaf, and although the packaging says use within 3 days of opening, the cheese was perfectly fresh and delicious 10 days later!


1 tbsp olive oil
1 small brown onion
2 medium sized carrots
1 garlic clove
100 ml boiled water
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tin chopped tomatoes
3 good sized fresh mushrooms
5 sundried tomatoes
10 black olives
5 fresh basil leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
dash of white pepper
5 tbsp mascarpone


Dissolve the stock cube in 100ml boiled water. Chop onion, peel carrots and cut in half lengthways, then slice thinly. Sauté onions for 2 minutes, then add carrot, stock and a garlic clove crushed with a garlic press. Put a lid on the pan and turn to low-medium heat. Let boil for 8-10 minutes. Chop mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, olives and basil leaves. Add chopped tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients except for the mascarpone, give it a stir and bring back to the boil for 5-10 minutes for the flavours to mingle. Liquidise with a hand blender (sometimes it's easier to transfer to a deeper pot or jug). When the sauce is of a smooth texture, add mascarpone and stir until melted. Serve with pasta.

Chicken nuggets with Egg fried rice & Sweet and Sour sauce

Chicken nuggets with Egg fried rice (see below) and Sweet and sour sauce


470g chicken breast fillet
3 cups cornflakes

⅓ cup plain flour

2 eggs

Turn the oven grill to medium heat. Cut the chicken breast fillets into cubes or nugget size pieces. Measure up flour in a bowl. Beat 1 egg to start with so as not to waste, and use the other one if you run out, in a bowl. Crush cornflakes, I place them in a resealable bag and crush them with my meat hammer but a fist will work too, and place in a bowl.

Cover the chicken pieces in flour, then soak in the beaten egg and roll in cornflakes. Place in a bowl while you're busy making the rest. Do one or a few pieces at a time. You may need to wash your fingers quite a few times during the process not to transfer the eggy cornflakes to the flour bowl, so leave the tap running or keep a bowl of water next to you if you want to do it the "green" way. When your nuggets are prepared put about 2 tbsp olive oil in an oven tray and leave to heat up under the grill for about 5 mins. When the oil easily floats out and spreads all over the tray, place your nuggets on the tray and grill for 20 mins, stirring and turning once or twice so they don't burn. 

Egg fried rice

Boiled cooled rice (left over rice from previous day is perfect)

1 large spring onion (green onion)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

2 eggs

Beat the eggs and 1 tsp sesame oil in a bowl. Leave aside. Heat up the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the cooled boiled rice (I used about 3-4 cups) and stirfry for a couple of minutes making sure the rice isn't forming lumps. Add the sliced or chopped spring onion and stirfry for another 1-2 mins. Trickle soy sauce over the rice and give a good stir to properly mix it. Add the beaten eggs in the side of the pan and leave for about 10 seconds to set a bit. You may have to angle your pan a bit to allow the egg to flow out and set. Use a chopstick or similar to scrape through the egg and break it and toss the rice to mix with the egg. Serve immediately. 

Sweet and sour sauce

Can be served hot or cold

Here served with chicken nuggets and egg fried rice

½ cup white wine vinegar   (1¼ dl) or even better- rice vinegar if you have it!

1 tsp soy sauce

½ cup ketchup   (1¼ dl)

1 tsp sesame oil 

1 cup sugar   (2.5 dl)

½ chicken stock cube dissolved in ½ cup of boiling water   (1¼ dl)

3 tbsp cornflour dissolved in about 3 tsp cold water

Put all ingredients except for the cornflour in a pan and bring to the boil. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Pour in the cornflour little by little all the while stirring until you reach desired thickness. It should be pretty thick, like a dip.

Midsommarafton 2011

Midsummer's Eve 2011
I was a bit late posting this, as I just realised I'd left the post as a draft. This was actually on the 24th of June!

A tad homesick today I have to admit. Knowing it's Midsummer's Eve in Sweden and everyone is celebrating! Here in the UK it's business as usual and nobody cares about the parties going on over there. Well nobody except us Swedes, that is. So true to form, today involved flower wreaths, baby new potatoes boiled with dill, herring (matjes), sour cream and chives, meatballs and cream for the kids, snaps (shots), strawberries with sugar and cream, kopparbergs cider, RAIN (it always rains on midsummer's eve) and the kids got to stay up. We did miss out on the dancing around the midsummer pole, mostly because we didn't have one..but at least the Swedish flag got to decorate the table. 

Baby new potatoes boiled with dill, matjes herring and sour cream with chives

Strawberries and cream is an absolute MUST on Midsummer Eve. Served with sugar and cream.

The kids with their flower wreaths

Strawberries and cream proved popular

Chicken Satay with Peanut butter sauce

I must say, I just added a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and it turned out delicious! It is very peanut buttery, so if you don't like peanut butter maybe go for another recipe. Sadly the hubby is away at the moment so the only judges for the outcome was myself and the kiddies. All I could hear was: "Mmm!" and "I love the chicken you made!" so that for me was a success. The sauce was more my treat than theirs, but I loved it! 

Chicken Satay
400-600g chicken breast fillet (on picture shown is about 450g)
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
3 spring onions (green onions)
3 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar


Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut chicken into cubes or bite-size pieces and add to the bowl. give it a good stir so that all of the chicken is covered by the marinade. Cover with lid or clingfilm and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour - but preferably longer. 

Put the chicken pieces onto skewers and grill in the oven (or BBQ) on medium heat for 20 minutes, turning them over half way through. Make sure chicken is cooked through. A tip is to place skewers on a bit of baking paper so they don't stick to the grill. 

Peanut butter sauce

½ cup smooth peanut butter (1¼ dl)

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp rice vinegar (you can probably use white wine vinegar too, but maybe a bit less)

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 spring onion (green onion)

½ clove garlic

½ cup milk

Chop the green onion as finely as you can and put the ½ garlic clove through a garlic press. Mix together with the rest of the ingredients until you have a smooth sauce. Refrigerate if you want it as a cold dip sauce. 

Serve with basmati rice and a green salad.

Lemon and dill sauce

This sauce will work well with most types of fish. Make it a little bit before serving, as the flavours will come out more when the sauce stands for a little while (30mins to an hour)
Here served with fish cakes (bought), boiled potatoes, carrots and broccoli.

1 small brown onion, chopped
Juice of 1 large lemon, or 1 ½ medium ones

½ cup fresh dill, finely chopped 

½ fish stock cube

300 ml creme fraiche (I use a half fat one)

Pinch of pepper
1/3 tsp salt (or more if you wish but be careful not to overdo it as the stock cube adds salt too).

The quickest way to make this is by crumbling down half a fish stock cube into the creme fraiche. Whisk well or use a potato masher to make sure no lumps are left from the stock cube. Add onion, dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix well. 

If you prefer you can squeeze the lemon juice into a pot and heat it carefully. When it's hot (not boiling) take the pot off the heat and add the half stock cube. Stir until dissolved. Add to the creme fraiche along with the other ingredients and mix well. Let stand a little while before serving. 

Filled meatloaf

For the meatloaf follow recipe for meatballs. 
Filling: 
1 small brown onion
3 mushrooms
4 tbsp mascarpone cheese
pinch of salt and pepper

Chop onion and mushrooms into fairly small pieces. Fry in a little bit of oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. When the onion has got a more transparent colour, and the mushrooms are nicely browned, take them off the heat and transfer to a small mixing bowl. Let cool. 
Grease an oven proof dish. Make your mince mix according to meatball recipe. When you've worked it smooth enough, transfer the mince mix to your oven proof dish and work it to the shape of a loaf. With your fingers carefully create a hole in the middle of the loaf. The hole will need to be rather large to accommodate the filling. Be careful not to make the sides to thin as the filling will then run out. 

Add the mascarpone to the onion and mushroom mix and give it a good stir. It is best if the onion and mushroom mix has cooled down a bit, as if it's too hot the cheese will melt a bit and become more runny. Spoon the mascarpone mix into the hole you have created in your loaf. Spread it evenly. 

Now carefully close the loaf by pushing the sides together at the top, carefully so the filling is not squeezed out. Make sure your meatloaf is closed everywhere, and smooth over with wet fingers. The water helps smooth the surface and ensure no small holes are left. 

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 1 hour. My oven is a bit temperamental so I have to cover my form with foil after 30 minutes in order to let it cook without burning on top. You may need to do the same or not. When the meatloaf is cooked I usually have to pour some excessive fat out, or just transfer the meatloaf to a serving dish. 

Serve with boiled potatoes, fried mushrooms, creamy gravy, broccoli or any vegetable you fancy, and to make it Swedish and colourful, add a dollop of lingon berry jam.