Hello again, Farmers Market, and Dammsugare

Hello All!
Yes I know it's been a while. Life happens sometimes and takes us away from our goals. But I am back my dears.

So I want to talk about Farmers Markets. I have moved away from some of the best farmers markets I know and now have a 30-40 minute drive to get to them. But it is worth it. Dear lord it is so worth it.

This is my bounty from this past weekend. Basil, tomatoes, blueberries, the best strawberries ever, peaches, Persian cucumbers, and lemon cucumbers. My car was filled with the smell of basil and strawberries. It was amazing. It smelled like summer. It smelled like picnics and gatherings. I came home full of energy and purpose. Recipe ideas were swirling around my head and I felt virtuous and healthy. I was ready to cook. So I did. A lot. 

I made a salad out of the cucumbers. Easy and so basic I won't even deign to call it a "recipe" I just cut them up (only peeling the lemon cucumbers) and put dressing on it. The tomatoes and basil went with some mozzarella I had to make a caprese salad. The strawberries went with a loaf of almond pound cake and ginger whipped cream to make my version of strawberry shortcake. The blueberries into a blueberry tart. The peaches have yet to find a goal and may just end up eaten. But non of these were my biggest challenge I set myself. That was reserved for Dammsugare.

So Dammsugare is a Swedish dessert. In Swedish it means "vacuum cleaner". I haven't met anyone who knows why this is. But they are delicious! The dough is easier then I expected but it turned out amazing. Here is the recipe I worked off of. 

To make dammsugare (makes around 10):

(from London eats)

For the filling:

• 250g cake crumbs (e.g. vanilla sponge)
• 75g unsalted butter, softened
• 20g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 40ml punsch or rum

To decorate:

• 300g marzipan
• few drops green food coloring
• 200g dark chocolate

To make the filling:

Put everything into a bowl and mix well until you have a soft dough. It will be a little sticky and slightly crumbly. Form into 10-12 rolls.

To decorate:

Add some food coloring to the marzipan and knead well until evenly coloured. Sprinkle a worktop with icing sugar, and roll the marzipan into a long strip 2-3mm thick (you might find this easier in two or three batches).

Use the marzipan to cover the portions of dough – get a good seal on the underside, and pinch the end closed. Roll the marzipan-coated dough on the worktop to get a smooth finish. Keep going until all the dough pieces are covered.

Next, melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, and dip the ends of each dammsugare into the chocolate. If you want them to look professional with glossy chocolate, you can either temper the chocolate, or take the easy option – skip the tempering, and put the dipped dammsugare on a plate in the fridge to harden.

I made a few more then 10. You can make them whatever size you want. 

I made them small, about two bite size. They are best kept in the fridge I found. When left at room temp the marzapain didn't stay hard enough to hold them together. So good though! I want to try with different types of cake and cookies. You can use either or whatever type of sweet crumbs you have around. 

Now on another note I have a puppy! Her name is Pippi and she is a pitbull-lab mix. She is the sweetest most out going dog around. So be ready for more updates about the exploits of Pippi the pup! 

Have a beautiful day and be kind to each other!

dinner and dessert

So I am trying to cook for myself more. I've gotten very lazy about this due to the fact that Jono is a great cook. I have let him do the cooking for over 2 years now and now he is working at dinner time. So if i want dinner I need to cook it myself. I'm trying to be more aware of what I eat. As some of you may know Jono has a very distict diet plan. It's called a Primal diet.  This makes it so the types of food we can have or do have in the house is not what I'm used to. Bread? not a lot. Maybe one small loaf. Baked goods? to a minimum. Vegetables? as much I can stand. So I've been finding recipes for vegetables. So here is last night's results!

Vibrant Tasty Green Bean Recipe
The following recipe is best made just before serving time. You can make/prep this ahead of time by cooking the leeks and dill first and setting them aside. Instead of cooking the green beans in the skillet, blanch them in a pot of boiling, well-salted water for about a minute. Drain the beans and dunk them in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and place the beans in a bag or bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use. When ready, combine the components - you can do it at room temperature, or heated quickly in a skillet or pan. When cutting the leeks cut off most of the dark green at the top. I used about 2 rather then 4 but if you like leek I'm sure you can use all 4.
4 leeks, well washed, root end and tops trimmed, sliced lengthwise into quarters and then chopped into 1/2-inch segments
1/3 cup fresh dill, well chopped
3/4 pound green beans, tops and tails trimmed and cut into 1-inch segments
extra-virgin olive oil
fine-grain sea salt
In a large thick-bottomed skillet of medium-high heat add a generous splash of olive oil, a generous pinch of salt and the leeks. Stir until the leeks are coated and glossy. Cook, stirring regularly until a lot of the leeks are golden and crispy. I stir every minute or two in the beginning, and more often as they brown using a metal spatula. All in all it takes me roughly 7 - 10 minutes to brown the leeks. At this point stir in the dill, and then stir in the green beans. Cook for a couple more minutes - just until the the beans brighten up and lose that raw bite. Turn out into a bowl or onto a platter and serve immediately. If you want to prepare these green beans ahead of time - read the head notes.
Serves about 6.


For dessert I made these.

Molten Chocolate Cake
adapted from cook this not that

5 oz bittersweet chocolate (at least 60%) plus 4 chunks for the cake centers
2 Tbsp Butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp Flour ( I used guten-free flour)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 Tbsp instant coffee or espresso

preheat the oven to 425. Lightly butter four 6 ounce ramekins or custard cups.

Bring a few cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Place a glass mixing bowl over the pan (put not touching the water) and add the chocolate and butter. Cook, Stirring occasionally, until both the chocolate and butter have fully melted. keep warm.

Use an electric mixer to beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale yellow and thick, about 5 minutes. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture, the flour, vanilla, and instant coffee.

Pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins. Stick one good chunk of chocolate into the center of each ramekin. Bake the cakes on the center rack for 8 to 10 minutes, until the exterior is just set ( the center will still be mostly liquid). The cakes can be eaten straight from the ramekins, but it's funner to slide them out onto a plate. If Saving them just cover and put into the fridge. to reheat zap them for about 20-30 seconds in the microwave. They take a little work to get them out of the ramekins.

It was very good.

xoxo
mce