"I am passionate about good and exciting food from all over the world that I am happy to share."
I create good food with ingredients that I find along my life path. It can come from both very close and far away. Why should you have to choose when you can pick all the raisins from the cake instead?
I'm Isabel, with one foot in my native Sweden and divine Österlen and the other in my new home country, Holland. I am passionate about good and exciting food from all over the world and am happy to share it with you.
Isabel Brummer, photo by Maggie Strand.
Simple by Ottolenghi and delicious mashed potatoes with herbs
By Isabel Brummer
|
30 January, 2019
A few months ago, the latest book written by one of my absolute favourite chefs came out - Yotam Ottolenghi. Today it's time for me to review the book Simple and of course also cook something good from it!
Ottolenghi has deservedly become something of an icon in the cookbook world. It started with Plenty and pretty much took the world by storm. Well, at least here in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. In Sweden, I think I'm noticing a fairly new interest in food of Moroccan, Israeli and Turkish origin, for example. I'm still surprised at how little known the food from this part of the world seems to be up here in the Nordic countries. But maybe I'm wrong, I hope so. And if not, you now have the chance to make up for it!
The book Simple is really simple. Simple in its approach, recipe choices and ingredients (if you disregard all the fresh mint, throw yourself in the wall little pot of mint from Ica and some other wonderful specialities such as zataar and pomegranate syrup). This must be a book that suits everyone! Fun everyday food that doesn't take very long to make or require much labour. And also as far from Swedish home cooking as you can get. Tastes great in the chest!
Just what is simple food is quite individual, something that Ottolenghi himself in an amusing way tells about in the book. It all depends on prior knowledge, nerves, imagination and of course the time you have to spend. This is precisely what the book has taken advantage of and made a slightly 70s lookalike colour system to make it easier to choose based on the above-mentioned criteria. Handy even if I think the previous books exude a little more "chick" with paper choice, gloss and design. Bottom line.
The recipes are a mix of vegetarian, meat and fish. The book offers wonderful flavour combinations!
Meat and fish can just be removed and replaced with something else if you want.
Creamy, flavoursome mashed potatoes with herb oil
From the book I chose to do something very simple, namely mashed potatoes. It may sound almost too banal, but don't be fooled. A mashed potato that is both creamy and fluffy without either butter or milk can be a difficult task. And getting it to taste delicate and different from our usual flavoured with white pepper and nutmeg is an art!
The secret is olive oil and savoury spices. A mashed potato with mint, lemon, garlic and thyme tastes wonderful as it is, or combine it with some good vegetable steak or why not just some fried vegetables? Don't forget to top with the lovely herb oil when serving! Yum!
Mashed potatoes with herb oil
4 portions
Ingredients
1kg Desiree potatoes (or other firm potatoes, peeled and cut into smaller pieces)
6 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of mint
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 lemon: 5 strips of thinly sliced zest
1 dl olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Topping
60 ml olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed or grated
2 tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
about 8 mint leaves, finely chopped (2 tsp)
1 lemon: 1 tbsp grated zest, 1 tbsp salt
What do I do?
1. Put the potatoes, thyme and mint sprigs, garlic, lemon zest and 2 tsp salt in a large saucepan. Add boiling water so that the water is about 2cm above the potatoes. Simmer gently for about 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft enough to mash.
2. Make the topping while the potatoes are cooking. Put the oil, garlic, thyme and mint leaves, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small bowl with a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. Set aside.
3. Drain the potatoes in your colander over a large bowl (you'll use some of the potato water later so don't pour it all away!)
Pick up the thyme and mint sprigs, then pour the potatoes back into the saucepan (along with the garlic and lemon zest). Mash the potatoes with a potato masher, add 1 dl of oil and about 1.5 dl of the potato water slowly over time until you get a smooth mash.
4. Place the mash on a plate and make dimples in the surface with the back of a spoon. Drizzle the herb and garlic oil evenly over the mash and finish with a few good strokes of the black pepper mill.
The message Simple by Ottolenghi and delicious mashed potatoes with herbs appeared first on Taste celebration.
A few weeks ago, we needed a slightly soft cake for a dessert we served at the restaurant. Then I came up with this recipe. We flavoured it with matcha tea, but today I've made it a bit Christmassy with saffron and raisins instead. A bit like lussebullar but without fermentation time ...
I packed my cookies along with a thermos of hot chocolate in my rucksack. I headed for the frosty Ekoparken at Christinehof Castle.
With my jacket firmly closed, scarf wrapped tightly around me and camera at the ready, I went for a nice walk meandering out over the water, petting companionable sheep and drinking hot chocolate while looking out over the nodes. Got some photos and then hurried onto the paths with more shelter in the beech forest.
I have an eternal and incurable love for the beech forests here in Österlen, I don't mind that they are bare now in winter. They are just as beautiful as in spring, just in a different way.
It was a nice walk to start the working day with. It's like seeing the world from a different perspective with a camera in hand. Time stops and every ounce of concentration goes to that moment before the click. Must be a touch of mindfulness after all.
At least it's good for the soul.
But now with a little more focus on muffins...
Instead of eggs, I have used ripe bananas, so it works perfectly as an egg substitute in sweet cookies! If you don't like the banana flavour of the cookies, you can replace the same amount of banana with unsweetened applesauce.
The cakes are wonderfully airy and slightly crunchy on the outside. I have made them in small silicone moulds. They can certainly be made as muffins or sponge cakes instead. Increase the baking time and just make sure they are dry when you take them out. They are best the same day. For the next day, it's nice to throw them in the oven a little so they get their crispiness back.
For the cookies, I made a gluten-free flour mixture of rice flour, buckwheat flour, corn flour and potato flour that was absolutely fantastic to work with. It will most certainly come back in several recipes!
Gluten-free flour blend
Ingredients
7 dl / 400 g white rice flour
5 dl / 300 grams buckwheat flour
2 dl /140 g potato flour
2 dl / 110 grams of cornflour
Mix all the flours in a large bowl and then pour into a bag. Use as much as you need for the cakes.
Saffron and raisin muffins
about 30 very small cakes/muffins Ingredients Wet ingredients
150 grams of thick coconut milk
125 grams of ripe banana (preferably brown)
50 grams of sunflower oil
1 pinch of salt
Dry ingredients
2 dl /115 g gluten-free flour mix
2 tsp / 7 grams baking powder
0.5 dl /60 grams granulated sugar
0.5 grams of saffron
What do I do?
1. put the oven at 175 °.
2. Add the wet ingredients separately to a mixing bowl. Blend until completely smooth.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the mixed wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared moulds (if they're metal, you may need to grease them first).
5. Place the moulds in the oven, preferably with a baking sheet underneath to avoid any mess in the oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes (increase the time if you have larger moulds).
6. When the cakes are ready, remove the tin/plate and leave to cool.
This recipe is free from gluten, lactose, eggs and nuts.
Chocolate pie with lingonberries and red lentil base
By Isabel Brummer
|
16 September, 2018
Autumn and twilight. Sunday dinners together with candles lit. And of course chocolate!
The first post after the hectic days of summer will be a majestic chocolatey story with smouldering red lingonberries, dark chocolate, a fun base of red lentils and dried cornflowers with memories of the bright nights of midsummer.
The chocolate cake is not difficult to make but it does require a little preparation. The lentils need to be soaked for 12 hours and the chocolate caramel sauce needs to be cooked for about an hour. Other than that, it's very easy to make and above all very tasty. A little whipped cream* or similar is not a bad addition. Together, it makes a nice dessert on the dinner table in September.
Red lens base
1 cake
3 dl dried red lentils plus soaking water
————
150 grams of plant-based margarine/butter
2 dl granulated sugar
——————-
About 3 dl fresh/frozen lingonberries
What do I do?
1. soak the red lentils for at least 12 hours, they should be completely covered by a layer of cold water.
2. Drain the lentils and rinse them in a sieve.
3. Put all the lentils in a dry frying pan and roast them, stirring, over a fairly low heat until they are softly roasted, completely dry and have some colour. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
Finally, sprinkle with the sugar and let it melt and caramelise slightly with the lentils in the pan. Pour the lentils onto a baking tray and leave to cool slightly.
Take just over half of the lentils and put them in a food processor. Grind the lentils into a fine flour.
4. Melt the butter and pour it into a bowl. Add the lentil flour and stir. Add the remaining whole lentils, this is to give you some chewiness in the pie dough. If you prefer it smooth, mix all the lentils into a flour instead and then mix with the butter.
5. Press the pie dough into a baking tin, the larger the tin you choose the thinner the pie will be.
6. Pour on the kcoconut milk cola sauce with chocolate (see recipe below) and spread it out evenly using a spatula. Sprinkle about 3 dl of lingonberries on top of the chocolate. Decorate with some dried cornflower leaves or other beautiful edible flowers if you like. Place in the fridge for a few hours before serving to make it easier to cut.
Condensed coconut milk cola sauce with chocolate
Ingredients
Makes about 3 dl of finished sauce
2 cans of coconut milk (400 grams)
6 tbsp dark syrup (85 grams)
-----------
200 grams of chocolate 70 %
What do I do? 1. take a deep and preferably model larger pot, it will bubble and splash a little.
2. Pour in the coconut milk and syrup. Stir and bring to the boil. Lower the heat slightly so that the coconut milk can boil with small bubbles constantly. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 1 hour.
3. By now the coconut milk should have reduced by about two thirds. Continue cooking, but stirring more frequently for the last 15 minutes so that you can see when it's thick enough or until about 1/3 remains. Add the chocolate and let it melt into the sauce. Blend until completely smooth.
4.When you are happy with the consistency, pour the sauce into a lidded jar, or alternatively into the pie shell to make the chocolate pie.
If you don't use it all at once, store it in the fridge.
This recipe is free from gluten, lactose, eggs and nuts but above all it is really tasty
We are sitting on our veranda in the warm summer evening. Blanket over our knees and hot mint tea in the glass. The stars are twinkling above our heads and it feels like it's time for a kind of reflection of the past months.
In 2016, I returned to the house I grew up in, the Jägmästarbostaden in Andrarum. I came back to give some cookery classes. Then things went as they did. Just over a year ago, we started the plans in earnest. Tastecelebration Residence, a meeting place for my blog. A place for foodies where everything would be about food, just like it bubbles and crawls inside my brain.
So here we are. The plans are starting to fall into place, the furniture is finding its corners and we are finding our routines.
We opened, or rather maybe tried to open on Maundy Thursday 2018. There was an insane snowstorm that lasted almost all of Easter, which should have been the annual kick-off for the whole of Österlen. Instead, we were snowed in, had to send the staff home after an hour and got stuck with the car ourselves. What an adventure anyway! Our Dutch friends immediately got a Sweden experience that was worth it.
It is now the beginning of July and we have had sunshine for several weeks. Not an ounce of rain and drought everywhere. Someone mentioned something about the climate being out of kilter...
One of our hotel rooms: Saffron. One of my favourite spices of course!
My husband and I experience nature first hand and follow the journey of the pear leaf from bud to leaf and map.
At our green restaurant we have been running a weed menu where my daily routine included picking the smallest dandelion leaves, dainty nettles and intensely green cherry cabbage. Nowadays, rhubarb and bracken call my name instead. The chocolate and lemon mint look at me pleadingly from their pots where I've been advised to place them because of the risk of spreading. Well, not really against me. I love fresh mint.
Weed picking in the morning
Yes, it feels like a good time to gather my thoughts. I admit, the first few weeks (and months...) were quite messy and not as much food in my brain as I'm used to. It was more about staff, bedding, all sorts of conditions, plates and chairs. Menus would be composed and ingredients would be purchased. Walls had to be painted and boxes unpacked. Guests would be looked after and breakfasts prepared.
But now it is starting to take shape. Our original concept is giving direction and all decisions are being weighed on a golden scale. What should we do with our time? Where should we put our energy?
Our restaurant and coffee bar has become green fine dining with full focus on amazing vegan food that suits a curious foodie. Simon, our chef, sprinkles a little extra magic on my blog recipes and the result is more than successful.
Pictures from our menu and restaurant.
Our little farm hotel is packed to the rafters and my homemade granola has found its way into the breakfast bowls.
Next up are the dates for the cookery courses. Themes and recipes will be finalised and registrations taken care of.
Our latest translated book Bullar by Daniel Lindeberg will be published in June in Holland and a new book project is already underway.
Perhaps you're wondering if there will ever be more recipes on the blog? Yes, of course! How about sunflower cake with strawberries, my Scandinavian dukkah or elderflower cheesecake? Recipes that are just begging to be photographed and published... I promise, they will come!
When everything starts to fall into place, there is room for creativity again. It started already in 2015 with the blog, continued in 2016 with my courses and has now found yet another new turn and a start of something new with Tastecelebration Residence.
I'm excited about all the new things and look forward to sharing them with you here on the blog and maybe even in real life here at Tastecelebration Residence. Hope to see you here, digital life is almost unbeatable but meetings in real life usually give a greater meaning and fulfilment I have discovered!
Isabel
Looking for more seasonal recipes? Here are some tips on old favourites that I have published here on the blog before.
My very own rhubarb buds when they started coming up this spring. Good luck!
Chocolate balls + recipe for chocolate balls with white chocolate and lemon
By Isabel Brummer
|
16 May, 2018
A while ago, the colourful book Chocolate Balls by Mia Öhrn was published. Today it will be a review and chocolate balls with white chocolate and lemon!
Mia Öhrn has a solid background as a food writer and pastry chef. She writes for several of Sweden's biggest food magazines and has also published 18 books on everything from sponge cake, how to start a café (or maybe not...) to French pastries. Now the author has taken on another classic - the chocolate ball. After all, it can't be anything but good!
Chocolate balls are super easy to make, contain fairly "common" ingredients and are also usually cheap to make. In other words, perfect to make...
And even though the book is called "chocolate balls", there are a whole bunch of variations without chocolate in the book, how about chickpea balls with liquorice and figs, semolina balls or maybe matcha tea balls with hemp seeds?
The lovely photos are drizzled with melted chocolate, scented with cocoa powder and sprinkled with variegated colours...
The book is written in a very accessible way with simple instructions and straightforward steps. The recipes are then accompanied by absolutely adorable photos with lovely styling all around. Little toy cars are loaded with a ball, colourful plates are garnished with edible flowers and lovely gold-rimmed cups are filled with steaming coffee. All well thought out and lovely to see!
The recipe I chose from the book is absolutely delicious. The combination of white chocolate and lemon is almost unbeatable.If you also get the roasted, white, crunchy chocolate around it, it's like a candy heaven opened up.... Sweet and sour and quite easy to get together. It's probably just that roasted chocolate that would cause a little trouble but don't worry, it's easy with a little watchful eyes that keep an eye on so that it does not burn.
Let's go!
Chocolate balls with white chocolate and lemon
About 20 balls
Smear
200 grams of white (vegan) chocolate
4 dl oatmeal (gluten-free)
150 grams of plant-based butter
4 tbsp granulated sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, close to organic
4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Garnish 175 grams of white chocolate
What do I do?
1. Garnish
Roughly chop the white chocolate that the balls will be rolled in and spread it out on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Roast in the centre of the oven at 175 degrees for about 10 minutes until the chocolate is golden brown. Stir occasionally and watch carefully so that it does not burn. Leave to cool and then chop the chocolate.
2. Smear
Break the chocolate for the batter into pieces. Place in a food processor with the oats, butter, sugar and lemon zest and juice.
Blend for about 3-4 minutes to a fairly smooth batter. If you don't have a food processor, you can melt the chocolate instead and then work all the ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Shape the batter into balls and roll them in the roasted chocolate. Leave to set in the fridge and then store in a cool place.
The recipe is naturally lactose and gluten free (if you use gluten-free oats). Keep in mind that vegan white chocolate usually contains some kind of nut or almond butter.
It has finally become a reality, the blog is getting its very own meeting place for foodies; Tastecelebration Residence. We are now open!
We've been working on this for a long time and it's finally going to happen. We opened our Residence in the small village of Andrarum in Österlen in Skåne.
Together with my husband Joost, we have created a place entirely based on my great passion, FOOD! In fact, almost everything is about food in one way or another in our fantastic Jägmästarbostad from the late 1800s.
The building includes a coffee bar and restaurant, a farm hotel with four double rooms, a cookery library and spaces for small conferences and exhibitions. In addition, we will offer both cookery courses and food photography courses of various kinds. More information on that will come later.
Hungry!
We're opening straight away with a fantastic exhibition of food photography, Hungry! A fun exhibition with photos from Vegourmet magazine and photographer Magnus Holm, myself and three lucky winners from the Instagram competition we held earlier this year.
The exhibition is open until 31 August this year. See the opening hours here.
Walking around and looking around is guaranteed to make you hungry, so it's lucky that you can eat here too. In addition to sandwiches, sweet coffee and good cappuccinos, you can also enjoy a full dinner with wine or beer if you want. All the food served here is focused on green food just like on the blog.
Farm hotel
Finally, you can relax in our hotel rooms, dream sweet dreams and enjoy a good restorative breakfast before it's time for new adventures. Maybe, just maybe, you'll choose to just lie back and enjoy the light and silence....
Address to the Tastecelebration Residence is Jägmästarbostaden 101, Alunbruket. The restaurant is open Friday-Sunday 12.00-20.00 and Tuesday 9.00-17.00. Please call and book 0708-153955.
The Hungry exhibition! opens on 30 March and is open until 31 August 2018.
Visit the exhibition
30/3-2/4 11.00-20.00 Matrundan – Food tour 10-13 May 11.00-20.00
Other times until 22 /6, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12.00-21.00.
Chestnut flour is a new discovery for me since a couple of months ago. It has a good flavour that tends towards the sweet and can be used for baking cakes, pasta and bread. Today I'm making a sticky sponge cake with the flour.
In France, it is apparently a classic to make crepe with chestnut flour, but when I tried it, I thought it was almost unbearably sweet, so I'll probably have to work on it.
Instead, it became a classic sponge cake but with a little new flour. The mixture with the tapioca flour is necessary so that the cake does not become too heavy and the chestnut flour does not play too prominent a role.
It is important to sift the flours so that you don't get any nasty lumps of flour in your mouth. The result is also completely different if, as described in the recipe, you mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately before mixing them together.
You choose the time yourself, but I definitely think it's best when it's so wonderfully sticky... If you don't like it, just let it stand a little longer.
Chestnut flour can be a bit tricky to find but I've seen it in several online stores so it's a hot tip if you want to try it. Be sure to check the expiry date as the flour goes rancid easily. Use it as soon as you can or store in the freezer in an airtight container.
Sticky sponge cake with chestnut flour
Ingredients for one cake
1.5 dl / 110 grams chestnut flour
1 dl / 60 g tapioca flour
1/2 dl / 25 grams of cornflour
2 tsp / 15 grams of bicarbonate
7 tbsp / 65 g cocoa
1 pinch of salt
3 dl / 150 grams of raw sugar
——————-
2 dl / 200 grams almond milk
2 dl /190 g sunflower oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
What do I do?
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Get out a bowl, a wire strainer and a loose-edged cake tin.
Measure out all the dry ingredients except the sugar and place in a wire strainer. Strain everything into the bowl and then add the sugar.
2. Combine the wet ingredients in a high mixing bowl and mix with a hand blender until you get a smooth batter. It will be quite thick.
3. Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix well. Pour the batter into the cake tin and gently tap it against the table to spread it evenly in the tin.
4. Place the cake in the centre of the oven for about 17 minutes. The cake should still be a bit "woobly" when you take it out. If you want it more firm, just leave it in the oven for a few extra minutes.
Let the cake cool completely before cutting it. I decorated my almost black cake with some matcha tea powder, freeze-dried lingonberries and edible gold powder. In addition, I added some deliciously fresh pomegranate seeds.
Enjoy it on its own or with some fruit and maybe some cream*.
This recipe is naturally gluten and lactose free*.
Isabel Brummer, photo by Maggie Strand.
But now with a little more focus on muffins...
One of our hotel rooms: Saffron. One of my favourite spices of course!
Weed picking in the morning
Pictures from our menu and restaurant.
My very own rhubarb buds when they started coming up this spring. Good luck!
Sticky sponge cake with chestnut flour
