Lemon & Tarragon Butter Chicken

I'm in quite a cooking funk at the moment. I can't seem to think of anything to do, and I'm quite stressed now that the summer vacation is over and we're all back at work. So, we've decided to try the company Middagsfrid for a week - they deliver groceries and recipes, and we do the cooking. We got our first delivery last night and it looks decidedly promising - maybe not the most exciting of recipes, but most things sound very tasty and the ingredients all looked great. I'll update as I cook, and let you know what I think!

Anyway. I made this chicken a few weeks ago, and it's absolutely splendid. I had tarragon in my garden, and it was a great match with the lemon zest and garlic - but basil or thyme would also be great. Or all three! Any fresh herbs really - you can't go wrong...

Lemon & Tarragon Butter Chicken
Serves 4

1 small chicken
50 g butter, at room temperature
1 garlic clove (small-ish)
2 lemons - the zest only, grated
1 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
salt, pepper

500 g potatoes
8 small fresh yellow onions

Mince the garlic, and mix with the lemon zest, tarragon, butter, salt and pepper. Rub this all over the chicken, pushing some underneath the skin as well.

Peel the potatoes and cut into smaller pieces. Cut the onions in halves or quarters, depending on size. Place all the veggies in an oven-proof dish, and then the chicken on top.

Cook in the oven at 175°C for about 40 minutes. Check to make sure the chicken is completey cooked through.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kyckling med citron & dragonsmör

Sambal & Lemon Meatballs

I always find it very awkward to name a dish like this in English. In Sweden, the term is "pannbiff", and it's just not really translatable. It's not a meatball - it's flatter than that. It's not a patty, not really. A meatcake? Doesn't sound right. So for now, I'll stick with meatball. Which it's not.

But, whatever you call it, these are really good. You can use lamb mince instead of pork, that would also be awesome. A risotto is really yummy with these and I can't rave enough about buttered-and-creamed cabbage now that the cabbage is so young and green. Delicious! And super-simple, too - shred a bunch of cabbage and cook it in a large pan with a little butter, a little water, and at the end a little cream, salt and pepper.

Sambal & Lemon Meatballs

500 g pork mince
1 small yellow onion,finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon - the zest, plus half the juice
1 tsp sambal oelek (a very spicy chili paste)
1 tbsp mango chutney (I had a mango-habanero salsa)
salt



Mix all the ingredents, and shape into flattened meatballs. Bake in the oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through. (You can also pan-fry these in butter.) Serve with risotto and cabbage.

Recipe in Swedish:
Sambalbiffar med citron

Lemon Cheesecake Macarons

I had another macaron class today - well, a class is perhaps overstating things, but I had some friends over to learn how to make macarons. We made two kinds - one with toasted hazelnuts and a chocolate ganache (awesome) and the equally awesome Lemon Cheesecake Macarons I've made before. This time, we shaped them to look like actual lemons - so cute, and so easy. All you need to do is take a toothpick, and as soon as you've piped your rounds, use the tootpick to draw out a little peak on opposite sides of the rounds. Ta-da!

Lemon Buns

I threw a small birthday party for my sister last month, right before we went off to Spain. It was a simple cake-and-coffee affair, and because I really didn't feel like actually making a cake, I focused on buns instead. Namely, these deliciously spring-y lemon buns. I used a normal yeasted bun dough with cardamom, then filled the buns with lemon curd. (Oh, go ahead and use homemade if you have it, but I didn't.) After baking, I dipped the buns in melted butter and sugar. Absolutely great.

I don't think they'll keep very well though. I sent what few leftovers we had home with my guests, so I can't really say, but I strongly suspect they're best on the day they're made.

Lemon Buns
makes 24

25 g fresh yeast
200 ml cold milk
1/2 tsp salt
70 g glucose - I use white baking syrup, I suspect corn syrup will work as well
1 egg
1 tsp cardamom
zest from 1 lemon
500 g all-purpose flour
100 g cold butter in thin slices
1-200 ml lemon curd

For serving:
melted butter
sugar

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add some of the milk and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the rest of the milk, then the salt, syrup, the egg, cardamom and lemon zest. Stir well. Add the flour, gradually, and at last, the butter. Work into a smooth and supple dough. I used my Kitchen-Aid for about 6 minutes on medium speed.

Let the dough rest for about an hour, covered with a kitchen towel.

Divide the dough into two parts. Roll out the first part into a rectangle. Divide into twelve squares. Place a small spoonful of lemon curd on each, and fold the corners towards the middle, so you end up with a ball. Pinch the seams, and place, seam-side down, in a cupcake liner. Keep going with the remaining dough.

Let the buns rise, covered, for 45 minutes. Heat the oven to 225°C, and bake for 7-8 minutes.

Before serving, dip the top of the buns in melted butter, and then in sugar.

Recipe in Swedish:
Citronbullar

Lemon Vanilla Icebox Cookies

Happy St Patrick's Day! I thought I'd celebrate by piping some green shamrocks on cookies. Great, in theory - right? In reality, my piping skills pretty much suck, and I'm not even sure if a shamrock is supposed to have three or four petals. I went for four, which is considered lucky in Swedish.

The cookies are excellent, and very easy to make. Just mix the dough, chill, slice and bake.

Lemon Vanilla Icebox Cookies
makes about 50 cookies

200 g butter
1/2 tsp salt (if you're using unsalted butter, if not, omit)
100 g sugar
250 g all-purpose flour
1 vanilla bean (the scrapings of)
zest of 1 lemon

Beat butter, salt and sugar until fluffy. It's easiest if the butter is at room temperature, but if you're in a hurry (like me) you can slice it thinly to make it soft much faster.



Add flour, vanilla and lemon zest, and work into a smooth dough. Don't overwork it, or it might become tough. (Due to the gluten development.)

Shape two sausages and wrap in plastic foil. Chill until firm - an hour in the freezer, or overnight in the fridge.



Slice fairly thinly (my slices were about 5 mm) and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake at 175°C until the edges are lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Drizzle with melted chocolate if you wish. I used white chocolate with some green powdered food coloring.

Recipe in Swedish:
Citronkakor med vanilj

Lemon Mango Mousse Cake

Let's be frank: this is not my simplest recipe. Yes, it's long. Yes, it's detailed. Yes, it's a bit fussy. It's however NOT difficult, not hard at all, so don't be intimidated. You can do it! It's very tasty - and it's gluten-free, by the way.

I made it for Easter, and because of that, I chose a mango compote to be the filling. I imagined an oozy, egg yolk effect that didn't quite happen, but it was delicious anyway. Next time, I'll double the cake and the mango filling, to make two cakes instead of one. The lemon mousse recipe makes a LOT so you'll end up with one very high cake.

And you need to plan ahead. The mango filling needs to be frozen beforehand, so it's best to start that two days before serving the cake. The chocolate cake layer needs to cool before it's time to fill it, and the whole cake needs to be in the freezer for at least a few hours. So, my suggestion is to do the mango filling two days ahead, and the rest of the cake the next day, one day before serving. It keeps well though, so you can make it much more in advance.

On the actual day of serving, just thaw it in the fridge for a few hours, and decorate.

Special equipment needed: A 22-cm springform, plastic wrap, a 24-cm springform, overhead plastic, tape, a sugar thermometer, a microwave... and a stand mixer is helpful.

Oh.. and this cake uses Kesella which is a quark, 10%-fat. I imagine you could use something else - ricotta maybe? - but I can't vouch for it.

Lemon Mango Mousse Cake

Mango Compote

250 g mango, cubed
150 ml sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 gelatin sheets

Soak the gelatin in cold water for at least five minutes. Place mango, sugar and lemon in a saucepan and cook for ten minutes. Mix, using a blender or a stick blender, until smooth. Add the gelatin, stir until it's dissolved and pour into a plastic-lined springform tin that's about 20-22 cm in diameter. Freeze.

Chocolate cake

4 egg yolks
45 g sugar
4 egg whites
90 g sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder

Beat egg yolks with the 45 g of sugar until very fluffy. Sieve the cocoa powder and stir in, carefully but thoroughly.

Beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the 90 g of sugar and beat into a shiny meringue. Fold into the chocolate batter. Pour everything in a lined 24-cm springform tin. Bake at 175° for 12-15 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, cut to loosen the cake from the side of the tin, then leave it to fall. (It will - completely.)

Lemon mousse

5 egg yolks
3 lemons (preferably organic and unwaxed)
4 gelatin sheets
600 ml cream (full-fat)
210 g sugar
85 g water
600 g kesella (quark)

Clean the lemons. Zest the peel, and juice them. Set aside 3 tbsp of the juice. Mix the rest, along with the zest, with the quark.

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water. Beat the cream into soft and foamy peaks. Beat the egg yolks until foamy, preferably in a stand mixer.

Mix sugar and water (those 85 g) in a small saucepan and heat until it's exactly 122°C. Pour this hot sugar syrup over the foamy egg yolks, while still beating them, and keep beating on medium speed until the mixture is at room temperature.

Remove the gelatin from the water and place in a small bowl with the 3 tbsp of lemon juice that you set aside earlier. Heat on low effect in the microwave - for just a few seconds - until the sheets have melted. Add this to all the other ingredients - the egg yolk mix, the cream and the quark.



Assembly:

When the cake is completely cool, remove it from the tin, clean and dry the tin, and place the cake back again. Tape overhead film to the inside of the tin, to make a collar that goes a few cm higher than the tin itself.

Pour about 1/3 of the mousse onto the cake. Carefully place the frozen mango compote, and cover with the remaining lemon mousse. Place the whole cake in the freezer overnight (or for at least a few hours.)

Remove from the tin while still frozen - you might have to heat the tin itself gently, a hair dryer is great idea. Peel off the overhead sheets, and move the whole cake to a serving platter.

Thaw in the fridge for at least two hours, but preferably longer.

Recipe in Swedish:
Citronmoussetårta med mangokompott