Chicken in Clay Pot

This chicken in a clay pot has Asien flavor to it. It becomes really soft and juicy when baked in the pot. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

Filling

2 cups black mushrooms, soaked and chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

2 cups water chestnuts cut in halves

2 cups okra, sliced

2 small peppers, chopped

1 cup sundried tomatoes

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

4 tbs hoisin sauce

Salt

Pepper

Sesame oil

Container: clay pot

Directions

Soak top and bottom of the clay pot in cold water for 10 minutes.

Do not preheat oven.

Soak the mushrooms.
When soft drain out the water.

Chop the garlic, peppers, okra and sun dried tomatoes. Divide the chestnuts. Slice the carrot.

Mix in a bowl and add salt, pepper, hoisin sauce, sugar, rice wine vinegar and a little sesame oil. 

Rinse the chicken in cold water, pat dry with paper towel.

Brush the chicken lightly outside with sesame oil and sprinkle salt & pepper all around.

Place chicken breastside up in clay pot and fill cavity of chicken with the filling.

Place left over filling around the chicken in the clay pot.

Brush on some more oil and hoisin sauce on top of the chicken.

Cover and put in a cold oven.

Turn oven to 220 Celsius degrees.

Bake 90 minutes.

Remove the top during the last 10 minutes of baking to brown.

Remove from oven and place on hot pads or a towel. Do not put on a cold surface.

Serve directly from clay pot.

I did not serve the dish with anything except the baked vegetables in the pot. It was delicious. However if you like you can serve it with rice or noodles. For my choice the extra filling was more than enough for the total meal.

Raspberry and Rhubarb Pannacotta Pie

Raspberry and Rhubarb Pannacotta Pie

Ingredients:

Pie crust

10 chocolate dream cookies

10 gingerbread cookies

75 g butter

Filling:

3 sheets of gelatin

3 dl whipping cream

1 dl sugar

250 g raspberries and rhubarb

3 tbs agave syrup

3 tbs water

2 tsp cinnamon

200 g Philadelphia cheese (cream cheese)

Fresh berries for decoration

Directions:

For the pie crust mix the cookies in mixer until crushed to crumbs. Melt the butter. Mix the crushed cookie crumbs with the melted butter. Press the mixture into a cake pan with loose bottom. Put in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Place the sheets of gelatin in a bowl with cold water.

For the filling: pour the cream in a pan and mix in the sugar. Place on oven and stir while heating until the sugar is melted. Remove from stove. Take the gelatin sheets out of the water and press the water out with your hand. Put the sheets in the mixture of cream and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Leave to cool a bit.

Put the raspberries and rhubarb in a pan and add the agave syrup, 3 tbs water and cinnamon. Stir while heating until the mixture is smooth and jam like. Cool off.

Mix half the jam of raspberries and rhubarb and all the Philadelphia cheese/cream cheese. Add this to the cooled off cream and gelatin mixture. Stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture on top of the cooled pie crust and place back into the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or until it is firm.

Serving take off the edge of the pie pan and place the bottom on a nice serving tray. Decorate by putting the rest of the jam of fruits as a layer on top of the pie. Decorate with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Vegetable pie

Vegetable pie

Ingredients pie  crust

3 dl flour

75 g butter

0,5 dl quark

Ingredients pie filling

3 eggs

2 dl light quark

75 g feta cheese

1 clove garlic

0, 5 tsp salt

0,5 tsp pepper

Vegetables:

3 dl broccoli and cauliflower cut in bouquettes

1 carrot cut in thin slices

75 g feta cheese

Shredded cheese

Directions:

Mix the ingredients for the pie crust into smooth dough. Press the dough out into a pie pan. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Set the oven on 200 degrees Celsius.

For the filling; mix egg and quark. Mince down the feta cheese and press the garlic clove into the mixture. Add salt and pepper.

Cook the vegetables in boiling water with a little salt for five minutes. Sift and drain the water out. Cool off a little.

Bake the pie crust for 12 minutes in the heated oven. Take it out and place the vegetables nicely in the crust. Mince the feta cheese to small pieces and spread in the pie crust around the vegetables. Pour the filling over the vegetables. Add shredded cheese on top if you like. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until it is golden and the filling is firm.

For this pie you can really fill it with anything you like, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, just put your favorite vegetables in and enjoy. I made it simple this time since I wanted it as a side dish for my salmon with coconut sauce and didn´t want the pie to take over the taste buds!

Salmon with Coconut

Salmon with Coconut

Ingredients

8 pieces salmon file

4 tbs olive oil

8 cloves of garlic

1 piece ginger fresh (or powder)

2 yellow onions

1 chili

2 dl crushed tomatoes

4 dl coconut milk

1/2 dl Coconut flakes

1/2 dl sesame seeds

Salt

Pepper

.............

Broccoli

Carrots

Cauliflower

Directions:

Set the oven on 200 Degrees Celsius.

Roast the coconut flakes and sesame seeds and set aside.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Crush the garlic and cut into small, small pieces. Shred the ginger and cut the onion in small pieces. Put it in the frying pan with the chili and fry until the onion is transparent. Stir in crushed tomatoes, coconut milk and coconut flakes and sesame seeds. Mix well and cook for a little while. 

Place the salmon filéts in a baking tray and pour the sauce over. Add salt and pepper. Cover the tray with alumni foil so it is totally closed up.

Put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Cut the broccoli and cauliflowers to small bouquettes and slice the carrot in thin slices. Steam the vegetables but keep a little crunchiness.

Serve the salmon with the steamed vegetables.

Tapioca Pudding

Tapioca Pudding

Ingredients:

3 cups coconut milk (or whole milk)

1/2 cup small-tapioca pearls (not instant)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks, beat lightly 

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved

1/8 teaspoon fine salt

*Fresh strawberries for decoration

Instructions:

Place 1 cup of the milk and the tapioca pearls in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Let the pearls soak uncovered at room temperature for 1 hour.

Add the remaining 2 cups of milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla seeds, and salt and stir to combine. Place the pan over medium heat and cook while stirring, until the mixture just comes to a simmer, about 10 minutes (do not let the mixture boil).

Reduce the heat to low and cook, while stirring, until the mixture thickens and the tapioca pearls are softened, about 15 minutes.

Serve warm (the pudding will thicken as it cools).

You can find Tapioca pearls in the Asien Markets. Tapioca comes in different colors, white, green or even pink or mixed colors together. Today I made my Tapioca dessert from mixed colors and decorated with fresh strawberries.

Asian pork collar with hoisin sauce

Asian Pork Collar with Hoisin Sauce

(Pork collar is Fläskkarré in Swedish)

Ingredients

600 g pork collar

3 dl water

Marinade

2 tbs hoisin sauce

2 tbs Japanese soy sauce

1 tsp salt

0,5 dl sugar

Gravy

4 dl sauce from the pan

1 tbs potato starch / tapioca starch or maize starch

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Woked vegetables/Salad

2 carrots

100 g green cabbage

100 g canned beans (mixed)

1 onion

10 Sugar snaps

½ dl Sesame seeds

Sesame oil

½ dl Sunflower seeds

Salt

Pepper

Directions for roasting the pork collar:

Set the oven on 200 Celsius degrees. Make a cut across the pork collar, 3 cm deep. Make two cuts across the other way to make a cross. Mix the marinade and use a brush to cover the pork collar. Put the meat in an oven pan with the side that has not been cut facing up.

Roast the meat in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.  Add the water to the pan. Turn the pork collar and brush the meat again with the marinade all around. Put it back in the oven with the uncut side up.

Put a meat thermometer in the pork collar. Roast for another 40 minutes or until the inner temperature is 80 degrees Celsius. Brush with the remaining marinade during the roasting process.

Put aluminum foil over if it gets to dark. When done take out of the oven and let the meat rest before cutting (about 15 minutes).

Directions for the gravy:

From the sauce in the roasting pan you will make the gravy. Pour it in a pan and heat on top of the oven. Add the starch to thicken the gravy while stirring (stir the starch in a little cold water before adding to the broth). Add salt and pepper until your liking.

Directions for the vegetables 

Slice the carrots with a potato peeler in thin long strings. Slice the cabbage in small strips. Pour out the canned beans into a sieve to drain the beans before mixing with the other vegetables. Cut the sugar snaps in small pieces. Roast the sesame seeds and sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan and cool off. Slice the onion and quickly fry up in a little sesame oil in the frying pan and let cool off. Mix all the ingredients for the salad in a bowl and drizzle some of the roasted seeds on top. If you want to vegetables warm heat up a wok pan/frying pan and add some sesame oil and wok the vegetables before serving.

To serve: 

Serve the meat with the salad/or woked vegetables. You can also serve it with rice, noodles. Today I made a salad to go with mine since I wanted to keep the carbohydrates in the meal down. I woked the greens in a hot frying pan with a little sesame oil to get a warm salad. Place the woked vegetables on the plate. Cut the pork collar in slices and place on the bed of salad. Add some gravy on top of the meat and sprinkle some sesame seeds and sunflower seeds on top.