CatPoet

Tricoloured vegetable pate. Carrot layer 400 gram carrots 2 teaspoon of potato starch 3 tablespoon of creme fraiche 1 egg ½ teaspoon salt a pinch pepper a pinch ground corinader. Cauliflower layer 400 gram cauliflower 2 teaspoon of potato starch 3 tablespoon of creme fraiche 1 egg ½ teaspoon salt a pinch pepper a drop of lemon juice Broccoli layer. 400 gram broccoli. 2 teaspoon of potato starch 3 tablespoon of creme fraiche 1 egg ½ teaspoon salt a pinch pepper Heat the oven to 175 . Grease a tubpan or a loaf tin that holds 4 cups. Clean and cook each vegitable in a seperate pot until soft. It has to be soft. Pure the vegetable and mix each pure with potato starch,creme fraiche, egg and spices. Spread either carrot or broccoli layer out first in the pan. Then over that cauliflower and then the last pure. Cover with tin foil. Make a water bath and bake the lowe part of the oven for 50- 60 min. Cool a bit and turn it out on a plate. It is lovely warm, but good too at room temp. I dont turn it out until I am ready to serve or keep the pan over it as protection.

You are welcomed!!

The Sweet table, roasted salted hazelnuts, normal shelled almonds and hazelnuts, European walnuts, knäck, kola, marknads nougat, tablets and buckeyes. And yes a flower pot as bin ! We also had glögg, which is Swedish gluhwein, must which is a sweet soda flavoured with malt and hops and lots of gingerbreads. Any Questions?

Here comes the Christmas spread as I promised. We call it walking table ( gående bord) since you walk to get your dinner. We spread it out this year because we are all tired of putting our sleeves in to different foods. This vörtbröd , wort / malt loaf, one with raisins and one without , no poverå loaf because my husband didnt want it today and crackers. A pot of broth with the boiling sausages in it, we do it that way to keep the sausages warm. My old beloved cast iron skillet is filled with butterfly cut prinskorv ( small smoked sausages, like cocktail weaner) and isterband cut in smaller pieces, isterband is a soured lightly smoked sausage with barley in it. My Ikea pan in the has pickled ribs, they were pickled with apple cider vinegar, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, cummin and then the Swedish meatballs. Then we had Finish carrot bake, porkkanalaatikko , mustard grilled ham and in the glass bowl mustard and rosé pepper pickled herring. Brawn, lever pate , cold cut sausage, red coleslaw and Edam cheese ( big red one), Grädd ost, which means cream cheese but is just a creamier hard cheese made with fatter milk ( the little red one) and a pickled onion and chive cheddar ( tiny black one) and a Glenphilly Whisky cheddar ( the big black one). Look at the beauty of that jelled pork broth and the brined pork inside it. I wish I could get hold of pate and sylta ( brawn) moulds these days but they become as rare as hen teeth now a day. I am very proud over my lever pate, it turned out creamy with a robust flavour. Smoked whisky sausage, well smoked rabbit sausage and lightly soured and smoked Yule sausage. My best ham ever, I never gotten the mustard coating so picture perfect and tasty as today. The ham was really good too, This is what we do with the Christmas broth, we dip bread in it and it one of the best thing you can get, salty ham broth with bread. *drool* My daughter's plate, with a little bit over everything. My brothers plate with a lot of everything, The food was scrumptious , we really enjoyed our dinner. Everything perfectly cooked and nothing burnt. Except the vegetable pate had an accident in the morning and couldn't be saved, such things happens.

GOD JUL! This was our breakfast this morning, yes I ate it too. Gnome porridge and cherry sauce, I will post the whole spread later tonight.

Starting breakfast, this will be the traditional tomtegröt ( gnome porridge) it is made with rice, milk, butter and cream. Lovely. Done! It will be even better tomorrow when it has swelled some more. Doppekex, slowly drying out in the oven. Smells, horrible at the moment due to the baking ammonium but soon it be scrumptious. Hello my lovelies soon you are ready for my belly but first you need some cheese. This is the start of the pate , it is three coloured, one layer of broccoli then a layer of cauliflower and at last carrot. And this is the final step before the oven. Tomorrow my friends, you will see it all. Now I am tired after wrapping gifts and cleaning and running around town like a daft dodo . Night!

Tree is up, vegetable pate baked and I am making Doppekex, dipping crackers is what it would be if I translate it word by word but it is really crackers made from the lard on top of the Christmas broth ( doppe) and it has this lovely meaty flavour and also I have made breakfast for tomorrow already.

Naga almonds, so easy to make and according to those who dares, really lovely. Heat the oven to 225 C. In a pot add 200 ml water, 6 teaspoon of salt, 1 dried naga chilli or other less evil chili, 2 teaspoon of oil , cook this up and simmer for 5 minutes, you need poke the chilli a bit with a spoon. Then add 200 gram of almond with skin, leave for 3 minutes, drain and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Taste and realise it doesnt get painful until the four nut and then it gets hot.

Bruce: My neighbour asked what I been cooking or baking because the stairwell smelled of Christmas, warmth and candy. I gave him gingerbreads, candy and let him sniff the loaves and he was bit sad he had turn down Christmas lunch and dinner with us so he could go to his family. I have also made a Poverå loaf, Poverå is just a shorting of Potatoes Wheat and Rye in Swedish, but it sounds fancy and the ham is cooked, more broth made and now I am nearly ready for Christmas tomorrow!

Time for Vörtbröd my way. Vörtbröd is a typical Christmas loaf with raisins and bitter orange peel powder, which I cant have so I make it my self and since I cant get hold of malt either, i cook down 2 bottle of porter and this is what I have, In goes the scalded rye and after that cloves , ginger and mace and when it is all combined I add wheat flour ( plain flour) and knead until I have a firm dough, A dough like this one , slowly rising , doesnt it look good enough to eat as it is? Done!! One loaf has raisins and the other one not, so every one is happy. My husband, kindly helped me take pictures of this even though he is so tired and slightly feverish. Got to love that man. *smile*

Did the brawn today and it set perfectly ! Sadly no pictures because my mobile has problems today, I can take pictures of tree and kids but not food, then it just stops working.

Smithy: that is becoming part of the brawn. I needed to see if it set and held it shape, which it did. The broth I had did set but not as strong I wanted too. So tomorrow or Tuesday I am setting the brawn.

Oh forgot to tell you that the kola is made with Tates and Lyles black treacle and cocoa, which gives it a really deep chocolate toffee flavour. *drool* I want Christmas here today!

This what I been doing yesterday and today., Naga almonds, smoked and salted hazelnuts and pork broth, it jelled perfectly, And here is the sweeties, gingerbread hearts and chocolate gingerbreads stars and on the plate buckeye, tablets, knäck, , market nougat, almond bon bons and Kola ( toffee ).

That is the problem when you go to cold countries in winter, not much to eat and we do try to the best of what we have in winter. I have Finnish and northern blood in me and my food culture is mostly meat, herring, swedes, onion, potatoes, rye and lingon during the winter, if I followed the old ways,

Oh my father told me today, the few minutes the phone worked it has to be smoked with juniper wood.

When it comes to the roll out gingerbread recipe I have posted http://forums.egullet.org/topic/149950-swedish-gingerbread/ ,a light dusting of flour and a lighter hand on the rolling pin is all that is needed and it works like a charm. I use this dough just because I know it won't be to hard to roll or stick like crazy.

Fixed recipe, it been a time since I made these and I made them today and then it didnt work as it should. So I called a relative and she told me the recipe is wrong, wrong type of treacle and too much flour and too short cooking time. So I fixed that for you all. Stockholms pepparkakor 250 gram brown sugar 200 gram caster sugar 50 gram butter 250 ml golden syrup , cane juice, sugar cane syrup or light treacle ( if you luck out, Swedish ljus sirap) 50 ml of dark molasses 300 ml whipping cream ( try to get additive free) 1 tablespoon of ground ginger A few drops of oil of lemon, or lemon extract or the peel of ½ lemon ( old recipe says 1/4 teaspoon but for some oils that is too much) 2 tablespoon of bicarbonate soda 1 - 1½ litre of flour. ( dont use it all) Whip the cream fluffy, add sugars, syrup and soften butter, Whip some more until combine, add oil and ginger. Mix the bicarb with 500 ml of the flour and in. Now with your hands add in as much flour you need until you have a soft dough that holds it shape and isnt sticky. Remember this need to be a fatty dough, Leave over night. Next day roll small balls ( hazelnut size) or slightly larger balls and place on a baking sheet ( should be covered with paper). Bake at 175 C until done, dont burn them dear, about 12 - 15 minutes depending on size will do, they should crack, Dunk into coffee or milk, or you dentures have had it and it be an very expensive Christmas. Love. NN

Oh I forgot, you can also roll STockholmspepparkakor and cut them out if you want to. If the dough crumbles, add bit of butter.

I dont care if cheese boards are so 60.ties idea, we need more of them. Yes, that what a friend got to hear when she wanted that for her wedding. gfron; try to get hold lamb or deer hears, rinse them out with salt water, stuff with herbs and then smoke them. That is how my grandfather did his smoked hearts.

Lemon extract will work just fine and also yes about 4 cups of flour.

I can read and pronounce the chefs name! Woho! Could be because I used to know a Liekola here in Sweden, nice guy made the best karjalanpiirakka. I think you got them any way., I so hope you come back or come to my hole of the world. Might not have stared restaurants but that because the best one in town is hidden. Will you be inspired to cook some of what you ate or the flavours you met? Oh and yes I am fixing the pickled herring recipe, it is the same as we do here but the phone lines are down again to my parents village.

I hope you try it. I cant use oil of lemon so I tried this year with almond oil.

Stockholms pepparkakor 250 gram brown sugar 200 gram caster sugar 50 gram butter 300 ml golden syrup , cane juice, sugar cane syrup or light treacle ( if you luck out, Swedish ljus sirap) 300 ml whipping cream ( try to get additive free) 1 tablespoon of ground ginger A few drops of oil of lemon ( old recipe says 1/4 teaspoon but for some oils that is too much) 2 tablespoon of bicarbonate soda 1 - 1½ litre of flour. Whip the cream fluffy, add sugars, syrup and soften butter, Whip some more until combine, add oil and ginger. Mix the bicarb with 500 ml of the flour and in. Now with your hands add in as much flour you need until you have a soft dough that holds it shape and isnt sticky. Leave over night. Next day roll small balls ( hazelnut size) or slightly larger balls and place on a baking sheet ( should be covered with paper). Bake at 175 C until done, dont burn them dear, about 5- 12 minutes depending on size will do. Leave to cool on rack, yes they crack but that is perfect. Dunk into coffee or milk, or you dentures have had it and it be an very expensive Christmas. Love. NN That is how it is written on how to make them and it is a over 70 year old recipe, it is most likely older because this is written pre WWII in my grandmothers old cookbook and it is written with a typewriter with a flaw, so I know who gave this recipe to my gran. I , my self have few letters with the same flaw.

Sylvia, I will give you my grandmothers gingerbreads, Stockholms pepparkakor, you only roll balls, bake and it taste like Christmas.