Tummyrumble

Grilled sticky chicken wing perfection

Sticky chicken wing perfection
Originally uploaded by Manne.

It just so happens that right now the most read recipe on my blog is how to make perfect gilled chicken drumsticks. Well, my idea of perfection anyway. Like these sticky BBQ chicken wings using Stubb's liquid smoke.

Looking at my blog stats a few days ago as I was preparing a workshop on Search Engine Optimisation for Livebookings I realised that what happened last summer, when visits to that page spiked, wasn't a fluke.

Seems like I am able to see when people bring their BBQs out of storage, as the page views of that page starts climbing. It of course helps that the page in question is number three in Google on a search for "sticky chicken drumsticks".

Unsurprisingly, as I was going through the huge variety of keyphrases used to find that page, I developed a greedy craving for some of the crispy skinned, bronze coloured, chilli hot chicken appendages.


Absolutely beautiful, ready to be ripped apart
Originally uploaded by Manne.

While drumsticks have more meat on them, my favourite piece on the chicken really is the wing. I love when they are cooked to that perfect point where you can pull the bones out of the wing, dip the remaining pouch of succulent meat in a nice dipping sauce and wolf it down in one big mouthful.

It really is rather carnivorous which maybe is why I felt obligated to compensate with some steamed purple sprouting broccoli and some doughy white baguette bread to suck up the juices left in the baking dish.

This is easily my favourite comfort food in the world. Get the recipe for grilled sticky chicken wings right here.

Matcha soufflé based on a Gordon Ramsay recipe

Matcha soufflé number 2 collapsed... #fail #matchamadness @Catty
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Like last weekend (see Monster Matcha Banana Cake) we felt a need for something baked in the shade of green. What better way to satisfy such an urge than baking a soufflé with some added matcha?

This is our second entry to the Matcha Madness competition started by @Catty to celebrate the green powder in cooperation with Teapigs, online sellers of fine teas. If nothing else we hope to win the consolation price for greatest effort...

Based on a Gordon Ramsay recipe called "Hot Chocolate Soufflé" we substituted the chocolate in the flour mix (the "creme patisserie" apparently...) for matcha and a tablespoon of sugar. In the ganache we used white rather than dark chocolate to make the green hue come through clearly.

Since this is the first time I have ever attempted to make a soufflé I must say it went alright. One success out of two is not too shabby.


The one that didn't #fail...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

As dishes come though, this is the most complicated recipe I have tried in a long time. So many steps, different pots and bowls needed and such stress while waiting to see if the little bastards would rise evenly out of the ramekins...

To ensure a nice rise, we used all the tricks we learned at Ashburton Cookery School:

• When buttering the ramekins, make brush strokes from bottom to lip of the ramekin to form vertical lines (like the grooves in a gun barrel...) to guide the soufflé.
• Dust the inside of the ramekins with sugar to make sure the mixture doesn't stick.
• Crank the oven up to maximum (in my case 240 degrees Celsius) and when the ramekins are in turn it down to 190.

I do think the main reason the one soufflé collapsed was because I didn't fold the egg white into the creme patisserie properly, leaving bubbles of egg white in the mixture.


Next time, fold in egg white more carefully!
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Baking never really was my forte. Tasted lush though, albeit a bit sweet. Probably no need to add any extra sugar with the matcha, especially not when using white chocolate since it is so sweet in itself.

Check out the entire photo set for Matcha Soufflé on Flickr.

Sillglass is Swedish for herring ice cream

Herring ice cream with new potatoes, red caviar and crisp bread. Makes me long for Swedish summer nights. ;)
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Recently a most revolting question caught my eye on Twitter: "I wonder if the Swedes do herring ice cream", @HERMANOPRIMERO asked.

If I had known that he was visiting the glorious Swedish capital it might have made more sense, but at the time all I could think was "YEEEECH! Of course not, what a vile idea!"

Before I replied I figured I should google it though. "Sillglass", in Swedish. To my surprise, and horror (initially), turns out we do. Instantly fascinated by the juxtaposition of herring and ice cream, creating an image of pure disgust in my mind, I of course had to try this. 

Recipe is simple enough, and studying it more closely it is more like a frozen herring and creme fraiche paté... Ingredients call for soused herring (Swedish: matjé-sill), creme fraiche, bacon, chives and dill.

If you've ever celebrated midsummer's eve, Swedish style (it typically goes like this), you will know that the traditional lunch dish is exactly that. Herring of various flavourings, sour cream, chopped chives, boiled new potatoes with dill. On a hot summer's day it makes the perfect light meal. 

Although, with Swedish schnaps perhaps neither light nor eventually very perfect on a hot day, but hey. Schnaps is optional. Unless you are Swedish.

Swedish midsummer on a plate, delicious
Originally uploaded by Magnus D and kindly published under Creative Commons.

With this in mind I was quite starting to look forward to creating my very own herring ice cream. Especially since I missed out on midsummer this year, not going back to Sweden to celebrate.

Incidentally Ing also found a whole package of "Svenska nubbar", small bottles of regional Swedish Schnaps, at the back of our alcohol cupboard. The table was set for a proper Swedish feast.

Being the slightly distracted person I am I went all the way to Borough Market only to buy the wrong type of herring. Came home with two fresh herring fillets, and immediately realised my mistake. Soused herring, dammit, not fresh. Good thing I am Swedish and have long since found reliable suppliers of these types of rare and exotic delicacies.

So I headed out again, this time for Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchfield Street where you can find a treasure trove of Swedish treats, and delicious open faced Danish sandwiches to boot.

(The fresh herring fillets were later put to good use cooking pan-fried herring szechuan style. No herring was wasted making this recipe.)

A few minutes of intense blending and some chilled over night freezing later, we sat down to taste the strange concoction that is herring ice cream (with our selection of traditional schnaps) and lo, it was beautiful. From here on I vow to make herring ice cream for every midsummer's eve.

Check out the whole herring ice cream photo set at Flickr. Recipe and cooking instructions below.

My favourite of the traditional and regional Swedish schnapses to the far right: Skåne
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Ingredients (makes two small bowls, for 4)

2 soused herring fillets (matjésill in Swedish, see Scandi Kitchen)
1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
handful of chives, roughly chopped
lots of fresh dill, roughly chopped
4-6 rashers of bacon, pan fried
2 x 200 gram tubs of creme fraiche

I might add that the amount of herring here is for newbies. If you are a big herring fan you could double the 2 fillets to 4 for a more rich experience...

For serving:

Boiled new potatoes
some extra soused herring cut in pieces
chopped chives for garnish
red caviar for garnish (see Scandi Kitchen)
Swedish schnaps

Ingredients for herring ice cream
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Method

Start with frying the bacon as you would for a fry up, chop it up roughly.

Put herring, herbs, onion and bacon in a food blender and blitz.

Ready to be mashed into a not great looking pulp
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Add in the creme fraiche and mix it all up thoroughly to a smooth mousse. Taste it if you like to get an idea of things to come.

Herring, bacon and herb mash
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Transfer the mousse to two bowls, cover with plastic and freeze over night.

An hour or two before serving, transfer bowls to the fridge to make it easier to tip out the herring ice cream and cut up in nice serving pieces. If it is problematic getting the ice cream out of the bowl, try running the bottom under hot water for a while.

I made one without onion for Wendy, preferred the one with
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Serve with boiled new potatoes, some extra soused herring (or indeed one of the many other herring varieties like the classic favourite pickled in mustard), and chopped chives. Crispbread and a nice Swedish cheese like Prästost is a nice addition. 

You are now enjoying a very traditional Swedish summer meal. For an added flair, get some red caviar to top off the herring ice cream with a quenelle.

Utterly delicious, and so Swedish
Originally uploaded by Manne.

No matter what you think when you hear the words "herring ice cream", don't knock it until you've tried it. ;)

Check out the whole herring ice cream photo set at Flickr.

Awesome Matcha Choco Banana Cake is awesome

Banana, pecan nuts, chocolate chunks
Originally uploaded by Manne.

This month is officially Matcha Madness month. Catty said so (@Catty), so it has to be true.

In a challenge issued to everyone who loves matcha green tea powder, Catty in cooperation with (the great, we've bought some excellent tea from them) Teapigs online tea shop asked us all to go a bit matcha crazy. Who am I to ever turn down a challenge, be it for the most porky goodness, the greenest ice cream or the weirdest classic Swedish dish.

Actually, Flying Jacob may have to step down as weirdest dish now that I discovered herring ice cream... But that's a topic for another blog post. This is about celebrating matcha powder!

The rules laid out are simple: just use matcha in a dish and submit it to Catty before end of July. Easy peasy. Two other submissions were already in as I wrote this:

• Green Tea Chiffon Cake from Scandi Foodie, and
• Green Tea Cheesecake from Sarah Cooks

Me and Wendy didn't need to think very hard, we had planned to make delicious moist banana caek this weekend anyway and from there the step to mix it up with some matcha powder was not very far.

Using about three tablespoons sounded intuitively about right, and as you can see in the photo the effect was instant and almost terrifying. Monster green!


Let's call this green colour "interesting" or "eye-catching". It certainly isn't appetising. ;)
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Banana cake is at its best when some pecan nuts and chunky pieces of chocolate are mixed in, and we also decided to pretty it up a bit by adding a cream cheese icing.

The icing itself ended up being so tasty we spread it like actual cream cheese on the cake slices...


Piggy in action. That cream cheese frosting is so damn good I could eat it with a spoon!
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Catty keeps going on about how healthy green tea is. While I am sure she is right, I am equally certain that this way of consuming matcha completely negates any health benefits whatsoever. It is basically sugar, with starch, more sugar and chocolate. But hey, who is counting carb calories or insulin spikes?

Having just watched the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, as I look at the photos of the cake it is clear a streak of orange is missing. We should have put some orange peel or stripes of orange marmalade in the frosting to make it a suitable comfort food for the runners up.


Matcha Choco Banana Cake dusted with green tea powder
Originally uploaded by Manne.

For more photos, check out the full set on Flickr.

Ingredients (serves 6-8, or 4 piglets)

Cake:

3 very ripe bananas, mashed
185 gr caster sugar
185 gr self-raising flour
3 tbsp matcha green tea powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp olive oil
60ml milk
100 gr milk chocolate chunks (or grated choc)
100 gr pecan nuts, chopped

Icing:

200g Philadelphia cream cheese (1 packet)
50g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
60 gr icing sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Grease a medium (20 by 10 cm) loaf tin with some butter.

Mix the mashed banana and sugar in a large bowl, you will see the banana dissolve almost going liquid with the sugar. Add sifted flour, matcha powder, eggs, oil and milk. Stir the mixture gently. Marvel at the deep green colour from the matcha.

Fold in the chocolate and nuts, mix it all thoroughly so the nuts and choco chunks are evenly distributed.

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 55 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.


A lovely smell spreads in the kitchen...
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool further. It may help if you "cut" along the sides of the tin with a knife before turning it over to get the cake out.

While the banana cake is baking, prepare the frosting mixture.

In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese and butter. Then add in the vanilla and icing sugar and keep mixing until completely smooth. Put in the fridge to make it set a bit before spreading it on the cake.

In our case, the icing didn't set much, but we decided not to worry as we didn't expect the cake to survive very long... When the cake has cooled, spread a generous amount of icing on top of the cake. Use a sieve to sprinkle some green tea powder on top as garnish.

Slice, eat, have another slice.

Pan-fried herring spicy style

Fried herring inspired by Fish-fragrant Aubergines, colourful ingredients
Originally uploaded by Manne.

Since the Szechuan dish I cooked yesterday, Fish-fragrant Aubergines, gets its name from using traditional fish seasoning we figured we'd try that with two herring fillets we had in the fridge.

Garlic, chilli, ginger, spring onion and coriander for good measure.

Fried the herring three minutes each side in a large pan, skin side first. After flipping the fillets infused some oil with garlic, chilli and ginger separately so as not to burn the garlic and make it go all bitter (photo).

Plated up the herring with a big bunch of fresh coriander, some steamed broccoli, and then spooned the sizzling oil infusion on top (photo).

Delicious.

Unfortunately I have a serious problem with fish bones... And herring is full of them. They are really thin, perfectly edible without any problem whatsoever, but they freak me out.

Stupid. I love herring so much, and will definitely do it this way again.

Excellent low carb dish, served with the broccoli.