Asian-ish Chicken mince sauce

Ok - let me just apologize for the horrible photo - I know, I know. Bad food blogger. In so many ways. But the recipe makes up for it. I promise. Make it, enjoy it. It was a hit with my whole family - Titus and I had it with rice noodles, Dante and Per with rice. It'd go great with regular pasta too. 

And as always, please adapt as you see fit. I don't cook in a particularly exact way, and I really don't believe that you have to, either. You can use more or less of all ingredients, this is just a sketch.

Asian-ish Chicken mince sauce

Serves 4-6

Chicken mince, 800 g

vegetable oil

3-4 tbsp red curry paste (I didn't measure - half a small jar)

1 tsp (or so) of red chili flakes, I used a korean variety which is finer ground than most and very spicy

2-3 garlic cloves, or 1 whole solo garlic, finely minced

fresh ginger, at least 5 cm or so, finely grated

2 carrots, coarsely grated

1-2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce 

1-2 tbsp runny honey

1 tsp Vegeta or similar herb seasoning (completely optional)

1 can (400 ml) coconut milk

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 lime, zest and juice

Start by browning your chicken mince in a large pot, and you can add the chili and the garlic pretty much right away. I use regular vegetable oil for this. 

When the chicken is no longer raw, go ahead and add ginger, carrots, soy sauce (start with about one tablespoon), honey (again, start with a spoonful and see how you like it), vegeta, coconut milk and sesame oil. Let everything cook for ten minutes or so. Add the lime - zest and juice - and then season to taste. You might want more soy or honey, to adjust the levels of salty and sweet. 

 

Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken

 We made some really yummy buffalo chicken last night for dinner, and this is a recipe I definitely do NOT want to lose. The method is super simple, and I bet this could work with different spicing as well.. might have to try it with an orange chicken soon. 

It might feel a bit fiddly because of different things to prepare, but don't worry - it's all fast and simple. And well worth the effort, SO good! 

Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken
Serves 6-8
1,5 kilos of boneless chicken - we used chicken thighs, cut in two. (I'd cut breasts in maybe 3-4 pieces, depending on the size) 
2 eggs
2 tbsp Franks Buffalo Wing sauce

For the crunch: 
1.5 liters of corn flakes (yes, it sounds like a lot, you'll use it all) 
1 tbsp smokey paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
100 ml grated parmesan cheese

For the sauce: 
150 ml Franks Buffalo Wing sauce
80 g butter
1 tsp vegeta (or other seasoned salt) 
1 tsp chipotle powder
a few dashes of cayenne
2 tbsp honey

Also: 
olive oil



Cut up the chicken. Whisk the eggs and the hot sauce and turn the chicken in this, to make sure it's well covered. 

For  the crunch, use a  food processor to mix up the corn flakes into crumbs with spices and parmesan cheese. 

Coat the chicken in the crumbs, making sure they're well covered, then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil. 

Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes. Check with a thermometer to make sure the chicken is cooked through. 

Meanwhile, make the sauce: Melt the butter and wing sauce together with vegeta, chipotle and cayenne. When it's all combined and smooth, take it off the heat and add the honey. Stir well. 

When the chicken is cooked, drizzle the sauce on top and serve right away! Ideally with a blue cheese dip - here's the recipe  I used for that, too. 

Blue Cheese Dip
140 g blue cheese (Kvibille Gräddädel is the one I used) 
75 ml mayo
200 ml sour cream 
1 tsp garlic powder
dash of hot sauce
1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Mix it all together. I used a stick blender to make it smooth. 

Tomatillo salsa

Titus first had tomatillo salsa at Dos Caminos restaurant in NYC, on our trip in early 2020. (As a side note, it was in the airport on the way back that we first really heard about Covid and what it might mean…) 

He loves it. Green, spicy, sharp and fresh. We then forgot all about it for a while, but recently he’s been asking about it and I hunted for tomatillos for a while. Clearly not grown in Sweden and pretty darn expensive, but eventually I found some. I googled various recipes but ended up doing something like this:

Tomatillo salsa

5 tomatillos 

2 shallots (white onion would have been nice, the store was all out) 

1 large garlic clove 

1 small jalapeño, seeded 

1 lime, juiced

Cilantro, to taste

Salt

Cut tomatillos, shallots, garlic and jalapeño in chunks. Cover with water and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Drain but reserve cooking liquid. 

Put in a blender with cilantro and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Now, put it back into the saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes. It will thicken so use some of the reserved liquid to get it to the consistency you’d like. 

Taste for seasoning. 

Langos

 Have we ever talked about Langos? Originally an Hungarian dish, but made very much every-man's-festival-favorite during the 90's in Sweden. I never tried them back then, mostly because the traditional way of serving them was with roe - not my fave. However, my pal Dagmar made them for me, and her topping was far superior: creamy fatty smetana (to make all the other things stick), crispy fried bacon, sharp chopped red onion and strong umami-rich Västerbotten Cheese. Oh, and you begin by rubbing the newly fried bread with a slice of garlic. 

We often requested it when she made us dinner. It was lovely. And then she moved away. And for a while, langos became a yearly tradition when we finally saw each other. But during covid-times, it's just been so long. I had to try making it myself. 

My first go - which was last New Year's Eve - was not that great. I had mostly great big fried bubbles. Good, but pretty inconvenient to eat. This time, the dough was less puffy and much better, so I thought I'd write down the recipe. 

This makes enough for.. well, four adults and some kids. We're just two adults and two kids and we have way too much. Don't fry more than you'll eat, they're better just after they're made. Add whatever toppings you like. 

And well, if you happen to have room... they're pretty delicious served with Nutella, whipped cream and fresh berries as well. 

Langos
about 16 small 

25 g fresh yeast
300 ml tepid water
1 large (or 2-3 small) boiled potatoes, coarsely grated
pinch of salt
700 ml flour (about 420 g)
oil to fry

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add the water and swirl until the yeast is dissolved. Add salt, potato, and the flour. Work into a smooth and supple dough - I used a Kitchen-Aid and let it run on the lowest setting for a little less than ten minutes. Leave to rise for about an hour (I watched Gremlins in the mean time so.. a little more than an hour.) 

On a well floured surface, divide the dough into equal-ish portions, and with a small roller, shape into thin ovals, about the size of your hand. (or a little longer). 

Heat the oil, and when it's warm enough - about 180, 190°C. Add one or two langos at a time and fry for about a minute on each side. Place on paper towels to drain some of the excess oil, then eat at once. 

Shrimp Nachos

Every Friday is Taco-Friday in Sweden. I know, weird,  right? (Read more about that crazy phenomenon in this interview I gave many years ago, here!)

Well, we don’t eat tacos, or versions thereof, EVERY week but it’s a regular occurrence for sure. And I’m always interested to hear about new fun ideas. My husband found a photo of pretty unorthodox shrimp tacos on Instagram, and I decided to make a version at home. 

This is the kind of recipe that’s not really a recipe, just an assembling instruction. Here is what we used: 

-nachos

-cooked shrimp 

-finely chopped red onion

-smetana (or creme fraiche)

-lemon zest

-avocado

-salad (we used mache salad)

-red fish roe 

-browned butter (do NOT skip this, it totally made the dish!) 

I like to just put everything out in bowls and let everyone make their own plate. Fun and delicious!