Organ meats anyone?

I remember, as a kid, being given kidneys as part of a warm salad for dinner.  The whole notion of a warm salad was rather brave & in our part of Co. Waterford was definitely 'nouvelle cuisine', but kidneys?  Oh man, I hated them.  Even now, I'm not sure what animal they came from, but I guess it was chicken...they were really tiny.  The smell and texture made me retch and put me off all organ meats forever, or so I thought.

Thankfully, my mother had the wisdom to try other methods of getting organ meats into us.  Every now and then she would make a big batch of chicken liver pâté, freeze most of it and on special occasions present us with a ramekin of smooth creamy heaven.  Even though I knew it was called 'liver' pâté, I didn't quite make the connection with organ meats.  Even my brother loved it and still does, despite being the fussiest eater in the family.  I always thought it must be very expensive to make, as we only had it very rarely, but now I know better.  It's really inexpensive and so easy and quick to make.  If you don't mind handling organ meats and are confident that you can get them from a reputable source, then it's well worth trying.

Obviously if you're vegetarian then this recipe isn't for you.  However, if you're a meat eater as I am, using as much of the animal as possible makes me feel better about eating it in the first place, even if they look pretty unappetising in their raw state.  I'm lucky to have found a fantastic butcher in Malmö  'Vilt Specialisten' who specialises in wild game and organic pasture reared meat, which is naturally higher in all kinds of nutrients including the much talked about Omega-3.

If you're not sure about organ meats, let me try to convince you.  Organ meats like liver, kidneys and heart are rich in many nutrients, particularly fat soluble ones like Vitamin A & D, minerals selenium, zinc and iron, B vitamins and Vitamin K2.  B12 is particularly rich in liver, as that's where it's stored (unlike other B vitamins) and is hard to get if you don't eat much meat or animal products.  Deficiencies in B12 can lead to issues with cell division and blood volume, mood disorders, depression and anxiety.  Also found in organ meats is a nutrient called Co-enzyme Q10, which is essential for energy production and is often lacking when we are fatigued or suffering from conditions like chronic fatigue, adrenal fatigue or long term stress.  All of these nutrients are essential for very active people and are often lacking in our diets, even if we feel we are eating healthily.  This pâté recipe includes grass fed butter (organic if you can get it) which really helps us to absorb the fat soluble nutrients in the liver.

Convinced?  Well, I reckon that's quite enough theory, here's the recipe

Chicken Liver Pâté

Ingredients:
125g organic grass fed butter (easy to get in Ireland, not so easy here in Sweden!)

1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Small handful of thyme leaves (rosemary or tarragon work well too, I find sage a bit strong)
500g fresh, free-range organic chicken livers
Unrefined sea salt (like Maldon)
Freshly ground black pepper
40ml orange juice (ideally freshly squeezed)
60ml brandy (or just more orange juice)

Optional - 200g of butter and extra herb sprigs to seal the pâté.

What to do:

1. In a large frying pan or wide saucepan, add 2tbsp of the butter over a low heat.  Add the onion and garlic and 1/2 tsp of salt.  Let this cook slowly and gently until soft and translucent, but not brown.
2. Add the brandy, thyme and orange juice, simmer for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol and reduce slightly.
3. Add the chicken livers.  Cook them gently, turning regularly until they are opaque on the outside but still burgundy on the inside.  Take off the heat.  
4. Transfer the liver & onion mix to a food processor (a blender may also work, but the blade is smaller so you will probably need to do it in several batches).  Add another 1/2 tsp of salt, a good pinch of pepper and blitz for 1 minute until almost smooth.  Cut up the remaining butter and add piece by piece with the processor running.  Taste and add more seasoning if you think it needs it.  Now, to get it really smooth, process for another 2 minutes.
5. Transfer the mix to a large ceramic terrine dish, or as I did, several ramekins which makes it easier to freeze some and eat the rest.  If you wish, you can seal the pâté with the additional butter, by melting it first with a few rosemary or thyme leaves then gently spooning over the pâté.  Once this butter sets, it acts as a seal and helps to prevent oxidation of the precious fats inside.
6. Put it in the fridge and leave to set for a few hours, ideally overnight.  Freeze most of it (covered with clingfilm or a lid to protect from freezer burn) and tuck into whatever you keep in the fridge.  It's lovely spread on veg sticks or on sourdough toast for breakfast or lunch. 

What do you think, will you try it?  I'd love to see photos if you do, share them on my facebook page!

Who knew raw chocolate was so easy to make?!

On Friday night, as I waited to collect Mountain Man from the train station, I had some time to kill so decided to try my hand at making raw chocolates.  I have never made them before, but always planned to.

I'm told that the bag of very expensive raw cacao butter in the baking cupboard has been there for 2 years.  I made lip balm, once...and then just kept meaning to make chocolate.  Another nutritional therapist friend of mine beat me to it last week and made her own, posting the recipe on facebook and inspiring me to give it a go (when I saw how simple it was).  So, I made some chocolates.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

If you're wondering why you'd bother making chocolate, when there are plenty of options in the shops, home made raw chocolate is different.  For a start, there's no soya or milk powder or other weird fillers in chocolate you make yourself (why is soya used in chocolate?)  Secondly, you can put whatever you want into them and have fun experimenting.  Thirdly, raw cacao is super rich in health giving nutrients as it has not been heated to the point where nutrients are damaged.  So those promises of chocolate being full of mood boosting chemicals, antioxidants, healthy fats and minerals are true, but more true with raw chocolate than the highly processed varieties we tend to see in the shops.

I have no doubt that what I made was pretty basic and master chocolatiers would laugh at my efforts, there are all sorts of clever things you can do to make it even more impressive.  However, as a first attempt, I'm pretty chuffed and they taste mighty fine if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:

60g raw cacao butter

60g raw cacao powder

40g coconut sugar, milled to a fine powder in a nut or coffee mill

Filling - I used

2 dsp pumpkin seeds, toasted and milled

3 dsp Super Life breakfast topping, also milled

To make:

Melt cacao butter in a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't sit in the water)

Once melted, add in the cacao powder & sugar

Mix thoroughly, then add whatever filling you fancy and keep mixing until it's smooth and gorgeous

Pour the mix into silicone sweet/chocolate moulds, or as I did onto a baking sheet (because I completely underestimated how many moulds I'd need)

Put the moulds into the fridge and ignore for at least an hour

Eat and rejoice at how good raw chocolate tastes.  YUM!

Christmas Baking in West Waterford, Ireland

Every family has their own Christmas baking traditions.  Some people get it all done before Halloween, others bake for the entire neighbourhood, some are lucky enough to be the recipients of home baked cakes.

Our family tradition is to fill the oven when the day comes to bake the Christmas cake.  The oven is on for what seems like the entire day to bake such a mammoth dessert and my Mum has always made sure to bake at least one other cake, sure you couldn't be wasting all that spare heat!  Every year she makes a Dundee cake which is basically a smaller, slightly drier fruit cake with whole almonds on top. Last year I missed the Christmas baking and I got a big slice of Dundee cake in the post.  Oh joy...


2 weeks ago, my gorgeous Mum fell and managed to dislocate her shoulder, so stirring massive bowls of cake mix was out of the question.  I decided to head home for a week to help with cooking and dog walking duties and it seemed the perfect opportunity for the McKenna girls to get together to do some Christmas baking.

To bake McKenna style, there are a few essentials - lots and lots of dried fruit, an old copy of the Irish times to line the baking tins, a bottle of brandy for generous fruit soaking, my ancient copy of the 'Hamlyn New All Colour Cookbook' for the Dundee cake recipe and a 'Stork Christmas Baking' leaflet saved from 1976 for the Christmas cake.  Finally, there must be absolutely no peel!  The only way to avoid peel at Christmas time it seems, is to do your own baking.

The night before the big bake, Mum and I sorted through all of the fruit, looking for and removing any stems still attached to raisins and sultanas.  I think we counted about 20 little stems in 2kg of fruit.  When Mum was a girl, there were so many stems it could take hours to do the same job and all the fruit would stick together, so a final dusting with flour was essential to make sure the mixing job was easier.  These days, fruit is coated in vegetable oil, which stops things sticking together, but I wonder what the quality of the veg oil is?  Not worth thinking about too much I reckon.  Once that job was done, we soaked the fruit in plenty of brandy, covered the bowl with a tea towel and left it overnight.

My job the next day was to line all the tins.  Mum has a foolproof method for this.  Line the base and sides with two layers of newspaper (preferably the Irish Times for interesting reading) then a layer of parchment paper.  The sides are cut extra wide, to allow for an overlap at the bottom and an extra bit of height at the top, as the cake will rise and no matter how well you plan, it's sure to spill over!

My sister and I did all the beating and folding, stirring and measuring, while Mum and Tilda supervised.  Mum had a small jar of walnuts that she figured really should be used up too, so we made a Date & Walnut Loaf to fill the last space on the oven shelves.  Suffice to say, if the recipe tells you to bake something for 30 mins at 180C, baking for an hour at 140C won't really cut it.  As Mum reluctantly admitted, 'I suppose baking is a science after all!'

Several hours later, 3 cakes were out of the oven and we breathed a sigh of relief.  All done until next year!

   

A rare Lebanese treat in Malmö

I've been 'writing' this for over 2 weeks (more like not writing).  Studying for my final yoga teacher training module has rather taken over, so learning which muscles flex the hips, what the most important yoga sutras are and working on including meditation every day are at the top of my to-do list.  I do think this post is worth sharing, even if it is really late, so...here we go!

On Tuesday night, October 1st, I had a rare excuse to eat out.  In my first year here, I have learned that there are two categories of restaurant; the first is top notch and pricey enough to make it special occasion only; the second is cheap as chips pizza and kebab places.  There isn't much in between, which results in very occasional splurges, but no regular treats.  Sort of makes the special occasions even more special...

On October 1st, Mountain Man and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary.  It's hard to believe we've been in Sweden for just over a year!  Time flies...

I spent quite a while debating where we should go (thankfully Mountain Man takes a step back when it comes to big decisions like where to eat)  There are a few restaurants that we have yet to try, but in the end we landed on OCCO.  It's just around the corner from our first apartment in Malmö and I have been cycling or walking past it almost every day for a year.  There is a very discreet sign and beautifully intricate panels on the windows, screening your view inside.  For quite a while I was sure it was some exclusive members club that I would never be allowed into, but I was sure it was something special.

                                     

OCCO is a Lebanese restaurant, serving a choice of 3 meze - vegetarian, lebanese or lebanese with mixed grill.  Prices range from 290-390kr per person and there has to be a minimum of two people dining.  For a Tuesday night, I was surprised to see a table of 6 people already there and soon after 2 more tables of 2 were filled and finally a table of 12!  Midweek it may have been, but this place was buzzy and cosy.

We went for the mixed grill meze and got off to an amazing start with a whole artichoke served between us.  Oh, the flavour!  Lemony, garlicy succulent artichoke leaves to suck on.  Have you ever shared an artichoke this way?  Get ready for some sensual eating, that's all I can say! I adored it, but before we could finish it an incredible selection of dishes had arrived; divinely creamy hummous, baba ghanoush, seriously herby tabbouleh, the best falafel I've ever tasted with a gorgeous garlicy dip and a multitude of filled pastries and spiced yoghuts.  Oh my lord, I found it such a challenge to know what to eat first!  I did manage to go back to the artichoke a few times, so managed not to waste any... 

   

About 15 minutes later the mixed grill arrived; swoon!  Perfectly tender fillet steak, chicken marinaded in chilli and gorgeous kebab.  Neither of us managed to clean our plates, there was so much food!  Everything was so good and with discreet and super fast service the experience was wonderful.

Having been in Sweden for over a year now, I have yet to experience food or service like we had in OCCO.  The decor was perfect, luxurious and comfortable...ideal for a romantic evening together.  Most of the other tables were filled with groups though, so clearly not just a place for romance.

We finished with dessert...Mountain Man had a selection of ice-cream made in house, for once I didn't have food envy as I ordered the 'chocolate bar' which turned out to be a dense praline coated in dark chocolate, served with pomegranate seeds.  Small but perfectly formed ;-)  When we asked for the bill, we were given a little box of chocolate covered almonds, like I've never tasted before.  Top quality chocolate, big juicy almonds and a coating of dark cocoa.  WOW.  I'm already scheming to get back there soon.

  

Foraging like a real Swede!

Before I ever moved to Sweden, I knew one thing...the Swedes like to forage for food.  When I had settled into our new apartment and recovered from moving country, I began to seek out foraging trips.  Alas, I was a bit late and also, everything was in Swedish, so I gave up and bought them at the supermarket instead.  I'm definitely not the most experienced with cooking mushrooms, so my efforts were somewhat, eh, slimy.  I didn't try again.

This year, things are different.  I have befriended a colleague of my Mountain Man; Patrik who loves food as much as I do, if that's possible.  He knows where to shop, what to try, which pickled herring goes with what and he has promised to be my 'tasting-buddy' for some fermented herring, or surströmming.  I've been told that this stuff smells like dead people and is utterly revolting, but others claim to love it.  Patrik also loves to forage, particularly for mushrooms.  When I discovered this a few weeks ago, I asked if he would bring me out foraging and he said yes!  Yippee!!

Last Saturday we ventured out to Söderåsens National Park and began our hunt.  To be fair to Patrik, he's

not from Skåne, so doesn't know the best spots for mushroom picking.  As we began our walk, we figured that those in the know had probably already taken the best of the mushrooms.  Patrik also reckoned that a beech forest such as is in Söderåsen may not be the best environment for many mushrooms, particularly chanterelles, which is really what he was after.

There were many unusual mushrooms either side of the path, but none looked that appetising.  One little white one, with a shiny translucent cap was calling to be picked, but I resisted as I had no idea what it was and didn't think it would be edible...

As we walked along a wooden boardwalk, a little purple mushroom caught my eye.  Patrik wasn't too interested, but I was so excited at the prospect of being able to eat a purple mushroom, he relented and consulted his mushroom book.  It told us that it was called 'Amethyst Deceiver', was safe to eat and had a mild taste.  Hooray, success!!  I was so chuffed with myself for finding something edible, I didn't mind if it tasted like cardboard!  We walked for about 14km, without finding any chanterelles, but I did find some more amethyst deceivers, which I added to the paper bag that Patrik had the foresight to bring.  We found some blackberries too, which we scoffed on the spot and were absolutely delicious.

  

On Sunday morning I decided to consult Google, to be sure that these weird little purple mushrooms were definitely edible.  Google said yes, so I prepared & cooked them up as Patrik had advised.  First off, use a soft brush to clean them, then heat them gently in a frying pan to get rid of any water they've soaked up.  Once that's done, add some butter and garlic, which the mushrooms will soak in delightedly.  While the mushrooms are cooking, toast some sourdough bread, rub with garlic and butter.  Once the mushrooms are soft and the butter has been soaked up season and serve over the sourdough toast.

I can't say that those little purple mushrooms were a culinary treat, but they tasted pretty good to me, probably due to the addition of all that butter and garlic!  What really felt good was picking my own food, in the great outdoors and cooking it up myself.

Of course I still had to try some chanterelles, so today, I picked up a carton of them in the local supermarket and treated them the same way.  On Saturday I used a toothbrush for cleaning, but it was a bit rough, so today I used my MAC eyeshadow brush (washed first of course!)  I know, sacrilege, but it was the softest brush I had and actually did a great job!  Besides, I hardly ever use it for makeup, so why not mushrooms?  I've just eaten them for my lunch and I can certainly say they taste better than the amethyst deceivers!  Really meaty, lovely woody rich flavour.  Next week we're hoping to get out again, to a different spot that might just reward us with some of our own fresh chanterelles.  Either way, I'm loving the adventure!  (Thanks to Patrik for some of the photos here, which you can click on to see in more detail if you like!)

The trials and tribulations of going 'grain free'

I am in the process of cutting grains out of my diet.  Yep, grains.  That's all grains...wheat, spelt, rice, buckwheat, rye...you name it, if it's grain I'm removing it.  There is one caveat, if it's been soaked and sprouted and then turned into bread or noodles, I'll allow it.  You can't really buy those kinds of grains so easily and I'm not yet at the stage where I'm doing it for myself.  So...no grains, why is that again?

Well, it's a long story, too long to cover in sufficient detail here, but for me, there are a few reasons.  Grains (and nuts and seeds too) naturally contain phytic acid, a mineral blocker that prevents the absorption of various nutrients (calcium, magnesium, zinc and more).  Phytic acid allows grains to pass unharmed, through our intestines, ready for action in a pile of fertiliser at the other end!  If you're a grain, that is wonderful.  If you're human, not so good as we just don’t get to absorb all those nutrients locked up in the outer kernel of the grain.

There are other issues with grains – they have a massive influence on blood sugar levels, even if they are wholegrains.  So, when we eat them our insulin levels spike, which can lead to a hormone storm and ultimately issues like diabetes or insulin resistance, obesity and infertility.   On top of that, grains also contain gluten and lectins, which we now understand, can do serious damage to the wall of our intestines.  As well as the health issues already mentioned, grains are also implicated in the development of arthritis, various cancers, autism, depression and many other auto-immune conditions.   

Grains have become such a staple, many of us simply don't realise that humans didn't always eat grains.  With the agricultural revolution, grains became much more popular and have since managed to sneak into our food pyramid! In the early stages of this revolution in farming, grains sat in the fields for a few weeks, exposed to the elements, where they would begin to sprout, before being turned into flour.  That simply doesn't happen anymore, so the phytic acid remains and our digestive systems pay the price.

If you absolutely love bread, or pasta, pizza or pancakes, this information is really hard to stomach (accidental pun!)  I don't eat very much bread, so I thought giving up grains would be pretty easy.  It's not that easy actually, even if you cook almost all of your food from scratch.  I realise I use rice for lots of curry dishes, I have a favourite brand of wholewheat noodles that I love to combine with a reliable mid week satay dish.  On the weekend my dream breakfast is home made crepes with bacon and maple syrup.  I have had to do quite a bit of rethinking, planning ahead to be sure that I don't accidentally eat grains.  On Tuesday night I had been craving pizza for a few days and eventually gave in and had it.  As I'm not allergic or intolerant to anything, I didn't suffer unduly, but I did feel that I had given up a bit too easily.  I started again on Wednesday and haven't had any grains since then! Go Ruthie!

On Wednesday night I made a grain free pad thai.  I had made it before and it was really really tasty.  I did something different this time and it was horrible, but I ate it anyway and had leftovers for lunch yesterday.  Yuck.  Last night's dinner had to be better.  So, I reverted to an old favourite and made a really tasty and quick Chicken Satay.  I usually serve this with wholewheat noodles, but this time I made courgette 'noodles'.  Easy as pie, all I did was peel the courgette into lovely ribbons, then dunked them in boiling water for a minute or two, drained them, squeezed the water out and served them.  They were crunchy and really tasty.  I felt so virtuous and dare I say it, victorious!  If you fancy trying it yourself, this is the recipe for the satay.  An old boyfriend who loved eating but not cooking gave me this recipe and the reward to effort ratio is perfect!

Satay Sauce

In a measuring jug, make 250ml chicken stock.

Add 2 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter straight away, so the heat of the stock softens the peanut butter.

Into the jug add the zest and juice of a lime, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, finely chopped chilli (to suit your own tastes) and about a tablespoon of creamed coconut (the stuff you buy in a cardboard packet).  Stir it all around and try to integrate the peanut butter completely.

Once that's done, let the jug of tasty liquid sit while you chop a red pepper into really small chunks.  Pan fry them in a little coconut oil on a high-ish heat til they're really well cooked and browning.  

While the pepper is cooking, slice up a chicken breast or two and add to the pepper in the frying pan.

Once the chicken is cooked, pour in the sauce and make sure any lumps of peanut butter are smushed out.  Turn the heat down a bit (my hob goes to 9, so I turned it down to 6) and let it all simmer away for a few more minutes.

While the sauce is thickening, peel your courgette into ribbons (I peeled around the core, as it's full of seeds and not great for this purpose).  Boil some water in the kettle.

When the sauce looks lovely and thick, add your courgette to boiling water in a saucepan and simmer for max 2 minutes.  Drain them and press as much of the water as you can out of them.

Serve the satay on to of the bright fresh courgette noodles, with sliced spring onions, coriander and a wedge of lime.  

Heaven in a bowl.  Yum!  I have leftovers in the fridge, ready for lunch today and I can't wait to tuck in :-)

 

A change of seasons...and chocolate shops.

On Saturday Mountain Man and I made some big decisions.  We've been in Sweden for almost a year now and...well, it hasn't been easy.  Of course, as my Grandad would often remind me, if it was easy everyone would be doing it!  Despite that nugget of wisdom and truth, or perhaps because of it, we have decided to shake things up a bit and cram more fun into our lives.

Malmö is a great place to live in many ways - it's close to Copenhagen, right by the sea and has wonderful cycle tracks and parks.  It's seriously lacking on the restaurant and foodie end of things though and we both miss that.  For that and lots of other reasons, we have decided to move from our beautiful apartment in Malmö to the University city of Lund.  Mountain Man will cycle to work every day, I will meet him for lunch and every now and then,  pop into St. Jakobs Bageri for a cuppa, mosey in the Saluhallen for fresh fish, meat and cheese and maybe, once in a blue moon treat myself to some divine chocolates from Hovby No.9 Chocolaterie.

As we walked around Lund on Saturday, luxuriating in the buzz, the smells of fresh food from the Saluhallen and the joyfully autumnal flowers at countless market stalls in Mårtenstorget, we stumbled across a sign for Hovby No.9 Chocolaterie.  Mountain Man remembered someone telling him it is the best chocolate in Sweden, so what could we do but follow our noses?  The signs and smells directed us through a little courtyard and down a set of steps into a surprisingly warm, tiny chocolaterie.

An hour later, we resurfaced, having learned the story of Hovby No. 9, of the warm and funny owner Inger and her many careers and of course, with a box of very special chocolates in tow.

Inger opened the chocolaterie 13 years ago, having spent 12 years in Switzerland and some time in Paris learning the art of chocolate making.  She grew up on a farm and chose to name her chocolaterie after the place and people she loves.  She was preaching to the converted when she told us 'I would rather have nothing if I can't have good quality.  No, I just do without until I can afford the best quality'.  Over the years, in different guises, working with the best quality has been her raison d'etre and she has brought this deep respect for quality to her latest venture, which she tells us proudly, she began at the ripe old age of 55.

I loved standing at Inger's counter, she was so warm and generous, listening to our story as she weaved hers around us.  She told us, with such passion, about an ingredient she had discovered and insisted we try a chocolate she had made with it.  When she learned we wanted to move to Lund, she laughed and said '...the best thing about Malmö is that it is close to Copenhagen!'  She insisted on sharing her email with us and taking mine, in case she heard of anything becoming available.

Mountain Man and I grinned at each other as we basked in the simple act of chatting with a stranger...oh how we have missed that!  Inger may not have realised it, but her kindness & openness gave us the final nudge we needed to make the decision to move.  Lund here we come!