Week menu - Saturday

Cheese and spring onion pie

Pie of endless opportunities. With the same dough you can get thousands of different pies just changing the filling. It is possible to vary with the dough a bit as well.

Dough:
300 ml wheat flour
100 ml low fat crème fraiche
75 g butter
pinch of salt
*optional: add dried or fresh herbs (parsley, basil, dill or other), paprika powder, pepper etc.

Mix all the ingredients together with the food processor. Today I added dried basil. Distribute the dough evenly in the cake pan. Keep it cool while making the filling.

Filling:
3 eggs
250 g low fat crème fraiche
salt & pepper to taste
5 spring onions
bunch of fresh basil
150 g Parmesan cheese

Blend together eggs, crème fraiche, salt & pepper. Shred spring onions and basil small. Add them and grated Parmesan cheese into the mixture. Pour everything over the dough and bake in the oven at 225º C for 15 min.

Instead of spring onions you may put tomatoes, chicken and pineapple, ham and tomatoes, minced meat and paprika, sausage and mixed freezed vegetables etc. You may change Parmesan to other rich in taste cheese.

Week menu - Friday

Week menu had a slight change - today we are still eating Fisherman's pasta as I made quite much yesterday. The other change is that I was so willing for some soft cake, so I baked Easy Pear Tart today instead of Saturday.

Easy Pear Tart

The recipe I found on Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâtè and adopted it to what I had in the fridge and cupboards. And of course the recipe comes in metric system.

2 eggs
60 ml fat milk
240 ml brown sugar
pinch of salt
300 ml wheat flour
4 big Conference pears
20 g butter
some drops of vanilla essence

Beat the eggs with milk, add sugar, salt, vanilla essence, flour. You'll get quite thick paste. Add slices of 3 pears and mix them with the paste. Pour the paste into a cake pan and top with slices of the 4th pear. Distribute small pieces of butter all over the cake.
Bake in the middle of the oven at 200º C for 50-55 min.
Cool the tart in the cake pan before removing and cutting.

I tried a piece of tart with a glass of milk and another piece with a glass of cranberry drink. Both suited well.

Week menu - Thursday

Fisherman's pasta

Today Patrik shall be back home late as he goes to after-work-party with his new job colleagues. So I'll eat alone, but anyway shall make more, so both I and Patrik have lunch boxes tomorrow.
This dish is simple and you can change fish sorts whenever you long for a bit different taste.
Usually I prepare Fisherman's pasta with smoked salmon, but today I changed it to fresh pangas catfish; mushrooms usually are champignons, but today I used canned chanterelles.

For 4 persons:

400 g pasta, best tabular type like Penne or Tortiglioni
200-300 g fish
1 onion
200 ml low fat crème fraiche
200 g mushrooms
2 tablespoons oil
100 ml water
1 fish bouillon cube
200 g haricots verts
salt & pepper

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Fry chopped onion in the oil in a pan. Add mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes and pour everything into a pot. Add water, crème fraiche, fish stripes, haricots verts and fish bouillon cube. Bring it to boil.

Serve pasta while hot and top with lots of fish sauce.

Week menu - Wednesday / Savaitės meniu - trečiadienis

Roasted carrots with meatballs / Keptos morkos su mėsos kukuliais

One more simple daily family dish, which actually suits perfect as a buffet food as well. Carrots of different shape and/or colour make a tasty garnish. Meatballs are just so typical in Sweden in daily life and on the Swedish table. This dish gets even more simple if you buy frozen meatballs. I used frozen ones today.
Start with the carrots, put them on to boil and continue with the meatballs.
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Dar vienas paprastas kasdienis patiekalas, kuris taip pat tinka ir švediškam stalui. Skirtingų formų ir/ar spalvų morkos - skanus garnyras. Mėsos kukuliai - tipiškas kasdienis ir švedisko stalo maistas Švedijoje. Šis patiekalas tampa dar paprastesniu, jei nusipirksite šaldytus mėsos kukulius. Šiandien naudojus tokius.

Pradėkite nuo morkų, užstatykite jas virti ir tęskite su mėsos kukuliais.

For 4 persons you need: / 4 asmenims reikės:

600 g carrots, for buffet preferably of different colour, for daily meals common orange ones shall be perfect / 600 g morkų; švediškam stalui gražiau atrodytų skirtingų spalvų morkos, o kasdienai tiks ir paprastos oranžinės

1 tbsp melted butter / 1 valg. tirpinto sviesto

2 tsp honey / 2 arb. š. medaus

zest from 1/2 lemon / pusės citrinos žievelė

50 ml shredded parsley / 50 ml smulkintų petražolių

salt & pepper / druska ir pipirai

Peel and cut the carrots in a shape you like. You can vary each time among stripes and straight or diagonal slices, or have all shapes at once. Cook them tills they get soft in salted water. Pour the water out from the pot and add butter, honey, lemon zest and parsley. Add salt & pepper to taste.  Stir and roast in the oven for 10 min in 200º C.
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Nulupkite ir spjaustykite morkas norimomis formomis. Kaskart galite varijuoti tarp lazdelių, tiesių ar įstrižų gabaliukų arba pjaustyti visomis formomis vienu kartu. Morkas pavirkite sūdytame vandenyje, kol suminkštės. Nupilkite vandenį, įdėkite sviestą, medų, citrinos žieveles ir petražoles. Paskaninkite druska ir pipirais. Išmaišykite ir kepkite orkaitėje apie 10 min 200 C temperatūroje.

If to be a perfect housewife, so you should make home-made meatballs.
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Ideali namų šeimininkė pagamintų ir naminius mėsos kukulius.

For 4 persons you need: / 4 asmenims reikės:

400 g minced meat (pork, beef, lam - go ahead and choose your favourite) / 400 g maltos mėsos (kiaulienos, jautienos, avienos - išsirinkite mėgstamiausią)
1 onion / 1 svogūnas
1 egg / 1 kiaušinis
50 ml milk / 50 ml pieno
salt & pepper / druska ir pipirai
1 tbsp butter / 1 valg. š. sviesto

pinch of your favourite meat spices / žiupsnis jūsų mėgstamų mėsos prieskonių

Chop onion and mix it with minced meat, egg, milk and spices. Form not very big balls and fry them from all sides in a butter on a high heat . Reduce the heat and fry for 5-7 minutes more.
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Susmulkinkite svogūną ir sumaišykite su faršu, kiaušiniu, pienu ir prieskoniais. Suformuokite mažus rutuliukus ir apkepkite juos iš visų pusių ant karštos ugnies. Sumažinkite ugnį ir kepkite dar 5-7 minutes.

Week menu - Tuesday / Savaitės meniu - antradienis

Spinach pasta / Špinatiniai makaronai

Sorry meat lovers, but no meat today. Very simple daily family food. Perfect when you have a lot of other things to do.
Spinach is rich in antioxidants, iron and vitamins. French call it the body broom as it helps to refresh your body from inside. Basil and garlic gives rich taste.
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Atsiprašau, mėsos valgytojai, bet šiandien mėsos nebus. Labai paprastas kasdieninis šeimyninis patiekalas. Idealus, kai reik nuveikti dar šimtą neatidėliotinų darbų.
Špinatuose daug antioksidantų, geležies ir vitaminų. Prancūzai špinatus vadina ''kūno šluotomis'', nes jie padeda atgaivinti kūną iš vidaus. Bazilikai ir česnakas suteikia skonio.

Ingredients for 4 servings: / 4 asmenims reikės:

400 g pasta, best tabular type like Penne or Tortiglioni / 400 g makaronų, geriausia cilindrinių kaip Penne arba Tortiglioni
250 g mascarpone cheese / 250 g maskarponės sūrio
1 garlic clove / 1 skiltelė česnako
a bunch of fresh basil / pundelio šviežių bazilikų
50 g fresh or frozen spinach, but willingly use more / 50 g šviežių arba šaldytų špinatų, bet galima ir daugiau
salt & pepper / druska ir pipirai

For more rich taste use 100 ml of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. / Skonį galite suintensyvinti 100 ml tarkuoto parmezano sūrio

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Mix together mascarpone cheese, chopped garlic, basil and spinach. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you choose to have more rich taste mix in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Warm up on low heat and pour on pasta.
Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on topp.
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Makaronus išvirkite pagal pakuotės nurodymus. Sumaišykite maskarponės sūrį su smulkintais česnakais, baziliku ir špinatais. Pagardinkite druska ir pipirais. Jei norite intensyvesnio skonio, įmaišykite ir parmezano sūrį. Pašildykite ant mažos ugnies ir užpilkite ant makaronų. Patiekite apibarstę parmezano sūriu.

Bon Appétit

Week menu - Monday

Food is expensive in Sweden. That's life. But this evening I tried to do a smart food shopping. I riffled through some of my cooking books and made a week menu. According to this menu, I wrote a list of products and went shopping. A sum in the bill was a bit smaller than previous times, when I was shopping everything which I liked strolling between the store shelves and only at home thinking of what I could make out of all the products I bought.

The week menu:
Monday - Pork karrè in Italian way
Tuesday - Spinach pasta
Wednesday - Roasted carrots with famous Swedish meat balls
Thursday - Fisherman's pasta
Friday - Cheese and spring onion pie and Nut roll
Saturday - Oven baked pancake and Easy Pear Tart
Sunday - Roasted chicken with almond potatoes

Pork karrè in Italian way recipe I took from Allt om Mat magazines website. As always I did it my way. Sinatra's song should be my motto in the kitchen :) In fact, quite an idea for Villa Alps kitchen! I was thinking to put some text wall vinyls, but had no text or room decided.

I used:
4 pieces of karrè
2 big carrots
3 garlic cloves
100 ml cream (15% fat)
salt, pepper and marjoram

Peel the carrots and slice them in strips. Put them into a glass form for oven. Put meat on the carrots, sift with salt, pepper and generous of marjoram. Pour the cream. Cover with foil if your form does not have a cover. Roast in the middle of oven in 180º C for 70 min.
Serve it with cooked haricot beans and fresh sweet peas. Your favorite sauce shall do.

Unfortunately no photos for this recipe as Arvidas did not allow to take any, requesting much attention for himself. Hope he is more blog-friendly guy tomorrow :)

Translation / Vertimas : Nuostabus obuolių pyragas

Neštumo metu pradėjau skaityti Supermamų forumą. Viena supermama Sonatina vis parašo kokį receptą, o kitos mamos pagaminusios giria, kad labai skanu. Tad ir aš nusprendžiau išbandyti vieną receptą. Obuolių pyragas su varške ir migdolais. Bet kaip visada nesivadovavau receptu 100%, jis man buvo tik kaip gairės.

Dugno tešlai naudojau:
300 ml kvietinių miltų, žiūpsnį druskos, 90 g kreminio sūrio, 50 g sviesto, po kelis lašus vanilės ir karčiojo migdolo esencijų, 120 ml rudojo cukraus ir 80 g smulkiai kapotu migdolu.

Įdarui naudojau:
400 g kreminio sūrio, 110 ml rudojo cukraus, 1 kiaušinį, žiūpsnį druskos, 2 arb. šaukštelius šviežiai spaustų citrinos sulčių

Viršaus tešlai naudojau:
2 šaukštus kvietinių miltų, 4 šaukštus rudojo cukraus, kelis lašus vandens ir gumulėlį kreminio sūrio

Ir, žinoma, kad obuolių pyragui reikia obuolių :) Aš ėmiau 2 didelius obuolius, bet galima ir daugiau. Be to pridėjau vieną kriaušę.

Išsukti kreminį sūrį ir sviestą iki vientisos masės. Suberti rudąjį cukrų ir įlašinti esencijas. Po kelių minučių sukimo, suberti miltus, druską ir migdolus. Viską sukau šaukštu, bet turėtų tikti ir virtuvinis kombainas. Tešla neturi būti vientisa (pirmas paveiksliukas angliškoje žinutėje).
2/3 tešlos išformuoti ant tortinės su nuimamais kraštais dugno (antras paveiksliukas angliškoje žinutėje).
Kepti 180º C apie 12-15 min (laikas priklauso nuo orkaitės). Kol dugnas kepa, parengiama viršaus tešla. Į likusią dugno tešlą suberti miltus ir cukrų. Kadangi man tešla gavosi per sausa ir biri kaip smėlis, tad įlašinau vandens ir įdėjau šiek tiek kreminio sūrio, kad gautusi trupiniai (trečias paveiksliukas angliškoje žinutėje).
Tada ruošiamas įdaras. Išsukti kreminį sūrį su cukrumi, įmušti kiaušinį, įberti druską ir įpilti citrinos sulčių. Gerai išmaišyti.
Nulipti obuolius ir kriaušę (-es). Originaliame recepte dedama 0,5 kg obuolių. Norėjau nulupti 2 obuolius ir 2 kriaušes, tačiau belupdama nusprendžiau, kad užteks ir vienos kriaušės.
Iškepusį dugną padengti obuolių/ kriaušių skiltelėmis. Užpilti kreminio sūrio masę. Apibarstyti trupiniais ir užbarstyti migdolų skiltelėm (ketvirtas-septintas paveiksliukai angliškoje žinutėje).
Kepti orkaitės viduryje apie 35-40 min. Originaliame recepte nurodyta kepti 45-50 min, tačiau aš kepiau du tokius pyragus antradienį ir trečiadienį. Pirmąjį kepiau 48 min, antrąjį 36 min. Pirmasis pyragas buvo per rudas ir kietokas. Antrasis gražiai pageltęs ir minkštas. Asmeniškai man skanesnis buvo minkštasis variantas (aštuntas-devintas paveiksliukai angliškoje žinutėje).

Iškepusį pyragą vėsinti formoje apie 30 min. Pjaustyti galima tik visiškai atvėsusį pyragą.

Vaniliniai ledai ar natūralus jogurtas puikiai tinka prie šio pyrago.

Divine apple pie

Since I got pregnant I am reading a forum for Supermoms in Lithuania. One Supermom Sonatina posts many recipes and many other moms commend some of them. So I decided to try one of them. An apple pie with cottage cheese and almond flakes.

But as always I did not follow the recipe entirely. Took it only as a guidelines. So ready steady go!

For the bottom pastry I used:
300 ml wheat flour, pinch of salt, 90 g cream cheese, 50 g butter, some drops of vanilla and bitter almond essence, 120 ml brown sugar, 80 ml minced almond

For the filling I used:
400 g cream cheese, 110 ml brown sugar, 1 egg, pinch of salt, 2 tea spoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the top pastry I used:
2 table spoons wheat flour, 4 table spoons brown sugar, a few drops of water, pat of cream cheese

And of course one need apples for an apple pie :) I used only 2 big apples, but it's up to you to use more. I also added 1 pear.

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add brown sugar and essences. After a few minutes creaming add flour, salt and minced almonds. I did everything with a spoon, but probably it works well with the food processor also. The pastry does not have to be solid.

Separate 2/3 of the pastry and distribute it evenly in the cake tin.

Bake in 180º C for 12-15 min (depends on the oven). While baking, prepare the top pastry. Use 1/3 of the bottom pastry. Add flour and brown sugar. As pastry became like sand, so I added a few drops of water and a pat of cream cheese to get the crumbs.

Then prepare the filling - cream together cheese cream and brown sugar, add egg, salt and lemon juice. Stir well.
Peel the apples and the pear. In original recipe 0,5 kg apples are used. I was ready to peal 2 apples and 2 pears , but while peeling decided it will be enough only with 1 pear.
Cover the bottom pastry with apple/pear slices. Cover with the filling. Spread crumbs on the filling and sift almond flakes.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 min. The original recipe says to bake for 45-50 min, however I made one such cake on Tuesday and one Wednesday, baking the first for 48 min and the second one for 36 min. The first one became much brown and quite hard. The second pie was goldish yellow and soft. I liked the soft version more.

When the pie is ready, leave it in the cake tin for 30 min to cool. Cut it only when totally cool.

Vanilla ice cream or natural yogurt suits well to this pie.

Tuesday's pie

Wednesday's pie