Mango Frozen Yoghurt (or "On the matter of undeserved compliments")

You know that feeling when people compliment you on your great make up and really it’s just yesterday’s make up that you were too lazy to wash off? Or when your dinner guests ooh and aah over the meaty deliciousness of the consommé when really it’s just a meat bouillon cube dissolved in hot water? Got that feeling? Yeah, that’s a little bit how I feel about this recipe for homemade mango frozen yoghurt. I’m almost ashamed of how easy it is.

But really it’s so brilliant because it is so simple and you can easily change it around to suit your specific preferences (some like it sweet, some like it tart as hell). The way I do it is I pair approximately the same about of Greek style yoghurt* with frozen mango (cut in small cubes), add a dollop of Lyle’s Golden syrup and if I’m lucky a little splash of full cream and then I mix it with my wand mixer until smooth, and voilà! Creamy, delicious, easy and totally fulfilling homemade mango frozen yoghurt. I added some vanilla powder for good measure, but really it’s equally good without. Now go and experiment with other frozen fruit and berries!

Mango Frozen Yoghurt (serves two frozen yoghurt-craving people or approximately one recently dumped health-conscious person (this is totally legitimate comfort food & healthier than Ben&Jerry's))

Ingredients:

3 deciliters greek style yoghurt, the 10% kind (If you want to opt for a low fat option, just go drink water instead, I’m dead serious. Live a little!)

3 deciliters frozen mango (cubed, they usually come that way in the frozen section)

1 tablespoon dollop of Lyle’s Golden Syrup (or other amber colored syrup. Maple syrup probably works just as well, if you like that maple-y flavor!)

2-3 tablespoons of full cream (See comment for yoghurt)

(1 sprinkle of vanilla powder, optional!)

Utensils:

1 fairly narrow bowl with high edges

1 wand mixer (you could obviously do this recipe in a normal food processor as well!)

1 rubber spatula

2 serving bowls

2 spoons

Cooking instructions:

1. Pour all ingredients into bowl.

2. Mix with wand mixer until smooth.

3. Use rubber spatula to get all the frozen yoghurt into serving bowls.

(3,5. Lick remaining youghurt off the rubber spatula)

4. EAT!

(If for some reason you don't want to eat it straight away: chuck it in the freezer and eat it later (it'll go pretty hard though) or place it in the refrigerator and drink it like it smoothie later!)

Will you make this recipe? Have any ideas for other fruit, berries or something else all-togehter to make it with instead of mango? Let me know in the comments section! I'd love to get inspired by ya'll!

*On the matter of Greek Style Yoghurt: In Sweden we have Greek style and Turkish style 10% yoghurt and of those two the Greek one is better for this recipe. But if you don't have those two options to choose from what you want to look for is a 10% yoghurt that is a little bit "stringy" when you spoon it out of its package (it should be kind of like clotted cream in consistency). If it's too compact it's not the preferable kind, but it still works! 

Zucchini + Cucumber

Zucchini flowerbuds

Zucchini plant

 Cucumber plant with little tiny to-be-cucumbers (I love the squiggly "tentacles" that help the plant climb!)

Wild Chives

I was out walking with Miriam during the weekend when I happened to see some mysterious looking grass. Curious as I was, I picked up a leaf of "grass" to smell it, only to notice it smelled distinctly of Midsummer. Chives! That delightful leek that goes so well with sour cream and pickled herring! Well, this was great I thought and I planned to harvest some chive-bulbs to have on my balcony. Today I did it!

I had to dig deep so as to not just cut off the stems from the bulb, which proved difficult as there were a lot of pine roots to dig around and the earth was very heavy and clay like. But eventually I got the little bulbies:

They're already spreading a lot of roots so I don't know if they'll survive the move, but one can always hope, yes?

 More digging and in the background your can see our house! The Holmair Residence is on the floor one below the top floor! The view is In-cre-di-ble!

 

Have you ever harvested wild bulbs? Have any tips? Ever cooked with wild chives? Let me know in the comment section!

See you around!

Bibim Naengmyeon - Cold Buckwheat Noodles

Some people argue that cold pizza is by far better than the warm variety. While I'm not of that (clinically insane) disposition, I will argue that cold is better that warm when it comes to noodles. At least in summer. And while I'm aware it is in fact not summer - yet - I am still allowed to dream, am I not?

In my culinary home country, that is South Korea, the most common cold noodle dish is called Naengmyeon (냉면), which basically means..."cold noodles". This dish can be divided into the "with-broth" variety (Mul Naengmyeon, 물 냉면) and the "mixed-with-wickedly-spicy-sauce" option (Bibim Naengmyeon, 비빔 냉면). Since I am a fan of the wickedly-spicy option as a general rule of thumb this is what I'll be serving up!

As with most asian cuisine you might be seeing some (probably) unfamiliar ingredients. Fear not, all of the "strange" ingredients can be found in most well-stocked asian supermarkets. I'll be sure to post adresses to my favorite places at the end of the post. Oh, also, this is my take on Bibim Naengmyeon; the way I like it. You can easily change the ratios of the ingredients to make it sweeter, less spicy, more or less saucy, etc. I basically never follow recipies to the dot, so you don't need to either!

First off: some cruel honesty: Are you handy with your kitchen knife, feel confident chopping up half a cucmber into pretty, thin strips in less than, say, 5 minutes without chopping off fingers? If yes, then you can start with bringing a fairly large saucepot of water to a boil and placing the buckwheat/arrowroot noodles in the boiling water, giving them a little stir so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. They only need to boil for about 3 minutes as they are mighty thin (though, your variety could differ, so always read the cooking directions on the package!) so you need to chop quick! Once the noodles are nice and soft but deliciously chewy you want to strain them in a sieve while cooling them down with cold cold water. While the noodles are boiling you can do these following steps:

First you want to Julienne some cucumber (and try hard not to just eat it all from the chopping board). I usually slice oblong slices and then slice them again to make long thin strips. Put them in a medium sized mixing bowl. (By the way, cucumber is my all time favorite vegetable. I'm hoping to harvest my own homegrown mini-cucumbers later this summer! Oh delish!)

Now to make the sauce: These are approximations: From the left: 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon Korean soy sauce (Japanese works too!) and a big (huge if you like it hot!) dollop of Korean chili paste (Gochujang, 고추장). Put into mixing bowl with the cucumber and mix it up real good. Sprinkle some white vinegar on there and something sweet to taste; could be sugar, could be honey, I used my favorite syrup: Lyle's Golden Syrup. I sprinkled some ground black pepper on there too. Mix it, mix it, mix it!

Now, if you are not a cooking knife ninja, this is where you'd boil the water, cook the noodles and strain them in a sieve with cold cold water. Once done and you have the noodles as per the picture below, put them into the bowl with the cucumber-chili-sauce-mix and stir to combine, real good. I used a latex gloved hand. Who said you ought not to play with your food? I say play!

Once well combined, serve in bowl, sprinkle some toased sesame seeds on top and a twig of coriander for prettiness and enjoy!

Bibim Naengmyeon - Cold noodles with spicy sauce (serves two normally hungry persons)

Ingredients:

1 tight handgrip* of thin buckwheat/arrowroot noodles

½ organic** cucumber

1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil (not the extra virgin sesame oil)

1 tablespoon Korean (or Japanese) soy sauce

1 big dollop (2-3 tablespoons) Korean chili paste (Gochujang)

1 teaspoon sugar or honey or syrup

1 teaspoon white vinegar

5 turns on the pepper grinder

roasted sesame seeds

(a couple of twigs of fresh coriander to make food look pretty enough for Instragram)

Utensils:

1 saucepan

1 fine mesh sieve

1 chopping board

1 kitchen knife (SHARP!)

1 medium sized mixing bowl

1 measuring cup set

1 latex glove or a ladel or a spoon to mix with

2 bowls for serving

2 pairs of chopsticks

(2 forks when you give up on the chopsticks)

Cooking Instructions

(0. For kitchen knife ninjas: Bring water to boil, place noodles in water.)

1. Julienne cucumber, place in medium sized mixing bowl. Combine with sesame oil, soy sauce, chili paste, sugar/honey/syrup, vinegar, pepper and mix it up with your latex gloved hand or your ladel or your spoon. Set aside

(1½. For not-so-much kitchen knife ninjas: Bring water to boil, place noodles in water.)

2. When noodles are soft but plenty chewy: Strain noodles and cool them down by pouring cold water over them while stirring around. Press away excess water.

3. Place noodles in mixing bowl with cucumbers and sauce, mix well.

4. Serve in bowls with sprinkles of roasted sesame seeds (and a coriander twig if you're posting on Insta)

5. Enjoy!

*Handgrip: the amount of noodles that you can grip (tightly) with one hand and have your thumb and index finger touch.

**You guys, whenever you can, buy organic. It's so much nicer on the environment and it really does taste better.

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My two favorite asian supermarkets in Stockholm:

1. Oriental Supermarket in the Hötorget subway station has almost everything. Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese (and more!) ingredients.

2. Korean Food on Luntmakargatan 76 has the slightly more obscure Korean things and the best home made Kimchi in Stockholm.

Gifts in Spring

The best part about growing my own plants for summer is that I have a bunch of extra perfectly healthy plants. I will by no means be able to keep all of them as my space is limited. However, these extra seedlings are a great gift for a hostess with the mostest! Plant them in little terracotta pot or if you lack the terracotta pot, do as I did: put the little seedling in a plastic bag, wrap it around the roots and tape it together with some decorative washi tape: Tada! Instant great gift! And who doesn't like presents that get greater and greater with just the addition of soil water and some TLC?