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Books & Spoons Recipe for CARROT CAKE

20/1/2017

So the nasty flu virus that has been going around since Christmas attacked this household last weekend and is not giving up the fight easily.

I had great plans for cooking and baking this week, but with the fever raging making the carrot cake didn't happen instead I was thankful for the yogurt and bananas to eat when I had the energy for it.

But I made the cake during the holidays as well, so I got a picture of it from the Christmas album, sort of.

So instead of cooking and eating well this week, it was more like gallons of fresh ginger tea with lemon and honey, and crackers with the meds. When I finally got hungry I realized I have to first cook the meal and then rest to eat it. Hah. Great planning is like half done. So on Wednesday evening, I made a stir-fry and couscous, both ready in minutes and easy to quickly heat up when needed even without micro way oven.

But I will share with you the carrot cake recipe. It is a twist on the banana bread recipe I shared with you before in November, and I have fallen in love with it because it is tasty, delicious, moist, and easy to make without any kitchen machinery. I make an icing for it with a mix of cream cheese and Mascarpone and a little bit of powdered sugar. The end result - fantastic! I hope you enjoy it and I truly hope y'all are doing better than this household right now :D
~ Cheers

CARROT CAKE

8 to 10 servings
preparation time 15 minutes + 40 minutes baking

150 g (5,3 oz) butter
2 dl natural yoghurt
2 eggs
4 cup flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
2 cups of shredded carrots
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

To the baking pan:
butter
bread crumbs

- Preheat the oven to 200 C / 390 F degrees.
- Shred the carrots.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove.
- In a bowl mix the yogurt and melted butter.
- Add the eggs and stir vigorously with spoon or whisk
- Add all the dry ingredients, so that the raising agents are well mixed in.
- Mix in the batter the carrots and spices
- Mix the dough until smooth.
- Grease the cake tin with breadcrumbs and flour it.
- Pour the batter into a baking dish.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until done

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Books & Spoons Recipe for THE SAILOR'S STEAKS

13/1/2017

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We all have dishes and flavors, even scents that take us immediately back in time, flooding our minds with memories and past events. The Sailor's steak took me back to childhood Sundays when coming home from the church services this dish had been in the oven for hours and the scent of it and the marvelous taste of it was waiting for us. Good times.
The dish is in the oven several hours in lower temperatures and the tastes and aromas have time to develop and merge. It is one of those melt in your mouth dishes, and with ample amount pepper has a great subtle kick to it at the end. You can use beer even if cooking for a family with children, the alcohol evaporates as it cooks, but you can also substitute it with more broth. There are a great many things you could be added to this rather uncomplicated dish, but then we would have to come up with a new name since the original Sailor's streaks would cease to exist.
This is a great meal to prepare on those cold winter days when you have the opportunity to let it cook for several hours in a dutch oven, or set it in your slow cooker and forget it until dinner time. And served with something colorful like pickled beets or shredded carrots, it will make a marvelous mealtime for you.
I hope you enjoy it, until next time
~ Cheers!

THE SAILOR'S STEAK

800 g / 1,7 lb beef sirloin steak
Butter for frying the meat
4 large baking potatoes
1 red onion
salt & ground black pepper
4 dl / 2 cups strong beef stock
3 dl / 1 cup of beer

Cut the meat into small steaks.
Slice the potatoes.
Slice the onions.
Heat the broth
Grease the casserole with butter.
Fry the steaks in a butter until they get a nice brown color
Arrange sliced potatoes in the bottom of the pot and set a layer of onions on top. Add a couple of the steaks. Grind freshly ground black pepper on top and add a little salt.
Fill the casserole in layers, finishing with the potatoes on the top.
Pour the broth and beer into the pot.
Lift the open casserole in the oven at 225C/440 F degrees for half an hour.
Then put the lid on and reduce the oven temperature to 150 C / 300 F degrees.
After two hours, it is good to take a peek into the pot and see that there's enough liquid. Move the ingredients gently off the sides to see the level of the liquid. If it is necessary to add more liquid, pour boiling water into the dish. Do not add too much of the liquid so it doesn't turn into a soup.
Let the food cook for another hour or two.
Serve in layers, if possible, for the visual effect of the dish.

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