Different peppers
Wondering what to get when buying spices? Here is a short list of spices and uses. I’ve got way more spices than this (over twice as much), but I consider these the essentials.
Essentials:
- Black pepper: use for almost anything, especially meat. Use as much as you feel like
- Salt: use for almost anything, use just enough to get the flavor you want (as little as possible)
- Red pepper powder: Perfect for rice, home made spice mixes, chicken and more
- Thyme: Great for pork, chicken and lamb. I use this many times every week.
- Oregano: The pizza spice! Perfect for italian food. Smell it and you should recognize it’s uses.
- Basil: Use in pizza and pasta sauces, pesto and more. Strong flavor, use with caution.
- Cardamom: Used in all sorts of baked goods, like wafles, muffins, buns and cinnamon rolls.
- Cinnamon: Many uses, but I use mainly for baking and rice porridge topping. See cinnamon rolls.
- Curry: The rice and chicken spice. Indian food.
Less used but great to have:
- Ginger powder: Used in much eastern food
- Cumin: The secret behind kebab meat. Together with ginger powder, red pepper powder and garlic this will rock you.
- Rosemary: Lamb, chicken and pork. I often use this one together with thyme
You should also have these spices in fresh or processed form:
Garlic
- Chili (use mild chili if you aren’t too fond of spicy stuff): gives your dish that extra “oomph”. Mexican food essential.
- Garlic: Really really healthy and tasty. Makes any meat stand out, use with rice and in stews and more. Essential in italian food.
- Onion: Used in almost all italian dishes, many more. Don’t be afraid to use a lot.
- Lemon: Gives you that fresh, bitter taste. Use with fish and pork on the grill. Perfect for drinks too.
Inspirational spice examples:
Beef
Spice richly with salt and pepper, rub a garlic clove over (it doesn’t seem to do much, but it really makes a difference). Rub the spices in together with olive oil before frying on high heat.
Lamb dish
Salmon
Mix 1/3 lemon juice and 2/3 olive oil. Add salt and pepper, coat with the mix. Let it sit for as long as possible up to 24 hours in your fridge before grilling or frying. A touch of soy sauce and chili doesn’t hurt, either.
Chicken
Salt, pepper, curry and red pepper powder. The same spices can also be used in a sauce based on chicken stock and cream.
Salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme.
Check out thomassnielsen.com/food for more inspiration.
Long time since I posted a food-related post. Only reason is my laziness me being busy. Today I made my first lamb dish in months, and it was a success. Here is the recipe:
- Lamb meat, cut in dices
- Onion
- Garlic
- Tomatoes diced/sliced seasoned with basil and oregano (with juice)
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Spice (rosmarin, thyme, black pepper, salt)
This dish is simple, but takes some time. Preheat the oven to 175C. Slice the potatoes and carrots. Boil them until almost done. Brown the lamb meat in a pan.
Cut onion slices to fill the bottom of the oven dish you use. Pour some olive oil over the onion slices. Mix the meat and vegetables and fill the oven dish. Cut some garlic cloves and spread it over. Add generously of the spice.
Pour the tomatoes and it’s juice over. Add a little bit of cream over if you want. Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Take it out and add grated cheese. Put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
This dish scales from 2 to infinite number of people if you have the right size oven dish. Serve with garlic bread as a starter.
Stage 1
Did you love my potato gratin, or maybe you haven’t tried it yet? Here is another gratin, which is a full dinner in itself. I made this dish myself, so I would love you to try it and give feedback. It tasted great in my opinion.
Ingredients (for two)
- 2 dinner sausages
- 2 potatoes
- 4-6 dl milk
- 1 egg
- 1 shallot
- 1 garlic clove
- spice (salt, pepper and oregano)
- Sliced cheese to cover
- part of a broccoli
- part of a cauliflower
Finished sausage gratin
Finished sausage gratin
Recipe
Slice the potatoes in 1cm slices. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with a single layer of potato slices. Slice the dinner sausages in half and put them on top of the potatoes. Add the rest of the potatoes around the sausages.
Mix egg, milk, chopped shallot, chopped garlic and spices in a bowl. Pour the mix into the casserole dish until it nearly covers the potatoes and sausages (see first picture). Put it in a preheated oven at 200C for 15-20 minutes.
Take the casserole dish out of the oven and add slices of cauliflower and broccoli. Add a layer of sliced cheese on top. Put back in the oven for 20 more minutes.
Enjoy.
Creamy Potato Gratin
Time for food again. This is one of my favorite ways to cook potatoes. It tastes delicious, and it is really easy. It takes a bit of time though, almost an hour from start to finish. But it is worth it.
Ingredients:
- At least two small/medium potatoes per person
- Milk
- Whipping cream
- Garlic and/or onion
- Spices (pepper, salt, whatever else you feel like)
- Grated cheese
Recipe:
Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices (about 1/2 cm). Ad a layer of potatoes into a casserole dish, then ad spices and finely chopped garlic and/or onion.
Pour milk and whipping cream (about 50/50 mix, more milk if you are afraid of fat) until you cover the potatoes. Continue adding layers of potatoes, spices and milk/cream until you are out of potatoes.
Let it cook in the oven at 200C for about half an hour. Take it out, ad a decent layer of grated cheese, and put it back for another 15 minutes. Serve with any kind of meat. Great together with beef or pork chops.
Warning: This may very well become the main dish of your meal, so remember to make enough!
That’s right, this is what you’ve all been waiting for: My famous homemade pizza recipe!
What? You’ve never heard of my famous pizza before? Oh well, you have now. Today I made my special Italian-American style blend, with my own twist. What that really means is that the oven pan was too small to make the pizza dough thin enough for an Italian style pizza.
A history leason
Do you know the history of the Pizza? Originally it was made by poor Italians who used the left over flour from the bakers and made pizza-style meals on the remaining heat in the stone ovens. Or at least that is one of the stories. So Pizza is really the left over meal. They made a dough of the remaining flour and put what they had on it. Fish, squid, meat, vegetables, whatever.
My pizza
Homemade pizza
I know many people these days like to buy frozen pizzas or ready-made pizza dough and sauce. I make it all from scratch, because I like it better that way. It doesn’t take too long either, about an hour from start to finish.
Recipe
Dough (for 1-2 people):
- 3,5dl flour
- 1,5dl water
- 1/4 pack of yeast (norwegian package size)
- a little salt and olive oil
Sauce:
3 parts cut tomatoes
1 part Heinz ketchup
a little dash of olive oil
spice with oregano, basil, crushed black pepper, salt, onion and garlic
Topping:
Cheese
Oregano
Whatever you like
The dough
mix the yeast with lukewarm water. Add the olive oil, flour and salt. Mix and add flour or water as needed until it is ready for kneading. Knead the dough until you don’t see any cracks and it has a fine round shape. Let it to rise while you make the sauce and maybe wait a bit. It should be left for at least 30 minutes (preferably more).
The sauce
This is really easy. If you use hermetic cut tomatoes, just open the can and mix with the ketchup and olive oil. If you use fresh tomatoes you need to cut them first. Use a blender if you don’t want pieces in your sauce. Cut part of an onion into tiny pieces and fry them. When ready (light brown), add them to the sauce. Add one small garlic clove, lots of oregano, and a little basil. Blend in a touch of pepper and salt for extra taste.
If you use ground meat, you can fry this and add to your sauce if you like, or you could add it to your topping later.
Putting it all together
Roll the dough out by hand. Spread the sauce out so it covers everything but the edges of the dough. Add a thin layer of grated cheese. Add your favorite topping (I used fried ground meat, ham and red pepper). Add another thin layer of cheese. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 200C (400F) for about 10-15 minutes (can be even longer, depending on the size and the thickness). Enjoy, preferably with a coke.
