Gourmet Blue Cheese Burger

This is one of my all-time favorite dishes and you can watch a YouTube video of me making these burgers together with Hobbykocken. (in Swedish, but with automatic translations available)

This is an easy recipe for a true gourmet burger. Try it and let me know how it came out for you.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (grass fed)
6 oz. blue cheese (Gorgonzola, Roquefort, or any other blue cheese)
1 tsp. capers
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (strong)
1 egg
1 small onion
1/3 cup panko or breadcrumbs (okay to crumble the inside bread part of a burger bun)
Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp thyme
Salt
Black pepper
Optional: 1 tbsp of horseradish

Toppings:
Hamburger buns
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced red onion
Pickles
Lettuce leaves
Roasted red pepper
Thinly sliced leek

  1. Shred the onion and mix with the meat and cheese.
  2. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce along with the other ingredients. Keep mixing until everything is evenly distributed.
  3. Grab a handful of meat and start packing it by hand until it creates a slightly firmer large ball. Slap it onto a board or a plate so that it shapes itself into a patty and then push down the center slightly with your hand so that there is a slight indent in the center.
  4. If you are grilling, go ahead and place the patties on the grill after they have had a chance to rest for a few minutes. If you are using a frying pan, start by adding some butter and olive oil to the pan. Heat to medium high temperature and place the patties in the pan. When you get a good sear after a minute or two, flip the patties over to the other side. Lower the heat to medium and place a lid over the pan. Let it cook to the level of doneness that you prefer.
  5. Toast the burger buns slightly in toaster, oven, or the pan that you used for the burgers.
  6. Add the toppings you like! My preferences are listed above along with a homemade mayo mix that you can see in the video above.



Dill & Celery Soup

This vegetarian soup can be served warm, hot or cold. It can also be made with half the amount of dill than I used if you want more of the celery flavor in the foreground. Served cold, it is a perfect lunch soup for summer. Served hot, it will warm you up inside during colder days or nights. The recipe below makes four servings.

Celery Soup

INGREDIENTS:
8 celery stalks
1 green zucchini
1 small or medium yellow onion
1-2 potatoes
2 oz. Butter
1 cup fresh dill leaves (or ½ cup frozen dill)
3 tbsp olive oil
½ cup sour cream, crème fraîche, or heavy cream
3 cups vegetable broth (I make my own and will post recipe later.)
3 tbsp dry white wine
freshly ground pepper
freshly ground nutmeg

The beginning of the cooking process

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Peel the potatoes and chop them up in smaller chunks. Chop the celery, onion, and zucchini into smaller chunks as well. Put it all in a pot with the butter and olive oil and cook while stirring until the onions start looking slightly translucent.
2. Add the broth and simmer until potatoes are cooked through. Add the wine halfway through so that the flavor is absorbed and the alcohol is evaporated.
3. Add the dill and mix the soup in a blender until smooth. (You want to use mostly leaves of dill so make sure you remove any coarse stems before adding it to the soup.)
4. If you want a cold soup, strain it and stir in some heavy cream. If you want to serve it warm, just add a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche on top when you serve it. You will get a heartier soup if you don’t strain it and serve it warm or hot.
5. Serve with some freshly ground nutmeg and black pepper on top.

Optional:
– Add a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar at the end of the process for a different flavor profile.

Vegan version:
– Use double the amount of olive oil or add canola oil instead of butter if you want to make a vegan version. In that case, you can use coconut milk to get the creamy consistency instead of cream. (Make sure you buy coconut milk that doesn’t come from child labor or animal abuse!)

Strained soup served cold


Banana Bread

Delicious banana bread is a fun and easy thing to bake. Here is my recipe. Try it out and let me know how you like it!

Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas
4 oz. butter (soft, room temperature) (115 g.)
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour (0.5 L)
¾ cup brown sugar (2 dl)
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
½ – ¾ cup walnuts (optional) (1½ dl)
½ cup sour cream or plain greek yoghurt (optional) (1 dl)

Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees (= 175˚C). Line a standard 9 x 5 inch bread pan with parchment paper and cover with a thin layer of butter or cooking spray.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and set to the side.

3. Mix the butter with the sugar and vanilla extract using a hand mixer until it is smooth and blended. Add the eggs and continue mixing while adding the peeled and crushed bananas and the sour cream. Add the flour mix and keep mixing at low speed. Add the nuts and stir it up before pouring it into the baking pan.

4. Bake for about one hour until a toothpick in the center part comes out dry.

5. Let it cool off on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before lifting the entire loaf out of the pan, using the parchment paper. After it has cooled off, store it in plastic. It will keep longer in the fridge than in room temperature, but it will taste so good that it is not likely to last long wherever you store it!

Welcome!

What is this blog about? I am hoping to engage others who love to eat or cook in a conversation that will inspire and tickle our taste buds as well as nurture our creative spirit.

The whole thing started when my house mate asked me to make what I had made for dinner one night the week before. I had no idea what I had made or what I had put in it, because my cooking process is mostly intuitive. This happened a few more times until he said that I had to start writing down what I do. I reluctantly agreed to do so. Also, being a photographer, I figured it would help trigger my memory if I also took photos of my creations. After posting a few of them on social media, people started asking me for recipes and tips in addition to dinner invitations. Before I knew it, I was working on creating a cookbook!

In order to make sure that the recipes are useful, I’ll be asking people to re-create them and report back on their experience along with photos of their results and tips for improvements. I’m hoping this will then lead to a book of cooking inspiration rather than just a series of recipes. Please comment freely and add your tips and experiences to the recipes!