French Chocolate cake with vanilla whipped cream and strawberries

This is the prettiest cake I´ve ever made, and French Chocolate cake is always a treat!  You can buy really juicy and gorgeous Icelandic strawberries in the stores now.

Make your own jam

French Chocolate cake with vanilla whipped cream and strawberries

• 480 g good chocolate (56% or 70%)
• 250 g butter
• 6 eggs
• 100 g flour

Melt together chocolate and butter.  Mix the eggs until light and fluffy with an electric mixer ( I use Kitchen Aid). Add the chocolate to the eggs, then flour.  Mix well together with a spoon.

Butter up a 24 cm spring form pan, pour in the chocolate mix.  Bake for 5 minutes at 220°c.  Cover the spring pan with foil and bake for another 10 minutes.  Cool before serving.

Whipped Cream

• 1/4 L Heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract or use fresh vanilla

Whip the cream, add sugar and vanilla.

Splash homemade jam over the whipped cream.  I put a little bit of Ganache on the cake before the cream. Just because I had it.  It is not necessary since this cake is pure chocolate…

Add strawberries

Extra jam

The Perfect Pizza – part III – Top that

Rule number one, do not over stack, the bread gets soggy…unless you like it over stacked and soggy.

Less is more and make sure you´ve got quality ingredients.

When I make pizza with for example, pepperoni, cheese, onion, fresh chili  and mushrooms I don´t put much of each, that would be over stacking…

What I listed above with fresh ruccola and fresh basil after it comes out of the oven is my favorite pizza toppings.

look at that green pepper corn, mmmm

I get a quality salami with green pepper and i use fresh mozzarella. The green pepper corns in the salami give such a wooonnnnderful flavor

Some how no matter what I put on my pizza it´s always good.  I have used left over Indian food (lamb in cashew-tomato sauce, mango chutney…), left over Cuban sandwich (ham, pork, pickles, mustard…), left over dumplings (ground pork, fennel, chili…).

So what it the key to the perfect pizza toppings?

• Less is more
• Quality ingredients
• Fresh basil and fresh mozzarella
• Don´t be afraid to try new things instead of making always the same pizza… You can always make the usual one next time or make two, the usual one and a new one.

My favorite: (as seen below with pictures)

• Creme fraice mixed with cheese and jalapeno
• Ground lamb, fresh red onion, parsley and lemon
• Green pepper salami, mushrooms, onion, chili and ruccola, with passata and fresh mozzarella
• Dijon mustard, feta cheese and olives

One of my favorite pizza has only on top a mix of Creme fraice, shredded Montery Jack type of cheese and jalapeno (either canned or fresh, both works) .  Mix well and season with salt and pepper and spread it on the rolled out pizza dough.

Photo: Björn Árnason

Another favorite is Lahmacun. I urge you to try it, and please use ground lamb instead of ground beef.

Last but not least, don´t forget to make a Calzone once in a while…

The very last one, try this one, it´s a crowd pleaser, The topping: Dijon mustard, feta cheese and olives.  Spread the Dijon mustard on the rolled out dough, top it with olives and feta.  So good i tell you, soooo good.  Perfect for the grill this summer with a glass of chilled white wine.

Pizza – Everything you need to know about making the best crust – Part I

Pizza – Everything you need to know about making the best pizza sauce – Part II

Kind of Italian brunch

Finally we got good weather so I got the chance to make brunch and eat outside on the balcony.

I saw this recipe the other day and was excited to try it, and you know what, I loved it.

I used what I had in the kitchen and here it goes:

Eggs in a tomato sauce

• Passata,organic tomatoes
• Red pepper
• Fresh basil
• Garlic
• Parmigiano Reggiano
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oregano
• Eggs (as many as you want to eat)
• Olive oil,extra virgin

Fry the red pepper and garlic for a little while, do not burn the garlic.  Add the Passata  tomato sauce and spices.  Simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Break in the eggs, the eggs do float on the sauce, they do not need to touch the pan.  Cover the pan and simmer until the eggs are cooked as you like them to be.

Sprinkle with Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil.  Serve with Grissini bread sticks and oven baked bacon.  I served a Beronia Reserva with this one.

Vegetarian red lentils lasagna with zucchini instead of pasta sheets

I am not a vegetarian, but I easily could be.  Sometimes I wonder why I eat meat, then I guess it´s because first of all I am used to it, also it can taste good and third I believe since us humans are meat eaters it is nutritious….  Usually when I cook I make vegetarian dishes, Indian,  Mexican,  Italian ..  If I have ground beef I use it, that is because I get it from the beef farmers next door where I live from grass fed animals that are treated well.

Anyways, I don´t eat much meat at all and when I make vegetarian dishes I surely don´t miss it flavor vise or other vise.  I do love LOVE  green pepper salami for my pizza though… and the Icelandic lamb is very tasty, the smoked goose is really something…:)

This dish here was going to be something like lasagna, with zucchini instead of lasagna sheets and red lentils instead of ground beef…that was just because I had an awesome zucchini and lots of cooked red lentils and I really love red lentils in lasagna.

Red lentils vegetarian dish

• Red lentils, cooked
• Red pepper
• Onion
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Fresh Basil
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Chop chop, fry, add lentils and sauce bamm bamm boom…you know the drift

Basil Dressing

• Basil, fresh
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

brrmmm brrmmm with the blender.

Oven roasted zucchini

• Zucchini
• Tomatoes
• Salt
• Pepper
• Extra virgin olive Oil

In the oven, 220°C , half an hour or so

Also:

• Cheese, mozzarella or any good cheese that melts well (Cottage cheese would also be good)
• Parmigiano Reggiano

Layers:

First some red lentils sauce, then zucchini, then cheese, then I put a little bit of basil sauce…as many layers as you like. I only had two this time.

 

 

Have a terrific weekend!

Here is one of my favorite quotes to inspire you this weekend….