Pytt i Panna

AKA: "Stuff in a Pan"

Sweden calling! It snowed last night in Newcastle, so it feels very fitting to post a Swedish classic today.

My lovely Swedish boyfriend doesn’t often get homesick, but when he does, I normally just smother everything in dill.

This time, I decided to make a bit more of an effort, and make an absolute Swedish standard comprised of leftovers – pytt i panna. We had had a delicious roast beef dinner the night before, and I saved a good few slices to make this dinner. It couldn’t be easier – chop everything up small and basically add it to a pan together and let it cook. Beef and potatoes are the staples of this meal, and the veggies add some colour and flavour.

It took a while for my potatoes to cook, so next time I think I will add them in after the bacon and let the whole thing cook for about 10 minutes before adding the rest of the meat and vegetables.

Chicken, Chorizo and Potato Oven Bake

As much as I spend most of my evenings stirring a pan of gently frying onions, garlic and assorted spices, there are sometimes when I just want to put something in the oven and walk away. This, for me, is the perfect work-night meal. Quick and simple, and really can be served with a variety of sides depending on what is in the cupboard.  

I have an exam coming up, and as much as I love to cook on my days off, I love these oven meals that I can forget about for 30 minutes while I keep studying.

While it was cooking my mind skimmed through the options for what to serve it with. Do I make it a decandent Mediterranean feast with hunks of buttered bread, or be good and serve with a nice big salad? Or, go Irish (potato on potato!) with some sweet potato fries. There is enough food here that you don’t really even need a side, but I am a feeder, and that thought is unacceptable to me.

Potato Dauphinoise

New Year’s resolution be damned, I’m smothering carbs in dairy!

This is an excellent side dish, something quick to prepare that can be thrown in the oven while you get on with your business. I don’t make it often, because it is milk covered in cream covered in carbs covered in cheese, but when I do it feels like such a treat. And we all need a little treat in January, the proven worst month in the year. Bring on spring!

Hasselback Potatoes

This is basically a very simple Swedish recipe for roasting potatoes that look so much more impressive than the minimal effort they require.

You know those really aggravating online advertisement things that are like "one weird tip to help you.." Well, they are stupid and annoying. Having said that, for these potatoes, there really is a simple tip to help you slice them perfectly every time. Stick the spuds in a wooden spoon, and then slice them. Boom. You never cut the whole way through them as long as the potato is in the well of the spoon.

Like magic!

I like to make these as a side for any time you would use new potatoes, ie: accompanying roast chicken, pie, quiche, steak. Are you really looking that hard for an excuse to roast a spud?

Pork Loin (with Crackling!), Roasties and Gravy

The best day of my life.

Oh, I love a good Sunday roast. I have become very comfortable with chicken – it’s relatively cheap, easy to roast and delicious. But I decided to go out of my comfort zone and get some pork with obligatory crackling on the go. The key with crackling is to pat the meat dry, and apply liberal amounts of oil and salt before roasting. And it was spectacular. You need this in your life, I’m not even exaggerating.

I have also been disappointed recently by my lacklustre roast potatoes which don’t hold a candle to the ones my mum whips up with apparent ease. So, being the loving and inquisitive daughter that I am, I pumped her for information and shamelessly copied her technique.

And I decided that you can’t have a good loin of pork without some gravy. I don’t really eat gravy, but was intrigued by making it from scratch (not a bisto granule in sight!) and it really went well with the meat, adding depth of flavour and moisture.

All in all, I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself. You, too, can feel this smug. Just read on..

Baked Samosas

These are my favourite type of thing: morsels of delicately spiced veggies, with potatoes included!

I got the recipe from one of my favourite cooking blogs: ekant cook curry. This guy makes some delicious curries, beautifully spiced and photographed. I have a few more of his recipes tucked away which I am DYING to try.

And these little beauties are just fantastic, the spicing inside is perfection and I love the mix of vegetables. Baking them also means they are going to be far less high in fat than the fried versions you get in restaurants. It also means that they are ever so slightly dry, which is why they make a great addition to a saucy curry. They would also be delicious with some dipping sauce. I’m thinking sweet chilli sauce would work amazingly well.