Girls dinner with Greek meatballs and tzatziki!

When your boyfriend is out of out town and you just bought a new TV and a new sound system what is the best thing to do? Invite some good friends at home to eat, drink and watch a movie!

This is what i did last friday and 3 good friends came to see me. I had prepared Greek meatballs (and i call them Greek because here in Sweden they cook also meatballs but they are different), tzatziki, tyropitakia, (small cheese pies), some meatballs made of soya since 2 of my guests are vegetarian, potato salad and some green salad also. Kerstin, Johana and Sanny seemed to love the food which that made me very happy!

We ate, we drunk some white wine, we talked, we laughed and then we had some glögg. Glögg is a wine with some spices inside that we serve it warm, with raisins and almonds (we cut the almonds in small pieces) and this is a traditional Scandinavian drink for the holidays.

When we finished with the glögg we realized it was time for the movie! Chips, sweets and chocolate came out and we all sat comfortably and watch the Sex and the City 2. Can you think of a better movie for a girls night? Well i cant! It was a success!

The girls left late in the night happy and full, i hope and i have promised them that we will meet again soon with different food and a different movie!

Oven baked Salmon fillet with lime aioli

Something that i really like here in Sweden is that i can find fresh salmon in a good price. I love salmon and i am eating it at least once a week so i try to find different ways to cook it so we don't eat the same every week and it doesn't get boring! Yesterday i made salmon in the oven, very simple and fast and i made my own aioli sauce.

You will need:
(for 2 persons)

2 salmon fillet
Salt, pepper
Olive oil
Dill

For the aioli you will need:

150 gr mayonnaise
1 crushed garlic clove
Juice of half lime
Zest of 1 lime
Chives 
Pepper


Preheat the oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes. Clean the fillets and brush them with olive oil, add salt, pepper and dill. Lay them in an oven tray with non stick baking paper. Put it in the middle of the oven and let the fish be cooked at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes, not more it will get dry.

While the fish is in the oven you can prepare the aioli. Put the mayonnaise in a bowl and add the lime juice, the zest, the garlic, the pepper and some chives chopped in small pieces. Stir well and put it in the fridge.

You can serve the salmon with boiled potatoes and salad.  I baked my potatoes in an aluminum foil in the oven.

Bon Appetit

Chickpea soup with sausage

The only time i eat soups is when i am sick or when its very cold. Right now i am not sick but its very cold today! As i look outside the window everything is covered with snow and the temperature is -10...yes its definitely time for a nice warm soup!

About a month ago i was in Greece visiting my parents and there i found a recipe about a chickpea soup, i changed it a little bit and here it is.

You will need :
(for 4 people)

250 gr chickpeas
4 spicy sausages
1 onion
2 carrots
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cubes of chicken bouillon
7dl water
Olive oil
Salt, pepper

From the night before you put the chickpeas in a big pot with water, (just to cover them) and you let them there the hole night (at least 12 hours).

The next day you boil them for about 7 minutes and you remove the white foam you will see by drain them and rinse them with clear water. Put them again in the pot add some clean water and cook them for about 1 hour on low heat. When they are ready drain them and keep them in a bowl. Add some olive oil in the pot, cut the garlic, the onion and the carrots and throw them in when the olive is hot. Add the sausages that you have cut them before in small pieces and then the chickpeas. Stir well and then add the water (7dl), the chicken bouillon and the mustard. Stir again, add some salt and pepper and let it cook for about 1, 5 hour.

Remember that the bouillon is usually very salty so don't put a lot of salt in the food and also you can boil the sausages before you put them in the pot so a lot of fat will go away during the boiling.

You can serve the soup with some salad if you like and it goes very well with white wine.

Bon Appetit