Tunnbrödsrulle - best of Swedish street food (gluten-free)

Tunnbrödsrulle, Swedish flatbread wrap with hot dogs, mash and the works is a Swedish street food classic and easy to make at home, too.

* * * 

Though I love to eat well and in nice places, in I have my guilty pleasures, too. 

In Stockholm there's one thing I always make time for: a stop at one of their street food kiosks and tunnbrödsrulle.

Tunnbrödsrulle is a peculiarity the Swedes devour especially in the wee hours of the morning after a night spent devouring alcoholic beverages.

It consists of a Nordic flatbread called tunnbröd (literally flatbread), stuffed with mash (two ice cream scoops), hot dog or two (ether grilled or boiled) and all the usual accompaniments: cucumber relish, ketchup and mustard.

Mine isn't perfect unless it also features shrimp salad (rrrrrrräksallad) crunchy roasted onion flakes (rrrrrrostad lök) - both pronounced with a at least five very prominent, semi-Skoneish "r's".

(That is proably the reason why the Swedes systematically mistake me for a Norwegian? Or maybe it's just an euphemism echoing their Social Democratic kindness to the fact that they all think I'm a bit of a... well, retard?)

Aaaanyway, in case you ever find yourself in Stockholm, a great place for anthropologic observations of the locals in their most natural habitat is Valhallagrillen.

As much as Gotheburg has going for them, I've yet to find a decent tunnbrödsrulle. One I tried had been wrapped inside an Arab laffa. And he even tried to smuggle in some salad (?!). 

Sacrilege. 

One is quite simply appalled. 

The Gothenburger just shrugged at my dismay like it was no big deal. Perhaps they've yet to discover the greatness of tunnbrödsrulle? Perhaps it's just a little too... Stockholm for them? 

In which case I will most certainly have to think twice before even entertaining the idea of ever relocating there.

Serves 4

Tunnbrödsrulle - Swedish street food classic:

4 flatbreads (glutenfree if needed)
4-8 large hot dogs
mashed potatos (for my favourite recipe see here)
ketchup
mustard
sweet relish
shrimp salad (for recipe see here) 
crunchy roasted onion flakes

Grill or boil the hot dogs. Warm the flatbread.

Spoon mash on the flatbreads, top with hot dog(s) and add the desired trimmings. 

Wrap into a cone-like shape and feast away.

Damn, it's good. Even in broad day light. And sober!

You guys ever been to Sweden? Familiar with tunnbrödsrulle? Or do you have another local guilty pleasure there?

___________________

ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

    

SHARING IS CARING!

Best burgers right now: Beef Lindström beetroot burgers and Sileni Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2014

* * * 

Herby Beef Lindström beef and beetroot patties topped with caramelized onion and mayo dressing make the best burgers right now. Especially with Sileni Cellar Selection's Pinot Noir 2014.

* * * 

A few years back I diagnozed myself with a severe case of pumpkin fever. This autumn I've fallen head over heels with beetroot. With its gloriously rich colour and taste which, once cooked (especially when roasted), takes on such gentle sweetness, it's stolen my heart (and a couple of previously white shirts, mind you...)

I would imagine we eat rather well in my kitchen. Good food made of good ingredients. But trust me, that does not mean I'm stranger to good old mince. Oh no - that's something I always have in my freezer. 

Be it organic or lamb or just a package of pork and beef I picked up on sale, it is the unsung hero of everyday cooking. It's versatility is also unparallelled: while the quintessential ingredient for homely meatballs, it can be pimped up for a Mexican fiesta (taco salad, anyone?) but just as easily it lends itself to Mediterranean mood (Greek meatballs - ooppa!) or Middle Eastern feasts (Moroccan köftes! Harira! )

And if you have a couple of hours to spare, it simmers down to a Bolognese, heaving with such deep flavours of love it easily becomes the star of any Sunday lunch.

Since meat has traditionally been the priciest of ingredients in cooking around the world, different cuisines have found ingenious hacks to make a little go further. Wrap in in pastry like tortellinis (or Shish Barak dumplings of my up and coming book!) and a quarter of a kilo is enough to feel a family of 8. 

Another way of strecthing the buck is adding mushrooms or veggies to it. My absolute favourite is this (despite of its Swedish-sounding name) recipe that apparently originated somewhere in Russia, where they add cooked and grated beets into the meat. 

I cannot tell you how in love with different variations of Beef Lindström I am. But I can tell you it's pretty much what I've been having every day for the past two weeks. 

My latest love are these burgers, where the herby beef and beetroot patties are topped with mayo dressing that gets its colour and incredible depth of flavour from caramelized onions. In addition to rosemary thyme and dill are some of the herbs that love the company of beets.

For home-made brioche burger buns see my recipe here. For marinated red onion, just see here. Oh, and polenta fries? Right over here!

Lindström's burgers:

6 -8 brioche buns (gluten-free if needed)

6-8 herby Beef Lindström patties (recipe below)

caramelized onion and mayo dressing (recipe below)

marinated red onion

kale, ripped off the hard stem

6-8 rashers of bacon (optional)

1 gherkin, sliced lengthwise or cornichons

Beef Lindström with rosemary:

depending on the size 6-8 patties

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 large beets, cooked, peeled and grated (á 150 g)

400 g mince (ground beef or lamb)

2,5 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary (or thyme) 

2,5 tbsp finely chopped gherkins/ cornichons (or capers)

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

for frying: butter and/or oil

Sauté the onion in oil or butter over medium heat until translucent. Let cool to room temperature and combine with rest of the ingredients. 

Work into a smooth mixture, cover and leave to rest in the fridge for half an hour. In the meanwhile caramelize the onions for the dressing (which can be made already the day before)

Form the beef mixture into 6-8 evenly sized thick patties. Fry in a pan for about 6 minutes per side. 

Caramelized onion and mayonnaise dressing:

2 small onions (or 1 large one), thinly sliced

1 tsp mustard

3 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

2 dl good mayonnaise

(salt, black pepper)

for frying: a couple of tbsp butter

Caramelize onions in a pan or coated pot, stirring every now and then, until they are golden brown and start to crisp. Let come to room temperature and measure into a food processor. Blizz until smooth, check the taste and season asif needed. 

Assemble the burgers. 

Roast the bacon in the oven at 200 on a parchment-lined tray until crips. Drain on kitchen towels and cut in half.

Soften the kale, covered, on a hot pan in a little bit of water for a couple of minutes. 

Half the brioche buns and toast them.

Spread a little dressing on the bun, followed by kale and marinated red onions. Top with the beef and beetroot patty, generous dollop of the dressing, bacon and cornichons. Place the top half of the bun on top of it all and feast.

And a burger this tasty deserved a beverage of same calibre. Once again I found the perfect match from New Zealand Pinot Noirs.

Sileni Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2014 from Hawke's Bay region on the East Coast of New Zealand is a newcomer in my wine arsenal but a firm favourite already - showcasing so many of the qualities that make New World Pinot Noir (especially ones from NZ) such sweethearts of mine. 

It's medium-bodied, blessed with soft berriness such as cherry and raspberry. It's also got hints of violet which, together with the gentle oakiness, pair well with the sweetness of the beets and the robust choice of herbs.

___________________

ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

      

SHARING IS CARING!

Gobi pakora - Indian cauliflower pakoras with lime, jalapeño and coriander dip

Intia has taught me two things: to eat cauliflower and understand the genius of Shah Rukh Khan.

Before my first trip to India I didn't appreciate either. With cauliflower that is understandable to say the least: I mean, it does look like something out of the STD section of a medical encyclopedia (yes it does. I should know - those books were my main enterntainment when staying at one of my aunts as a kid). 

The over the top drama and overwhelming display of larger than life emotions that is Bollywood only made me break out in migraine. 

India changed both of these. That's where I got to know aloo gobi (how can something that simple be that good - it's just potatos and cauliflower, really) and Shah Rukh Khan - the biggest Bollywood megastar there is (well, not personally, I regret to inform you). The man has become a living legend because of his portrayals of characters whose luck in love is even more disastrous than mine. 

I don't think I've ever seen a movie where he'd actually get the girl of his dreams: in every single one of them either he or she dies, prompting another 15-minute scene that is the reason I keep going back for more: Shah Rukh Khan crying.  His absurdly over-dramatized displays of emotions are so incredible there are several compilations available on Youtube alone (don't believe me? Just check out this one). 

Each autumn Helsinki hosts an international film festival which invariably also features series of Bollywood films. Hoardes of Indian people turn up for them... just to laugh at these scenes. In my biggest Bollywood favourite, Om Shanti Om, SRK's (yes, that's how we aficionados call him) character explains to a journalist sent to interview him how the more he dies in his films, the more popular they seem to become. So, in this particular one the script has him die a whopping nine (!) times. 

Pakoras or bhajis, crisp veggie fritters coated in chickpea flour and then deep-fried, are a popular street snack in India. They're particularly popular during the monsoon season, which is when I went to India, too. As the long-awaited rains finally came, I had just(in the most dramatic manner possible - that's India for you...) broken up with my boyfriend and had loaded all my belongings into a rickshaw in the middle of the night. I was crying, the driver was crying... and soon the entire Indian sky was crying, too. (Though the reason for the driver's tears was the way I had furiously made him drive up the one-way street... to the wrong direction.)

These pakoras might not get anyone in tears (though I would love to see SRK do just that) but good they are nonetheless. Serve them freshly fried to guarantee maximum crunch.

Serves four:

Cauliflower pakora

1 cauliflower, cut into similar-sized florets

Pakora batter:

2 dl gram (chickpea) flour (available at ethnic shops), shifted
1 dl rice flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chilipowder
1/2 tso turmeric
1/2 tsp bicarb
2 -2,25 dl ice cold (soda)water

For frying: 1 l oil

If you want the cauliflower to be really soft, blanch them in salted water for a couple of minutes. This is optional though, especially if your florets are on the small side.

Combine the dry ingredients. Then add water until you have a smooth, lump-free batter that thoroughly coats the florets.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pot. Dunk the florets into the batter, fish out and fry, in batches, until golden and crisp. 

Drain on kitchen towels (replace the towel after each batch to keep it absorbent) and serve with lime, jalapeño and coriander dip.

Lime, jalapeño, coriander and garlic dip:

2 bunches of coriander
2 jalapeños
the juice of 2,5 - 3 limes
2 (large) garlic cloves
4 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Measure the ingredients into a food processor and blizz until smooth. Add more oil if you want a runnier  consistency. Check the taste and adjust by adding salt and/or sugar.

Other dips worth trying with these are tzatziki, Indian raitha or this mango, chili and ginger dressing.

__________________

ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

      

SHARING IS CARING!

Meorav Yerushalmi a. k a Jerusalem mixed grill - Jerusalem street food classic of pita stuffed with offal and onion

Meorav Yerushalmi might be all Greek to you, but it shouldn't. And not just because it's not Greek, it's Hebrew. But also because it's one of Jerusalem's street food classics that prove how offal is not awful. It's said to have been born in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market and as can be expected, these days several restaurants claim to have invented it. 

The dish is so legendary that in 2009 it even made it to Guinness Book of World Records. The biggest dish created weighed a whopping 200 kilos. The smallest was stuffed into a pita the size of a coin. 

The content of the dish varies depending on the place. It can feature either lamb or chicken, cooked on a flat grill but the meat has always been made stretch a bit further with the addition of offal, such as chicken liver and spleens (yes, for real). Occasionally it's made entirely out of offal and hey - what better way to pinch those pennies this January! I actually prefer that - in case we insist on eating animals, we might just as well make it as sustainable as possible and use every piece of it. 

What ever the meat is, the dish always has onion in it along with aromatic spice blend, which lends the dish its lovely taste that will transport you right back to Middle Eastern markets, spice bazaars and street kitchens. 

I used bokaharat spice blend for which the recipe can be found on the blog over here.

Serves 4

Jerusalem mixed grill - fragrant offal with onion:

300 g chicken hearts

300 g chicken gizzards

300 g chicken livers

1  large onion, roughly sliced

2 tbsp bokharat spice blend

salt, pepper

oil for frying

For serving: pita bread, tahini dressing

Rinse gizzards and chicken hearts. Bring a pot of salted water to boil, add the offal and simmer, covered, until tender (about 2  hours). Skim off any foam.

Pat the chicken livers dry and cut to smaller pieces (into 2-3).

Once rest of the offal is done, heat about 4 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the onion and continue to cook until it's softened and got a bit of colour. Then add bokharat and continue cooking for a little while longer to really bring out the aromas. Then add livers and cook, over hot pan, until nicely browned but not yet all the way cooked through. 

Drain the gizzards and chicken hearts and add into the mix. Toss them around to makes sure everything is evenly coated in the spices. Season with salt and peppers. Serve on a bread, wrapped into a flat bread or stuffed into a pita bread, accompanied by what ever veggies you want, tahini dressing and amba, Iraqi mango pickle (for recipe please see here).

Tahini dressing:

2 dl tahini

the juice of a lemon

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

salt, pepper

1/2 - 1 dl cold water

Shake the tahini jar for a smooth consistency. Measure the required amount into a bowl and combine with lemon juice. Add garlic and parsley. Add water, a little at a time for the desired consistency. Season as needed. 

My recipe for fool-proof home made pita bread can be found here. 

Other things you might want to consider stuffing your pita (and face) with are:

- Turkish salad

- Israeli salad

- Coleslaw with red cabbage and fennel

- Muhammara, Syrian roasted pepper dip 

- Baba Ghannoush
- Tzatziki

- Marinated red onion
- Coriander, jalapeño, lime and garlic dressing

And now, that everyone's been fed it's time to continue the journey. Nest stop is Palestinian territories and Hebron, Hell on Earth.

__________________________

ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

      

Caring is sharing!

Caribbean soy (veggie) burgers for Meatless Mondays

You know, it's not easy being a vegetarian.  According to one research 84% will sooner or later return to meat-eating and according to another one third will fall off the wagon drunk (!!!) 

Having myself returned to the carnivore existence after a 1,5-year-hiatus I can totally understand that. I mean, no-one's going to get a craving for a carrot at 3am. No-one's going to wake up to desperate need for kale, right?

These burgers, made with soy fillets and I can tell you the (very sceptic) test audience fell quiet (for all the right reasons, mind). "So damn good!" uttered the El Mercados. "So bloody good I actually forgot I was eating vegetarian food!" said the Tzatziki Champion (right before reaching for more...)

The secret's in the marinade. That's the way to get flavour into those things. Feel fee to dump them into marinade already the night before, if you need to. As far as breading and deep-frying goes, these babies are actually soooo much more grateful than, say, chicken.  With these you'll never have to worry about overdoing the deep-frying as these won't get dry the way chicken would - instead they stay crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

And should you want to make your own brioche burger buns, just see over here for the recipe!

Serves four

Caribbean veggie burgers:

4 soy fillets (or 8 in case you're using bigger buns)

1 l vegetable stock

Marinade:

1 dl soy sauce

0,5 dl honey

the finely grated zest and juice of a lime

1,5 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 red chilli

1,5 rkl oil

For breading:

1 dl flour (ca be substituted with coconut or soy flour)

2 egg, whisked

a couple of dl coconut flakes

Oil, to fry

Cook the soy fillets in the stock for 10 minutes, steam drier and place in the marinade - from anywhere to 4 hours until the next day. Drain on a kitchen towel.

Wipe the fillets dry, drench in flour, then dip in the egg and cover with coconut flakes. Deep-fry until golden, 6-8 minutes.

Mango,chili and ginger dressing:

1,5 dl mayonnaise

3 generous tbsp mango purée (baby food works fine!)

1/2 - 1 red chilli (depending on your size)

1/2 - 1 tsp minced ginger

A pinch (about 1/2 tsp curry powder

Combine the ingredients and hey, ho, let's go!

Coriande, garlic and lime dressing:

1 large bunch coriander
1 jalapeño
the juice of a lime
1,5 tbsp oil
(salt, pepper, if needed sugar)

Blizz the ingredients and helloo, Bob - your uncle!!!

To serve: 

salad leaves, tomato slices, thinly sliced red onion, fresh coriander

Steam the buns, stuff, accessorize as you please and serve.

With polenta fries or sweet potato fries.

___________________


ANYONE FOR SECONDS?



       

Just as I like it: Okonomiyaki and Bellingham the Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc

A cold I thought was the result of overly vigilant airplane airconditioning took a turn for worse and I ended  up with the worst bronchitis since, well, the last time. But nothing so bad that something good wouldn't come out of it, too: for once I just did... nothing. 

The blog's been quieter than a Russian human rights organization and based on my Instagram feed you'd think I'm dead,  if not worse. After a couple of weeks into my social media-free coma The Boy Next Door pointed how I should actually be ill more often (?) Apparently it turns me into a more mellow and lovable (yes, he did!) person. 

I'm finally officially on the mend and have even tempted myself to venture into the kitchen. It is strange how quickly I lost interest in cooking and so, for too long now, we've existed on pizza from the place next door. And when I say too long, I really mean it: we're probably on their Christmas card mailing list by now...

A couple of days ago I got my monthly delivery of organic eggs (I know - I can't believe it either...) and so I was officially out of excuses not to make okonomiyaki. I first got to know this Japanese street food classic through a friend of mine who used to live in Japan, but it was our recent trip to London where I really fell for it. 

Roughly translated okonomiyaki means "as you like it" which kind of communicates its nature as the sort of dumping ground for anything you might have lurking in the fridge, you know, just as you like it! I used pork belly, but you could use prawns or squid, too. 

In some recipes cabbage and spring onion are mixed into the batter, others (like mine) top the first layer of pancake mixture with the toppings and cover it all with another layer of batter. But hey, your call - just as you like it!

The final product is drizzled with okonomi sauce and mayo (or a half-and-half mixture of them). But in case your hunger for food is bigger than your hunger for authenticity, you could just as well use BBQ sauce, oyster sauce or Hoisin sauce - you know (no prizes for guessing what I'm about to say now) just as you like it!

Bonito shavings are available at Japanese shops, as is dashi (Japanese fish stock) powder, too. In case you don't happen to have either on hand, just use water instead and substitute bonito flakes with roasted and crumbled nori seaweed (for instructions, please see here)

Serves 2 (making either 2 smaller ones or 1 large one) 

Okonomiyaki

Batter:

2 eggs

2,5 dl dashi fish stock (or water)

4 dl all-purpose flour (use gluten-free if needed)

1 tsp salt (or nori salt, instructions here)

2 tsp ground bonito flakes

a couple of tbsp canola oil for frying

topping:

250 g cabbage, finely shredded

2 spring onions, chopped

100 g pork belly, in fine slices 

To serve:

spring onions

50 g pork belly, pan-roasted until crunchy

(wasabi)mayo

okonomi sauce

Okonomi sauce:

1,5 dl ketchup
1 dl Worchester sauce
1 dl sake
1 dl mirin
3 cm piece ginger, finely grated
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp sugar

Measure the ingredients into a small pot and cook over gentle heat until the sauce thickens. 

Chop the pork belly needed for serving into thin strips and place on a cold frying pan. Turn on the heat(medium) and roast until crisp. Lift out and drain on kitchen towel. 

Combine the ingredients for the batter. Pre-heat a frying pan over medium heat and pour 1/4 of the batter (in case you're making 2 okonomiyakis) or 1/2 of the batter (in case making just one) onto the pan and spread out. Sprinkle bonito powder on it, top with cabbage and spring onions (leave some for serving) and pay the pork belly on top of them. Using a spatula squash them down a bit and cover with another layer of batter. Once the mixture has set, flip it over and fry on the other side as well.

Drizzle with okonomi sauce, mayo and scatter the crisp pork belly and remaining spring onion on top of okonomiyaki and serve.

In a somewhat unorthodox manner I used mayo spiked with wasabi. Damn I like it. It's not too pungeant, the wasabi just adds a nice kick that cuts through the richness of the mayo. Great for burgers, as a a salad dressing or as a dip!

And where there's a recipe, there's a wine pairing!

A great match for this recipe is this Chenin Blanc from Bellingham's The Bernard Series, from which I've already introduced you to Grenache Blanc-Viognier blend.

The wine is dry with bright acidity, yet with ripe fruitiness which makes this a great pairing for Asian dishes, even Japanese, which is often very subtle and not very spicy.

This would go great with smoked fish or grilled salmon, too. 12 months in French oak lends the wine toasty spiciness and adds to the complexity, so it would also nicely balance creamy, rich dishes, too. A very, very nice wine, indeed!

___________________

ANYONE FOR SECONDS?