Köttbular (Swedish Meatballs)
As mentioned from last week’s post, Ikea’s famous dish can now be bought from their food section. A pack of 50-60 pieces meatballs, 2 packs of ready-mix sauce and a jar of lingonberry jam costs 8,90Euro (reduced from 12). Ate (older sister) M bought a set and gave me some of the meatballs which I served with potato and the lingonberry jam I still have at home.
Here is a recipe I got somewhere and has been following before when I hadn’t known yet that Köttbulat can be bought from Ikea.
8 oz. ground beef
8 oz. ground pork
1 egg
3/4-1 1/4 c milk
2 1/2 Tbsp onion, finely chopped
1/4 c fine breadcrumbs (unseasoned)
2 cold boiled potatoes
4-5 Tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp allspice
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Directions:
In a skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter, heat until melted and browned, be careful not to burn. Add onion to skillet, saute until golden.
Mash potatoes. (I just boiled mine and sprinkled with salt….parsley would be a good addition.)
To the bread crumbs, add 2 Tbsp milk to moisten.
In a large bowl, combine beef, pork, egg. Add onion, mashed potatoes, and moistened breadcrumbs. Add spices (salt, pepper, allspice). Add remaining milk a little at a time; stop before the mixture gets gloppy. If the meat mixture gets too gooey to form nice, neat meatballs, add more breadcrumbs.
Use a pair of spoons rinsed in water and shape the meat mixture into small round balls.
In a large skillet, heat remaining butter over medium heat. Add meatballs to skillet, being careful not to crowd the pan. Shake periodically so that the meatballs don’t develop flat spots. Cook until meatballs are done through.
Serve with Cream Sauce for Meatballs or gravy and a dollop of lingonberry jam.
Enjoy!
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Phở bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup)
My earliest memories of lime (dayap) was on those nights that my mom would be in the kitchen, late and cold putting yellowish mixture in aluminum molds covered with a thin layer of caramelized sugar (arnibal). I used to help her prepare that mixture…little as I was I would stir the ingredients in the big bowl before me with all my might. On some occasions I only squeezed the lime. 
Fast forward to a few years, I was tasked to combine milk, sugar and duck egg yolks and mix them. I also learned how to make caramel. Now I can make Leche Flan as luscious as my mom’s, smooth-looking with that silky taste lingering in your mouth. Well, thinking of it, that was actually the only memory I have of lime in connection to cooking.
Nowadays though I’ve other uses for lime. Combined with chilli, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine are mostly known for the inclusion of limes. Today, I choose a Vietnamese soup, Phở bo.
There are different types of Phở bo characterized by the way beef is cooked. There are endless possibilities…beef brisket, beef tendon, tripe and even meat balls would do. I used tenderloin which I asked the butcher to slice real thinly.
Here is a comprehensive recipe for the dish. As mentioned in previous posts, the hubby likes his spicy so I especially put in lots of fresh Thai chili peppers for him along with the usual garnishing for this Vietnamese soup…green onions, white onions, coriander, Thai basil (húng quế) (not be confused with sweet basil, Vietnamese: húng chó or húng dổi), lime wedges, bean sprouts (stir fried a little), and coriander (ngò rí) or cilantro (ngò gai).
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Salami Pizza
“A world devoid of tomato soup, tomato sauce, tomato ketchup and tomato paste is hard to visualize. Could the tin and processed food industries have got where they have without the benefit of the tomato compounds which colour, flavour, thicken and conceal so many deficiencies? How did the Italians eat spaghetti before the advent of the tomato? Was there such a thing as tomato-less Neapolitan pizza?”
-Elizabeth David (1913-1992) ‘An Omelette and a Glass of Wine’, 1984
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Home delivered salami pizza saves me when I’m too late for cooking! 
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Salmon-Parsley Pasta
“No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention.” -Christopher Morley
Two weeks ago I received a whole 5 kilo salmon right in our kitchen. Well, it’s more of bought because I paid 50€ (60$/2,999Php) for the whole of it. This is really a steal considering such expensive fish. I usually get salmon cuts for sushi at 20 a kilo! And since it was delivered at home, I do not need to worry about losing the freshness. So I got salmon stacked in our freezer, enough to feed us through a whole winter month. (Reminds me of bears happily catching their salmon by a river!)
Since the kids love salmon, they won’t be bored eating it as sashimi, in a soup, grilled, baked or in pasta. This is one of the simple dishes I prepare with salmon. I think I had this featured here before but with a different twist. This version has 2 or 3 more added ingredients. (lol)
Ingredients:
salmon fillet, skinned
pasta of your choice
cherry tomatoes, halved or pressed
low-fat crème fraîche
chopped fresh parsley
orange zest
salt
ground black pepper
Procedure:
Cube salmon and dust with salt and pepper. Sear the pieces and set aside.
Cook pasta per package directions.
Drain pasta and toss in tomatoes and salmon.
Mix in crème fraîche, parsley, orange zest and pepper to taste.
Top with as much salmon pieces as you want.
As the quote above says, eating spaghetti or pasta for that matter requires much attention. Add salmon to it and you need to double the concentration savoring the flavor.
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Salmon-Paprika Skewers
Four days and counting…we’d be back home, to enjoy fresh mangoes, pineapple, papaya, soursop and coconut flesh…I too look forward to all our local delicacies especially seafood grilled golden in charcoal! For our remaining days here, I’m savaging the freezer so that it gets rested while we’re away. I found tuna, shrimps, surimi and salmon, just perfect for teppanyaki. I just included yellow and red paprika and there’s our skewers.
Rice is inevitable, I still have some japanese variant so this is just perfect for sushi rice…the kids enjoyed theirs with nori bits while I sprinkled hubby’s with black sesame seeds.
“You ain’t supposed to get salmon when they’re swimming upstream to spawn. But if you’re hungry, you do.”
Loretta Lynn
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Khao Phat Supparot
Another thai recipe for this week! 
Growing up, the only sinangag (fried rice) I’ve cooked was traditional Filipino, rice on oil and sauted garlic plus salt. When I’m up to it, I’ll beat in an egg too. On days that I really am in the mood to cook a decent breakfast, there would be baby carrots, sweet corn kernels and green peas in addition. Then again, we Filipinos almost always eat rice with a viand. Along with fried rice would be a sunny side up egg, bacon, ham or hotdogs. More fancy would be tapa (cured beef) or other marinated meat.
Through the years, I’ve learned to accomodate the different rice variation and recipes other culture has to offer. Some of the more popular of them would be Spain’s Paella, India’s Biryani, China’s Yang chow, Japan’s many Dons, Greece’s Pilaff and Italy’s Risottos. This was my first time cooking Thailand’s Khao Phat Supparot (stir fried rice and pineapple) – for dinner, honestly I was a bit hesitant and I really thought that the family wouldn’t want to try but lo and behold! They literally cleaned the plates! The only reds I actually have here would be the bell peppers and the ketchup which obviously can’t be seen. Anyway, recipe is below, please enjoy!
Ingredients
* 1 pineapple
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 garlic cloves coarsely chopped
* 1/4 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
* 1 boneless skinless chicken breast half diced
* 2 eggs
* half red bell pepper, cut into small squares
* 1-1/2 tablespoons crab paste in soybean sauce
* 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
* 3 green onions including 1″ tender green thinly sliced
* 4 cups cold cooked long grain jasmine rice crushed gently to break up any clumps
* 2 tablespoons fish sauce
* Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
* 1 tablespoon fried shallots
*cashew nuts (optional)
Directions
-(Optional) Preheat oven to 400. Cut pineapple in half lengthwise. Hollow out each half leaving the shells intact and setting the pineapple pulp aside. Put the shells hollow side up on a baking sheet and bake until the excess moisture has dried out about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set shells aside.
-Meanwhile coarsely chop enough of the reserved pineapple pulp to measure 1 cup then set aside. Preheat a wok over medium high heat. When pan is hot add oil, salt and garlic then stir fry for 30 seconds. Increase heat to high then add shrimp and chicken and stir fry for 2 minutes.
-Crack eggs into pan over the shrimp and chicken and break up the yolks with the tip of a spatula. Cook eggs without stirring until set about 30 seconds. When the whites turn opaque add the crab paste and ketchup then stir once or twice then toss in the green onions, cooked rice and fish sauce.
-Break up any remaining clumps of rice and stir fry to mix and evenly season the rice and to heat it through about 2 minutes. Add the reserved chopped pineapple pulp and bell peppers and cashews then toss and stir to heat through about 1 minute. Transfer rice mixture to the pineapple shells heaping it attractively (if you opt for the shells). Garnish with cilantro leaves and fried shallots then serve immediately.
P.S. Sorry for the confusion, this was not for breakfast but dinner…
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