30 Gourmet Sandwiches #23: Smoked Salmon and Dill on Pumpernickel

The classic gravlax combination sandwich. Gravlax, didn't i fight that wyvern in monster hunter?

I've got pumpernickel/rye bread, smoked salmon, cream cheese, a big bag of frozen dill, and a bit of lemon.

So I just learned that american and german rye bread are different? American style is sweeter and a bit more, well, bread-like in texture. This traditional german pumpernickel is dense and seedy, almost like an unsweetened muesli bar. Still, its fit for purpose. I'll slather plenty of cream cheese on it.

And smoked salmon, ive tried to bunch it up a bit to get some height in this sandwich, its gonna be really flat.

As for the lemons, it suggests to put in whole slices! I'll slice them as thin as i can manage, and cut the peel/rind off.

And the dill! I don't have big sprigs of this, but its actually quite a strong flavoured herb so i think this light sprinkle will be plenty.

***

Its ok... quite bitter... quite sour... the lemon pieces are way too strong, you should just squeeze some juice on the fish. Some black pepper or something would have helped this. And maybe bagel or tiger bread, something chewier.

30 Gourmet Sandwiches #5: Open-Faced Toasted Almond Sandwich

Had a bit of a virus over the weekend (i did that previous recipe before) and im mostly better, my tastebuds are a bit nerfed. Maybe thats a good thing, come again? almond and cheese was it?

Spared no effort getting just the right things for this. Proper fresh sage, fresh lemon, toasted almond flakes, olive oil, and proper parmesan, none of that grana padano stuff im always buying instead. For the crusty bread though, well actually i still have the heels of that loaf in the freezer. Ok that one sounds less impressive. But i think it'll work well!

Almond flakes, sage, lemon juice, and a bit of grated lemon zest from the outside. I don't know how much olive oil to put in this, ill just start with a little bit and add more if i end up with dry powder instead of a paste.

hard to really puree this stuff as it sticks to the sides eagerly, but I think this is fine? it just needs to be spreadable?

This smells really nice already, maybe this will be a good 'un. Well, we still gotta add a cheese that smells like toe jam.

Fancy fancy cheese! Yes i have a cheese flaker. This is probably enough, its a strong flavour.

wow its transformed a bit under the grill! hopefully i haven't overdone it. I like a crispy top though. Im having both slices because.. im hungery.

****

A fun and imaginative pairing that I think really works! Mine did come out a bit dry though, i think I should have used more oil. I didn't really get any hints on proportions. I dunno if i'd make this again, but maybe thats just because the ingredients arent something i typically have to hand...  if someone wants something a bit unique though i think it'd be as easy crowd pleaser... cut it into smaller slices and it'd be a great canape!

Swedish Meatballs

 Mode: 2-3 Player
Hardware: Pans
Accessories: Kopparberg pear cider would be a perfect choice but I don't have any.

I grabbed some pre-made Swedish meatballs from Sainsbury's, because they've been taunting me for a while now. Swedish meatballs are made out of a mixture of beef and pork, or as I like to call it....

BÖRK!!!! HAHAHAHA I'M BRILLIANT

So in spite of the Swedish traditionally eating their meatballs just as meatballs, like with potatoes or something, I'm going to go ahead and make them ITALIAN STYLE with some spaghetti. In your face, cultural segregation!

Tidy.

To put my own smartass spin on the recipe I read off Ikea online, I'm making a sauce with milk (cause I didn't have any cream, and yes my flatmate is outta the house hence the dairy being accepted back into my life), a beef stock cube, a dash of soy sauce, and some chopped up sweet pepper and courgette. I also added some plain flour while stirring, to add thickness to it.

Captions: Y/N?

I Stirred it often to make sure the milk didn't get all gross or something, and once the pasta was starting to look cooked on the other side of the hob, I added the meatballs. They are pre-cooked, so they only needed to be heated basically.

Stir carefully, I don't want to bork this all up.

HMNNNNNGH yeah that's it. Super duper fast and easy because it's (well, was) the weekend.

If cooking is an art, I'm kind of a Jackson Pollock.

Post-mortem: **** Brilliant! Meatylicious. Maybe a little room for improvement. It's not like HOLY SHIT AMAZING, but nothing really went wrong and it makes a good unusual recipe as you don't tend to find many Scandinavian restaurants in the UK. Maybe it's because of all the shrimp flavoured cheese paste and salty licorice. Gross, you guys.