And My Kitchen Sink » Sweden

Banana-Curry Pizza – A Swedish Favorite

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:06:37 +0000

Today is Sweden’s National Holiday (Nationaldagen – yay, Sweden!) and in honor of that, I thought I’d post a very Swedish recipe (we made one of these last night – yum!).

In Sweden, we like to throw everything we can get our hands on on a piece of pizza dough (a slight exaggeration). While you certainly can get a Margherita and other traditional pizzas, some of the other common toppings make people from other countries do a double take. Here are some examples from the menu at my brother’s favorite pizza place (note: kebab in Sweden is the equivalent of Schwarma meat here):

“Love You” - tomato sauce, cheese, filet of pork, ham, mushrooms, bacon, shrimp, béarnaise sauce

“Kebabpizza” - Tomato sauce, cheese, schwarma meat, iceberg lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, pepperoncini, kebab sauce (a yogurt-based spicy sauce)

“Castello” – Pineapple, mushrooms, onion, peppers, pepperoncini, salami, gorgonzola, camembert, feta cheese

“Mexico Special” - Tomato sauce, cheese, ground beef, bacon, garlic, egg, onion, jalapeno, taco spices

I’ve had the Kebabpizza and it is awesome – the sauce is to die for!

And now, on to the banana curry pizza. You might recoil in horror when you first see this recipe, but if you like curry and the mix of sweet and salt, give it a shot. It’s wildly popular in Sweden (you’ll find it under “Ordinary or Classic Pizzas” on the menus), and even my American husband liked it once he mustered up the courage to try it.

This pizza is traditionally made with smoked ham, and if you want to try it with that, buy it thinly sliced at the deli (the Black Forest ham they sell at Whole Foods is one that is very close in flavor to what they use in Sweden) and then cut it into small squares.

Since we prefer to not eat meat, we make it without, but you really do need that smoky flavor to make it taste just like it does in Sweden, and I have found that smoked cheese is a great substitute. Any smoked cheese will do, I get whatever I happen to find at the store that day.

You’ll need

2 individual-sized pizza doughs (make it yourself or buy it readymade – we like Iggy’s readymade)
Pizza sauce (we use Enrico’s organic pizza sauce available at Whole Foods)
2 ripe bananas
Curry powder
Smoked cheese, grated
Other cheese, grated (anything you want, we usually use a mozarella/cheddar mix)

Put your pizza dough on a baking sheet. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce all over the dough.

Cut the bananas in thin slices and distribute evenly over the pizza. Sprinkle them with curry powder, as much as you like (I use a lot).

Cover with grated cheese, keep the proportions around 20% smoked cheese and 80% other. If you use too much smoked cheese, the flavor gets too overpowering.

Place the pizzas in the oven and bake according to the directions for the dough you are using.

Traditional Swedish version: Include the ham and omit the smoked cheese
Vegetarian version: Omit the ham.
Vegan version: Omit the ham and use a vegan cheese (I have to admit I have never tried making pizza with anything but “real” cheese, so I don’t’ know how that will come out).

Enjoy!

PS. How do you make tomato sauce look appetizing in photos?

Luxury Apartment Eye Candy – Stockholm

Sat, 15 May 2010 13:08:37 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Twice every year, in the beginning of December and at the start of summer, I start longing for Sweden. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to go home almost every year since I came to the US, but I suspect this is one of those years when it’s not going to happen. I make up for it by listening to Radio Stockholm and watching Swedish TV online, reading Swedish blogs and newspapers and connecting with friends and family through Skype. Although sometimes that only makes the homesickness worse….

I know Sweden is not in the top 10 of must-see places on most people’s list, but if you have the chance, I highly recommend a trip there (during the summer, or even in December. It’s sooo cozy right before Christmas, it’s dark, yes, but there are lights and candles everywhere). Stockholm is gorgeous, built on islands and everything you want is right there in the city. You can shop, bicycle, fish, swim, go boating, eat & drink, stroll, enjoy nature (yes, right in the city), visit museums… it’s a city that’s very easy to enjoy and live in.

My husband and I have long dreamed about buying an apartment in Stockholm, not just to use as a holiday home, but as a second home. We’d love to find a way to divide our time between Sweden and the US. So far, they’re just dreams, but I can’t help browsing around every now and then to see what’s on the market in Stockholm… I came across this apartment the other day, and had to share the pictures. If I win the lottery, it’s all mine!

Photos: Eklund Stockholm New York (real estate brokers)

Don’t miss this luxury apartment – a converted movie theatre, also in Stockholm, and this Bali villa to die for.

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Can We Move Christmas To March, Please?

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:45:23 +0000

In Sweden, today (January 13) is known as “Tjugondag Knut” and traditionally, this is the day when all the Christmas decorations are taken down. Some people have parties, “julgransplundring” where you invite your friends over to help with the de-trimming of your tree and house. There are even traditional songs to sing about this event.

Tjugondag Knut means “twentieth day Knut” – twentieth because it is the twentieth day since Christmas (we celebrate on the 24th in Sweden) and Knut because that is the name celebrated on January 13.

Every day is associated with one or two names in Sweden (it used to be one, then was 3 for a while, but they’ve cut it back to 1 or 2) and you celebrate more or less elaborately on “your” day. In my family, we used to send a card or just say Congratulations, but I have friends who got a cake, or whose parents threw parties for them, you can do whatever you want.

Why We Should Move Christmas To March

Taking down all the cheerful decorations and lights is always such a downer. The whole house is so dark and drab and winter feels like it will never end. I hate winter, but even I don’t mind it up until and around Christmas, it just seems right at that time of year. But now, we’re left with months of cold and darkness and nothing to cheer us up inside.

If Christmas was in March, we’d have a few more months to feel cozy and Christmassy, not to mention have much more time to shop. Those weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are always so rushed, there are so many Christmas parties you need to fit in, baking, shopping, decorating – it’s really pretty stressful. Imagine if after Thanksgiving, you had close to 4 months to get all that done. Wouldn’t that make winter so much more bearable and even fun?

I’ve said for years that we should just move the whole thing, and funny enough, when I mentioned it to my husband he said that apparently Jesus was born in March so it would actually be more appropriate. I knew I was right!

I’m going to leave my decorations up a little while longer and work on convincing at least my family that we need to make a change.

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