Oh boy – I’m sitting here staring at my computer and I must admit… I’m almost not quite sure what to do. Where do you begin when you’ve been away for so long? Well, how about I just start talking about how my summer’s been, and then I’ll see where that leads? I’ll finish up this post with some beetroot brownies, because you can never have too much beetroot (or too many brownies for that matter!).
So, summer? Well – it’s been wet, it’s been chilly, and the number of “nice, sunny days” we’ve had I could probably count on one hand. Disappointing to say the least. Coupled with a late, cool spring, it has not made for ideal growing conditions in the garden. I’ve planted some wax beans and some haricots verts, but they’re small and I don’t think they’ll ever amount to anything much. Especially not now that we’re already in August. My spinach has been growing like crazy though. More than we can eat, so we’re going to pick the lot soon and blanch and freeze it.
Despite the weather, we have had some good days. One trip to the beach, a couple of trips to Rismyrliden, and some visits to Pite Havsbad (ok – it was raining last time we were there, but it’s inside so we still had fun!).
Salmon Sashimi
Duck breast with orange sauce, fennel and Västerbotten cheese risotto
I’m now (finally!) the proud owner of a grill, so we’ve been enjoying some food cooked outside, in various charred states (ok, I’m getting better now, but it’s a whole art!). I even bought a pizza stone to sit on the the grill which I can cook bread, or more obviously pizzas, on, and some different types of wood chips to smoke the food. I cherry-wood smoked a whole flank of salmon a few weeks ago which was a lot of fun!
So, where have I been? Well – I’ve been here, I’ve just been working like a crazy-man. Running your own business isn’t easy work at the best of times, but juggling studies in Swedish and family life together makes for one hectic schedule. I’m now finished with my Swedish (although will be starting some university studies next term) but hope to try and breathe some life into FiveEuroFood again. It’s been far too long since I posted anything. I haven’t even been that keen on cooking recently. It’s far easier to boil up some palt than cook when you’re working on a deadline, although speaking of those… I must admit that I’ve totally changed my mind on them now. I had them at #8 on my top 10 worst Swedish foods; I still think they’re a bit “special”, but hot dang they’re good. Butter, lingonberry jam… ok, you’ll have a little carb’ coma if you eat too many and need to sleep for the next 6 hours, but they’re really good. Definitely something you should try if you come here, especially if you go Piteå. There’s a restaurant there which serves all kinds of different “gourmet” palt — even vegetarian variants.
So, on to today’s recipe. Beetroot brownies! It seemed like just a couple of years ago people were stuffing beets and zucchini into all manner of unsuspecting cakes and cookies, and then suddenly it all went out of vogue and the whole “gluten is killing us”, “sugar is killing us” craze came along. Sorry — you’ll need to pry my gluten and sugar products from my cold, dead hands. That stuff is staying. Life is too short to deprive yourself of deliciousness when you don’t have to.
Sissi from WithAGlass.com once joked that I should probably have a beetroot blog since I have a lot of beet recipes (ok, we’re not talking hundreds here, but it’s definitely something I have used a great deal in the past). Who knows, maybe I should publish a beetroot cookbook. Anyway, my son is getting more adventurous and less picky with his food. Certain vegetables (ok, most vegetables) are still a no-go for him, although he seems to love celery, cucumber, and raw spinach. I figured if he won’t eat it directly, why not bake the veg into something delicious like a brownie? Besides, everyone knows that even the most unhealthy of foods becomes nourishing and power-food-like when you bake beets into it… right? Right?… ehm… yeah.
Joking aside, I really enjoyed these beetroot brownies. I wasn’t able to cook the beets for as long as I would have liked so it meant they were still a little hard when I puréed them. Not a problem for me because I just love me some beetroot, but unfortunately my mother-in-law wasn’t a fan. However, as long as you make sure the beets are sufficiently cooked then you’ll really never know they’re in here.
Have a great day folks, and here’s to hoping I’m able to post here with a little more regularity!
Beetroot Brownies
Ingredients
- 400 g Cooked beetroot
- 200 g Plain chocolate
- 100 g Butter
- 3 tsp Vanilla sugar
- 250 g Caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 100 g plain flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and then place the butter, chocolate and beetroot into a food processor and blitz until combined.
- Place the caster sugar, vanilla sugar and eggs into a large bowl and whisk until frothy and pale.
- Mix together gently with the beetroot, chocolate, and butter and then add in the flour and cocoa powder and fold in until well combined.
- Grease and line a large, square baking tray with greaseproof paper, and then pour in the batter.
- Place into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares and enjoying.
Nice to see you back! I know how it is to be busy, and not feel like cooking.
My dear Charles,
It is so good to see you! I hope you have been fine.
Hard to imagine your boy so big. How handsome he is.
I’m so glad your back and you brought some lovely recipes with you.
Charlie
Welcome back, Charles. Belated congratulations on your anniversary. My, William is getting to be a big boy. As cute as ever though those chubby cheeks are not as chubby as they used to be. 🙂
Whew … that takes care of the important stuff.
Brownies, yes … beetroot, still no, thank you.
PS: Posting to a blog now though I’ve taken a break myself for the foreseeable future. Maybe I’ll post actual recipes again in the fall. I’ve been playing with a sourdough starter in the interim.
Welcome back Charles!! You’ve been a busy man! I know the trials of owning you own business. My husband has been self-employed for over 30 years and he is ALWAYS working! But he loves is and so do I for that matter. I can’t believe how big William has gotten! Happy anniversary! I can’t believe you even attempt a garden where you live, but it doesn’t look too bad. Is that basil in the left picture? You do have a lot of beetroot recipes but one’s like this I can really bite into! Glad to see you back Charles!
I have not tried putting beetroot into cake or brownies, but it’s definitely on my list. I’ll bookmark this clever recipe for sure.
Looks like you’re having a good summer not withstanding the weather. Europe has had incredible warmth 40C at night I’m Spain so I’m surprised your weather is so cold. If send you some of our heat if I could!
Charles! It was so exciting to see your post in my inbox! My family (parents) was just asking how you were doing. Your summer weather sounds similar to ours. Fortunately we’ve faired better on our getaways than we would have at home. Your spinach sounds wonderful. Don’t forget you could make and freeze some spinach pesto. Mr. N loves it. And while you know I’m anti beets and chocolate, I think this is a great way to sneak in some veggies. And I’m with you, I’m sticking with my gluten and sugar. Life’s too short. 😉 Anyway, so great to catch up on your goings ons. I hope your business is going well and congrats on wrapping up on your Swedish. Your multilingual skills are impressive. Until next time…many hugs to you all! (And happy anniversary too!)
What’s this? A post from Charles?!
You really must’ve been busy! I know how it is, owning a business, running a house and kids..it never ends. I don’t feel like cooking either and even less about posting what I’m not cooking! Since my job these days is cooking, I’m really quite done with it when I get home.
Little Will looks all grown up! Still very cute, but more handsome now.
Hmm, beets in brownies, I know it’s been done but I still haven’t tried it, this or avocado brownies.,
If you say they’re good, then I’ll have a go.
It’s good for the littl’un though, he gets some healthy brownies.
Hope to see you around!
So great to see you again, Charlie! And with a bang – happy anniversary to you and your wife! And OMG on this beetroot brownie. It won’t look veggie to veggie-avoiding kids, so great job!!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Welcome back, Charles! It sounds like you’ve had a full but good summer (belated Happy Anniversary!). Brownies are always the perfect way to return ;).
It’s great to have you back Charlie! Life happens, and what I have realized is that blogging is like catching up with an old friend – one might not have met for years, but they get back into the groove like they never left.
The brownies look terrific!
Charles, you’ve been on my mind the last week or so. Then today I was watching an episode of The Mind of a Chef, featuring a famous Swedish chef, and one of the things he showed was something (colostrum) I remembered from your To 10 Worst Swedish Foods post. So I decided to check the blog again. So happy to have found you back with this delicious brownie recipe! And happy anniversary!
Welcome back Charles! I am back on the blog too hip hip hurrah! Beetroot brownies look fantastic. When I first discovered beetroot and chocolate in baking, it was a magnificent moment. Cannot honestly believe something so earthy and well, healthy can make a chocolate cake or brownie so much more moist and… chocolatey. Yum!
Charles, at some point I must have fallen off your email list so it comes as a delightful surprise that I just happened to click on to five euro and find you here! So happy you are well and thriving despite being busy. Yes, parenting coupled with entrepreneurship has a way of tying up your resources good and tight. I can relate. Your beetroot brownies are gorgeous – would love one right now with a cold glass of milk. I just worked out, I earned it, right? 🙂 Happy Anniversary and a big hug to your growing young man. So nice to see your smiling faces. Cheers all around.