Swedabilly Kitchen

Today, I was in the mood for something warm, filling, and low effort. It’s been a low energy day, and my musculoskeletal system is protesting the weather.

Some type of one pot noodle dish seemed just about perfect. And the Instant Pot makes these much easier.

Prepared meatballs were also a very tempting protein source. They’re tasty, versatile, and pretty well dump-and-go for a quick meal. Especially now that we’re living in Sweden, I always try to keep a meatball supply ready in the freezer. Probably the majority of prepared meatballs here are gluten free by default, using potato products for the little bit of binder–but, it does always pay to read the ingredients carefully before you buy.

My first thought today was a basic tomato-based Italian themed meatball pasta, which I will also post the next time I throw some together. But, that would mean that I needed to grate some Parmesan, and also come up with some sort of side salad or other vegetable for a rounded meal.

So, then my mind turned to more Asian style noodles, including a good bit of vegetables alongside the protein for a complete one-dish meal.

Considering that I wanted to use the meatballs, a short pasta shape made more sense than long noodles. I’ve also found that they are easier to manage in a one pot dish. It may not be traditional, but frankly nothing about this is! It’ll still be delicious.

The vegetables we’ll need. This did require a little onion and cabbage cutting, but I opted to use a chunky frozen vegetable blend for the rest to add some color and variety. I didn’t end up chopping this neat twinned green onion tonight, because I realized we already had some leftover sliced in a jar.

The vegetables will cook pretty tender with this cooking method, but I’m fine with that tonight. If you prefer a more tender-crisp texture, you could also cook them on the side and add them in at the end once the seasoned pasta is cooked.

The ingredients otherwise are pretty simple. We have meatballs, pasta, and some seasonings. This particular size batch will only need half each of the pasta and meatballs.

Tonight I opted for bowties, because they hold up well for one pot cooking and don’t want to poke up out of the liquid nearly as much as something like penne. More important when you don’t want a very saucy dish and won’t be stirring it during the cooking! But, any short shape will work fine, you’re just likely to need more liquid to submerge it properly. You could also totally use spaghetti or linguine, broken in half to fit down inside the pot.

As for the seasoning sauce, we’re going for a rather international mix of ingredients. The Shaoxing rice wine used in so much Chinese cooking is unfortunately made with wheat, but substituting sake will give you a good flavor. And while we’re reaching for the sake, we might as well grab the mirin too for its distinctive sweet flavor which combines so well with sake. You can substitute a teaspoon of sugar if you don’t have mirin. Right now I have a bottle of Thai oyster sauce going, but generally I would buy Lee Kum Kee’s GF version. This brand is a little sweeter, but still pretty good.

Since we’re using beef-and-pork meatballs, I am going for a cow version of the local liquid equivalent of Better Than Bouillon tonight. You can use any broth component that you like, for the equivalent of 2 cups / 500ml of liquid. And since we’re going lazy and not frying any aromatics, I’m just opting for garlic powder rather than fresh.

Once you have the little bit of prep done and the seasoning sauce mixed and ready to go, this meal goes together in no time. And it definitely hit the spot tonight!

Gluten Free Lo Mein-Themed Meatball Pasta in the Pressure Cooker

An easy one-pot pasta meal with meatballs and plenty of veggies, cooked simply in the Instant Pot.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Main Course, One Dish

Cuisine: American, Chinese, East Asian-inspired

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 small onion sliced
• 3-4 cups white cabbage (750ml-1L) shredded fairly thickly
• ¼ tsp salt mixed in to season the cabbage
• 200-300 g chunky frozen vegetable mix of your choice (just around ½ lb.)
• 1 large green onion Chopped, with the whites and green top separated
• 300 g frozen meatballs (just around ½ lb.)
• 200-250 g short dry pasta shape of choice (just around ½ lb.)
• 500-600 ml broth (2-2½ cups)
• OR water plus enough Better than Bouillon or crushed cubes to make 500ml/2 cups of broth

Seasoning Sauce

• 2 tbsp GF soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp mirin
• OR 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp GF oyster sauce
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper can use black

At the End

• salt and white pepper to taste
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• sliced green onion green tops, to garnish

Method

 

1. After assembling your ingredients as detailed above, it's time for some simple layering.

   Start with your onions, the white part of the green onion (if using), and frozen meatballs.
   
2. Distribute the dry pasta over the top.
   
3. Pour over about half the liquid, and pour the seasoning sauce over the top.

   Rinse out the bowl with the rest of the liquid, and pour that in too.
   
4. This is roughly the liquid level we're going for: just barely up to the top of the dry pasta. No need to stir, just poke any pieces of pasta that are sticking up down into the liquid.

   We're aiming for most of the liquid to be absorbed, and the vegetables will contribute a little more as they cook.
   
5. Add the lightly salted cabbage, and then the frozen veggies to steam on the very top.
   
6. Cook on "Manual – High" for 5-7 minutes depending on your pasta. I know these Garofalo bowties need 7 to my taste.
7. Let the pressure natural release for 10 minutes before opening the valve.
8. Stir together, and evaluate pasta doneness and the remaining liquid level. If it's too watery and your pasta is not quite there, simmer uncovered for a few minutes until it's good.

   Also adjust the seasoning as required. I added a little more salt and pepper, but did not need to simmer.

   NOTE: the pasta will absorb a little more liquid as it rests.
9. Remove from the base, stir in the sesame oil, and let sit covered for 10 minutes before serving.

   Serve with the green onion tops, and whatever other garnishes you prefer. Enjoy!
   

It’s the time of year that apples are in prime season, and warm desserts start looking very tempting. I picked up some nice fresh cooking apples, and had been plotting some good things to do with them. There are so many appealing options!

I had already been considering turning some of them into a crumble or crisp. It’s so easy and delicious. Smulpaj (“crumb pie”, where “paj” is actually an old borrowing from English and pronounced the same way) is a very popular genre of dessert here anyway, so it occurred to me to try something a little different this time around, and just work off a Swedish recipe.

The one I settled on comes from Glutenfria Godsaker (“Gluten Free Goodies”). Everything I have tried from there so far has turned out great. The original recipe: Glutenfri äppelpaj med smuldeg. For a change, I didn’t even make any tweaks beyond using more apples than she called for because these particular apples were on the small side. (Mine worked out to 12 fruits in a 1kg bag, so I went with half of them for around 500g or 1 lb.)

The ingredients for this one really couldn’t be simpler. And the results turned out absolutely scrumptious!

The proportion of sugar called for here will give you a sweeter crumb topping than I would generally go for myself. If you’d prefer it a little less sweet, feel free to reduce the amount of sugar a little. Next time I will probably cut it back by maybe 25% to my taste. But, everyone’s is different, and this was wonderful as-is.

Gluten Free Swedish Apple Crumble

A Swedish take on one warming classic cool weather dessert. Fresh juicy apples are seasoned with cinnamon, topped with a gluten free oat crumb topping, and baked until golden and bubbly.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course: Baking, Dessert

Cuisine: Swedish

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 500 g cooking apples (Just around a pound)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Crumb Dough

• 250 ml certified gluten free rolled oats (1 cup, or 100g)
• 225 ml gluten free flour blend (scant 1 cup, or 135g of what the original recipe writer used)
• 200 ml granulated white sugar (¾ cup, or 180g)
• 150 g cold butter (10 tbsp is close enough) cut into small chunks

Method

 

1. Start the oven preheating to 200℃ / 400℉.
2. Generously butter a large deep pie dish, or 8"x8" / 20cmx20cm baking dish.

   This recipe could easily be doubled to fill a 9"x13" / 23cmx33cm pan, though you may also need to increase the baking time a little.
3. Peel, core, and slice the apples.
4. In a mixing bowl, place your dry dough ingredients and stir well to combine. Work the butter chunks through to make a crumbly mixture.

   I started out trying to cut the butter in with a fork, but soon got my hands in there.
   
5. Lay the apples into the buttered dish, and sprinkle the cinnamon over top.
6. Add the crumb topping.
   
7. Bake for around 20-30 minutes, or until browned on top and bubbling up around the edges. The smell will be amazing toward the end.

   Mine went for 25 minutes in this pan and oven, and possibly could have gone a few minutes longer for more browning. Using all white sugar here, though, it won't get as dark.
   
8. Let rest for 15 minutes, then serve warm with some vanilla ice cream or the classic here: vaniljsås, or vanilla custard.
   

Tonight I got an urge for some good old fried potatoes to go along with the shio koji-marinated pork tenderloin I had already planned. And why not jazz them up a little? This is one of my favorite variations on them, and the warm Indian spices go very well alongside the seasoned meat and veggies.

As for the vegetables, I was going back and forth on what to cook with this. And we’re currently running low on the fresh stuff other than root vegetables. But, frozen veggies come to the rescue! For very little extra effort, you can have another delicious side dish roasted in the same pan as the meat.

This is a very simple meal, which was extremely satisfying on a chilly evening.

Print

Oven Pork Tenderloin and Vegetables with Spiced Pan Fried Potatoes

Juicy tenderloin roasts surrounded by frozen vegetables, for an easy meal served with a side dish of potatoes pan fried with Indian spices while the rest bakes.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Active Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Indian-inspired

Keyword: Dairy free, Fall, Gluten free, Potatoes

Yield: 4 servings

Materials

Meat and Vegetables

• 500 g whole pork tenderloin (1 lb.) optionally marinated or dry brined as described in instructions, starting the night before
• seasoning rub of your choice
• 350 g chunky frozen vegetable mix of your choice (12 oz., or ¾ lb.)
• seasoning to taste for the veggies
• 3-4 tbsp olive oil

Spiced Fried Potatoes

• 750 g potatoes (1½ lb.) preferably a firm cooking variety like for boiling
• 1 large onion, or two smallish fairly coarsely diced
• 1-2 green chili (optional) small, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic chopped
• 2-3 tbsp neutral oil of choice
• ⅔ tsp salt or to taste
• coarsely ground pepper to taste
• 1½ tsp panch phoran spice mix Bengali five spice (packaged, or recipe link in instructions)
• ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder (can sub paprika if you prefer)
• ½ tsp paprika
• squeeze lime or lemon juice to finish
• chopped cilantro/coriander leaf to serve (optional)

Instructions

Prep and Bake the Meat and Veggies

• Trim any silverskin off the tenderloin. Optionally set your meat to marinate in 100ml / around ⅓ cup shio koji like I did the night before, or dry brine it. Either will make for extra succulent and flavorful meat. If you've done that, remove it from the marinade or brining receptacle, and wipe off excess with paper towels. Set aside.

  Season the meat all over. Here I just used some low-salt spice rub that I had left from cooking a lightly cured pork loin a while back. You will probably want something higher in salt if your meat doesn't already have plenty from a marinade or brining.

  If you don't have any suitable rub on hand, this recipe from Salt & Lavender looks good.

  Set aside in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to 200℃/400℉.
• While that heats, wash and cut your potatoes into bite-sized pieces. You can peel them if you like, but these really didn't need it. I didn't weigh these, just estimated from experience how many should comfortably fit into the pan I was using. 700-750g/1½ lb. should be close enough.

  Set them aside, covered with water.
  
• Chop the onion, garlic, and chili, and set aside for later.
• Set the chunky frozen vegetables you want around the edges of a baking dish. I didn't weigh these out either, just eyeballed what looked right.

  Tonight I was in the mood for plenty of green beans, but added some of this other popular vegetable mix for color and a little variety. Something like California mix should work well here.
  
• Sprinkle seasoning on the veggies to taste. Remember, they will pick up a little more from the seasoned meat.

  I purposely let these green beans thaw out a bit, because I wanted those more tender. Most should probably go in the oven frozen.
  
• Time to put everything together. Brush your seasoned meat on the other sides with olive oil, and set in the middle of baking dish with the vegetables around it.

  Brush the top generously with more oil, and drizzle what's left over the veggies. You may need to grab the bottle for a little extra to get fairly even coverage.

  (We actually had a little extra meat ready to cook today, so if you're thinking that looks like more than called for? It really is around 750g/1½ lbs. worth.)
  
• The pan is ready for the oven.

  If you have an oven-safe thermometer probe, stick it into the middle of the thickest piece.
  
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reads somewhere between 63-71°C (145-160°F) depending on the doneness level you prefer. Let rest for 10 minutes once it comes out of the oven, loosely covered by foil.

Frying the potatoes

• These are pretty standard good old fried taters like I grew up on, but with the addition of some delicious Indian-inspired seasonings.

  We are working with firm-cooking potatoes like you'd generally use in soups or stews here, but you can use varieties good for mashing or baking if you prefer. Those will break up more easily toward the end.
• Get your whole spices ready. If you can't find packaged panch phoran, here is a good recipe. If you prefer, use a mix of cumin and black/brown mustard seeds instead.

  This TRS blend doesn't have as much mustard as I prefer for potatoes, so I used part extra mustard seeds here. For people who aren't as familiar with black mustard, it doesn't add the type of "mustardy" flavor that you would normally associate with prepared mustard when it's used like this. It's more of a warm nuttiness that's hard to describe.
  
• Get your powdered spices ready. I'm aiming for a spiced flavor with only a mildish heat here. You can adjust as you prefer.
  
• Time to start frying taters!
  
• Start by heating the oil over highish heat, and add in the whole spices. You'll want to use a fairly heavy nonstick pan, or well-seasoned cast iron.

  Have a lid ready, because the mustard will pop like popcorn when it heats up. Once the pinging against the lid slows down, pull the pan off the heat and turn the heat down to the higher side of medium.
  
• Add in the well-drained potatoes and onions, and carefully turn around with a spatula to coat with the oil and spices.

  I also added around half the salt and a good grinding of pepper at this point.

  Cover and cook for 10 minutes or so. Leave it be for now.
  
• When the potatoes feel about halfway done, add in the garlic/chili and other seasonings which might burn if they go in earlier. I added the rest of the salt too.

  Mix well, and cover the pan for another 10-15 minutes. Now you'll want to check and turn the potatoes every 5 minutes or so.
  
• When the potatoes are soft inside, they're done. Remove the lid and continue to cook with more attention to keeping the taters from sticking and burning, until they're browned to your liking. I didn't want these crisped up a lot, more some browning for flavor.

  Add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice to taste, and adjust the salt if you need to. Cover them until you're ready to eat.
  

Putting It All Together

• By this time, the meat should be about done. Reminder that we're aiming for 63-71°C (145-160°F) internal temperature.

  You will probably also want to stir the veggies around so that they're well coated by the pan juices. This is before I did that, just out of the oven.

  After taking out of the oven, let everything sit covered loosely with foil for at least 5-10 minutes.
  
• Once it's rested, cut up the meat as you like. I did it on a separate plate, because that was so much easier to manage.
  
• Serve and enjoy!

  You can add a sprinkle of chopped cilantro/coriander leaf on the potatoes before serving, as a nice touch. We didn't have any tonight, and I'm the only one in the house who enjoys it.