Mmkay! I’m Agnes, Swedish foodie living in a small apartment Stockholm. I spend pretty much all of my time thinking about or working with food in one way or another haha. I run Cashew Kitchen - a (whole) foodie photography blog and work as a freelance food stylist, photographer and recipe developer. I also work part time at an organic food store. I absolutely love to travel and I’m always pretending I’m not a tourist when I’m abroad haha. I like to do the ”normal” stuff like have coffee at local cafes, workout or just stroll through neighbourhoods. But mostly I’m a really homey person and I love to snuggle up in bed reading and watching movies. For excercise I prefer a run in the forest or an Ashtanga yoga class.
What is the story behind your blog Cashew Kitchen?
I’ve been food blogging for 2 years, first under a different name. Why I started the blog in the first place is a mystery really. I just needed a change in life I think. I just quitted Art School and wanted a different forum for my creativity. When I in September 2014 started Cashew Kitchen, I knew more about my style and decided´to let the photographs play a big role on the blog, and also not to limit myself to only post food photography or writings related to food. I wanted to create a narrative that encompasses all things I find valuable in life: cooking with love and good ingredients, sharing, taking time to discover the beauty and importance in little things such as the morning light or a perfectly ripe mango. Acknowledging the nature around us. The north. All the things that I love. I hope that I’ve managed to create that mood on my blog, and that people find it inspiring or look upon it as a safe place to escape to.
How would you describe your food philosophy?
Listen to your body. I’ve been eating very differently over the years, and I find it impossible for me to stick a fixed way of eating. As life changes, the needs of my body changes. I try to be open to that. Food is such a pleasure to me! I don’t like to restrict myself too much. That said, I only eat vegetarian (for environmental and ethical reasons). Because food is precious, and our planet is precious, it is important to me that I take the time to prepare food from scratch, and with love. I want to experience all steps in creating that meal (if I could dream then I would even grow it myself!), and then really savour it. Savour it with all my being. Perhaps that’s why I put so much effort into documenting it too haha. But I wanna say this to you: take care of what you’ve got. Don’t throw away food. Savour it.
Can you describe your creative process for us, from idea to finished recipe and blog post?
Sometime’s I wish I could me more structured when it comes to my creative processes, but I’m really impatient and in the moment! When I accidently cook something really delicious, I immediately put aside all the blog posts I’ve planned and start testing this new recipe, styling it and photograph it, and then blog about it as soon as I can, when I still have that first impression fresh. But since I also have lots of other things going on in my life, all these steps can often be spread out during a full week. Normally I get an idea for a recipe from just walking the aisles in my local supermarket, or peering into my fridge to see what I can whip up from what I’ve got. It’s real simple food and ordinary ingredients that inspire me. I want it to be accessible to most people. The idea for styling often comes along with the idea for the recipe, but I often change the details as I go along and try what works or not. When it’s time to blog about it, I write what comes to me in that moment, food related or not :)
Do you have any education in styling or photography, or are you self taught?
As soon as one could start chosing fields of study in school, I chose Arts. I also continued to study Fine Arts at the University. So I’ve gone through a few basic photography courses. Both analouge and digital and post processing. I’m pretty sure that helped me get started quickly when I eventually got my own DSLR camera and started photographing food, although I consider myself self taught since I by then had forgotten all about ISO, shutter speed, aperture etc. I don’t have any education in styling, or in cooking.
Which 5 ingredients will one always find in your pantry?
At the moment: dried apricots, walnuts (omg I have never ever eaten as much walnuts as this before. Can one get ”walnut mouth” from eating too much walnuts? In that case I definitely have it. Got a whole box of almost expired ones from work), rolled oats, peanut butter, medjool dates (bc momentarily obsessed).
Do you have an all time favorite recipe you keep coming back to? :)
Last time someone asked me this question I said it was my Coconut & Vanilla Oatmeal, in either cooked or overnight form, but now I think I must say it’s my tahini & miso dressing: http://cashew-kitchen.com/2015/04/20/avocado-egg-salad-w-asparagus-creamy-miso-dressing-avokado-aggsallad-m-sparris-kramig-misodressing or my berry balsamic chia jam: http://cashew-kitchen.com2015/04/27/berry-balsamic-chia-jam-chiasylt-pa-bar-balsamvinager
Tell us something about the recipe you are sharing today! Why this particular recipe?
Okay this is totally one of those ”accidently awesome” recipes I was talking about earlier! I had lots of brown rice in my pantry, peas in the fridge, half a fennel bulb and some soon to be sad-looking cheese I needed to make something out of, and then this happened! And wow I happy I was when I tasted it <3 M-mm! It actually only took me two attempts to get it perfect. Might be bc my dad is something of a self proclaimed risotto expert, so I’ve had my fare share of ’em. He uses dry vermouth instead of wine though, which is a great tip if you wanna be fancy ;)
Fullkornsrisotto med rosmarin, fänkål & gröna ärtor
4-6 personer
Tidsåtgång: ca 60-75 min
Risotto:
3 dl råris
1 liter vatten + 2 grönsaksbuljongtärningar
1/2 fänkålshuvud
1 liten gul lök
2 vitlökar
2,5 dl frysta gröna ärtor
2,5 dl finriven parmesanost
1-1,5 dl vitt vin
1/2-1 tsk torkad rosmarin
1/2 citron, skalet
några nypor cayennepeppar
svartpeppar
smör att steka i
olivolja & färsk rosmarin till servering (valfritt)
Ugnsrostad sparris & broccoli:
4 personer
1 stort broccolihuvud eller ett knippe broccolini
1 knippe grön sparris
olivolja
flingsalt
svartpeppar
Sätt ugnen på 200 C.
Hacka fänkål och lök i små bitar. Finhacka vitlöken. Fräs alltihop i en klick smör i botten av en stor kastrull. Under tiden, koka upp vattnet och buljongtärningarna i en separat kastrull. När fänkålen och löken mjuknat något, addera en skvätt vatten samt de frysta ärtorna. Fräs lite till.
Skölj riset noga. Om du har tid kan du blötlägga dem något timme i förväg eller över natten för att korta ner koktiden. Ha i riset plus 1/3 av buljongvattnet i kastrullen med fänkål. Låt puttra på medellåg värme under lock medan du förbereder ugnsgrönsakerna.
Skär bort den nedersta, grova biten av sparrisen och broccolistammen. Skiva broccolin på längden så att du får långsmala bitar. Halvera sparrisen på längden. Lägg i en ugnsfast form och ringla över olivolja, flingsalt och peppar. Rosta i ugnen tills broccolin är brun och krispig och sparrisen lagom genomkokt, ca 30 min.
Ta av locket från kastrullen. Ha i rosmarin, cayennepeppar och svartpeppar i grytan med riset. Fortsätt att hälla på mer buljongvatten i takt med att risotton kokar ihop. Ha inte i allt på en gång, utan ca 1 dl i taget. När riset börjar bli mjukt och buljongen kokar bort behöver du röra hela tiden för att det inte ska bränna fast. När du använt all buljong eller när riskornen är genomkokta men aningen al dente, ha då i vitt vin och rivet citronskal och låt puttra under omrörning tills lagom krämig konsistens. Smaka av och ha eventuellt i mer vin och rosmarin. Strax innan servering blandar du i den rivna parmesanosten.
Servera med ugnrostad sparris & broccoli, olivolja & en kvist färsk rosmarin. Även gott med en fräsch sallad vid sidan av!
Smaklig måltid :)
Brown Rice Risotto with rosemary, fennel & green peas
serves 4-6
Risotto:
1 cup + 4 tbsp brown rice
1 quart water + 2 cubes (11 g each) dried vegetable stock
1/2 fennel bulb
1 small brown onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
0,4-0,6 cup white wine
1/2 - 1 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 lemon, zest
couple of pinches cayenne pepper
black pepper
butter for frying
olive oil & fresh rosemary to garnish (optional)
Oven roasted broccoli & asparagus:
serves 4
1 large broccoli head or a bunch of broccolinis
1 bunch green asparaguses
olive oil
flaked sea salt
back pepper
Set oven to 400 F.
Chop fennel and onion into small pieces. Mince garlic. Stir-fry in butter in a large pot.Meanwhile, bring water and vegetable stock cubes to boiling in a separate pot. Whenfennel and onion start to soften a bit, add a splash of water and the green peas and stir fry some more.
Rinse rice properly. If you have time, soak the rice overnight or for an hour or so to decrease cooking time. Add rice to the pot of fennel along with 1/3 of the vegetable stock, put the lid on, lower heat and leave to simmer while you prepare the oven roasted vegetables.
Discard the lower, rough parts of the broccoli and asparagus stems. Halve asparagus lengtwise and cut broccoli into long shapes. Put in an oven proof form, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt & black pepper on top. Roast in oven until broccoli is brown and crispy and asaparagus is soft. About 30 min.
Remove the lid from the pot with risotto. Add rosemary, black pepper and cayenne peppar. Gradually add more vegetable stock, about 1/3 cup at a time, while the risotto is cooking. When the rice starts to soften and water to reduce, make sure you stir all the time to avoid burning. Once you’ve used all the vegetable stock or once the rice grains are soft but a little al dente, add the white wine and lemon zest. Let simmer while stirring until you have a thick and creamy consistency. Taste and add more wine or rosemary if you like. Right before serving, stir in the grated parmesan cheese.
Serve with oven roasted broccoli & asparagus, drizzle of olive oil and fresh rosemary sprigs. A fresh salad on the side is also a nice addition.
Enjoy!