Autumn stew with juniper berries.

 Autumn is here to stay for a while, so what's better suited for dinner than a warm stew filled with stuff that's connected with he season? This stew is based on seitan and chickpeas and gets it's taste from lingonberry jam, red wine, rosemary, thyme and juniper berries.

The juniper berry grows on juniper plants (no kidding..). It's not actually a berry, but a cone with a berry like appearance! The berry is commonly used in the Swedish cuisine, most often used dried in meat-dishes. I picked some when I was in Hälsingland.

When I got home the other day, I found a huge bucket filled with Funnel Chanterelles, a mushroom that is everywhere in the forests right now. It was a gift from Martin, isn't that the sweetest thing ever? I used some of these for this stew, and the lingonberry jam is homemade as well. Nothing beats eating something you picked in the forests or grew by yourself.

I found this recipe on a Swedish blog called Räkfrossa, and the woman behind it was nice enough to let me translate it here for you. I used seitan instead of the tofu.

Autumn stew
serves 4


300 g/10 oz tofu
1 can chickpeas
200 ml/0,8 cup soy- or oat creamer (unsweetened)
25 g/0,8 oz dried funnel chantarelles or 200 g/7 oz fresh
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely shopped
50 ml/3 heaped tbs red cooking wine
3 tbs lingonberry jam
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp rosemary
5 dried juniper berries, crushed
2-3 tbs soy sauce
black pepper

- If using dried mushrooms: put in water for 10 minutes.
- Cut the tofu in pieces drain for a bit.
- Fry the onion, tofu, garlic and mushrooms in a bit of oil until a bit browned. Add creamer, wine, lingonberry jam, thyme, rosemary and juniper berries and let simmer for at least 10 minutes, and up to 30. Add the chickpeas towards the end and add soy sauce and black pepper to taste.

I served this with boiled potatoes and carrots, and cabbage mixed with lingonberry jam on the side.