Treats à la Maggan

Ilive with my fiancé Gullik and ten-year-old son Lukas, on Alnö, one of the largest islands in Sweden situated east of the city of Sundsvall.

At the moment, I am a full-time curler but one of my big interests besides curling is food. We do a lot of cooking in our family but also enjoy eating out. I enjoy different cuisines, particularly wild, locally produced organic food.

We try to keep a well-balanced diet both during training periods and during competitions. It is most important to eat enough carbohydrates the days before and during competitions to be able to preserve energy and maintain good physical capacity all the way through.

We consult a dietician and we have made long-term measurements of our blood sugar levels during competitions to be able to adjust our food intake. During training periods we eat fewer carbohydrates and more proteins. Of course we enjoy something sweet sometimes when we are not competing.

Photo: WCF / Jesse Kushneryk 2013

Ground meat steaks or meatballs are everyday food in Sweden. This is my recipe, with a twist. It is also fabulous to spice meatballs with green peppercorns instead of the whiskey. I love eating different meat casseroles during the winter and this one is a bit similar to the great Boeuf Bourguignon, but with Nordic flavours. By Margaretha “Maggan”

Sigfridsson, the Swedish Women’s

Curling Team Skipper (Captain)

Game Stew

Photo: WCF/Jesse Kushneryk 2013

Ingredients:

500g stewing game meat butter for frying 2 tbsps tomato puree salt, pepper 200 g mushrooms 2 onions, 1 carrot 2 dl cream ½ dl chopped parsley

Marinade:

1 onion 4 dl red wine 1 tbsp olive oil 5-6 crushed juniper berries 1 bay leaf 1 sprig thyme

Ingredients:

500g mixed minced meat 1 dash (approx 0,5 dl) of your favourite whiskey 1 dl breadcrumbs 1,5 dl milk 0,5 dl cream 0,5 – 1 tbsp mustard A good amount of ground black and white pepper 2 tsps salt 1 tsp onion powder 1 pinch sugar 1 egg (can be left out)

METHOD

Day 1: Make the marinade. Peel and chop the onion coarsely. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add the meat to the marinade, cover with cling film and chill overnight. Day 2: Sieve off the marinade and save it for later. Keep the onion bits. Then, brown the meat in the butter in a heavy-bottomed casserole dish. Brown the onions from the marinade also.

Add the marinade and tomato purée. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Slice the onions, chop the onions coarsely and slice the carrot. Brown them together in a frying pan and add to the stew.

Pour over the cream and let the stew cook for a further 20 minutes. Scatter a little chopped parsley over the top and serve with rice or

Whiskey Meatballs

potatoes. The stew is even better the day after!

METHOD

Mix the breadcrumbs with the milk and cream. Let them absorb the liquid for 10 minutes. Add in the mustard and herbs. Then add the mince, salt and whiskey (a fairly smoky whiskey is good!)

Mix together, preferably with your hands. Add in an egg at the end so the mixture stays together better when frying.

Let the mixture stand for a few minutes before you form your meatballs and fry them. I usually brown them in a frying pan and then let them cook in the oven at 120 degrees Celcius.

Serve with mashed potatoes, sauce and lingonberry jam. Or with oven-roasted vegetables.