Month: July 2010

Quick bolognese

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I like to cook from scratch and take pride in it, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time. When I get hungry I get really grumpy, so it’s best to get food on the table quickly. In situations like this, this is how I do it. Even though it is cheating, it tastes much nicer than a tomato sauce from a jar.

Quick (but tasty) bolognese, 4 portions

500 grams minced beef

1/2 packet smoked streaky bacon

1 can sliced mushrooms (or fresh button mushrooms)

1 can plum tomatoes (400 g)

3 tbsp creme fraiche

beef stock

1-2 tbsp Reggae Reggae sauce

a splash of Tabasco

1 tbsp chili sauce (or ketchup)

1 tbsp italian herb seasoning

1 clove of garlic, pressed

salt and pepper

Start by frying the mushrooms golden in butter, then pour over to a bowl. In the same skillet fry the bacon crispy, remove to the same bowl as the mushrooms. Fry the mince in the same pan, when done add the mushrooms and bacon, pour in the tomatoes and creme fraiche and season to taste with garlic, stock, salt and pepper and spices. Let it all cook for a few minutes. Serve with spaghetti and grated parmesan. Yum!

Terroirs

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One of my favourite places in London is Terroirs winebar, just off the Strand behind Coutts bank.

This is a french place on two floors, and you can either stop by for a glass of nice wine, or have some cheese and bread, a light bite to eat, lunch or a three course dinner. So you always feel welcome here.

The staff is very passionate about wines, and if you are into your wines the winelist is nice reading, and the bar staff is more than happy to chat to you. The food is simple, french and delicious!

It is quite a popular place so it is best to book in advance, but if it’s just two of you, you might get lucky and be seated by the bar. We, Christopher and I, actually enjoy sitting at the bar the the most, because it’s nice to chat with the staff and try a few things to eat in no particular order.

Holiday

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Today is one of the best days ever! I am only working a half day so that Christopher and I can have a nice lunch at Gordon Ramsay at Claridges before we fly to Sweden to spend a whole nine days there. I am sooo excited!

I am looking forward to lazy days on the beach, seeing my friends and family, eating lots of crayfish and showing Christopher around, it is his first trip to Sweden.

See you later!

Guacamole

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This is my own version, which I looove. I have to have it with fajitas, tacos or Dorito’s. It might not be an authentic recipe, but it is so good that I don’t really care about that. 🙂

Guacamole, 1-2 portions

1 ripe avocado

2 tbsp creme fraiche or soured cream

1 lime

Worchestershire sauce

Tabasco

salt

white pepper

Cut the avocado in half, scoop out the flesh and mush it up with a fork in a bowl. Then add the creme fraiche and mix it in, squeeze the lime juice in, a few drops of tabasco, slightly more Worchestershire sauce, salt and pepper. That’s it – done.

Fillet of pork with red pepper pesto

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In Sweden we eat fillet of pork a lot, it is typical weekend or dinner party food. Here most people don’t seem to eat it and it is therefore really cheap. Today I bought a fillet that weighed about 560 grams and it cost less than £5. That’s a bargain, especially since it would easily feed 3-4 people. So here is a simple recipe on how to cook pork fillet, so go try it out. Since it is pork it can become a bit dry if not cooked properly, but putting it in sauce in the oven makes it very tender and yummy.

This was my second helping, completely forgot to take pictures before we started eating...

Fillet of pork with red pepper pesto, 4 portions

a large pork fillet

300 ml single cream

200 ml creme fraiche

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 jar red pepper pesto (3-4 tbsp)

Start by trimming the fillet of fat and tendons. Then fry it whole in some butter, season with salt and black pepper. When it is cooked all around, take it off the pan and cut it into 1 cm thick slices. Place these in a oven dish. Mix the cream, creme fraiche, garlic and pesto together, season with some salt and white pepper and pour it over the meat. Put the dish in the oven for about 30 minutes in 200 C. Serve either with rice or homemade potato wedges and broccoli. I did the latter.

Gooseberry crumble

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I made this crumble the other day nad even though I’m not a huge fan of crumbles, I must say I liked this one. However, if making a crumble with gooseberry for example that melts in the oven, you need more crumble than I had, so I have changed the recipe and added more flour and sugar to make it less moist. It was still lovely but a bit too juicy.

Gooseberry crumble, 4 portions

400 g gooseberries, rinsed and ends removed

3 tbsp granulated sugar

200 ml plain flour

200 ml granulated sugar

200 ml ground almonds

100-150 g butter, at room temperature

Put the berries in a quiche dish, pour over 3 tbsp sugar. The make the crumble by mixing butter, almonds, flour and sugar. Pour over the berries. Bake in 175C for 20-30 minutes, until nice and golden. Serve with vanilla icecream or custard.

Pork belly roast

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Before I moved to England two years ago, I had never eaten pork belly, but I really like the tender meat with the crackling on top. This is the first time I tried to make it myself, and I must say I liked the result. I peaked at a Jamie Oliver recipe for the cooking times, but I didn’t really follow the recipe otherwise.

Pork belly roast

pork belly (mine weighed about 500 grams and served 2-3 people)

salt

black pepper

Take the belly and put it skin side up, make scores about a cm apart with a sharp knife. Mine was already prepared like that when I bought it, so I started witht the next step, to rub salt onto the skin and try to get it in down in the scores, then brush the excess salt off. Turn the meat around and season with salt and black papper. Then place it skin side up in a roasting dish, and put in the oven for half an hour on high heat, at least 220 C. This high temperature turns the skin into crackling. Yum! Then turn the oven down to 180 C, or even lower actually if it’s a small piece of meat like mine and bake for about 2 hours. Mine was a little bit dry on the edges so next time I will turn the oven down a bit more. But the crackling was perfect and the meat inside very tender.

Here served with red wine sauce, mashed potatoes and carrots.

Meringue suisse

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This is the Swedish substitute to Eton Mess, I like them both. Meringue suisse (Maräng suisse) is a common dessert for children’s birthday parties, but it is nice for grown ups too!

If you have time to make your own meringues and your own icecream, do, it will of course be even yummier, but it works fine with a nice vanilla ice cream from the shop and bought meringues too. Luckily for me, I could use the meringues we were given last time we went to Trinity, so I got homemade meringues without having to make them. 🙂

Meringue suisse

Lightly whipped cream

Vanilla icecream

Sliced banana(s)

Meringues

Chocolate sauce: equal parts cocoa, granulated sugar and water (for two people 3 tbsp of each is enough)

Pour the ingredients for the sauce into a pan and stir until it has boiled for a few minutes. Place the icecream, cream, banana and meringues in individual bowls, without mixing it. Pour the warm chocolate sauce on top. Yum….

Toast Skagen

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As mentioned in this recipe, this type of prawn cocktail is a common Swedish starter. This is how I make mine.

The reason why I prefer this version compared to the Marie Rose sauce is that this one feels fresher, and doesn’t have that sour vinegary taste to it. See which one you prefer.

Toast Skagen, 4 portions

200 grams peeled icelandic prawns (preferrably big ones)

1/2  bunch of dill

1/2 lemon

150 ml creme fraiche

3-4 tbsp mayonnaise (preferrably Hellman’s)

4 medium slices of white bread

butter

4-8 little gem lettuce leaves (depending on size)

Mix the mayonnaise with the creme fraiche, squeeze in the lemon juice, add the dill, chopped, and the prawns whole. Season with salt and white pepper. Cut the edges off the bread and fry gently until golden in the butter. Let cool a little. Place the bread slices on a plate each, put one or two lettuce leaves on top and divide the mayonnaise on top and if you want, decorate it with a slice of lemon and some dill.

If you don’t want to fry the bread, you can toast it and spread a little butter on it instead, but I think the bread is crispier this way.

Simple but delicious!

Skylon

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Skylon is a great restaurant on the Southbank, and belongs to the Conran group D&D London. I have eaten here twice and both times the food was great, but the last time (a while ago now though, in October last year) it was amazing! I went there with my parents and Christopher when my parents were visiting and we all loved the food.

I remember being in pain all through the meal (stomach issues) but I still enjoyed it and remember how good it was. The menu was very in season so I had something with girolles as a starter, and since I love girolles I loved the starter. But the main course was the best! Fillet of venison cooked to perfection together with a smoked potato mash that was divine. I don’t know how to smoke mash, but I really want to learn! We were stuffed after the main course but still shared a baked alaska for two (on four) and it was great too, the show with flambé in Grand Marnier was fun too. 🙂

The first time I dined at Skylon I remember eating a lovely mackerel tartar as a starter and stuffed rabbit with risotto, which was very tasty, but at the end of the meal the risotto was a bit sickly.

If you go, ask for a table by the window as you can watch the sun set over the Southbank. It is not the most amazing view though, as the restaurant is on the second floor, but still pretty overlooking the river.

They also have a grill section, but I always find the restaurant menu more appetising and therefore haven’t been to the grill yet.