Month: January 2012

Weekday wonders: Egg-fried rice with chicken

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

If one, like me, never ever seem to get the quantities right when making rice, then you will probably end up with a lot of left over rice. And as I really dislike to throw away food, I want to use it up. The quickest (and tastiest) way to achieve that is to make egg-fried rice. It is a speedy supper that tastes wonderful.

You can vary it in any way you want; I used what I had at hand; green pepper, romano pepper, chicken thighs and salad onions. I enjoyed this with a dollop of a sauce made with creme fraiche and sweet chilli sauce because I had some left in the fridge. It is a nice addition, but it is nice without it too.

Egg-fried rice with chicken, serves 2

3 chicken thighs

1/2 green bell pepper

1 romano pepper

3 salad onions

neutral oil for frying

500 ml cold cooked rice

1 garlic clove

1 egg

a few drops sesame oil

soy sauce

sweet chilli sauce

salt, white pepper

Skin and de-bone the chicken and cut the meat into strips. Fry in oil on high heat until just cooked through, won’t take long. Add salt and pepper. Remove from the frying pan. Cut the peppers and salad onions into strips and fry in the same oan for about 5 minutes. Remove as well. Add more oil to the pan and lower the heat. Fry the rice for a few minutes until it is warm. Beat the egg with the sesame oil. Make some space in the frying pan by pushing the rice to one side. Pour in the egg onto the empty surface and let it set a little before mixing it with the rice. Fry for a few minutes. Add the vegetables and chicken. Add the garlic, soy sauce and sweet chilli after taste. Fry for another few minutes and adjust the seasoning. Serve and enjoy.

Scandi tip #11: Marylebone

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

My friend Jenny, who has recently moved to West London, texted me a few days ago to ask if I knew there was a Nordic bakery near Marylebone. I must confess I haven’t been to the Nordic Bakery, I always tend to go to the Scandinavian Kitchen, but I can vouch for plenty of baked goods courtesy of the former, as my friend Anna shops there a lot.

Marylebone is the Swedish area in London, this is where you find the church and the pub. It is also home to the design shop Skandium, which I have mentioned before, and lots of other non-Scandinavian shops like the Conran shop and Divertimenti, as well as lots of nice restaurants, pubs and cafés.

Note: the picture is courtesy of this page.

Melanzane parmigiana

Published on by Hanna4 Comments

I certanily hope that you have been watching the River Cottage Veg Everyday series?! One of the chefs at the River Cottage canteen made this in one of the episodes and it looked so good I had to make it myself.

I only glanced at the receipe and then made my own version. Business as usual in other words.

Melanzane parmigiana, serves 3-4

2 aubergines

1 buffalo mozzarella

100-200 ml grated hard cheese, i.e. Emmenthal

olive oil for frying

Tomato sauce:

400 g tomato chunks

200 g passata

1 splash or water

1 tbsp Italian herbs

1 msk balsamvinäger

1 garlic clove, pressed

salt, white pepper

Pour all the ingredients for the tomato sauce in a saucepan. Stir occasionally while it bubbles away and thickens, takes about 30 minutes. Wash the aubergines and cut them, skin on, into 1/2 cm thick slices. Fry in (plenty of) olive oil until soft and brown. Tear the mozzarella into chunks.

Butter a gratin dish (10 x 20 cm) and pour some tomato sauce into it. Add a layer of aubergines on top, and top that with mozzarella chunks and grated cheese. Repeat until you have three layers/used everything up. Bake in 200C for about 40 minutes. Serve with some bread and perhaps a salad.

Pork fillet in a creamy bacon and mushroom sauce

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

A few weeks back I invited my friend Nick over for dinner. In exchange he got the lovely job of putting up my curtain rod. A perfect exchange if you ask me.

Just before he arrived I started cooking and was about to blitz the floors with the vacuum cleaner but it refused to even come to life, so I had to open the door with dusty floors.

Maybe not a big deal to some people, but it is to me. I like things to be nice, and most of the time as nice as possible. But I thought to myself, maybe I can distract him from noticing the dust in the corners if I cook something really good.

As it turns out I did. It is a very simple recipe, and pork fillet is a cut we use A LOT in Sweden. Less so here, and although I like other parts of the pig, this is a very versatile cut and I always go back to it now and then.

Pork fillet in a creamy bacon and mushroom sauce, serves about 3

200 g button mushrooms, quartered

4 slices smoked bacon, cut into small pieces

350-400 g pork fillet, tendons and fat removed, diced

100 ml dry white wine

200 ml creme fraiche

200 ml cream

ca 2 tsp dijon mustard

some concentrated beef stock (Touch of Taste)

soy sauce

sauce colouring

salt and pepper

Fry the mushrooms on high heat in a large frying pan, in butter and olive oil. Remove when properly browned, add salt and pepper. Add the bacon to the same pan and fry until crisp. Remove. Brown the pork on high heat and remove as well. Add the wine and let half of it bubble away. Add the cream and creme fraiche and let it bubble for a few minutes. Add the mustard, stock, soy sauce and sauce colouring. Adjust the seasoning. Add the mushrooms, bacon and pork and let it cook for about 10 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.

Serve with potato wedges and any vegetables you like. I served it with crunchy green beens and soft leek and peppers that I cooked in the oven in some olive oil.

Weekday wonders: pasta bake with broccoli, spring onions and sambal oelek

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

Pasta bake. Not a single Brit I have met has had a positive experience from a pasta bake. Bad memories from school dinners, or what is it about?

Where I went to school it was one of the few dishes I could actually enjoy a little. Most lunches consisted of a tiny bit of whatever was on offer, because you had to try it, and crispbread with butter and barbecue spice (classy, I know) to not die from hunger in the afternoon.

I promise you though, that this type of pasta bake is miled apart from school dinners and is not boring at all. It is a super easy weekday supper and instead of making a bèchamel I make a creme fraiche based sauce which I like to hot up a little with chilli sauce or in this case, sambal oelek.

To make this dish even better, choose nice dried pasta instead of the cheap ones on offer. I highly recommende De Cecco, which I always use.

Pasta bake with broccoli, spring onions and sambal oelek, serves 4

500 g De Cecco pasta

375 g broccoli, cut into florets

1/2 bunch spring onions, chopped

300 ml creme fraiche

1,5-2 tbsp sambal oelek

salt, white pepper

about 300 ml grated cheddar

Cook the broccoli florets in salted water for just a minute. Pick them up with a slotted spoon and leave to drain. Add more salt to the boiling water and then add the pasta. Cook for 3 minutes less than it says on the packet. Drain and rinse with hot water to get rid of the starch. 

Heat up the creme friache in a small saucepan and add the sambal oelek, salt and pepper. Add about 1/3 of the cheese and let it melt into the sauce. Mix the sauce and the pasta and pour the mixture into buttered ovenproof dish. Distribute the broccoli, scatter the spring onions on top and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for about 20 minutes in 200C oven.

Opera Tavern, once again

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

On Sunday when Emma and Claes were visiting, we wanted to make the most out of their last day here. So we got up faily early on Sunday for a walk around Westminster, followed by art spotting at the National Gallery, then a walk to Covent Garden and Opera Tavern where we were going to have lunch.

I have been to this restaurant quite a few times now, and it is always really busy, apart from, apparently, around lunch time on Sunday. Fair enough, tapas is not the tradional Sunday meal, but we really enjoyed our lunch here.

We were freezing after our walk, so we jumped straight to the hot foods on the menu, which made our waitress give us a funny look. Unintentional of course, and we just found it funny.

To start, we had some grilled bread and alioli. After inhaling that we could be civilized and actually enjoy the food.

I had promoted the amazing mini pork and foie gras burgers, so Claes and I had one each and thoroughly enjoyed them.

Emma chose mackerel with fennel and apple salad and fried chorizo instead and loved every bite.

The rest of the dishes we shared and the first one was cuttlefish (with ink) and a cannellini bean stew. Sublte flavours but it was a lovely dish.

We then had tender slivers of beef with velvety celeriac puree, brussel sprouts and red cabbage. Absolutely lovely!

We also had the classic patatas bravas with two dips. Not amazing, but totally what we expected.

We also shared a fresh salad of pickled salsify with truffle and root vegetable crisos on top. It was very different but delicious.

After all of this, we were full but wanted something more anyway, so we ordered another round of bread and alioli and some cheese. We settled for a menorcan hard cheese made of cow’s milk, called Mahon. It was quite firm and reminded me of pecorino a little.

After this and a bottle of wine, we were no longer freezing and could go for another walk before it was time for Emma and Claes to head to the airport.

Sundae of homemade icecream and chocolate sauce

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

In my new flat we have the luxury of a regular three-drawer freezer, and since my flatmate and I have one drawer each it is perfect to use the third drawer for say, icecream.

I brought over my mother’s old icecream maker and used it to make frozen yoghurt at work in the summer, but now I keep it in my flat so I can make icecream instead.

Since I haven’t made my own icecream since I lived in Sweden (almost four years ago now) because of major freezer issues (in every flat) I had to start the icecream making with something as simple as vanilla.

Simple yes, but it is made with whole milk, double cream, free range egg yolks and a proper vanilla pod, so still very good. Served with an old fashioned chocolate sauce and chocolate chip cookies, this is a very simple, yet always fulfilling dessert.

I promise you, there will be more icecream recipes from now on. I am just getting started!

Homemade vanilla icecream, serves 3-4

Translated from Charlotta’s recipe.

4 egg yolks
100 ml caster sugar
300 ml double cream
100 ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod
a pinch of salt

Beat the yolks and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds. Place this in a sauce pan with the cream and the salt. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat and leave to cool. Pour it over the egg mixture and mix well. Place the bowl in a bain marie and stir with a whisk until the mixture is 85C (should take about 10 minutes). Place the bowl in a tub of ice water to cool down then pour it into the icecream maker.

Mother’s chocolate sauce, serves 3-4

50 ml cocoa

50 ml caster sugar

50 ml water

Pour all the ingredients into a saucepan, stir occasionally and bring to the boil. Let it thicken for a few minutes. Serve warm with icecream.

Scandi tip #10: Semla

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

Picture from Wikipedia.

At this time of year, there is only one pastry on people’s minds in Sweden and Scandinavia, the semla.

It is a regular wheat bun (almost like a brioche), made from a similar recipe to cinnamon buns. You then cut off the lid and fill it with whipped cream and marzipan, put the lid back on and add copious amounts on icing sugar to the buns.

When I was a child I only made homemade ones, as the bought ones, even from a nice bakery, tend to have a very gooey marzipan and I like the sweet almondy set one.

Some people but the semla in a bowl of hot milk called hetvägg (hot wall) and eat the soggy thing with a spoon, but I find that all wrong to be honest.

Anyway, the story behind these semlor has to do with Lent, and these used to eaten on only one day; Shrove Tuesday, before Lent started. Now they are available from bakeries from the beginning of January until a week or so after Shrove Tuesday, which this year is on the 21st February.

If you want to try this delicacy, you are bound to find them at Nordic Bakery, Scandinavian Kitchen and maybe also at Fika, in London. Or why not make your own?

 

Serrano rolls with lemon crème

Published on by Hanna7 Comments

It was not long ago I spotted these delicious rolls on Charlotta’s blog, she had modified a recipe of Anne’s.

We had these as a little starter before tucking into pulled pork on Saturday, and they were so much nicer than I expected them to be. I mean, I thought they would be good, I mean I would not have tried them otherwise, but these were better than good – they were delicious. And that from only three ingredients; serrano ham, creme fraiche and lemon.

Serrano rolls with lemon crème, serves 3-4 as nibbles

After Charlotta’s recipe.

8 slices serrano ham

1/2 jar crème fraiche

1/2 lemon, the zest and some juice

salt, white pepper

Mix crème fraiche with the lemon zest, and add a squirt of lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt and a little sprinkle of white pepper. Let the crème develop its flavours for a little while. Then spread it onto the ham slices and roll them up. Serve and enjoy!

A little pre-dinner cocktail: Lemon passion

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

This pre-dinner cocktail was invented from what I had at home and what I thought would go well with each other. The result was a fruity and refreshing cocktail that may be better suited for the spring summer, than gloomy January, but I still really enjoyed it.

Lemon passion, serves 1

3 cl white Bacardi

2 cl passion fruit syrup

ice (preferrably crushed, but I thought of that too late)

sparkling lemonade

1/2 passion fruit

a few sprigs of mint

Place is in a glass, add the Bacardi and passion fruit syrup. Top up with lemonade. Add the contents of 1/2 passion fruit and place some mint on top. Stir and serve. Cheers!