Month: July 2010

Summer galette

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I found this recipe in the Sunday Telegraph’s magazine a couple of weeks ago and have been dying to try it. Since Christopher had the day off yesterday and all the ingredients were in the fridge, he made it instead of me. I don’t mind, it’s lovely to come home and find the supper in the oven! And it was really yummy too.

Summer galette, 4-6 portions

500 g shortcrust pastry (we bought it, but feel free to make it yourself)

6 eggs

1 tbsp each of chopped chives, basil, tarragon and parsley

30 g butter

300 g thinly sliced ham (I prefer smoked)

350 g grated Gruyère cheese

1 egg, beaten for glaze

Cut the pastry in half and roll out two rounds, about 30 cm in diameter, 3-5 mm thick. Beat the eggs and add the herbs. Melt a third of the butter in a frying pan and pour in a third of the egg mixture to make an omelette. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then slide over to a plate to cool white making the other two.

Lay one round of the pastry on a baking sheet. Place one of the omelettes on top, then a third of the ham and then a third of the cheese, repeat until you have three layers of omelette, ham and cheese. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg. Place the other round of pastry on top and press the edges together. Brush the top with glaze and roll the edges and pinch them to seal. Make a chimney in the middle if you have some pastry left over, or just make a whole in the middle without a chimney around it. Bake until crisp and golden, 20-30 mins, 200C. Serve with a nice salad!

Comments: I really enjoyed this pie or omelette in disguise. But it needs a little bit of salt in the omelettes and I think it would be nicer with slightly less tarragon. Served for lunch with salad it will easily make 6 portions, it is very filling.

Baked potatoes – Swedish style

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I still haven’t learned to like jacket potatoes with baked beans or cheese or tuna, which seems to be how potatoes are eaten here in England. Instead I hold on to my Swedish way of eating baked potatoes. With prawns of course. Try it!

As you can see I eat my potato with a tea spoon, that is another Swedish thing I think... 🙂

Baked potatoes with prawns and caviar, 2 portions

1-2 baking potatoes per person

100 grams peeled prawns (Waitrose’s Maine prawns are ideal, make sure it’s icelandic type prawns and not tiger prawns)

100 ml creme fraiche

3 tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1/2 lemon, juice from

2 tsp caviar

salt

ground white pepper

Start off with baking the potatoes for 1-1,5 hours on 200 degrees. Before putting them in the oven slice a cross on the top of each potato, it makes it easier to ‘open’ later. While the potatoes are baking, make the prawn filling. Roughly chop the prawns and mix with the other ingredients, pour in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, store in fridge until the potatoes are ready. When they are, take them out and push them open with oven gloves. Basically press both sides of the potato towards the middle and the cross you made earlier will come open, and you can spoon in the filling there. Garnish with lemon slices or some more caviar if you like. Enjoy!

Pizza

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My mum doesn’t like bought pizzas, according to her they are too greasy and not very tasty. But she likes homemade pizzas so we had that regularly when I was a child. I prefered bought pizzas though because the dough was nicer. Until I found this recipe in one of her cookbooks that is, now I actually prefer homemade.

This recipe is from a great Swedish cookbook called Annas mat. I know have my own copy.

Homemade pizza, 2-3 portions

Dough:

200 ml lukewarm water

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp olive oil

pinch of salt

1 tsp honey

1 tsp dried yeast

500-600 ml plain flour

Pour the liquids into a bowl and mix them, then add the salt and the yeast, make sure the yeast dissolves. Then add about 500 ml flour and knead it in. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. When the dough has let go of the edges of the bowl, is all in one piece and is still a bit sticky, sprinkle some flour on top, place a clean tea towel on top and let it rise for about 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

Then add a little bit more flour and knead it properly to make it elastic. Roll out to wanted size. You can either have one big slightly thicker pizza that covers a whole baking tray or two or more smaller (and thinner) ones. I made two with different toppings.

Tomato sauce:

I make it easy for myself here and mix 1 part ketchup with 1 part tomato paste and 1 part BBQ, chilli or reggae reggae sauce.

Topping I:

Prosciutto

Tinned artichoke hearts

Pressed garlic

Buffalo mozzarella

Grated cheddar (or other cheese)

Oregano

Topping II:

Saucisson

Marinated peppers

Pimiento olives

Buffalo mozzarella

Grated cheddar

Oregano

Bake for about 8 minutes in 265 centigrade. Enjoy!

Quinoa crunch

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This is a slightly healthier cookie as it doesn’t contain wheat, quinoa also has a low GI (glycemic index). I was inspired by this recipe to make these.

Quinoa crunch, about 20 squares

50 grams butter

50 ml golden syryp

1/2 tsp vanilla sugar

150 ml quinoa puffs

Melt the butter, add the syrup and sugar and let it dissolve. Mix with the quinoa and spread out on a baking paper with a spatula. Form to one big thin oval cookie, make sure there are no holes in it. Bake in 175 centigrade oven for 12 minutes, leave to cool. When cool, cut into squares or break it up. Serve in an airtight container.

These can be enjoyed as any other cookie, or as a healthier option when the sugar cravings set in. Also suitable for people with celiac disease.

Fattiga riddare – sweet eggy bread

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When we make french toast in Sweden it is slightly different, we call it Fattiga riddare (which means poor knights), and it is just a sweeter version of french toast/eggy bread. It is usually served as a afternoon snack for children och as dessert, but you can also have it for breakfast like I had today.

1 slice per portion might sound like it won’t be enough, but I find this very filling so it is enough for me. If you want some more, just double the recipe.

Fattiga riddare, 2 portions

2 slices of white bread

1 egg

200 ml milk

75 ml flour

a pinch of salt

a knob of butter

granulated sugar

ground cinnamon

I cut the slices in half, but there is no need for that. Whisk together the eggs, milk, flour and salt. Dip the bread in it, make sure it is properly coated. Fry the slices golden och both sides in the butter on medium heat. Thereafter dip the bread in the sugar mixed with some cinnamon (after taste). Enjoy immediately.

Pasta carbonara

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I like to cook dishes that doesn’t need any specific ingredients, but only things I always have at hand. It feels like a free meal!

This is one of these free meals, as we always have eggs and bacon in our fridge, and most of the time parmesan and a bit of cream too.

Pasta carbonara, 2 portions

400 grams spaghetti

6 slices smoked streaky bacon

2 eggs

50 ml single cream

50 ml grated parmesan

blackpepper

salt

Cook the spaghetti the way you like it. Meanwhile, cut the bacon in small pieces and fry them on medium-high heat until they’re brown and crispy. Let some kitchen towel soak up the excess fat. Whisk the eggs and cream together and add the parmesan and blackpepper. Drain the pasta and pour the eggmixture over it and add the bacon. Make sure you coat everything with the sauce. Serve with some more black pepper and parmesan for those who want some, and it is nice to serve a salad with this creamy dish.

Sushi for lunch

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I had sushi from Wasabi for lunch. This happens once in a while, and everytime I tell myself not to have it again. Because it really isn’t that good. Look at my sushi above; massproduced, fresh though (otherwise they would be out of business), edible but not very tasty. From now on I won’t eat their sushi again. Promise!

Instead I will go to Tobiko in Covent Garden, where I never have been disappointed. They even made me love the maki rolls more than the nigiri again, because they have wonderful combinations in them. They just taste heavenly. Everything looks so much nicer and fresher and tastes amazing! And, they have proper ginger too, not the tiny prepacked shreds of ginger Wasabi have, but big juicy slices. Yum!

Are there any other sushi restaurants out there I should try?

Tosca cake

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In Sweden we have an amazing book for baking called Sju sorters kakor, and I dare to say that nearly all households own a copy. My mother had to buy a new one a couple of years back as the other one was falling apart after using it so much. You can buy the English version of the book, Swedish cakes and cookies, here. This recipe is from that incredible book.

Tosca cake

Cake:

100 grams butter

2 eggs

200 ml plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

50 ml milk or cream

Topping:

100 grams butter

100 ml granulated sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp milk

100 grams chopped almonds

Butter a springform and cover the butter with breadcrumbs. Melt the butter for the cake and let it cool. Whisk egg and sugar fluffy and add the flour and baking powder mixed togeter, the butter and the liquid. Pour into the springform and bake for 20-25 minutes in 175 centigrade oven, at the bottom of the oven.

Meanwhile make the topping. Put all the ingredients in a pan, heat it up while stirring carefully until everything has blended together and thickened. Put the mixture on the cake and move it up to the middle of the oven. Bake for another 15 minutes or until it is golden and crispy.

Serve on its own or with whipped cream or custard. Or just with berries, like we did.

Bruschetta

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I love this simple appetizer. Perfect while waiting for the barbecue. Delicious!

Bruschetta, as an appetizer for 2 people

1 crusty baguette, about 20 cm long

2 tomatoes

fresh basil, half a bunch

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

salt and white pepper

Cut the baguette in slices and put them on a baking tray. Drizzle some olive oil on each slice. Peel the garlic and cut it in half length wise, and rub the clove over the bread to give it a hint of garlic. Toast in oven for 7-10 minutes in 200 degrees. Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes and the basil, mix together and pour in some olive oil, season. When the bread is toasted, put a spoonful of the tomato mixture on each slice, be generous, but make sure you don’t put the juice on the bread (use a strainer if you want) as it goes soggy. Enjoy immediately!

Hasselback potatoes

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This is a Swedish classic, ‘invented’ in the 40s when there were plenty of potatoes but little of everything else.

Hasselback potatoes (Hasselbackspotatis)

White potatoes, as many as you need (2-3 per person)

olive oil

salt

white pepper

Peel the potatoes, then cut in half lengthwise. On every potato, make cuts 2 mm apart, nearly all the way through. It is a bit fiddly and you need to be gentle on the knife, but it is all worth it. Pour some olive oil on a baking tray, place the potatoes on it, drizzle over a bit more olive oil, season with salt and white pepper. Bake in 175-200 centigrade over for about 45 minutes, until crisp and golden. Best served with meat. We had steak, bearnaise sauce and asparagus. Yum!