Month: August 2010

Natalie på Pers Krog in Malmö

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The day after we had a crayfish party, we could only think of one thing to eat for dinner: meat, potatoes and preferrably bearnaise sauce. 🙂 And I knew just where to find it, so we went to Natalie på Pers Krog in Malmö. The food they serve there is classic Swedish dishes influenced by the French kitchen. You can either sit outside on the veranda where they have heaters and blankets even though it has both walls and a roof, or you can sit inside and eat fondue. We chose the a’la carte menu and sat on the veranda.

The food is classic, tasty and comforting. Some of the waiters have probably worked there a long time and aren’t too enthusiastic, but the younger staff were really good. The interior of the restaurant would benefit from some restyling, but the old definitely has its charm.

For starters mum and I had Toast Walter, which is similar to Toast Skagen but has some horseradish in it as well. We were given very generous portions and it tasted wonderful. Dad chose spicy prawns cooked in butter, garlic and chilli, served with bread. Christopher went for snails and was very pleased with his choice. For mains mum and dad chose fillet Oscar, which is steak with a lobster tail on top and served with both jus and bearnaise sauce. Christopher chose tournedos Rossini; steak with foie gras and truffels on top, with jus and potato gratin. I chose plankstek; steak served on a plank of wood, with potato mash, bearnaise sauce and baconwrapped green beans. A real classic! We were all very pleased when we left.

Lemon mousse roll

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For my birthday my mother made this yummy cake! She makes it quite often as it is such a crowd pleaser and you can make it far in advance. I don’t know where the recipe originates from but it is cut out of a magazine a long time ago.

Lemon mousse roll, 12+ portions

For the cake:

4 eggs

200 ml granulated sugar

100 ml potato flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

For the mousse:

4 eggs

125 ml granulated sugar

1 1/4 lemons, juice from

3/4 lemon, peel from

8 gelatine sheets

400 ml whipping cream

Whisk egg and sugar together for the cake, when it is white and fluffy, pour in the potato flour and the baking powder mixed together. Line a large baking tray with edges with baking paper. Bake in 250 degrees for about 5 mins (200 degrees might be enough for a fan oven). Turn it onto a baking paper sprinkled with sugar and remove the paper that was in the oven. Leave to cool.

Separate the eggwhites and yolks for the mousse. Whip up the yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy, mix in the lemon juice and peel. Wet the gelatine in water, squeeze to remove excess water and melt it into 50 ml hot water over low heat. Pour it gently into the sugar mixture little by little while whisking. Whip the whites until hard foam and turn it gently into the sugar mixture. Whip the cream until firm and turn it gently into the mixture. Let it set a little. Spread the mousse onto the sponge, let it set a little in the fridge before rolling it up from the shorter side. Wrap in parchment paper and then put it in a large freezing bag and freeze it until you need it. Defrost it slightly before serving it, so that the sponge has defrosted but the mousse is still frozen in the middle. (If deep frozen defrost it for an hour before serving it). Pipe whipped cream on top and place berries on top and around it for decoration. We emptied passion fruits over the cream and had grapes on the side, but it works with any fruit or berries.

Pasta with tiger prawns, red pepper pesto and mushrooms

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Yesterday I wasn’t really prepared to make dinner, as I expected us to go out before going to the Proms. But the koncert didn’t start until late, so I was more in the mood of going home and relax until going there, so I quickly had to come up with something. Defrosting prawns doesn’t take long, and making this pasta dish doesn’t take long either – a perfect weekday dinner.

Pasta with tiger prawns, red pepper pesto and mushrooms, 2 portions

Pasta, I took farfalle

200 g cooked and peeled tiger prawns

1 can sliced button mushrooms

250 ml single cream

3 tbsp red pepper pesto

1 clove garlic, pressed

a splash of chilli sauce

some chilli flakes

stock

Italian herb seasoning

salt

white pepper

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet. Fry the mushrooms in some olive oil until they have got some colour. Then lower the heat and pour in the cream, followed by the other ingredients for the sauce, except the prawns. Bring to a boil, have a taste and adjust the flavours according to taste. If the sauce gets too thick, pour in a little milk. When the pasta has a minute or so to cook, pour the prawns into the sauce so they heat up. Drain the pasta and serve the sauce. If you have some fresh parsley at hand (I didn’t), chop it and sprinkle on top of the sauce. Enjoy!

Madklubben in Copenhagen

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When in Copenhagen for the day I had booked a table at Madklubben after recommendations from my dear friend Emma. And we were not disappointed!

The restaurant is situated close to the New Harbour, Nyhavn, which is a great area but the restaurants there are proper tourist traps so avoid them to all cost. Instead walk a few hundred meters to this restaurant. It’s interior is modern and very Scandinavian but yet very cosy. The staff is friendly, and it says on the menu that the waiters are not experts on food and wine but are happy to help.

We shared two Danish charcuterie platters on four as a starter and it was very nice. It had two types of ham and a spicy sausage on there as well as pickled small mushrooms and pickled cherry tomatoes. For mains mum and I chose the plaice with parsley butter and a warm potato salad with pickled cucumbers and mustard dressing, all very fresh and light. Christopher chose the veal with green strawberries, smoked bonemarrow, carrots and pea purée. The meat was a huge piece and it was very tender. Dad also chose meat, the house steak with red wine sauce and potato salad. It was also a huge piece of steak and both the boys were very happy! 🙂

We were too full to have dessert straight after the meal so we went for a walk in Nyhavn and had an ice cream instead.

Madklubben is not very expensive, so I really recommend a visit if you are going to Copenhagen!

Turkey schnitzel with mozzarella and bacon

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Last night we had the first homecooked meal by me for a while. While in Sweden we happily let my mother cook for us or went out for food. But I do enjoy to cook even on weekdays, especially when the result turns out this good. A different take on the classic chicken cordon bleu.  

Turkey schnitzel with mozzarella and bacon, 2 portions

4 turkey escalopes

2 slices smoked streaky bacon

4 slices buffalo mozzarella

2 eggs

breadcrumbs

butter

salt and pepper

Fry the bacon slightly crispy. On two of the escalopes, place two slices of mozzarella, put a slice of bacon each on top and put the remaining escalopes on top of that, so the cheese and bacon is sealed in the middle.

Beat the eggs in a bowl. Place the breadcrumbs in another bowl. First dip the escalopes in the beaten eggs, then in the crumbs so they are properly coated all around. Next melt some butter in a skillet and fry the escalopes until they are crispy on the outside and cooked all the way through. Tastes great together with a creamy potato mash.

 

Swedish pizza!

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Something I have been longing for is Swedish pizza. Instead of chip shops we have pizzerias in every village in Sweden, where you can get pizzas, kebabs or the nice combination of both; kebab pizza.

I have really missed these greasy non-Italian style pizzas. They are the perfect way to cure a hangover and you usually have a choice of 50 or so pizzas.

These ones we picked up in Beddinge close to our summer house. Yum!

To the left my choice of ham, cheese, tomatoes, beef, garlic, onions and bearnaise sauce. To the right Christopher’s pizza with spicy sausage, salami, pickled green chillis, bacon and more.

Watermelon salad

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This fresh salad goes with everything! For the barbecue, buffet or as I served it last – at a Swedish crayfish party!

The recipe is from Nigella’s Forever Summer, but I haven’t looked in the book for a while and therefore have no measurements. But it is a salad so you don’t really need them! Take as much as you like of the ingredients and the result will be great. Enjoy!

Watermelon salad

Seedless watermelon (or regular)

Red onions

Lime, juice from

Feta

Parsley

Black olives

Olive oil

Start by peeling the onion, cut it in half and slice it. Put the slices in a bowl and sqeeze the lime juice over them and leave it for a while. Cut the melon in big chunks, place in a bowl, crumble the feta into the bowl, throw in some olives, the onion and limejuice and chopped parsley. Stir it around and drizzle some olive oil on top. Yum!

Swedish fika in Ystad

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Ystad is a nice town on the south coast in Sweden and only a 40 minute drive away from my parent’s summer house where we were staying on our trip back home. The weather wasn’t amazing on the day we went there, but we still had a good time looking in shops and having fika. Fika is the Swedish word for coffee and whatever you have with it, savoury or sweet. We have a lot of fika in my family! 😉

When in Ystad we went to Hartman’s café and had some Swedish classics, sooo yummy! Below you can see a prawn sandwich, a cinnamon swirl, a Danish with apple and a small cake. Really really good!

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s

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Before Christopher and I left for holiday in Sweden we had a great lunch at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s. A great start to the holiday! 🙂

It was the first time at Claridge’s and it is just lovely in there. Very old fashioned but in a nice way. In the ladies’ room there were three proper makeup tables by the door, I so want one at home. 🙂

But back to the food. We received a amuse bouche at first; a cold pea soup with pecorino and chopped shallots. I don’t really like cold soups, but this was the exception the the rule. It was divine! Silky smooth and perfect combination of flavours. As a starter we both chose the thai tiger prawn ravioli with velouté, and it was absolutely amazing. Every mouthful was so lovely in it flavours I had to make myself eat slowly so it would last longer. For maincourse, we chose differently. Christopher had the wild boar with smoked potato mash which looked amazing. When I saw his plate I was slightly disappointed with my choice of trout with radish cubes, broad beans, girolles and velouté, but my dish was so good I soon forgot all about Christopher’s wild boar. The fish was cooked to perfection, but tasted quite similar to trout I cook at home, but the trimmings were fantastic. We absolutely loved the first two courses!

Next came the dessert and both of us chose the raspberry clafoutis with raspberry ripple icecream. It was tasty and nice, but didn’t really play in the same league as the two first courses. The truffles we received after the meal were excellent though!

All in all we had a fantastic eating experience! The ambiance was more laid back than we’d expected, the staff very professional but friendly and chatty and made the meal a so much nicer experience.

I want to go again!! And visit all Gordon’s other restaurants… 😉