Month: January 2011

Steamed mussles in white wine, cream and saffron

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

We had some dear friends over for supper on Saturday. The first course was a pre-starter with Jerusalem artichoke soup. I only added a pinch of dried thyme to the recipe and served it in small glass cups with a teaspoon and sprinkled some finely chopped shallots on top. Simple and lovely, in my opinion. 🙂

On Saturday morning Christopher went to the fishmongers and came home with some really big and juicy mussels. We de-bearded them, which was the only hard task in cooking this dish, you need some finger strength here. 🙂 The rest was simple reall; chop carrots, leek and onions, sauté in olive oil, add cream, wine, saffron and the mussels. Put the lid on and after a few minutes they are ready to serve.

I read this article recently about why you shouldn’t discard mussles that are closed after cooking, and I was looking forward to try a closed one and see if it was true. Of course they all opened! 🙂

Steamed mussles with white wine, cream and saffron, serves 6 as a starter

1,5 kg mussels, rinsed and de-bearded

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 baby leeks, chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

olive oil

400-500 ml single cream

300-400 ml dry white wine

2 pinches saffron

salt

white pepper

chopped parsley

Use a large pan. Heat up some olive oil on medium heat and sauté the vegetables for a few minutes. Add wine, cream, saffron, salt, white peppar and the mussels. Add the mussels. Put on the lid and wait for the liquids to boil.  The mussels don’t need to be covered with liquid, the steam will open them up, that is why it is so important to keep the lid on. When they’re done, taste the liquid and add saffron, salt or pepper if needed. Serve in bowls with plenty of the liquid and with some bread and butter. Sprinkle over some chopped parsley before serving.   

Lovely dinner!

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

I didn’t feel to great over the weekend, my head was pounding and I had some kind of sinus infection. Unfortunately I had to cancel brunch with a friend and take it easy, but we still had friends over in the evening. We set the date for this dinner in October, that’s how difficult it is to get everyone together, so it was easier just to get it done. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one cooking. Christopher was in charge of the main course (rabbit with tarragon sauce, hasselback potatoes, parsnips and wilted spinach) and the dessert which was an amazing tarte tatin. I prepared the amuse bouche or pre-starter consisting of our beloved Jerusalem artichoke soup with a bit of thyme, steamed mussels as a starter and a pre-dessert of cloudberry parfait which I made in advance. And thanks to the dishwasher it wasn’t too bad to do the washing up either.

We had a lovely evening. I laughed until my jaws hurt, and I don’t think I was the only one, and the wine was flowing. It gave me lots of energy but I was still not well yesterday and spent most of the day in my PJs. Not feeling great today either, so I will post the recipes later this week.

Chinese for breakfast?

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

This is what my breakfast looked like last Saturday when Christopher and I went to stay with David and Gaby in Southampton. David loves his Chinese and it was really nice to have dumplings for breakfast actually. 🙂 Real Chinese food (not the Swedish deep-fried version) is really light to eat, I find, a bit like sushi, you get full in a pleasant way but don’t feel too full.

Oven baked trout

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

I really do like everything from the ocean (apart from poached cod – bad hildhood experience) but I still tend to eat quite a lot of meat. Don’t get me wrong, I love meat, but fish is so much better for you.

 

Fish is healthy, tasty and makes you full in a nicer lighter way then when you eat meat, so I will really try to incorporate more fish into my diet.

If you want to keep it simple but still eat something really nice, I suggest fish in tin foil cooked in the oven. It is a piece of cake to make and has the benefit that your whole house doesn’t smell of fish. 🙂

Ovenbaked trout with lemon and persillade, serves 2

2 trouts, heads and tails removed

butter

4 lemon slice

persillade

salt

white pepper

oliv oil

Rinse the fish. Put two pieces of tin foil on a large baking tray. Pour some olive oil onto each piece and put the fish on top. Place a few dollops of butter and 2 lemon slices in the opening of each trout. Also add salt, pepper and persillade. Shape the tin foil into two parcels and put the tray in the oven, 180-200C for about 20 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.

Chorizo stew with carrot and parsnip

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

Both Christopher and I are fond of the chorizo. It is so versatile and gives so much flavour to its company. I came up with this recipe the other day and it was a real hit! The sweetness from the root vegetables and brown sugar together with the paprika heat from the chorizo and the the sourness from the tomatoes really worked. The cumin just took it that step further and added some earthiness.

Chorizo stew with carrot and parsnip, serves 2

chilli oil

1/2 chorizo ring

2 carrots

1 large parsnip

1 red onion

400 g chopped tomatoes

150 ml water

1 pressed garlic clove

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dark brown sugar

2 tbsp Heinz chilli sauce (or other mild chilli sauce)

salt

concentrated chicken stock

white pepper

Slice the chorizo and fry it in chilli oil in a large sauce pan. Remove to a bowl. Peel and dice the root vegetables and the onion, and add to the pan. Fry on medium heat for a few minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and the water. Bring to a boil and let it boil for a few minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the spices, seasoning and stock. Add the chorizo. Serve with rice and a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream. Really tasty!

Jennie’s chocolate chip lavender cookies

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

A Swedish food blogger who posts great recipes is Jennie at Kalasgott, and that is where I found this recipe for chocolate chip lavender cookies.

The combination of lavender and dark chocolate is phenomenal. You only need one teaspoon of dried lavender for the whole batch but it gives the cookies another dimension. Try these!

I have translated the recipe below.

Chocolate chip lavender cookies, makes 24-30

150g softened butter

375 ml caster sugar

1 tbp dried lavender

1 eggs

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 tsp baking powder

125 ml cocoa

250 ml plain flour

100 g chopped dark chocolate

Beat the butter, sugar and lavender. Add the eggs one by one. Sift the dry ingredients intp a bowl and add to the butter mixture. Add the chopped chocolate. Roll into 24-30 balls, place them six at the time on baking parchment on a baking tray. Bake in 180C for 12 minutes. Leave to cool on the baking tray or a wire rack. Keep in an airtight container for about a week. They freeze well.

Lobster stock

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

I’m trying to get better at not wasting food. I am actually pretty good, but there is always room for improvement.

So I saved the lobster shells from NYE to make stock wihich I then reduced and froze as ice cubes. I also made stock from the wild ducks, which I reduced even more and froze as well, but I was exceedingly clumsy and dropped the tray and lost half of the stock. The same evening I also broke a china bowl. 😦

Lobster stock

the shell from two lobsters

1 large carrot

1/3 fennel

1 onion

some peppercorns

1 tbsp tomato paste

a few sprigs of parsley

1 garlic clove

olive oil

Rinse the shells thoroughly. Cut into smaller pieces. Fry with the vegetables in olive oil to get more flavours out. Cover with water.  Add the spices, herbs and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until about half the water remains. Strain and pour back into the pan. Add some salt and reduce until you have the concentration you would like. Leave to cool. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Put the cubes into a freezer bag and keep in the freezer.  

Quesadillas fried in butter, with courgette, chilli and coriander

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

The first time I learned about quesadillas was when I still lived with my parents and I saw Jamie Oliver on TV. His version was simple: soft tortillas + grated cheese + sliced spring onions + chopped red chilli + dry frying pan. They were delicious and since then I have made lots of different versions myself. But I have always always used a dry pan as he did.

Until I read on  Pioneer Woman about how much better it is with quesadillas fried in plenty of butter. Nothing bad about Jamie, but I think I trust Ree in this one. 🙂 The same evening I madee some. Only because we had some tortillas left that needed to be eaten. I love when that happens, when I get given a reason to eat something yummy. 🙂

What I had at hand was fresh coriander, red chillies, grated gruyére and courgettes. And butter. It was sooo much better with butter!

Quesadillas fried in butter, with courgette, chilli and coriander

I won’t give you any measurements, just grab what you think will do. These are easy to throw together.

soft flour tortillas

grated strong cheese

chopped red chillies (seeds and membranes removed)

chopped coriander

courgettes

olive oil

butter

Slice the courgette finely and fry in oil until it is nice and golden. Add salt and pepper. Melt butter and some oil (to prevent the butter from burning) in a  frying pan on medium heat. Put one tortilla in the pan. Add the cheese, chillies and coriander. Distribute the courgette and maybe add some more cheese. Put another tortilla on top and press it down with the palm of your hand. When the bottom tortilla is golden and crisp, turn the quesadilla around to fry the other side in more butter. This is the only tricky bit, because we don’t want the filling to fall pout. Turn it around using a plate or two spatulas. When golden and crisp on the other side too, cut into wedges and serve immediately, perhaps with some salsa and/or guacemole.  

Thick bacon pancake

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

This is cheap and filling peasant food. I used to eat this all the time as a student in Lund together with my flatmates Malin and Tobbe. It is easy to make and belongs to the same family as toad in the hole. 

In Sweden most people have lingonberry jam with this, but I don’t particular like that, sp I go for strawberry instead. Not healthy at all, but lovely! 🙂

Thick bacon pancake (Fläskpannkaka), serves 4

1 packet smoked streaky bacon, in pieces

2 eggs

400 ml plain flour

800 ml milk

Fry the bacon cirspy and distribute on a greased large baking dish with walls. Mix eggs, flour and half the milk in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining milk and stir to remove lumps. Add a pinch of salt and some white pepper. Pour it into the baking dish.  Bake in 200C until golden brown, about 40 mins. Serve with lingonberry jam or strawberry jam.

Beetroot soup with thyme

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

Since we ate the lovely beetroot soup at the Wolsley has someone been nagging me to cook beetroot soup. I had never cooked it before but am always keen to try something new in the kitchen. I used this Swedish recipe for inspiration but didn’t follow it eaxtly… You know me. 🙂  

The combination of thyme and beetroots was lovely, and nothing I would think of myself, but I chose to top my soup with parmesan shavings instead of pecorino, because that was what I had at hand. Christopher had the day off when I was to cook this and I asked him to cook the beetroots before hand as it can take quite a long time. I had asked him to cook them with the skin on, but he only heard half the sentence and had peeled them and everything. Really great, as that is what I dread with beetroots; getting stains everywhere. I think the soup would have tasted even more if the beets were cooked with the skin on, but this was delicious anyway. A good first atempt!  

Beetroot soup with thyme, serves 2

500 g beetroots

500 ml vegetable stock

50 ml cream

dried (or fresh) thyme

salt and pepper

lemon oil

to serve: parmesan shavings

Peel the beetroots and cook them in water until soft. Divide into smaller pieces and cook in vegetable stock for 30 minutes. Add cream and blend the soup until smooth. Season to taste with thyme, salt, pepper and lemon oil. To serve, sprinkle on some parmesan shavings.